Thursday 30 January 2014

Essie Angora Cardi Polish Review Ft. Seche Vite


Another polish review for you, but I’m pretty sure this is my all time favourite, say hello to Angora Cardi by Essie. I totally love this colour, totally hate the name however (found myself becoming a bit of an animal welfare activist with the whole hoo-hah surrounding angora rabbits and their treatment!). But that aside, it’s a shade I keep coming back to. I would describe it as a dirty plum combined with brown undertones. It’s just so pretty, it’s not ultra girly but not grunge either, I feel it sits nicely in-between. Just to let you know, this isn’t by any means a new shade; I believe it was brought out in 2009 in a fall range! But they still have it within their main collection, yey!

As for Seche Vite, I’d seen Lily Pebbles singing its praises for some time before I finally took the plunge. For a top coat, £9.00 is expensive but I’d like to say that it’s worth it. Seche Vite is very heavy duty shit (excuse my French). The formula is very thick, almost gloopy but spreads onto the nails perfectly, immediately creating a high shine, glossy coat on your talons. But here’s the best bit, it sets in seconds. I don’t know how many exactly but it is super fast drying and I love it. To get the very best from your manicure I would recommend waiting until your coloured polish is 100% set before applying because it can affect how well and how fast the top coat dries. As for the impact on how long your mani lasts, I would say it prevents chipping for at least upto 5 days (that’s the best I’ve had so far and I usually get chipping on the first day!). Seche Vite thickens up your nails and makes them more durable, not to mention the high shine it’s got going on. I've even had people question whether I'm wearing gels! Don't however expect this top coat to work the same wonders as gel overlays for example - because it is still only a top coat and isn't going to realistically prevent any chipping whatsoever! The only con I can say about this is that because it is so heavy duty, once your mani is on its way out, the polish begins to peel at the edges (which is disappointing as the product claims this won’t happen). You can be very tempted to peel the whole thing off – but don’t! It leaves your nails weak and flaky underneath, so go get that polish remover!

- Top image without Seche Vite, bottom image with Seche Vite

Angora Cardi - £7.99 @ Boots
Seche Vite Top Coat - £9.00 @ Boots
Have you tried any of these?
Han X

Monday 27 January 2014

MAC Rebel Lipstick Review


Mac Rebel is a firm autumnal/winter favourite amongst beauty mavens and I had been lusting after it for ages. It’s a gorgeous plum shade which leans towards being deep fuchsia pink (more so in different shades of light!) I thought Rebel was going to be more on the deep purple side and I was kinda disappointed when it wasn’t – I wouldn't say that the colour of the bullet is the same as the colour that transfers.  As for how good this lippy is and how long it lasts – I would say it’s pretty so-so. Rebel is from the Satin range therefore the formula for these lipsticks is meant to be semi-matte, which I would agree with. I hate matte formulas as my lips are a bugger for drying out, but I don’t find this to be too bad. One thing I was fairly surprised by was its unimpressive lasting power. The boldness of the colour on first application seems to fade fairly quickly despite being what I would consider to be a heavily pigmented lipstick. Even though I haven't sung it's praises all too well, I do think this is a lovely shade but I’m not sure I would repurchase it. It’s one that tends to get cast aside but it does create a gorgeous vampy look, a subtle smoky eye and Rebel go hand in hand.
MAC Rebel - £15 @ MAC Counters
What are your opinions on Rebel?

Han X

Thursday 23 January 2014

Spending Money I Don't Have...

Thought I’d share with you the things I’ve bought towards the end of December and within January. I’m not supposed to be spending AT ALL as I’m going to New York at the beginning of Feb (eee!) but online shopping is inevitable once the student loan has dropped. So here goes…

I bought this dress on a whim whilst out shopping with my best friends. They successfully convinced me to a night out (despite having uni work) so I thought I’d treat myself to some new glad rags. I’ve only worn it once and it was really comfortable, however the only thing I don’t like about it is that because it’s lacking shape, on some of the pictures from the night I feel like I look like a huge tent *unimpressed face*. However I will wear it again, I will just be cautious at which angle I’m having my picture took, pah.
 
Bank - £25
 
Ahh my lovely new coat. I LOVE this, it’s from Zara and it’s perfect. I have been looking for a new coat for my trip to NYC because it’s going to be freezing. I already have a boyfriend style coat/jacket from H&M but it’s not nearly thick enough for what I need it for. I think coats are quite difficult to find, I’m so picky, but I always fall in love with my final decision.

Zara – Sale: £69.99
 
Another Zara buy, I don’t really know what to describe this as as it’s not a jacket, not a cardigan and not a coat. Anyway, whatever it is, it’s cosy. It has shearling lining in the hood and around the cuffs and edges. I did hope that it would be fully shearling lined but to be honest it doesn’t need it, it keeps you warm enough. I got this in the ‘special prices’ section of the Zara website for £19.99! Such a good price, but unfortunately they’ve sold out now.
Zara - £19.99


This looks better on that it does off to be honest. It’s just a cable knit jumper that is slightly cropped at the bottom and longer at the back. Basically bought it to be able to layer up and keep me snug.

Asos - £19
 
I love the whole dropped hem thing that’s going on at the mo. What I like about this is how it can be made to look really casual, but then can be made to look that bit smarter for a different occasion. It was £23 (I think) I can’t seem to find it on the website but I didn’t buy it all that long ago, so I reckon it’d still be knocking about some larger stores. I tend to try and stay away from Topshop if I can as I think their prices are somewhat ridiculous. But I really did like this and I justified it with being able to use my student discount, every cloud ey.
 
Topshop - £23


These have got to be my favourite purchase. This image doesn’t really do them justice, but they are fabulous. They were £24.99 from New Look which I think is very reasonable, and I’ve not had them off ever since I bought them. They’re comfy, easy to clean and I love their burgundy colour. As you can see I have scuffed the heels a little, but blame drunken nights out for those (oops). I think I’ll be very sad once these have had their day.

New Look - £24.99
 
What have been your favourite purchases this month?
Han X

Monday 20 January 2014

Topshop Gypsy Night Polish Review


 
 
So this is my first Topshop Nail Varnish! I got this as a Christmas present and it’s safe to say I love it. I still think black is a great shade on nails but it can be a little boring, so I love how Gypsy Night puts a twist on that and livens it up a little. The shade is predominately black but has a subtle yet noticeable greeny/gold iridescent pigment alongside it. In the light it looks beautiful, especially because it also has multidimensional glitter that really gives it that ‘out of space’ feel. It’s such a pretty shade and is a little different to your bog standard colours. The lasting power is so-so, I tried it without a top coat and it chipped within a day, but with a top coat you can get near enough a week from it. The cons of this product however are that is does need 2-3 coats, the formula is very sheer so you definitely need to build it up. I would also say that it takes a little longer than average to dry (the worst bit)! Removal is a bit of a bugger too, the glitter doesn’t seem to want to budge so elbow grease is needed! Aside from that though it is a lovely shade and for £5 it isn’t too bad at all! Unfortunately this is no longer available on the website but I’m sure they’ll be some stragglers at your local Topshop if you look hard enough!

Gypsy Night Polish - £5 @ Topshop

What’s your favourite Topshop polish?
Han X

Tuesday 14 January 2014

MAC Love Thing Blush Review



My first review of 2014! I actually picked up Love Thing at the latter end of 2013 and have been in love with it ever since. It’s a beautiful plum shade, infused with what I would describe as a dainty pink tone. It’s from the MAC Mineralize blush collection, of which I haven’t had anything before so I was very pleased to get my hands on it! It’s not a new shade by any means, but its shimmery plummy loveliness caught my eye and I just had to have it. I’ve been using it for near two months now and it still doesn’t look like it’s ever been touched! I thought it would lose its lovely marbled effect once I began using it but nope, it still looks as heavenly as ever. Another bonus is that it is so pigmented; so much so that you have to be cautious about applying too much! It’s one of my firm favourites and it will definitely be in my makeup bag until the first hint of summer!


Love Thing - £20 @ MAC

What Mineralize blushes would you recommend? I need more!

Han X

Wednesday 8 January 2014

Welcoming 2014...

It’s a new year and so for many of us, we conjure up a whole load of new goals and resolutions to aim for. 2013 was a great year for me, I did some wonderful things – I must have been having fun as it flew by! But despite that for much of the year I didn’t feel motivated or driven to achieve much. I’ll be the first to admit that I am lazy, I can easily spend the day doing nothing whatsoever but at the same time I hate doing so, it only adds to how demotivated I feel! So in 2014 my aims are to stop spending so much time on my ass and start being proactive and through sheer willpower I will hopefully begin to feel some sort of drive to achieve once I start seeing results. So here are my plans:

-          Commit to this blog and take it seriously:  As I knew I would, I let my commitment to doing this blog slide, always telling myself I had more important things to do or couldn’t find the time.  Which is why I need to learn to utilise my time effectively and become more organised in order to fit things like this in.
 
-          Organise my university work load and take it seriously too: I’m all too guilty of leaving my essays until last minute and skipping my reading whilst blagging what I’ve done over the weekend in seminars. I could get so much more out of it if only I tried a little harder and it’s my own fault, so it’s time to spend more hours in the library and less time scanning twitter!
 
-          Spend less time on my phone: Might seem a little odd but it’s mad how much time our generation actually spends on smartphones. Every aspect of our life seems to be uploaded onto Instagram or summed up in a status on Facebook, are we really living? Or living to simply create a representation of ourselves online? Plus do I really care what an acquaintance from back in 2007 is doing tomorrow night? No, not really. So I have decided that I am going to spend more time offline and do more things without the accompaniment of an iPhone, it should be quite refreshing!
 
-          Get healthier! This is such a cliché, everyone has the optimistic view of losing a few pounds here and there and hitting the gym. I’m certainly not giving up the McDonalds and the choccy biccys for good, I love eating! But my aims are to STOP snacking on rubbish inbetween meals, I am so bad for this. I desperately want to get fitter too, going up two flights of stairs at uni leaves me gagging for breath, it’s ridiculous! I’ve never been a gym goer and I don’t plan on being, I am just going to rely on running trainers and fitness videos on YouTube to get toned up and help me tackle those stairs!
 
-          Think about the future and start planning:  Agh, the thought of leaving uni and being chucked into the deep end of the ‘big wide world’ scares me! But in a year and a half its going happen and I need to start taking steps towards what it is I want to do afterwards. My dream would be to write for a fashion/beauty magazine, but there are so many of us that are after the same thing so if it’s ever going to happen I need to start my attempts in securing it!

And I think that is all folks! The plan is to look back at this in 2015 and see if any of what I wrote has materialised, fingers crossed! I’ll leave you with some snaps of my favourite moments in 2013!
 
 
So what are your aims for the new year?

Han X