Models Own Tropical Sun

This is a pretty polish, but a bit of a let down after Indian Ocean. Tropical Sun is another new Beetlejuice polish from Models Own, a bright shimmering peachy coral colour with golden undertones.




While it's a pretty polish and definitely a nice colour for summer it isn't anything special, in fact it's an almost exact dupe for another Models Own polish, Golden Peach maybe - I foolishly didn't check the name properly when I noticed in Boots. The polishes are so similar in the bottle that I very nearly picked up the wrong one to buy, the small difference seems to be that Tropical Sun has the odd little silver glitter particle through it.




If you're after a golden peach nail polish which is a pretty and wearable summer shade then it's definitely worth the £5 price tag but if you're after an original, duochrome polish this one probably isn't for you.




It does has a nice glow about it and golden shimmer in some lights but it's not a patch on the colour shifting gorgeousness that Indian Ocean is.

Models Own Indian Ocean

Some on the nail swatches of Indian Ocean (over 2 coats of Kiko 339).

I love this polish, it has a very 80s feel to me for some reason but definitely in a good way. I'm not generally a fan of frost finishes, which I would say this is, but over all I adore it as the colour and the duochrome shift is so pretty.

And a few more slightly less crisp ones which show some of the colours, specifically the pink, better:

The pink pulls a lot stronger than I expected from looking at the bottle, although that may be due to wearing it over another colour. In most lights it's flashy, shimmery pink but there are also hints of a goldy tone through it and when not in direct sunlight it's a gorgeous shimmering baby blue.

I can't wait to try it over a darker base colour.

Revlon Lip Butters - Part 2

After trying out some of these last week I was rather hooked. so when Boots started their 3 for 2 promotion on cosmetics I decided I would grab the other ones I fancied trying while they were a bargain, any excuse!

The three I chose were Strawberry Shortcake, Creme Brulee & Sweet Tart:





Strawberry Shortcake is a lovely bright, Barbie-esq sheer pink, creme Brulee is a beigey nude and Sweet Tart is an almost neon leaning pink, but also nice and sheer so not too in your face unless you apply several coats.



Swatches of the three new additions colours on my hand.



I'm now going to try and stop myself from buying he rest of the range as I really do love these but surely 7 of my favourite colours are enough for anyone!? For now at least.

Models Own Beetlejuice Summer Edition

Models Own released three new Beetlejuice polishes for summer recently, Copper Pot, Tropical Sun and Indian Ocean.



I chose two, Tropical Sun, a warm shimmery peach shade, and Indian Ocean an iridescent blue with pinky lilac shimmers through it.





Both colours look gorgeous and definitely have the duochrome, colour shifting look that the previous Beetlejuice polishes have:





They are both very sheer so I think some layering might be in order, I can't wait to try them out though!

Gypsy Night

This is last weeks purchase of Gypsy Night from Topshop.

It's horribly hard to photograph and much prettier in person. Gypsy Night is a black jelly shot through with green/orange flakies and holo glitter. It shows up an almost brown shade on the nail rather than true black.



In the sun you can see some of it's glittery goodness and a bit of the flakie's colour shift but it's a polish which really needs to be seen in person to be fully appreciated.







Blurred you can see the holo glitter peeking out:


Overall I am very impressed the polish had good application, covered well and seems to be lasting rather well too, although there's a touch of tip wear as you can see in some of the photos which were taken the day after application.

After this initial purchase from the Topshop range I will definitely be trying out a few more of their colours in the future.

Topshop Make Up

I've read various things about Topshop make up online so I thought I would try a couple of bits out for myself, I chose two items a cream blusher and a nail varnish.



The blusher is in a shade called Head Over Heels:



Unlike my dodgy photos it's actually a warm peachy coral shade, a lot more subtle than the neon photos I've somehow managed to take suggest.





I'm looking forward to trying it out as I am developing a bit of an obsession with cream blushes at the moment, hopefully this one will be a nice addition to my collection.

The nail varnish was one I'd seen a few swatches of online, Gypsy Night, it's a black jelly with various different colours and sized of glitter through it, it looks lovely in the bottle so I'm hoping it'll translate onto the nail just as well.

Hed Kandi & Models Own

Models Own are clearly trying to bankrupt me, look at the new collection they are bringing out in conjunction with Hed Kandi, 5 Ibiza inspired polishes:

Balearic Cool, Hedonist, Beach Party, Disco Heaven, Ibiza Mix



Look at the glitters!! Disco Heaven, Ibiza Mix



These will apparently be on sale from the end of March on the Models Own website and are due in Boots stores some time in April, £5 each.

Do Me A Flavour & Stickers

Some quick stickers to brighten up another day of the same polish:







I'm not overly keen on this look, I think I preferred the polish on it's own, the stickers make it look a bit cheap unfortunately, I think they'd be better over a lighter colour.

Layton Denny - Do Me A Flavour

I love this orangey coral colour, it feels perfect for spring:

Revlon Lip Butters

What Revlon says:

Buttery balm with beautiful shiny color to give you baby soft, healthy glowing lips 94% of women felt lips were softer, smoother, and instantly hydrated.

There has been a lot of talk about these online of late so when they launched on the Boots website in the UK I decided not to hold off and ordered a few, 4 to be precise. Revlon had a 2 for £10 deal which was too good to pass up. Here are the online swatches of the colours I chose:

Candy Apple, Tutti Fruity, Lollipop, Raspberry Pie


And here are my swatches:





The lip butters come in very cute, colourful and sturdy packaging. They look very similar to Revlon's lipsticks and each tube is coloured to match the product inside.



The names are displayed on the bottom, and the top of the package is clear to let you peek in and see the actual colour of the lip butter inside.





I really like the packaging, it feels like a quality product, looks good and makes it very easy to tell which tube is which colour wise which isn't always the case with multiple lipsticks from the same range.

The product inside is equally impressive, the lip butters are fairly highly pigmented but in a lovely sheer way, so while they give you a nice touch of colour to your lips they don't look too heavy and are definitely more of a tinted balm than a traditional lipstick.



Overall, I am really impressed so far, while I won't be giving up my regular lip balm totally, these are a much better alternative to lipstick for me as I prefer a lighter more sheer hint of colour than the opaque effect that lipstick gives. They seem to last pretty well, a good couple of hours. They probably wouldn't be ideal used alone on very dry lips as the colour does tend to pool on drier parts of the lip if you have any but over a little bit of regular lip balm they are pretty perfect for me coverage wise.

They're the sort of product I can see myself building up quite a collection of.

Shills Super Magic BB Cream

BB Creams have been the talk of the web for some time now and I was keen to try a few out when I first read reviews on various blogs and websites, Shills was one of the first brands I decided to give a go. I've never been a fan of heavy make up for day to day wear and have always favoured a tinted moisturiser over foundations. So BB creams sounded right up my street, first of all in case you've missed all the hype surrounding these magical creams here's what Shills have to say about them:

BB Cream (also known as Blemish Balm) is the much raved product that everybody is talking about in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the whole world! BB Cream was first used as an after treatment care product to cover the redness for people who underwent laser surgery. It contains healing properties that helps to conceal and protect the healing skin yet at the same time encourages skin regeneration!

The excellent result achieved was talked about and soon enough, Korean actresses started using BB Cream in their daily makeup routine to help achieve that natural flawless look! Use BB Cream to replace your make-up base/primer, concealer and even foundation! It's not only a foundation - it's a foundation with healing properties!

BB Cream makes a clean and natural skin tone by being absorbed into your skin with a soft feel of use. This enables speedy makeup because of not needing to apply makeup base or foundation.

This post is about two BB creams, both from Shills. The first is a repurchase for me, their 'Super Magic BB Cream' which is described as follows:

This BB Cream is specially formulated for normal and oily skin and comes with a matte finish. The shade is fair and more suitable for ladies with lighter skin tones.

6 in 1 BB cream UV protection SPF50 PA+++, skin whitening, oil control, moisturizer, concealer, makeup base all in one.

Refreshing & Moisturising Tonic which regulates the skin's PH & Restores its uniform color.

As I said this is a repurchase, I've already used up a tube which I ordered on eBay a while back, so rather obviously it's going to get a favourable review as I've used a whole tube and decided to buy more!

I find it ideal for my everyday skin care needs, it goes on beautifully and leaves me with a nice glowy coverage that isn't too heavy but makes me look more alive and well than I would bare faced. This BB cream is quite a light colour so may not be ideal for people with darker skin tones but for me it's an almost perfect match to my skin tone. I also find that I can make it through most of the day without getting a shiny t-zone which isn't something that can be said of a lot of the tinted moisturisers and foundations I've tried, so over all BB creams have been a bit of a revelation for me doing everything I like my make up base to do without looking too heavy or made up and best of all without slipping off halfway through the day.

Whether it's had any lightening effect on my skin is hard to say, it's winter in Scotland so I look the same shade of blue / grey I usually do at this time of year, I would guess the BB cream has very little to do with that though. My one worry with the Shills cream is that come summer when I have a bit more colour to me it may be a little pale but since I spend 90% of the year tan free and pale it's not a major worry.

While I was looking on eBay for a replacement for the almost finished BB cream I also found another Shills product which I decided to give a try. SHILLS Cherry Blossom Oil Control 6 in 1 BB Cream Foundation

Here's what Shills have to say:

Refreshing and moisturising tonic which regulates the skin's PH and restores its uniform color.

SHILLS Cherry Blossom BB Cream moisturizes dry skin giving it a supple look. Gingko, the licorice, vitamin C nourishes your skin. The cream keeps your skin tone even and translucent while keeping you face light and clean. This can be used on it's own or under your makeup as a base.

Active Ingredients: Gingko, licorice, vitamin C, green tea, Bolivian uric acid, Jojoba extract

Sounds similar to the original and for just under £5 I decided to give it a go too. I haven't had a chance to try it out yet but if it's as good as the original then I think it'll definitely be worth the money. This version has a slightly stronger smell to it and appears to be a touch lighter when applied to my hand (on the right in this picture).



Hopefully it'll be similar to the original BB cream as it's already a favourite in my books. For now I would happily recommend Shills original 'Super Magic BB Cream' as an excellent starter BB cream, it's a lower price point than a lot I have looked at and for me does everything I would expect and want a BB cream to do so well worth checking out if you are looking for a first BB cream to test.

Avon Supershock Gel Eyeliner Pencil in Black

I'd heard good reviews online about these eye pencils so when I found one on eBay for £3 (incl P&P) I thought I should give it a try and I am definitely glad I did!

Generally when it comes to eyeliners I am pretty brand loyal, I love Urban Decay's 24/7 liners; I have them in almost every shade available and use them daily. Although I've tried different eyeliners over the years none have ever come close to UD for colour pay off and wear, until now.

The Supershock liner reminds me of Deviant, the new darker black 24/7 liner which was recently released, it's a true, dark, glossy black shade. The Supershock liner is super soft and easy to apply, it swipes on in one go and leaves a really glossy dark finish, perfect for a dramatic smokey eye or flicky liner look.

It's very blendable and smudges nicely when first applied it you want to go for a softer look. The liner lasts really well and doesn't fade over the course of the day.

All in all I am really impressed with this liner, for £3 it is a total bargain and will definitely be well used, I'd be more than happy to pay the full price of £6 in the future to replace it and I'm already planing on trying the Blackberry version soon which looks like it could be a dupe of Urban Decay's Rockstar.

If you're looking for a super black, glossy liner to add to your make up collection, or just a budget alternative to the new Deviant shade by Urban Decay then definitely check it out.

Dotty Devil's Delight

This is Devil's Delight by No7, two coats:







Then I added a couple of coats of my new Nubar Dots polish over the top, I think the black worked much better in this case than the white: