NOTD - French Manicure

Hi Everyone,

I'm spending my summer away from home but luckily I found internet access, and brought my camera. Hopefully I can keep the blog updated, but apologies in advance if blog posts are a bit sparse!

(Natural Daylight)

I've always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with French manicures, however I decided to give it another go after re-purchasing Barry M's Nail Paint - 66 Matte White (which isn't matte, it's a flat bright shade of white which definitely has a glossy finish). I painted my tips as neatly as I could and then corrected any mistakes and shaped the smile line using a small brush and nail polish remover.

 

 (Indoor Lighting)

 

I'm happy with the way the manicure turned out - I'm just not sure if I like it on my own nails as it makes them look very false, like I've gone out and had acrylic nails applied. I think it's a combination of the length and how glossy the topcoat is. If the white was a more off-white colour I'm sure it would look slightly more natural.

(Indoor Lighting)

(Natural Light)

The photographs with the clear bottle of polish are my first attempt, but I wasn't happy with some of the smile lines as they looked a bit wonky - the photographs with the white polish are the 2nd version which I was much happier with.

One thing I have noticed is how high maintenance it is to keep them looking nice! I'm currently on the second day of wear and did have a tiny bit of tip wear which I touched up, then added a second layer of topcoat. I'm not sure if it's the polish I used - but when I've painted my nails with Barry M's Matte White before I've never had any tip wear issues. 

All photos are 2 coats of Barry M - Matte White Nail Paint on the tips, and 2 coats of Barry M 3 in 1 nail paint as a topcoat.

I'd love to know if any of you ladies (or boys!) have had an experience with a French Manicure and what you thought of it!

-LadyDanger

xxx

Kat Von D Inspired Makeup

Hi Everyone!

Pixiwoo's latest video completely reminded me of the face chart I drew up and never got round to doing. I love red lips with a strong eye, and I think this look is definitely one of my favourites! Kat likes to play around with colour a lot but I thought I'd go with her more signature look of blacks, greys and taupe browns with a pearlescent shadow on the lid. Kat seems to be going for more toned down makeup at the moment with her bright red hair.

 

I went for a heavier bronzed contour as it's quite prominent in a lot of photographs I've seen of her (and on TV, I'm a total LA Ink addict ;). The stars I individually drew onto paper and cut them out with scissors, coloured them in with a black felt tip pen and stuck them on with Duo lash glue - I knew I would become a little OCD about them if I had to draw them all on. I'm bad enough at stars at it is! I counted 18 stars on that side of Kat's face but I only did 14 because they became a bit tiresome after a while haha. My hair covered a few though, oops!

Products Used:
Face:

-Maybelline Superstay 24H foundation - 10 Porcelain Ivory (I'm loving this at the moment)

-MAC Pearl Cream Colour Base (highlight)

-ELF Blush/Bronzing Duo (bronzer for contour, I contoured my nose with this a little too)

Eyes:

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil - Black Bean (base for outer V)

MAC - Copperplate

MAC - Print

MAC - Brun + a little Sleek black (brows)

Sleek Storm Palette - Matte Black

Milani Domino Quad - lid and brow highlight

MAC - #7 lashes

Lips:

MAC - Lady Danger (of course! hehe)

Kat Von D

Whenever I have to type her name 'Kat Von Delayed' always pops into my head from that episode of LA Ink... but that's just me being weird haha.

-LadyDanger

xxx

NOTD: Eyeko - Rain Polish

Hi Everyone,

When Eyeko first sent me the press release images of the new Rain Polish and Saucy Polish I instantly knew I would like them. Rain Polish is a really beautiful grey toned blue with silver shimmer (Saucy Polish is a nice red creme which I find a little vampy). The shimmer in Rain Polish is subtle at first glance but adds a really nice dimension when you look at it closely.

 (taken indoors with synthetic lighting)

The consistency is good, I found the first coat to be just a tad too sheer as I could see my smile line slightly, but I didn't experience any streakiness. Another thin second coat and I was finished. I find that with longer nails I generally will need an extra coat just to block out any transparency from my nail tip.

All nail swatches were taken without a topcoat.

(photograph taken outdoors in natural light)

(photograph taken indoors)

(close-up of shimmer, indoors)


I did recently see MissChievous' youtube review of Eyeko polishes and she seemed to have an issue with some of the brushes in her polishes which I was quite shocked to see- I personally have had no issues with the brushes in my polishes, they're all well aligned with no splaying.

I haven't featured any of the polishes Eyeko have sent me in the past, so I thought I'd include a photo of the shades I own for comparison. Coral Polish has been on my toes for around 2 weeks now (re-painted each week of course!), it's a really nice red toned coral that's perfect for sandals in the summer.

Overall, I'm beyond happy with the quality of Eyeko polishes and am definitely planning a purchase from them - the Cult Classics polish collection in particular where it's 5 polishes for the price of 4 as they are all the colours I was going to purchase separately. I'll definitely be picking up Vampira Polish too, I really can't resist a black polish with red glitter!

*All Eyeko polishes were sent to me by Eyeko, I did not purchase these polishes. Eyeko did not ask for a blog post in return for the products, I just really enjoy using them - I wouldn't feel comfortable featuring a product on my blog that I dislike *

-LadyDanger

xxx

NOTD: Barry M - Berry Ice Cream (Take Two)

Hi everyone,

I posted a NOTD featuring this polish quite a while ago now, however the picture quality was awful and the colour looked off  so I thought I'd do it again after painting my nails this colour :) I actually haven't worn this polish in a while, despite being nearly half way through the bottle! I was only reminded I have it when I did a little swap with Phylicia from Expensive Pink as this is one of the polishes I sent her (a new bottle of course not my one!).

To me this colour's a bit funny, I think it's just my skin tone but it's a little more of a muted colour than I thought it would be. Most pale colours are quite stark and vibrant, this seems quite soft to me. I'm pretty sure it's just down to how pale I am :) It certainly doesn't distract me from noticing how gorgeous this colour is!

Like most Barry M polishes this is easy to apply, and took just 2 coats. I do think this is one of Barry M's more sheer polishes however. Base coat and topcoat was the usual Barry M 3 in 1 nail paint.

-Lady Danger

xxx

MAC Costa Chic Lipstick

Hi Everyone,

Today I originally went into MAC with every intention of purchasing Jazzed lipstick from the In The Groove collection amongst other things, however after swatching it it was more of a darker coral than I was hoping, I wanted something more vibrant. Needless to say I didn't end up getting anything from the collection that I had been planning on getting and left with Costa Chic instead which I have been wanting to get for a while.

I'm sure most people have seen it before, but it's the most gorgeous peach-y coral with pink tones to it. For a frost finish I don't find it to be overly frosty, but there's a bit of frost there that seems to be a lighter silver shimmer. The colour payoff for this is good, I found I only needed one swipe to get the tube colour.

I picked out the pictures I found to be the best representation of the colour, however depending on the light source it can look a lot pinker and a lot more orange toned. In store I thought this looked a lot more orange and saturated. Against my pale skin the colour stays pretty neutral and doesn't become too orange toned. 

Awkward lip swatch thanks to my mirrorless application ;)

I've been wearing coral and peach lipsticks constantly now it's summer so I'm sure I'm going to be using this a lot! I think this would look gorgeous with Pink Lemonade lipglass over it too. 

-LadyDanger

xxx

Illamasqua Brush Review

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick side note on my blog pictures, they're down again at the moment again as my Photobucket bandwidth has gone, I'm upgrading to a full year account tomorrow so please bare with me :)  They'll be back soon.

A little while back Illamasqua kindly contacted me and offered to send me some brushes to try out. I made my first Illamasqua purchase a few months ago which was the Intense Lipgloss in the shade Indulge and I was beyond happy with the quality of the gloss – the pigmentation is amazing and the colour was perfect! After getting over the initial excitement I of course accepted as I had been planning on trying out Illamasqua's brushes among their other products.

As this is the first product review I'm featuring on my blog I do want to say that I wouldn't ever accept a product to review that I wouldn't be willing to purchase and try myself. Illamasqua offered to send me the brushes, not for a blog post in return for them – I just wanted to share my opinion of them.

Anyway, on to the brushes!

(click to enlarge image)

Alex from Illamasqua was beyond helpful as there was a mix up with the first package sent to me, so she sent out a second which I received in 2 days. I received 3 brushes which were the Kabuki Body Brush, Blending Brush 2 and the Lip Brush. All of the brushes are synthetic so I was surprised with how soft they all are, I've cleaned them around 8 times now and have literally only lost about 3 hairs from the Kabuki, none from the others. Shedding is a major issue for me with brushes – most recently my MAC 109 began shedding horrendously when using cream or liquid products, despite taking good care of it. As for the packaging, I really do love the fact that they're a uniform glossy black colour, with the Illamasqua logo printed on each one making them look very sleek and timeless. All of the brush bristles are densely packed and are very sturdy. I've been testing out the brushes for nearly 3 weeks now and so far I'm very impressed with them.

(Click to enlarge image)

Kabuki Body Brush retails for £38.00

The Kabuki Body Brush was the brush I expected to use the least as it is quite large (it's the same size as the palm of my hand) but I have found myself using it whenever I apply my makeup. I've been using bronzer a lot more now it's summer and I adore this brush for blending a little bronzer across my neck, collar bones and chest for a bit of a summer glow – perfect for a night out too. It's also amazing for blending out any overly-intense bronzer or blush on the face too as it's so large it really does blend anything effortlessly, taking only a few seconds to do.


(click to enlarge image)
Blending Brush 2 retails for £25.00

The Blending Brush 2 is certainly a large brush in comparison to most eye brushes, but I think that's what I like most about it. I always tend to go for a larger brush for blending just because it makes it so much easier. The brush is quite dense so it moves colour easily and seamlessly, I love this for blending out deeper crease colours and it's extremely useful for blending out a smokey eye. One other use I've found for it is for setting my under eye concealer with powder, as I lean towards having more dry skin I don't like to set my whole face with powder, just the places that need it – this is great for targeting that specific area. One thing I will say is that as this brush is so large, I can see some people not getting much use out of it - I certainly like to go for more drastic looks at times which this is ideal for.

(click to enlarge image)

Lip Brush retails for £18.00

Lastly, the Lip Brush - it's safe to say that lip brushes are one of my most used as I love a bold lip. This brush isn't overly-flexible, it has a little bit of resistance which is ideal for creating a precise shape with ease.  The tip of the brush is tapered into a rounded point which is great for the cupid's bow, I've created more rounded and pointed shapes using this wish ease. It's a good size, not too small that it's going to take a good 5 minutes to apply a full lip colour and not too large that it's difficult to apply precisely.

Overall, I think the quality of the brushes definitely met my expectations of the brand. One thing I do like is how the brushes are named, rather than MAC's numbered system these are named with their reccommended purpose. As you can see from the first image they all came in soft frosted plastic cases, which I have found particularly useful for the lip brush - I don't really like throwing a lip brush into my makeup bag as it tends to get lipstick everywhere, keeping it in the protective cover not only stops the brush from being damaged but keeps my bag clean too :) I also want to add that even after washing them they have returned to their original shapes every time, without any unwanted splaying so far. I think I'll definitely be purchasing a few more brushes for myself, I've got my eye on the Blending Brush 2's baby sister - Blending Brush 1, Blusher Brush 2 and the Eye Brow brush amongst others!

 -LadyDanger

xxx

NOTD: China Glaze - Pink Voltage (Neon)

Hi Everyone,

Today I finally removed Flip Flop Fantasy which lasted really well, I only noticed slight tip wear this morning which was the 4th day of wear - pretty good in my book!

I decided to go for another bright pink shade to cheer myself up a bit, going for Pink Voltage which is another one of my new purchases. I think I really do have a soft spot for pink neons! This is definitely a straight up bright pink neon, it leans towards being more cool toned which I think is more flattering on my skintone as opposed to the orange tones of Flip Flop Fantasy - which I still love!

This is a really gorgeous colour, it's somewhat of a jelly consistency and has a subtle blue duochrome which adds some shimmer, it's definitely not a flat colour. It's quite sheer so it took 3 coats, 4 on my pinky finger because I smudged it! This dries semi-matte so was touch-dry in around 2 minutes, I used my Barry M 3 in 1 base coat and topcoat as usual.

 

I think the top image is a better representation of the actual colour, this one's a smidgen too light. 

And here's a somewhat pixelated super zoomed in version of the top image which shows the blue flash across the nail - I really do recommend enlarging the image to see it properly ;)

-LadyDanger

xxx