Nails of this week and last week.

Mavala - Black Velvet

black with a purple shimmer, as a long time fan of these polishes I have always liked their purples (tokyo is an awesome colour) this is more of a black than a purple. It looks a lot more purple and a lot more shimmery in the bottle but I do still really like it, it applied fantastically and was solid after only 2 coats. I only wish that it was a little more like it was on the bottle and I do wish Mavala would do bigger bottles because this was a challenge to go back to after using China Glaze and OPI for so long.

Natural Light

Flash

Natural light with flash

Urban Decay - Asphyxia

I got this as part of a small haul from Fragrance Direct I have never used urban decay polishes before so I was a little dubious but at £1.50 a bottle I thought it would be worth a go. I really like all of their other products and I have to say this really lived up to their fantastic standard. This was 3 coats but it went on like a dream and dried very quickly, the colour is so hard to describe it is like a lilac purple with and electric blue flash of shimmer when it hits the light. It looks very delicate on and looks like it should be a sheer but you can't see any nail through it and I think you could still get away with it on heavily stained nails. I have to say I was very slap dash applying it at the end of a long hard day and it just doesn't show at all. This even got a compliment from the hubby so it must be nice ;)

Halogen light (really doesn't do the shimmer justice)

Wuth flash

OPI - Lucky Lucky Lavender

China Glaze - Fairy dust

In my quest to try and love Lucky Lucky Lavender on me as much a I do in the bottle I resorted to trying the Fairy dust top coat over it. It looks kinda pretty but still does not work for me, I guess I will have to chalk this one up to experience as I normally love everything from OPI.

10 pan project

Ok so here is what I am aiming to use up it might end up being different depending on how it goes.

1. Steam cream - I love this and use it as a night cream so should go pretty quickly and I will replace this when it's finished.

2. Lancome Genifique eye cream - again used as a night cream and sometimes for day, nice but not great.

3. NYX doll eyes mascara - I love this but have a tonne of mascaras so I should use them up in turn.

4. Doir style liner - again love this but have lots of liquid eyeliners that I need to use up.

5. Bourjois Mineral Matte Mousse - Great everyday foundation shouldn't take me long.

6. Dr Lewins hand cream - I am rubbish at using hand cream this should help me try to get into a routine.

7. Anna Sui Dreams - I am a big lover of perfume and have lots but I always forget to put it on so I have popped this one in my handbag for frequent spritzing.

8. Rimmel volume boosting lipstick

9. Bourjois Lip Liner - I know a pencil will take ages to use up but again I have so many.

10. Bourjois concealer stick - I am over half way through this so again shouldn't take me long.

Let me tell you about ...

Make up.

I buy too much make up.

I tried to explain this to the hubby earlier this week and I couldn't quite sum it up properly, is it a problem? an addiction, hobby, interest, compulsion or obsession? I couldn't quite define why I needed to buy so much or why it makes me feel so happy. For me cosmetics are art and it is all about working with new colours, textures and techniques, It's about finding out how you can change your image or the way people see you with the colour of your lips (people really do treat you differently when you have ruby red lips) and the freedom of being able to be creative.

I guess where I am going with this is that I am starting the 10 pan project with it being a means to an end

1. to try and decrease some of my extensive makeup collection

2. to use the money saved to train as a make up artist.

I have not decided on which products are going to be my first 10 yet but I will have a look today and post the pictures later. Wish me luck.

Failed experiment

It just wasn't meant to be. Remember all the way back in December when I got my first order through from the fantastic Radiant Babe One of the polishes I bought was OPI Lincoln Park After Dark in Matte. Well I got round to trying last week and I have to say the results were just not pretty (so bad that I couldn't even bring myself to take a photo) I did exactly as it said, no hand cream, no base coat, no top coat and I applied it very carefully. It went on fairly well but unfortunately all I had read was true, it showed up every single flaw in my nail, only stayed matte for a matter of minutes and was chipped even before I went to bed.

I walked around all day being utterly ashamed of my nails and looking very unprofessional. I could not wait to get rid of it and I was praying all day that because I had not used a base coat that my nails were not stained beyond repair. Luckily they were fine and it came off really easily but I will not be repeating the experience anytime soon I will go on to try this like a regular colour with base and top coats as it is meant to be a pretty colour but to be honest in matte it just looked like I had taken a permanent marker to my nails,

Matte is not for me it proved to be more than my OCD brain could handle.

trying out a new look

So I have done glittery eyeliners in the past but always over a shadow, I have never really tried a coloured liner. So I was quite excited to get the ELF liner sealer because this nifty little thing lets you use any of your eyeshadows and turn it into a liner (I have used a similar product from Eyeko but only with glitters and black). Purple is always my go to colour and I used the sealer with Flash from the Urban Decay Preen palette and I am really quite pleased how it turned out, it looks quite intense and it really stuck all day.

I think I shall be experimenting with all of my shadows over the next few weeks.

let me tell you about ...

Garnier 2 in 1 eye roll on.

what it says it does -

1. Moisturising eye cream & a cooling roller ball : refreshes and hydrates tired-looking eyes

2. With mineral enriched pigments it instantly covers dark circles

My thoughts -

Initially I thought this would be rubbish as I am always searching for the magic under eye concealer that will make my dark circles and bags disappear. At the £10 price tag I was not really expecting much and when I applied it I was dismayed to find that the formulation was very watery. Oh well I thought the search goes on but then a curious thing happened I blended it with my fingers as the instructions said and BLAM! my eye area looked a whole lot better.

I was not expecting that. Now this product is my life saver and I really have gone out wearing just a little of this and a nice illuminating face powder.

See what you think

Before

After

Before

After

New eyes

For as long as I have worn contacts I have always had some coloured ones. Normally (for the last 10 years) I get a nice subtle green pair but this time I decided to be a more adventurous and try some different colours.

Amethyst

Honey

What do you think?

Recent OPI acquisitions

I know I am really behind in posting this as we have had a fair bit going on in the kitty household of late. Anyhoos lets crack on!

I posted Absolutely Alice and I have to say it is one of the best polishes I have ever worn. I thought after putting it on I would never take it off, I fell in love with it instantly. That was of course until I tried the rest of the collection.

I just had to try Mad As a Hatter next and my love for it is on a par with Absolutely Alice although I have to say that although this polish is about as bling as you can get it is actually very subtle and because it contains all the colours of the rainbow does go with anything. I got so many comments on this and I cannot wait to wear this again.

under halogen lights (no natural light when I took this)

with flash

Next up was Off With Her Red. I have quite a few reds in my collection as I find red nails and red lips a classic look that if in doubt I always turn too. The application of this was superb and I would say it is the best red creme varnish I have ever used. I will be applying this one again for Valentines/Chinese New Year.

Natural light

with flash

Last of the bunch is Thank You So Muchness. Again another red which is slightly more pink and has a slight shimmer. My least favourite of the set but still up there with my favourite polishes it went on well and lasted for ages.

with flash

natural light

The next collection I succumbed too as you know was the Hong Kong collection ( I should know better than to walk through Selfridges)

I picked my 3 favourite colours from the collection as I posted last week and it has been a bit hit and miss.

Ok so as you know I looooooved Jade is the new Black I didn't have a green in my collection and this a very unique shade not for everyone. It applied fantastically just like Off With Her Red (OPI cremes really do rock) and I got so many comments on it that people were mad at me when I told them our store didn't sell it (we sell OPI).

with flash

natural light

Next up to try, as picked by the hubby, was Lucky Lucky Lavender. Or not so lucky lavender as it should be for me, application was a little meh I needed quite a few coats to get it looking solid and I was fairly dismayed to find out that the colour just doesn't really suit me. I shall experiment with this one though as I think I may Konad over it or use the China Glaze Fairy Dust over it.

with flash (ick)

Lastly Meet Me On The Star Ferry. As I was only just on the Star Ferry back in October I wondered about this colour as I couldn't get it to connect with the name (star ferries are green and white) but as soon as I applied it it just clicked. It is like looking at Hong Kong Island at night from the Star Ferry, misty and twinkly with lots f tiny little dots of light. This has a very subtle shimmer of green and red. I really like this it is fairy old fashioned looking as nail polish goes but in a good way.

with flash

house lights

let me tell you about ...

A few of my favourite things.

You may notice as time goes on in my post I have a few themes that will crop up as I am fairly fanatical about a good few things so I am going to try and give you a top 10 of my favourite things and I will expand on it in the near future.

1. Japan - I love anything Japanese, the art and the culture appeals to me. My main fixations are Geisha, Cosplay, robots, movies (their horror is awesome), kokeshi, tattoos and all the kawaii things they have there lets not forget the closest thing I have to a deity - Hello Kitty. I loved it when I went and can't wait to go back.

2. Butterflies and Dragonflies - I am not sure why but I have always had a fascination for these little blighters mostly because they seem otherworldly to me. Kind of as close to a real fairy as your going to get.

3. Jewellery - I love sparkly things what can I say I'm a magpie. Tiffany & co is my all time favourite and I am lucky enough to have a few of their pieces but I also love Accessorize. I tend to go mostly for silver (not a gold fan) and I love semi precious stones and crystals.

4. Disney - I just love their movies. My favourite characters are Tinkerbell and Tigger and I absolutely love anything to do with Alice in Wonderland (how excited am I about the new movie). I think my favourite movies though are actually Lilo and Stitch, Finding Nemo and Wall.E.

5. Hairbands - god love it my hair is so long that sometimes I struggle to do anything with it therefor hairbands come in extremely useful, I have promised to post photos of my collection and I will.

6. Movies - I am a massive film buff and tend to watch about 3 a week at home and one at the cinema. I like world cinema very much especially asian movies and anime but I tend to watch pretty much everything.

7. Fantasy - I love anything like this Mermaids, Vampire, Fairies, Ghosts and Dragons. I like to believe in things that are not visible to the naked eye I like to think they are there pulling the strings.

8.Animals - Cats, Dogs, Otters, Red Pandas, Fish, Squirrels 'nuff said.

9. Chocolate - yum!

10. Photography - I like taking pictures and I like looking at them. There is something about capturing a moment in time that is just priceless and also something about setting up a shot so it will look just they way you picture it in your head.

So there you go that is a summary of me now I look back in it i see its pretty girly but hey thats what I love.

Tuesday Haul

Well I am a very lucky girl today, not only did my E.L.F splurge arrive but the hubby came to meet me from work and we went to Selfridges to get our Nespresso pods. Whilst walking back through the beauty hall ( I always like to have a little look ) I was over the moon to stumble upon the OPI pop up store to promote the launch of their new Hong Kong collection.

Now I was simply content to get the "Jade is the new black" polish I have been lusting after and I was having a look through the range when the beautiful assistant approached me to ask if I wanted to hear about the offers. Offers? I thought, awww shucks here is my wallet why don't you just rob me now. So anyway the offer was this 3 colours from the range (of your choosing you don't have to take the selection in the box) 1 start to finish full size, 1 hoof stick, 1 mini file, 1 mani/pedi papaya lotion and 1 mani/ped1 papaya scrub.

all for the princely sum of £39.95 (worth £64.25) plus they would paint your nails when you bought the box set of you wanted.

The colours I got were Jade is the new black, Lucky lucky lavender and Meet me on the star ferry. Having had my honeymoon in Hong Kong back in October this set is a nice little reminder for me.

On to the E.L.F splurge. I have been hearing good things about this brand all over the internet mainly because of the price point. The normal cosmetics are £1.50 each and the Studio Line are around £3.50 each. I got

Shielding Hydro-Tint SPF 15 in Ivory

Complexion Perfection powder

Eye Primer and Liner Sealer

Concealer Pencil and Brush in Fair

Corrective Concealer palette

Eye Transformer eyeshadows