Glitter polish; ooh shiny shiny!

I always thought glitter polishes were tacky or for little girls playing with makeup but as I've grown up I've realised they can be a great wee touch to the perfect mani or fantastic for sprucing up a plain looking outfit.

I'd heard of Model's Own and fallen in love with pretty much every shade they have so I was delighted when I went to the Scottish Bloggers meetup (I wish I could link to a post here but I didn't take any pictures that night!) and won Juicy Jules from Karris' giveaway.

This polish is simply put magical! The glitter gives off so many different colours and the polish looks great on top of a mani or on it's own and built up with different layers. The only thing I don't like about glitter polish is that it doesn't tend to chip, it just peels off all in one. Really annoys me, especially if I'm out!

What's your opinion of glitter polishes? Love or loathe? Link me to your favourite mani?

Mix and Mingle

How cute are these?! I probably don't even need to ask you all where I think I got them.. Poundland! I got them months ago and I still haven't opened them. (Saving them for blogging remember!) 

So they are both Revlon Mix and Mingle Lip Palettes. In shades Tango With Mango and Hello Honey, as you can see below.

I love the idea behind these! You can just use each individual shade or mix them together to make your own. At first I thought I wouldn't want to mix them and ruin the pattern but now that I've tried them both I've changed my mind!

Click the red more for close up and swatches :) 

Spray your nails dry

As soon as I saw this sitting on a poundland shelf, I knew I'd have to try it! I am the worst person for not waiting till my nails are dry to do things, then I end up ruining my nails and moaning at myself!

So I tried this out on the purple Revlon polish from my Plums and Oranges post a while back.

I'll admit, I was rather dubious as I am with most things but I also knew I'd have to try it and find out for myself.  It does what it says on the tin. You paint your nails then spray this over them, wait for 60 seconds and you should have almost touch dry nails. I did, it was wonderful! I;ll definitely be trying this out on all my polishes and probably letting you all know the results!

Have you tried this or any other ways of drying your nails? Do you have any tips you swear by (such as dipping you rnails in cold water after you've painted them)? You all know the score, let me know below!

 

Pure diamond; ooh la la!

I got these from poundland quite a while back and I've only used one of them once, "I don't want to ruin them before I've blogged about them" but now I can finally write about them and use them more! I got both of them in one packet, so 50p each, can't argue with that can I?!

Green and purple are my two favourite colours, I think they go so well together but look great on their own as well. Not just make up either, everything! Kitchenware, clothes, wallpaper. It's fabby! I digress, back to the matter in hand!

As soon as I seen these eyeshadows, my little eyes lit up! I don't know what it is about different shades in one pot? that I love so much but I do. It looks really nice and it saves carrying multiple shadows about with you because they are all right there!

The other thing that kind of took me aback was the fact that they are Nivea, I thought they only did skincare but I have been proven wrong!

Not really much more to say about these shadows so click the read more to see swatches

One thing I will say, I'm obviously too pale that the light/white shade doesn't show up on my arm!

Bourjois bundle

I wrote yesterday about the Rimmel bundle I got from TK Maxx, well at the same time I got this little set. I couldn't resist this, I've yet to achieve the perfect smoky eye so anything that will help me along the way! This cost £12.99 with an RRP of £21.50 so another fantastic saving!

Again I have to apologise for the pictures, this camera really doesn't like me. I need to get mine back from Sarah's soon! Anyways, onto the products!

To everyone who doesn't want to tilt their heads to ridiculous angles to see what these items are, I'll just tell you. From left to right (or top to bottom) we have, Volume Glamour Ultra Black mascara in shade 61 Ultra Black, Smoky Eyes Trio in shade 03 Mordoré Chic, Effect Smoky in shade 71 Smoked Brown and I also got a wee free gift with it, a sample size of Effect 3D mobile unfortunately it's not got a shade number or name on it, it's kind of a sandy, beigey type shade I'd say (of course I could be and probably am wrong)

I've not really tried that much brown eyeliner, I've grown up using black so it's a bit of a welcome change if I'm honest. Something different! I forgot to take a close up of the smudging brush but it's not sponge like most of them are these days, it's a little brush. I was a bit disappointed as I love the sponge tip idea, but I'll give it a go! 

Again, I've not really used many shades like this, my shadow is usually very bright colours or non-existent, but I'm looking forward to seeing if I can create the intended smoky eye effect. Like the quad from the Rimmel bundle there is a wee guide on the back showing you how to achieve the smoky eye.

I have to admit, after opening the Rimmel mascara then opening this, I was a bit disappointed in this but I think that's only because I love bristle brushes so much that when I opened this I just thought 'oh no bristles' I'm not going to think about that when I try it though, open mind!

I'm not a huge fan of lipgloss, I tend to find it too gloopy and just plain eurgh but again I'll give it a go. Never know I might fall in love with it!

Yet again more fantastic savings! I really need to start shopping in TK Maxx more often, the savings are unbelievable!
What was the last big saving you made?

Rimmel bundle

Hello bloggers! I'm back and I have a few posts lined up, the first of these being this wee Rimmel bundle I found in TK Maxx for £7.99 the RRP being over £20!

The items are Glam'Eyes Lash Flirt volume and lift mascara in shade 001 Black, Moisture Renew lipstick in shade 690 Mocha Cream and Glam'Eyes Quad Eye Shadow in 023 Beauty Spells.

So I've not had the chance to try out these out yet so this is just my first impressions and I also have to apologise for the pictures, camera was not playing ball today!

I've said before in this post that I'm still not sure which colour lipstick to go for but I've managed to buy a shade that's quite similar to the UNE. So I must be starting to like browny/reddy tones at least (nothing beats a nice red lip however, that will always be my favourite)

So the shade isn't identical to the UNE lipstick from the linked post but they are similar enough that I thought of it as soon as I opened the Rimmel lipstick. It feels quite soft and creamy, so I'm assuming it will be quite nourishing on the lips.

I fell in love with this mascara as soon as I opened it! I'm such a fan of bristle brushes, I feel like they coat my lashes so much better and you get more life from them as there are usually those 'de-clumpers'? that get rid of excess product. 

The bristles on this brush are actually different sizes, as you can see from the two pictures. Longer bristles below and shorter ones above, I'm hoping this means all my lashes get evenly coated. I'm really looking forward to trying this!

I love the colours in this quad but this picture is doing it no justice whatsoever! Starting at the top and working clockwise, the colours are grey, a light lilac, black and a darker purple. All the colours have a slight shimmer to them, the blacks beings more obvious looking.

There is a little guide on the back of the palette, giving the shades colours and then with a picture of an eye, showing you how to apply the colours. There are two looks given on the back called Subtle (using only 2 shades) and London (using all four shades). I'll give both a look but I'm not really one for subtle eye makeup.

All in all, I'm really pleased with this bundle and I can't wait to try all the things! Usually if I get groups of things like this there is at least one thing I'm not sure about but not this time! With a saving of more than £20 as well, that's just the icing on the cake!

The perils of being pale

 

I'm sure everyone has seen the adverts or heard about no7's foundation matching service in some other way. Personally, I was rather dubious, foundation and I don't tend to mix too well.

 

In spite of this, I had some time to spare last week so thought I'd pop into Boots and give it a go, everyone loves a trier right? So I went in and asked the counter assistant if she would mind checking my face for me. I warned her before she started that I am quite obviously very pale but I still wanted to see what the end result would be.

 

She was lovely! I wish I'd taken note of her name. Before she 'matched my skin' she explained that the machine simply takes a picture of your skin, no laser, no pain, nothing like that. She also explained that the sample is taken from your lower cheekbone on both sides and the machine matches it up to their foundations.

 

I was matched to the Calico shade, the palest shade they offer and so the lovely lady said she would put some on across my jaw to see what it looked like. Can you all guess what happened yet? It was too dark! Of course it was too dark. Bless her, she seemed really confused though. "I don't understand how you can be matched to this shade but it's too dark for you." The curse of the paleyfaces!

 

At least now I can say I tried it. Alas, my hunt for the perfect coverage continues!

 

Have you tried colour match? What was your outcome?