Rain, Fake Nails & Music

Ah my lovely readers, I do apologise for being so quiet on the blogging front this month. It's always a bit of a hectic time of the year around Christmas and with the weather being as it is it hasn't helped matters.

Pretty much all my clothes fell victim to some leak in our bedroom so I had to wash (and I kid you not) over seventeen 20 litre bags of clothes. I didn't even know I owned that many clothes! Unfortunately a lot of them don't fit so I've put three of them to charity. I'm undecided about the rest but will sort it out over the weekend.

Anyway, now let's get to the fun stuff. As you may know from my previous nail polish related posts, I'm terrible for biting my nails which is why I bought some fake nails from Elegant Touch not too long ago. So, I figured seeing as whenever I have fake nails I never bite them, I'll try them out.

Here's last week's nails: Pink Polished Nails from Elegant Touch
Perfect match for my favourite coffee mug!!

Here's this week's nails: Black/Gold Glitter Tip Short Falsies from Elegant Touch
Perfect to infuse some sparkle into my off-duty look!

The pink polished ones lasted around 6 days. Which is a remarkable time given I was ridiculously careless around the house. With three replacements used I ended up removing them purely because they were not practical for the weather related house work ahead.

The black and gold glitter set has lasted me since the weekend but unfortunately the design is starting to wear off and I'm ready to try something new. So, today's their last day in action.

Tomorrow I'll go back to bare and then have a nosey around town at the rest of Elegant's touch collection. I've seen some Glitter ones which looked great for the party season ahead so I might just treat myself again. Oh btw, this is not a sponsored post or anything I just really was impressed with these falsies so want to stick with the brand.

Even better news? I didn't bite my nails once in all that time!

Big Hair Number 29

Okay, first things first - I've had a bit of a rushed week and with the sun going down mid afternoon these days my photography attempts last week were very weak.

Now, I know, I could take all my pictures on the weekend but in all honesty? That's not what this blog is about. I am not here to give you advice on fashion or make-up or anything. I'm just sharing my favourite stuff and that means, spare of the moment blogging. It's like grabbing my phone to text my BFF when a cute guy has just chatted me up in a bar. I don't wait until the lighting conditions are better to text "OMG OMG OMG" right?

(Note: I'm married. The text would probably be toned down a little!! ;-) hah)

So, I will only semi-apologise for the photos below as I do realise, they are a bit rubbish as I took them in the evening but hey, at least you'll know what this nail varnish will look like when you go out! :D

So, in today's post I am looking at my new favourite red friend! Let me introduce to you, Collection 2000's Hot Looks Fast Dry "Big Hair" (Number 29) nail varnish:

I've met him on my recent trip to Boots and fell in love ... I don't normally wear red nail polish. In fact, I think this is pretty much the first one I bought.It looks really nice. It's not too sticky, not too runny and does indeed dry fast.

Two layers of this pretty shade of red later and this was the result:

I think I should have applied a third layer but I was a little tired. It literally took less than a minute to dry and it lasted for a good 2 days. Mind you, I scrape my nail polish off or bite it off when I'm nervous or concentrating so a normal person can probably go a good 3-4 days without having to re-apply!

Right, this is it for now -  have a nice week my lovelies!

xoxo
Kate

Budget Make-Up Test Part 1

As promised in my previous blog post I have been putting budget Make-Up to the test the last couple of days, starting with Collection 2000's "Angelic Eyes" which comes in at just over £4 at my local Boots Store.

With all sorts of vibrant colours in this eye shadow set, I decided to test the blue shades and run with the whole Under the Sea theme which is inspiring the fashion world right now. Here's the result: 


Whilst I am by no means an expert when it comes to applying any kind of make-up here's how I did it - in case you'd like to give it a try yourself..

• I started by generously applying the light silvery colour (1) to my entire eyelid using a fluffy round eye shadow brush, making sure to cover both the outer and inner corner of my eye and brushing up to the browbone and highlighting it at the same time. Then I lightly dusted below my lower lash line using the same colour and removed any excess powder with a cosmetic tissue.

• After lightly scraping the sky blue shade (2) with the end of my eye shadow brush to reach a colour rich result, I went to sweep the medium shade in a half-circular move on the crease of my eye lid. To add some depth I blended the shade down towards my upper lash line with a round-tipped brush that had no product on it. (I find that it's easier to avoid unwanted smudging by using a clean brush for blending heavy contrast shades)

• Next I went to softly dab the purply blue (3) coloured eye shadow just up onto the outside corner of the eyelid and using my little finger I went to blend that same shade ever so lightly into the inner corner of my eye lid.

• I used the navy blue shade (4) to accentuate the eye crease and applied a light grey eyeliner to my upper lash line, the inner corner and the outer corner of my lower lash line as well as a few dots on my brow bone. Then I finished the Under the Sea inspired look by applying some black mascara.

The application of the eye shadow took me a bit less than 10 minutes and its removal was straight forward leaving no ugly dark stains (as some other colour rich eyeshadows are known to do) so all in all I was extremely happy with the result.

As to the colour strength/pigmentation, here a little colour swatch so you can see all colours in this set

The colours lack a bit in intensity despite the fact they look so vibrant but there's nothing a good primer (as a base) and a good strong brush won't fix :) I actually used my Studio Secrets Primer from L'Oreal - have a look at this Review I wrote a little while ago if you want my opinion on some current Primers on the market.

So here we go, a big thumbs up from me to Collection 2000 Angelic Eyes - eyeshadow palette.
Really good value for money.

My piggy bank is happy and so am I. :o)

xoxo
Kate

Budget Make-Up Shopping Haul

I am sure, I'm not the only one who finds it hard to save when there are so many things out there available to buy!! *sigh*

Normally my Make-Up bag is never questioned by my piggy bank. However, today's the day. I just cannot keep spending money on high end product without giving Superdrugs Finest at least a try...

So, here is my budget Shopping Haul...

Angelic Eyes by Collection 2000

Smokey Eyes by Collection 2000

Eye Shadow Pallette by Rimmel London

Single Eyeshadows by Collection 2000 and Maybelline

Overview of all product bought

I shall spend the next week testing these products and telling you all about them. Fingers crossed that we can keep the piggy bank happy and like these pieces... :)

Have a great weekend, my lovelies! x

xoxo

Kate

A lovely gift...

I received this goodie bag filled with beauty products for buying two Estee Lauder products at Boots last week. Whoop! (You gotta love freebies!)

So here's what Estee Lauder put in it (from left to right): Candy Shimmer No. 16 Lipstick, Advanced Night Repair Balm, Sumptuous Mascara (black), Daywear Creme SPF 15, "Pleasures" perfume, Pure Colour Eye Shadow Set - shades: ivory slipper (10), tranquil moon (13), lilac whimsy (67) and sepia sand (18) as well as their Perfectly Clean Splash Away Foaming Cleanser.

I'm looking forward to indulging in these little new friends of mine - oh the perfume is lush by the way. That I can already tell, however spray with caution it's a little on the potent side!

Head over to Boots to see if the promotion is still on - definitely worth it! <3

With that said. Have a great weekend my lovely readers!

xoxo
Kate