NOTD: Barry M Copper

I recently wandered into Superdrug on a mission and as I sauntered past the Barry M stand, this caught my eye. I really think I was a magpie in a previous life. Anything shiny and I have to have it!

Is it me or does it look... boring?

It's incredibly sparkly but ya know it just didn't wow me like I thought it would. The colour in the bottle didn't seem to fully transfer to my nails. And I got tip wear in less than 24 hours. Not the usual standard I'm used to I'm afraid Barry. That'll teach me to pick up a glitter polish... although kudos to it, it was fairly quick to remove although I suspect that might have something to do with using a base coat and a top coat.

♥ ♥ ♥

Have you bought this? What did you think?

Illamasqua Naked Strangers

Doesn't it feel so good now that summer has finally arrived? Rather perfect timing for the launch of Illamasqua's sultry new collection, Naked Strangers. The promo images alone make me want to own everything!

♥ ♥ ♥

A place where alter egos are laid bare and naked flesh is a source of unashamed inspiration. In this delicate tipping point between intimacy and pleasurable detachment, we revel in the unknown; exploring the distance between pure Monogamous, gilded Faithful and uninhibited Swinger. Exposed nude tones, adorned with rich licks of gold, leave you gasping for more. Don’t restrain yourself. Unless, of course, you enjoy it. 

“Naked Strangers captures inner glows and depths. The deeply and darkly alluring exists alongside ethereal shimmering brilliance. We are complex and multifaceted whilst also being naked to the world.”

Alex Box, Illamasqua Creative Director.

“Naked Strangers represents everything about borderlines...the human edge between romance and permissive intimacy...a step beyond control, a step past the edge and a collection of gilded moments upon the tip of sensation. Beautiful nudes with metallic edge set amongst eclectic textures.”

David Horne, Illamasqua Director of Product Development.

If you're a fan of the nail art, you can check out the video featuring Rebecca Jade Wilson showing you how to recreate it on Illamasqua's YouTube channel. 

To celebrate the launch of the Naked Strangers collection, Rebecca will be appearing on the Illamasqua counters at Selfridges Manchester Exchange and Selfridges Oxford Street to personally introduce you to the stunning new shades. 

Rebecca is the nail artist of choice for the likes of Rita Ora, Lauryn Hill, Beth Ditto and Georgia May Jagger as well as having her work featured in the likes of Sunday Times Style, POP, Russian Vogue and Wonderland magazines.    

Appearing in stores on Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th June, Rebecca will be hosting 45 minute, £25 fully redeemable appointments for a basic shape and colour change or you can fully immerse yourself in the collection with replica Naked Strangers nails. To book an appointment at the Oxford St counter (7th June 2-7pm) call 0207 318 3114 or for an appointment at the Manchester Exchange counter (6th June 3-8pm) call 0161 838 0616.

Let me know if you go, I'll be super envious! Don't forget to tweet me a photo :)

Products

Nail Varnish (£13.50)

Dress up your nails and explore your fantasies with our award-winning Nail Varnishes. Are you Monogamous (creamy flesh pink, matt finish), Faithful (coppered metal) or Swinger (glistening platinum gold)? Apply a lustful layer then answer our question.

Lipglosses (£13.00)

Lick your lips then smooth on a rich layer of Intense Lipgloss in Stranger (platinum gold) for obscene levels of pigment. Alternatively, apply Sheer Lipgloss in Intimacy (nude pink brown) on naked lips, to tease and tempt your lover. Or lovers…

Blushers (£16.50)

Stark naked might mean no clothes, but who said anything about no make-up? Create a provocative flush that lasts all night with Powder Blusher in Naked Rose (neutral beige brown) and Cream Blusher in Zygomatic (naked pink brown).

♥ ♥ ♥

Naked Strangers is available from this Thursday (31st May 2012). Registered members of Illamasqua.com have the exclusive opportunity to buy the Naked Strangers Nail Varnishes before anyone else. If you're not registered (and why the devil wouldn't you be?) click here to log in or register.


I really do want absolutely everything! Think I'll have to restrain myself and pick Swinger, Intimacy and Naked Rose. Will you be getting anything from the Naked Strangers collection?

New Look: Gold by Giles - Face

It's Friday! Anyone else have that funky Friday feeling? Grab yourself a Crunchie whilst you check out the last in my series of Gold by Giles beauty range posts :) Go on, you deserve it!

I've never really been one to lust after the infamous Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks, but if you have and haven't wanted to shell out, lots of brands have released their own purse-friendly version. Gold by Giles is no exception and there are currently two in the range, Metallic and Pink. I received Metallic which is a lovely bronze blush. As you can see from the individual colour swatches, the blush is very pigmented. I particularly like the highlight shade. The product is very shimmery but not in that in your face disco ball kind of way. As you can see it comes with a teeny brush which is rubbish; who has cheeks that small? Anyway, overall a lovely product but one I think that would be suited to those with darker or more tanned skin. As mentioned before, I'm a bit of a Casper! Priced at £2.99.

Oh to become a bronzed beauty. Whilst I live in the hope that one day I'll become a sun goddess and no longer look like the aforementioned Casper, I make do with bronzer. I thought this was pretty impressive with its embossed gold 'G' but I got my hopes up too soon. As soon as I swept the (generically rubbish) brush over the product, the gold practically disappeared and the matte bronzer crumbled like a bad biscuit. The gold is pretty darn beautiful but I can't see it lasting very long in the pan. The bronzer isn't for us paleys, I at least found it too orange toned for my skin. Combined, the two shades give a pretty shimmery shade that would no doubt give a sun kissed look on the right skin tone. Priced at £2.99.

♥ ♥ ♥

You can check out the full Gold by Giles Beauty range on the New Look website

And that concludes my Gold by Giles series of posts. I hope you've enjoyed them! Let me know if you pick any products up on your next trip to New Look :)

*PR Gift - read my disclaimer

New Look: Gold by Giles - Lips

Hello :) Today I'm continuing my foray into the Gold by Giles beauty range for New Look and this post is all about luscious lip products!

If you can get past the chunky packaging and doe foot applicators (I'm not a fan!) these really aren't bad for the price. Again unfortunately none of these products have shade names or numbers on the packaging so we're going to have to go by colour! On the New Look website there does seem to be shade names and I think I have (swatched top to bottom) Wow, Flirst and Just Peachy. The deepest pink (Wow?) is a sheer plain pink gloss whereas the peach (Just Peachy) and lilac pink (Flirt?) are both shimmery. Do not be alarmed by the glitter, you cannot feel this at all! The glosses are all sheer, with the darkest of three needing a bit of layering to get a better colour pay off. I was pleased to find they're not in the least bit sticky (hurrah!) although they do have that typical chemically sweet scent and taste that you do tend to find with low end glosses. Priced at £2.99.

These squeezy tube glosses are much more my thing. For starters you have a rather long tube with plenty of product and a brush applicator which I certainly prefer for a gloss. There's a deep berry pink, a candy pink and a lovely nude pink. I did find shade names on the New Look website but the images and the names do not match the glosses I received, which is a bit odd. All are sheer but buildable and give a lovely smooth glossy finish. The berry pink is a shimmer but the glitter you see in the tube does not transfer to the lips and its not in any way gritty. Again these glosses are not sticky however do have that typical sweet scent and taste. Priced at £1.99.

Top to bottom: Red (heavily swatched), Red swatched, Pink (heavily swatched), Pink swatched

The lipsticks are the items that really stand out to me in the Gold by Giles range. I wasn't expecting much of them however I was pleasantly surprised. I received Red and Pink (the darkest of the three pinks available). The red is absolutely flipping gorgeous and it smells and tastes like berries! Its the more pigmented of the two shades, smooth, creamy and buildable as you can tell from the swatches above. Its a good, bright, solid pin up red. The pink is nice, not scented but again its a lovely smooth, creamy, buildable formula. Priced at £2.99.

♥ ♥ ♥

You can check out the full Gold by Giles Beauty range on the New Look website. Have you already indulged? Will you?




*PR Gift - read my disclaimer

New Look: Gold By Giles - Eyes

I was lucky enough to recently have been sent some products from the Gold by Giles Beauty range which is currently being sold in New Look stores. If you're not familiar with the brand, Giles Deacon has teamed up with one of my favourite high street stores to create a purse friendly beauty collection that is right on trend for Spring/Summer 2012. The collection features lots of staple pieces including shadow quads, blushes, bronzer, highlighters, eye liners, mascaras and lashes, lipsticks and glosses, nail polishes and wraps all ranging from a purse friendly £1.99 - £5.99!

♥ ♥ ♥

I've split the products up into eyes, lips and face so you're not bombarded with a huge post :) Today, we start with eyes!

Liquid Liners

When I saw liquid liners in the collection I hadn't held out much hope for them being good products. I was thinking cheap watery formula, no staying power yada yada. However I was pleasantly surprised. The colours are beautiful. From top to bottom we have a black, gold and teal with a shimmer finish. All liners have a long, flexible brush which is a plus for me as I am utterly hopeless with liquid liner which is why I switched to gel liner ages ago! Each shade is very well pigmented and buildable if you want a more intense colour pay off. I was surprised at how incredibly quickly they dried. There was no smudging or moving and they took a bit of elbow grease to remove, especially the teal! Priced at £2.99.

Shadow Quad

Unfortunately one of the shadows in this quad (top right) had smashed in transit and it turned everything in my box green! Something to bear in mind if you're ordering online. I absolutely love the colours in this quad - I've got a thing for green shadows and bronzed skin in summer! I've swatched them on my arm starting with the shade on the top right going anti clockwise. These were all swatched without primer - check out the colour payoff! Very impressive! The shadows are buttery soft and very pigmented. I can see me getting a lot of use out of this palette when summer finally arrives. Priced at £3.99.

Brow & Liner Set

This duo was a point of concern in the range - there only seems to be the one set. Whilst a black liner is a staple in any girl's make up bag, I can't see the brow pencil being of use to many people as it's so dark, however I guess it can be used as a liner. The brow pencil is very pigmented and the brush is a nice touch. The liner is a good solid black and the smudger was surprisingly good as you can see from the swatch as it easily blends out the colour and mutes it down - perfect for a smoky eye look.

♥ ♥ ♥

The one annoying thing about the whole range is that there are no shade names for any of the products which is a shame, but hopefully this is something that will be incorporated in the future if the range expands.

You can check out the full Gold by Giles Beauty range on the New Look website.

Have you tried anything from the range? Tempted?


*PR gift - read my disclaimer

NOTD: Hunger Games Inspired

Whilst catching up on my YouTube subscriptions recently, I came across a Hunger Games inspired mani from Cute Polish. Now, I'm no fan of the Hunger Games, but the mani looked so simple and easy that I thought I'd give it a go, especially as I haven't done a gradient mani in such a long time. And who doesn't love a bit of sparkle?

Products Used

Base Colour - Avon Speed Dry + in Raspberry

Layering polish - 17 Nail Polish in Gold (from a Christmas set)

Sparkle - elf Golden Goddess

Topcoat - 17 Nail Polish in Clear

I'd forgotten the elf polish was flipping matte until it dried. Eurgh. So I added a topcoat to give it a glossy finish. I really love the finished look, and I couldn't stop looking at my nails! I'm like a magpie...

♥ ♥ ♥

What are you sporting on your nails at the moment?

Sleek Blush By Three: Lace

Way back in February when I was at IMATS, Leanne and I discovered that Sleek were soon bringing out blush trios. I'm all for bright make up, but blush is where I usually draw the line as I'm always a bit scared I'll end up looking like a rather scary clown! Don't get me wrong, the Sleek Blush by Three trios are beautiful to look at but I knew as a paley, there'd only really be one palette that would suit me. Which obviously means it would be sold out everywhere. I did eventually manage to get my hands on one and I picked up Lace.

The three shades in the Lace palette are Crochet, Guipure and Chantilly. Now I'm assuming as you open the palette the shades are from left to right Crochet, Guipute and Chantilly. So that's how the swatching in  this post will work. If you know any different, please let me know :)

Left to right: Crochet, Guipure and Chantilly

Crochet and Chantilly are matte shades and Guipure is a shimmer finish. They're all absolutely gorgeous and I know I'll be getting a lot of wear out of these this summer. I'll let you in on a secret. This is currently on holiday with me. All my other trusty blushes are sat at home. Aren't I good?

I noticed Guipure looked exactly like the infamous Rose Gold so I put them side by side to compare

Rose Gold looks darker but we'll let the swatches do the talking ;)

Swatches

Top to bottom: Chantilly, Guipure and Crochet (heavily swatched)

Top to bottom: Chantilly, Guipure and Crochet (blended out)

Top to bottom: Rose Gold, Guipure (heavily swatched)

Top to bottom: Rose Gold, Guipure (blended out)

Rose Gold looks slightly more on the pink side, but if you've been lusting after it and can't find it, Guipure is probably the closest dupe you'll find.

I absolutely love this palette and I know it'll see me through the summer. And for £10 you really can't go wrong.

♥ ♥ ♥

Have you picked up any of the Blush by 3 palettes?

NOTD: Orly Butterflies

I'm on a roll with my bright polishes lately, and I'm currently sporting Orly Butterflies. This is a pink creme finish with a tinge of coral to it. Butterflies is very sheer and took 3 coats to achieve opacity. Despite the bottle advising to apply 2 coats, I could still see my nail tips. Regardless, I really do like the colour and the incredibly glossy finish (photographed without a topcoat) so I'd put up with this teeny niggle!

Which polishes are your favourites for Spring/Summer 2012?

*PR Sample - read my disclaimer

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl

'Scuse the cheesy title ;)

I am loving bright polishes at the moment and Lola definitely fits the bill. A bright hot pink creme, with a glossy finish, 2 coats is all you need for a perfect Spring mani.

I'm definitely going to have to find a Boots that sells the Orly minis so I can stock up on a few more brights for my collection.

Are you a fan of Orly?

*PR sample - read my disclaimer

Instagramming: The April Edition

Hi. My name is Kim and I'm addicted to Instagram.

I thought I would share some of the things I get up to with my lovely readers through the medium of photo. Let me know what you think :)

1. A twist on an old classic 2. Revolution menu 3. Vimto cocktail! 4. Trentham Monkey Forest 5. Guitar Hero 6. Easter :D 7. Biggest Easter Egg I've ever seen! 8. Look at the size of it! 9. Totes didn't bawl my eyes out at Titanic... 10. Another cinema trip 11. Cantonese beef stir fry 12. 17 Goodies 13. Sneaky lunch time treat 14. What shopping trip is complete without a Starbucks? 15. Dad's birthday cake 16. It was every bit as yummy as it looks 17. Illamasqua purchases 18. Human Fundamentalism nails 19. April magazines 20. Treating myself 21. Getting back into nail art 22. Sparkles! 23. Welcome back into my life boys! 24. Dinner and drinks with a friend 25. Visiting Norwich

♥ ♥ ♥

What did you get up to in April?