NOTW: Ombre Effect

Please excuse the state of my nails in general, I have been sporting this look for about a week now and have only now got round to taking some pictures for you!

I had been wanting to ombre my nails, but my first attempt a few weeks ago was far from successful, and very messy! But, not one to be deterred, I decided to give it another go, and this was the result.

First, I painted all my nails with two layers of Colorama's Pop Art Yellow and waited for it to dry completely.

I then took a plastic folder (just one of those cheap flimsy ones you put in ring binders) and painted on a generous line of each of the three colours I was using, from lightest to darkest (I chose Miss Sporty 326, which is a gorgeous bright coral, and 302, a pretty hot pink) . I used a small piece of sponge to soak up the polish and moved it up and down a little bit while doing so in order to blend the colours.

Then, I just pressed the sponge onto each of my nails, making sure to cover the whole surface, waited for it to dry and repeated the step a couple more times to achieve my desired result.

A couple of words of warning if you've never tried this before: 1) It is reeeally messy! Make sure you've got plenty of nail varnish/polish remover at hand before you start, as you do not want to run out and find yourself with rainbow hands you can't get rid of! And 2) The sponging means that the texture of your polish ends up being quite rough and bumpy, so you will need a couple of layers of a good clear topcoat to smooth things out and protect your artwork - I don't know about you, but after spending such a long time doing my nails and cleaning them up, I want them to last, even being someone who gets bored with my nail colours so easily!

I love this look for the summer, and love that you can mix it up with loads of different colour schemes. Next time I'm going to try some pastels and some pretty greens.

What's on your nails at the moment?

Have you ever tried to ombre yours?

xx

Mac Mineralize Skinfinish Soft and Gentle: Review

When I was about fifteen, I went through a bit of an obsession with highlighters. I just couldn't get enough of them, and would constantly be picking them up in various shades and forms. My favourite was a cream stick, in a gorgeous pearlescent pink, and I wore it religiously every day. Sadly, the label wore off over time, and as at that age I was a little bit less aware of what brands I was choosing to buy, when the time came to purchase a new one it was nowhere to be found. I had bought it from a tiny local Boots, so had been sure it would be easy to find the next time I was after one. Alas, I was wrong, and though I have continued to buy highlighters on and off over the years, I have never really felt the same way about one since.

I had really high expectations when I decided to pick up Mac's Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle. To be honest, the shade wasn't one I would usually go for, as I tend to be drawn to highlighters with a subtle hint of bronze or pink, but having seen Louise (Sprinkle Of Glitter) wearing and talking about this in some of her blog posts, I was swayed. She looked so healthy and glowing in those photos, and who would say no to that!? So, on a recent trip abroad, I decided to pick one up in duty free. Just a side note really, but I also got myself matched for a Mac Satin Finish foundation, and it turned out to be completely the wrong shade. Note to long-haul travellers: Never get matched for makeup when you've just stepped off a twelve hour flight! I always look super pasty after flying, so I ended up with a foundation that was too shades too light and I can't use it, which is a bit rubbish, as it does give a beautiful dewy finish to the skin, which I love.

But anyway, I digress.

Onto the review.

Soft and Gentle is one of the few Mineralize Skinfinish shades in the permanent core collection, and is described by Mac as a 'gilded peach bronze'. It's a really finely milled powder and is marbled and baked. To be honest, this was one of the things that drew me to it in the airport, as although I wanted it anyway, it just looks so pretty. It's not the cheapest of highlighters, at £21.50 on the MAC UK site, but it looks expensive and elegant in it's sturdy signature packaging, and you do get a large amount of product (10g).

The highlighter comes out as a pretty champagne shade with a subtle gold shimmer when swatched. Upon closer inspection, you can spot some tiny little flecks of gold glitter, but what I like about it is that you really can't notice them unless you are looking for them, and they just give a gorgeous overall shimmer effect. Personally, I find getting glitter on my face to be really unflattering, so I much prefer a nice glow than full on sparkle.

You can use this product in lots of different ways (much the same as any highlighter, though the subtle shade definitely makes it more versatile), but personally I tend to just stick to my cheekbones and my browbone. This is actually subtle enough to include in your everyday makeup, as it's buildable, so you can go to town when you are after a more dramatic evening look. Luckily, with this, there is no risk of accidentally walking round looking like you've either been tangoed or have serious sunburn, as can sometimes happen when using an all-in-one shimmery blusher or bronzer. I find that with those, many people tend to layer up a bit too much, as either they want more of a golden glow but forget about the extreme shimmer that comes with it, or they want a bit more shimmer and forget about the colour. Best to use separates, in my opinion, as you can then make sure that you get just the right amount of each.

That said, you do still need to be careful with Soft and Gentle and try to apply it in natural light, as a little does go a long way, and it's easy to over-apply thinking that you can't really see it, when as soon as you step outside it will be blindingly obvious! One of the things I wasn't so keen on with this product is precisely that - while I've seen photos of other people wearing it and looking amazing, I always feel that I can't really see it or notice much of a glow when I put it on myself. But I know that it's just the lighting and that other people looking at me can see the effects, so fingers crossed it looks nice!

Hope everyone has had a lovely day. Just think, we are more than half way through the working week now, the weekend is in sight!

Hurrah.

xx

Little Catch-Up

I'm officially back and ready to blog!

Those of you who have read my previous post will know what happened, so I won't bore you with the details again! Although I will say that, despite all the time my laptop spent in 'hospital', it is still not fixed properly, and I am not impressed! My wireless is also still being a royal pain. It says I am connected and have perfect signal, but it also says that I have no internet access...!? I do not understand. So anyway, those two things put together mean that whilst I do indeed have internet access again, I am only able to use it if I plug in the ethernet cable and constantly wiggle it around in its socket in order to maintain the connection. Ideal.

While we're on the subject of technical troubles, can I also just have a quick rage about the fact that a) I couldn't use my new tablet thanks to lack of WiFi, so I returned it in favour of getting b) a new phone, which will neither connect to WiFi nor access the normal type of internet you get on your phone from your provider (I'm so tech savvy, can you tell by my description!?)

Anyway, that's it as far as ranting goes, just had to get that off my chest!

On a more positive note, the highlight of my week has been winning my first giveaway! Thanks to the lovely Natasha at Clouds and Cuticle Oil, (go and have a read when you've finished here!) I am soon to be the lucky recipient of an amazing sample set of The Hollywood Collection (skincare) by  Erno Laszlo, an MUA eyeshadow in shade 24, and a Stila Lip Glaze in Kitten! These are all new products for me, so I'm really looking forward to trying them out and writing some reviews for you. Thanks, Natasha! 

So that was a nice way to start my week, and here's hoping my lucky streak (let's pretend the technology probs don't exist!) continues and I end it with a lottery win! Ha, well we can all dream, can't we?

In beauty news, I have just ordered myself some samples of some gorgeous Benefit bronzers and blushers, and I can't wait for them to arrive! I have basically been wanting pretty much all of them for a while now, so as I was struggling to choose, I thought this might be the best way to go about it. Sadly, I wasn't able to get my hands on the Hervana blush, but I did get Coralista and Posie Tint, as well as the Hoola and Dallas bronzers.

I have also successfully managed to ombre my nails this week, NOTD post up about that tomorrow :-)

Hope everyone is having as pleasant a work week as possible so far! If you are off on holiday or just have some free time to relax then lucky you! I am so looking forward to making myself a cuppa now and settling down to catch up on all the blog posts of yours that I have missed!

xx

Oh, Hi!

Just a little note to let you know that I haven't dropped off the face of the planet! Unfortunately, I haven't had the internet since last Thursday as my lovely laptop decided to die on me. It is currently in the computer hospital being put back together, and it will be home in a couple of hours, so normal blogging will then resume. Hoorah!

I've absolutely hated being without it and have lots of posts lined up for you. I've really missed blog land and am looking forward to settling down with a cuppa and  catching up with all your posts later this evening!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

xx

L'oreal Color Riche and Color Riche Serum Lipstick Review

(L-R) 390 Nude Treasure, 102 Beige Praline, 453 Rose Creme.

Color Riche Serum in S103 Radiant Rose.

I recently picked up a pack of three L'oreal Color Riche lipsticks from the Duty Free shop at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, on my way back from a trip away.

The pack contained three colours: 390 Nude Treasure, 102 Beige Praline and 453 Rose Creme, and to be honest, I grabbed them in a bit of a rush, having just stepped off a long-haul flight and feeling very much the worse for wear. I had been looking for some nudes to add to my collection, as I didn't actually own many at all, but have recently found that I quite enjoy having them in my make-up bag for low-key, day-time looks.

I'll be honest. When I first got home, took them out of the box and swatched them on my hand (there hadn't been any testers available in the Duty Free shop), I was disappointed to find that these shades all contained gold shimmer. My bad for not being more awake in the airport. I was really looking for long-wearing, moisturising lip colour with a matte finish. 

While the shimmer was not my cup of tea, though, I was pleased to find that these lipsticks do apply really smoothly and are not at all drying on the lips, as they are enriched with Omega oils and Vitamin E.  They are quite sheer, but they're buildable, so with a couple of coats you do get a more intense colour, and the rich texture and gold packaging gives them quite a luxurious feel.

Nude Treasure was definitely my least favourite shade, as despite being a really pretty sheer beige-gold, it is just far too light for me and doesn't suit my skin tone.

I found Beige Praline to be a lot more wearable. It's a much richer shade of bronzey beige and is a fair bit darker than Nude Treasure.

But my favourite of the three is definitely Rose Creme, which is a pretty, dark beigey pink, again with a little bit of gold shimmer, although I found it to be more subtle in this case.

I wouldn't say these lipsticks are particularly long-wearing. As they are quite sheer and of a thin, slippery consistency, they do tend to slide off pretty quickly, especially if you are me (no lipstick ever seems to stay put on me for more than a couple of seconds!).

Something else I wasn't a fan of was the strong, perfumey scent these lipsticks have, and the fact that they tend to leave a soapy taste in the mouth if I drink through a straw while wearing them! I do find this really off-putting, as I do not like to taste my lipsticks at all, unless they are specifically designed to have a nice fruity flavour (rare!).

Color Riche Serum in Radiant Rose S103

(swatched above alongside others)

Containing collagen and Hyaluronic Acid to hydrate, plump and moisturise, this lipstick is much more up my street.

It's a beautiful medium fuchsia and is more pigmented than the normal Color Riche lipsticks, and it really does feel intensely moisturising, even as I apply it. Again, it glides on really smoothly, and the wear seems to be slightly longer, but I'd put that down to the higher level of pigmentation.

I did want to show you some pictures of me wearing the lipsticks, so you can really see what they look like on, but I didn't have a chance to get any when I was taking the photos for this post. I am hoping to do so this weekend, but in the meantime, you can see me wearing Radiant Rose in my blogger profile picture. It's actually become on of my favourite lipsticks.

Have you tried any lipsticks from L'oreal's Color Riche lines?

What did you think of them?

xx

Mac: Summer Lust List

With so many gorgeous Limited Edition Mac collections out at the moment, there is an absolute plethora of treats to choose from, and I, for one, have more than a few bits on my lust list.

From the Beth Ditto (top) and Reel Sexy collections (above), to Casual Colour and the Fashion Sets, there is a bright summery lipstick or nail shade for everyone, not to mention an abundance of beautiful skin products, mascaras and the like.

So which of these delights would I like to add to my collection? I have carefully sifted my way through and compiled them below for you.

Reel Sexy Collection - lipstick in Watch Me Simmer (£13.50)

I know that this little beauty has been hugely popular within the beauty blogging community, and it's completely sold out online. Think I have been a bit slow off the mark on this one, but there have been so many things on my list over the past few months that I couldn't possibly have bought it all!

This is a gorgeous, vibrant  pinky coral and is an Amplified formulation, which is basically perfect for me. The Amplified lipsticks glide on really smoothly and are really moisturising, and as anyone who reads my posts regularly will know, I am a bit coral crazy! Can't believe I let this one slip through the net, fingers crossed they get some more in soon!

Reel Sexy Collection - Mac Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade  (£21.50)

Described as 'a soft, candle-lit beige with multi-dimensional shimmer', I challenge anyone to say they wouldn't want this in their makeup bag. It's a white/beige highlighter with blue veining, and has a beautifully soft texture. It's really finely milled, with a sheer, subtle shimmer. 

I already own the Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle, and think it gives a really pretty glow, so I'm anxious to add to my collection.

Reel Sexy Collection - Nail Lacquer in Vivid Effect (£9.00)

A long-wearing polish with a high gloss finish, which even contains conditioners and sun protection! What more could you ask for from a summer nail polish?

Oh, and it's a vivid orange-coral - perfect!

Casual Colour in Out For Fun (£17.50)

 The Casual colours are 'versatile, lightweight, all-in-one lip and cheek colours', which in my book, makes them ideal for slinging in my bag for touch-ups on the go. Again, we have a beautiful coral shade here (can you see the running theme? Again!?) which I can absolutely imagine wanting to use to give myself a bit of a glow on holiday, whether by the pool or on the beach. It's just a great no-fuss summer product.

Fashion Sets - Morange (£35.50)

Fashion Sets - Impassioned (£35.50)

For those of you who haven't heard, Mac have put together some Fashion Sets based around some of their most popular lipstick shades, which include a matching Lip Glass and Nail Lacquer, as well as the lipstick itself.

Actually, I already own and love the Impassioned lipstick, but I love the idea of having the whole set, and the same applies to Morange, which I haven't got, but have had my little peepers on for a long time now!

So, there you have it - my pick of the Mac summer collections.

I think Reel Sexy has definitely been my favourite overall. Personally, nothing from the Beth Ditto collection really grabbed me.

What has been your favourite collection so far?

Is there anything you have got your eye on?

xx

Mini Haul: Haircare/Toiletries

A small haul for you, mainly haircare-related.

I really enjoy using Tresemme's 24 Hour Body range, and though I've still got two bottles of mousse (£5.39) in my stash, I had run out of the Body Boosting Spray (£5.39). Usually, what I tend to do is to apply a golf-ball sized amount of mousse to wet hair, work it through, concentrating on the roots (much the same as you would do with any mousse, but I am sure there are some mousse virgins out there somewhere!), and then give my hair a good, generous spray with the Body Boosting Spray before drying. I'd love to say that I spend an hour blow-drying my barnet to perfection, but that would be a lie - I just haven't got the patience! So usually, it's a quick rough dry and then I straighten any frizzy bits or curl a few strands and off I go!

I also bought some of the Sky High Plumping Powder (£5.50) from the same range, which I will be reviewing soon, so don't want to bang on about that one too much. But all in all, if you put them together, these products do give me a nice boost and make my hair feel subtly 'bigger' than usual.

Continuing with the theme of big hair, I was also in need of some new dry shampoo, and this Daring 'Sassy and Daring Wild' (£1.95) one from Batiste is my favourite. It's got a really sweet, toffee-apple/candyfloss type smell to it, which might not be everybody's cup of tea, but I love it! It sort of reminds me of the Britney Spears perfumes, which I do not own but enjoy the smell of. I usually wash my hair every second day, as doing it more often does my locks more harm than good, but I do tend to need a bit of a freshen-up in the fringe area on a daily basis, as it gets a little bit oily. It does also go a bit limp at times, so a good spray of this at my roots gives me a nice boost, too.

Then I picked up some Charles Worthington Front Row Rough and Tousled Sea Salt Spray (£6.29), which I love to spritz through my lengths on those days where I don't really have time to dry my hair, or just feel like going for a more undone look. I really love this for summer as it's such a nice, relaxed way to wear your hair and takes minimal effort.

And lastly, I bought some more of my all-time favourite deodorant, Soft and Gentle Sensual Aromatherapy in Wild Rose and Vanilla (£1.89). Not much to say about that one really - it just does the job, and smells ah-mazing!

What haircare products and toiletries have you bought this month so far?

Hope you're all having a lovely evening!

xx