Weekend NOTD

The weekend past manicure featured Nails Inc Neal Street which is a beautiful teal colour.

This applies likes a dream and with only one coat for full opacity.

My only gripe with this polish is that when I bought it I didn't realise it was a matte finish (why can't there be a little more info on the bottle?).  Me and matte polishes don't mix.  There's something about a flat finish that doesn't appeal to me, although saying that give me a matte finish foundation any day over dewy.

I swiftly applied Barry M's 3 in 1 Nail paint to counteract the dullness of Neal Street and voila....

....we have a lovely, glossy result.  What a perfect combination!

Now to veer off topic.   For those of you who don't know, I'm getting married next September so you can probably guess a lot of my spare time is consumed by planning the wedding.  Is this something you guys would be interested in reading about.  If it is please leave me a comment.  I have a lot to organise and your opinions are always welcome.

L'occitane goodies

My intentions were to purchase a hand cream and only a hand cream but isn't that how it always starts?  I ended up leaving the shop with a little more in my bag and my purse a little lighter.

I've been continuously hearing/reading good things about L'occitane hand creams so it was about time I tried one for myself and i'm impressed.

I picked up the shea butter hand cream in the travel size.  I keep this on my bedside table and apply it religiously every night.  I slather a generous amount on my mitts before bed, paying close attention to my cuticles and a bit of rough skin I have on my middle finger (a curse from holding a pen too hard and incorrectly I might add).  In the morning my hands are soft and appear smoother.

I also picked up a shampoo and conditioner from L'occitane which I will talk about in another post.  I  ended up spending a bit more than I normally would on any hair care product but in my opinion they are well worth it and I will be making repurchases.

FYI: Nails are Marvala Grey (free with August edition of Elle magazine)

What else MUST I try from L'occitane?

First Experience with Gelish

During the week before christmas I had the sudden urge to get a more longer lasting manicure, one that would see me through the holidays and withstand all the cooking and cleaning.

Now i've dabbled with OPI Axxium before and really enjoyed this treatment but its more expensive in my salon than the Gelish so I thought this was worth a try.

Luckily I managed to nab a last minute appointment the day before Christmas Eve.  I couldn't believe how quick the application was.  My nails were complete in half an hour and that included soaking them first whilst the beautician finished up with another client.

To keep with the festive theme I chose Hot Rod Red with Good Gossip on top to add a bit of sparkle.

On my nails the Gelish lasted three weeks and my nails grow quickly so I definitely got my moneys worth.  Unfortunately I failed to take any pictures and am only realising now but thought I would continue with the post anyway as I will certainly be treating myself to Gelish again.

Seeing how simple the procedure was has really inspired me to try it at home and i've already been browsing eBay for UV lamps and Nail Harmony colours.  For those of you who carry out DIY Gelish at home and have any tips please leave a comment below.

On an exciting note (well for me anyway), my very first Glossybox is winging it's way to me.  This is the first beauty box i've subscribed to so we shall shall if I keep it up.  Right now I'm avoiding any spoilers of whats inside the box, namely Gemma's blog.

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

I'm back... with an in & out

It's been almost a year since I last did a blog post so you probably weren't expecting me to make an appearance on your blog roll any time soon.

There's been a combination of reasons behind my hiatus, some of which will feature in this post.

So rather than bore you any longer, lets get on with it...

IN

- moving house - me and the fiance have purchased our first home. In February we moved into our two bedroom apartment so the majority of my time has been spent redecorating, furnishing it and in general settling in.

- the new addition to our family. A house wouldn't be a home to us without a dog so along came Lola, a black pug who is now 7 months old.

- reconnecting with makeup. I had kind of lost touch with makeup and just stuck with the same products everyday namely studio fix fluid and patina and mulch on the eyes but now i've enjoyed delving back into my stash and playing with products i'd long forgotten about.

- Youtube - as well as not blogging, I gave up on YT too and that also went for not watching any videos but the other night I sat down and watched my first video in months which was from hollyYMBB.

OUT

- being cheese and egg intolerant. No more pizza and pancakes for me :-(

- dry skin. Lately my skin has been really dry and flakey. Nothing seems to be hydrating enough and no exfoliator removes it.

I want to say a big thank you to those who have continued to follow my blog even though I haven't updated this in so long.

I hope everyones had a great weekend and i'll leave you all with a photo of Lola when she was 8 weeks old.

Dupe Alert!

Now I can finally cross NARS Albatross off my want list as I think i've found the perfect dupe and at a considerably cheaper price might I add.

I placed a small order from E.L.F a few weeks ago which consisted of Natural Nymph mineral lipstick (love!) and Gotta Glow blush from their Studio line.

I would not refer to this product as a blush. For one it's not your everyday cheek colour and two it's not a product you would want to be heavy handed with. However it's a beautiful product none the less and at £3.50 you couldn't beat it with a big stick.

In real life it appears as an off white with lots of shimmer...

Swatched - a beautiful champagne colour

And on application has pretty much the same effect as MAC's Vanilla pigment

You don't have to take my word for it seeing as I don't own NARS Albatross to do a proper comparison but feel free to google a swatch and form your own opinion.

What dupes have you found lately?

Let me introduce you...

to the Goody Start Style Finish 43mm Ceramic Ionic Porcupine Hot Round Brush. Now exhale!

I stumbled across this bad boy in Boots whilst looking for a round brush, something similar to the BrushLab Thermal Jumbo Hair Brush so that I could attempt LolaMarie7's "round brush your hair" tutorial. I'm sure you have already seen it but for those who haven't you can watch it here.

I've never heard of this brand before but after a bit of research with the aid of Google i've discovered they produce a wide range of brushes and combs for every stage of hair styling. They claim by selecting a tool from each step you'll see your best results yet.

This brush promises to:-

- add volume

- help reduce frizz

- straighten

I can vouch for 2 of the 3. I've come to accept that my hair doesn't retain volume. If your hair is thick/heavy like mine I wouldn't expect miracles from this brush. Saying that however the bristles have reduced frizz and made my hair feel uber soft plus it takes me half the time to blow dry my hair due to the quick dry ceramic plates.

Despite its bulky size, it's relatively light therefore it's easy to maneuver through your hair. I'm a big fan of the porcupine bristles. A lot of brushes are made entirely of the flexible bristles however the Goody brush has a combination . For my hair type I need a sturdier bristle to get through my mop. My hairdresser always jokes that I have a lot of hair hence why it's so thick.

This brush has pushed my Denman paddle brush to the back of the drawer.

The Goody brush range is stocked in Boots but you can also check out their website. Prices range from £3.49 to £11.99.

Have you tried any Goody brushes?

What Sundays are all about

For me Sundays are about 3 things:-

1) sleeping in late and lounging about the house all day (pyjamas optional)

2) catching up on blogs, YT etc.

3) experimenting with makeup

When you have no plans it's great to play around with different makeup looks, at the end of the day no one will see you and you can remove it and start over if you wish.

Today I stepped away from my usual black gel liner and opted for an eggplant shade in the form of Gosh's Funky Violet Velvet Touch Eye Liner. I can't remember the last time I was without my Blacktrack Fluidline, so you can say this is definitely out of my comfort zone.

I'm not usually one for pencil liners either however this has a creamy formula and is waterproof. This is true to it's word and will be a job for my cleanse off oil to remove.

This is how it looks on. You can apply it lightly or as heavily as you like.

The weekend also welcomes a change to adventurous nail colours. My nail of the day is Models Own Jade which I first spied in Augusts edition of Cosmopolitan and just had to have it.

With Flash

Without Flash

If like me you don't like Barry M Mint Green. Try Jade Stone. It's got a thicker consistency so no streaking however I only applied this last night and already there are signs of chipping :s

What other colours are must haves from Model's Own?