Long Lost Me..

Happy Valentines Day!

               Metallic Glitter Nails                       Subtle Highlights

           Nars Laguna (Waiting for the smash!) Working with tigers for a film project

 Great Naked Palette Dupe, Sleek idivine!        Girly Night :)

  Essie Bikini So Teeny

        New editions to my Essie stash                               

                                                

 Debating having my hair chopped to this length!?

   

          New Pandora Charms        Fave Mascara, Benefit They're Real

Hey guys! Hope you are well! I feel like this is becoming a regular thing, but my blog has once again had to be nudged to the side due to the piles and piles of University work I have on at the moment, and with it being my final year, its really all I am focusing on. Of course I miss being able to talk about beauty all day, and I love logging onto my little blog every now and then and seeing such sweet comments from you guys, so thank you for that, and for bearing with me through these past hectic months! :) Anyway, I thought id just leave you with a look through some of my recent instagram pics! Hopefully this will make up a teeny bit for being so rubbish at checking in. Enjoy, and we will speak soon once the load has gone down a little!

As always, feel free to leave any comments down below, or any suggestions on future posts you would like to see!

Lots of love

Nail Polish Collection & Storage!

 Left to Right, Top to Bottom: Sally Hansen Insta Dri // No.7 Pinky Pure // No.7 Snowflake // Models Own Jade Stone // Models Own Champagne // Models Own Buff Pink // Models Own Thunder and Lightening // Models Own Hedkandi Hedonist // Models Own Pink Punch // Models Own Nude Beige // Models Own True Blue // Models Own Lemon Meringue // Models Own Hedkandi Ibiza Mix // Essie Good To Go Mini Top Coat // OPI Crown Me Already // China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara // Essie Fiji // Essie Mademoiselle // Essie Looking For Love // Essie Loophole // Essie Shift Power // Essie Antique Rose // Essie Scarlett O'Hara // Essie Bahama Mama // Essie Risky Buisness

Left to Right, Top to Bottom: No. 7 Silver Glitter // Primark Glo Baby Glo // Primark Glo Baby Glo // Revlon Gold Coin // No.7 Hot To Trot // No.7 Vivid Violet // No.7 Damson Dream // No.7 Totally Teal // No.7 Sing The Blues // Barry M Rose Quartz Glitter // Barry M Silver Glitter // Barry M Black Multi Glitter // Barry M Pink Silver Glitter // Barry M Mint Green // Barry M Blue Moon // Barry M Peach Melba // Leighton Denny Babydoll // Orly Mini Ruby // Look Nail Pop Bling // ELF Mint Cream // ELF Gum Pink // ELF Champagne // Rimmel Hot & Spicy // Rimmel White Orchid // Rimmel Urban Princess // Ciate Paint Pot Mojito // Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle

Hey ladies! If you have been following my blog for a while, you may know I am a huge nail polish fan. I am one of those people who co ordinates my nail polish with everything, outfits, bags, makeup, I love to match my nails up, add a complete contrast or pop of colour to any outfit. I find that painting my nails is the finishing touch to getting ready, and if I for some reason have two changes of clothes in one day, I will still change my nail polish twice depending on what colour I need! (Sad I know!)

Today I thought I would share my nail polish collection with you. I have instagrammed a picture to twitter before, but I thought I would go into a bit more detail for those who asked questions. For some my collection may be a lot, and for others it may be a small amount, but for me its just about right (although I do believe you can never have too many!) and manageable  and also means I actually wear what I own. 

I keep my polish on two acrylic storage stands, these can be picked up on amazon for around £10 each and are a great way of storing your little bottles of goodness. In terms of how many bottles they hold, it honestly depends on the shape and size of the bottles you own. One of my stands right now holds 24 and the other 26, so it really varies on what brands you own, obviously if you store the larger bottles (Opi, Models Own etc) you will fit less than if you were to store smaller ones. I love these as not only does it keep them neat and organised, it also allows them to stand upright and means you are able to see what colours you have. They also play a great part in decor for my dressing room. I like to keep them in order of brand rather than colour, as I find this means I can fit a few more on as the same brand of bottle seems to snug tightly against another. 

As you can see I have started to over flow my stands as my collection grows, although the way the stands are built it allows for another row to run along the front. This definitely gives me an excuse to start buying some more polishes, so let me know your favourite brands and colour recommendations in the comments! (I wonder if any of you Glossybox fans can spot the Glossy polishes!?)

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know if there is any other storage posts you would like to see! I have my acrylic makeup storage post here and jewellery storage here, so please feel free to check those out! I am super excited that Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2 has been released and can't wait to see it, although i'm not sure I am ready for it all to end! Are any of you Twilight fans?

Speak soon, 

Lots of love,

Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss Review

Hey beauts! I was recently browsing the Debenhams website and spotted that the Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss's were in the sale for a bargain £5.99. I have never been that much of a gloss girl, and always favour lipstick, but, I knew for that price I had to grab one. There were two colours which caught my eye, but as I hadn't tried them before and therefore didn't know if I would actually like them, I decided to only order one. The one I got is 'Frenzy', an amazingly bright hot pink. I can definitely see why they called these lipglosses 'intense' as even in the tube the colour is so striking. 

I am not the biggest fan of the packaging, only because squeezy tubes just don't work well for me, and with it being such a bold colour, if you arn't careful and squeeze too hard, you are going to end up with it all down your clothes. I much prefer a brush applicator, I find them much easier to apply with precision (again, this is needed with it being such a statement colour) and to take out in your clutch to reapply on a night out, but that's just down to personal preference. 

The gloss itself is seriously pigmented, and it applies with enough coverage that there is no need for a lipstick. It does actually feel like you are wearing a bold lipstick with a glossy finish to it and when applied to the lips it is one of those formulas that you just know is going to last well (although probably isn't the best if you are planning on kissing or hugging any body, as it will most definitely end up on their face/lips/clothes!).

I think this colour is a great alternative if you are a little scared or feel you can't pull off wearing a bold red lip. It really is a statement gloss, perfect for a night out teamed with a nude eye and your fave little black dress. I am super tempted to pick up some more of these whilst they are still in the sale, as they are definitely worth it. 

This gloss has definitely opened my eyes when it comes to choosing lippy over gloss. What do you think? Are you more of a lip gloss or lipstick kinda gal? Have you tried any of the Intense glosses from this line?

Nars Laguna Bronzer

(The flash on my camera has made the colour look a little pinky, and although it is warm colour, note that it is a little darker in real life!)

Hey lovelies, hope you are well! Nars Laguna has to be one of the most raved about bronzers of all time. I rarely hear negative things about this bronzer, and although there are millions of reviews out there, I thought I would give my thoughts on it! I have recently been in a 'repurchasing products I love' phase, as I have been running out of some of my faves (haul post to come!). I ordered a new Nars Laguna from Asos, which cost £24, but with the 10% student discount I got it for £21.60. I decided to order from Asos as they offer free delivery, which usually arrives pretty quickly so is great value for money. There is something about Nars packaging which just looks and feels so luxurious (Although attracts dirt like nothing else!). Being a bronzer the packaging is a lot larger than that of a Nars blush/eyeshadow duo and with 8g of product, it does last ages which helps justify the price. The bronzer itself is such a perfect natural colour, the finish is matte enough to allow you to contour with it, but has teeny tiny flecks of shimmer, which are so finely milled that it gives you a lovely bronzed glow. I love the names of Nars products, although some can be a little cringey, 'Laguna' reminds me of Laguna Beach, where everyone is super gorgeous and tanned!
I have heard that this bronzer is prone to smashing with it being such a thin, wide pan, but I (fingers crossed) havn't had this problem, although I am pretty careful how I handle it. 
I used to apply Laguna with my Real Techniques Blush Brush, but recently have started using the Sigma F25 (Review post to follow), a combo which I have been loving!

Have you tried Laguna? What are your thoughts? Do you have a different favourite bronzer?

Acrylic Storage!

Hey everyone! Hope you are well! For ages now I have been lusting after the 'perfect' makeup storage and have gone from it being stored in my dressing table, to buying a 'tall boy' mirror chest of drawers, using empty Glossybox's and even diy-ing my own. All of these didn't quiite work for me and I would end up just keeping my daily products out on my dressing table and the rest would be hidden away and never used. I have forever been eyeing up the Kardashian clear cube, but as it is pretty expensive, I wanted to find something a bit more affordable. I have seen the Muji acrylic storage on many blogs before, so after some research (and worrying it wouldn't fit all my makeup) I made the splurge. I ended up getting three sets of the stack-able drawers; two of the 2 drawers- wide and one of the 2 drawers- wide with flip lid, so in total I had 6 drawers, costing around £40 inc p&p. They arrived within a few days and I was super excited to get it all set up. I absolutely LOVE the way my makeup looks in the clear drawers, and how easy it is to get what I need BUT, as I had previously thought, they definitely didn't fit all my makeup, and as the drawers are fairly thin, they were spilling over prettyy quickly. So, I decided what I would do is keep my most used makeup in the acrylic drawers and keep the rest in my tall boy chest, switching it around every now and then. This way, I will get use out of a lot more of my makeup than before, and can sit at my dressing table and easily grab what I need.

The only downside of the Muji drawers is that not all of my foundation bottles will fit, as like I said, the drawers are quite thin. Rimmel Wake Me Up fits perfectly, but Mac Face and Body and my beloved Clinique Superbalanced don't, which is a little annoying. I will definitely be picking up something else to store these in soon, but for now, their home is my diy acrylic storage which I did a post on a little while ago. (You can see that here)

I'm not a big fan of storing my lipsticks lying down, and I have been searching for the perfect lipstick holder for a while with no luck. I had an Amazon voucher that needed spending so I picked up an acrylic nail polish stand, which I had intended on storing some of my nail polish on, but, when setting it up, I realised it would make a lovely temporary place to store my lipsticks! The nail polish rack was delivered super quicker and only cost just under £10 inc p&p. (Here's the link to the nail polish stand) Obviously, this also has limited storage, so I decided to do the same thing as with the Muji drawers and keep my most used lipsticks out on the rack so they are easy to grab, and again switch them up every now and then to get use out of the others that will be put out of sight. 

I am so happy with how these have turned out! So much so that I have already ordered another set of the Muji drawers for extra storage, aswell as an acrylic pot to hold my eyeliners and another nail polish rack!

What do you think of acrylic storage? How do you store your makeup?

Beauty Blog Sale!

Hi everyone! So I have recently re-organised my makeup/beauty storage and have had a much needed clear out and found a few things that need new owners!

This is UK only, and will work on a first come first served basis. Items will be held for 24 hours before being re listed. Payments will be taken by Paypal, so please send your Paypal details and the item/s you would like to sophiaxblog@gmail.com and I will get back to you with an invoice. Please send payment within 24 hours.

Postage to the UK will be £2.00, and then another 20p each for additional items.

Please read descriptions carefully, I will list everything in as much detail as possible.

All items have been cleaned with an antibacterial spray. 

I will keep proof of postage and will not be held responsible for anything that is lost or damaged during shipping, although if an item is lost in the post, I will do my best to help you track it down.

Items that are sold will be marked with a line through them.

 John Frieda Sheer Blonde Gleam Creme 125ml (Used 2-3 times) £2.50

 ELF Mineral Infused Face Primer (Used twice) £2

ELF Flawless Finish Foundation in 'Sand' (Used twice) £2

ELF Super Glossy Lip Shine in 'Juiced Berry' (Swatched once) £1

 Marks & Spencer Lip & Eye Palette (Swatched Once, Brushes never used) £2.00

 Rimmel Lasting Finish Mineral Powder Foundation in '102 Classic Beige' (90% Left) £1

Astor Mineral Match Instant Flawless Finish Foundation in 'Shade 05' (95% Left) £2

L'oreal Paris Mineral Concealer in '30 Beige' (90% Left) £1

 Rose Gold Plastic Flower Compact Mirror £1

Rose Gold Travel Brush Holder (Holds 4 Brushes) £1.50

 Small Pink Mosaic Tiled Candle Holder (Slight crack in one of the tiles, pictured) £1.50

 No 7 Mini Liplicious Lip Gloss Balm in 'Caramel' - £1.50

                                                              'Marshmallow' - £1.50

 Avon Travel Mini Brush Set With Holder (5 Brushes - 4 Used Once, 1 Never Used) £2.50

 Weleda Pomegranate Regenerating Body Oil 100ml (RRP £19.99, Tested Once, 99% Left) £5

 Nail Rock Designer Nail Wraps (Leopard Print Design, 1 Missing) £3

Rebel Nails Toe Nail Wraps (Black & White Animal Print, 2 Missing) £3

 Noble Isle Summer Rising Cornish Hedgerows Shower Gel (Received in Glossybox, 75ml, Brand New) £3

Champneys Skin Soothing Rose Bath Cream (50ml, 85% Left) £1

Charles Worthington Shine Salon Finishing Touch Polish (50ml, Used Once, 95% Left) £3

 Eldora D175 False Lashes (Brand New In Box, Black with Gold Glitter) £2.50

 NYX Eyeshadow in 'Velvet Suede'  (Depotted with magnet on back, Used twice) £2.50

 The Body Shop Sparkle Roller Ball (Used 2-3 times) £2

500 (approx) Acrylic False Tip Nails in 10 different sizes (For acrylic nails and swatching nail polish) with nail glue (70% Left), pink mixing tray and 2 new jars of acrylic powder £5.50

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below or via sophiaxblog@gmail.com!