NOTD Dior Graphic Berry

Currently watching: Arctic with Bruce Parry

Good evening gals,

Today I'm going to show you the first of my two new designer polishes, Graphic Berry by Dior.

This is a difficult shade to capture on camera as it changes quite dramatically depending on the light. At times it is deep pink, at others blood red, and sometimes dark plum. In essence, it's what I wanted Nails Inc Saville Row to be.

Application was lovely. The design of the brush is unique to me although perhaps other brands have the same style. The mast of the handle, between the brush and the handle cap, is flat instead of tubular, and the brush is nail-shaped. I've never seen a brush like that before. Of course I tried to take pictures of it for you but my camera just didn't want to play.

Drying time was unremarkable, except for the fact that I was able to paint my nails at 8pm, go to bed at 11pm and not wake up the following morning with duvet lines and smudge marks. That made me happy.

Durability was where this polish fell short of expectations. It chipped quite badly before a day's wear and was seriously damaged by the end of the second day. That's with a topcoat. I read reviews of Dior polishes and discovered that lots of consumers have experienced the same problem which is a real shame as ultimately it is a very nice polish indeed.

What do you think of this shade? Have you tried any Dior polishes?

Bye for now,

Laura

That Was The Weekend When

On Friday
*I hurried home from work to drop off my laptop then went into town with my boyfriend to have McDonald's for tea (we had vouchers) and watch 127 Hours at the cinema
*I almost passed out in the cinema during the arm-cutting scene. Lost my vision, couldn't hear properly, felt dizzy and sick for a few minutes. Luckily I was sitting down and made a quick recovery

On Saturday
*I slept in then went to the post office to pick up Lord Sugar's book (a bargain at £5.99 from Amazon)
*Had lunch while watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory
*Walked to the library to return a couple of novels then walked around Stockport town centre
*Relaxed in the evening and watched Fireflies in the Garden with David. Have you seen it? It's a couple of years old and stars Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Julia Roberts and Emily Watson. Neither of us had seen it before or heard anything about it so we weren't sure what to expect but it was disppointing. Lots of unanswered questions and storylines that were never followed up.

On Sunday
*Went into Manchester town centre for some clothes shopping. I bought a work shirt from H&M and a dress from New Look. One of my colleagues is going out for drinks to celebrate her birthday next Saturday and I (plus another 100 or so people) have been invited so I needed something to wear although I imagine it will be the kind of event where I can go, spend an hour or so, but never actually see the birthday girl.
*Tried something new for lunch: spinach and ricotta pasta (not new) accompanied with red onion and gorgonzola sauce (new). Lovely.
*Spent the afternoon blogging and watching Dawson's Creek.

How was your weekend?

Bye for now,
Laura

L'Occitane en Provence and Lancome

Currently listening to: War at Home by Josh Groban

Hello dear readers,

Hope you're all enjoying the first weekend after the first week back :-)

Today I'd like to show you a couple of gifts my boyfriend's family gave me for Christmas, which came as a total surprise considering I have only met his family once, a year ago, and didn't see them at Christmas. It was very nice of them to think of me though and I do love the gifts :-)

Firstly, I was given this gift set of body creams from L'Occitane en Provence:

I love the packaging and the scents of all the creams so I'm looking forward to using them. To me, this is a luxury brand and one which I haven't tried before. Have you tried any products from L'Occitane en Provence?

Secondly, I was given Lancome Hypnose Senses perfume. It's funny, this Christmas I was given two perfumes, this one and Lush solid Tuca Tuca perfume, neither of which I had tried before so I think they were slightly risky purchases but I actually love them both so the gamble paid off :-)

And now I get to have fun using my beautiful butterfly stationery to write thank you cards to my boyfriend's family

So ladies, how was your first week back at work/uni and what are your plans for the weekend?

Bye for now,
Laura

E.L.F 100 Piece Eyeshadow Palette (Swatches) and free shipping code

Currently watching: Dawson's Creek

Hello!

Remember in December I placed an order with E.L.F and received a free 100 piece eyeshadow palette with my order? Of course you do, but to refresh your memory, here are a few pictures of the palette.

I noticed today that E.L.F (www.eyeslipsface.co.uk) are having a sale and the palette has been reduced by 50% down to £7.50. I also noticed that there's a free shipping code (newyearUK) running until midnight on 6 January so, with that in mind, I thought you might like to see some swatches from the palette in case it's something you're considering buying, either to take advantage of the sale or free shipping.

This is the first time I've swatched eyeshadows so I hope the pictures are ok. Obviously with the 100 piece palette, there is a plethora of colours and shades to choose from. I couldn't swatch them all so I've gone for a selection of purples, pinks, greens and blues with various finishes eg matte, metallic, shimmer.

Some shades are more pigmented and of a better quality than others but overall I think the number of *good* shades more than makes up for the lower quality shades. I haven't put the eyeshadows to proper use yet so I can't comment on their staying power/tendency to crease etc however, in my opinion, this is a good palette to try, especially if you don't have much experience with eyeshadow and want to experiment and find out which shades suit you.

Have you ordered anything from E.L.F today?

Bye for now,
Laura

First Day Back

Currently watching: Dawson's Creek

Good evening ladies,

Did everyone enjoy their first day back at work?!

I was late for work due to a nose bleed, thought I was going to have a nice quiet day in the office then discovered I had been booked to do my very first stock take, on my own. Luckily I volunteered to go on a stock take in the morning with a senior so then she came with me to do mine in the afternoon. The first one took a lot longer than planned though so we were on our feet from 10am until 3pm, didn't have lunch until 3.30pm (breakfast was at 7.30am), didn't have a drink until 5.30pm (very glad I had two drinks at breakfast) and walked for miles and miles around a factory. To top it off, I wore my new dress from M&S but didn't even have the chance to reveal it as I kept my coat on all day.

Now all I want to do is lie on the settee with my hot water bottle and watch Dawson's Creek...

Bye for now,
Laura

NOTD (Hogmanay)

Currently listening to: Only Girl in the World by Rihanna

Hi folks,

Late last night I came back to England so today has been spent unpacking, cleaning and food shopping. The cleaning has destroyed my nails :-( I still need to paint them tonight though so they look pretty for my first day back at work. Anyway, today I would like to show you the manicure I had for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day: my ever faithful silvery purple nail polish by Polish brand MV and Bundle Monster stars stamped in black.

What did you do for New Year's Eve/Day and did you have a special manicure for the occasion?

Bye for now,
Laura

High End Nails

Currently watching: Top Gear

Good afternoon ladies,

Happy New Year to you all :-) Let's hope 2011 is a happy, healthy and prosperous year for us all.

My boyfriend and I were apart for Christmas but we were reunited on Friday. Here's the lovely gift I was given:

That's right, designer nail polish!

Graphic Berry by Dior and Pink Moon by Yves Saint Laurent

Swatches coming soon!

Bye for now,
Laura