Clic, Cloc and win :)

Do you what I also enjoy besides blogging? I enjoy graphic design, and fonts. Long before my love for make up, I have had a passion for fonts, and playing around with my paint shop pro, creating things just for fun. Long before Facebook, I had my own website and enjoyed spending time on it. So when I was invited to take part in a graphic design challenge, I thought it was too fun to refuse and I just had to take part.

I was approached to see if I wanted to create a design for a clicloc watch, those fun watches which have a very quirky to attach themselves to your wrist, with a clic cloc sound. Caroline from sparklyvodka has reviewed it on her blog. The box it arrives in is too cute for words.   











A few other bloggers also took part. Our designs have been showcased on a Facebook page, and opened for votes. The person whose design gets the most votes, gets the chance to work with the clicloc and share ideas on a real design, if I read it right, that is. How fab is that!


What's in it for you?
10 voters are chosen at random and will win the clicloc watch of their choice. No question to answer, just cast your vote for the design you like the best and you will be entered in the draw to win a clicloc watch. I hope you like mine



Click here if you want to take part :)

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Free Benefit and Ciate in Magazines start tomorrow

This is your 24 hour reminder about some fabulous magazine freebies available from tomorrow, 31 May 2012. Grab the July 2012 Edition of Marie Claire Magazine (£3.70) and get a free ciate nail polish worth £9. The shades to choose from are Bonbon, Jelly Bean and Purple Sherbet. I am not sure which shade is which from this shady scan but I really fancy trying the greige purple number! I will make a definite purchasing decision when I will be able to see the bottle in real life.







More freebies did you ask? Buy the July 2011 Edition of Glamour Magazine (£2.00) also out tomorrow, 31 May 2012 and get a free benefit primer sample/travel size (to choose from That Gal or Porefessional) and a mascara. Expect a stampede for this one and don't delay your trip to your newsagent if you want one of those. I predict a riot on the primers and a mountain of unwanted bad gal lash mascara (I have yet to read a positive review about the mascara). I was impressed by the that gal primer during my makeover so I really want to get one. I prefer using nanoblur on my pores but the porefessional is so smoothing, I am tempted to get one of these as well.

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Guest Bloggers Wanted: Mascara Special

Being a massive fan of false lashes and trying to avoid mascara when I wear falsies, I have accumulated a fair amount of new mascaras which I have not been using. This is a waste, when one of you my readers could try if for free. I have 6 brand new mascaras, never been opened, never been swatched/tried and I am looking for 3 beauty bloggers who would be happy to try them for free, in exchange of a guest blog post on my blog.  Anybody can put themselves forward (it doesn't matter where in the world you live) all you need is to have a blog, and to be happy to write a guest blog post to appear on my blog.


Interested? I am looking for 3 bloggers and each blogger will be sent 2 mascaras. Let me know which ones you would prefer to try, or which ones you have already tried and not interested in. I will be closing this post on Thursday so if you could let me know by Wednesday, 14 March, midnight, that's would be awesome possum :)


The mascaras are:







1. VaVaVoom (Boots 17 Cosmetics)
2. Volume Million Lashes Luminizer for Hazel Eyes (L'Oreal)
3. Lash-Fx (BeautyUK)
4. Exceptional Definition (Boots no.7)
5. Lash Mania (Essence)
6. Wild Curls (Boots 17 Cosmetics)


So, if you are interested, let me know, in the comments below,
by Wednesday, 14 March, 2012 23:59 GMT:

- Your name
- The name and address of your blog
- Email address
- Your country
- The 2 mascaras of your choice, or the ones you've already tried and don't need
- Link to a mascara review you've already done (totally optional)

   
I am looking for a honest review. I am not representing any brand and not affiliated with any of the brands, so if the mascaras is doing anything for your lashes, then you must feel free to say so, ok? The mascaras have either been bought by myself, won at giveaways, or gifted.


Yay

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Free 7-day Supply of Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Foundation

While I was checking the offers at the Boots Kiosk, I stumbled on this offer which I wanted to share you. You can get a 7-day supply of the New Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation when you have a complimentary makeover or skincare consultation with a Benefit Consultant.


My Boots store hasn't received yet the foundation. The consultant told me to ignore the deadline printed on my coupon from the kiosk (20 March) and booked me for my mini session and a colour match on the last day of the month of March, after work.




What they say:

Hello…it’s flawless time! Our new oil-free brightening liquid foundation builds from light to medium coverage for a natural complexion you can believe in. It’s you…just more luminous & healthy looking.

Umm, I am not sure how flawless I can be with just with light to medium, but I am happy to find out for free and go home with my week worth freebie! The foundation (at least in my little store) is due to be released on 31st March at the price of £24.50.



Interested by this offer? Visit your Boots kiosk, print your coupon, check with the consultant when they have the foundation in stock and book your free consultation session.

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Free Fluttering Falsies courtesy of Cosmo

Wait, another magazine freebie? What can I say? I like reading magazines. I am massive fan of false eyelashes. One of my favourite brand of eyelashes is Eylure so when the September issue of Cosmopolitan was released with a pair of exclusive lashes, it was a no brainer for me: I just had to buy the magazine. That's right, if you buy the September edition of Cosmopolitan Magazine (£3.50) you can get your hands on a free pair of 115 Eylure lashes.






Straight from the packet, I could see right away that these lashes were the right size for my smalls eyes and wouldn't need any trimming whatsoever. I love it when I don't need to trim the lashes and I can just pop them right on.





They have an invisiband type of lashline which I am not a fan of. I much prefer solid yet thin lashlines, as I do not like the appearance of the little gaps of emptiness.





The little gaps of emptiness, in close up action shot:
They could have done with being applied a smidge closer to the lashline





The Eylure 115 flare on the outside corner. This not my preferred shape of lashes but you might like it. I am paranoid enough about the my droopy lids and I feel that this particular shape doesn't suit my eyes. Ideally, I would have preferred them either straight or the same length as the inner corner.






And with a little bit of eyeliner on. I’ve misplaced my trusty H&M eyeliner, so I had to use my basic 2true eyeliner. Sorry for the wobbly hand and the lack of liner opacity.





And with a bit of slap on:







Final Verdict: These lashes are very good quality, were easy to apply and needed no trimming. However, I am not a fan of the invisiband lashline and the outer flaring shape. The human hair material gives an added natural look to the lashes but they will need plenty of eyeliner to conceal the ‘the little gaps of emptiness’. If you do like the shape of the lashes, they are very good value for money: the vertical curl is superb, the horizontal curve is spot on,  and you won’t be disappointed.


Happy false lashing :) x

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Le gris gratuit {notd}

Fed up of Magazine Freebies? Fear not, this post is going to be short, and straight to the point. 3 shades of Mavala mini polishes to grab free on purchase of Elle Magazine (£3.80), this month. My friend gave me the grey one and I can understand why. It's a bit of a boring shade really.





The polish was a pleasure to apply. Formula glided effortlessly on my nails (I know, I do say that a lot) but it's true. The polish practically applied itself without any effort from my part. This polish would look absolutely gorgeous with a blue glitter top coat on, with a 'flakies’ top coat, or with some sheer duochrome top coat, or a crackle top coat, ANYTHING REALLY to add a bit of interest and depth and perhaps to help make my skin tone  looking so ghastly dead and pinky.








If you missed my ‘Freebie Fursday’ post, you can also get Elle Mavala Orange and Elle Mavala Red as part of the Free Mavala Nail Polishes offer, on purchase of Elle Magazine (£3.80). Elle Magazine can be bought in any newsagent, good or bad. It tickles me when they ‘from any good’ newsagent…

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From Jasmine: So you want free products to review on your blog...

... and don't know how to approach a company or the PR representing the brand? I don't know how to do it either. In fact I haven't got the foggiest idea on what to write. So much so that I would actually not bother, being scared of making a fool of myself or offend, or sound needy etc...

Makeup artist, Beauty Blogger and now Business Manager at Elf Cosmetics, Oxford Jasmine has written today a really useful guide on the issue.





For those of you who missed my tweet, click here to read OxfordJasmine's very useful pointers, do's and don'ts on how approach a company about your blog, in the hope that they might notice you and want to work with you…

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Viva la flavour Nails - Free Leighton Denny Manicures

My story with Leighton Denny couldn't have had a more unfortunate start. First polish I bought from the brand yesterday had  the inside brush falling off its outer cap. I'd never win the lottery but if there is one loose brush in a  million, you bet I would be the one to find it. The very first time I bought what became my favourite and most  repurchased facial wash, it also sported a funky cap. I am so happy I didn't seal my final opinion on that first  purchase.


I never planned to buy any Leighton Denny polishes last week end. It all started on twitter when so and  so wondered if the Leighton Denny polishes were any good, as Bazaar Magazine is offering a free Leighton Denny  polish (to choose from 3 summer shades) on purchase of a copy of the magazine (£4.20) I was not ready for the  huge wave of enthusiasm towards the brand. My twitter timeline was on fire. Lydia who had just come home, came  out again especially to buy the polishes and my lovely Drew bought the whole collection  first thing the  following morning.





What was special about that brand? I was about to find out. After hearing the undiluted praise on Leighton Denny  on twitter and Drew's gorgeous swatches, I decided to buy all three shades: Viva La Diva, a sumptuous shade of  orange based red; Do me a flavour, a bright orange polish and Supermodel a gorgeous taupe/brown polish.





I first started to play with Viva la Diva and I just couldn't believe my eyes. The application was a dream. I  don't know what Leighton Denny put in their formula but it's just perfect: it glided effortlessly on my nails, not too  runny, not too thick. I could take my time to apply the polish around the cuticles and do my little gap. To top  it all off, it dried so such a glossy finish and so quickly. My photos of viva la diva show 2 coats of red. My  nails could have benefited from a third coat but I was so impatient to show them to you that I only applied 2  coats. Viva la diva? Viva la perfection, more like!

Viva la Diva with flash







Viva la Diva under natural sunlight




 


I was a bit hesitant about buying 'Do me a flavour'. Recently I bought an orange polish also as part of a  magazine offer and I ended up giving it away as I had found it too neon for my liking. 'Do me a flavour' is also  very bright in the bottle but fortunately not neon when you apply it. And what application that was: Like viva la  diva, it was just flawless and dried very quickly. 









I absolutely adore orange and can't wait to wear this shade,  tanned or not tanned. if this shade is too bright for you, pop them on your toes, you'll absolutely love it. I would like to thank you Marks and Spencer at this stage who were ever so kind to replace my first faulty polish against another one.







The third and final polish from this magazine offer was Supermodel. I am not very good with describing all  the nuances in brown and taupes. Supermodel reminds me of 'marrons glacés' (glazed chestnuts) and of a mixture of my  favourite polish in the whole world (Nails inc London) and Eyeko Posh polish but with a 5 star application. (all  right, all right. a quick little comparison below if you behave)

The photos show 2 coats of supermodel. You'll notice quite a difference in shade between the photos with flash  (the ones on black background) and the ones in natural sunlight. The ones most true to colour are the ones with  flash. The sunlight was so bright, it was turning supermodel into a much warmer brown.  














Quick brown comparison. The swatches below were done very quickly and sloppily. Excuse the surplus of polish on the middle finger and the gap so big on the thumb you could drive a truck in there. What this little exercise showed me is that although Nails Inc London is my favourite colour of them all, I much preferred the application of Leighton Denny. In fact, if I had to rate the polishes from below for their ease of application, from less easy to easier, it would be

1. Beanie
2. Nails Inc London
3. Eyeko and Bsrry M (sorry, I can’t choose)
and the best would be Supermodel.
Blown away I was!








Where the heck  was I when the memo about
how good Leighton Denny polishes are came out?


I've got no idea but I am not  missing out again. If you have never tried the brand, now is your chance to try. A Leighton Denny polish would  usually retail around the £11 mark, so £4.20 to try one is an absolute steal. or perhaps you want to let this  opportunity fling through your fingers and then have to buy the polish at 3 times its value on eBay? Do me a flavour, go get one now before the offer runs out...

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Free BodyShop Body Butters in Marie Claire: I got mine :)

Have you bought your copy of Marie Claire magazine? Just got mine with my free tub of Body Shop Mango body butter. That's right: Buy the June edition of Marie Claire magazine (£3.60) and get a free travel size (50ml) bodyshop body butter.





 

In total, there are 3 fragrances to choose from: Mango, Shea and Dreams Unlimited. 
Get yours quick before it's gone. They're selling fast.

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Inglot Candy Nails

I was not planning to wear nail polish for a while. I was planning even less to post any pictures of my nails!  I had to cut them right down to the base (very bad tear) and I much prefer doing nail posts when my nails are a little bit longer. I feel that they showcase a nail polish better but hey ho, short nails deserve to be loved too right?





Today, I am wearing a little freebie from a magazine. It's an oldie but a goodie: It was given away in 'In Style' Magazine and it's called 'Candy'. Candy a lovely shade of lilac pink. It's very girly, very pink but the lilac tones prevents it from being too 'barbie' girl and too cutesy. Application was easy, although I find this polish a little bit on the thick side. If you're a rush, you could get away with one coat as the coverage is pretty impressive but 2 coats will give you immaculate and even coverage. 


And now for the obligatory photo with flash (I much prefer taking my nail photos with flash!)




And now powered with natural sunlight :)





I am not into 'creme' finishes really. I find 'creme' finishes to be a little flat, unless they are nude mannequin shades or greige. But this one I like. And I like it better because it came free with a magazine!


 


In the occasions, when I miss my shimmer drama, I like to pair Instyle candy with the most gorgeous top coat ever: Inglot 017, one of my very few purchases from Imats (January 2011)


 


This very sheer polish will just 'prettify' any polish you have and will add some kind of duochrome pink/bluey glow to your nails. If you wear it on its own (about 4 coats though) it will just make your nails so pretty and elegant.





I've worn on its own a few times (very hard to photograph) and they look like very clean, fresh rosy glow nails and I always get compliments. It would be the kind of shade Men scared of nail polishes would like, something pretty safe you would want to wear when you meet his parents too ;)





Talking of freebies, and if you're in the UK, keep your eyes opened for some other magazines offers: Fee from Makeup Savvy and Grace from London Makeup Girl  have found some offers for us, starting in just a few days time. Weee! :) Ooo I like a magazine freebie! Which one is the best one you’ve collected so far?

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