Eyeko - Vampira Polish

I don't know how you feel about black nail varnish, it's something I personally love but never wear.

A plain black polish is a bit boring, and this "Vampira" polish is a glossy black with red glitter. From a distance, it just looks like a plain black, but once you get close or hit the light it looks far more interesting. This colour is not very Summery, but I'm certainly not one to stick to the rules!

Is it Vampire'ish? :) I don't think so, well maybe. But who cares...

I applied two coats, a third coat would have made it a bit more intense but I don't fancy struggling too much trying to remove it as we all know what a pain glitter nail polish is to remove.

I love it, what do you think?

Disclaimer: I was sent this polish, I was not paid to blog about it and I am not affiliated with the brand. Honest opinion as always.

Menemen - Recipe

This post isn't about make up, it's about yummy food! This blog is about all things beautiful and this is beautiful food that will keep you in shape. Hah! :) I am very much into cooking and love putting my heart into it to make a gorgeous meal.

Menemen is a Turkish dish traditionally eaten for breakfast, but I even eat it at night. It's quick, easy, healthy and suitable for vegetarians. It's basically a Turkish omlette.

Here's how to make it..

YOU WILL NEED:

• Green Peppers
• Tomato's
• Olive oil
• Eggs
• Salt & Pepper to season

1) Chop the green peppers into small chunks.

2) Heat up some olive oil in a pan and add the chopped peppers and fry until cooked.

3) Chop and squeeze the juice out of some tomato's.

4) Add to the pan and fry for 2 minutes.

5) Crack some eggs.

6) Add the eggs to the pan and stir until fully cooked, add salt and ground black pepper to season.

VOILA!!

The finished result should look something like this...

The end result is a tasty, high protein dish with vegetables full of vitamins!

You can add more juiced tomato's if you want it a little juicier so you can dip your bread in it. But, I quite like mine like this, it just depends on what you prefer. Ideally "menemen" would be eaten with Turkish bread, feta cheese, olives and a nice cup of Turkish tea.

Let me know if you try it!

Sometimes...

I have moments when I am not sure about things. I am always battling with my hair, I am NEVER happy with it. When it's dark I want it light, when it's light I want it dark, when it's straight I want it curly... Get the idea?

I recently dyed it a light ash brown all over and here's what it looks like. I have some old highlights trying to creep through. Today, I have decided I hate my hair dead straight, and the colour needs to be either lighter or darker... Ideas are welcome!


And sometimes I have moments when I am sure. I love pink lips and I can trust it to look good all the time. I love "Ambre Rose" color sensational lipstick by Maybelline, it's a pale pink with a slight gold pearl, I wear it quite often on it's own but love topping it off with a pink lipgloss.

Maybelline Ambre Rose lipstick + Mac Cruise Control lipglass.


You can see the slight gold reflects creeping through the pink..

I shall do a post soon about my favourite pink lipsticks, promise!

What's your favourite pink lipstick?

Eyeko Posh polish and Graffiti liners!

I previously said I hated Eyeko nail polish.

I think I have been swayed.

I was sent a few more to try and for some reason the one's I have tried apply much smoother. I am currently rocking the "Posh polish" for ladylike nails which is a dirty taupe / brown / colour. I applied two coats in the image you see below with a Ciate top coat. Another one that caught my eye was the "Vampira polish" for Gothic nails which is a black with red glitter, nice.

Nail polish - £3.50

I was also sent more of the Graffiti eyeliners as they have 3 new shades. I have used my black one A LOT which I received prior to this package. I find them easy to use, quick and clean to apply.

These babies, do NOT budge, they last all day and are well pigmented.

I have worn all of them and they all look very nice on my eyes. The navy looks really nice with jeans, the brown is a nice subtle way to wear winged eyeliner and the purple looks pretty against my hazel eyes. Overall, a big thumbs up from me.

Graffiti Eyeliner - £5.00

Have you tried any Eyeko products lately?

Update..

Hope you are enjoying the weather, things have been rather quiet on here as I have been dedicating myself to other things. We are moving to a new flat and the big day is hopefully on Monday, I can't wait!! I have lots to do including major shopping trips, so you probably wont see much updates, but hopefully I shall return full of energy.

and... Can I just say "I hate Nars Sheer Glow", it really doesn't look nice on MY skin :(, it's just not compatible with me, it always looks streaky on me no matter what method I try and not like my own skin. I think my skin is too dry for it, if that's even possible. Grrrrrrrrr!!! So today, I went and got a tube of the Bourjois 10hr Sleep effect from Superdrug.

Lots of love
x X x

Body Electrics!

Illamasqua has recently launched their Spring / Summer collection called "Body Electrics" for 2010 and I was thoughtfully and kindly sent a few items so, here are my thoughts..

Liquid Metal "Surge £17.00

I think it's a lovely colour and would look nice on the eyes, as a subtle highlight or even dabbed onto the centre of your legs to elongate them. The problem with liquid metals on the eyes is they crease. What I usually do is apply my e/s first and apply the liquid metal on top so that it sticks onto the powder. FYI: I found the consistency of this one much creamier to "Solstice".

Swatch - "Surge"

Bronzer "Writhe" £20.00

There are 2 bronzers in this collection which were launched with "Sirens" along with "Glint" in a duo form. I would describe "Writhe" as a coppery gold and "Burnished" as a bronze gold. (I have swatched them both for a comparison.) The new full size packaging includes the embedded Illamasqua logo and the same sleek mirror compact. The bronzers are highly pigmented and smooth to touch.

Swatch - Writhe

Swatch - Writhe VS Burnished

Body Kabuki Brush £38.00

This brush is HUGE and very soft, it's probably the biggest kabuki ever made! It's a great body brush and will work great with the bronzer when you want to dust some product on your decolletage or your legs.

OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE COLLECTION

I like the collection but feel that a little bit more excitement was needed. I think the body oils, and the Purple nail varnish look great. The body kabuki was a good idea but I wish they launched a different kind of bronzer, and not a repromote. With regards to the liquid metals, I would like to have seen something different.

What's your take on Body Electrics?

Nars Sheer Glow Review

I gave into the hype and purchased this over a week ago and have worn it enough to give you an informed review. I purchased this because I was having a bad skin week, and decided my usual light coverage foundations and tinted moisturisers just weren't cutting it and that I needed something "special".

I know that the question everyone is dying to know is.... Is it the best foundation I have ever tried? Personally, the answer is no, I do like it and think it's beautiful and is one that I rate highly, but I'm not infatuated with it


I went into SpaceNK thinking I was the shade "Barcelona", I was so wrong, it looked way too orange on me, and the shade "Punjab" was a perfect match. I'm quite light at the moment as I haven't had a holiday in ages and I have ended my relationship with fake tan for now. (Let's see how long that lasts!)

This is what the packaging looks like, I really hate that it doesn't have a pump as it gets quite messy. But, hey I can live with it.


The shade "Punjab" isn't too pink toned or too yellow, it seems to have the correct amount of yellow for my olive skin. The texture of this is quite thin, not gloopy at all.

It blends out quite well on my hand.


On initial application to the face, it looks very glowy and dewy but after about 1 minute it dries quite matte. This will vary depending on what kind of a moisturiser you wear underneath, it will obviously look more glowy with a rich moisturiser and more matte with a light moisturiser.

When I first tried the Nars sheer glow, I felt a bit ripped off. I felt like it was almost the exact same thing as the Bourjois 10hr sleep effect. Now that I worn it a few times, I don't find them that similar, The 10hrSE is a bit more dewy than this and doesn't last as long on the skin. I also find the sheer glow to be a little bit similar to the Bobbi Brown moisture rich foundation.

BREAKDOWN

• COVERAGE: I honestly thought this foundation was medium to full coverage, I can safely say that this is light to medium coverage. I had a few scars on the right side of my cheek and it did nothing to cover them, I had to apply concealer on top.


• LONGEVITY: This did last all day, it didn't disappear on me even though I didn't set it with powder.


• TEXTURE / FINISH: Light feeling on the skin, it dries quite matte after it has settled on your skin. It doesn't feel or look heavy or cakey at all. It actually looks quite beautiful.

So what did I dislike about it?

The application! For me, no matter how I applied it, it looked streaky on my skin and it took a lot of blending to get it too look good. I used it with the everyday minerals kabuki which used up too much product, a normal foundation brush, my hands and a 187. I'm not too sure why this happened to me, maybe it dried too quickly before I could blend it in properly, I just don't know. For the first couple of days I was looking in the mirror and noticing gaps where the foundation should of been, it didn't look too great as you can imagine! I found that my hands were the best tool to apply because of the warmth from my fingers.

• OVERALL: I do think it's a lovely foundation, I can't really fault it apart from my personal blending issue, but I wont be repurchasing, I really do prefer Bobbi Brown foundations.

Price: £29.00

Have you tired Nars Sheer Glow, if so what's your experience been and do you have any application tips?

M2 Lashes

Yes, me being so curious I am trying another eyelash growth product!

'M2 Lashes' eyelash activating serum is another product similar to Li Lash. M2 lashes promises thicker and longer lashes within 4-6 weeks of usage. This product claims not to discolour eyelids or change the colour of your eye, which has been an issue with some people with Li Lash. Also, the word 'thicker' is very enticing, as Li Lash only lengthens.

Quote taken from company profile...

"All products are tested in scientifically sound studies, not only for efficacy, but also in complete compliance with all current dermatological standards and EU-wide cosmetic guidelines.Thus the M2BEAUTÉ brand means innovative cosmetics that are scientifically proven to be effective. "


You apply the serum each night to a clean eye like you would an eyeliner.

Here is some information from the leaflet and a before and after picture that looks amazing... Therefore I have high expectations!

My lashes are now at their normal state after using Li Lash and looking like this, it has been about 3 months since I have touched anything.

I will keep you updated with how this works for me, and will do a full review once I have been using it for 6 weeks. I already used it once and in the morning I noticed the tips of my eyelashes trying to curl up, wishful thinking? Maybe.

Price: €120.00

For more info e mail: info@m2beaute.es

Have any of you heard about M2 Lashes or tried it?

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me for review, I am not getting paid to blog about it and I am not affiliated with the brand. I will review this product honestly as I do every product.

Outfit!

Yesterday was a lovely sunny day in London, I really liked what I was wearing and took this picture to show you, I had about 10 seconds, so excuse the dodgy pose!


I love wearing ethnic tribal prints, but try to keep it modern. I wore baggy navy jeans with cute brown heels. My lovely top, and clenched it all in with a leather brown waist belt. I tried to make it more relaxed and casual by wearing a denim waistcoat. I wore cream wooden disc earrings and my random mix of bangles.

• Jeans: Topshop
• Top: New Look
• Waistcoat: Mango
• Belt: Mango
• Bangles: Brown one is from Accessorize, the wooden mix one is from Istanbul and the blue one is from Laura Ashley.

What clothes have you dug out for Spring? What kind of items will you be buying?

Technically...

I did still pass on Mac's latest Liberty of London collection as this is not shopping, no money was exchanged. I got these goodies in a swap. Yay! :)

I had to get my hands on 'Peachstock', even though I dismissed it after really wanting it.

I also got 'Shy Girl' from the permanent collection.

'Shy Girl' is a creme sheen, and 'Peachstock' is a satin. I was worried that 'Peachstock' would be too similar to Body Shops #46 lipstick, it wasn't but 'surprisingly Shy Girl' is exactly the same. I'm running low on #46, so 'Shy girl' came at a great time.

'Shy Girl' is a peachy / orange nude that is very warm toned and wearable. It looks very natural and is perfect for daytime. 'Peachstock' is a brown based peachy nude, this colour looks perfect on my olive skin but I don't see this colour working on fair skin.

I wanted the 'Moss Scape' paint pot by Mac, but settled for 'Green Sage' fluidline which is discontinued. I wanted this to use as a base underneath my lovely green toned eye shadows.

It's basically almost the same colour as 'Sumptuous Olive' eyeshadow.

Here's a swatch of the 'Green Sage' fluidline, and then another with 'Sumptuous Olive' over the top. Love it!


What's your take on 'Peachstock', 'Shy Girl' and 'Green Sage'?

Update...

I have had an amazing long weekend, I spent it at my mother-in-laws, where both my lovely sister-in-laws came with their daughters. Peanut had the time of his life exploring the beautiful garden and playing around. The rest of us ate and ate... until there was no food left! :)


What's new?

• I gave into the hype and purchased Nars Sheer Glow foundation.
• I started a new eyelash growth product called M2Beaute.
• I'm giving pro activ solution skincare a go in a bid to make my skin amazing.
• I have gone through today without eating any junk. Woo!
• I skipped the latest Liberty of London collection from Mac.

Normal updates will resume shortly.. x X x

I heart NYX India...

I have been wanting to try 'India' for ages as it looked like something I would love, and I was right, I do love it. The lovely Holly kindly did a mini swap with me for this, which I am very grateful for! :)

As you can see in the swatch below it's a gorgeous peachy nude. It doesn't have a matte finish, but isn't overly creamy either. It's somewhere in between.

Worn on the lips..

Here you can see the before and after on my bare lips! I LOVE this shade! I'm very into peaches at the moment, and this is the perfect peachy nude!

SWATCH COMPARISONS!

I thought that this would be similar to Mac 'Ember Glow' lipglass, but it's not, it's also a lot lighter than Barry M's 147 peachy pink which I also love, but hate the matte finish.

I think that 'India' will look very pretty worn with 'Pink Lemonade' or 'Ember Glow' lipglass on top!

Holly also sent me a NYX eyeshadow trio in number 28, which includes the shades Princess Pink, Flamenco and Violet.

I adore the colours in the palette, I think the names are pretty cool too. The pigmentation is good as is the texture. My favourite is Flamenco, the middle one. I think this trio will make a gorgeous natural daytime look for sunny days, it will look amazing with 'India' and flushed cheeks, maybe even with 'Sun & Moon' mineralized blush. Note to self: Must do that look as soon as it gets sunny in London!

What are your favourite NYX products?