Italy Haul and NOTD

Today I found something very exciting! While in Italy over the summer I picked up a few cosmetics, namely YSL and a few of Sephora's own products which I have used and loved. But today I found a little stash of nail varnish from Italian brand Collistar.

Here I have 2 polishes from Collistar's Autumn/Winter collection Carisma no 69 Green Lame Matt and no 70 Blue Lame Matt. The third polish is no 42 Aubergine Glitter, a wonderful rich purple duochrome which reflects gold.

Today I am wearing no 70 Blu Lame Matt.

I picked this up for its unique colour, a silvery demin blue, like nothing in my collection. The polish applies rather thick, one coat is almost enough. I don't know if this is because of the Matt formulation or this is true of all Collistar polishes, I will have to investigate further. The colour is very pretty, and translates well to the nail. I do prefer the look of this polish though with a top coat, which is how it is pictured.

Overall I really like this range of nail polish, the formula is easy to apply and the brush is easy to work with. Similar to OPI's pro wide brush, Collistars Professional flat brush allows great control. I only wish I had bought more while I had the chance.

I can't wait to try more of Collistar polishes.

Have you tried this brand before? whats your favourite colour?

What do you think of this colour?

xoxo

Halloween NOTD - Lil' Frankies

This AMAZING tutorial from GoldieStarling has been on my mind since last Halloween. Back then I didn't have the colours to do it and it was driving my crazy! Which is why I was so happy when OPI released their Shrek Forever After Collection, I immediatly thought back to this tutorial. If you haven't already come across the video on YT here it is ...

For the base coat I used 2 coats of OPI Who the Shrek are You?

with 2 coats of Zom-body to Love, I mean who wouldn't like their lil' Frankies to glow in the dark?

For the design I used OPI Black Onyx and Alpine Snow

look at my lil' Frankies glow!

So cute! I've had so many compliments on my nails this past week, which is always nice :)

Have you tried this tutorial? I'd love to see your lil' Frankies.

Halloween Haul!

Its Halloween weekend and what better way to kick it off than with a Halloween nail polish haul?!

So this is a bit of a collective haul, I've been ordering these off of ebay and etailers bit by bit and as they became available with the mindset of creating loads of cool nail art designs for my blog. But of course life got in the way of that :( I am currently working 6.30am to 7pm 6 days a week, so when I do get the chance to paint my nails there's not always time to take photos, upload, edit etc etc. Hopefully I will have the time for lots of Christmas and New Year designs *fingers crossed*

Anyway into what I have been picking up ...

Lets start with China Glaze, they always have the best Halloween Polishes. I remember loving last years collection - Mummy May I, the Deborah Lippmann Bad Romance dupe (now Revlon have one too Facets of Fuchsia), Zombie Zest and Ich-a-body. So I was excited for this years.

I ended up just getting 2 from this years collection. This is Haunting

A black base with a ton of fine silver glitters, looks like a starry dark Halloween night - I like it, but don't love it.

Next we have It's Alive

For a while I couldn't choose between this and Zombie Zest but when I saw Scrangie's blog post I knew which one to choose. Its a perfect Halloween slime green glitter polish. It applies really nicely and is super sparkly - LOVE

This next polish I got so excited when I saw it on ebay, and the price I got it for was a steal! This is Fortune Teller which I believe was a Sally's exclusive last year in the US.

Halloween perfection in a bottle. I first fell in love with this polish when sayanythingbr00ke on Youtube showed it last year teamed with China Glaze Matt Magic Top Coat, which was my next purchase.

The next product, as soon as I saw it (again on Scrangie's Blog) I knew it was going to be this years Halloween Mani.

I'm a bit scared to try these in case I mess it up and ruin them. But I will try them out tonight ... expect a blog post later unless it all goes pete tong.

and my last purchase is of course the OPI Pair'em Scare'em duo. I've been looking forward to getting this since it was announced. I love my bottle of Glow ink in the dark but Zom-body to Love is a gorgeous green - I think I am going to apply this over Jade is the New Black or Who the Shrek are you? so I get the colour I want, but don't have to waist Zom-body by applying 20 coats.

What have you been buying ready for Halloween?

NOTD - OPI Rainbow Connection

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This is 2 coats of OPI Rainbow Connection over OPI Black Onyx.

look at it sparkle in the bottle ...

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I had been debating as to whether or not to buy Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday trio of polishes, so when OPI announced their Muppets Collection I knew I couldn't pass on Rainbow Connection, a glorious blend of cyan, magenta, silver, yellow and green glitters of all sizes. Not an exact dupe for Happy Birthday, but close enough for me.

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What colours did you pick up from the Muppets collection?

Which do you prefer? OPI or Deborah?

NOTD - Magnetized Blue

Move over crackle polish, there's a new kid on the block claiming to be the lastest innovation in nail art....

This time its Boots own brand 17, this is Magnetized Blue from their new collection of 4 autumnal shades.

I can't help but compare this to the Nails Inc ones. The bottle is almost identical from the detachable lid to the lip on the magnet to prevent smudges, they both even incorporate chevrons into its lid design. But Boots 17 have more colours, there is purple, blue, grey and green to choose from. Its more accessible and at just £4.99 a lot cheaper (normal price will be£5.99) So I have been patiently waiting for my local boots to get them in stock, I'm actually still waiting, I caved and traveled into my local city to pick one up!

I first tried this out as soon as I got home, and wasn't impressed so the polish was pushed to the back of my collection and forgotten about. It may have something to do with the fact I painted it over Designer De Better from the OPI Muppet's collection, who knows? So today after I had taken off my previous mani I thought I'd give it another whirl. I must say I wasn't expecting to love the effect as much as I do!

This time I used no base coat, the polish itself is easy to apply, thick, creamy and only one coat was needed for opacity. The colour is a gorgeous steel blue, in the bottle it appears to have a deep violet/navy duo chrome, this is the colour that the magnet will draw out. It dries a little bit matt (was I the only one to find this??) but a good old coat of Seche Vite will fix that and give a wonderful glossy finish.

Doing one nail at a time and following the instructions religiously this is the effect I was left with.

and I'm in love! tiger-like stripes with a 3d effect, think eyes in a creepy painting that appear to follow you around the room! awesome!

I did find that the magnet can lift the polish slightly, but because you are manipulating the nail polish while it is still wet it doesn't heart, and a good top coat will smooth things out.

Have you tried magnetic nail varnish yet?

I think I will be popping to Boots on my lunch break to pick up some more colours!

xoxo

Postcards from Roma

I'm Back!

This is just a quick post to say hi :)

We had a wonderful holiday in the eternal city so I thought I would share just some of my many photos with you!

enjoy xoxo

Colosseum

Vatican City

Pompeii

Autumn Inspiration

autumn inspiration by makeroomforcupcake featuring opaque stockings

Summers not even over, although you would be forgiven for thinking that was the case here in the UK, but I am already looking forward to Autumn/Winter and with all the new trends hitting the shops this month I am spurred on.

Here's my pick of the high street! I can't wait to start shopping when I get back from my holiday :)

Dress

newlook.com

Dorothy Perkins navy tight

£10 - dorothyperkins.com

Dorothy Perkins red opaque tight

£5 - dorothyperkins.com

Dorothy Perkins orange earrings

£6.50 - dorothyperkins.com

Swarovski crystal ring

$90 - swarovski.com

Leather Bags - Temple Touch in Tan Leather from Clarks Shoes

£90 - clarks.co.uk

New in - Latest fashion trends - New clothes and fashions | New Look

newlook.com

OPI - Navy Shatter [E63]

uk.beverlybeaute.com

Accessorize - owl

accessorize.com

OPI - Can You Tapas This? [E42]

uk.beverlybeaute.com

OPI - Uh Oh Roll Down the Window [T34]

uk.beverlybeaute.com

NOTD - I Vant to be A-lone Star

I've never been big on shimmer polishes as I'm sure you have all guessed by now, but OPI's I Vant to be A-lone Star from the S/S Texas Collection has just the right amount for a pearly finish.

This was 2 coats which gives a lovely opaque greyed out blue shade, with minimal brush lines. This type of colour is bang on trend this year and I believe its very similar to its China Glaze sister shade Sea Spray, albeit slightly lighter. I'm glad I picked this one over ChG- the silver shimmer is just enough for me, I don't know why but I always feel very sophisticated when I wear it :)

Wearing this now I am obsessed with the idea of adding a black french tip .... who knows, maybe that will be my next NOTD post ;)

NOTD - OPI Stranger Tides

Morning guys! happy Monday

This is OPI Stranger Tides from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection, a light khaki green with some added murky-ness <3 it!

Application was good, as always with OPI. This was 2 coats.

Whats your Monday morning mani?

Lemon Inspiration

Ever since the Queen wore this lemon ensemble to the Royal Wedding, lemon prints have been popping up everywhere, even on the runway.

We have been staying in the city this weekend for my Dad's Birthday, so naturally we hit the shops so now I have my very own cute lemon outfit!

lets start with my lemon print dress ...

There have been plenty of these lemon print dresses about this season, I know Dorothy Perkins have a about 4 of their own, but as soon as I saw this one in Debenhams I knew it was for me. It is the perfect combination on my favourite colour and this seasons "it" print wrapped up in a beautiful fifties style. I had been longing for this dress for about a month now, but didn't really want to pay the nearly £40 price tag. So snapped it up when I found it reduced to just over £26!

Monsoon Fifties Style Lemon Cardigan

OK so it might be overkill on the fifties style but I just love this cardigan, the detail on the sleeves, the neckline and the cute buttons. I'm thinking this will be perfect to throw on over the dress of an evening while on holiday in Italy!! so excited!

I will probably team this outfit just with a pair of simple studs (no neaklace due to the high neaklines) like the turquoise and silver ones from my Accessorize Haul.

Now all I need to find is the perfect mani and pedi colours :) I'm sure that will be a fun hobby for me over the coming weeks.

While browsing Dorothy Perkins website this evening I came across this cute little bag in a soft lemon colour, I have had my eye on the coral version of this bag for some time now, the material is unbelievably soft for a synthetic bag and very affordable. Maybe I will get both colours when I pop in to get this ....

Lemon bag also from Dorothy Perkins reduced in the sale to just £5. It may well become a lunch break treat to get me through Monday :)

Now onto a dilemma

I had seen these wedges on the DP and made a mental note that I MUST! try them on if I ever saw them in store. They are made in so many fabulous colours and I would love to collect them all ... cobalt blue, coral, cream, and yellow.

But it appeared nowhere had them in stock :( "Somebody's got a frowny face"

Until I stumbled across a pair of the cream ones in an outlet in a supermarket Triumph!! or so I thought ... the fit is terrible! the straps are too wide so my foot moves about and in that size heel I do NOT want to be falling over!

So do I go for beautiful colours to match every outfit or practical and comfy?

These Hush Puppies are currently on sale for only £35 bargain!

Which would you choose?