The Shellac Experience!

Hello hello, long time no blog!

Since starting my new job, ive been a bit busy with other things, and my blog kind of took a back seat! I have got plenty of things to blog about, and thought i'd start with this post! This week me and my mum decided to have a little pampering time, and got a Shellac manicure in our local salon.

For those of you who don't know the details of Shellac, it is a hybrid between nail polish and a gel that is cured under a UV light. It boasts a 14 day mirror shine, with zero drying time and no nail damage. I decided to give it a go, as I had fancied it for a while and at £20, I thought it was a pretty reasonable price.

I went with a simple french mani, as the colours on offer were a little bright for me to wear for work! My nails were in awful condition - short and peeling, but she did a fab job on them in my opinion! Typically they started to break as soon as I booked the appointment! My nails were shaped and buffed, and then the application started. The clear base coat is applied and cured for 30 seconds, then 2 coats of pink french colour (after each coat it is cured for 2 mins this time), followed by white tips, then a final top coat.

The application took about 40 mins or so, and so far so good! Although the lines arent entirely straight which annoys the perfectionist in me

 (Please excuse the mark on my little finger - its taking an age to grow out!)

 So shiny!

 See, no chipping or peeling!

I had these done on Tuesday, so thats pretty much 3 days wear (or no wear as the case seems!)

I will do an update after 1 week and 2 weeks to have a look at the wear, and to see if my opinion is still the same!

Has anyone else tried Shellac? What are your opinions? 

xxx

Origins Vitazing

Hello ladies!

Today i'll be reviewing one of my recent skincare purchases!

I had been eyeing up Vitazing for a while, and was umming and ahhing whether or not to indulge, but I was a bit dubious because of its £25 price tag. So, when I saw it pop up on a blog sale for £5, I couldnt resist! You get 50ml, and I can see this lasting a long time as you dont need much.

What Origins say:

"Giving skin the refreshing zing of antioxidant-rich Mangosteen. And adds a healthy hit of radiance that mimics the glow you get from a week’s vacation. All in 10 seconds max. Slip it on first thing tomorrow – you’ll look like you eat right, sleep tight & don’t have a worry in sight."

It comes out a white colour with grey/brown bits in it, and a little goes a long way in my opinion.

Here Ive blended it out a bit so you can see how the colour changes from white as you rub it into your skin, to give a healthy glow.

Here you can see the healthy glow it gives you! It definately give you a nice colour and helps to even out skin tone. I still choose to wear foundation over the top, but I would use this for going out in the sun when you dont want a face full of makeup, especially as it has SPF 15!

It has a nice pleasant smell to it, it reminds me of summer if that makes sense? It smells a bit like suncream to me!

The price is a little expensive at £25 if you are on a budget - im not sure if I would repurchase at this stage, I think I need to give it a bit more use! It is better than other tinted moisturizers ive tried as it doesnt leave such a dewy finish as some others can do which is a plus in my books. Im glad I got to try it for a cheaper price though!

Has anyone else tried this? What are your thoughts?

Opinions needed :)

Hi girls!

Ive painted my nails for my OPI post below, and found myself liking it as its a bit of an ombre look! As im here on my tod, I wanted to ask for opinions as I was considering wearing this on my visit to London on Sunday to Tuesday!

Let me know your opinions or suggestions!

xxx

OPI Nice Stems Collection

Hi bloggers!

A little while ago I bought this mini set from Jen off Twitter! Im a sucker for OPI polishes and any pink nail polish, so I had to indulge! 

Left - Right

Play the Peonies ~ Come to Poppy ~ Be a Dahlia Won't You? ~ I Lily Love You.

First up- Play the Peonies

This is a light frosted pink (2 coats) - im not sure what I think of this one on its own - its a bit too light for me I think. It has a silvery white shimmer to it, but sadly isnt very me. Its good to have for nail art purposes though. (I apologise for the fact you can see my peeling nails beneath the polish, I never had this problem and now it wont go away!)

Come to Poppy

Come to Poppy is a bright coral-pink -its frosty with a touch of shimmer and 1/2 coats is plenty (1 was enough on some nails!). This colour is growing on me the more I wear it!

Be a Dahlia Won't You?

This one is definately my personal favourite - check out the sparkle! I can only describe it a bright barbie pink with added sparkle! I can definately see myself buying a full sized bottle of this one as I shall wear this one often! Again, this took 2 coats.

I Lily Love You

As you can see I put I Lily Love you over the other colours as on its own it can be quite sheer even after a few coats- my thumb nail has 3 coats on, and the other nails have 2 coats of it over the top. It has different sized glitter bits in, and it also dries rather quickly too, which is a plus!Im not sure I would wear this on its own, but it definately gives another look to non-glitter polishes! A very versatile colour to have.

This set is Limited Edition so if you want to get your hands on it I wouldnt hang around! You can buy some from ASOS (full size) or websites like Beauty Bay for the mini set, or Lena White for either size!
 It retails for between £10 - £13 depending on the retailer.

Are you a fan of girlie pinks? They seem to be the main colour that I have reached for this summer!

xxx

* Girlie NOTD - Razzberry Glitter Tips *

Good Morning Everyone!

After spending the day working hard on classroom preparations for September, I thought i'd treat myself to a little me time and painted my nails before heading off to BOKWA (its like Zumba, but high intensity cardio, and so much fun!). I didnt have that long hence why they arent perfect, but I was pretty pleased with the results.

I wanted something extremely girlie, and what's more girlie that pink and glittery nails?!

I used my trusty old OPI All That Razz-Berry which is a firm fave of mine, and Models Own Juicy Jules which I got in the Glitter Collection for my birthday. I havent used a glitter polish for quite a while actually and am very tempted to wear Emerald City again. Its such a lovely green!

Maybe i'll have to experiment with other colours but im pretty pleased with the result of these!

Is this too girlie for you or do you love a bit of glitter?

xxxx

Borghese Brush Set Review

Bonjour!

Today I thought id share my new (ish!) brush set - Borghese Professional Select.
I saw them popping up on various blogs about a month ago and decided to give them a whirl! My Dad very kindly tried 4 different Costco's before finding one for me! The first 3 had sold out of this set ages ago, whereas the last had a huge pile - strange!

You get 10 brushes in the set, with a brush holder.

Included You get:

#100 - Powder Kabuki Brush - Natural bristles
#101: Angled Contour Brush - Natural bristles
#102: Duo Fibre Blending Brush - Synthetic bristles
#104: Round Foundation Brush - Synthetic bristles
#105: Concealer Brush - Synthetic bristles
#200: Eye Powder Fluff Brush - Natural bristles
#201: Eyeshadow Brush - Natural bristles
#202: Angled Eye Contour Brush - Natural bristles
#203: Domed Smudge Brush - Natural bristles
#204: Angled Eye?Brow Brush - Synthetic bristles

Here are a few close up of the brushes...

 ~ Concealer Brush
~ Eye Powder Fluff Brush
~ Eyeshadow Brush.

All 3 of these brushes do the job for me, they are perfect! Lovely and soft, with bristles packed tightly together. The concealer brush is my new favourite, definately much better (and bigger) than my ELF one. The eyeshadow brush is a tad on the large side, so I tend to have a smaller one to hand too, as it isnt ideal if you want to do smaller areas of detail.

~ Angled Contour Brush

~ Duo Fibre Blending Brush

~ Round Foundation Brush

The contour brush is another favourite of mine, its much bigger than my ELF, therefore picking up alot more product. The foundation brush is soft, and feels like a good quality brush! I dont usually apply foundation with a brush as I tend to use much more than I do with my fingers, but this works a treat! Its so soft, and the tapered end helps with application to specific areas. I am a bit disappointed with the duo fibre blending brush - my Sigma F80 is much better! (A little more on that later).

~ Domed Smudge Brush

~ Angled Eye/Brow Brush

~ Angled Eye Contour Brush

The final 3 eye brushes are fab as well! The bristles are densely packed and do their job well, particularly the contour brush - its great for sweeping a highlight colour across the eye. The angled eye/brow brush is fab - its very firm and precise.

And last but not least is the Kabuki (which I forgot to picture with the others). This one is chunky and doesnt fit in the case which is a bit annoying, but hey ho! Again, the bristles are densely packed and is ideal for a quick brush of powder over your face!

Here I have compared the Duo Fibre with my Sigma F80 so you can see the difference.

The Borghese is very flimsy compared to the Sigma, the bristles arent particularly dense at all. This is the only brush I have taken out of the set, and have replaced it with my trusty Sigma. Having said this though, people may prefer a softer brush for blending, rather than a flat top kabuki for buffing foundation into your skin.

Congratulations if you made it to the end of this post!

Overall im very impressed with the set! For only £19 I think its great value for a complete set of brushes. The quality overall is fab - Ive experienced very minimal shedding from the brushes.I dont have any MAC brushes to my name sadly (I cant afford that luxury after paying the mortgage haha!) so I cant really compare them to any 'high end' brushes other than my Sigma.

Let me know what your thoughts are on this set - would you consider buying it? Or if you have got it, what do you think?

xxx

NOTD - Rimmel Rose Libertine

Happy Friday bloggers!

Today I am sporting the well known Rose Libertine on my nails and thought I would quickly share, as I havent seen it around the blogosphere for a while!

This was 2 coats and a top coat of Seche Vite. I do not agree with the bottle, 1 coat is definately not enough!
This is definately a summer colour for me, and reminds me a little of OPI's Elephantastic Pink, just a little less bright!

Are you a fan?
xxx

Who doesnt love new shoes?

Afternoon girls!

I just thought i'd share my new shoes that my mum very kindly bought for me the other day! I always struggle to find a pair of wedges that I like, and that dont make me about 7 foot tall! These are just the right height for me, and were in the Newlook Sale for just £7 - bargain!

I do like brown wedges, as they go with most outfits, but I thought i'd opt for these grey ones as they were slightly different!

What do you think?xx

Quick and Easy Holiday NOTD

Hi lovelies!

I spent a week in the Cornish sun last week, and took a couple of snaps of my nails - its a quick and easy look - whip on a base coat, then take another colour (the more opaque the better in my opinion) and sweep a diagonal line of colour across the nail. Easy peasy!

 Can you see the sea in the back of these pics? :)

I paint my nails like this pretty regularly, but this time I used a Max factor mini in Angel Nails, and OPI's all That Razz-Berry. The Max Factor polish has a pink-silver sheen but also works with purple too.

Thanks for reading & let me know if you try this out! I know its not the most exciting or challenging to do but I think it looks effective and always get compliments on it!

xxx

Sudocrem Skincare Tube Winners!

 

Hi there lovelies!

Just a quick post to let you know that the winners of the Sudocrem giveaway are...

Lauren from Pretty Little Daisies

Hannah Kimberley

Sparkles

Well done! An email will be on its way to you shortly!

Thankyou to all that entered :) 

xxx

Blog Sale featuring Nails Inc, Redken, Malvala, Models Own!

Im just having a mini blog sale as ive found a few things that I no longer need!

Postage is £1.75 + an extra 50p per additional item. I can do a deal on the postage multiple purchases though :) For heavier items I have listed the postage separately below :) Leave me a comment with your paypal adress so I can send an invoice.

Postage prices are to the UK - if you live outside of the UK leave me a comment and I will see what it will cost to post to you :)

SOLD

Nails Inc Fabulous set - I was given this one by my mum but have already got a set of my own!

£3.50 inc postage!

Redken Body Full Instant Bodifier

£5 including postage (retails at £10 +)

The following do not include postage!

Revlon Colourstay Pressed Powder in Medium - used a few times.

£2.00

Benefit Eyebright - used 2x, will sharpen before posting!

£1.50
SOLD via twitter

Models Own/Fabulous liquid eyeliner

 - never used.

50p

17 Sheer Moisture Foundation in light - approx 50% left.

£1

Models Own Scarlet Sparkle- swatched once: £2.50

Models Own Mixed Up- swatched once: £2.50

Mavala Mexico - swatched x2 - £2.00

Barbara Daly Envy swatched x1-50p

Ciate Mistress, swatched once: 50p      PENDING

 

Rimmel Pink Excess lipstick, used approx 3 times.

£1.00

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in Latino, used x2

£1.00

elf lipstick - Runway Pink, used approx 3x - £1.50.

Cecelia Aherne - Thanks for the Memories - £2
*SOLD*

 

Ceceila Ahern - Where Rainbows End

£1.75

*SOLD*

Louise Bagshawe - Desire

Bought new, read once £2.00

Please leave me a comment if you are interested in anything or have any questions!

 xxxx