My Actual (Almost) Christmas NOTD: Color Club Gingerbread

I'm sorry, I know I said I was going to continue with my 2012 Favourites posts today, but after a whole day of putting away Christmas decorations and sorting things out for children starting school tomorrow, I just didn't have time for it. You'd be surprised if you knew how long those posts take. I promise I will continue with my 2012 Favourites post tomorrow.

Instead here's the manicure I did for Christmas. Or rather Christmas Eve as unfortunately it had chipped by the end of Christmas Eve and I had to change it, but never had time to take pictures of the actual Christmas Day manicure (it was Color Club Art of Seduction - a gorgeous red glitter).

This is Color Club Gingerbread, a gold glitter polish full of holographic glitter that sparkles in the colours of the rainbow. It was part of the Under The Mistletoe holiday collection (2010). It has a nice formula, and only took 2 coats for pretty full coverage. Unfortunately it chipped on me very quickly, so I had to remove it after just 2 days.It was very pretty while it lasted though.

Color Club polishes are available from TK Maxx, or I have bought many on eBay too. I don't actually know anywhere else in the UK that stocks them.They only cost a couple of quid on eBay, so even with postage you can get them pretty cheap. Beautyzone2007 is my favourite Color Club seller on eBay.

See more pictures after the jump!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas! Hope you're all having a lovely time. I'm spending mine with my closest family including 3 children and 3 cats. It's going to be everything but quiet and peaceful around here!

Thank you all for reading my blog and hope you will continue to do so after the holidays and in the new year! I really appreciate it. I also really enjoy reading your comments and hearing your opinion on products I've reviewed and maybe even influenced you to buy. So I hope you stick around and keep enjoying reading my posts!

Have a great Christmas everyone!

Festive Nails Part 6 - Green and Sparkly Like a Christmas Tree

This mani definitely reminds me of Christmas trees. I used Zoya Holly with Zoya Rina on top. Rina is a green shimmer polish with loads of green bar glitter, and also some blue and holographic ones. It looks like lots of very fine pine needles in a bottle.

It took only one coat of each polish to achieve fully opaque covergae which is fantastic. Unfortunately the staying power was less impressive, I had a few small chips in the first 24 hours and it pretty much all peeled off on day 3.

Zoya polishes aren't available in the UK (as far as I know), I buy mine on eBay. Holly and Rina were part of last year's Gems & Jewels collection but they are still available for around $6 to $8 each. You get 15 ml for your money which is the standard size for these professional polishes (Zoya, OPI, Orly, China Glaze).

See lots more pictures 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 4 - Sparkling Snow and Ice

I have another Christmas manicure idea to share with you today, this time it's Topshop Ice Crush over Mac Frayed To Order. I'm loving all the glittery polishes Topshop have been releasing lately, this one is just so sparkly and perfect for a Christmas party or New Year's Eve party.

I used two coats of Ice Crush, a clear polish with loads of small and larger holographic glitter on top of two coats of Mac Frayed To Order polish, a limited edition shade from 2011 (from the Jeanius collection). It's a very interesting shade, it's a matte finish, but it's got pink duochrome, so it doesn't look at all flat. The glitter in Ice Crush is very dense, but it will never go on opaque, it is definitely a layering polish. It had a good formula, not too thin or thick.

The manicure lasted really well, only started chipping very slightly on day 2, but I wore it for 4 days and it looked fine even by the end of day 4. It was so sparkly and pretty too.

Topshop glitter polishes are 8 ml for £6. Mac Frayed To Order isn't available anymore sadly.

See more pictures after the jump!

Festive Nails Part 3 - Red With Silver Glitter and Stars

I have another glittery combo to show you. This time it's Zoya Sarah with Topshop Rising Star on top.

I used two coats of Zoya Sarah, but in all fairness, one would've been sufficient. It's a great polish and the colour is gorgeous too. I then added two coats of Topshop Rising Star, a clear polish with silver/holo glitter and stars in it. I was actually pleasantly surprised by this as there was plenty of glitter and the stars were pretty easy to scoop out.

The manicure lasted on me for 4 days with not much chipping, so I was very pleased with it, and it was so glittery, I couldn't stop looking at my nails.

Zoya Sarah came out 2 years ago, but is still available on eBay and also from Zoya's website. It costs $8 for 15 ml. Topshop Rising Star is a new addition to their nail polish line, I'm not sure if it's permanent or not, they seem to be bringing out new shades constantly. It costs £6 for 8 ml.

See more pictures after the jump!

Festive Nails Part 2 - Red With Golden Glitter

When it comes to Christmas, nothing beats a lovely red nail polish. I have OPI The Spy Who Loved Me with China Glaze Golden Enchantement on top for extra sparkle. Lovely!

Taken without flash in direct sunlight

I did 2 coats of each nail polish and sealed it with Seche Vite. The result: shiny, shimmery gorgeousness. It lasted pretty well on me with no chipping on the first day and only minimal chipping on day 2.

The Spy Who Loved Me was part of a set, it's a mini size 3.75 ml, but it's also available in full size. I think OPI polishes are now around £11, but I never pay full price, always buy on eBay from the US usually. Golden Enchantement is a permanent shade, it's also a dupe for Angel Wings from the new Holiday Joy collection. China Glaze polishes cost around £6.95, but again I tend to buy them on eBay for a lot less.

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!

Fantastic Lancome Deals At Debenhams!

I was going to blog about the Mac Glamour Daze eyeshadows today, but then I got so excited about the fantastic deal I came across in Debenhams, I just had to share (sorry, Mac swatches coming soon!). I don't know how long these offers last, so I thought I'd let you know quickly, in case you want to take advantage of them.

Today I bought two of the Lancome holiday collection eyeshadows and one of the khol pencils (I will do a proper review on those later) and as a result was given a really nice gift with purchase including a gorgeous make up bag, several skincare samples, a tiny lipstick, a sample size mascara, two make up brushes (which I forgot to photograph, sorry) and because I bought the third product, a full size Bi-Facil make up remover. I won't go into all the details here, but you can see the offer by clicking on this link. According to Debenhams the gift with purchase is worth over £58, although I'm not entirely sure if it includes the extra Bi-Facil, but it doesn't include the make up bag and brushes apparently. A full-size Bi-Facil alone costs £21.

I also purchased the Christmas Beauty Box for £45 (you can only buy this if you buy 2 or more Lancome products, and luckily you still get the gift with purchase, they don't exclude each other) which actually has a value of £165! The eyeshadow palette and blush alone add up to at least £45 and there's also a full size Bi-Facil in here as well as Genifique and Visionnaire samples, 2 tiny lipsticks (one is the same as in the gift with purchase), 2 sample size mascaras, an eye khol, a sample size cream, a sample size cream cleanser and toner, as well as a gorgeous big sparkly gold make up case.

The Christmas Beauty Box is actually a fantastic deal as it costs £75 on the Lancome website, although you can purchase it without buying other products, but to be fair, if you're going to buy something from the holiday collection (and there's plenty to buy from that as it's gorgeous!) or even some staples, you might as well buy it from Debenhams and get it for £30 less!

See lots more pictures after the jump!

Guerlain Holiday 2012 Collection Promo Pictures and Details - Updated

I have more news and pictures on the upcoming Guerlain Holiday 2012 collection that is due to be released sometime in October. First of all this beautiful promo picture featuring the ever-gorgeous Natalia Vodianova.

Just how beautiful is this picture? I love everything about it!

Here are the details of the collection:

Liu Perfumed Shimmer Powder for Face & Body

Perfumed shimmering face and body powder with scents of rose, iris and aldehydes.

Liu Calligraphy Eyes & Lips Palette

The new palette features two red shades for lips, a classic red and a raspberry red, three eyeshadows in champagne, soft brown and peach a black eyeliner and two mini brushes.

Meteorites Perles du Dragon Illuminating Powder

The 6 pearls come in the following shades: pale pink, beige, white, gold, plum and rosewood.

Meteorites Wulong Voyage Compact Powder

Pressed powder in the same hues the Meteorites Perles

L’Ecrin 4 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette

Les Ombres Turandot – plum, gold, taupe, brown

Shine Automatique

• 700 Altoum: gold
• 760 Lou-Ling: plum

Nail Varnish

• 03 Altoum: peachy champagne
• 04 Lou-Ling: burgundy

See lots more product pictures after the jump!

Want It: Guerlain Holiday 2012 Collection (Sneak Peek)

I'm always eager to find out information about upcoming collections, especially when it comes to one of my favourite brands, Guerlain. I've found these pictures and some information about the holiday 2012 collection, so I thought I'd share it with you. All credit goes to Loulou17.

I'm not 100% sure whether this is the entire collection, but it seems quite sizeable, so it probably is. I believe the collection will have an oriental theme.

The collection contains:

• Liu Perfumed Shimmer Powder
• Meteorites Voyage Powder
• Meteorites Perles du Dragon
• 4 Colour Eyeshadow Palette
• Liu Calligraphy Palette for Eyes and Lips
• Rouge Automatique Lipsticks: Gold and Dark Red
• Nail Varnish

I don't have any more info right now, but I will let you know as soon as I do.

See more pictures after the jump!

Festive Nails: China Glaze Luna

Okay, so I know, Christmas is over, but there's still New Year's Eve, and in any case, you don't even need an excuse to wear a gorgeous glittery nail polish. China Glaze Luna is a beautiful icy blue nail polish with lots of shimmer and holographic glitter that shimmers in every colour of the rainbow depending on how the light hits it. Absolutely stunning.

With flash

My only problem with glitter nail polishes like this is that they chip and peel off very quickly. I like painting my nails the night before a party or meal out, and often with glitter polishes I have chips within a matter of hours. I actually had to stick back one nail back as it completely peeled off (just the nail polish, not the nail obviously). Of course there's always the pain of removal of course, but I'm starting to get used to it now. I also found this to be a bit thick, so drying time was a bit long, but just look at it, still very much worth it!

I got mine from the US on eBay, but in the UK you can get them from Sally Express for £6.49 each. You get 14 ml which will certainly last you a good while.

See more pictures after the jump!

Festive Nails: China Glaze Ring In The Red - The Ultimate Christmas Red

Sorry about the slightly fuzzy picture, I took it on my mobile. But you can still see what a gorgeous sparkly red nail polish this is, just perfect for Christmas. This was part of China Glaze's holiday collection, Let It Snow (same as Champagne Bubbles).

It is a really fabulous red nail polish with red glitter in it which is quite fine, so it doesn't feel gritty at all. It took 2 coats to look even, but I did 3 for an even nicer finish, plus Seche Vite top coat. Unfortunately a couple of nails chipped after just one day, but sadly that is not unusual for me at all. It did at least dry pretty quickly, so if I have to reapply, it won't be a big deal.

I got mine from the US on eBay, but in the UK you can get them from Sally Express for £6.49 each. You get 14 ml which will certainly last you a good while.

What is your favourite Christmassy nail polish? Let me know in the comments!

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!

Guerlain Holiday Rouge Automatiques 169 and 170 - Review and Swatches

The last two products from the Guerlain holiday collection left to review are the new Rouge Automatique lipsticks. The two shades are 169 Flirt D'Un Jour and 170 Nuit D'Amour. They couldn't be more different, with 169 being a barely there pinky nude and 170 a very vampy blackened purple shade. Although 170 is nowhere near as dark when applied as it looks in the tube. It's more of a sheer wine colour in the swatches, of course it is buildable and can be quite dark if you need it to, or just a purple stain if you are scared of dark lipsticks.

I like them both, but I think 170 is my favourite.I'm not really a nude lipstick kinda gal. But I do really like the pink and blue sparkles in 169, and it is a nice glossy lipstick. 169 doesn't last as long as 170, probably 2-3 hours, whereas 170 lasted more like 3-4 and it faded into a nice stain on my lips. Neither of them are as creamy as most of the Rouge Automatique lipsticks I own, the formula seems a little less creamy and the colours are less opaque, but with 170 I think that's not necessarily a bad thing.

These lipsticks are priced at £24.50 and they're 3.5 g each.I bought mine from Debenhams, but they're also available from other department stores.

I have managed to do lip swatches for 170, but unfortunately I don't have any for 169. However you can see some arm swatches as well as lots of other pictures after the jump!

Guerlain Ecrin 4 Colour Eyeshadows in 10 Les Ombres de Nuit - Review and Swatches

The Guerlain holiday collection also includes a limited edition 4 colour eyeshadow palette, Les Ombres de Nuit. It comes in the same style as the fall eyeshadow quads, housed in a gold colour case inside a black pouch and black box. This product doesn't have the teal-black zebra pattern on the inside of the box or the teal satin lining to the pouch, but it does have teal inside. The shades are pearly grey-white, pearly teal, pearly medium blue and matte black. 

The pigmentation is excellent, the eyeshadows are buttery soft and have great colour pay off, even the matte black shade which can often end up chalky - but not in this quad. The grey-white shade works well as a highlighter, although it is a bit frosty, but it would look nice in the inned corner of the eye. I love the teal shade, it is absolutely gorgeous and the blue is stunning too. I created a really nice smoky teal-blue look with this quad and the eyeshadows stayed on all day with no creasing or fading. (No photos though sorry, it was a busy day.)

The quad is priced at £37 and you get 7.2 g of eyeshadow which is quite a decent size actually (makes it cheaper gram for gram than Mac single eyeshadows for example). You also get a decent sized mirror inside the compact which is always a plus and a double ended foam applicator which is not going to get any use from me, but maybe some people would find it useful.

Have you bought this eyeshadow palette yet? Are you planning on indulging? Let me kow in the comments!

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Guerlain Vol de Nuit Perfumed Shimmer Powder

I love Guerlain's shimmer powders and I always get compliments when I wear them. They are very glam, yet quite subtle and very elegant. I usually spray it on my hair, decolletage and arms (not my face as that would be too shimmery even for my liking) and I just love the very fine shimmer. They don't come cheap at neary 50 quid, but they do last a long time (unless you use them every day which would be rather over the top) and they are pure luxury.

This year's offering is Vol de Nuit, a beautiful gond shimmer powder in a gorgeous teal bottle. Guerlain says this is their first scented shimmer powder, but I'm pretty sure the other ones are scented too, so not sure what that's all about. Still, it smells lovely and the shimmer looks divine. The bottle is modelled on their vintage Vol de Nuit frangrance bottle and has a puff that you squeeze to spray some powder. It looks great on the dressing table just like a bottle of expensive perfume.

I have to say though I was very surprised by how tiny the bottle was, it fits in the palm of my hand! Product wise you actually get a tiny bit more than last year at 17.5 g, so I guess it's just how the bottle is. Instead of having lots of glass around the bit that contains the powder, the whole bottle is just much smaller. I was also surprised to see how small it was because the box is massive as usual. Oh and the inside of the box has the same teal-black zebra pattern as the highlighting powder and the Meteorites.

The retail price is £49.50, so pretty steep, but this is a real luxurious treat, so if you like your shimmer-glimmer on a night out, you will love it.

See lots more photos after the jump!

Guerlain Meteorites Perles de Nuit

Continuing with reviewing the Guerlain holiday collection, I have the gorgeous Meteorites powder to show you today. This year's limited edition Meteorites come in a teal container, but are the same design as last year's holiday meteorites and also the new permanent shades. The teal colour runs through the whole collection and the outside black box has the same teal-black zebra pattern on the inside as the Parure de Nuit highlighter powder.

Inside we have the powder balls in different sizes and colours: pink, white, gold, orange and silver to correct, illuminate and even out skintone and give radiance. At first I was slightly disappointed with these pearls because I had read that these limited edition Meteorites were going to contain green/blue pearls, but it appears they had been replaced by the orange ones for whatever reason. I still love them and they're still very pretty, although they don't seem that special. Anyway, that's just me.

The Meteorites cost £36 and for that money you actually get 30 g of product which is pretty good. These powders last for absolutely ages. Plus they are so pretty and smell so gorgeous.

I haven't provided a swatch photo as Meteorites don't really show up in photos, but you can see me wear them in the full face picture in this post (make sure you scroll right down to the bottom). The silver pearls seem to be slightly glittery and you can see some glitter on my face, although that was a lot less noticable in person.

I'll leave you with lots of product photos after the jump!

Guerlain Rouge G Lipstick 26 Gardner Swatches And Review

As promied here's my review of the new limited editon (although I'm not entire sure if it is, please correct me if it's not) Guerlain Rouge G lipstick in 26 Gardner from the Guerlain holiday 2011 collection. I have to admit, at first I wasn't too interested in this lipstick (well, at first I didn't even know this was part of the holiday collection actually). I prefer my blue based reds and this is more of a brown-red/brick red shade, but it has really suprised me because it actually looks really nice on me.

It has the usual great Rouge G formula, it's really creamy, pigmented and long-lasting, and of course comes in the wonderful Rouge G case. I have reviewed many of these lipsticks, so I won't bang on about this, just show you some swatches and let you make up your mind. In the swatches below I only swiped it once on my arm, so you can see how pigmented it is. Although it didn't last through lunch, but without eating and drinking it lasted for a good 4 hours on me.

I do need to mention the price though as sadly it is very high at £28.50 (ouch!), but you really do get a very luxurious product for your money. Also with a long-lasting lipstick like this, you don't need to touch up too often, so shouldn't be afraid of using up your lipstick too quickly. But still, £28.50 is a lot of money for one lipstick, so that's definitely a negative. But it is the only one I can think of, and I still love Rouge G lipsticks very much.

See more photos including swatches after the jump!

My Guerlain Holiday 2011 Collection Haul

As you know by now, I love Guerlain. So I'm pretty sure it comes as no surprise that I single handedly managed to purchase the entire holiday collection as you can see below.  

Check out all the product reviews by clicking on the links below!
Parure de Nuit Highlighter
Guerlain Rouge G lipstick in Gardner
Guerlain Meteorites Perles de Nuit
Guerlain Vol de Nuit Perfumed Shimmer Powder
Guerlain Les Ombres de Nuit Eyeshadows
Guerlain Holiday Rouge Automatique lipsticks

Feel free to let me know in the comments if you've purchased anything from this collection yet and how you're liking it.