Sunday Mish-mash

Hi Beauties!

Today's post is a bit of a mixture of stuff from the past few weeks that I've wanted to share with you, but haven't felt they're really substantial enough pieces on their own. A bit like blog tapas! Hope you enjoy :)

Soap & Glory Thick & Fast Mascara - free with Elle (rrp £10)

Before: bare eyelashes

One coat

Two coats

 

 

I'm sure all of you will have heard by now that a full-size tube of this mascara is being given away as a freebie with this month's Elle magazine; naturally I bought two, and do not regret it! I don't really think it's false-lash effect, as it claims, but this is exactly how I like my lashes to look.  Ooooh! Whilst looking this mascara up on the Boots website, I stumbled upon this: a litre sized tub of The Righteous Butter, containing diamond dust! Don't think I'll be able to resist this...

NOMM (Nails of My Mother) 

See what I did there?

With flash

Without flash

 My mum never wears make-up of any sort; occasionally she'll allow me to give her a pedicure, but she has never before let me loose on her fingernails. However, as she recently lost her job and therefore didn't need to look as professional at all times, she took me up on my offer of a manicure! She chose OPI Muppets Divine Swine layered over MUA Shade 2, and was happy with me photographing the results for all you lucky people. Its just as well really, as she has much nicer nails than me!

 Dirty Works brushes - 75% off at Sainsbury's

 Now I realise I mention Sainsbury's a lot on my blog (no, I don't work for them!), but this is purely because I cannot resist wandering over to the health and beauty aisles whenever I pop in to pick up some groceries. This meant I couldn't help but notice that they currently have cut the price of all beauty tools from Dirty Works by 75%! The lowest priced item I have seen is 49p, but I picked up these eyeshadow brushes for £1.24 each. Apparently this offer is on until 20th March, so I don't know if this is because they're being discontinued, or for another reason. Anyway, I really can't fault the quality of this brand, so I would recommend that you try to pick some of these products up; especially at this price!

Also, you may recall the palaver I had with MUA last week, where they sent me a duplicate of an order I'd made. Well I tweeted them that day, and heard nothing back after they asked for my order number, which was curious. So I tweeted them again today, and they said I could keep the products! I think they will be included in future giveaways :)

I have a uni interview in London on Wednesday, which I'm really looking forward to! I bought some boots from eBay to wear to all my interviews, so I'll do an OOTD and a FOTD when they arrive. The seller was an absolute sweetheart and refunded the P+P charge as I asked if I could collect them, but she wasn't able to do that; I was so shocked when she sent me the message, you know when people catch you completely off-guard by being lovely?

Anyway, I'm definitely rambling now! I've just been on the receiving end of so much niceness today, and I'm not tired for the first time in ages :) Hope you have all had equally good days!

Lots of love,

Krystyna x

Eyelashes

Evening Beauties!

Two posts in one day, what's going on? Well I just wanted to show off these gorgeous Shu Uemera eyelashes, as they don't get out enough, and it's such a shame to keep them shut away in a drawer!

 

 Here they are close-up :) On the left here is one of the Goldglam Leaf Lashes which were part of a collection last year and cost something ridiculous like £70! Not for me though... I snatched this pair up on eBay, complete with glue for £18 (I think. It was a while ago). I last wore them as part of my Hallowe'en make-up, where I did a peacock effect on one eye - details on that when I have a spare few hours :p.

These are the Dazzling Black Diamante eyelashes, which are currently available to buy at £18.50, the same price as the pair below. Again, I cheated by buying them on eBay, and managed to get both pairs for £25 (not including p+p). As I haven't worn them yet, I'm definitely glad I didn't pay full price! I'm sure I will very soon, as the black diamante detail across the lash band is so pretty.

I've seen these Black Velvet Feather lashes a lot on other blogs, and I'm so glad I bought them as they're sooooooo soft. Seriously think that if I wear them I'll just have my eyes shut for the whole time, or do something weird like stroke my face up against other people just so they can feel it too (sharing is caring). Ahem.


So anyway, this is my lash collection, but I hardly ever wear them! I need more opportunities to show them off. I know that eyelashes can be fiendishly difficult to put on properly without practice, which can put some people off - until now.

Picture from e.l.f. website

This is the Hollywood lash kit from e.l.f., which I saw on Lauren's blog originally, and fell for completely! Seriously, a work of genius. It contains a pair of lashes, an applicator, lash glue and a lash stand, all for just £3.50, and is definitely on my wish list.

What's the best beauty buy you've made on eBay?

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

My First Entry...

Well Beauties here goes!

I've decided to join the blogosphere after reading all my fellow more! Beauty Hot 100er's lovely blogs, and getting really jealous! To be honest, I'm not sure I'll have much time to regularly update this, between college and volunteering at school etc, but I promise I'll try my hardest ;). And I may as well start now...

O.P.I Nail Lacquers - The Muppets Glitter Collection

 

Yep, that's right, Muppets nail varnish! But now in partnership with the sophistication of O.P.I so it's not too primary school (is it?!). I have to say that I bought this set on eBay, and wasn't actually aware of such a collaboration until I stumbled across it whilst looking for other nail goodies. However, I was instantly drawn to it, obvs by the Muppet element (life-long fan girl!) and the fantastic range of colours!

O.P.I is renowned for their cute and clever product names, and this range does not disappoint, with:

• Gettin' Miss Piggy With It - a vibrant red glitter with larger specks of silver
• Excuse Moi! - a brilliant tutti-frutti pink loaded with multi-coloured glitter
• Divine Swine - lush purple glitter also with larger specks of silver (am I right in thinking this is mosaic effect?)
• Gone Gonzo - Light, sky blue and silver glitter
• Fresh Frog of Bel Air - glittery Kermit green, pepped up with silver 

And finally, the reason I wanted these polishes in the first place -

• Rainbow Connection - this looks amazing in the bottle; literally a rainbow of glitter, mixed in with the collection's standard silver specks.

When the package arrived, I tore it open instantly to drool over my new goodies, and couldn't resist doing tester nails. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of these as my phone recently died (lost at sea/in the bath), but if any readers are interested in one in the future, please comment! Anyway, after testing, Excuse Moi! emerged as the new favourite, as it is the only one with coloured varnish; the rest are glitter suspended in a clear polish, which can make it hard to get good coverage. The big disappointment was Rainbow Connection, as the glitter was even more patchy than the other shades. So, all in all, I think these would best used as top-coats, and although they're lovely, I'm glad I didn't spend full price on them.

Whew! Done. Please feel free to comment, I'll take all the pointers I can get! :)

Loads of love

Krystyna x