NOTD - Nails Inc Drury Lane

I knew I had to blog about this nail polish the minute I had finished painting my nails last night.

Nails Inc Drury Lane is a ridiculously pretty colour. A gorgeous coral pink which is lovely and vibrant for Summer.

I own a tonne of coral nail polish but this one is probably the prettiest of the lot.

Please ignore the colour of my skin is these photos - I have tried to crop as best I can as I had a major fake tan fail this weekend (the first in a very long time) and have managed to tango my hands!! whoopsy!

The only downside, as I find with all Nails Inc polishes ... the application is horrific. It's gloopy, streaky and takes me up to 3 coats to get a smooth enough finish. As you can see from the photos though I didn't really get that smooth a finish after all. I managed to smudge them seconds after I painted them ... hmmph!

On one hand I can't stand Nails Inc polishes but when they produce colours this pretty I do tend to just put up and persevere with the negatives for the sake of pretty nails.

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Cheek of the Week! - Mac Grand Duo

This week's cheek was thanks to MAC, in particular their grand duos mineralize blush collection.

I feel like I am the only person who purchased 'Grand Duo' from this collection, I haven't heard or seen anyone else rave about it at all. 'Love Rocks' seems to have been the favourite but it just didn't appeal. If I am going to buy something in a collection, I try and pick out items that I don't think can be duped all that easily and certainly with Grand Duo, I don't own anything else like it.

One half is a lovely warm plum shade while the marbled side is a coppery pink that perfectly compliments the plum. I was feeling a bit pale this week and this blush gave me just enough colour to warm up my otherwise pale cheeks. It is not overly pigmented but this is a bonus as it is very frosty so it is better to build it up so you don't over do it.

What you finish with is a shimmery frost over the cheeks which some don't like but when I am pale, I am happy for a bit of shimmer to help me achieve that 'glow'.

My favourite thing about this blush is how long lasting it is. I never ever have to touch it up throughout the day which is good for a lazy girl like me.

This is probably more of an autumn/winter shade for the cheeks but seeing as we are having some Winter weather this week in Glasgow while the rest of the UK enjoys a heatwave, then it is probably quite apt.

Did anyone else like Grand Duo Mineralize blush or was it just me after all?

x

NOTD: Estee Lauder Blue Dahlia

Following on from my previous post introducing the Estee Lauder Blue Dahlia palette, here is another one of my favourites from the collection.

(Excuse my shoddily applied nail colour)

It's the pure colour nail lacquer in Blue Dahlia. I said before that I like navy, well I love it on the nails. In fact, navy is pretty much my favourite colour so anything in that hue grabs my attention.

Now I own a few 'navy' nail polishes but none that look a true navy on the nails... usually there are flecks of purple or a tinge of sparkle somewhere (e.g, OPI Russian Navy).

Estee Lauder's Nail Laquer however presents a true navy. On my nails, at least. In the bottle it can look a slightly dark aubergine in certain lights but on the nails it is as true a navy as I can find. It leaves a glossy dark blue finish that is opaque with 2 coats.

There is no colour changing effect depending on light, just true glossy navy which I love and I know I will wear again and again come Autumn and Winter ... heck I am even loving it for Summer!

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Estee Lauder Blue Dahlia

Lucky old me has been given a sneak preview of Estee Lauders Autumn 2010 collection, Blue Dahlia, created by Lauder's Creative Makeup Director, Tom Pecheux.

I don't get that excited over new make up collections (sometimes) but I had already seen this gorgeous palette on Lipglossiping and Getlippie's blogs and virtually couldn't wait to get my hands on it. To some it may seem a bit of a boring palette (which is one of 2 palettes in the collection coincidentally) ... but I think it's not only an unusual colour choice but it is daringly sophisticated. I adore navy and teal on the eyes so I was lusting after this one.


Firstly, the packaging. The palette is encased in glamourous gold packaging with the Lauder logo/emblem etched on it. The casing has a mirror on the inside as do the individual Estee Lauder shadow palettes. I think every item of make up should come with a mirror attached, I really do. The only draw back to the packaging is sometimes it can be a bit sticky to open and I do worry that I will crack/break it. The palette. Urgh, in my opinion, it's just gorgeous. The shadows look and feel silky to touch.
Clockwise from top we have
A shimmering teal blue
A gorgeous mink
A smokey navy blue
A sparkly white with flecks of teal glitter
And in the centre there is a matte blackThe sparkling white is really quite something, here is a closer look where you can see the teal sparkles. I would use this to highlight the browbone and inner corner of the eyes or simply to add some sparkle over another colour.

Swatches. This is the colours in the same order as mentioned above. The white needed to be layered quite a bit to get the pigment as shown in the swatch photo but the rest of the shades applied well with good pigmenation. I especially love the teal and mink but I will endeavour to do a face of the day with this palette to show it off on the eyes.

This beautiful palette is available along with the rest of the collection featuring nail colour, glosses and gloss sticks from August 2010, in stores and online at www.esteelauder.com

x

With this ring ...

I'm tired and gloomy this Sunday evening, the weekend is over and i'm preparing for another working week :(
Just before it's all over though, just a quick post to show you my new rings purchased this weekend.

The gold & pink ring is from Mango and mimics the gorgeously fashionable and wonderfully formed Agate rings. I have been after a true Agate ring for quite a while but never find any that take my fancy so the search goes on, however, this will do in the meantime. I picked it up when returning some unwanted items but I believe it was £9.

The silver ring was purchased from a Polish man who runs a stall at Sloanes Market, just off Buchanan Street, Glasgow. The market runs every Saturday and Sunday but yesterday was the first time I really explored it. The man who sold me the ring told me the stone was some sort of amethyst .... I don't remember much else, I was too excited about it's price tag ... only £4! This ring will compliment my VW skull ring just nicely I think.

A few stalls up from the Polish stallholder, there was a lovely girl whose jewellery designs go by the name of Cherry Loco. She had some amazing pieces that are all designed and made by herself. I picked up a gorgeous necklace which I will blog about seperately but I can't wait to go back and visit her stall come payday! :)

Overall, I was really impressed with Sloanes Market ... situated in a lane at the bottom of Buchanan Street it has a varied array of stalls selling jewellery, clothes, sweets and art. I can't believe I have overlooked it for so long.

x

My favourite products of the month!

It has been a while since I did a 'favourites' post so here's whats getting the thumbs up from me this past month ...

HAIR

• Bumble & Bumble Creme de Coco Shampoo & Conditioner - I love love love this. Smells great and helps bring the volume and shine back to my lack lustre hair! Result.

FACE

• Estee Lauder Double Wear - Now that I have a little bit of tan to my face I switched from Clinique Anti Blemish to Double wear. I try and resist using double wear daily if I can help it as it gives a full coverage but it's so lovely that I have worn it most days.

LIPS

• Estee Lauder gloss in Nude Rose - I bought this last year before my holidays and it has turned into a bit of a fail safe nude gloss for me. With a scent of fig, it smells as good as it looks!

CHEEKS

• Topshop Neon Rose - This is such a fresh bright colour for the cheeks. It creates a subtle glow that really brightens the face giving an almost luminous glow (not in the radioactive sense. It can be layered easily or applied sheerly for a subtle hint of colour.

EYES

• Urban Decay shadows in Drink me, Eat me and Madhatter from the Alice in Wonderland palette - I have been wearing these most days, it's an easy neutral combo that is perfect for work.
• Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Teal - again I got this as part of the AIW palette. It looks gorgeous on the waterline and takes my work look from day to night by adding some welcome colour.
  
• The Body Shop Metallic Eye Definer in Burnished Amber - this is another one I love on the waterline especially for summer when I am tanned (fake of course) and wearing bronze colours on eyes, lips or cheeks (but never all at once).

BODY

• Xen Tan - After a rocky start I think I have now bonded with the wonder of xen tan and I am now sporting a gorgeous natural looking tan that fades without leaving harsh lines or streaking - review coming up shortly ...
  

FRAGRANCE

• Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom and Honey Cologne - this is a deliciously fruity fragrance with hints of peach and plum as well as the obvious nectarine and honey, perfect for day wear and I always get asked what I'm wearing :)
  

NAILS

• Anything goes! I have been mixing it up with leopard print, bows, stripes and flowers on my nails. Perfect way of getting use of your polishes in one go

SHOES

• Topshop Wedges - these were purchased as part of a birthday treat as I loved the blush/nude colour and lace up front. Despite how they might look, they are actually really comfy. Honest.

CLOTHES

• New Look Harem Jumpsuit - I adore this. So comfy, so versatile and perfect for sunny weather. Easy to dress up with a belt, necklace, wedges or go casual in flip flops.

I probably have loads more I could chat about but this post has to end somewhere. For July, I am already predicting a return to brights on the lips (pink in particular) and pretty dresses ... yay for Summer!

x

Subtle smokey eye FOTD

As mentioned in yesterday's post I was at a Christening this weekend. Because of this I didn't want to go too heavy on the eyes but still wanted a smokey look that wasn't too dark or overly done up looking.

Soft and subtle was order of the day which I achieved using these 3 colours from Estee Lauder.

From left to right; Twilight Rose; Sizzling Copper; Hot Cinammon

Firstly, I should say that only Sizzling Copper and Hot Cinammon are available to buy at counters now. Twilight Rose will be launched along with the Blue Dahlia collection in August. All individual shadows are priced at£15.00.

These shadows are beautiful and come in matte, shimmer and metallic finishes. The metallic finishes are really lovely but may be a little too frosty/glittery for some.

To achieve this look, I used Twilight Rose all over the lid, a little Hot Cinammon (shimmer finish) on the outer V then I applied Sizzling Copper (metallic finish) to the crease blending well with the Hot Cinammon. I brought this underneath the eye before adding some more Hot cinammon to define and again sweeping this underneath the eye.

I used some MAC Shroom to highlight before adding Bobbi Brown gel liner in Caviar and my Clarins mascara. On the cheeks I stuck to my fail safe Nars Laguna and Bobbi Brown Apricot blush.
On my lips I went with MAC Angel. I love the soft finish of Angel, it's one of my favourite lip colours, a more muted and almost dusky pink that complements this soft, smokey look.
The shadows lasted the full day, even in the heat as we were lucky enough to catch some sun in the afternoon (after a week of bucketing rain).

I was really pleased with the result as it was soft and subtle enough for the event while still being glamorous and polished.

x