Drool Britannia!

Hi!

I was feeling uninspired the other day looking through my untrieds (I really should destash...) and this pretty glitter jumped out at me. Lilypad Lacquer Drool Britannia was a limited edition polish made for British nail bloggers, organised by the lovely Sally from Sally Magpies. It was a while ago that we designed and got them, but I've never been sure on a base colour and so it's sat in the drawer waiting for it's day. I decided to pair it with a nice bright pink, Miami from the Boots Seventeen Supreme Shine range. The two went nicely together, the pink base meaning that none of the red, white and blue (and holo!) glitter got lost. I did actually stamp over this too, but it was quite late at night and I was a little bit tipsy... I finished my stamping and decided that before I would topcoat I wanted a sandwich (as you do when you're drunk), and once I had finished my sandwich I looked down and the stamping was more or less gone! It had just flaked off! That's never happened to me before, I quite often wait a while between stamp and topcoat. I swear I wasn't that drunk that I thought I stamped and didn't...

At least I got pictures before the mystery disappearing stamping because it pretty much ruined it! In future, I will either have my drunken midnight snack before I start or topcoat straight away!

Hx

An InLinkz Link-up

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Studded Skittlette - Born Pretty Store Review

Hi!

It's been a while, again! We all know technology hates me, and my camera decided it wasn't going to transfer the pics I'd lovingly taken with it onto my computer. But I threatened it with a sledgehammer bought a new USB cable and it seems to be working again...

So, I'm back with a rather kick-ass mani, even if I do say so myself! The lovely Daisy from Born Pretty Store sent me an awesome nail art wheel full of studs to play with, so play I did! The wheel contains 12 little compartments, each containing a handful of studs of various shapes, sizes and colours. The lid turns so you can take out one group of studs at a time, which is useful if you're clumsy like me because if you dropped it you'd only be chasing around one compartments worth of tiny studs!

I like the variety I got in my wheel. There are: 3 different square studs (silver, gold, and a slightly smaller bronze colour), 4 different round studs (tiny gold one, medium black ones and larger ones in silver and gold),  rings in silver and gold, large silver stars, gold hearts and gold petal shapes. I think the stars might be a little big for my nails, but you can use these to decorate practically anything, not just nails.

I decided to create a skittle mani using some of the gold square studs and neutral colours. For this manicure the polishes I used were Color Club Nomadic In Nude, Seventeen Rock Hard Nail Effects Grey (textured polish), Beauty UK Slate Grey and a black striper. I used topcoat to attach the studs, although you could also use nail glue (I can never manage to not stick my fingers together though...)

As you can see, I can fit 4 of these studs down the length of my middle nail, which I was pleased with. I loved the finished look and got lots of compliments :) Look out for these in lots of future looks because I loved it and they were so easy to work with! They're a bit heavier than glequins or normal rhinestones, so I did have to be a bit more cautious when placing them, but so worth it. And as I was able to remove them carefully with an orange stick, I'll be able to use them again!

The studs are available from Born Pretty Store here for just $4.89, and they have a huge range of other studs and nail art goodies too. And of course you can use my discount code NBL91 for a further 10% off - and delivery is free to! Huzzah!

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October Favourites

Evenin'

I gave my nails a break and kept on my blue mani for an extra day, so today I have my October favourites for you. I didn't buy an awful lot this month, due to being penniless! So there are just a few bits that I've picked up or rediscovered that I'm loving.

Polish first, of course!

2true Fast Dry Colour Quick Shade 10, 17 Magnetised Green, China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Accessorize Baby Blue

My favourite mani this month (although I didn't like the formula of the base colour)

17 Fast Dry Fury, Stamped with 2True Fast Dry Colour Quick Shade 8, Maybelline Orange Couture and  BM04. Full post here.

Brunette eyebrow pencil by Vital Radiance, Beauty UK Pearl Eyeliner in Eclipse, Garnier BB Cream in Light, Rose and Co Apothecary Rose Petal Salve

I always used to use a matte eyeshadow to fill my eyebrows when I needed it - which wasn't very often - but I saw this eyebrow pencil in Poundland and thought I'd try it. Now I know what a difference it can make to "do" your eyebrows. It makes my whole face look more defined and really frames my eyes.I don't do it everyday, but when I'm doing my "full face" or a strong eye it completes the look.

I now have 5 of Beauty UK's pearl eyeliners and can't recommend them enough. I got Eclipse as an "extra" from a blog sale and love it. It's a very dark slate grey and is great for lining a smokey eye.

I wasn't sure about buying a BB cream from Garnier - at £9.99 it's a lot more than I'd usually pay for foundation or tinted moisturiser, so I sent off for a sample to try it. The first time I used it I used way too much and ended up super shiny and felt like my make-up was sliding around my face all day. The next time I made sure I used it over primer and didn't use as much and it was much better. Somewhere in between a foundation and tinted moisturiser is perfect coverage for me as I have good skin and barely ever get spots, but have a few uneven patches of colouration and freckles. I'm still not sure if I would buy this for a tenner, but it's on offer in Tesco at the moment for £8, or I might try 17's one for £5.99 next time I'm in Boots.

I got the Rose and Co Apothecary Rose Petal Salve in my October Boudoir Prive box and it is fast replacing my Lemony Flutter as my favourite cuticle treatment. It doesn't have the grainy texture of lemony flutter and turns into more of an oil on the skin. I even use this on my lips (I do this with Lemony Flutter too). I wasn't sure if the scent would put me off but it just reminds me of Turkish Delight. I'm not a great fan of Turkish Delight, but it's bearable! And makes my lips feel great. I want to try their Cherry Salve too, but I will wait until I've finished this one and the Lemony Flutter (which I feel is never gonna happen since it's HUGE!)

L'Occitiane Shea Hand Cream Hibiscus Flower, Original Shea, Desert Rose, Kleenex Facial Cleansing Wipes

Last month in Marie Claire they were giving away a L'Occitiane Shea Hand Cream in four different "flavours" (am I the only one who calls scents and varieties of beauty products "flavours"? You wouldn't eat it...). I picked up the original shea butter first, and when I used it almost all up within 2 weeks I picked up two more! Yes, I bought 3 copies of the same magazine...and still haven't read it! I can honestly say that it's the best hand cream I've ever used and my hands and nails have felt so much better, especially now the weather is getting cold - which is tough on my hands. If I don't get a huge bucket of this stuff under the Chrimbo tree I will be buying one in the new year!

I am a facial wipe fan, and these ones from Kleenex are really good. Apparently Kleenex as a company started as a way for women to remove make-up, so their new range is going back to their roots. These wipes are soft and quilted, so they're strong and don't make my skin feel dry and I don't feel like I have to scrub at my eyes to get my mascara off!

So, there are my faves of the month. I am on a self imposed spending ban so Novembers favourites will be things I'm rediscovering and digging out from the stash! The spending ban wont be too hard I think, there are only 2 polishes that I think I want (Barry M's Croc Effect crackle and the green/gold one from the Models Own Beetlejuice collection) but I can hold off on those since I don't have a place for them in my 31 day challenge! And then December will be all about Christmas, so maybe my faves for that month will come from Mr Claus!

What have you been loving this month? I tell you I'm not loving this cold weather! Am avoiding putting the heating on for as long as possible...it's chilly in here I tell you!

Hx

PS This post meant to go up last night, but it seems I neglected to hit "publish". Ooopsie! The 31 day challenge will resume this evening!

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NOTD - 17 Magnetised in Grey

Hi loves!

Sorry my posts are a bit sporadic at the moment, technology hates me. I usually bluetooth pics from my camera to my laptop as the cable stopped working, but now the bluetooth on my laptop has stopped working too. So, I was bluetoothing the pics from my camera to my phone, and then uploading to my laptop from there. BUT now the cable for my phone has stopped working too. It charges my phone, but it wont send data. Grr. So now, I'm bluetoothing photos from camera to phone, and then emailing them to myself to get them on the computer. Can you say long-winded? What's worse is that the emails take FOREVAH to come through. I'm writing this post at 4.30pm and I emailed myself the pictures at 11pm last night and they're still not here (Actually now about 47 hours ago and they're still not here...nicked the BF's lappy, then emailed myself from there. LeSigh.). I have ordered a new bluetooth dongle for the lappy, and as soon as it arrives normal service will be resumed!

Anywho, I have the Grey Boots 17 magnetised polish to show you today. This and the green are my favourite, followed closely by the purple Nails Inc one. The blue 17 one is pretty enough, but was a bit trickier formula wise, and gave a more subtle effect. I'll wear it again soon to show you. I desperately want the red one from FashionistA, and a little birdie tells me they'll be in selected Superdrugs from Wednesday, and hopefully on the Superdrug website Monday or Tuesday. Plus, Superdrug has free delivery until Christmas, so although their website is a bit rubbish it's worth a look!

I held the magnet the other way round for this manicure, giving me vertical stripes instead of horizontal, and I think it makes my nails look long and elegant. This is one coat over one coat of Collection2000 Hot Looks All That Jazz, which matches almost perfectly (there's a swatch of that too). I really love the effect this polish gives, it really looks three dimensional! I think I need a brown/bronze one of these, it'd look just like a tigers eye stone - amazeballs!

Collection 2000 Hot Looks All That Jazz as the base

Have you got your paws on any magnetised polish yet? Do you love it as much as me?

Hx

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NOTD - Autumn leaves

Hi!

I'm going to try to make this quick, since I was meant to be in bed half an hour ago!

I picked up one of Boots 17's new Autumn polishes in Fury, because I loved the colour. It's similar to Chanel Peridot but not a dupe. Anyway, for some reason the 17 Fast Finish polishes don't play nice with me and 2 coats were bubble city and looked awful. I took it off after a day and chucked Fury in my polish drawer in disgust. But I couldn't help thinking what a nice autumn colour it is, and then I looked through my stamping plates and thought this up. This time I used one coat of Fury and although it wasn't qite opaque it didn't bubble as badly. There were a few bubbles but it wasn't as bad as the first time. I used 2True Fast Dry shade 8 and Maybelline Orange Couture to stamp the leaf pattern from BM04. The 2true polish stamped really well, but the Maybelline wasn't as opaque, just giving a subtle effect.

I'm quite annoyed that Fury doesn't like me. It's a really pretty almost duochrome true gold that leans slightly coppery and greeny at times. Maybe I'll add some thinner to it and see if that helps.

Have you ever had a problem with 17 Fast Finish polishes? Peacock didn't play nice with me either. The Lasting Fix and Supreme Shine polishes are fine, but the Fast Finish polishes are much prettier colours. Any suggestions?

Hx

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NOTD - Boots 17 Magnetised Nail Polish in Green

Ok, so you know I wasn't spending anything in September...well technically these 4 polishes came under the opportunity not to be missed category. First up, I'm sure you've heard of the Site BuyaPowa by now (if not sBudgetBeauty has a great explanation here). Basically, you join a co-buy and have the chance to get an item at a much reduced price (because buying in bulk is cheaper). They were running a deal on Nails Inc's new magnetic polish in Houses of Parliament (purple) and as 100 people signed up for the co-buy we all paid £7 instead of the usual £13 with free postage. Bargain, or so I thought.

I'd eyed up the Boots 17 magnetic polishes and when I won a £10 Boots evoucher for painting my face like a pokeball in Klayer's make-up contest and I knew what I wanted. Since I'd got the purple Nails Inc polish I got the green, blue and silver (3 for 2 ;) ) and had to pay £2 plus postage with my £10 evoucher. They all came on the same day and as soon as I got them I swatched them on my grubby paws over the polish I was wearing. The effect was WOW and as soon as I saw it I loved it, but then I noticed something. Both bottles are exactly the same! There is not one discernible difference that I can see, apart from the labels. The magnets are the same, the size and shape of the bottle, brush and cap and the design on the detachable magnet cap - exactly the same. How can Nails Inc charge £13 for a polish that Boots is charging £5.99 for? I'm willing to bet Houses of Parliament is the same colour as the Boots Lilac magnetised polish too, although I don't have the two to compare. I've also heard new brand FashionistA are bringing out a magnetic polish line, available in Superdrug. They have more colours, though they're priced at £6 or £7 a bottle, and you buy the magnet separately for £3. They look exactly the same too...

Anyway, on to the manicure. I used Boots "Green" magnetised polish (I have the Nails Inc on my toes but can't get a good pic). First I used a coat of a Miss Sporty polish in a similar colour, so I wouldn't get it opaque without "wasting" the magnetised polish on two coats. When applying the magetised polish you have to do each nail at a time, so polish the nail and hold the magnet over while it is still wet before moving onto the next nail. As soon as you hold the magent over the particles in the polish "jump" to form the pattern, but you should hold the magnet for 10-15 seconds to set it. The longer you hold the magnet over the crisper the image will be. And if you don't like the pattern you get or you mess up, you can just paint another coat on and try again!

Identical!

I lurve this polish. You know I love shatter? Yeah, magnetic polish is the new crack-le. See what I did there? *insert tumbleweeds* Ok, I'll shut up. But seriously, I need as many colours as I can get my paws on and as many different magnet shapes as I can too. But Boots definitely wins over Nails Inc, for the insane price difference alone.

Have you tried magnetic effect polish yet? Will you?

Hx

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NOTD - New Boots 17 Crackle Topcoat

Hullo!

Just a quick post tonight to show you this new crackle polish from 17 at Boots. They already had a mediocre gold crackle topcoat (which you can see here and here), and now they've released a purple and, most exciting for me, a black with gold glitter! Seriously I nearly wee'd a little bit when I saw it (ahem, I do have a life, kind of...) The purple is pretty, with a kind of golden shimmer to it by the looks of the bottle, so I don't have anything like it and I'm sure I'll be adding it to my extensive crackle collection shortly, but I had to have the black one. Here it is layered over China Glaze Peace on Earth, a yummy golden metalic olive green that I've had for ages and never worn. Shame on me, it's lovely. I left the ring finger plain, coz you know how I love me an accent nail.

Odd texture at the tip of my ring finger here...not visible IRL

I do like this combo, I think it looks kinda snakeskin-esque, and the topcoat crackles well, but I wish I'd put a more visible colour underneath. I bought No 7 Poolside blue (with my £5 off No 7 voucher which is Boots current promotion) and the OH said on the way home I should put the crackle over that. I didn't agree but I wish I had now. Oh well, you live and learn.

Talking of Boot's promotions, thought I'd just mention just some of the ones I saw while I was there. If you buy 2 things costing over £4 from Collection 2000 you get a third free, there's the No 7 £5 voucher when you spend a certain amount (£5 I think?) and with any two purchases of 17 products you get a free Summer Nudes palette, consisting of two eyeshadows, a lip colour and a cream blush. It's actually a nice sturdy little palette, I picked up my polish and a lipstick for £2.29 (also on offer - the original price is about £3) and got the palette free. Bargainous.

Picture credit - boots.com

So, I said this would be a short post but I've rambled on as usual. Happy Sunday everyone, I hope Monday treats you well!

Hx

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Bargain Haulage

Hello!

I'm sorry this post is later than I planned, for some reason the weekend went too fast and time was not on my side.

Anyway, I've been bargain/freebie hunting and this is what I've come up with!

First up, some freebies. In Boots at the moment when you buy two Dove Deodorants you get a free Nails Inc Nail Polish in either Copacabana (coral creme) or Havana (nude shimmer). I spent just under £8 on the deodorant (which is the brand I use anyway so they'll get used up) and got both polishes, worth £22 together. I have Copacabana on my toes at the moment, and it is more orange than it looks in the bottle.

Also in Boots, when you buy any two 17 products you get this mini nail bar in a bag free, containing two polishes, a nail file and some nail stickers. The polishes are Pink Grapefruit and Red something (which I already had but had gone rock solid!) I bought a polish in Peacock and a high shine lip gloss in Coral Queen to get this freebie, spending less than £7.50. I wanted a coral lipgloss anyway, but will have to keep looking as this one is just completely sheer :(

Now an ebay bargain, I was looking for a particular Collection 2000 colour tat is apparently good for stamping, but has been discontinued. I couldn't find the one I was looking for, but the orangey-coral polish in this set caught my eye. There was 30 minutes or so left in the auction, it had no bids with a start price of 99p + £2 postage so I bid £1.20 and won. The pink isn't really very me, but the other two are nice enough, and I wanted an orange shimmer as my few orange polishes are all cremes.

These 2 Barry M beauties are Peach Melba and Berry Ice Cream, which I got from the Barry M Website with a code for 15% off. With postage I paid a little more than you would in Boots or Superdrug, but I can never seem to find Peach Melba and there aren't any offers in either shop at the moment, so I went for it. After all, you can't beat a bit of Barry M :)

Hx

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Haul - the holo hunt is over...for now...

Hi!

I have been very restrained over the last few weeks. My last haul was on the 7th of May and until last week I hadn't bought any polish. I was aiming to not buy any until the wedding I went to was over, and I only bought two polishes before then. And I only did then to try and get a good silver stamping polish for the wedding, and the Miss Sporty polishes were on offer so I couldn't pass the other one up! Then, since I didn't spend as much as I thought over the weekend I treated myself over Monday and Tuesday and this is what I found.

 L-R: Miss Sporty Red Tango, Beauty UK Pink Explosion, Me Me Me Pin Up, Revlon Strawberry electric, 2true Shade 8, Miss Sporty New Black, Miss Sporty Blueberry (I think), Beauty UK Smokey Lilac, Primark (no name), Barry M Dusky Mauve, Barry M Mint Green, Marks and Spencer Rainbow, Collection 2000 Hot Looks BMX Bandit, 17 Lasting Fix Mint Choc Chip, Fine Detail brushes from The Works, Lush Ltd Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter

And the holo, in all it's glory. Sure, it's no GOSH holographic, but it's a linear holo and I lurve it. It's was £7.50 from M&S.

I wore it for a day travelling so didn't get any pictures, but I will wear it again soon!

This weekend I'm going on a hunt for the MUA crackles, and more Miss Sporty since they're two for £1.99 in Superdrug (I can't believe I've lost my Superdrug Beauty Card already *headdesk*) and I want to see which ones are good for stamping. Then I might possibly make a small china glaze order (just saw Lubu Heels swatched, OMGeez) and then calm down again! Although, apart from M&S Rainbow, none of the polishes cost more than £3, so I haven't been tooo naughty.....

Hx

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