Autumn Polishes - Chinchilly by Essie

Chinchilly is from Essie's Cuddle with Colour 2009 collection. I'm sure many of you have this polish as it was one of the must haves from the collection.

It's a light grey colour that can have olivey tones to it. It depends what you put it next to and how many coats you do! I did two and it stayed more grey, if you did three obviously it becomes darker and starts to take on those olive tones.

Also this picture was taken outside.

You may have heard that Essie tend to have good and bad polishes. Good ones are two coaters, no streaks, dries evenly. Bad ones are three or even four coats, streaks, cuticle drag and long drying times. This is a good one, the formula is nice, no streaks when applying and it wears well. You can use only two coats if you want to keep the lighter colour.

I love these kind of dusky drab colours, I think they are very chic and quite noticeable when on the nail. 

I'm always drawn to Essie as a brand despite the inconsistency in formula. I love the images they use for the collections and I love that they have recently changed their colour palette to include more unique shades, which seems to be proving very successful for them.

xoxo

Autumn Polishes - British Racing Green by Butter London

Butter London do some lovely polishes. 

This is one of their signature colours, one of the ones they are known for!

As with all of the Butter polishes I have tried they apply very well, this was two coats, and they look beautiful however I find the wear to be disappointing for such a high end brand. They are £12 each, apart from Chanel, that's the most I've paid for a polish.

It's redeeming feature is the colour itself. It has tiny glitter in it which subtly catches the light and the green colour is stunning. Very much like a little MG sports car!

When I wear it it makes me want to run through leaves in a plaid wool skirt and boots and a cable knit hat!

Calm down, its only nail polish!

xoxo

OOTD!

I'm sorry for the slightly overexposed piccy but I loved my outfit today so thought I'd share anyway!

♥ White linen trousers from Laura Ashley

♥ Red stripy top from H&M

♥ Skull scarf from Miss Selfridge

♥ Bangles from Accessorize

♥ Gold flats from Accesorize

I never wear trousers and these and an identical brown pair are the only trousers I have! I have only worn them twice! I will wear this combo again soon!

♥♥♥♥

Wild Nails!

An experimental nail art that I have grown to love!

Leopard print on pink!

WARNING this is a toe shot!

Only click to enlarge the picture if you are brave! But you will see the polish better!

I used OPI Pink Flamenco, Orly Luxe and Chanel Black Satin and used the same technique I used for my finger nails in this previous post!

Tacky I know but I really like it! I'll try this on my fingers soon!

xoxo

Bag Obsession!

It's about time I got myself a new handbag! 

A huge trend for this season will be a satchel bag. I have always loved this style but never really seen one that I like so never committed to buying one. I will be buying one for sure this winter!

I want one with a handle on the top as I can't wear across the body for too long as they really hurt my shoulder! I definitely want a tan coloured one, it's my fave colour for a classic bag, and I think its nicer than black.

There are loads of great ones around in the shops. The ultimate satchel for me would be the stunning Mulberry Alexa, but at £650 its not an everyday purchase!

If I could I'd buy this bag without a second thought! I love Mulberry and I think this design will be a future classic just like their Bayswater bag, which I 'd love too!

The one I think I will go for is from Ollie & Nic

I love the colour and the style of the bag and its a fairly reasonable price at £90.

I've always wanted a bag that I could have forever that ages well but softens with age and looks weathered but stylish. I have a few Ollie and Nic bags and I used to buy their fabric bags a lot, they were a good price and quite unusual as they were not a well known brand. I think people are more aware of them but they are not everywhere. They have a few shops now up and down the country but they also have a website. 

There are loads of great tan coloured satchels around, here are a few more

I love bright coloured bags too and this one from ASOS caught my eye too,

I love the colour, how cool would it look with a black coat and boots! Its £70.

Do you like the style of these bags or are they a bit too school like for you?

xoxo

Nail Polish Haul!

OPI have recently released their newest polishes with the Swiss collection.I loved this collection from when I first saw the promo pictures months ago!

Anyway, as soon as it went up on Transdesign I put my order in along with a couple of others I had my eye on! Here's what I bought!

My most anticipated colour, Ski Teal We Drop. I love it! Its a fairly dark colour but you know its teal, I hate it when they look black! 

I have a couple of polishes in my collection that are similar if you can't get hold of this. 

Not much difference in this picture, in person Nails Inc Portland Place is more green but No7 Totally Teal is almost identical apart from maybe being a teeny bit lighter and needing three coats instead of two.

In the bottle you can see more of a difference.

Diva Of Geneva. A colour I didn't expect to buy, but after seeing swatches on the big polish sites I loved the jewel colour of this. Seriously its stunning when its on. I would have passed it by if I had only seen it in the bottle you need to wear it to get the true colour. It's amazing outdoors in the sunlight too.

Cuckoo For This Color. Again another I didn't expect to purchase. I'm not a huge fan of frosted metallic polishes, not sure why but I prefer creams. Like Diva Of Geneva it really comes into its own when you wear it. The shimmer in the polish is very noticeable and eye catching, I loved the shade of green it reminds me of a peacocks feather!

Color So Hot It Berns is a very bright tomato red. It's really bright! I love these colours but it is very, very similar to Comet Loves Cupid that OPI brought out at Christmas. You don't need both.

Really the same, to my eye Comet Loves Cupid is the tinyest bit darker.

The same I'm sure!

Not from the Swiss collection but a polish I had wanted for a long time, Over The Taupe. In my insatiable thirst for nude, browns and taupes I had to add it to my collection! I do love it but it is identical to Essie Mink Muffs.

I can hardly see a difference other than Mink Muffs, in person, is a fraction darker but no-one would ever notice if you wore both on one hand!

As with all from the collection and as standard with OPI flawless application and formula and I expect it to wear very well.

Finally not to be forgotten, China Glaze Recycle. I have eyed this colour up for a long time, I thought it would be a good one for this winter. I really like it on, it'll be lovely in the winter with red and I though it would look quite classy with black for work.

Well, those should see me through! 

Yeah right!!

xoxo

Autumn Polishes - Brownie by Sephora

I may be a little premature starting this but I thought I would do some swatches of the colours I will be reaching for this autumn. I know its only August but its hard not to think of Fall when the AW clothes are in the shops and the fashion mags are featuring new AW 10 collections!

Brownie by Sephora

I adore brown shades on my nails. It seriously makes me happy!

I am still searching for the perfect brown, not too light or too dark, no pinky or red tones, I'm hoping it will appear this season as browns seem to be in many new nail varnish collections.

I purchased this in France, so I'm sorry to all the UK girls, I know we are so frustrated we have no Sephora!

This was two coats, it applied so nicely. No streaks or cuticle drag, which can often happen with dark colours and you get a lighter streak at the bottom the nail.

My brush has a few wayward fibres which meant a little bit of tidying up to do. This is the only polish I have from them so I don't know if that is common, could be a rogue! 

Do you have any milky chocolate brown suggestions for me?!

xoxo

Going to the Dark side!

Since coming back from holiday I have noticed a lot of the Autumn fashions and makeup collections around in the shops.

All of these warm wintery colours are making me crave dark polishes!

Seriously I am becoming obsessive!

I have my fair share of dark polishes all ready but have only worn them a handful of times. I like to wear bright light colours especially in the summer!

My predictions for the winter will be that dark polishes will be huge and I think they will come in many shades not just the usual plum and black.

Navy

Chocolate

Khaki

Steel

Mulberry

Teal

These are some of the colours I expect to be wearing this winter and I'm excited!

On a polish swatching picture binge last night, I decided to seekout Essie's A/W 2010 collection to see if any announcements had been made!

Success!

This is Essie's Fall for Fashion 2010 collection. I love it!

In Stitches – cheeky blush pink

Limited Addiction – Racy Garnet red

Sew Psyched – soft sage pewter

Merino Cool – sensuous autumn mulberry

Velvet Voyeur – intense chocolate amethyst

Little Brown Dress – beguiling black coffee

It has some of the colours I have predicted and some are named after fabrics that will be everywhere in winter fashion like velvet and merino wool.

They will be available from September.

Thanks to Chic Profile for the info!

What do you think of my predictions? Am I right? Will you be wearing these colours?

xoxo

My First MAC Palette!

I finally depotted my MAC shadows! 

Look how pretty!

I clearly like browns and neutrals!

From L-R

♥ Retrospeck

♥ Patina

♥ Mulch

♥ Tempting

♥ Sumptuous Olive

♥ Woodwinked

♥ Honesty

♥ Satin Taupe

♥ Silver Ring

♥ Forgery

♥ Swimming

♥ Humid

♥ Pink Venus

♥ Can't remember! It was from a recent collection!

♥ Creme De Violet

I have few more but I need another palette!

xoxo

L'Occitane Verbena Shower Gel

This shower gel smells so delicious I could drink it up!

L'Occitane's Verbena Shower Gel may only be a simple shower gel but I am totally obsessed with it!

It has a wonderful scent and smells very citrusy, its a very strong scent however I don't find it lasts on the skin. The powerful fragrance really wakes you up in the morning!

It leaves my skin soft and I have no reaction to it, I often do with shower gels.

There is a whole range of Verbena products from L'Occitane and I would be very interested in trying them out, including the fragrance in the range. Heres the link! The shower gel costs £12.50.

I like L'Occitane as a brand, they often use organic ingredients where possible and use sustainable resources. They also used recycled packaging. They even use recycled furniture in their offices and an electric car for journeys between factories!

Blue My Mind by H&M

I have nearly bought this colour from H&M so many times! It's so vivid it all ways catches my eye when I'm shopping.

I have to admit I'm a bit of a nail polish snob and prefer the well known brands, however I threw my snobbery out of the window and put in my basket!

I love it! It's such a bright blue, I have nothing like it!

It applied well, this was two coats and it only cost £2.99! I'll see how it wears then I may check out some of the other colours in the range.

xoxo

Wedding Outfit Update!

A little while ago I posted about a dress and shoes I wanted to wear for a wedding party.

Well the wedding was last weekend and I thought I'd show you my outfit on!

Shona looked stunning! 

The dress is from Monsoon Fusion, I had to wear leggings as it was too short for me, I was worried that the leggings would make it too casual but it didn't and I didn't have to worry about flashing anyone! 

I saved the pink shoes for the wedding and I absolutely love them! Perfect height, perfect colour and I felt glam in them! Everyone loved them!

I had only got back from holiday the day before so my tan was good and looked amazing on my legs with the pink shoes!

I took a black beaded clutch also from Monsoon and wore a pink Swarovksi bracelet with earrings in the same colour.

I wore my usual face make up but used Humid eyeshadow to pick out the green in my dress and I wore Lady GaGa lipstick. I had Nails Inc Shoreditch on my nails which is a hot pink similar to the shoes.

I had such a fab night and I felt really glam! 

Congratulations to Shona and Owen too!

xoxo

Holiday Polishes

While I was packing for my little holiday my biggest dilemma, apart from taking too many clothes, was choosing which polishes to take! 

I couldn't take too many but I couldn't rule too many out!

This was my final selection.

I think I covered all bases!

However I have to admit I only wore a couple of them! 

I went wearing OPI You Don't Know Jaques so took the bottle for top ups and repairs. I wore that for a few days until I got paint all over my hands from decorating the house!

Then I switched to OPI Shorts Story. Its such a pretty pink and it goes/tones/clashes nicely with so many if my clothes. When I say clashes I mean, I had a turquoise top on so the pink is opposite but in a good way!

Then finally I used OPI Hot and Spicy to travel home in!

I only changed my toe polish once. I wore Nails Inc Spring Mews almost the whole time!

Again it tones or clashes with the taupe and the pink I wore and looked fab with my pink Birkenstocks that I wore loads!

I only changed it on the last day to Number Seven 60's Mini Skirt, the cream colour, to go with the orange of the Hot and Spicy.

Well that was my holiday in nail varnish form! I thought I'd be more inclined to change my polish but I wasn't!

What would be your holiday polish must haves?

xoxo

OOTD!

Hey! A little OOTD for you!

A simple outfit but I love it!

White Skirt from Monsoon

Blue Tee, Navy Vest and Floral scarf all from H&M, and purchased today!

Silver bangle.

Gold bangle from Accessorize.

I love the colours together, quite summery, and I love the vintage style scarf!

The tail belongs to Bramble, not me!

Holiday Haul and a Few Snaps!

Hey Guys!

I'm back from my hols! I had a wonderful time, I just love spending time with my family, there are almost no other people in the world I would rather be with! I went to the south of France and I happened to have my birthday while I was away.

My parents have renovated a house in the south about an hour from Toulouse.

The house was just signed off this week! So we went to start decorating and painting shutters.

We arrived on Bastille Day and saw the most amazing fireworks display I have ever seen!

Le Tour De France came through a nearby village so we went to have a look.

It was all over in 5 minutes but I'm glad I saw it all!

Market day in the local town.

My birthday cake!

I bought a few things from MAC at the airport.

I bought a blotting powder in Light, its a translucent powder and gives no colour. I wanted to get this instead of always using my MSF as I don't always need to re-touch my actual make up, it works but I am a little underwhelmed. I don't like the powder puff it comes with so I have had more success with using my kabuki brush.

I bought Well Dressed blusher. It swatched really nicely on my hand and I used it the first day of my holiday but I didn't really feel the colour came out on my cheeks. Maybe it'll show up a little better on paler skin towards the winter, I'll give it another chance then!

Finally on a whim I purchased a Plushglass in Pretty Plush. I just bought it as I liked the colour I didn't realise they were different to normal Lipglasses until I put it on and felt the tingle of the lip plumping ingredients! It was a surprise!! I had no idea MAC did this type of product!

I lost my favourite ever sunglasses while I was away, within the first few days! I was gutted! I couldn't continue my holiday without any so I had to buy some!

In France they sell sunglasses in opticians and they are usually high end brands. I couldn't justify spending a lot knowing I had two perfectly good pairs at home, however these had 60% off! Bargain! They don't mess around with designer brands in France so I know they are for real, they were 120 euros and I got them for 48! There were no high street shops in the local town and I didn't go to Toulouse until midway through the second week and I couldn't wait that long, I don't want to encourage any wrinkles around the eyes!

Speaking of Toulouse they have a Sephora! I had to go! It didn't seem to be have as much as the stateside stores but I had to buy something with Sephora on it!

So I bought a Sephora brand nail polish in Brownie. They didn't have the OPI for Sephora there, *sadface* Everything else I felt I could get in the UK, and the exchange rate isn't good enough to go mad!

Finally my birthday pressie was a beautiful silver bangle

I love it! It's so simple but very pretty on, its a little big so it goes all the way up my arm but I don't mind that!

So that was two weeks in a nutshell! I'm going back in September and I cannot wait!

Have you had your holiday yet?

xoxo

I Like Gooold!

I just got this bag in the Boden sale!

It was reduced from £99 to £39, I loved it when I first saw it but was not going to pay £99 for it! So I snapped it up in the sale!

It's not a big as the website had me believe but I like the size, it's big but its manageable!

It'll be a great holiday bag, but I'm going to use it for work tomorrow as I love it so much!

xoxo

John Frieda Go Blonder Shampoo

Until recently I had always been a blonde. 

For a long time a natural then as I got a little older it started to fade and became mousey and a bit blah!

I still have a naturally lighter tone to my hair but I now have highlights, which are stating to fade.

Now we are in summer I really want a sun-kissed glow to my hair so I headed to Boots for some products.

I'd intended to buy a dye or a wash out colour but saw the John Frieda Go Blonder shampoo's and conditioner's on offer. I had seen the adverts so I was aware of the product. I wasn't sure how it could be different to the Sheer Blonde range that I used to use as a blondie.

As far as I can tell the original range of Sheer Blonde has peroxide and ammonia to help lighten your hair. I had amazing results with this range back in the day but it was too good, it bleached my hair!

The Go Blonder range uses citrus and chamomile to lighten the hair. We have all heard of putting lemon juice on your hair to highlight, I am not recommending this btw! The shampoo certainly has a lemony scent and colour, its a pearlescent yellow.

I have used this for just over a week now and I am very impressed. I have a noticeable lighter tone to my hair, I think this is a combination of the shampoo and we actually have sunshine here at the moment and I have spent a lot of time in the sunshine. I hope the citrus elements of the shampoo and the sunshine are working together!

My hair is soft and bouncy and sun-kissed as promised! 

I didn't get the conditioner at the time as had just purchased a new bottle of my trusty Label M Honey and Oat, but I will be buying the conditioner next!

xoxo

Product Of The Moment!

I'm so happy we have had consistent hot sunny weather here in the UK! 

I've been making the most of the sunshine and spending as much time in the garden as I can. I also have my holiday coming up and am in preparation for that.

I am not a huge fan of fake tan, not the look, just the application, the inconsistency and the pressure of getting it right. I am fair and I burn very easily I ALWAYS wear factor 30 in the sun and apply regularly. 

In preparation for a natural tan I have been applying Elemis Tan Accelerator.

It promises to help the skin prepare for exposure to the sun and helps to encourage your skins melanin, which is the natural pigment in your body that gives you a tan.

I apply this mainly in the evening and if I have time in the morning. I have been almost religious about this over the last two or three weeks usually I give up on moisturising. 

I have stuck with this because it really works!

The product contains, Shea butter, Jojoba, Macadamia Nut Oil and Vitamin E. Elemis suggest applying  the lotion about two weeks before your holiday or throughout the summer, and it can be used after your holiday to help prolong your tan. 

I have got the best colour I have ever had. I am convinced it's down to using this product. I haven't had that much sun, maybe three or four days in the last three weeks and I have used a factor 30, but I have a lovely colour.

The product has a natural brown hue to the lotion but is not a self tanner. I think that the lotion encourages the melanin to come to the surface of the skin alone is helping with my tan.

I highly recommend this product I will certainly use it next year and over the next few summer months.

It costs £19 from Elemis direct or it can be purchased from John Lewis, QVC or various salons and spas. I bought mine as part of a set from QVC.

xoxo

Bringing a little SATC glam into my life!

I went to see Sex And The City 2 this week, I bloomin loved it!

So glam, total escapism and fabulous outfits!

I couldn't help but notice the nails the girls were sporting, particularly Samantha. She has some amazing falsies adorned with crystals and jewels and I spotted a bit of Minx in there too.

One manicure that really stood out for me was in a scene when they were at dinner in the hotel.

Samantha had black nails with a stunning shiny chrome gold moon at the bottom.

I have tried to re-create that look!

I hope you can make it out, I couldn't get it to photograph well, click the picture and it will be bigger.

I applied Orly's Luxe all over the nail, wait for it to dry properly.

Then with a steady hand apply two coats of a black polish, I used Chanel's Black Satin, a little higher than you would normally to show off the gold band at the bottom. Take your time here, you don't want to mess up the gold coat.

Then apply a high gloss top coat, I used Nails Inc Albert Bridge.

I really love it! The gold catches the light subtly enough to notice its not just a black nail.

If I do it again, I may leave a thicker band of gold at the bottom as I love the flash of gold so much!

What do you think, will you give it a go?

xoxo

John Frieda Root Awakening Shampoo and Conditioner

I have been noticing a lot of hair falling out of my head recently, I know that your hair has a seven year cycle and changes occur, my Mums hair for example went curly almost overnight!

I've put it down to weightloss and this seven year cycle, but I'm not going to lie, it worries me.

Anyway I thought I would try some new shampoo to help a healthy folicle! John Frieda has just launched a new Root Awakening range.

John Frieda says,

Your Wake Up Call For Tired Weak Hair

Infused with natural Eucalyptus, Root Awakening® shampoos, conditioners, and Leave in Spray nourish hair from root to tip. Get stronger, more manageable hair in just 7 days.  

Sounds good right?!

I thought I'd try the shampoo and conditioner together. 

It smells minty and has a different texture to "normal " shampoo, it definitely thicker. The conditioner has the same scent and it is of a thicker consistency too.

I certainly noticed a difference in lift at the root of my hair and my hair was very soft and bouncy. However it was a little too soft for me to be able to curl my hair, the curl would just drop out after a couple of hours. My Mum used the shampoo and conditioner and it did wonders for her coarse thick curly hair! Her hair curled very easily naturally without a diffuser which she would normally use.

I do feel that after prolonged use my hair would be healthy straight from the root. Although I didn't notice a difference in hair loss but this was never one of the features of this system.

Have you tried it?

xoxo