Versatile Blogger Award and NOTD

Evening Beauties!

I was so happy to have been given the Versatile Blogger Award by Leah over at Leah,Loves,Beauty and Fashion, so thank you lovely for my first award! Now, the rules state that I must offer up 7 interesting facts about myself and pass the award on to 15 more bloggers; to be honest, I'm not sure which is hardest! I'm not exactly the most discrete person in the world, so I'll try not to repeat myself in the facts.

I would like to pass this award on to:

• Tiffeny - Just Tiffeny
• Lauren - The Cosmetics Kitten
• Danielle - Tinks Tales
• Hannah and Zebedee - loveletters and snippets
• Michaela - Kla Dollface
• Puja - British Inadequacy
• Lizzie - Cupcakes and Cosmetics
• Onna - Onna's Little Blog
• Jemma - Bamboozle Beauty
• Tamsin - Little Glitter
• Rebecca - Oh! Panda
• Hannah - Away With The Fairies
• Charlotte - The Fairest Of Them All
• Cat - Reaching For The Stars...
• Eloise - I Need More Clothes 

 Some scintillating snippets:

1.  Both of my parents have been in the army - my brothers were both born in Germany, when Dad was posted there.
2. I had 3 different driving instructors before I passed my test... long story.
3. I'm a bit of a pyromaniac; I can't be trusted with candles.
4. My first word was 'scissors'. 
5. I wish I had a puppy :( I would love a little doggy friend.
6. I love scuba diving, but I really hate fish! They just freak me out.
7. I hadn't been to a hairdressers before the age of 13. My first haircut was performed in my dorm by a girl a few years above me.

 Thank you again Leah! Now it's time for a quick NOTD, featuring George in 'Smartypants' and Barry M Gold Foil Effects on the ring finger.

 The George nail varnishes are such good value! It's £1.75 for a bottle and there is a massive range of colours (55 listed on the website!). Also, they really are quick dry, like they claim on the label. I would definitely recommend that you pop into Asda to check them out.

It's my bed-time now, I'm going to college and into school tomorrow, and I can never get enough beauty sleep!

Lots of love,

Krystyna x

Pearly Whites

Happy New Year Beauties!

How's your 2012 so far? I really haven't been up to much recently, apart from trying to recover from hangovers and the lovely cold my mother gave me for Christmas. Even though I didn't go out on New Years, I did feel the need to paint my nails shiny colours (in true beauty addict style), so here's a little photo of my NOTN, featuring Chanel Peche Nacree with an accent of Barry M Gold Foil.

It is of course that time of year where everyone (including me) is regretting previous excesses, and making all sorts of resolutions to change for the better; I've decided to keep mine quite simple: to actually use my gym membership, and to drink more water. As well as these however, I have set myself a little challenge to try and improve the whiteness of my teeth. I haven't been happy with them for a while, and after seeing a photo from a night out, I realised I had to do something. This is probably not going to be easy. For one thing, I love red wine and coffee too much to give them up!

Can I get my teeth to match these beauties?

In Sainsburys this morning though, I noticed that Oral B electric toothbrushes were half price, so I picked up this Professional Care 2000 (I paid £39.99) with some Pearl Drops Now Smile! toothpaste (£3.29). Having never had an electric toothbrush before, I'm hoping this will make a difference.

Obviously this will be an ongoing project (can I call brushing my teeth a project?!). I think I'll post weekly pictures of me doing my best Cheshire Cat impression on a special page, starting with this one!

See how yellow the bottom row is?

Wish me luck!

Lots of Love,

Krystyna x

Barry M Haul!

Hello Beauties!

I think I've had enough of a break now after a lovely quiet Christmas, so I thought make a comeback today to show you a few Barry M things I bought this morning, along with some I got in my stocking :)

Barry M Haul

Nail Paints - Gold Shatter (321), Silver Glitter (Limited Edition), Gold Foil Effects (320) and Silver Foil Effects (319).       Lip Paints - Touch of Magic and Pale Nude (154)

I wasn't really meant to be buying anything, just going to the opticians, but Gold Foil was on my Christmas wishlist so I couldn't really resist, could I?!

 

The gold crackle and silver foil were gifts from Santa, and the gold foil was one of my purchases this morning. Boots are still giving away this Limited Edition silver glitter nail paint when you buy 2 Barry M products, so I of course took advantage of this deal! I love the consistency of the Barry M nail paints, as they are so easy to apply smoothly and quickly, but I am worried about the crackle one. They do go really gloopy fairly quickly don't they? My black crackle is in such a state!

And so onto the lip paints...

Touch of Magic has been on my wish list for a while, and I'm so glad Santa finally brought it to me! It's so moisturising as it's packed with aloe vera and castor seed oil, but I'm afraid the same can't be said for the Pale Nude I bought this morning. As you can see from the photos below, my lips aren't in the best state at the moment, even though I prepped them with my Body Shop Lip Scuff and a good smear of Carmex. I do like the shade, and would wear it on a night out with really 'done' dark eyes and statement lashes.

 Now, what shades should I put on my wish list next? :p  As I sit here, at this very moment, I have a MUA package sitting beside me, which I have been very studiously ignoring until I have the time to give it the attention it deserves! Look out for a post on it soon :)

Hope you all had wonderful Christmases and are ready for a unforgettable New Years <3

Lots of Love,

Krystyna x

Multitude of Muppets - Return to blogging!

Hi Beauties!

I have been severely neglecting this blog recently, but I do have reasons!

1. No camera! I managed to drop my iPhone in the bath. It was not happy :(
2. College work - just given in my first batch of assignments, which all had to be in within the same week. Major panic!
3. Personal life: I got one. True to my blog name, I was well and truly lead astray by something new and shiny -  a relationship :s Sadly it turned out that this 'man' was actually a pig. Still, no harm done!

So, with the help of my early Christmas pressie (iPhone 4S - love you Daddy!), I am back, (hopefully) better than ever, but definitely better illustrated :p. Prepare yourselves for A LOT of photos, starting with...

The Long-Promised OPI Muppets Glitter Collection Photos!

Without flash

From left to right (all photos in post): Rainbow Connection, Fresh Frog of Bel Air, Gone Gonzo!, Divine Swine, Excuse Moi! and Gettin' Miss Piggy With It

With flash

I have just taken soooo many photos of this collection, managing to finish just as the light was fading (wtf? it's 2:30!), and there are examples with and without flash, giving you lucky lucky readers the chance to see exactly what they're like, and whether you think they're worth the OPI price tag. I have also used my eBay nail art wheels to show you what they look like on the nail, and I think they show the coverage really well.

Without flash                                               With flash

I used these wheels to show how the colour changes with layers, and how they work as a top coat. First up, a single coat on bare nails:

Without flash

With flash

You can see from these photos that one coat really doesn't offer much coverage, with the strongest being Gone Gonzo!.

Without flash

With flash - have no idea what these shadow lines are, sorry!

 These are two coats of glitter on a colour base coat:

 Rainbow Connection with Rimmel London French Manicure in Shade 442 - French Rose

Fresh Frog of Bel Air with Barry M Nail Paint 284

Gone Gonzo! with Barry M Nail Paint 306 - Blueberry Ice Cream

Divine Swine with Revlon Nail Enamel in Shade 792 - Plum Attraction 

Excuse Moi! with Chanel Le Vernis in Shade 217 - Splendeur

Gettin' Miss Piggy With It with Nails Inc Shade 408 - Tate

I think some colours work really well with the base coats, whereas others are strongest on their own but layered up, as in the next photos, which have three coats of colour:

Without flash

With flash

 As you may remember from my first post, I was really disappointed with Rainbow Connection when I first tried it, but now I take it all back! It's quite versatile (well, as versatile as multi-coloured glitter can be) and does work really well layered up on its own. Other than that, I can't pick a favourite! I am less fond of Gettin' Miss Piggy With It though... I think red glitter is most effective without any other colours mixed in, so it can act as a substitute for ruby slippers!

To end this massive post, here are more photos, of the colours in their bottles.

Individual shots, left side is without flash, right is with:

 Rainbow Connection

 Fresh Frog of Bel Air (shaky hand!)

 Gone Gonzo!

 Divine Swine

 Excuse Moi! I'm not sure why this looks so orange. It's really not, but came out the same when I tried to take another pic

 Gettin' Miss Piggy With It

Phew! Congrats to those of you who managed to stay with me to the end! I felt I should put up plenty of photos as these polishes are much-talked about at the moment, and quite an investment if you buy the whole set, so hopefully I've managed to inform you! Right, time for a hot chocolate :)

Lots of Love,

Krystyna x