Weekly Wishlist | 004

This week has just flown by! I actually have some pretty exciting news to share with you all... I've just got my first job! Well, six month internship actually but, it's a start, it's paid, it's in London and it's in an industry I love. I can't believe how lucky I am! Another post will be up soon explaining some more details, but for now here's a little peek at some of the products I'm lusting after this month.

Weekly Wishlist 002

Weekly Wishlist 002 

Another week that's just flown by! This week I've tried really hard to be motivated; going to the gym, blogging and sharing all the time, and most importantly keeping up with the dreading dissertation. So this morning I decided to treat myself to a bit of online shopping (read: online window browsing) and these are just some of the beauty items I'm lusting after at the moment. (From l-r)

1) Smashbox Camera Ready CC Cream: £29.00 I've loved Smashbox ever since I tried their Photo Finish Foundation Primer, which is one of the best primers I've ever used, and I'd love to try out this CC Cream next. £29 is quite a lot to shell out for one product, but when it comes to foundations/BB creams/CC creams and the like, I think if it's something you're wearing everyday it's worth spending a few more pennies. I'd also like to switch to something lighter for the spring and give my skin a chance to heal from its latest breakout!

2)No7 Peony Petals Blush Palette: £12.00 No picture online can do this palette justice, I've seen it in store and it is absolutely stunning. The background colour is lovely warm pink, in the foreground you have a dusky rose colour and the back to shimmery gold petals to highlight. Three products in one for just £12, what more could a girl ask for!

3) Essie Nail Polish Twinkle-Belle Duo Kit: £12.99 I always love the little kits that Essie come out, they're really well put together and the colours complement each other perfectly. In the Twinkle-Belle kit you get a Crème-de-Menthe green and a multidimensional top coat in incadescent pink. Wear alone, wear together, it's up to you.

4) Marc Jacobs Honey Eau de Parfum 30ml: £39.00 This perfume has been in stores for a while now, but I still can't resist a spritz whenever I pop into my local Boots. I'm not much of a perfume girl - I stick to my two favourite DKNY fragrances - but this lovely summery floral scent. With top notes of green pair and juicy mandarin, it's very fresh and energetic, and the honey scent isn't overpowering at all.

5) Barry M Aquarium Nail Effects: £3.99 each Barry M is my favourite nail polish of all time, and one day I am determined to own every shade they have! I saw these on Twitter yesterday and I instantly thought it was such a pretty collection for summer. There are four mirror tone shades and two glitter top coats in the range, perfect for creating that mermaid look.

Have you tried out any of these? What beauty products are on your wishlist this week?

Beth xx

Mani Mondays: Shades of purple

So I'm not very creative when it comes to nails, I have loads of colour but not enough tools to create the amazing nail art you see on other blogs. So while I wait for student loan to come in and my part time job to start I'm trying to create budget looks with whatever I have to hand. This week is a different shades of purple look which is really easy to create and can be mixed up to use different hues of the same base colour.
I used Barry M Prickly Pear to create a pale purple base and then used a darker purple from Accessorize to draw a different design for each nail. It's not super neat because I did this freehand rather than using a nail pen but purple polish is what was in my box so that is what I used.

You will need:

• Barry M in Prickly Pear £3.99
• Accessorize dark purple polish (I got this as part of a gift set but you can buy a similar shade here)
• Rimmel Nail Nurse 5-in-1 base & top coat £4.49

Next steps

• Prep your nails: make sure they clean of any old polish and apply Rimmel Nail Nurse
• Apply two coats of Barry M in Prickly Pear
• Grab your darker nail polish and go crazy on the designs, as you can see below I went for a different design for each nail but you can do whatever you want. Lines are the hardest with because nail polish brushes are quite wide and it can be difficult to get them straight.

Just realised how strange my fingers look when photographed individually

Beth xx

Mani Mondays: French Manicure

Hello beauties, I hope you are all well. I'm settling into my new house and I've got job interview tomorrow morning so I decided to give myself a French manicure in preparation. I always think french tips look so elegant and classy so they are the perfect nail art to wear to a interview.
I know some people like to draw a straight white line across the top of their nails but because I keep mine long and oval shaped that doesn't look write and is better suited to square of squoval shapes. I'm not very good at French tips however, my hand isn't steady enough, so I do cheat by using stencils. I picked up Nailene Perfect Tips from Superdrug this morning for just over £3 - and the pack contains 96 guides - and they seemed to have worked well. I will mention though be careful when peeling them back otherwise you will remove the polish underneath.

I used

• Rimmel Nail Nurse nail base & top coat £4.49
• Barry M in "Nude" £2.99
• Barry M in "Matte White" £2.99
• Nailene Perfect Tips

Instructions

• Prep your nails by making sure any polish is thoroughly removed, you don't want any traces showing through your manicure
• Apply 2 coats of Barry M "Nude" and leave to dry
• Apply the nail strip - if using - to the tip of nail, leaving the gap you want to paint white.
• Apply Barry M "Matte White" to the nail, above the strip, or paint on in a curved or straight line depending on which look you want to go for.
• When the white is dry remove the nail strips carefully, if they have been used, and apply another coat of Rimmel Nail Nurse.

Do you like French tips? Have you come across any interesting ways to jazz the look up?

Beth xx

Mani Mondays: The Colour of the Season

Mani Mondays is the latest addition to my blog, while I'm not going to claim to be some sort of genius nail artist - I'll leave that to the professionals - I am a lover of all things nail polish related hence the reason for this new post.
I adore collecting nail polishes and I have around 60 bottles in my collection, a few of them were gift sets I was given for Christmas or birthdays but a lot of them are just bottles I've picked up whilst I'm out shopping with friends - I never can resist a 3 for 2 offer on Barry M. I don't usually go for any specific brands I just pick up ones which I like the colour of and, more often than not, have a nice bottle design!
Today's post is all about one of this season's must have colours, PINK! Whether it's baby pink, magenta, neon pink, barely there pink, fuchsia, cerise, rose or salmon this Autumn you will need some pink in your make up bag and a good place to start is with your nails.

(l-r) Barry M Sequin Effects Pink, Rimmel Lycra Pro Oyster Pink, Accessorize nail polish from a gift set, Models Own Bubblegum, Mavala Funny Coral, Max Factor Nailfinity Disco Pink, Revlon Colourstay Cafe Pink

Growing up I was never much of a pink person, purples were always more my thing and I tended to go for shades of blue and green when I was picking an outfit because they flatter my skin tone. Until recently I though I still wasn't much of a pink person but a quick look at my make up box proved me to be, I found a glut of pink lipsticks, pink blushers and pink lipglosses all which have been well used.

Everything from Bourjois blush and baby stick, to lipglosess from Rimmel, Clinique, Neal's Yard Remedies and Missguided

I've just started wearing this gorgeous pink nail polish from Mavala which I got in my goody bag from Fabulous magazine and I think it's the perfect colour to see the season in with. Funny Coral is from the 2013 Pacific Dream collection and is a combination, I think, of coral, French rose and deep pink not too bright that you can't wear it everyday, but still noticeable enough. I also found the polish had a lovely glossy finish and was quick to dry - which is always, always a bonus!

Mavala Funny Coral*

From the Summer 2013 Pacific Dream Collection

I think I'll be wearing this colour considerably throughout Autumn, before turning to darker, richer pinks almost on the verge of deep reds as the weather gets colder. Mavala polishes are available from a number of stockists online as well as large department stores like Boots. For more information visit the Mavala website.

Will you be wearing pink this season?

Beth xxx 

Barry M gelly hi shine nail paint

Hello lovelies, now I'll let you in on a secret - I absolutely adore nail varnishes but I am rubbish when it comes to painting my nails, so much so that it reached the point where I would ask anyone to paint them for me, my friends, my mum, even my brother. I have to say I'm getting better with practice but I still manage to get varnish all round my cuticles and miss half my nail at the same time... how?

Anyway my collection of nail varnishes now stands at nearly 50 bottles! I think the bottles all look so beautiful but at the moment I keep them in a giant box from paperchase as it's less hassle than keeping them all out on display

My "small" collection of nail varnishes including ones from Rimmel, Revlon, Barry M,
H&M, M&S, Maybelline, Bobby Pin and Accesorize!

My latest purchase was from Barry M, it was buy 2 and save £1 and that was all the encouragement I needed. I have to admit I tend to have a love/hate relationship with Barry M, they do such a huge range of colours, everything a girl could want or need - pastels, brights, dark, glitter, e.t.c. - but their polishes seem to take an age to dry! I don't know whether I'm just impatient, but I seem sit still for ages and then I make a tiny movement and then BOOM, smudged, all my hard work ruined.

Now Gel manicures are incredibly popular at the moment but they also happen to be incredibly bad for your nails, ruining the nail bed and making them weak if you have them on a regular basis. It's also quite an expensive habit to upkeep to if you're looking for an alternative or just want to try a gel effect then this is the perfect nail varnish for you. Like all Barry M products, this gel effects nail varnish is very reaonably priced at £3.99 and comes in a range of shades - which I think is great considering this range is pretty recent.

I went for this lovely pastel purple colour called "Prickly Pear". I absolutely adore pastel shades, it's one of my favourite trends and I am so pleased to see it is back again for S/S13. The only problem with pale shades, and this is synonomous with any brand, is that you have to really layer up the coats to get a good even colour and hide the whites of your nails. I'm happy to report that after 3 coats of Barry M I achieved a colour that matched the bottle, the nail paint went on very smoothly and created a lovely glossy, smooth coat. I found myself glancing at my nails all day long and admiring the colour. 

So what do you think? Have you tried the Gelly Effects range yet and, if so, what's your favourite shade?

Beth xx