NOTD: Ibiza Mix over Snow White

So the sun has been out for the past few days and I am loving it. Aside from a tiny bit of sunburn life is pretty much perfect. The amazing weather has made me finish the 4 week process of Renunails a week early just so I can use glitter and neon nail polish.

This is 1 coat of Models Own Ibiza Mix layered over 2 coats of Models Own Snow White. Models Own is quicky becoming my favourite drugstore brand for nail polish.

I love that the glitter in Ibiza Mix is pastel making it different from other multicoloured glitters I have seen.

Complete side note but look how pretty the sky is :)

Sorry for the lack recently but more posts soon. Promise.

Recent Nail Polish Aquisitions

First things first, sorry I haven't been posting recently. Its exam time again which means I spend most of my time revising (or procrastinating to avoid revising). This paired with the fact that when I'm stressed I bite my nails and I can pretty much kiss blogging anything goodbye.
But it was my birthday last wednesday and my wonderful friend Rosie (here!) got me some nail polishes. Also being the nail polish fiend that I am, I recently picked up two for myself.
Rosie gave me the 2 on the left: Maxfactor's Fantasy Fire and Models Own Ibiza Mix and I picked up Models Own Snow White and Hedonist (the 2 on the right).

 Fantasy Fire is amazing, just look at all the different colours of shimmer. In different lights it has reddish shimmer, green shimmer, gold shimmer all suspended in a royal purple/blue base. Its love. Only downside is the bottle is so small :(. Gonna have to drag this one out.

Ibiza Mix is amazing, I never got Happy Birthday from Deborah Lippmann or Rainbow Connection by OPI but thats all okay now that I have this. Might have to buy another bottle as a back up... It consists of multicoloured and multisized hexagonal glitter in a clear base.

On the left is Hedonist, a neon coral/red shade which I have on my toes at the moment. I layered 2 coats of it over 1 coat of Snow White. I have read that to make neons really glow layering them over white helps. Snow white is a repurchase, this is my third bottle, I use it in a lot of nail looks - especially water marbling.

I promise I will have proper reviews and swatches when my nails are long again.. give it a month :)

p.s. To all those doing exams, good luck!!!

Review: Simple Hydrating Light Moisturiser

I know its been a while since my last post, exams are coming up and its my birthday next week, revising and organising a 90s themed birthday party is taking up more time than I anticipated.

While I have been using my Clinique Moisturising Gel  for ages, it ran out recently and I find this in my bathroom cupboard. I was planning on using this for a few days until after the first day, I found it was working just as well, if not better than the Clinique.

A quick run down of the back of the bottle shows that it contains pro-vitamin B5 and vitamin E, glycerin and borage seed oil. I have tried several Simple products in the past and one thing that I like most about their products is that there are no colours or perfumes. I like their philosophy of not using any unnecessary or harsh chemicals on your skin, especially seeing as I have quite sensitive skin.

For one, it is more moisturising than the Clinique. I need literally the smallest amount (ss shown in the picture above) and it moisturises the whole of my face and it feels soft all day. You can't really see it in the picture, and honestly I didn't even notice until I took these pictures, that there is the slightest pearl finish to the lotion and I'm not really sure what this is meant to do to be honest. Another way it beats the Clinique moisturiser is the price, it costs £3.79 compared to £28. One thing, it doesn't sink into the skin as quick as the Clinique but at the same time it sinks in quickly compared to other drugstore moisturisers I've tried.

Now that I've tried this and fallen in love with it, I know for a fact I will repurchase it when it runs out. I seriously recommend this to anyone who feels like trying out a new moisturiser.

NOTD: Holographic Purple over Lilac

So this is my 4th nail post in a row... OH WELL :)

I used an Avon Nailwear Pro polish in Luxe Lavender (now that they have come out with their new nail polish line I'm not sure if this polish is available) which is a cool toned lilac. I was going to wear this alone but saw my Bourjois polish in 18 which is a holographic glitter.

I really like how this turned out and got quite a few compliments on it (in fact a few of my friends used the glitter over their nail polishes and it looks great on so many different colours). I have used this over black and really liked how that turned out as well.

NOTD: Topshop Moonshine

And yet another nail polish post.. beginning to think this might be my forte haha.

Today I am wearing my favourite polish from Topshop, and my all time favourite metallic polish, Moonshine. It is a champagney, pink, silvery/gold colour which in some lights can look a little lilac.
For a metallic polish it doesn't leave bad streak marks although I do advise wrapping your tips otherwise it shows pretty badly.

 No flash

Flash

Formula is great, not too thick or thin, almost a one coater and lasts about 2 days without top coat before chipping.

I have used this polish in two of my previous nail looks and am going to panic when it runs out because it isn't available on the Topshop website anymore :(

NOTD: Revlon's Cherries In The Snow

This is something a bit different than usual for me.... Nail polish without any design or glitter. Just a plain old creme nail polish.

Cherries In The Snow was the first Revlon polish I ever brought and this is my second bottle. Its a cherry red although in dim lighting just looks like a dark red-scarlet polish.
As with all Revlon polishes the formula is great, albeit slightly thin, 1 coat is almost opaque - if you applied a thick coat 1 would probably be enough. I used 2 for the photo.

It feels really odd to have plain and simple nails, I keep feeling like there should be something more to them. But thinking I should stay off the polish/crazy designs for a while so I can get used to wearing just one colour on my nails again.

NOTD: Glitter Tips

These are a few of the nail looks I have been wearing recently. They are pretty similar. The only way they differ is the base colour.

For both looks I used Paul & Joe's Confetti polish (which has unfortunately been discontinued) mainly on the tips then slowly working it up. I love the really tiny, multi-coloured glitter in this and layered alone it looks quite subtle.

Here I used Barry M's Strawberry IceCream as the base polish. I needed 3 coats but the formula was alright - it didn't go on streaky but with 2 coats there was visible nail line.

The next polish I used as a base was Revlon's Smoky Canvas. I love this polish, the formula is great, a little thin but 1 coat gave opaque coverage. While I used 1 coat here, I tend to like to use 2 coats of any polish if I am wearing it alone.

I really like the fine glitter graduating up the nail from the tip, its very easy to do but manages to look like you have put a lot of time and effort into your nail polish.

Hair Care Routine

Sorry for my lack of posting. Been pretty busy this week with going back to school and all and somehow blogging slipped to the back of my mind.

As promised I have a post completely non-nail polish related for you. Now if you told me 2 years ago that I would be using products specifically designed for dry hair I wouldn't have believed you. I used to have really long, incredibly thick and curly hair (cue very embarassing picture below) that while sometimes got curly, was never dry and used to be prone to oiliness.

 And this is what my hair now looks like. As you can see its a lot thinner and has magically turned straight with a slight wave. Now I honestly have no idea how this happened, but I think it might be a combination of heat damage and a change in my hormones which have caused it. It is also pretty dry now, especially at the ends. I have had to keep it short to stop it looking straggly although I intend on growing it long when it starts to get thicker and healthier again.

 

Now that the ramble is over, here are the products I am using currently.


First up is Herbal Essences Hello Hydration Shampoo and Conditioner. It has coconut and hawaiin orchids and smells unbelievably nice. These are my second bottles, I love how well the shampoo lathers up and cleans very thoroughly without stripping it. While I do love these, I am considering investigating in some Percy and Reed, or maybe Ojon or Kerastase (recommendations are gladly welcomed).

I got this as a sample in a Glamour magazine and LOVE it. It has blueberry extract, grape seed oil, sweet almond oil and alo vera gel. It moisturises really well and I literally need about a 50p sized blob for my hair. The only downside is the smell, while not bad it doesn't smell as good as the Herbal Essences. Strongly considering buying this in full size.

Lastly is the Tresemme Argan Oil Glossing Spray. This doesn't moisturise at all really, although it does a good job at smoothing down fly aways and giving it a glossy shine without weighing it down at all. I spray two pumps onto my hand and then work it into my hair, ends first and then working my way up. 

And thats it. To be honest I will probably have a an updated one up in a few months or so.

Next post will of course be about nail polish.. what can I say - I'm an addict :).