Colour Club "Mrs Robinson" & Acrylic Extensions

Hi,

After telling myself I wouldn't get nail extensions again, and that I would just grow them like a normal person, I decided that all these beautiful nail polishes I was collecting and swatching needed a better canvas than my dry, peeling, irregular nails. So on a recommendation from my friend I went to a new little nail salon that has opened up near my work and got a full set put on.

I have possibly gone a little bit longer than I normally would but I can always file them down, or just get them shorter next time. Either way the reason I decided to write a post about this was because the colour that I chose was so amazing I had to show you all before I took it off to do swatches. It immediately stood out to me when I saw it on the wall and just new I had to had it. Its by "colour club" a brand of which I only one nail polish which I had to buy of Ebay because it was so rare, but after finding this gem I may have to look into investing in some more.

I think it was called "Mrs Robinson"

Its a very bright neon purple

It looks stunning as just a tip colour.

So if you know which colour this is and where I can buy it, answers on a postcard...

Hopefully these new nails will allow me to do more swatching of my huge collection of nail polishes. So look out for them to be on here very soon

Love

Jude xxx

Nails Inc Birthday Treat

Afternoon everyone,

It was my birthday this month and to my surprise I got an email from Nails Inc. to tell me I had a free £5 voucher to spend online.  Well I could barley contain my excitement and clicked my way straight over to their website to work out how best to spend my voucher. 

I had an idea of a few colours that I had seen in their Debenhams counter, like the neons and neon crackles. I have quite a few crackles in the traditional silver, gold, black and white, and a couple of more unusual colours like china glaze's grey and pink, OPI's teal metallic and Barry M's purple and blue. Its a style of nail art that I like to experiment with, and so when I saw the neon orange and green I had to have them.

I then went on to find a gorgeous pale grey that i thought may work instead of white underneath the crackles, and my forth and final choice was a beautiful rose gold/bronze metallic/glitter shade which i think will look amazing with black.  

Well within 2 days my parcel arrived and in the most beautiful packaging (a shiny silver jiffy bag). I will do full reviews once I have tested them all out but for now I just had to show you how pretty they are...

L - R: Soho Square, Kings Cross, The Southbank, Horse Guards Parade
on the gorgeous silver jiffy bag.

L - R: Soho Square, Kings Cross, The Southbank, Horse Guards Parade 

Aren't they beautiful??

As soon as inspiration hits me and i think of a beautiful combination of these polishes I will let you see, and let you know what I think of these birthday treats.

Love Jude xxx

Review: Barry M's New Magnetic Glitter Polishes

Hi everyone,

I have bought some new polishes and was so impressed I just had to tell you about them.

The Magnetics craze has been around for a while now in the world of nail art, and so many different companies have brought out their own version trying to outdo their competitors.  I as an avid fan of nail art and all its new styles and techniques have of course collected several of these different polishes over the last few months from big brands like Nails Inc and China Glaze to drug store brands like Boots 17 and Fashionista. However one brand has stood out for me amongst all the others and they also happen to be the brand with the most variety in colours and magnet designs.

Barry M is best known in the UK at least for its large variety of bright colours available through its make-up range and its nail polishes. Early in the year they brought out 4 magnetic polishes, in the classic silver, burgundy, violet and navy, each with their own magnet design.  I bought a couple of these colours and was instantly impressed by the strength of the magnets compared to any other polish I had tried. The patterns were instant and long lasting, and the contrast between the colour and the black which appeared (I am assuming this is some kind of iron to react with the magnets) was very stark and made the patterns visible from a distance and made a great impact on the nails.

From Index to pinky: Venus Sunset, Neptune Sea, Moon Dust and Super Nova

Well now they have added to this original range with what as far as I am aware is the first glitter magnetic polishes on the market right now (please let me know if I’m wrong).  They have added 5 new polishes, of which I have 4, and although the magnetic designs are the same from the original collection, I am not too upset as the fantastic colours more than make up for it!

This time the colours also have far more interesting names such as Moon Dust which is a metallic bronze base colour with tons of gold micro glitter. The other colours are Neptune Sea which is a metallic blue/silver base with bright teal micro glitter, Venus Sunset a coppery bronze metallic base with red and silver micro glitter, Super Nova which has a metallic gunmetal silver base with lots of holographic micro glitter and finally Cosmic Glow which is a grass green metallic base with a whole heep of bright green glitter (this is the only colour I don’t have...yet).  My only flaw with these products is that the names only appear on the website, on the bottom of the bottles the stick just reads “magnetic sparkle gold” or “magnetic multi sparkle” which defeats the object of the giving them these beautiful names int he first place.

From Left to Right: Super Nova, Venus Sunset, Neptune Sea and Moon Dust

344 - Moon dust  in the bottle

344 - Moon dust come with diagonal line magnet



345 - Neptune Sea



345 - Neptune Sea comes with cracked glass/union jack magnet

346 - Venus Sunset

346 - Venus Sunset comes with arrow lines magnet

347 - Super Nova

347 - Super Nova comes with horizontal straight lines magnet

On their own as normal glitter polishes these would be pretty gorgeous, however when you use the magnets the black contrast colour makes the glitter stand out so bright its mesmerising. When I first tested the super nova polish I wore it to work and have several of my female and male colleagues asking how I had achieved the design, which to me is the biggest compliment to a product you can get.

The packaging for the polish is very simple and the shape is identical to the traditional Barry M polishes, except for the outer lid.  There are clear instructions on how to apply the polishes and how to use the magnet but to be honest it’s a very simple process that anyone, even without any prior nail art experience could master.  I do find that the design comes out better if you apply 2 coats and let them dry completely before applying the final thick coat and hovering your magnet above.  The small ridge at the top of the lid allows for you to place the magnet and hover it above your nail at just the right place, and the size of the magnet is also quite big allowing for quite wide and long nails to take advantage of these gorgeous designs.

What I also like about the bottle is that once you have bought them you can peel off the bar code sticker you have a side to the bottle which is completely bare and allows you to really see the gorgeous colour and glitter inside. I get really annoyed when bottles like this are completely covered all over and you don’t actually get to have a real look at what’s inside.

In conclusion I think that Barry M magnetic Glitter polishes are the best on the market right now, in terms of colour range, magnetic strength and design durability. They are long lasting, full of beautiful glitter and are so simple to use it takes no time at all to get stunning designs on your nails.

They are avaliable from Barry M's website and in the UK from Superdrug and Boots stores or online at only £4.99 each!

Hope you enjoyed reading about these amazing polishes and I hope you come back to read more of my reviews.

Love

Jude xxx

Review: Maybelline New York – Superstay 24hr Lip Colour

Hi again,

My experience with lip gloss started as a child where you get them in little selection boxes at Christmas or birthday and they are thick, sticky and although they probably didn’t smell very nice, you would like your lips because it tasted so nice that you’d be lucky if it lasted more than 5 minutes.

but its sooo tasty...!!?!!

I am so happy to say that in my later years I have discovered what proper lip gloss is and that it shouldn't feel or smell like those I remember from my childhood, however I do still struggle to find a gloss that lasts more than an hour at most, and if you are eating or drinking it becomes near enough impossible not to leave lipstick marks over glasses or cutlery.

After being recommended Maybelline’s Superstay 24hr Colour Lip Gloss by a friend, who said she struggled to get it off at the end of a night out, my hope was lifted and I went to Boots to purchase it it straight away although still slightly dubious of the claims it made, when I got home to try it out I was very surprised by the results.

The packaging states that this colour contains a “Flex-Formula” that is “No-Transfer”, “Non-Drying” and wears for up to 24 hours.  All you have to do is paint on the colour like a gloss, wait for it to try completely and they apply the balm over the top, and reapply if necessary.  The colour and balm come in a handy double ended pen, which would fit neatly in your handbag for a night out. 

The colour I chose was Rose Quartz which as the name might suggest has a rose gold/copper colour tone with flecks of shimmer rather than glitter. The scent is very sweet with hints of vanilla and strawberries, and the colour when applied to the lips becomes very sheer almost nude, but this allows for the shimmer to reflect and refract light everywhere.

 

While the colour is drying it is best to keep your lips apart as they become very sticky and almost like glue if you they get stuck together.  They become dry in about 30 seconds to a minute and then you apply the balm which glides on like hot butter. Your lips instantly lose the sticky feeling and become smooth and soft, without feeling greasy.

After rigorous testing I can say that in my opinion this lip gloss/colour is kiss-proof and smudge-proof and after going out to dinner with my family and coming home to find I still have to wash the colour off my lips I can safely say it is food and drink proof as well.

 

I am really impressed with this product although I’m not sure I’d call it a lip gloss, more a lip colour as they balm gives your lips a more pearl texture than gloss. However I still think it’s a must have for a girls going out make-up kit. I think I have to try out so more colours just to be sure...hehe!

See you all again soon

Love

Jude xxx

A fresh start

Hi everyone,

To anyone who reads my blog I want to apologise as I have not been keeping up to date with it as I should, this is mostly due to work and study commitments but I am determined to do better. 

On my birthday on Monday I was given a beautiful new camera by my lovely boyfriend and so hopefully my photography should drastically improve and I may even venture into doing video tutorials and vlogs like the loverly local ladies Nic and Sam of Pixiwoo. But I need to pluck up the courage to do that so I'll stick to just blogging for now.

As a present to myself I also bought a beautiful new notepad and pen to write all my reviews and thoughts down wherever I am so I now have no excuse, especially when I the weather outside is a beautiful as it is right now.

My beautiful note pad came from paperchase for about £8.95

I have lots of make-up and nail polish reviews to do, as despite not writing about my addiction to all things make-up related it hasn't stopped me buying things. So I aim to post at least twice a week but more often if possible.

So sorry again and I hope you haven't given up on me yet.

Speak soon

Love

Jude xxx