Hey guys, I am so sorry I haven't posted recently! I have been trying to do overtime at work so I can save up some pennies, and this involved me starting at 7.30 three times last week and only having one day off all week! To someone that normally works on average eight hours a week, it's been a bit of a shock. And I've generally just feeling a bit low and depressed all this week so I haven't really felt like blogging a great deal, if I'm honest!
Gonna take a minute here to be completely open with you guys. I mentioned in a previous post that I suffer from seasonal-depression, when really I just suffer from depression. I say 'just', it's a very consuming illness. And yes, it is an illness, and a disability.With me, it manifests itself as an intense sad feeling, where I can't get out of bed in the morning, I find it very hard to sleep during the night and find myself sleepy and lethargic all day and nap quite often. I cry a lot and don't want to leave the house. So as you can see, it's not really conducive to blogging. If
If you're interested in awareness, here's a link to the Depression Alliance with more information.
Anyway, moving on from that and to something more suitable for this blog, I thought I'd show you something that I've enjoyed doing recently. I was watching an episode of the Graham Norton Show and Kelly Rowland was on it - and she had one of what I am calling ring-finger manicures. She had a bright yellow colour, just on her ring-fingers and I wanted to try out something similar.
On my nails I have China Glaze's Turned Up Turquoise (A full picture and review of which you can find here) and China Glaze's Frostbite on my ring-finger, both of which cost £5.99 from Sally's.
I realllllly like this idea. I was worried it would look a bit childish, but I think as long as you use colours that work well together, like this, it looks really good. Turned Up Turquoise is actually a neon, and as such it is matte, but with a top-coat it works well next to Frostbite, which is a deep, frosty blue. Have you done this? Show me pictures! (:
I went into town today with my mum, with the intention of getting a father's day present for my dad (duh), and came back with some stuff for myself. I'm not very good at this, am I? Oh well. I did get my dad some presents, too.
Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick in 13 Peach Passion and China Glaze Nail Polishes in Flip Flop Fantasy/Sun Worshipper from the Poolside collection.I wore Rouge Volupte to work today but I'll wait a bit longer before doing a proper review! So far, I really love the colour and it goes on super smooth, I like that. The packaging is lush, too. Very pretty and classy, as you expect.
I had to go out to work, but I couldn't help but do a quick swatch of these.. they're so awesome! These were the two I really wanted and I almost bought them offline the other day, but I'm glad I didn't because I wanted them the second I saw them. These are so bright! Like.. day-glo fluroescent bright. I pretty much love neons, apparently. All I seem to do is buy them, I think I have about 5 China Glaze Neon's? Oh well! Haha. Back to my point! I always put topcoats over them, because I prefer them glossy, but they're super stunning without;
Flip Flop Fantasy is a brilliant neon coral, somewhere between pink and orange and red. It's sooo bright. And Sun Worshipper is the orange that I just can't get over. It's like traffic-cone orange mixed with yellow and just great. In this picture I've got topcoat on my middle and ring finger, and my index and pinky are without, all matte.
I've just done a full manicure with Flip Flop Fantasy.. so expect a full review shortly!
And a bit of the old Body Shop. They were on offer for 2 for £8 again.. so my mum got one and so did I, haha. I don't even like Grapefruit but this smells fantastic. I am pretty much addicted to these shower gels. Also, how excellent is the word 'pamplemousse'? It's excellent, I like saying it..
I tweeted about this but I thought I would just show you guys.. I got this from Primark the other week. £6 in the men's section.. I love it, ahah. I'm such a geek, excuse me..
A few bits and pieces for you! A FOTD from today and the day before. Messy, sundried hair, throw on eyeshadow, contoured cheeks.. this is what I'm into right now!
Look 1: Shimmery gold with bronzed-up cheeks. Taken after a day of shopping and eating ice-lollies in carparks, so s'cuse the smudging, etc.
Look 2: Quick, bronzy goodness suitable for when i'm late for work!
Eyes:
Too Faced Eyeshadow Insurance
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Half Baked
MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Engaging (the bronze side, duh)
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack
MaxFactor False Lash Effect Mascara in Black
Benefit Browzings in Medium
Face:
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel
Dior Diorskin Nude Foundation in )30
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium
MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW20
NARS Blush in Luster
MAC Iridescent Powder in Golden Bronze
Lips:
Carmex
Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Mistress
- - -
Eyes:
MAC Too Faced Eyeshadow Insurance
MAC Eyeshadow in Soba
MAC Pigment in Cocomotion
NARS Eyeshadow in Galapagos
MAC Eyeshadow in Nanogold
L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black
MAC Eyekohl in Feline
Benefit Browzings in Medium
Face:
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel
Dior Diorskin Nude Foundation in )30
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Medium
MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW20
MAC Blush in Hipness
- - -
Nails:
China Glaze Strawberry Fields
GOSH Rainbow
And a little wish-list!
- Lush Lip Scrub
- Cuticle cream - possibly one from Lush? I've heard theirs is good.
- Crystal Nail File (which I can't find ANYWHERE near me! I think I have to travel further afield!)
- Some new body wash
- New facial-wash? I've finished my Clinique and found it's drying out my skin a bit, I need some suggestions for new stuff! I have combination skin, a little bit oily in the t-zone, a bit dry on the cheeks.
- My car back!! It's in the garage. ):
Hello folks, I know I've been awfully absent recently, but I honestly didn't think it had been this long?! I thought I'd just take a little break from the whole beauty-community and then suddenly it's April! I don't think I'm very good at this updating lark, but I'm going to give it my best shot. And big love to Lydia on Twitter who made me want to start blogging again! That out of the way with... My latest obsession is nails nails nails! I didn't realise this blog was so nail-centric, but mine have grown excellently these last few months and I love showing them off, haha.
I went into town with my mum this weekend (Bank Holiday weekend, what a mistake!) and picked up a couple of polishes. One of them being this gorgeous China Glaze colour, Turned Up Turquoise. The bottle captures my heart instantly, because it's the same colour as a car my mum used to own. I got it in Sally's on Saturday and they currently have a buy one, get the second half price deal, so I'm all over that at the moment! I also got Dorothy Who? but I'll save that for another post! So I picked it up without looking at the label and bought it, because I was in a bit of a hurry, and it wasn't until my mum was swatching it in the car home that I realised it was a neon!
Now I have a bit of a love hate with this formula. I'm trying to keep up with this matte-trend, but at heart, I love glittery, glitzy, glossy nails! So my natural reaction is to put a top-coat on them, because then they really shine, and you can see all the fantastic micro-shimmers in them. I get home and realise I've run out of top-coat. Sigh, story of my life! Haha. Anyway, I picked up a cheap bottle of Rimmel top-coat over the bank-holiday weekend (which I'm pleasantly surprised with actually!) and here it is.
Generally I adore the colour of neons, because I love anything that's super bright, and these fit the bill. This is Turned-Up Turquoise, and I think they retail for about £5.49 or something like that, but you can get them online for much cheaper, so shop around! Like I said, my mum used to own a car this exact same colour, it's the perfect turquoise green-blue, haha. I wore it on my fingers and toes on a night out with a beige top, black leggings and peep-toed heels, and really liked the way I looked altogether.
This is the other one that I can find, because I misplaced my bottle of Purple Panic when I was taking pictures.. but hey, we'll make this a green post! This is In The Lime Light, a perfectly awesome, highlighter green, that seems to glow in the sunshine. Both In The Lime Light and Purple Panic seem to have a blue micro-shimmer that the top-coat really brings out. As you can see here, you can still see my nail-line, so you're gonna need to layer up some coats, but it dries fairly quickly.
The internet tells me that these are also, all from The Wow Factor collection, and were re-released with the Ink collection more recently. However, they've had these colours for a while in my local Sally's, so have a gander. (: I'll try and post Purple Panic some time in the future!
Both of these make me feel so excited for summer, and today the temperature in double digits and so lovely and warm that me and my friends got a takeaway for dinner and ate outside! haha. Definitely looking forward to spring, spring, spring, and much much much more importantly, summer! (:
This is following on from my last post about nails, and is the first of four "haul" (slash review/information!) posts that I have coming up for you!
I've been trying out Sally Hansen's Natural Nail Growth Activator over the past two months, and have noticed a considerable improvement! I love it because it dries to an unnoticeable natural finish, which means its absolutely perfect for when I forget to take my polish off before work (we're not allowed nail varnish, unfortunately!), especially for £6. When the bottle runs out, I'm probably going to try the Miracle Nail Growth. That coupled with I've finally managed to kick the nervous habit of biting my nails, and been trying to drink more milk (I have bad teeth and nails, so, every little helps!). They're getting there, they're just not in the best of condition (Which is the next step, I bought Nails Inc's A&E base coat which my friend recommended to me.
But, I'm digressing. I always want to be one of these people that has their "signature" nail colour. I have my signature scent, but I'm still struggling to find the perfect colour. So I've been scouring nail blogs, and drugstores for a good shade. And I mean scouring - I think I'm going to have order offline, because I'm definitely lusting after a deep, glossy, dark green.
GOSH Nail Lacquer - £4.39 from Superdrug.
542 Chocaholic, 573 Golden Brown, 551 Sweet Peach, 571 Wild LilacI am in love with Wild Lilac. Think OPI's Done Out In Deco, but less washed out and half the price! I tested this out the second I got it home, one coat without a base coat, and it lasted amazingly. A lovely, glossy finish, and was surprisingly durable.
Sweet Peach is a colour I loved... in the bottle. A pretty mustard yellow with a pinkish duochrome, with glitter in it, too. It came out a little chunky, and stained my nails a bit, as well as taking a while to dry, I found (but I am terminally impatient). Chocaholic is a pretty colour, but a little plain, and comes out with hints of red and purple, instead of the true chocolate brown the bottle promised.
Golden Brown is a colour both me and my mum loved. I've just taken it off my toes after wearing it for.. probably three weeks, give or take. It's very shimmery but very pretty, and from swatches I've seen, a decent enough dupe for MAC's Mercenary (half the money!).
China Glaze - £? (forgot! about a fiver) from Sally's.
Strawberry FieldsFirst off, 'scuse the shoddy job I did of painting them. I think I was in a rush to do this. Actually, thinking about it, I may have done this whilst we stopped in Pizza Hut for lunch, haha. I was looking to see if Sally's sold any Duo glue the other day, and found a rack of China Glaze polishes, much to my happiness! My immediate reaction was to pick up five I just had to have (before remember I'd dropped £30 in MAC, already that day!). I limited myself to just one, amazingly (but I know where I'll be heading with my next paycheck..!), and this is the one I picked. I'm not really one for pinks, but this colour has a lovely gold shimmer to it. In some lights, it pulls a little red, but the bottle is an accurate colour. And you get a big bottle for your money, I think a few ml's more than the GOSH, which is only a little cheaper. I love the consistency, easier to apply, a good brush, and dries well, to boot.
OPI £9.99 (roughly)
You Don't Know Jacques!I'm actually wearing it on my thumbnail, here, but because of how my hand is tilted, the bottle is a more accurate swatch. I have a grey, by Barry M, and I always thought this was a pretty grey. It's not. It's more of a mushroomy brown grey, a taupe, if you like that word (which I don't!) - either way, I am in love. In some lights, it looks dark brown, in daylight, it shows it's true colour, which.. is just lovely. If you can get this online, do. I wouldn't by it from Sally's, because you will have to pay £10! Some websites (which I'll list at the end) sell it for $4 USD! Which is insane, so shop around.
Rimmel 50 Seconds Nail Polish - £3.22 from Boots
819 Green With EnvyNow all my friends have this polish, I think. And whenever I see it on them I think wow, and always ask them what it is. This is it. My friend was wearing when we went out the other day (and I'm very jealous of her nails) and in the sun it seemed to glow. Don't let the name fool you - I would never call this a green. It's a predominantly blue turquoise. It takes a while to dry, and showed brush-strokes on me, but its worth the awkward nature.
A word before I let you get back to your lives! I've learnt my lesson with paying a lot for nail polishes.. I shelled out for Chanel's 471 Blue Satin, and do regret it, cause I've found much prettier shades for a fraction of the price! Such as Barry M's 292. I only get OPI's because I get a discount on some of them, but I highly recommend searching the high-street (and the internet!) for dupe's. As much as I would kill for a bottle of Gold Fiction or even NARS Zulu (which looks gorgeous), I don't know if I could justify them.
But that's just my two cents! I'm off to bed cause I have to work in the morning!