In Her Eyes - eyeliner #2

I've bought a few more eyeliners over the past month or so that I wanted to share with you! They're all from Barry M which means they were £2.99 each, a bit more expensive than the Collection 2000 ones I purchased a couple of months ago, but you get a wider range of colours with Barry M so I would recommend trying at least one. Linky! Buy Barry M eyeliner from Boots

This is a gorgeous light turquoise shade - no. 13

This is a lovely olive green - no.20

And finally the nicest shade of blue I think I've ever seen in an eyeliner - no.6

Here are the eyeliners swatched in the same order. I love love LOVE the brightness of these shades and they are so highly pigmented they're brilliant value. I find if I apply them above my eyelashes on my lid, after using eyelid primer, they last ALL DAY until I remove my make up at night before bed! The blue especially is my favourite, it brings out the green elements of my eyes. Equally wearing the green shade makes my eyes appear blue! I have grey eyes with blue and green elements so I'm lucky that I get to play around with different shades!

xx

Players only love you when they're playing

I bought this little beauty a couple of weeks ago and have been dying to show it to you! It's a gorgeous blue playsuit from New Look and I bought it to take with me interrailing around Europe. At the time of writing this I still haven't decided whether it will make the cut as the fabric seems to be a bit crease-prone, which obviously isn't ideal for packing in my rucksack!

The playsuit was £22.99 from New Look. It's got an elasticated waist which is ideal for me as most other playsuits give me a very unflattering silhouette. It's also got longer than average legs on the shorts - an essential IMO as I often find playsuits come up too short on me and I flash a bit more flesh than I originally intended! I love the colour; perfect for summer! Linky!

xx

Hard as Nails #2

A month or two ago I posted a review of some nail products here - and now I'd like to update you on my quest to find perfect nails! This is a quick post on something I recently bought and have been BOWLED OVER by how effective it is!

I am definitely one of those impatient nail polish lovers who has to actively plan into her evening when she will be painting her nails. I literally go MENTAL waiting for my nails to dry, which often results in smudged nails and an unhappy Elspeth! But that was until I bought the incredible Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Anti-Chip Top Coat from Boots...

I'm genuinely amazed by this product. You apply it on WET nails and it makes them dry to touch within 30 seconds. I haven't got my stop watch out (hell I don't OWN a stop watch!) but I have found that by the time you've painted this on all your nails, the ones you started on first are dry. It doesn't mean that you can do the washing up straight away afterwards, or other prone-to-ruining-nails activities, but it does speed up the process SO MUCH! Here is the link to the product on the SH website -> Linky!

I have to say, I don't really rate this product as a top coat. When I use it I normally apply a proper top coat (most often Barry M) the day after to ensure my nails stay chip-free. That said, as a quick dry product I can't fault this amazing invention! Definitely a new holy-grail product!

I paid ~£6 for this from Boots and even though I've used it a fair few times in the past few weeks there's still tonnes left. Linky!

xx

I Want Never Gets... Christian Louboutin

I would really like to meet any girl who wouldn't love to be able to slip her feet into some Louboutins. From his OTT diva-tastic designs to the chic and classic court that is infamous the world over, Christian Louboutin has a gift.

These metallic pumps are something else. I love the tone of silver/gold and the way it contrasts with the red sole. Maybe not the most practical shoes (I can imagine my heart breaking when I inevitably scuff the fabric) but I can't help but fantasise about teaming these with a simple shift dress for work - the ultimate in power dressing. Linky!

These polka dot pumps encapsulate my personality completely. I feel that they would become an extension of my body if I were ever lucky enough to wear them. They're so fun and quirky but still timeless.. completely capturing the essence of what Louboutins are all about. Linky!

xx

Revlon Lipstick Haul

Although I'm almost positive you'll be sick of reading about my lipstick collection by now, I feel like I'm on a roll from the past couple of weeks so I'm posting today about my Revlon lip colours. I bought these three way back in early May when they were on 3 for the price of 2 from Boots.

This is Revlon's 'Super Lustrous Lipstick' in shade 353, 'Cappucino'. I usually like my lipsticks to be very highly pigmented and bright (stay tuned for more along those lines...) but when I was browsing Revlon I decided I wanted a calmer, more grown-up colour. This is a lovely shimmery nude which is perfect to wear to those all-important business meetings at work, and it goes on beautifully. No complaints in the mositurisation department, although it doesn't seem to last as long as my other lipsticks but that may be down to it being a paler shade. £7.49 from Boots, its relatively expensive but is a good investment if you're looking for a work make up staple. Linky!

 

I also purchased 2 shades from Revlon's relatively new range of 'Just Bitten' lip colours. The left is shade 'Gothic', and the right is 'Twilight'. I think its safe to say that Revlon are cashing in on Twilight and vampire hype with these products! The concept is similar to a lot of lip stains that are on the market at the moment - you apply the lipstain with one end and then use the moisturising balm on the other end to maintain the colour of your lips. There are 2 key differences with Just Bitten though. Firstly, the lip colour application is like a felt tip pen nib, which is absolutely brilliant for accurate and easy application. I wish other companies used this same nib! The second difference is that Revlon's balm also gives a nice glossy finish, which makes it look like you're wearing a lip gloss over the colour.

Here are the swatches - on the left is 'Twilight' with 'Gothic' on the right. Unfortunately I think the 'Twilight' colour is just a bit too dark for me and against my skin makes me look like one of the undead! The 'Gothic' shade is lovely though, a nice reddy pink that's perfect for glamming up a daytime outfit or wearing on a night out. I love the deep colouring you get with this range and will definitely be looking out for offers in the future so I can get a lighter, more day-friendly shade. The Just Bitten range is available from Boots for £7.99 each. Linky!

xx

Slated: New Look sheer tights

Despite starting this blog with every intention of offering my opinions - good or bad - on the fashion and beauty world, I am very aware that I have been significantly lacking in criticism. That ends here. No more Miss Nice Elspeth. I am going to make a conscious effort to let you guys know whenever I have been dissatisfied or just less than impressed with any of my fashion or beauty related purchases in this - my new 'Slated' feature. I can't promise to make these posts regularly, but I will do my best to update you whenever I can on the products and items of clothing you need to AVOID at all costs!

The first culprit in the 'Slated' limelight is New Look. As you have probably gathered from my shoe-related posts, I definitely rate New Look as a shoe retailer if nothing else. The value and quality of their footwear is something I have always been a fan of and I don't want this to undermine that... But I purchased some 15 denier 'tan' or 'nude' coloured tights about a month ago for £3.99 as I had an event that I needed to wear skin coloured tights to but didn't have the time to get to M&S or another more reputable tights retailer. Here's the link to the tights on the website. And here are my criticisms:

• the tights are the wrong colour for my skintone - I appreciate I'm fair skinned but these make my legs look positively orange which is not the look I was aiming for;
• the section of the tights that covers your toes is a little too big - when I wear them with ballet pumps or court heels some of the opaque section is visible, again not a good look;
• they bobbled after ONE DAY of wear - obviously the deal breaker, not cool to pay £4 for 2 pairs of tights that you can probably only wear twice in total.

I admit they're cheap, they haven't laddered, and they do feel nice when you put them on. But bobbling after a day's wear? This is a fundamental issue for natural look tights and in my opinion, is simply not acceptable. For that reason, New Look are SLATED.

xx

Fabulous Nails #3

As you already know, I'm a bit of a nail varnish junkie and I love love love Barry M, especially the Nail Effects! I recently purchased some additional colours - namely white and blue (I'm not much of a pink girl I'm afraid). So here's a quick post on those!

This is the new Nail Effects in blue, painted over a Miss Sporty orange shade. I wasn't sure whether this look would work but after a day or so it really started to grow on me... until my sister pointed out that I had basically been rocking the Iron Bru look! Oh well. I look forward to clashing the blue with some different citrus shades and maybe even a pinky red or coral! Watch this space.

This was my first try with the Nail Effects in white. I deliberately didn't let the base colour (a bold teal from Miss Sporty again!) dry completely - only touch dry. That way, when I applied the white Nail Effects it actually lifted some of the lighter tones of the teal/green and dried yellowy green rather than white. I love this look, and plan on experimenting with different base colours to see what other combinations I can get! I have yet to try the white out properly but plan on doing white on a black base sometime soon, so expect an update on that shortly!

Have you tried the new Barry M Nail Effects colours? What are your favourite combinations?

xx