NOTW: Take a Walk on the Wild Side!

I am very fond of this manicure as I was kind of excited about the final result because it is my first attempt at leopard print and I humbly admit it came out really well! I used a pink polish for my French tip to commemorate October as Breast Cancer Awareness month and to make the look more girly at the same time.

Here's how you can re-create this manicure:

1. Apply a base coat or strengthener to your bare nails (I chose Florelle Nail Strengthener).

2. When completely dry, apply one coat of a nude pink polish (L'Oreal Resist&Shine Titanium in 100).

3. Apply a pink nail polish of your choice to create a French tip (Missha Nail Color in PK102).

4. Using a dotting tool, put random dots on the French tip with a red nail polish (elf Red Velvet)

5. By means of a detailing nail art brush, go around the dots with black nail polish, painting 'C' shapes. Don't worry of this overlaps the red dots or if they are not perfect, it's part of the design!

6. To add a hint of glitz, apply a thin stripe of sparkly black polish right underneath the French tip to separate it from the rest of the nail and give the manicure some dimension (Ideal Nail Design Shade Nr.4).

7. Finish off with a clear glossy top coat and cuticle oil and you're done!

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Monthly Favourites: October 2010

Another month, another monthly favourites post! Here are my favourites for this month:

e.l.f. Studio Powder Brush ~ I'm so glad I got this brush! The hype and raves about it are all true! If you don't own one, go get one here asap! Thorough review coming up soon.

e.l.f. Professional Blending Eye Brush ~ another brush which I really am head over heels on. I love how it blends eyeshadows for a smoother finish.

Cover Girl Eye Enhancers Trio in Cafe au' Lait ~ I've had this for years (!) and it is still my favourite neutral eyeshadow trio. I use it both for day and night looks. 

E45 Cream ~ a life-saver (read hand and skin saver). It saves my skin from getting all dry and chapped in the winter and also doubles up as a nice hand cream for me to use when I remove the latex gloves I have to wear at hospital. Definitely a must-have!

e.l.f. Mineral Blemish Kit ~ recently I was getting bad pimples on my face, and this kit really helped reduce the redness and puffiness from them. I also slept in it and it works wonders.

e.l.f. Nail Polish in Cranberry ~ my new favourite shade of red! Not too light, not too dark, and with a hint of shimmer... very sophisticated and chic looking nails in an instant!

Revlon ColorStay Makeup in 180 Sand Beige ~ very good coverage for those bad skin days!

e.l.f. Studio Cream Eyeliner in Midnight ~ the best cream eyeliner I have ever tried! Stays put all day long and can only be removed by a make-up remover! Well-worth it (apart from a being a bargain)!

e.l.f Liquid Eyeliner in Stardust ~ just what you need to add a touch of glitter onto your eyes for the ultimate party look. Perfect for the upcoming festive season.

Vaseline/The Body Shop Born Lippy in Passion Berry ~ my fave combo for ultimate lip protection against wind and havoc-wreaking weather.

What are your October favourites ladies? Product reviews coming up soon ;)

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Small, essential thingies Haul: Clothes & Beauty-related Stuff

Here is a collective haul of things I have purchased these lasts couple of weeks.

Two pairs of jeans for everyday wear. I got these from the brand 'Bossini' as I needed some new jeans to wear to University and when I go out during the week.  The first one I got for free (so to speak) as Mum had some promotional vouchers and so I got the jeans with them (€31) whilst the other one (black), I got 25% off the original price, so I paid €23.63 for it instead of €31. Here are some pictures of detailing on the side and back pockets:

I asked Dad to get me some brushes to use with gels for nail extensions as I like to have different brushes so as not to end up using the same ones for all colours etc.  I use size 4 and size 6 brushes:

Last but not least, seeing I was running out of eye make-up remover, I took the opportunity and got mine for free with my usual facial wash as there was a promotion running on.  Due to the crappy weather we've been having over here in Malta, I have been having bad hayfever attacks, often ending up obstructing my breathing and so on and so forth, so I also grabbed some tissues to keep on my bed-side table:

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More nail art...

... here are some pictures to show you what I did on my friend this morning. It is a rather simple manicure but I think it's cute just the same:

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Review: Florelle Nail Polishes

Today I have another nail polish review for you ladies! This time, from Italian brand florelle. I also have a strengthener and a top coat from this brand, but I will review those in separate posts later on.  Here are the four nail polishes I will be reviewing today:

From left to right: Black, Sparkly Silver, White, Matte Red

These nail polishes do not have names, just numbers, but I used these generic names for referral purposes. The black, silver and red belong to the Laque Plus range and their numbers are 36, 51 & 87 respectively. They come in round shaped bottles with a mirror cap and contain 15ml of varnish. The white one, belongs to the Nail Polish range (:S) and its number is 145. Although the bottle is differently shaped and seems a bit taller than the others, it still contains 15ml of polish as well.

Application of these polishes is smooth and they have a fairly liquid consistency but still have a quick drying time. The brush is also easy to work with as it is not too wide and not too thin. The black and the white ones have a creme finish.  The red one has a matte finish and the silver one contains evident flecks of silver glitter, whilst being itself a pearly polish. I think the latter is my favourite one out of these.

Two coats are enough for each of these polishes to achieve a good opaque and even finish. The silver one is versatile enough to be layered on other colours or be worn on its own, enabling gradual building of intensity.

These polishes usually last on my nails for a week with a top coat on. They retail for around €3 each and can be bought from drugstores or beauty shops.

Have you ever tried any nail polishes from florelle? Which are your favourites? 

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Something different from the elves!

Hello there my lovelies! I just returned home from Uni to a brown box from e.l.f. cosmetics, but this time it wasn't cosmetics that were inside! It was the dress I won about a week ago from a giveaway they had in collaboration with clothing brand Little Mistress on their blog . All entrants were asked to submit their favourite on-trend outfit combination and the trendiest post would win either a black blouse or a dress. I chose the dress! Check out the blog post I am talking about here and this my winning post:

'Currently I really am loving the girly-military trend. i think I would go for a frilly nude-coloured blouse and a pair of skinny army green trousers. To really put the outfit together, I would add a pair of heeled military boots, a satchel and some bangles. With regards make up, i think I would go for neutral eye make up with a flick of eyeliner and a nice red lipstick'.

Time for the piccies!!

The elfie box!

The dress, how I wore it as soon as I got it out of the box and some detailing.

The first in-shot is the ruffle detailing on the neck and the second one shows the kitty and Polka dot pattern.

The price tag... with a cute butterfly (going to keep this and utilize it as a book mark!)

P.S. Today I learnt that I won an Ultra Glow Shimmer Pot from R8Beauty sweepstakes on their facebook page (check it out here and enter yourself for their current giveaways!) I will do a post and review as soon as I get the prize ;)

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Review: e.l.f. Autumn 2010 Nail Polish Collection

The elf cosmetics Autumn 2010 Nail Polish Collection consists of 4 shades, namely, Rosy Raisin, Cranberry, Red Velvet and Purple Pleaser as well as a Matte Finisher Top-Coat. At a first glance, they may look the same, but they are not!

First, let me tackle the points that are common for all. They come in the same packaging all other elf nail polishes come in... basically a black box with a transparent window on the front. The nail polishes themselves come in a square transparent glass bottle with a big cap. On the front and top part of the cap, is the elf brand logo.

What bothers me with these bottles is the fact that to really close them tight, the cap doesn't line with the rest of the bottle. I think that's not neat that's why it bugs me. Here's a picture to show you what I mean:

The brush is really nice to work with though. They all have a quick drying time. These nail polishes are free from Toluene, Formaldehyde and DBP and contain nutrients to boost natural nail shine as well as Vitamin E for stronger and healthier nails. The texture of these polishes is not gooey at all and is really easy to work with. Two coats are advised for optimum opacity of the colours. The smell can be a bit of a turn-off, then again, which nail polish has a pleasant scent?

First photo: Rosy Raisin, Purple Pleaser & Matte Finisher

Second photo: Red Velvet, Cranberry, Matte Finisher, Purple Pleaser & Rosy Raisin 

Rosy Raisin ~ I was really skeptical about this colour when I saw it on the website because I didn't like the way the colour looked on the site. However, I decided to get it on seeing swatches of it on YouTube and I'm really glad I did! 

Rosy Raisin in real life and on the elf webiste

I would describe this colour as a hybrid between amarena cherry red and rose red.  It is a very gorgeous colour that fits in really well with Autumn/Winter wardrobes and I'd say everyone is able to carry this colour off. It has a cream finish and lasted for a week with a top coat on.

Purple Pleaser ~ Again, this was another polish I didn't like at first, but then YouTube changed my mind and made me spend more money :P. It is a lovely purple, kind of mauve and is also a very wearable and on-trend colour. What I didn't like about this though, is that it stained my nails! I had a good base coat on and made sure to leave a hair-line gap at the cuticles (the correct way to apply polish to supposedly avoid staining), but this polish still managed to stain my nails just the same. This was the one that lasted the most with a top coat on... a full 1 and a half weeks!

Cranberry ~ As soon as I saw this on the elf USA website, I was really hoping that elf UK would stock it really soon cause I really wanted to get my hands on it (well, it on my nails actually :P). It turned out to be my favourite out of all these shades. It is a very sophisticated deep red with a hint of shimmer and a pearly finish... very classy indeed! It lasted for a whole week without a chip in sight and it is still on my toes after 3 weeks; mind you, it looks like I have just applied it so that definitely makes it a winner! Sadly though, it stained my finger nails as well. This time, I applied two coats of the base coat but still, there was no success in preventing staining. I do have other dark polishes from elf and they never stained my nails, for instance Rosy Raisin and Red Velvet didn't stain them at all so I guess it's just these two.

Red Velvet ~ This is the lightest of the two reds which also has a pearl finish and some shimmer to it. It is a lovely cherry red colour which can be worn all year round. I was really pleased with this and it lasted a week as well. I also used this on my friend for a manicure (see picture on left) and she loved it instantly! As stated earlier, no staining occurred with this one.

Last but not least, the Matte Finisher Top Coat. I still can't decide if I like matte nails or not but this did a decent job when I used it with Purple Pleaser. In the bottle, it looks milky, but if left to stand for a long time, it may separate in a clear and a milky layer, but nothing that a little mixing prior to use doesn't fix. Besides, I learned that Toluene based nail polishes tend to separate a bit on standing. Here's what I mean:

And here's how it looks when I used it my Purple Pleaser:

This top coat, I must say lasts very well, probably the reason why Purple Pleaser lasted so long, so I will definitely buy another bottle of it if I ever decide I will wear matte nails more often. I kinda like the satiny look though... hmm we'll see about that. In the meantime, I'm really looking forward to try Twinkle and Metal Madness which elf USA just announced along with a few other new products from the studio line.

Anyways, you can get these beautiful nail polishes from the elf cosmetics website at £1.50/€1.70 each for 10ml. The Cranberry, Red Velvet and Matte Finisher are currently out of stock are due to be on sale again early December this year.

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Top-Ten Tuesdays ~ Mascaras

This week's Top-Ten Tuesdays will be all about my top 10 mascaras. See if you agree with me and if not, post your fave mascaras in the comments box below!

10. Rimmel Extra Super Lash in Black Black ~ an intense black mascara that gives the lashes a full appearance, both for dramatic and natural looks. Eliminates the use of a lash comb as it doesn't clump lashes and separates them beautifully.

9. e.l.f. Wet Gloss Lash and Brow Mascara in Clear ~ perfect for days on the beach, for natural looking lashes and keeping brows in check for a more polished, pulled-together look.

8. Max Factor Masterpiece in Black ~ another favourite of mine for full-lashes. I prefer to use this for dramatic night looks.

7. Maybelline The Colossal Volum Express in Black ~ the name of this mascara says it all! Volumised lashes all the way!

6. Rimmel Sexy Curves in Brown Black ~ this is my top mascara for lashes to complement a neutral day look. It gives lashes a full appearance without looking too dramatic.

5. Max Factor False Lash Effect in Black ~ again, the name says it all! careful when using this for day; 1 coat is enough or it may look too dramatic.

4. Rimmel 100% Waterproof in Black Black ~ the best waterproof mascara I have ever tried! Lasts me a whole day in summer while swimming + it doesn't smudge or bugde!

3. Max Factor Lash Lift in Black Brown ~ a brown mascara that I like to use for natural yet rather unconventional looks.

2. e.l.f Earth & Water Mascara Duo in Noire ~ the perfect day mascara for me! I use it all year round since one side is a regular mascara and the other is a waterproof version. Defined lashes all day long as this mascara doesn't smudge.










1. L'Oreal Paris Telescopic Explosion ~ my absolute favourite mascara! It gives lashes a beautiful fan effect thanks to the revolutionary brush.




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