My Make Up Staples

I thought it was time to show you what I mean when I say my staple products. Although sometimes I vary them a bit (eg. if I need waterproof mascara or a foundation with less coverage), but generally these are the products I reach for most often nowadays.

Guerlain Blanc de Perle foundation in 02 Beige Clair. Guerlain Divine Pressed Powder (this is an oldie!), Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Mac highlighting palette (homemade and no idea which shades it contains), Cargo Last Activator mascara in black and Mac Brow Set in Show Off,

So now you know what I mean when I say my staples.

Getting Out Of The Rut Days 3, 4 and 5

I know I've disappeared for a bit, but it doesn't mean I wasn't keeping up with the challenge. It just means I didn't have much time to post. The past 4 days though I have been slacking a bit, so no photos of that, but I did incorporate a few products in my make up that I'd not used for a while, mainly blushes and lipsglosses/lipsticks. Anyway, here are the photos of the days I did make an effort:

Products used (other than my staples): Mac Crushed Metallic Pigments in Moss Garden, Spruced and Silk Stocking, Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Covet, Laura Geller Baked Blush in Bora Bora and Mac Lipgelee in Lush & Bright.

See 2 more looks after the jump!

Recent Nail Polish Purchases

Just wanted to show you a few of my recent nail polish purchases. First one is my Pshiiit Boutique Enchanted Polish order. Finally I'm the proud owner of Scintealliant, Pshiiit's exclusive shade that I kept missing out on and couldn't bear to pay $80+ for on nail polish selling sites.

I also placed a sizeable order with Darling Diva Polish last weekend when she released a few limited edition shades. I needed a few more for free shipping (over $75 internationally), so threw in a few older shaded. Carrie also kindly included a Pryzmatic PETC topcoat for free.

I also picked up a few polishes when browsing in the shops the other day. The new Leighton Denny shade (Loop the Loop) is from M&S, the Essence gel top coat is from Wilko and I got Blue Frost from H&M.

I'm really interested in trying the gel top coat out to see if it will help keep nail polish on me without chipping for more than 2 days. I usually do my nails every 2 days anyway, but it would be nice if my polish didn't chip much before I change it. I will let you know how it goes.

NOTD: Polish Me Silly Lator Gator

Polish Me Silly Lator Gator is a very complex shade. In the shade it mostly looks green, in the sun it's golden purple, and then you have blue and purple shift to it. There's also lots of glass flecks that make it look almost metallic. I did 3 coats for full coverage.

Getting Out Of The Rut Day 2

Here's another look I've done with products that had been sitting unloved in my make up drawers. Products used (other than my staples which I will do a separate post about) were Mac Surf Baby! Cheek Powder in My Paradise, Barry M Dazzle Dust no. 26, Mac pigment in Spiritualize, Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Vacancy and Mac Kissable Lipcolour in Exxxhibitionist.

 Here are the products I used:

I'm really enjoying this and will continue to post pictures. Hope you like them.

Getting Out Of The Rut Day 1

So today is the first day of me using some make up that's been sitting in my drawers unused. In this look I used (among my staples like foundation, powder, mascara and brow set gel which I have no need to mix up) Sephora Moonshadow Trio in Dusk Till Dawn, Urban Decay 24/7 eyepencil in Rockstar, Accessorize Merged Baked Blusher in Wowzer and Mac Dazzleglass Creme in If It's Pink.

Feel free to let me know what you think, but please go easy on me, I haven't done this in a long time.

So that's day one ticked. Onto day two, the adventure continues!

NOTD: Liquid Sky Lacquer It's Wine O'Clock Somewhere and Zoya Arlo

And since I'm on fire this evening, here's my current mani, Liquid Sky Lacquer It's Wine O'Clock Somewhere and Zoya Arlo. It's Wine O'clock Somewehere is a slightly dusky reddish purple holo, which really compliments Arlo, the glittery Zoya Pixie Dust polish. I also added some nail stickers that I got in Superdrug the other day.

Stuck in a Rut

I don't expect many people to read this post since this blog has been inactive for so long, so I guess I'm mostly just writing this to myself. But if you do read it, feel free to let me know in the comments.

So it's been a long time since I wrote much on here and even then it was mostly about nail polish. That's the only part of my beauty routine that I'm actually varying at all. I do a new mani at least 3 times a week and I've been buying soooo much nail polish, it's shameful. Make up, not so much, although I have bough the odd blush or lipstick, even foundation, I haven't really been keenly following the new releases. I guess it's partly because I have a massive stash already and most of the new releases look similar to what I already have, and I simply don't need any more. Not that I need more nail polish, but that's another matter. Anyway...

Despite owning a massive amount of make up, I have only been using a very small portion of it. Why? Mostly due to lack of time in the morning, partly due to how my make up is stored. So I tend to just use about 5 different blushes and maybe 10 different lipsticks, hardly get around to wearing eyeshadows, and things like highlighters - what's that? This evening I was looking for a couple of old Mac face products as I was reminded of the summer collection from 5 years ago by a blogger and in the process I decided to look through my 6 drawer chest that contains most of my Mac blushes, MSFs, lots of other blushes and a whole drawer full of again, mostly Mac lipglosses. I don't think I'd opened that drawer for a good year if not longer. This gave me an idea.

From now on, starting tomorrow, I'm going to try and use as much of my make up as possible. Instead of frantically trying to find something in the morning, giving up and settling for the same blush I use most days, I will pull out a few products the night before and actually plan my look in advance. I will also document what I wear on here (might not be photos of my face, maybe just the products for starters) as well as keep note of it on a spreadsheet (which I'm yet to put together). Why? Because I need to get out of the rut and realise just how many wonderful products I own and need to use. I will also aim to post pictures of my manis and nail polish purchases which I will also try to finally curb, but that's another matter.

So here we go, first step out of the beauty rut and onto a journey to rediscover my stash. Who's coming with me?

Want It! Dior Golden Shock Collection for Holiday 2014

First of all, hello, and sorry I've been AWOL, had a very difficult summer and now we've got a new member in our family. His name is Max and he's 4 months old. No, not a new baby, but a puppy! He's a Cavapoo (cross between a King Charles Cavallier Spaniel and a Toy Poodle) and is extremely adorable, but also quite a handful. Typical puppy, he loves stealing things and chewing them up. So as much as I love him, he has been taking up a lot of my time, it's like having a toddler again!

This is him a bit over a month ago when he arrived in our family. He is quite a bit bigger now, but is still a baby and still loves his cuddles with mama.

Anyway, moving onto beauty now, I couldn't not post images of the Dior holiday collection, the products are just so gorgeous. I have't bought anything from Dior for a while, but I am very tempted by the eyeshadow quints and those lipsticks! Oh my! Loving the powders too, but I'm not going to get them, I'm actually in the process of selling off all my pretty powders that I know I'll never use.

Here's the list of products in the collection:

5 Couleurs Eyeshadow  (Limited Edition)

• Golden Reflections (046)
• Golden Shock (756)

Diorshow Fusion Mono Eyeshadow

• Mirror (621) (New, Permanent)

Dior Addict Gloss (Limited Edition)

• Gold Rain (164)
• Pink Excess (663)

Diorific Illuminating Press Powder (Limited Edition)

• Gold Shock (001) 
• Pink Shock (002) 

Diorific Golden Shock Colour Lip Duo (Limited Edition)

• Delicate Shock (001) 
• Enchanting Shock (002) 
• Daring Shock (005)
• Ardent Shock (006)
• Passion Shock (007)
• Mysterious Shock (008)

Diorific Vernis (Limited Edition)

• Shock (762)
• Mirorr (022)
• Smoky (990)
• Gold Equinoxe (241)

Diorific Vernis Effect Top Coat (Limited Edition)

• Gold Leaf Effect (001)

Finally, here are some pictures!

See more pictures after the jump!

Flowery Nail Art With Butter London Disco Biscuit

I don't do a lot of nail art mostly because I'm not very good at it and because I haven't got much time, but a little while ago I did this cute mani using Butter London Disco Biscuit. I stamped it with white Konad polish using Pueen 59 stamping plate and applied glitters from OPI I Snow You Love Me to the center of the flowers. Ta-dah!

It was really quick and easy, even for a beginner like me, but I got lots of compliments on it.

Do you do nail art? Do you stamp or do it freehand?

See more pictures after the jump!

Chanel Illusion D'Ombre #96 Utopia Review and Swatches

So as I've promised, I have a review of one of the new Chanel Illusion D'Ombres. This one is Utopia, a slightly frosty dusky purple shade.

I really like Chanel Illusion D'Ombres, they are one of my go-to eyeshadows when I only have time for a quick sweep of colour on the lids. They go on smoothly and blend very easily. I tend to use them over primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance is my favourite) and they stay without creasing all day.

The eyeshadows come with a small angled brush for application, but generally I think any dense brush is fine for that purpose and mine tend to sit untouched. They would be good for using the eyeshadows as liner though.

They don't come cheap at £25 for 4 g, but they do go a long way and I'm happy to report that none of my older ones are showing signs of drying out, so they are a good long-term investment.

There are 3 new shades in the Chanel summer collection and I have New Moon as well to show you at a later date.

For now, see more pictures of Utopia, including swatches, after the jump!

Haul Pictures

I am so happy we can finally get Essence in the UK! In case you didn't know, Essence is now being sold in Wilkinson. My small local branch only has a small display, but I popped into a bigger one that had a much bigger one. Today I want to show you what I picked up as well as a couple of other bits from Topshop, Superdrug and Boots.

So from Essence I got these cute nail stickers for when I'm too lazy to do some stamping, and a nail polish called Laser Show which is a glitter topper with silver microshimmer and black glitter. From Topshop I picked up two glitter polishes called Dreamlike and Myth.

Also from Essence, I got their Blush Up powder blush that bears a very strong resemblance to Mac's blush ombres. It's very pigmented, just great for summer. I also got the new Sleek palette, Rio Rio and Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in New Moon, one of the new summer shades. I have another shade to show you, which I'll be writing a full review on very soon.

Have you been buying any make up or nail polish lately?

Summer NOTD: Bright Green Neon Nails With A Bit Of Glitter

Today I'm wearing China Glaze I'm With The Lifeguard, a neon green polish from their Summer Neons collection from 2012, with China Glaze Sour Apple, a bright green glitter topper (I don't know which collection it is from).  

I'm With The Lifeguard is a very bright neon green, less yellow than my pictures show, with green and yellow sheen in the sun. It's very glowy and cheerful. The formula wasn't perfect, it's quite runny, so had to be careful with it, but after 2 coats it looked perfect. Sour Apple has fine glitter in it and it also took 2 coats to look even. The two polishes go together really well.

I took another picture to show you what it looks like in shade, and was also hoping to capture its real colour, but even this is too yellow. Anyway, I'm loving this combo.

Do you own any neon polishes? Which are your favourites?

See another picture after the jump!

Mac Flamingo Lustre Lipstick Review and Swatches

Okay, I know I said I hardly ever buy lipsticks and yet, I'm here reviewing another one, BUT Mac Flamingo lipstick was always on my wishlist. I didn't buy it when it first come out in a limited edition collection and always regretted it, so when it was recently added to the permanent lipstick line, I decided to finally pick it up, especially as I had some House of Fraser vouchers burning a hole in my pocket!.

Mac describes Flamingo as "light milky bright coral", but it also has a lot of pink in it. I'd say it's one of those my lips but better shades. It's a lustre finish, so it's not very opaque, it takes a few goes to get a good colour payoff. It's very glossy, but also due to the lustre finish it wears off really quickly. I'm lucky if I get 2 hours of wear out of it, and that's without eating or drinking. It's not drying at all and feels very comfortable when on my lips.

So was it worth the wait? I can't honestly say it was for me, but if you are after a nice subtle lipstick, this is a good one to pick up. It's a great colour for the summer, but also all year round. I now prefer more pigmented, more opaque shades, so Flamingo sadly didn't live up to my expectations.

Flamingo lipstick costs £15.50 and you get 3 g for your money.

See more pictures, including swatches after the jump!

NOTD: KBShimmer Run! It's The Coppers!

A little while ago I showed you my picks from KBShimmer's summer collection and Run! It's The Coppers! was one of them.

Run! It's The Coppers! is a beautiful copper holographic polish. It took 2 coats to build up opacity. The best things about this polish (other than its gorgeous colour and bright holographic rainbow) is the nice wide brush that makes application very easy. It's not too wide to worry those with thin nails, but wide enough to only need a couple of strokes to cover the nail. The formula was really nice and easy too. I ended up with a chip on my index finger, but you can see in the pictures that it's very uneven at the tip due to peeling, so that might have been a contributing factor. All in all I'm very happy with it.

I bought my KBShimmer polishes from Harlow & Co who ship worldwide at a very good price. KBShimmer doesn't ship outside the US.

See more pictures after the jump!

Lime Crime Opaque Lipstick in Geradium Swatches and Review

As I mentioned in my previous post I bought this beautiful summery lipstick from Lime Crime and couldn't wait to try it out. Geradium is a bright coral pink shade with a glossy finish. It is bright, but also wearable if you're not scared of a bit of brightness on your lips. The lipstick smells divine, it has the same vanilla scent as the Mac lipsticks, and feels lovely to wear.

It glides on really easily and feels very comfortable on the lips. Weartime is around 3 hours without eating, when I ate it wore off pretty quickly. The lipstick comes in a beautiful purple case with holographic print and a cute unicorn. This is my first Lime Crime lipstick, but may not be the last one. I already have my eye on another shade!

I bought it from Harlow & Co for CAD18, but I've also seen it for sale for £12.50 in UK webshops. I decided to buy from Harlow & Co as I was already ordering some nail polish from Katie. You get 3.5 g for your money which is the larger end of lipstick sizes.

See more pictures after the jump!

My Picks From KBShimmer's Summer Collections and a Lipstick Too!

My order from Harlow & Co came the other day, so I thought I'd show you which polishes I chose from the two KBShimmer summer collections (there was an early summer collection and a late summer collection - although I'm still considering this time of year to be early summer, but anyway). I only chose three polishes, not becasue I didn't like the rest, but because I now have over 2000 polishes and have completely run out of space to store them in. So I try to look for polishes that are a bit unusual or colours that I don't own yet.

I picked up Red, White & Blue-tiful from the late summer collection, a glitter topper with lots of red, blue and silver stars as well as red, blue and silver glitter and holographic micro glitter. Obviously it is for 4th July, the American Independence Day, but since the UK flag has the same colours, I thought it would be a very apt polish for the summer. Or just any time really.

From the early summer collection I got Run! It's The Coppers!, a copper holographic polish, and Let's Not Coral, a coral pink creme polish. Both are gorgeous and not similar to anything I own. (Which makes you wonder, how can someone have over 2000 polishes and still not own every colour possible?!)

I also ordered a lipstick which is a very rare occurrence for me nowadays (you might remember I went on a lip product no-buy when I was still blogging last year) as I now have so many lipsticks and lipglosses. I only buy some very special colours nowadays (mostly just Guerlain Rouge G's and Mac lipsticks), but I saw a swatch of Lime Crime Geradium Opaque Lipstick and just had to have it. I will review the lipstick in the coming days, but for now, here's a sneak peek.

Come back soon for a full review of this gorgeousness!

NOTD: Enchanted Polish Electric Feel

Today I have a gorgeous duochrome holo polish from Enchanted Polish to show you. I'm a big fan of Enchanted Polish, she makes the most gorgeous, complex polishes, but unfortunately they are extremely hard to come by. The restocks are few and far between and the polishes sell out in seconds. I count myself lucky to own as many Enchanted Polishes as I do. Nowadays it's easier to order them as she holds a pre-order every month or two for her monthly released mystery polishes (you don't know what it looks like until you receive it), but they are usually not duochrome which makes them less interesting to me.

Anyway, what I have here today is Electric Feel that was released as part of the Time To Pretend collection about a year ago. The collection is still available from time to time, Mei Mei Signatures and Pshiiit Boutique both had restocks fairly recently. Electric Feel is a duochrome holographic polish, it's light sage green with a golden sheen and it also has a dusky light blue duochrome to it and of course lots of holo. Very pretty.

Application was very easy, it took 2 coats for full coverage and dried quickly. I can't comment on how long it lasts as I only applied it last night. I usually get 2 days wear without chipping from Enchanted Polishes (and most polishes in general).

Do you own any Enchanted Polishes? Do you like duochrome holo polishes? They are definitely my favourites.

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Gold Holo Goodness - Layla Hologram Effect Nail Polish Gold Idol

I have another gorgeous holographic polish from Layla to show you, this time it's a gold one, aptly named Gold Idol.  

As with other Layla polishes, the formula was lovely, and the holo is very strong. I experimented to see if the holo would be stronger or weaker by using Nfu Oh Aqua Base under the polish on all fingers except for my little finger, and I didn't apply topcoat on my thumb to see if it would make a difference to the strength of the holo. The answer is no. This is just a bloody good holo polish that works without a holo basecoat and still looks as strong with a topcoat. Easy.

Weartime was little disappointing, I had some tiny chips after a day's wear and some bigger ones after two, but that's quite normal when it comes to holographic polishes. All in all I was very happy with this polish, there's a reason why I own all 16 polishes in the Layla holographic range.

See more pictures after the jump!

Tropical Punch NOTD with Seventeen and OPI and a Few Haul Pictures

And now it's time for something summery. This is Seventeen (17) Tropical Punch over OPI Mediterranean Moonlight. The glitters in the Seventeen polish are matte, so they give a great contrast to the base coat. The OPI polish is quite dull on its own, but the topcoat really cheered it up.

I also have a few pictures of a recent haul featuring drugstore polishes, including Seventeen and some TKMaxx finds. I love TKMaxx, but the only thing I hate is how they plaster the products with the price stickers, I mean look at that poor Nails Inc polish!

See more pictures of my TKMaxx finds after the jump!