shopping for summer

I'm jetting off to Portugal in a few days, and I'll be away for about ten days but I'm scheduling some posts so fingers crossed they'll be published while I'm gone.

I was in desperate need of some holiday clothes, so I popped off to the shops in search for some. These are my findings.

The sandals are from Primark and although the price tag says they were £6 they scanned through as £3 which is ridiculously cheap, I recommend trying on shoes when you're in Primark, as I find I always have to go a size up from what I usually am.

The top was a great find, it's from H&M and it was on sale for £4, another bargain as it's really flattering, but I'm so glad I decided to get an extra small instead of a small because it's really quite large, and I've a feeling that the small would be a bit too low on the neckline. This is definitely going in my suitcase, can't wait to wear this with white shorts!

I feel really bad shopping in the sale section of Primark, it almost feels like I'm robbing them, the prices are so low. Nevertheless, I spotted this and although it doesn't look the most flattering on the hanger, it's quite sheer on your body so it doesn't make you appear bulky and it's cropped, this and high-waisted shorts or jeans are a match made in heaven - plus you can't realy go wrong for two quid.

I didn't have a bikini, so I got a bikini. Pretty self-explanatory, really. Also from Primark, the top was a fiver and the bottoms were £3. It annoys me that Primark do their bikini top sizes in size 8, 10, 12 and so on instead of bra sizes but it fits surprisingly well, and the design is so cute, I adore the little mint green bow and the bright pink stripes.

I like getting a size bigger for my bottoms than I do for my top, and the matching bottoms were all sold out in that particular size. I had to scout around the shop until I found some plain pink ones with little tassels that luckily are exactly the same shade of pink as the stripes on the top so they go together pretty well.

My holiday read is going to be the Death Cure by James Dashner, this is the third book in the triology and I read the first two a few months back but never got round to purchasing the last one, maybe it's because I was let down by the second book as the first book was so much better than it (in my opinion). I'd definitely recommend the series if you liked the Hunger Games, Divergent and other dystopian books along those lines.

I've gone through countless bottles of this Tea Tree Toner from Lush, I think I hauled my last bottle a few months ago but obviously that has since ran out, and I decided to go for the small bottle so it could come with me on my travels since I'm only taking hand luggage.

No idea why I decided to include Strepsils, but it's what I bought, so it's going in the post!

I know I'm probably the last person in the beauty world to buy one of these, but yes I did get a Revlon Lip Butter in the shade Lollipop, mainly because it was on offer for £2 off in Superdrug, and still is on the website here. I'm not going to review this as you're probably bored to death with blogger after blogger telling you how wonderful they are. Not sure if this'll make it into my suitcase as I'm scared it'll melt in the heat.

There's not going to be a favourites post this month seeing as I haven't really branched out of my daily routine, sorry!

Are you going on anywhere in the summer?

notd | pink stripe

Ciate is the brand that made famous the "Caviar Manicure", a trend in which I haven't tried as it looks like an awful lot of effort for a manicure that lasts a few days at most.

However, I own two ordinary nail polishes from them (both are free gifts from magazines, oops!) and I'm extremely pleased with how they apply.

Today I have Jelly Bean, which is being sold in this month's Marie Claire to share with you.

As I already mentioned, the formula of Jelly Bean is amazing, it's opaque in one coat (although I added two), the brush is just the right size, it dried rather quickly and was glossy even without a top coat to boot.

The colour itself is also beautiful, the name suits it perfectly as it looks just like the strawberry-flavoured hot pink jelly beans, I'll be wearing this on my toes all summer! In the bottle it is evident that there is a blue shimmer but it doesn't show up on the nails.

I couldn't resist throwing some nail art into the mix, for the stripe I waited until my base colour was dry, sellotaped my nail at an angle and applied two coats of OPI's Sparrow Me The Drama over the top then outlined the stripe with a white striper.

Ciate Jelly Bean, OPI Sparrow Me The Drama, Amuse Fave Nail Art Color White

Did you pick up any of the Ciate nail polishes in this month's Marie Claire?

stila it gloss in fetching

Stila is a brand that was not readily available in the UK until Boots started stocking them, however after browsing the Boots and Stila website I couldn't find this particular gloss anywhere, maybe it's been discontinued?

I found mine in a discount store along with loads of opened and used makeup (gross, right?) but if you do go into a shop like that, if you search everything you can find some real gems for very cheap - I think this was one or two pounds!

The gloss is packaged in a see-through tube with a silver-grey lid, there is a brush applicator for precise application - although if you apply the lipgloss quickly it may look streaky, if you take a bit of time it'll work out for you.

This lasted a bit longer than the average lipgloss due to the consistency being rather thicker than normal and ever so slightly sticky.

Fetching is of course an orange based coral, with a bucketload of shimmer that makes it look like it verges on the brink of being frosty which on the lips makes you appear older than you are, but luckily when applied the shimmer is muted down somewhat and becomes more wearable, perfect for summer!

It has a rather sweet scent that might not appeal to some.

Fetching

Pigmentation 6/10

Overall 7/10

Buy: Stila It Gloss in Fetching, £5.13

ebay purchases #1

Recently I've been discovering the wonders of eBay, mainly the jewellery part of it, as there's loads of stuff on there for only a few quid with free international shipping from China.

I thought that I could start a series, and there'll be a post every few months of the things I've accumulated.

If you decide to order anything that happens to be halfway around the world from you, chances are it'll take a few weeks to arrive so don't go ordering anything you need urgently!

Let's get this out of the way first before we move on to the good stuff, I snagged this perfume for £3 + £2 postage in an auction - this was very much a spur of the moment thing, as the auction ended in 10 minutes when I spotted it.

The fragrance in question is Paris Hilton Passport in South Beach 30ml Eau De Toilette, I could go on and list all the top notes and what-have-you but basically it's an unoffensive fruity floral.

Shipping was pretty fast from inside the UK and you can visit the seller's shop here. They're a new eBay shop and are trying to build up a reputation, so prices are starting pretty low.

The Scrabble ring on the left is adjustable, and every letter of the alphabet is available so you can get one with your initial on it, I love it because it's quirky and different, and a few celebrities the likes of Pixie Lott and Jessie J have been seen wearing it as well!

You can buy it here for £1.25 plus 90p postage from inside the UK.

One of my favourite pieces has to be the little crown ring at the top, isn't it the cutest thing ever? Unfortunately, I got this in an auction, but I'm pretty sure this is identical, and it's available in silver too!

Here's another adorable crown ring that's slightly different, also available in silver and gold. Both cost 99p with worldwide free postage, shipped from Hong Kong.

The main part of the photo has to be the owl necklace, the combination of the hinges holding the bronze body together and the massive eyes with the design around them help give it a vintage feel, and this looks amazing with a plain outfit like a white tee, blazer and skinny jeans, or just a tee and shorts for summer.

Amazing value for 99p with free international shipping from Hong Kong, here.

Another ring, and this one is a blinged-out skull with a little top hat on it, and like the Scrabble ring, it's adjustable so you don't need to worry if you have chubby fingers!

Again, it's 99p with free international shipping from Hong Kong, here (don't worry about the pictures, it is adjustable) and I've found a more feminine version, here. Not sure if that one's adjustable though.

Saving the best for last, the moustache necklace. I am all on board with the moustache trend, I just think it's adorable, and this necklace feeds my moustache fetish.

Ok, I'm starting to sound like a moustache-obsessed freak now. Anyway, same information as the last items, it's 99p including free postage worldwide from Hong Kong, here, and I really want this two-finger moustache ring too!

What's the best thing you've ever got from eBay?

notd | naked leopard

Being as much in love with nail art as I am, it may come as a surprise that I've never done leopard print - especially as it seems as if it's one of the easier designs to do.

Left Hand

Right Hand

In truth, I don't think my left hand turned out as well as my right, I made the print too small and applyed the top coat too soon so everything smudged.
Now that I've tried it once, I can see how simple the print is to do. All you need to do is put a few blobs of brown on the nail, I chose to stick to one side but of course you can blob away all you like. Then outline the brown blobs in black and add a few black dots.
I used the Nails Inc Porchester Square nail polish that I got in a Latest In Beauty box, and I am extremely pleased with it. I love the colour, it's a mushroomy, very cool-toned greyish beige. I applied two coats, but it looked fine with only one coat, just a bit streaky - which is amazing for a nude nail polish!

 L-R Nails Inc Porchester Square, OPI You Don't Know Jacques, Amuse Fave Nail Color Black

wordless wednesday

nyx mood lipgloss

Do you remember mood rings from when you were little? They adjusted to the temperature of your finger, which in turn could apparently tell your mood, the concept of this is a tad different - it works with your skin's pH level to give you the perfect colour.

In this sense the lip swatches are useless because it'll be a different colour on each person, so keep that in mind!

"Magic lip gloss starts off clear then turns into the most perfect shade of reddish-pink on your lips. It's a tube of heavenly shiny bliss and your lips couldn't be any more natural & sexier!"

The lipgloss comes in a squeezy tube that has a lovely gradient design on it, going from clear to pink - probably imitating the lipgloss's colour change and houses a whopping 9g of product.

For me, this is the perfect stickiness level. It's not completely non-sticky but isn't exactly superglue either, although it feels nicer to have a non-sticky lipgloss (and your hair doesn't get caught in it), having a slightly sticky lipgloss helps it stay on the lips longer.

The photo above shows the lipgloss after ten seconds on my skin on the left, and you can see it's already starting to react and turn into a pinky colour. On the right it's been freshly applied, and as you can see it comes out clear.
The tube mentions that this product is hypo-allergenic and cruelty free, so big thumbs up on that one.
Another thing I want to mention is that it's so shiny, if you're looking for a wet-look natural coloured lipgloss then I think this would be your best bet.

NYX Mood Lipgloss


Buy: NYX Mood Lipgloss MLG01, around £7 inc. postage internationally.
Yay for 100th post!

notd | instant iris

When I'm looking for a quick manicure, I gravitate towards nail polishes that are opaque in one or two coats and dry quickly. I picked this nail polish up yesterday, and since it ticks both those categories I thought I'd add a little colour on my fingertips.

I've found the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri range amazing, I love the top coat and this nail polish was a dream to apply. Opaque in two coats and each dried within three minutes, plus the colour is gorgeous. Instant Iris is a bright, bright fuchsia with blue sparkle that refuses to show up on camera but it's very prominent in person.

Buy: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Instant Iris, £5.99

l'oreal glam shine lipglosses

I seem to have accumulated four of these lipglosses over time, so I decided to make good use of them and do a review for you!

L'Oreal Glam Shine lipglosses are packaged in sturdy tubes that hold 6ml and have a rather strange applicator, it's a large doefoot with a hole in the middle and a pointed end - it applies the gloss on your lips evenly and better than a standard doefoot applicator.

The tube boasts six hour wear, and although they stay on longer than an ordinary lipgloss, for me they don't last any longer than four to five hours on their own, which is still pretty impressive.

From left to right in all the photos, the colours are: Oriental Fuschia, Tempting Pink, Keep The Sweet and Perennial Rose.

All of them have a lot of glitter which is undetectable on the lips, Oriental Fuschia has the least amount of glitter though.

They also all have a faint scent that I can't quite put my finger on what it is, however it is non-offensive and isn't noticeable when you're wearing it.

 Oriental Fuschia

 Tempting Pink

 Keep The Sweet

 Perennial Rose

Oriental Fuschia is the darkest of the lot I have, and since I got it in a set ages ago, it's unavailable (sorry!) apart from if you resort to eBay. This colour makes my lips look a healthy, just-bitten reddish colour, and is my favourite of the quartet I've collected.

Tempting Pink is more coral than the photos show, but it still has a strong pink undertone to it, I think this is a really nice summery colour.

Keep The Sweet is a light baby pink and looks a lot lighter on the lips than it does in the tube. I find that this washes my face out and has to be my least favourite, but I tend to favour darker lip shades so if you like light colours this might be for you!

Perennial Rose - This is the pinker version of Tempting Pink, and has so much shimmer and glitter that it looks frosty, thus making you look older than you are. This has the most colour payoff of the bunch, but they all have very similar pigmentation levels so don't let that deter you from choosing another shade.

Pigmentation 7/10
Overall 7.5/10 - I really like Oriental Fuschia, but I'm not too keen on the others so that pulls down the mark somewhat.

Buy:
L'Oreal Glam Shine 6H Lipglosses in Oriental Fuschia 204, roughly £8 inc. delivery
Tempting Pink 114, £6.50
Keep The Sweet 112, £8.69
Perennial Rose 113, £5.20 inc. delivery

uk magazine freebies - june 2012

There haven't been that many free gifts with magazines this month, at least not from what I have spotted. But quality makes up for quantity and there are some really good freebies out there!

The best freebie in my opinion is the one Glamour is offering this month - you get a choice of three mini Benefit goodies: Bad Gal Lash, The Porefessional or That Gal primer. I went straight for the mascara because I don't use face primer and I already have a sample of the Porefessional.

In this month's Instyle some Body Shop products are on offer, choose between a Big and Curvy Mascara in Black which is worth £10, or two Eye Definers in Black and French Navy, together worth £16.

Next up are some Ciate goodies from Marie Claire, which is £3.70. There is a choice of three colours, Jelly Bean (the one I got), Bon Bon which is a nude or Purple Sherbet, a lilac shade. To be honest I wish I grabbed Purple Sherbet but I'm sure Jelly Bean will be great for summer. Inside the magazine there's also a sniff of YSL's L'Homme.

Elle also had something free on offer, there's a choice of three different coloured Reiss vests but I think that's a voucher to redeem in store.

I spotted the free gifts that were supposed to be in last month's Red, not sure what's going on there but if anyone's interested and spots a Red magazine with a freebie attached, there's a choice between a Jemma Kidd mascara or eyeliner.

Have I missed anything? And there's one day left to enter my giveaway, so enter while you can!

notd | watermelon

I really like fruit. Not just to eat, but on jewellery, clothes, anything. So when I saw this nail art online, I knew I had to give it a go.

First, I applied the red Eyeko polish all over the nail, and it was opaque in one coat, I was quite impressed.

Then I did a really thick french manicure tip with a green nail polish, after that I used a sheer white and put it on the line between the two colours to make the design look juicier and more 3D.

For the seeds I drew three little black strokes on the red bit, and it's done!

L-R Eyeko Saucy Polish, China Glaze Cha Cha Cha, Collection 2000 Nail Bright, Amuse Fave Nail Color Black

I really want to try strawberry nails, do you think it'd work?



my nail polish collection - pinks

I have a surprisingly large amount of pink nail polish considering how little I wear it - I guess it's because there always has to be a pink in a nail polish gift set, it's practically against the law not to have one.

L-R 2True Shade 6, OPI Bubble Bath, OPI Steady as She Rose, Laminelle No Name

2True Shade 6 - This is so so sheer, there's no way I would ever wear this outside a french manicure, it's basically clear with pink shimmer.

OPI Bubble Bath - I'm wearing this on my nails here, which took four coats to make it opaque and as you can see from the swatch it's just the colour of your nails. It cancels out any yellowness on your nails, but apart from that I see no reason to wear this because it gives the same look as a nail whitener.

OPI Steady as She Rose - I strangely love this colour. I say strangely because, as you probably can already tell, I don't favour light pinks. For such a light colour the application is quite good, only needing three coats instead of the usual four or five coats pastels normally need. NOTD here.

Laminelle No Name - I can't really comment on this seeing as I've never worn it, as is the case with a few others in this post.

L-R OPI Tickle My France-y, Nail Polish, Collection 2000 Charisma, OPI Sparrow Me The Drama

OPI Tickle My France-y - Haven't worn this yet, but doesn't look too nice in the swatch.

Nail Polish - Again, never worn this. Probably never will because the quality looks awful.

Collection 2000 Charisma - I picked this up because it looked so nice in the bottle but it doesn't translate too well onto the nail though.

OPI Sparrow Me The Drama - Oh, such a cute name. Colour is pretty average, it's a light to medium pink, there's not much to say about this one either.

L-R Claire's No Name, Body Collection No Name, OPI Strawberry Margarita, L'Oreal Resist & Shine Titanium 455

Claire's No Name - Pink, sparkly, uber girly, I have to be in a very specific mood to be able to wear this without throwing up. Ok, exaggeration, I just get tired of it quickly, it's actually a pretty nice top coat over a more opaque polish.

Body Collection No Name - Never wore it, can't comment.

OPI Strawberry Margarita - This is the closest to a neon pink I've got, I'm wearing it here, and I would describe this as a typical "toes" colour. It just looks better on your feet than on your hands.

L'Oreal Resist & Shine Titanium 455 - I can never tell if this is a pink or a coral, I'm going to say it's a pinky-coral and chuck it in with this lot. I really want to buy more of this L'Oreal range because the formula of 455 is amazing, it stays on ages without chipping, is opaque and applies nicely.

L-R Collection 2000 Siren, Colour Nail Polish, Filthy Gorgeous Tu-Tu Much

Collection 2000 Siren - Another bright, bright pink and this one is pretty opaque, applies well, dries fast and is around £2. If you're looking for a bright pink, look no further because this one's a good all-rounder.

Colour Nail Polish - This one's a reddish pink, and I've never worn it. Wow, that was short.

Filthy Gorgeous Tu-Tu Much - Compared to all my blue-toned pinks this one looks slightly warmer toned, also application and formula are faultless. NOTD here.

Do you like pink nail polish? Or do you get sick of it quickly, like me?