Girly nails

From first impressions you'd be fooled into thinking I'm a real girly girl from my bottle blonde hair, love of make-up to my handbag addiction but I'm not really.

I rarely wear dresses, I have a phobia of anything floral and all things glittery are usually a definite 'no no' in my books.

So when I received Eyeko's Chi Chi, a rose gold glitter nail polish in the post a few days ago I'll be honest it was heading straight towards Lily's make-up box initially.

For a bit of fun I painted it on top of a black polish I was wearing, the result was quite frankly hideous. It looked patchy and messy, the colour clash just didn't work.

Removing it was hard work, like all glitter polishes it is a pain in the backside to remove but eventually it was all off ready to try again. If contrast didn't work how about on top of a similar colour?

One colour came instantly to mind, Tea Rose, a lovely chic shade of pink.

One coat of Tea Rose was enough, the consistency is lovely and creamy, no streaks in sight.

Not feeling ready to have full on glitter nails I did a 'Lorraine' and painted just my ring fingers with Chi Chi.

Am I now a glitter convert? Not quite but I do love the look of Chi Chi layered on Tea Rose, if you have both it's a great combo to try for those days when your feeling a little girly.

Are you a glitter girl?!
xxx

Time to reasses my collection

For a few months now I've felt my beauty addiction waning a little.

Gone are the days when I felt the need to check blogger every ten minutes or to know Mac's upcoming collections months in advance but this palette has reignited my passion all over again.

After watching/reading a gazillion beauty raves on it I knew it had to be mine and I would do anything to get hold of it.

I would have driven hundreds of miles, paid extortionate eBay prices or begged people from half way across the world to pick it up for me, I've done it all before.

Luckily I didn't have to resort to any of that this time as a blogger buddy Amrita picked it up for me last week in London. Phew!

It really is a lovely, lovely palette, a neutral lovers dream come true!

Every one of the 12 shades has great colour payoff and there's a nice variety of finishes, several are matte and glittery but most shades have a pearly finish.

From L-R ( Virgin, Sin, Naked, Sidecar, Buck, Half Baked and Smog)

From L-R ( Darkhorse, Toasted, Hustle, Creep, Gunmetal)

This palette has not only fuelled my beauty addiction again but it's also inspired me to get creative with my eyeshadow again after month's of solely wearing Sin primer potion across the lid.

The colours I've been using the most are Virgin, a white with a hint of pink, Sin, a pale rose gold, Half Baked, a surprisingly flattering gold (similar to Amber Lights) and Toasted, my favourite shade a beautiful murky deep plum brown.

Is it a must have? In my eyes most definitely.

Having the Naked palette has totally made me reassess all my other eye shadows, I find myself asking do I really need them? Will I ever wear them again now I have this?

The answer is probably not to 95% of them. I feel a blog sale coming on!

Has Urban Decays latest offering got beauty must have written all over it for you? What do you think?
xxx

Lusting after

I just had to tell you all I NEED these!

All three just scream sophisticated, understated chic. Beautiful!

I really hate waiting but these gorgeous shades will be worth it, so perfect for the Autumn.

They hit Chanel counters (UK Selfridges and Chanel stores only) in September and are the Khaki collection.

What are you lusting after?! I'm so impatient when it comes to cosmetics are you?
xxx

As natural as fake can get

Despite the fact I've not visited a nail bar and parted with £30 odd quid recently my nails have never looked so good.

Over the past few weeks I've had more comments on them than I can count on my perfectly manicured fingers and I'd love to be able to tell you that it's the result of some miracle nail growth supplement or treatment but alas these perfect nails aren't mine.

They came out of a box and were stuck on with glue!

While rummaging through my box of all things false I came across Nailene's So Real press ons and decided to give them a go. It's been a while since I last used fake nails as they don't usually last long on me and end up popping off in the most embarrassing places (cue clueless that's not mine face and hiding nails from view).

But these falsies are like none I've ever tried before, they are really lightweight and made out of thinner plastic than others, which at first I thought may make them weaker and easier to loose but not at all.

I've had them on nearly two weeks now and I've only lost two so far which is good going compared to the acrylics which I had done not long ago, they lasted all but ten days.

They are square shaped and the length is perfect no filing needed but what I really love about these nails is the natural look they give. The white tips aren't overly bright and the tiny moon detail really helps them to look more realistic.

From now on I'll be shunning salon talons and returning to good old home fakery to get the perfect nails I desire.

Nailene really has nailed press ons, I doubt fake nails can get more natural than these and what's more they only cost around £6!

What do you think? Do these convince you to ditch the salon and get gluing?
xxx

Paradoxal - a must have or nice to have?

With all the beauty buzz surrounding Chanel's latest lacquer, Paradoxal, I hot footed it down to my nearest counter this morning to take a look.

Did I buy it? Of course.

Do I think it's that special? Not sure.

In the bottle Paradoxal looks beautiful, it's a very deep with a vibrant purple pearl effect when light is reflected on it.

But when applied it looks a little dull, that gorgeous vibrant purple colour is lost on the nail and it simply looks like an off black/dark grey.

With the flash in the picture you can see the shimmer a little but in real life you can't see it. It's not all bad the formulation is really nice and the colour is perfect for Autumn but it just isn't that special or what I thought it would be.

I feel I could find a cheaper dupe if I tried so for me it's definitely a nice to have but not a must have! P.S Great dupe thanks to VexInTheCity over at Models Own in the colour Purple Grey.

On the other hand another of Chanel's latest offerings did impress me, a lot.


The new LE Intense eye pencil in 69 Clair caught my eye instantly like all nude things do.

I don't have the biggest eyes and I'm not a fan of the bright white eyeliner look so I was so excited to see this pencil.

I have tried other off white liners like Benefit's EyeBright (too pink) and Guerlain does a nice one too but the consistency is not great ( scratchy and hard).

Chanel's Kohl liner is creamy and the colour is gorgeous, a peachy almost flesh coloured pencil which subtly just helps to open up the eyes.

Did you fall for the hype and pick up Paradoxal what do you think??
xxx

Pottery, Cargo pants and Ameretto Sours

Throwing a child's birthday party is no piece of cake. Lily turned four last week and spent Saturday afternoon celebrating (causing havoc) with her nursery pals.

Let me tell you trying to get 12 children to sit still and paint pottery for over an hour is near on impossible.

Ten minutes in and they were running around screaming (picture little bulls in a china shop, quite literally) with paint covered hands and begging for E numbers.

It was enough chaos to turn me to the bottle, a nice Rose to be exact, nothing nicer when thoroughly deserved.

So Saturday night I hit the town with BFF and ex blogger Hele whom some of you may remember from days long gone.

I kept it simple as always outfit wise but that's how I like it. I never thought I'd wear cargo trousers again after my cargos, t-shirt, poncho (fashion police!) and diesel trainers phase five years ago.

However, I've been lusting over some J Brand Houlihans (£200) for some time and spotted these high street copies in Lipsy (£35) of all places last week. I love them, they make a nice change from jeggings/skinnies and look great casual or dressy.

- Cardigan with ruched/puffed up sleeves, H&M
- Tank top - Topshop
- Cargo skinnies - Lipsy
- Watch, Micheal Kors
- Necklace, Lorraine chain (Lisa Taubes 42")
- Shoe boots, Moda in Pelle
- Handbag, Miu MiuVitello Lux


I didn't have a lot of time to get ready so I kept my face really simple.

-Guerlain Lingerie foundation ( fabulous, seriously fabulous)
- Estee Lauder Double Wear concealer
- Clinique Invisible Matte powder
- Trish McEvoy Dual Resort bronzer
- Mac Ripe Peach blush
- Clarins Rouge Prodige lipstick in Tender Rose 101

Eye's wise I've rediscovered my love for my Nars Modern Love palette, a seriously amazing palette, great range of colours so many looks. I used a soft pinky peach all over then a mid tone bronze in outer corner.

I rarely wear full lashes often opting for corner lashes but I wore some Revlon falsies which I liked, natural and added a nice thickness to my lashes. Glue not great though as one came off after an hour, I kid you not Hel resorted to hairspray to stick it back down!

If your wondering how Helen got her lashes so va va volumous she wore some FoxyLocksExtensions lashes, if you like your lashes dramatic then you'd love these.

Bit of a random post really but it was a bit of a random but lovely weekend.

So fashionista's what do you reckon to the new Cargo skinnies, in or so five years ago??
xxx

Beauty with brains

Jemma Kidd is a MUA that knows what the modern woman wants from her make-up.

We look for great quality products in wearable colours without a hefty price tag and that's just what her ranges offer which is why I'm already a big fan.

The duo lipstick in Wendy from her Pro line is one of my all time favourites so when I was asked if I'd like to try some of her latest lip products there was only one answer, yes please!

I'll be methodical with this review and start in order of application.

Lip Perfector from the Pro range at Space NK.

This clever duo is all the need to get your lips ready prior to lipstick application, one side is a clear liner with plumping ingredients which helps to prevent your lipstick from bleeding and the other a lip primer to neutralise your natural lip colour.

As the lipliner is colourless it puts an end to the tiring search of trying to find the perfect shade of lipliner to match your favourite lipstick, cleverly this one goes with everything!

I'm not really a lipliner wearer, I am however a big fan of lip primers. I find that applying one really helps to bring out the true lipstick colour and makes it last longer.

Jemma Kidd's primer has a lovely texture, it's soft and creamy on the lips unlike Mac's waxy Lip Erase and is enriched with Shea butter, Beeswax and Vitamin E to condition.

I tried the colour 01 neutral, a lovely peachy nude. I know it's meant to be for under your lipstick but I've worn it alone a few times too!

At £18 it isn't cheap but I think this is the star product from what I've tried, you'll only need one lipliner ever unless you like the obvious colour lipliner/lipstick contrast and the primer is one of the best I've tried.

Hi-Shine Hydrating Glosstick SPF15

From the long title of this new lipstick you'll probably have guessed it's a sheer lippie containing sun protection with a glossy finish and you'd be spot on.

Inspired by the make-up artist's childhood in Barbados this lipstick is prefect for the summer, it's light but gives enough colour, has SPF, no scent and leaves the lips looking shiny and plump.

Bridgetown is one of the five shades in the range and is a very natural rose pink. It isn't a colour I would have chosen but I like it for the barely there make-up look days!

Although the colours and formulation are nice, it's the packaging design and lipstick shape (square tipped for even application) that makes these lipsticks stand out.

Have you ever opened your handbag to find your lipstick top off and your lippie ruined? I have many times!

Well, the Glosstick cases have a clicky bottom just like a click pen which means no more lipstick losses, hurray, I wish all lipsticks were like this!

Available at Space NK and QVC for £13.

JK Air Kiss Trio Gloss

The trio is made up of three of JK's best selling shades, Undress, a very neutral beige, Rendezvous, a mid tone mauve and my favourite Sassy, a bubblegum pink.

These are strongly scented which I'm not keen on but I do like the formula, they are non sticky, creamy and have nice colour payoff.

Each mini gloss is 3.4 ml which is tiny but great for on the go and for carrying in your handbag. I often carry three or four full sized lipglosses around with me so it's nice to have a product that covers most of the colours in one compact case.

The Air Trio costs £9 and is available at ASOS.

Overall I rate Jemma Kidd cosmetics, the quality is good, affordable and the colours are pretty but what makes Jemma's cosmetics really stand out for me is the innovative packaging.


The majority of her products are multifunctional which solve a multitude of our everyday beauty dilemmas. Hallelujah!


Have you tried anything from Jemma Kidd's ranges before?
xx