Red 2015? No - Red 2000!

My festive period love affair with red just continues into the new year, it's the colour that keeps giving. Last week I mentioned a perfect gorgeous and ravishing red for your nails - Boudoir from Ciaté and today I just had to show its lipstick mate. I've mentioned before that I'm not usually one for doing matching nails and lips and personally I find it more interesting to contrast but some pairs are just made for each other. There are so many gorgeous red shades from the big cosmetic brands but I've always found it difficult to find a shade that works with my colouring and doesn't make me feel like the lipstick is wearing me rather than the other way around. Something tells me I'm not the only one doubting which shade suits me since L'Oréal very helpfully has released their Perfect match red range to help us find the right red.

As a blonde with a hint of a tan left from the holidays, and with a warm undertone to my skin anyway deep reds with blue undertones do nothing good for me and I do shy away from them. Instinctively I've always been drawn to the more orange reds anyway, however there's again a fine balance between reds with a warm undertone and intense scarlets that are just a tad too sharp for me. Having tested my way through reds for years I did eventually find a shade that's just right (yes there is one for everyone!) and it's Avon's Ultra Colour Rich Lipstick in Red 2000 (£3.85).

The formula is nice and creamy without being waxy, and it leaves a nice hydrating sensation on your lips. The pigmentation is very strong so I would recommend being careful when you apply it since it does leave a stain and if you get the lip contours wrong you have to remove it and apply it again from scratch. I find that it works best if you use a brush to apply the lipstick and then of course you get a fabulous and precise lip contour as well, if you've got plenty of time that is, otherwise just dabbing it on works really well too. Because of the strong pigmentation the colour is fairly long lasting, and after 4-5 hrs eventually only a stain remains, but that also mean that it does transfer onto coffee mugs etc for quite a while. From a formula and wear point of view it's a pretty good lipstick, but what nudges it into being a great one is definitely the colour; it's a gorgeous sultry golden tomato red that brings out my natural colouring and brightens everything, even the rainiest of days (have a look at my Instagram to see a color swatch). It's a confident and elegant shade and the only thing that bugs me about this gem of a lipstick is that it's no longer part of Avon's range, but you can find it on Amazon and on eBay.

FOTD - Recreating my wedding makeup look

Doesn't time fly when you're having fun? Today we're celebrating our wedding anniversary and although it feels like we got married only yesterday, it's been 5 years already. Traditionally 5 years is considered the Wooden anniversary - maybe that means that Him Indoors will give me a couple of acres of Amazon forest...  Since it's our anniversary I thought it would be fun to recreate the makeup look I was wearing on my wedding day and even though I won't be using exactly the same products, the colors will be very similar.

At the moment I have much more of a tan than I did at my wedding and for an every day look at this time of year I normally wouldn't even bother with foundation, but since I'm making a bit more of an effort with this look I applied the No 7 Instant Radiance Foundation (£12.50) in Wheat. In my opnion the No 7 foundations don't get nearly enough credit and mention in Blogiverse. Not only are they great value for money, but the matching service means that you will definitely get a shade that is as close to your skin tone as possible for a perfect seamless match. The radiance foundation is a lovely and light medium coverage foundation that adds a nice warm and natural glow to your skin but without that heavy, caked feeling on your skin. It's fairly long lasting so it should stand a fair chance during these hot sweltering days we've been having lately. Now, I know that a lot of wedding looks are quite soft, natural and paired down, but I like a defined eye - always have and always will and it's a look I wear most days of the year. So for my wedding makeup I didn't want the complete opposite or something totally out of character since after all, this is the day of all days to feel comfortable and great about yourself, so my makeup artist and I decided to do a lighter version of a defined eye that was still in keeping with what I would usually emphasize, using slightly softer colors

For the eyes I used Avon's True Colour Eyeshasdow Quad Nudes (£9) in Barely There. All of the shades have surprisingly strong pigmentation and the formula is soft and creamy that allows for gradual building up of the colours, which will last the majority of day before you start seeing them fade. As a base for the entire lid I used shade no 2, which is a beautiful muted, dusky rose colour which blends so well with shade no 4 - an intense sepia brown, and on the middle of the lid I added a light sweep of shade no 3, a chamoisee with a beautiful subtle shimmer. I also used shade no 1 as a highlighter and in the inner corner of my eye, and the pale but warm cream colour is a nice contrast to the other colours. I really like these Barely There shades and even though they definitely are on the nude side they don't disappear into the background and are anything but bland. To add some depth and eye definition I applied Rimmel's Soft Khol Kajal Eye Pencil (£2.99) in Sable Brown on the lower waterline. It has a wonderful soft and water resistant formula that stays in place even on the teariest of days, so if you've got a special occasion coming up - give this one a go!

The only mascara for me at the moment, which you'll probably remember from my July favourites,  is Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara (£9.99). Already from the start it has just the right texture, as if it's been used for a while and the wide, firm brush makes it very easy to apply layers upon layers to quickly volumise and shape the lashes as much as you want in a few seconds and the effect is amazing. It's very long lasting but also easy to remove in the evening. I'm very lucky with my eye lashes and even the bottom ones are fairly long, but these days many mascaras with their wacky and strangely shaped wands make it tricky to get a nice and smudge free application. The solution to that issuette is the famous Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara (£13) which has the tiniest brush I've ever seen, making messy lines under your bottom lashes a thing of the past. I prefer to use the shade brown since I personally am not a fan of the lower lashes being too distinct and spider leggy and I think it works well, even with black mascara on the upper lashes.

For my cheeks I used my beloved Sleek MakeUp Blush (£4.49) in the most stunning shade ever - Rose Gold. I love this romantic coral shade with its golden shimmer, that makes your cheeks look so dewy and glowy making it perfect for a romantic occasion. The consistency is silky smooth and blendable and the blusher is so richly pigmented that you only need to dab your brush in it to get enough product for both cheeks - in the photo I've literally just lightly swept the brush over the apples of my cheeks, and as you can see that's more than enough for a radiant finish. When I tried to recreate my wedding day look I wasn't surprised at all to see that I had almost identical shades for all the products but one - the one item that I had to rummage around for was a lip colour and the closest I could find in my stash was the L'Oréal L'Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick (£8.99) in Rose Symphony. This is supposedly a dupe for the fantastic YSL Glossy Stains, and there are definitely a lot of similarities. Let's look at the formula; it's soft, moisturising, silky, non sticky, intensely pigmented and with a brilliant glossy shine and it comes with a great flexible doe foot applicator. It's long lasting and when the shine has faded you're left with a noticeable stain that lasts literally ALL day. It's an excellent product and definitely a more affordable option to YSL. Rose Symphony is a warm vermillion pink shade, and although the colour I wore on my wedding day had more coral in it and the finish was not quite as glossy, the overall look is very similar. I had so much fun recreating the look again and now I'm off to pack a bag since apparently I'm going away somewhere, and I mustn't forget to take all these items with me so I can create the same look for this evening.

July favourites

Since I had to cut down on my blogging in June and earlier this month I haven't actually done a monthly favourites for a little while although except for the EdT I have a feeling that they would have been pretty much the same in June too. My routines have changed quite a lot over the past few months, partly because of the weather and partly because I'm on the road a lot more than I used to. Because of the sunny weather and since I love to be outdoors as much as possible to catch some rays, my main concern has been to make sure that I've been wearing some great sun lotion, and the product I've used the most is the lovely Hawaiian Tropic Sensitive Face Sun Lotion SPF30 (£12.60). It has just the right consistency for the face; light, silky and sheer without clogging up the pores and since it's for sensitive skin it's also free of oils and fragrance that could potentially cause irritation in the sun. The lotion absorbs quickly into the skin making it feel not only protected from those pesky UVA and UVB, but also moisturised and smooth. The only thing is that I don't think it's water resistant, at least it doesn't feel that way so I would definitely recommend that you re-apply several times a day, especially if you've gone for a cooling dip in the pool.

After a post sun shower to freshen up I've loved to use the Avon Shea Butter and Chocolate Truffle Body Soufflé, First of all it smells absolutely divine of chocolate mousse and even if like me you're not a chocolate lover you might find that you have to really stop yourself from testing it to check if it's as yummy as it smells.... hrmm - did I reveal too much there...? Anyway, this body product has a wonderful whipped, light and creamy texture that feels amazing on the skin, and it absorbs quickly without leaving any sensation of tackiness. What I like most about the soufflé, except for the chocolate scent is that it makes the skin ever so slightly radiant with a rose gold shine, which makes it perfect for summer use to emphasise tanned skin. As far as I know it's not available in the current Avon campaigns, but you can easily find it on eBay (£6.75), and I'll definitely stock up on it when I've finished up this one.

So the skin's looking radiant and bronzed, and since I've been on the go so much these past few months I haven't bothered with foundation or tinted moisturiser - all I've done is sweep my very used MUA Bronzer (£1) in shade 1 over my face for a natural, healthy looking glow. I know I've raved about this ridiculously affordable bronzer before - I need to start testing another brands... but for me it's just brilliant. The product is light and finely milled so it's easy to work with and to build up a stronger bronzed tone if you wish, the shade is sunny and natural without too much orange and it lasts fairly well throughout the day. I would say that you probably do need to buff up the colour after about 5 hrs, but then again considering the price, it's not the end of the world. If you haven't tried any MUA products before, this is the one to get and don't be surprised if you find yourself repurchasing it over and over again - I have, about 4 times...

Sticking with the quick and easy makeup theme, let's have a look at the the products that I have worn every single day without fail in July. I've been on a bad mascara streak, having tested several budget friendly products and not  been impressed with a single one of them, but finally there was a glimmer in the mascara dark with the  Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara (£9.99). It has just the right texture that I like and that usually doesn't come until the mascara is near it's end, i.e. it's liquid enough but a tiny bit sticky, which makes it easy to build up volume and length if you apply several coats. As with every other mascara these days it comes with a special "unique brush with spherical (and straight) bristles to wrap every lash in a 360° motion", I guess that means that the brush is supposed to make sure that you get colour on all sides of your lashes. Even though I'm not too sure about that statement, I do know that the brush is quite wide, firm and great to work with to shape the lashes for a wonderful volumised effect with luscious separated lashes. This was a complete impulse purchase, but I'm so glad that I decided to take a chance on it since it's the best mascara I've tried since I fell in love with L'Oréal's False Lash Flutter Mascara (the butterfly one). Thank you Bourjois for restoring my faith in affordable mascaras!

 

My preferred daily lippy has been Revlon's ColorBurst Matte Balm (£7.99) in Unapologetic which I recently did a review on that you can read here, so I won't go into more details about it except to say that the colour is the most perfect vibrant coral pink, perfect for a one-product look lounging by the pool. As you probably know I tend to wear different perfumes every single day to suit my mood, outfit etc so although I haven't exactly worn this gem every day, it's still a definite favourite this month. Ever since I first stumbled across Thierry Mugler's Alien EdT, I have looked forward to every new edition, and I have never been disappointed, they have all been outstanding! This season's newcomer - Alien Eau Extraordinaire EdT (£68) is no exception. As usual the bottle is very interesting with its beautifully cut angles and pale gold details for a glamorous outer space look and feel. It's a fresh, sparkling, sunny and harmonious fragrance mixing sweet Tunisian neroli, citrusy bergamot, elegant white tiare flower and warm amber. It's a very confident, poised and delightful scent and I always feel happy and pampered wearing it, and for warm sunny days - what could be more fitting than a warm sunny scent? That's the end to almost two month's of favourites... as much as I love them now I have a feeling that they won't be the same in August, but as I always say - it's a girl's prerogative to change her mind!

Disappointed in...

We're coming up to the end of the month, and at this point I usually do a post about the products I have loved and used the most - the monthly favorites, and I will do a favorites post this month too, but first I thought I would do something I have never done before, a post about products that have been a disappointment to me. If I were to put together all the new products that I've bought and tested over a year, I know that there would be a small mountain of them; some are fantastic, others are good, others are bland and forgettable, and I probably wouldn't buy them again simply because I can't remember them and then we have the last group of products - that ones I would downright avoid. The products today are examples from this last group but but before we start I want to emphasize that this is based on my personal experience of these specific products and although they may have been a disappointment to me for reasons that I'll explain, they might work very well for others. I also want to say that I have tried several other products from all of these brands which I have truly loved, so this is not a critique against the brands mentioned, only of these specific items.

At the beginning of the year I decided that it was time that I swap my trusted eye brow pencil for something else since there are so many other interesting eye brow products on the high street, and so I've started to experiment with a few other types - unfortunately with very little success so far. That's why I've got two eye brow products in this line up starting with a product that I got very recently - the Avon Anew Transforming Brow Filler (£6). For some reason this product isn't listed on line which is why I haven't got a link to it, although you can find it in the latest Avon Book. It's a twist up eye brow filler pen with a comb tip, which is intended to help define and set the shape of the brows, as well as add a hint of color and I tried it in Light Brown. Maybe there was something wrong with the product I got, but it took A LOT of twisting to get any product to come out of the tip, and when it finally did it had a gloopy gel like consistency and the little color it had was very blotchy and unevenly distributed throughout the formula - frankly it looks awful when you test it on your hand, you can photos here on my Instagram. If you're brave enough to apply the gooey looking gel, it feels quite wet on the brows and although the comb tip does do a little shaping, I didn't get any color from it at all. Perhaps the color was too light for me, but this brow filler did absolutely nothing except make my eye brows wet and that together with the strange, unappealing consistency makes it a product that I won't buy Anew.

The second brow product is Maybelline's Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara (£4.99), which I have done a separate review of previously which you can find here. It comes in a mascara format, so you apply it to your brows using a wand which has a ball shaped brush with long stiff combs at the tip of it, see photo here on my Instagram. My biggest challenge with this product is the dry formula, which makes it difficult to get an even amount of product on the brush, which then of course means that you also get an uneven application with the color clumping in some places. I've found that I always need to use either an additional brow brush or q-tip to even out the color, which is tricky without messing up the brows, and I usually end up with a very bushy and exaggerated brow look - not at all something I'm going for. Since the formula is already dry but it also sets very quickly on the brows, you need to work fast when you even out the color because once it's set, it's there for the duration of the day, which I guess is a plus when it comes to long wear. The fact that I need to use additional tools to get this brow mascara to work at all, but still without achieving the look I actually want, means that it's too much effort especially when I can get a nice arched brow using a pencil in a fragment of the time it takes me to fiddle with Brow Drama - Sorry Maybelline, but for me this product is too much drama and not enough brow sculpting!

I'm a bit sad to have to include a MUA Lipstick (£1) in this gang of disappointing five partly because MUA is one of my favorite basic budget brands and they have a lot of great products, but also because this particular shade - 16 Nectar is absolutely gorgeous, just the perfect peachy summery shade, which you can see here on my Instagram. So why have I included it then you ask?, well it's because it's one of these formulas that has a split personality. When you apply it from the bullet the lipstick shows its positive side; it's very soft and creamy and the pigmentation seems good, although the formula is a bit "thin", so you have to apply the lippy fairly thickly for an even coverage on your lips. After that it starts to set really quickly, and that's when the Mr Hyde side of this lipstick shows its face by drying along the lip contours and where your lips meet. That horrible dried contour then stays put even after eating and drinking, while the rest of the lip color disappears - it's not a good look and one of my pet peeves when it comes to makeup. So despite being a stunning golden peach color, for this particular lipstick MUA stands for Must Unfortunately be Avoided. 

One of the most hyped products to reach the UK last year was Maybelline's Baby Lips Balm (£2.99) a must try product for any lip balm addict, and I since I'm a fan of everything cherry I was very excited to get my paws on a Cherry Me. The claim was that this cute and colorful lip balm would give 8 hrs of hydration and nourishment, quite something for a lip balm priced lower than most drinks in Starbucks. The lip balm does give a faint cherry red color with a little bit of shine which isn't long lasting but nice enough, although at the time I was distinctly underwhelmed by the lacking sense of hydration (you can see my original review here), and didn't feel like it did anything at all to nourish my lips. Since then I did continue to use it for a while over winter to finish it up more than anything, but as the weather got colder not only did the lip balm not add any hydration or nourishment - it was as if it actually dried out my lips even more and made them hyper sensitive, so eventually I had to stop using it and instead move on to old Burt's Bees to restore my lips. I've never reacted like that with any other type of lip product, but it's safe to say that I definitely don't cherish Cherry Me, and next time I'll opt for a Starbucks instead. 

To balance things out and to show that it's not just a selection of budget friendly products that have proven to be a let down I'll finish with a premium brand product, Dior's Blush Trianon Edition (£30.50 reviewed here) in the color 916 Pink Réverie. It all started so well with its gorgeous packaging and cute embossed bow pattern, and even though the muted pink shade with strong blue undertones was definitely outside my comfort zone, and not at all the kind of color I would normally go for it did look promising in the pan. The texture of the blush is lovely and light, but it's let down by the complete lack of pigmentation and it doesn't matter how much I apply of it, on me the color simply will simply not build up at all. At first I gave it the benefit of the doubt and thought that perhaps it was simply that the color wasn't suitable for my skin tone, but after having gone from office pale to a slightly more healthy looking golden color, there should at least in theory be a bigger and more noticeable contrast, so the blush should appear more but unfortunately Pink Réverie still doesn't show up my skin, as you can see here on my Instagram. Out of all the products today, this was probably the biggest disappointment for several reasons - first of all it's not exactly a budget product and secondly it's Dior, an iconic brand which I don't think it's unreasonable that you have high expectations from. I guess it just goes to show that quality has nothing to do with hype, clever marketing, glossy packaging and you can get great products as well as duds in any price range. With this little collection of unfavorites out of the way, don't forget to check in tomorrow to see the actual monthly favorites for May. 

Survival kit for insomniacs

The best beauty advise in the world is to make sure that you get enough sleep since not only do you rest and heal your body and mind when you sleep, but the skin regenerates and it's during the night that your skin is most recipient to treatments. Some people don't need a lot of sleep to still function properly, but I'm not one of those people and if I don't get my required 16 hrs of sleep (no wait... that's koalas...) I'm cranky, can't focus, feel almost hung over even though I haven't touched a drop of alcohol (honestly!) and I'm so peckish I could eat a cardboard box, if I don't have any yummy goodies at home. Getting back into a healthy sleeping pattern can be difficult and it takes time, but today I'll show you some products that have helped me through those horrible times of sleeplessness.

Some common advise when you find it difficult to fall asleep is to avoid tv, laptops, alcohol and food a few hrs before bedtime and to take a hot relaxing bath. For me it works best having a nice long soak with aromatic scents, and traditionally scents like lavender and camomile are supposed to work really well to relax you. Lately I've been using St. Grape Exotic Pink Bath Salts which are made from Himalayan salt. The bath salts have a lovely sweet, and light lavender scent with a menthol punch to it and the salts are wonderful for softening up your muscles and detoxing your body at the same time as they make the skin feel very soft and nourished, which is great since the last thing I want to do after a relaxing bath is to start moisturising.

Just in case I don't manage to get a lovely night's sleep I'll also apply the Gatineau Age Benefit Ultra-Regenerating Nigh Elixir (£90) that at least makes my skin look like it's rested. The formula is a very intense anti-ageing treatment for night use only that revitalises the skin by targeting fine lines and wrinkles. The texture is lovely and silky with a slight glowing tint to it and it has a lovely clean and fresh smell. You only need a small pump of the serum to cover your face, and when you wake up in the morning the skin looks smooth, radiant and energised as if you had had a really good night's sleep. When it's eventually time to go to bed to try and fall asleep I'll spray Avon's Planet Spa Sleep Serenity Pillow Mist (£1.30) which is an aromatic and light scent with camomile and lavender over the bed clothes and in the room to make the bedroom a nice, peaceful and relaxing space. I also use the Avon's Planet Spa Sleep Serenity Balm (£0.90) on my pulse points - so on my wrists, on my neck and on my temples, although the balm smells a lot less of lavender than the pillow mist and I mainly pick up on the very subtle and harmonious scent of camomile that should help to send me to the land of nod.

Hopefully the bath and the relaxing lavender and camomile scent is enough to help me relax and get a good few hrs sleep, however if in the morning I haven't managed to get what I need and I'm feeling and looking tired I'll use The Body Shop Elderflower Unperfumed Eye Gel (£7) on the eye area. It's a fabulous eye gel that cools and soothes the eye area, and the elderflower helps to get rid of the build up of fluids under the eyes that cause dark rings. I keep mine in the fridge to enhance that refreshing sensation when you apply it and within a few minutes you should see how the eyes look less puffy and those pesky dark circles starting to fade. The last must have product for insomniacs is Dermalogica's Total Eye Care (£37) which I've mentioned a few times before, but it's such a great product that it deserves to be mentioned often. It has a light consistency that hydrates and smoothes out the eye area and since it has a slight tint to it and light reflecting particles, it works like an under eye concealer, making you look much more bright, fresh and rested. What do you use to help you fall asleep and do you have any tips on how to at least fake 8 hrs sleep?

Avon's Gel Finish Nailwear + Winner of Sephora giveaway

I know it's not Monday today but I just couldn't wait until next Manic.Monday to tell you about these Gel Finish Nailwear from Avon (£7) so let's just focus on the Manic.ure bit, rather than what day of the week it is. I've never had a salon gel manicure done, but I've been a mahoosive fan of gel finishes ever since Barry M launched their amazing Gelly Hi-Shine effect range last year and by now we've seen other brands catching up with their own versions at different price points. The Gel Finish Nailwear is the latest nail polish release from Avon available as of April and it promises to give a high gloss gel like shine which is also supposed to strengthen the nails by up to 42% without any need for using a UV lamp, it has built in base and top coat and intense pigmentation in one coat. Since Avon is famous for their value for money products I was very excited to take this formula for a test drive. For being a new launch, the range of colors is very impressive - there are 24 different shades available ranging from bright, vibrant, sunny colors that just POP, darker and more sophisticated chic shades to everybody's favorite this season - pretty creamy candy colors, in short there's something for everyone! Since I'm all about pastels this year I decided to try the formula in the shades Sheer Love which is a very pale white petal pink, and Lavender Sky which is a beautiful pale mauve shade.

The formula has a good consistency, not too runny and not too thick, and with the averagely sized brush it's easy to get a good amount of product to try and minimise the amounts of brush strokes used. I have previously been quite skeptical towards formulas that claim to have a built in base and top coat, but after having used the amazing Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Formula, I was much less reluctant to try these polishes without any base coat, and I'm very pleased to say that neither of these shades stained my nails and they also lasted and wore really well after I'd applied them with a natural glossy finish. Personally I quite like my Gel effects to be super shiny, so even though there was no impact on wear I think I'll still apply a high shine top coat for that brilliant shine. So far so good, however there were some differences between the shades in terms of pigmentation. You may remember that Avon claims that one coat should be enough with this formula - well, that's definitely not the case with the shade Sheer Love. Admittedly it is a delicate pink, in fact it's almost a nude color however for a good streak free and opaque coverage I had to apply 3 coats of it, which is not at all what I would expect from a gel effect (especially not one priced at £7), even if the color is sheer and it's probably because of the amount of coats needed that this only lasted about 3 days before starting to chip. With Lavender Sky on the other hand it's a completely different story and you'll get a gorgeous, creamy and opaque look using only one coat with minimum brush strokes and it lasted flawlessly for almost 5 days. Sheer Love is without a doubt  a very pretty shade, but for me it just doesn't live up to my expectations of a gel polish. If I'm underwhelmed about Sheer Love, I'm exactly the opposite regarding Lavender Sky - the color is pure and simple beauty, the coverage phenomenal and it lasted quite a long time.

 

Since I have only tried two different shades of the Avon Gel Polishes, I don't want to go as far as to say that the overall quality is inconsistent, however if you do go for a sheer shade you should be prepared that you might need to use more than one coat for a lovely opaque finish. The Avon Gel Polishes will be priced at £7, but if you order now you can get them at 50% discount.

Before we finish today's post I am very happy to announce the winner of the giveaway of Sephora makeup products to celebrate that I had reached more than 100 000 pageviews. Thank you so SO much for all the entries, but unfortunately there could be only one winner this time around, and the lucky girl is Hayley Todd - congratulations Hayley and I really hope you'll enjoy the products! Have a great day everyone!

March favorites

What's the definition of a favorite product? An item that you love more than others, or an item that you've used more often than others? This month all my favorites are a little bit of both actually, although who knows what it'll be next month since my little club of favorites tend to change quite frequently... Let's start with something easy on the locks - hair oils are so versatile and easy to use, and one of the best ones I've tried lately is the lovely Easilocks Rose Gold Oil Heat Protector Pro* (£24.99) that I reviewed earlier this month (see article here). I had never tried this brand before but I was so impressed by how soft, shiny and protected it made my hair look and feel that I've used it a couple of times a week both before styling and as an intense treatment. The texture is light, silky and indulgent with a delightful floral and slightly spicy scent that I just can't get enough of.

My current eye shadow primer, the MUA Pro-Base Prime & Conceal (£1.50) was a bit of an impulse buy and I didn't have very high expectations of it, however this plain looking product turned out to be anything but plain (reviewed here). It's a multi purpose product which can be used both as a primer and a color correcting concealer. The consistency is velvety smooth and light weight and it's great at reducing redness and dark circles under the eyes, and also helps to make your makeup last longer. I've also used it on its own instead of eyeshadow to even out the skintone on my eyelids for a more bright eyed and rested appearance and have found that it's a great dupe for Benefit's Lemon Aid (£16.50). 

We've had some amazingly warm and sunny days in the UK with temperatures close to 20 degrees Celsius, so I've temporarily swapped my leather leggings for summery skirts but to avoid blinding the rest of the world with my whiter than white legs I've accepted some help from the fantastic Caudalie Divine Perfect Legs (£13), which is self-tanning product so easy to use that even I can get an even golden color. The consistency is ever so slightly thicker than most self tanning lotions and since it's colored you can see exactly where you've applied which makes is so much easier to get an even, non zebra like color. It also has a lovely fresh scent, unlike a lot of other self tanning products. If I can't manage to go on a divine holiday, at least I can have divine looking legs with a little help from this heaven sent goodie!

An oldie that I've rediscovered this month, which is almost as fun as trying something completely new, is Avon's Ultra Color Rich Lipstick in Instant Mocha. It's a lovely soft, creamy and moisturising formula with great pigmentation that delivers a beautiful opaque and slightly shiny finish, and since it's opaque you'll get hours of flawless wear without any drying sensation on the lips. The color is a delicious pink with a plum undertone and a lovely shine, and it's such a versatile glamorous shade. I feel a little bit bad for including it in this month's favorites since it's no longer in stock with Avon (why, why, WHY do you keep doing this to me Avon?!) and the few products I've found on eBay and Amazon are relatively expensive compared to the original price point. The closest I've come to finding a twin lipstick is MAC's Craving, which is equally rich, creamy and opaque - simply stunning...

When chubby sticks for eyes were first released I was a bit skeptical to the format, but many months and makeup looks down the line, I am a complete convert and can't praise the format enough. An excellent budget version is MUA's Colour Blast Eyeshadow Tint (£3) in the shade Bring it Back, a brilliant neutral bronzed and slightly shimmery brown. It has a lovely and creamy texture and it's so easy to apply without any tugging on the eyelid for a clean and understated sheer coverage, great for a quick and easy groomed every day look with a simple eyeliner and mascara. It wears really well throughout the day without creasing and at that price, you can't really go wrong.

A palette I have truly loved this month is the beautifully delicate and pretty Dior 5 Couleurs Trianon Edition Eyeshadow Palette (£41) in Pastel Fontanges 234 (you can read a full review here). The colors are all lovely shimmery pastels with great pigmentation and wear, perfect for fresh faced, minimal and romantic looks for spring and summer. My favorite combination so far is to use the ballerina pink with the gunmetal grey, which really brings out blue eyes. I can say hand on my heart that j'Adore Dior!

Swatches from top to bottom:

Avon Ultra Color Rich Lipstick - Instant Mocha

MUA Colour Blast Eyeshadow Tint - Bring It Back

Tanya Burr Lipgloss - Picnic in the Park

I've never really been a big wearer of lipgloss, mostly because I haven't found any with great pigmentation and wear - at least that is, until this year when there have been some real crackers on the high street. The latest one to impress me is the Tanya Burr Lipgloss in Picnic in the Park (£6.99) and its's nothing like the lipglosses I've tried before. The texture is light and very importantly non sticky with wonderful pigmentation, and when you first apply it has a gorgeous glossy look that after a few hrs wear looks like a stain. Out of the 12 colors in the range, Picnic in the park is my absolute favorite - it's a stunning brink pink shade with a slight blue undertone that is simply adorable on the lips, no wonder it's sold out in so many places!

Let me know in the comment section what it takes for a product to make your list of favorites, and what's new for March?

March empties

Can you believe it's time for empties again? What ever happens to the days I wonder, and I'm convinced that the bad economy and inflation these past few years even has impacted time - an hour is somehow shorter than it used to be. Again I have tried my hardest this month to finish up as many products as possible and in the end I'm quite pleased with the results - 8 products that can go in the bin, which equals the right to buy 8 new products, that's the rule isn't it?

Let's start with some skin care products. Ever since I finished my beloved Gatineau Floracil (£29.50), a strong contender for the world champion title of eye makeup removers, I've been using the L'Oréal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution (£4.99), the well known dupe for the original micellar solution - Bioderma. It's a great, effective and gentle all-in-one product, removing both face and eye makeup without stinging your eyes, and it also acts as a toner. The only thing I seriously dislike about it is the packaging, or more specifically the fact that there is no effective dispenser at the top of the bottle - just a big hole. This means that if you drop the bottle, or you're not careful with closing the top, the solution goes everywhere. That should be easy enough to fix and hopefully L'Oréal will do something about it eventually. Even though I prefer to use micellar solutions from other brands as part of my morning routine, I still like to use the L'Oréal 3 in 1 solution as an eye makeup remover, and at such an affordable price it's super value for money.

On to the St. Grape Aqua Bliss Natural Face and Body Scrub (£12) which is an amazing luxurious bath scrub containing natural mineral sea salt, essential oils and vitamin e. The formula is light, fluffy and creamy and the salt grains are so fine that they start to melt immediately when you scoop it out of the jar. The scrub is so delicate and gentle on the skin, leaving it smooth and supple with a gorgeous and quite strong scent of delicate jasmine. You can use this both on your body and face, but since I'm cautious of using strongly perfumed products on my face I stick to using it as a body scrub. It's a fantastic indulgent product, perfect for a pampering evening and I will get another one as soon as I've finished some of my other body scrubs.

We've come to the section of hair products for this month starting with the Avon Naturals Apricot and Shea Leave-in Treatment (£2.50). It's a lovely light cream, almost of the same consistency as a conditioner, that you apply to towel dried hair and it makes your hair very silky and so much easier to detangle. But the best thing about it is the incredible scent of sun-kissed juicy apricots and luxurious shea butter that stays on your hair and if you apply it in the evening, you'll still smell it in the morning when you wake up. This is one of the few Avon hair products that really works on my hair, and the smell of  a creamy fresh apricot smoothie is just irresistible.

Of course we have a dry shampoo as well - the TRESemme Instant Refresh Radiance Dry Shampoo Translucent Formula (£5.25). It's a slightly revamped version of the original TRESemme dry shampoo that doesn't leave that white powdery residue on your hair that some dry shampoos can do which is great, and it has that lovely recognizable fresh TRESemme scent that lingers on your hair. It's a decent dry shampoo however personally I don't find it quite as effective at oil control as some of the others I've used from Batiste or Dove, and I can't say that I've noticed that it adds any radiance as it promises either. Since it is a bit more expensive than other brands, but it doesn't have the same effect on my hair I won't be repurchasing this.

If you've followed my posts on Operation Rapunzel, you'll know that I have been using the Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment (£7.99) faithfully since October last year to help my hair to grow. The treatment is a protein enriched masque that you use after shampoo but before conditioner, and it helps to nourish the scalp and follicles for healthy hair. It's a gorgeous creamy formula with a delicious nutty scent that reminds me of the Macadamia range, and it makes the hair feel extremely soft and nourished. After more than 3 months of use, my hair had grown almost 6 cms, and although it might not be down only to this lovely treatment, it's certainly helped to keep my hair sleek and glossy. I can't recommend this wonderful masque enough, and in fact I would say - buy two at the same time to make sure you don't run out.

When I first got the L'Oréal False Lash Flutter Mascara (£10.99) I had some mixed feelings about it, that you may remember from a separate review I did in November (see here). Although the formula starts off quite thin, it does add a wonderful length, and as the formula thickens it also adds quite a lot of volume to the lashes. Another plus point is the fabulous fanned butterfly wing effect on the lashes that the very scary looking brush creates and the mascara also wears great throughout the day. What I found most difficult to get used to is the brush - it's big, sturdy, heavy in the hand and the shape makes it difficult to reach the inner lashes and to get a nice even coverage of the lower lashes, at least until you get used to is and you find a way to use it that works for you. Despite my initial struggles with the brush I absolutely love the dramatic lash effect this mascara creates, and truth be told I have already bought another one, and can't wait to start using it again.

This month I've finished another fragrance, Flora by Gucci - Glamorous Magnolia EdT (£48.50) one of the amazing scents from Gucci's Floral Garden range. I'm a massive fan of the original Flora scent, but the Floral Garden range is far from your garden variety of perfumes and Glamorous Magnolia is a fabulous, fresh, soft and sensual modern scent. It blends delicate white flowers with lots of character like magnolia and freesia with warm peony, invigorating citrus fruits and warm, earthy musk and wood. It's such a cool, crisp and glamorous scent and it's perfect for warm, sweltering summer days. Glamorous Magnolia - you will be sorely missed... at least until I get bottle of you, and this time I'm going large!

Last but not least is a candle that I bought just before Christmas, and I know what you're thinking - what, that's months ago? But the reason for not showing it sooner is that it burns up to 170 hrs, so it's lasted me aaaages. I had never tried this brand before but the Village Candle in Mulled Cider (£17.25) smelt so delicious of warm, sweet fruity and slightly spicy cider that I just had to have it. It came with two wicks and burnt really well from side to side, deep into the glass jar, with next to nothing left of it. The Village Candles look and smell so similar to the Yankee Candles that you can easily mistake them for each other, although the Village Candles might be slightly lower priced. With 170 hrs burn time, these candles are excellent value for money and I would definitely try this brand again. If you have tried both Yankee and Village Candles I'd love to hear if you think there's a difference between them and which you prefer?

Top up your nails with different effect top coats

The easiest and most affordable way to change a look or an outfit completely, is to wear a different nail polish and speaking for polishaholics all over the world, I'm so grateful that there are so many nail polishes available to feed our insatiable craving. It's not just all the colors of the rainbow that appeals to me, but also the wonderful range of different effects that you can get e.g. matte, opalescent or glitter. The only downside to that is that my nail polish collection just grows and grows with every new color and effect that I get and storing them all will eventually become a problem, but there is a solution. There are quite a few top coats available that will let you create the same effects but on any of your ordinary nail polishes and today I'm showing you four of my favorite top coats for different finishes. To help illustrate the effects I have used two amazing polishes from the modern classic that is the Barry M Gelly Shine (£3.99) collection; Dragon fruit - a lovely warm barbie pink, and Grape - a vibrant electric blue. So let's have a look at the top coats and the looks that you can create.

 

The first top coat is the Avon Nailwear Satin Nail Top Coat (£4.50). During the winter season we saw some very interesting matte nail finishes, and with this top coat you can achieve that matte look on any of the nail polishes you already have. It's a milky looking top coat, that you apply over your chosen color and although it first looks like a slightly pink shimmery during application it dries into a great matte look. For this effect the brush isn't quite wide enough for my liking, so to avoid having to do two coats (which I had to do with the blue shade, and if you look carefully in the photo you can tell that the coverage was uneven), I would recommend that you make sure that you get a generous dollop of the top coat on the brush and then spread it out. At least that way you'll get a nice and solid matte finish, as you can see with the pink shade.

After that we have another product from Avon, the Avon Nailwear Opal Top Coat (£2.50) which I have mentioned previously. One of the nail effects that I have liked the most during the past year is the Moon Candy look, and with this top coat you can get the same effect on any nail polish without having to buy the Revlon duo kits unless you want to. It's a clear top coat with fragments that look like a crushed opal, which create a beautiful luminous prism effect. Again the brush isn't very wide, but with this top coat, it's not necessarily a bad thing since it's easier to place the opal looking fragments where you want them. With one coat, you get a nice and subtle look, that would work for any occasion to add something a little different, but if you want an even more iridescent and lustruous effect, apply a second coat - and wait for the compliments to roll in.

Moving on to a more traditional glitter look, we have Rimmel's Rock Your Colour Glitter Top Coat (£1.99) in Disco Gold. This is a beautiful glittering top coat, with very fine and tiny gold pigments for a luxurious and delicate finish. It's a great option if you want to wear something sparkly, but that's not too dramatic or flamboyant. The brush is quite narrow so even though you get a decent amount of product on the brush, you'll probably need 3-4 strokes to get an even distribution of it across the nail. Because the glitter is so fine, you'll be glad to know that it's very easy to remove from your nails without having to use any nasty acetone. Unfortunately it looks like this pretty top coat no longer is available in Boots or Superdrug, which is a real shame since it's a lovely discrete glitter polish, but luckily there are loads of them on eBay for a very low price.

From left to right:

Barry M Dragon Fruit

Barry M Dragon Fruit + Avon Nailwear Satin Nail Top coat

Barry M Dragon Fruit + Avon Nailwear Opal Top Coat

Barry M Dragon Fruit + Rimmel Rock Your Colour Glitter Top Coat in Disco Gold

Barry M Dragon Fruit + Ciaté Confetti Nail Polish

From left to right:

Barry M Grape

Barry M Grape + Avon Nailwear Satin Nail Top coat

Barry M Grape + Avon Nailwear Opal Top Coat

Barry M Grape + Rimmel Rock Your Colour Glitter Top Coat in Disco Gold

Barry M Grape + Ciaté Confetti Nail Polish

 

The last top coat isn't strictly speaking actually a top coat and it can be worn on its own for an amazing lustruous look. Ciaté's Confetti (£9) is a gorgeous glittering polish, rich with with silver colored holographic sparkles that create a fabulous radiant finish and ecause there is so much glitter in the polish, it's easy to get an even spread of it across the nail. When you use this as a top coat, one layer is more than enough for an eye catching effect but if you want to use it on its own, you definitely need at least two and maybe even three coats for an extravagant party look. Despite being very rich in glitter it's very easy to remove the polish and there's no need to use tin foil or whatever trick you've got up your sleeve to get remove stubborn glitter polishes. 

 

Using different top coats is an affordable, fun and easy way to create a particular effect without having to buy lots of new colors, and if you can't decide which one to go for there are enough top coats to choose from that you can probably get a different effect for each nail. 

Manic.Monday: Its a wrap!

Nail art has become more and more popular and I find it so inspirational to see how creative some are with their designs. Unfortunately I'm not very good at it myself and my creativity goes as far as maybe applying a cute sticker and to keep the magpie in me happy, I might add a couple of gemstones. Luckily there are lots of ready made nail art in all kinds of intricate designs, styles, colors and prices ranges available in the form of nail wraps, which is what I'll be looking at today. There are different types of nail wraps and they come in different materials like fabrics or paper and the techniques needed to apply them also differ depending on the material, with some being a bit more hard work than others e.g. some need a hair dryer, or UV lamp but having put in the effort, most nail wraps last for about two weeks so it could definitely be worth it.

The nail wrap in today's post is Avon's Nail Art (£8) in Bedazzled which is a paper wrap with glue on one side that you just stick and press on to the nails, sounds easy enough! Unfortunately I haven't been able to add a link to the product since Avon has done its usual thing of updating the webpage faster than you can say Bedazz... and if a product isn't in a current campaign, you just won't find it online either - it's the thing I dislike the very most about Avon, but that is a rant for another day...

It's easy to see why I The Magpie was drawn to Bedazzled - it's such a pretty design with actual little stones in white, pink, blue and purple on a glossy black background with thin silver stripes. Nail wraps usually come in a variety of different sizes to fit all shapes of nails, and I would highly recommend that you size them up and decide which ones to use for which finger before you start working away. You also need to prepare the nails making sure that they are dry and clean with no nail polish on them before you apply the wraps. Some brands also instruct you to buff the nail, so that the wrap attaches better however personally I don't do this since I'm cautious of anything that might damage or ridge the nails unnecessarily.

When you're prepped the nails, you can apply the sticker, finishing one finger at a time. You'll probably find that you need to cut off some of the wrap for it to fit to the nail - at least length wise. Place the wrap as close to the cuticles as you can without overlapping them and then firmly press down the wrap to fit the shape of your nail. It's also at this point that you might choose use a hair dryer to heat up the wrap slightly to make it more pliable and easier to shape to the nail, however these Avon wraps are already very easy to work with that I don't think it's needed, and in case the wrap doesn't sit as you would want on the nail, you can easily peel it back up without ruining either the nail or the wrap and then just place it back down again.

The easiest way to get the right size is to use a nail clipper to adjust. To make sure I get as close a fit as possible I turn my finger around so I can see exactly where the tip of the nail ends, and that's where I cut off the excess and smooth out the wrap across the nail. I know that this isn't exactly what you're instructed to do - instead you're supposed to leave a little bit of excess, so that when you've applied the nail and made sure that it's sitting on nicely and evenly, you fold the excess over the tip of the wrap you take an emery board and file of any bits of the nail wrap that is sticking out. That way the wrap should sit very snuggly on the nail, however I really dislike filing my nails and the few times I have tried doing this with an emery board I always end up taking of a little of the nail too, which is not ideal. Since I'm being such a rebel by not following the instructions properly, instead I apply a very thin coat of clear topcoat at the very tip of the nail to seal the edge in properly.

I would say that all in all it takes about 45 mins to do both hands, if you apply the wraps to each nail  - so if this is what you have in mind, you definitely need to set some time aside since it's not something you do quickly. The effect is definitely striking and if you've taken your time to apply the nail wraps properly, they should last about 10 days. Although I love the extravagant look, it's not practical for me since the wraps are sensitive to daily wear and tear and every time you have your hands in water, apply body lotions, skin creams or oils and even tap away at a keyboard, the edges of the the wraps will come off little by little and I find that I have to smooth them back down onto the nail several times a day. Personally I've never managed to get the wraps to last for more than 5-6 days before I'm so annoyed with them that I have to take them off but when it's time to remove the wraps, it's the easiest thing in the world and you just peel them off with minimum effort.

Considering the time it takes to do a full manicure using nail wraps versus the impracticality of them, I will stick to only using them as an accent nails in the future, but I do love the elaborate designs that you can get, and I'm definitely going to invest in a few more. If you're tempted by this beautiful bejewelled look you can get these wraps on eBay at a very reasonable price, and with that - today's post is a wrap!

January favorites

First bunch of favorites for 2014 and even though I'm slowly shedding my winter clothes and makeup for lighter and more colorful Spring looks I still feel a strong need to nourish and comfort my skin and body, to keep the cold and darkness away. It's been a bit of a wet and miserable start to the year so I've craved warm, soft perfumes to heat me up from the inside and luckily I've had two amazing scents to help me with that. To start off I've literally bathed in the lovely Bath & Body Works Fine Fragrance Mist ($14) in Warm Vanilla Sugar. If you like foodie, cookie type scents you'd probably love this. It's a very harmonious and well balanced mix of light and sparkling vanilla sugar, subtle coconut and tonka bean - gorgeous! A lot of body mists don't last very long after you've sprayed it, but the warmth of this makes it last surprisingly long and when you've sprayed it, the whole house smells as if you'd been making vanilla cookies, oh yummie! It's also worked really well in combination with the Jo Malone Rose Water & Vanilla Cologne (£100) from the sophisticated Cologne Intense range. This is another warm and vibrant scent that makes me think of expensive truffles or Turkish delight - the rose water adds delicacy and freshness while the vanilla makes the cologne creamy, refined and luxurious. I love this extravagant and lush scent that lingers on your clothes and hair long after you've sprayed it, and it seems I'm not the only one since I've received so many compliments for it.

My skin has behaved quite well this season, for which I'm very grateful but instead I have struggled a little bit with finding the right lip balm and some of the products that I've used previously, all of a sudden aren't doing it for me anymore so the past months I've to turned to my trusted Gatineau Defi Lift 3D Revolumising Lip Care (£28). This product is so much more than a lip balm - it does contain lovely smoothing and moisturising ingredients like shea butter and jojoba oil like many other balms, but it also has a collagen stimulant to create a subtle plumping effect and which helps to redefine the natural lip contours so you'll find that in addition to a moisture boost your lips have a little bit more volume for a few hrs. It's an amazing silky and light product that you can use as a primer or a lip gloss on top of lipsticks, and I also use it as a mask on the lip contours, letting it sink in for about 15 mins or so. Since it's quite an expensive lip care product I usually use this in the morning as a lip primer to plump my lips and as an overnight treatment, however since I've really needed something deeply hydrating lately I've also used this generously throughout the day and I love its plumping effects.

Next product may not be very exciting but for me it's an absolutely essential part of my nail care routine - Sally Hansen's Miracle Nail Growth Treatment (£9.99) which is applied every other day to bare nails to help them grow longer and stronger in no time (apparently you should see a 30% increase in nail growth in 5 days). A lot of products promise the moon and more, and I'm always very skeptical towards marketing fads, but I have used this strengthener a couple of times every week for well over a year and it actually does work - and if you use it as a base coat you'll treat your nails with minimal effort every day under whatever lovely shade you're wearing.

 Violet Freeze

Passionate Pink

If you read my recent post on some of my latest purchases from Avon, you might be surprised to find that one of my favorites this month is the Avon Color Trend Color Me Pretty Wet-Look Shine Nail Enamel (£3) in Violet Freeze. You may remember that we got off to a very rocky start because of some very misleading color swatches, however I won't hold that against this innocent little polish and after we passed that initial hurdle I actually really LOVE this shade. It's a wonderful shimmery light lavender blue and for me it's got just the right depth of color that at the same time gently nods to the pastel trend that I'm completely embracing this Spring. This shade turned out to be an unexpected little ablessing in disguise!

The last product this month is a wonderful creamy lipstick that has really cheered me up these rainy days and it's the The Body Shop Colour Crush Lipstick  (£10). This range has an impressive 26 different shades to choose from, and Passionate Pink is a gorgeous shimmery juicy and highly pigmented rose color with a slight blue undertone that packs enough of a punch to brighten a look, but is still versatile and soft enough that you can easily wear it during the day. The lipstick is very moisturising and gives a velvet long lasting smooth satin finish and I'm looking forward to pick up another shade from this great range this Spring.

That's the end of the favorites for this month. When I first started doing these posts last year, I fully expected them to be quite repetitive and that I would stick with the same old products month after month, but every time I think back at what I've actually really used the most - I surprise myself by how much the favorites change from month to month and I'm already curious about what goodies I'll be drawn to in February.  

Makeup by numbers with Avon

Hands up if you like makeup?! Yep - that's what I thought, far too many to count and for the avoidance of doubt, I put both of my hands up... Somehow I've stumbled my way through doing my makeup for years and even though I usually wear neutral shades most days, I love to experiment with different colors and looks and it's not unusual that I buy eye shadows, lipsticks and nail polish thinking that I'd wear them all together for a certain look. So I may be a beauty junkie, but I'm far from a skilful makeup artist. I'm definitely what you might call a happy amateur, a very happy one in fact - but still an amateur. That's why I'm a big fan of palettes with ready made combinations of shades, and little instructions on what to do with them - basically make up by numbers, and with the Avon True Colour Eyeshadow Quad (£9) available in 9 different color combinations, you just can't get it wrong.

The packaging is the standard basic black plastic that most of the Avon makeup comes in, so it's nothing fancy but it does have a great sized mirror in the lid and a generous amount of product too. Each of the shades are numbered from 1 to 4, and when you turn the packaging around there are instructions on where you should apply which shade; 1 is a highlighter for the brow bone and inner corner of the eye, 2 is a base shade for the entire lid, 3 is to emphasize the outer corner of the eye and the crease, while 4 is an eyeliner to add some depth to the root of the lashes - but obviously you can be as creative as you want with the colors.

I'd been wanting to try this quad for a long time but I couldn't decide which shade to get, so in the end I ended up going for something completely different from all the other colors that I have in my collection. This palette is called Jeans and it has four slightly shimmery shades in blue hues - all of them (even the more pastel looking shades 1 and 2) are very well pigmented, they are easy to work with, buildable, they don't crumble and they last really well throughout the day. I was quite impressed with the quality of this formula and would definitely try it in other colors too. Blue isn't always an easy color to wear and I can't say that I have many blue eye shadows, but as we're moving into Spring these blue shades might prove more useful and less outlandish than I initially thought and I can see myself using especially shades 2 and 3.

I've always thought that Avon do great lip products and this latest addition - the Avon Perfect Kiss Lipstick (£5) in Racy Raspberry is no exception. Unlike the very basic eye shadow quad it comes in a lovely, sleek and modern looking metallic packaging and I hope that Avon extends this shiny new look to their other makeup packaging, that frankly needs a bit of va-va-vooming. It's a gorgeous creamy and moisturising formula that contains essential oils and that gives super coverage with a plump satin finish. The finish lasts for hrs and fades evenly without any dry patches. Racy Raspberry is a wonderful French rose pink shade with a definite blue undertone, very soft feminine and versatile. 

Shades 1 to 4 as in the eye shadow palette Jeans + Racy Raspberry

The nail polish is the Avon Color Trend Color Me Pretty Wet-Look Shine Nail Enamel (£3) in Violet Freeze, and this is actually the second time that I've bought this color. As you can see in the photo, in the catalogue it looks like a fabulous cool and frosty Alice blue shade and in my mind it would look perfect with the blue and pink tones of the makeup, but when it arrived it was more of a lilac shimmery multi tonal color almost like the shade called Blue Morph. Never mind I thought and ordered it again, to find exactly the same thing! I can accept that there's always a certain subtle difference between the print of a swatch and reality, but the shade Violet Freeze is nothing like what is shown in the catalogue - I'm sorry Avon but you should fix this since clearly it wasn't a one off!

Moving on from this issuette, it's actually a really lovely nail polish. The formula has just the right consistency, it's quick drying and the standard width brush doesn't leave any streaks or marks in the finish. You easily get an even coverage although it is a fairly sheer polish, which personally I don't think works at all with just one coat, so I would recommend that you apply at least two coats and in the photo I'm actually wearing three coats. The shade Violet Freeze in reality is a sheer blue mauve with a pearlescent look, and despite not being at all what I was after I really do like the shade and think it has an interesting dimension to it. The formula lasts about 3-4 days before it starts to chip and it's very easy to remove. 

 

In the end I pretty much achieved the look that I was going for - frosty cool shades on the eye with a contrasting soft but intense lip color, and despite some minor bumps in the road getting there: all's well that ends well. And on the journey I not only discovered an interesting new nail polish shade but I was also positively surprised by the quality of the eye shadows and I definitely recommend this painting by numbers palette.