Essie 'Looking For Love'

 I love pastel and neutral colours for day time in the summer and Essie's 'Looking For Love' combines these both in one gorgeous polish!

Looking For Love is a lovely, soft grey toned lilac, which looks very subtle on the nails. I don't usually go for purples on my nails, but I feel that this tone is a lot more wearable for me than a bright purple and I do really like the colour. The only down side of this polish is that it is very sheer. So sheer that to build up this colour it took me four coats and as you can see the tips of my nails are still slightly showing through. However, as it is so sheer, it is very fast drying, so doing each of the four coats wasn't too much of a trouble, but this definitely isn't something I would grab when in a rush!

With my top coat (Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) my nails look super glossy and these stay chip free for days. The long lasting formula is part of the reason that I love Essie nail polish, it is one of my favourite brands and I am so glad they are stocking it in Boots now!

Do you like Essie polish? What colours do you have?

DIY Manicure: Caviar Nails

About a week ago I saw an amazing post on http://fallinglashes.blogspot.co.uk/ about caviar nails and how to do your own caviar manicure without spending a fortune!

You should go and check out Elicia's post as I loved it so much and wanted to give it a try myself. 

As you may know, Ciate brought out a a caviar nail kit a little while ago, which allows you to add a caviar (bead) like effect to your nails. Iv always thought it looked so pretty, but I was reluctant to purchase the kit as it can retail between £18 and £40, which is pretty pricey as it only lasts for a couple of days. After seeing Elicia's post about how you can achieve this look at home for a fraction of the price, I knew I had to give it a go!

I went ahead and purchased the beads from Ebay costing £1.99 for a bag of beads (a whole lot cheaper than the Ciate kit), I will link the seller I used Here. I was really impressed with the service I received and got the items within one or two days! If you order multiple items, you get a combined shipping rate so I picked out  the colours 'Blue Denim Mix' and 'Light Pink'.

Blue denim is an assortment of dark and light blues, mixed with some pink and purple, which is so so gorgeous.

Light pink is exactly how it sounds, a light baby pink, a lovely colour with a tan.

I followed Elicia's method of first painting my nails with a polish. I chose Leighton Denny's Babydoll, which is one of my favourite everyday polishes. 

I applied one coat of this and left it dry. I then applied a second coat, which I then sprinkled the beads over, making sure to put a container or bowl underneath to catch any of the lose beads, so as they hit the wet nail and stuck. 

I then gently pushed the beads down into place, and removed any that didn't look quite right. 

I applied a top coat of Sally Hansen Insta Dri to the edges of my nails to set the beads in place and this is what I came up with;

I absolutely love this DIY caviar manicure. It may not last very long, but as it is so affordable that can be forgiven. It is so fun and quirky and becomes a great accessory to an outfit. I love that there are lots of colours to play around with and endless designs, I may try creating a colour blocking pattern on my nails next!

Have you try the caviar manicure? What did you think? Please post photo's if you have tried this!

x

Superdrug Haul!

Recently I went into Superdrug as I had seen on the website they had a 3for2 and some other offers on which I wanted to take advantage of! I ended up picking up a few bits that I wanted to share with you.


To start with, I picked up a couple of skin products from the Superdrug Tea Tree line. I like to keep my skin care routine fairly simple as I have sensitive skin and as they were only £2.99 each I thought why not! I picked up the foaming face wash and the cleanser and toner. I have used these a few times now and really like the results. I have mentioned in a previous post I have been having trouble with some blemishes on my chin, and these seem to really be clearing it up already! They remove makeup and any excess oil well without stinging or drying out my skin. It just proves that sometimes, cheap and simple can be just as effective as more expensive products. 

Next I picked up 2 of the Garnier Summerbody Moisturising Lotion Sun Kissed Look, as I had heard beauty guru Swalkermakeup raving about this product and it was on offer for half price! Making it £3.55 for a 400ml bottle, barg! I have used this every day since and love it. It builds a streak free, natural tan while keeping the skin moisturised. I love the natural glow it gives and it is perfect for brightening up the skin on a daily basis, but for nights out I think I will still turn to a self tanner such as St Moriz for a deeper tan, especially on my legs. 

I love nail polish, so I knew I would be wanting to pick something out whilst in Superdrug. I headed to the Barry M stand as I was looking for a pastel colour and love the ones in their collection. Although to my suprise, I ended up with a black glittery polish, something that I don't have in my collection as I am always going for bright colours. The shade is 'Black Multi Glitter' and I have just done another post with a nail of the day using this polish!

I also picked up a backup of my favourite top coat, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. I love this top coat, it makes painting your nails so easy as they dry so quickly!


The last bits I picked up are makeup products. I got a new Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in the shade Medium, as mine was getting a bit old and tatty. Whilst there I saw that they had a loose powder which I also grabbed, as I had been looking for a sheer loose powder to set my makeup with and as it was only £2.99 I figured it wouldn't harm to give it a go, and so far, I do like it. Its sheer on the skin and doesn't leave you feeling like you are wearing a mask. I got the shade 1 Barely There, and dust a light coating over my t-zone after applying my base makeup. It does however say it contains sunscreen, so I am not sure how well it would transfer in photographs.

I then got a couple of bits from Maybelline. Firstly, a mascara. I love the Maybelline mascara range and have owned 3 or 4 different ones in the past, but I do find they often transfer underneath my eyes, so I decided to try one of the waterproof ones. I decided on The Falsies Volum' Express Waterproof in Black. I have been wearing it everyday since to test it out and love it. It makes my eyelashes long and voluminous and stays put all day, with nothing transferring atall. The only downside to this product is because it is waterproof, it can be difficult to get off without a good eye makeup remover or cleanser, leaving you scrubbing at your eyes which is never good! Though I have found if I soak a cotton wool pad in my No7 Eye Makeup Remover, and hold it on my eye for about 30 seconds, it does make it a lot easier to come off.


Next from Maybelline, I got a Color Tattoo which I have heard so much hype about in the beauty community. I have been after one of these for a while but every time I went into my local Boots they were sold out despite being released for a while now. I got the shade Permanent Taupe, a matte taupe grey/brown colour. I have been using this as an eyeshadow base and love its staying power. It doesn't crease, stays put all day and gives your eyeshadow an extra pop. I will definitely be picking up some more of these.

Finally I stopped at the MUA stand. I own a few of their products already and think they are great quality for how cheap they are. I got this eyeshadow trio in the shade 'Innocence', which contains three shimmer tones, perfect for a smokey eye. I love the colours, they almost have a duo chrome finish to them and become different shades in different lights which looks gorgeous on the eye. It is a perfect little set to take out in your handbag or for travelling with as it has a base colour, a highlight, and a darker colour. I do wish this included a matte shade, as all three shimmery colours could become a bit over powering! This was £2.50 for three highly pigmented eyeshadows which is great value. 

Another long post (i'm sorry!) but I wanted to make sure I included all my thoughts on the products! Maybe I could do a post or makeup tutorial using MUA products? Or a drugstore makeup challenge?

NOTD: Blue Bows

I have very orangey undertones to my skin, so usually when painting my nails I go for warmer colours such as pinks and corals, but today I fancied a change, so wanted to experiment with some cooler tones. 

 To create these 'bow' nails, I used a blue (doesn't have a name on the bottle, but you can use any blue) colour from the 'Glo Baby Glo!' range at Primark. I then painted on the bow onto my ring finger, using a 2True french manicure white and added a dot of China Glaze 'Lorelei's Tiara' in the center to add a 'gem' like effect. I then used my Sally Hansen- Insta dri as a top coat.

After I took these photo's, I also added a bow onto my thumb! I think its a really cute way to glam up blue nails and I think the colours work perfectly together. I am now on the hunt for the perfect aqua blue nail polish, any suggestions, please let me know! x