Nails: Online Nail Bar Plates

I received a nail stamping plate this week and I've been having a play. Nail stamping is something I'm loving but just don't get to do often enough.


These image plates for stamping are available in sets of 10 for £10 from Onlinenailbar. They come with a plastic overlay which needs peeling off before use. The plastic actually makes it easier to take the photo of the plate and it's that which has the scratches you can see. The plate underneath is nice and smooth. The edges are a little sharp so be careful. This is plate M16. The plate came wrapped in some nice paper and in a little organza bag so there's some care taken with the packaging. The site owner says that they try and get as many packages wrapped up as they can.


For this I used Konad's special polish in Black Pearl and used the butterfly design from the centre of my plate. The plates are good quality with nicely defined designs. The transferred design is sharp and clear. The base colour is Model's Own Grace Green.

There are a couple of plates that I've got my eyes on with some really interesting designs. M1 has some cure birds and a spider, look at the shark on M27!!! So I might need to pick up both sets.

This plate was received free for review, this has no effect on the review I give.

FOTD #28: 29/01/12

Just having a play with make up on a Sunday afternoon! I love settling down to get some blog posts done at this time of the week. I listen to podcasts and I've got twitter open and I'm chatting while writing blog posts for the week.


I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation "51"
*-ELF Studio HD Powder
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Light"
-Benefit Coralista

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Silk Naturals Shadow "Magpie" - on lid
-Aromaleigh Shadow "Bellatrix" - in crease and lower lash line
*-ELF Studio Single Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liner "Bringe" - lower liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner "Siren" - top liner
-Benefit They're Real Mascara

-Benefit Lipstick "Sugar Cookie"


Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Review: Lorac Close Up Face Tutorial

Now is the time to review one of my favourite purchases from Atlanta! I knew I wanted to try some Lorac but I had absolutely no idea what to look at. I'd looked at so much make up during that week that I had reached some kind of saturation point where nothing new was grabbing me. During the very last day (we were literally on the way to the airport to go home and worked out we could fit in a couple of hours shopping before our flights) we stopped at a much better Ulta and I finally grabbed this off the shelves. I must have looked quite pathetic at that point, I was just wondering aimlessly around Ulta grabbing a few random things off the shelves in a kind of "omg, last day to buy this stuff" kind of haze. Four days of a convention will do that to your brain.

I eventually settled on Lorac's Close Up: Face Tutorial kit. This cost $39 and has a value of $120. I really loved these kits I kept finding at Ulta and Sephora. They're a really good value way of trying out the brand. I also bought a Bare Minerals kit which I'll be reviewing at some point. I've still got so, so much of that haul to review for you.


In this kit you get:
-Instruction booklet
-Multiplex 3D Lashes Mascara in "Black"
-Front Of The Line Pro Liquid Eyeliner "Black"
-Couture Shine Gloss "Trend Setter"
-Blush "Soul"
-Starry Eyed Baked Shadow Trio "LoracStar"

The looks are definitely on the more "smokey neutral" side.

I had a quick look through the instruction booklet and liked the easy to follow instructions. The two tutorial pages do peel off so you can stick them to your mirror. Assuming you use a larger mirror that is! Otherwise, the booklet is designed to stand up as a flip chart kind of thing. There are also some good tips at the back of the booklet.

The liquid liner did not survive the trip home. The pressure changes in the plane forced all the product out through the brush. Liquid liners that have a brush dipped into a well survived better but the pen style just exploded black liner. Nice.

The mascara is quite nice but not something I'm planning on buying again. I'll be reviewing it in more depth as a separate blog post as part of my mascara series.


Now, one of the two stars products of this kit! The Baked Trio in LoracStar has fast become one of my favourite eye products. The colours are so smooth and richly pigmented. Even without using them with a damp brush (like you tend to have to with MAC's baked shadows), you get rich, metallic awesomeness. The three shades together can create anything from a fairly toned down look (as toned down as you can get with that much metallic!) to a rich, smokey look. They're definitely metallic rather than frosted though. I use the deepest chocolate shade quite often as a crease shade if I'm stuck for one to use when I'm in a taupe mood! I'm definitely planning on buying a few more of these, just as soon as I can track some down.


The Blush in Soul is the other star product for me. If you look back in recent FOTD posts, you'll see just how much use this has been getting. It's a dusky rosy-brown-nude shade that seems to work perfectly with my skin tone. There's a very slight amount of shimmer to it, definitely more of a glow than outright shimmer though. It's pigmented enough and lasts through the day on me.

The Couture Shine Gloss in Trend Setter is not a favourite of mine. The colour is a pinkish nude that should work quite nicely on me but it's just so frosted. It just doesn't flatter me at all. It's also way more pigmented than any gloss I've ever used which should be a good thing. But combined with all that frost, it just does not work.

Overall, this has been a good introduction to Lorac for me. I've found a couple of products that I'll look into trying more of and a couple that I'm not so impressed with. If I find myself back in the US then I'll definitely be stopping at a Lorac counter.

And here's the FOTD that uses most of this kit (minus the liner and gloss).

Blog Of The Week 27/01/12: Cosmetic Candy

This week's Blog Of The Week is Cosmetic Candy!

I've had this fantastic blog tucked away in my favourites folder for a couple of years now. For some reason though, no matter how much I plead with the Google following thingy it won't add Cosmetic Candy :(

She features a lot of brands and products that I wouldn't normally have come across, making me want to spend all my money and trawl ebay for awesome stuff. But if something is just bad, she'll let you know. She's also one of my favourite bloggers to follow on Twitter.

Want to get involved?
It's simple! Leave a comment below with your favourite blog, your own blog or how ever many you want to share! Don't worry though if I don't pick your links straight away. I follow 400 blogs myself and there are only 52 weeks in a year!

FOTD #27: 26/01/12

I really loved today's FOTD! I didn't want to wash it off. I originally planned on wearing some blues but found these purples while digging through some samples.


I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Laura Geller Balance & Brighten "Fair"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-MAC Beauty Powder Blush "True Romantic"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Silk Naturals Shadow "Jump" - over lid
*-Black Rose Minerals Shadow "Phatom" - in crease & lower lashline
-Maybelline Gel Liner "Black"
*-ELF Studio Shadow Single "Sand Dollar"
-Benefit They're Real Mascara

*-ELF Mineral Lipstick "Rosy Raisin"


Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

Nails: Zoya "Faye"

I fancied something a little sparkly and colourful, rather than the murky nails I've been wearing lately. I'm also trying out a new photo technique and using my daylight desk light rather than the flash on my camera. It does show the colour of the polish nicely but highlights just how dry my cuticle and nail area is!


This is 3 layers of Faye and there's still a little nail showing through. I do have very white nail edges though and they tend to show through more than a lot of people's.

Right, I'm off to apply some more cuticle oil!

Review: Stila Adventurous In Aspen Palette

I've got plenty of mixed feelings about these palettes from Stila. On the one hand, they're $10 which is a bargain. On the other hand, the quality is just not what I'd expect from Stila. I think if this had been my first introduction to the brand I would have written it off and not bothered with it again.

They come in the usual card cases along with a mirror but not applicators. The names of the products are shown on the back. The case is the same card that a lot of brands are using these days. It'll stand up to plenty of use but make sure not to get it wet!


And I forgot to label the photo. You get 4.3g of eye shadow over 4 shadows and 2.7g of the convertible colour. I'm not a massive fan of mixing cream and powder products in one palette and there are already black flecks in my convertible colour after only a couple of uses. But for travel, it's about the perfect size and you've got shadows and blush in one place.


The quality of the eye shadow is ok, not brilliant and certainly not the silky, buttery texture I love in the single shadows. You get:

-Snow Angel - sheer lilac-grey with golden sparkle
-Glisten - golden brown with a golden shimmer
-Icicles - satin finish deep blue with grey tones
-Ajax - almost matte black with golden sparkle
-Rosy Convertible Colour - bright but light pink, cool toned with no shimmer

I'm really impressed with the Rosy Convertible Colour. This was the first time I'd used one and I loved how easily it applied and blended as a blush. It didn't last all day though and had faded at around the 6 hour mark. I should imagine setting with powder would increase the staying power.

The shadows weren't amazing. Snow Angel was very sheer and refused to build, even over Pixie Epoxy. I really wanted to use it as a lid shade but I just couldn't get it to work for me. It's quite smooth and soft though. Glisten was by far the best shadow out of the 4 and applied with plenty of pigmentation. Icicle ended up being quite patchy and sheered out to grey very quickly. My swatch shows it packed over a primer. Ajax was another shade that was quite good but not amazing. The golden sparkles didn't translate to the skin at all but the base colour was deep enough to use to smoke out your eye shadow.

FOTD #26: 23/01/12

Review coming soon on the L'Oreal shadows, they're awesome!


I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation "51"
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
*-ELF Studio Pressed Powder "Porcelain"
-Lorac Blush "Soul"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-L'Oreal Infallible Shadow "Permanent Kaki" - over lid
-MUA Pearl Shadow "Shade 3" - in crease
*-ELF Studio Single Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-MAC Fluidline "Shade" - top liner
-Gosh Liner "Golden Moss" - lower liner
-Benefit They're Real Mascara

*-Silk Naturals Lip Glaze "Heirloom"

And I'm planning on inflicting my 5am face on you as much as possible. Earrings of the day: Cupcakes from Accessorize.


Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.

MAC Shadow: Charred

I'm not sure which MAC collection this shadow featured in, who can keep up with MAC's releases anyway?


Charred is a very deep charcoal (it's not quite black) with a slight sheen and heavy silvery sparkle overlay. It's listed on the back as a Frost finish but it's definitely more like the Lustre finish. It's harder than most of the other Frosts I have from MAC and needs some coaxing to be shown at its best.


A primer is most definitely needed with Charred. The base colour is so sheer on its own that it just blends away to nothing. It needs the base to stick. Also the silver sparkle just floats away and falls over your face if it's not stuck to a primer. With a decent primer (something nicely sticky like NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils or Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy) you get a quite interesting deep sparkly charcoal to use to create a smokey eye. I still find that you can't blend the shadow too much even with a primer or the silver sparkle works itself loose and you get it dropping off your lid.

MAC Shadows are available from MAC (website/stores/counters):
-Pro pans are £10.00
-Pots are £12.00

FOTD #25: 22/01/12

I'm recording some videos tonight so I thought I'd have some fun with my make up today! There's not much more fun than some Sugarpill!


I used:
-Black Radiance Shine Control Primer
-Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer "Fair"
-Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation "51"
-Lorac Blush "Soul"

-Urban Decay Primer Potion
-Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
-Sugarpill ChromaLust "Hysteric" - over lid
-Look Beauty Statement Eyes "Slate" - in crease
-Vivo Cosmetics Liner "Green Lagoon" - lower liner
-Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner "Siren" - top liner
*-ELF Studio Single Shadow "Sand Dollar" - highlight
-Lorac Multiplex 3D Lashes Mascara

*-Silk Naturals Lip Glaze "Heirloom"

The earrings are from Turkey. Silver & Turquoise, one of my favourite purchases from the holiday!


Products marked with a star (*) were received free for review.