Wednesday 29 June 2011

Nail of The Day: E.L.F - Take 1

This is the first time I've used an ELF nail varnish. To be honest, at £1.50 a pop, I wasn't expecting miracles. 

I was pleasantly surprised - more than pleasantly surprised in fact! 

The formulation was lovely, easy to apply and didn't streak like lots of other "cheaper" nail polishes, it only took two coats to get ideal coverage and with a strong top coat... it's lasted 2 days already without chipping! 

I can't wait to try the others from my haul, there are a lot of lovely colours available - Round of applause for ELF - OOOO YAY!!


[Excuse the chubby fingers!]

Tuesday 28 June 2011

Haul: E.L.F Madness

I love haul posts... I don't know about you guys, but I love seeing what others are spending their hard earned pennies on. I guess it's the "nosy person" inside of me! 

I'm afraid mine isn't all that interesting, just a little ELF haul, I did also get a whole load of new brushes (think there was 11 in my package) but I forgot to photograph them - I'll put these in a future post!!!! 

At the time of my order, there was a promotion running to get 10 free eyeshadow quads with any order over £20.00 - of course I made full use of this!!!!! 

Firstly, The everyday eyes beauty encyclopedia is a handy little palette with full instructions for the "everyday eye" look on the inside cover. The palette includes:


12 pressed powder eyeshadows

2 cream eyeshadows

1 eyeliner (Black)

1 eyeshadow brush



Surprise, surprise - nail varnishes! I can't remember what each of these colours are called, however, I will be reviewing them individually. I seem to be sticking with neutral tones at the moment... apart from the coral colour on the end - can't wait to try them!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Here are my 10 free eyeshadow quads - there are some beautiful colours in there, I was so impressed! The packaging is pretty plain, I would have preferred the black pots they usually use, and I was missing an eyeshadow applicator from two of them - other than that, a brilliant freebie!!!!!!


The "Cool bronzer palette". This is my first bronzer set, I don't ever wear bronzer or "contour", I usually just wear blush, but I'm determined to learn and this is one of the bigger steps towards shaking up my make up routine!! 
I was a little disappointed to see that the colours had merged in some places rather than being completely separate, but they're all really natural looking and you can't go wrong for £3.50 right?


And that's it!! (Actually... I did also get some brush shampoo) - all spent up!!! Still trying to think of something else I can purchase, literally in LOVE with ELF right now!! 
What're your favourite ELF products? What do you think of the quality? 

Thursday 23 June 2011

Nail of The Day: Bourjois - Rose Lounge

This is what I've been wearing on my nails for the last few days - man-oh-man I've been getting through 'em eh?!?

I was so excited when I saw Laura's post on this Bourjois polish, as another K-Mid fan I squealed when I realised I had this stowed away at the bottom of my nail polish box!!!

Yes, the beautiful Kate Middleton wore this (coupled up with Essie's Allure) on her wedding day... I've had this for ages and hadn't even tried it. Thought I'd give it a go and see how it turned out!! What a gem!

To be honest, it took about 3 coats to get the effect I'm wearing, however, I now wish I'd left it at two coats as this looks a million miles from natural! The formulation is great though!














What do you guys think? Any other Bourjois polishes you could recommend?


Tuesday 21 June 2011

Nail of The Day: Barry M - Grey

Wow - I'm really getting the hang of this NOTD lark aren't I?!

I've become beauty obsessed lately and that massively includes painting my nails, I've found that using an Avon freeze dry spray they dry so much faster!!!

Here's my latest:























Yet another Barry M polish... And in a grey tone! I love my neutrals and I have many more on the way after spending far too many hard earned pennies on Barry M's UK site and ELF! Oops!!

This one is number 293 in 'Grey' - inventive name noh?!

What do you guys think?

Sunday 19 June 2011

Take the Kindness Pledge

I've taken the kind hearted blogger pledge. Have you? Learn more about it HERE
The beautiful owner of blog: Em Jay & Me (Jo), had been greatly affected by some rather nasty blogger hate, resulting in a complete aversion to blogging - meaning we missed out!!!!! She decided that something needed to be done and wanted to make a stand.
She created the Blogger pledge to say: "we will NOT stand for hate"

There's a never ending list of bloggers who have made their pledge and I plan to add myself to this list. My blog may not be very big but that's not stopped the haters!

SAY NO TO NASTINESS!

 AS A KIND-HEARTED BLOGGER I PLEDGE TO:


  • Create, inspire, and admire rather than compete with fellow bloggers.
  • Be understanding of each other-- in the blogging community, as well as in the world.
  • Stay away from internet/blogging bullying.
  • Speak my opinion freely, while still being mindful of other's feelings-- be tactful.
  • Make an effort -- no matter how big or small the gesture, to spread kindness or joy to others.
  • Acknowledge that I will make mistakes, (I am only human) but remember to learn from them.
  • Know that at times I will post about the negative stuff in life, and maybe even some complaining (I am only human) but I will always follow up with something happy/positive too.
  • Believe that this world is a good place, filled with good people.

.

Saturday 18 June 2011

Nail of The Day: Barry M - Mushroom

I thought I'd do a real quick post to show you how I've been wearing my nails for the last few days... 

I'm afraid I don't currently have the discipline to paint my nails a different colour every day like some of you ladies, the kittens cause too much chaos and my manicures are ruined after about 10 minutes... however, I have made a pact with my colleague to paint our nails a different colour every week (at least) for 3 months. She's in Vegas at the moment... but we'll start when she gets home. 

This is the first 'Barry M' nail polish I've ever purchased and as I love brown/beige/taupe colours so much, I've re-purchased many times!!!







This particular colour is number 310 - "Mushroom"
What do you think ladies?

Friday 17 June 2011

Haul: Liz Earle


I recently made my first ever purchase from Liz Earle (*yay* go me!!) after months of torturing myself over positive review after positive review, I finally got there!


I've been dying to get my hands on a whole load of their products, all of which I've heard nothing but incredible things about! One of which, as I'm sure you can guess, was the Hot Cloth Cleanser... I was so excited when this arrived!!!



The packaging was so cute, they left me a little message and even included a free bottle of tonic! This really made my day!



I took a few pictures and thought you might like to have a little nosy at what I invested my hard earned pennies on!!










How brilliant is their logo? I'd never really looked at it before now and it's genius! They sent me a full portfolio of their products and a price list, along with "how to" guides... so helpful!



Only thing is... now I want to buy everything!



Here's what I received:







Please excuse my sideways pictures - how unprofessional of me *slaps hand hard* - I'll sort it out when I get home - honest!!







The peppermint foot refreshing spray is fantastic, and I'm not just saying that! It does exactly what it says on "the tin" and I've also converted my Mum to be a Liz Earle obsess-er because of it.



I've been using the Cleanse and Polish for 3 days now - I've already noticed a huge difference. My pores seem tighter and where I've had the odd blackhead (oooo gross - sorry) they've totally disappeared.
My face feels completely clean and it removes make up like a dream, even my waterproof mascara!


My skin is soft as a babies bottom after using this, followed by the tonic. All I need now is a moisturiser!



I can't wait to see the results when I've used this bottle up!



What's your favourite Liz Earle product? Any recommendations?

Thursday 16 June 2011

Review: Lush Ltd. "Mr Blackberry"

I've not reviewed anything for an awful long time, again, this is to do with my current lack of brain power! DUHHHH

Today is the turn of Mr Blackberry Bath Bomb from the ever-incredible Lush Ltd.



What do "Lush" say:

'With bergamot, frankincense and berries for uplifting, grounding and fruity feelings. When you're feeling off colour and out of sorts, drop this Ballistic of purply goodness into the bath. In no time at all, the frisky scent of blackcurrant will tug at the corners of your mouth, pulling them towards your ears. Bergamot relieves tension and frankincense will wrap itself around you like a cosy blanket. All your cares will dissolve into a warming purple haze.'





What does Katie think?:

Packaging: As ever, the Lush packaging was charming and perfectly eco-friendly. I love the little yellow bags, they're perfect for keeping your bath bombs smelling lovely and in one piece!!! I did purchase a "Pillar of Fizz" though... you can easily store 3 large bath bombs in there and keep them in the bathroom - what a great idea! 

Smell: I was a teeny bit disappointed with the smell, unfortunately it didn't actually smell like blackberrys... however, it was lovely.... not horrible in any way! I'm totally rubbish at describing scents (i know everyone says that but its true!) so you might have to go into a Lush Ltd. store and have a sniff for yourself - you won't look weird... promise. They're used to me popping in every week to mop up all the smells! *Crazy lady* 

Fizzability: This is probably the fizziest ballistic Ive used from Lush - and I've gone through a few now! It truly lived up to it's name! Plenty of fizziness - good job I wasn't in the bath while it was flying around everywhere! 

Taste: Yeh - don't try to taste the bubbles... it's not big or clever.

Relaxiness: Very relaxing!!! The smell and "aroma" actually kind of made me want to sleep! Really lovely! 

I actually really loved this bath bomb, one of my favourites EVER (wow - a big statement from me, the worlds biggest Lush Ltd fan!!!!!!) - it made me skin feel silky smooth and I smelt all nice for hours and hours after I'd vacated my bath!!! 

There was even a little surprise squirrelled away secretly within the bath bomb - It made me smile.



Cute right?

What's your favourite Lush Ltd. product?


 

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Inspiration: The Make Up Edition

I'm sharing the make-up love!

All images have been sourced from the lovely www.weheartit.com!