New BarryM Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint Review + Polkadot Nailart Look!

 Bottom to Top: Guava, Blueberry, Greenberry, Lychee

 Shade: Lychee

Shade: Blueberry

 

Blueberry [L] & Lychee [R]

Last time I went to Boots with a friend who is visiting, to introduce her to some British beauty brands. BarryM was of course one of them! This summer they have launched their new jelly nailpolish range and I decided to finally try them. I must say we were standing there for ages unable to make up our minds in terms of which shades we should pick in order to avoid walking away with the entire collection. So in the end I chose Lychee - a flattering nude, Blueberry - French blue, Greenberry - a minty green, and Guava - true teal! I almost feel sad that I picked up these shades so late in the summer, these are my ultimate summer colours, the turquoises, the teals, the mints... just love them! 

The texture of them is pretty awesome, two coats look beautiful and perfect on, and they definitely do need two thick coats! The finish is super glossy, on the pictures you can see how shiny my nails look - and that is without a topcoat! It lasts for a few days looking perfect. And of course colours are super pigmented and very juicy!! 

So here is how I created this cute polkadot nailart look. Firstly, I applied two coats of Lychee and then using the second biggest end of a dotting tool, if you want to see my new Cheeky dotting tools click here to see the previous nailart look - after dipping the dotting tool into a drop of Blueberry I started dotting the polkadots along the middle of the nail and then shifting the dots on the sides. Always finish off with a topcoat to keep nailart looking good for longer. This look is super easy and quick, great for beginners! Tip: if you don't have dotting tools you can use a head of a pin instead.

LOVE

Cosmetics a la Carte Blushes & Lipsticks!

Cosmetics a la Carte From left to right: 

 Blush Touch Powder Blush Compact in Grape and Bare Blush Cream Blush in Moonbeam

and

Lustre Lipstick in Strawberry and Ballerina

 Lustre Lipstick in Strawberry [L] and Ballerina [R]

Cosmetics a la Carte Lustre Lipstick in 

Strawberry [top] and Ballerina [bottom]

After I discovered a new love for the Cosmetics a la Carte lipsticks this year I decided to also try the blushes! Firstly the two new lipstick additions to my ever so expanding Cosmetics a la Carte collection are the shades: Strawberry and Ballerina [both Lustre finish]. As I have mentioned in my previous blogpost Cosmetics a la Carte lipstick colour and texture range is fabulous, if you haven't seen it yet click here! The lipstick also comes in Moisture Plus, Matte Velvet and Sheer Balm finish.  

Strawberry is such a pretty strawberry jam colour, it has a sheen to it, nothing frosty just very pretty. Blogpost with me wearing it is coming soon! And Ballerina is also a pretty light pink shade, great if you are wearing a smokey eye and want just a touch of pink with a bit of sheen on your lips. There is something really youthful about Ballerina, I find it knocks off years and makes you look super fresh and there I say it yet again - pretty!

Speaking of which, Bare Blush Cream Blush Lights is their Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible Award Winner! Basically it's a highlighter and comes in four shades: Angel, Starlight, Honey, and Moonbeam. Moonbeam is absolutely stunning, it doesn't look like much in the pan but swatched on it's a peachy rose-gold fine shimmer! You can apply it with fingers on the highest point of the cheekbones taking it up to the temples in a C shape, sides of the forehead, bridge of the nose, on the brow bone and the cupid's bow, avoiding the middle of the face basically. Bare Blush also comes in other twelve shades, which are more colourful and can be used more as a blush.

And finally, Blush Touch Powder Blusher comes in four Shimmer finishes and 24 Matte. The shade I have is Grape, on my complexion it's a beautiful autumnal shade. It's a tawny warm pinky/figgy kind of colour. They are very pigmented and you should take most of the colour off on the back of your hand before applying it onto the cheeks. Although Grape is a Matte it has definitely a few very fine sparkles going on, very pretty shade! Also I love the silver packaging of Cosmetics a la Carte, and this compact doesn't leave you desire more, it's chic, practical, and has a great quality brush too!

LOVE

Percy & Reed Brilliantly Beautiful Superglossing Mask

Here is another Percy & Reed hair product that I really like! Having highlighted hair I often have to combat dehydration. This Superglossing hair mask is great for nourishing tiered looking hair. It makes it look really shiny and healthy. As always Percy & Reed hair products are filled with great ingredients, blackcurrant seed oil and sweet almond oil help to smooth and nourish the hair, while pro vitamin B5 gives the hair strength! Apply the mask from roots to ends and leave in for 2-3 mins. Result: pretty hair!

LOVE

How To Create Quick Nail Art Flower Print with Dotting Tools!

These are my first nailart dotting tool I have ordered off Amazon, they are only £3.99(!!), which is amazing considering the quality and how pretty they look. You get five double sided dotting tools in a sleek pouch, which is great for travelling! The brand is called Cheeky and I'm totally obsessed with these, like crazy obsessed!

To create this flower design, I used four Essie colours and for the thumb nail I have also added grey polka-dots in between the flowers. As a base I'm wearing two coats of Chanel Nail Colour in 08 Pirate, a beautiful deep red which I think gives the flowers a decadent edge. Then I chose two colours for the flowers, one for the petals and the other for the centre. Taking the purple dotting tool I used the larger end to create pink petals with Essie We're In It Together. It's a very pretty pink with blue and purple fine glitter which stand out beautifully on a red base. Then I also placed one dot of Essie Cute As A Button in the middle of each flower. 

For the leaves I used two shades to create a sense of dimension. Using the smaller end of the purple dotting tool I added two dots of Mojito Madness next to each other. To create a leave shape you just pull the tool slightly and get that elongated pointed shape. I chose Essie The More The Merrier, a lighter green to go just in the middle of the leaves. And on the thumb I also applied random grey polka-dots with Essie Maximillian Strasse Her. 

Tip: when using dotting tools do one colour at a time on all nails before moving onto the next colour, this way the nailpolish won't dry out as fast. Dip your dotting tool only into fresh nailpolish, as soon as it starts getting tacky it can mess up the dots, so make sure to add a new drop of nailpolish as soon as it starts to dry out. 

LOVE

How To Get Your Lips To Look Beautiful and Healthy with Lush!

Essie The Girls Are Out is a perfect match to Lush Liquid in Passionate <3 span="">

I've been meaning to blog about these gorgeous Lush lip products for a while. I have been sent this package by Lush for to celebrate the International Kissing Day back in July. They have kindly included three products to get that perfect luscious summery hot pink lip! Three steps to a beautiful and healthy looking lip:

1. A lip scrub is something I have started using couple of years ago, and in fact my first lip scrub ever was the Bubblegum flavoured one also by Lush. This has literally changed my life, what a tiny pot of a lip scrub can do! The one Lush has sent me [pictured above] is the mint chocolate flavoured. The scent reminds me so much of the After Eight sweets. You just scoop out like half a pea size [this little jar will last you forever, in fact I still have my first Bubblegum lip scrub]. Massage it onto your lips thoroughly, this will remove any dry skin and give you that incredibly baby skin smooth healthy looking lip. Tip: if you find the Lush Lip Scrub starting to dry up [that won't happen any time soon!] just add a few drops of water and get it back to a softer consistency. It is sugar based so basically it won't go off.

2. After exfoliating your lips with a lips scrub it is always important to follow up with a lip balm, this will nourish them, keeping them soft. Lush Lip Service comes in a cute screw metal tin. It has Shea Butter, Apricot Kernel Oil, Cocoa Butter, Beeswax, Tangerine Oil and Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil to keep your lips super smooth and crack-free. It has a really natural scent, a mixture of olive oil and citrus. 

3. Once these two steps are done, your lips are prepped and ready for a lip product of your choice, be it a lipstick, lipgloss, or lipstain it will look a million times better on freshly buffed and exfoliated perky lips! I have tried the Liquid Lipsticks back when they were first launched. And I actually picked this shade: Passionate as one of my favourites, so thank you so much SarahJane for sending it to me!! The colour is incredibly vibrant and hot and summery, even though we are entering autumn pretty soon I still love wearing hot pink lips with black outfits, so I definitely will be wearing it in the colder season too! This shade is perfect for events and special occasions, it definitely makes an impact. Passionate is an almost glowing cool toned hot pink with blue shimmer - it's just stunning! And the consistency is pretty amazing too, super pigmented. No scent. 

Lush make-up range has a colour psychology behind it, every colour is meant to make you feel a certain way. So if there is a colour you gravitate to it means that's how you feel. Passionate means 'Feel Strongly'! Equally if you feel a little down, a colour like this would pick your spirit up. Such a cute concept!

LOVE

Mandara Spa Island Paradise Softening Foot Butter

Island Paradise The Revitalising Collection is inspired by the uplifting and revitalising breathtakingly beautiful beaches at the Maldives to help you cope with daily stress back in the real world. Ginseng, jojoba oil and shea butter help to soften and moisturise the foot skin, area which we very often neglect. The fresh and invigorating grapefruit, sweet orange, lemon and patchouli scent lifts tiredness after a long day and makes you feel as if you just came back from a relaxing stroll on the white sandy beach, well almost! I like to apply this foot butter after a nice long and relaxing bath right before going to bed. I love the scent and the price, super affordable!

LOVE

Clarins Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Gel Review & Swatches!

 Shades: 01 Crystal Pink [bottom] & 02 Crystal Plum [top]

These new Clarins Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Gels are a great plumping lip product. Translucent texture that just gives you enough flush of a colour keeping your lips looking natural yet voluptuous and pretty. Most gel like textured lip glosses tend to be sticky, but these are very lightweight and definitely non-sticky! This Lip Gel comes in two shades as featured above: 01 Crystal Pink is a luscious coral pink and 02 Crystal Plum is a delicious burgundy plum. Speaking of delicious, they are induced with a rather delightful blackcurrant scent!

LOVE

Summer Natural Look with Too Faced Summer Eyes Palette

I have been absolutely obsessed with the Too Faced Summer Eyes palette from the Summer Sexy Shadow Collection! My eyelids have particularly enjoyed wearing the three brown shades in this palette: Cocoa Beach, Chocolate Sun, and Toasted Coconut - I love the names, super delicious and pretty! Cocoa Beach and Chocolate Sun are both shimmery with gold glitter but they are fine milled and super flattering to go with that sun-kissed skin. Toasted Coconut is a satin texture and has been well loved, it's actually one of a few eyeshadows I wore most this summer. There is something super low maintenance about it, I just sweep it all over the lid with a smudged black kohl and it just looks absolutely gorgeous!

For this look I have also used the Too Faced 3 Way Lash Lining Tool. This type of eyeliner is a new product that has been launched by a number of cosmetic brands. This one is the first I tried, and the way I use it to suit my complexion is dotting it right above the lashnine and then thickening it up for a wing with a regular liquid eyeliner. This way I define the lashes on the inner corner of the eye, which looks very natural - to visually elongate the eye I start thinkining the liner with a regular liquid eyeliner half way down and then adding the straightish flick. I also like the way the 3 Way liner looks on the bottom lash line, also making the lashes appear thicker yet still looking natural, great for those days when you don't want to go eyeliner-heavy! 

And finally, Too Faced Bronzed & Poreless Pore Perfecting Bronzer, which I am also wearing has this defused effect creating an airbrushed look. It's matte, light feeling and doesn't have a heavy powdery texture so it can go lightly all over the face focusing more on the hollow of the cheeks, temples and bridge of the nose for that summer sun-kissed look. 

LOVE

New Chanel Stylo Eyeshadow + Chanel Bel-Argus

Chanel Stylo Eyeshadow in 27 Pink Lagoon

Lip Combo: Revlon 011 Stormy Pink as a base and a touch of Chanel Glossimer in 297

For this Ruffian nail look check out my previous blogpost!

Here are couple of new things from Chanel I have been really loving! This Summer Chanel launched the new Stylo Eyeshadows, which is the eyeshadow version of the Stylo Eyeliner, well sort of, the texture is completely different but the lasting power is equally amazing! The shade I have tried so far is 27 Pink Lagoon, it's super pretty, and although I'm not into pink eyeshadows in general but this one is wearable and a very beautiful metallic shimmery chic! The Stylo Eyeshadow has this cooling sensation, almost like going over your lids with an ice cube, fantastic for summer and any other time of the year when you want something cooling. I don't think it's specifically designed for this effect, but it does feel refreshing when you apply it. And like I already mentioned this one lasted beautifully without a primer.

Also  this summer I have jolly enjoyed the stunning Chanel Nail Colour in 667 Bel-Argus, which is from the Summer 2013 Papillon Collection,  it's a shimmery almost metallic blue that speaks for itself - it looks like a stunning butterfly wing! Another Chanel product I have really been into lately is the Glossimer in 297, I'm not sure but I think it's from the previous collection, it's a super pretty nude lipgloss with a very flattering gold shimmer! I am wearing it for this look over Revlon Matte Lipstick in Stormy Pink. 297 looks beautiful over a range of pinky and nude lipsticks! 

LOVE