Wink

New NOTD, from Collection 2000 Hot Looks Nail Polish in Wink

With and without flash. It actually photographed better with flash; it brought out the deep bronze more. It's annoying, because it's so beautiful in the bottle, with gold shimmer and swirls, but it hardly translates on the nail. Never mind!

Show off and Metallic Petrol

Again, I found myself using the H&M polishes.

Show Off from Collection 2000 and Metallic Petrol from H&M on the ring finger, with flash

Without flash

Show Off is a beautiful mid bright blue with shimmer, it reminds me a lot of the Ocean Breeze colour from Revlon, or Hypnotic Turquoise by Miss Sporty. My bottle's getting old, so I need to think the formula down, but it's still gorgeous.
Metallic Petrol isn't a petrol colour, at least, it isn't to me. It's a denim. A deep, denim blue that's slightly metallic with tiny silver shimmer/glitter. It dries to a slightly satin finish, so a top coat is needed.

NOTD -- BMX Bandit

To make up for the lack of posting, I've woken up extra early to get the sunshine in the mornings in my living room. Expect Nail of the Day posts regularly now :)


Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fast Dry Polish in BMX Bandit

I couldn't get the colour to photograph true to life, it's a little more purple than blue. It's a really nice subdued powder lilac. These nail polishes are in Superdrug and Boots for £1.79.

Eye Shape

This isn't a tutorial, in the video and step by step photo sense.


Changing eye shape with eyeshadow.

I feel that my eyes are very small, and that my features are squished into the center of my face. With this technique, I can make my eyes appear larger, without using light colours.


Sleek Inferno (pigment) in the inner half, Collection 2000 Inky (pigment) and Barry M Black (pigment) in the outer half. ELF's eyeshadow transformer (gold) in the inner corner.


What I did was I filled in the first half of the eyelid in the burnt red copper colour, then with the black/blue colour I then drew out an exaggerated wing, extending it to much further back than I would normally.

This makes my eyes look larger, and also, it would be good if you have close set eyes and need to make them look further apart.


Here you can see it making my eyes appear wider too.

What do you do to change the appearance of your eye shape?

Quick post! Nail hauls

So... As a student, with no money, what do you do when you're tired, grumpy and have no money? You spend £30 in Lush and buy nail polish, that's what!


Art Deco Nail Art Lacquers in Black, Yellow, Baby Pink, Collection 2000 Hot Looks Fasty Dry polish in Wink, Art Deco in Gold Glitter, Silver Glitter and White, Collection 2000 Nail Care 2 in 1 Base Coat and a Glow in the Dark polish from Poundland.



All polishes apart from the Base Coat were found in my local Poundland, so I was very happy (I bought the Black and White Art Deco polish and the Hot Looks one yesterday and the remaining lot today) The base coat was in Superdrug for £2.99.

I like finding things in the Pound Shop that are good quality; the only problem is that you seldom find things in there two visits in a row. I was incredibly lucky that I managed to get the rest of the Art Deco polishes (I got all of the colours they had), because usually if I left it a day between, I wouldn't have gotten a chance!

P.S, I feel much better now, I think I might have a bath with a third of my Candy Mountain Bubble Bar :)

Cosmetic Kingdom

I'm suffering from Fresher's Flu at the moment (which as a second year is pretty depressing), so instead of sitting through Empirical Psychology today and infecting everyone, I decided to do a blog post. So without further ado...

Haul time!

I was browsing around the internet trying to find some cheap make up, because of course, as a struggling student, I need to find a way to find it discounted, and Cosmetic Kingdom seemed like a great place to start.

It looks like they stock mainly discontinued drugstore brands as well as a few higher end brands here and there. I spent £10.08 all together, and my order arrived within two days, so super happy :)




First is this Prestige Lip Balm in Strawberries and Cream for 99p



I can't tell you the smell, unfortunately, but it tastes slightly sugary when it's on your lips, and feels like a thicker version of the Little Red Tin from Superdrug



Second is a 17 Trio in Plum Dressing, which cost £1.49



Now, the lightest colour is a delicate but frosty cream/pink, the plum is a satin plum colour, almost verging on matte texture, and the grey is a gorgeous cool toned brown/grey; it reminds me of Copperplate by MAC



Maybelline quad in Sunlit Bronze, costs £1.99



The colours in this quad are all shimmers/frosts, which are ok, but I would've preferred the Outer Corner colour to be satin/matte to balance things out. Also, the texture of the eye shadows are... Almost gritty when you swatch it with your fingers. I tried swatching with the sponge tipped applicator it came with and results were much better. Must be used with a base!



Maybelline Moisture Extreme Lipsticks in Peach Colada and Cool Watermelon, costs 95p each



Taken with flash, the shimmerfest in the Peach Colada (on the left) is near impossible for me to photograph, but it's reminiscent in nail polishes that have the micro shimmer to create gorgeous metallic tones (Astro Gold by BYS). Cool Watermelon is a creamy coral pink which reminds me of Brighton Rocks by Topshop. There's no shimmer in it at all.



This picture shows a little of the shimmer in the Peach Colada



Maybelline Expertwear Eyeshadow in Silken Taupe. This colour errs more on the grey side of taupe, and is also quite sheer. It has more of a creamy texture than the quad above. Again, must be used with a base underneath for you to catch the best of this product. Costs 49p



17 Solo Eyeshadow in Mardi Gras. Now, I remember this colour in Boots as having more of a sheen to it, but it's not bad at all, in fact, it has a sheen, just not as much as I remember. It's similar to the grey in Plum Dressing, but more on the brown side of grey/taupe. Costs 99p



Collection 2000 Hot Looks Nail Polish in BMX Bandit. Pale blue heavy lavender. Shown with the Maybelline shadow to give an idea of sides. Opaque in 2 coats, costs 99p



Now for my last purchase. This is a Miss Kiss Lipgloss Glitz Ball. I got this because I wanted my order to be over £10 so I could get free shipping and this cost 75p



As you can see, the ball twists apart to show two sides of lipgloss, a blue side and a yellow. This product is pretty to look at, and will look nice on my dresser, but I can't say I'm fond of it at all. It's really sticky, and initially, I thought it'd be sheer, without a hint of the blue/yellow. This isn't the case. I've swatched it on my hand, and on my lips, and I just don't like the feel of it. It is funky looking, so I don't mind too much



The yellow side has glitter in it, but the glitter doesn't really translate when you swatch it.




All in all, I'm extremely happy with this haul, it was cheap, the customer service was good, and shipping was fast. Even the Miss Kiss lipgloss isn't that bad, just not to my taste. There are lots of obscure brands that I've never heard of, but they definitely interested me, so I think my next purchase will be of some of those, as well as the classic Rimmel/Maybelline.

Definitely ordering again!


Products were purchased from Cosmetic Kingdom with my own money.