Avon Shine Attract Lipstick Review

Goood evening everyone, we've had some cracking snow in the UK over the weekend, it is sadly melting away now just in time for the working week to start. DAMN.
I have three lippies to show you today that are probably rather different to any other lipsticks you may have seen before - I was so surprised when I took the packaging off! Avon Shine Attract Lipsticks have a coloured core, with a high-shine, gel outer 'layer' - which looks really cool!

See what I mean?! This has the benefit of adding a high gloss to your lips, as well as pigmented colour - a 2 in 1 product, if you like. These apply almost like a tinted lipbalm, the colour is subtle but buildable, if you want a really pigmented effect. The gel is lovely and moisturising, too, so won't dry your lips out - a hazard with some lipsticks.

Top - Guava
Middle - Copper Connection
Bottom - Happy Pink

You can really see the shine on the outside of the swatches on my hand. This does outline the only issue I have with these lipsticks - they are rather imprecise when it comes to application. In order to get the coloured core up to the edge of your lip, for definition, you end up with the clear gel outside the lip line - not ideal. I found it best to apply buy moving in small circles and smacking the lips together regularly. If you like a strong, crisp line in your lippy application, you will probably struggle with these. I don't really mind as I think they are designed as a natural looking product, with soft application.

Avon Shine Attract Lipstick - Happy Pink

Happy Pink was the most pigmented of the three and really is a light, uplifting shade of fuchsia. I don't tend to wear a pink lip, gravitating more towards a coral or nude tone, but this is lovely and makes me think I should wear it more often! It did sink slightly into the creases of the lip, however.



Avon Shine Attract Lipstick - Copper Connection

Copper Connection was my least favourite, but only because it simply didn't suit me. It is rather dark and doesn't really compliment my skin tone. It has a lovely shimmer though and applied very well - on the perfect skin tone it could look incredible.

Avon Shine Attract Lipstick - Guava

Saving the best until last, Guava was the most wearable shade and looked lovely. It is a really warm toned, orangey nude and looks really natural and fresh - I am wearing it most days at the moment! I wish it would last longer on the lips, however, as an hour later I have to apply more. A slick of Lipcote should remedy this, however :)

For a girl who doesn't really wear lipsticks, I am definitely becoming a convert. These Shine Attract lippies, with the coloured core and gel outer layer, are perfect if you don't want to over do it, or are new to wearing a lipstick - they look natural, the colour is really buildable, the gel layer being moisturising with an SPF 15. You can apply a quick slick for a hint of colour, or really build up the colour for more of a statement.They also smell LUSH, a really fruity, fresh smell!

I would definitely buy another shade of Avon Shine Attract Lipsticks, and Guava especially is a hit! 

Have a great week, I'll post again very soon :D

*Products were supplied for Avon for review, but all opinions are 100% honest, my own and uninfluenced in any way. I was not compensated in any way for this post, besides the supply of the product. For more info visit my disclosure page! :)

Rimmel Fruities and Kiss Nail Art Stickers

Just a quick reminder to all of you that you can vote for my entry into the BundleMonster Nail Art contest over at their Facebook page! You can vote once per day until the 20th :D

A rather simple one - I actually did this manicure a couple of weeks back, and forgot about it ha - I've used Rimmel's Fruity polish in Apricot Punch. It's a scented polish, and smells looovely and fruity when it's dry. This polish is a warm Red Coral, and it dries quickly and goes on really nice and smooth - this is three coats:-

Natural light, overcast.

 The smell lasted really well and was still lingering after a couple of days, even with a topcoat - it's not too overpowering that it gives you a headache first-off, though. I also own Lemon Drop, and although both smell rather artificial, I like them both, MAYBE Apricot Punch a little more :D

I was stuck for ideas (I feel coral is a hard colour to work with when thinking of nail art colour combos - is it just me?!) so I decided to add Kiss Nail Art Stickers, purchased from Superdrug for around £2.85.
Now, I didn't have any problem with the quality of the product itself, they were quick and easy to apply, came in a range of sizes, some with rhinestones, and they lasted alright with a topcoat - my only beef is that they only give you SIX of each design. EH?! Utter Face-Palm moment, Kiss. Did you skive Biology? Did the Nail Art Mafia chop off 4 of your fingers for crimes against Manicures? If not, it's a pretty shocking oversight since I have TEN WHOLE NAILS!!!
Unless you're doing a mismatched design there is no way to get your nails all the same! This, quite literally, baffled me. Why not include enough of each sticker to do ALL of your nails? If this is a sales ploy, then it will fail because I'm more likely to never buy them again, than to buy another packet to finish my manicure - madness. Here they are anyway, I used the large daisy design for my right hand, and the smaller (NOT-MATCHING) design for my left hand. They're so easy to use, literally peel them off and whack 'em on wherever you like:-

all photos in weak, pathetic British sunshine

And for the left hand with the smaller daisies:

I think I prefer the smaller ones. I did have a problem with them lifting after a couple of days, even with a topcoat, and the almost spongy texture of the transfer went a bit sticky. They were, altogether, a bit meeeh - I wont be buying them again.

On a more positive note, you've still got bags of time to enter my 100 Follower Giveaway (even though I have 400 today! Waheeeey!) to win yourself a fabulosa goody bag of British Polishes. NOICE.

xxx

Coral Crush - and 50 followers!! XD

I can’t believe with the amount of time I spend on this blog, and the amount of hours I fritter away reading other people’s wonderful blogs, and I missed the rollover!

50 followers! This is amazing, thank you to each and every one of you!  I never started with the intention of racking up followers, this blog is about my discovery of the wide versatility of Nail Polish and creating something pretty. It means a lot that ONE person would want to read it, never mind over 50 J

STAY TUNED FOR A CELEBRATORY GIVEAWAAAAAY! What better excuse to go shopping?! I'm so excited to pick out my favourites and give them away to you! Giving is definitely better than receiving! :D

I bought one of my first PROPER Lipsticks the other day. I usually stick to balms or glosses (even though I cannot stand the sticky feeling on my lips of some glosses) and make the most of my eyes – seen as eye makeup was my first love! I thought I’d broaden my horizons, however, and I didn’t start small...I went for a bright Coral.

I love the coral colour, and I cant wait until summer so I can rock this baby literally everyday!

This lipstick is from the Accessorize range and there's not a thing about it that I don’t LOVE. From the packaging to the formula to the price (£4.00). In fact, i love the whole Accessorize range so far, the nail polish range looks so great - can't wait to pick a few (or all of them) up.

First things first – this lippy smells LUSH! It’s a lovely sweet vanillary scent and its gorge. It's a really smooth application with a reasonable shine – I wouldn’t apply a gloss over the top. It also looks beautiful if you mix a touch of it with a Balm to give the lips a flush of colour while you moisturise. My favourite to use with this is Vaseline Cocoa butter (the smells compliment each other too! Yummers!)

Here are some pics of the lippy itself:

The lid has a big sparkly (faux) diamond top! LOVE IT.

And these are my luscious corally lips:

It's a wee bit oranger IRL and definitely brighter - at least it feels it to me! I'm definitely not used to bright attention grabbing lips.

And here is my whole FOTD. I tried (and possibly failed) not to make these too "myspace-y" ahah, but theres only so much you can do when you're taking a picture of your own face! The foundation base is Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection. The bottle says it lasts 16 hours which I think is both a bold and ridiculous claim, but it does stay put rather well, even if I do get a bad case of the shinies after a while. This isn't my everyday foundation as it's a bit heavier and not massively natural looking - i wear it for nights out :) Blusher is Benefit Coralista (coral overload? NEVAAAAR!), and my eyes I left simple, lining the top, water line and a bit underneath with an H&M pencil liner in Brown. I only used a couple of strokes of Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara in Brown/Black.

After spending hours taking over 100 photos...this is the first one I took. c'est la vie.



So you can see the pencil liner detail.



And because I love you all SO much, a big, wet, corally kiss from me to say thank you!!! Here is my most ridiculous face :D

also, astounded that the combination of the pout and my recent weight loss has given me cheekbones...GET IN!

Until tomorrow my lovely readers, let me know what you think on the comments! xxx

Roses, Butterflies and KILLER SHOES

It's the year of 21st Birthdays for me. All of my best friends are reaching that milestone (before me may I add- I'm a summer baby!), and you know what that means - plenty of fabulous parties to attend! This weekend was the turn of a close family friend, she had a great gathering at this kitsch little pub on the river, and my parents and brother came as well, which is always hilarious, as none of them can dance, but in their own unique, arm-flailing way!

One thing you should know about me is that I CANNOT cope in heeled shoes. This is not a choice. I would love nothing more than to be able to wear to-die-for heels - I'm a great admirer - but I just can't do it. I don't know if I have weak ankles or bad posture, but I look like Bambi on the ice rink! I can't walk, and I've lost count of the times I've left the house for a night out and returned twenty seconds later to change into flats because I can't even get down my road to the bus stop. 

For this reason, I bought my flat black pumps back from Uni with me to wear to the party, and my mother was utterly disgusted. She refused to let me "not make an effort" for one of our closest friend's birthday, and I had to explain that I would love to make the effort, but that I just can't find a pair of heels that I can walk ten metres in!! Being the brilliant woman that my Mum is, she forcibly dragged me to the shops and I tried on every pair of heels I could find until I found a shoe I could wear! I decided on a wedge strategy - more support for my stupid feet - and this way I could add them to my (very girly) dress with black tights and my leather jacket to make it more edgy.

I have to say it was a success, I lasted all night on the dancefloor until I had to walk half a mile back to the car - I made my brother piggyback me!! and I'm HEAVY - bless him! Here they are:-

eeeeee shoes I can walk in! From New Look :D

On to the Butterflies and Roses. I wanted a manicure to match my dress:

Dress from Miss Selfridge

I used the image on the left for inspiration, and, using my newly acquired BundleMonster plates BM06 and BM14, came up with this:-

I only had time for one quick picture before the party - I'm rubbish at getting ready on time!

As you can see, it's pretty shoddily stamped, as I was in a hurry, but I think you get the idea of what i was trying to do! I think considering it was my first times stamping, I did alright ha!

The polishes I used are:-

• Barry M basecoat and topcoat
• Bloom Flamingo Sands
• Stamped white roses with Rimmel French Manicure White
• Stamped dark coral roses in Barry M Coral
• Stamped purple roses in MUA 04
• Stamped butterfly in Barry M 293, Charcoal Grey.

I'll have to swatch Flamingo Sands by herself for you soon, its a gorgeous polish, but so hard to photograph as it can look completely different colours depending on the light!