e.l.f cosmetics mineral moisturising lip tint - rose

this mineral moisturising lip tint in rose is the third and final lip product i got in my recent e.l.f cosmetics haul. only one product left to review!

it's marketed as a lip tint but to me it's more like a lipstick as although the shade is quite subtle, (it does look darker in person than in pictures though) it has a thick and creamy feel similar to a lipstick as opposed to a lip balm. however, it's still very easy to wear and the shade works for day and night.

it's from the 'mineral' collection which claims to be made up of the 'purest and refined ingredients from the earth'. not really sure what aspect of my lip tint was made 'from the earth' but i like the idea that with this range you will supposedly 'forget you are even wearing make up' and that the lip tint contains spf 8.

overall i'm really pleased with this purchase, especially with summer's current attempt at sticking around! it is a little more pricy than usual e.l.f products at £3.50 but i still can't complain as it is a great product. hopefully i'll be getting myself some more lip tints in the near future!

e.l.f cosmetics - 'nostalgic' lipstick

      

this lipstick was my second attempt (first attempt here) at achieving nude lips that look more kim kardashian than ill-person-that-needs-a-steak and slowly but surely i think i'm getting there (colour wise!) 

'nostalgic' by e.l.f cosmetics is a pretty nude, slightly on the darker side, with a hint of dusty pink that makes all the difference. the formula glides onto the lips easily and has a similar smell - 'vanilla mint' - to their luscious liquid lipstick (review here) yummy :) it also only costs £1.50... another e.l.f bonus!

it has a creamy, slightly glossy finish to it, although i have to admit that these pictures were taken with a bit of this lip gloss worked into it for some extra shine. i think i now need to invest in a nude gloss to put over the top of the lipstick for a bit of an extra kick and i may finally have found my perfect nude lip colour! any recommendations?

nude feather manicure

left - 'golden goddess', right - 'nude'

 

 

 

so i finally got round to getting these nail varnishes that i mentioned here and have wanted for aaages!! i've been meaning to get another nude colour to try out before i made an e.l.f order but somehow forgot everytime i went near a nail varnish stand so i'm glad i finally purchased this. 

nude is a lovely natural colour which means that it shows up any scuffs or bits of dirt that manage to worm their way onto your nails when being careless after painting them. so naturally, as soon as i'd finished my final coat i decided to cook dinner. cue said scuffs and dirt.

rather than starting again i decided to take inspiration from a blog i've seen recently and attempt some feather nail art over the top. i can't remember where i saw it but she made it look pretty easy! 

i put a blob of black nail varnish on some paper and used the thinnest nail dotting tool i have to draw the centre line across the nail. i wasn't too at all worried about direction or placement. then, working from the base i did a series of outwards 'flicks' which gradually got smaller as i reached the top. i then painted a thin layer of golden goddess over the top to complete the look.

they're not very neat but i hope you get the gist! ideally, i think this would work better if you used a brush to do the feathers as the dotting tool doesn't make very delicate lines (at least with my heavy hands!) i'm hoping to try this again soon though with different colours and possibly more feathers after a bit of practice! what do you all think? :)

e.l.f cosmetics - raspberry luscious liquid lipstick

this luscious liquid lipstick from e.l.f cosmetics is one of the three lip products i purchased in my recent e.l.f haul that i mentioned here. i liked the sound of a liquid lipstick as this means to me easy application with an end result like lipstick. it comes in plain, inoffensive packaging and is operated by a clicker thingy (technical name, anyone?!)

there is a choice of 12 colours which are £1.50 each. more than reasonable for any lip product. i chose raspberry which looked like the most wearable shade. i figured i'd test out the new formula before i decided to go for any dramatic colours! it comes out on a sort of furry applicator and - for want of a better description - genuinely feels like you're applying a liquid lipstick. it's easy to work with like a gloss so there isn't any need for lip liners or really precise application but once on looks like a creamy matte lipstick with great colour pay-off.

raspberry is a dark-ish pink without that browny undertone that lots of lipsticks have so is perfect for day and night and doesn't look old fashioned. i found the colour to last for a few hours and it's easy enough to put in your bag if need be for any re-application. it also smells really nice although i couldn't put a name to the smell. e.l.f tells me it's 'vanilla mint' - yummy! will definitely be repurchasing soon.

e.l.f cosmetics - pink passion blush

 

i was feeling a bit sorry for myself last week and decided that a cheeky e.l.f cosmetics haul would cheer me up. luckily, i know myself well and i was right! this saturday (the day after i received a text telling me that my package would arrive in 3-5 working days) a box turned up holding my seven chosen items that came to a grand total of £19.45 including delivery. yay!

i plan on reviewing all of the products as and when i use them as although they're cheap, sometimes it takes an unbiased description and review to decide whether you actually want to stray away from trusted brands and try something new and i really want you all to try e.l.f!

this blusher is from the 'studio' collection which is a little more expensive (£3.50 as opposed to £1.50...) but for that the packaging is a lot nicer and more sturdy and i assume the product is of higher quality (although i can't say for sure as this is my first e.l.f studio purchase.)

i'm not sure why i chose this particular colour as i'm quite pale and 'pink passion' is a really bright pink but i wanted to try something new and i'm glad i did. i applied with caution slowly building up the colour and ended up with a fresh, flushed look perfect for summer. the formula is easy to blend too and it's stuck around all day. 'candid coral' is now on my wish list and considering that it's only £3.50 there won't be a problem if i don't like it. :)

chevron manicure

 

i fancied doing some nail art last week but have been really busy recently so wanted to try something that didn't involve fiddly tape and hours of drying time. cue the chevron manicure! i decided to make mine like a different take on a french manicure by just painting the tips which made it easy to do free hand so only took a few extra minutes once i had painted the base.

i used a white as the base which i like, especially with a tan. i then used my trusty model's own nail varnish in blueboo to paint the tips. i found it quite easy to do as all it is is two separate lines taken from a third of the way down the nail and then joined in the middle of the tip of the nail. i then finished with a top coat and a bit of nail dry spray and i was done!    

pink hot oil hair treatment

i tried this hot oil treatment in an attempt to continue my treat-my-hair-right phase. i can't say it's been going too well and i'm in desperate need of a haircut but every little counts i suppose!

this hot oil treatment is meant to be applied to damp hair. the oil then warms up and after about 10 minutes should be washed out. i decided to boost the intensity by applying directly to dry hair because as far as i'm aware this generally gives a deeper treatment as there is no water blocking the hair shaft.

unfortunately i think i got the wrong idea with this treatment and actually the warming that takes place when the oil comes into contact with water is what does your hair good. instead this treatment didn't seem to do much for the overall look of my hair so i was quite disappointed, particularly after using a palmer's coconut oil treatment that made a visible difference. boo! :(

i do plan on trying another hot oil treatment soon but this time on damp hair as i'd like to see if the lack of results had something to do with me not following instructions or if it just didn't work with my hair. can anyone recommend any conditioning treatments for me to try?

how to: take off glitter nail varnish

 

i've seen this done on a few blogs i read so unfortunately i can't take the credit for this, but i thought i'd share it with you all anyway because it really made my life that little bit easier! glitter nail varnish, as great as it looks, can be a real nightmare to take off so here's how to avoid feeling frustrated and wasting half a pack of cotton pads.

you need: some nail varnish remover, some cotton pads cut into quarters and some squares of tin foil. 

firstly, soak the cotton pad quarters in nail varnish remover. i found it was easiest to do this by filling the lid with remover and then dunking the cotton pads into that.

then, place the cotton pad onto your nail and place the tin foil on top of it, wrapping the tin foil around your finger. as you can see from the picture of my hand, i wasn't actually very good at this (really simple) step. once i'd got onto my second hand i realised that it helped if you twisted the foil at the tip of your finger to keep it in place. by then it was a bit late but it still did the job all the same!

after 5 minutes or so it's time to remove the tin foil finger hats. give the nail a bit of a rub with the cotton pad as you do so and hopefully the glitter will have soaked right off. yay!

beauty formulas nail dry spray

 

 

 

 

unfortunately, i'm the kind of girl that paints my nails and then remembers i have to do the washing up. cue lots of smudging and attempts at fixing said smudges. so buying this nail dry spray was a final attempt at solving the problem before having to actually sort out my life and learn to make some kind of mental note to do the washing up before i paint my nails. (not gonna happen...)

luckily, this spray actually works! i usually try to wait as long as possible for my nails to dry before using it, but once i get too impatient to wait anymore a quick spray makes them completely dry. the spray doesn't smell too bad at all and it doesn't leave an oily residue either. 

the can is quite small but it was only about £1.50 which is purse friendly, and i'm sure they do bigger cans which i'll happily be investing in once this on runs out. this was well worth the purchase and a serious time saver!

instyle freebie: nails inc - bluebell

 

 

  

i've seen this instyle magazine freebie on a couple of other people's blogs but decided against getting it even though i loved the look of the colour due to a lack of funds! well, it turns out that there's nothing like a cancelled train and an insanely busy station to make you go back on your word and i'm so glad i did!

this is a sort of dusty light blue with a hint of grey and a hint of lilac - such an unusual shade! it's called bluebell which describes it pretty well i think. it took two coats to get a good coverage and i used a top coat to make it shiny but it dried pretty quickly and lasted for two days before chipping as i was doing the washing up (note to self: buy washing up gloves!)

this is actually my first nails inc nail varnish and hopefully i'll be investing in a few more soon but for now i'm enjoying this exclusive instyle colour! i've heard about a few more magazine freebies coming up soon too. i think they're such a great way to try different brands and products so i'll let you know when i get them too :)
 

oh i wish it could be christmas everyday...

 

so this is the nail varnish i bought the other day on my beauty supply store haul. i decided to use them both at the same time to make it look even more glittery as they're practically the same colour so i painted a base of 'atomic' and then layered over the glittery 'treasure island'.

i really like this, it looks so glittery and who can say no to glitter?! the quality is the same as the other L.A colors nail varnish i reviewed here (for those of you that haven't read it already, not great quality but can you complain for the 99p price tag..?) it chipped after 2 days but i didn't use a top coat either so that's probably my fault!

 

my only problem is that i think it looks like a christmas manicure! i do love christmas so this isn't an awful thing... it's just not very seasonal. hopefully i'll pick up some of the red glitter colour they had before christmas too (likely story) and so i can get creative!

beauty supply store haul

 

i have no self restraint! went to pick up some conditioner for a friend from my local beauty supply store and ended up buying myself a few bits and pieces. it's like a sweet shop for beauty addicts with shelves and shelves of products i've never seen or even heard of. so i must try every single one just in case it turns out to be the beauty world's best kept secret ;)

just thought i'd let you all know what i got - i covered most grounds today! expect more detailed reviews soon :) xx

cosmopolitan blog awards 2012

 

the nominations have begun for the cosmopolitan blog awards 2012 - yay! i think this is such a great idea as awards like this show just how much of an impact blogs are making nowadays, and gives me all the more reason to keep writing blink.pout.glow. i would never do something solely for the commendation, but it's always nice to know that bloggers are being recognised for the hard work they (we!) put in to produce something that our readers will love.

my blog is only a baby and a tiny glint in the blogging world and i can only dream of being shortlisted, but if you don't try you'll never know! sooo... here's a link to the 'next newcomer blog award' nomination page. it only takes 5 seconds to fill out and i will appreciate each and every vote. thank you and good luck to anyone else entering! :) xx