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

*REVIEW* Too Faced Sun Bunny Lip Bronzer

Hi!

 

I have a quick review today of the Too Faced Sun Bunny Lip Bronzer which retails for £5-£6 from looking online.

 

 

I got this in a kit from Too Faced a while ago with a lot of other bronzing products.

 

This comes with 15 ml of product and it found it interesting that there were two shades actually in this tube: one half is a nude colour and the other a slightly darker bronze and both have plenty of shimmer.

When you squeeze some out these colours mix together.

I generally don't like squeeze tube lip glosses but for this purpose I think it's necessary!

 

 

I'm not sure how well you'll be able to tell from the photo but this lip gloss is VERY thick.

I mean really thick.

 

If you don't like sticky lip glosses, this definitely isn't for you.

This is a very sticky lip gloss, but you have to bear in mind that because of this, this lip gloss lasts AAAAAGGEESS because it just doesn't come off your lips.

I'll put this on and I can still feel it on my lips hours later!

 

Also I thought I'd give a heads up to anyone out there who doesn't like smelly lip products!

This has a pretty strong scent bordering on sickly. It's quite nice, (it smells like chocolate) but it may be too overpowering for some.

Also as well as smelling like chocolate, it also tastes a bit like it too which makes it hard not to just lick all of this off your lips.

 

I do like the colour though of this because it's a nice bronzed/shimmery look that I wouldn't expect would go well with my pale skin but it actually does!

This also plumps my lips up quite a lot too which makes a good bonus.

 

So this is quite heavy and sticky and smells quite strongly but I still like it! I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to buy it, but now that I have it I'll happily use it up until it's gone.

 

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

*REVIEW* Miss Sporty Studio Lash Waterproof Macara

Hi!

 

I noticed whilst writing this that this will be my 100th post! Because of this I just wanted to say massive thank you to everyone who has ever read any part of my blog - it means a lot to me! :)

 

Ok now onto the review!

 

This is the Studio Lash Waterproof Mascara from Miss Sporty in the shade 1 Black.

 

 

 

This retails for £2.99 and the Studio Lash mascaras from Miss Sporty come in all sorts of different types which I'm intrigued to about.

The price of this is very good and places it right under the title of "budget mascara" for me.

 

This mascara promises a lot:

 

"Dual action applicator for instant lash sculpting effect with perfect separation. Lashes are lifted up to 70% and are up to 60% longer. Zero clumps. Smudge and smear proof."

 

 

The wand on this is one of those flexible rubber wands with short bristles that get shorter towards the end of the wand. You do have to wipe off quite a bit of product when you take it out the tube.

 

Unfortunately for me this mascara formula is very wet and is too wet for the wand. When I pull it out even after wiping it I can still see clumps of product.

As someone who prefers drier mascara formulas, I didn't have high hopes for this from the beginning really.

 

Here's some photos!

 

BEFORE:

 

 

 

AFTER:

 

 

 

 

Uh...lashes lifted "70%"? I don't think so.

 

For me this just isn't too great in terms of what it does for my lashes. This was all I dared to put on as I knew from the moment I touched the wand to my lashes that this was going to clump and it did.

One light coat and its made my lashes stick together more than I would like, although I suppose it has separated out the clumps rather evenly, but that could just be a fluke.

 

I really believe the wet formula is to blame for this as it's made my lashes stick together but not added much in terms of volume. There is definitely some lengthening there but just not enough volume for me.

It also makes my lashes look pretty spidery which I'm not a fan of.

 

Is it waterproof?

Kind of.

I wore this to a theme  park where we were going on water rides and I didn't find that it smeared or smudged, but then I was being careful to wipe my eyes because I didn't want to walk around with panda eyes. It does last quite well but I rarely have a problem with mascaras smudging or smearing anyway.

I guess it's water resistant, but I wouldn't trust this to be completely waterproof.

 

 

So overall not that impressed. The formula is too wet and clumps up my lashes and doesn't do enough in terms of volume and separation for me. I'd say it has better durability than my other mascaras, but it's certainly nothing special.

Although, for such a cheap price, what can I expect?

 

Anyway, thanks so much for reading!

Libby x

 

*REVIEW* Barry M Dazzle Dusts (+ Swatches!)

Hi!

 

I have a review that really should've been up ages ago considering how much I use these pigments. I spent some time today photographing and swatching these amazing Dazzle Dusts from Barry M to show you! 

 

 

 

These pretty little jars cost £4.59 each

 

I'll quickly show you each pigment with it's name and then I'll do swatches!

 

Each pigment has a number and a name...I've tried to find the names for each of them but they don't print them on the jar so I couldn't find the names for every single one.

 

96 Gold

 

 

85 Neon Pink

 

 

84 Cherry Red

 

 

94 Teal

 

 

22 Bright Blue

 

 

8 Silver Iridescent

 

 

35 ?

 

(Not sure of the name of this one. Unfortunately I think this is discontinued but you may be still able to get it if you hunt for it)

 

90 Pearly Mauve

 

 

90 Silvery Black

 

 

 

Now for some swatches!

These are swatched over the NYX Eyeshadow Base in White as I feel that these need a sticky base to cling to so that you can really see them at their best.

These are swatched in the same order as above.

 

 

Top to bottom: 96, 85, 84, 94, 22

 

 

Top to bottom: 8, 35, 90, 91

 

For some reason because of the way the light is hitting it, the shade 90 is showing up a lot more blue than it does normally. It does have those blue tones, but generally shows up more purple.

 

These are said to be pretty multifunctional and on the website it says that you can use these for eyes, lips or cheeks.

You can mix these with a clear lip gloss or a clear nail polish to get more use out of them too!

 

I have to say I only ever use these for my eyes...but having said that for my art project I think I'll end up doing some crazy makeup looks for that so who knows? These would be really useful for doing some really bright, over the top looks and maybe I should try an electric blue lip now and then! :)

 

I love the high colour intensity of all these pigments and there isn't on that I feel doesn't quite match up pigmentation-wise.

 

 I think my favourites are the gold (96), bright red (84) and the teal (94) as I feel that these are the ones I get most use out of, but I honestly use all of these! I also love the little jars because in a draw they don't take up much space and you can stack them if you run out of space.

 

 I definitely think I'll be expanding my Dazzle Dust collection...for such a low price and such great pigmentation you can go wrong!

 

 

 

Have you tried the Dazzle Dusts yet?

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

 

Beauty Empties #5

Hi!

 

 

I have another "empties" post for you today; these are a few makeup, hair and skincare products that I've completely used up in the past couple of weeks!

 

 

1) Batiste Dry Shampoo (Tropical scent)

 

This is probably my favourite dry shampoo and I've already got another one of these on the go!

This is inexpensive, freshens up my hair and smells great.

I plan to keep on buying this over and over again!

 

2) Sure Clear Pure Crystal Deodorant

 

This is my favourite scent and I've used up so many of these now! I don't really have anything bad to say about it and again, I've got another one on the go now.

 

3) Simple Kind To Skin Soothing Facial Toner

 

I really like this because it genuinely is soothing and is very gentle on my skin.

I planned on repurchasing this but it was out of stock in my local Boots so I picked up the Tea Tree & Witch Hazel toner instead, but I think I prefer this one simply because it seems less harsh. This also doesn't have alcohol in it which I prefer.

 

4) Simple Kind To Skin Refreshing Facial Gel

 

I've gone through a couple of these in the past and whilst I do like it I do like trying different things now and again. I like to switch up my facial wash to try new ones but I'm sure at some point I'll get this one again because its inexpensive and does the job!

This also isn't overly drying or harsh on my skin.

 

5) Clairol Colourseal Conditioning Gloss

 

I decided that this counts as an "empty".

This came with my hair dye last time I dyed it and I do like it.

The smell is to die for but this claims to have 6 weeks worth of product, providing you use it once a week.

Unless you have about 3 hairs on your head this won't last anywhere near 6 weeks. I got about 3 uses out of this but then I do have pretty long hair.

I'll probably buy this/the hair dye again at some point.

 

6) Primark Beauty 4 in 1 Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes

 

I got two of these last time I went into Primark because I was curious. They were ridiculously cheap, something like £1 for a twin pack.

I wanted them for cleaning brushes and that was about it; I feel these are too rough to use just for cleansing my face but that's ok because I predicted that. They work well for cleaning brushes though because I don't like buying expensive wipes for this purpose because any ones will do.

 

7) Simpe Kind To Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes

 

I do like these but considering how fast I go through them they are a little pricey.

They are soft and cleanse my skin really well but because I go through face wipes so quickly I prefer to buy ones that are less expensive. I do like buying these occasionally though.

 

8) E.L.F Eyeshadow Primer

 

This is the second one of these I've used up completely and I love this product!

These are only £1.50 from www.eyeslipsface.co.uk and for a basic, everyday eye primer they are great.

Next time I get an order with E.L.F I'll definitely throw one of these into my online shopping bag.

 

9) Rimmel London Match Perfection 2-in-1 Highlighter & Concealer

 

Again, I've gone through 2 of these now. I LOVE this for a touch up concealer or to brighten up my under eye area.

Already repurchased! This is one of those products that I'll keep going back to I think.

I've done a review HERE if you want to read more.

 

 

So there you have it! There are my beauty empties - I hope you enjoyed my post!

Thank you so much for reading.

Libby x

 

*REVIEW* Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

Hi!

 

I've had the photos for this post sat on my computer for ages so I decided it was about time I finally got the review done...

 

 

I just love the pink and black packaging of this!

It seems from looking on the website that the packaging has actually changed though...I did get this a while ago so that is to be expected I suppose, although I prefer this packaging!

I got mine from a kit that came from Too Faced but looking online it seems that this retails for around £25.

 

Also another thing I've noticed is that on the back of mine this only appears to come in one colour, however on the website now it says that there are two options, "Chocolate" and "Milk Chocolate" which is a slightly lighter colour. From the swatches on the website I would assume that my version matches up to the "Chocolate" shade.

 

 

This is described as a "matte bronzing powder with real cocoa"...

 

 

 

The packaging for this is really sturdy and strong and it has a good mirror with it (it also says on the mirror "why be pretty when you can be gorgeous?" which I thought was cute).

 

You get 10g of product in here which is quite a lot!

 

 

Now, I have no issues with the texture or pigmentation of this bronzer.

It's pigmented, it blends well and its matte which is like in a bronzer.

The only problem is that this is FAR too dark for me. I have super pale skin and this just looks muddy on me.

To be fair, I didn't select this as it came in a kit, and had I been ordering off the website I'd have tried the "Milk Chocolate" to see if that was any better for my fair skin.

 

I don't tend to wear bronzer a lot of the time anyway but when I do I certainly don't want a brown streak on my face...but then it's not exactly Too Faced's fault that this doesn't match my skin as I bought this "blind" and didn't know what colour it was going to be because it was in a kit.

 

I have to say that I'm impressed with the pigmentation and colour payoff and whilst this isn't the bronzer for me I would really recommend this to people who have much deeper skin tones than mine.

 

The pigmentation and texture is great, it's just not the right colour!

In saying that this is a very pricey bronzer so if I hadn't bought this in a kit I don't think I'd have bought this separately at it's full price.

 

Have you tried this bronzer yet?

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

 

P.S

At the time of writing this I got back from camping in Croyde with friends for a few days...

Such a beautiful place.

 

 

 

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