Eyes Lips Face Contouring & Bronzing Powder in St. Lucia

I haven't bought anything from ELF for a little while, but last time I did I purchased the Contouring & Bronzing Powder in the shade St. Lucia and somehow it got tucked away in my makeup collection and never used! I found it the other day and as the weather is warming up (a little bit!) I thought I would try it out, needless to say I am in love with it! My Nars Laguna will always be a staple in my makeup collection, but this is just a fantastic product. It's so pigmented and, it's great to have a bronzer and a blush duo, so if I'm travelling I have both in one and it's small and lightweight. The mirror is also a great addition as it's really large. I have been using this for the past few days and it gives a great "sun kissed" glow. You have to be slightly careful, as the bronzer is so pigmented it would be easy to over apply, so less is more. I found it slightly difficult to blend it can take a while to create a natural bronzed effect. The blush is a peachy pink with shimmer, it's lovely for everyday wear. The bronzer has shimmer too but it's hardly noticeable once it's applied.

The packaging is matte black, and feels sturdy for the price. At £3.95 you can't really complain, and this is a great dupe for the Nars bronzer and blusher duos. I will definitely be wearing this over Spring and Summer, although because you have to apply sparingly I don't ever see myself using this up! I will have to try a couple of the other duos too!

Have you used these ELF duos before? Which is your favourite?

Things That Money Can't Buy

Respect

Natural beauty

Manners

Common sense

A clear conscience

Purpose in life

Good friends

An open mind

Trust

A great idea

Honest politician

Peace of mind

Essie - Swing Velvet

I picked up Swing Velvet at Professional Beauty London 2015 (if you didn't see my haul, you can check it out here.) it wasn't a shade that I had ever seen before, or ever read a review on or seen on any blogs. I was instantly curious and it was so pretty I had to buy it. Usually I'm I don't like red nails on myself, I love them on others but this one just took my eye at the Essie stand. I would say it's a metallic plum red. In dull light it looks like a wine colour and in daylight it's just a gorgeous bright metallic red. It really does look like velvet! Unfortunately my camera doesn't pick up the metallic tone, but it's really beautiful. Swing Velvet is a shade that could be worn all year round but I can really imagine wearing this on a night out, it's so striking and just looks really posh! It applies like a dream due to the metallic, and is opaque in two coats but you could paint three just to be safe. I am so glad I found this polish, I can't wait to wear it.

Technic - Carnival

It's no news to you guys that I am a HUGE fan of Technic nail polishes. Carnival is one of my all time favourites. It's a great dupe for a couple of high end / hard to find shades out there, such as Deborah Lippmann's - Birthday and OPI's - Rainbow Connection. Which to be fair are lovely polishes but it does look the same as Carnival, same goes for Birthday. The glitters in Technic polishes I always find easy to apply, the brush picks them up nicely and they go onto the nail perfectly. For £1.25 you can't really complain!

I would describe Carnival as a clear based polish with multi sized hex glitters. I only ever use it as a top coat over other polishes, I don't think it would be opaque before 5/6 coats. As all glitter nail polishes are, this one is pretty difficult to remove. My trick is to remove what I can with nail polish remover and then use a nail file and buff off the rest gently that speeds up the process. For a cheap and cheerful glitter topcoat, look no further! You can buy Technic polishes from Bodycare stores in the UK or online here.

Have you used Technic nail polishes before? How do you find them? What are your favourite shades?

Essie - Aruba Blue

Aruba Blue is the first polish I am reviewing from my Professional Beauty London 2015 haul (If you didn't see the haul post you can find it here.) I really wanted to review this first as it was my favourite polish that I bought that day and I have already worn it for two weeks in a row! I would say Aruba Blue is a frosty sapphire blue with shimmers throughout, it's so beautiful to look at and really unique I don't own a blue shade like this one. It did take three coats to be completely opaque and give the effect I wanted but it's really lovely to apply I always find shimmery polishes really silky. Quite a few people mentioned that my nails looked nice or asking what the colour was on my nails, which doesn't happen all the time. The finish is slightly metallic, it looks amazing in natural light especially if the sun is shining. Aruba Blue is really bold, beautiful and eye-catching I am so glad I saw it at the show because I hadn't seen it before, it was a surprise buy I wasn't expecting to see anything like it. It will definitely be getting a lot more wear this year.

Do you like Aruba Blue? What are your favourite Essie shades?

It's Never Too Late To.....

Ive been having a think lately, I wonder if everything in the past turned out the way it did because the present is exactly how it is supposed to be? And everything I do and say everyday affects what happens in the future....I don't often deep think, but I have been wondering what I would change about the past if I could. There are lots of things I wish I had never said or did, and lots of decisions and situations I would have made and handled differently. But most of all I thought, it's never too late to change the future. This time last year I wasn't doing my dream job. I didn't have the healthiest relationships with others, myself or food. And there are plenty of things that it's never to late to do.....

Start over 

Chase your dreams 

Create healthy relationships 

Change your ways 

Be positive

Make a difference

Forgive

Learn something new

Say I'm sorry

Be inspired

Put the past in the past

I have been working on all of these things for the past year and honestly I'm not all the way the person I want to be, or where I want to be in life yet. But my relationships are strong than ever, I am career obsessed and I strive everyday to be better than I was the day before. I have created and I'm still in the process of creating a healthy relationship with food, which makes me feel loads better about myself and my body. Being positive as much as possible, saying I'm sorry and meaning it and forgiving those who upset or stress me out. My life is going in the right direction and these things have helped me, knowing it's not too late to change your life especially if you are unhappy. I'm not saying for one second that any of you lovelies are unhappy, just that it's never too late do the things, say things and change the things you want to.

Is there anything you think it's never too late for?

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine - Elderberry

Elderberry was released with six other shades into the Barry M Gelly Hi Shine polishes last summer I picked this polish up about a month ago, I have been trying it out with some nail art designs and it's a really lovely shade. It's a greyish toned blue creme, it kind of reminds me of a stormy sky. It's really lovely for Spring. Elderberry is completely opaque with two coats which is great, I love the consistency it's slightly thicker than a normal polish as are all of the Hi Shine Gelly polishes but they apply really nicely. 

I think this shade would suit just about everyone, I will definitely be wearing this the next couple of months. It's really difficult for me to pick what colour to paint my nails, I love painting other peoples (which is kind of great because it's my job!) but when I get home late at night the last thing I want to do is paint my own. And because I don't have a lot of time to repaint them it has to be on for at least a week, with my acrylics that's fine because nothing chips on those but it just means I am really selective with what shades I paint. When I do paint Elderberry I may include some nail art on my nails, some little daisies or something I think they would look so cute with this cornflower blue.

What is your favourite Barry M Gelly Hi Shine shade?

February Favourites

I had a really wonderful February. As always the months fly by so fast, it's hard to take time out to really think and evaluate everything that is happening. I started healthy eating this month, I am not great with diets etc I knew I had to change my eating habits so I a, trying out Slimming World EE. It's going really well and I feel better already. Hence the picture of the toast above (my favourite breakfast!) which I can still eat.....sparingly. I hope you all had a lovely Valentines Day, I definitely was spoiled. My boyfriend took my to Birmingham Sealife Centre (I love sea life!) apart from it being super busy it was an awesome day out. I was then treated to a three course meal in a really quaint country pub just a couple of miles out from where I live, it was quiet and there weren't tons of other couples doing the same thing which was nice. Later in the month I went to Professional Beauty London and had an awesome day, and bought loads of new nail polishes! You can check out my haul post here. 

Song - Mark Ronson Uptown Funk. I have been dancing around in my bedroom to this song, singing it in the shower absolutely obsessed. It has a great old school James Brown tone and I can't get enough! I also LOVED Ed Sheeran's cover of Christina Aguilera's Dirty in the Live Lounge last week you can find it here.

Blog - I have been loving Sophie's blog A Private Life Of A Girl which you can find here. She is so creative and inspiring with her blog posts, she has her own jewellery brand is just an all round amazing blogger. Her posts are so interesting to read especially if you have your own business, they are really helpful. Also her photography is lovely.

Drink - Not going to lie, coffee has been a lifesaver for me this month. Nescafe Espresso is my new fave coffee, it strong and sweet just how I like it!

Food - Obviously toast..... but I have also been loving pomegranates I have them everyday for breakfast they are a super fruit so are really good for you. I also made pineapple fried rice which sounds awful but it's so yummy.

Nail Polish - I have to say my new OPI polish from Professional Beauty London, from the new Hawaii collection called This Color's Making Waves it's just beautiful.

Makeup Products -  My UD Naked Basics palette has been a staple this month I have used it quite a bit, along with the  Bourgeois bronzing primer I absolutely adore this product!

Randoms - I have been loving my Body Shop cocoa butter products that I got from Oli for Christmas, they smell soon good! I have just started watching the TV series Sons Of Anarchy, I'm up to season 2 at the moment and loving it, it's dramatic and slightly violent at times but there are some great stories plus Charlie Hunnam is so easy on the eye!

What were your favourite things in February?

Professional Beauty London 2015 Haul

I am a beauty show-aholic. I go to Olympia Beauty in October every year, and this year was my first time at Professional Beauty London. The difference between both shows is huge, to be honest I do prefer Olympia, but it was a great experience at PBL. I love being a nail technician, and these shows are just a little perk of being a professional as all of the products are discounted and I love seeing all of the newest nail polish collections, trends and equipment. So today I have a haul for you, as I bought quite a few polishes!

First up, I bought half of the China Glaze Road Trip 2015 Collection. There are 12 polishes in total, at the China Glaze stand they were selling packs of 6, so I picked the lighter colours as I think they suit my style better although the other 6 shades were lovely too. We use China Glaze in the salon I work in, but I hadn't purchased any for personal use before, these are my first ones so I can't wait to try them out, perfect for Spring. Boho Blues is a peri-winkle creme blue, Pinking Out The Window is a coralish pink creme, I Brake For Colour is a bright coral creme, Wanderlust is a pale lavender with a golden shimmer, Dashboard Dreamer is a light blue with pink and orange shimmer, and Pack Lightly is a peach shade with a golden shimmer. They are all beautiful shades that I can see myself using over and over again.

As always it was a must to go to the Essie stand. Essie are my favourite nail polish brand, and they weren't showing at Olympia last year so they were one of the main reasons I travelled to PBL this year. I picked 6 shades, and I am in love with them all! There were a couple that I wanted that I couldn't get my hands on, but I got a couple of colours I hadn't seen before, including Swing Velvet which is a deep luxurious shimmery red. Pink Diamond caught my eye especially for summer, it's a frosty baby pink pearl shade. I have been wanted a new true baby blue polish for a while so when I saw Borrowed & Blue I put it in my basket straight away. Topless & Barefoot which is a rosy beige neutral in colour, not one of those nudes that washes you out, it had a lovely tone. Tea & Crumpets is a shimmery pinky/peachy neutral I don't have anything like this in my collection I think I would look lovely over Topless & Barefoot. Lastly from Essie (My favourite buy!) Aruba Blue. I saw this shade an just fell in love it's absolutely stunning. It's a frosty shimmery sapphire blue.

I only bought one polish from the OPI stand, to be honest I was pretty disappointed with the stand itself. It was tiny, the selection of polishes was really small and I queued for 20 minutes to get into the stand, wheres at Olympia the stand is huge and there are tons of polishes. Anyway, I still managed to get an amazing shade, from the new Hawaii collection by OPI and seriously my pictures do not do this polish justice, it is absolutely beautiful. It's called This Color's Making Waves. It's a bright turquoise/electric blue duo chrome with gold and pink flecks of shimmer. It looks just like the sun reflecting off of the sea. 

Did you go to Professional Beauty London this year? If so what did you think of it / what did you buy?