My Favourite Autumn Nail Polishes!

Hi!

 

Ever since I was a kid I've always loved autumn...the fiery coloured leaves, the cooler temperatures before the winter, the sweet blackberries on the bushes...

 

Although I have to say I'm not looking forward to spider season. Saw a MASSIVE one last night sitting there like it pays rent and ended up having to run off downstairs in our spare bedroom to sleep.

 

Anyway, enough of my irrational fear of spiders! :)

 

I thought that even though it isn't really properly autumn yet I would compile a list of my favourite nail polishes that I think will really look great at this time of year!

 

I'm not one for restricting myself to certain colours of nails in certain seasons (I've been known to wear hot pinks and bright teals in January) but I did see all of these nail polishes and thought how great they would look this time of year!

 

 

This is the first polish I thought of...this is O.P.I's colour Give Me Moor which is a VERY dark berry colour. It makes a great alternative to black and although it looks black in the photo, on the nails it is a gorgeous deep purple shade.

 

 

This is the Collection 2000 Hot Looks polish in 63 Shadow and I just think this dark brown colour would make a great dark "neutral" nail for the autumn. Definitely pulling this one out to use soon!

 

 

This is the Models Own polish in Purple Blue from the Beetlejuice collection. It has a gorgeous blue/purple duochrome and it is simply beautiful. I've forgotten about this recently and I think I might use this soon!

 

 

This is another Models Own polish, this time  a pinky purple colour called Magenta Pearl.

I love these berry shades for the autumn and this one has gorgeous shimmer and sparkle when it's on the nails. It even has subtle hints of copper and orange in it - perfect for autumn!

 

 

 

*Sigh*...one of my favourite nail polishes ever. Honestly, I wear this all year round but the copper and purple tones in the Accessorize nail polish in Aztec make it just perfect. This works best over a purple polish but it is so worth the extra step. This is beyond beautiful...if you don't have this shade already I definitely recommend it!

 

 

 

Another Collection 2000 Hot Looks polish called 65 Scorched.

You may notice that this also snuck it's way into my "summer nail polishes" post but just look at that colour...doesn't that just scream autumn leaves to you??

 

 

My last colour is a neutral colour by Models Own called Pray.

I think this would be a perfect polish for work or school as it's a great neutral taupe colour but still looks great on the nails.

 

So there you go! There are my favourite autumn nail polishes...I think I'm going to do this for every season from now on because its so fun to go through and pull out great polishes for that season, not that the weather stops me wearing any colours that take my fancy!

 

Thanks so much for reading!

Libby x

My Holiday Makeup Essentials!

Hi!

 

As I'm going away with friends for a few days soon I thought I'd do a post on the makeup I'm taking - in short, the makeup I consider to be my absolute essentials!

 

I may also do a post on things like face & hair products too :)

 

I'm going camping so I'm not going to be taking a tonne of makeup because I simply won't be using it, but I am going to be taking things that can cover all bases just in case I get there and suddenly realise I can't live without something I thought I could!

 

So lets start with the face products first!

 

 

1)

 For a primer if I need one I'll be taking my 17 Photo Flawless face primer - nice and small packaging and smooths out the skin & makes makeup last longer. This also needs using up so I thought I'd take it along.

 

2)

E.L.F Tinted Moisturiser - I won't be taking any foundation of any sort so I prefer something light like a tinted moisturiser and so I'll be using this if I feel my skin tone just needs evening out.

 

3)

 In case I need any powder I'll be taking my Miss Sporty So Clear Pressed Powder as it's inexpensive and it comes with a powder puff which will do for a few days instead of a powder brush which would take up lots of space!

 

4)

 MAC Studio Finish Concealer - this is just an emergency product in case I get any spots or anything that really bothers me!

 

5)

 I'm just taking my trusty Vaseline just for my lips as I don't tend to use many products on my lips.

This should keep them hydrated!

 

6)

 I'm bringing my favourite Rimmel London Match Perfection concealer to cover up any dark circles! :)

 

Now onto the eyes!

 

 

7)

Instead of an eye primer I'm taking my NYX Eyeshadow Base in White just to give shadow something to cling to. I doubt I'll be wearing eyeshadow at all but I may if we go out for a meal.

 

8)

 To save space I'm bringing this very useful Accessorize Baked Eyeshadow Duo in Thalia as a neutral colours go with everything and I've got a light shade there too for highlighting!

 

9)

 Stila Waterproof Smudge Stick Eyeliner in Peacock - one of my favourite eyeliners ever! I've talked about this at length before and it's so great and long lasting!

 

10)

 Soap & Glory Supercat Liquid Liner - I need to use this up so I thought I'd take this along as just a basic black eyeliner.

 

11)

 The Borjois Paris Khol & Contour Eyeliner is my favourite eyeliner for the waterlines so I thought I'd bring this too because it's so useful for an everyday look.

 

12) 

 For my mascara I'm taking my Stila Fibre Optics mascara as I'm trying to use it up and I'm very fond of this mascara!

 

 

I'm trying to keep the brushes to a minimum so I've just got 3!

 

 

All of these are from Fraulein so I've got the foundation brush and two eye shadow brushes, one for a darker colour and one for a lighter colour.

 

So that's it! I don't usually wear a lot of makeup on holiday so I thought I'd just stick to the essentials and also a few things that aren't totally necessary like different eye liners, but its nice to have different choices!

 

What are your holiday makeup essentials?

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

5 Products I Regret Buying!

Hi!

 

I think that even though positive reviews on things are very useful, I find that a negative review on a product can be just as informative.

Hence, I decided to compile a quick little list of the top 5 products that I have really regretted wasting money on.

 

 

These aren't in any order!

Basically I was choosing products that I really dislike using.

There are loads of products in my collection that I'm not 100% in love with, but these are the ones I really regret buying!

 

1) BD Designer Eyes in Lapis

 

 

At the time I got this, I thought it was a good idea to have the places for the shades stamped on and it reminded me of the Wet N Wild eye shadows. I seem to remember picking this up in Tesco for around £3/4.

 

 

Can you even call these swatches?

The "Shade" shade (?) had pretty much no pigmentation, it looked like dust on my eye.

The "Shape" shade had more pigmentation but the strip in the trio was so tiny it was damn near impossible to get any on a brush.

The "Shine" was the least awful of the three and I would actually use this as a brow bone highlight occasionally...if the darker shade next to it didn't keep messing it up.

 

Basically, all three shades had bad pigmentation, the texture was rock solid and I really didn't like this. It's been sat at the back of my eye shadow drawer since.

 

2) Benefit Boi-ing Concealer

 

I'm not keen on this, it was pricey too.

 

 

Of all 5 this is probably the product I dislike the least, but I'm still not happy with it.

This stuff is greasy as hell, it slides around on your face and if you put it under your eyes it just cakes up and creases badly. You need so much powder to cover up the shininess it leaves that you just end up with a cakey mess.

And on top of that, it doesn't even cover that well. Eek.

 

You can see that I've actually hit pan on this, but that's not actually an amazing feat. There's around 3g of this (compared to the 7g in MAC Studio Finish) and because the pan is so big you actually hit the metal pretty quickly.

The only thing I use this for now is for muting out the natural colour of my lips when I use a lip colour and even then I use the tiniest bit.

For £16.50, I expected better.

 

3) Accessorize Primer

 

 

It's such a shame that I don't like this because I've tried other products from Accessorize (eg their nail polishes and eye shadows) and loved them.

 

I've done a full review of this HERE if you want to have a read...its...er....less than favourable.

 

The first problem I have with this is the packaging.

Even when I bought it new, there was a lot of air in the actual packaging, combined with the ridiculously large opening in the tube, this creates ultimately a very messy experience.

Far too much primer leaks out, gets everywhere and then you have to waste it.

 

And on top of that, its pretty greasy feeling and doesn't do anything in the way of helping foundation or concealer lasting longer.

 

Definitely not a product I will be repurchasing, unfortunately. 

It does slightly improve the pigmentation of certain eye shadows, and so sometimes I use it for swatching (where it doesn't matter so much that so much primer leaks out because I need a lot) but basically I'll be pleased when this is finished up.

 

4) Barry M Glitter Liquid Eyeliner (13)

 

 

I don't remember ever liking this.

Again, I LOVE most of Barry M's products. Their Dazzle Dusts are incredible and I love their Nail Paints.

However this for me was just a dud.

I think you can probably see from the photo, this completely dried out and there is very little actual product in the tube.

It's strange because when I bought it I remember there being liquid glitter actually inside the tube, but this crafty little devil seems to have dried up before I even properly got a chance to use it.

It's vanishing act is better than some magicians I've seen.

 

I'm not sure this counts as a swatch...but this is all I can get out of this little tube and I think all I've ever been able to get out of it. *sigh*

It looked so pretty in the tube when I first bought it too.

 

5) L'Oreal Paris Glam Shine Holographic Liquid Lips (Gold Rose 86)

 

 

 

 

Last but not least(....well...technically all of these products are "least" but you get my drift) is this lipgloss.

 

I'm going to cut straight to it: This stuff smells. And it's not a gone off smell it's an intentional smell.

The scent that they have given this is strong and nauseating. It reminds me of some kind of yogurt that's been given a fake berry scent to it. To me, it's far too strong and just not nice. It also hangs around ages after you've applied it.

 

I just put some of this on to see if it was as bad as I remember (haven't used it in ages) and yes it is.

The smell is too strong but also it's heavy and thick and just generally isn't a nice product.

 

 

So...there you go! I think that's enough ranting about makeup products for one day ;)

 

What are your makeup regrets?

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

NOTD: Aztec (12/05/2013)

*This is a scheduled post as over the next few weeks I will be busy with exams*

Hi! :) I have another Nail Of The Day for you...and I honestly can't believe I waited this long t show you this polish as it is one of my ABSOLUTE favourites in my collection :)

As usual I started with my base coat by The Colour Workshop....

I then applied just one coat of the Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry nail polish in "Go Retro!".

I then applied this Accessorize nail polish in the colour "Aztec". This is the most beautiful shade ever and the hardest to photograph...

 

 

 

This polish shines so many different colours. Sometimes its got blue tints, sometimes purple, sometimes bronze, sometimes green, sometimes pink...its just heaven in a bottle.

You can get Accessorize nail polishes in the Accessorize stores and also in certain superdrugs. I think next time I'm in Superdrug I'm going to have to pick up a second bottle of this for a backup because it is just too beautiful for words.

 

 

I find that it looks best when layered over another polish as it is a tad sheer on it's own...a purple coloured base colour is generally the best. However once it is on it s simply stunning and definitely one of my favourite nail polishes ever!

I really wish I could take pictures for you that would do it justice but there is NO sunlight today...:(

 

But anyway...I'd definitely recommend picking this bottle up if you see it...it looks even better in person :)

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed my NOTD :)

What are your favourite nail polishes?

Libby x

 

*REVIEW* Accessorize Eyeliner in Petrol Blue

*This is a scheduled post as over the next few weeks I will be very busy with exams*

Hi! :)

It was a while ago now that I became a little bit obsessed with the colour teal, and I bought this liner from accessorize not quite knowing how much I was going to like it!

 

 

 

 

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY:

This was £5 and Accessorize counters are in most larger Superdrugs and also of course in the shop Accessorize :)

 

PACKAGAING:

The packaging for al of the Accessorize line is all so pretty with butterflies all over everything. This pencil liner also has a useful sponge smudger on the end which I don't tend to use but it would still be useful it I needed it. I prefer this type of pencil liner to the one where they twist up because i feel that the twisty ones get broken a lot easier.

 

 

 

PIGMENTATION:



 

 



 





As you can see this is really well pigmented! The top swatch is it applied normally and the bottom swatch is it blended out with the smudger; I find that this doesn't blend it very evenly and makes it look a bit patchy but it would still be useful for travel.

The shade is called Petrol Blue and is a really beautiful blue/teal colour with shimmer.

It reminds me a lot of the Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in Peacock (Which I've done a review of - If you want to look at it to compare you can see it HERE).

 

TEXTURE AND WEARIBILITY:
This isn't the creamiest liner I have but it certainly isn't the driest! It glides onto the skin pretty well but isn't so creamy that it just slips off again. This does wear for quite a while but it won't last a full day unless you top if with a shadow to set it.

 

Overall:

I really love this liner as it's such a pretty colour and a really good texture. I really like wearing this on it's own as winged liner in the summer as it's so bright and fun :)

 

Would I buy again? Definitely. I might have a look at other shades next time I go into superdrug if I remember.

 

I hope you enjoyed my review! Thank you for reading!

Libby x

*REVIEW* - Accessorize Primer

Hello :)
 
I have another review for you today...this time it's a primer I've had for a little while, the primer from Accessorize.
This simply says "primer" although due to the size I'd assume it was a face primer (it says it "primes the skin for makeup application") however in emergencies I have used it as an eye primer and it has helped the colour and durability of my shadows somewhat, so it may be useful to note that. I wouldn't chose to use it over my other eye primers but it does do the basic job.
 

 

 

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY:
Accessorize products are available from certain Superdrug stores (usually the bigger ones) and this primer was around £9 which did feel a little expensive, especially since the packaging of the primer seems to be largely filled with air. You supposedly get 30ml of primer in this product, but I'm pretty sure I didn't get that amount.
 
TEXTURE:
This primer is simply a clear gel, this doesn't have silicone in it so it doesn't disappear and blend into the skin as nicely as I find silicone primers do, but some prefer that. It's definitely a gel, but I find it tends to sit on the skin and feel a bit greasy. Other silicone primers I have almost vanish into the skin leaving it soft, and while this does make my skin quite soft, it feels like it leaves residue and feels slightly greasy. This does nothing to alter the colour of your skin as it's colourless.
 
WEARABILITY:
I haven't noticed that this increases the durability of my foundation much, though I think it does help smooth out your skin a bit, making foundation blend slightly better, but not last longer.
This doesn't do anything amazing to help the way my foundation wears during the day.
As I mentioned earlier this did slightly improve the pigmentation and wearability of eyeshadows when I have used it as an eye primer.
 
PACKAGING:
I love the packaging of all the Accessorize products, it's always really pretty and has butterflies on it! :)
However...an aspect of the packaging is what I hate the most about this product.

The opening of the tube of this is ridiculously big for the size it needs to be. This causes the primer to leak out often and makes a huge mess all over the place, as well as wasting primer that isn't very cheap. It's nearly impossible to get out any primer without squeezing out half the tube. It really annoys me as it wastes so much of the product and makes a huge mess.
Just to show you an example of a different primer that in my opinion has MUCH better packaging, here is the 17 Photo Flawless Face Primer which DOESN'T make a huge mess all over the place...

 

 So although the Accessorize packaging is pretty, it is very impractical.

OVERALL:
Overall I don't like this primer much...I've been using it a lot simply to try and get rid of it. I hate the mess it makes and it doesn't really prolong the wear foundation or concealer. It does smooth out the skin a lot, but that isn't enough of a reason to buy this, I also don't like the price much as my 17 primer is £5 and I feel does the job much better.
I love all of the other Accessorize products I have (I have some nail polishes, an eyeliner and a baked eyeshadow) but this is just a waste of money for me.

Would I buy again?
No. However it hasn't turned me off Accessorize products in general as I love some of them.

Thank you for reading! Hope you found this review useful :)
Libby x