Nails of the week - Barry M gold foil

As regular readers can probably tell, I am loving nail effects polishes at the moment. They are such a nice on regular nail polish. The nail foils effect from Barry M have been available for a few months now, and this is actually my sisters, but I had to give it a try.

It is available in both gold and silver shades, but the gold is my favourite. It was quite difficult to picture   but I think my pictures have got the shade almost exactly. It is not a yellow gold, which I think makes it really complimentary to my skin tone. The effect is very striking, not really much like foil in my opinion but I have many compliments on it none-the-less. 

Two coats were needed for an opaque finish, my only complaint is that the finish is streaky however you try to apply. I can only assume this is the formulation. Other than that I am loving it, and I think this is a great colour and effect for the party season coming up.

How are you liking the gold nails?

Competition winner update!

Unfortunately, one of my competition winners didn’t get back to me and since it has been about 3 weeks since the winners were announced I decided it was time to choose another.

The prize unclaimed was the Sleek collection, so I decided to select another winner so without further ado…… the winner is…….

GFC follower: Neha. 

Prize Entry: Sleek nude collection.

Tip: For those who suffer from enlarged pores when washing your face morning/night, splash/dab the affected areas with cold water. Then as part of your normal routine your toner will help minimise the appearance of pores (Bellapierre's toner is the best one I've ever tried - and I've tried plenty!).

Congratulations!! Please contact me asap so I can send you your prize!

Quick review: Rimmel ScandalEyes mascara

Scandaleyes is the newest offering from Rimmel London and the first of their mascaras that I have tried. I like the packaging, and the shape and size of the brush is a plus point in my opinion, but that is where the positives end for me unfortunately.

I have found in the past it takes me a few uses of a mascara before I like it, but this has consistently given  a poor performance for me.

The mascara claims:

The brush picks up a lot of mascara but this does mean that you have to be careful applying your coats as your lashes can end up transferring mascara on to the rest of your eye area.

It does clump, even with one coat, and your lashes end up so sticky with mascara that it is hard to brush them through, which I have never had to do anyway with other mascaras anyway.

Definitely not one I would recommend picking up. I’m consoled by the fact that I picked it up with a 3 for 2 and this was the freebie! Considering I have never been too hard to please when it comes to mascara, I am surprised how much I dislike this, let me know what your worst mascara is, so I know what to avoid!

Magnetic nail polish - Nails Inc and Fashionista

As soon as I saw magnetic polish in the blog world I knew I would want and love them. Not only is the look amazing, but the science aspect of using a magnet really appeals to my geeky side.

I brought myself the Nails Inc magnetic polish collection from QVC and two polishes from the Fashionista range to I could do a bit of a comparison.

Currently Nails Inc have three colours available, Trafalgar Square (silver), House of Parliament (purple) and Big Ben (gold). The set came with one magnet, which attaches on top of the silver bottle for storage. 

Fashionista have five colours available (all linked to one of The Saturdays ladies), purple, silver, blue, red and green. The magnet is exactly the same as for OPI and fits on top of the bottle also, which you buy seperately.

Both sets of polish have a thin consistency, which is easy to apply. Each coat dries extremely quickly, which I love as I did find myself impatient to start using the magnet.

You initially apply a thin base coat of the polish, allow it to dry and then apply a thicker coat. You then immediately hover the magnet over the nail for 5-10 seconds to reveal the design. I personally didn’t have any issues holding the magnet, you don’t need to hold it very close the ledge on the magnet top provides really good support at the top of the nail to hold the magnet over, although this is not as easy if you want to get a vertical wave. 

I found the longer I held the magnet, the more pronounced the wave, which I didn’t particularly like the look of, but it seems to spread out or become more subtle as you leave it to dry.

The red and green Fashionista polishes (mum requested an accent nail for her manicure, which I think is a really nice way to include the effect and has given me some inspiration for a some upcoming looks!)

I love the finished look and all of the colours are amazing, but the red and the gold are my favourites. You can in fact place any of the colours on top of one another, or a completely different polish, and still get the magnetised look with a different base colour also coming through.

My big negative with these polishes, is that they chip massively within the first 24-48 hours. I have tried different base and top coats and the results are always the same. This is partly the reason why this review is so late and why in the end I resorted to painting a nail each with colour and photographing my nails immediately. It must be the formulation of the polish, but I haven’t read anyone else having problems with this. I find it really frustrating since I like to wear my polish for up to a week, and that is out of the question for me with these.

Do let me know what your impressions of these polishes are, and if you have a solution to the chipping issue I would love to know!

Guest post - Meryl on bridal makeup

This is the first of what I hope will be a regular series of guest posts. The first is from a friend of mine, Meryl who got married last year and shares her bridal makeup tips and experience. I am trying to encourage to come back to blogging, but for now you can find her on twitter here.

So without further ado, I’ll pass you onto Meryl…….

Aside from the endless amount of things a bride has to think about before her big day, one of the things that had my head spinning was makeup.  Now, I'm not your most artistic or technical girl when it comes to makeup application, heck I only recently figured out how to put false eyelashes on!   I wanted the natural look, but even for me achieving that was a tall order!  I had to decide whether I was going to do my own makeup or have a makeup artist do it on my wedding day. Knowing what my skills were like I decided to go with a professional.

Let me tell you though, that wasn't necessarily the easy option. Three trials later with three different artists I finally found my one! This was after the hullabaloo of going home after trials thinking maybe I should just do it myself, but again it resulted in-even I can’t get it right.  I wanted to look like me, but with a twist. I left one trial with a rash over my eyelid, she assured me she’d cleaned her brushes but a shadow of doubt crossed my mind and she bloody well poked me in the eye.  Not good.  The second, I honestly looked like a drag queen, end of.  Thirdly, I simply couldn't digest the revolving comment of 'this bright purple eye shadow will look amazing' No, not on me it doesn’t.

Along the way I picked up a few do’s and don’ts of bridal makeup, but some aspects may be considered for any other special event.

Do: Have a trial if you decide to have someone else do your makeup. I wouldn’t want anyone else developing a rash or get poked in the eye on their big day! If you are doing your own makeup, pop along to a beauty counter such as Bobbi Brown or Laura Mercier who will help you with colours and application. Try to avoid weekends when they’re busy and haven’t got much time to talk to you.

Do: Consider the season and your colour scheme.

Makeup can be heavier and colours deeper during winter months and if mainly indoors with dim light. Weddings held outdoors with bright sunshine will require a much softer look.  Think about makeup colours complimenting your colour scheme, some colours- unlike you and your future husband are just not meant to be.

Do: Carry a touch up kit on the day. Blotting paper, tissues, cotton buds, face powder and lipstick/gloss.

Do: Take care of your skin. Facials, eating well and drinking water.  These combine to create your skin’s foundation, rather than the one you spread on your face.

Don’t: Have a treatment e.g. facial, chemical peel, wax etc the day before. Yes, you’ve been doing this religiously and you’re mates with the beauty therapist, but you can’t predict a freak circumstance that may affect your skin. You won’t have enough recovery time.

Don’t: Try a completely new makeup look which just isn’t you. The Duchess of Cambridge can vouch for this.

If you can’t recognise yourself,  how the ruddy hell is your partner going to?  You don’t want them assuming they’re at the wrong wedding now.  (Flashbacks of the drag queen look-urgh)

Main products I used:

Estee Lauder Nutritious foundation

MAC studio finish concealer

Bobbi Brown eyeshadow, moisture lipstick and Shimmerbrick for cheeks and eyes

MaxFactor Masterpiece mascara

Laura Mercier finishing powder

The Body Shop blotting tissues throughout the day.

Whether you decide to do your own makeup or choose a makeup artist for your big day, just remember you want to look and feel happy and comfortable within yourself. Finally, smile!

Thank you so much Meryl I loved this post, not only is it beautifully written but such great advice too. If anyone would like to take part in the guest blogger series just drop me a email or a tweet and let me know what topic you would like to write about. Finally don’t forget to check Meryl out on twitter. 

VIVO “eyes of gold"

At the TOWIB event back in October we were given a bag of VIVO goodies based on three looks they demonstrated, and invited to recreate the look for a chance to win a prize!

I chose the ‘eyes of gold’ look. The goodie bag included, two eyeshadows in the shades “goddess” and “rich chocolate”, an eyeliner and mascara, and my favourite of all, a baked bronzer in the shade “sun kiss".

This was my interpretation of the look. 

 Can you see why I love the blusher? It gives such a beautiful colour on the cheeks and it works really well with my skin tone. I have taken to using this every day, particularly now it has got a lot colder, it adds a bit of warmth and I have been given compliments as to how natural it looks when I just wear foundation, the bronzer and mascara. The colour is very buildable though, which I understand is the case for all baked products (?), this is my first so I don’t know, but I am very impressed.

On the eyes I used the two eyeshadows with no base, both colours are very pigmented and have a lovely smooth texture making them really easy to apply and blend. I applied the gold shade all over the lid and worked the matte brown into the crease. I then smudged in eyeliner and added mascara. I kept my lips natural and just applied some balm for a bit of shine.

Goddess and rich chocolate eyeshadows, sunkiss bronzer

I really like the look and this is something I would wear day or night. I am really impressed with the quality of the products, the other goodie bag contained a nice looking blush/highlight duo and a liquid highlighter, which I would love to try out. 

Vivo can be found at larger Tesco stores if I remember correctly and I think most of the products don’t go for more than £6, but don’t quote me on that! 

I did not get shortlisted in the competition, but my gorgeous friend Yenni did! It is very tight between her and another contestant so please go and check out the Facebook page and give her your vote! 

A-Z of me

I saw this post on Eyelining Obsessions blog and thought it was a really good idea for getting to know some random information about the person behind the blog. So here goes…

A - Age – 27 and deep into my quarter life crisis, I don’t feel my age but I am well aware that 30 isn’t far.

B - Best holiday – Marrakech, it was the most perfect 10 days, beautiful city, good food, culture, if I ever moved away for a simple life, Morocco would be my destination.

C - Chores you hate – cleaning the bathroom.

D - Dogs – I’ve never had one, but when I get my own home I would like to get a pomeranian. 

E - Essential start to your day – sadly, the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is check emails.

F - Favourite colour – purple and all it’s shades

G - Gold or silver – I wear a lot more silver than I do gold , mostly because the cheap jewellery I buy looks better in
silver

H - Height – I’m 5:6, I think maybe 5:7

I - Instruments you play – I played the piano for a few years

J - Job title – Editorial assistant 

K - Kids – none, I always thought I would be expecting child number two at my age though :-s

L - Live – Greater London

M - Mother's name – Mum

N - Nickname – most family and close friends call me aysh, as a child I was called ayshe bear as my favourite book was Goldielocks and the three bears  

O - Overnight hospital stays – never

P - Pet Peeves – mostly train/tube related and peoples general attitudes, we all want to get to work, we all want a seat and none of us want to be cramped together, huffing, puffing being a pain doesn’t make it any more pleasant 

Q - Quote from a film – nothing springs to mind, except something from Futurama :-s “when you do things right, people won’t be sure you’ve done anything at all” 

R - Right or left handed – right

S - Siblings – one younger sister

T - Time you wake up – 7 am during the week

U - Underwear – what about it?

V - Vegetable you hate – I agree with Claire on this one - Not technically a vegetable but I cannot and will not eat mushrooms

W - What makes you run late – the fact that I wake up at 7 but don’t actually start getting ready until about 15 minutes before I should be leaving to catch my train

X - X-rays you've had – only for my teeth

Y - Yummy food you make – I used to make a mean tortilla pie and I really enjoy baking cakes, chocolate orange cupcakes with chocolate icing were my favourite, but I get the most requests for my apple cake

Z - Zoo animal – tough one, last time I went to London zoo, I loved the interactive monkey section, I don’t remember the type but they were quite small and climbing around all over the place. I like penguins too.

Please share your links below if you decide to do this.  

Rimmel - crystal mauve and Kate Moss 03

I have picked up two Rimmel lipsticks recently, shade 03 from the Kate Moss collection and crystal mauve from the moisture renew line.

Shade 03 was the only lipstick of the collection, which I thought would suit me and that I would actually wear. It is a little darker than the “nude delight,” which I have swatched and reviewed previously. For my skin tone I think this is a better nude colour for everyday wear, as I have noticed that nude delight, depending upon the rest of my makeup, can look too pale. The formulation of this lipstick actually feels more moisturising that the moisture renew range.

Crystal mauve is a subtle pinkish-purple, it translates more pink on the lips than I expected. It has a high shine but it isn’t too shimmery, even though the bullet appears as though it may be. The colour is very buildable, which makes this great for day or night wear. I would like to find a more purple toned lipstick but for now this great for a pop of colour without feeling too conscious of the shade.

I own three Rimmel lipsticks now and so far I am really impressed with all three, the colours are buildable, they are moisturising and as an added bonus I purchased them all with some sort of promotional deal making them great value for money.

And the winners are…...

My apologies to anyone who has been waiting for this post. It was far harder than I thought to pick the winners of my competition. I know it will sound like a cliche but I really do wish everyone could be a winner, there were so many great tips and a lot I hadn’t heard before.

Anyway, without any further ado………

The winner of the Sleek Nude collection is:

MissLyndseyJA 

Fact: In renaissance Italy women created the ultimate red lip and cheek tint by mixing cochineal sandalwood or cinnabar with wax or grease. The application process was complex, but the red colour lasted for over a week. (wish mine lasted even a full day) 

and the winner of the OPI Nails kit is:

Pandora’s Box

Prize entry: OPI pirates of the Caribbean mini collection, nail envy and cuticle oil (wow!) 

Fact: I love using organic coconut oil as an eye makeup remover every night. Not only does it remove the most stubborn of eye makeups( even waterproof) but also leaves my lashes conditioned and strong. Use a teeny amount on a cotton ball and swipe it on your eyes and repeat with a clean cotton ball. Does not leave me with oily eyelids and is so much cheaper than chemical laden expensive eye makeup removers. Also as a naturally curly haired girl, I can swear frizz free hair if u apply coconut oil (again just a dab) after shower on wet hair instead of a serum. Leaves hair strong, frizz free and coconut is the only hair that actually penetrates the hair itself (not just scalp) so the hair actually absorbs this oil. It also leaves a yummy tropical scent to boot.

I forgot to request the entrants emails so please give me an email (discoveringbeautytoday@gmail.com) with your address and I will get the prizes to you as soon as possible. 

Birthday indulgences - Boots, Superdrug and QVC haul!

I already mentioned that the end of last month was my Birthday. In the weeks leading up to it, I went overboard in indulging myself, with the excuse…it’s my birthday.

On the plus side for my blog and my readers it means I have lots of new products to share and review!

It all started with some special value offers from QVC, one of which was the Magnetic Nails Inc collection, which included all three polish colours available, the magnet and their Caviar top coat all for £23 including postage!

After the TOWIB event I was really keen to check out more of what Fashionista had to offer and headed to Superdrug’s Marble Arch store. The selection of eyeshadows was overwhelming and I took advantage of the 4 eyeshadows and a palette offer, twice!

At the time of my visit, I was travelling to a work event and had packed everything except mascara, so based on the store assistants' recommendation I went for the newest Rimmel offering (Scandaleyes) and also picked up two lipsticks to qualify for the 3 for 2. Having always ignored the MUA counter, I decided to try out one of their blushers and finally found the rose-gold blush from Sleek

As if that wasn’t enough, I was lured by Boots 3 for 2. I had wanted to try Nanoblur after reading so many blog posts about it, so my sister and I picked one up each. I wanted to pick up something of equal value to make the most of the 3 for 2 so I repurchased the No 7 protect and perfect serum, this is probably my fourth or fifth tube, although I don’t use it continuously I always notice positive effects when I have been using it.

I also spied a ‘Flo’, a travel-sized perfume container similar to the Travelo. What swayed me into purchasing this one is that the box claims that you can pull apart and wash all the components, allowing you to change the perfume inside rather than have to stick to the same one, which is what put me off the Travelo. I am using this at the moment so I will update you if that is actually true soon!

Of course after purchasing all that I ended up with a £5 No7 voucher, which I spent immediately by purchasing their newest mascara. With each mascara purchase you also received an eyeshadow palette. Bonus!

Finally, I was spoilt with some Benefit goodies from my sister, thank you sis!!  Two of these products had been on my wish list for a while, so it was lovely to be presented with the bag and find these inside.

I received the new ’They’re Real’ Mascara, Bella Bamba blush and Cha Cha tint. I have used two of these so far and will do a full review shortly.

In terms of makeup, there really is no need for me to purchase any more any time soon so I am thinking of putting myself on a spending ban or another project 10 pan just to control myself. I’m sure I’m not the only person who spoils themselves around their birthday? Please tell me I’m not!!