Wear These on Your Nails This Winter!

Winter 2013: 5 Nail Polish Favourites

Hey guys and here's the five nail polish I've already found myself reaching for already as winter approaches, and definitely were five that I used to DEATH last winter and am super happy that the season is back here in which I can wear these again.

A lot of the shades are actually nicely wearable in other seasons, and of course you can wear whatever nail polish you wish at whatever time -who cares the season- but these five colours are my favourites for winter as I find they go with more of the things I wear at this time, and are less 'in-your-face' than some of the brighter colours I like to wear in spring and summer; reflecting the weather.

Left-Right: Essie 'Velvet Voyeur', China Glaze 'Purr-fect Plum',
Barry M 'Blue Plum', Orly 'Decoded', China Glaze 'Exotic Encounters'

I'll go through the colours from left to right. Velvet Voyeur is the first one, and it's a dark cranberry-wine colour. I love it so much. The next one, 'Purr-fect Plum' is a similar colour only lighter in shade. It's one of those that I wore and got so many compliments. It's perfect (Purr-fect perhaps) for winter or autumn. I'm a huge fan of the Gelly range from Barry M, not only because of the formula but because of the wide range of awesome colours too! This for me is the perfect dark blue shade. It's dark but doesn't come across navy, it's just a dark, rich blue! Orly is a super cool brand and this colour is unlike what I've seen from other brands. It;s a muted blue-grey with just enough blue so that it isn't bland at all and still has some character. It's not boring at all! The last one was, for me, last year's winter superstar. I got so many compliments every time I wore this, and I think that's partly because it's green so not really something you'd automatically want to spread all over your nails. Green is unusual but should definitely not be forgotten- it's great! Just as mint green is a summer star, this darker green is the perfect shade for winter. I urge you to get it or something similar!

Each nail polish on a nail wheel with two coats and no top-coat

Do you have any of these nail polishes? What are your most-worn nail polishes in winter? Let me know in the comments below.

MUA Eyeshadow Trios

MUA Trio Eyeshadow in: PINK SORBET, INNOCENCE

Some of the Best Eyeshadows on the High Street

MUA AS A BRAND has been getting a lot of hype recently, and usually this is for their eyeshadows. Their most popular products are their palettes, such as the Heaven and Earth ones which have become a big deal due to their extremely low price.

Pink Sorbet

A lot of the MUA (Makeup Academy) line sells for just £1, such as their lipsticks (of which a review is coming up shortly). The MUA line can be found at Superdrug in the UK, and this is their website. As for the price of these two trios I have to share with you today, they sell for just £2.50 which I think is an amazing price.

Unlike some eyeshadows out there, these are packed with pigmentation, and there is a lot of product in each of these little domes of colour. They will definitely last you for a long time.

MUA is a cheap hit-and-miss brand, just like ELF is. Some products are really good, and others not so much. But their eyeshadows, and particularly these eyeshadow trios are worth a try.

They come in a variety of different shades, and here I am showcasing two of my favourites.

Innocence trio swatches

As you can probably tell from the swatches, they are extremely shimmery and glittery. The two trios I have to show are full glitter, meaning that there is not a single matte colour. This, for me, is definitely not a bad thing. Sure, it's hard to make a look using just the three eyeshadows and nothing else, but who says you have to do that? Certainly the lightest colour in each palette makes a stunning everyday light glittery colour for all over the lid: you don't have to wear them all at the same time.

The good thing about the glittery-ness(?) of these products, is that they provide more of a beautiful sheen than a full on glitter. The eyeshadows have a surprisingly creamy texture (not too chalky at all) and there isn't too much fallout when using them on the lid.

Pink Sorbet trio swatches

My favourite of the two is probably Pink Sorbet because I find that I can use all three colours together for one look. Admittedly, this was for a night out at an 18th Garden Party. I really recommend using all three in conjunction if you know you'll be in a very dark environment because your eyes will look amazing. 

I still think the middle colour (the lightest shade) in the Innocence trio is just divine. If you're looking for an extremely pigmented, light bright shimmery colour for any sort of highlight (browbone, inner corner, cheekbones even) then this is perfect.

The best thing about these? The swatches shown were used on normal clean skin- aka: no primer. Yes, that is the pigmentation without a primer.

Will you be trying out these trios from MUA? Does anyone have any recommendations from the rest of the MUA line? Leave me a comment below.

SO MANY EMPTIES!

About three months worth of empties have been piling up...

I'M GOING THROUGH that stage of trying desperately to use previous items of makeup and general care which have been lying about in my collection, hardly touched. It's that satisfying feeling of using a product up which I love, and also it allows you to skip the guilt next time you go shopping. PLUS, it's been eye-opening using these products and helped me realise which products I love and which aren't up to scratch; something which you can only really get from using one product singly for a long period of time.

First here's a general selection of body-care, I guess we could classify these three products as. On the left is the Superdrug own brand Mango and Papaya Body Butter which was absolutely amazing, and I would repurchase. I used it twice a day for about two or three weeks and it left my legs feeling smooth-non greasy- and smelling fruity but not too much. In the middle is the Burt's Bees Coconut Foot Cream which I got in a gift set a year ago and have been using recently. It's extremely thick but did the job and left my feet feeling good as new! The Sure Mineral Fresh Deodorant was okay, but not my favourite deodorant ever and I don't expect to repurchase.

In the last few months I have used up four sets of makeup wipes. The ones on the right are the Simple Kind to Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes. What I loved about these was how drenched they were in product. They don't get every bit of makeup off but are good to run across the face after the initial makeup removal is done. I always repurchase these. The others are the Freederm Deep Pore Cleansing Wipes which in terms of removing excess makeup and more importantly getting rid of spots- yes these really are a miracle product- they do a great job. I bought them initially on a recommendation from a friend and I will definitely repurchase. They got rid of my spots- simple as.

I also used up three sets of makeup removal pads, two Superdrug 100% Pure Cotton Wool and one Essential Waitrose Cosmetic Pads set. The Waitrose ones were smoother and more gentle on the skin, but the Superdrug ones were cheaper and not too much worse, definitely for me easier to buy, so I think those will be the ones I continue to use in the future.

 Next, what I use to actually remove my makeup. Clearly I've been trying out a few different products here, and one stands out. The Bioderma Crealine TS H2O is a people's favourite, but to me although it is good it doesn't live up to the hype. I have another 500ml bottle I'm using up but I found that it didn't remove all my waterproof makeup, and so in the future I won't go out of my way to buy it. Next is the Nivea Daily Essentials Extra Gentle Eye Makeup Remover which I've been using from the very beginning, and it is good and non-irritant, like the Bioderma. But my current favourite and complete makeup-removing MIRACLE product is the Nivea Daily Essentials Double Effect Eye Makeup Remover and I beg you all to try this because it's amazing. It effortlessly removes all my makeup, and a full rave review is coming soon. The little tub at the bottom is an Avon product, the Clearskin Professional Clarifying Toner Pads which I was using after cleansing and before bed just to tone my face. These smell amazing and had loads of product soaked into each of the pads. And they definitely helped whenever I had a few bad spots. Next time I do an order from Avon, these will be in my basket. Avon also is extremely cheap, and great quality- I recommend it to everyone.

Here are two products I used for spot removal. The first, the Dr Sebagh Breakout Spot-On which my mum bought for me ages ago and I only recently used up, was a disappointment, especially since I love their cleanser which worked miracles for me. It didn't work for me but that's not to say it won't work for you. The Neutrogena Visibly Clear Rapid Clear Treatment worked extremely well for me, however. It is very very strong though and does have a tendency to burn- this stuff is for real. It works though so I can't complain. I will be repurchasing this, it's really cheap from Superdrug.







Here is the makeup I used up. The orange ball is an EOS Lip Balm, you know those dome-shaped ones. I have about 5 of these and finally used one up! I love them they're great. The smell of the orange one reminds me vividly of a particular time so getting rid of it will be hard. The ELF Waterproof Eyeliner Pen is one of the worst products I have ever bought. It comes out not pigmented at all and has a tendency to drag across the eyelid so I hardly used it, but I'm throwing it away. The next two are Random Lipglosses I got a while ago and am throwing out now, one was from Primark and another from a magazine ages ago. They were good, nothing special. Primark surprisingly has some really good makeup and makeup brushes, I can do a specific post on this if people want. The mascara I used up is the Maybelline Waterproof Illegal Length Mascara which I got ages ago and wasn't particularly impressed with. It just didn't do too much for me but I'm tempted to try it again this summer as it had a really great brush and I need a reliable waterproof mascara for the hotter times (hopefully) approaching. Last here is the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder which here is in 002 Pink Blossom. I really liked this and purchased another one, this time in translucent. I much prefer the translucent one but anyone with a darker skin tone might want to find one closer to their skin colour to avoid any white caste. But for me it worked, great for the 'drugstore' price and availability.

PHEW! Onto the last empty product! And not a particularly interesting one either- sorry! Just some Superdrug own brand Acetone Free Nail Polish Remover. This was a bright light blue colour which was really nice, smelt the same as all other nail polish removers I've ever used, worked the same. I really seem to have no preference to nail polish removers- is it me or are they all the same? If anyone has any suggestions of good ones let me know.








Have you used any of these products above? What is your most repurchased beauty item? Let me know in the comments below.

Never-Fail Chewy Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
NOT SOMETHING SIMILAR to my usual posts on here clearly, but I had to share my take on this amazing recipe I found for cookies. These cookies I promise will be chewy, large and extremely chocolatey. With them left out, they won't last long, I promise!


1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
170g melted unsalted butter
350g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
100g caster sugar
200g soft brown sugar
325g chocolate


For the chocolate I recommend using 175g milk chocolate and 150g white chocolate. Of the milk chocolate I usually do half terry's chocolate orange (sounds unusual but trust me, it comes out delicious and different) and then split the other half between milk chocolate chips from the cooking aisle and cadbury chocolate. The chocolate orange and milk chocolate bar should be chopped into small chunks and a few larger chunks for a nice surprise. The white chocolate I like to use a chopped up selection of giant buttons and part of a rich, vanilla-y white chocolate bar.


Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C
2. I combine the dry ingredients into a bowl and then mix them together
3. Whisk the eggs together with a fork and add the vanilla extract, before putting this mix with the melted butter all into the bowl with the dry ingredients
4. Whisk together thoroughly- easier with an electric whisk to make sure there are no lumps of brown sugar
5. This should be a moist consistency but should still hold together. Then add the chocolate chips and mix in until all is covered. It will seem like you are adding a lot of chocolate chips but trust me, it works
6. Cover a baking tray with baking (or greaseproof) paper and drop two tablespoons of mixture onto the middle of half of the tray. Each tray will hold about two cookies. Keep them far apart from each other as they spread out a lot during cooking and also remember to not spread them yourself when you drop the mixture onto the tray; they will spread out themselves when they are in the oven so just drop the mixture and leave it
7. Cook for 15 minutes on the top shelf of the oven and when you take them out, leave them for 5 minutes on the tray before transferring them onto a wire cooling rack, otherwise they will break. When just taken out of the oven they will be still liquid-y, so do not be alarmed and leave them to set

I hope you all enjoy this recipe, it really works well every time, and I promise when you use this once you will never try any other recipe. Good luck and enjoy!

Let me know in the comments if you've tried this recipe or if you're going to try this any time soon.

Brandy Melville- The Best Around

Brandy Melville Haul
A BRANDY MELVILLE opened up on Kings Road in London a few months ago and after looking at pictures their clothes obsessively on Tumblr and their website I knew I had to go; just to check out their stock and of course buy some of their iconic pieces.

The way this shop works is somewhat unique; they only stock one size, with the motto 'One size fits most'. Somehow despite this, on me (a smaller 16 year old) everything seemed to fit extremely well. 

They also do something else very different. They have a few select patterns and images which are used throughout (such as the famous moon/eclipse pattern shown below) which they print onto their different standard shape clothes.

I decided to get three crop tops as i'm quite obsessed with crop tops at the moment, plus these Brandy Melville ones fit really nicely. These three pieces I picked up are similar in terms of shape but with different textures. This first piece to the left and right is a red crop top with an extremely detailed black or dark grey aztec print. It's not too over the top but gives a little more than just a plain piece.

Next is this plain navy crop top in the softest fabric I have ever touched. It's a different material than the first piece and feels so delicate that it could easily tear, but -touch wood- it seems fine right now, although I do worry. It's slightly sheer, but it's dark so wearing something under it other than a bra isn't really necessary. It has very flattering shape and feels nice to wear.

Finally I had to pick up something with the famous eclipse/moon pattern on it. I don't care if every person and their mum owns this print- I still love it. It is, to me, the epitome of Brandy Melville and one of the stand-outs that had people fanatical when it first cropped up (excuse the pun) on Tumblr. This is the only one of the three I have actually worn out yet. I wore it to a party and got a few compliments.

I'll definitely be going back to Brandy Melville soon to stock up on summer clothes- also there's an extremely soft set of jumpers and I want to pick one up. So there might be another Brandy haul coming along soon.

Have you been to Brandy Melville? What are your thoughts on it? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Rimmel Kate Moss Lipsticks

Swatches of 101, 22 and 16 

YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD a lot about these lipsticks around, so here's just another blog post about them. I got mine from Superdrug starting around two months ago; I bought one and really liked it, so I went back to buy another, before going back for the third time. And I love the three colours that I have.

These are the 'Lasting Finish by Kate' lipsticks and I have the original ones (the black bullets) in number 22 and 16, and the newer release matte finish (red tube) in number 101.

Number 101 is a muted beige-y pink colour which is slightly darker than my natural lips so it gives a more sophisticated look without being too heavy. This one is more sheer than the other two. Number 16 can be a bit too much as it's a bright coral/peach, but I really like wearing it either lightly dabbed over my natural lips or by mixing it with a plain nude such as Nostalgic by E.l.F. to create a custom light peach colour which is amazing for spring. If you like pinky-corals, then 16 really is for you. It's just perfect.

101, 22, 16

Finishing with 22: this one is my favourite. The colour is a classic red and the fact that it has blue undertones instead of orange ones helps to reduce the appearance of yellow teeth. The formula of these lipsticks is amazing, especially highlighted in this  extremely pigmented red colour. I usually find lipsticks hard to wear as I find most just look too obvious: like a thick layer of pure product across your lips, covering them up. But these seem to glide on and then sink into the lips and become part of your own skin: like real makeup should. This is especially true with the non-matte formulas which tend to look more natural.

Any other stand-outs from the collection I should try? Let me know in the comments below.

Put a SPRING in Your Step!

Top 5 Spring Nail Polishes

(L-R): Barry M 'Berry i/c', Essie 'Bikini So Teeny',
Barry M 'Blueberry i/c',  Elf 'Mint Creme',  Barry M 'Lemon i/c'

WITH THE CHANGE in season comes the excuse to dress up your nails in a different way. The transition from the darker trends of winter to the brighter spring pastel colours is definitely something to celebrate. Brighten up your attitude with something different on your nails!

These nail polishes are enough to be a change from winter colours without prematurely being too 'out-there'. They're perfect for April-May as they will go with the more summery clothes you'll be rocking if the weather is good.

Two coats with no topcoat

Check out the swatches on a nail wheel! Most  seem to show up true-to-colour with two coats.

I'm all ready to paint my nails with my first spring colour of this year: the one I've chosen is 'Bikini So Teeny' which is the perfect mix between purple and blue and isn't too outrageous. 

The true blue, 'Blueberry' has been one of my favourite all time nail colours. I also wore 'Berry' a lot last year as well as even gifting it to a few people. I guarantee you'll get a few compliments if you decide to wear it.

What are your favourite spring nail polishes? Which one of my 5 you like the most? Let me know in the comments below.  

Revision Breaks: Most Creative Times of my Life...

Nail Art Wheels

Yesterday in between bits and bobs of revision I used any inspiration I could come across through pictures and YouTube videos to find designs I could lay down on my new nail wheels. I had ordered a new set of 10 which had promptly arrived the day before.

Doing nail art was such a nice revision break for me, it took me a while to do the whole wheel but I am honestly happy about how each individual design turned out, and I will definitely be trying them all out on my nails.

For all those in the UK, here is the amazon seller link I used to buy my nail wheels if you're interested in getting some (x). They're pretty good quality and a nice natural colour. Also I think I got 20 nail wheels when I thought I was buying 10, which was a nice surprise.

Now I've just gotta choose which to wear to Reading Festival...

If you're reading this post- welcome to my blog! Let me know which designs are your favourite in the comments section.

My favourite summer options for Reading are the colourful dots, colourful leopard print, 4 colour swirl and 4 colour splat!

Are Those Nails Real?!

Cartoon Nails

I RARELY EVER actually end up doing nail art that I've seen tutorials of on YouTube, but as a form of procrastination/creative revision break I decided to try this one out. Obviously credit goes to Cutepolish- it's not her unique idea but she credited the 'owner' of this idea in her video so definitely check it out here (x) if you want to recreate this yourselves. 

When I wore this I got quite a few compliments, and people getting quite confused at what was actually going on. Clearly I didn't execute this to CutePolish standards but c'mon, cut me some slack here, I'm currently growing out my nails so they're not yet quite long enough and definitely not strong enough yet.

Anyway this is a really 'nice' nail look you can fairly easily recreate and it still ends up looking good. So give it a try if you're up for something different and unique to what your friends will be wearing.

Dark Blue Nails with Cute Accent Glitter

Current Nails

Just quickly showing the current state of my nails: I did a similar look around Christmas time but with red instead of blue and it ROCKED, this cute accent nail art looks good with any colour.

Today I, still being in a Winter mind-frame despite the unusually good British weather, decided to opt for this blue polish called Blue Plum by Barry M. It's one of the new(-ish) Gelly Hi-Shine range, which I love for their colour range and pigmentation. Only one coat is really needed, but for my own sense of self-satisfaction I decided to use two.

The accent nail was done with Yellow Topaz Glitter which I love and was kindly given to me by a good friend for a 'Secret Santa' Christmas gift-type scheme. This is a thick nail of polish- as I had to use 3-4 coats to get my desired effect. This could've been avoided by using a gold nail polish as a base under the glitter.

Blue Plum, Barry M

In terms of base-coat and top-coat; for base-coat as part of my current nail-care routine (a whole blog post on this routine is coming up) I used two coats the matte Nail Evvy by OPI which I love more as a nail strengthener than a go-to base-coat, simply because I have noticed slightly stained nails whilst using this with other polish before. The top-coat is the Sally Hansen Nail Shine miracle which is just as good as any other top-coat I have used, except it seems to take forever to dry...?

Yellow Topaz Glitter, Barry M

Anyway the state of my nails currently isn't the best, but I'm growing them out and they're not at my desired length or shape yet, this was just a procrastination nail-look which I threw on to give a cute, fun alternative to a solid block of colour.