Wednesday 28 December 2011

Lush Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic

I realise I've been a terrible blogger, but I've been ill with pneumonia for two months, and have had no motivation at all to sit down and write a decent post. I'll try to make up for it!

In light of that, this post it a bit late, as it features a Lush Christmas product. And a lovely product it was at that!

A golden present that jingles, and has stars inside. What more could you ask for? I have nothing but good things to say about this, so instead of gushing, I'll just show you what it looks like.













I cannot speak highly enough of this bath bomb, I love love love it.


Christmas beauty haul

This is the first haul I've ever done, and it's only a little one compared to some I've seen floating around! I only had the chance to take iPhone photos, so please excuse the quality. Here goes...


E.L.F. cream blush. I used this today and I really love it. I thought it might have been too pink, but it's just right.


Barry M Nail Effects in Black Magic Crackle.



Lipsy Nighttime Goddess palette.


Nail art kit (Konad rip off, but it's essentially exactly the same).


A glass nail file. I've never used one before, are they any good?


No7 polishes in Violetta, Beautifully Black and Betty Blues. The photos don't do these colours justice, so I'll post swatches when I get around to wearing them. Betty Blues is particularly gorgeous.


OPI polishes in Green-wich Village and Dating a Royal. I love both these colours, particularly DaR. They're creme colours, which is great, because I do tend to go for more shimmery polishes.


E.L.F. Beauty School 32 piece eyeshadow palette Volume 1. I used this today also, and I love it. The photos make the colours look quite pink, but in actual fact, there is a great mix of creams, browns and blacks. Ranging from very light to very dark, and from completely matte to very shimmery/glittery. There are even a couple matte colours which have glitter in them. Gorgeous.

On top of these lovely gifts, I was completely spoiled by my amazing friend Matt with these presents:


A Lush gift set. The name escapes me at the moment and I feel stupid. I'll edit when I remember ha.


A set of nail art brushes.


My very first MAC lipstick! It's in Patisserie, and I think it might have just become my favourite lipstick.


And Chanel's Peridot nail polish. I seriously would have been happy if this was the only present I got!

Also, not pictured, my mum gave me a set of mini glitter nail polishes from Claire's, a nice 17 blue nail polish and a set of make up brushes.

I'm so grateful to my friends and family for such lovely things.

What was your favourite gift this Christmas?

Thursday 1 December 2011

And the winner is...

Emilee94!
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Congratulations! I’m about to send you a message. Please make sure you respond within 48 hours, or another winner will be chosen :)
Thank you to everyone who entered. There will be more giveaways in the future, so watch this space! 

Monday 21 November 2011

Lush bath ballistic - Phoenix Rising

When I heard about this product, before I'd even seen it, I fell in love with it. Purple is my favourite colour, I love shiny things and phoenixes are pretty awesome. What's not to love?

Then I heard that it sinks to the bottom of the bath, and rises again, revealing a green centre. Even more love.

Then I saw it, and let me tell you, it is just beautiful.



See what I mean?

The Lush website says that it will "release gentle shea butter, cocoa butter and jojoba oil to leave your skin feather-soft. Exotic essential oils of fruit and spices take your mind on a flight of fancy to distant shores where you are lying on a beach drinking spiced rum."


The fragrance is quite musky, but it's not overpowering, and doesn't linger too long.


I'll be honest and say that once I put this in the bath, I was a bit disappointed. The colour is really beautiful, and perfectly matches the walls of my purple bathroom. But I didn't really see any sinking, or the green centre. 



I'm not sure if it came from a duff batch, or maybe I left it too long after buying it. The fragrance and colour of this bath ballistic are enough to make me think that I'll buy it again, and I'd definitely love to see if a different one would work better according to Lush's description.


Have you tried this one? What did you think?



Wednesday 9 November 2011

Giveaway!

Beauty on a Budget giveaway!
I never thought I would reach 50 followers on this blog. I know 50 is insignificant compared to others, but I am thrilled. So I wanted to do a little giveaway to say thank you to you all. 
The prizes: 
  • Batiste dry shampoo in Blush
  • Model’s Own ‘smash up’ nail polish in silver
  • Rimmel 60 Seconds nail polish in ‘850 Hard Edged’
  • Rimmel Stir It Up eye shadow in ‘300 Sure…’
  • Revlon Mix & Mingle lip palette in ‘270 Tango with Mango’
  • PLUS 2 items of your choice from the Lush Christmas range (excluding gift sets)
The rules:
  • You must be following this blog
  • To enter, just comment on this post with your Google Friend Connect username, and your email address so I can contact you if you win.
  • For an extra entry, follow my Tumblr, and reblog the giveaway post.
  • This giveaway is open internationally
  • I will be choosing a winner on the 1st December. The winner will be announced here, on my Tumblr and will be contacted. They will have 48 hours to respond, or I will choose another winner.
Good luck, and thanks again!

Tuesday 1 November 2011

17 eyeshadow trio - Enraged

I've had this for a while, but I'm an eternal procrastinator, so have only just got around to writing this post.


This eyeshadow trio is part of the autumn/winter collection, and goes perfectly with their Fury nail polish. The colours are quite pigmented, and super sparkly, so although they would work during the day, they're perfect for a bit of night time glamour.


The trio costs £5.49, which in itself is pretty good value, but 17 also have an offer on at the moment. When you buy two products, you get the Femme Noir set for free:

It includes an eye shadow, liquid liner and lipgloss. So, it's a perfect excuse to treat yourself to something nice, or get a couple Christmas gifts for someone special and keep the free gift for yourself.


Monday 31 October 2011

Happy Halloween!

This will actually be my third Halloween manicure, which is pretty good going for someone who doesn't really care either way for the holiday.

My first was well over a month ago, and it wasn't intended to be Halloween inspired, the colours just happened to come out that way.

The second, I attempted at the weekend, and it was a disaster. The colours were great and the concept was cute, it just did not work out at all. So, I thought I'd try again today.


I used a lime green from Claire's Accessories (it really annoys me that they don't have names), a Model's Own nail art pen in black and a cheap white nail polish. And here's what I came up with:



I originally intended for it to be a take on Frankenstein's monster, but I think he ended up looking more like a ghoul or zombie. Either way, I actually really like this manicure. It's the first time I've used the nail art pen, I've only ever used a dotting tool to do really basic designs before, so I'm quite happy with the outcome.

Have you done a special manicure for Halloween?


Wednesday 26 October 2011

First attempt at a tape manicure



It’s by no means perfect, but not bad for a first try. IIf nothing else, I certainly worked out what I need to do differently when I try it again.
Next time I’ll definitely have a colour for the base coat, rather than a neutral.
Used:
Boots Natural Collection - Peach Manicure
Accessorize - Goddess
Claire’s sparkly top coat
Sally Hansen Double Duty top coat

Sunday 23 October 2011

Note to self: Impatience ruins cute nails




I wanted something quite neutral but fun at the same time, so I decided to use Barry M's black and Peach Melba to create dots of opposing colours on each hand, then added a matte top coat.

I would have really loved this manicure if I'd have had more patience. I didn't let the dots dry completely before applying the top coat, and some of them streaked a bit.

17 - Fury & Barry M - Black




In the bottle, Fury looks like it could be a cheap dupe for Chanel’s Peridot. In reality, it’s a much richer gold with no hint of green.
It’s a beautiful colour, but a terrible, thick formulation which I found gathered at the end of my nails. So I got a dotting tool and painted a row of dots along the edge.
It didn’t turn out like I’d hoped. Mainly because for reasons unknown, I was shaking like a leaf. But it’s a half decent manicure that I’ll probably keep on for a few days.


Edit:


I took this photo the following day, and as you can see, it has this weird grainy finish that I’ve never seen before. I emailed Boots, who make 17 products, and they assured me this isn’t a problem in general, I must have been unlucky enough to pick up a dud bottle.
Has anyone else had, or heard of this problem?