Christmas Look. Red/Green/Gold.

Hi guys sorry I have been MIA for what seems like for ever. Its been ever so slightly busy in this neck of the woods but that is no excuse for shirking my blogging responsibilities!! Neither is feeling like death, which I woke up at 5 O clock this morning feeling like. So having dragged my sorry state out of bed at 6am, after whimpering and sniffing in hubby's ear for an hour (hubby was still asleep!), I then proceeded to; festivise my living room (it is now complete with tree, tinsel and many a sparkly bauble), chat to the mother-figure for half an hour (always sure to get sympathy in abundance there), watched 3 Shrek films and Christmas Madagascar. And now here I am. Drinking hot Vimto (which may or may not be hubby's) and eating a Smarties xmas penguin (bought by the mother-in-law, because secretly she thinks I'm the best daughter-in-law in the world!). Soldering on, like a trooper, for the team, and if any persons would like to shower me with sympathy I'll take that for the team too ;0).

So it's been a long time in coming but I have for you today the first of the Christmas looks that go with “Inspiration for Christmas Photo Shoot”. This is the Red/Green/Gold look. The first picture is the main picture taken from the shoot. In each of the shoots we wanted to depict a different way to celebrate Christmas. This picture was about celebrating the fun of Christmas, letting your childish side out and relishing in the magic of Christmas. All 3 shoots follow the same layout, one full length picture, one close up and one of feet (in shoes of course, for those of you that have an aversion to naked feet).

This photo shoot was really nice and relaxing. The photos were taken in my house and yes I did put my tree up especially for this, as well as sewing coloured bells and stars on the the dress to make it look more festive.

Now I tried a couple of looks out for this shoot in advance as I was trying to work in both the Red, Green and Gold in to one eye look and still make it wearable. I tried graduated eyes, I tried glitter liner in all the colours, I tried it with mat colours, shimmery, sparkly but all to no avail. Everything I tried either looked too crazy (I like crazy but it's not too wearable) or just plain BAD. So I decided to do what any professional would do and assess the situation on the day ;0).

Luckily for me my model, the beautiful Jenny was, if I could be so bold as to say, STUNNING! She had the most gorgeous young skin and a truly angelic look. So multi-coloured craziness went straight out the window and wholesome young fun was the theme of the day.

For the skin I evened out skin tone with a little Graftobian HD foundation and some ELF HD powder. For the cheeks I slightly contoured with NYX light brown (no name) powder, highlighting with MAC Phloof (my go to highlighter) and a wash of colour on the cheeks using NYX blusher in Peach. For lips I conditioned with Carmex Classic lip balm and gave the lips a just bitten look with Sleek Tinted Lip Colour in Electro Peach.

Even though I wasn't going crazy with colour this look was still all about the eyes. I used Too Faced shadow insurance as a base and then used a NYX gold glitter gel from the eyelashes to two thirds of the way up the eyelid. This gave a wash of gold glitter that you could see when she blinked. As well as this I also used a green glitter liquid eye liner. from Claire's Accessories across the lash line to give a fun, funky edge to the look. Topped of with some Maybelline Great Lash blackest black mascara and some mussed up curled hair and voilà. Fun, funky, not too crazy make up, using glitter (my favouritest thing in the whole wide world) that can be worn pretty much anywhere.

If you are a glitter lover like me or you would just like to try some thing new, glitter eye liners are a really good investment. You can get them in pencils, gels, liquids. You can get them from the big cosmetics houses like MAC, Stila, and Too Faced, all the way down to Claire's Accessories and MUA for Superdrug. The beauty of this look is you can go all out with a big retro kitten flicks or tone it down with dots of sparkle right on the lash line, which means it can be adapted to suit anyone. And lets be honest, who doesn't like a little sparkle at Christmas.

Hope you have enjoyed guys and I'll see you soon.

Stacey x x

China Glaze – Little Drummer Boy.

Hi guys it feels like I have been on a nail painting frenzy these past few weeks. We have had Glastonbury, this and I have a new polish from China Glaze to show you as well. This may not sound a lot for those nail enthusiasts out there, but for me to paint my nails two week on the trot is generally unheard of.

So I have to admit this creation was a little off the cuff, it came about as I was taking the Glastonbury nail polish off and it was taking too long, so in my haste I may have left some on and just painted over it. Now I do not condone this action in any way and I blame a momentary lapse in “therapist” brain function but as this turned out quite nice I thought I would show it you ;0)

 

I started with A and E base coat by Nails Inc as my nails were a little battered from wrestling the glitter most of the way off. I then used two coats of China Glaze Little Drummer Boy which I bought last year in their Christmas collection. And for the top coat I used China Glaze Fast Forward, which is my go to quick dry top coat. 

 

Now I was just going to leave my nails like this but the more I looked at them the more I realised that the nail polish, although a gorgeous shade of blue, was a little too dark on its own for my Casper white hands. So instead of taking them off, and trying yet again to get the remnants of the glitter polish off I decided to jazz them up a little. As you can see I painted lines from one corner of the nail to the opposite corner using sliver and blue holographic nail art pens, and on each starting corner I added a clear nail art rhinestone. All in all I thought the outcome was very festive.

Just in case any one wants to buy anything that I have used, I get my Nails Inc from either; Debenhams, Selfridges, ASOS and sometimes if I'm lucky (or when my mum has searched) TKMaxx. I get all my China Glaze from the only place that I know of that sells it in my area which is Sally's/Salon Services. For those of you that don't know who Sally's are, they are a hair and beauty professional wholesalers but they do have some shops that sell to the public as well so check out there website here to see if there is a store near you. And for my nail art pens and rhinestones Ebay is the way forward, they have everything you can imagine for nail art design.

So I hope you have enjoyed this post and and get adding a little festivities to you nails.

Stacey x x

Merry Lush Christmas.

You know its getting to that time of year when Starbucks bring out their Red Cups and Lush are using their Christmas bags.

Now I am a true believer of when a product is working for your skin, stick with it and this was my main reason for my visit this time to Lush. I have been using Aqua Marina and Tea Tree toner water as my cleanser and toner for at least a year now and they really work to keep my skin clear and lovely.

What I really like about Lush is the descriptions of the products. They are masters at providing detailed factual advice and ingredients and making it fun! I really enjoy reading the descriptions and I thought you guys might like to as well. So here they are, the three products that I bought in Lush’s own words.

Aqua Marina:

“Our pink squishy cleanser that was inspired by mermaids. An ocean of ingredients to soothe and calm the skin.
We make a mixture of carrageen extract, vegetable glycerine, Irish moss gel and aloe vera gel. We mix in fine sea salt, sweet wild orange oil and patchouli oil. Then we bind these together with calamine powder and kaolin. Finally we roll the mix inside a large sheet of nori seaweed - to create a huge facial sushi.
Together they make a mineral rich cleanser that is packed full of emollient ingredients to soften the skin and clay powders to deep clean and absorb grease. The texture is amazing, the smell is rich and comforting – but most of all this leaves your skin calm, smooth and renewed. 
Takes the stingray out of skin that has been caught by the wind and sun.
When we first wrapped this product in seaweed, we stood back to admire it and only then realised that it looked like a mermaid's tail. We still giggle every time we think about it. So we named it after Marina from the 60s cult show Stingray”.

Tea Tree Toner Water:

“Tea tree is a wonder oil for anyone with oily or spot prone skin. It has antibacterial, antiseptic and antimicrobal properties.
Where the skin needs balancing, where there are spots, gentle tea tree is just the job.
Also contains grapefruit water and juniperberry water to refresh and tone the skin.
Our toner water range is an attempt to deliver good quality essential oils to your face in the correct concentration. They are not just toners, but are aromatherapy in dilution, ready to be used at a moment's notice.
They can be used for removing traces of cleansers and face products – but can also be used at any time of the day as a quick facial refresher or to cool the skin”.

Lil Lush Pud Bath Bomb:

“We all want some figgy pudding. But instead we have a Lush Pud, because it’s kinder on the hips and doesn’t leave you pinned to your chair with indigestion for hours.
Looking like a miniature traditional Christmas pudding, smelling of marzipan and full of lovely goodies like lemon peel powder, clove powder, aloe vera extract and rose absolute, this ballistic will leave you feeling peace and goodwill towards all men. And whilst you were blissed out in the smell, that aloe vera extract will have been soothing and bringing clam to your winter skin.
This ballistic is a Christmas institution with our staff and customers alike. We have been making it now for more than 10 years, with people coming back each December just to buy it.
It’s a little bit of tradition that we hope never goes out of fashion.
Shares the same fragrance as our Xmas number one – Snowcake soap”.

As you can imagine no trip to Lush would be complete with out the purchase of a little goodie. This came in the form of Lil Lush Pud. Self explanatory now you have seen it. It is in fact a bath bomb in the theme of a Christmas pudding, so cute! And smells devine. I did however have a small issue with this product. It turns the bath water in to a murky brown colour which kind of looked like a baby sans nappy had been in there before me……if you know what I mean. This is just my girly side coming out however because I did manage to soak in the bath for approximately 30mins so the colour didn't actually affect the relaxation at all.

 


Aqua Marina: £5.95
Tea Tree:£3.75 100g or £7.00 250g
Lil Lush Pud Bath Bomb: £1.95



I may have also had a quick peek at the Christmas gifts on my visit, purely for research purposes of course and I can tell you Lush does not disappoint. If you are looking for a bath type Christmas gift for any price range, check them out here. The presentation of the pre-packed gifts are amazing and just think saves you time wrapping.

I hope you have enjoyed this post. Keep a look out for some more gift ideas coming your way soon.

Stacey x x  

Nails Inc Glastonbury polish.

Hi guys this is just a quick review to show you Nails Inc Glastonbury polish. Now its no secret that I LOVE glitter. I'm like a Magpie, I can spot glittery, shimmery things from a mile away and then I need to have them. That's why for the most important day of my life (my wedding) I chose this nail polish. 

 

This polish is incredible, truly the best polish that I own. It is a mixture of gold, green and purple glitter, and goes on pretty opaque from the first coat. It glitters beautifully in the light and I get a tonne of complements every time I wear this. 

 

Glastonbury retails at £11 and is part of the Special Effects range at Nails Inc. When I bought this polish there was 2 glitters in this range, this and Reading which is a gold and red glitter. Nails Inc have since brought out some 3D glitters that look amazing, Bloomsbury Square (purple/cerise), Sloane Square (grey/silver), Connaught Square (blue/purple). With these, their Gossip Girl collections (The Blair Collection is my personal fave) and the Electric Lane Holographic Top Coat, my Christmas list is getting longer by the second. 

Stacey x x  

Inspiration for Christmas Photo Shoot.

Within the next few weeks I am going to be doing a Christmas themed photo shoot and I wanted to give you guys an insight into how my ideas for this shoot have been organised and expanded on to create the finished looks.

I am really excited about Christmas and it’s always been a very special time of year for me. I am very much about Christmas being a time for family (related or non related), celebration and excitement. So when Hubby suggested a Christmas photo shoot I was like “I’m quite busy at the moment, I’m not sure I can make the time” lol. Really I jumped at the chance. 

 

Now working with the Hubster as a photographer and close friends as models means that I can get involved in pretty much all aspects of the shoot, so I have kind of taken this to the latter and it has morphed in to my baby!!

So here is my first bit of inspiration. I wanted to start by thinking about what is synonymous with Christmas, when people think about Christmas what are the things that spring to mind?

 

As you can see these have been written down the left hand side of the page and they are things like: Nativity, presents, glitter, wrapping up warm etc. Moving on from this I also wanted to think about the colours, textures and make-up that are apparent at this festive time of year. These have been written down the right hand side of the page and include: red glitter lips, silver, rosy cheeks etc. 

So armed with my plethora of ideas it was time to think about bringing them together to make a look. Well three looks in fact.

So here is the first one and it’s a Red Glitter Lip. I want to create a modern take on a classic 50s look. A red lip to me is classic and timeless and very festive. I’m thinking that for this look I want it to be all about the lip so I’m looking to keep the rest of the make up quite natural but still glam. I’m thinking the mandatory black liner to give it that 50s feel and some winged lashes. Although I have called this look Red Glitter Lip I am torn between a glitter look and a high gloss look. I like the idea of both so this will be decided on the day.

 

The idea for the second look is Red/Green/Gold, which I believe to be the ultimate Christmas colours. I want this look to be fun and colourful so I’m thinking graduated red, green and gold eyes, either glitter or foil and natural, healthy, glowing skin. 

 

The third look is inspired by the cold of winter, icicles, snow and frost. I love silver eyes any time of the year but even more at Christmas, I think they look funky and cool. I’m thinking highlighter, nude lips and maybe some crystal encrusted eyelashes, which I would be making and not buying. 

 

As you can see underneath all the looks I have noted a few ideas at the bottom of the page. These are my ideas about the look of the photo shoot and these will be pitched to Hubble along with the make-up ideas to see what he thinks.

I feel that it is really important for me to get all my ideas formulated and written down for photo shoots, especially when there is a theme involved. Although all these ideas are subject to change depending on model and vetoing photographer ;0) I feel more inspired when my ideas are on paper.

So guys I hope you have enjoyed this delve in to my crazy mind and watch out for the photo shoots in all their glory, coming very soon.

Stacey x x

Rainbow cake and other necessities.

Hay guys today I want to show you some really cool things that I ordered from Face Paint UK. First of all I have to say that this company has THE fastest shipping time of any company I have ordered with. I literally ordered at about 12pm one day and it arrived the very next day via Royal Mail. I was amazed! Not only the fact that it actually arrived at my house lol (im having issues with Royal Mail at the moment) but my products must have been picked, packaged and posted minutes after I ordered it! Yes its the little things that make me very happy ;0)

So after an unexpected postal surprise the next day, THE NEXT DAY, here is what I ordered.

Diamond FX Black and White

Fardel Gold fluid make-up

Diamond FX split cake no7

Kryolan glitter gel

Grimas X3 square sponges

Grimas coarse stipple sponge

Bibi X6 double load sponges

FPUK round sponge stick large

FPUK large sponge dauber

The main reason I placed this order was because I really wanted to up grade my black and white paints to achieve more precise and clean line work. I had been researching the best paints on the market for line work and even though lots of people have their different favourites, Diamond FX came up time and time again.

As well as this I had been toying with the idea of a split / rainbow cake for a long time and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to take the plunge. I decided to go for the neon rainbow simply because it looked the brightest and I think it will show up the best on pictures as well as real life. Also the kids will LOVE it!

Well you know how it is, once you start its hard to stop and before I knew it I had a multitude of other items in my virtual shopping bag, all with very good reasons for why I needed them, cant remember those reasons now but they were definately there at the time.

Looking back the only mistake I may have made was buying the double load sponges. I thought they may have fit the rainbow cake making it easier to apply but unfortunately they are a little too short, I should have really got a Diamond FX sponge but hay ho! I'm sure they will still get used.

So as you can see below I did a quick swatch of the paints to show you. 

 

(sorry the colour has been blasted out of it a little and it also looks like we have raging parties in our house, which is so far removed from what actually happens in our house, we were set up for a photo shoot at the time) 

 

I'm really happy with all of the above. It may not look it in the picture but the split cake is just as vivid as I wanted it to be. The black and white are super easy to use and give a good solid shade. And the gold is so shimmery in real life, it will be beautiful for accents. I haven't yet tried the sponges but once I have I will report back.

Now I better get practising with this rainbow cake as I can envisage my Sunday party being filled with lots of neon butterflies and tigers once the kids have spotted it ;0)

Stacey x x

Natural Make-up and Bright Lip.

Hay guys so I wanted to show you a few pictures of a photo shoot that I did in August with the fantastic Michelle Shread Photography, and 3 of the most gorgeous girls I have ever seen.

This was a Saturday filled with much fun, pouting and girly giggles, which mainly came from me lol.

What I wanted to achieve on the day was 2 looks. One a completely clean, natural, no make-up look and the other a bright lip look. Now these lovely ladies have all got youth on their side, they are only 15 years old, but with youth also come responsibility for my self and the photographer. What we didn't want to do was make these ladies look older than their years, so both the make-up and photography were carefully selected with this in mind.

You will see that the 3 ladies pictured below are all completely different skin tones, hair and eye colours, which was amazing. It is the first time I have worked on a group shoot with so much diversity. I was constantly in awe of features, skin tone and texture all day. Every time a different girl sat down I was full to the brim with complements for them all over again. It was amazing, I loved it!

Products used

Primer: Smashbox Photo finish light

Eye base: Too Faced shadow insurance

Foundation: Graftobian HD

Powder: Elf HD

Eyes: Rimmel Colour Mousse 8hr 008 Sassy, MAC Phloof, Maybelline Great Lash blackest black mascara.

Cheeks: MAC Phloof (highlight), NYX blusher Peach, NYX light brown (contour) *sorry some of my contour and blushers come from a NYX pallet which didn't name them.

Lips: Carmex Classic lip balm, Sleek Tinted Lip Colour Electro Peach.

And for the bright lip I just added OCC Lip Tar Beta. 

 

Products used

Primer: Smashbox Photo finish light

Eye base: Too Faced shadow insurance

Foundation: Graftobian HD

Powder: Elf HD

Eyes: Rimmel Colour Mousse 8hr 006 Get Fresh, MAC Phloof, Maybelline Great Lash blackest black mascara.

Cheeks: MAC Phloof (highlight), NYX Sliky Rose, NYX medium brown (contour).

Lips: Carmex Classic lip balm, Sleek Tinted Lip Colour Bare Minimum.

And for the bright lip I just added OCC Lip Tar Anime.

Products used

Primer: Smashbox Photo finish light

Eye base: Too Faced shadow insurance

Foundation: Graftobian HD

Powder: Elf HD

Eyes: Rimmel Colour Mousse 8hr 005 Glitz, MAC Phloof, Maybelline Great Lash blackest black mascara.

Cheeks: MAC Phloof (highlight), NYX blusher medium red brown with a shimmer *from the pallet, NYX dark brown (contour).

Lips: Carmex Classic lip balm, Sleek Tinted Lip Colour Bare Minimum.

And for the bright lip I just added Sleek Pout Paint 163 Peek-a-boo.

This is the first time I have used the Sleek Pout Paint and you can see that it is not quite as opaque as the OCC Lip Tars. Also Michelle the photographer did say that this colour needed quite a lot of boosting to make it bright enough in the picture. Now as it is the first time of using this product it could have just been the difference in natural lip colour that had an effect on the shade and transparency. I did try OCC Lip Tar in Traffic first which is a bright yellow and that left the lips looking very patchy. Also the Sleek Pout Paint looked whole and bright in real life so I may give it another try before it is relegated to the depths of my kit bag.

For the last picture I thought we would ramp up the fun a little, as if it wasn't fun enough, and we went all out with some glitter lips. Everybody loves a bit of glitter, don't they? 

 

On the orange lips I used NYX Glitter Mania in Hot Gold. On the pink lips I used Glitter Dust (no make) in Purple. And on the blue I used The Body Shop Sparkle Rollerball which is a white glitter with iridescent sparkles.

So guys I hope you have enjoyed this post. I'm working on some Christmas looks at the moment so stay posted for those.

Stacey x x

Nicky Clarke Frizz Control 2000w Turbo Hair Dryer with Ionic Technology

A couple of weeks ago, on the day that I'd had my hair done, my hair dryer decided that this would be the optimum time for it to break! Instead of blowing out the lovely warm air that I had grown accustomed to, there was only air as cold as Siberia to be had. Now maybe if I had many hours to spend with the Siberian air fixed on my head I’m sure eventually my hair would have dried, but as appealing as that sounds I decided it was time to spend my hard earned cash on a new one.

I would normally buy my hair electricals from a hair and beauty trade shop such as Sally’s or Alan Howard but my hair dresser suggested trying Boots this time as they always have offers on and the high street hair dryers are apparently quite good.

Before I set off I decided that I needed a spec to follow so I didn’t get carried away. My last hair dryer had different heat and speed settings and a cool shot button so these were definitely on my list. Also I really wanted a colourful one, something bright and funky. Most of all price had to be factored in and really I only wanted to spend about £25, a task in it’s self I feel.

I had researched on the Boots website and there were lots of coloured ones on there for around my price range but unfortunately when I got to the shop there was only one coloured one that matched the spec. It was amazing! It had multi coloured stripes and it was a really cool shape and it was £50. Twice as much as I really wanted to spend. So then I had the dilemma of choosing a normal, dare I say Boring hair dryer that met the spec for £25 or shell out the mammoth amount for a hair dryer that effectively does that same but looks really cool. Now in the past my crazy side would have taken over and the expensive hair dryer (along with most of the Sanctuary range) would have been in my bag, but my sensible side prevailed, YAY ME :0) And I went for the well put together, sturdy, spec meeting hair dryer that is the Nicky Clarke Frizz Control 2000w Turbo hair dryer with Ionic technology.

*the funky one would have probably broke anyway, well that’s what I tell my self lol*

The details on the box states that this “frizz control turbo hair dryer utilizes the latest in Ionic technology which helps to leave hair silky smooth and frizz free”

As my hair is in fact the complete opposite of frizzy this description was not really the reason I bought this product. I was swayed by that fact that it has 3 heat settings, 2 speed settings, a cool shot button and a turbo boost.

All in all this is a pretty good hair dryer. Its light, it’s fast and it does exactly what it says on the tin and for £25 I would definitely buy this again. Although maybe Nicky Clarke, the same hair dryer with some extra colour please, thank you?

Stacey x x

Urban Decay Super Saturated High Gloss Lip Colour

Just a quick review for you today guys. I was reading a well know fashion magazine the other day, Look magazine and I saw a write up on this Urban Decay lip gloss.

It stated “This contains phytosterol, a plant oil that not only moisturises, but helps prevent collagen loss as our lips age”.

Now I don't believe everything I read in the glossys but with technology advancing at break-neck speed I didn't think this statement was too far from what could be reality, also I did see Xsparkage (youtube make-up artist) use it in one of her videos and it looked really nice so I thought I'd give it a go.

We have to bear in mind I'm never going to know if this one lip gloss in the known universe has single handedly prevented collagen loss from my lips, namely because I use loads of plumping, priming, moisturising products on my lips and also I'm only going to see the results when I'm about 50, in about 25 years.............ok in 23 years time! And I'm not sure you guys want to wait that long for a review so why don't we disregard this aspect and talk about the things we can see in the here and now.

So here it is, in all its glory. There are 5 colours to choose from in this range: F-Bomb (true red), Punch Drunk (orange red) and Crush (pink) which are all matte, and Adrenaline (red with gold glitter) and Big Bang (magenta with silver glitter). I decided to play it safe for my first one with Adrenaline, it was a toss up between that and Big Bang but I was a little worried that magenta might clash with my red hair. 

So Adrenaline it was, £14 from Debenhams and I have to say I am in LOVE with this product! I'm a lipstick girl anyway but I hate the faffing around that comes with lipstick. Normally with lipstick I would line the outside of my lips with a waxy anti-feathering lip pencil, then I would line and colour my lips in with a lip pencil that matched the colour of my lipstick, then I would put my lipstick on with a lip brush, then blot and lip brush again, and if there was time to leave the house after all that lol, I would take with me, the chosen lipstick, lip brush and a mirror for touch ups. Wow that sounds a lot, it really doesn't take that long but note the faffing involved. 

Well with this lip product you could even leave your mirror at home if you were cleaver enough (I am not so the mirror is with me at all times). I literally just took the lid off and crayoned the colour on to my lips, no out line, no lip pencil, actually I don't even think I blotted. I love the fact that I can take this product anywhere and reapply anywhere, with my trusty mirror of course. It felt lovely on my lips, it wasn't sticky or heavy, just lightly moisturising so my lips didn't dry out. This is the first time I have tried a lip crayon and I understand that Urban Decays offering may be a little expensive for some, but for me I am very impressed, so impressed in fact that I will also be purchasing Big Bang. Glitter lips are my favourite for the festive period so these 2 colours will see me right through. What I would like to see from Urban Decay though is a few more colours added to the collection, maybe some lighter colours as well because I think this product would be excellent for brides that want to wear lipstick on their big day but don't want the hassle.

Well I hope you have enjoyed the review today guys. Any questions or recommendations let me know.

Stacey x x

The Big Nails Inc Swatch

As a new season is upon us and companies are busy promoting their new wares (all of which I want of course), I wanted to get this post out to show you guys what already takes pride of place in my kit.

With that in mind I have started with my Nails Inc polishes, due to the fact that they have some amazing products coming out this season and I have a feeling I may be purchasing a few. 

(I apologise in advance if some of these polishes have been discontinued or if you are unable to get hold of Nails Inc where you live)

 From left: Jermyn Street, St James's, Birdcage Walk, The Mall, Clerkenwell, Victoria, Thames, Draycott Terrace.

 From Left: Clerkenwell, Jermyn Street, Draycott Terrace, The Mall, Victoria, Victoria, Thames, St James's, Birdcage walk, Clerkenwell.

Sorry guys the ones above were the first polishes to be photographed and I didnt think to put them in the order that I had painted them, however I noticed and rectified my mistake below. 

  From Left: Seven Dials, Tudor Way, Beaumont Street, Pembroke Close, Strawberry Hill

 From Thumb: Seven Dials, Tudor Way, Beaumont Street, Pembroke Close, Strawberry Hill

The 2 pictures above and the 2 pictures below are both Creme nail polishes, which means they have no shimmer, glitter, special effects etc, they are just pure, unadulterated colour. 

 From Left: Ibiza Orange, Jermyn Street, Victoria Gate, Haymarket, Baker Street (yep I have Jermyn Street twice)

               From Little Finger: Ibiza Orange, Jermyn Street, Victoria Gate, Haymarket, Baker Street

     From Left: Kensington Square Caviar, Kabaret, Kensington Road Caviar, Electric Avenue, Monmouth Street

 From Little finger: Kensington Square Caviar, Kabaret, Kensington Road Caviar, Electric Avenue, Monmouth           Street

The 2 pictures above and the 2 pictures below both show a selection of shimmer, sparkle and glitter finishes. 

                  From Left: Park Lane, Chelsea Square, Earlham Street, Belgrave Square, Manchester

               From Thumb: Park Lane, Chelsea Square, Earlham Street, Belgrave Square, Manchester

Well this has been a mammoth of a post today. I hope you have all enjoyed having a peek in to my collection and I hope all of the nail enthusiast's out there have found some thing of interest.

Stacey xx

New Red Hair

Hello and welcome to another very dull and rain sodden day in Lancashire. It feels like it has rained constantly for all my life (although it's probably only been two weeks). So to brighten my miserable mood, and maybe partially due to the fact that my hair was looking decidedly like a mullet, I decided a hair cut and colour was in order.

Now I'm really picky about where I go to get my hair done, not because my hair is amazing, but because it's really not! Its fine, its limp, its lifeless and a whole host of other adjectives that I probably shouldn't mention here. Yep, I think you can guess em. So I booked in with the fantastic Steph Osgood at Dash Hair Design near Bolton. Steph has been styling my hair for about 9 months now and I have gone from mid length brown hair (with the black ends, I was home dying before this), to an inverted purple bob, and to the fiery shortness that I have now. Throughout this time Steph has been consistent in her greatness, offering many a pearl of hair wisdom, and her cutting isn't too bad either lol

This time all I had in mind was that I wanted to go a little more red. I have to admit, I'm not very good when it comes to fully formed hair idea's so Steph normally has her work cut out.

This is the before picture

and (a drum roll please) Voilà

As you can see the red idea was kept and Steph added the darker and lighter flashes and the blunt fringe. The result? I absolutely love it! I think the colour makes my skin look amazing and the blunt cut brings it bang it up to date.

Now to round this up, what blog post wouldn't be complete without a little product loving so below you will find a list of products that I currently use to keep my hair looking it's best.

 

 

 

 

 

Wella Brilliance Shampoo

Bastiste – Nude Dry Shampoo

Charles Worthington – Rough and Tough Salt Spray

Tigi – Bedhead Small Talk

Tigi – Hard to get Wax.

Fudge – Paintbox in Red  Corvette

Thanks for reading and if you have any hair product recommendations for me let me know.

Stacey xx

Nails Inc Magnetic Nail Polish

HI Guys,

I am very excited with what I am about to show you today. Lets begin by setting the scene: yesterday I was working hard as usual when I got a nice surprise, an email from the lovely people at Nails Inc. Now it is no secret that I LOVE Nails Inc and at the moment you may or may not know that they have a Special Effects range out at the moment (I wore the Glastonbury glitter polish on my wedding day, it looked Awesome). Anywho the email enlightened me to the fact that they had just launched their Magnetic nail polishes. So I hot footed it down to my local Debenhams to snap one up to review for your fine selves, and maybe because I really wanted it.

And here it is in all its glory.  
I chose Trafalgar Square magnetic polish and this was £13.

Even though I love Nails Inc I was a little sceptical about whether the idea surrounding these polishes was a tad too big to pull off. I mean a magnetic polish that moves around the nail to make a pattern. Pah! How can this work when we are not yet riding around in space cars like George Jetson?

So using all my super human ingenuity and reading the instructions (peal back sticker on the lid) I got down to it……………..trying the product that is. 

1^st Step: I painted my nails with a base coat. I used Soho Silk.

2^nd Step: I then painted my nails with the first coat of Magnetic polish and waited about 5-10mins for drying time, as it was the first time of using this product and I didn’t want to be painting and repainting in to the wee hours.

3^rd Step: I then applied a moderately generous amount of the Magnetic polish to one nail at a time and then held the magnet over the top of my nail so that the ridge was touching my skin near my cuticle. I held the magnet over for about 20secs and within that time THE MAGIC HAPPENED.

And then ……………………..Ta Da!

A silent W.O.W appeared on my lips when the effect was revealed. Now I have tried a lot of nail products in my time (and unfortunately my time is getting on now) and there has been more than a few that have claimed the world and delivered nothing. But I must admit this product has claimed and delivered. This product is fantastic; I can’t rave about this enough. It was easy to use, the effect was pretty much instant (a must for a therapist, limited manicure time and all that) and so funky. I really am amazed and I will be promoting this product to every one that will listen. And to Nails Inc you have brought it out of the bag yet again. I salute you!! (oh and bring out some more colours please :0)

 

A little word to the wise, I’m going to try a few things with my polish to see if it gives any different results.

v     Try holding the magnet over the nail for different amounts of time to see if this gives different effects

v     This time I moved the magnet in a seesaw movements from side to side to get the pattern over as much of my nail as possible. Next time I am just going to hold it in one place on the nail to see how it looks with a selected part patterned.

v     I am also going to turn the magnet on its side to see that that gives a different pattern as well.

v     Oh and keep an eye on how close the magnet is to your nail, I had a few smudging incidents when I misjudged this.

Above all have fun with this product and let me know how you get on.

Foot note: I can only apologise for the pictures in this post, they arent quite as bright as i would have liked. Unfortunately the light in my new house is not great and the sun had gone down by the time I got home from my hard days work. I will work on the lighting for the next post though.

Stacey x x