My Winter Nail Polish Picks 2012

It's time for another seasonal nail polish pick post, yay! And what better way to start Christmas month than with a nail polish post:)

Essie Berry Hard, Chanel Rouge Noir, Essie Bahama Mama.

My first favourite colour theme to wear in this winter  are plummy-purple-reds. The 3 that I know I will be wearing frequently are Essie Berry Hard, Chanel Rouge Noir and Essie Bahama Mama.

Essie Stylenomics, Revlon Rainforest.

I love greens anytime of year but the 2 above are super pretty for winter. Essie Stylenomics is a very dark, blackened green. Revlon Rainforest is a shimmer forest green.

Revlon Royal, Chanel Blue Satin, Dior Glacier.

Next up is some blues. Revlon Royal is my current favourite blue of that shade. I have a number of bright, rich blues in my collection but this is the current favourite. Chanel Blue satin is the ultimate, deep, nearly liquid navy blue. And of course the blues wouldn't be complete without an icy blue for winter. Dior Glacier is the perfect icy blue.

Chanel Noir Ceramic, Chanel Vendetta.

The final 2 polishes I've chosen are Chanel Noir Ceramic, which is a lightened black with subtle shimmer. Chanel Vendetta is a beautiful deep jewel-toned purple.

What polishes will be adorning your nails this winter?

Dior Glacier

Dior Glacier. I fell in love with this polish as soon as I saw images of it. Then I realised it was an Asia exclusive released earlier this year. I did however manage to find it for a reasonable price on eBay. Yay!

Glacier is a pale icy blue that is utterly wonderful. That subtle shimmer and the gleam it gives both in the light and shade. This is 3 coats and it is so worth it.

Adore. Adore. Adore.

Dior Riveria

Dior Rivera is a gorgeous red-orange crème. Rivera was part of the Summer 2012 collection. I love the formula of the Dior polishes and Rivera was no exception. They also have a great brush.

These photos are 2 coats but some people may prefer 3 coats.

Dior Electric Blue and Some Silver Sparkle!

Dior Electric Blue. It really is Electric Blue. So vibrant, especially for a crème finish. It was also easily opaque, 1 coat would have been fine but I did 2 out of habit.

I added a silver glitter in the form of Pa A50 after a few days. It’s an awesome chunky silver glitter and the some of the particles are holographic!

Love these together!

Model's Own Indian Ocean

                                             

Model's Own released the Beetlejuice collection late last year and this summer they introduced a trio of more summery shades. I got two of the three and this first one is Indian Ocean.

It is a gorgeous blue/pink/purple/violet multi-chrome polish that is kind of sheer. I have it layered over yesterday's polish which is Dior's Saint Tropez. I only had to use one coat of Indian Ocean and I suspect that at three coats it could be opaque.

It flashes so prettily in every light, at every angle.

You don't have this? Go. Now. Get it!

Dior Saint Tropez

Dior Saint Tropez is a beautiful, slightly turquoisey-blue, creme. It was released as part of one of Diors 2012 Summer mini collections -  Croissettes, I believe.

I love the Dior formula and application brush. And it was opaque in two coats.

It's a very happy blue isn't it? And very summery. Well we need something bright to cheer us up on these un-seasonly dull summer days:(

My Ultimate Foundation?! Dior Forever Foundation

Like a lot of people I am continuously on the search for the perfect foundation. Since my skin went crazy on me about a year ago, I've needed a foundation with more coverage than I used to need. Thankfully my skin has calmed down a lot but there is still a lot of redness/scarring that remains that needs covering.

However, I detest the feel of being caked in make-up and the feel of heavy coverage foundation on my skin. A bit of a pickle one might say. Where could I find decent coverage foundation that was also lightweight?

Enter my sample box. A while ago I did this post on all the samples I had that I needed to use up. Amongst them were foundation samples, including a sample of Dior's Forever Foundation. I decided to try it on a day when I was just going to be around the house and just as well I did because it turned out to be around 3 shades too dark for me! 

Regardless of the shade issue, I was amazed by how the foundation looked. It glided over my skin easily erasing all the spots, scars and redness that blemished my skin. My face looked dewy, fresh and clear. The closest I have ever gotten to making my skin look flawless. And the best part? It felt like I had no make-up on whatsoever. 

And it smells amazing! I'm not the best at describing scents but it smells slightly floral? not overpowering but a scent that makes me feel happy when I apply it.

After the success of the sample, I went to my local Dior counter the next day to test out some shades. My shade is 010 which of course they were sold out of and weren't going to be getting back in stock for a while. So I ordered off House of Fraser and had it within a few days. It cost me £29 so it is a pricy foundation, but one I feel is definitely worth the money.

010 is still slightly dark but my face is darker than my inner arm which is shown here.

I am nearly at the end of the bottle now and will I re-purchase? Hell yea! It is just an unbelievable foundation. I don't think I will limit myself to only that foundation for the rest of my life as there are others I've been itching to try like NARS Sheer Glow, but it will be a constant in my make-up bag. 

Do you have a Holy Grail foundation?

My Summer 2012 Nail Polish Picks

It's the 1st of June so what better way to celebrate Summer, than show some of the polishes I will be wearing on my nails. I will still wear a lot of the pastel shades that I showed in my Spring picks but on a scorching hot Summer's day all I want to wear on my nails is bright, bright colours.

L-R Dior Rivera, China Glaze Papaya Punch, No7 Tangy and Models Own Tropical Sun.

L-R No7 Cheeky Chops and Sally Hansen Wavelength.

L-R Revlon Beach and POP Yellow

L-R China Glaze Towel Boy Toy, Chanel Coco Blue, Wet n Wild Caribbean Frost and China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise.

I love the look of the China Glaze Neons collection as well, I'm definitely going to get some of them to wear this Summer when they're available.

What are some of your favourite Summer polishes?

Dior Waterlily

St. Patrick's Day could not pass without me showcasing a green nail polish! 

Dior Waterlily is a a new release as part of Dior's Spring/Summer 2012 collection. It is also my first ever nail varnish from Dior.

Waterlily is a light green nail varnish complete with subtle shimmer. There is definitely no blue in this green, yet I don't see a lot of yellow or brown in it. It really is just green.

 

This is also a scented polish but thankfully it's not a strong sickly sweet scent. It faintly smells of roses when the polish dries which isn't too bad at all.

As this was my first Dior nail polish I wasn't sure what the formula and application would be like. Thankfully it is a very workable formula, being neither too thin or thick. It applied lovely in two coats and wasn't streaky. 

Any Dior favourites? I feel I never really hear a lot about them!

My Spring 2012 Nail Polish Picks

In some ways it doesn't seem like Spring. Maybe because the last while there has been way more dreary, heavy, grey filled days than those with clear-skies. Or else it's because we didn't have to emerge from sub-zero temperatures this year, so it didn't feel like such a change. Regardless of what it feels like, it is in fact Spring so I thought I would show you some of my favourite Spring colours! Some of these are older colours and some are from S/S 12 collections:)

L-R Dior Waterlily, OPI Gargantuan Green Grape, Essie Navigate Her and Essie Turquoise&Caicos.

L-R China Glaze Sea Spray, Kinetic Candy and For Audrey.

L-R OPI Pink Friday, Catrice Sweets For My Sweet and Gosh Yellow Doll.

L-R Barry M Berry Ice Cream, OPI Do You Lilac It?(Top),OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender (Bottom) and Zoya Marley.

L-R OPI Melon of Troy, Barry M Peach Melba, Chanel June, Essie A Crewed Interest and Essie Topless and Barefoot.

So those are my picks for this Spring. What's your favourite colours to wear in Spring?

New Stuff!

If you follow me on twitter you may know that I visited friends in Dublin last weekend. Thankfully all those friends are as earnest make-up junkies as me so we had lots of fun buying and swatching make-up.

Most of the items I got were things I'd planned to buy for quite a while.

L-R Philospophy Tinsel Town gift set, Philosophy Purity Cleanser and Lush Flying Fox Shower Gel.

The Tinsel Town gift set contains a shower gel and lipgloss and was on sale for €6 down from €20! Bargain!

L-R Lush Buffy, Lush Tin and Lush Aqua Mirabilis

I've been dying to try the two of these out for ages!

L-R Dior Waterlily nail varnish, Shu Uemura eyelash curler and Laura Mercier primer.

The eyelash curler is something I'd always wanted to pick up but I didn't even know the brand was available in Ireland. I was thrilled when I spied the counter in BT:)

L-R Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer duo, MAC 129, MAC MSF in Redhead and MAC Lipstick in A Perfect Day.

I didn't like as much as I thought from the MAC Naturally collection but I loved the MSF! 

Have you picked up anything recently?

Beauty Presents: Christmas 2011

I meant to have this post up nearer post-christmas but better late than never! I didn't want to do a 'haul' of what I got for Christmas so I just included any beauty related gifts that I received.

Somebody had fun opening her present!

On to the beauty stuff:)

I got a MAC lipstick in Half n Half, and eyeshadow in Honesty and the 209 brush. 

Korres lip butter in Wild Rose, Burts Bee lip balm trio and Maybelline Cat Eyes mascara

Flower by Kenzo perfume and body lotion set and Hypnotic Poison by Dior.

Moringa body scrub from The Body Shop

Gorgeous to Go by Aisling McDermott of Beaut.ie fame:D

A Stila Lip Glaze set containing 8 lipglosses

OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees  and Essei Braziliant. (I also got Dulce de Leche from OPI but it's on backorder so still waiting for that to come, my mum informed me:))

Nars highlighter in Albatross, Benefit blush in Dandelion, Korres lip butter in Jasmine and Essie's Fair Game (meant to put those last 2 in other pictures!)

So that's the beauty gifts I got this year:)

My Top Products of 2011

Happy New Year's Eve everyone! Does anybody have any exciting plans for tonight? I have to admit, I really don't like New Year's Eve. I feel it's always so hyped up and then always turns out to be such a letdown of a night. Town is always wedged and ugh I just don't like it. This year one of my friends is having a couple of us over to her house for dinner and cocktails - much better than battling it out in town I think! I'm writing this part of the post just before I head out to her, and after working all day I don't have time to read other people's top products of 2011 posts, but I can't wait to read them tomorrow and get some ideas for what to try in 2012!

I know every blog is going to have one of these top products of 2011 posts, but sometimes it's inevitable that you end up on the bandwagon! Besides, I enjoyed thinking back on my standout products of the year. This is actually my second time writing this post....blogger ate my other one!

I suppose by right I should have individual 'top' posts for eyeshadow, lipstick etc. and maybe I will next year. For this year, however,  I decided to compile it into one post. I did a top 5 nail polish post though, which you can see here.

Unlike the nail polish post, this post doesn't necessarily include products that were released this year, more so it is a collection of products that I have discovered this year. As I have mentioned before, this year was the first year that I was truly intune with beauty and make-up collections and product launches and product types and tools and all sorts, so I had a lot of catching up to do!
This is why I didn't want to restrict my top products to new releases - there is just way too much good stuff out there!

MAC Pro Palettes

To kick us off I will start with Mac Pro Palettes. I bought my first 6 Mac eyeshadows in pot form in July 2010. (Vanilla,Wedge, Woodwinked, Yoghurt, Quarry and Club. All from the Mac counter in Harrods in London, just in case you were wondering!:p)

When I discovered YouTube, that November, I discovered the wonder of the palettes. They seemed such a convenient way to store and use the eyeshadows, especially the more your collection grew. January 2011,  I nervously attempted to depott my 6 precious eyeshadows. Club had a little accident, which thankfully was repaired and all the rest had a successful move!

Happily I then went and bought my pro palette (and some brand spanking new pro pan eyeshadows) and I was also able to complete my first Back to Mac with the empty eyeshadow pots:)

This was a really long, and probably unnecessary story about my first mac pro palette. In short, it is brilliant, so much easier to keep all your eyeshadows together. I am also very glad that I had the wisdom to decide to depott my pots when I had only 6 as opposed to when the collection grew considerably!

I now have 2 full Mac palettes and need to start a third. An overview of the palettes will appear soon!

Urban Decay Naked Palette

This product was a highly anticipated new release of 2011.  For me it was definitely worth the hype. A palette full of neutrals that could still create many different looks. The palette was as compact as could be, without forgoing eyeshadow size. This was the only palette and eyeshadow that I brought with me when I moved away for the summer, and I never got sick of it!

Catrice Nail Polish

A cheap brand with incredible quality.The nail varnish has great formulation and an extensive colour range. A brand that's readily available in Ireland? That we're not overcharged for? Sold! At averaging around €2.79 a bottle, it would be rude not to!

Revlon ColourBurst Lipgloss

I discovered these in about April. A smooth gloss with no sticky tendencies, it fast became my favourite lipgloss. It is now the brand that I have the most lipgloss from and I have nearly all the shades available to me in Ireland. I hope we get some more of the extensive shade range that is available over the other side of the pond! (Ignore the Carmex in the picture - although I love that as well!)

Dior Poison Perfume

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This certainly isn't a new release, it appeared in 1998 I believe. The one I'm loving is Hypnotic Posion. I got a bottle recently for Christmas but it's a perfume that I've been sniffing for a few months.  Intriguing, hypnotic and seductively sexy. Love it.

Mac 187 Face Brush

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Before purchasing this I used a  traditional foundation 'paintbrush' style brush. The 187 is a duo-fibred stippling brush and gives a flawless finish. 

Dove Supreme Body Silk

I've prattled on about this a lot. It is amazing. 

There has been lots of other items that I could have put here, but I needed to limit it somehow!

What have been your top products of 2011?