Nail Polish Collection

Barry M: Mushroom, Limited Edition 030, 262, Black, 311 Nail Effects

Nails Inc.: Elizabeth Street, Basil Street, Brook St.

Revlon: 570 Vixen*, 315 Pretty in Papaya*.

Barbara Daly: Fondant Fancy*, Marshmallow*, Violet Cream*.

Miscellaneous: Kure BAZAAR in Macaron*, Natural Collection in Clear, BeYu in 112, Collection 2000 in Fruit Salad.

17: Fairy Cake, Orange Soda, Glisten, Tropical Island.

NailGirls: B #3*, Purple #10*, Matte Purple #1*.

China Glaze: Cherry Pie, Code Orange.

Missguided: Misscellaneous, Missfit, Misstique.

KIKO: 37*, 19*, 16*

No7: Tiptoes, Mojo, Me! Me! Me!, Daisy Darling*, Milan, Speakeasy*.

Models Own: Artstix Duo Polish in Bubblegum and Blizzard*, Goldfinger*, Clothes Show Live in Show Stopper*, Champagne*, Bubblegum*, Pukka Purple*, Nail Art Pen in Black*.

If you'd have asked me to show you my nail polish collection three years ago, it'd probably have consisted of around three polishes. Up until recently, I'd never been a nail polish buff. I just couldn't understand the fascination with painting your nails. I also hated - and still do - waiting around for my nails to dry. Once I've painted them, I always remember something that I should be doing and end up messing them up. But above is my university nail polish collection - I have more back at home but the fact that they're back at home proves that they're unloved - and I'm pretty impressed with it. Of course I'd love more but I'm happy with what I have at the moment; I have different formulas, different colours, different textures. I won't do swatches of them all - I think my nails would hate me if I did - but if there are any you'd like to see swatches of, please do let me know and I'll get round to doing so. My favourite nail polish brand is Models Own; I love the formula, the huge array of colours and textures and the price is outstandingly affordable too. As you can see, at the moment I keep my nail polishes in a Champney's box but when I get home, I keep them on a cake stand so that they can be displayed. 

What's your favourite nail polish brand?

xxx

*PR Sample

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ROUTINE: Quick & easy 2 minute flawless make up

For most of the summer, I've been working every day from 8-4:30 at my dad's work to earn a bit of extra money for university next year. Considering my dad works in Nottingham and we live in Mansfield, I have to wake up every morning at 6am. Now, at 6am the last thing I want to do is apply a full face of make up that takes ages to do so by trial and error, I've found a few 'wonder' products that literally take me a couple of minutes to apply.

Collection 2000 Coloured Mascara in Clear
This is what I use to set my brows with and I've mentioned it on my blog many times. It's cheap and it does a great job at not only holding my brows in place but also brushing through them.

Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint
This is a tinted moisturiser and it's the only tinted moisturiser that I own and probably will ever own. I don't have perfect skin and I need quite a lot of coverage so tinted moisturisers normally aren't for me. But this one is lovely. It's not sheer coverage - more like light coverage that can be built up where you need it. It's also quick and easy to apply and blends like a dream. I also love this because it's the only 'foundation' that's light enough for my skin at the moment and I haven't been fake tanning.

No7 Shine Free Make-Up Base
Because the foundation that I use is a tinted moisturiser, it's not that great at keeping shine at bay on my combination skin throughout the day so I do have to use a shine controlling primer. This one by No7 is really nice to use. It's sometimes hard to apply as instead of blending over the skin, it sort of drags in a way but it does control shine throughout the whole day.

Skin79 Super Plus Triple Function (Hot Pink) BB Cream
I love everything about this BB cream! I use this underneath the Liz Earle Skin Tint to provide me with extra coverage and it does just that. In a morning, I don't have time to apply sun protection but this one comes with 25++ SPF in it already. The coverage of this is fantastic - so fantastic that it's on par with foundation. It also lasts throughout the day and well, I just love everything about this. I did a full review of this product with before/after comparison photos here.

No7 Quick Cover Blemish Stick
As the name suggests, this covers imperfections quickly and easily. It's easy to blend and provides full coverage where you need it. I don't use it every day, just when I need a bit more coverage if I breakout.

Natural Collection Corrector Stick
If you have scarring then I highly recommend buying a green toned concealer stick to counteract redness. This one is £1.99 and it's really great. I use it after primer but before my BB cream/foundation and it really helps to cover up my scars.

17 Shine Control Loose Powder
My favourite powder. It controls shine, it's easy to use and it's really cheap.

HD Brow Palette
And finally, I have to fill in my brows using this palette. I never use anything else on my brows because this is just fabulous!
What products do you recommend for a quick and easy make up look? Have you tried any of the above?
xxx

BRITNEY SERIES: 'In The Zone' Inspired Make Up Look

I was looking through my Britney inspired make up looks when it occurred to me that I've never recreated my favourite Britney make up ever. This is from a photoshoot from 2003 that was for her In The Zone album and I can remember being 10 years old and looking through the album booklet, staring at how beautiful she is. The eye make up is golden, the skin is glowing and the lips are nude. It's also very wearable.

Skin

On my skin I used Benefit's Porefessional as a base and Keromask Camouflage Cream* as my foundation as I needed my skin to look as flawless as possible. I then concealed using Collection 2000's Lasting Perfection as it's a great full coverage concealer. I went on to powder the skin with 17's Pressed Powder as it adds a bit more coverage and it's semi-matte. After this, I used my Liz Earle Natural Glow Bronzer* as a blush and Sleek's Contour Kit highlighter to highlight the inner corners of my eyes and also my cheekbones.

Eyes

I primed my eyes using Urban Decay's Primer Potion and I then went on to use the Naked palette. I covered the entire eyelid in Virgin as a base and then sweeped Half Baked over my eye lid and also underneath my eye. I then used the colour Smog all over my crease and all underneath my eye in the middle. I then finished off with Darkhorse in the outer crease and also the outer corner underneath my eye. After this, I thinly lined my eye using 17's Liquid Liner on top and No7's Metallic Eye Pencil in Blackout on my waterline. To finish off, I used No7's Exceptional Definition mascara on my lashes and the HD Brow palette* on my eye brows.

Lips

For my lips I used a Natural Collection lip liner in Almond and added gloss which was Urban Decay's Lip Junkie in Naked.

L-R Liz Earle Natural Glow Bronzer, Sleek Contour Kit highlight, Virgin, Half Baked, Smog, Darkhorse, 17's Liquid Liner, No7 Metallic Eye Pencil in Blackout, HD Brow Palette, Natural Collection lip liner in Almond, Urban Decay Lip Junkie in Naked.
So that is the finished look and swatches. I ended up really like it. My skin was very full on which if I was going to wear this look during the day time, I'd have toned down quite a bit - I probably wouldn't have used the Keromask foundation but instead switched for my Skin79 BB Cream as it still provides great coverage. I loved the eyes and I can see myself wearing them a lot and also surprisingly, I loved the lips. The colours didn't wash me out and created a beautiful nude lip colour. What do you think of this look?
xxx
*PR Sample

How I... Look After My Nails

I've recently started looking after my nails quite a lot. Before this routine, I pretty much just used to apply nail polish and that's it. And that's probably why my nail polish always applied gloopy and not nice. 

I start off by cutting my nails if they need cutting. My nails don't really grow that long but if they ever do then I'll use the Dirty Works Finger Nail Clipper* - £2.49. I then go on to filing my nails down. I'll either use the Dirty Works Printed Emery Board & Case* - £2.99 or the Anatomicals Nail File - £2.00. Both are great nail files are get the job done quickly but without breaking the nails and damaging them. The Dirty Works one is also great for travelling as it comes in its own case. I then use my No7 Nourishing Nail & Cuticle Care - £7.00 to soften my cuticle before pushing them back using the Boots Essentials Manicure Sticks - £1.00. The No7 Cuticle Care is something that I recently bought using the No7 £5 vouchers and it's such a lovely product. It does a great job of softening them and looking after them. If I need to trim any cuticles on the side of my nails then I'll use the Dirty Works Cuticle Trimmer* - £6.99 as it's really gentle, quick and easy. I'll then use the Dirty Works 4 Sided Nail Buffer Block* - £2.99 to make my nails look smooth and get them ready for applying nail polish. And finally, I'll use the Natural Collection Nail Colour in Clear - £1.89 as a base coat and a top coat as well.

 These are my nails. They aren't the most beautiful looking and that's one of the main reasons that I always use nail polish - to cover up them up. They're prone to breaking and they're very brittle but this routine that I do is pretty gentle and I've noticed an improvement in my nails since doing it. I'm hoping to invest in a base coat that strengthens the nails but I just can't bring myself to do it in case they don't work - it's weird how I'll always invest in skin care but not in my nails. So if you have any recommendations, please let me know!

And finally, I store all of my nail accessories in the Dirty Works Cosmetic Bag* - £4.99. It's a very nice bag that's just the right size. It's also great as you can just wipe it clean if it gets dirty.
How do you look after your nails?
xxx
*PR Sample

What's In My... 'Travel' Make Up Bag

First thing's first, I must apologise about the shocking picture. This was the best of a bad bunch and for some reason, these products (minus the HD Brow Palette) didn't want to photograph at all. But I really wanted to write this post so I thought a bad picture is better than no post! Recently I'm in between Mansfield and Lincoln because university is finished but I still have my job out there. I don't want to take all my make up back to Mansfield yet as I love blogging at Lincoln so I've just taken a small bag full of my current favourite products at the moment and here they are...

On my skin I've currently been loving both the No7 Shine Free Primer - £11.00 and the Benefit Porefessional Primer - £23.50. I use the No7 primer on my t-zone to keep my skin matte and the Benefit primer on my cheeks to cover up my pores. The combination of both works really well and I've been using these two together every day. When it comes to foundation I've rediscovered MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation - £23.00. It provides great coverage that's natural looking and isn't too heavy when applied to the skin. I do sometimes get red skin so I use Natural Collection Corrector Stick - £1.99 which I bought just so I could get 50 Boots points. But I do love it. It's a bit chalky so it needs warming up but it does a great job at concealing redness for such a cheap price. I've been combining two concealers together; the Max Factor Pan Stix - £6.99 which essentially is a foundation but my skin hasn't been that bad recently so I don't use it as a foundation as it is full coverage. And the No7 Quick Cover Blemish Stick - £8.00 which provides good coverage that lasts throughout the day. I haven't been using any powder on my skin as my primers are that good but I have been using both the Liz Earle Natural Glow Bronzer* - £19.50 and MAC Powder Blush in Pink Swoon - £17.50 to perk my skin up and provide me with a lovely colour. Both are very natural, matte and do a great job at warming and brightening the skin. Of course on my eyes I've been using the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette - £36.00 which is the best nude, natural palette out there. I've then been using the 17 Liquid Liner - £3.99 to define my eyes and finishing off with my new favourite mascara, No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara - £12.50 which is great for volumising and defining the lashes. On my bottom lashes I've been using a mascara by Flutter which I received at Christmas. It's a small mascara which is great for using on the bottom lashes. As always on my eye brows I've been using the HD Brow Palette* - £19.95 to fill my brows in and setting them with the Collection 2000 Colour Lash Mascara in Clear - £2.99. And finally I've been completing the look with 17 Mirror Shine On Lipstick in Belle - £4.59 which is a lovely nude lip colour that hydrates the lips.
xxx

Happy Birthday Mum!

Today is my mum's birthday and for her birthday all she wanted was a new make up kit. I, of course loved it when she told me this and rushed out to Boots to buy her some new make up. She isn't as obsessed with me and she's beautiful as it is so unlike me, she doesn't really need high end make up so I stuck to drugstore (and I'm skint too)! I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and show you what I bought her and also do a little 'how to apply guide' to help her out and she's not very experienced in make up.

Maybelline Dream Nude Airfoam - My mum usually uses the Dream Satin Liquid Foundation but when I saw this one in Boots, I decided to pick it up instead. It looks asthough it's a lot easier to use and provides a lower coverage which is great considering my mum's skin is almost perfect. She just has a little bit of redness. Without using it (but through reading reviews) I'd say the best way to apply this is using your fingers first to blend. And then finishing it off with a foundation brush to create a flawless finish.

17 Hide & Chic Eye Brightening Concealer - I absolutely adore this concealer and I wrote about it here. My mum does have a problem with under eye circles and eye bags and I've used this on her once before and it covered them wonderfully. So I decided to pick it up!

17 Pressed Powder - My mum usually uses Rimmel's Stay Matte which is I love and it's my favourite. But I don't think she should be using matte powders as her skin is quite dry and I'd love to see her with a glow. So I went with this powder instead of the matte version. A light dusting of this will add a tiny bit more coverage and help to keep make up in place throughout the day.

No7 Lift &Curve Eyelash Curler - Once again, I love this and I wrote about it here. I did ask my mum if she'd like some eye lash curlers and she quickly replied 'no, I'm scared to use them.' But of course, I decided to buy her some anyway. They're really simple to use and will change the way your mascara is applied. A few 10 second squeezes before mascara will ensure that my mum's tiny lashes are looking beautifully fluttery!

17 Peepshow Mascara - I've read good things about this mascara and it's supposed to lengthen the lashes. My mum isn't one for big out-there lashes but she definitely needs some length adding to them. So I went with this one mainly because of that - and because of the gorgeously girly packaging.

Natural Collection Blush in Pink Cloud - This blush is well loved in the blogosphere as it's cheap and lovely. So I picked it up for my mum. It's not the most pigmented but that's good seeing as I don't really want her looking like a Barbie doll. 

17 Instant Glow Shimmer Brick in Gold Bronze - And finally, my mum loves her bronzer and once I saw this Shimmer Brick, I couldn't resist. It's so beautiful and will add a lovely glow onto her skin. The different colours can also be used indiviually as eye shadows so it's a win, win situation!

Once my mum has opened these products and I've been to see her, I should hopefully be getting some swatches up (and trying them out for myself if she'll let me) so I'll let you know how I get on with them!
xxx

What I Want for.. Boxing Day?

For the past few years, every Boxing Day I have headed off into town especially for the sales. Normally, I avoid going into Boots like the plague - mainly because the majority of my Christmas Gifts would've been from Boots and I'd always end up gutted as I'd spent so much more on the items. However this year, only a couple of gifts I've bought for people have been from Boots. So I'm excited to spend the majority of my hard earned wages from Boots, in Boots. (They might as well not pay me considering most of my wages go back to them anyway)!

The prices that I've included are the current prices but please bare in mind that usually on Boxing Day, Boots reduced all of their Christmas giftsets by 50%, meaning that these gifts should be half price.*

I've also taken pictures from the catalogue as of course, I don't have these products.. yet!

Bright as a Button Tinted Lip Balms - £10

If you read my blog often, you'll know that I'm obsessed with lip balms and as soon as I saw these, I knew I'd have to have them.

Champneys Spa Citrus Blush Handcare Kit - £10

Since working at Boots, I've become obsessed with Champneys. All of their products look lovely and luxurious. This handcare duo will be perfect for my bathroom at university and citrus is my favourite smell! I'll also look at more Champneys products.

Joules Super Soaps - £8

How cute are these?! I don't think I'll use them.. I just love how adorable they are.

Extracts Body Butter Collection - £10

LOVE LOVE LOVE Extracts Body Butters since buying myself a Cranberry giftset. So I need this.

Nivea Feel Festive Cracker - £5

Last year, my sister bought me one of these and I loved it. It has small sizes of everything and I particuarly love the lipbalm & body butter.

Natural Collection Pamper Basket - £12

Natural Collection is amazing and the price for all of this is outstanding - even when it's not in the sale!

No7 Poppy King Celebrate Gorgeous & Glam - £18

I've had my eye on this for a while. Unfortunately, I've never tried any of the Poppy King range but it does look beautiful - especially the lip balm.

*Although I work at Boots, I'm not 100% sure that all of these gifts will be included in the half price sale. However, as a guess from previous years, most will. But don't take my word for it!

Are you hitting the Boxing Day sales?

xxx

CAMPING: Bodycare

Hey guys! I hope you're all okay? I hope that this post shows up because it's scheduled so I'm a little worried haha. Here is the second part in the Camping Series and this time, it's bodycare!

L-R Natural Collection Mango & Papaya Body Spray, Liz Earle Foot Spritzer, Skin Wisdom Day Spa Gingerlily & Orange Bath Gel, Ministry of Waxing Ice Cream, Avene Sun Lotion SPF 50+ & 20, Nivea Creme.

I haven't included deodorant here yet because at the time of writing this post, I was waiting to fetch some from Tesco! I was undecided on which body spray to take because I have so many but this was the one that had the most product left in. Of course, my Liz Earle Foot Spritzer is a must have.. I take it everywhere with me - it's perfect for cooling the feet and legs and also eliminates odours! This is my new body gel and I'm really excited to try this out as it smells so gorgeous. The Ice Cream and Nivea Creme are there to be used as body lotions and after sun.. they're both cooling and really add moisture to the skin. And of course, sun tan lotion! It's a must have and if I could only take one product away with me, it'd be that!

What are your must have body care products for camping/holidays?

xxx



Pore-tastic!

Apologies for the awful title.

I know a few of you having been anxiously waiting for the arrival of this post and I must apologise for how late it is! Anyway, I believe that I have found the 4 best instant pore-reducing products - and guess what? They're all under a tenner!

Top Clockwise - Soap and Glory Fab Pore Facial Peel, 17 Photo Flawless Primer, Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid, Natural Collection Rosemary and Witch Hazel Face Mask.

Useless swatches I know but these are in the same order as above.

Soap & Glory The Fab Pore 15 Minute Facial Peel - £7.15

If you haven't heard of this product then I'll just say, where have you been?! This face mask is amazing because firstly, it doesn't dry the skin out like most pore/oil absorbing face masks. Secondly, it smells beautiful and finally, it works. I apply this for the full 15 minutes recommended and my pores disappear and do not come back for around 3 days! There's nothing more to say about this product except it's so good, and there's not just me saying it!

17 Photo Flawless Primer - £4.99

I can't believe I still haven't done a full review of this product. It is literally A-MAZING! I know that primers are generally expensive and I do believe this is the cheapest one there is but do not be fooled by it's price! This primer is a clear liquid (as you can see in the swatches above) and it feels just like Gosh's primer (which is like a gel/silicone). As soon as this is applied my skin feels velvety soft to touch and it makes applying foundation so much easier. But of course, this post is about pores and I must say - this delivers. Pores are immediately filled in and covered over and all in all, skin looks so much better with this primer applied. I'd say it's the best primer I've ever tried and it becomes a lot better when you see the price.

Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid Foundation - £8.19

I've had this foundation for a while now and it's a full coverage foundation that perfects skin by filling in the pores. And it definitely does this. When applying this foundation (I use ELF's Powder Brush) it glides over the skin and makes it look perfect. However the only downside to this foundation is that it doesn't last long. But if you use this with the primer above - match made in heaven!

Natural Collection Rosemary and Witch Hazel Face Mask - on offer £0.67

I grabbed this yesterday when spending my Boots points just because I love face masks. I then drove home, soaked in the bath with this applied to my skin. It's a clay based mask so it dries up and once it's dried, you just remove it. I wasn't expecting much from this face mask to be honest but my pores disappeared after using it. It is aimed at skin that is blemish prone and oily but it never occurred to me that it'd help with my pores. But it does. 

Basically I'd recommend using all of these products together (maybe just one face mask though) to ensure your pores are no longer visible. However, if your budget is tight then the one I'd recommend is as follows:

If you wear a lot of make up I'd recommend Maybelline's Dream Satin Liquid Foundation.

If you do not wear make up or little make up I'd recommend 17's Photo Flawless Primer

If you do not wear make up I'd recommend Soap and Glory's Face Mask

If you're on a really tight budget I'd recommend Natural Collection's Face Mask

However I'd say using them all together gives off a better result.

Please not that these are quick fixes and not long term solutions!

Has anyone tried these products? What other pore-busting products would you recommend?

xxx

January Favourites

Johnson's Baby Skincare Wipes, Tresemme 24 Hour Body Shampoo, Vichy Normaderm Moisturiser, Natural Collection Mango and Papaya Body Spray, Lush Bubblegum Lipscrub, 17 Wild Curls Mascara, Natural Collection Lip Liner in Almond, Bare Minerals High Shine Colour in Glisten, MAC Lipstick in Kinda Sexy, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, Accessorize Merged Blusher in Pretty Pink, MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon.

I'm currently rediscovering Johnson's Baby Wipes after finding them on offer in Boots for just £1. They remove eye make up wonderfully and leave my skin feeling soft and soothed, they also smell beautiful - but remember, these aren't a substitute for cleanser! I love Tresemme hair care, it's my favourite and this shampoo never fails to impress me. My thin, flat hair always looks volumised after this has been used. I have a love/hate relationship with Vichy Normaderm moisturiser, some months I love it, others I hate it. But this month it's been a firm favourite of mine as it moisturises my skin but also controls shine and eliminates my pores. The Natural Collection body spray is something that I use every day - I've even had compliments on the way I smell. For just £1.99 it's a definite must have. And even if you don't like Mango and Papaya, they do a variety of different smells.

As for make up, Lush's Bubblegum lip scrub works wonders on my lips and leaves them feeling soft and ready for lipstick (especially as I've been wearing matte lipstick all month)! It also tastes yummy. I'm loving 17's Wild Curl mascara as it lengthens, defines, volumises and also curls my lashes, it's great for every day! Rimmel's Stay Matte powder is my all time favourite as it really does leave my skin completely matte and shine free - which is great for my horribly oily skin.

L-R Natural Collection Lip Liner in Almond, Bare Minerals High Shine Colour in Glisten, MAC Lipstick in Kinda Sexy, MAC Sheertone Blush in Pink Swoon, Accessorize Merged Blusher in Pretty Pink.

I've never owned a lip liner and I thought that it was about time that I did. So I decided to buy a Natural Collection one as it only cost me £1.99. It's a bit hard and not very nice to work with but it's practically the same colour as my lips and makes lipstick easier to apply and also lasts longer. I'm loving Bare Minerals eyeshadow in my crease for when I go out at night time, it's really vibrant and shiny and looks beautiful. Of course, MAC's Kinda Sexy lipstick is my all time favourite at the moment, it's great for day night and night time - so versatile. I love it! As for these two blushes, they pair very well together and can be built up depending on when they're being used!

What products have you been loving this month?

xxx