New Car...?

I know post is a little unusual for me but it is something which has been on my mind for ages. I have been seriously lusting after a new car recently. My current car is an S reg Clio and has just hit 100,000 miles which means that although it was a total steal two years ago at £800 and has suited me perfectly for something cheap to run to work in, I now want something a bit better. I don't want it to get to the point where it costs me too much to keep it running and I know as it is getting fairly old now, that point cannot be too far off. 

I used to drive my Mum's Peugeot 107 around and really liked it, and although I prefer my Clio, since I've seen the new purple 107's I have been really really reeeeeeally wanting one. Seriously, who would not want this in their life???

This car is just perfect for me. I adore the colour and they are pretty small and cute. Until these came out I'd gone with the "a cars a car" line and wasn't too bothered that mine is so old, but this is a car I could be proud of. I know I wouldn't regret spending my money on one but I don't have the cash and want to move out so need my savings for that. The other option is finance but I don't like the idea of paying back more than I owe. 

I know I should wait and get a second hand car and not waste my money on a brand new one but it is just so perfect. I can't describe how much I love this car. I wish there were more purple cars around as they are pretty rare but my purple obsession has got that bad now that I want a purple car too, so I don't just want to settle for something dull. 

I am pretty sensible with my money, I don't often splash out on myself, and have managed to save a fair bit so I do want to treat myself to a new car, but I just can't stop looking at this one. I won't get it, but it will be in the back of my mind when I'm sitting in my black/red/blue dull coloured car that it could have been this pretty. No car has ever caught my attention like this one has.

Anyway, I want opinions, is buying a car for the colour silly (probably), or would you splash out for a car in your favourite colour too?

NOTD: Striping Tape

I'm sure you've all picked up by now that although I love my nail art, I'm pretty lazy with it. I don't have the steady hand or patience needed for intricate designs so I tend to stick to pretty simple things which look like they took more effort than they did. With that in mind, I decided to give my striping tape another go. I usually can't be bothered with anything that takes that much time, and I struggled to get the hang of when in the drying process to remove the tape. Too soon and the polish bleeds underneath, too late and it becomes stringy and ruins the neat line. 

I love the look of gold under another colour so decided to use my Barry M limited edition gold as it is the perfect shimmery shade and went really well with my much loved Papaya Gelly.

I went for a cris-crossed design on my thumb but got a little bored after waiting for this to dry so went for a simpler cross on my ring finger, although I think it does look good like this. I love striping tape as I could never get a line as perfect free hand but it is a bit of a pain having to wait for the first colour to properly set so the tape doesn't pull the polish off with it.

These colours do go really well together, I love the gold against coral so I'll be mixing these two more often. I will give more striped designs a go too as although it is time consuming, it isn't too difficult and looks really effective. 

Have you tried striping tape? I'll be keeping an eye out for some more designs to try. 

Essie Spring Collection Mini Cube

I'm not usually Essie's biggest fan, as they are just too expensive for me. I do own a couple and haven't been too impressed with the quality either. If they were amazing then I could maybe have justified the price but I can't say that they were. I decided to give them another go though, when I saw them on the Buyapower website. I like the idea of putting four shades from each collection into a mini cube so you can try out small versions of the new shades, and if you are like myself and have a small nail polish obsession, then a small bottle is better as I never use a full one.

The Spring 2013 collection mini cube contains four lovely pastel shades, Avenue Maintain, a bright sky blue, Madison Ave-Hue, a pink with silver shimmer, Bond With Whomever, a lilac and Go Ginza, a very pale lilac with a pink tone. I love pastel shades so the Spring collections tend to be my favourites and this one has some lovely shades. I really like that they have included a shimmery shade as well as normal colours, just to mix it up a little.

I wanted to try as many colours as I could so I went for a bit of a mimed up design. I used Bond With Whomever with Avenue Maintain for the accent nails and Go Ginza for the dots. These colours go together really well and I love the shades. I wasn't too keen on Go Ginza to start with but it does look lovely against the blue. 

I think I may have been converted to Essie a little more with this cube and I would definitely consider buying more of the mini cubes rather than the full size polishes as you get more for your money. I ended up paying £8.95 for the cube which is a bargain when you think a full size single polish is £7.99. I did find that these lasted really well too and didn't start to chip for 3-4 days. 

Have you tried the mini cubes from Essie? I think more brands should go for mini polishes, I do feel like I waste a lot by only using most polishes a couple of times.

NOTD: MUA Gemini Nail Constellations

There may have been a lot of drama in the past few months over twitter and people blogging about certain mistakes that MUA have made and the fact that most of their products seem to be copies of other brands products (like Essie style polish bottles, Urban Decay palette dupes, Revlon/Clinique style chubby lip pencils...). To be honest though this isn't something that bothers me too much. I love that MUA allow me to get dupes of much more expensive products at bargain prices and most of their products I have tried so far have been fantastic quality. As for the packaging copies, it isn't the best thing to do but I wouldn't buy a product for its packaging, I would only care about the quality of the product and how it works. Pretty packaging is nice, but doesn't sell a product. 

Anyway, the point of this rant is that MUA may not be perfect but they are pretty amazing when it comes to affordable products. They have quickly become one of my favourite brands and I think now I have more of their products than any other brand. 

One of the first things I tried from MUA was the nail constellations. I had been lusting after Ciate Caviar for ages when I spotted these on offer for £2! The Ciate was far too expensive for me but when I spotted the MUA dupes for £2 I bought 4 different colours. I hadn't used the MUA Constellations for ages and I'd been chatting to some of my new co-workers about them so decided to fish them out and give them another go to show them off. I may have only been there a month now but they are already well aware of my nail obsession (oops). 

I though the Gemini Constellations would look lovely with Barry M Papaya Gelly, my new summer obsession shade. I decided to use Dragon Fruit under the beads though as I do find the base colour can bleed through the gaps and so a paler thinner shade is better. I love how simple the Constellations are to use and although I have used Gemini 3/4 times now, you can see that there is plenty left in the bottle. I always use a little tray to catch the beads so that any overspill isn't wasted and finish it all off with a generous sweep of top coat to keep the beads in place.

Gemini has to be my favourite Constellations shade. Its packed with pastel shades and the mix of colours is lovely. This lasted for 3 days which is pretty good for beads stuck onto your nail. I really love this look and always get lots of compliments so I think I will try to use these more often. I've seen some interesting patterns made with just a few beads so that might be one for me to try next.

Have you tried the MUA Constellations? What do you think of all the MUA drama? Has it put you off them as a brand or like me do you think the products are more important?

FashionistA Customisable Palette From MUA

I'm sure most of you will have seen that MUA are now stocking FashionistA products, which to be honest are a brand I'd never taken any notice of. I do love MUA for their amazing quality bargain products and when they announced they would be bringing over 200 new products to their website I was pretty excited to see what they would be offering, expecting some new MUA products. I was a little disappointed to see it was a different brand and the concept of a two-brand website is a little confusing to me, I can't see it working as the MUA products are cheaper, but I did like the idea of a customisable palette. At the moment, you can either choose a 4 pan palette and fill it for £7, or a 6 pan for £10 which seemed a bargain to me so I went for that one

I really like the idea of being able to choose the shades you want as no matter which palettes I seem to but there are always shades which I don't use so picking my own seems perfect. I also liked the idea of having one palette with everything I needed in it, so it would be good for when I am away. With that in mind I decided to fill my 6 pan palette with 3 eye shadows, 2 blushers and a bronzer. I have to say though, I have never been a fan of online make-up shopping as the shades are never quite what they seem so i would recommend having a nosy at the shades you like in Superdrug before you order as a couple of mine weren't quite what I expected from the pictures. 

My delivery arrived quickly and in perfect condition, and I couldn't wait to open it up and test it out. The pans come in little black cases so you don't have to have to have a palette you can just use them as they are or switch up different shades if you get bored. They very easily pop out of the packaging and click into place in the palette. Within a couple of minutes my beautiful, unique palette was complete.

When you pop the pans out the shade names are on the back so you can always see which you are using which is a nice touch. I was also expecting quite small pans and I was surprised to find they are a really decent size for the price.

Eye Shadows.                                                  Blushers and bronzer

           l-r Double take eye shadow in Radiant                                     Blush in Juicy Apricot and London                    
Mono eye shadow in Auburn Glow and Bronze                Custom design bronzer in Dubai

First up the eye shadows, I went for shimmery bronze and nude shades as those are the colours I tend to use the most. I really love Radiant and Bronze, although I was a little disappointed with the colour pay off with Auburn Glow. There are some lovely shades though and I am considering getting another with some darker shades for a night out smoky eye look. I would definitely check out the shades first though. This is due to the bronzer actually, I liked the look of Dubai on the site but it is far too dark in really life.

The blushers in this range are gorgeous and I love the two I have chosen, although I did expect Juicy Apricot to be a little peacher rather than pink, so again check out the shades first! London is gorgeous though!

I love the colour of Dubai although I think I will use it as an eye shadow as it is too dark as a bronzer but check out the colour pay off from one little sweep of my finger! 

I am pretty impressed with these palettes for the price and I'm considering getting another whilst the offer is still on. £10 for 6 large shades is a bargain and I would recommend giving them a go. I haven't been tempted by any of the other FashionistA products but I can see these being a success. The palettes are available from the MUA website and are currently on offer with a free lip plumping gloss and nail polish if you spend over £15. 

Have you tried any of the FashionistA products yet? Do you like the idea of a custom palette? I reckon MUA should do their own, I'd be buying those!

Barry M Confetti Nail Effects

Ever since I saw the Nails Inc Feather Effect polishes I have been lusting after the perfect feather dupe. I posted a while ago about the lovely Invogue Feather polishes in Jaye Bird and my favourite, Parakeet. As much as I loved those I couldn't help myself picking up one of the new Barry M versions. I guess its common to hear how amazing Barry M are from a beauty blogger, and I personally also love them. I was a little disappointed with the sequin polishes so was glad to see another new release which was more up my street.

There are five different coloured confetti polishes, but I went for Marshmallow as it was nothing like the Invogue ones I have. Marshmallow is a lovely pale, summery polish with pale pink and white strips in a clear base. I decided to layer it over Grapefruit to show a stronger colour behind the confetti and used Papaya, my new favourite Gelly for the other nails.

Although I'm not as keen on this colour as the Invogue feather polishes, I have to say I am impressed with the formula. This was one coat and a little touch up, so the strands go on much better than the feather effect polish which needed a good few coats for this kind of coverage. I have to say I think Parakeet is still my favourite feathery polish, although Barry M's Dolly Mixture looks very similar and a lovely colour. I am tempted to get Sour Apple too, although I'm not too keen on green it does look really nice in the bottle.

Have you tried the Barry M confetti or the Invogue Feathers? Which is your favourite?

Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara

I have tried plenty of different mascaras in my time and found a couple I have loved but most just don't live up to my expectations why is a shame when they all seem to claim so much; volumising, lengthening, extreme black...picking a new one to try can be a huge decision. I don't usually go for the new releases when they first hit the shelves as I prefer to stick to my tried and tested ones, but something about the new release from Maybelline caught my eye. Gel eyeliners and nail polishes have been hyped up for ages, but I had never heard of a gel mascara and I wanted to see how it would work. The Mega Plush Mascara also claims to have 40% less hard waxes than their original formula and create massive volume. I do love a volumised look as my lashes are quite long but not particularly full or dark.

I love the look of the packaging, the colours completely drew me in, which I know has no relevance to the quality of the product but I do love something that looks pretty. The brush to me is amazing too, I love large plastic brushes, which I know some bloggers hate, but for me they seem to work better. The length of the bristles mean that you can get right down into your lashes and easily coat them without too much movement of the brush.  

I wasn't too keen when I first used this mascara as I didn't find it volumising and it didn't seem to stick on my lashes, as in they didnt't feel held in place, or solid as some mascaras can. I did persevere though and now I absolutely love it! You do need a good few coats (I'd say 3-4 for proper volume) but it doesn't clump which I assume is thanks to the gel. After a few coats it really does build up amazing volume without feeling hard on your lashes. I also found that because it doesn't clump or go solid, you can add extra coats later, if you were going out in the evening and wanted a stronger look.

Overall, I would consider this a perfect day to night mascara as it is so versatile and can be used for a natural look or built up for a going out kind of look. I have been really impressed with it and have bought another few mascaras to try now I have realised there may be better ones out there. 

Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara is available now from Superdrug and Boots for £7.99 although I did get it on an introductory offer for £5.99. 

Have you tried the Mega Plush Mascara? Do you have any better ones for me to try? Although I love this I still don't feel like I've found my holy grail mascara, so the search goes on!

NOTD: More Barry M Gellys

If you read my posts regularly you might have noticed that I have a slight obsession with the Barry M Gelly collection at the moment. I am totally in love with them and own pretty much every shade going. I bought the entire Spring collection as soon as it came out and adore those colours, particularly Papaya which is fast becoming my favourite shade for Summer, its an adorable coral colour. That being said the Summer collection didn't excite me as much and I surprisingly didn't want all of the shades. I did like the look of a couple though, so when I saw them in my local Superdrug on 3 for 2 I had to get some. 

I loved the look of Guava and fancied a change as I don't own many red shades (I'm a purple and coral kinda girl) so Passion Fruit caught my eye. I wasn't massively keen on Mango but I had seen some nice swatches online so got this as my freebie. 

I absolutely love Guava, it is a perfect summery shade as its so bright. I don't usually go for blue shades but this is amazing. I have been so impressed with the newer Gelly shades, they give perfect coverage and the colours are so strong. This colour actually lasted about 3 days which is a long time for me. This is only two coats and they dry really quickly.

I decided to give a bright gradient a go with Mango and Passion Fruit. I thought this might be a nice summery effect but to be honest although I like both colours I'm not too keen on them together. Mango is a really bright, strong orange and Passion Fruit is a deep red with a hint of coral. This again lasted longer than usual and the Gellys are the perfect consistency for gradients as they cover well even when being sponged on.

At £3.99 a go I can't resist these polishes and they are by far my favourite range for quality. I'm actually considering doing a "top 5" of my picks for drugstore nail polishes under £5 and these are my first choice for the top spot. If you haven't tried the Gellys then why not? They are seriously impressive and I hope Barry M continue to bring out more shades as I will happily keep on buying!

Have you tried any of the new Gellys? I'd love to see some ideas for nail art with them!

June Glossybox

I have really enjoyed the Glossyboxs I have had so far and haven't had one which made me think I had wasted my money. Last months was particularly good and I had ruined the surprise by checking reviews online before I got mine so this month I decided not too look. I had noticed a couple of negative comments on twitter but this hadn't put me off and I was excited to see my box had arrived. This all changed when I opened the box though. This has to be the worst box I have ever seen and makes me wonder whether the beauty profile you fill out actually has any effect on the samples you get as I said I had straight, fine hair on the profile, but for some reason have been sent hair samples designed for curly hair. What am I gonna do with that Glossybox? I also said I liked fruity scents rather than floral, yet got a rose scent not a cherry...anyway onto the pictures:

The theme of this months box is "Summer Looks", a fitting theme for the weather but I was expecting some make-up samples in summery shades but received all body/hair products, really disappointing and not really related to summer. Also, black lining in a summer themed box? Really? The total value of my box this month was about £31.00. 

The first product which caught my eye was the Nuxe Shimmering Dry Oil (£34.00 for 100ml, 10ml included). This can be used anywhere as a hydrating oil or to add a little shimmer. I can't really see myself using this as I'm not really a fan of glitter on my body or face other than eye shadow, but it does smell and feel really nice and makes your skin feel really soft and only a little shimmery so I might find a use for it. I wouldn't pay so much for the full size thing though!

The second product included is the Monu Hydrating Moisturiser (£29.95 for 50ml, 30ml included). I do like a good moisturiser with SPF so wasn't too disappointed with this one. It is really hydrating and left my skin feeling amazing so I can't fault it for that but it doesn't smell fantastic. 

Figs & Rouge Lip Balm in Coco Rose (full size £5). I have heard a lot about this brand and the lip balms but haven't had chance to try one myself yet. I was a little disappointed to find the rose scent as I have mentioned before I am not a fan of rose but would have liked the cherry one! I do like that this is completely natural and as a lip balm works well but the you can feel the shimmer in it on your lips which isn't nice. It does leave your lips soft but the balm feels rough on your lips which is strange and has put me off it to be honest. 

Next up the big disappointment, Paul Mitchell Curl Duo- Leave-In Treatment and Beachy Texture Cream-Gel (Leave-in treatment full size 200ml, £14.95, 15ml included and Texture cream-gel full size 150ml, £11.95, 15ml included). I don't understand why I would have been sent this when I stated on the beauty profile that I have fine, straight hair. My hair won't curl without curlers so these are of no use to me. They might be lovely for someone that has wavy hair but just aren't suitable for my hair. Well done Glossybox. 

Finally, Q Body Spray (full size £2.29). This is quite nice and smells very florally, which I'm not usually too keen on. This is probably the only product in the box which will get used up, other than the moisturiser, which is a shame. 

I am really disappointed with this months box and if it hadn't been my free box from redeeming my Glossydots, I think I would be tempted to cancel my subscription. I have loved every other box so far which makes me think this may be a one off but I'm really surprised how poor this box is. I don't mind a few body products but really just want the make-up so this really let the box down for me. Hopefully next months box will make up for this one or I might consider making that my last! I think its a shame the majority of the box value came from the moisturiser and the other samples were relatively cheap boring bits.

Did you get a Glossybox this month? Was yours as rubbish as mine, or would you have liked this one?

British Nail Bloggers Giveaway!

My little blog is only a baby and as yet I don't have too many followers. I was intending to put together a little collection of some of my favourite polish brand to offer as a giveaway prize in a couple of months time, but I couldn't resist joining in when I saw a group giveaway suggested on the British Nail Bloggers page!

The prizes are fantastic! There is a total of $250 up for grabs! This will be split into three prizes which are being offered as gift certificates to be spent at the nail e-tailer of your choice! 

1st prize - $100

3x runner up prizes - $50 

The giveaway is open internationally and will run until 8pm on Friday the 28th June. You can earn a huge amount of entries by following the blogs on the list- the more you follow the better your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck! :)

NOTD: Summer Dotty Flowers

I know things have been a little quiet around here lately and NOTD posts are getting a little old, but it is about all I can find time for at the moment. 3 weeks into my new job and with two weeks to go until my dissertation draft is due, I am beginning to feel a little stressed out and my baby blog has had to take a back seat until things calm down. I am getting settled at work though and as soon as my dissertation has gone I will have a little more time to spend on some more interesting posts, so just bear with me until then!

This week though, it has finally started to feel like summer is coming! I am so glad as I love the sun and could quite happily live somewhere much warmer than England. I hate having to wear coats and the bright weather brings out a much happier me. My mood always seems to reflect on my choice of nail polish, so I found myself reaching for some of the new Barry M Summer 2013 Gellys. I managed to grab a couple of these a little early and they will get a post of their own but I wanted them for a flowery design today.

I used Prickly Pear as a base with Passion Fruit for the petals and Mango for the centre of the flower. I love the contrast between these colours and as for quality, the new shades don't disappoint. I can't actually imagine not using Gelly polishes now, they have to be my favourite polish range and for the price they are such amazing quality. The shade range keeps growing and I keep adding to my collection. Barry M are onto a winner here and I hope they carry on expanding this range.

I really love these summery flowers and it was so simple to create. I just used my dotting tool to first create the petals with four dots and pulled these in together with a single dot in the centre. The one thing I always seem to do though, is put top coat on at least one nail before its completely dry and smudge it. This design has lasted a good three days without much chipping, another bonus of using the Barry M Gellys!

Have you tried a flower design like this? I love using the Gelly polishes for nail art!

NOTD: Claire's Accessories Leather Effect Polish

I posted the other day here about my bargain haul of £1 nail polishes from Claire's Accessories. I couldn't resist picking up a couple at such a bargain price and I was really impressed with the range of different effects they stocked.
These are the ones I managed to limit myself to buying, and the pink speckle is show on the post linked above. I love how similar it is to Nails Inc's Sprinkle effect and I'm hoping the blue will be as good.

I have to say the leather effects were the ones I was most excited to try, and couldn't actually believe that they stocked. them I never really took much notice of Claire's before and didn't realise they had such an amazing nail polish range. I mean, leather effects for £1? Seriously? I hadn't wanted to splash out £12 on a Nails Inc Leather Polish but I have been seriously lusting after Shoreditch Lane, so the burgundy leather had to be mine!

Just for a little comparison: left- Seventeen Rock Hard Nail Effects, right- Nails Inc Shoreditch Lane (Picture with permission of Charlotte from soyoubeauty).

Although the Claire's polish is a little lighter and slightly more textured, for a difference of £11 I am so impressed with this polish! I do think these are very similar in texture to the Seventeen Rock Hard polishes which I also loved. I did actually get asked by one of my friends if I was wearing the Nails Inc one though, so they are close enough for me! 

I love that these polishes were only £1 and I'll  be watching out for new offers or effects that Claire's might stock in the future as I would still have happily paid £4 for this one! I got a good three days wear out of this with only the tiniest amount of chipping on the tips, so they really are good value for money and if like me you aren't happy to pay out over a tenner for a single polish, then I'd give these a go!

Did any of you manage to grab a few £1 polishes? I'm so glad I did!