Tips & tricks: Drying nail polish faster

Waiting for nail polish to dry is really one of the things I hate more in life. I saw this simple trick on Snog, Marry, Avoid, and thought I would give it ago. It doesn't dry your nail polish completely, but it gets it past the annoying "bump in to anything and it'll smudge" phase. All you have to do is fill your sink up with cold water, plunge your nails in for a minute or 2, and you will see a difference straight away. I kept going back and doing it for a couple more minutes each time and it definetely helps. Just an alternative for you if you don't have any of that spray that drys your nails for you!




Oh, and a quick update on Rimmel nail rescue that I've been using. I've used this for about 3 weeks now. It's pretty much been my absolute go to base coat when I don't have nail polish on, which I have probably worn maybe 3 days out of 21 days? I've been trying to just focus on wearing the nail rescue to sort my nails out. It has made a definite improvement, as you can see  from the pictures above my nails have grown quite a bit, have had the unfortunate one or two snap though which was a bit dissapointing. I wouldn't say it's a miracle worker, but because I freak out when my nails have nothing on them as they snap so easily, I'll reach for nail rescue because I know it may allow them to survive a little longer! If you don't have a problem with soft/brittle nails, I don't really see why you would need this, but for someone like me if I want to keep my longer nails I'll probably have to wear it all the time. :( Holly x

Recent Cake adventures #3

I apologise for my absence! As of lately Cakes have pretty much been taking over my life and this month is going to be a busy one too! Plus, I'm on a bit of a spending ban as I'm saving for a Louis bag! Going to try and get a post up tomorrow but for now here are a few Cakes I've done for you to enjoy.

Missguided statement rings

I've been so addicted to this whole trend lately involving chains on rings and earrings! Especially the earrings that connect from your cartilage to your lobe. Unfortunately for me I never really wear my hair up if I'm going out so people wouldn't be able to admire it. I chose two rings from Missguided yesterday, both £5.99 each, they came today and I love them. I was however slightly dissapointed in them only being available in one size, the ring with the spikes is a poor fit and doesn't go on the fingers I was expecting it to fit on, but I'll work with it!

I'm such a sucker for rings, especially different ones like these, they totally caught my eye. I did an older post on my favourite rings here if you fancy a read! I always thought Missguided got it spot on with their clothing and shoes but their accessories let them down but, their jewellery is slowly but surely getting better and better each time I look!

What do you think of these "statement" rings? Your cup of tea or not?

Holly x

Face of the day: Soft and smokey

I'm really busy with cakes this weekend so I saved a couple of photos meaning I would have something to quickly post, which today is a FOTD! Excited to get back to posting about my favourite thing ever...MAKEUP on Monday, busy tomorrow blah blah blah cannot be bothered. I've just discovered recently that I cannot for the life of me stand the flash on Neil's (Stepdad) SLR. It's way too bright! Now that I've started trying to get in to Lip swatches and FOTD's I've realised I wear way too much black...

Face

Mac Studio Fix NC15

Mac Studio Finish concealer

Cheeks

Benefit High beam

Elf Tickled pink

Eyes

Elf eyelid primer

UD 2 Bootycall & Tease

Max factor Masterpeice mascara

Mac Black track eyeliner

Nyx Jumbo eyeshadow pencil Milk

Lips

Mac Angel

Holly x

Barry M Lip paint in Pale Nude/154

I am officially in love with this lip paint! It looks a tad washed out on here, but on my skin tone it appears as a pink based nude, even though it does look a tad more peachy on my skin tone! Every flippin' nude I swatch on my arm always shows up way more orange!

As always the annoying thing with Barry M Lip paints are that they have no indication of what finish they are, and luckily this applied similar to how Mac's Myth does, which is a Satin finish. Basically it give's very good colour payoff and it's lasted me a good hour or two! It didn't tug on my lips too bad and I found it settles on them beautifully. I might even go as far as to say that I like this nude better than all the other nudes I own from Mac! I've been searching for a colour like this for ages, this is the closest I've came to my dream nude lip.

This is the perfect lip colour for you to go to town on those eyes and brows ;) Oh, and can anyone point me in the direction of any good website that may teach me how to use an SLR camera? Or is it trial and error? I'm still getting to grips with this one but I feel like I'm looking washed out in natural light!

Holly x

Nail rescue

Nails are always something I've struggled with, for the majority of my life I've bitten, chewed, and basically just neglected my nails! I've gone through phases where I won't bite them for 10 month and for maybe a week or two, I'll have nice long nails! Then one by one they'll all start to snap off because they're so weak. When my nails are long, I literally panic when I have no nail varnish or even a top coat on them, as I've been lucky for them to reach this length without them snapping, and it's usually just the layers and layers of top coat holding them together! I don't know if its the years of biting them that's made them so weak, but I know my mam struggles with brittle nails aswell, even though she doesn't bite them!

I've tried a few things out, one of them being that Sally Hanson diamond strength stuff, it made my nails feel a little less soft, but it peeled off really easily and underneath my nails were just as bad, plus, I think it was like £7 or something, and I'd much rather buy a nice expensive polish than nail care! I came across this Rimmel 14 day nail treatment the other day in the Chemist. It was under £5 and claims to give you "Longer, stronger, harder, and more resilient nails in 2 weeks", whilst also reducing chipping and splitting. I like how it gives you 14 days to see a difference, I don't like how some products promise you something and you never know when you're supposed to start seeing changes.

I'm on day 3 of using Rimmel nail rescue now, and I think it will be quite nice to keep you updated on how it helps my nails If like me, you struggle with everything I've mentioned! I don't think my nails will ever be the strongest in the world, but I think it will be good for them to receive some sort of treatment, instead of me just being fed up with them and neglecting them.

Holly x

Project Perfect - Get involved!

Yesterday, Amy from Flaws and all was talking to me about a little something she had up her sleeve called Project Perfect, basically, a blog post/Youtube video about ourselves stating/doing the following things.

1. Post a photo that you like of yourself and say in a couple of sentences why you like it.

2. State some things that you DON'T like yourself but say why others may love to be like that.
3. State 3 things that you DO like about yourself.  There is way too much negativity surrounding body image lately, wether it's your own personal issues with yourself, or mean things other people have said to you, I think this post is a great way to get involved in helping to combat this problem. Wether you are shy, or you're just worried about coming across as being vain/arrogant, now is the time to not give a crap and to say EXACTLY what you love about yourself! It isn't a crime to be happy with what you have and to speak up about it, and it is SUCH a crime to be a victim of bullys or having worries about not being thin enough, having a certain shaped face, anything!  Us girls need to all stick together and support others who may not be as confident. Being 20 years old now, I've come to terms with how I look, however I'm not saying there aren't things I over analyse and sometimes really dislike, I wouldn't change anything if I could though :) Too many people would look on at somebody for saying "Oh I really like this photo of myself, I look really nice." THIS IS NOTHING TO NOT SAY/BE ASHAMED OF. Whats wrong with loving yourself for who you are? :) Here is my take on Project Perfect :)

1. A photo of myself that I like.

I thought I would take a photo for this post especially. I really don't mind having my photo taken at any time, but I feel most confident when I have my tan on, lots of makeup on, and my hair done. (It's what I'm most likely to change my facebook photo too, hehe!) So I thought I would take one randomly through the day, when I have no tan, minimal makeup, and unstyled hair! I like this photo simply because I'm happy for it to be such a close up photo with not much makeup on etc, and still be happy with it :)

Three things that I don't like about myself, with a positive twist!

1. I really don't like my nose! It's probably not something others would notice unless I point it out but I think it's wonky! haha. I always wonder what I would look like with "so and so's" nose, but if I changed that, my face would look completely different! And I'm happy with how I look on the whole :)
2. My skin irritates me! It's always really dry, and I NEVER TAN. I just don't tan, ever! I know some people would love for pale skin, and it's saved me from doing any damage on the sunbeds, so thank you skin!
3. My eyebrows! They grow completely differently and are such an annoying shape. I started filling in my eyebrows and reshaping them myself, and now I get lots of compliments on them!

Three things that I do like about myself!

1. My eyelashes/eyes I never realised they were so long until I started wearing makeup and everybody said they wanted them! As for my eyes, I always used to want brown eyes like my mam, but I decided I liked them alot more with my pale skin :)
2. I really like my hair, I always wanted to have really, long, thick, wavy hair, so I grew it for about two years, and now I have just that :)
3. My body! Well, I always think I want to go to the gym to lose a few pounds but I think I would miss having boobs and a bum! I think they would be the first to go... :(

So there you have it! There is nothing wrong with having a wobble every now and again, we are just human after all, and there will always be a pressure coming from somewhere, wether it be the media, feeling like you have to look a certain way for some boy, or whatever you worry about! At the end of the day if you can pick out things you dislike but then still say you wouldn't change a thing, that's happiness! Nobody's perfect and everybody's different, so lets support and help eachother out from now on!

If you let Amy know you have joined in with this blog post, she will post your link on the page on her blog which is dedicated to "Project Perfect!"

Holly x

Rimmel lasting finish lipstick in Pink Blush

Eeek, So I'm now going to try and carry on posting these close up "Lip swatch" photos, I've always wanted to do it but my stepdad's SLR battery had dissapeared off somewhere and I thought the pictures from that would be better! Does anybody else have a little wobble before they post such a close up picture?! I did! I'm going to choose not to care, nobody has perfect skin, and if it's going to help my readers pick out a nice lipstick then I don't mind! Im such a Mac person when it comes to lipsticks but recently I've started looking for some more affordable ones I can carry around and not be too fussed if I end up losing them! Pink Blush is a really pretty pink colour (Perfect for valentines day!) and I would love to say it had that familiar sweet vanilla scent that Mac does but unfortunately it doesn't. It isn't scentless, but I really can't describe what on earth it smells like! If they dont taste rank on your lips, smells don't bother me all that much. I would also love to say it applies like a dream (MAC!!), however there was a little bit of tugging, nothing major though,  it's just something I'm trying to avoid since my lips are looking and feeling pretty weathered lately. I don't have many Rimmel lipsticks so I can't comment on how this formula compares to the others, I did find that it's easily buildable and I don't find it too drying, unlike some of those awful Barry M lip paints. Depending on wether you already own way too many lipsticks, or you're looking for a pretty new colour for Valentines day that wont break the bank, how about trying Pink Blush? :) Holly x

Face of the day: Nice 'n natural

Face
Mac StudioFix NC15
Mac Studiofinish concealer

Cheeks
Benefit Highbeam
Elf studio blush in Tickled Pink
Mac bronzing powder in Solar Riche

Eyes
Elf eyelid primer
Mac Paintpot in Bare Study
Max Factor Masterpeice mascara
Eyeko skinny eyeliner in Powder Pink

Lips
Mac A Perfect Day lipstick

Doing away with dry skin: Bio-oil

I've frequently whinged and twined on about having dry skin on my blog, and the longer I'm not doing much about it the worse it gets. Even though in my Simple skincare post I said I would just be using those products for a while, I feel as though I need to use something more directly aimed at solving this particular skin problem. One of the products I've decided to start using is Bio-oil.

Bio-oil can be used to solve/claims to solve a number of problems other than dry skin, for example scarring and stretch marks. I'm always skeptical about using products for helping these sorts of problems as I'm a firm believer that you would never really be able to rid yourself completely of a bad scar or stretch mark! However combatting dry skin is more realistic.

I find my skin is dryest after showering, and if you read the information provided on the Bio-oil website it explains that this is due to the "astringent" affects of soap and water. (Astringent is the shrinking or tightening of something.) I have ALWAYS noted that when my skin is feeling particularly dry/sore, it also feels very, very tight. Obviously the weather is very cold and harsh too, which doesn't help my dry skin at all!

I don't think Bio-oil is the solution to getting rid of dry skin, it merely helps to restore the skins natural protective oil layer which retains moisture, thus giving your skin a chance to regenerate its natural moisture. I think by using a combination of Bio-oil and a good moisturiser aimed at dry skin, I can fix it in no time! At £15.00 a bottle it's not cheap so think carefully what you're planning to use it for before you buy.

Definetely time to start taking care of my skin!

Holly x

Mac Naturally - Redhead Mineralize skinfinish

(Swatch is a little bit of all four colours)

Shockingly, this is my first ever mineralize skinfinish from Mac. I was never that in to them until they seemed to be cropping up more and more in youtube videos I watched and blogposts that I read, but it's taken a while for one to come out that I've wanted! So here it is, Redhead from the Naturally collection ( I think it's a repromote but I'm not sure/can't remember which collection it came out with first!)

It's a lovely golden peachy baked product with 4 different colours to it. Mind you I doubt I will ever use these seperately, I'll probably just swirl my brush around in it. It's gorgeous and velvety to touch and I found that my finger picks up the colour very well. Redhead effortlessly glides across the skin, and feels as light as air when on! If you look really closely at the product in the pan, you can also pick up some golden pink tones. Lovely!

I get the feeling that  overuse of this product could leave you looking a little too shiny, as I will just be using it to dust along the top of my bronzer for highlighing.

I can't wait to pick up some more of these, I know they can be very popular and can literally fly off the shelves, so I'm going to be on the ball with these in future!

Holly x

Nyx mega shine lipglosses

Middle photo L-R: Natural, Smokey Look, Nude Pink, LaLa


Natural - Probably the most pigmented out of them all, Natural is a little too dark on my pale skin tone for me to totally agree with it. 10/10 for pigmentation though, I love it when lipglosses change the colour of your lips and are not just semi-opaque!

Smokey Look - Much more of a sheer finish than Natural. I would like this a whole lot more without the shimmer, works great over certain nude based lipsticks.

Nude Pink - Gorgeous colour, fair pigmentation. Sometimes on me this looks a little bit more bubblegum pink than a nude pink, but I think it's great and really makes my blue eyes pop. A gloss to just throw in your handbag and go!

LaLa - Perhaps my least favourite. Looks lovely in the tube but just coats your lips with a slight pink gloss and a bit of shimmer. I had a little play around and paired this with a slick of Mac's Baby Sparks, gives it the extra something something that it needed!

Note that all these lipglosses carry a strong, sherbet like smell, which you can also taste a little bit. I prefer as little scent as possible but would choose the sherbet smell over the god awful Nars one! As always Nyx is a brand I wish was a little more readily available in the UK. For now I buy all my Nyx products from Beautyjoint.
How do you feel about Nyx?

Holly x

Mac Naturally: A Perfect Day lipstick

Described on Mac's website as a light neutral pink, A Perfect Day is an amplified finish lipstick, meaning you get great colour payoff from the lipstick, it will pretty much apply to the lips exactly how it looks in the tube. As always by Mac it's a really great, rich formula that glides across your lips.

I went crazy for this colour when I first saw it on Temptalia, I thought it was going to be my perfect pinky nude, however upon buying it and testing it out on myself, I find it difficult to see the pink coming through at all! Maybe it's just my skintone, I always have a hard time getting to grips with this skintone business.

 I swatched a couple of lipsticks next to it on my hand for comparison, and on my skin it appears to be the most similar to Myth! I was really confused as on Christine from Temptalias lovely pictures, You can really tell that it's supposed to belong somewhere in the pink family.

Don't get me wrong I think this is a really pretty colour, I was just a bit put out as I was expecting something else, I hate not living near a Mac counter as it's hard to try before you buy. There was so much hype surrounding this colour I just didn't want to chance it selling out and missing out on something good! If you want to see A Perfect Day in action click here to go to my latest face of the day.

How does A Perfect Day show up on your skintone?

Holly x

Bodyshop eyecolour in 43/Velvet green

I was never in to Bodyshop makeup all that much until recently, I picked up a few eyeshadows and also their equivalent to the Bobbi Brown shimmer brick "Shimmer waves". I was in a rather green mood and chose 4 eyeshadows, 3 of them which have green incorporated in to them one way or another.

Velvet green is by far my favourite, being a standout shade in all of my eyeshadows that I own and the ones on the stand at Bodyshop. Primarily an instensely dark green, the different shimmer/glitter particles in this eyeshadow give it a unique and deep look. It's very pigmented as I barely had to stick my finger in the pot to get a good swatch.

Unfortunately I found fallout from this can be pretty bad if you aren't careful, and the shadow in the pot can get fairly gritty. I also found that to get the best look with this eyeshadow, you have to pack it on, blended out it turns in to any other old run of the mill eyeshadow. It really doesn't take much to wipe it away either!

This is a really beautiful eyeshadow and certainly one I wouldn't pass up on if you're willing to work with it! I'm definetely going to persist with it :)

Holly x

Moving & Storing my nail polishes

I was having a massive clean up of my room yesterday and was also trying de-clutter ( Is this a word?! haha. ) and I decided that one thing that had to be moved were my Barry M nail polishes from along the top of my dressing table mirror. They're pretty to look at but I'm trying to make sure everything has a place where it belongs so it doesn't end up lying around!

I decided to make use of my Laura Ashley storage boxes and move all of my nail related products in to the larger so far unused box that I had. I used some sticky labels I bought from I think either the Range or Staples to swatch my nail varnishes and stick them on top of the bottles making it easier for me to see them. Yes, it isn't the nicest thing to look at but sometimes I think convenience wins over presentation!

Speaking of storage, I think I'm finally going to give in to the Muji drawers! They always look so clean cut and neat, and I'm fast running out of places to put all the makeup products I have!

Holly x

Nars Turkish Delight lipgloss

A cult product from Nars, Turkish Delight is probably most famous for being what Kim Kardashian pairs with Mac's Angel lipstick to acheive that perfect pout. To me, Nars packaging screams luxury, and with a price tag of £17.50 I would expect nothing less! It's really difficult to describe just how the packaging feels but if I could pick 2 words they would be smooth and velvety!

The gloss itself is highly pigmented, semi-sheer and I find it to be non-sticky. The colour is a beautiful milky pink, perhaps even too light and milky for me to wear it by itself, but LOVELY over lipsticks that compliment it. It's thick, creamy and sits incredibly well on my lips. The one thing I do dislike about it is the taste, it's rank! Many years ago I had a Bobbi Brown lipgloss, and I remember that tasted similar! I find that if you also put some of the gloss on the back of your hand and smell it, there is definetely a similar smell to the not so nice taste.

Smell/taste aside, I would definetely not cast this lipgloss away, and I wouldn't be surprised if I bought this again when I finish this tube. I dare say that in some ways I like Nars more than Mac! I feel instantly pampered just by looking at how beautiful the products and packaging are.

Holly x

Estee Lauder Pure Color eyeshadow - Midnight Star

At £16.00 I find this eyeshadow pretty pricey, I always wonder if ditching the fancy packaging would knock it down a few pounds as I find this very overpriced for an eyeshadow! Don't get me wrong, I absoloutly love it and had lusted after it for a while before it was gifted to me for my birthday, but I don't think I would fork out that much money for this. I always find my single eyeshadows get neglected as I always reach for my Mac palettes, but I don't think I could bring myself to depot it since the packaging looks so expensive.

The eyeshadow itself is always something I've been complimented on if I've ever worn it out, It's a beautiful, deep midnight blue infused with tiny sparkles and when swatched, has a lovely metallic shine to it. It applys and blends well, not to mention it's very pigmented. This sort of deep blue is an absoloute staple in anyones makeup collection, for a dark intense look or a lighter smokey eye. My advice/mission: look for and find the perfect affordable dupe!

Holly x

Barry M Lip Paint in Coral/53

A bit of a battered, unloved lipstick that has remained at the back of my lip drawer for some time now, this lustre finish, coral toned lipstick has never been a favourite of mine. Even though it does a grand old job of making my blue eyes pop, I do not favour the colour on me at all. On the whole, I think the Lip Paints are probably the best product Barry M has to offer, however I do not like how there is no indication as to what finish the lipstick is on the tube, nor do I like how bad some of them tug on your lips!

Luckily this lipstick isn't the worst to pull, having dry lips I'm always very weary of being too rough with them. I actually think the formula is quite good even if I don't like it on me, but it's not really a lipstick that's meant to have an opaque finish. I love how it swatches and when I look back at the pictures of it I really wish it was a product I liked, it leaves a lovely shimmer and shine on your lips but unfortunately, is something that will remain unloved at the back of my drawer!

Do you have any products you forgot about?

Holly x