When did ELF get more expensive than MAC?!

Just a very quick post and I'm so sorry about my crap blogger status having neglected my readership for months. ANYWAY, something has really got me annoyed so I wanted to take to my blog for a little bit of rantage!

I wanted to buy some daily brush cleanser for work because they never clean their brushes and use them on different people which I personally find pretty gross. So, I went onto ELF's website thinking they would be the cheapest, and MAC being the only other user friendly brush cleanser out there that I know of. On the website I find that their brush cleanser is £3.75, much cheaper than MAC at £9.50.

But then I realised that the bottle is TINY, at only 60ml, meaning it costs 62.5p per 10ml. MAC on the other hand wieghs in at 235ml per bottle, which is under 40.5p per 10ml.

ELF is supposed to be a budget brand and for that I generally expect lower quality. If their bprices are actually highr than MAC, we should be expecting a lot more! Sort it out ELF!

I'm Baaaaaa-aaaaack!

Hello hello hello!

I know I promised I would be back just over a month ago, and then I let you all down miserably. I'm really sorry to anyone who was dissapointed by my lack of posts, but I've been having quite a stressful time and I just needed a bit of space to sort everything out. I'm not going to pretend like blogging is the single most important thing in my life because it isn't, it's something I do beause I enjoy it, but recently other things have just been more important.

Not everything is sorted out yet but I've just finished writing a uni assignment and I fancied posting, so I'm going to try and get a few posts written up and scheduled.

Some exciting news is that I've started doing nails for other people and even making some money! If you are in London and want to get some original nail art done by yours truly, drop me a line! and whether you're in London or not, please check out the facebook page; www.facebook.com/unnamednails

Nailed; nebula. A Tutorial

I created this mani a couple of weeks ago now after seeing a few versions around the blogosphere, and I really liked how they came out. I couldn't find any tutorials that I was happy with and I ended up using an amalgamation one few different ones, so I thought I would add another into the mix, showing how I created mine. 

Start with a black base. I used Barry M black, and then cut a small piece of makeup sponge to use for the design. Pour a few drops of silver nail polish, I used Barry M silver foil effects, onto some plastic, and dip the sponge into it. Sponge random lines and swirls across the black

I put glitter over the black on my index finger and thumb, but I would actually recommend putting it on all of your fingers, and omitting it at the end, to give more depth. Next you need to take a light greenish polish, I used OPI Mermaids Tears and sponge that around the silver.

After you have done that, you might need to cut a new pice of sponge, depending on how big the piece you are using is, as you don't want the pink to go everywhere. Taking a pink polish, I used NYC fashion ave fushcia, dab a small amount through the middle of your silver bits, and around the edges of your nails, making sure you don't apply too much, or completely cover the silver. 

Next you need to get a dark purple, I used NYC expert last in midnight amethyst, and use it to soften any areas of pink meeting black. You can also use a nail art pen or small brush to add small clusters of white dots for stars, or use a glitter topcoat (or both!) 

Finish with a clear topcoat and clean up around your nails with cotton buds soaked in acetone. Marvel at the constellations on your fingers! 

 

Leopard nails, revisited

I have done leopard print type nails a few times now, but I recently bought some models own nail art pens, and the yellow one was such a nice colour, I knew I needed to use it for something straight away! I came up with these and loved them. I was really sad when I had to take them off! 

I used Collection 2000 French manicure white

Models own by Wah Nails nail art pen in yellow

Collection 2000 Fast Stroke liquid eyeliner in brown. 

Reasons Why I'm A Terrible Blogger....

Hey guys and dolls, I'm really sorry about the loack of posts here at present, but to give you all a rather crappy schoolboy type excuse, I've just moved house and I don't have any internet! I'm posting this by tethering my phone, which is probably costing me and absolute fortune and there is definitely no possibility of me uploading pictures as it would just use up too much of my data allowance. At present I don't actually know when I will be back online, it was meant to be about 24 hours ago at the lastest, but it hasn't really worked out and BT/TalkTalk have no idea when it will be sorted, which is driving me insane. What I'm planning to do is get some posts typed up on my ipad and just upload in bulk when I'm at uni using the Wi-fi there, but I wont be able to schedule so apologies for that!

Hopefully this will all be sorted soon and I'll be back to my regular 3 times per week posting schedule. Until then, sorry for the inconvenience guys!

Nailed: Essie Kisses and Bises Over Black

I bought this polish quite a few months ago now, but I neer got around to usingit because it's so sheer, I didn't know what I wanted to layer it with. I bought it in a set from TK Maxx, and it was incorrectly marked as being the shade Tangerine, which it certainly is not. I googled around and I'm 99% sure it's Kisses and Bises, from the Spring 2011 collection. I really love how it looks over black! I used Barry M black as a base, if anyone is interested, it's opaque in 2 coats. Kisses and Bises transforms the black into a duochrome-y purple that changes through pink, purple and gold. So pretty! I can imagine this polish looking really nice over a nude polish as well.

The Storage Issue....

While I was at Uni last year, I had the unexpected luxury of loads of storage space. I also had an enormous desk, which ran half the length of the room, which meant that I could have my makeup set up at one end, my TV at the other and still have enough space in the middle for all of my stationary and uni work stuff.

I had Perspex cups for my brushes and pencils, a letter organiser for my palettes, and a brilliant setup with my airbrush system, with the compressor stored on a shelf above the desk, with the hose and gun coming down only when I needed it. It was perfect. Even though the majority of my products were stored in the drawers under the desk, (in easy reach) they were just thrown in drawer organisers and at the time I didn't feel they were that well organised. How wrong I was!

Having spent several weeks looking for somewhere new to live for my second year of university, I have realised that I will probably never have such good storage opportunities again, and this led me to look for a better solution.

I've spent all morning trawling the net for big train cases, that not only would allow me to transport my collection very easily, but that I could also work out of, storing my makeup in it all the time, but easily accessing products I use every day.

I drew a blank. I found this incredibly frustrating, as I’m sure the product I’m looking for exists out there somewhere! I ended up designing my dream train case, and now I’m wondering if there is anyone I could commission to make it for me, and how much it would cost....

Basically it would be a big trolley case, but instead of having stacking sections like most train cases seem to have, it would open out to reveal drawers.

The drawers would be divided up in different ways....

I'm well aware of how sad this makes me look! I'm hoping my fellow beauty addicts will understand!

Having designed this, I now NEED it in my life!! Does anyone know of a similar product?

Having googled around a bit, I've found a few cases that would work, but none of them are availible to me in the UK *sadface*

The Muriel Location Station is perfection, but only availble to you lucky Aussies! you can find it here

It goes from looking like this, to....

THIS object of ridiculous beauty!

I also found this beauty, but the website didnt show prices or how/where to buy!

How do you store your makeup??