NOTD- Nubar Sour Candy Nail Lacquer

Holy crap is this pretty.

Seriously. SO PRETTY. I don't know what's up with me lately- I've never been a really girly girl, but lately so many glitter polishes have reduced me into an overexcited 5 year old going 'LOOK AT THE PRETTY!!!'. I have so so many on my shopping list! This is 3 coats of this- it's still on the sheer side but you can always layer it if you hate that. It applied quite well, but there have been more chips and tip wear than I'd hoped and it isn't that smooth. Also when I went to town in this I felt like a bit of an idiot. So a fair few negatives, but I can forgive it- it's just that pretty. I feel like a mermaid in it. And who doesn't want a polish that can do that! I got this off ebay for around £5.

Love B xxx

NOTD and a half- L.A. Girl Rockstar & Nubar Nail Lacquer in Sour Candy

This is a bit of a cheating post, as I added a layer of the Sour Candy on top of the Rockstar polish from a few days go.

 

They aren't what I'd called blinged out, but they were very pretty and quite understated (for a glitter anyway). They almost looked like stars shining in a black sky. Lovely! A full NOTD with the Nubar comes in a few days...

Love B xxx

Foundation Forever #1- Illamasqua Skinbase in Shade 2

After doing my Lipstick Forever series for a while, I thought I'd start a foundation series to cover in depth about foundations! First up... the Illamasqua Skinbase.

Product: Illamasqua Skinbase
Shade: 02
Price: £25, online at the Illamasqua website or from their counters.
Finish: Semi matte, more natural.
Skin Type and Colour:  Combination (dry sensitive cheeks, oily T-zone). Very pale (N10 in Mac) neutral toned, but slightly more pink.

Packaging: I really love the packaging of Illamasqua foundations. The colours they use and the curves on the bottle make it really stand out from the plain packaging a lot of brands use. The bottle is plastic and easy to carry, and the small nozzle means it is difficult to squeeze out too much.

Colour: I picked up Shade 2, a very pale pink. If I'm honest, it is a bit too pale (even for my ghostly skin). I couldn't really go down to another shade (the other one they showed me was way too dark), although be aware the shades are by tone rather than straight from light to dark. I love Illamasqua's range, but this colour has too much white for me. You know the white cast effect from sunscreens? That's what this reminds me of when I first put it on. I can work with it, but it isn't great.

You can see it clinging a bit in these two pics.

Ghostly.

Application & Coverage: I would say the coverage is medium-high. I LOVE Illamasqua as a brand, but honest to God I've hated the application of every foundation of theirs I've tried (this is the third). This is an improvement on the others, but I still found it very hard. I found it a little cakey and liable to cling to dry patches (where I didn't think I had any). It did get better after an hour or so, it sort of melts into the skin and looks better? Very odd.

Best Way to Apply?: I didn't particularly like this with fingers or any of my brushes or primers. Fail.

Lasting Power: Admittedly not bad, it held up pretty well. I did find I was quite oily by the end of the day though so I'd take powder or oil absorbing sheets to top it up if you are oily too.

Thoughts: I love Illamasqua. I love their ethos and style. And I really wanted to like this. But I don't. At worst I really wasn't pleased with how I looked. At best, in the middle bit where it melted in... it was ok. There was never a point sadly when it blew me away. Great colour range though, and I'm aware it could be my own picky skin and rubbish skills that are letting me down as much as the foundation, and I have seen loads of good reviews and there are good points. I just can't think of any niche in my make-up bag where it's better than anything else I have.

Overall Mark: 6/10. I really really wish it was more though.

Love B xxx

NOTD- L.A. Girl Rockstar Nail Lacquer in... um... Rockstar. Plus Seche Vite!

This is from the Rockstar collection from L.A. Girl which I talked about before here.

I'm not overly impressed by this polish. It has an amazing holographic glitter finish in the bottle, but it doesn't translate that well at all on the nails. You can try supersizing the top picture, you might be able to see the glitter if you look really hard! It's an ok polish otherwise- opaque in two coats but it's chipped and got a lot more tipwear than I'd like.

But other more exciting news... I finally bought Seche Vite! This is my second time using it. It takes a bit of time to get used to (like using it over wet polish) but I love the fact it dries so quickly and I don't end up with loads of dents like I used to. It isn't indestructible, but I feel like I'm giving my polish more of a chance now.

Love B xxx

Beauty LAT: Manchester Haul and trip

So last Saturday I had a day trip to Manchester so my sister could look round the uni there! It was a bit of a miserable day, very cold and rainy, but a little shopping trip towards the end of the day perked us all up a bit. I got a few little things:

 

I finally got round to buying the Illamasqua Skinbase! First thoughts... I'm not really that sure I like it. I'm going to do a proper review of it soon but right now... hmmm. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Lots of hmm-ing about this!

I also picked up two MUA Intense Colour eyeliners, and some of the new Kleenex range- the face wipes, the facial cleansing cloths and the oil absorbing sheets.

I'm hoping to have reviews of all these coming up soon!

I also took a few photos of the Manchester Museum, which is part of the university:

How beautiful are these paper cranes?

Skelly skeletons.

Desperately wanted to steal these, but they were a bit big to smuggle under my coat.

Check the badass T-rex.

My new pet. I'm going to keep him in the garden and call him Fluffy.

So that was my trip!

Love B xxx

FOTD #13- A trip out!

So a few days back I went to see Othello at the Sheffield Crucible (the one with Dominic West in, there's been quite a lot about in the papers if you read the arts or theatre bits) and I wanted a pretty but glamorous look. The play was amazing by the way, and Dominic West was scene stealing as Iago!

Face- Gosh Velvet Touch Clear Primer
MUFE Mat Velvet + in #15
elf Complexion Perfection
Bourjois Mini Blush in 03 Brun Cuivre

Eyes- UDPP
Shade 9 of the MUA Pro Heaven & Earth Palette (all over lids)
Organza from the Sleek Oh So Special Palette (lightly on outer side of lids)
Maybelline The Falsies Waterproof Mascara

Lips- Revlon Colourburst Lipstick in 095 Crimson

I apologise for endlessly using the Heaven & Earth palette, I'm so not a neutral eyeshadow girl (I don't even own the Urban Decay Naked Palette *shock horror*) but I'm really loving this at the moment! I suppose it's hard to get wrong for novice eyeshadow blenders like me. And *even more shock horror* I'm wearing BLUSHER. I can get the concept of blusher, but I naturally have pink cheeks and ultra pale skin, so I very easily look like a painted doll. I applied this one really really lightly, and actually... it's ok. I would actually consider buying more than two I currently own. Progress. Oh yeah.

Love B xxx

Lipstick Forever #5- Mac Ruby Woo (Matte)

This was a birthday present from the lovely Dani amongst others!

Packaging: Classic Mac. Very uncomplicated, but very pretty and very grown-up. I'm not over fond of the lid shape though if I'm honest.

Colour: It's... red. That's the closest I can get. I think this is a much more orange red, but in certain lights it can look more like a true red. So perhaps it's an orange red, but isn't too difficult to pull off if orange isn't your colour. Sorry, I'm rubbish at judging the undertones in red!

 

Application: This is one of the tougher lipsticks I own to apply. The matte finish makes it drag a little, and it definitely applies better if it's a little warmed up. It doesn't bother me too much, but it does make me think carefully about whether I've got time to apply it properly. As with most pigmented lipsticks, you have to apply carefully to not end up with looking wobbly, but you can apply from the bullet if you're ultra careful.

 

Kiss Test: There's pretty much nothing coming off this baby.

 

Lasting Power: Um... here blog readers, I fail you. I can't actually remember (it's taken me ages to write up this review and I've been busy). I think it falls under the 'decent lasting power as long as you don't eat or drink' category, as I *think* it got ruined when I had a meal. But really to qualify a lipstick as good it needs to last about 4 hours (which is a breakfast to lunch kinda time span) and it wouldn't have problems doing that.

I do like this lipstick, even with it's orangey side, but it isn't one to reach for every day for me. I love a matte finish, but it can be a little drying and a bit tricky to work with if you're in a 'no effort' mood. I love this more for evening- it's a great party lipstick because it's so vibrant! 

5/10 for day, 7/10 for night- 6/10 overall.

Love B xxx