2012: New to my Nails

Currently watching: Mary's Bottom Line

 

Hello lovely ladies,

 

As the year draws to an end, I thought it would be fun to recap the new brands of polish I added to my collection in 2012.

 

First up: Color Combos

 

 

Ebay purchases: Saffron London

My one and only Revlon:

Max Factor with the polish that took the blogging world by storm, Fantasy Fire:

As much as I wanted Revlon Whimsical, it was never released in the UK.  Luckily for me I found a dupe courtesy of the Korean brand Tony Moly:

 



Courtesy of a friend, I tried Models Own and NYC.  I now have quite a collection of Models Own polishes :-)



 

Treating myself to purple holos from a-England and Catrice:







Marks & Spencer's nail polish range caught my eye:



 

And finally, courtesy of Santa, Butter London:

 

There you have it girls, those were all the brands that were new to my nails this year.  Did you try any of them for the first time too?  What brands did you add to your collection this year?

 

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Swatch ft My First Revlon

Currently listening to: Need You Now by Lady Antebellum

Good morning ladies!

Today I'd like to show you swatches of my first ever Revlon polish, Facets of Fuchsia:

Ooh isn't it lovely?

I know a lot of you already have this polish but I'd be swithering over buying it for months. It was only when I tried my new Saffron London polish and decided that the colour of that wasn't pink or magenta but fuchsia that I realised Facets Of Fuchsia would be the perfect polish to layer over it and I really rather desperately wanted to own it.

However, due to circumstances outwith my control (work), the first chance I had to wear this polish was this weekend, layered over my lilac magnetized polish that I showed you yesterday. It wasn't the combination I had in mind but I think it works really well.

What do you think? Do you own this, or any of the other Revlon glitters?

Bye for now,
Laura

Make-up Additions

Currently listening to: Without You by Busted

Hi girls,

Here's a post which has been a long time coming. Way back in September, I mentioned that I bought some new make-up and would be writing about it shortly. Hmm, well about six weeks later, here is that post, finally.

In September I was using L'Oreal Matte Morphose foundation and, although I really liked it, I sometimes felt I could do with more coverage. I was also worried that it was a shade too dark for me.

After browsing in Boots, I came out with Rimmel Clear Complexion Clarifying Powder (£3.99), Rimmel Stay Matte Mousse Foundation (£6.99), Revlon Photo Ready Foundation (£12.99), 17 Even Tone Corrector Stick (£3.49) and Rimmel Match Perfection Skine Tone Adapting Concealer (£5.99). Yes, that was an expensive browse.

So now that I've had these products for over a month, what do I think of them?

I already reviewed 17 Even Tone Corrector Stick, and my review at the time wasn't that favourable, but I actually like this product a lot more now than I did originally.

As for Rimmel's Match Perfection Skin Tone Adapting Concealer, I think this is a pretty good product although it is more for banishing signs of fatigue and illuminating the eye area rather than a general concealer. Removing the lid reveals a brush and you simply squeeze the tube to get the product on the brush. I think this makes using the product slightly more fun, but it does mean it can be difficult to get the right amount of product on the brush. Overall, a nice product which does what it's supposed to and isn't prone to caking.

Rimmel's Clear Complexion Clarifying Powder, on the other hand, is not really something I would recommend. Claiming to give a pure and shine free finish for up to 5 hours, clarify and mattify skin and control shine, the results this product gives are nothing special.

On to the foundations now, here's what I had been using:

And here's a comparison of it (on the left) and Rimmel Stay Matte Mousse Foundation (on the right):

L'Oreal

Rimmel

The texture and consistency of these two products differs greatly. I'm not sure if you can see clearly, but the Rimmel version is much more watery. It also smells awful. To be honest, I've used the Rimmel one only once or twice. I'm going to give it another go this week and will come back with a fuller review later on, if you're interested. I don't have high hopes for it though.

The same applies to Revlon Photo Ready Foundation. I do believe this is the most expensive make-up product I've ever purchased and it hurts that I don't love it. Revlon claim this gives perfected, airbrushed skin in any light but I'm certainly not photo ready when I wear it. I've worn this more than the Rimmel foundation but I still don't feel I can say anything concrete about it, except for the fact it has a lot of shimmer in it. I'll come back a fuller review on this product later.

Have you tried any of these items? If so, what do you think about them? I'd love to know.

Bye for now,
Laura