Manicure Monday: New Years Eve

Hello Princesses!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! ^^ I had a little time off to spend Christmas with my family, since it's so rare now that we are all in one place at one time and have nothing to do!

For my final Manicure Monday of 2013 I've got a subtle, yet not actually subtle manicure ready for New Years Eve! I've had naked nails the past couple of days while I worked at the BW Festival in Gisborne, serving alcohol for 11 hours a night (and I now have crazy sore feet!) so my hands and nails were needing some extra TLC, glitter and happiness!

For this super simple manicure, I used Milani's Holographic polish in HD to create a simple french tip, and glued a small pink bow to my ring finger (although the bow looks huge in  the photo!) I really love this manicure because it's really quick and simple, but is still super cute and sparkly!  

My family and I are all set to stay home, watch movies and eat delicious food for our New Years Eve, since the only party in tiny Gisborne is Rhythm and Vines, which is hardly family friendly! What are you princesses doing for your New Years Eve? 

Manicure Monday: Fairy Lights

Hello Princesses!

This Monday I have a Christmas themed manicure! I've gone back home for Christmas and it's a lot more festive than my University flat, (which has no decorations at all) and has put me in the mood to do a Christmas Manicure! ^^

I used Butter London's Jack the Lad for the Christmas tree base and glitter for the lights! I think it probably would've worked better with a lighter base colour, but I'd just bought my very first Butter London and really really really wanted to use it! ^^

Review: theBalm timeBalm Foundation

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about theBalm's timeBalm Foundation in Lighter than Light.

"Good things start with a good foundation. Our cult-classic timeBalm concealer was such a hit with its vitamin-packed, rejuvenating formula that we took it to another level! Perfect for all skin types, our medium to full coverage timeBalm Foundation crafts a flawless face by smoothing out imperfections and leaving a perfect canvas." (theBalm)

The timeBalm Foundation comes in a sleek palm sized plastic tub with a screw top. I definitely don't mind this type of packaging, but I do find that if I have the foundation on my fingers it's slightly irritating to screw the lid back on, as opposed to having a click top lid you can smoosh down with your palms. Yes I could apply the foundation, wash my hands and then screw it back on, but the longer it's exposed to the air, the faster it'll dry out.

In the tub, this foundation looks disappointingly dark, however when swatched the formula is super thick, pigmented and surprisingly light. Lighter than Light is rather pale, but also very warm (yellow) toned which is exactly why I bought it!

Nicola from Blush Baby is totally amazing, and has swatched all of the colours of the timeBalm Foundation! I borrowed this image from Blush Baby's Facebook page. If you are interesting in trying out this Foundation, but don't know what colour you are, Blush Baby has an amazing deal where you can select 3 sample shades for $10 to try before you buy the full size!

As you can see from the photo's above, the timeBalm Foundation is absolutely brilliant for covering blemish scars and redness. The timeBalm Foundation is marketed for all skin types, but I found that the timeBalm Foundation emphasized my dry spots, existing blemishes, and didn't do anything for my oily skin at the 6+hours mark.

Coverage

Absolutely fantastic. This probably has the heaviest coverage of all the foundations in my collection, but it still provides me with fresh, non-cakey, but still perfectly covered skin.


Colour 
Quite pale and warm toned. This is very similar to my Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Compact Foundation in Alabaster, but marginally darker. They are very very close though!


Texture
Very thick and creamy. Personally I found it slightly challenging (bothersome) to blend, but it worked out in the end.


Oil Control
Not great. It's not marketed specifically for oily skin, but it is marketed for all skin types. I think it would be fine if I had blotted and reapplied my setting powder at around the 5hour mark, but for review purposes, I left it alone.


Lasting Power
My oily zone turned oily, and my dry zone turned dry. It was a little flakey around existing blemishes, but the colour and coverage lasted the 6 hours.


Things I Love
- Very light and warm toned (almost perfect for me!)
- Great coverage
- Coverage and colour lasts well


Things I Don't Love
 - Expensive ($42) and hard to find in New Zealand
- Difficult (personally) to apply
- Excentuates oily and dry skin

Final Thoughts

I am totally 50/50 about this product! On one hand, it's a very good colour match for me, some people (like Nicola from Blush Baby) wear it and it looks amazing, and when I first apply it, it looks great! On the other hand, it's very close to my Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Compact Foundation (although it is half the price) but it doesn't last nearly as well, it's not as perfect a colour match, and tends to make me look oily and dry after 6 hours or wear.

To be honest, what I like most about this product is that the colour is very pale and warm because that is quite hard to find! I don't love the formula, and for the price, I would rather stick with the Bobbi Brown Compact that I had bought previous to buying theBalm timeBalm Foundation.

Manicure Monday: Glamorous Pink Performance Nails

Hello Princesses!

Lately I've been so indecisive about what I want to do to my nails, sometimes I can't figure out any designs and then sometimes I can't decide between two designs and end up doing one on each hand. ><

I actually did these manicures at the start of December while I was doing music competitions. I needed to have an Oval/Almond shape so I wouldn't have to worry about my nails being in the way, but I wanted something light and feminine, and something that I wouldn't have to worry about chipping or wearing. Vinylux was the obvious solution for this! I wore these mani's for 7 days without major chipping or tip wear. I'm already halfway through my bottle of Vinylux, I need more!!

On my right hand I wore Vinylux Romantique with I Love Nail Polish's Angel Burp and a simple diamante ring finger accent. I'm constantly surprised with how many people think that a full diamante finger requires a lot of effort, when really you just paste tiny gems on your nail. ><

On my left hand I wore Vinylux Romantique with diamante's down the center of my nails. Again, this looks pretty fancy (apparently) but requires very little effort! I bought the rhinestones from my favorite deco store FullMoon07 and I really need to stock up again!

I'm still not sure which mani I like better! Angel Burp is such a gorgeous polish, especially layered over a beautiful pale pink like Romantique, but I also think that the straight line of diamante's look equally glamorous! What do you princesses think?

Review: Mont Bleu Design Glassware Nail Files

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be reviewing two glass nail files from Design Glassware!

I bought these nail files in April this year in a joint shopping adventure with Polish Armoire. I had been wanting to try an alternative to my standard sandpaper quality $2shop nail files that made me cringe every time I filed my nails, and these gorgeous nail files provided me with another option!

I bought two nail files, one full sized and one mini travel sized, both made with Czech glass. I decided to buy the mini file with Swarovski crystal decorations and the full sized file plain.

Mini Nail File B-S4 - Bubbles Clear - Pink Blue

 "Mini nail file that is perfect for purse and travel. "Bubbles Clear- Pink Blue" with Swarovski crystals is made of Czech tempered glass.
Mini nail files do perfectly fit any bag and are easy to take to any destination while travelling. Considering Czech made glass nail files are the best nail care tool, you won’t need any other with you.
These nail files are made of Czech hardened glass in Bohemia, Czech Republic. No matter they are small, they will last a lifetime, as we give lifetime warranty on abrasive surface. Length of file 90mm/3.55 inches. Check out our manicure sets containing tweezers, nail scissors and small glass nail file, if you are going for a long trip.
Made with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS"  

I absolutely adore this little nail file! The Swarovski crystals are so shiny and gorgeous, and it's the perfect size for my handbag. There is nothing worse than going shopping, splitting your nail and not being able to file it down *cringe* I love that this file comes in a little velveteen slip so it's protected while it's in my handbag! I don't use this nail file as often as my full sized one, but it's still as effective at filing as the day I purchased it!

Clear Glass Nail File

"Czech made clear glass nail file with lifetime filling surface. Presented in protective plastic case. Medium size.
Transparent glass nail files that file nails without injuring them – best choice for home manicure.
High quality glass nail files are made in Czech Republic, Bohemia region. The files have lifetime warranty on the filling surface and are two sided. The length of the file is 135mm/5.32 inches."

 This is my everyday nail file! I have been using it to shape and file my nails since I bought it in April, it doesn't feel like it's loosing grit and it still does the same amazing job as when I first bought it! I haven't included many photo's of the naked file because it's transparent, so you can't really see anything! (Getting the camera to focus on these files was really hard!)

I bought this nail file unadorned, plain or "naked" because I wanted to decorate it myself! I made a small tutorial to show you guys how I deco-den my nail files. ^^

You will need;
Naked Nail File
Epoxy Glue
Cabochons, Pearls, Gems etc
Sticky Ended Stick (I use blu-tac on the tip of an orange stick)

(Click the Image to Enlarge)

I love love love the way my file turned out! It's super kawaii, feminine, and has the unexpected advantage of being really easy to hold because of the bow on the tip! ^^ This deco doesn't affect the quality of the nail file, it just makes it a little more personal.

Things I Love
- Lifetime Warranty on the nail files
- Doesn't blunt easily
- Less noise than "sandpaper" files
- You can buy decorated, coloured or plain files
- Fantastic at filing nails!


Things I Don't Love
- Shipping takes a week or two (I can't remember exactly how long sorry!)

Final Thoughts

I bought these nail files so long ago and totally forgot to write my review on them! >< I absolutely adore them and I don't think I could live without them anymore! I will probably buy another couple at some point in the near future so I can decorate them and keep them as spares in case something tragic happens to the original two!