Sunday 27 November 2011

NOTD - china glaze ring in the red

In the bottle
This is my first ever China Glaze polish, and it did not disappoint! This is from their Christmas collection (which is gorgeous!) and it's a sparkly red with small and medium hexagonal glitters. This photo is actually very true to life, and you can see some of the sparkle. It's really very sparkly and such a beautiful Christmas shade. I originally went for ruby red pumps but my local Sally's had sold out, so I got this as the closest dupe. I've actually seen swatches comparing the two, and Ring in the red (right) is very much lighter then ruby red pumps which is more of a dark red compared to pillar-box.



So you can see it here with 2 coats. This really doesn't do the polish justice, as it looks almost see-through. With 1 coat it was really sheer, and the glitter was sparse, it looked almost pink. At 2 coats, you could see a little of the nail but in real life it was much more opaque than the picture portrays. After I took this photo, I applied another coat and it was completely opaque, so i'd recommend doing 3 coats or wearing a red polish underneath. Overall, I love this colour and would definently recommend it. The only down falls I would say are the fact it chipped within 2 days quite badly, although I'm sure a good topcoat could help (I added a matte one which helped. It also looked gorgeous matte too!). Lastly, China glaze is as far as I know, only available at Sally's in the UK which some people wouldn't have access too. Apart from that, China Glaze seems to be great.

I brought this for £6.49 at Sally's beauty supply.
Would you wear it?
Thanks for reading! x

Sunday 13 November 2011

NOTD - models own Champagne

Today I went to boots, and treated myself to a models own polish called champagne.
I was looking for a festive colour, but wanted to avoid (for the time being!) clichéd colours like red and green, so I went for a sparkly taupey-grey with pink undertones (hence the champagne name!)

 It was a dream to paint on, just the right consistency between thick and thin. In 1 coat it was sparkly and fairly opaque, although you could still see a tiny bit of the nail. In 2 it was opaque, and in the picture I did 3 coats just for good measure. It's super sparkly and almost foil like, with a gorgeous sheen and almost duo-chrome ness as it looks silver, gold and then pink in certain lights. I am definently gonna buy more models own polishes, and would definently recommend them to everyone.

All the regular polishes from models own are £5. Would you wear it?

Tuesday 8 November 2011

My models own Beetlejuice arrived!

I am so excited! My models own nail polishes from the new, online-exclusive beetlejuice collection arrived today. I got the Aqua violet, golden green and purple blue. I wanted the pink-brown too but they're sold out until the end of November. Sadly the collection isn't coming to stores (as of this date) so you can only order online. Needless to say, i'm sitting here typing with wet nails, waiting for the polishes to dry.

Expect a NOTD post very soon!

Thankyou so much for reading and subscribing, see you soon! xx

Friday 4 November 2011

October glossybox!

So, I subscribed to glossybox recently and got their 6 month anniversary October edition, which came with 6 products instead of the usual 5, and also a free make-up case.

Firstly, glossybox is a monthly subscription service that you can cancel at any point, and for £10 a month (plus £2.95 p+p) you get 5 deluxe samples, ranging from skin care to make-up. Some of the brands working with glossybox are ciate, dermalogica, llamasqua, OPI, and stila to name but a few. It's the UK's answer to the USA's birchbox.

The october glossybox was rather impressive, which is mainly the reason why I signed up to begin with. It included a lot of good quality products, and a stila smudge stick which I had been wanting to try for a long time.

The glossybox is rather pretty and sleek looking, and the company takes great pride in there appearance which I personally love.

It comes in protective cardboard packaging, and then there is this rigid cardboard baby pink box inside with the glossybox black crown symbol.

The box is re-usable and I am definitely going to keep them to give presents in and for storage.

Inside the box, it's wrapped in tissue paper and has a pink ribbon tied along with a sticker to keep it secure. This months glossybox had a great selection of products. It comes with a large card too, with an introduction to the box, the products in the box this month, the full size prices, and a code to scan on your phone to get straight to the website.
This is what it looked like when I peeled back the tissue paper. As you can see I missed out the perfumes as my sister has took them to her boyfriends, but I have got a photo I took a few days ago so I can still review them for you.
This months package had a good mix of skincare and make-up, as well as nail polish and fragrance. It was actually a really great mixture.





Firstly, i'll review the dermalogica products.
There were 3 all from the age smart line, the multivitamin power recovery mask, multivitamin thermafoliant and the renewal lip complex. It came with a handy travel case, which is a good material and feels sturdy. It's also a wipe-down material which is great. In the photo I have the products next to an iPod touch so you can see the size. The 2 face products are 15ml, and i'd say are good for 2+ uses, and surprisingly although the lip product is only 1ml, it has lasted me for 4 uses already, and a little goes a long way. I haven't tried the face products, but i'm really excited too as dermalogica are a great brand.

Next, is the stila smudge stick in moray, which is a dark green, with golden glitter. It's £13 for the full size, which I believe the one included in the box is. The eye-liner is a dream to work with, incredibly pigmented and as suggested by the name, super easy to smudge. The colour is very pretty too, and definitely wearable and flattering. The only complaint I do have for this product is the fact it is so hard to wind up. It takes around 20 twists to come up, and I am not sure how to get it back down so it gets smooshed in the lid. However, I would buy another smudge stick as they are just fantastic.
Lastly, is the 3 perfume samples from Robert Piguet, which is a high end fragrance brand which retails for £65 for 50ml. The 3 included were Calypso, visa and  fracas, and they came in a cute pink tie bag which can be reused for jewellery. Firstly, is Calypso. It is a floral fragrance, with underlying notes of patchouli and amber. This is one of the nicer fragrances, it's very feminine and as all the perfumes are, very elegant and grown up. Next, is Visa. This is fruity, with a base again of patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla. I really like this fragrance, and I feel it's more a younger scent so you could pull it off if your a teen like me. Lastly is fracas, a completely floral fragrance. This is my least favourite, as I find it is just a bit musky and old for me, and I can't imagine anyone under the age of 60 wearing it. I find fragrance is a very personal thing, so check them out if you are interested at harrods.

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My youtube account is http://www.youtube.com/user/vanillasand01?feature=mhee xxx