Soon to come...

I am so sorry for the lack of posts in the last week, its not for a lack of things to talk about but I have just been so busy that I haven't had any time to get on the laptop!

I have some goodies to show you that I got for Christmas and then all the guilt free shopping I have done since with my Christmas money!! I am really looking forward to showing you what I got!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and you all have a great New Years Eve tomorrow!

Jo x

Nails Of The Week Part 2 - LA Colours Purple Ice

When I went to Westfield last week I nipped into a shop called Beauty Base, they stock mainly perfume but at the back of the store are a few make up counters. They stock Beverly Knight, Givenchy and Milani! The counter was pretty well stocked with blushers, eyeshadows etc, definately going back to check it out after Christmas! Anyway while I was picking up a few presents the huge display of LA Colours nail varnish caught my attention, they are in OPI esque bottles and they were only 99p so I picked up a couple.
Today I tested out Purple Ice and I have to say I am pretty impressed, this is 4 coats, you could get away with 3 on shorter nails and for 99p I'm not complaining! The colour is a gorgeous purple with multi-coloured shimmer.

With Flash

Without Flash

Very out of focus but shows up the blue shimmer really well!

This is a lovely colour, I don't think I have anything else that is exactly like this. I have had this on for the last 3 days and have no chips at all and very minimal tip wear. A bargain I think!

Have you tried this brand?

Sunday's Face Of The Day

I know it's now Monday but this is what I wore on Sunday to go out and attempt finishing my Christmas shopping. Unfortunately I slipped on some ice and really hurt my back so all I managed to buy were some decent winter boots before the pain got too much and I came home! I see late night Westfield visits for me!

Anyway I wanted a neutral but put together look and yet again reached for my UD Book Of Shadows Vol 2

Products used:

Face:

Bobbi Brown Corrector Light Bisque

Maybelline Mineral Concealer

Revlon Colourstay Foundation

Mac Prep & Prime Transparent Finishing Powder

Nars Laguna Bronzer

Mac Tippy Blush

Eyes:

UDPP

UD Nylon on inner third

UD YDK on rest of lid

UD Twice Baked On outer corner and crease

Mac Vanilla as Highlight

Mac Graphic Brown Fluidline

Covergirl Lashblast Mascara

Lips:

Lipstick Queen Butterfly Ball in Goodbye

Nars Lipgloss in Supervixen

Nails Of The Week - OPI You Don't Know Jaques Suede

This is one of the colours I picked up from Radiant Babe I am not a fan of the original You Don't Know Jaques colour but this suede version is just gorgeous! This was the first Matte nail colour I have tried and I have to say that I am not that keen. I love the fact that it dries super fast but to me it just looks a bit...wrong!
So I reached for a glossy top coat, Leighton Denny Crystal Finish and then I fell in love! Putting a top coat on just made the shimmer stand out so much more!

With Flash

Without Flash

It's such a gorgeous shimmery golden colour that is perfect for the holiday season! I really want to pick up Lincoln Park After Dark in the suede finish now!

Eyebrow Threading

Yesterday I went and got my eyebrows threaded, I was having a chat with an American friend who has never even heard of it so thought I would do a quick post on my opinion!
I have never waxed my brows, had a very bad experience waxing my legs once, I very stupidly stuck a strip on and then stopped to answer the phone, since then have avoided it like the plague! I used to pluck my own brows, I never really went over the top just plucked the obvious stray ones. I then ventured into House Of Fraser one day and handed over my £14 and had them threaded. I'm not gonna lie, it hurts!!! The first time is the worst as you don't really know what to expect. I learnt the hard way that you are best having no eye makeup on at all as it makes my eyes water like crazy!!
I have since found an Indian beauty salon in my area that only charge £2.50 and personally I think they do a better job.
I took a photo about half an hour after I had them threaded, as you can see you are glowing for a good while afterwards! This is going to be different depending on how your skin reacts. Some people are back to normal an hour later, others like me will still have redness for 12 hours!

You can also see where the thread snapped and cut my eyelid a bit! It was my fault for not holding my eye taught enough.

I do really like the effect that threading gives but don't believe people that tell you it doesn't hurt, anything that involves ripping hair out is gonna hurt! I have a pretty high pain threshold and its not unbearable but definately uncomfortable! The plus side is that it's so quick, even if you go in there with the bushiest eyebrows in the world you will be out of the chair in less than 5 minutes.

What is your prefered method for hair removal?

Radiant Babe Nail Haul!

After seeing OPI Baby It's Coal Outside on Helen & Sheenie's blog I was determined to get it! The last time I ordered some Konad plates I got them from Radiant Babe on ebay, in the parcel was a card for her website so I decided to go there and look for it, luckily it was in stock and it was only £6.49!
I also ordered a couple more polishes and 2 konad plates. The postage was roughly £4 and this was the same for up to 20 items. My package arrived within two days which I was really happy about!
This is what I picked up

OPI You Don't Know Jaques Suede, OPI Baby It's Coal Outside and Orly Purple Velvet Matte

Konad Plates M20 and M59

I don't have any true Matte nail varnishes so looking forward to trying the Orly one! I picked konad plate M59 solely for the snowflakes, am planning a nice wintery manicure now!

Radiant Babe stock a huge range of OPI and China Glaze which can be a bit of a nightmare to find here in the UK and the prices are reasonable. As I said before the package got to me really quickly. If you want to have a look at the website click here

Do you have a favourite OPI or China Glaze colour, I can always add to the wishlist!!

Little Lush Haul

Lush is always a bit hit and miss for me, some things I love and others I hate, I also find that I can't be in the shop too long or the different scents start to give me a headache! I loved the bath ballistics and bubble bars but I only have a shower now so don't get to indulge in them very often! I tried to make do with the emotibombs but I personally thought they were a waste of money, they just seemed to fizz away to nothing!
There are a few products that always get good reviews that I have never tried, I thought I would pick up a couple to cheer myself up!

I picked Rockstar soap (£3.99 for 0.142kg), Honey I Washed The Kids soap (£3.19 for 0.108kg) and Snow Fairy Solid Perfume (£5.75 for 10g), I also got a sample of Imperialis moisturiser to try. I am really looking forward to trying the soaps, I think I will cut them into chunks so its easier in the shower and hopefully they will last a bit longer. I love the scent of Snow Fairy, it is incredibly sweet so I think you will either love it or hate it! The moisturiser is one I have heard a lot of good things about so hopefully it will work for me!

Do you have a favourite Lush product?

Nails Of The Week - Sleek Poison Ivy

I was in superdrug the other day and obviously had to make the most of the 3 for 2, I picked up a couple of Barry M bits and this Sleek Nail Polish in Poison Ivy. This is the first one I have tried from Sleek and I am impressed. The range is pretty small in the superdrug I was in, there were only about 6 colours. This was 2 coats, if you have short nails you could probably get away with 1! Top coat is Leighton Denny Crystal Finish

With Flash

Without Flash

My only dissapointment with this is that in the bottle it seems to have a purple duochrome but this doesn't show on the nails at all. But even so its a gorgeous colour and I am really impressed with it, especially for the £2.99 price tag! Have you tried any sleek nail colours?

Face of the day, still loving the greens!!

I decided to use my UD Book Of Shadows 2 again today, I really do highly recommend picking this up if you can as its great value and the shadows are gorgeous!
I thought that as my last few looks have been really neutral I would do something different today so i had a play with the greens in the palette.

Products Used:

Face:

Bobbi Brown Corrector Light Bisque

Maybelline Mineral Power Concealer

Maybelline Mineral Foundation

Nars Laguna Bronzer

Elf Studio Blush in Mellow Mauve

Mac Redhead MSF to highlight

Eyes:

UDPP

UD Half Baked on inner third

UD Homegrown on middle of lid

UD Misdemeaner on outer lid and crease

Mac Vanilla as highlight

Joe Fresh Black Eyeliner Pen

Maybelline Colossal Mascara

Lips:

Mac Hot Gossip Lipstick

I think I will do a purple look with this palette next!

(Maybelline Concealer and Foundation were given to me at the Maybelline Event, all the other products were purchased with my own money)

Nails Of The Week - Nails Inc The Mall & Kingly Street

I put The Mall on my nails yesterday evening and I have to say I really wasn't that impressed, in the bottle it looks like a purple with blue shimmer but on the nails it just looks blue and the shimmer doesn't really show at all! So I thought I would try and change it up a bit tonight in a french manicure style. My Mum picked up Kingly Street which is a gorgeous glittery silver so I put that, some tape and patience to the test this evening and came up with this...

With Flash

Without Flash

I know its not perfect but for a first attempt at anything like this I am pretty happy! It's definately appropriate for the frosty weather we are having at the moment!

I caved - my first YSL Rouge Volupte!

Yesterday I had an hour to fill after work before going out for dinner so I had a look round the shops. I went into Debenhams and swatched some of the YSL Rouge Voluptes, this was a big mistake! I have resisted even swatching them in the past as I think £20 for a lipstick is crazy but I was bored and they were calling to me!
In all honestly there were only two that I liked, the one I got and No 12 (Forbidden Burgundy I think), although I loved No 12 its such a dark colour that I don't know how often I would wear it. A lot of the shades are nudes which looked lovely swatched but just don't suit me at all! I had a £10 gift voucher from work lurking in my purse so decided to treat myself!

So I introduce you to the newest and definately most expensive member of my lipstick collection, YSL Rouge Volupte No 9 Pink Caress

I would say that the swatch without flash is definately more true to colour.

My initial thoughts are a bit mixed, I really like the colour and it applies completely opaque and glossy. I found it very long lasting, I wore it to work today and after two cups of coffee and about 3 hours the colour was still there but I have found that the glossiness fades really quickly, within half an hour or so. I also did find it a bit drying which really surprised me, it's not as drying as a lot of lipsticks but I guess I just expected a £20 lipstick to be a bit more moisturising!!

I am happy with this one but I can't really see myself getting anymore, honestly I couldn't afford it but I am glad that I now have one in my collection!

Do you have a favourite Rouge Volupte?

Glamour Doll Eyeshadow Haul

I finally got round to placing a little order with Glamour Doll Eyes, I ordered 5 eyeshadow samples and 3 eye light (glitter) samples.

I ordered jars rather than bags as I find them so much easier to use. The eyeshadows were $3.50 each for 0.6 grams of product. You can see here that you do actually get a decent amount, to be honest with the amount of make up I have this is perfect as the chance of me using up a full size is unlikely!

I haven't had a chance to play with them properly but here are some quick swatches

Left to Right: Makin' a scene, Skinny Jeans, Jealousy, Trend setter and Ladies Night

I got two free sample baggies with my order, in Leather & Lace and Katie's Storm
The eyelights are gorgeous, they are really finely milled glitter. They remind me of Mac's refelects glitter, here they are swatched over the kryolan black supracolour. These are $2.60 for 0.6 grams of product.

Top to Bottom: Monster Mash, Techno and Hollywood

Shipping is free with samples, including internationally. The other great thing is that if you love the product and want to order the full size they will deduct the price of the sample from the full sized jar.
I won't lie, shipping was really slow, I ordered on the 29th September and it was shipped on the 26th October. I received the package on the 14th November! I was begining to worry that I would never get them! They do post updates on the website and at the time I ordered there was a problem with the jars so thats probably why it took longer. I did email a couple of times asking when my order would be shipped and I got a quick reply with an estimated date.

Have you tried any other shades from Glamour Doll?

Neutral Face Of The Day

I haven't posted a face of the day in ages but looking at it this one is not that different than the last one although using all different products!

Products used:

Face

Bobbi Brown Corrector Light Bisque

Maybelline Mineral Foundation

Mac Prep & Prime Transparent Finishing Powder

Nars Laguna Bronzer

Illamasqua Lover Blusher

Eyes

Mac Bare Study Paint Pot

Mac Style Snob on lid

Mac Sable in crease

Mac Twinks in outer v

Mac Shroom as highlight

Shu Uemura ME500 under lower lashes

Joe Fresh black eyeliner

Maybelline Colossal Mascara

Lips

Mac Total Wow and Colour Crafted mixed together, I actually really like this!

As usual by the time I got round to taking the photos there was no natural light left at all! I am so sick of this weather, it literally hasn't stopped raining in a day and a half!

Tiny Mac Haul and Eye Of The Day

I found out that Selfridges are having a 20% off sale until Sunday this week, if you want to print out the voucher then click here, so I decided it was time to treat myself to the Philosophy Have A Cherry Christmas 3 in 1, typically it was sold out! So I decided to take a quick look at Mac, I have avoided looking at the christmas sets as I just don't need anymore but this mineral duo caught me eye, its in the shade "Under Your Spell" and I love it. Did I need it? Not at all but it still came home with me! As usual there is only 10% off on cosmetics & fragrance but it was better than nothing!

I had to play with it as soon as I got home and it's gorgeous! I won't lie, the cresent is pretty much pressed glitter but it does have some colour to it. In this picture I have the main colour all over the lid and then the cresent shade blended into the crease, I applied it with the Mac 217 and tapped off the brush first to get rid of most of the glitter, as you can see it does deposit some colour.

The next picture is with flash, it washes the colour out a bit but it shows the shimmer off really well.

Please ignore the state of my eyebrows, I am going to get them threaded on Saturday! I think I am going to go back and get Blue Sorcery as I really liked that one too, maybe Philosophy will get there delivery, I am obsessed with anything Cherry scented so I need to get this! Do you know of anywhere else in london that sells Philosophy apart from Selfridges and John Lewis??

Nails Of The Week - H&M Sinful Senorita

I have one word to describe this polish....incredible!!
I will be honest I wasn't expecting much, it was £3.99 in H&M and although it looked gorgeous and holographic in the bottle I thought it would be pretty sheer. I thought wrong! It was pretty much opaque in one coat, I did a second just to be sure, top coat is Leighton Denny Crystal Finish.
I honestly couldn't get a picture that did the holo justice but I did my best!

With Flash on top without underneath

This picture shows the holo a bit better, particularly on my little finger nail but its out of focus!

They had this in four colours - Red, Purple, Silver and Gold. I think I am going to be going back for the two I didn't get!

My Top Ten Lipsticks

Now I know full well that this line up will probably change in the not too distant future but these are my top 10 lipsticks as of right now.
Top Row L-R All Mac: Hot Gossip, Total Wow, Up The Amp, Most Popular, London Life

Bottom RowL-R: Maybelline Midnight Plum and Hollywood Red, Kryolan LC124, Revlon Cherries In The Snow, Illamasqua Wanton

With Flash

Without Flash

I had no idea until I started swatching these how similar a lot of them are! As you can see there are no nude lipsticks here, I honestly have never found one that doesn't make me look like a corpse! I obviously have a preference for purple, red and pink toned lipsticks!

Do you have a favourite lipstick?

Products I'm loving this month

I thought I would start posting monthly favourites as I love reading other peoples!
So here are the top ten products I have been loving this month

Cetaphil gentle cleanser: I seriously love this stuff, I had my skin analysed at the begining of this month and a mild creamy cleanser was one of the product recommendations. I have been using this for about 3 weeks now and I really do like it, it removes all make up and my skin is feeling softer and it even seems to have helped calm down the redness on my cheeks.

Nars Habanera Duo: I think if I could only have one eyeshadow (or two as this is a duo) this would be it, its such a gorgeous sparkly plummy colour and a super pigmented mint green. They colours complement each other really well and I can see myself using this a lot for the Christmas parties coming up.

Stila Smudge Pot In Black: This is by far the best gel eyeliner I have ever used. I have Mac, Sleek and Smashbox in my collection and this outshines them all. Its the darkest black and has the perfect consistency.

Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Bisque: This is still my go to concealer for my under eye circles, I constantly buy concealers hoping to find one that erases them completely but this is the one I keep going back to.

Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation: I am so glad I got this at the Maybelline event, I remember buying this when it first came out and really liking it but just never repurchased it. It's best applied with fingers and is so quick and easy when I am rushing out in the mornings.

Mac MSF Natural Light: This is the best setting powder I have tried so far, it gives just a bit more coverage and really evens out my skintone.

Mac Hot Gossip Cremesheen Lipstick: This is just such a perfect colour for me, its a purple toned pink and is the one that I find myself reaching for most days.

Illamasqua Rude Cream Blush: This is still one of my favourite products, it's a gorgeous colour and lasts all day.

Maybelline Colossal Mascara: Still loving this, of all the mascaras I have tried this is one of the best for volume.

Mac Style Snob Eyeshadow: This is still the one I find myself reaching for the most when I am in a rush in the mornings, its such a gorgeous unique shade and looks great with minimal effort!

Nails Of The Week Part 2 - OPI Merry Midnight

If you are only going to pick up one colour from this years OPI holiday collection I think this should be it!! It's a gorgeous purple base with blue and purple glitter and red flakes that flash yellow and green! It is a totally unique and incredible colour!
It is very sheer, I put on 4 coats to even it out completely, I think it will work really well layered over a dark polish, either black or purple. Removal of this was fine too which is something I was worried about as the the flakes in Mac's Baby Goth Girl refused to come off!!

Here is a closer picture, this one really shows up the different colours both on the nails and in the bottle!

It does need a good layer of top coat to even out the surface, I used Leighton Denny's Crystal Finish.

Do you have a favourite from this collection?

30 Seconds To Mars

On Monday night I was lucky enough to see 30 Seconds To Mars at Koko in Camden, its a gorgeous venue and a great setting for concerts. Its pretty small though so any gigs here tend to sell out really quickly!
I have loved Jared Leto since I watched My So Called Life when I was younger, me and the majority of my friends were all in love with Jordan Catalano!
One of my friends got me listening to 30 Seconds To Mars a couple of years ago and I was hooked. A Beautiful Lie is one of my favourite albums. Their new album comes out next month so this show was promotion for that although they only did 2 new songs and the rest of the set was made up of older songs. It was a really relaxed show, Jared was really talkative and took requests from the crowd. After the show the band stayed to sign for us, luckily we were near the front of the queue but we were told over the tannoy that the band would sign for everyone and it could take up to 2 hours!!
Here are a couple of pictures from the show, we were actually near the back of the ground floor but my camera has a decent zoom!

If you haven't heard any of their music this is the music video for their new single.

Thirty Seconds To Mars - Kings + Queens - HD

30 Seconds to Mars | MySpace Music Videos

They have announced an arena tour for next year, I can't wait!!

Nails Of The Week - OPI Smitten With Mittens

Ok I am officially in love with this colour! Its an almost blood red shade with glitter. In the bottle it looks like gold glitter but once applied it looks red. This is 3 coats, 2 was virtually perfect but I added another to even it out. I used Leighton Denny Crystal Finish Top Coat.

Here is a closer shot just so you can see the glitter a bit more. Excuse my shoddy application, this was before clean up!

I did a quick swatch of this comparing it to Ruby Pumps, this is just one coat on clear plastic and you can see that this is a darker shade of red. Smitten With Mittens on top, Ruby Pumps underneath.

If you are interested in seeing a proper comparrison of these two on the nails please let me know!