NOTD: Orly Lunar Eclipse nail polish

I first heard about Orly nail polishes when details of the upcoming Mac Disney Venomous Villains collection details emerged (Orly Galaxy Girl and Space Cadet being dupes for Mac Formidable! and Mean & Green nail polishes), so that just shows you how much I'm not into nail polishes. The problem with my nails is that they're very soft and bendy, so most nail polishes chip and peel off within 48 hours. So after a while I would just give up and not bother with painting my nails, especially since I also didn't know about Seche Vite, so it took forever for my nails to dry which is not very doable when you're a mum of 3 young children. Nail polish still chips on my nails within 1-2 days, but at least painting them again isn't as time consuming anymore. Unfortunately since I hardly ever paint my nails, I'm also pretty rubbish at it, especially when it comes to my right hand (I cannot do anything with my left hand, it's pretty rubbish, wish I was ambidextrous).

Anyway, I have ordered a few Orly nail polishes and today I am sporting Lunar Eclipse. It's part of the Cosmic FX collection (the one that also includes Galaxy Girl and Space Cadet), and I believe it's limited edition. Unfortunately my camera isn't very good, so what you can't see in the pictures is the beautiful purple sheen. Not so noticable on my nails, but gorgeous in the bottle. The blue is amazing, so sparkly and pretty, really gorgeous. Not too dark, not too bright, just right.

I did find that the polish was a bit on the runny side and it needed 2-3 coats to look even, which it still isn't in a few places, but that's probably down to my clumsiness. Unfortunately it also peeled off my nails more quickly than usual, I painted them last night at 8 pm, the pictures were taken at 10 am this morning and by 4 am I had 2 big chips and several small ones. With a colour like this, you can't walk around with chipped nails, something which I used to do when using light pink / pearly white nail polish in the past as I couldn't be bothered to do my nails every 2 days. Luckily you get 18 ml in the bottle, so plenty to go around. I don't think I will ever use it up to be honest, half the size would do me just fine.

Have you tried Orly nail polishes? What do you think of them?

See more photos after the jump!

New Cid Cosmetics i-glow powder in Coral Crush and i-gloss in Coral Candy

Thanks to Charlotte at Lipglossiping telling us about the new Coral Crush i-glow shimmer powder and Coral Candy i-gloss from New Cid Cosmetics, I had to order them both as they are so pretty. I already owned two of the i-glow shimmer powders (Sirocco and Ice Pop - reviews to follow later) and an i-gloss and really liked them, so was quite happy to place an order online without seeing them in person. Unfortunately there's no New Cid Cosmetics counter near me (I think the closest is in Selfridges in London), so if I wanted them, I didn't really have a choice anyway. Well, I could've waited until I next go to London, but I am very impatient, so that was never going to happen!

I got my order last week and I can tell you it was love at first sight with the shimmer powder. The gloss is very nice too, but the powder, oh my...!

It is quite simply one of the prettiest powders I have ever seen. It's pinky coral with cool pink and gold veining, well not so much veining, as they are thicker than veins, more like patches. Very similar to Mac Mineralize Skinfinishes and Laura Geller Blush 'n' Brighten blushes, I think both are 9 g, so is this. Coral Crush is pretty frosty, so it's not for those wanting something without shimmer, but it isn't glittery and it is very smooth, fine powder. The compact also has a mirror inside it, something that's missing from the Mac MSFs. It's more expensive at £23.50 though.

The lipgloss isn't shimmery at all, it's also non-sticky, but it is quite sheer and the colour isn't quite the same on my lips as it is in the tube. It comes with one of those light up wands (there are two small light bulb in the handle that come on when you unscrew it) and has a mirror on the side of the tube. It's quite funky, but I personally don't like the light as it's a very cold blue light, so the gloss looks very different when I'm applying it. I gues it's cool when you're clubbing and want to reapply your gloss in the dark. :) I don't do that anymore. The gloss retails at £15.50 which also puts it in a higher price bracket from Mac.

See some more pictures and swatches of the powder and lipgloss.

Maybelline Express Finish Diamonds nailpolish review

While doing the shopping in my local Sainsbury's, I picked up 3 Maybelline nailpolishes. They were 3 for 2, but unfortunately there wasn't a huge selection, so I struggled to choose 3 of them, but eventually settled for 2 Express Finish Diamonds and one Forever Strong Pro nailpolish. 

Atomic Violine, Flash Cosmic, Mauve Diamonds

The Express Finish Diamonds nailpolishes are sparkly, some with chunky glitter. I picked up Mauve Diamonds and Flash Cosmic. Mauve Diamonds is a rose colour with subtle gold flecks, whereas Flash Cosmic is mostly clear with loads of  blue glittery chunks.They said to dry in 40 seconds, so you have to be pretty quick to apply them and their consistency is quite thick/gloopy, so you have to be careful not to overload the brush. I don't know if they dried that quickly or not since I always use Seche Vite top coat and that makes my nail polishes dry very quickly anyway.

The Forever Strong Pro nail polish I picked up is a deep purple shade, called Atomic Violine, a lot more purple and less blue than in the picture actually, but I couldn't capture the real shade. I have not used it yet, but it promises up to 7 days' wear and is fortified with calcium, iron and silica. Nail polish never lasts long on me, so I'll be interested to see how long it actually stays on my nails.

I have been wearing Mauve Diamonds for 2 days and it's lasted suprisingly well on me, although it chipped after 24 hours, but it's usual for me. Still not too bad though. Some of my Gosh nail polishes chipped on me after just 12 hours! I like this colour, it's a lovely rosey pink with subtle gold shimmer, really pretty and girly. I used two coats only because I don't like it on too thick and it turned out pretty even (especially considering the state of my very uneven pealing nails).

See some pictures of Mauve Diamonds nail polish in action!

Guerlain Les Ors Holiday 2010 Collection

I've been talking so much about my Guerlain Meteorites and Voyage Powders collection, that I figured, I might as well show you the upcoming holiday collection. I love Guerlain's holiday collections, because they always include  new Meteorites and Voyage Powders. I also love the Sublime Radiant Powders that come out every Christmas. Those are the shimmery powders in old style perfum bottles. Lovely! :) I want everything!

Christian Dior 5 Colours Designer Palette 808 Pink Design review and look

Today I'm wearing one of my new Dior eyeshadow palettes, so I thought I'd do a quick review and show you the look I've created with it. Dior has now released 5 of the 5 Colours Designer Palettes which are basically all in one eyepalettes including a base, an all over lid colour, a crease colour, a highlighter and a cream eyeliner. I think they are a great idea, especially if you're not that confident and would like some help with matching colours and placing eyeshadows in the right place.

Dior 5 Colours Designer Palette in Pink Design

Today I'm wearing the newest addition to this line, Pink Design, which includes a cream coloured base, pink all over lid colour, purple crease colour, light pink sparkly highlighter and a blackened purple eyeliner. I skipped the base colour because I'm already using an eyeshadow primer and I'm not even sure if the base is at all good for priming your eyelids, but I guess it wouldn't hurt. I would rather see another colour eyeshadow in the palette rather than the base actually, pehaps a darker pink or lighter purple. The pink all over eyeshadow is lovely, soft, blendable and pigmented and I was very surprised by the purple shade because it didn't look that pigmented in the palette, but when I put the brush on my eyelid I thought whoa, this is reallt good! Very nice violet-purple with a slight sheen and very pigmented! The pink sparkly highlighter is very sheer, but I guess you don't need your highlighter to be too obvious do you? The cream eyeliner is very blendable and easy to use, although you might want to use a proper eyeliner brush instead of the teeny weeny one supplied.

See below for some swatches and the look I created with this palette.

100th post!!!

It's only taken me 14 months, but here it is finally - my 100th post! Wow that is a lot of ramblings about make up! :) I also have 95 followers which is amazing, there are actually 95 people out there who are interested in what I have to say! Thank you!

Guerlain Meteorites Rose Nacre / Pearly Pink

I've just showed you my Guerlain Meteorites Voyage Powder collection, so I thought I'd also show you the other part of my Meteorites collection, but more importantly the other rare find I've got recently.

This collection isn't complete yet because there are a few Meteorites that were released before 2000 are now almost impossible to find, but I do have all the newer ones, so I'm pretty happy. However, I did manage to find one of the pre-2000 powders on eBay, so that's great. This one is called Pearly Pink and all the balls in it are light pink colours - you normally get 3-4-5 different coloured balls. The container is larger than the new containers, but you still "only" get 29g, compared to the new style 30g (I think, it's either 30 or 33g, can't remember now).

The one I picked up on eBay was used and I'm pretty sure it's missing a few balls, but never mind, the remaining balls are in still great condition and they'll still last ages, plus this one is more for the collection than using anyway.

I didn't have time to take pictures of my entire Meteorites collection, but you can find some older pictures of my stash here and here. I will take a new photo after I've got my hands on the upcoming holiday collection as that will feature a new limited edition Meteorites as well as voyage powder. I'm really excited about it already and I will tell you all about it soon! :)

For now, here are some photos of Pearly Pink Meteorites and comparison between the old and new containers. Enjoy!

And my collection is finally complete...

As some of you know, I am a huge fan of Guerlain Meteorites and collect them as well as use them (well some of them anyway). I got into Guerlain only a couple of years ago, so anything before then I missed out on. And of course as most brands, their seasonal collections are limited edition, so it takes a lot of time (and money) to track down old collections. Thankfully (with the help of eBay and MakeUpAlley) I have been able to find everything, in fact the last piece of my Meteorites Voyage Powder collection arrived to me yesterday. And here it is:

Guerlain Meteorites Voyage Powder Eclat De Rose

This powder was released in 2003, so it is now very rare, but I was lucky enough to find a brand new unused boxed one in perfect condition. It was also cheaper than the usual retail price (which is now over £100), so I'm really pleased. I've also taken the opportunity to take an up-to-date picture of all my Meteorites Voyage Powders as they are so pretty and I love looking at them. I do use some of them (have a few back-ups that I've picked up on eBay or in sales (usually half the price)), but they really are worth the money to just stare at. :) Also they smell divine. Of course there will be a new Voyage Powder coming out with the holiday collection (more on that later) which I'm really looking forward to as it has bee pattern and looks gorgeous! Anyway, here's some more pictures of my new Voyage Powder and the rest of my collection. Enjoy!

Bobbi Brown Sparkle Eyeshadows vs. Laura Mercier Sequin Eyeshadows

I ordered a couple of Bobbi Brown's Sparkle Eyeshadows and I just received my order this morning, so thought I'd review it straight away. And while I was taking photos I realised that these eyeshadows are actually quite similar to Laura Mercier's Sequin Eyeshadows (from her recent Mystique collection), so I thought I'd include those in this review as well. I bought Bobbi Brown's Sparkle Eyeshadows in Denim (from the Denim & Rose collection) and Black Velvet (from the new Black Velvet collection). Denim is a shimmering blue, Black Velvet is a glittering deepest plum - according to Bobbi Brown. Denim is pretty, but to me Black Velvet is amazing, it has these multicolour sparkles that are just gorgeous! Unfortunately the photos don't do it justice, my camera couldn't really pick up the sparkles in it. I did include a slightly blurred swatch photo that shows the sparkles a bit better.

Bobbi Brown Sparkle Eyeshadows Denim and Black Velvet

Denim

Black Velvet

Denim, Black Velvet

Denim, Black Velvet (click on image to see those sparkles properly!)

Read my review on Laura Mercier's Sequin Eyeshadows and see pictures after the jump!

Urban Decay Afterglow Blushes in Quickie and Score

I mentioned in my last post that I also purchased 2 of Urban Decay's Afterglow Blushes, but forgot to take pictures of them at the time. I have now done that and swatched them for you as well. I bought Quickie and Score, both of which are slightly shimmery (but not glittery, it's more of a sheen really) powder blushes. Quickie is a bright sugary pink shade (think Nars Angelika minus the glitter) and Score is a peachy coral like Mac Springsheen. They are both nicely pigmented and not chalky at all. They are quite a bit smaller than Mac blushes (3.8 g as opposed to 6 g), but they are slightly cheaper at £13.50 each as well, and you are more likely to get a 3 for 2 offer on them than Mac (!). They come with a mirror inside the compact which is nice too.

Score, Quickie

I'd like to apologize for the photos, unfortunately my camera doesn't like bright colours, so made the shades look less bright and washed out, then I changed the setting and they came out rather yellowy. I really need to get a proper camera, but can't really justify it just for the blog.

Anyway, see more photos and swatches of the blushes after the jump!

My HUGE Urban Decay haul and Vegan palette review

Urban Decay HAD to release 4 palettes at the same time, and I HAD to buy all of them didn't I? :) Even though I wasn't even planning on buying the Black Palette and was undecided about the Naked Palette, I ended up buying them too. The Black Palette because it looked really great in person and there was a 3 for 2 offer in Boots when I went to check it out (I got a free blush - which reminds me I should have included the two blushes in this review too, but forgot, never mind, next time). The Naked Palette because - I admit - gave into the craze and there was a 10% off offer, so I snatched it up. It's pretty, but I'm not a neutral kinda girl and I actually have about 7-8 of the shades already, but there are a few shades that I do really love (Virgin, Sin, Toasted, Hustle, Gunmetal), so I figured I might as well get it. As you know I'd already got the UD Hearts NYC Book of Shadows a little while ago (reviewed it here) and I really wanted to Vegan Palette as it's super pretty - even if I already have most of the eyeshadows in it, so I am now one happy bunny. :) And one thing's for sure: I will NEVER run out of Zero eyeliner! :) I also purchased the new 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Eldorado which is a new full size shade (it was featured in one of the sets last year, but it was a teeny tiny size and I really love it, so wanted to full size one as well) and got a free Big Fatty Mascara sample with my purchase. (As I mentioned earlier I also got two of the Afterglow blushes: Quickie and Score when I bought the Black Palette, I'll try to review them soon.) So here they all are: See LOTS more pictures and swatches of the Vegan Palette after the jump!

Felines inspired look

Temptalia is currently running a readers challenge for creating felines inspired looks (inspired by the new Mac collection, Fabulous Felines) and I have submitted an entry, which I would like to show off here as well. This is a simple look, mostly recreating the eyes of cats, or trying to anyway, definitely not something elaborate with leopard spots or tiger stripes. I actually wore this look all day yesterday. :) This look was also a good way of testing out my new Mac Superslick Liquid Eyeliners (I got 3) and new Laura Mercier Sequin Eyeshadows (from the Mystique Collection). I really like both of them, so that's great! :) Here's the look I did: See more photos and find out which products I used to create this look.

Urban Decay Naked palette now available on debenhams.com!

And not only that, there is 10% off all cosmetics and free delivery, so if you've wanted to pick up this palette, but haven't done it yet, now is the time! Also available are the new Vegan palette and Black palette, so if you love Urban Decay, head over to debenhams.com and stock up on these lovely palettes! Edited to add: Unfortunately the Naked palette is now sold out, but do not fear, it is a permanent item, so will be available again soon for sure.