Tuesday, 6 August 2013

Under the sun series: Still Irreplaceable


Have I already run out of ideas and content to feature a nail polish previously blogged about? Fear not, I have a backlog of posts as long the channel tunnel. Today, I would like to share you a old favourite nail polish of mine, in a different light, as part of my 'under the sun' series. If you are new to the series, you can read about it here. If you can't be bothered leaving this page, it is essentially about giving great nail polishes the love they deserve and giving them a better chance to shine: a chance to see them under the best light ever created by nature: glorious natural sunlight. Essence irreplaceable is a big favourite of mine and I still like it just as much as the first day.


Oddly enough, I have not been wearing it much at all as a manicure but it has been without a doubt *the* nail I have been wearing the most on my toes this season. In fact, apart from a glittery black nail polish worn for about a week, it's pretty much all that I have wearing this summer on my toes. Don't panic, there will no toes on show (I am very much aware that showing toes and feet is very controversial on internet) instead, have a look at this irreplaceable manicure.


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I can't stress enough how easy this polish is to apply and wear. Nail polish experts will notice right away that my application is not the neatest and that it looks like I've applied the polish 3 miles away from the edges. But in the grand scheme of things, and in real life, it really doesn't matter. That's the way I wear it. The truth is that Essence irreplaceable is a very forgiving shade due to its subtle colour. On my toes, it will last 1 week before losing its sparkle. After a week, it will start to wear out beautifully, a bit like an antique gold vase.
 


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If you're lucky to have a friend who lives in a country which sells bargainous high street wonder Essence products, this is definitely a shade you would like to get your hands (and toes) on. I need a gallon of this stuff and it will be a sad day when I will have run out of my second and last bottle. The closest polish to irreplaceable I own and which is available in the UK is this little sexy number from Marks and Spencers.



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Saturday, 3 August 2013

Nair Upper Lip Kit


Since an unfortunate episode at the beauty salon, I've been avoiding beauty salons like the plague and I've been taking charge of the unwanted hair on my face at home. I've been scared to get my eyebrows waxed at the beautician (any beautician, not just the one who butchered my brows) so I have been trying to maintain my brows myself with a pair of tweezers. As I get older, removing unwanted hair around my eyebrows is getting easier and easier. My eyebrows just don't grow as full as they used to anymore and I find myself spending more time filling them in rather than tidying them off.


Hair on the upper lip, however, is still a problem. You'd think as you get older, hair on this area will stop growing too but no. Lately I have been trying to control the appearance of facial hair on the upper lip whilst bleaching it. The problem with bleaching is that the hair is still there, less noticeable but it's still there. As I was photographing some stuff for the blog, in my kitchen, on a sunny day, one day, I caught sight of my upper lip foliage and was horrified. The same day, I found myself in the aisles of Boots, purchasing my very first hair removal cream kit.


The choice of hair removal creams was quite baffling for the newbie like me. I remember that there was a product for the face, from Boots own brand at £2ish but I opted for a pricier product and went home with the Nair Upper Lip Kit (RRP: £5.10) formulated for sensitive skin.


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The rationale behind my purchase was two fold:


1) A pricier product would mean better quality. If I want to have a memorable first time, I want to give myself as many chances as possible of liking the product. So I might just as well go for a good product, instead of choosing a cheapie one and running the risk of being put off for life from a method of hair removal I never tried before. I also remember the days when I was trying to learn how to put false lashes on and it was only when I spent £5 in a reputable brand like Eylure that I managed to put for the first time a pair of eyelashes with confidence.

2) A product for sensitive skin would be better suited for hair removal newbies.

Do you know where this is going yet? I am trying to write this in the most neutral way as possible, trying to manage the suspense, only to reveal my opinion of the product at the end of this post but I feel like you can already sense where this is going.


I made the effort to read all the instructions but chose to ignore the bit where it says you have to patch test a small area to see if you develop a strong reaction with it. The packet suggests that you do the patch test EVERYTIME you use it. Really? Who does that?


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My first impressions were really good. The kit contains 2 tubes: the blue one is for removing the actual hair and the pink one is the moisturiser, to use after you've done removing the hair, to soothe and moisturise the upper lip. The colour coding makes sense in a way. The blue (blue for boys) is tough, like men are tough and strong and removes the hair. The pink (pink for girls) is girlie and adds some needed ‘gentleness’ to the world  Winking smile


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What also impressed me that is that I didn't notice any scent at all, in either the blue or the pink product. It's only after I was done with the product that I realised that it didn't have any scent.


I wanted to leave the product for the 5 recommended minutes but as I tried to sweep some of the hair off, I noticed that it didn't come off easily so I decided to leave it on for 5 more minutes, making sure not to exceed 10 minutes overall. I was definitely ready to take the product after 10 minutes as I could feel the tingling sensation getting more and more noticeable.


As I expected it, my lip felt very tender when I removed the product. I was expecting this feeling to last maybe 4 hours, as this is usually the amount of time  that my lip feels tender after an upper lip wax. The problem is that my lip felt sore for a whole 48 hours. It wasn't red, it wasn't a burning sensation as such but it just felt weird to the touch, so incredibly tender but numb at the same time, like the pain you get after a lip wax, but a pain which would last 48 hours. As the hours went by, my lip felt better and better but the first 24 hours were just extremely uncomfortable. Then 2 days later, when the pain had finally subsided, the hair started to grow back. Hair Regrowth felt quite sharp, a bit reminiscent of leg hair regrowth but at a smaller scale.


It's extremely unlikely that I am going to re-use the Nair upper lip kit ever again. I can't say it's a bad product and Nair did very well to create a scent free product but I think it's this particular method of hair removal which is not suitable for me. It's an experience that I never want to go through again. It's not worth it, 48 hours of uncomfortable pain and when the pain finally subsides, you have to contend with regrowth. To be honest, I don't know how long my upper lip stays hair free when I have it waxed but it certainly lasts longer than 2 days! To be fair, the product *did* mention that it would remove all visible hair, not hair from the root as waxing would but I expected better than that. And if I'm going to have 'sharper' lip hair again after 2 days, I might just as well use a razor and be done with it.


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If you're quite accustomed to hair removal products and quite like this method, you will probably enjoy this kit. No need to mix anything, it has a handy slanted applicator nozzle thing, and it has no noticeable smell, from what I can remember anyway. If you're new to the method altogether, I would recommend to experiment with a cheaper product and see how you get on with that, with a view to upgrade in the future. The Nair upper lip kit retails for £5.10. To add salt to injury, it's on half price at the moment: £2.55 at Boots. Grr!


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Thursday, 1 August 2013

Emergency Lilac




So you're about to go on a week end away, you're all packed but you didn't get the chance to do your nails because you actually started packing at 11pm the night before. You quickly pack some nail polish, before you hop on the train, or you think you did but you can't find the darn bottle.

What to do? Chances are that if you're going on a city break, you won't probably be too far from a Superdrug, when you can pick up some 'emergency' nail polish. Now, 2true nail polish in shade 14 might not be the most exciting shade out there, but it's one of these handy colours which will go with anything and which will quickly make your bare nails presentable enough to visit his parents in two easy coats. More importantly, it's incredibly good value for money (£1.99) and the application is a doddle thanks to the flat brush.


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2true polishes (well, the 'creme' finish skinny bottles anyway) are too good quality to be relegated to the status of 'emergency' polishes. In fact, it's almost an insult to the brand to treat them that way. Next time you're in Superdrug, give their stand a chance. Despite its low prices and the young audience that it therefore attracts, 2true has some gems which are 2good to be overlooked.

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I particularly cannot wait for the release of the 2true paper lashes, for a funky accent on the outer corner of the eye. Paperlashes are usually so much more expensive that normal so I am really interested to see how much 2true budget brand will sell them for.


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What: 2True nail polish in shade 14
How much: £1.99
Where: Superdrug and 2true online.
Purchased the product myself.

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Sunday, 20 January 2013

The best red eyeshadow in the world

If there is one party eye makeup I love is glittery red eyes. Not wanting to blow my own trumpet, but I have found nothing gets you as many compliments as red glittery eyes. Once, I was coming back from a night out, was a bit naughty, didn't remove my eye makeup (don't sleep in your makeup, it gives you spots) and was stopped (the following day) by the Boots Makeup woman whose makeup is always absolutely flawless and she went 'woah, what's that you on your eyes'. I must say, I loved that moment as for once I was a getting a compliment from a makeup professional.


But my beloved red glittery eyes demand a pigmented red eyeshadow and good quality and inexpnsive eye shadows are VERY hard to find in the high street.

 
When I finished the teeny tiny little red eyeshadow part of famous 'ebay' 88 matte eyeshadow palette (the only shadow I used out of that palette, I had never liked that palette at all actually) I realised how difficult it was to find an inexpensive and good quality red eyeshadow on the high street. Matte shadows in general are harder to find, but blooming heck finding a matte red one really felt like mission impossible.


No point going to Boots or Superdrug, you'd be wasting your time. If you don't want to go through the expensive Mac route, Illamasqua does a gorgeous one (@LizzumsBB aka benebelle has some gorgeous swatches for you) but I'd rather not spend £16 in a eyeshadow if I could and would rather pay £1 more and purchase a pair of stunning lashes. Topshop does a lovely red shadow but 1) it's more a raspberry pink shade of red and 2) topshop annoys me, being so pretentious only selling their makeup in the poshest and biggest shops in England. Sleek finally released a red eyeshadow in one of their eyeshadow palettes but the palette was only a limited edition item, in honour of the Olympics and you still had to fork out £7.99 for it.

  
Ebay once again came to my rescue and you have no idea how excited I was to find a super pigmented red eyeshadow for just £1.76. Now for the confusing part. The shadow is made from the lovely folks at Stargazer. They have, I believe, 2 red eyeshadows. One is disappointing, and is called the 'fluorescent' one. Don't get that one, because it's dry and not that pigmented. You want to get the other one, also called the red velvet one by some sellers. I always wear a primer and a white base to maximise the duration and pigmentation of my eyeshadows but I took some photos for you, without any primer or anything to show you how pigmented this little bad boy is. POW!


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I hope you will excuse the abysmally bad outdoor lighting. That’s England for you!


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This shadow is everything you want from a eyeshadow: very good pigmentation, soft but not too much fall out, very easy to blend and is £1.76. Why get anything else?


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I told you people liked it Winking smile



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It’s Sunday and that means it’s Blogging Date with Sirvinya. If you have a few minutes to spare, please do check Sirvinya’s beauty blog. Thank you for reading xx


What: Stargazer Red (velvet) eyeshadow
How much: £1.76 (+£1.44 postage)
Where: Ebay. Seller is called Supply me Beauty.
Link to product here.
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Sunday, 13 January 2013

My moisturising buddy


If there is one thing I keep changing times and times again is my day face moisturiser. For one, I don't think I have found my 'holy grail' one and my priorities change all the time. One minute, I will feel super self conscious about getting old and will want to invest into something pricey-ish hoping it will make me feel better. The next, I am thinking, I am going to get old anyway, no matter how many lotions and potions I slather on my face and will just want a very accessible and plain moisturiser which does its hydrating job well.

 
One of my skincare priorities which is hardly going to change is that I need moisture, loads of it and this what brought me to purchase a tube of Superdrug Vitamin e radiance moisture cream. I was very dubious this moisturiser would impress me. How could a £2.99 moisturiser ticks my boxes when a £14.99 face cream can sometimes leave me indifferent?


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This is what it promises to do:



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12 hour moisturisation, did they say? I don't know about you but when a product promises me to give {insert amount of hours/days/weeks} result, I usually like to half that and consider myself happy if I get that result. Put your hands up if you only get 1.5 weeks of fuzz free legs when you’ve been promised 4! I can't tell you if this moisturiser left me moisturised for a whole 12 hours but my skin always feels adequately moisturised after a whole day of work and until I am ready to take it all off in the evening.


To top the long lasting moisturising experience (and the Superdrug vitamin e hot cleansers fans will vouch for this) the moisturiser smells absolutely divine and reminds me of cocoa butter mixed with sun cream. Texture is lovely too and sinks in my skin very easily, leaves me moisturised, plumped, smelling gorgeous and never too greasy. It feels like my skin needs it and drinks it all as soon as I slather it on my face.
 
Now for the 'radiance' bit. This cream, in my opinion, is strictly reserved for individuals with dry/very dry types of skin. The light reflecting pigments are quite powerful and noticeable almost verging disco ball but I absolutely love it personally. I hope the following picture, taken in bright natural light will be able to give you an idea.


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I admit I will probably feel self conscious if I wear this moisturiser on its own, in bright day light, say at a picnic date (eek, I can't stand picnics) at 2pm on a ridiculously sunny 'summer' day, in case I resemble one of the vampires in twilight but to be honest, I can't imagine myself wearing this moisturiser alone, and with no foundation on top. As soon as you put something on top, primer or foundation, the radiance effect is dramatically reduced. Also having said that, I have found myself reaching for this moisturiser many times, on a dull winter day, even when I am not planning to put makeup on top.

This moisturiser is not perfect though and it tragically clashes with my favourite face primer (no.7 airbrush away primer) and as soon as the two become in contact, they almost curdle together and  I am left with little bits of stuff peeling away on the surface. Is is the fault of the £2.99 moisturiser or the ridiculously expensive no.7 primer? (£19 something?) I don't know. My primer also 'curdles' with another face moisturiser which I own and my vitamin e moisturiser gets on perfectly with my L'Oreal Studio Secrets Smoothing Resurfacing Primer.
 
As for the anti ageing agenda, the Superdrug vitamin doesn't claim to bring me 10 years younger but it does contain 2 universally recognised anti-ageing ingredients (read the beauty mouth anti ageing cheat skin here) : vitamin e and a sun protection factor (SPF 15) and I am very very VERY happy with that.

I am going through my third tube of vitamin e moisturiser and it's definitely going to fall into my Superdrug basket many times again in the future, especially when I get 2 for £3.99 as it is the case at the moment. The tube has a very small handy handbag size, it's not overly girly and embarrassing to carry around and be seen with and finally no big fat fingers dipping in a big fat pot: you squeeze of fresh amount of product every time. It really bugs me I can use my airbrush away primer with it, but it gives me the chance to use up my other primers I never use.


What: Superdrug Vitamin e Skin Care SPF 15 Radiance Moisture Cream
How much: £2.99 (watch out for 2 for £3.99 offers during the year)
Where: Superdrug.
Availability: even the small and dingy superdrugs have got it :)


It’s Sunday and that means it’s Blogging Date with Sirvinya. If you have a few minutes to spare, please do check Sirvinya’s beauty blog. Thank you for reading xx
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Sunday, 6 January 2013

Last night a hair dye saved my life

So what do you do when you have a special occasion coming up, at the very last minute, there's no time to do anything and you're white as an headache tablet? You experiment with bronzer or wash off fake tan, and pray it doesn't rain. When it comes to hair, things are a little bit trickier, especially when there are grey hair involved. Colouring your hair is messy, super messy and if you're anything like me your hair only looks presentable the second time you wash it. No matter how much I rinse my hair, straight after colouring it, you can guarantee I will be left with a stained scalp and other tell tale signs.

While browsing Superdrug, I came across the Colour Effects wash in and wash out and I can't even begin to tell you how many times this has saved my ‘life’. I couldn't tell you how many times I bought it too.


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The idea is to wash your hair as normal, pop a bit of the conditioning colour on your hair, leave it to rest for 5 minutes and voila. In reality, it is not straight forward as that. My hair is so bleeming dark, I like to leave it on 15 minutes (this is something I always do with any type of hair colourant) while I go about ma’ business in the bath. The product is super runny and before 15 minutes have elapsed, you look like you had a head injury and the red colourant is dripping all over your body.


The way I go round this is to apply this temporary conditioning colour and cover my head with 2 disposable shower caps immediately after. Bulk buying disposable caps is probably one of my best (and probably most boring) beauty investments in the whole of 2012. Don't even think of trying this hair colour and not having some sort of head gear at your disposal. You will only manage waiting for 5 minutes (if that) and you'll freak out in case the skin of your whole body gets stained in the process, which is probably something you don't want on the day of your special occasion.


The result is quite striking. If you have grey hair, you will still be able to see where they are, but they will look almost as highlights and will blend better with the rest of your hair. The bottle says that it contains enough product for 3 applications. I find that I just have enough product for 2 applications on my 20 inches hair. I love how it gives me enough colour to temporarily (2 shampoos) to cover the bits I am self conscious about but without the faff of a traditional hair colourant. You don't need to worry about gloves either and it won't stain neither nails or hands.


I easily could think of 2 brands which offer a wash in, wash out hair colourant with far superior quality: the legendary shaders and toners from Wella and another brand which used to be only sold at Tesco. Both of them seem to have been discontinued. Colour Effects from Superdrug are far from perfect. If I had to give it a mark, it'd just scrape a 5 out 10, due to its extremely runny texture. But it has saved my bacon so many times, it's a product that I've been buying again, again and again. It is definitely, for me, anyway, a case of 'confidence in a bottle' and that is priceless.

What: Superdrug Colour Effects Wash in Wash out. (6:4 rich red)    
How much: £1.29    
Where: Superdrug
Availability: even the small and dingy superdrugs have got it :)  

  
It’s Sunday and that means it’s Blogging Date with Sirvinya. If you have a few minutes to spare, please do check Sirvinya’s beauty blog. It’s been a real challenge for me this week. To say that I have been feeling rusty, is an understatement. Thank you for reading xx
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Sunday, 9 December 2012

Bronze Nails

'Tis the season to make your nails festive and today I have a gorgeous golden coppery bronze shade to show you. I am the first one to be surprised at the beauty of this shade.  My first experience of bronze nail polish didn't have the best start. I remember buying Models Own Proper Copper from a blog sale and not being able to wear it at all. It basically looked like baby poo.

  
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Models Own Rage however is a total different kettle fish altogether. I predict that it won't be everyone's cup of tea and won't suit all skin tones but for me, it has enough gold in it to stand against the contents of a baby's nappy and I really really like it. To top it all, Bronze Rage applied very easily and gave me a beautiful opacity in just 2 coats.


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In one week's time, well next Friday, I am hoping to wear a black skirt and a fancy gold embroidered corset style top for my staff Christmas Party (this is the plan so far anyway) and Bronze Rage is presenting itself a strong contender for my nails. I am thinking that maybe I could jazz them up with a gradient-ish gold glitter tips a la Lady of the Lane? We'll see...

I am once again very grateful to Sirvinya, without who this blog would be very bare at the moment. Take a moment to check out her blog, if you have a few minutes to spare. If we hadn't had this Sunday blogging date going on, this blog wouldn’t be very much updated these days. I think my mojo is hibernating.


Have you been on a Christmas Party yet?
What did you wear on your nails?



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Sunday, 25 November 2012

Nudey Dudeys



It's been so long since I've blogged that I feel I have forgotten how to do it. To ease myself gently back into it, I wanted to share with you my impressions on the second half of the neons and nudes set from Nails Inc. After being very disappointed with the opacity of the neon side, playing with the nudes was a walk in the park. Just two coats and the white line of my nail was appropriately hidden.


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I hope you will excuse again the 'lazy' manicure. These bottles are so small (only 4ml of product in each of them) and you really feel the big dent in the bottle after 2 coats on each finger. Porchester is such a lovely colour. It was love first sight. If I listened to my heart, I'd go buy a full size bottle right now. I feel it compliments my skin tone quite nicely. I didn't get along with Cadogan Square at all. I can't put my finger in it, it just clashes with my skin tone. It feels a bit like trying to pull off a shade of blonde hair on someone designed to be a brunette.


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No seche vite was used in this manicure. Holding a normal size bottle of nail polish made the photograph taking easier Winking smile


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The little cherry on the top in this set was the timeless classic Jermyn Street and it made me fall in love with it all over again. I could have sworn to have blogged about it before but a quick search on my blog made me realise that I was wrong.


Jermyn street is quite simply the best brown nail polishes out there. Some of you will call it taupe but to be honest, I don’t know much about colours to distinguish between taupe, brown, mushroom and all that. Since jermyn street, I have not touched at my Barry M mushroom which I find quite bland in comparison. Jermyn has just the perfect dosage of purple in there and I don’t think I could ever get bored of this colour. I would totally recommend it!

  
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It’s time of the week again when I have a blogging date with Becky. Hop over to my friend Becky aka sirvinya and check out her post of the day Smile
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Sunday, 11 November 2012

Neon Skittles


Everything beauty is just so Christmas focussed, I wanted to take a little step back, break from the mould and write about something a little different. I will embrace Christmas when I am ready but for now I want to write about something bright, something neon. Some of you will associate neon colours more with Summer. For me, neon is there anytime you want to brighten your mood and this is just what I need at the moment. Without wanting to throw my doom and gloom on you, I've spent most of the past week under the weather, mourning the loss of a close friend of mine. It's been quite cathartic to cry but now I feel the urge to shake myself out of it and inject some brightness into my life again.

 
Cue the Nails Inc 'Neons and Nude' boxset of mini polishes. I was lucky to win the boxset in a blog giveaway and the neon shades had to go on my nails first.
   
   
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For you today, I have some swatches of the 3 neon shades: Westbourne Grove, Portobello and Notting Hill Gate.

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The first shade which I felt compelled to try first was Westbourne Grove, the neon yellow-orange shade. I am not going to beat about the bush. I was very disappointed. Whilst I find the colour absolutely gorgeous, the application was laborious. The formula was smooth enough, but it was way too sheer. I paired it with my favourite nude polish underneath but even then it took 3 coats of polish to be able to appreciate the colour of Westbourne Grove. Then it's the finish I had trouble with. I do like matte polishes but when Westbourne dried on my nails, it looked decidedly dull.


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Portobello and Notting Hill Gate were a little bit better in terms of coverage but they still required the application of a nude polish underneath, which defies the object of 'quick, let's just apply a bright ass nail polish to cheer myself up'. Enjoyment of the neon part of this box set takes time and patience.


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There's something as well you should know. Bottles only contain 4 ml of product. Do not be fooled by the photos. 4ml is not much at all which explains why I only opted for a skittles manicure to show you how it looks when applied on the nails. The set is very cute but I find the price tag of £22 a little steep for sheer polishes. Maybe the other half will fare better in terms of opacity?  
   
   
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If you like Westbourne Grove but feel slightly put off by its pigmentation pay off, I'd recommend BonBon by Beautyuk. You’ll have your bright orange/yellow fix quicker and with less effort. I moan, I moan but I am quite happy to be the owner of this set. It brightened my mood, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

   
I am once again eternally grateful to Sirvinya, without who this blog would be very bare at the moment. Take a moment to check out her blog, if you have a few minutes to spare. If we hadn't had this sunday blogging date going on, I am not quite sure I would have updated my blog at all these days
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Monday, 5 November 2012

Bella of the ball

If there is one thing which is difficult to buy online because of unrealistic and digitally enhanced pictures is coloured contact lenses. Prime example of this are the Edit Twilight Bella Contact Lenses. I expected golden reddened light hazel nut eyes and all I got was slightly more defined brown eyes.

   
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I love how the outer darker rim gives my boring dark brown eyes a little bit more edge. I love how it gives bigger eyes, a little bit like a doll but in the grand scheme of things, I wish I didn't bother with these lenses. They are a bit pointless in the sense that the change is not dramatic enough.


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If you are going to go to the expenses of buying contact lenses and through the MASSIVE faff of putting them in, you want them to be really noticeable. I wore them yesterday on my trip to Nando's and none of the 4 people I was with noticed any difference. This is how subtle they are.

But since I had them in yesterday, I decided to keep them for a few (ahem) drinks round town. I seem to be in a red phase at the moment. I gave my red clip in extensions another outing and I decided to adapt my moulin rouge makeup, get rid of the fake lace, the feather and add a little glitter. Red eyeliner was made with snazaroo red face paint mixed with Ben Nye Liquiset mixing medium.


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I was so scared to wear face paint as an eyeliner on a night out, in case it would smear but the eyeliner lasted remarkably well. I was really impressed. To make it more durable, I added a little bit of red glitter on top which I stuck with eyelash glue. If I wear glitter on the whole lid, I would usually rely on my trusty splash, but since it was only a small area, I decided to use eyelash glue instead.


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005-edit-twilight-bella-lenses-before-after-review-brown-eyes

006-edit-twilight-bella-lenses-before-after-review-brown-eyes


As predicted, people didn't notice the lenses, but the makeshift red glitter eyeliner coupled with the red extensions got me some compliments. Woo :) If I lack inspiration for the makeup for my staff Christmas do, I might do this one again.

  
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