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!

Festive Nails Part 5 - Holographic Silver

Holographic silver nail polishes always remind me of wrapping paper, don't they? This one is 17's new holo polish which I actually won in a giveaway from the lovely Liloo. (Check her fantastic blog out here.) As I'm a sucker for holographic polishes, I had to try this out asap!

The holo effect on this one isn't the strongest I've seen, it's probably up there with the GOSH holographic polish, maybe a little weeker. It's very pretty though and the formula was very nice. Application was a bit messy, but that's probably my fault. I did 2 coats then top coat then an extra coat to make sure the top coat didn't dull the holo effect. The only thing I didn't like about it, which I've not experienced with any other holo polish before, is how it faded by day 3 and was very dull at the end of my fingers. It lasted pretty well though, with only a few small chips by the end of day 2.

I like 17 nail polishes, they're cheap, but qood quality. You get 10 ml for £3.99 and at the moment there's a buy one get one half price offer on selected 17 cosmetics at Boots.

See more pictures after the jump!

Festive Nails - Part 1

Since it's now December I thought now would be a great time to start a series about festive nail polishes. However, as I'm still playing catch up and have had absolutely no time to take, crop and watermark pictures, I thought I'd start out with a quick recap of the festive NOTD posts I did this time last year. I have gained a lot of followers since last year, so some of you might not have seen these posts anyway, and even if you have, it's always nice to get some ideas for Christmas.

So without further ado, here are the links to last year's festive NOTD posts, and I will be back soon with some frest posts. To see more pictures and read the relevant posts, just click on the pictures.

China Glaze Champagne Bubbles

Check out some more festive nail ideas after the jump!

Update On My No-Buy 2 Months On

In case you're not a regular reader of my blog (and why not?), to fill you in, 2 months ago I went on a no-buy for lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polishes (you can also read my original post by clicking here). Well, an intended no-buy anyway. I have been doing well in some areas (lips) and not so well in other areas (nails).

Firstly, the positives. I haven't bought any new lipsticks this month, so that's a definite well done to me. I have bought 6 lipglosses, but those were still (just about) within my limit, and now I've reached that, I'm not going to allow myself any more.

Secondly, I can't stop buying nail polish. I did better than last month (not hard), but still bought far too many. The picture below shows a small portion of my nail polish haul. I have to say, 9 of them came from my wishlist (those gorgeous holographic Color Club polishes on the front and left of the picture and the Enchanted Polishes on the right), and one was sent to me by the lovely Liloo as a prize (the other gorgeous holo by 17 on the right), so surely that doesn't count, right?

The trouble is, there are just too many pretty, glittery, holo polishes out there, and I'm too weak. But I'm trying. I have quite a long wishlist now and I have been better about not just buying things when I see them on a blog or in a shop, so hopefully it's a start. However, feel free to give me a kick up the bum and tell me to stop buying them since I already have enough nail polishes to last me 20 years or so!

MUA Beauty Balm BB Cream Review

It seems every brand is coming out with their own version of BB cream at the moment, and this time it's Make Up Academy's (MUA) turn. Their version is called Beauty Balm instead of Blemish Balm, but since they put a big BB on it, we'll just assume that's supposed to be the same thing.

Although technically this is not a BB cream, because it doesn't include any SPF. They claim the all in one, multi-functional formula primes, protects and conceals. I'm not sure how it's supposed to protect your skin without any SPF though. Okay, so what does it do? It's basically a medium coverage foundation as far as I can see. For the price it's not a bad one either. The formula is a little on the thick side for my liking, but it does blend out eventually, and it gives a good medium coverage, so I don't need extra concealer on my spots/scars. I chose the medium shade as the light one was too light for me (it comes in 3 shades by the way), and other than being a little pink for my colouring, it's a very good match. It has a slight scent, but it doesn't bother me and fades away quickly anyway. I always set my foundation, so didn't test it without setting powder, but with it this lasted on me for a good few hours before I had to do some blotting, which is very much the same as any other foundation I own.

I'd say for £4 (or rather £3 at the moment in Superdrug!) this is a good foundation. It's a good size at 30 ml too. I would prefer it to have some SPF, but for the price it's really hard to fault it. Out of the four BB creams I have tried so far (MUA, 17, Garnier and Ginvera) this is not my favourite, but probably comes close to the 17 one. The Ginvera BB cream is still leading, although it contains the least product and costs the most, so I'd probably go for the 17 one when it came to repurchasing. I hated the Garnier one so much, I got rid of it, but I will be keeping and using this one, however, probably won't repurchase it if I ever run out. 

See more pictures after the jump!

17 Spring Collection Spring Fling Eyeshadow Palettes and Lasting Fix Nail Polishes

I love spring collections, especially when they have pretty colours and patterns, don't you? So for me the 17 spring collection was everything I could've asked for. As well as two gorgeous flowery eyeshadow palettes (remind you a bit of Dior, do they?) there are 4 nail polishes in lovely bright sunny spring shades.



First up are the two eyeshadow palettes, Spring Brights and Hazy Days. Just look at that lovely packaging! It's a shame though that the compacts themselves don't have the same flowery patterns (they're just light pink colour with the words written on them, a missed opportunity if I may say so. The inside of the compacts of course are what matters and they are beautiful. Both consist of 4 colours each arranged in a flowery pattern. Spring Brights includes a matte baby pink, a shimmery light lilac, a shimmery sunny yellow and a shimmery warm yellow-brown (yeah I know, I suck at describing colours). In Hazy Days all four shades are shimmery, a pretty grass green, a light beige, a light brown and a darker chocolate brown.

Some of the sections are very small and practically impossible to get your brush into, but all colours have a bigger patch where you can pick them up easily from. In my opinion there's just a bit too much brown, and I don't think the colours in Spring Brights work particularly well together, the brown and yellow shades do and the pink and purple do, but not so much all 4. I would've liked to see a lighter yellow and perhaps a darker pink or maybe a blue shade in there instead of the brown. The quality of the eyeshadows is good though and at the price (£5.99 each) they are a good buy. You get 7.5 g in each palette which is great.

Spring Petals, Juicy, Mellow Yellow, Glisten

There are also 4 Lasting Fix nail polishes in the spring collection and they all come in lovely spring shades. Spring Petal is a lovely pink with subtle shimmer, Juicy is a gorgeous lime green with subtle shimmer, Mellow Yellow is a sunny yellow with subtle shimmer and Glisten is a shimmery metallic pinky bronze (I think Glisten isn't a new shade actually, but I might be wrong). They are all quite runny and all took 3 coats to look opaque, although Juicy still wasn't quite there even then. I found them hard to apply because of the runny formula, hence the messy application. I created a colourful springtime manicure with them that you'll see at the bottom of the post (reminded me of mini chocolate eggs in colourful wrappers). Spring Petal chipped on me first (after about a day) and Glisten actually lasted for 3 days without chipping, but I need to add that Spring Petal was on my index fingers which always chip first and Glisten was on my little fingers which always chip last. I won't say they're long lasting, but 3 days is actually pretty good for me. They cost £2.99 and you get 8 ml.

There is also a 3 for 2 offer at Boots right now, so you can buy 3 of these for just under 6 quid! Or get the eyeshadow palettes and pick up a nail polish for free!

There's lots more pictures, including swatches and a colourful springtime NOTD after the jump!

Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream Review

BB Creams are the new big thing in the UK and every brand seems to be bringing out their version of it at the moment. Some seem to be better than others, some labelled as BB Creams are no more than tinted moisturisers, but some are really worth paying attention to. Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream is certainly one of the good ones, in fact I will go as far as saying that it's the best one I've tried so far. (I have already reviewed a couple: Garnier BB Cream and Boots 17 BB Cream, click on the links for the reviews.)

The most unique thing about this BB Cream is that unlike the others I have tried, this has a nude shade, so not so pink as some others. When you apply it in fact, it looks quite grey on the skin, but it blends in really nicely and gives you a great skintone by enhancing your natural tone rather than covering it. Coverage is light to medium I'd say, not as heavy as the 17 BB Cream, but certainly a lot better than the Garnier BB Cream. It doesn't come in more than one shades and says it's suitable for all skin tones, but I would struggle to see this work for very light or very dark skintones. I haven't tested this though, so don't take my word for it!

Once again there are a lot of claims this product has to live up to and it actually does what it says "on the tin". It does blend easily, gives a natural matte finish that lasts, evens out skintone, and it has an SPF30 sun protection which is really good. I can't say it gives a completely flawless coverage, although if you have relatively good skin, then I guess it would, and I can't really comment on whether it's hydrating (although it's not drying on my skin) or whether it helps reduce the formation of lines, which I guess you'd only notice after long term use. All in all this is a good BB Cream, and I would happily recommend this.

My only complaint is the price tag, this is the most expensive one I've tried so far at £20 and you only get 25 ml, so it's also the smallest. Although you can currently get it for just £15 (plus p&p) from Janiro, the new UK distributor of Ginvera products. You can also request a free sample before committing to buying the full size product by clicking here.

See more pictures after the jump!

2011's Favorite Products: Part 2 - Face

To continue from yesterday's favourites post I have the face products I loved the most this year to show you. Like I said in yesterday's post, it's hard to compose these lists because current favourites can easily make it in there even if you were using something  else for 11 months. Despite me not wanting to include products that have only recently made it into my most used and well loved products, I have gone against it and included a couple of products that are very new to me but have become firm favourites. Read on to find out what they are.

First up is my favourite face primer, Guerlain Meteorites Perles Light-Diffusing Perfecting Primer. It smells amazing and gives a smooth base, it's not slimy and slippery like some silicone based one, love it. I have reviewed it, so click on the link above.

Keep reading to find out which other face products I loved this year!

17 Blemish Balm All In One Magic Make Up Review - This One Is Good!

After the disappointment that was the Garnier B.B. cream I swore I wasn't gonna buy another one, but somehow I ended up getting the new 17 B.B. cream. I actually like this one though, so it wasn't a waste of money.

The formula is much thicker than the Garnier one and as a result provides a much better coverage. They claim it's full coverage, but I wouldn't go that far, however you certainly get a decent medium coverage. It feels more like a foundation than a tinted moisturiser to me actually. I got the light shade and it's a very good match for me, but I suspect it will be too dark for those who have a lighter skintone (I'm a Mac light medium (NC/W20-ish) in winter). I think this only comes in light and medium, so there won't be a match for everyone for sure. It lasted very well on me, and I only had to touch up my oily bits once, but that's the same with other foundations too (if I'm lucky). This certainly doesn't make my face look oily or dewey like the Garnier one did, so that's a major plus too. It also hasn't made me break out which that did, so another plus goes to 17's B.B. cream.

I still don't like the use of the word magic in the title because quite frankly it's not. It's a decent tinted moisturiser/foundation, but I see nothing magic about it. It's great that it has SPF25 as I'm lazy about my suncream in winter, so that gives enough protection for me. I can't really say if it's moisturising, but it's certainly non drying, and I would also disagree with the weightless formula because it actually feels a bit heavy on my skin, but like I said, at least this way it gives a good coverage.

You get 30 ml for £6.99 which makes it more expensive than the Garnier B.B. cream, but it's on par with 17 foundations, so it's fine (plus I'd much rather pay more for a better product anyway). So all in all I would recommend this, but I really need to add that this is in no way a miracle product, so as long as you're not expecting one, you'll be fine.

See more pictures after the jump!

Festive Nails: Mac Rain Of Flowers With 17 Nail Xtras Glitter Top Coat

I have another festive nail idea for you. I actually wore this to the school mums' Christmas drinks as I had a blue dress on. While it's not strictly Christmassy (as in not red, green or gold), I think it's a nice glittery look.

It was actually more purple than in the pictures, but my camera has trouble picking up pinks and purples, but you get the idea. I was very pleasantry surprised by the 17 topcoat as I was afraid it might not have much glitter in it, but two thin coats produced a good amount of multicoloured glitter, so I was pleased.

Do you like this combo? Let me know in the comments.

See more pictures after the jump!

FOTD With Barbara Daly Satin Swirl Eyes Eyeshadows

This is the look I did with my new Barbara Daly eyeshadows, Navy Reflection and Cinder Shine. I used Cinder Shine all over the lid and Navy Reflection in the crease.

Here's a list of all the products I used to create this look:

Eyes:
Barbara Daly Even Smoother Eye Base
Barbara Daly Satin Swirl Eyes Eyeshadow Cinder Shine all over the lid
Barbara Daly Satin Swirl Eyes Eyeshadow Navy Reflection in the crease
Chantacaille La Baleine Bleue Eyeshadow Palette light grey shade on the inner corner of lid and above crease
Chantacaille La Baleine Bleue Eyeshadow Palette highlighter shade on browbone to highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Zero on waterline
Gosh Velvet Touch Waterproof Eyeliner in Cool Mint on lower lashline
No 7 Exceptional Definition Nutrient Enriched Mascara in Black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
17 Blemish Balm (will review this soon)
Guerlain Radiant Butterfly Meteorites Voyage Powder
Chantecaille Blush in Laughter
Chantecaille La Baleine Blanche Face Palette

Lips:
Chanel Rouge Allure in Belgravia

See more pictures after the jump!

My Ever Growing Nail Polish Collection Part 3 - GOSH, Models Own, Dior, Chanel

As promised, here's the third and final part of my nail polish collection overview. If you missed part one and part two, you can check them out here and here.

So let's just get on with it shall we? Any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments!

My GOSH nail polishes

See more pictures of my collection after the jump!

My Ever Growing Nail Polish Collection Part 2 - Zoya, Color Club, Mac, Nails Inc.

Here's the second part of my nail polish stash post, if you missed part one, you can check it out here. And don' forget to come back soon to see part three!

As you will see below, a lot of my nail polish sets are still in boxes, this is partly because I haven't used them yet (Color Club), or because they are actually more convenient to store like that. I apologise for being too lazy to remove them from the packs. If you really want to see detailed pictures, let me know in the comments and I'll see what I can do.

First up are my magnetic polishes, I only own these 3, and actually didn't like them much, so won't be buying more of them. I might just sell thm actually.

Nails Inc and 17 magnetic polishes

See more pictures of my stash after the jump!

Boots 17 Gift With Purchase Femme Noir Set - Swatches!

Boots are currently offering a free Femme Noir set if you buy just 2 17 makeup. With lots of new products (reviews coming up soon!) and some great permanent products (I love myself some 17 eyeshadows and the lipglosses and mascaras are pretty nice too) it's easy to pick 2.

The set contains Ultimate Volume Lipgloss in Very Berry, Liquid Eyeliner in black and Glitter Eyeshadow in Night Sky. I thought I'd swatch them for you so you can see what you're getting. Although these are all permanent products, so you can usually find testers for them in store.

Very Berry is a nice vampy berry pink slightly shimmery gloss. It's non-sticky and lasts quite well. I haven't actually worn the liquid eyeliner yet, but it does look very nice in the swatch, similar to Urban Decay's new Perversion liquid eyeliner. I also haven't worn the eyeshadow yet, but I really like 17 shadows, they are very good quality and don't crease at all. Night Sky is a nice glittery grey colour.

The value of the set is around £12, so it's a very good deal. I don't know how long the offer lasts, so if you like the look of this, hurry to your nearest Boots!

See more pictures and swatches after the jump!

Boots 17 Blushes in China Pink and First Kiss Review and Swatches

While on holiday a little while ago I took a couple of 17 blushes with me and decided to review them as they are something worth talking about. Cheap (£3.49 from Boots), nicely pigmented and good quality, what's not to like really?

I only own China Pink (left) and First Kiss (right), but I believe there are 5 shades in the line - according to the Boots website anyway. China Pink is a cool pink shade, whereas First Kiss has a golden sheen to it and is generally a lot warmer. They are not that different in the swatches, but China Pink is definitely the cooler one. I love First Kiss for its golden sheen, it's not glittery/shimmery, just has a bit of sheen. I think it's a brilliant everyday blush colour.

Annoyingly the packaging doesn't say how big they are, but they're about the size of a Mac blush, so at £3.49 they're definitely a bargain. Do you own any 17 blushes? If so, which one is your favourite shade?

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Pink Sparkly Look Featuring Urban Decay 15 Year Anniversary Eyeshadow Collection

One more look I created using my new Urban Decay palette. I really wanted to do something with Junkshow, the gorgeous hot pink shade and voila! I also decided to try out my new Mac glitter that I picked up from the Pro Store a few weeks ago (note: Mac glitters are NOT eyesafe, so it is not recommended that you follow my example, if you do so, it's completely at your risk). I also added Make Up Forever Aqua Liner in #14 Diamond Multicolour Black because it has some pink glitter in it. I really like this look, it's bright and cheerful, but not too in your face. What do you think?

To create this look I used the following:

Eyes:
Urban Decay Primer Potion (original)
Urban Decay Tainted eyeshadow (15 palette) all over lid and above crease
Urban Decay Junkshow eyeshadow (15 palette) in crease
Mac Pink Opal pigment in inner corner and on browbone to highlight
Mac Reflects Transparent Pink glitter all over lid
Make Up Forever Aqua Liner in #14 Diamond Multicolour Black
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Zero on lower lashline and waterline
Givenchy Phenomen'eyes mascara in Black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Guerlain Lingerie de Peau foundation in 03 Beige Naturel
Mac Magically Cool Liquid Powder in Truth & Light
Urban Decay Quickie blush
Mac Lightscapade Mineralize Skinfinish

Lips:
17 Ultimate Volume lipgloss in Butterfly Cake

See more pictures after the jump!

Swatching My Stash: My Boots 17 Eyeshadow Trios

As promised, here are my Boots 17 eyeshadow trio swatches. I own 5 of them, so might not be available for sale anymore as they may be a tad old. Before I got into high end make up (about 3 years ago), I used to buy quite a lot of high street make up and 17 was definitely one of them. I have since got rid of quite a lot of my old make up, but I couldn't toss these lovelies as they are really good quality eyeshadows.

I own Costa Rica, Galactic, Neptune, Purple Heart, Pretty In Pink. Costa Rica is a very summery trio with teal, blue and bronze, I believe it was a limited edition trio last year (or the year before). Galactic and Neptune Starry Eyes trios are new, they are currently available in Boots for £4.99 each, but there's often a 3 for 2 offer on or something similar. I believe there's 4 colours available. Bizarrely the older regular trios cost £5.49 (50p more), I have Pretty In Pink and Purple Heart of those, although my Purple Heart has a slightly different (older) design. I don't know if the eyeshadows are the same quality, probably are, but worth checking them out for yourselves. These trios appear to be available in 12 shades on the Boots website, I don't think I've ever seen that many in stores though.

Quality wise I love the new Starry Eyes trios the best as they really are excellent, buttery, soft, pigmented eyeshadows. I like all the others too, but some of them are less pigmented or a bit harder (might be their age though). Anyway, here are the swatches for you, see for yourselves! Do you own any of these or other 17 trio eyeshadows?

See more pictures and swatches after the jump!

Swatching My Stash: My Boots 17 Single Eyeshadows

I was trying to decide what make up products to take with me on holiday and since I don't like taking my expensive, limited edition, high end stuff, I decided to rummage through my high street (drugstore) stash. This made me remember how much I love Boots' 17 eyeshadows, so I quickly got them all out and swatched them for you. I absolutely love 17 eyeshadows as their texture is consistently great, smooth and buttery, but they really don't cost much at all. (£3.89 each in Boots right now, but there's always a 3 for 2 offer around worth waiting for.)

I own 9 of the eyeshadows, although some of them aren't of the current design, so might not be available anymore, but I'll still show them to you. Most of the eyeshadows in the range are shimmery with high sheen, there are some glittery and some matte ones, although for me the best ones are the shimmery ones, their textures are the best.

Without further ado here are the pictures of my 17 eyeshadow singles. I will also swatch my trios later (I have 5 of those).

FOTD: Gold, Green and Blue Look With Mac Unsurpassable

I did this look the other day using some of my goodies from Mac Semi-Precious collection, and I thought you might like to see it. I really loved the eyes, especially the eyeliner, although sadly it doesn't show very well in the close-ups, Urban Decay's Distortion added multicolour sparkles to the look. (You can see some sparkles in the full face photos though.) Let me know what you think!

To create this look I used the following:

Eyes:

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
Mac Unsurpassable mineralize eyeshadow

• Gold veins all over lid 
• Blue and green veins blended into the crease

Mac Illusionary Burning Ambition mineralize eyeshadow

• White gold shade on browbone to highlight
• Brown shade under lower lashline

Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner in Corrupt on lower waterline
Mac Superslick Liquid Eyeliner in Treat Me Nice and Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Distortion on upper lashline
Diorshow Blackout Mascara in Black Khol
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:

17 Photo Flawless Foundation in Soft Ivory
Guerlain Poudre C'est Moi
Mac Goldstone Mineralize Skinfinish as blush and highlighter

Lips:


Mac Dare to Wear Lipglass in Wind Me Up


See more pictures after the jump!

My holiday make up bag

Since I really enjoy reading about what make up people take on holiday with them, I decided to write my own post about it. As you know (or don't, but will now), I was away in Florida for 2 weeks last month. I always struggle with packing, usually end up taking far too much, clothes, shoes and make up alike, and while I will not go into details about the clothes and shoes, I can assure you, I did the same again - both for me and my 3 children (my husband packs his stuff). I swear we could have left at least one suitcase behind and not be without anything. I mean who would've thought you don't need long trousers, sweaters and raincoats in Florida at Easter? I always pack warm clothes just in case, but honestly, I didn't even wear a light summer cardigan, it was always over 25 degrees even at 10 o'clock in the evening. Anyway, moving swiftly on, here's what I took with me make up-wise:

My 88 Shimmer and Metal Mania palettes

All other make up products I took with me

As you can see, all of the products are fairly cheap, drugstore or similar products. I'm always really afraid to take expensive high end and limited edition products with me in case they get damaged or lost in transit. I find the 88 eyeshadows palettes (especially the Shimmer palette) very useful as they contain all the colours (including some really good highlighters) you ever need. Although the quality of the eyeshadows isn't that good, with a decent primer they lasted through most of the day, and it was usually over 30 degrees, so I guess that's not too bad.

So what else did I take? I managed to photograph it upside down, but you can see my Maybelline Dream Creamy Foundation (reviewed here) which I actually managed to finish on the last day of the holiday, talk about great timing eh? I took my Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch concealer (reviewed here) as well as my  Mac MSFN & Shimmer in Medium, great for setting foundation and highlighting. Not sure why I needed an extra highlighter, but I took a Ruby & Millie one, not sure what it's called though, it's from a set. I took 4 blushes: First Kiss and China Pink by 17, Sleek Rose Gold (see review here) and Laura Geller Tropic Hues (a handy travel sized one, full sized one reviewed here).

I took numerous eyeliners, all Urban Decay 24/7 ones, as I love their eyepencils and I like the variety of colours. I also took 3 mascaras: L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion mascara (reviewed here), Max Factor More Lashes waterproof mascara and a Rimmel waterproof mascara (its name escapes me completely, sorry). For my brows I took my trusty Mac Brow Set in Show Off. And of course my favourite eyeshadow base: Barbara Daly for Tesco (I've reviewed it here).

I took 2 lipliners and 8 lipsticks, plus 4 double ended lipglosses as well as several of my GOSH eyeshadow brushes, 2 blush brushes and a cheepo noname face brush. Oh and a double pencil sharpener.

Now, do you want to see how many of these products I actually used over the 2 weeks? See after the jump!