Tiffany Keys Manicure

So for Christmas I was lucky enough to be bought a beautiful Tiffany key by my wonderful husband. like most things Tiffany I adore it and practically haven't taken it off since I got it.

It got me to thinking about the brand and inspired me to paint my nails with china glazes "for Audrey" which is one of the best polishes I own. Then like a sign from above something happened, I was spring cleaning (early I know but as soon as the calendar hits Jan 1st I am always compelled to clear out the clutter and throw loads of stuff away) and I came across some Andrea Fulerton nail sticker and I just had to add them.

Full look

For Audrey

Close up of key and chain detail, seriously how cute are these you can return me to Tiffanys any day :)

Red Lipstick Series - Guerlain Rouge G Jewel Lipstick in 23 Geisha

Time for another one in this series I think, I still have lots of reds to bring you but today I thought I would share this one. I absolutely love Guerlain makeup and I have a think for their limited edition Eyeshadow quads but they do excellent face powders too. This is my only lipstick from them and of course being a bit obsessed with all things Japan the colour is Geisha.

Colour (4/5)

I really like this red, it's a true red but very very easy to wear. It's not quite a vibrant and in your face as some of the other reds I have tried and therefore gives a slightly more subtle look. It is also quite sheer allowing you to build the colour so you feel comfortable.

Application (4/5)

The application on this one was a dream it is just the right formulation being creamy enough to work with but stays where you put it. After lining my lips I used a brush to fill in and the finished by applying straight from the tube for a pop of colour. It feels super light on the lips and has just the right amount to gloss.

Ronseal Factor (4/5)

This exceptional object boasts a comprehensive, premium formula containing a star ingredient: ruby powder, which acts as an optical whitener to bring out the colour and shine of the shades. The blend of natural active ingredients (Tiger Grass, wild mango butter, Gugul resin, used in Ayurvedic medicine) complete the formula to plump up, smooth and bring moisture and softness to your lips.

Ok so there is a fair amount of blurb about the case as a major selling point but we will come to that, the formula of the lipstick itself is lovely, I would actually agree it smoothed my lips but there was no plumping action and it did moisturise and soften them.

Wear (3/5)

This does not stain the lips at all and it wears off quite quickly but because it feels so nice on the lips t is something you will want to reapply and the case makes that easy. I like the fact it doesn't stain the lips because sometimes I don't want to wear my lipstick all day and like to be able to get rid of it at night.

Price (2/5)

These are extremely expensive around £26 but the packaging is exceptional if you compare it to say the £23 for the Chanel I think the extra money is justified. The formulation is certainly worth it but there is no denying the price is prohibitive,

Packaging (5/5)

This has to be the most beautifully packaged lipstick in the world, heres the blurb.

A jewel lipstick compact with a white gold shimmer designed by Lorenz Bäumer, the young and talented jeweller in Place Vendôme. A horizontal design with feminine curves that houses a secret: a mirror automatically appears when the compact is opened. The lipstick has a pure elegant, contemporary design, and closes magnetically.

Nothing more really needs to be said it is a joy to behold.

How it left the lips (5/5)

This is quite possibly the only lipstick I have tried that left me lips the same if not better than before I applied it, it really does make them feel nice and is so light to wear. It is also really easy to remove which is nice I don't like scrubbing to get my lipstick off.

Overall 27 out of 35, that is the highest score to date with only the price letting it down which shows you get what you pay for with this brand. If you can afford one of these beautiful lipsticks then go for it you on't regret it.

Mammoth Nail Round Up

So here we are at the end of another year and again I haven't got nearly as much blogging done as I had wanted. So with the purchase of a new camera for Christmas we are going to change it up a gear and there will be more vlogging and hopefully better pictures.

So without further ado heres what I have been sporting recently

I went to Finland at the start of December and picked myself up a few new polishes, this is Orly Ou Of This World (deep purple with a gold shimmer) and it is from their Cosmic FX collection, you have seen this swatched a million times I guess but it is a lovely colour. Application is fairly good, it does not play well with the old Seche though and as you can see I suffered some shrink and horrendous tip wear. It didn't chip though and lasted quite well. The Duo tone wasn't as nice as I expected but hey still love it!

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inside light

Next up is another from the same collection and the formulation is the same this is Lunar Eclipse, Looks more Purple in the bottle but comes out electric blue again the duo tone isn't all the but a nice polish none the less.

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Nails Inc have been at it again with their free giveaways, this was on the front of some magazine which I can't remember the name of now. The colour is Saville Row deep aubergine purple and not a lot to be said about Nails Inc really. I don't think I have ever had a bad one the polishes are a great formulation and last really really well.

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no flash

Up next is Mac from the Venomous Villains and it's Bad Fairy. This was the only unique polish from the collection and it's a beauty, I wasn't sure at first it;s a coppery pink and not really my style but once on it is mesmerising and not as garish as I thought. This seems to be the same formulation as the Orly Cosmic FX (with the other two polishes being direct dupes) so you do get a bit of tip wear.

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Again you have seen this a billion times but it is the Barry M Dusky Mauve which is a direct dupe of the Chanel Paradoxal which was a big hit back in the summer. I have to say I like this more if you remember my review of the Chanel I wasn't all that impressed but the shimmer in this is just a little stronger and the formulation is a little better not to mention the price.

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natural light

I can never resist a Mavala release their polishes are always quality and they are trying really hard with the colours even if they are still a heartbeat behind. This is Blue Smoke, smokey blue with blue glitter. I actually liked this more than I thought but I just never seem to feel comfortable with blue polishes.

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natural light

This is from the same collection and it is called Rococo Red. I can say hands down this is the best red nail polish I have ever tried the colour is so vibrant and it is a one coater, two if you are a perfectionist like me. It just glides on thin, precise and opaque I love it. I will be buying lots of back ups of this.

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indoor light

This was a polish from my New York trip in October It's OPI for Sephora and the colour is 212. I think it is exclusive to online and in the times square store and it is such a hard colour to describe. it's a blackened brown jelly with glitter (gold and holographic) and kind of coppery flakies. Sounds complex, looks stunning!

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The final polish I have for you today is a little gem from Accessorize. They have dabbled in polishes and cosmetics before but their recent major release was a tour de force by them and this duo chrome polish is outstanding.

It's called Aztec and is a passable dupe for Mean and Green from Mac. Having them both I would say the glitter in the Accessorize is chunkier and the duo chrome slightly better, in fact I preferred this one to the Mac I think. Formulation and wear were the same you still need loads of coats but for £4 you can't complain.

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Winner!

sorry it has taken me so long to post this but the winner picked by random.org was Number 5

JadeyLou

Congrats to you email me your address and I will post off your winnings :)

***100th post giveaway***

So here it is readers, I have been blogging for just over a year and this is my 100th post. It has been a rollercoaster year for me and this outlet, reading your comments and all the other blogs out there has really given me some great relief. As promised I have an epic give away for one lucky follower.

the products are

Nails

Incoco - Sinderella

Ciate - Roses nail stickers

17 - Fast finish Grapefruit

Carlo De Roma - Bright Pink

Urban Retreat - Metalic Polish Duo(princess/mysterious)

Barry M - 313 Dusky Mauve

OPI - Nail Envy

Makeup

Bare Minerals - Foundation Sample medium beige with brush

17 - waterproof mascara travel size

17 - Ultimate Volume lip gloss Pink Ice

Carlo De Roma - Diamond Pure lip gloss

Bourgois - Ombre Stretch eye shadow 11 infinite green

N07 - Moisture Drench lipstick 55 pink crush

Urban Decay - 24/7 eye pencil travel size in zero

Darphin - Vitalbalm Lipcare

Bourjois - little round pot 12 Bleu Magnetique

Others

Green People - aloe vera everyday organic condition (normal/dry)

No7 - cleansing sponges

L'Occitane - verbena body salt scrub

Mavala - smoothing foot scrub

phew - all you have to do is follow my blog, leave me a comment saying you want to enter and you email address and the lucky winner will be picked on the 12th of December.

Thank you for a great year and now I have posted this Giveaway I can get back to a normal posting schedule.

Spread the word x

Recent Nails

I have been really lazy, I have bought loads of stuff and done loads f nails but just not had the time or inclination to take pictures and blog it for you. I have been ill and work had been rough but I am excited to get started again so strap yourselves in because after this post with nails I did manage to take pics of the next post will be my 100th post give away. Then I can get to showing you hauls recent looks and discoveries.

This first colour is Passion from OPI, this is the colour I wore for my wedding and I love the way it makes my nails look. It is almost half way between a jelly and a cream and even with 3/4 coats its still slightly sheer. It just gives your nails that "perfect" false nail look and wears really well (on me it lasts about a week).

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natural light

artificial light

The next is a new discovery for me, this is from the Andrea Fulerton range at Super drug and is in the shade Mischa. She is THE manicurist to the stars and because of this her core range of polishes are all names after celebs, I also picked up Kylie. She also has a great selection of nail effects, glitters, nail art, stickers and layering shades. I was super excited for this range and finally manage to track it down to the Superdrug on the Strand but haven't managed to find it anywhere else. The prices are mid range with normal polishes at £4.99 and effects at about £8. The Mischa shade is a grey jelly base with lilac silver and gold glitter and honestly the photos don't do it justice, it's beautiful. It applies really easily and lasts fairly well.

This you have probably seen swatched a million times across the blogosphere but I just love the colour. This is Diva of Geneva from the Swiss OPI range. I just managed to snap one shot of it before I forgot great colour with only minor tip wear after a few days.

Again another one you have seen a million times but I wanted to share with you my nail disaster. This is of course Chanel Paradoxal 509. I wore this while we were away fro bank holiday weekend at my parent and my mother was admiring my long natural nails which were far longer than I normally have them. Then what do you know the next day I broke one clean off and now I know why I keep them in check, it's funny but I am kinda grossed out looking at how long they are in the pictures even though they didn't seem that long in person. I defiantly prefer them shorter like in the OPI Passion pictures.

A quick word on the shade, I was expecting it me be my hoy grail colour but the "secret shimmer" is so secret you can hardly see it. Can't fault the formulation though it's amazing just glides on exactly where you intend to put it, it's like it's psychic or something :)

gah serves my right

boo hoo

other hand, too long and a bit nasty

secret shimmer?

This is one from Mavala called aquamarine, I love mavala for their quality and affordability. Don't get me wrong they are in no way value for money (per ml they work out quite pricey) but the quality is great, the longevity is great and the colours are good they tend to be a beat behind the big boys rather than a trend setter but they are getting quite fearless with the colours they release.

artificial light

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We are finishing off with another disaster, this is one the Hello Kitty polishes from H&M can't remember what it is called, applied horribly had no shine to it at all even with a coat of Seche, they glitter was lumpy and it was runny and gloopy in equal measures. I guess they can't all be winners.

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I'm baaaaaccckkkk - recent make up looks

A.K.A - fun with palettes. I know I have been rubbish, I have been swamped at work and blogging has been the last thing on my mind but I have been reading and buying (new No7 collection). So I am up to date with the news and all that. How excited am I about the new Illamasqua store? Not only is it right across the road from PlayLounge my fav store in the while world but it means I can finally go and check out their makeup without having to brave Selfridges.

So Anyways on to some looks, I am a girl who loves (in a oh my god I have to have it kinda way) a good palette and one of these days I will treat you to a run through of my wildly varied collection but for now I am going to focus on 3 looks I have been rinsing and repeating over the last few weeks.

Look 1

This is the front cover palette in "cool eyes" and I have to say I love these shadows. They are so pigmented and buttery the just glide on and blend really really well. They also have a lovely iridescence to them with them, they are not out and out shimmer but they do catch the light beautifully. They give you a very subtle and wake look which makes then great for the office, the only down side is the brush it picks up colour and blends well but it is a little on the coarse side.

This is glisten all over the lower and upper lid and a little of honey just to define the crease and outer corner. Then butterum underneath the lower lash line.

Look 2

As you know when it comes to shadow palettes my heart lies with Guerlain and I am a complete and utter sucker for their limited editions, the packaging, the colour combinations and even the sponge applicators are a joy to work with. This look is a combination of two palettes Mysterious Butterfly (I wore this on my wedding day) and Cherry Blossom I would say the overall themes are lilac and mauve respectively but in mysterious butterfly you get white, dusky pink, lilac and a plum all in shimmer. In cherry blossom you get the same white, a deep plum satin, true purple matte and a baby pink shimmer.

This is the white along the brow, true purple all over the lid then blended with the baby pink on the inner lid and deep plum on the outer corner and crease. I did use a tiny amount of the lilac as a highlight right in the middle of the lid. Then just some simple black eyeliner, possibly my favourite makeup colours an look on me.

* just as a wee side note check out the old hair and look how long it has got, I got it chopped this week so I will post some new pics.

Look 3

This was a bit of an experiment as I mentioned before I bought some bits from the new collection at boots no7, there is exceptional definition mascara, smokey liner, shadow palette, matte top coat for nails and a couple of lipsticks. As I am all about the eyes you can guess what I went for so here is me wearing the smokey eyeliner which is ridiculosly easy to apply the mascara which is really lovely it has lash conditioners also so lave you lashes beautiful and the orange (is it really orange, copper maybe) and green from the palette. The palette is blue, green, purple a orange is lovely chrome/jewel colours perfect for Autumn.

So that makes us, what, 98 posts now so only 1 away from the big 100th post give away which one lucky reader will win.