Nailed: Essie Sole Mate

I bought this polish from what I assume is the new Essie diffusion line at Boots recently, and I was pleasantly surprised by the formula and brush. Sole Mate is a blackened red, almost plummy shade and was fine after two coats. It could even have been ok with one ticker coat, but I prefer to do several thinner layers. The brush is flat, and really quite wide, which can take some getting used to, but once you are used to it it's really quite nice and gives a really smooth finish. Removal was without problems. 

Bow Manicure from The Illustrated Nail

This is super old, but I just realised that I never posted it! A few months ago, a new Lola and Grace store opened at Westfield Stratford, and had loads of things going on the day they opened. There was champagne and cupcakes, a jewelry swap, free manicures and a DJ and party in the evening I think.

My friend Leonie and I went to check it out, and we arrived just as the girls from The Illustrated Nail turned up! We booked in for the first appointment and went to shop while they got set up. When we came back there was a huge queue, but as we had booked in we got to slot right in! She created a beautiful bow design on my nails and used Essie Mint Candy Apple as a base colour. I wish I had the skills to do nail art like this!

Bobbi Brown Natural Finish Long Lasting Foundation Review

I bought this foundation a few weeks ago, to replace my previous one which was the Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF 15 (£29, here), which was nice but not really long lasting enough for me.

Que the purchase of the long lasting version! (£29, here) I have shade 0, Porcelain, which is very light, although they do go one shade lighter!

I usually apply this using a MAC 130 brush (£28, here) using a swirling motion. The coverage is light to medium, but can be built up to a much fuller coverage. This is quite a liquid formula, and once out of the bottle will run down your hand if it isn't level. This can be irritating, but it is also kindof useful, as a quick shake of the bottle will mix the contents completely.

One and a half pumps is usually emough for me to cover my whole face, with a medium coverage. If you were after a lighter coverage one pump would probably be enough, and 2 would do for high coverage. having a pump instead of a pot or tube is much more hygenic too.

The thing I like most about this foundation is that shade. For me, finding a foundation that matches me is virtually impossible, even MAC don't do a shade light enough for me in a liquid formula, and they have a huge shade range. If your skin is of more a medium tone then finding a match will undoubtedly not be such a big deal, but for me it's paramount! I found that this foundation lasted well for me, about 8-10 hours, though it did need re-powdering in my T-zone. It is also oil-free and I have not had any problems at all with breakouts.

Nailed: Essie Sole Mate

Totally in love with this polish. Great colour, great brush, perfect shine, perfect application! Not the best photo, but it's a gorgeous blackened plum shade.

TK Maxx and Boots Beauty Haul!

Sorry to be psoting another haul so soon, but at the time of writing this I'm running around trying to get everything sorted to leave for Uganda, which is in less than a week now! By the time this goes out I will have been there for over a month and will hopefully be having a great time! Anyway, I've been doing a lot of shopping to get essientals for going away, and I couldnt resist getting a couple of new beauty purchases too!

My friend Charlotte tipped me off that TK Maxx had quite a lot of Stila products, so I went to check it out. They didn't actually have all that many Stila products, only a couple of Lip Glazes and a mascara that had been opened by an inconsiderate shopper. I did manage to get a lipgloss though, a Lip Enamel Luxe Gloss in Euphoria, which is a dark, blue toned pink. These glosses contain 3.8ml of product, which is quite a bit more than cult favourite lip glazes, which only contain 2.4ml.  I think this particular line of glosses may have been discontinued, as I cant find it on the UK website. I was able to find it on the US site though. The TK Maxx price for this was only £3.99, a total bargain compared to its $22 reccomended price, which is about £14.30.

Also at TK Maxx I spotted several different trios of Essie polishes. These are the original formula I think, not the new, slightly cheaper diffusion formula. They were priced at £10 for the set. I have no idea what the colours are though, they are marked as Capri, Tangerine and Tangerine, but having googled these none of them are right! if anybody knows what they might be, let me know! Lastly from TK Maxx I picked up Sally Hansens Healthy Cuticles Now! which was £3.99.

Next I headed over to Boots where I picked up a polish from the new Essie Diffusion line, in Sole Mate (£7.99, here) which is a beautiful blackened plum shade. I also got Shadow Insurance from Too Faced, which I have never tried before, but I am in desperate need of a decent eyeshadow primer! (£14.03, here)

Lastly I popped to H&M where I bought this iPhone 4 case for just £2.99! Ive been looking for a completely plain case that wouldnt break the bank for ages, as I want to cover it in completely offensive glitter and sparkles. I like tacky, so shoot me!

Everyday Makeup 3

Face: Shu Uemura UV Underbase BB Mousse in Beige (£29, here), Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade 1 (£4.19, here) MAC Studio Fix Powder Plus Foundation in NC15 (£19, here), MAC Blush in Fleur Power

Eyes: Vintage, Stealth and Wolf from the Illamasqua Neutrals Palette (£30, here), MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack (£14, here) and MAC Eyeshadow in Omega on my brows (£12, here)

Lips: MAC Lipstick in Speak Louder (£13.50, here)

Nailed (Properly this time!): Shock.

Finally I got around to trying Shock by LA Colors with a white base. It's MUCH better, but also MUCH more labour intensive. I had to do 2 coats of  NYC white, and then about 5 coats of Shock.

With white base

Without white base