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??

Going Barmy For Balmi?

I love lipbalm, but I dont apply it as often as I probably should. When I do, I generally go for my trusty Nivea Soothe and Protect, beause its cheap, convenient and I like the scent. I also think it works really well and moisturises my lips when they need it.

I took two Nivea Soothe and Protect away to Uganda with me, and came back with neither of them. Travelling around all the time meant that things got lost easily, (I also managed to loose my neon pink tangle teezer, boo) and the fact is when I was leaving I met lots of people who still had a while left to go, so I ended up leaving things like shampoo and shower gel behind for them, and it made more room for bringing stuff home!

Anyway, the upshot of this is that I needed a new lipbalm. I was perusing the aisles of boots, when I spotted Balmi. The little spherical balms reminded me instantly of the US cult favourite, EOS lip balms. I was intrigued, and seeing that they had SPF 15, I was sold.

They come in five flavours, strawberry, coconut, raspberry, blackcurrant and mint. I went for raspberry and I have to say the scent is lovely. It's quite strong, but it doesnt hang around for long enough to be annoying.

Then you open the container the balm inside is domed, so you can just mash the whole thing into your pout, and this makes it surprisingly easy to apply.

Some of you might not know this but I hate vaseline with a passion, because when you apply it it just melts down to too thin of a liquid, which I really dont enjoy the texture of, and I get this really wierd sensation of my lips almost like tingling but really unpleasant. I also really hate the petroleum-y taste that it has, and unfortunately, this is similar in taste and texture.

That being said, I know that a lot of people LOVE vaseline and will be jumping for joy at the fact that this is similar! I will still be using mine up, so it isn't as if my issue is a complete deal breaker either.

I also really love the idea of adding a keyring attachment to the bottom of the balm, it even has a removable clip so you don't have to hold your entire bunch of keys up to your mouth!

Great idea Balmi, but could you bring out a paraben and petrolatum free version? Pwetty please? I'd go Balmi for that!


 Balmi lip balm is available here and is priced at £4.99.

Nailed: OPI Mermaid's Tears with Your Royal Shine-ness

Again, apologies for the high number of nail related posts!

I absolutely love this mani, and didn't want to take it off! Definitely one I'll be repeating. OPI Mermaid's Tears (Pirates of the Carribean collection) with Your Royal Shine-ness (Serena Glam Slam) on the tips. Application was fine, tips were done with a small paintbrush, all smoothed out with a coat of Seche Vite. Removal was without issues :)

TK Maxx OPI Haul

Sorry to be coming up with so many nail related posts recently, I'm really trying to vary my content a bit more but I dont have much makeup with me at my temporary flat, just enough for 2 or 3 every day looks really, while I've got all of my nail stuff, so my nails have been getting a lot of my attention recently!

not long after I got back from Uganda I went shopping near my parents house on the Isle of Wight. TK Maxx has only recently come to the Island and is something of a novelty there! Obviously we have TK Maxx in London where I spend most of my time, but after nearly 3 months in the wilderness it seemed like a pretty exciting prospect!

I don't love shopping in TK Maxx for clothes, I find it kindof stressful and too much like a jumble sale, but for accessories and beauty products (and weirdly, ski wear) it doesn't bother me at all. I've never owned or even used an OPI polish before so I was pretty excited when I saw them!

I got two sets in the end, a trio, above, which was priced at £14.99, and a Serena Glam Slam duo, which was £9.99.

The trio doesn't seem to be from any particular collection, the colours are, from left to right, Mermaid's Tears, which was from the Pirates of the Carribean collection, Shatter The Scales, which was from The Amazing Spider Man collection, and Your Royal Shine-Ness, which was from a different Serena Glam Slam duo! I really like the colours though, and it's nice to have some limited edition shades.

The colours in the Serena Glam Slam duo are Pros and Bronze (right), and Love is a Racket (left). Pros and Bronze is definitely my favourite out of these two, its just so interesting! its a really coppery tone, and on the nail has a bit of a pink colour shift! It's so pretty and striking, I couldn't stop looking at it when I was wearing it!

 I was pretty pleased to get these at only £5 each rather than the usual price point of around £10. I like to change my polish often and although I like these, I don't think I could justify spending that much on one polish. If I saw them at this price again I would definitely buy more though!

Everyday Makeup 4

Face: Shu Uemura UV Underbase BB Mousse in BB Beige, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Light, MAC Blush in Fleur Power, Collection 2000 Lastin Perfection Concealer in shade 1, Light

Eyes: MAC Paintpot in Rubenesque, MAC Eyeshadow in Mulch, MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack, Maybelline the one by one mascara in Black.

Brows: MAC Eyeshadow in Omega

Lips: Balmi Raspberry Lipbalm

Nailed: Barry M Neon Pink

I'm so sorry I've been MIA the past couple of weeks, I've been staying with a friend in London while I looked for a new flat/house to live in for my second year at uni, and I let my camera at my parents house. I've got it back now and found a house, thank God!

Anyway, recently I was in Tantrum in Westfield in Stratford, where they do nail art stuff, and recently seem to have added a lot more makeup and jewelry to their stock. They also do nail art for you in store, which I need to check out some time soon!

They had a big Barry M stand and seemed to stock the entire line of Barry M makeup. I was very excited about that as I have a bit of an obsession with Barry M Nail Paints, but I have the most popular ones which tend to be stocked at smaller stands! I found a few polishes that I don't already own, but it was the neons that really caught my eye, and I came away with Neon Pink and a blue nail art pen by Tantrum. I would link to their website but there isn't much of it, you can find their facebook page here

Neon Pink is a really bright, almost, but not quite, highlighter pink. The thing that makes it slightly more interesting than a flat neon is that it has a very fine blue shimer to it, which accentuates its brightness. If you enlarge the photo the shimmer becomes much more apparent. It was opaque in 2 coats but I'm a 3 coat girl and used 3 for a perfect finish. One thicker coat could even have given adequate coverage.