Nail Art #5 - V-Day

Hey!

I've been crazy busy lately! I did makeup for a photo shoot on Sunday, it was an all day thing and I've been shattered ever since! It was a time for print job, I'm trying to get my portfolio started. I think it went well and I can't wait to see the shots when they're done, I'll definitely post some here for you all to see :)

I got some (more) new polish in the post this week :D I ordered some Nubar in Fire Sparkles, Petunia Sparkles and Violet Sparkles. They're gorgeous glitter polishes. I got them for about €8 on Beauty Bay. I also got the Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat for about €11. It's amazing :O It dries insanely fast, and gives the most beautiful shine. It gives incredible dimension to glitter polishes too. I really really needed to find this top coat. Doing my nails takes me way too long because nothing dries fast, it's a pain. I end up sat there with my hands in the freezer for ten minutes. If you're into nails and you don't have this, you need it. Trust me.
Seeing as Valentine's Day is coming I thought I'd attempt some V-Day themed nail art. I did a crap job but I tried! I hate tiny rhinestones :/ They're so fiddly! Here's what I managed anyway:

Crude Rhinestone Heart

Products used:

Sally Hansen Doubly Duty
Nubar Fire Sparkles
Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat
Black rhinestones from ebay

Makeup Geek Holiday Bundle review with look!

Hey! I got a gift you guys*! The crew at Makeup Geek asked me to choose nine shadows from their store to do some looks with, and I chose the Holiday Bundle. I'd been eyeing it in their store for ages, I was delighted when they asked me!! I'm super excited to try these shadows, I've been watching MUG videos for some time now and Marlena and Co. create some really awesome looks with them. I actually received these a while back, but I wanted to get a Z-Palette to photograph them in. Here's the Holiday Bundle in my cute new zebra print Z-Palette, and some swatches:

Still plenty of space left for more MUG shadows :3

Top Row: Preppy, Beaches & Cream, Gold Digger
Middle Row: Country Girl, Envy, Pixie Dust
Bottom Row: Mocha, Dirty Martini, Bitten

Swatched over TFSI

There are four shimmery shades and five matte in this collection. All these colours are beautiful! My favourite shades are are Gold Digger, Envy and Bitten. They're soft and have great pigmentation, and it was really hard to choose which shades to do a look with!

I decided to use Pixie Dust in the inner third of the eye. I love this colour so much, it's a beautiful vibrant chartreuse. In the center I placed Dirty Martini, and put Envy on top of that for more shimmer. On the outer third I used Bitten, and deepened it more with Mocha. I blended up toward the brow with Preppy and highlighted the brow with Beaches & Cream. I mirrored the eyeshadow on the lower lid and water line. I got the shadows to stick to the waterline by using NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk.

I think this look came out great! The MUG shadows are soft and easy to blend, and I plan to pick up more when I have the funds! There are fifty-six shades available at the MUG Store in pans like I have or compacts. I would happily recommend these shadows to anyone! They're certainly among the best shadows in my collection. Here are some more shots of the makeup and a product list. Thanks for reading! >_^

Products Used:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy
MUG Shadows - Pixie Dust, Dirty Martini, Envy, Bitten, Mocha, Preppy, Beaches & Cream
NYX Jumbo Pencil - Milk
No7 Stay Perfect liquid liner
Benefit 'They're Real' Mascara
Essence Eyebrow Designer - Brown


*Even though I got this stuff for free, I'd tell you if it was bad.

This Week's Nails #12 - The Man with the Golden Gun/Skyfall

I'm super excited about this post! I've had my eye on OPI's 'The Man with the Golden Gun' topcoat since I learned of its existence. I couldn't justify buying it for myself with its €36 price tag, but my awesome husband bought it for me as a gift for our 5th wedding anniversary! Our anniversary was on November 23rd, but my gift arrived yesterday. Here's a photo of the outer packaging:

*Swoon*

It's beautifully packaged in its own display box. I'm going to keep it in this box to protect the bottle which looks very fancy with a mirrored gold finish. I don't want my other bottles knocking off it and potentially scratching or chipping it. Here's a photo!

When I wear this top coat I feel like the queen of the world. I have never owned something so luxurious before and I love it :3 It looks so pretty and classy, and it's likely my most treasured possession. This is one layer over 'Skyfall', which I got in the 'Get Bonded' set. It would work fantastically over a wide range of colours. Black, midnight blue and deep purple are the first that spring to mind. Here's a closer look:

I love it so much! This is the perfect Christmas gift for the fanciest lady you know. The whole premise of a real gold top coat may seem absurd to some people but I like it. It makes me feel spoiled and special, and that's not so bad. Yolandi knows how it is:

I'll sign off with a photo of the 'Skyfall' bottle. It's a gorgeous colour, a very deep vampy red creme. The closest polish in my collection to this one is Revlon's 'Forbidden', but 'Skyfall' is deeper still. It makes for a trendy and festive manicure. Catch you soon!

Wedding Nails - Forbidden

Hellooo!
My uncle was married yesterday! The wedding ceremony was held at Fossa Church in Killarney, it's a beautiful venue. I traveled to Killarney on Thursday with my Mam and her boyfriend Paul, and we stayed in the Killarney Heights Hotel. The wedding celebrations were held there too, and it was fantastic. There were a lot of guests! About 260 people were there. Everything went so smoothly, thanks to the incredible staff, and a great time was had by all! ^_^

So, on to the nails! I thought about getting gel nails done, but I like to change my nail colour often so I didn't bother with it. I'm actually on a nail polish ban right now, I have quite a few colours I haven't worn yet. Until I've worn most of those, I won't buy any more! I've been browsing on http://www.beautybay.com/ and there are some really awesome mini collections that I would like to acquire. Also, Viola at http://rodeo.net/killercolours/ did a post on Nubar's 'Night Sparkle' recently and it's so pretty. Don't even get me started on OPI's 'The Man with the Golden Gun', a limited edition 18K gold top coat. Disgustingly beautiful. The world of nail polish is testing me! T_T

For the wedding I wore red and black. I don't have any pictures, but if I come across any I'll throw some up. I got ridiculous red heels that killed my feet (I am extremely inexperienced with any sort of heels), and my sister did my hair a bit and I had a fascinator and everything! I rocked a red lip too, but to my dismay I was the only lady there doing so..I guess nobody else was feeling brave! I did my nails with Revlon's 'Forbidden'.

It's a gorgeous, vampy, deep red. I felt really grown up and classy wearing this one. Not that I'm not a grown up, I just don't act like one ~_^ Deep red and berry nails are an Autumn trend from what I understand, so hooray for trendy me! I don't often wear dark colours, I have a lot of brights and glittery/shimmery things. I thought I'd dry something new. I got Sally Hansen's Diamond Shine base coat and top coat too, and I've been using it as both. I found it in Boots after looking in a few pharmacies first. It's worked really well for me since I got it. As a topcoat I much prefer it to the Essence ones I have. It's thinner and dries much faster. I did read some reviews of it online slating it for weakening the nails when it's used as a base coat, but I haven't experienced anything like this yet. If I do I'll be sure to report in! Luckily if I have any problems I have the Revlon base coat to fall back on, and that one's great. I'll keep you guys posted.

There have been many nail posts lately, but I promise I'll do something different soon. I've been stuck for time but nails are always a sure thing with me!