NOTD: Experimenting With Eyeshadows

For some reason, I have kept hold of a very old Bourjois eye dust (one they don't even make any more) - for years! I normally have a make up bag clear out once every 2 years (ish) and ditch anything I haven't used in over 6 months, but something kept me holding on to this product. That something was an unsatisfied want to experiment with this particular eye dust on my nails. Since branching out to O.P.I. polishes, I now own my dream polish, and a perfect one to team with this eye dust, so I finally set about creating my imagined nail art!

Here's what I used for the creation:

Seche Base - Nicole by O.P.I.'s 'It's All About The Glam' - Bourjois Eye Dust - Seche Vite

Although 'It's All About The Glam' is my dream shade for a nail polish, the consistency is annoyingly sheer, meaning I have to apply at least 3 coats to achieve opacity - not something I like doing!

Here is 3 coats of 'It's All About The Glam' on top of Seche Base; even though Seche Base is a tad opaque and pearlescent, the overall finish is still a tad translucent!

This is where I brought in the eye dust to test out my imagined creation! It could all have gone so wrong, the eye dust could have clumped and matted, the top coat could have eradicated the added glitter, the eye dust may not have even stuck to the nail! So many bad possibilities, but the end result was truly stunning (in my opinion!).

Here are 2 pictures of the same polish, but with an added layer of the Bourjois eye dust and a top layer of Seche Vite (minus clean up and the finishing touches):

The entire finish just made me think of winter, and snow flakes, and I now I just can't wait to rock this look over the Christmas period! To add a final bit of shine, I decided to use my nail gems for the first time and do a bit more experimenting!

Here is the final product (excuse the different background):

So what are your thoughts? Do you think you'll be experimenting with eye shadows any time soon? Link me any of your experimental nail art, I'd love to see them!

OOTD: Barefoot Boho

I've not quite adjusted to this confused weather England has been experiencing as of late. As soon as the weatherman announced that Summer was over and it was the first day of Autumn, I immediately put away all of my summer dresses and shorts, and started bringing my big knits to the front of my wardrobe. Autumn is by far my favourite season in terms of fashion, because when you bring layering into the mix, some really amazing outfits can be made! 

I was recently lucky enough to win a Twitter competition by Yahoo News and Motel Rocks, and managed to bag myself £100 worth of Motel vouchers! I made my first purchase a couple of days ago when Motel were holding a 50% off everything sale for 50 short minutes, meaning I could hold onto more of my winnings! This outfit is showcasing the dress I bought - originally £58, but I snagged it for £29 in the flash sale!

Cardigan: H&M - Dress: Motel - Waist belt: Primark - Satchel bag: ASOS

When I first tried on the dress I was unsure, as I never buy midi length skirts, but I think I'll start branching out to them more as the longer I wear this piece, the more it grows on me! If I'm wearing a skirt, it will always be a mini length bodycon or flared piece, and I cannot stand always having to make sure that the wind hasn't blown it up, or that it hasn't ridden up, so I love the midi length for eliminating that problem.

Have you experimented with any types/pieces of clothing that you wouldn't normally buy recently?

E.L.F.'s Complexion Perfection: A Review

This product is something that I had been incredibly excited about since it was released on E.L.F.'s website. It is a powder compact of four colours: yellow (to cancel any purple tones), blue (to cancel any orange tones), green (to cancel red tones), and pink (to brighten up any grey tones). Through some intense blog reading, I found out that you can use this product one of two ways; either dipping a powder brush into the entire product, and using a mixture of all four colours on the entire face, or using one colour at a time and targeting specific areas.

After trying out both techniques, I've settled on targeting specific areas with one colour at a time, as because I already use a setting powder, when this powder is also put over the top, it creates an altogether unwanted chalky effect. The colours are incredibly sheer, so you can't see that you've put bright green powder over a spot, but they do effectively work to cancel out unwanted colours. The product doesn't come with an applicator brush, and I have taken to simply applying it to the target areas with the tip of my ring finger.

From left to right: pink, green, blue, yellow.

So far I have only had a need for the yellow and green colours, to cancel out under-eye bags and spot redness. This is by no means a miracle product, but it does what it claims to - just maybe not to the jaw-dropping standard I was expecting. E.L.F.'s Complexion Perfection retails at £3.75 on their website.

Have you tired this product? What were your thoughts?

NOTD: O.P.I. Gold Shatter

I never managed to get into the nail effects polishes when they first came out a year or so ago. I was incredibly excited by Barry M's Crackle polishes, but after buying my first one and being incredibly disappointed at the quality of the product, I didn't buy another - from any brand. Recently though, I was given O.P.I.'s Gold Shatter as a present from my boyfriend's mum, and was very willing to give nail effects polishes another go. 

This is the colour scheme I chose:

I used Sally Hansen's Advanced Hard as Nails polish as a base coat, and then proceeded to use Barry M's Blue Moon as the base colour.

I am so happy that I tried this polish, and it has now changed my views on nail effects polishes completely. The consistency of O.P.I. Gold Shatter is incredibly smooth and pigmented - it feels entirely luxurious; much different from the thick, gloopy polish I experienced with Barry M. As with most crackle effects polishes, this one dries extremely quickly, but only needs a thin layer to achieve full colour and enough polish to carry out the effect.

Although I've only tried one polish in O.P.I.'s shatter range, I would whole-heartedly recommend them, as the quality of the product is truly incredible. You can find this polish priced between £7 and £11 across the internet, and it truly is worth the price tag!

My Top 5 British Clothing Stores: Outfit Inspiration

Now that both the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are officially over, Britain (and especially London) is left with a bitter-sweet feeling. Life can slowly go back to normal as the tourists start to mill back home and the Olympic buzz begins to die down. However, the spirit of the games has also created a tremendous feeling of British pride; something I also share. In light of this, I have partnered with Westfield Shopping Centre and am taking part in there East vs West campaign - representing West London! 

As Westfield is a place where you can completely indulge in any of your fashion desires, I decided to create a look using my top 5 favourite British stores: Zara, Topshop, Ted Baker, Miss Selfridge and Republic - all of which can be found at Westfield!

Blazer: Republic - Lace top: Zara - Patterned leggings: Miss Selfridge - Leather bag: Ted Baker - Slingback heels: Topshop

This entire outfit was formed around the lace top. I was having trouble forming a look in my mind until I set my eyes upon this piece, and all the other pieces just fell together. As both the top and leggings are incredibly detailed, I felt this needed to be contrasted with plain, block coloured shoes, bag and jacket - which is where the Ted Baker bag, Topshop heels and Republic blazer fitted perfectly.

Do you want to recapture the British spirit of the games? Visit the campaign now and represent your London!

E.L.F.'s Mattifying Nail Polish: A Review

As I previously mentioned in my August Haul, I recently took advntage of a 30% off discount code that E.L.F. made available to all their Facebook fans. Within this purchase I decided to buy their Matte Finisher Clear Nail Polish (£2.50). I'd never been attracted to matte look nails in the past, but I'd recently seen an influx of nail art experimenting with the contrast between matte and shine finish polishes, and wanted to join in - see my first matte/shine nail art post here.

I wanted to test the quality of this product properly, and use it to completely mattify an entire nail, rather than just odd bits here and there in the name of nail art.

Base colour: MUA Nail Polish in 'shade 2' - Tips and accent nail: E.L.F.'s Matte Finisher Nail Polish

For my first matte polish (that also only retails at £2.50) I don't have that many complaints. You do get what you pay for, and a higher end polish costing around £11 is obviously going to be better than this product at £2.50, but for the price I am pleased.

Matte tips and accent nail pictured immediately after the matte coat was applied

There is still a considerable amount of shine on the matte nail and tips, but this has reduced. I have to add though, as of 1 day after application, the matte effect seems to have reduced with every passing hour. It has been approximately 24 hours since applying the matte coat, and my nail polish has nearly gone back to it's original shine coat. Of course you could simply re-apply this product for a prolonged matte finish, but my advice would be to save up and invest in a higher quality matte polish.

So, my verdict? This polish is a good means to an end if you're on a budget and need a quick fix, but if not, definitely do some research and go for a higher end product.

OOTD: The Last Days of Summer

Summer is officially over, and we are well and truly in the midst of Autumn. Although Autumn is my favourite season (Autumn/Winter fashion!!), I did want to make the most of the heat before the coats and scarves hit the stands. Today is also my last day of summer holiday as I start my work placement tomorrow (eek!), so I thought I'd squeeze in a little floral dress beforeI have to swap my usual wardrobe for business attire.

Here's what I wore:

I absolutely adore this dress because although it's marked as a 10 (my size), it feels around a size too big. Personally, I would live in baggy clothes for the rest of my life if I could; I hate the feeling of being restricted by clothes, a reason why you'll almost always catch my in dark leggings and some sort of baggy jumper!

Just a quick check in from me, and I'll talk to you all soon!