fashion inspiration on tumblr: sheer

OPI Berlin there done that.

From OPI's Germnay collection I bring you "Berlin there done that" (haven't they always just got the best names!!) The colour is hard to describe (and hard to photograph) but I will give it my best shot, a browny greige with lavender undertones. For me this is the perfect A/W colour and I'm sure it will grace my nails a hell of a lot. As usual I found the formulation lovely and overall I am very impressed.

have you tried any of the Germany collection? what's your fave OPI nail varnish?

Meg x

Sugarhill boutique's foxy combo dress.

Recently I was lucky enough to win a facebook competition that sugarhill boutique were holding. I had to tag  myself on a photo to represent my favourite collection out of 'foxy' or 'vegas', I chose 'foxy' and as that was the overall most popular collection I got randomly picked to pick an item of my choice! I chose the foxy combo dress, I couldn't resist the quirky twist that the fox print and cut out neckline complete with collar added to a classical dress shape.

The dress arrived fairly swiftly and unfortunately that is when I started to get problems. The sizing of this dress seems to come up quite small, I usually hit the size 12/14 mark in typical high street shops depending on what I am buying and the style (big bazoomas are troublesome when it comes to doing top buttons up!) however this dress which the website dubs a size 16 or XL was fairly tight on me. There was also a part of the zip that kept snagging. However once I got it on all was forgotten as I thought it was such a lovely dress.

I wore it very happily all day, It took from drinks and dancing during the day at a beer and cider festival to evening drinks in the pub (sounding like an alcoholic!) During the course of the evening I noticed that the neckline had gone a bit skew whiff, as I moved it back into place rrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiip, the seam along the zip gave up and left me with a lovely looking hole. I spent the rest of the very warm night with a borrowed jacket on to cover my shame.

Now I do realise that I sound very ungrateful but I assure that's not the case. I am very happy I won and feel it is an extremely generous prize. However I just think that for £55 people should be aware before they buy of the kind of problems I have had with this dress. It is a lovely dress and very well designed but it is let down in the manufacturing front.

I have contacted sugarhill boutique about the possibilty of a replacement as faulty seams usually do qualify. Hopefully this dress is just a fluke.

meg x

MUA its all about the eyes

surprisingly this has been my first foray into MUA's cosmetics, I can tell you now it wont be my last! 

After hearing here there and everywhere that their undressed palette is a dupe of that urban decay palette and was a fraction on the price I couldn't resist! 

Unfortunately they didn't have the undressed palette in my local Superdrug ( though they did have a tempting variety of others!) so I hopped on the lappy and saw that MUA were currently selling it for £3 from their online store, result! I also picked up a liquid eye liner and pencil just cause I couldn't resist.

The eye shadow palette- £3

this is gorgeous! such a lovely range of shades and finishes, that all feel buttery and of amazing quality and pigmentation for just £3! .These shadows will easily take you from day to night and come encased in nice, sleek looking packaging that definitely does not allude to the price. ( sorry I haven't got any swatche sbut it really wasn't happening for me today)

The eyebrow pencil- £1

I am really impressed with this pencil, it is not to soft nor to hard and I find it very easy to get the right feathery strokes I use for my eye brows. It is also the perfect colour match for me and comes with a handy little brush on the end to keep your brows groomed :) however they do only have 2 shades so it might be difficult for some people to get a perfect colour match.

The eyeliner- £1

I would say this is the least impressive out of my purchases, but still good value! it has quite a watery formulation that makes it hard to get an even line, but for just a quid it's not too much trouble to do some extra applications, when this is done the result is a very black line. Do no think I would buy this again however.

Meg x

Revlon just bitten kissable balm stain vs Clinique chubby stick

I picked up this Revlon balm stain in superdrug for £5.99, a whole £10 cheaper than it's Clinique counter part, the Chubby stick ( review here), but what is the difference?

The packaging for both these products is pretty much identical, they both resemble a fat crayon reminiscent of our childhood years, with a screwable bottom ( lol, rude! didn't know how else to put it) in order to dispense more product. The only difference really is that clinique has a silver lid and also comes in a box.

The big difference for me is in the formulation of the products, with my Clinique chubby stick I am happy to swipe it on without a mirror much like I would a lip balm, and get a nice wash of colour plus super smooth lips. With my Revlon balm I prefer using a mirror for precision as I seem to get a lot more colour pay off, and quite a matte finish. Definitely leaning towards more of a lipstick type formulation than a balm. This does mean that for me the Revlon leaves a better stain, but I do have a lighter shade of chubby stick which will be a factor in the difference. I can also use my chubby stick a lot more, such as when i'm out and about, without having to go on a hunt for a mirror.  I guess it ultimately just depends on whether you favour moisture or colour pay off! Another thing that slightly bothers me about the revlon product is it has quite a strong smell (kinda minty)

I am very impressed with the Revlon Just bitten kissable balm stain (what a mouthfull!) and for £10 cheaper I don't really mind about the extra slick of lipbalm needed. though ideally I just want to merge these 2 products together!

have you tried either of these products? what do you think?

Meg x

Tangy + gramercy glitz nails

No 7 stay perfect in 'tangy' & NYC  in 'Gramercy glitz'

both lovely colours and formulas, I think NYC is such good value!!

Meg x

Batiste dry shampoo gold shimmer review.

batiste's dry shampoo's have been a go-to favourite of many for a long time. Now i'll be honest that dry shampoos have never really been essential to me (unless at a festival!), I have had a lee stafford dry shampoo (which unfortunately I am a bit disappointed with)  for a while now and never really bothered too much with it. However, as I popped into boots the other day I saw this bottle of batiste dry shampoo in gold shimmer on sale for £2, the packaging was gorgeous and retro looking, I couldn't resist and it was soon nestled in my shopping bag.

when I got round to trying it out, on my needing-a-wash hair, I was a little apprehensive of the 'gold shimmer'.  In my mind I was seeing myself as a young girl dousing my hair in glitter spray so that I resembled some kind of christmas tree decoration. Nevertheless I went ahead and hoped for the best.  My first reaction was yes, my greasy roots are gone. My hair also had a nice voluptuousness and oomph. I then put my nose to the mirror and searched for those gold flakes of glitter, alas I saw very few a breathed a sigh of relief, batiste's use of the word 'subtle' was correct.  

I sprayed my arm to try and show you the glitter, the particles really are tiny and I think a lot of them fall out with the brushing and styling of your hair. I made a little discovery during this and as I brushed all the residue off my arm I was left with a nice gold shimmer that I reckon would look lush with a tan for a night out or even a day trip!

have you tried this product before? what do you think?

Meg x

Jessie J

yesterday I was lucky enough to be able to go see Jessie J at Newmarket, she put on an amazing show and usual looked effortlessly cool in a dress from sass and bide paired with gold trainers. I took some photos and videos so here they are....

Discounted Clarisonic Mia

 The clarisonic Mia has definitely been doing the blogging rounds, and with everyone I have read waxing lyrical about it. People definitely say it is worth the price but if that is still a bit steep for you then Buyapowa currently have the Clarisonic Mia in a deal, basically, the more people who want it the more the price will drop, you could get it for £90. 

is this the little price drop you have been waiting for to justify buying the clarisonic? do you believe the hype?

Meg x

August glossy box: international superstars

I will first mention that I loved the the timing of this box, actually in the middle of the month rather than towards the end! I was also pleasantly surprised when I opened it to find decent sized products, definitely an improvement, but what about the products themselves....

Allessandro pro white nail varnish

I have never come across a nail varnish designed to counteract the yellow-ness that over worked nails get, I am terrible with my nails so am very much forward to trying this out.

DHC deep cleansing oil

now I am a combination skin girl and in the warmer weather definitely lean more towards oily. So I was a bit weary of using and oil on my skin when my life is spent trying to reduce shine and greasiness. I didn't use much and when I patted my face dry I loved the results, there was no greasy film over my face, my skin just felt clean, I think I will enjoy using this.

Broadway nails im-PRESS manicure

I have always been intrigued by these but since I have quite long nails anyway I never saw the need to buy them, however now I have them I am excited to try out different nail art that would be too fiddly to try myself on my own nails, I'm already thinking of lots of ideas!

Vera Valenti eye shadow palette

when I first saw this I was a bit thrown off by the colours but nevertheless thought there would be a use for them. However when swatched the pigmentation was abysmal, he only colour actually showing up to a decent standard being the darkest brown. The packaging also looks cheap and nasty and I am really not very impressed with this product and do not see myself using it a lot if at all.

Lipcote

I have used lipcote before, it has a very strong smell and quite tingly at first application and also seems very drying on the lips when you have it on. However, it is literally the most fool proof way of keeping your lipstick put allll day and night. I remember years ago watching a programe, ( kind of like early snog marry avoid) and all these women were hosed down extremely forcefully to get rid of all their make up. They all appear looking barefaced and soaked apart from one girl who hasn't got a shred of make up on save for her smashing bright red lip, she thanked lipcote.

Glossybox lipstick in glossy pink

after what I thought was a sorry excuse for a brush appearing in my glossybox one month I did not have high hopes for this lipstick, however when swatched it seems richly pigmented and had a very creamy texture. I look forward to trying out this lipstick ( maybe with my new lipcote too!) too see how I feel about the colour on me.

Overall I am quite happy with this months glossy box, and I am excited too see what they bring to us next month.

do you subscribe to glossy box? what did you think of this months box?

Meg x

The Hunger Games trilogy.

I have always loved books, ever since I was a child I always had my nose in something, and had a very high reading level for my age. I just loved being able to get lost in another world. However, I was pretty late onto The Hunger Games bandwagon, I have always preferred getting books from the library as opposed to buying them, as they were so popular there were near impossible to get. When my friend finished the trilogy that she had bought she kindly lent the first one to me.

I was hooked, I finished the first book in about a day ( I am a really fast reader) and waited impatiently to pick up the next ones. When I got them they were read with equal gusto.  I don't normally read this kind of genre of books, in the library I tend to gravitate towards the rom coms or drama-type things, never really any futuristic ( aside from a trilogy I read, th ebooks names, "prettys", "uglies" and "specials". i actually really enjoye dthem so don't know why I did not read mor eof the genre) or combat style writing. However I loved these books, it may because I had been in a bit of a reading rut and was just feeling uninspired, but I really didn't want to stop reading them! I would reccomend these books if you are stuck in a genre rut, as they seem kind of transitionary, not too focused on one thing, bit of a love story , futuristic, combat. Overall I really enjoyed this trilogy

have you read these books? what do you think of them?

Meg x

Tanning series: St. Tropez gradual tanning moisturiser

I got this 75ml gradual tanning moisturiser free with a magazine, (available to buy here). I think it is very generous as St. Tropez is such a well known and loved brand. I often prefer using tanning moisturisers as I am quite pale so like to ease myself into a tan rather than just one day waking up looking like I have spent a month in india. My usual regulars are johnsons holiday skin or dove, a lot cheaper than the  £14 you would pay for this full sized. This applies lovely, it is quite thick but I found it sank in lovely with no leftover residue. This left my skin feeling gorgeous, and when the tan developed it was a very subtle golden bronze colour, perfect! I could this being the perfect tan to build up on with repeat applications and I will definitely be using it all up.

Meg x

No 7 eye shadow starry lights

"starry lights" is a lovely champagne colour with a subtle golden shimmer and a finely milled soft texture. I use this as both an eye shadow or an eye shadow base depending on the look I am going for and also sweep some under my eyebrows as a high light (I love a multi-functional product!) I also love the cute sleek black pacaaging it comes in lovely and dainty whilst also seeming robust. I think these shadows are available in the bonus bag when you buy a certain amount or kind of No 7 products ( I am not entirely sure when as I receive d this as a present and I think it had been waiting for me a while). I've also got a lovely blue one which I am looking forward to trying out.

are you a fan of No 7?

Meg x