MAC Styleseeker Nail Lacquer

This post just shows how far behind I am haha, but this is a truly gorgeous polish, so I had to post about it!



I've seen lots of other people call this an orange-red duochrome. I can't see that at all :P Not saying anyone is wrong btw, we all have different perceptions of colour, so to me this is a metallic burnt orange. VERY fall. Like it literally reminds me of the colours we see when leaves start falling. I really love this polish. For me, it was opaque in two coats. It reminded me alot of OPI Deutsch You Want Me Baby? so I did a comparison. It appears that the OPI one is glossier and a little more rich and slightly more red toned, but the colours are pretty similar. Definitely don't need both, and actually I'd recommend the OPI over this one. In comparison pics, OPI is on my 2nd and 3rd finger.

Wait, what's this? My first post in about a month? Yes! Gold blingy mani!

Aaah, what a poo month. Won't go into details - it's just been crap. I've also started a new job that has left me full on knackered...and chipped the crap out of my nails, so I'm left with ikky nubs.


Anyways, I did this mani a few weeks ago and LOVED it. Sooooooo sparkly. Gold isn't something I generally wear as it can look very odd on me, but I seriously love this gold. I used two coats of Nails Inc Chelsea Embankment, which is the full coverage gold you see. I then used a coat each of H&M Stay Golden and Collection Tea At The Glitz, just to add some larger gold bits and a little black glitter from the Collection polish, in an attempt to make things more interesting. My ring finger is two coats of Nails Inc Greenwich Park with a coat of H&M Jo Is In The House over the top, and a rose using Konad Black Stamping Polish and a random unbranded stamping plate. Really love this mani, definitely something I would do again!

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink!

Yeah, I am actually a sucker for that film...STILL.

Anyways, it's been a week and a half since my last post, things have been really shitty lately and don't look to be getting any better any time soon. I've also been in a bit of a nail rut lately, it seems I now own that many polishes I never know what to do, which seems crazy really. Today I figured I'd have another go at sponging and stamping. I've tried both in the past and ended up making a shit hot mess of things. Didn't turn out too bad this time, though still room for improvement!

I used OPI Pink Friday as my base and sponged OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls on the tips - It's really subtle, infact it's so subtle it's barely noticable :P I then used MAC's Toco Toucan and a Konad plate for the flowers. I decided it needed some sparkle, so popped a few blobs of Nails Inc Diamond Nail Jewellery on some paper and fished out a few bits. Looks more like broken glass than diamonds to me, which I love! Oh, my ring finger is also "inverted"...i.e pink sponged on white!

Look Beauty Nail Pop Polishes - Cool Britannia, Catsuit and Bling

Look Beauty is a fairly new brand in Superdrug; it's been about for a few months. They have everything from a foundation to polishes and even full makeup kits for very reasonable prices (we're talking like £12!). So far I've only tested their polishes but would love to get my hands on more of their stuff! The polishes I have to show you are Cool Britannia, Catsuit and Bling.



Cool Britannia is a mix of silver and red shimmer - it's a foil finish. It almost looks like theres some blue in there but I can't pick out any individual bits of blue shimmer, it has a great illusion of that. It's very cool toned. It's opaque in two coats.

Catsuit is a sheer blackened blue base with small dark blue shimmer and larger brigher blue glitter. This is gorge! Opaque in three, but it looks more stunning as a layering shade.

Bling is a mix of tiny pink shimmer and larger brighter pink glitter in a clear base. This would be opaque in 3-4 coats, but that honestly seemed like a bit of a pain to me! There are tons of shades like this available from quite a few brands.

The formula on all of these is great, not too thick or thin, dries in a good time etc. No faults at all! These can be purchased from Superdrug for £5.

10 Awesome Purty Pinks!

I've been on a massive pink crush lately and I have no idea why. Pink isn't one of my favourite colours. That, and it's almost (in fact, should already be) autumn. So why I've been favouring pinks I will never know. Bit of a girly kick maybe?

So, I have 10 of my fave pink polishes to show you. I have more pinks than this, these ones are the ones I've worn a few times, as opposed to swatched, thought "meh" and stashed away.

 OPI Pink Friday. This just screams princess to me, I don't know why! Subtly blue toned.

 China Glaze Sugar High. Bright, almost neon pinky goodness.

 OPI Princesses Rule! A gorgeous light pink with tons of silver sparkle, definitely more of a layering shade (this is 3 coats!)

 Chanel Morning Rose. Lovely warm pink with gold sparkle, though the gold seems to sink to the bottom of the formula.

 Nails Inc Bruton Street. I swear it's not this purple. It is a subtly blue toned dusty medium pink.

 MAC Please Me. Pretty warm medium pink.

 Bourjois *can't remember!) This was from the 2012 Spring Collection. Very warm pink, almost neon.

 China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy. My camera couldn't pick this up properly. Full on bright warm pink neon gorgeousness. This is two coats, for some reason mine seems to work brilliantly at 2, others say theirs is a pain and takes like 4-5 coats. God knows!

 Butter London Trout Pout. Gotta love this, even just for the name.

Deborah Lippmann Daytripper. Slightly coral-y, warm medium pink.

Smooch Nail Polish - Gothic Moment and Car Key

Normal posting shall now resume :D

Today I have two Smooch polishes to show you - this brand is totally new to me and I'd never heard of them until they popped up on NailPolishDirect. They seem to be a cheap brand - their polishes are £2.95 and they are full sized 15mls. Can't really get much better than that surely? I actually quite like the bottle too, simple, but there's a nice little pattern going around the cap!


Gothic Moment is a semi-sheer black with a ton of silver sparkle. It's opaque in two coats. Somewhat of a rough texture and a little dull when dry, nothing a topcoat can't sort out though.

Car Key (oh, dear...) is a light, dusty khaki green and is amazingly opaque in just one coat! The brush seemed to hold a lot of product so there could be issue's with pooling. Overall though, the formula of these polishes are fab.

Seriously can't go wrong with these for £2.95.

Lady Gaga - FAME

FAME launched in the US and UK yesterday, and will be launching worldwide on the 1st September. I'm not going to attempt to describe the scent to you, I wouldn't even know where to begin. I'm not a massive perfume-head so I literally would be the shittest person to "review" this. So, this is the description from The Perfume Shop:

"Lady Gaga Fame is the first ever black Eau de Parfum that sprays clear and becomes invisible once airborne.

The fragrance has a unique structure called the "push-pull technology," where the ingredients interact together to highlight different olfactive aspects of each note at the same time, without any hierarchy.

The scent is built around three main accords: dark, sensual and light.

The dark accord was inspired by Belladonna, the deadly nightshade possessed by haunted beauties since the 18th century.

From this darkness, the fragrance evolves to a sensual accord of opulence, a fusion of dripping honey, saffron and apricot nectar.

And lastly, the light accord whispers magnificence. The rich floral layer of crushed Tiger Orchid and Jasmine Sambac embodies timeless beauty.

The accords work together to create a fragrance of floral and fruity elements, with the star ingredient inspired by Belladonna leveling out the whole fragrance and giving Lady Gaga Fame its signature as a scent"

Yup, it does NOT smell of blood and semen, which I'm slightly thankful for. There are three different sized bottles, a 30ml, 50ml, and a 100ml. The 100ml is labelled as "The Ultimate Masterpiece". The only difference between this version and the others, besides the amount, is that TUM has a metal cap, not plastic. It makes the bottle fairly heavy but it also feels more expensive and luxurious. Safe to say I'm completely in love with this perfume. If you get a chance, head down to your local Perfume Shop, or even Boots/Superdrug and give it a whiff. There's also a shower gel and body lotion, both black liquid, available from the same places. Harrods has the exclusive to the soap, which is of similar shape to the "vessel" (egg) Gaga attended an awards show in.

Swatches - MAC Yellows/Oranges

Click "read more" for swatches :)

Swatches - MAC Nudes/Neutrals

Click "read more" for swatches :)

ck One Cosmetics Powder Eyeshadow Quad - 810 Smoking swatches and review

ck one cosmetics has just launched in the UK. They're stocked in Debenhams, I'm not sure if they're stocked anywhere else. They have pretty much everything - foundations, illuminators, nail polish, shadow quads, pencils, lipsticks, blushes - yeah, they've got it all. I really hope they expand their line though - they cover the basics but I'd love to see them come out with more quads, more blushes, more polishes. Anyways...



The palette I have is 810 Smoking. The packaging for this is really sophisticated and a little cute - the top actually swivels around as opposed to opening or pulling off. There are four good sized shadows inside totalling 4g. To compare, a single MAC shadow contains 1.5g and retails for £12, these quads retail for £25, so not bad really.

In this quad, we have a dusty blue teal with sparkle, a metallic grey taupe with TONS of sparkle, a matte black with perhaps a little bit of a brown undertone, and a slightly frosted off white/ivory. Firstly, I really wish this ivory shade was matte, the frostiness will turn a lot of people off. I originally thought the second shade was just a grey, but there is a hint of something else, which is why I've called it a taupe. The taupe and teal shades felt slightly wet - they almost felt like one of these hybrid shadows alot of brands are now putting out (I'm thinking Chanel Illusion d'Ombres, MAC Electric Cool shadows, those types of things).
The palette as a whole is described as containing powder shadows but these do feel slightly hybrid-ey, which is now a word BTW! The taupe and teal shades swatch fairly sheer but are much better on the eyes. The ivory shade is also sheer, which I'm actually thankful for, as had these been really pigmented it'd be a hot mess. There is also a little fall out from the taupe/teal shades, nothing too bad but it's probably best to do eyes before base, or use tissue/shadow shields when using this quad.

Taupe shade on the inner half of the eye, teal on the outer eye and crease, black on the top lash line, ivory on the brow bone

Favourites - Face + Cheeks!

Yay, more faves!!!

 

This is something I've had for roughly a month now and literally cannot get enough of it. By far the best BB I've come across. It's alot thicker than other BB's with more coverage. It doesn't come off as easy, it has a semi-matte finish and does actually blend into my pale skin very nicely.

 

 NARS Sheer Glow in Mont Blanc. Two things I tend to avoid - "Sheer" and "Glow". However, this is my go to foundation. Medium coverage, semi matte, flawless finish.

 

 MAC Prolongwear concealer in NC15. This is about the only thing that will look decent under my eyes. I have very annoying lines under my eyes that every concealer, bar this one, will cake up and crease in. Of course, I still need to set with powder, but it's a great concealer for under the eyes.

 

Illamasqua Loose Powder in 010. Go to setting powder - It's translucent and smells of vanilla. Nom.

 

  

 MAC Surf Baby Skinsheen Bronzer Stick in Tan Tint. On the very, VERY rare occasion I wear bronzer, this is what I prefer to use. It's creamy, dewy, no shimmer bronze-y perfection.

 

 

NARS Mata Hari Blush - This is my go to blush every winter. I love that it's darker and slightly purple-y, gives a lovely deep cheek that I think is perfect for winter.

 

Illamasqua Blush in Lover. A beautiful warm peach and one of the first things I bought from Illamasqua. This became a cult classic not long after and for a while was sold out!

 

 

NARS Orgasm Blush. Peachy pink, I think everyones about seen this one now.

 

 

MAC Stunner blush - a gorgeous soft natural pink coral.

 

MAC Keep It Loose Casual Colour Lip and Cheek cream. A beautiful dewy peach colour.

 

 

 MAC My Paradise Surf Baby blush - As you can see, I haven't used this much, but I love the design more than the colour. Don't get me wrong, it's a very pretty blush but I prefer looking at it than using it.

 

MAC Lightscapade Mineralize Skinfinish. Go to highlighter - shimmery off white, just not scary off white!

Do you have any favourites?