Awards!

So I finally have time to do this post, I just tried but it went crazy and weird so I'm having to type everything out *sigh* but I want to get it done to show my appreciation :). 


Here we go, firstly I received these three awards from Lizzy, Bethany, Anna and SPLAT 


First is the Versatile Blogger Award 

The Rules:

1. Nominate 15 fellow Bloggers

2. Inform them of their nominations

3. Share 7 random facts about yourself

4. Thank the Blogger(s) who nominated you 

5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post. 


My Random Facts:


1. I love having clean hair but I HATE washing and drying it.
2. I dye my hair Ginger, my natural colour is mousey brown, ha
3. When I was younger I used to colour my nails in with felt tip pens, I guess I've always loved having colourful nails ;).
4. I used to have a pure black kitten named Ziggy, we were only supposed to have her for a couple of months but we ended up having her for 2 and a half years before dad sold her :(.
5. I have an irrational fear of sponges and cranes (the mechanical ones not the animal!) and a rational phobia of Spiders and heights. 
6. I am a rather good baker but I suck at cooking...
7. I love reading therefore I love my kindle, it's amazing! My favourite books are Alone in Berlin, the Help, Engleby and Mudbound. I'm currently reading The English German Girl by Jake Wallis Simons, I love books that are based around normal people living through the war, I find them fascinating :). Also books about the civil rights movement and life before equality in America are also high on my reading list. 


The second award is the One Lovely Blog Award 

The Rules:

1.Link back to the person you got it from.

2. Tell 7 things about yourself. 

3. give the award to 10 bloggers. 

Finally the Butterfly Award 

The Rules:

1. Link back to the person who gave you the award.

2. Answer the following questions.

3. Award to other bloggers and let them know. 

The Questions:

1. What is your favourite song? At the moment I am obsessed with Beyonce's album 4 and my favourite song off that is I Care, it's amazing!

2. What's your favourite dessert? Macaroons! I love them ever since I went to Paris with my bf for christmas 2010 but we can't get them here :(.

3. What's your favourite pet? My pet Degu Bella and my bf's dog Molly 

4. Black or White? Black every time for everything!

5. What's your biggest Fear? Spiders, I hate everything about them. 

6. What's your best feature? My hair! Or my hands.

7. What's your everyday attitude? I just take everything as it comes :).

8. What is perfection? A night in on the sofa with my bf watching soaps (coronation street and Eastenders!!) with a big bar of Galaxy and a cup of tea. 

9. What is your guilty pleasure? Listening to the Tarzan soundtrack by Phil Collins far too often ;). 

Bethany at A plethora of nails and Lizzy at Lizzy's Place also gave me the Leibster Award 

The Rules:

1.Put a link to who gave you the Award

2.Put the Award picture in the post

3. Choose 5 blogs that have under 200 followers and give them the award

4. Let them know you have nominated them. 

And finally Katee at A girl and her Polish gave me the Laine blogger Award

The Rules:

1.Put a link to who gave you the Award

2.Put the Award picture in the post

3. Give this award to 5 bloggers and inform them. 

I don't follow too many blogs that have under 200 followers so most of the people I am nominating I know already have these awards but I want to give it to them anyway :)

For all 5 of these I am nominating 

Lizzy at Lizzy's Place as she blogs everyday and is rather witty :)

Bethany at A Plethora of Nails as she always has lovely nails 

Ashley at Spellbound Nails as she has beautiful clear photographs and swatches

Kokoro Nails as she does some of the most amazing nail art ever!

Nail Polish Fetish as she does really cute designs 

Anna at GoingtotheShowing as she has good taste in nail polish :)

Thanks for reading and nominating me :)

Butter London Bluey Swatches and Review

Good Afternoon, today I have a not so glowing review :(. I'll give you the pictures first incase you don't want to read the bad stuff.

 

So I put Bluey on yesterday around 3pm my basecoat was completely dry so I put on one thin ish coat and let it dry except it didn't dry...3 hours later and it was still dentable. I couldn't wait any longer so I put another coat and it still wasn't dry when I went to sleep around 11pm!! That's at least 7 hours! When I woke up this morning I really wasn't loving it, it was covered in sheet marks and dents and I didn't love the colour either. 
It's a teal shimmery colour, it's nice enough but I don't know I'm just not loving it, it sparkles nicely in the light, it looks darker in the shade. Honestly I think I'm just biased because of my bad experience but everyone else seemed to have a good time with it so it can't be that bad, right? 
I'm going to remove it now and put on an old favourite Barry M Navy, gah I love it so much, I'll show you later. 
Have a good day/night :P

Models Own Lilac Dream Swatches and French Tips

Hiya, 
Been a little while I know, I've come home for just over a week for an unfortunate reason but that's all I want to say about it. One of the best things about being at home is that I can sit in my bed and blog! At uni there's no wireless and the cable is too short to reach the bed so I am normally confined to the desk chair :( but not for this week :P hahaha. I'm so comfy right now :). 
However most of our windows at home have mysteriously broken and can't be opened sooo everywhere kind of stinks of nail polish and remover....oops ;). 


It felt like spring again today the sun was out and people were over reacting as they do in England when the sun shines, it was only 16 degrees but people were walking round in shorts and flip flops!! Crazy! Anyway my point is that it's supposed to be like that again tomorrow so I wanted to change my mani into something a bit more spring appropriate. 
I only bought a couple of polishes home with me as I knew I had a few at home but when I saw them I was disappointed to be honest, I have a lot of glitters and cremes *yawn*. I do have a few beauties though like Barry M Racing Green and Navy yummmy and Models Own Magenta Pearl :). 


Sorry I'm rambling a lot tonight, okay onto the mani I chose Models Own Lilac Dream which, funnily enough, is a lilac creme ;). 

 You know what was weird about this polish, apart from the fact that I  liked the colour ;), before it was fully dry it looked rubbery it was so cool! I think it's just because it filled in most of my ridges but you know it was cool :P. I knew from the start that I wanted to add a bit of bling and that's where Models Own Mystic Mauve comes in...

I like mystic mauve although I don't know whether it's a foil or a frost? All I know is it's super shiny and I wore it on my 18th birthday, so it must be good ;). I like this, really simple but on trend with the metallic and pastel in one shot wooo. 

Lilac Dream applied really easily and it was reeally pigmented for a pastel colour, I was impressed with it generally, nice formula too. I'm using my sisters camera to take pictures this week so I can do actual macro shots as my camera requires a macro lens and I can't afford one pah, but I'm not sure if she'll let me use it again though ha we'll see. 

My tip for getting straight tips when freehanding is to move your nail in a smooth arc rather than the brush :). 

Hope you like it, seeyou soon

OPI I Have a Herring Problem Swatches and Review

Hey, yesterdays weather was sunny and it felt like spring to me (it was actually really cold) so I craved a lovely dusty happy colour, I picked IHAHP as it seemed to fit the bill. You might have noticed that my choices are nearly always dictated by the weather, I have to seize the sun and wear happy colours when I can :P. 
Anyway on with the OPI 

All pictures taken with flash and artificial light, at night as usual, maybe I should try taking them in the day with actual daylight ;).

I really love this colour, it reminds me of a pair of jeans, especially with the grainy texture. I also think it reminds me of Zoya Neeka and Yara again because of the speckled grainy shimmery texture. I love those two and I love this! 
From the first swatches I saw if the Holland Collection I originally wanted I Don't Give a Rotterdam but they didn't have it in the shop I was in so I got this one instead and I'm so glad I did, I still want Rotterdam as it will complete my mini collection of grainies ;). 
I used two coats here but I should of used three as it's still a bit bare in some places (SH ID helped with that though) it went on nice enough, I'm getting a bit more used to the brush now :P. 
What you can't see in the pictures is that when the light hits the apparently silver shimmery speckles they turn to gold, it's gorgeous, you get this gold flash as you move your hands around, I really really love this colour!! It's kind of a muted dusty blue but those speckles give it so much life and depth. I am in love with this colour, I'm taking it home with me today to try and put it on my mum's nails hahahah, I know my sister won't like it cos it's not pink....
My pictures show the silver side of the shimmer and how shimmery it is but the blue isn't as deep it's a lot lighter like I said. Gah it is lovely! 

I own Fantasy Fire....Finally!!

Yes, it's true I broke my no-buy. I literally had to. I was going to town to look in Debenhams as they are meant to be having 10% off all beauty, I think it might be online only :( anyhoo, I called in Boots just incase they had replenished the stocks of Max Factor and they had! I had to grab two bottles of FF and I saw another polish that really caught my eye as well Dazzling Blue, more on that in a minute, then I figured if I was breaking my no-buy I might as well look around the other brands, Revlon had some new shades finally but they had sold out off the DL dupe but they had one bottle of Facets of Fuchsia so I got that too and went to the till. The lady told me that if I bought one more Max Factor polish I could get a free gift so obviously I went back and got the last bottle of Prussian Blue. 


I'll show you pictures in a minute first though, I'm soooo annoyed :(. Dior Les Violets Hypnotiques were "released" in the UK yesterday....supposedly. I have been stalking Harrods website which is where they're meant to be, no sign. I asked the Dior lady in Debenhams who showed me the book for March and there were no polishes in there, she hadn't even heard of them!! It's always embarrassing when you know more than the person who works there :P. She showed me a promo picture for a polish to be released in May which looks to be in the same family as Nirvana but more blue. I went on Debenhams website, google shopping search NADA! I neeeeeed Shadow but I can't find it anywhere :(. 


And that is part of the reason why I broke my no-buy because that collection was meant to be my exception to the rule :( yes, I'm sulking now. I guess getting FF kind of makes up for it but I'm not allowed to wear any of the polishes that I bought today until I finish my untrieds grrrrr. 

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, Max Factor Dazzling Blue, Fantasy Fire x2, Prussian Blue, Mini mascara, mini kohl eyeliner, Disco Pink and Intense Plum. From the mascara to Intense Plum were what I received in the nice bag as the free gift :)!

Total drool!!! 

I think this polish has been overshadowed by FF but look at it! It's completely gorgeous too. It looks similar to Indian Ocean (one of the new Models Own Beetlejuice Collection) it has such a pretty colour change, blue and green to purple at the edges, totally in love with it! Can't wait to wear it :) :). 

Part of me loves how cute and little they are but then at the same time it means less of the precious! ;). 

If you are interested in getting the free Max Factor gift from Boots only you have to spend over £15 in Max Factor, perfect excuse to stock up on FF :P. 

So I cannot wait to wear these beauties, however my sister shall be receiving the Disco Pink as it's really not my kind of colour, it's so much more hers as she is obsessed with pink nails forever *sigh* I hope she'll learn of the other beautiful colours that are out there :P. One day! 

I hope you have enjoyed my mini haul (you get it?? ;)) I know I'll be changing my nails tomorrow so I'll seeyou then!

OPI Diva of Geneva Swatches and Review

Hey, I know I haven't been posting as often as I usually do but that's because I have less time at the moment to do my nails and I've been liking my designs and leaving them on :P. I have two posts for you lovelies tonight, first the swatches and the second is exciting! 


As you all know my polish choices are, for the moment at least, being dictated by my untrieds list so tonight I have Diva of Geneva from OPIs Swiss collection from 2010 which I picked up at Harrods no less ;). It's a real pretty colour magenta-y pink with flashes of copper-y gold.

Can you see the copper?!

This is a nice colour, nice and sparkly a bit prone to brush strokes but otherwise okay, two coats to opacity, with SH ID as topcoat (my absolute fav!). It reminds me of one of my favourite Models Own polishes Magenta Pearl, I'll try and bring it back from home when I go on friday if I remember :P. I wish it looked more like these pictures, IRL it's more pink :(. It's a very pretty colour but I'm just not wowed by it, I think I must be distracted by the awesome things I got today (tell you later) and the promo shots for another 3 additions to the Models Own Beetlejuice Collection. 

I've realised what my one complaint with OPI is....the brushes are too wide for my little and ring finger nails, it makes applying polish neatly a real pain, but I can get over it for some cool colour payoffs :P. 

Talking of OPI I am assuming that everyone has seen the promos for the Amazing Spiderman collection.....bit late with the Chanel dupes, I don't know I just think the collection looks really boring although another dupe of Peridot is always welcome as I still haven't got it :( boo. 

Seeyou in a bit!

Leopard halves mani

Mornin' 

I know I haven't posted for a few days for a couple of reasons the main being I didn't want to take my owls off :P and I've been super busy with uni, one day we were in from 9-5 with no break cos we  had a lecture and then straight into trying to recreate the lighting in other peoples photographs....man it took forever! Also we have this awful fire alarm here in halls and last night someone broke it so it went on from 2.40AM - 3.40AM!!! I was so frikin' tired this morning, couldn't get up but we had to cos the bf's parents are here for the weekend with the dogs yaya :). 

Okay, now what we are all here for, I had to use one of my untrieds and it's a small selection now only 8, I decided to get one of the pinks out of the way in a design that I had painted some fake nails with and sent to my sister (because I am the best sis eva ;)). 

I started with the white base using the only white I own a Sally Hansen french manicure (for tips only) kind of white, there's no denying it, it was awful, I used three coats and it was still patchy but I knew I was going to be filling in bits and leoparding the rest it didn't matter. The pink is Cabana by Sinful Colors, which is a nice thick formula and was nearly opaque in one swoop but I did two as it wasn't fully :P. The gold splodges are 25 Carat Gold by Models Own and I freehanded the lines with my models own nail art pen. I got the idea for this design from Wah nails, I really like it, it's a twist on a classic leopard manicure :) here are the fake nails I painted for my darling sibling  ;) 

She loved them :P I hope you enjoyed them too! 

EDIT: I am entering this design in Rebecca likes Nails nail art contest yay :)