A pop of colour

It seems that these days that not a day passes without a celebrity releasing a beauty product. Sometimes their endorsement and whether they were really involved in the creation of the product is a bit dubious but there are times when it really makes sense and you wonder why a particular product weren't released any sooner. Cue Katy Perry and her most recent collaboration with Eylure lashes.


Katy Perry released some false lashes before but never before have they looked as perry-esque as they do now. Katy Perry is all about bright colourful looks and these lashes invite you to add a pop of colour into your makeup look.




These would be perfect if you want good quality and reliable quality lashes (as opposed to taking your chances with lashes an obscure random brand on eBay) to complete an already bright and colourful eye makeup or if you want to subtly enhance the natural colour of your eyes. The blue and the purple would be ideal to make brown eyes pop.




The packaging is absolutely spot on: What more appropriate that pop art to illustrate lashes with a pop of colour. The shape of the colour of pop lashes also excite me. The feathery look really remind of the luxurious shu uemura smokey layers who are by far, without the shadow of a doubt THE lashes which have got me the most compliments EVER. When I wear them, people go 'You should wear them often'. Well, I would if they weren't £17 a pop! They also present 2 features that I really like on false lashes: a solid lashline (easier to conceal than 'dash-lined' ones) and the fact that they are shorter on both the inner and outer corner. Lashes which have a slanted shape and longer at the outer corner do not tend to suit me as they emphasise my droopy lids.








If you couldn't tell already I am beyond excited about these lashes. The concept, the name, the shape, the colour and the fact that they scream Katy Perry to me. They cement the idea that I already have in mind of Katy Perry: Her costumes are so much fun, you could almost believe she comes straight out of a comic book.

 

 

According to the lovely Bicky, from Tastes Like Glitter, these little beauties will be released in January 2013. I can't wait to check them out and see how they compare to the 'pop-of-red' (Girls Aloud) Sarah Festival lashes.

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Hot Pants, Mink and Glamrock

Forgive me father for I have sinned. I have had photos of these beauties in my possession for an embarrassing long time and I've  only come round writing about them today. But maybe it's a blessing after all. You’ll understand why at the end of this post ;)


If there is one polish which has totally captivated me  this year, it's Look Beauty 'Kimono' the fabulous and bargainous £5 dupe of Chanel Peridot. I couldn't wait to try other polishes from the brand and today I have 3 other shades to show you. Ladies, allow me to share with you my impressions on Mink, Hotpants and Glamrock.









First this is Mink, a gorgeous creme finish polish which shade reminded me straight of 'London' Nails Inc, one of my ultimate  favourite polishes. Like the purply greige taupe colour was not gorgeous and elegant enough, the polish applied with such ease and gave me a flawless opacity in 2 coats only.















Next this is Hot Pants, which is so gorgeous it could give Kylie's iconic shorts a run for their money. Some of you will know that I am  absolutely crazy about gold polishes. I am also quite fussy about them. The shade needs to be spot on, not too yellow, not too brassy, a bit coppery and this one is just how I like it: with flecks of green and red for extra depth and dimension.










Unlike one of the Barry M gold  polishes which I made the mistake of buying on a blog sale, Hot Pants is super easy to apply and in 2 coats I was ready to go to show  my gold fingers to the world. You can see some very minimal amount of brushstroke action on some fingers but this is hardly  noticeable. On my thumb, and perhaps because of the lighting, the polish appears almost like a foil, or like a sheet of gold  glistening in the sun light. I am convinced that there is a a shade of gold to suit everyone. I wish I knew more about colour theory  to guide you but one thing I know is that Hot Pants is just the perfect shade against my skintone, and it nearly makes my skin look a bit  tanned?








Last but not least, this is Glamrock, a gorgeous 'vampy' dark purple, with the most delightful glittery specks of bright red. Again  super easy to apply and just 2 coats got the job done. The finish of this polish is not as shiny as the others so this would suit  those of you who prefer their glittery/shimmery polishes on a matte side. Do not worry about the concentration of glitter/shimmer of  Glamrock as it didn't affect its removal. Glamrock was as easy to remove as Mink and Hotpants.














In short, 3 gorgeous shades of nail polishes which are so different from one another that it's difficult to choose a favourite. Each  polish retails at just £5 but Look Beauty is treating us to a special offer at the moment, in celebration of the bank holiday week  end: Everything is at 1/3 off and postage and packing is free.









The last time I counted, Look Beauty has 31 polishes (I made a montage of them all for you HERE, minus the Limited Edition  'Britannia' which Milly from Pearls and Poodles has reviewed here) I think the time has come for me to finally get my hands on sequin ,  one of the 'rainbow flakies' top coats from Look Beauty.












what: Nail Polishes from Look Beauty, in shades of Mink, HotPants and GlamRock
how much: £5 RRP (1/3 off until the end of August 2012 Bank Holiday week end - Tuesday 28, 10am, basically)
where: Look Beauty online.
disclosure: nail polishes were sent for review purposes, like 15 years ago. Oopsie xx

  

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Sunny Spot: Gone dotty for Fee

Other than countless failed attempts at French manicure nail tips, I have never tried my hands at nail art. I don't have think I have the flair for it, the imagination, talent, patience and all the skills required for it. When I reviewed the beautiful Wyoming Nail Polish from Accessorize, many of you commented that you would love to see it as a base for some sort of nail art. When Fee from MakeupSavvy invited us to take part in her 15-day nail challenge, I thought this was the time had come to experiment. Today, it's day 14 and the theme is dots.

So I decided to go ... dotty for Fee.
The motivation: you guys!
The reason: Makeup Savvy 15-Day Nail Challenge.
The theme for day 14: Dots
The inspiration: Lucy's Stash Manicure for Sweet Sugar.
The polishes: Accessorize Wyoming Nail Polish (reviewed here) and New Look Colour Pop in Pistachio (reviewed here)
The tool: The only thing I could find in the house: a hair pin like this one.
The time: 30 minutes to do the whole thing (including taking photos and writing this)
The challenge: find a sunny spot to photograph (see what i did there?)
The result:

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Ok, before you look. Try to remember I've never done this sort of thing before
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Ok now, you can look
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The dots are so big and uneven and rubbish. Must try harder next time… if there is one that is!

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Colourpop fun :)

So I was wandering aimlessly in my New Look shop a few days ago and stumbled on a new range of fun and colourful makeup called 'Colourpop' where every item is sold at £1.99. Of course, I had to take some pictures and share them with you, I do love a bargain! I have bought 2 items from the collection, do you want to guess which ones?

So they had lipsticks in the cutest packaging





lipglosses, eyeliners and nail polishes







and eyeshadows



You've guessed it already. I came home with 2 nail polishes.







The yellow one is just called err.. ‘yellow’ and the green called ‘pistachio’. You know already that a nail polish doesn't need to be expensive to have great coverage but good pastel and neon polishes, whatever the brand and price are notoriously hard to find. So how did these 2 little £1.99 bright things fare? Admirably well. What you see is only 2 coats of polish. Arguably, the yellow could do with a little extra coat but in real life, I really don't mind it like that. The brush on one of the polish had 2 little stray hair but it was nothing that a small of scissors couldn't quickly fix.









No streaks, no bubbles, no patchiness, just a pop of colour as the name suggests. The yellow is just my perfect shade of 'easter chick' nails and applied even better than the MUA 'lovehearts' yellow. The green is a lovely pastel and neon shade at the same time. I don't own anything like it and I am absolutely in love with it. The formula is lovely, thick and creamy and would also work brilliantly for accents of colours in a nail art pattern.







I must warn you that these nail polish stain the nail though. I tried the green one very quickly on my thumb which didn't have a base coat on and it left me with a darker nail after removal. So I decided to apply the nail polish over 2 coats of my favourite base coat (more on that in another post) just to be on the safe side and my nails were suitably protected and no staining happened.



I am delighted with my little bargain purchases. Thank you Newlook. ^_^



disclosure: bought by me
note: please excuse the quality of the pictures. compression rate set itself to 45 without my knowledge :/

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The wait is over. Nail Pops are here :)

Can there be anything more exciting than a 4-day long week end? Yes, there can. A 4-day long week end with the launch of Look Beauty online store. You've heard it from the brand themselves on twitter. I heard it from my friend Loulou who like me has been waiting for this moment for months on end.


This brand is nothing new but getting hold of their products is easy as getting products which are only sold ... outside the United Kingdom. Right from the very beginning, Look Beauty has suffered from a very poor presence in physical Superdrug shops. It's not their fault. Had it been up to them, they would have been in every Superdrug shop in the UK


What's so special about Look Beauty? In my eyes, a huge range of makeup products designed for people on a small budget, and (don't laugh) a cute font. I am ashamed to say that I am irresistibly drawn to the font and the packaging of the products. Most importantly, I have been obsessed with the brand since I've known that they created the most affordable dupe of Peridot nail polish, to date, in the shape of 'Kimono'.

As luck would have it, the very day I receive my bottle of Kimono from my friend Nicola, who kindly sold it to me, Look Beauty finally opens a web store *rolls eyes*

Anyway, the range of makeup products offered by Look Beauty is huge, very aesthetically and purse pleasing, postage and packing is low (£2.95) and they accept paypal.


Today I wanted to show you the whole range of Look Beauty Nail Pop nail polishes available, at £5 a pop. The watermarked flower will give you a clue on my favourites and I am hoping to play with Kimono as soon as I can.

What are your favourites?

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Palm Beached Nails

Do I mention the twitter drama which caught my attention last night, while my intention was to write about this little pink number? Nah… Let's just go right ahead and dive into nail polish world. Today, I am happy to show you 'Palm Beach', the latest irresistible offering from 17 Cosmetics, as part of the Limited Edition Miami Pop Collection.





Palm Beach gives you the most amazing bright and feel good blue toned pink colour on your nails despite a formula which was a little bit on the thick side for my liking. Had the formula been a bit thinner, I think I would have felt a little bit more in control and not left such a huge gap around the cuticles. That or I've been waiting for so long for my nails to grow that I've lost the knack of applying nail polish - if I ever had a knack that is.





My photos show just 2 coats of nail polish. In retrospect, and looking back at the pictures, three coats would have showcased this polish better and given a more even finish. That's one more coat that I usually apply but with the most gorgeous pink colour, a cuter flamingo on the bottle and an even cuter price tag (£2.99 or £3.99, I honestly don't remember) I can't possibly complain. My toes can't wait to have a little taste of Palm Beach too!




As usual, it's the photos under the artificial lighting of my camera which show the most accurate colour. The ones above make it look like a bit neon, I blame the lovely glow from summer evening sunlight.





I believe you can't buy this polish anymore in the shops. But fear not, I've grabbed a spare one which one of you can have, along with a few bits in a modest giveaway, open to all you, my dear readers, wherever you are in the world. And hell, I'd even send it to Miami if you happen to live there, you jammy thing.

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