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

How To Get Yin & Yang Nails!

Hi!

 

I tried out a nail design look a while ago where I painted yin & yang symbols on my nails and decided that because it was such a fun look it would be great to do a step by step post!

 

 

 

I made this look really bright and colourful and although it is fairly intricate, it isn't too hard to do.

I'm not the best at nail art but I do love doing nail art looks!

Someone with a steadier hand will probably be able to make a better job of this look but it's easy enough that it doesn't matter if you're not so great at doing designs on your nails.

 

I wanted really colourful backgrounds for my nails so I used these colours:

 

From left to right:

 

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry polishes in

Scorched, Shimmy Shake, Bongo Beat, Show Off

Then the purple shade is from O.P.I called Plugged In Plum.

 

The reason I love the collection 2000 polishes is that I happen to have them in very bright colours and they're inexpensive!

 

 

 

For the actual symbols I'm also using the Models Own nail art pens in Black and White.

With these you can both squeeze out the colour or use the long thin brush to apply it, but I prefer to squeeze out the colour from the nib at the top.

 

Now lets get onto the design :)

 

Step 1:

 

 

Paint your nails in rainbow colours! I had to use about 2 coats for each nail.

I also think this looks better if you do it in the order of the rainbow, so starting from the pinky finger I used red, gold, green, blue and then purple :)

Then you just want the nails to completely dry so you don't smudge the coats underneath.

 

 

Step 2:

 

 

Using the black nail art pen, draw a black circle on each nail.

I find that you should probably always do the circles slightly bigger than you think because the line will be quite thick and you still need enough space inside to do the design.

 

Step 3:

 

 

Then draw a wavy black line inside the circle. This is fairly tricky but it's not essential to get the shape right. As you can see some of my lines are a bit dodgy but it doesn't detract from the overall look :)

 

Step 4:

 

 

Fill in one half of the circle. This can be quite fiddly but if you take your time you can fill it in as evenly as possible.

 

Step 5:

 

 

Now take the white nail art pen and fill in the other half of the circle. Make sure you let the black dry completely before or it will al smudge together and turn into a blurred grey circle...not exactly what we're looking for here!

 

 

Step 6:

 

 

Then do a white dot in the black half of the circle...

 

Step 7:

 

 

And finally add a black dot in the white section!

Again make sure the white is completely dry or it will all smudge together.

 

And that's it! :)

 

 

I find this looks quite striking and also even if you mess up a bit (like me) you can still get a great finished effect!

This is quite time consuming but it's not too tricky to do, just a little fiddly.

 

It is really important that you let the polish & pens dry completely before you move onto the next step or you could end up with a grey mixed up mess...it can be hard for someone as impatient as me but I think its worth it.

 

Did you like this yin & yang look?

Thanks so much for reading!

Libby x

*REVIEW* Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liner

Hi!

 

Today's review is for the Collection (previously Collection 2000) Extreme 24 Hour Felt Tip Liners...I have two of the four shades available!

 

 

These cost £2.99 each and you can get them in Boots as well as Superdrug and certain supermarkets.

 

It says on the website:

 

"Easy-to-apply felt tip nib for all day long lustrous looking eyes"

" The fast-drying versatile felt tipped pens give your makeup look an instant burst of colour"

"Set trends with four intense, high powered hues including purple, blue, teal and black."

 

 

I have both the shades Purple and Blue and there is also a Teal and a Black shade.

 

So how did these compare to their claims?

 

 

Easy to use?

 

I do agree with the fact that they are easy to apply because I do have a bit of a love for felt tip liners, it makes putting on liner so much easier and quicker! I don't feel the nib of these pens are too small or big so these are definitely good for people who are wary of using liquid liners.

 

Long lasting?

 

In terms of lasting all day...I don't think these lasted quite as long as their "24 hour" claim.

I've worn these on several occasions for around 12/14 hours before and whilst the liner was still physically there after this amount of time it had often smudged or transferred onto different parts of my eyelid.

These do tend to stain quite a bit which to me suggests that they would physically still be there after 24 hours but they do smudge and bleed quite a lot. The liner wouldn't look anything like as nice after a few hours as it did when you first put it on.

 

Colour?

 

I think one of the biggest problems with these is the bleeding problem I mentioned earlier.

Even in the swatch above which had just been applied, the ink is bleeding into the tiny crevices and creases in my skin. Unfortunately these liners do that as soon as you apply them and this doesn't get any better as the day goes on. Often after wearing these for a while they have bled into the skin even more.

 

I do have to agree with their claims about good colours though, you can build up these liners to create quite an intense colour.

 

So overall I do like how easy these liners are to use and also their pretty good pigmentation.

However I'm not fond of the fact that they bleed into the skin and don't necessarily last as long as they say they do.

 

Have you tried these liners yet?

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

Top 5 Products For £5 Or Under!

Hi!

 

I thought today I'd show you my top five products that are all either £5 or under... sometimes you don't have to spend a ridiculous amount of money when there are gems hidden in the drugstore! :)

 

 

 

1) E.L.F All Over Colour Stick in Spotlight

 

This retails for £1.50 on the E.L.F website (www.eyeslipsface.com) and I love this!

I have another one of these in Lilac Petal but this one is my favourite.

Dabbed on the tops of the cheekbones and blended it makes a beautiful highlight colour!

Just subtle enough yet still noticeable.

And you can't argue with the price! :)

I have a review HERE.

 

2) MUA Pearl Eyeshadow in Shade 12

 

I have a lot of these (actually...about 7...) but this one is my favourite I think.

Shade 12 is a lovely brown base with a blue reflect duo chrome and it is just beautiful!

It's pigmented, easy to blend (you can even blend it in the crease to give the impression of 2 different shadows when you've only used 1!) and the best bit, these shadows only cost £1!

 

I have reviews and swatches of all of these shadows HERE.

 

 

3) NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk

 

I have 3 of these sticks from NYX and I absolutely love them!

This is my favourite one as the clean, matte white colour means it's great for dotting on the inner tear duct to brighten the eye and sometimes blend below the brow bone.

I've gotten SO much use out of this and this pencil is so much shorter than my others...will definitely be repurchasing this when I run out!

This retails for £5 on the NYX website but shopping around on the internet you can sometimes get them for less....I think I got mine for around £3.85.

 

Once again...I have a review & swatches HERE if you're interested.

 

 

4) Rimmel London Match Perfection Skin Tone Adapting Concealer

 

I think I've mentioned this before...it's such a staple product for me!

I'm on my second tube of this and nearly running out so I definitely need to pick up another!
This is a very lightweight concealer that still as pretty good coverage and just does wonders in terms of brightening everything up under the eye.

Mine is in shade 010 Ivory and I got mine for £5.

This is one of the few products here that I actually haven't got a review on...but I'll do one if anyone wants it!

I basically love this product and I'm about to repurchase it for the 3rd time!

 

 

5) Collection Super Size Fat Lash Mascara

 

I got this fairly recently and have actually really enjoyed it!

I find that this separates my lashes really well ad builds a nice amount of volume too which I really like for the price!

I actually cant look up the price at the moment because there was a power cut and subsequently we have no internet.....Its strange how everyone freaks out when the power goes. Everyone freezes and thinks that the apocalypse is coming.

Anyway, hello again internet. The price for this is £2.99!

 

And yes...I've reviewed this HERE if you're interested!

 

 

 

Anyway, those are my favourite products for £5 or less!

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

My Favourite Summer Nail Polishes!

Hi!

 

I thought I'd do a quick post today just showing some of my favourite nail polishes for summer...these are the ones I've been wearing most lately!

 

 

I'll split the into 2 to make it slightly easier to see each polish...

 

 

From left to right:

 

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Polish in Shimmy Shake 52

(Gorgeous glittery gold)

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Polish in Ninja 36

(Matte mid green, really unusual and interesting!)

Barry M Nail Paint in Teal

(Shimmery teal colour, I've got this on my nails now! It's so beautiful when it catches the light!)

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Polish in Show Off 23 

(One of my favourite polishes of all time..my favourite colour is blue and this shimmery bright blue is just amazing, I even have a back up one of these!)

 

 

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry in Go Retro! 58

(Matte mid purple, one of my most used shades all year round)

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Polish in Bright Lights 55

(Bright, matte coral orange)

Models Own Nail Polish in Copper Pot

 (I love the duo chrome in this, it shows up differently in every light and reminds me of caramel!)

Collection 2000 Hot Looks 60 Second (New version of the Fast Dry ones, same thing just new name) in Scorched 65.

(This is very appropriately named given the ridiculously hot weather we had here in the UK recently....this reminds me of fire and is very shimmery)

 

 

I realise now that a lot of these are the Collection 2000 Hot Looks...this probably because I love them. They are cheap and small (but how often do you finish a nail polish anyway) and the colours are so fun! I wear mine all the time and love them.

Next time however I will try and make it more balanced from other brands too! ;)

 

 

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Libby x

*REVIEW* Collection 2000 Super Size Fat Lash Mascara

Hi!

 

I have a review today on a product that I recently featured in a haul video recently:

the Collection 2000 Super Size Fat Lash Mascara.

That's a bit of a mouthful!

 

Oh. It's now just called "Collection"......I appear to have missed that memo.

Oh well, I prefer the name Collection 2000 ;)

 

 

Ok I won't lie to you...I was attracted to this because of the bright pink tube.

I'm not a pink person, but I do like the way this looks in my mascara drawer!

 

This retails for £2.99 and the colour I have is Black, although it also comes in Black/Brown and Ultra Black.

 

 

The wand is your traditional bristle wand...nothing fancy or different!

You do get quite a clump on the end of the wand so you do need to be aware that you need to wipe that off before using it.

 

Here are some "before" pictures of my lashes....I was wearing a fairly neutral eye look today so thought it would be a good opportunity to show this mascara so you could really see how it performs!

 

 

 

And here are the after pictures!

 

 

 

As you can hopefully see, this adds quite a bit of definition and length to the lashes, as well as some volume.

 

 "Super size your lashes!

Super volumising mascara for big, bold lashes!"

 

Hmm..

Considering this is marketed as a really volumising product, I'm not sure it lives up to it's name entirely.

This does give a decent amount of volume and is good for everyday purposes, however the volume isn't amazing and for a more dramatic look this just wouldn't make my lashes stand out too well.

However the lengthening is good and they don't clump up too badly either.

 

The formula seems to be pretty wet and I've noticed when applying this that no matter how careful I am, I always get some transfed to the crease of my eye when I'm putting on this mascara.

This is a bit of a pain generally although not a major problem.

Once it's on I didn't notice flaking or smearing but I generally don't have a problem with that in any mascara!

 

So overall?

I like the length this gives, and although it does clump on the second coat it doesn't clump on the first coat.

The volume it gives is decent and this mascara does work well on an everyday basis but for more dramatic looks this just wouldn't give enough "oomph" to the lashes.

 

Would I buy again?

Probably not as I have found other mascaras that I really like (Stila Fibre Optics) but I'll happily use up the rest of the tube!

 

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

Libby x

 

Makeup Haul #2

Hi!

I went out this afternoon to pick up a few things and decided I'd share them with you here! :)
It's going to be my school ball quite soon so I decided to pick up a few things that I would be able to try out in time for that so I knew whether they would be good to wear on the night.

 

First I decided that I really wanted to pick up the Rimmel London Fix & Perfect Pro Primer as I'd read lots of good things about it and I needed a new face primer! I like the look of it so far - it has a nice feel to it and it was only £6.99 so not too expensive! :P

I also wanted something that would help my foundation last all of the night for my ball.

 

I needed a fairly nude lipstick for the ball and I only have one like it at the moment and I decided to try out a different shade. I picked up the 17 Supreme Shine Lipstick in the shade Bella.

I'm wearing it right now and it's a nice matte shade that is pretty close to my natural lip colour. It's a shade that I think of being "my lips but better"!

 

I tend to go through highlight colours ridiculously fast. I have a lot of darkness around my eyes that I need to brighten up so I wanted a full sized highlight shadow that I could easily grab for. Most of my highlight shades are in palettes and that makes it tricky to get out quickly unless I'm already using that palette so I got the Natural Collection Eye Shadow in Sea Shell. It looks like it will be a nice light, nude colour that should work well as a highlight colour.

 

I can never resist a new mascara.

I'm running out of my Stila Fibre Optics Mascara so I thought it was time I tried something new in case I run out completely. I was attracted to the pink tube of the Collection 2000 Super Size Fat Lash Mascara.

 

Also from Collection 2000 I picked up yet another of their Hot Looks nail polishes. They've changed the name and packaging slightly but they are still essentially the same product.

I love these polishes and I have 11 of them!

This shade is in 65 Scorched and I don't think I have anything like this in my collection at the moment. It's a bright, fiery orange red colour that is pretty unique!

 

I'm running out of a base coat at the moment so I got the Natural Collection Nail Polish in the shade Crystal Clear. It isn't marketed as a base coat but I know from experience that just a clear shade acts as a base coat for me - I don't feel like I need anything fancy :)

 

I simply couldn't resist the Barry M Nail Paint in Teal 334 when I saw it.

I love teal as a colour in general (I'm wearing teal eye liner at the moment!) and so I thought this was a beautiful colour and I cant wait to wear it on my nails.

 

So that's it! I hope you enjoyed my haul post :)

Thank you for reading!

Libby x

NOTD: Fantasy Fire (04/06/2013)

Hi! :)
I have another Nail Of The Day for you today where I show you a nail look I'm wearing and also a little review of the polish (sometimes polishes) in question :)

 

 

 

Feel free to click on the images above to enlarge them...

The nail polish that I'm featuring today is a Max Factor Max Effect Nail Polish in "Fantasy Fire"

 

This is one of the most beautiful shade I have and I think I might pick up a backup bottle of this because it's so beautiful but the bottle is pretty tiny and doesn't hold much.

In different lights this shows pink, purple, green, blue and orange. It is really stunning.

 

Unfortunately this doesn't show up amazingly well on it's own and because its small I don't want to use a load of coats of this, so I've found a base coat to give it a bit more power :)

 

 

I found this polish in my collection that seemed to match the base coat of "Fantasy Fire" pretty well.

This the Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry nail polish in "Parma Violets".

 

I added two coats of this to make a base colour...

 

 

Then I added one coat of the "Fantasy Fire" colour...you could add two but because I'm so worried about running out I only added one. Two would intensify the colour, but for me, one coat is enough.

 

 

This is the trickiest colour to photograph....but take my word for it...this colour is beautiful.

 

It also seems to last pretty well without chipping! I'll definitely see if I can pick up another bottle of this! :)

 

EDIT:

Whilst sitting out in the sun today I managed to get a couple of slightly better shots that show the amazing colours that run through this polish!

One of my nails is chipped which is sad but it was my fault as I was playing guitar for ages!

 

Thank you for reading!

Have you tried "Fantasy Fire"? :)

Libby x