NOTD: GRADATED PURPLE GLITTER TIPS

I seem to buy lots of nail polish, stash them away and consequently forget about them, such is the case with Nubar's Petunia Sparkle & Ciate "Shaken Not Stirred".

I've had these polishes for AGES and yesterday decided it was time to adorn them!

Using my Japanese Gradation Liquid (I know I know! Not done the comp yet!) I created the following look:

Shame you can't see the sparkle properly but am really rather pleased with the results :P

SUMMER BEAUTY: EOS LEMON LIPBALM WITH SPF

I love the Evolution of Smooth (EOS) lipbalms. The packaging is super appealing, especially as I can find it with ease in my hand bag! No more rummaging around the flosam and jetsam that are the contents of my bag.

My lovely work colleague picked me up the EOS lemon lip balm whilst on a trip to the States earlier in the year.
Perfect for the Summer, this fresh scented balm is formulated with spf15 to ensure your lips are well protected whilst out in the sun :)

Am not usually very keen on Lemon scented/flavoured lipbalms and this one took me a while to get use to. Was hoping it would be more like lemon sherbet but it's not as sweet!


Still...a lovely addition to my eos collection. Now I just need the tangerine one...

Which one is your favourite eos lipbalm? Leave a comment and let me know!

NOTD: FILTHY GORGEOUS LONDON AIR KISS

The formulations of these polishes last for AGES. Plus they truly mean it when they state that two coats is enough for full coverage. I often find myself applying three coats of most polishes but was very happy to find that I didn't have to do this with the Filthy Gorgeous polishes..woohoo!

Tonight's Nail of the Day is the bold and bright blue "Air Kiss".

YES TO TOMATOES! YES TO THIS AMAZING NATURAL SHAMPOO!

Apologies for the lack of posts lately. If you follow me on Twitter you will know that I was in Amsterdam this week for work :)
Just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day at the mo!

My first dabble in natural haircare a few years back wasn't such a good one. Lately it seems that there have been more and more natural shampoos and conditioners emerging on the market that really do the trick for my tresses. FAB news!

Last month I was kindly sent some products from the Yes To range, of which included the Yes to Tomatoes Volumising Shampoo.

It is AMAZING!

Containing 99.6% natural ingredients it is SLS & Paraben Free but lathers up so well that my bf who is still a believer that bubbles = good shampoo, is quite addicted to it. So much so that I caught him this morning pouring a whole handful of it into his palm before applying it to his locks. A MAN size hand at that and that's at least 4 times the amount of shampoo that I use for my LONG hair. I stifled back a whimper. We are quickly going to run out of this product I can tell!

sleepy bf says: "Nice texture to the hair..soft...zzzz" 


He never uses conditioner, EVER, and is hair is definitely much softer.


What I love about this shampoo besides how generously it lathers up is that it cleanses my hair so well, and most importantly, rinses out with absolute ease. The one thing I have always found about natural shampoos is how darn difficult they are to wash out, leaving me fuming and cursing out loud first thing in the morning.


Yes to Tomatoes Volumising Shampoo key ingredients are:


Nectarines fuse pectin polymers (a naturally occurring sugar) to a lank, limp hair to help create weightless hair volume.

Dead Sea minerals sourced from the world's most ancient spa, naturally exfoliate, detoxify and rejuvenate. These minerals lock in the vitamins and minerals from the delicious fruits and vegetables.

Tomatoes contain Lycopene, a potent antioxidant found in red fruits and vegetables. Its anti-inflammatory properties help clear excess oil from your hair and scalp, leaving hair feeling soft, full, and balanced.

Not sure if it gives much volume but it's wonderful as an every day shampoo and one I would definitely recommend to anyone whos looking to go for the natural option in haircare.

UK readers can purchase a huge 500ml tube for a £8.20 from the Victoria Health website: www.victoriahealth.com  

For more product info & stockists click here to visit the Yes To website 

BEAUTY BLOG LINK LOVE

Jellyminx presents a bronzer lovers paradise with her ultimate Bronzer Overview.

Missed out on the New York City Makeup Show? Have no fear, for Krasey Beauty has the scoop!

Over at The Pink Sith blog, Joeybunny brings you swatches of the new Dior Rosy Tan Eyeshadow Quint and makes a shocking confession!

Have you tried lining your eyes with traditional kohl/kajal? Kajal Couture did and she shows you how.

Can the cute and new Sephora Hello Kitty-Memoirs Of A Kitty Palette satisfy an ex-punk beauty junkie like Tracy at Beauty Reflections?

Amy Antoinette showcases the prettiest lip balms in her collection.

Beautywoome has found the best light alternative to foundation for summer!

Still a Sugarpill virgin? Beauty's Bad Habit shows you Lumi Chromalust, a pigment which will have you rushing for your credit card!

Lipglossiping falls in love with an eye cream that shows promising results... but like most things in life, it comes at a price!

The Lip Print faces her fear of orange to find this absolute beauty by Tom Ford - that man sure know's how to make a lipstick!

Looking for a perfect bronzer? Check the new Guerlain Terracotta Bronzing Powder at Fleurissante.

Unique, unusual and different...find out what perfume Lady Gaga is currently wearing! Read Hellcandy's review of it here.

Tarte's new Amazonian Clay Waterproof Cream Eye Shadows arrive just in time for summer. See how they make eyes shine at Prime Beauty!

Love Chanel Mimosa but not the price? Find out how you can dupe it for under $10 on My Lips But Better.

Are you ready for summer? Anita reviews Guerlain's Terra Inca summer collection over at Pleasureflush.

AOYV ponders if Vasanti's Magic Liner really magical?

Mariella at Musing on Beauty has a play with the new Becca Halcyon Palette and tells it all.

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Audrey Dao is giving away 3 Julep Jennifer Mani Care Sets, so you can get the perfect manicure!

Head on over to theNotice and enter to win Rae's "holy grail" face powder, a Canadian exclusive that's honestly just really, really lovely.

CALLING ALL LONDONERS! 20% OFF ILLAMASQUA, MAC, BENEFIT, PIXI, MAKEUP STORE!

Just a quick email to let you know that Carnaby Street will be hosting a 20% Shopping Party tomorrow, Thursday 19th May 5pm - 9pm.

Best thing about it? The 20% off includes makeup brands such as Mac, Illamasqua, Benefit, makeup store, Cowshed and pixi!

Fab news if you fancy treating yourself or have a shopping list of essentials you need to get :)

One word of warning though, queues for Mac can get quite long, especially as this is the London Pro store, but last time they had one of these night I went close to closing time and just walked in without the queue headache!

BUT that's not all! There are over 100 shops in total offering 20% off which includes fashion brands such as as American Apparel, Dahlia and a fab little boutique store that I love called "Beyond the Valley".

If you're thinking of going you must register at www.carnaby.co.uk for your free ticket which will get you your discounts! 

LADY GAGA WEARS IT - THIERRY MULGER WOMANITY PERFUME

The one thing I always notice about Thierry Mulger's fragrances is how different they are.
One sniff is all it takes to distinguish their distinct blend.

Perhaps it is this uniqueness that makes Thierry Mulger's latest fragrance, "Womanity", one of Lady Gaga's perfumes of choice.

Described on the box as a "woody, sweet and savoury eau de parfum" Womanity is a blend figs and caviar. Yep...caviar! A very strange and unusual cocktail of fruity, woody and salty all rolled into one.

To me it smells of coconut and vanilla with an underlying scent that I can't quite pin. That would be the caviar throwing me off *nods*


It's a funny fragrance and I haven't quite made my mind up as to whether it's one I like. I think it's the sweetness that I can't quite embrace, but having said that I LOVE Thierry Mulger's "Angel" and for years I despised it!
Womanity lingers around all day, it's the kind of fragrance that has so much going on, super sweet and sickly, and then really intriguing...definitely not a fragrance for those who like delicate scents...this one packs quite a punch.


I own the 30ml bottle that is a beauty to behold, loving the chain collar and the fact that it's refillable (new fragrance is intended to minimize its impact on the environment as much as possible).

Hmmm...*sniffs bottle*. It's definitely a fragrance to spark debate me thinks. SO what do you think? A yay or nay? Let me know your thoughts on this one!

LADY GAGA WEARS THIERRY MULGER'S WOMANITY PERFUME!

Currently watching The Graham Norton Show featuring Lady Gaga as one of the guests. She just revealed that she wears Thierry Mulger's newest fragrance, Womanity.

Now I'm going to have to dig mine out! Will post a review of it over the weekend ;)

BENEFIT B.RIGHT BLOGGERS EVENT!

Last week I scampered across to East London to Benefit's Spitalfields boutique to attend the b.right bloggers event.

If you've not seen it yet; b.right is the brand spanking new radiance skincare range from the Californian brand! 

With products especially formulated with Eric Perrier, LVMH's Executive VP in Research, Benefit use science and technology to create an innovative and complete skincare range to help your skin stay hydrated and moisturised :)

Check out the video below for a short introduction:

We were given the b.right! Radiant Skincare by benefit intro kit which contains the following three hero products:

• triple performance facial emulsion SPF 15 PA++ sheer oil-free facial lotion SPF 15 PA ++ with tri-radiance complex 8.9 mL / 0.3 US fl. oz
• foamingly clean facial wash 1-step gentle facial wash 8.9 g Net wt. 0.3 oz.
• it's potent eye cream brightening eye cream to fade dark circles 3.0 g Net wt. 0.1 oz.

I've been using the products for a week now and I love how clean the facial wash makes my skin feel. I ususally opt for cleansing balms or creams so the foaming nature of this cleanser was a nice change! Smells really fresh too.

The triple performance face emulsion is ideal for anyone who has combination skin like me. With the warmer weather about I've switched my skincare regime to include face lotions so it was nice to give this one a try. Again the scent is fab and the spf is an absolute MUST for me!

As for the eye cream I have to admit I am hopeless with eye creams, often forgetting to apply them and such as been the case. I'll let you know further down the line how I get along with this!

You can purchase this same kit at Benefit counters for a limited time, retailing at £7.50. The products are trial sizes which should last you a week (well they have for me at least!)


You can view the complete range by visiting the Benefit website here: www.benefitcosmetics.co.uk


Check out more photos from the event:
The lovely Peonies & Lillies gets a makeover with one of Benefit's beauty therapists

Benefit's head makeup artist, Lisa Potter-Dixon demonstrates to us how to create a smoky eye with the new badgal  grey waterproof eyeliner (I shall try & recreate this in a FOTD soon!):

Huge thanks to the ever lovely benefit girls for the fab event!

ENTER SUMMER WITH MAC SURF BABY!

Just a quick reminder to all you Mac devotees out there the new Mac  Surf Baby Collection is out now! Loving the retro beach brand graphics on the packaging!
You can view the full collection here

STAY YOUTHFUL LIKE EMILIO...

Every day on my way to work I pick up a copy of the free London newspaper "The Metro".
In today's edition it had a little piece about Emilio Estevez...you know, Charlie sheen's older and more mature sibling.
Not entirely sure why I decided to read the entire article but there was something that caught my attention.
Emilio Estevez puts his youthful looks (hes 49 on Thursday) down to Origins cream. 
Taken from the Metro paper, he said:
"‘Their ad is “for those of you who are afraid  of needles and surgery” – that’s me".
A quick google and it looks like the cream in question is "Starting Over".

You can read more about it here
He does look young for his age but then again he always did didn't he? Realise this is a bit of a random post...HA! (I may have had a very teeny tiny crush on him when I was VERY young and back in the Young Guns era)
If anyone has tried it leave a comment and let me know! Better yet..how bout dishing out your beauty secrets? What's your favourite face cream and how do you stay youthful? Leave a comment and let me know!

BEAUTY BLOG LINK LOVE!

Got a lipstick too pale to use straight from the bullet? Regretting buying it? Beauty's Bad Habit shows you 10 ways to use pale lipstick with GOSH 'Darling'.

The Pink Sith suffers from Beautyblogitis and ends up purchasing the new Soleil Tan De Chanel Moisturizing Bronzing Powder in Bronze Rose. Does she regret it or is it the perfect cure for what ails her?

Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed likes candy, Yves Saint Laurent Volupte Sheer Candy that is! Come admire her candy lips!

LilBiuty shines the spotlight on NYX eye pencils and lipliners.

Louise watches some TV, and talks about how a childhood touched by disfigurement inspires what she does on Get Lippie today.

Are you wearing sunscreen every single day? Kelly from Gouldylox Reviews finds the perfect SPF for your skin type and reminds you why Tara Reid should not be your skin idol.

AOYV discovers theBalm with a Hot Mama blusher.

Makeup Morsels plays with the gorgeous and versatile Cream Pigments from Illamasqua.

Sarah from IHeartCosmetics checks out Nioxin haircare.

Liquid lipsticks seem to get a bad reputation. Jeweled Thumb shows you how to apply them with no feathering or cracking in her How To post.

It's so easy to fall in love with Inglot AMC Face Blush (shade #86)! Check out what Vesna from Beauty addict blog loves so much about that blush!

theNotice stumbles across a drugstore gem that’s not only ridiculously cheap, but ridiculously high-quality, as well. Find out what Rae’s "holy grail" powder is!

KimmieKarmaLove reviews a brand new mineral makeup company that is vegan and loves what she sees!

Sleek MakeUp released new shades to their True Colour Lipstick Collection, making LaaLaa over at Dolce Vanity want to have a sneak peek at a couple....

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Daily Polish is giving away the limited edition Jason Wu/CND nail polish set, enter here!!

Kim Porter is giving away a free ticket to The Makeup Show NY!


For more links, please visit the BBLL homepage!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

NARS SUMMER 2011 BLOGGER EVENT (SWATCHES!)

I love Nars so I was SUPER excited when I got the invite to their Summer 2011 bloggers event!

Nars is a brand that has shades to die for, with the gorgeous velvety eyeshadows and beautiful lipsticks being my favourites.

The Summer 2011 collection features some super flirty lip shades and I'm loving the matte colours in particular:

Ltd edition Cap Ferrat trio eyeshadow:

Check out this palette...huge lust have!

We were also introduced to the new primers which I must say are INCREDIBLE! I usually cannot stand primers but I am absolutely blown away by how effective the Nars ones are. Will be reviewing them separately so watch out for it!

Here's the fab BeautyWowza getting her makeup done:

 

The Nars Summer collection is out now. Visit the Nars website for more info.

What's your favourite Nars product? Leave a comment and let me know :)

THE BEST FOOT FILE FOR STUBBORN DRY SKIN

Come the warm weather and out don the Summer sandals. Plus if you're anything like me, you're bound to be purchasing a new pair or two.You know, those ever so pretty shoes that expose your tootsies and dry skin.

Ahhh dry skin. How I detest thee!

I think over the years I have gone through a bazillion foot files. Those sandpaper style ones, the stone pumice type, the gritty plastic ones...and the ones that look like vegetable peelers...*shudders at the memory*

Then one day my lovely friend Neala recommended I try the Ped Egg.



I know what you're thinking...that naff tv ad product?! Aye I am, and dubious as I was I caved in a few years ago and bought one.
It's fantastic! So easy to use getting the job done super fast and with no risk of over filing (the ad features a balloon test...it doesn't pop, ha!) unlike the veggie peeler kind...approach that one with caution or else you'll be hobbling for weeks like me.

I'm not going to post any gross pictures of results or the horridly fascinating skin shavings you can gather up, but I will say if you haven't tried one yet I would definitely recommend you give it a go!

- Posted from my iPad