Friday 25 January 2013

January Nails

I love trying out new nail looks! Here's some of the nails I've been rocking in January.



Top left - 'Chocolate & Gold' OPI You Don't Know Jacques! No7 Hot to Trot, Andrea Fullerton gold studs
Top right - 'Magnetic' Barry M magnetic polish in Multi Sparkle
Bottom left - 'Tiffany inspired' Essie Turquoise & Caicos, white nail art pen
Bottom right - 'Chevron' Topshop Nice n Neutral, Revlon Bewitching

I used Jessica Brilliance High Gloss top coat for all of these :)

If you have any fun nail art ideas, then leave them below! I love trying new ones.

Friday 18 January 2013

YSL Rouge Volupte - Opera Rose

  

YSL Rouge Volupte in Opera Rose


Over the past few months, the blogging world has gone mad for this high end lipstick. The YSL Rouge Volupte is undoubtedly one of the prettiest looking lipsticks I've ever come across! I'm a bit of a magpie when it comes to gorgeous, shiny things and this glamorous, gold product definitely draws you in. Its the perfect lipstick to display on your dressing table in all it's YSL glory. I also like how the shade is shown through the middle of the packaging, so you know which colour you're looking at before you open it.


 
I received this little beauty as a Christmas gift and I really chose carefully when it came to which shade I wanted. I was tempted to go for one of the nude shades, something I could use everyday but then I thought screw it! I'm going for a bright pink! So Opera Rose it was :)



I adore this lipstick. It's the perfect, luxurious gift but on the other hand I'm pretty sure I'll be paying £23.50 in the future to add another shade to my collection. It's the creamiest, smoothest lipstick I've ever used and that's no exaggeration! It glides onto your lips beautifully and is really well pigmented. As for staying power, I'd say it lasts for about 2 - 3 hours before needing to be reapplied, but I've only worn it without using a lip liner so I'm sure if I did apply lip liner first it'd last a bit longer.

So is it worth the hype - definitely! £23.50 is a hell of a lot of money to spend on one lipstick, but if you're looking for a gift or you just fancy treating yourself then you won't be disappointed. With the gorgeous packaging, the lovely range shades and the quality, it's worth every penny.

Monday 14 January 2013

It's All About The Golden Globes!

I've literally been glued to E! all morning watching the Golden Globe's red carpet coverage... Sorry Milan, no cbeebies today! It's all about the dresses, the hair and the flawless makeup.



Hayden Panettiere is such a natural beauty, she doesn't need an elaborate up do to look glamorous. The loose hair, fresh, girly makeup and this beautiful Roberto Cavalli dress are simply the perfect combination. I just love everything about this look. The hot pink clutch is the cherry on the cake.

Some more of my favourites...

Amy Adams in Marchesa
Julianne Hough in Monique Lhuillier
Jessica Alba in Oscar de la Renta


Emily Blunt is such a classic beauty in this gold lace Michael Kors dress, I love that she (well, her stylist) paired it with those purple earrings.


Nicole Richie is one of my fashion idols, I've always loved her style and she never gets it wrong in my book. She went for a splash of colour in this sky blue Naeem Khan embellished long sleeve dress and her hair looks so pretty in those soft curls. I love that she matched her eye makeup with the dress, it would've been easy to just keep the eyes neutral but as always she spiced things up a bit.

Undecided on this one...

Lucy Liu will definitely be the main topic of conversation in this Carolina Herrera dress, I'm leaning towards liking it with that stand out floral print, but I'm still on the fence. I feel like it drowns her slightly and I don't like the plait. Sorry Lucy!

In my opinion, second place for best dressed goes to the ridiculously beautiful Victoria Secret model and Orlando's better half, Miranda Kerr. Let's face it, she could wear a bin bag and we'd still be sick with envy. The face, the hair, that body... She rocks the red carpet in this burgandy Zuhair Murad floor sweeper and the matching berry lips just finish the whole look off. Stunning!

So 1st place had to go to JLo. For me, she steals the show in this Zuhair Murad crystal embellished mermaid dress. It's my favourite style of dress (hello future wedding gown!) It hugs her amazing figure in all the right places and it screams sexy and elegant! Her hair looks so old Hollywood and her makeup is simply perfect. Still trying to get over the fact that she's 43?? Seriously?! If I look like that in my 40's you'll have a hard job getting me out of a bikini.

So they're my favourites! Kate Hudson and Jennifer Lawrence also looked beautiful but I didn't want to overload you with photos :) however, I'll leave you with the hotness that is Bradley Cooper...wow that boy can work a tux! And ok since you insist, I'll throw in a bit of Leo just because the guy seems to get better with age. So handsome!

Saturday 12 January 2013

Favourite Products of 2012

Firstly and most importantly Happy New Year! I know it's a bit late to be saying it, but better late than never! Hope you're having a fabulous 2013 so far :)

2012 was a great year for me blog wise because back in April I set up my little corner of the blogosphere and started rambling about all things beauty related... Now I have almost 80 followers which makes me very happy :) the fact that you take a few minutes out of your day to read my blog posts really means a lot to me!
As most of you will probably agree, over spending comes with the blogging territory! I read so many fabulous blogs but my bank balance sobs as I add things to my beauty wishlist then decide I absolutely need these items and purchase them without a second's thought. On a positive note, this meant I found some amazing products last year, so let's dive straight into my favourites of 2012.


Makeup Brushes

Sigma F82 - The perfect brush for using with my Revlon Photoready Airbrush foundation (more on that in a minute...) it's quite a dense brush and blends so beautifully, creating a flawless finish. I have a few foundation brushes but to be honest I barely use any of the others now.
Real Techniques Blush brush - 2012 was a huge year for Real Techniques, I think every beauty blogger in the world will own at least one of these brushes! They're easy to get hold of, affordable and amazing quality. I use the blush brush for bronzer, it's soft and fluffy, easy to wash and I can see it lasting me a very long time.
Real Techniques contour brush - this is the perfect brush for highlighter, I use it pretty much everyday.

Top-Bottom: Sigma F82, RT blush brush, RT contour brush


Makeup

Maybelline gel eyeliner - in all fairness this is the only gel liner I've ever used so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I've absolutely fallen in love with it and I don't see the need to try any other brands! It's about £7 which is amazing and it just glides onto the eye so perfectly. I can get a really precise, smooth line using my Sigma E05 brush.
Naked palette - another hugely popular product. I reach for this constantly to achieve a neutral eye, there's just so many possibilities with this palette and although it's quite pricey it's worth it. I'm saving for the Naked 2!
Revlon Photoready airbrush foundation - I bought this after 2 of my favourite YouTubers (Chloe Morello & Carli Bybel) were using it, I wear the shade Nude and this has definitely taken pride of place as my every day foundation. It's creamy with a slight shimmer (not everyone's cup of tea) but when it's blended in, it really does create an airbrush finish.
eBay blush palette - I bought this back in the summer and it was a serious bargain at 99p. I love the range of colours and they're really well pigmented. Some cheaper blush products tend to be really powdery and can look a bit patchy on your skin but I don't have that problem at all with these. No different to a higher priced blush in my opinion and so handy to have all these colours in one palette.
Nars Chihuahua lipgloss - this was my first Nars purchase and it's a really beautiful dusky pink shade which is perfect for me. The staying powder isn't great which is a let down as its quite pricey but it's still one of my favourite glosses due to the colour. It's really creamy and shiny but not sticky at all and I can wear it with just about any make up look.
Revlon lip butters - A lot of people love these and a lot hate them but I'm definitely in the love camp :) I actually won about 12 of them in a twitter competition so I had a lot of shades to play with. My favourites are Strawberry Shortcake, Creme Brûlée and Peach Parfait.
Clinique bottom lash mascara - a relatively new find, but now I don't know what I ever did without it! It has a tiny brush that's perfect for applying mascara to your bottom lashes without any clumps or messy mistakes under your eyes. A must have for everyone! I'll be doing a full review on this little beauty so keep an eye out for that... 
Rimmel Stay Matte powder - another wonder product in the blogosphere, it's cheap, it gives my skin a smooth, matte finish and in my opinion its just as good if not better than high end pressed powders.
Maybelline Baby Lips in Grape Vine - I ordered a couple of these on eBay a few months ago as they're only available in the US. This one is a yummy purple lip balm that smells like grape juice and although it's reasonably sheer, it leaves a slight berry colour on my lips which I've been loving during winter. It also lasts ages! So no need to reapply every hour.
Ardell Natural Demi Wispies - one thing I love about these lashes is that I don't have to trim the width to fit my eye, which saves faffing about! I've tried lots of different strip lashes but these are just perfect for me for an evening out. They're pretty dramatic but because they're really wispy they still look quite natural. Love them!






Skin, Body & Hair Care

I tried quite a few different moisturisers and cleansers throughout the year and nothing really stood out to me, so I haven't included any, but I've chosen a couple of other great skin care products that I've been loving.

La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo - a very recent purchase but so far I'm really liking this. I apply it to areas where I have some slight scarring on my face and I can already see it reducing their appearance, I find it makes my skin smooth too and helps to soothe spots when they're feeling swollen.
Lush tea tree toner - I mentioned this in my 'beating breakouts' post, it really freshens up my skin and it's a great product to use when you're suffering with spots, the tea tree dries them up and I love the smell of this.
Soap & Glory Flake Away - hands down the best body exfoliator I've used! It really does the job when scrubbing away dead skin, it doesn't irritate the sensitive skin on my legs and I'm left with smooth, glowing skin. This is something I'll always repurchase.
Schwartzkof conditioning treatment - I saw this on one of Kayleigh's post from Couture Girl and after she raved about it I knew I had to try it. It costs just under £2 from Superdrug and I apply it to damp, towel dried hair. It's made my hair super soft and it was a great find for 2012 :)
Toni & Guy Sculpting Powder - This is a great product to use when you want big, voluminous (I think that's the right word!) hair for a night out. I sprinkle some at my roots after back combing to get even more volume. This is also small enough to pop in your clutch bag :)



Hope you enjoyed reading about my favourite products, I wanted to include nail polishes but I tried to keep it a relatively short post!
2013 is going to be an even bigger and better year for the beauty world and I can't wait to try out lots more exciting products :)
 
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