NOTD: Art Deco Clouds

I'm still very unwell with this cold/flu and in between flat-out sleeping and dozing watching bad day-time TV, I decided to paint my nails... Shouldn't have. The fumes made me cough like crazy! My eyes were streaming. Finally after an hour of juggling drying polish layers and Kleenex tissues for my dripping nose, I finally slicked on MegaShine and crashed onto the sofa with the cat. My goodness, doing manicures is hard work when your body isn't well.. I used Rimmel LycraPRO "Urban Princess" for the pink, Topshop "Summit" for the yellow (looks orange!) and GOSH "Wild Lilac" for the purple. I wanted to put on a fourth colour, the pastel blue beauty Bloom "Kate", but when I finished "Wild Lilac" I felt so ill I couldn't continue. I may add it in tomorrow.

I got the idea for this mani from the talented Dutch lady who has the Nailside blog :) She has a tutorial there, you should check it out! Her nails are enviously perfect and she has some seriously ace nail art ideas.

I think I also want a pair of these sandals - maybe they can save my poor feet from fashionable footwear??

Beech Sandals in Leopar Print
Photo by CultBeauty.com

Mega-Cold Strikes!

I'm in bed with a magnificently virulent cold/flu and a ruptured ear drum from the ear infection of the century, so all I've done for two days is sleep, drink flu remedy and cruise the internet on my laptop. I came across this today:

YSL Rouge pur Couture Glossy Stain lip stain in "11"
Photo by Selfridges/YSL

I want. Are you lucky enough to have splashed out on one of these from Selfridges? If so, did you like it??? I also covet the Dior polish "Waterlily":

 

 It just looks so spring-like and happy, just looking at other peoples swatches makes me temporarily forget my red-raw nose and pounding head. Have you managed to get hold of "Waterlily"??

NOTD: Zoya "Astra"

"Astra" is from the Ultra Glitter collection from Zoya. I've worn it before, but it's so pretty it deserves to come out to dazzle again :) I used it in some art as well, which is why I decided to put it on! This is 2 coats, could have done with another one, but I couldn't be bothered. I put on 2 coats of top coat, as this is a top coat eating glitter! "Astra" is a red-pink glitter, but not as red as in my photo.

Lina-Elvira loves it this much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 

REVIEW: Redken All Soft Argan-6 hair oil

At Xmas I got a bottle of Redken All Soft Argan-6 oil, as my hair was a mess and so dry it was painful... I read a lot of reviews and decided this was my choice among all the fancy hair oils out there! After using it for over a month, every day after washing my hair before blow drying, I can report that my hair is super soft and shiny! The oil smells lovely but you need to slick it on dry hair to reap the lasting smell - on wet hair it doesn't really leave a scent. It's not greasy or heavy; I have very fine blonde hair so if I can use it - anyone can!

Lina-Elvira loves it this much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I also got a well-talked about item from Aldi (the super-cheap supermarket) today - a bizarre-looking anti-wrinkle serum! At £4.99, it's worth a try...

Photo

©

by L'Oreal

And here is a peek at something that is coming soon from L'Oreal. I hope to review these as soon as I've tried them! One of my all-time favourite shampoos/conditioners is as you may know L'Oreal's Full Restore 5, so I hope that these measure up as they are supposed to be sulphate-free!

NOTD: Max Factor Mini "Fantasy Fire"

This is what a lot of nail enthusiasts have been hoping is a 'Clarins 230' dupe, but when I look around online, I can see they are similar but not dupes?.. I unfortunately do not have a bottle of '230' to compare with myself.

I actually got this by chance in Superdrug today, and I will going back for another bottle! It is absolutely stunning. This photo is 4 coats (I should have layered) but it dried really quickly so doing multiple coats was easy. This is a poor photo of a crappy bunch... It looks lighter and more washed out in the photo. It is sheer to go on but the colour then glows and shifts in colour in the light! But my camera just can't cope with it in artificial light. I will try and get some shots in daylight.

This is certainly a strong contender for the "Polish of 2012"! But the rest of the year will tell :)

Lina-Elvira loves it this much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

NOTD: Sally Hansen HD "LCD"

The weekend has passed too quickly again, and I have a bad cold AGAIN! So I needed some cheering up so I chose this cracker of a polish that's been in my 'untrieds' stash for a looooong time. It looked very sheer so I put a coat of Rimmel LycroPRO "Urban Princess" underneath then did 2 coats of "LCD" on top. Please excuse the messy cuticles :( You can't really see the cool blue microshimmer in this polish, but it makes it look electric :) I would really like other HD polishes from Sally Hansen but I can't seem to find them in the UK. That's a shame, as they all look perfect for summer!!

Lina-Elvira loves it this much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

NOTD and Reviews

I felt like something purple today! First brown, now purple, maybe green at the end of the week? I am reminded of one of my favorite books when I was little - "Aunt Green, Aunt Brown and Aunt Lavender". I cannot really remember the story; I think that I was mostly drawn to the colourful illustrations of Elsa Beskow's books :)

Anyway this is Mavala "Purple Sensation". This is 3 coats, it was kind of "stealth-sheer", I had some see-through patches after 2 coats so I decided on 3 coats. As usual, I finished with a slick of MegaShine so I could get dry quick! Busy busy! :) It's a very nice deep, jewelled purple, reminds me of China Glaze "Coconut Kiss", but darker.

Before I go I also have to rave about some more Soap & Glory products! I got "Peaches n' Clean" cleansing milk for my birthday from my work colleagues and I must say having used it for a week now my skin is so happy! It's a cleansing milk you rinse off with water. It smells lovely and doesn't feel very greasy after washing it off. It melts off my makeup easily, although I still prefer to use makeup remover cloths for my eye makeup (I am addicted to the Boots No 7 ones, I'm afraid!). I will definitely be buying this again!

I also have a new favourite moisturiser - Soap & Glory "The Daily Youth". It's quite light so it does perfectly under makeup, but it's not rich enough for night time for me though, I still rely on Simple "Regeneration Age Resisting Night Cream" for night time nourishment. It doesn't contain any silicones (which breaks me out) and it's really hard to find nice moisture lotions without silicones. Well done, Soap & Glory :)