As many of you know, I started my apprenticeship on Thursday and it's already draining me, haha. Sorry for not really being around on Twitter and here and stuff, but they're taking the piss. They're expecting me to work a 46 hour week (9-5 Monday and Friday and 9-7 Tuesday to Thursday) for £95. Sorry what? I'm gonna have to try and get that sorted out at some point.
But anyway! I took my polish off the other day and had a really good look at my naked nails. Christ, they were disgusting. I mean they're always gonna be very stained but the tips were all ratty and peeling and just not really looking nice. So, I was really, really brave... and cut them all down! I seriously almost shed a little tear because I worked so hard keeping them that length but they were in such bad condition I didn't have an awful lot of choice. So now I'm back with shorties for a while until they grow some! They don't look too bad I guess, but it's harder to itch my legs through jeans! Hehe.
Sally Hansen Hard as Nails for basecoat, 2 coats China Glaze Something Sweet, flowers made with dotting tools and Color Club Alabaster, rhinestones from eBay I think, OPI Designer Series topcoat.
Speaking of OPI, I got Gargantuan Green Grape (finally) and Jade is the New Black last week. Does anyone want swatches? If so I'll try my best to get some done this week!
Also, don't forget about my Fairytale Nail Art Contest! Ends 6th April so you have just over a week left. There's also a part for those people who aren't into doing their own nail art!
Sorry for rambling, feeling so tired and scatterbrained at the moment! How are all of you doing? Had a good weekend? Talk to me :)
:: Freaking amaaazing water marble mani from Colette @ My Simple Little Pleasures!
:: Emma @ Birds Decorate Branches creates a really cool avant garde look with Kryolan Aquacolors.
:: Amazing post! Charlotte @ Lipglossiping mercilessly grills an anonymous BeneFit employee - great read!
:: Wahey! Sian @ Style is the Sixth Sense tries out BYS Glam Glitters on my recommendation! ;D
:: Did you see Pixiwoo's 'Dark Glossy Eyes' tutorial last week? Emma @ Just Another Beauty Blog has done an awesome recreation!
:: A couple of weeks ago I linked to you Makeup By Katy's brilliant Eyebrow Masterclass. She's done it again with this amazing Eyeliner Masterclass!
:: Charlotte @ Lipglossiping has a fantastic tutorial on how to press Barry M Dazzle Dusts and other pigments.
:: Yay, Claire @ Adorn & Adore gives us a sneak preview of some beautiful new nail art she's done.
:: Speaking of nail art, my nail BFF Kim (Dottie K) ;D recreated my flowers and dots mani and upstaged me. Check it the hell out!
Lately I've been trying to practice freehand nail art instead of relying on Konad all the time, and today I made a design I really liked using only dotting tools. If you're not sure what they are, let me assure you they are probably the most versatile and indispensable items you can have for nail art. Even if you're a total beginner, you can create some stunning designs with one of these like the one I'm showing you here. They're really inexpensive too, I got mine for £2.99 (free shipping) for 5 tools (with different sized heads for more varied sizes in dots) from PremiumPlaza on eBay. Incidentally this is also the store I got my nail art striper pens from ages ago, they're very quick to deliver if you're based in the UK.
Anyway! Since it was so super easy to create this design, I wanted to show you how. :) If you don't have dotting tools and for some CRAZY reason don't want to order any ;P, you can achieve a similar result with a very steady hand and the normal polish brush for the flower and a cocktail stick for the dots.
First of all you'll need to paint your base colour (or you might choose to do this straight onto your nails or over a French manicure, whatever you fancy!). I went for Barry M Grey here. Once that's dry, you can start on this bit!
When using dotting tools I always drop a blob of my chosen polish (this one is Model's Own Misty Grey) on a piece of paper to make life easier. This filthy red bit of paper is what I always use when dotting, Konading or freehand painting!
I only use one dotting tool for this whole design, the one with the largest head on it. So, I dip that into the polish and make 5 reasonably large dots in a circle, trying not to let them touch.
Very quickly, before the polish starts drying, flip the dotting tool over and use it's smaller head (most dotters are double ended) to drag each dot inwards to create the flower shape. Again, while the polish is still tacky, apply a rhinestone to the middle.
Still using the smaller head of the dotting tool, dip it into the blob of polish and create a curved line of dots like this from the top of the nail. As you can see the dots slightly decrease in size down the line - to achieve this with the same tool I just use a lighter hand as I go along, if you see what I mean.
Dip back into the polish and repeat from the bottom of the nail. Then repeat again from next to the flower. Finished!
Here you can see some more colour combinations for the same design. You can use any combinations you can think of! And of course you don't need to stick to just two colours. I posted a preview of this on Twitter earlier and Lydia asked me which polishes I used so here, from the left to right nails.
ChG Sugar High on ChG Something Sweet, Color Club Alabaster on ChG Peachy Keen, ChG Cherish on Color Club Wild at Heart, ChG Passion on OPI Russian Navy, Model's Own Misty Grey on Barry M Grey.
Hope you like, and please let me know if you try it out :)
After 9 months of unemployment (not including my brief stint at the coffee shop), I've finally landed something I really want to do. I'm a beauty therapy apprentice! :D I'm pretty happy that I now have a job where I HAVE to wear makeup and nail polish. Haha :D
Sorry for the lack of posts in the last few days, I was away for the weekend. Gonna get back into full swing now! Just a quick post to let you know my excuse for being so quiet for the last few days. Hope you're all well! :)
So I am absolutely, completely, and totally in love with China Glaze Peachy Keen. I cannot stop wearing it! I even wore it plain for a few days because I just loved looking at the beautiful glossy colour. Take a look, two coats with Poshe topcoat.
Gaahh I just can't get over how much I love it. It's beautiful. Agreed? Or is Peachy Keen not really your thing?
Tonight, I was thinking about possibly cutting my nails down - I love them long but I'm afraid of them breaking really low down, and since I fail at lining up full nail image plates for double stamping, I've been totally neglecting Konad. On the flipside, I ordered a set of nail art brushes from eBay a few days ago so maybe keeping them this length will give me a better canvas for practising freehand nail art. Your thoughts? :)
So anyway, that train of thought led me to remembering all the amazing freehand leopard print nail designs that my friend Kim (Dottie K) has done. If you don't follow her already, you should definitely check out her fantastic blog which deserves way more followers! I decided to take a leaf out of Kim's book and give this freehand thing a go, here's how it turned out:
It took me somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes to do both hands, the process sounds easy but I tried to take my time and make it look good! I don't think it's too bad for a first attempt but Kim's manis blow mine right out of the water. What I did was apply little patches of Barry M's Coral nail paint to the nails first and allowed them to dry - obviously not with a lot of polish on the brush, I scraped most of it off on the side of the bottle and just dabbed the tip of the brush onto the nail. Once that had dried I used a dotting tool (although you could use a cocktail stick or something similar if you don't have those) and Color Club's Dark Romance polish to finish off the leopard spots.
I actually really like how it turned out and now feel inspired to try a lot more freehand designs so I'm excited for my brushes to get here! Since I haven't used my China Glaze Wireless holographic topcoat in a while, I thought I'd slap a coat of that on top when I was finished. I didn't love it with this design, but I guess it's okay! I kinda wished I'd just used a plain topcoat. Hope you like, though!
I was tagged by Shifa @ Get Gawjus to answer these 40 questions. I much prefer tags where you actually have to write something instead of just posting a picture and tagging other people! Thanks Shifa :)
How many times do you wash your face daily?
Twice. I've gotten into a much better routine with my skin after my old Question of the Week post!
What skin type do you have?
Crappy skin! Very oily and shiny as hell in the T zone, dry flaky cheeks. Bah.
What is your current facial wash?
The Body Shop Nutriganics Foaming facial wash. Although I have a horrible feeling that the Nutriganics range (which I won in a Twitter giveaway a couple of weeks ago) might be the culprit behind the giant spot brewing on my forehead. :(
Do you exfoliate?
Yeah, every other day on the days that I wash my hair.
What brand do you use?
Soap & Glory Flake Away - I know it's more marketed for the legs but there's no nasties in it that would hurt my face and it's the only thing I've found that abrasive enough but not too scratchy. Plus it's not expensive!
What moisturiser do you use?
At the moment, TBS Nutriganics Day Cream and Night Cream. But like I said, I think that range might be breaking me out. I don't know! D:
Do you have freckles?
Uhm, I seem to get a bit freckly in the summer on my nose and cheeks but you can't really notice them in the winter.
Do you use eye cream?
No... should I? I've just never really thought of it as necessary.
Do you or did you have acne prone skin?
Not acne, no, but prone to the occasional spot.
Did you ever have to use Pro-activ?
No, which I'm glad for!
What foundation do you use?
At the moment I'm totally in love with Lily Lolo mineral foundation in Porcelain as it's the only true match for my skin I've ever managed to find. The lightest shade of all drugstore foundations is always too dark for me!
How about concealer?
Fero Cosmetics light reflecting concealer under the eyes and Maybelline Pure.Cover on any little red patches or blemishes.
Do you know your undertone color?
Yeah, very pink.
What do you think of fake eyelashes?
I've learnt that buying cheapies to practice application is fruitless as they rarely look good.
Did you know that you are supposed to change your mascara every 3 months?
Yeah, tell me all the shit you want but I'll throw it away when I deem it necessary! See my post on 'The Makeup Time Bomb' here.
What brand of mascara do you use?
My absolute favourite is Maybelline Lash Stiletto. Although I've been using MaxFactor Lash Extension Effect lately - it's not as good though IMO!
Sephora or MAC?
We don't have Sephora in the UK so I have to say MAC.
Do you have a MAC Pro-card?
Nah, don't really feel the need to 'cause I'm not a huge MAC fangirl!
What makeup tools do you use in make up application?
Brushes, sponges and curlers.. o.O should there be anything else?
Do you use make-up base/primer for the eyes?
Yes of course, my lids get quite oily so it's absolutely necessary for me. UDPP is my BFF. I have been trialling Kryolan's eyeshadow base since the IMATS but UDPP definitely lasts longer - I promise I'll get round to reviewing the Kryolan one soon.
For the face?
No, other than moisturiser. I've only ever tried one and it did nothing for me so I don't really want to invest in another!
What is your favorite eyeshadow (color or shade)?
All time favourite? Maybe Illamasqua's Furore pigment. I don't know, I have too many!
Do you use pencil or liquid eyeliner?
I tend to use liquid, gel or felt-tip on my upper lashline and a pencil in my waterline or on my lower lashline.
How often do you poke your eyes with an eyeliner pencil?
Haha, not recently that I can recall.
What do you think of pigment eyeshadows?
I did go through a phase where I loved them but unless you've got a bit of time on your hands to avoid mess they are quite inconvenient. I can't deny that in loose pigments you can often get much more unique effets and finishes but for convenience's sake, pressed shadows are my preference.
Do you use mineral makeup?
Like I said, very fond of Lily Lolo mineral foundation for my oily T-Zone at the moment and I used to own a whole shit-ton of mineral pigments but sold or gave away quite a few of them.
What is your favorite lipstick?
Oh, I don't know D: Very fond of the colour of Natural Collection Apple Blossom, but on the other end of the price scale I also love MAC Pretty Please. I don't know, I like loads of lipsticks.
How about lipgloss?
Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Soul. Easy.
What is your favorite blush to use?
I was obsessed with BeneFit Coralista and wore it every day for about 4 months last year, haha. I'm branching out a lot more now but that's still one of my favourites.
Do you buy your makeup on ebay?
Uhm, I think the only makeup I've ever brought from eBay is my 120 palette. I've bought plenty of other stuff though like unbranded brushes, eyelashes, nail art pens etc.
Do you like drugstore makeup?
Uhm.. I don't tend to like most drugstore eyeshadows as they often lack in the amount of pigmentation or great texture that I think are so important to eyeshadows. I Take an exception to Sleek, though, who's more recent palettes (namely Sunset and Graphite) had greatly improved formulas compared to their older palettes (like Jewels) which was a little too crumbly and hard to blend. But I'm a big lover of drugstore mascaras! And quite a lot of other things, actually - just not big on shadows.
Do you go to CCO's? (cosmetic company outlets)
No because there isn't one anywhere near me! There's only a few scattered about the UK.
Did you ever consider taking make-up classes?
Like Shifa said in her answer - I learn from YouTube for free! Although I have recently applied for a beauty therapy apprenticeship so fingers crossed for me please!
Are you clumsy in putting on makeup?
Not at all.
Name a makeup crime that you hate?
Too much lipgloss. To the extent that when the person opens their mouth, the lipgloss hangs in strings between their list. GROSS! *Throws up a bit in my mouth*
Do you like colorful shades of makeup (lipstick, eyeshadow) or neutral ones?
Oh, both. I used to be a brights girl through and through but I'm finally getting into my neutrals now even though I don't own that many.
Which celebrity always has great make up?
Not an obvious choice but Sophie Ellis Bextor.
If you could leave the house using just ONE make up item, what would you use?
Oh jesus. I honestly have no idea, I think I need something to cover the redness in my skin, plus a bit of eyeliner and mascara at all times! Haha.
Could you ever leave the house without any makeup on?
In the last few years, I've only done it a couple of times. And VERY reluctantly, on occasions where Colin sulks about me always having to 'tart about' if I want to leave the house haha.
Do you think you look good even without any makeup on?
No. I'd like to say yes but I'd be lying. I mean I don't need a full face, but like I said my skin is terribly uneven and blotchy, and my eyes look tiny without a bit of mascara. But I could live with just that.
In your opinion, what is the BEST makeup line?
All brands have strengths and weaknesses. Maybelline is my absolutely favourite for mascaras, Urban Decay and MAC do most of my favourite eyeshadows, I love Illamasqua blushes, etc!
What do you think of Makeup?
Love it. Duh! It makes me feel better about myself.
I know most people have already done this one so I won't do specific tags. But by all means fill it in if you haven't and link me up below, I'd love to read! :)
I'll level with you - I'm becoming less and less fond of giveaways that don't require any thought or effort! So, I'm bringing you my first ever contest. As you are most probably aware, I'm currently unemployed so the prizes aren't very expensive or anything but they're fun! So, what I want you to do is...
Create a manicure inspired by fairytales!
Under the umbrella theme of fairytales I'm going to include Disney (not live action Disney) and traditional bedtime stories. I want you to have fun! You can do something really simple or you can go all out mental sticking a bunch of stuff on your nails, but as long as I can see where your inspiration came from it counts! Konad is permitted but don't just use it as standard, as in stamping the same image onto every nail - that's not very inspired I'm sure you'll agree! If you want to use Konad, be creative with it and try your hand at multiple stamping or combining Konad with other techniques!
There will be one winner and one runner up. The winner will get their pick of the two prizes and the runner up will get the other! The prizes are as follows;
Nail art kit with 15 packets of decorations (yes it's from Poundland but I have this kit myself and it's fantastic. Besides, the price isn't really important is it?), plus black and white LA Colors Art Deco nail art stripers.
Six brand new transfer foils and adhesive - these can create some amazing effects!
Please email entries to leanne@donotrefreeze.com and include your blog URL and name as it appears on Blogger. Feel free to write a few lines about what inspired you, and please include pictures you used for inspiration! You do need to be a follower, by the way, and you can enter with as many designs as you want but email each separately.
Wait! I haven't forgotten those of you who aren't really into nail art. I have an extra prize for you lot!
Here's 3 BYS nail polishes. They have really, really boring names! Envy Me (which doesn't suit that green colour at all, envy is more like jade or emerald green right?), Pouty Purple and Metallic Fuchsia. So, what I want you to do to win these is suggest new, fairytale inspired names for them! Just leave these in a comment with your email address (yes, you need to be a follower again).
PLUS! I will use random.org to pick one commenter to win a brand new bottle of the elusive and gorgeous GOSH Rainbow nail polish! You can see my post on that here.
Please, please, PLEASE don't be afraid to enter if you think your nail designs are no good. If I can see that you tried, that's more than good enough for me. The winner won't necessarily be the one with the craziest, busiest design!
Entries for both parts of the contest are open until 6th April, 9PM GMT. That gives you 3 weeks! You can enter both parts of the contest but obviously you can't win both.
Get creative and have fun!
[[Edit: I just want to clarify that this post wasn't meant to offend anyone! I'm not at all looking down on those who love buying into hype. I just can't afford to ;P big hugs all round?]]
I apologise for not doing one of these in a while, been stuck for ideas! But here's one...
What do you think about products that are overhyped prior to their release?
Personally I tend to avoid the overhyped products more often than not for fear of being underwhelmed. I will freely admit that I really, really wanted MAC's Ripe Peach blush ombre but I didn't have any money when it was released and predictably the hype caused it to sell out within hours. LionLovingTiger found a reasonable dupe for it in her collection, though.
But take Urban Decay's Alice in Wonderland palette for instance. I never really wanted it since I own most of the colours anyway and didn't even like the packaging, but everyone was sooo psyched for it, weren't they? Now everyone's got it... and no one's mentioned it in a few weeks! Haha. Rhamnousia gave me another couple of good examples of that happening, with NARS Orgasm Illuminator and Chanel Jade nail polish.
Speaking of Chanel... You may have noticed in the picture above I included Les Trompe L'œil, Chanel's STUPID transfer tattoos. Sorry, are we 5 again? They did look fab on the catwalk, but that's where they should have stayed. Transfer tattoos will never be a good look, even if they come from a designer name. Yinka put it quite eloquently in this hilarious post, "If I see anybody in London wearing these, chances are I'll assume you got them from the bargain bucket in Claires Accessories". Hahaha.
Or what about Revlon's PhotoReady foundation? The hype caused many people I know of to buy it online at the moment of it's release on the Boots website without swatching in store or anything, all of whom have been extremely disappointed at it's 'Twilight' finish (yep, apparently it leaves you super sparkly. Not a good look)! Or the barrage of people hauling the new Sugarpill Cosmetics line 'cause all the YouTube 'gurus' are raving about it (don't forget a lot of those people are actually friends of Amy, the owner) - I'll be honest, they do look like amazing quality products but I'm sensible enough to admit they're not really my thing, they're not really wearable and I wouldn't get enough use out of them to justify the price tag. Haha, I don't know if you can tell but I've become a lot more tight since I lost my job ;P
Now, as much as I love Lady Gaga, I must confess I don't reeeally love the colour of her MAC Viva Glam lipstick. It was released today in the UK and Twitter has been awash with girls talking about it and ordering it. Come on, it's out for a year, no panic! From seeing swatches of it, it seems like quite a difficult colour to pull off thanks to the lilac-y undertones in it but it looks like everyone's just rushing to get their hands on it so they can say they've got it. That's one thing I've never really understood - if I don't like the look of a product, I ain't gonna buy it just because everyone is squee-ing about it. End of, really! I'm not saying I've never been tempted by products which are massively hyped before their release, but I normally put on my frugal cap and justify truthfully whether or not it's worth buying. I can't afford to be throwing money at things I don't need right now!
So, what about you? Do you always get sucked in by product hype and end up regretting purchases? Tell me!
A sneak peak at China Glaze's Autumn (or Fall, whatever) 2010 collection for your viewing pleasure ;D these will be available in July 2010 (at least for the USA and Canada, we'll probably get them a little bit later in the UK but I always order from overseas anyways).
Yknow, I spent all of Autumn and Winter complaining about how badly I wanted Spring to come so I could break out my pastels and brights, and now I've seen this I'm dying for September sorta time so I can justify wearing these beauties. Although I am kinda hoping they're not glitters.
Which ones are you stoked for? I'm absolutely loving the look of Emerald Fitzgerald, Hey Doll, Swing Baby and First Class Ticket... hell, I want them all. But Bogie? Looks like a lovely colour but bit of a stupid name o.O let's hope that was a typo and it's actually Boogie! Hehe.
You liking the look of these?
I say semi-matte because I used Color Club's matte topcoat that came in the Dark Romance minis set but it's really not very matte at all... when you really stare at it in person you can see it's kind of matte. Got nothing on China Glaze's Matte Magic though!
The base colour is one I'm totally in love with at the moment - 'Lila Bliss' from BYS. It looks a little brighter in this picture than it is in person, it's a gorgeous muted, dusty rose sort of colour. I've worn it quite a few times since I got it about 3 weeks ago :) the dots were done with just one dotting tool (but both ends of course), and Barry M Grey and Model's Own Misty Grey. I wanted to use a lighter and darker grey rather than black and white which was my original plan since the pink colour is quite muted and I wanted the dots to not be too stark against the background.
Are you a polkadot lover or hater? Don't worry, I won't be offended ;P
:: Denise @ Kyuubified's Ramblings might not update often but when she does, she updates GOOD! Check out this amazing look with MAC Reflects Copper!
:: This has got to be one of the THE most amazing manis I've seen so far this year, from Olmi @ A Tiny Nail Blog!
:: For those who have trouble Konading, this post at The Nail Farm shows you that there is hope! This really made me smile.
:: Here's a brilliant review on Nailene Acrylic Strong topcoat at Nails By Asami.
:: Shifa @ Get Gawjus always makes me want new things. Now it's the Boots No7 Stay Perfect foundation which she says may be a dupe for NARS Sheer Glow!
:: You can read a fab overall review of Inglot here by Tali @ The Gloss Goss.
:: The lovely Claire @ Adorn & Adore give us an insight into what's in the kit of a trainee nail technician - I loved this post! :)
:: An amazing post: Eyebrow Masterclass by Katy @ Makeup By Katy. Truly utterly brilliant and helpful!
:: Gorgeous bright FOTD from one of my favourite bloggers, Bicky @ Tastes Like Glitter.
:: Jellynat celebrates her 100th post by showing us an amazing H&M polish - so pretty!
Please let me know if the following has happened to you:
So I was looking on StatCounter, and I noticed that my old NYX In Europe Rant post from last November has had quite a lot of hits this week. So I went to look at that post, as you do, and I noticed that it had 0 comments.. there were at least 30 on it before. I looked through more of my posts... 0 comments... As it transpires, ALL of my posts dated 1st February 2010 and before that have NO COMMENTS.
I'd just like to clarify that I don't blog for comments, before anyone accuses me of that. But I'm sure you can understand how annoyed I am - we work really hard on our blogs and I for one feel really special if I write a post and it becomes quite a popular one, such as my Konad Q&A for example which had big responses and now it's just all gone!
Honestly, I am so pissed off at Blogger right now. Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know what might have caused it?
Hellooo :) I've got something awesome to tell you but I'm gonna wait until I know a bit more about it first - I should be getting a letter in the post regarding it tomorrow or Thursday so I promise I'll tell you soon! As for today, just got an EOTD for you.
Kryolan Eyeshadow Base, 17 eyeshadow in Funfair, Urban Decay eyeshadows in Last Call, Smog, Sin and Flipside, MAC Satin Taupe eyeshadow, The She Space First Class Con, Maybelline Line Definer, GOSH Velvet Touch eyeliners in Black Ink and Blue Lagoon, MaxFactor Lash Extension Effect mascara, Anastasia brow pencil (not that you can see my brows..)
Hope you like! I haven't worn colour in my waterline for ages, I may well start doing so more often. :)
Good morning lovelies. I've decided to make Free Love Fridays a fortnightly thing, so don't panic, there'll be one next week :)
These have been a lawwwng time coming. Well only a week or two, it just felt like forever but I wanted to post them all up at once so had to wait until I'd done a Konad design with all of them. There's definitely a bit of a butterflies theme going on here, in case you can't tell I'm loving butterflies and accent nails at the moment ;P So let's go!
Lemon Fizz
This is hands down the boldest one I did. After I finished, I thought it REALLY reminded me of the old MAC Style Warriors collection.. with the yellow and purple and animal print, hehe. So this is China Glaze Lemon Fizz and Barry M Bright Purple 303, and Konad plate M78.
Re-Fresh Mint
This one's kinda cute, huh? This is China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint, and the grassy kinda design at the bottom of the nails is from M77 and I think the little butterfly on my thumb and ring finger is from M50. The stamping was done with an unnamed green polish from a brand called Vital - only cost 99p, I'm not sure where it's available but I randomly grabbed it from a place at the Stratford Centre specialising in afro hair products, haha. Anyway, I digress, next one!
Sugar High
Loving this colour sooo much! Not much else to say here - China Glaze Sugar High, stamping with China Glaze Something Sweet and plate M59.
Something Sweet
Wasn't overly keen on this one 'cause that dots design is SO HARD to get straight and even. China Glaze Something Sweet, dots were stamped with Color Club Alabaster and M60, butterflies were stamped with China Glaze Sugar High and M50.
Peachy Keen
I love this colour so much more than I thought I did. It was the one I was most excited about getting when I ordered them, but when I swatched it I didn't love it. I've totally been converted, though! China Glaze Peachy Keen, and the multi-stamped flowers I think are on plate M60, with Barry M Coral 296.
Light As Air
Last but certainly not least, this was probably my favourite one of the lot. Even if only because it took so bloody long! The two different sized butterflies are on plate M78. They were stamped multiple times over China Glaze Light As Air with Color Club Alabaster and GOSH Wild Lilac. I really, really liked this one and wore it for a whole three days *gasp*!
So, I hope you like them all. Let me know what you think :) xo
If you missed my China Glaze Up & Away Dupe Hunt post, check it out here!
After almost a solid week of getting nothing in the post (depressing, I know), the postman brought two lovely things yesterday! I knew that one was my contest prizes from Lady Gray, check those out:
Really looking forward to using these, particularly the Nails Inc polish as I've NEVER had a Nails Inc one before (none of the colours ever really appeal to me when they do those magazine freebies and stuff, but Charlie picked a fabulous colour here!), and the Lemon Soufflé body scrub 'cause I've tried a few of the N-Spa scrubs before but not this one. Thanks again Charlie :D
I had no idea what the second package was, and I was all excited 'cause it was just addressed to 'Leanne' rather than my full name. Turns out, it was a present from Sarah (of I Heart Cosmetics fame) to say thank you for helping her out with her blog layout! Dawww :)
The gorgeous glittery Thank You card is in pride of place on top of my computer, and soon will join all other makeup/blog friend related bits and pieces on my noticeboard ;D hehe. The little makeup brushes are lovely and soft and have just made travel soo much easier for me since I don't have any small brushes and am always lugging my long handled ones back and forth when I stay at Colin's. I'll be staying there this weekend, so I can make good use of them :D in fact I may even leave them at his house for even MORE convenience! Haha. Also included were two 'Sparkle and Fade' nail polishes from Urban Outfitters - yknow, for someone who calls herself a nail polish addict I'd never heard of these before (mind you, Urban Outfitters isn't really my thing) - Sparkle and Fade seems like a strange name for creme polishes, am I right? But I must say, I'm pretty much in love - I have found what is probably the closest I will ever get to mannequin hands!
I can't find a shade name or number on the bottle so I'm afraid I can't tell you what it is! :(
Thanks sooo much again and big hugs to Charlie and Sarah for brightening up my day with lovely things :D I was really under the weather yesterday so these perked me right up. Thanks ladies! :D
What have you received in the post lately?
P.S. Yes Photoshop is fixed, let the blogging commence! :D
I've got a fair bit to blog about, including a little nail art competition I have planned (prizes aren't amazing or expensive so please don't get too excited, remember I am unemployed at the moment!) - but ugghh. My operating system is Windows Vista, right, and I was getting sooo many BSODs on this horrible thing that I decided to just say 'sod it' and reinstall Windows.
The good news is, not so many blue screens. The bad news is, for some STUPID reason I can't seem to get my Photoshop CS2 to install. Don't try and suggest free alternative image editors, I am seriously picky and won't use anything but Photoshop. Hopefully my dad can come and fix it for me, but until then I can't sort any of my pictures out >__<
For now I'll just show you an EOTD I already had uploaded to Photobucket. I did want to save this for another occasion but you know I hate to leave you guys a post without a picture! Hope you like it, and hope to be back with you soon! xo
UDPP in Sin was my primer here. I took a soft, fluffy blending brush (similar to MAC's 224) with a tiny bit of Fyrinnae's Love Potion eyeshadow and blended this really lightly through my crease area which would eventually serve as a gradation between my natural skin colour and my darker crease colour, which was MAC Cranberry. I applied this with a smaller crease brush, still working lightly with not much pressure. Once I was satisfied with the colour I went back over it with what was left on the brush I used for Love Potion to blend it out a little bit more. Oh, I also think I used a touch of MAC Antiqued eyeshadow to darken up the very outer corner. Then I applied the lid colour, MAC Grand Entrace, and also applied this to the inner part of my lower lashline (and Cranberry on the outer part). Uhhmm... Theeen I applied my brow highlight which was The She Space's First Class Con, then plain old boring liquid liner on the top and pencil in the waterline. I used MaxFactor's new Lash Extension Effect mascara, which I'm actually liking quite a lot! Then I Gave my eyebrows a very half-arsed brush into place ;P
