Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Garnier Olia Review

Last year around spring/summer time and after years of black hair I decided to go blonde, yes, you read correctly. BLONDE.

It didn't look bad, at all, I honestly expected to look like crap considering my Hispanic background, we don't look too great blonde unless it's our natural color. But I went for it and it look... like this:
Me & my friend Caitlin on my 28th birthday last year

It became a nightmare after a few weeks; upkeep, maintenance, constant conditioning treatments, frizziness attacking me constantly, etc. I grew tired of it fast, but I was determined to go to Oktoberfest in Munich with light hair! And I did :D

My muscular better half & me in the Paulaner tent

I tried to go back to brunette a couple times, I wen't redhead for a couple weeks which was fun (also to help the brunette adhere better), but oh sadness... a month or two later it would wash away and back to blonde.

Yesterday I was bored, I had no plans other than washing dirty dishes so on my way home from work I purchased a couple of boxes of Ganier's Olia hair dye in 5.0 (medium brown) and boy did I like it! Hopefully the results will last (haven't had great experiences with Ganier Hair Colors).

Anyway! The product; on their website it says that this is the first oil powerd hair color on the market which conditions your hair. It doesn't contain ammonia which is a BIG plus in my book. It also says that the creamy  formula is blah blah blah, yes it's creamy and that seems to avoid the dreaded dripping all over the place. 

The results, no I have to admit after doing half my head I did start to get tired of doing it because I never realized how much more difficult it would be when your hair is mid-back length! So the second half of my hair was done a lil "sloppy". The color is very true to the picture on most of my hair, again the lighter patches are my own fault.

Once the whole thing was done I noticed something odd, most of the OTHER hair dyes tend to keep a creamy/gel like texture throughout the wait, not this one. For those who have bleached their hair on more than one occasion, you might have stumbled upon or are familiar with the Redken Extreme Anti Snap line. These hair products are intended for damaged hair, when you push your luck a little too much and get nasty stringy, bubblegum textured hair. The entire line is packed with proteins that you've just magically destroyed on your beautiful tresses, and Redken was so kind enough to put it in a bottle. When you apply these products, if you get a little carried away, your hair will feel a little crunchy as if you had just applied a little too much hairspray. Ganier's Olia does the same thing while you're dying your hair, so you do have to ensure you saturate every strand of hair or you will end a tad patchy like myself (I'll blame it on my arms being tired).
YAY brown hair! 


Would I recommend it? Yeah, my hair feels great and it's not blonde anymore! Happy customer. I really hope it doesn't wash away as bad as the others have.


Thumbs up for Ganier's OLIA.





Monday, January 27, 2014

Pre-Valentine's Valentine's Manicure

So I had originally filmed a video for this design but oh surprise! Twas horrible and I was unprepared and nervous and ended up staining my bed with nail polish LOL!

But anywho! Attached are the pictures of the end result and listed and linked are the products I used and at the end I linked the manis that inspired me to do this design :)

Hope you like it!

My fav was the pinky
The pinky heart was inspired by NailArtista, the 3 layered fluffy nail was inspired by a pic I found on Google last week but I can't find it anymore to give the artist their credit so if someone finds it please be kind enough to let me know in the comments! The polka dots and hearts were just random because I had no idea what to do on those 2 fingers.

Soooo cute! 
Ignore my horrible cuticle, I've been anxious nibbling my thumb :P


So the products used were:
Bluesky Gel Polish in Romantique
Bluesky Gel Polish in Studio White
Gelish Top & Base Coat
A UV lamp I got ages ago can't find the link
Dotting Tools
China Glaze Something Sweet
Barry M Polish in Pink Silver Glitter 
And any simple white nail polish for dots here and there


So for those who are familiar with the whole Shellacs process you know how it works, and for those who don't; I give a brief explanation here on one of my previous posts.

I hope you liked the mani, it's really cute and very "ad hoc" with the love birdy season :)


Tuesday, January 21, 2014

My First Glossybox UK

For the longest time I had been wanting to subscribe to the UK version of Glossybox because unfortunately US Glossybox doesn't ship overseas (sad face). But I discovered that even though my credit/debit accounts have an American billing address I can still subscribe to this beauty box (happy face).

So I thought it'd be a great idea to start at the same time this new year came to visit us and today, yes today! I got my very first box!

Now I have to admit I wasn't blown away with the contents but I am still thrilled like a little kid with a new toy. I had been receiving Birch Boxes for a while a couple of years ago but sadly, because they were shipping to an APO, I would receive my box about 6 weeks after they shipped and we encountered several bump along the way. So unfortunately I had to unsubscribe (also the fact that they were starting to send me food annoyed the crap out of me).

You can subscribe to Birch Box here.

So! Here it is; I like the packaging a lot. It really does give a sense of good customer's service, someone sat down and invested their time in packaging this, the bow, the sticker with the logo, how the items are strategically placed in the box, the whole thing screams "I care". And that is something vital for a company like this to depict, people enjoy unwrapping a presents on Christmas because it gives us the sentiment that someone cares and took their time with YOU. And we humans are naturally selfish.




The item I enjoyed the most were the Vintage Cosmetic Company Tweezers (their website is badass!) which are very similar to Tweezerman style tweezers. The detail and colour was adorable.
The item I truly disliked was the Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream which OK so yeah, it's good for the skin... if you can get over the smell, that the packaging looks cheap, the fact the sample sent was enough for one foot and that's probably why I was sent 2.

The product that made me think "Dafuq?" Vaseline essential moisture.... Seriously, I already buy this every time I get a new tattoo after a week or so of using the recommended ointment. I was kinda sad I got it to be completely honest. As I just mentioned a line ago, I already purchase this often enough like to have paid for a deluxe sample I already carry around in my purse.

And last but not least; I'm actually looking forward to trying the Anatomicals Puffy the Eye Bag Slayer eye patches because I DO get puffy eyes very easily. And this is why I subscribed to this, to try new beauty products I could possibly repurchase on it's own.




All in all it wasn't a complete disappointment but it wasn't mind blowing. YES, I am still excited about receiving Glossybox every month and I'm looking forward to see how things develop. Could go great or could turn shitty :) Oh the suspense!

If you're interested in signing up to Glossybox UK just click here and is you live in the US of A you can sign up here.

Don't forget to send you feedback, I more than welcome your comments and suggestions :D
Also; here's my very first video! yeah... I'm freaking out LOL hope it doesn't suck too horribly.

Happy Tuesday!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Soap & Glory Girl-O-Whirl Review

I have only just recently began to broaden my makeup horizons. I still remember the first time I bought my first mascara over $10; it was the summer of 2012 and my boyfriend had taken me to Mykonos, Greece as a present and on our way back I stopped by the beauty Duty Free area and just stood there and stared at Lancôme's Hypnôse Doll Eyes mascara. Approximately 3 minutes after my purchase, I curled my lashes and BAM! Fell in love.

Before that I was familiar only with higher end eye shadows, I had a tiny collection of MAC, a palette by Too Faced and a couple of Estée Lauder products, and a lot of expensive ass skin care products from all over the world (I'm a fan/junkie of Korean skin care products) .

Now that I've been living in the UK for over 3 years I have gotten into makeup a lot more. There is far much more to pick from, high street brands are known for being just as good as the high end cosmetics.

I've come to notice Soap & Glory gaining popularity in America lately, I've seen it ridiculously over-priced at Sephora.com but I don't blame Sephora of course, it's like trying to get San Francisco's Benefit products over here (I had a mini heart attack when I saw their boi-ing concealer at nearly £18 which is $30). My first Soap & Glory makeup purchase was the One Heck of a Blot face powder and I have been hooked ever since.

Over Christmas time Boots had several beauty and spa gift ideas that I was tempted on getting for myself... selfish you say? Not at all teehee! I merely was thinking about reviewing all of them to help my readers/followers decide what to purchase and what to avoid. Good save!

Anyway! I went to Boots today for a quick browse and stumbled upon the leftovers at 70% off! I went straight for Soap & Glory's "Girl-O-Whirl" set because I wanted to try a little more than just their face powder which I already loved. I had already gotten curious about their Sexy Mother Pucker glosses and their brow shaper/highlighter.

So here it is:


 


And what it contains:

Here is the package description of what it contains.

The mascara comes in black, the brush isn't anything extraordinary but it's good for and everyday use mascara. I don't think it's water proof (doesn't state otherwise anywhere on the packaging.
This one has to be my fav. The Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick in Nudist, which is a beautiful sheer pink gloss. Smells of sweets and goes on like butter. It feels great on the lips, they feel moisturized and girly :) 

The eye shadows aren't really worth talking about. Top left very light beige color is actually very well pigmented
and serves well as a base color to prime your lid. The rest of the colors were very sheer
and didn't build up very well aside from the matte grey at the bottom right.
And as you can see the eye shadow brush was an embarrassment, almost as terrible as my grammar. 

The Solar Powder multi-shade bronzer was actually quite lovely,
a little on the shimmery side for my liking but I would still use it.

And this is the Glow All Out Luminizing Face Powder which to me looked more like an adorable peachy blusher. It too is a tad shimmery and sadly for me (acne scarring and all that shit) I can't really use shimmery things on my face without looking like a bruised peach when using too much shimmer.


Also it comes with 6 panned lipsticks which are identical to the previous year's lipstick gift set Boots offered.
I'll upload a picture tomorrow with both side to side.
Sounds great right? WRONG!!! There is one unforgivable flaw with this gift set.
THE PACKAGING! It's driving me insane. It comes in a large over-sized zip bag which would be great if the mount where they glued all the eye shadows and lipsticks on wasn't made of the flimsiest plastic on earth. I was terrified to take out the mascara and gloss in fear of breaking all the eye shadows and face powders!

I honestly think this gift set would have been worth those £40 YES 40 pounds if the packaging would've had a bit more invested into it. Like Tarte's or Benefit's cardboard packaging, it's earth friendly and "hellava" lot more sturdy!

I know, I seem far too upset for something so petty BUT in my defense; our house hasn't had heating for 6 days now and cheap ass plastic isn't worth 40 quid! 

I'm out, I need to get a hold of this damn plumber and kill him. It's Winter! In England! Dafuq! 

Monday, January 13, 2014

Golddigger Manicure

Boring Monday afternoon, the BF playing some Assassin's Creed IV and I just had pasta for dinner. I don't want to move but I look at my tattered hands (more like my chipped away mani) and gather the strength to go up to the 3rd floor bathroom... where I have all my nail polishes. I hate myself for putting them soooo far away.

What shall I do? Glitter? Matte grey? Something neutral? Or should I just leave them natural for a while? ....hah! Yeah, sure.

Oh hey, I haven't actually ever tried anything with white nail polish aside from that Ruffian Manicure I did on my mom for Christmas. Let's see what crazy idea I can come um with...
A couple of coats of white later

So the white looked very purtty on it's own but a little too "blah" for someone who's trying to build up a reputation in the nail industry. So I went upstairs... again! This time I grabbed one of those eye-shadow applicators my mom got me for this sort of thing (she know I use brushes not applicators for my actual makeup). I decided to try a gold ombre with Revlon's Gold Coin which is a lovely gold color and currently one of my favorites. I began to dab away.





The results; better than I expected. Lets add a top coat, but why any top coat? I went for Bourjois Vampire Vanity with gold specks in it! 


I actually think it looked more chic without the specks but I was not willing to go upstairs again to get a different top coat LOL! It's Monday! Cut me a break :P 


Lush Bubble Bath Beauty Haul

Saturday late morning... get with the girls and get ready to go on a shopping spree!

It was one of those days where I wasn't really motivated to buy loads and loads of clothes but the moment I saw Lush had quite a few products on sale, a smile from ear to ear drew itself on my face and I'm pretty sure I looked like the Grinch for a second there.

I knew that Christmas products that were left over the holidays were on sale but unfortunately all these have been removed from their website but if you are up for hunting, go to Queensgate Shopping Centre in Peterborough they still have quite a bit of Christmas bath favourites available.

 


First one up is So White, it smells more like bergamot than it does apples and the scent is a tad strong. I'm very much looking forward to using this one early morning because of the freshness of the scent it's more of a "wake-me-up" kind of bath bomb. Also I thought it was cute that it's the size on an apple :P
So White




Next is Star Light, Star Bright, which I was doubtful about getting at first because it was glittery and what not but while I was in the shop I quickly Googled it on my phone and read some very positive reviews. It smells zesty and like citrus, leaves the skin incredibly smooth after using and I love how the water gets all glittery and pretty.  

Star Light, Star Bright



I didn't know what to expect of Bombardino, I honestly only grabbed it because I saw it on the website and thought it looked cute. I got one to try it out and it smells like straight up butter. If you've ever tried Lush's lip scrub in Popcorn it is the exact same smell. On your lips it smells nice but I'm not sure I want to smell like a buttery snack before I go to bed. I'm on the fence about this one still. 
Bombardino


And last but not least, my favourite out of the whole lot: The Melting Snowman. What can I say about this sad looking little guy? It smells spicy, Christmassy, and the presentation of it is quite adorable.

Melting Snowman


As mentioned before, I'm a sucker for a good indulgence bath and if stress is becoming overwhelming, a bubble bath is the best way to unwind.


Friday, January 10, 2014

O.P.I. Euro Centrale Review

Well the title is a little misleading, I only have 3 OPI nail polishes from the Euro Centrale line launched last spring: Polka.com, Eurso Euro, and I saw... U saw... we saw... Warsaw.

I have to say, I want them all!

I got a couple of them for Christmas. The formula goes on so beautifully, even and smooth. As you might have noticed from my polish collection I have a soft spot in my heart for blue hues and the Euro Centrale line has several blues :D (happy girl over here!)

The line is innovative, bold, versatile, I can't say enough positive things about this line and I haven't even swatched half of them!

Given the sad mani I had yesterday that chipped away like an iceberg, I came home from work today straight to the nail polish drawer and pulled out Eurso Euro and Polka.com and hands to the task of making my nails look fab.


 So, are you ready to be awed? This is what Eurso Euro looks like after 2 coats (hardly necessary to apply 2 coats, it goes on very opaque)

I love how it looks!

Oh that's not all! I loved Polka.com since the moment I laid eyes on it, it's a little tricky (as most sequin glitter polishes are) I did have to go over my nails about 3 times before I got the results I wanted but boy was it worth it. The specs compliment the colours in this line so wonderfully.
After one coat of Polka.com
After 3 coats of Polka.com
I love my nails today, the colour looks rich, the glitter compliments the colour, and the best part of it all... it's blue :)

I highly recommend this line to anyone, the formula of all the Euro Centrale polishes I have tried is amazing.

P.S. Please don't mind my uneven, crappy looking hands and finger nails, I haven't gotten a proper manicure in a while now and I keep breaking my nails :(

Butter London The Black Knight Review

I am a big fan of Butter London nail polishes, their colours are so unique and beautiful.
Sadly I am a little disappointed with The Black Knight, the formula is a little gloopy and you definitely need 2 coats to get the results you're looking for AND it chipped off so fast!

I did my nails yesterday evening and today before noon... well as you can see, my left hand looks just fine but the right hand has already began to chip away.
So sad it chipped in less than a day

Left hand intact, chipped 3 hours later...


You must be thinking "Well, what about your top coat?" Yes, I did apply a top coat. The next thought that comes to mind is "Is this polish really worth it's price?" Maybe not this colour specifically, but I think maybe, just maybe if you use this polish in a "jelly Sandwich" it might actually work great.

Jelly sandwiches work great with regular nail polishes with high glitter content because glitter polishes dry a lot faster than regular ones.

Apply a thin layer of gel soak off base coat and cure it for 120 seconds, wipe off the stickiness with a lint free cotton pad and apply your polish, let it dry as you would normal nail polish, wait an hour or two and then apply your gel soak off top coat and cure for 2 minutes and TADA!!!!

This should help these kind of "chippy" nail polishes stay on for a bit longer. I haven't done it with this polish specifically but I have done it with others and it's worked wonders.

Don't give up on that beautiful polish you fell in love with JUST because it chips off so fast, there are ways to make it last :)


Thursday, January 9, 2014

My Nail Polish Collection

As most of my friend know, I do love my nail polishes, my mother gifted me about 15 on Christmas which I LOVED! My humble collection used to be a lot larger before I moved to the UK, sadly I had to down size when I moved.

I also have to admit that if I don't feel a colour looks good on me because of my skin tone I almost immediately give it away, or if I feel a polish is getting too old I toss it in the bin.

So here they are, my 'lil gems :)



Starting up top then left to right: Vintage Rose, Gold Coin, Minted, Mischievous, Midnight Affair, Quick Dry, Steel-her Heart, Matte Top Coat, Snow Bunny, Copper Penny.
All in this photo are Revlon nail polishes.


All by Sally Hansen, starting left to right: Hard to Get, Firm Fig, Heart of Stone, Unbreakable Heart, Mighty Mango, Die-Hard Fan, Tough Chick, Green With Envy, Deep Purple, Blue Me Away, Lacey Lilac, Sun Kissed, Cherry Red, Jaded, Water Color, Ink Splatter (Crackle), Coral Collide (Crackle), Fractured Foil (Crackle), & Fuzzy Fantasy (Fuzzy Coat).



Mix and Match my randoms: Bourjois Vampire Vanity, Gosh's Frosted Purple, Rimmel's Ruby Crush, Claire's Little Peacock, Claire's Teal, Rimmel's Ultra Shine Top Coat, Butter London's Bluey, Butter London's The Black Knight, Color Club Neon Green (that's not the actual name, apparently I peeled off the name label LOL), Essie's Power Clutch, Tangerine Crush by L'Oreal, New Money by L'Oreal, & Diamond Carat Top Coat by L'Oreal (my favorite top coat!).



These I had to Google because the bottle only had the number on it: Covergirl's 315 Timeless Rubies, 125 Peaches & Cream, 110 Snow Storm, Barry M's Diamond Glitter & Duchess, and the white, silver, & black nail art kit by Kiss.




Starting with pink: Something Sweet by China Glaze, Liquid Leather by China Glaze, Laugh My Art Off by Finger Paints, Art Nouv-Yellow by Finger Paints, OPI's Polka.com (I freaking love this one!), OPI's I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw, OPI's Eurso Euro, & Cinderella by SinfulColors.

Hope you enjoyed as much as I did :P

On a side-note; I also have Gel polishes, many gel polishes. As you mau know, these don't come in see through bottles and some names are just numbers. So I didn't even bother in listing them here.

Although I can promise you another post with all the gel polishes with swatches!