A quick hello

Hey Dolls :)



Just a quick post amidst dissertation blues to let you all know the gorgeous Lauren has featured me in her weekly Beauty Chat Tuesdays. If you don't follow Lauren already definitely go and have a peek at her blog - she's definitely a lady after my own heart when it comes to her never ending quest for big, beautiful hair!

Also, lately I've been loving chatting to some of my fellow bloggers on facebook - so please feel free to add me here . And as always you can follow me on twitter here.

Lots of Love
Nicola
xoxo

MAC Pink Friday

Hey Dolls :)

I love Nicki Minaj and have done for quite a while, one of my biggest wishes is for her to realise her love for Drake and they get married and have lots of beautiful babies...this would make me very happy (but very jealous). When I heard MAC was releasing a lipstick with Nicki Minaj I was so excited (as were lots of you), I was even more excited when I heard it was in between Girl About Town and Pink Nouveau. I got my little black box on Saturday and although it wasn't quite what I was expecting I do like it.


In the bullet, the lipstick definitely looks similar to pink nouveau however, when applied on the lips it's much lighter, I would compare it to snob. Here's how it looks on...

As you can see it's so much lighter than in the bullet which is a little disappointing as I love bright pinks but I do still really like Pink Friday. It's a satin, so as always, it can appear a little drying on the lips and will settle into any lines which is a little annoying but a little lip prep helps. I think I'm right in saying that pink Friday is available for the next three Friday's online if you didn't manage to get one last Friday.

Lots of Love
Nic
xoxo

Guess what I wear as a hat? A lentil

L.O.V.E

Winter Woolies

Hey Dolls :)

I feel like I haven't really spoken to anyone properly for ages (a week ha) which has made me a little sad. I hope you're all well! It seems to have become a tradition of mine to buy a hat and gloves from Asda as soon as it starts to snow. This year is no different and as soon as the snow kicked in I headed to Asda and picked up these beauties...



Both the hat and gloves are hand knitted and so thick and well made! To be honest, you can't really see the detail too well but the hat has a huge pom pom on the end and the gloves have a really pretty brass button with an anchor on - both the gloves and hat cost only £5 each - honestly if you're looking for a really cosy knitted set get your booty to Asda!

Right now I have exactly four days until my dissertation is due in - every time I think about it I feel physically ill, I'm not quite sure what's happened the deadline has completely crept up behind me! How are you all my loves? Loving or loathing the snow?

Love Nic
xoxo

It's a Nerd-Off

Hey Dolls :)

I've been watching lots of nerd off videos on you tube lately and decided to do my blog version here...The following ten reasons are why I am proud to call myself a total nerd!

1. I have a recently read shelf. On this shelf was the following...

The fact that I'm studying a degree in reading is nerdy enough.

2. I have a large collection of screen printed t-shirts

3. I make clothes out of cartoon bedsheets

4. I'm a computer games geek (especially Mario)

5. When in work whilst everyone is listening to music on their ipod, I listen to the Harry Potter audio books


6. Instead of going out for my 18th birthday, I had a children's themed birthday party at home.

7. I can recite every single word (and do all the dance moves) to the Buffy Episode Once More With Feeling

8. My friends and I can often be seen breaking into montages of our favorite films

9. I have a Roald Dahl Calendar


10. I have a stereotypical comic geek boyfriend

I challenge you all to a nerd-off!! Bring it!!!

My Favorite Three...Illamasqua

Hey Dolls :)

I had a really tough time trying to pick my favorite three Illamasqua products - once again I had to be rather ruthless and cut out some of my much loved and very much used products.

Bronzing Duo in Glint and Burnish



Are you bored of me talking about this? I feel it's OK if you are but as I use this everyday it would be silly not to include it in my favorite three. When I first looked at the duo I immediately thought that the darker side burnish had too much of a sheen to use as a contour colour. I am pleased to say that I was wrong and is perfect on me as a contour. Both sides of the duo are quite sheer so is perfect to use everyday but can be easily built upon to wear at night.

Glint (the left hand side) is such a pretty highlight colour. In the pan I think it looks quite dark but when swatched it's really pretty and sheer and leaves behind a bronze sheen that looks amazing on the cheekbones but also used on the eyes too! The duo lasts for such a long time - at the time I did think it was a little pricey but I have definitely got my moneys worth!

Nail Polish DWS
I am definitely not very good with nails, in fact I could take much better care of them but when it comes to polish I know what I like and DWS is the exact opposite of what I would typically wear - but I love it! It is a grey creme with no shimmer that dries to a beautiful glossy finish.

I absolutely love the formula of the polish - it applies really easily with absolutely no streaking. It also wears well with very little chipping. As part of their Christmas collection, Illamasqua have released a duo with DWS and a silver glitter polish called Harsh which look like they will look amazing together!!!

Cream Blush in Rude

There were about three other favorite cream blushes (never mind powder) that I had to choose from but chose Rude as it's my newest so I'm still in the infatuation stage with it. In general, illamasqua cream blushes are the best I've tried. This is probably down to the fact I hate cream to powder which the majority of cream blushes are. I love the illamasqua ones as they stay quite glossy on the face.
Rude is an amazing coral colour which honestly I find brightens up the face so well. It's really well pigmented and I admit can look quite daunting in the pan. However, when stippled on lightly it creates a lovely flush to the cheek - I also find because of the creaminess of the product you don't need to use an additional highlight as the light reflects off it enough on its own. It also lasts such a long time with no need to touch up during the day.

Quickly, I just want to say a huge thank you both to Milly and Jennie for including me in share the love type posts in the last couple of weeks - you are both absolute dolls and it honestly means so much!

Lots of Love
Nic
xoxo

OOTD

Hey Dolls :)

I quickly wanted to share with you all what I'm wearing today. For the last couple of weeks my beautiful friends and I have been chained to our computers doing our dissertations and so today we decided to take the day off - go into town for lunch and then go to the Imax to see Harry Potter...




Black Dress - Topshop
Shrug (is a shrug a bit 90s? What would you call this?) - New Look
Tights - Primark
Wedges - New Look
Necklace - Love Suzie

I am in love with this floaty top from new look - I love anything with shoulder detail. However, I do fear that I am beginning to look like a permanant member of The Adams Family - I need some colour!!

Lots of Love
Nic
xoxo

MAC Pearl Cream Colour Base

Hey Dolls :)

After my last favorite three post a couple of people asked to see how pearl ccb looks with well dressed blush. This is a combination I've definitely been favoring of late.



In this photo I've applied it down the bridge of my nose, cheekbone, inner corner, under the brow bone and on my cupids bow. I hope you can see what I mean when I say it isn't a shimmery highlight it just reflects any light that hits your face in a quite natural way!

So far this week beauty wise I'm not very happy. You all know the effort I've been putting into my skin over the last couple of months and on Saturday I started to use a new foundation and it has completely broke me out. I'm probably overreacting but I'm so upset! I feel like I'm having to start all over again. You can't really see it in these photos but my poor chin isn't very happy just now!

How frustrating!!!!!

Lots of Love
Nic
xoxo

My favorite three... M.A.C

Hey Dolls :)

I found this bloomin' hard as I would say the majority of my favorite products comprise of M.A.C. I had originally narrowed it down to five products but was ruthless and stuck to the three product rule!

Pearl Cream Colour Base

I am in absolute love with pearl. Highlighting products make me happy and pearl is definitely one of the prettiest around. MAC's cream colour bases are multi use products - you can use them on the eyes, face and lips (however, not all of the colours are suitable for all parts of the face but you get a handy leaflet explaining all of this). Pearl is amazing on the eyes to be used to amplify eye shadow colours however I would always use another eye shadow base first as it does crease a little. However, my favorite use for pearl is as a highlight.

It's a really sheer product without any hint of sparkle of glitter - it just reflects the light in a really pretty way. It's perfect as an everyday highlight and in particular on days where I'm not wearing a lot of make up. One thing I love is that it doesn't drag at other products on my face because of the way it melts onto the skin.

Club Eyeshadow


I've posted about this lots but club is my number one mac shadow - the green/red/brown duochrome looks so beautiful together and is a quick and effortless eye. I definitely recommend using it under a dark base so as to get the most effect out of the duochrome. You can read more here.

Well Dressed Blush

Well Dressed is my most used blush of all time I think - it's one I don't really need to think about as it seems to go with everything. It's a cool toned pink with a subtle silvery shimmer running through.

It's quite buildable so you can go from a lovely light flush to bright dolly pink cheeks easily. It's an absolute staple of mine!

I think I'm going to do a separate lipstick post soon as I didn't include any here - I just couldn't pick a favorite! Next on my favorite three is Illamasqua...also let me know if you have any other brands you want me to feature!

Lots of Love
Nic
xoxo

My favorite three...Benefit

Hey Dolls :)

This is the first post of a new series I've been thinking about where I pick my three favorite products from different make up brands and talk about why they're firm favorites! I'm starting with Benefit as to be honest I probably don't talk about benefit very much on my blog. Benefit was the brand that caused me to move from drugstore into higher end make up. However, as time has went on and I experiment and try more and more products I continuously realise that Benefit is just a wee bit overpriced. In a conversation in work about blushes my lovely work chums didn't believe me that a benefit blush was more expensive than a MAC or Illamasqua one. I'm definitely not Benefit bashing but I just wish they would adjust some of their prices in line with the quality/performance. Saying that, I absolutely love lots of their products, here are my top three...

One Hot Minute

One hot minute is a beautiful rose gold powder. I use it during the day as a really pretty highlight and have often used it on a night out as an all over face powder. Even when used all over the face it doesn't make you sparkly or shiny - just lovely and glow-y. It's quite a subtle rose-gold, if you're quite pale you could even use it as a light bronzer.

One hot minute is packaged in a rose gold tin and as with all benefit products looks really pretty and kitsch. You also get this little fan brush which being honest I haven't used but probably would be quite good to distribute a really feathered dusting of powder. It's also lightly scented which I really like.

Liquid Illuminators

There's been a lot more written about high beam over moon beam which is a shame as moon beam is stunning! Firstly, high beam is a satin pink highlighter which is perfect for using on the cheekbones, bridge of my nose and cupids bow. It adds a lovely fresh look to my make up. However, I think it's quite a difficult product to get right - as it's a liquid it can't be used on top of powder or it will go streaky. I always use a duo fibre brush to apply high beam and stipple it on - I hate streaky cheeks!

I love moon beam even more than high beam. Moon beam is a goldy apricot illuminator. It's quite hard to catch the multifaceted glow in a photo but can you see the milky, slightly pinky/purple?

I use moon beam mixed with my foundation and always get compliments on my skin. It instantly lifts and brightens my face without being loaded with shimmer and glitter. If you don't like a completely matte base I definitely would recommend incorporating moon beam into your face routine!

Bad Gal Pencil

When bad gal was released this year as part of the glamour promotion I was shocked at how many people disliked bad gal - it's always been one of my favorite pencils. Maybe that's nostalgia talking as it was the first item of 'high end' make up I ever bought. Also I love the smudged liner look, I don't really like everything looking too perfect which bad gal is perfect for as it stays put. Saying that, on me bad gal stays where I put it without having to set it with powder. If you like soft, smudgey pencils, bad gal is definitely for you!

Are there any particular brands you would like me to focus on? Also what are your benefit favorites?

Lots of Love
Nic
xoxo

YSL Faux Cils Mascara

Hey Dolls :)

As mascaras go I'm not typically one to buy high end products. However, when I was at the YSL counter curiosity took over about Faux Cils. To be honest I'm not quite sure why as all I ever hear is people complaining about how quickly the tube dries out despite how it makes their lashes look. My suspicions were confirmed further when the MA gave me instructions on how to open and close the tube...

This included the exact speed with which to twist the top open and to always ensure the YSL sign above was aligned. I suppose this will be more of a first impressions post rather than a full review and I'll do an updated post reviewing how long the mascara actually lasts (the SA said roughly about 9-10 weeks).

First impression wise the packaging is absolutely beautiful. Just like all YSL packaging it's glamorous and classic. The mascara is also scented, something I hadn't really experienced before. It's quite floral and fresh and I could actually smell it through the day. The formula is quite wet which I like and the brush is bristled (I hate plastic wands) and is quite big - but not big enough that it's hard to use.

As to how it looks - it's incredibly lengthening and volumising however it is really quite easy to go overboard - hello clump city.

As you can see when it comes to the second coat of mascara it begins to clump however it's nothing a lash comb can't fix! Overall I really do like this mascara though I'm just not sure whether it warrants the price tag! Are you happy with drugstore mascaras or are you a high end fan?

Lots of Love
Nic
xoxo

YSL and Accessorize Love

Hey Dolls :)

This week so far has been a really exciting make up week - I've bought a couple of absolutely beautiful products and the two I've been most excited about is YSL Rouge Pur in 128 Tyrian Purple and Accessorize's merged blush in Starlet.







Tyrian Purple is probably the prettiest lipstick I own. It's an amazing fuchsia with a silver glitter running through (it isn't really noticeable glitter just adds a nice sheen to the lips). It's the smoothest and creamiest formula and actually lasts a long time (my one criticism of the rouge voluptes is they aren't long lasting at all). As always the packaging is beautiful and so classic. YSL lipsticks will always be my little slice of luxury and glamour.

When I went into Superdrug to visit the Accessorize stall I could not believe how beautiful the products were. I ended up buying four things which I'm sure you'll see popping up. The stand out product for me was the merged blush in starlet. It's a hot pink with beautiful gold and purple veining and is so unbelievable pigmented! It adds a really lovely glow so no additional highlight is needed. It blends really easily however it is quite powdery and you do lose quite a bit when swirling your brush in the pan. However, the blush is only £5 so it's not a huge criticism!

I would love to hear if any of you have tried the Rouge Pur's or the accessorize range and what you thought?

Lots of Love
Nic
xoxo