Stuff I Bought on Saturday

As this Saturday was the first since Christmas I've had off work, it was clearly a cause for celebration. What better way to celebrate than shopping!

First port of call was New Look. Unusually for me, I didn't buy any clothes this time, just some lovely accessories.

TL: I haven't ventured into the scary world of DIY French Manicures for a very long time, however when I spotted this cute little inexpensive kit, I thought I would give it a go, again! I'm thinking French polish with Barry M Pink Iridescent over the top? :o)

TR: 100% plastic and totally tacky, but what can I say, I love! However I didn't realise that the rings had sizes (durrr Hannah!) and I picked up a M/L. It just falls off my finger instantly. I must return it for the smaller size.

BR: Last summer I wore flowers of silly sizes in my hair every day. I somehow remember it all beginning with some this size. Hmm, I should probably keep an eye on the situation! However, they are cute and I love the mint green. Available here.

BL: Lovely little pendant, nice change from the "Love" ones I keep being drawn to inadvertently. Available here.

From Superdrug I bought some body stuff, and some make up stuff too! 

 L: I've been experiencing really bad eczema on my legs lately, hopefully this E45 lotion instead of the moisturizer I am using currently will help clear it up.

R: If you have read my post on Products I Am Using Right Now, you will have noticed my love for the Original Source shower gels. This smells so zingy (best word I could think of to describe it!), it may be enough to wake me up in the mornings! :o) 

 L-R Collection 2000 'Extreme 24 hour Felt tip Liner"- I got this because I need to learn how to do the whole eyeliner-on-upper-lashline thing. This looks the simplest tool to practice with! Available here.

Barry M Kohl Pencil in Navy Blue (4)- This actually came free with two other Barry M purchases at Superdrug. Bargain! Available here.

Barry M Shimmering Eye and Lip Crayon in Golden Bronze (7). I'm a little confused by the name, not sure why you would want this colour on your lips! :o) Lovely on eyes though! Avaliable here.

Barry M Blusher in Pink Orchid (1). Pretty pink! Avaliable here.

I will be doing a more thorough review of these make up products very soon! Already I absolutely love the Barry M Eye Crayon.

Let me know what you think, as always I do love a comment! :o)

Hannah

xxx

The Cheats Guide To Nail Art, Part Deux: Ombre Nails

Yay! It's another blog post for the clumsy and wobbly handed people who just can't 'do' nail art- expecially not x10! You can find my first post about this here. Anyway, I saw this nail effect on LLYMLRS blog ages ago, and the other day I thought I'd give it a go myself!

Basically the idea is that you pick 5 polishes of the same colour, from light to dark to give that gradient effect. Yet again it is relatively simple and doesn't require a whole load of effort!

The only colour fields that I had enough block colours to do this with is pink and blue, here is what I came up with...

Pink!

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 'Pink Slipper' / OPI 'Pinking of You' / MUA #16 / Barry M 'Bright Pink' / Barry M 'Shocking Pink'

I really like the effect of this one, but when applied I thought the index finger and middle finger colours looked a little too alike- during the day I kept arguing with myself as I thought I had mixed them up. 

Blue!

Barry M 'Indigo' / OPI 'Blue My Mind' / Barry M 'Cyan Blue' / China Glaze 'Sea Spray' /Models Own 'Beths Blue' 

I had some difficulty finding the right colours for this one as I definitely don't own 5 block blues, for this reason I was quite skeptical in using CG 'Sea Spray' (2nd from left) as it isn't a completely flat colour. Also, as you can tell from the name, Barry M indigo which is on my thumb is a deep purple. I think it works though - kind of. Anyway I won't be losing sleep over it!

Have you tried ombre nails? Link me to your posts, I would love to see them :o)

xxxx

The Face & The Nails - Arts Ball 2011

As I have never posted a night-time/formal look, I thought what better occasion than last nights Ball! In my University, each major department (Law, Science, Engineering etc.) have their own formal ball. Basically, an excuse to get dolled up to the nines and have a good time!

The Face

 Rimmel Colour Rush Trio Eyeshadow in Twilight

L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara (Black)

Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Eye Liner (100% Black)

Eyelure Girls Aloud Eye Lashes- Cheryl

Of all, I am very impressed with the lashes. For a formal event I would usually pay upwards of €20 for individual false lashes at a salon. However I chose to pick up these from a drugstore for the bargainous price of £5/€7! I am very impressed by the glossiness of these lashes, they were light and comfortable for the night  I love them!

 Sticking to my favourite Barry M products, for lips I used..
Barry M Lip Paint in 153 Pink Ribbon
Barry M Lip Gloss Wand in 5 Bubblegum Pink (Hauled Here)

Other face products used:

No7 Intelligence Balance Mousse Foundation in Tan

MAC powder blush in Fleur Power

MAC Fix +

The Nails

Barry M Nail Paint in Pink Iridescent

 If any of you follow me on Twitter (@hannahbanana661), you will have seen my excitement in finally finding this nail polish shade! It would of course be gorgeous over other colours, but for a more neutral look I just applied this over a clear base coat. This wasn't my greatest idea as you can see the yellow tinged discolouration through the polish (my nails are still recovering from the last set of acrylic falsies :o( ). To get this amount of glitter I have applied around 4 or 5 layers, quite impressed by the formulation, only minimal chipping in 4 days! I'm looking forward to experimenting with different base colours. Any recommendations?

Love as always,
H xxxx

NOTD- The Dark Side

Remember when black nails was the in thing?

I never bought into it. My 16 year old self couldn't comprehend any respectable nail colours to be out of the spectrum of pink, with the occasional venture into the scary world of DIY French manicures.

Fast forward three years on and something changed. I, at the age of 19 went over to the dark side.

Barry M Nail Paint

Indigo

Yes, my love affair with Barry M's nail polish continues.

After two coats, I was left with an inky purple. The verdict is, I love it!

*Note, this picture is with flash, right now indoors it looks slightly darker. The purple is distinctive, though.

It is also worth mentioning that Boots in Ireland are now stocking Barry M products. Long gone are the days of buying in bulk in the UK! Without going into a big rant about the ridiculous and wholly unfair Euro "exchange rate" (hello MAC!), the Barry M products appear to be reasonably priced. The nail polish is £2.99 and I paid €4.50. I can live with that.

On another note, I made a rather extreme yet expensive purchase. And yes, I am sure I am 7 or 8 years behind fashion-wise!

Yep, Ugg boots! I have had the Primark version *shudders* as well as the slightly better River Island ones. But due to my rather substantial paycheck, I felt I deserved them!

Also, I passed all six of my Uni Christmas exams! So no nasty summer repeats, plus €200 fee. That kinda balanced out the price of the boots.... hmm! They are just The Classic Short version in Chestnut (avaliable here), and I purchased them from Schuh (yay for student discount!). I swear they are the softest boots I have ever worn and so far, they are worth every penny.

What do you think?

Loves H xxx

Marble Manicure

If you follow me on twitter you will be bored by know about my fun yesterday marbling my nails! I'm not gonna tell you how to do it because it can't be explained any better than Andrea's Choice 's video, so check that out.

Here are my marbelised creations...

OPI 'Koala Bear-y' & 'Lincoln Park After Dark' 

MUA Shade 16 & 4

OPI 'Blue My Mind' & 'Green-witch Village'

OPI 'Pink-ing of you' & 'Koala Bear-y'

Models Own 'Gold Rush' & 'Pink Fever'

So, what do you think? :o)

I also thought I would add some lessons I learnt about marbeling, from my own experience:

For God's sake, use tape!

Every tutorial will tell you to use tape around your finger to prevent a hot mess that looks like this:

yeah yeah, it looks nice. But it's a bitch to remove from the skin. So don't!

Prepare to make a mess!

This is the mess I made in my kitchen. Prepare to dig out every polish you own, destroy tupperware, go through a zillion cotton wool pads and stain your mums tea towels!

Not all nail polishes will work...

OPI's were my overall winners with this, however there was a noted exception ('You Don't Know Jacques', I am looking at you!).

Barry M was a total fail, they do not work! Such a shame as I have zillions of Barry M polishes :o(

Models Own were hit and miss, the last nail (above) is models own, however the glitter mostly ran. Instead I tried 'Beths Blue' and 'Cement Mixer', but they just sat on top of the water and wouldn't do anything! (see little floater below! Also, you can see a little failblob on the bottom, courtesy of Barry M!) 

You will be left with pretty cotton wool pads!

When you go to 'grab' the remaining polishes, you will be left with these! I love them :o) They are now in the bin, though.

I am going to do a full marble nail today! Any ideas of what colour combo I should go with?

xxxx

3 Barry M Mini Reviews- Blush, Eyeshadow & Eye Crayon

Barry M is definitely my favourite drugstore brand, I love everything about them; the pigmentation, price points and variety to name but a few. So, this review has been a long time overdue! These three products are ones I use every day, and they are a constant feature in my makeup bag :o)

Trio Eyeshadow- Golden Goddess

 The set comes with an almost matte white (highlight), a gorgeous bronze with shimmer (lid) and a matte deep brown (crease).

As you can see, I have already hit pan on the middle shade there, this is because it is my go-to lazy day all over lid colour. The packaging is nice and sturdy, some dislike the design on the packaging however I think it is cute.

Highly pigmented colours as you can see. This is how I use them...

 Would I repurchase? Yes! I am looking for other shades to add to my collection.
Available here for £5.99 or €8.99.

Blush- Pink Orchid

This blush has taken a good battering in my handbag, hence the missing chunk!

Similar packaging to the eyeshadow, I really like it. It came with a little brush (useless) which I threw away. This blush is the brightest pink in the range, so naturally I was attracted to it! This blush is a matte colour with no shimmer which I like. Again, very pigmented as you can see below, although a little goes a long way. They also contain Vitamin E which is nice.. 

Would I repurchase? Yes, a well pigmented and easy to wear colour, gorgeous!

Available here, £4.59 (not sure of € price).

Shimmering Eye and Lip Crayon- Golden Bronze

This basically is a cream eyeshadow in stick form, however as it not dissimilar from my skintone I think it works wonderfully as a base. I am going to put it out there and admit, this is an INCREDIBLE dupe for MAC Rubanesque Paint Pot, it has the gold and pink shimmer and all. Full post on this is coming soon! This does crease after a long day, however it makes the shades in the Eyeshadow Trio pop. This plus the center shade of the Eyeshadow Trio is my go-to everyday neutral eye. 

Not a wonderful swatch, but you get the general idea.

Available here for £4.59 (still don't know the € equivalent)

Would I repurchase? Yes, I am very impressed by the pigmentation and creamy consistency.

Looks like a 10/10 for Barry M this time!

Have you purchased any of these? What do you think?

Love, H xoxo

In and Out #3

IN
MAC Paint Pot in Rubenesque: Do any of you remember the fuss that I kicked up about the PaintPot that I bought on a whim as part of March's Project monthly MAC? Well, turns out I love it! See, I was of the notion that it was a cream eyeshadow and disappointed that it didn't show up on my eyelid. What it is, in fact is *the* most amazing cream base. It makes colour pop like no other! A cheap dupe is Barry M Eye Crayon in  'Bronze'. It even has the same subtle pink shimmer running through it. However Barry M creases your eyeshadow and MAC does not!

All 200 of You! Thank you all so so much :o) I am already getting super excited to go shopping for some giveaway treats to mark this exciting occasion!

Stuck in Study-mode:  My end of year Uni exams begin on the 28th and stretch right on to May 19th. *sigh* So right now I am study central. I wouldn't mind so much but whenever I have big exams I get seriously stressed. Every time, without fail!

Peter Kay: My brother turns 18 next month (the day I finish my exams, actually!) and to celebrate, my family and I are going to see Peter Kay in Dublin on the 30th March! I am so excited, he is one of my absolute favourite comedians plus a shopping trip in Dublin is on the cards. Yay!

Will n' Kate's big day: I am most excited to see a) what Kate's wedding dress is like and b) what a five month pregnant Victoria Beckham wears! No doubt they will both look amazing :o)

OUT
Losers and Haters: Last night two of my dearest blogger friends (I am not going to name names, I doubt they would want to draw attention to the situation or give the idiot in question any more attention) received some very nasty comments/questions via Formspring. Now come on, did their parents never teach them that if you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say anything at all? I know I speak for many bloggers out there when I say that the Beauty Blogger community has no place whatsoever for 'hater' comments. So 'they' may take their little nastiness elsewhere.

Complete Blog Secrecy: I told my Mum about my blog! I'm so happy because she gets it completely and she is so supportive. I always knew she would be, it was more a case of plucking up the courage to tell her. She keeps thinking of ideas for posts for me too :o). One major thing that she has done is told me that I have to start making YouTube videos. I feel like this is the push I need to get out there and do it! What do you all think? Should I give it a go? :o)

Control of the TV: Football, EVERY SINGLE EVENING. I cannot deal with it! I understand that you would match if United (big Man U supporters in my house, except Dad, he supports City!) were playing. But when, for example Tottehnam are playing Outer Mongolia?! Not so much.

How cute? Courtesy of weheartit.com

Green is the new Pink? - 'Barry M Touch of Magic' Review

I am honestly not the type of girl that buys into novelty products, especially of the make up variety, however after reading up on this product I simply couldn't resist!

I first came across this product online, and I was instantly intrigued. It is not, before you start thinking I'm insane, a "green lipstick". It is a Touch of Magic green lipstick! Basically , according to the Barry M website, this is a waterproof formula with added Aloe Vera. The product, when applied, reacts to your lips' alkali level and will turn a shade between a light pink and deep red.

This is how the product turned out on me...

I really like the shade, a "hot" pink with a glossy finish. I can vouch for the fact that the shades differ remarkably. My mum, for example, results in a deeper berry shade. I must also comment on the gloss finish of this lipstick. It is very light in its application and feels very moisturizing, especially for a product that claims extreme longevity (8 hours?!).

My only small piece of advice? Try before you buy! The resulting shade mightn't be for you.

Product avaliable here.

Happy New Year!

Love H xoxo

FOTD using NARS Orgasm blush

I hauled NARS's cult blush 'Orgasm' in my ASOS Groupon collective haul, and since Mr. Postie delivered it it has been used every day.

                              

♡ 

No7 Intelligent Balance Mousse Foundation 'Tan'

 ♡ Isa Dora Bronzer 'Teracotta Glow' (to contour) 

♡ NARS 'Orgasm' Blush  

♡ MAC PaintPot 'Rubenesque' 

♡

Benefit Eyeshadow in  'Moody' (highlight) and 'Soft Shoulder' (lid)

♡ 

L'Oreal 

Telescopic Mascara 

                    ♡

 Barry M Eyeliner 'Navy Blue'

 

                    ♡

NARS lipstick 'Catfight' 

                    ♡ Barry M Gloss 'Toffee' 

 

Orgasm blusher is described as a 'peachy pink with shimmer', honestly I have nothing quite like this in my collection. Shimmery blushers never appealed to me as I always thought that it would enlarge my pores and look like I had dunked my head in glitter, as is the case with many cheaper blushers. However, this blush is so finely milled that the golden shimmer is subtle yet effective. The application honestly is foolproof. I would say that this is of better quality than any MAC blusher that I have used. I am a NARS convert!

 

Have you tried this?

Do you love it? 

Love H xoxo

Peachy

Unless you have been living in a cave all summer, you will be aware of the huge coral trend that is around lately in clothing, accessories and even cosmetics. Luckily, the peachier hues are readily available and much easier to work with than bright orange (Read: Coral).

Today I thought I would hop on the bandwagon and create a daytime peachy fotd!

MAC Studio Fix Fluid NW35 / MAC MSF Natural 'Medium Dark' / MAC Pro Longwear Concealer NW30 / UD Naked Palette: 'Virgin' (inner corner & highlight), 'Toasted' (lid) & 'Buck' (crease) / Maybelline 'One by One' mascara / NARS Laguna bronzer / NARS 'Gilda' blush / Benefit '10' highlight / Barry M Gloss 'Coral - 11'

A closeup of my eye make up...

Excuse the random silver lash on my left eye, I can only imagine I have a little lash glue stuck there that the eye shadow has attached itself to! I decided to go for a shimmery wash of colour as my blush is matte. I think it looks nice and summery too! 'Toasted' is a neglected shade in my Naked Palette, I really must use it more.

Now for the peachy ingredients...

NARS 'Gilda has been a neglected blush in my collection. When I got it I thought it was a scary colour, far too peach for me! However when it is applied, it gives the prettiest peachy pink flush.

In comparison to Benefits 'Coralista', you can see that it is much pinkier.

Finally, a closeup of the gloss I used - Barry M's 'Coral' (11). I didn't use a lipstick but as my lips are quite pigmented as it is, it came to quite a nice finish.

How have you been incorporating peach into your make-up?

xxxx

In and Out #1 + NOTD

The super-laziest type of blog to post, and not entirely fashion/beauty related, but I am always compelled to read them when I see them on other

people's blogs, so here goes...

IN

Shopping my nail polish stash- Ok so the acrylics are off (yet again), a lot more painlessly this time, I must add! Instead of nurturing my poor paper thin nails like last time, I was far too tempted by my all too neglected nail polishes. I

whacked on Barry M Berry Ice Cream nail paint, a creamy lavender, and instantly felt happier! Next up is Mint Green, why not? Spring is a-coming!

The Obligatory January diet- Cut out the bad food, eat the good. Simple? Not so much. Even if I don't buy the "bad" food, I am surrounded by it. Therefore, temptation is inevitable. :o(

Fashionable trainers!- I am so not the type of girl to wear trainers anywhere excepting a gym, but when I came across these cuties I couldn't resist! I like to wear them with my ripped, faded and wholly lived in River Island Boyfriend Jeans and a plain white vest, or cute T-Shirt. I am not a huge fan of the

trainers-and-skinny-jeans trend but I may be a convert now! They are by K Swiss and they are available at Schuh.

Happy Music- Namely Happiness by Alexis Jordan and Let the Sun Shine by Labyrinth. Definitely worth a listen!

The 70's- Huge trend for SS11, loving the chiffon, ruffles and wide sleeves all in ice cream shades. I just cannot wait to buy my very first pair of high waisted jeans! :o)

OUT

Milky Tea- Namely, because to me, milky tea = biscuits. In turn this = Diet Disaster! So, I have started drinking herbal tea. Twinings Fresh and Fruity variety is my favourite, especially the Blackcurrant, Ginseng and Vanilla and Raspberry, Strawberry and Loganberry. I am also planning to try the soothing Cammomile based teas too!

The first half of my degree- This means that I have a mere 18 months left in Uni before I'm left out in the big bad world. It's a really really scary feeling right now.

The "Preppy" look- I can't help noticing the big trend at the moment of baseball jackets, rugby shirt-type tops and American baseball type tops. I'm not atall sure of where the inspiration for this trend has come from (Glee?), but I really don't think it does the classic preppy look justice. Not for me thanks, I will be sticking to my Hilfiger polo shirt and skinny jeans, thank you very much!

Be sure to comment below or tweet me a link to your IN and Out's, I'd love to read them!

Tweet me @hannahbanana661

Love H xoxo

Acrylic Nails: Are They Worth It?

I ADORE nail varnish. For as long as I can remember I've been stealing my Mum's nail polish and definitely for the past few years I have ALWAYS worn nail varnish of some sort. My preferred brand is Barry M as their colours are always on trend and very inexpensive.
However for a recent wedding I made the decision to treat myself to a set of Acrylic nails. My friends all prefer Gel nails as apparently they're not as bad for your nails. However I figured that your nail being completely covered for 3 weeks plus was not going to be good for them regardless. So, swayed by the promise that they'd last longer than Gel I chose Acrylic.
I found the process not so much painful as aggravating, like the feeling your teeth get when nails are scratched down a blackboard. My nails were buffed to oblivion before the tip was applied, cut down then the acrylic solution was applied.

The manicurist even applied a real dried flower to two nails and I was delighted with the results. A the time of application, I was told the nails would last 3 and a half weeks, as a full set if I was lucky.

However 3 weeks came and went, as did 4 and 5 until my baby fingernail started lifting from the base. I got worried that it would rip off so i put a plaster around it to hold it in until it grew off itself. Well, that was my intention! I took the plaster off to show my friend one day and forgot to replace it. Several hours later I was in my college library and I swung my handbag over my shoulder and caught the nail and it 3/4 ripped off. I just saw blood and the fact that there was a huge rip out of the nail and freaked! I actually didn't look at it properly i just put it back best i could and walked home and replaced the plaster. The next day, though my friend told me the way I had left it meant it was very prone to infection with an open wound so I had to brave it as she cut away at the acrylic nail. Eeeeekk!!!!

Anyway, the exact same thing happened with the other baby nail and eventually the rest of the nails became slightly loose so I figured it was time to remove them. I searched the

net and found the best advice at http://www.ehow.com/how_2003351_remove-acrylic-nails.html. I completed the process to find my original nails, previously long an

d strong, in a state in which I have never found them before. (See before and after above!) :(

I have started using Sally Hansen Hard As Nails polish to help strengthen them and after a week and 2 applications I have noticed a slight difference. However I'm too scared to paint them incase it stains them in the exposed part of the nail bed. My nails look disgusting in the picture all yellowed, ew :(.

I gave myself a Mini Manicure now as my nails have thickened (more or less) using this product as a base .

I'm very happy with the results now and 3 weeks later they're almost back to normal :o)

Any similar experiences?

Thanks for reading :o)

Hannah xxxxx