NOTD W7 Metallic Venus

Another awesome duochrome from W7. It flashes between purple, blue, pink and gold, with purple-blue shift being most obvious. Its pretty sheer- three coats to opacity, but dries quickly. It also stinks, so badly that it gave me a headache. Best use in a well-ventilated room!

I bought this for £1.99 in Savers, but its a limited edition collection.

NOTD Blue and Gold Ruffian
I don't often wear dark blue, mostly because it stains my nails, and also because I prefer brighter colours, choosing sky blue and turquoise over indigo time after time.
Having recently acquired few pretty blues, I decided to give them a chance and because I didn't want to remove the beautiful gold (17's Fury featured in earlier NOTD), I decided to have an attempt at creating ruffian manicure over it.

I think the combination of sparkly blue and glowing gold is very festive- it reminds me of brightly coloured glass baubles.
The nail polish is called Indigo Dazzle by George, and retails in Asda.

ELF Golden Goddess

I love glitter, especially holographic variety, so ELF's Golden Goddess deserves a special place in my nail polish collection. Layered over a dark polish (I used W7s Metallic Jupiter) it looks like a starry sky, which is very appropriate for festive season:

A mixture of fine gold  and large holographic hexagonal glitters suspended in a clear yellow base. It looks pretty enough on its own, but I dislike the yellowish hue that it gives to nails, and it would take at least three coats to cover the nail completely.

It dries quickly, but weirdly, with cracks appearing on the surface (I hope its just a duff bottle I got) and becomes dull, almost matte. The holographic glitter also feels gritty to touch, so a topcoat is a must, and it better be a thicker one. The manicure held up well, except the peeling on the middle finger.

Glitter removal takes ages, too. 

Still, even with the inconvenience of glitter removal and having to use a topcoat, I am very happy with this nail polish- its cheap (£1.50 from www.eyeslipsface.co.uk), and its very pretty. 

My November Favourites

This is a quick post about the make-up products I enjoyed last month.

1 Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Gel Foundation.

I think its the closest thing to a HG foundation that I have. Easy to blend, light, and wearable, it covers minor skin imperfections well, and yet feels like I am wearing nothing. The awesome fruity smell is an added bonus- I really like the scent, its light and pleasant. I'm not sure if it lives up to its claims of "boosting radiance", I don't think that my skin feels any different from wearing it. Still, its a lovely product that I want to repurchase. If only it cost less that £11 :/

2 Avon Super Magnify Mascara.

It became my everyday use mascara - it separates and defines lashes well, and the slim, long brush is easy to use even in a hurry. It doesn't give you dramatic lashes that looks like falsies, but for a natural, defined look it very good. It also builds up well, without clumping - the tiny, soft bristles comb them out easily. I use as many as 5 coats sometimes. It retails for around £8-£10, but I bought it for £3.50 on sale.

3 Bourjois Little Round Pot Blush in Lilas D'Or

Another lovely Bourjois product! Its a soft, rosy pink with gold shimmer that gives a natural rosy flush. The gold shimmer seems chunky in the pan, but it looks very subtle on the skin, and adds a bit of glow to it.

Many people find the brush included a bit useless, but I find that it fits the shape of my cheekbones perfectly and is soft enough for a comfortable application. Plus, its very cute! I am not the biggest fan of heavy rose smell, its a bit too strong for me.

4 Soap and Glory Cheekmate

This is the easiest lip-and-cheek stain I ever used! Its gel texture is easy to apply and blend, and I love how pigmented it is. Its easy to go overboard with this, but as long as its used sparingly, its nice. Especially for girls with darker skin. It retails for £8 in Boots and Soap and Glory website. The tube is tiny, but a little goes a long way! It smells of.. nothing! Which is nice for people who don't like their make-up to smell of anything

5 And finally, two eyeshadows: MUA in shade 8(Pearl),  beautiful aqua-turqouise, and Wet'n'Wild trio in  Spoiled Brat (That I won in Lipglossiping's giveaway) that consists of three colours- silver foil, matte black with sparkles, and pink with soft shimmer. 

MUA is very vibrant and soft, and lasts well even without a primer. Considering its tiny price tag, I am impressed. 

W'n'W trio is also soft, and blendable, with amazing pigmentation. It lasts fairly well and fades evenly. I just wish W'n'W was available in UK!

Avon Super Shock Metallic Gel Eyeliner.

Gel eyeliners in pots are few and far between when it comes to high street- there is only a handful of brands (ELF, Barbara Daly, Maybelline) that caught up to the concept outside high end make-up, and Avon has joined these brands recently, with their new offering- Super Shock metallic cream liners that come in three shades- Shimmering Sapphire, Blackened Metal and Flashy Brown.
I have initially bought Blackened Metal when the product just came out, and after spotting a half price deal on it in a new Avon catalogue, I also decided to get Shimmering Sapphire. And I didn't regret this purchase!

Packaging of these is awesome, a sleek and heavy glass pot that feels much more expensive than you would expect from a budget brand. The lid is a simple screw top, with silver lettering on black plastic:

The only thing I don't like bout packaging is that it cleverly conceals how little of the product you get. Solid, heavy glass bottom coupled with a big lid , and you instantly get an impression of having much more product than you really get. I couldn't find the weight on the packaging, so I can't say how much you really get, but I guess that its slightly less than what you get with ELF cream liner. Still, at the price, you can't really complain.

Both shades live up to their names- Blackened Metal is a very dark charcoal grey that looks almost black, and Shimmering Sapphire is a vibrant cobalt blue with soft shimmer, and both have a somewhat metallic finish:

Blackened Metal has a hefty dose of silver sparkles, though it doesn't look too over the top once you apply it. Its a very pretty and wearable shade that looks softer than plain black.

Shimmering Sapphire is very bright blue colour that has a  oft and subtle shimmer.

Application was somewhat tricky- the product doesn't have a gel or even cream consistency, so I think the term "gel liner" is somewhat of a misnomer. The product feels a bit like a solidified cream (if that makes sense) and is a bit crumbly and hard once you pick it up with a brush. It doesn't drag on the eyes but you have to pack it on with your brush and make several swipes across your eyelid in order to get a good intensity. Blackened Metal was crumblier and harder to pick up than Sapphire, because of the metallic sparkles. The sparkles don't feel gritty on the eyelid, nor do they irritate my fairly sensitive eyes, but they did make application tricky. Sapphire was smoother and easier to apply.

Once applied, they set almost immediately and don't budge from your lashline for good for good few hours, even on my oily eyelids with no primer or setting powder.

Here is a shot of me wearing Shimmering Sapphire:

I love the vivid colour and I think it would compliment most eye colours nicely. 

Avon Supershock Metallic Gel liner can be bought either from a rep or via Avon website. It usually retails at £6, but I bought it for £3, so keep your eyes peeled for an offer!

Avon Sequined Turquoise

One of the four shades in Avon's Sequins and Shine collection. Its pretty green colour is tad deeper than turqouise- to me it looks more teal. I initially expected it to be a dupe of my Accessorize Mermaid, but Sequined Turquoise lacks the fine golden shimmer and blue-green duochrome of Mermaid.
The colour of this one doesn't change in any light, remaining rich and deep, with silver glitter creating a beautiful foiled effect.

Unfortunately, it also gives me hands that any lobster would be proud of. Its also is a bit patchy and sheer on application, and becomes a little dull on drying (but its nothing a good topcoat won't solve). It dries rather quickly, so it wouldn't be hard to add a fourth coat. It chips pretty quickly too

Removal is a pain, as with all glitters. 

Still, it would be a good choice for cool-toned girls and would make a good choice for a party.
It retails for £6 pounds and can be bought either online from avon.co.uk site or from a representative. I bought this on an offer,which is what I advice to everyone, considering how often Avon have them.

17 Fury

Somehow, all the posts I have made recently disappeared. So this post is a reincarnation of the one I made earlier today. Take that, Blogger!
Boy, am I late to this party. This nail polish was hotly discussed as a potential dupe for Peridot, that amazing golden green that costs like, £17 or something. Crazy.
Fury turned out to be not-quite-similar and I just dismissed it as "another metallic", and only bought it to get a Femme Noire gift with purchase. I already selected their (17's) mirror shine lippie as my item number one and grabbed the first nail polish that caught my eye. My eye was a winner that day, because I seriously dig this polish

It reminds me of wheat fields, with green grasses peeking through the vast expanses of gold.Am I poetic or what? :p

The green is more visible under low light, whilst sunlight makes the gold shine brightly, nd brings out the pretty fine sparkle.

Application wise it was funny; first coat smooth as butter, second a bit draggy because it dries so fast. The coats have to be fairly thick and fast, which makes it a bit brushstrokey. But it doesn't bother me much.

It tends to chip quickly, though I haven't used a topcoat. I love the fact that it dries fast. I hate waiting for hours to dry my manicure and then getting a bloody dent.

Conclusio: a subtle green shift does not a Peridot make, but it does make this gold very interesting. And it not just the green hue, its the rich, sumptuous gold with a gleam that sets it above the usual pale,yellowy golds. The richness of colour makes it a good choice for autumn.

17's Fury retails for around £3.99 and is sold in Boots (instore and online)

NOTD-Avon Violetta Sparkle (Not to be confused with Avon Matte Violetta)

I was unsure about this one when I was ordering it from catalogue. It looked indigo, with sparse silver sparkle which seemed pretty enough, but not that special.
As it happens with Avon polishes fairly often, the promo swatch looked nothing like it does in real life (surprise, surprise). For starters, whilst being cool toned and with a blue edge, Violetta Sparkle was definitely purple, with only a hint of indigo. Nor was the sparkle silver- it was gold, which in combination with purple blew me away.
I'll let the swatches convince you ;)
Under sunlight:

forgive my ragged cuticles. You can just about see the sparkles on the nail, and an explosion of gold in the bottle

Under electric light.
The glitter-sparkle practically glows here. But my fingers looks oily (eww)

This is under sunlight, again, after 2 days wear. You an see a bit of tipwear, but considering I don't protect my nails with gloves or anything, its fairly good. Wear is even, with no obvious chips. I used OPI RapidDry topcoat here, which isn't bad but results in dents sometimes (boo :()

Application wasn't too bad- the polish is thin (as is often the case with Avon shimmer polishes), but it lies evenly across the nail, and  the handle is easy to manipulate. Its best to spread a very thin first coat, and wait for it to dry, following with two thicker coats, allowing plenty of drying time between each to prevent dents/sheet marks> The first coat is very patchy, but subsequent coats have evened it out. The surface of the polish when dried feels weird- not gritty as such, but ever so slightly bumpy. It also dries to a semi-matte which downplays the fine shimmer, so a glossy topcoat is recommended.
Overall, this is pretty unique combo for me, and I love looking at the sparkle when light hits it- its very subtle and elegant, and yet very pretty! Not in the same league as Mermaid, but sometimes subtle prettiness is preferred to in-your-face stunner :)
Removal was easy for a glitter nail polish- maybe because glitter was really fine, but it was a quick affair with no fuss.

Accessorize Mermaid NOTD

This is from sunnier days- one of my favourite polishes of all time. Its blue/green/gold flecks are so mesmerizing, you'd be staring at your nails everytime you are out in the sun. I know I do :p

The sparkle is very silvery in the shade, and the polish itself seems to be quite cool toned

In sunlight, however, the gold flecks are more prominent, and the polish itself seems to be brighter, plus you can see turquoise reflects. Above swatch is free coats, and you can still see a bit of VNL. I prefer four coats, since it gets rid of VNL and gives more depth to the shade- it becomes greener.
Overall, this is a jewel of my extensive collection, I would happily buy it again and again. And again, and again.

NOTD- Barry M and ELF

Yesterday my foray into Boots ended up with me spotting 2 for £5 offer on all Barry M nail paints, and taking advantage of it to finally get the Instant Nail Effect black crackle polish. My other choice was 3in1 topcoat/basecoat/nail hardener, as none of the coloured nail paints really stood out to me. I liked Coral, but it looks like my ELF Fire Coral shade, I liked Raspberry, but its similar to ELF Rosy Raisin, and pastel sweet shades were cute, but I know I can get the similar colour selection from MUA at even lower price.

It took me a while to figure out which base I want to use under the crackle. I wanted something bright and yet sweet- so I chose ELF Passion Pink. I don't like this nail polish on its own- its a weird semi-matte orangey pink with almost non-existent gold shimmer when it dries, and its coral undertone is brought out even more by a glossy topcoat. It is pretty, but its neither bright nor really pastel, so I find it hard to coordinate with what I wear (not that I always match my nails to clothes :p)
But layered with black crackle it looks pretty cool! If I say so myself... I'll let pictures convince you

I think the gold shimmer is somewhat more apparent in around black cracks? In any case I think its a pretty combination :D
What would be your choice of a base colour for layering under Instant Effect crackle?

NOTD- Late to the Instant Effects Party!

Yesterday my foray into Boots ended up with me spotting 2 for £5 offer on all Barry M nail paints, and taking advantage of it to finally get the Instant Nail Effect black crackle polish. My other choice was 3in1 topcoat/basecoat/nail hardener, as none of the coloured nail paints really stood out to me. I liked Coral, but it looks like my ELF Fire Coral shade, I liked Raspberry, but its similar to ELF Rosy Raisin, and pastel sweet shades were cute, but I know I can get the similar colour selection from MUA at even lower price.

It took me a while to figure out which base I want to use under the crackle. I wanted something bright and yet sweet- so I chose ELF Passion Pink. I don't like this nail polish on its own- its a weird semi-matte orangey pink with almost non-existent gold shimmer when it dries, and its coral undertone is brought out even more by a glossy topcoat. It is pretty, but its neither bright nor really pastel, so I find it hard to coordinate with what I wear (not that I always match my nails to clothes :p)
But layered with black crackle it looks pretty cool! If I say so myself... I'll let pictures convince you

NOTD- Barry M Buzz Magazine Gift

This nail polish is from a free gift offered by Superdrug and Barry M, courtesy of the voucher in the Sun (Buzz magazine, even). I don't normally read Sun, but soon as I heard of the offer one the moneysavingexpert.comm and accross several blogs , I couldn't miss it. Which resulted in me trottling to local Spar in pitch dark, feeling a bit scared but also excited. Next day, I couldn't wait to skip to Superdrug either- and luckily enough I got the last pack they had instore- ;lucky me!
I shelved lipgloss (too pale for me) and kohl eyeliner (already have a go-to black kohl) but the nail paint was definitely going to be the jewel of the freebie for me. Or was it? Lets see the pics!

Beautiful pinky-red it reminded me a bit of a strawberry sorbet:

*this image is not mine, sadly. I hope I don't get sued for this :(
So I was impressed with the colour. Apllication was ok too, as is the drying time (average)
So this brings me to the only flaw I found. Terrible wear- this is after 1 day /sob:

But then, it could always be fixed with a topcoat :) And limited edition shade and a nice gift is surely worth it :D

Purple and Gold EOTD

This is my take at purple and gold make up for everyday. I was fairly pleased with the result, seeing as its my first attempt at detailed eyeshadow/eyeliner application- I usually just line with eyeliner and sweep some powder eyeshadow on op of my lids, without much shading or highlighting, or blending. I have used products from my recent Avon order, so all products are Avon.

Avon Colourshock Electric Purple Quad. A limited edition shade from last summer- discontinued now, but I picked it in a sale flyer. I really hope they bring it back though, I am so in love with it! I was dissappointed with the first Avon eyeshadow quad I picked (Tiger's Eye, again, form a limited edition that was discontinued, but still sold) Not only the shades printed in the brochure were entirely different from the one in the actual quad, the texture of all but one shadows was dusty and chalky. The only colour I used was a lovely shimmery copper-gold, and I used it almost everyday along with other colours.

So imagine my delight at finding the same lovely gold shade in Electric Purple, along with three other shades- light green, light purple, and nude:

The gold and purple shades (top) are the one I used for today's look. The light green shade is barely visible, as is nude, but they have a lovely texture and feel- smooth and silky. I'd use the bottom two for base and highlighting, I guess. The sponge applicator I actually used and found to be adequate- I usually throw them out and use a brush, but this time I am a bit impressed.

Lovely big mirror, all Avon Quads have a good sized mirror (which reflects my hand and iPhone, trying to take a picture :p) in and a solid packaging- acoording to other bloggers very similar to Chanel.  The name Electric Purple is a bit misleading- the colours are soft and mmuted, rather than electric, but still lovely.

Swatches:

From top to bottom: Nude, Light Green, Purple, Gold. Although I guess the colours speak for themselves
I also used Avon Arabian Glow eyeliners in Gold Frost (outer corners of the eyes) and Deep Purple (lined top and bottom lids). Forgot to take a picture of swatches, sorry :( Mascara I used is Avon Supershock- its a bit dry and clumps slightly, but I like the impact it gives /flutter.

On my face I am wearing  Bare Escentuals foundation in medium and Mineral Veil. Cheeks- Avon True Colour Blush in Russet. Its a subtle blush:, swatch below:

So, what do you guys think?