Things I am loving - nails

I finally feel like I might be back into the swing of blogging!

I have bought a fair bit recently and each time thought that maybe I should blog and then either not had the time or the inclination so this is a bit of a catch up.

First up, still obsessing over my nails.  I have a vertical split in the nail on my middle finger on my right hand which I cannot grow out - all the while the nail doesn't flake it holds itself together but when the nail flakes, as it always eventually does, the split appears.  This last time I actually clipped my nail as short as possible to get below the split and it hasn't really worked.  Because I can not abide nails of differing lengths I have taken all the others back to very short too, not that they were any great talons to begin with.  I actually prefer them very short, especially if I am wearing a dark polish, which is handy given how much they flake!  So nail purchases:

Love that its now possible to buy Essie in Boots.  On a recent 3 for 2 promotion I picked up Good to Go top coat and Nourish Me base coat.  The base coat is the blue bottle, its a nice thin liquid base which works for me as I am not a fan of goopy base coats.  The top coat is thicker and dries to that touchably glossy finish that makes your nails feel really smooth - ideal for nails that have flaked.

Recent trip to a larger Boots store saw me standing pretty much open mouthed in front of a massive Revlon Colourstay stand.  So much pretty all in one place!  In the end I managed to pick up just two colours but I have my eye on, oh, about 30 more. 

I didn't read up on these until after I had purchased, apparently used with the Colourstay base and top coat they are supposed to last up to 10 days and are a diy shellac sort of thing.  I only have the polishes which I am using with the Essie top and base and wear is good - I get bored after about 2 days so longevity in my mani is not top priority. Really great colour is however and this range is falling down with stunners.  Rain Forest is a dark green jelly with lighter green glitter it is stunning on the nail, opaque in 3 coats and dark dark green, but still distincly green, not erring into that territory where it could be black.  I think it could be similar to a China Glaze polish, Emerald City, which I have always loved the look of.  Pics of it on the nail to follow.  Midnight is a beautiful teal - purchased before the whole colour exploration of this week, yet another example of having around me the colours that work without realising!  I love this because I have red hands and the teal makes them look like alabaster!  Pics of that mani to follow too.  The polishes are pretty thick and have a self levelling property that is an absolute blessing if you are cursed with peeling nails - currently my thumb nail is in tatters but you'd never know with this on.  On the downside I hate the brushes, never had a Revlon polish with a rubbish brush and now I have two! The shaft of the brush is flat and wide which made me think the brush would be a bit like the lovely Rimmel curved, wide xpress Flat Brush, sadly not. The brushes do have a longer bit but rather than it being in the middle to create a curve its on one side which makes getting neat cuticles a complete mare. But the colours and the self-levelling are so fab I will be buying more!  

Have you tried these and if so what do you think?

Revlon Lip Butters - at long last

I have wanted these since I first saw them blogged about and the waiting has felt like ages, so worth it though!

Looking at previous blog posts I wasn't sure if Candy Apple or Cherry Pie would be my best bet, as it was Boots only had Candy Apple so I had no choice.  I decided to go all out and get Tutti Fruitti too, have a fancy for a nice bright orange and then I hemmed and hawed for ages and opted for Raspberry Pink although wasn't sure at all that it would be a colour I would wear.

Candy Apple, Tutti Fruitti and Raspberry Pie - seriously is there anything nicer than a brand new lippy? Three maybe!

Was so excited had to do an immediate swatchathon!  Top pic is Candy Apple, middle is Raspberry Pie and finally Tutti Fruitti.  I have to say I think Raspberry Pie might be a surprise fave.  Not entirely sure that Tutti Fruitti is working on me, but you know who it does look fab on???

I should have said - this is Emily, she gets her looks from me, obvs!

Bloody typical!


I am guessing everyone that got to Boots today came away with a handful, enabled as we all were by the 3 for 2 offer and quite possibly the extra bonus of £2 off Revlon with the latest Advantage card mailer.  So come on, share, which ones did you get?


 

Revlon Black Cherry & Boots No 7 Metallic Grey Eye shadow stick

I am celebrating recovering from a very very stressful 30 mins.  I went to the hairdresser, Modesty Brown has probably just passed out - the words "hairdresser" and "stressful" in the same sentence are all too familiar to her.  For the last 9 months the same person has cut my hair and I have loved it every time, he makes me look fabulous which is no mean feat.  Today he said "what are we doing" and I said "EXACTLY the same as last time, I love how you cut my hair please don't change a thing, especially not the chin length bits at the front, not them, dont cut them, I need them the length they are".  He heard "whatevs mate, anything you fancy tbh, here sits a woman that doesnt care".  I was feeling physically sick in the car on the way home, convinced he had fucked up my hair.  He had cut layers into the sides and sliced into the chin length front bits so that they were no longer the longest bit of my hair, making the term "graduated" redundant at best, he said "I have trimmed this bit up so it gives it a rounder shape".  Can he not see my face?  It's round. I do not need roundness in my hair.  Just to put this into perspective for you, 98% of the time the only bit about me that I like even a tiny little bit is my hair. It is that vital. 

Anyway panic over! I got home, washed and blow dried and its all ok.  He has sliced into the front bits and whilst in my opinion that warrants me coating his testicles in honey and letting fire ants loose on them, most normal people would probably consider that an over reaction.  Prior to the hair debacle I went into Boots on a mission for Revlon Black Cherry lipstick for my "big night out in Manchester".  I am planning the full works; smouldering eyes and wanton lips.  Black Cherry is a storming lipstick for a wanton lip! I can't do red red it makes me look and feel a bit weird but this I just drank a gallon of red wine lip colour is wonderful, I feel like sex on a stick to be honest!! It definitely needs a lip liner and then careful application with a brush, applying from the bullet is likely to end in tears.  Oh and your lips need to be in tip top nick too.

I also found a No 7 voucher lurking in the purse and the Metallic Grey eye shadow stick was just yelling my name, its a cream shadow and my plan was to apply it all over the lid as a base and then build up my smoky eye from there.  I have discovered you need to work quick with this stuff, once it sets there's no budging it and blending is not happening.  That said as a teflon base its fantastic, I applied black shadow to the crease and blended for about an hour and a half, light shadow on brow bone and then full on sparkly lighter shadow into the corner to stop me looking like a witch.  Frankly I could snog myself.  Want to see a photo. Or 2?

Getting messy drunk wearing this much slap is going to be abyssmal.  A word to the wise - if you are coming with me to Manchester and post pics of me on facebook taken at 2am when this lot has slid all round my face,  you and I will no longer be friends. 

EOTD - GOSH Green & Revlon Blue

When I bought the GOSH green eye shadow I had always intended it to go with the Revlon matt blue.  This morning seemed as good a time as any to give it a whirl!

Really pleased with how this one turned out, it was exactly what I had in mind - always nice when that happens!

Gad knows why I appear to have a jaunty eye in this pic!

Have to say I do think the Revlon orange lip gloss I quite fancied would have been good with this, although when I mentioned it to Em this morning she rolled her eyes and said "you aren't starting that whole orange thing again are you?" so maybe not!

Revlon Super Lustrous lipgloss - Pink Pop

Holding my hands up to my make-up purchases this weekend being totally driven by 2 days of sunshine; first orange nail varnish and now this:

I had admired (lusted after) a very similar shade in the Chanel glosses last time I was having a play but wasn't sure that I could carry off a bright pink gloss and didn't want to spend twenty odd quid only to find out that I couldn't.  So the Revlon was an affordable alternative.

Actually on the lips it isn't so opaque that its scary, it sheers out enough to just give a nice hit of colour.  For a gloss it is surprisingly comfortable to wear too, I haven't found it particularly sticky which is a benefit, although I did have the whole hair/gloss thing going on in the Co-op car park when a particularly strong gust glued the two together, I am so cool.

Having decided that bright is the way to go I was very very very tempted by the Revlon Super Lustrous gloss in Coral Reef.  It's orange.  Lip smackingly orange.  Did mention to my very beloved daughter that I had considered an orange lip gloss and without pausing for thought she said "if you buy it I will disown you, you are waay to old for orange gloss".  Never one to hold back.  Bitch was right about nude lips so I guess I had better listen.

Revlon Super Lustrous lipgloss costs £6.99 and is on the Boots site here
Just googled Coral Reef and had a look at images, looking at the swatches it does seem that the vast majority that bought Pink Pop also bought Coral Reef.  Clearly they don't live with the self-appointed arbiter of age appropriate lip colour like I have to! A lot of them did also appear to be about 19. 

Revlon Blue Lagoon update

Had another go with this last night, 3 thin coats with long dry time inbetween and half an hour after 3rd coat, which was still not opaque and more streaky than I would consider wearable, was still able to scrape this off my nail.  So disappointed, am hoping that I have got a duff bottle and have emailed Revlon.  Will keep you posted.

Look at it, it's so beautiful!

That said I am now desperate for the Bubblegum pink in the scented range and am going to look for online swatches of the Mango one as well to see if it will satisfy my orange craving, although not sure about scented nail polish!
 

NOTD - GOSH Lavender Love

Had real issues trying to capture the actual colour of this, the bottle in the pic below is closest.  It is a truly gorgeous perriwinkle blue and I love it.  

Last year had my heart set on Essie Lapis of Luxury but couldnt find it anywhere, the minute I spotted this was pretty sure it was dupe'ish (if anyone has both would love to see how close these two are?!)

Have had GOSH polishes in the past and not been particularly overwhelmed but the application of this was lovely nice and opaque in two coats and wear is tolerable, am off base coat and top coat at the mo, none of my nail varnish applies well over a base coat for some reason?

I also nearly quite literally peed my pants in Boots when I spied this

Charlotte at Lipglossiping had been tempting us with the new Butter London collection, Lady Muck was calling my name and then to make matters worse she did a blue comparison post and Essie Sag Harbour was yelling it.
The minute I spotted this Revlon Blue Lagoon I nabbed it, its pale blue, which I love and it has glitter, which I don't normally but needed it to satisfy this particular craving!

Tell me that's not beautiful? Applies like a total biatch though, streakfest from hell.  Took 4 coats and then 6 hrs after application I picked its still tacky self off my nails.  Will be trying this one again without base coat just to see if its the Rimmel 3 in 1 base top and strengthen that's causing me issues.  The glitter in this is sort of flat, not sparkly so it gives the nail varnish a texture rather than a sparkle, it is quite beautiful and might be best spotted by clicking on the photo above to make it a bit bigger. 

Sorting out the links I am delighted to notice that Revlon Blue Lagoon isn't the same shade as Essie Sag Harbour at all so thats fab, means there is no excuse not to have both!

Revlon - ColourBurst Lipstick in Carnation

Am now fully over the whole nude lip thing. Yea, thanks I heard that collective sigh of relief.

Last Saturday had a play with Revlon ColourBurst in Carnation and dithered.  For bloody ages, so much so I annoyed myself and put it back on the shelf on the basis that if you can dither over something for that long you clearly don't want it.  I fancied the colour and the texture but wasn't sure about the shimmer.  Shimmer's just aging imo.

So by Weds had built myself up into a frenzy of need and informed daughter that she either returned from work with Carnation or she needn't bother coming home at all. She said "no worries sugar tits" cos she's like that and came home with it.

I like the quilty packaging.

And the "Revlon" stamped in the front of the lipstick.  I love that it has no discernable taste or smell.  I like the brightness, the way it wears and the texture and that its not drying on my lips. Are you feeling this hossing great "buuuuuuuuut" building here?

 I am so not loving the shimmer!

This pic shows it best in the sun, light bluey shimmer. I just think it makes it a bit too cool on me?

 Thought wearing my glasses might help, not sure it did!

This is it compared to Illamasqua Move, in case thats of interest.

Course a couple of people did try to warn me, thanks Jane!, but I wouldnt listen would I?  So yesterday whilst I am thinking that I like the brightness and the lipstick would have been perfect without the shimmer the twitteratti are all over Boots No 7 Poppy King collaboration called Glamour.  Apparently its a lovely bright pink cream.  NO SHIMMER.  Bloody hell, guess where I am going on Sunday - got to get it whilst my £5 voucher is still valid! 

I guess it was a fairly inexpensive way of finding out that I do like pink lipstick though!

FOTD - when bad eye shadow happens to good people

After yesterdays rather dull neutral FOTD I decided today I wanted to incorporate the blue in a more wearable, day friendly eye.

Please bear in mind that I get up at 5.50am. I have to be ready to run Em down the hill at 6.50am and in that time I have to shower, beat my hair into submission and do my "face". Mistakes are not an option. So this morning I slapped on my UDPP and grabbed the blue matte Revlon shadow and whacked it all over the mobile lid. So far so blah. So thought I'd try blending. Now have an eyelid with nasty patchy stains and blue eye shadow all over one hand.  At this point my options were a) do breakfast for guests with one blue eye or b) slap some blue onto 2nd eye and hope applying foundation would balance things out.  Once I had smeared blue eye shadow over 2nd eye decided only way out was to then apply the same blue to the crease.  At this point I looked like the "before" from "Ten Years Younger" as in "Debbie is aware that she has been stuck in an eye shadow rut for 20 yrs and is still wearing the same blue eye shadow she wore in 1986".  In an absolute panic I wiped a smear of Buck from the Naked palette into the crease and attempted some kind of blending action.

see what I mean? Not exactly fab is it but not a bad recovery if you had seen the dire big blue mess I was before adding the brown!
 
Emily came in and took one look at my blue stained hands and masses of tissues all covered in blue matte eye shadow (bloody stuff wont blend but it does get everywhere!) and said I looked like a kid who had nicked her mums make up kit. And she still expected a lift down the hill.

I had a go at mixing some of the GOSH Cappuccino and the Revlon Matte in Mink to make a slightly darker nude lippy.  Off for a facial this pm and need to buy a nude lip pencil, as my Bobbi Brown Cocoa one leans too orange to work with this colour.  Also need to invest in some kind of lip buff and lip primer I think.
Onwards and upwards folks, not a triumphant fotd but I think its good to share the lash ups too! 

Over the Taupe

See what I did there?  Decided to have a play with my recent purchases so inevitably ended up with a blue eye and nude lips. What do you think? It IS over the top for day wear but when I do EOTN its dark and I cant take proper pics so decided to do it in the middle of the day so I could share.


Excuse the hair, it's having a moment all of its own today.
 

Decided to have a go at "contouring" as well. Nicked Em's bronzer and had a swipe about although frankly would putting a brown stripe down the side of a football contour it? I think not but at least the bronzer is better than blush would have been *hello clown face*.


Used Revlon shadow in Peacock Lustre over mobile lid. Revlon Matte in Riviera blue into crease and underneath.  Tightlined with No 7 Gel liner in blue top and bottom. Virgin from Naked brow bone and inner corner.  MUA in bright green inside of mobile lid and the usual L'Oreal mascara and Clinique brow pencil.

Lips are a combination of GOSH Cappuccino and Revlon Matte in Mink - just a hint of this to give it a bit of colour.  Was sure I couldn't do nude lips, am LOVING this! So be kind if you think it looks vile, but for godsake tell me!
 

Took pics with grown up camera with $$ wide angle lens, hope I don't look too melty faced as a result!

Oh and finally quick point and shoot snap of eye in close up.

 As this is a total deviation from the norm for me would really appreciate your feedback!
Post edit: am now worrying about that rather vast ski-slope forehead (savage receeding hair line or wot?!)

Huds Haul

Great afternoon in Huddersfield with Em. Boots didn't know what had hit them!

It doesn't look like this anymore. Just dropped it and smashed it to fck. Gutted - down to pan in middle.

Picked up Revlon matte shadow in Riviera blue (front) and a satin shadow in Peacock Lustre (back).  No sign of the ColorBurst lipstick in Soft Nude and Rosy Nude looked too pink toned for my licking. Settled on Matte lipstick in Mink.  Revlon was 3 for 2 which was fab.

Revlon Matte Mink.  GOSH Cappuccino

Re-stocked with my fave Avene products; Extremely Gentle Cleanser and Rich Anti-Redness cream and added a Soothing Hydrating Serum which I had really been wanting to try, again 3 for 2 on skin care, result.

I also had to pick up a Botanics cleansing Balm as raved by Welsh Beauty Blogger.  We seem to have pretty similar skin so I am hoping that I can use this without freaking out my skin, even if its just a once a week treat and I use the Avene on a day to day basis.  This smells lovely and I cant wait to try it with my Botanics facial cleansing brush. 

And of course the compulsory purchase of a Clinique Super Fine liner in soft brown seeing as those brows keeping on pulling in the compliments, the lady on the check out in Boots asked what I used.

This lot got me a Boots £5 voucher that went straight back into their tills with my purchase of the Ltd edition gel eyeliner in Blue, am dying to have a play with this.

Em hauled too so we decided to use her £5 voucher to buy Aunty Ness the No 7 Skin Illuminator she had been fancying.

From there we hurtled like a herd of turtles round to Superdrug where I picked up a GOSH lipstick in Cappuccino, which basically looks like it might be my perfect nude or the "fresh from the grave" lippy I have been dying for!

Arty pic of No 7 Ltd edition blue eye liner!

Swatches, reviews and eotd's etc to follow!