Nails of the week - OPI Brand New Skates & Konad!

Last week I finally relented and bought a Konad kit on eBay! I have to say I love it, I thought it would be incredibly frustrating to use but actually I enjoyed doing it. You need to accept that it is not going to be 100% perfect but it will look good enough. I went out for dinner with friends on Saturday and they couldn't believe I had done them myself!
This is the set I bought, with postage it came to less than £15, I really like this set, the plates have a good variety of designs.

I also ordered OPI Brand New Skates as it was recommended by Rijah so here it is with Konad white special polish stamped on top.

Have you tried the Konad? Any image plates you would recommend?

The best kind of surprise..

I came home yesterday to find a parcel waiting for me! My friend in America had sent me a few goodies! I have been having a crappy week so this really cheered me up! I had no idea she was sending me this!

In the background there are some Mac postcards, we both love the Goo Goo Dolls so she sent me the scratchcard they were on (hilarious that they are even on a scratchcard!) and a CD Single. I was really excited to see the little Sephora bag! She got me the Stila Convertible colour in Lillium that I have been wanting for ages and OPI for Sephora Mermaid To Order nail varnish! She also sent me a new Lashblast and a Lashblast luxe, lashblast is my HG mascara so really glad to have a back up, I haven't tried Luxe so looking forward to seeing if there is much of a difference!

She also sent me a couple of jewellry things, my favourite colour is purple and I have an obsession with stars so the little purple star earings are perfect, a gorgeous necklace from Macys, its so cute and a little peace sign bracelet which is really cute!

This really did make my week, Gina if you ever find this, thank you so much!

Cargo Lash Activator End Of Week 5

Ok here are Mum's lashes at the end of week 5, we missed last week as I forgot to take a photo!

I do think the difference is quite noticeable now, they definitely look a lot fuller and thicker. They do look longer to me, nothing drastic but a bit of length. The one thing I will say is that the before photo really doesn't show just how short my Mum's lashes were, they were tiny and without mascara almost invisible, now even from a distance without any mascara on I can see her eyelashes.

Anyone else trying this mascara? Had any good results?

Nails of the week part 2 - OPI My Private Jet

I am sure you will have seen pictures of this polish on a few blogs recently, Mizzworthy & Sirvinya have both blogged about it. After seeing how gorgeous it was I had to go and pick it up. Its one of those colours that I think is easily overlooked but its definately worth picking up!

No picture really does this justice, its one of those shades that you really do need to see for yourself to see just how beautiful it really is!

This was 3 coats (Two was pretty even but I just wanted to be on the safe side) with Nails Inc Kensington Caviar base & top coat.

Shopping, this is what happens when bloggers get together!

On Friday me and Tali went shopping, we only had a few hours but we managed to do some damage!! We are planning on doing this again as it was so much fun!

We met up in Selfridges and headed for Illamasqua where I picked up 3 products. The first MUA to help us was lovely, the second one that pounced on me when I was looking at the lipglosses was really pushy, I probably would have bought more if she hadn't been trying to sell me one of everything! Anyway here is what I picked up
Tantrum Gloss is my new favourite, it's a sheer gloss so doesn't go on as dark as it looks in the tube. It has a gorgeous shimmer in and looks beautiful on. I have already posted how I use Galactic, it can really change any other lip colour into a gorgeous shimmer.

We then headed to Covent Garden and popped into Charles Fox, after reading Grace's post about the Kryolan Supracolours which you can read here I really wanted to pick a few up, they come in three different sizes and I picked the smallest size to try (4ml). The only downside is that this size doesn't come with a lid so they will need to stay in the plastic covers, prices ranged from £2.65-£3.30 for this size as they are different finishes and formulas. I have already tried RB as a base and its lovely and didn't crease on me.
The Kryolan lipsticks are lovely, the swatches are one swipe so you can see how pigmented they are, the ones I picked are very creamy and have a nice sheen to them, they are £5.65 each. The Kryolan satin Powder is just gorgeous, it looks black in the swatch but its actually a dark purple shimmer, this was £5.35 and I will be going back to pick up more of these. I also picked up a Charles Fox Eyeliner brush, this is a really stiff brush, haven't tried this out yet. I absolutely loved this shop, the sales girls were really helpful and friendly but it is a shop for professionals so they do leave you alone to look around. I meant to pick up the bent eyeliner brush but must have put it back down, oh well it just means I will have to go back!

After a quick stop for a drink and something to eat we nipped into David & Goliath, I absolutely love their T-shirts and vests so had to pick up another one

Then I had to jump on the train to get back in time for me and my parents to get up to Southend to see Vampires Rock (Separate post to come about that!). I had such a lovely day, the first MUA at Illamasqua asked who the bad influence was and I think we both agreed that we are bad influences on each other!

Illamasqua Gallactic Lipgloss

Whilst shopping with Tali yesterday I picked up Illamasquas Intense Lipgloss in Galactic. I got to have a play with this at the Dystopia event a few weeks ago and I wanted to pick it up as it is completely unique and unlike anything else I have in my collection!

I will admit when I first looked at it I thought who on earth would want a silver lipgloss but I have found that mixed with other lip colours it is amazing!

So for this I have used other Illamasqua lip products, I have used Box lipstick (Bottom right in my lip palette) and Intense lipgloss in Indulge.
Indulge lipgloss is much more neon than it looks in the picture as the flash has washed it out a bit but here is a picture of it on my lips on top and then mixed together with Galactic underneath.
Here it is with Box lipstick, plain on top and then mixed with Galactic underneath.
I really do love the effect this lipgloss gives! You really do only need a tiny bit as it goes a long way. I can't wait to try other combinations!

Hope this was helpful to anyone trying to find a way to make this a bit more wearable.

Nails Of The Week - OPI Ink

This week I finally gave in and went to pick up Mac Cool Reserve but typically I had left it too late and it was sold out! So I thought I would console myself and head over to the OPI bar and pick up one there instead! I actually ended up getting 2: My Private Jet which so many bloggers seem to have picked up lately, its gorgeous so had to get it and Ink which is one of the shades I have been meaning to pick up for ages! Ink went straight on my nails when I got home, so here it is!

This was an absolute nightmare to try and photograph, its actually a gorgeous mix of blue & purple with blue & pink shimmer but it looks completely different depending on the lighting!

All I can say is that its a gorgeous colour, I have had so many people asking me what it is this week!

Had a great day out shopping with Tali yesterday, will post my haul at some point today!

Maybelline Bloggers Event & Lipstick Swatches

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Maybelline Bloggers Event, there were about 50 of us at the event and I had such a good time!
No photo's I'm afraid, I did have my camera but completely forgot about it!
It was a very relaxed event, plenty of drinks and yummy nibbles! (Percy Pigs, enough said!!)
The presentation itself was really interesting, as well as telling us about the two newest releases of The Pulse Perfection Mascara and Colour Sensational Lipsticks they also took us through their whole range. The whole presentation was really informative and I did actually come away with a different opinion of Maybelline as a brand, they are so focused on innovation and bringing high end technology to the drugstore shelves! They are also starting to focus more on colour with their eyeshadow quads and singles, which I am really looking forward to trying!
To be honest Maybelline is a brand that I always go to for Mascara but kind off skip over the rest. I did pick up one of the new lipsticks when they were released and I used to use Dream Matte Mousse foundation when it first came out but thats all so I am really pleased that I got this introduction to the rest of the range! I also got another Dream Matte Mousse foundation which I used this morning and fell back in love with!
They told us the story behind Maybelline, there was a lady named Mabel who's fiancee left her, she went to her brother who was a chemist and asked him to help her win him back, he mixed some Vaseline with coal powder and the first mascara was born! They actually have a timeline on their website if you are interested in reading the history of the brand click here
So onto the goody bags, they were incredibly generous and gave us two! They gave us one with a selection of items from all the ranges they have and the other had the new Pulse Perfection Mascara and a selection of Colour Sensational Lipsticks.

I really want to use these products for a couple of weeks before I give any proper reviews but I thought I would swatch the lipsticks. Hollywood Red is the one I already owned so I thought i would put that in too!

Swatched in the same order as above from left to right, click the photos to enlarge.

It really was a great event, I'm just sad I had to leave early to get to the theatre as I would have loved to have stayed and chatted more! If there is anything that you would particuarly like to see a review off then please let me know!

Nails Of The Week - OPI A Grape Fit

I know this is my second one this week but its such a bright sunny day today I took off Done Out In Deco to put on a brighter colour! This is OPI's A Grape Fit, if you couldn't tell already purple is my favourite colour! This is 2 coats with Nails Inc Kensington Caviar base coat & top coat.

This is a gorgeous bright purple with a hint of blue. I have been really impressed with the OPI cream formulas, the only ones I had used before were shimmers and they seemed to chip on me really quickly but I had done out in deco on for 5 days without any chips!

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine!

Cargo 7 in 7 set & Eye of the day

Advance warning, this is a very picture heavy post!
I should know by now that going into Boots is a big mistake! I went into pick up a sandwich today and came out with this...


Since seeing the effect the Cargo Lash Activator has had on my Mum's lashes I really wanted to get it, I saw this and thought it was such great value! It comes with 7 products - Lash Activator Mascara, Eyeshadow Quad, Black Eyeliner, Blush/Bronzer, Lip Pencil, Concealer/foundation and Lipgloss. Its called the 7 in 7 minutes but I challenge anyone to complete the look in 7 minutes!The mascara on its own is £19, this set was £35. That means that if the mascara is full price all the other items work out to £2.67 each! All of the products are full size. The only problem is that the foundation/concealer only comes in one shade (Number 2) which is a tad dark for me but workable but will be way too light for people with darker skin. Onto swatches!

The black eyeliner is VERY black, its gorgeous! It applied like a dream to the waterline and I have had it on for 3 hours and it hasn't smudged or faded. The lipliner is a very wearable colour. The lipgloss is not very pigmented but its a nice nude pink with very subtle shimmer, it also comes with a timer that tells you when it goes off, they say it lasts for 9 months so the red line will automatically fill up as time goes by so you know when its time to bin it!

The blush/bronzer is gorgeous, they are swatched in the same order as in the pan and swirled together on top. Each strip is large enough that you can use it individually .

These shadows are really pretty, but the swatches on my hand are pretty rubbish so I did an eye of the day using them, the eyeliner and mascara.

Have you tried any other Cargo products before, I am guessing that if this sells well then Boots are probably going to start stocking more of the range!

Cargo Lash Activator End Of Week 3 & Mum's Review So Far

Here are my Mum's lashes at the end of week 3, I thought it was better to hear from her so after the photo is her review of the product so far.

After 3 weeks of using the Cargo Lash Activator mascara and having my eyelashes open to scrutiny, I thought I should write a bit about the experience.
Firstly the mascara is very thin, not drippy but it takes a very long time to dry; you can’t even look down without acquiring a row of dots till a good 5 minutes after application.
It is the absolute opposite of waterproof, the slightest moisture sets it running, but as it says, you can use it as an undercoat, so I have been using Elf waterproof mascara as a top coat which does remove the panda factor.
Are my lashes getting fuller/longer? I leave that to you to decide with the photos. But what I can tell you is that since using this product, my lashes have become super silky, and the number of snapped and fallen out lashes has declined.
I think it is well worth a go, and maybe the other brands will compete and bring the high price down, I will give you my opinion at the end of the experiment, 5 weeks to go!

Nails Of The Week - OPI Done Out In Deco and a little OPI Haul

I decided to pick up some OPI polishes today, I have been overdoing it with Nails Inc lately and fancied a change so thought it was the perfect time to pick up a few new colours!The colours I picked up are

Done Out In Deco, Purple With A Purpose & Reflecting Pool

Reflecting Pool is such a gorgeous colour, it's a blue/green with gold & green glitter. I am a sucker for purples so as soon as I saw Purple With A Purpose I had to get it, it's got really fine red shimmer in it, can't wait to use this one! I'm sure I am one of the last people to pick up Done Out In Deco but its one of those that I kept looking at but didn't know if I loved or hated it, I am glad I picked it up as I think it comes out really nicely on the nails! So here it is as my nails of the week.

Have you got any of these colours? Or any other recommendations for me??

Face of the day

Here is todays FOTD, I am not going anywhere so just wanted to try something new! I finally used my Illamasqua pigment in Chasm, this is so gorgeous, I took so many pictures but none of them capture just how sparkly it is! It blended really nicely with the Barry M Dazzle Dust too, I am really happy with the way it turned out!

Products Used:
Face:

Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Bisque

Revlon Colourstay Foundation

Mac MSF Natural Light

Illamasqua Cream Blush Rude

Mac Warm Soul Mineralised Blush

Nars Laguna

Eyes:

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil Lemon

Illamasqua Pigment Chasm all over lid and under lower lashes

Barry M Dazzle Dust Khaki in crease

Mac Vanilla as a highlight

Illamasqua Eyeliner cake in Zeal

Mac Mascara X

Lips:

Maybelline Gallactic Mauve Lipstick

Hope everyone is having a nice relaxing sunday!

Illamasqua Eyes

I am so glad that the weekend is finally here, I need the sleep!
I really couldn't wait to play with my new Illamasqua eyeshadows from yesterdays event! I did each eye differently and I love them both! These are my first shadows from Illamasqua, I know some of them are not hugely pigmented but I have found these ones fine, the only one that is not very pigmented is the matte hot pink but I think thats a good thing as it lets you build up the colour gradually.

For this one I used the silver (top left) all over the lid and under the lower lashes and then the grey (bottom right) in the crease and outer v. I patted some of the light shimmery colour (bottom left) over the top.

I wanted to challenge myself to use the hot pink so I played around with different bases and over black it looks gorgeous! I put a black base all over the lid, into the crease and under the lower lashes. Then the light shimmery colour (bottom left) on the lid and under lower lashes and the hot pink (top right) in the crease. As you can see over the black base both colours look purple, the hot pink is actually wearable for me this way! I blended it out so you can see a little bit of the pink above the crease.

I would never have bought a shadow this colour so am really glad I was given this palette to try!

I am really looking forward to this collection being released, am definately going to get my pre-order in next week!

Nails Inc £10 Lucky Dip

I know a few people blogged about the nails inc £10 lucky dip offer when it was on but I just thought I would post what I got in the parcel.

I honestly can't believe how much I got for £10, the varnishes alone usually retail for £10.50!

The items I got were Sugar Icing, Summer Glow and Sloane Mews Polish, Soho Silk Base Coat, Fast Dry Spray & Sesame Oil Slick Pen. They also put in the Instyle Berry polish for free!

This really was such great value, its obvious the nail colours are the summer shades that they want to clear but still for £10 its great! I am really looking forward to trying the fast dry spray, sitting there waiting for polish to dry drives me mad!

Did anyone else order this, would be interested in seeing what other people got.

London Illamasqua Bloggers Event

I was lucky enough to be invited to the bloggers preview of the new Illamasqua collection "Dystopia" The event was held at Kettners in Soho which is a great venue, I live in London and had never been there before!

Alex Box was there to give us some more insight into the thoughts behind the new collection and colour choices and then picked out one of us to make over, the make up look she did was incredible, very dark and detailed! Unfortunately I have no photos as in my rush to leave the house this morning I forgot my camera! I'm not too worried though as the photographer at the event took loads, actually scrap that I am worried as I'm sure I will hate the pictures lol!

We were all given a product or two from the new collection, I received one of the new eyeshadow palettes, the colours are Quantum, Raps, Matter & Synth. These are my first Illamasqua eyeshadows and I really do like them! Expect an eye of the day at the weekend!

My shopping list for this collection is:

Black pure pigment: I am going to be dreaming of this until I can buy it, its the most gorgeous shimmery black, can't wait!

Pink Lipstick: This was such a gorgeous colour and was really creamy, like all the Illamasqua lipsticks I have tried so far it is very pigmented

Silver lipgloss: Ok I admit that at first I thought who the hell would want to wear a silver lipgloss but I swatched it on top of the pink lipstick and it was love!

Silver Liquid Metal: This is a gorgeous colour, I don't own either of the liquid metals that are available now as golds do not really suit me but this one has my name on it!

This was my first Blogger event and it was so nice to finally meet some of the people I have been chatting to!

It was a lovely evening which was finished off nicely with me, Tali, Helen and Grace sitting in a bar having a good chat with a nice cold beer!