Thursday 30 August 2012

Skincare: keeping it Simple


 <<< I, unfortunately am very limited in what skincare products I can use due to an allergy to salicylic acid, so I have to check the labels before I buy anything skincare/make-up/shampoo etc. so I thought that it might be useful for me to share with you what I use, and what is good for me.
        Anyway, onto my point. I found that my skin gets on really well with the simple skincare range. I have used the wipes for a while, and every time I stop using them a swap to a different (read cheaper) facial wipe, my skin becomes very sore, red, and blotchy - not a good look for anyone!

So after my success using the facial wipes, I decided to give the toner, and moisturiser a go. - Until recently, I have never had a good skincare routine. I will be sadly admit until around 2years ago, I didn't even take my make-up off before bed *shock horror*, but I now do it religiously. No matter how sleepy I am.
 I don't use the toner every day, I did for about the first two weeks, and now I use it every other day or so, and it keeps my skin looking much better than it did before.
>>> The moisturiser is a very thick white cream. I don't use a lot of it, and found that the last pot lasted me 2-3 months. If you use too much it can feel a little like a film is sitting on top of my skin, and it doesn't sink in very well.

Picked both of these up in Sainsbury's on a two for £4 deal, which works out cheaper than buying the cream alone!

What is your favorite skincare range?

<3

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Nails: it's baaaaaaacck...

As I have mentioned here I love holographic nail polish, and was very upset when they discontinued GOSH holographic, and the prices online skyrocketed.. I was have a mooch around the internet, on my eternal search for a holo as good as the GOSH one at a reasonable price  (I am waiting for the color club holo collection on come out) I found out something amazing. GOSH had re-launched their amazing holo at the start of the month. I am always on the look out, and hadn't seen in my local superdrug store, after having another look today knowing that it was available, I asked one of the staff if they would be stocking it. After much unhelpfulness, someone looked in the draw where they keep the excess store, and there is was in all it's glory. Member of staff look sufficiently confused as I grabbed a bottle, and nearly skipped to the till..

And... Here it is..
This is the NEW bottle...


>>> since the biggest complaint about the original polish was about the length of wear you could get out of this, GOSH have made it ever-so clear that it is a One-night-only 24hour polish. I think this is a great idea, no false promises.


The other complaint I had with this polish was that application was horrible. This seems much improved in the new holographic hero, and I had no problem when I applied this at all.  It went on much the same as any other nail polish, still needs two coats, but expected all my polishes to need two coats.







<<<  This is something I was anxious to know about, was how does the new holographic hero, compare to the original holographic?

Well judge for yourselves. My index finger is the original, and my middle finger is the new holographic. I think there is a minor difference, but it's exactly that MINOR, and since I would doubt you would ever wear them at the same time, it's not an issue, and to be honest, if you did wear them at the same time, I'm not sure anyone would notice the difference anyway.


So there you have it. If you missed out the last time around, or just needed to replace your original, it's back! I'm excited to say that it is apparently to be part of the GOSH permanent collection, meaning that once the rush to get it dyes down it should be pretty easy to get hold of. Also, if it's not on the shelf, don't forget to ask someone to check for you, you never know what is hiding in those draws!

What do you think of  holographic nail polish? Are you going to pick this one up? Or do you have another one that I should be trying? Let me know!

<3

Tuesday 28 August 2012

Nails: Making them grow.

A question I get asked a lot is: How do I make my nails grow?

These are some of the things I do when I am growing my nails after  a major break or if they are very damaged.

In my experience you can't make nails grow faster. Although what you can do is look after them while they are growing, and keep your nails in good shape so they look good whatever length they are. These tips are also useful if you are trying to grow out damage.

>>>  When I am trying to get my nails back into shape, I file them all short, and into a nice shape. you can pick what ever shape you like. I like to do a short squoval, but a round also works well.
When you have weak or damaged nails, the file you use is very important. I would suggest that a crystal or glass file, but failing that a high grit emery board. It will take longer to make big changes with a high grit, but you should find that your nails are less likely to split into layers and peel apart.

Here is a guide to the different nail shapes you can aim for:


Now that your nails are filed into shape, and they are all a similar length. I like to put on a protective coat of something to keep my nails strong.


<<< This is American Classics Gelous.
you can buy it here if you are in the U.K or here in you are in the U.S

I use this as my base coat, and even wear it if I don't have any other nail polish on, as I feel it gives my nails strength and protection, as well as making nail polish last longer. You can also use this as a top coat, I will normally use a coat of this over glitter before a use Seche Vite to help smooth it out. >>>



>>> The next important thing, and this might be more important than any other tip I know, is to use cuticle oil. I don't have a preference here, I choose ones that smell nice. I have a lovely china glaze cuticle oil, called holiday berry, and it smells like Christmas, I think it was a limited edition, but I hope they bring one out this year too. A popular among nail professionals is solar oil, I don't use it myself, but some people swear by it.. If you don't want to buy cuticle oil, you can try out almond oil, which is fab for nails and can be cheaper too.

I try to apply my oil twice a day, but you can apply it and rub it in, as often as you need. during the day, I find it easier to use a balm of some kind, like Vaseline or a similar lip balm or moisturiser. I spend the last few minutes of my lunch rubbing it in, I also find this relaxing. 
If you can't find time to do it at any other point in the day, do it at bed time, It is really important when growing you nails to keep them well hydrated, and supple, your nails should be able to bend without splitting, so if you knock them on anything they don't just snap off.>>>

Unfortunately the last thing I can suggest is just to wait, but while you are waiting keep looking after your nails, paint them nice colours or funky designs. Some colours look better on shorter nails, check out a few and see if you like them. Take pride in your nails, and know that everyone breaks a nail occasionally.

 If you are really desperate you can always go to a nail tech and have some overlays put onto your natural nail to reinforce them, or if you need length desperately have some extensions, but be warned that a good nail technician will not add a large amount of length to very short nails, as you would be more likely to break them. If you are trying to grow your nails and do end up having extensions PLEASE go to a good professional, and not a cheep one, and follow ALL the aftercare instructions, so that when they are removed the nail you are left with underneath is still in good condition, but remember that they won't be as strong as the extensions, so some people break a lot of their nails after having their acrylics or gels removed because they don't think about how weak the nails are in comparison. But that's a whole different blog post! 

 <3


Monday 27 August 2012

Nails: Holographic Zebra

<<< This is something I threw together, because I didn't really have any idea of what I should do on my nails for the bank holiday weekend.

I had a really busy weekend (well, whole week for that matter) so I didn't want anything too fiddly because I really didn't have the energy. So what better way to have stand out nails with minimal effort? Holographic nail polish!

After I had done the Holo I thought it needed a little something just to add to it, so that's when I decided that zebra stripes would look cute over the top.

Holographic nail polish doesn't last too long, I made this last two days, which is good because I didn't have time to change it! >>>

What do you think of holographic nail polish? Do you get good wear out of your holographic varnish?

Thursday 23 August 2012

The hulk..


<<< I thought about doing some super hero nails for a while now, and this is the idea I came up with for the hulk.

I used green for his skin, and purple for the shorts the hulk wears. and outlined everything in black to make it a little more comic-book like.
I have been playing with a few more ideas, and hope that they will come together so I can show you them    in the future!



>>> I am sorry I have been quite recently, but my work has become super intense, and I have been spending most of my spare time sleeping! I should be back to being a bit more regular with my post next week! <<<

Monday 13 August 2012

Nails: Color club - art club striper brushes

>>>Guess what! I ended up in TK Maxx again, and I picked up some
 more nail polish..This time it was the art club, by color club striper brushes. I picked this set of seven polishes for £7.99, and as you can see, there is black, white, green, red, and yellow. As well as a gold and sliver glitter, and a sealer top coat.  These are just the brushes, so if you use the pen nib on normal art pens a lot, these might not be for you. I didn't really expect too much from these, as I love my models own pens, and didn't think I would be able to get better then them. Now, these are amazing! I found that they were thick enough to work with, but without getting all sticky which a lot of nail pens I have used. In short I loved working with these, and would defiantly buy more in the future.>>>

Sunday 5 August 2012

Nails: Essie and color club collections.


About 2 weeks ago, when i was having a wee shopping spree in town, I happened to be in TK Maxx looking for something.. I can't remember what it was - it's irrelevant anyway.. I stopped to have a look at their beauty products - I never normally do this, i like to get my make-up etc from a department store, or the likes for the "experience" of high end shopping even when it's not. - and they had loads of nail polish in there at amazing prices. I picked up a few items...


3 Essie nail polishes ( these come as a set, it's not mix and match, which I know puts some people off.) These were £10.. Which if you like all of the colours is a bargain, as they are £7.99 each in boots.. I don't know what colours these are, as they have the wrong labels on them.. I guess the fact that they are seconds is why they are selling them cheep.. Also to note is the brush, I believe, is the older style brush, but the nail polish is still the same awesome Essie..

Saturday 4 August 2012

Style: How I cheer myself up..

When I am having a bad day, or don't feel like going into work, I know I need to think of something to cheer myself up.
After putting on my make-up and doing my hair - which i might not feel like doing, but it goes a long way to making me feel like myself..

When I still need a little boost I put my favorite perfume..