Sunday 30 May 2010

NOTD: Avon ColorTrend "Refreshing Pear"


This is one of the new Ice Sheer nail polishes from Avon. I didn't realise these were scented until I was casually examining the box between coats! These are not as strongly scented as the Revlons from last year but it has a very nice subtle fruit scent! I am a sucker for scented nail polish; brings me right back to the late 80s when I got some of my first ever polishes (and I still have and use most of the today!).


This is 3 coats, unsurprising considering the name! No top coat, it dried fairly quick anyway (I was preparing strawberries within 20 mins).


That reminds me; I also bought the whole Footworks Cherry Ice foot care collection from Avon recently , and it's lovely! :) First I soaked my feet in hot water, then I scrubbed them with the Exfoliating Scrub, soaked them some more til the water was lukewarm. I dried off and massaged in the Moisturising Lotion and finished with a spritz of the Cooling Foot Spray. It made my neglected little tootsies smooth and soft and it smells divine!

Tuesday 25 May 2010

NOTD: China Glaze "DV8"


This is an old favourite of mine, a teal holo that glides on amazingly well! This is 2 coats over base coat and no top coat as the top coat seems to disperse the holo effect. Gorgeous! And will go really well with my jumpsuit for work tomorrow. Yes, I said jumpsuit. All the rage right now and I love them :)

Sunday 23 May 2010

NOTD: Collection 2000 Hot Looks "Bongo Beat"





I am just back from a glorious mini-holiday in Grantown-on-Spey in the Cairngorm National Park; warm (23 degrees Celsius), humid and sunny! For once! I was there for the Big BioBuzz day and saw some amazing moths, hence my compadres here; the eyed Emperor Moth Saturnia pavionia, and my white friend Puss Moth Cerura vinula. Both are huge and very impressive!


Today's NOTD is one of the new Collection 2000 nail polishes for summer, "Bongo Beat". It's a mermaidish, blue/green duochrome, not unlike Orly's "It's up to blue", but more tropical green mixed in, which is hard to capture on camera. Absolutely lovely! This is 2 coats with Sally Hansen MegaShine top coat.


I will be trying to post more this week, I've been so busy lately!

Wednesday 19 May 2010

NOTD: Rimmel 60sec "Black Out" with Topshop Matte Top Coat


I fancied a matte black for my outfit tomorrow. This is my fave black polish, opaque-ish enough in one quick-dry coat for layering with other polishes such as my Nfu-Oh's. This is two smooth coats of "Black Out" with a slick of the new Topshop Matte Top Coat. More satin than matte, I think but still fantastic.


Terribly sorry for the messy application. The colour and formula is fantastic on this polish, but the brush is a bloody disaster!! Mine is splayed and the rogue straws makes a right mess around my nails when applying it... I have tried trimming with scissor but it keeps splaying out. One day I will get another bottle and hope the brush is better on that :) Nevermind I will pick it off after my shower tomorrow... :)

Monday 17 May 2010

NOTD: Nails Inc Diet Coke "New York" with Zoya "Alegra"



So I got myself another free polish from Nails Inc by getting some Diet Coke; this one is called "New York". I love the formula on this - it's a luscious pink jelly that applies like an absolute dream! I jazzed it up with a bit of Zoya "Alegra", but then it was impossible to photograph... So good thing I got two different shots - before and after "Alegra". It is more pink than coral in real life; it is a difficult colour to photograph without sunlight.


This is 2 coats of "New York" and 2 coats of "Alegra" with Sally Hansen MegaShine top coat. Much sparklier in real life than the camera can pick up!

Sunday 16 May 2010

NOTD: Topshop "Copper Coated" Limited Edition





I am finally feeling OK again after a week or so of bad neck pain, and it could be because my first flower of the season has opened - my lovely yellow Petunia "Prism Sunshine"! Also I thought I'd show this cool photo of my Lilac as well.


Anyway, "Copper Coated" is a fantastic bronze with flakies. This is 2 coats and top coat. Lovely formula on this one, opaque and smooth. It is hard to capture the flakies on camera, you just have to trust me when I say that it looks much better in real life!

Friday 14 May 2010

400th Post!






*pops champagne*


Another milestone - 400th post! Thank you all for keeping on reading and commenting! :) To celebrate, I have a cool NOTD for you all - Topshop "Carry on camping", on it's own and with the new Topshop Matte Top coat.


I used the Matte Top Coat on half of a nail when I wore No7 "Beanie", it stayed chip-free and matte until I took the manicure off, despite oiling my cuticles and using hand cream! :)


This is 2 coats of "Carry on camping", no top coat, then with a slick of Matte Top Coat.


And also I found some new nail polish in Asda today. Not the George one's that everyone else seems to find, just plain old Asda brand polish. Some nice colours, can't wait to try them, but I got a few Topshop polishes to get through first!

Tuesday 11 May 2010

NOTD: Topshop "Sunset" Limited Edition


Soooo, maybe I discovered that my local Topshop has got the nail polishes and lipglosses in store, and maybe I got two more polishes today.. Ahem. And maybe I ended up in the Debenhams Summer Spectacular sales and scored some primo stuff... Maybe, just maybe. But I have a hell of a sore neck since last week and was feeling like some retail therapy...


So to go with my new purchases I am sporting one of the lovely limited edition nail polishes from the S/S collection of Topshop makeup, "Sunset". This is a sheer sunset pink shimmer with irregular flake bits of shimmer. Amazing! It's quite subtle but still has that rock star spirit in the flashy bits of shimmer. I am LOVING the Topshop makeup right now! :)

Monday 10 May 2010

FOTD: Creamy nudes


I tried my new Topshop Skin Tint today. I chose the "Light" shade. It is a sheer base so doesn't give an opaque coverage, but it felt very moisturising. You only need a small pump from the tube to do the whole face. Was a bit greasy after a whole day, so perhaps might dust it down with my BareMinerals Mineral Veil to set it tomorrow.


Was a bit over-zealous with the Tint though, so my cheeks are a bit "glowy", ahem... It lasts very well, a bit too well - I can still see the Tint after taking my makeup off. I may just stick to doing the lips where it lasts very well!


For my eyes I chose the Isadora eye shadow palette "59 Creamy Nudes", it's a lovely palette with 5 matte, silky nudes. Thank you, Mum! Applying them over BareMinerals Eye Primer makes them look freshly applied even 10hrs later after a long day at work, a walk home in the occasional sleet shower and a trip to score a new dining table! :)

Sunday 9 May 2010

NOTD: Nails Inc "Diet Coke: London"


What was I thinking?? Nude/greige creme, when I have such awesome choices as Topshop "Copper Coated" and "Carry on camping"?? Well, I don't know, been really suffering from my recently bruised ribs after all that gardening yesterday (I couldn't even get out of bed and couldn't sleep for my sore back and midriff)... I think I may just be ill, hehe.


It's a nice polish though! Same buttery smooth Nails Inc formula as ever, and this is 2 perfect coats and top coat. I like it. Maybe will look better if I'd not broken a nail today doing the vegetables for roast chicken... Damn you potato peeler from IKEA!!! Never mind, it's done, I just have to suffer for a while until it grows out. This is one of 4 different colours that you get free right now when you buy 2 500ml Diet Coke bottles from Boots! But this was the only unique colour so I got this one.


Anyway, I will do my first "face" with my new Topshop makeup tomorrow, so stay tuned for a FOTD tomorrow night! :)

Saturday 8 May 2010

TopShop Haul!





So Topshop finally launched their makeup on May 5th, and I of course was quick to order (none of the Aberdeen stores carry the range)! And I am glad I did, both the limited edition nail polishes I got look amazing, especially the rich copper one! The green nail polish looked fairly standard on the website but I couldn't resist the name - "Carry on camping".. However, I don't own any colour like it! The khol, "Petrol", is a rich cool blue-green colour, and the Tint is a lovely berry that looks really good as a cheek/lip colour on me. Skin Tint is yet to be tried, but I will review it as soon as I can! I am still debating which nail colour to try first but I think it might be the pink one, "Sunset"...


Been told the reinstatement works of our flat will start on Monday and last approximately 8 weeks. Woohoo!! Soon I can go home :D I spent most of the morning weeding and tidying up the garden at my house and planting some Lily of the valley for next year, so I can spend tomorrow on my bike! Here's hoping it won't rain!

Wednesday 5 May 2010

NOTD: No7 "Beanie" and some exciting news!


Hello there! Got a little comparison today for you, No7 "Beanie" which is touted as a kind of dupe for Chanel "Particuliere". "Particuliere" is the on my ring finger. I hate to spoil it for everyone but... it's not. But "Beanie" is close, and still nice! "Beanie" was a streaky mess at one coat, "Particuliere" was opaque buttery smoothness. This is 2 coats of both. And "Beanie" is a lot darker and greyer that the Chanel. The formula on "Beanie" suffers a bit from 3-free syndrome, gloopy but thin. "Particuliere" certainly shows why I paid £15 for it!!


Anyway, today was another mega-exciting day as Topshop FINALLY released their makeup collection! I got a 3 nail polishes (Sunset, Carry on camping, Copper Coated), the Matte Top Coat, khol pen in "Petrol", Skin Tint in "Light" and Lip and Cheek tint in Berry Bitten. They should be here tomorrow, so look forward to excited photos and swatches over the weekend!

Monday 3 May 2010

NOTD: Makeup Academy Shade no 13


I love to find new cheap nail polishes. Makeup Academy (MUA) is a range of budget makeup that Superdrug has just recently brought out; it has some great nail polish colours including this one and a mint green one. I also bought a nice minty green eye shadow with a matching metallic-y eyeliner and they both performed superbly on top of my lovely new bareMinerals Eye Primer.

This is hard to capture; I will need to get another photo tomorrow in daylight if I can. This is 2 coats with Sally Hansen MegaShine top coat. It annoys me when companies can't even be bothered making up names for their colours. This is simply No 13. With it's soft warm green shimmer that applies beautifully it should be called something like "Green Velvet" or something...

This is not bad for £1! I love it, I may splurge on a couple of more shades at lunchtime tomorrow!

Sunday 2 May 2010

Gardening and review!





Hello from a mighty cold May Day weekend in Scotland! I've been busy so far with outdoor pursuits including planting pots for the garden! I've got a nice grow house set up now for all my little seedlings! I am hoping I can bring you some lovely NOTDs with my home-seeded plants in the backround! I've got terrible nails at the moment and very scaly, dry hands. Nothing's working for me. Therefor I've not done my nails as of yet this weekend.. I will do a nice new green shimmer for you all tomorrow!


I am currently road testing Makebelieve Night Time Facial Moisturiser, and I have to say I am in love! It is a gradual tan for your face, you put it on as a night crem. It hardly smells, and doesn't rub off nasty brown colour on your pillow! I also tried the gradual tan and self tan from the same line, they both smell very little and don't leave dirty marks; however I didn't think that the Self Tan left a deep enough colour for my taste... They're all mega-moisturising too so its for once good for your skin to tan!

Night Time product was the No 1 in Gok Wan's "How to look good naked" programme! As it is a gradual tanner, it'll be enough if you swap your regular night time moisturiser for this ever 3 days to get a nice healthy glow as opposed to a deep fake tan. I love Night Time, but it is very expensive, £25 for 75ml, a bit much, but for me it's worth it! You can buy the trial pack for £15 in Boots so you can test the stuff for yourself for less!


I'm off to deal with some dishes, but I will see you all soon with more reviews and NOTDs!