17 Hide and Chic Concealer

Two posts in one day? Holy mackerel... I've got a lot of lost time to make up for (could make another tragic joke here, i'll spare you all), spoiling you, too kind i know ;) As a poor student i felt it was only right to visit the freshers fair to bag some free pizza and other rubbish, besides leaving behind being a fresher over 2 years ago, muahahahahaa! And it has to be said they did give me some goodies, amongst the chocolate orange squares bar which hardly made it through my front door was a 17 (boots brand) Hide and Chic Eye Brightening Concealer in Light Beige. I was a little bit over excited by this, i'm growing to like 17 ever more, they step up to every season and trend as it comes and they're products are good quality for what you pay. I'm not a big concealer person, only when things are bad i.e. sleep deprivation, but I've given it a whirl all the same...

The applicator is brush style, where you turn the end to dispense product.

The consistency is a smooth lightweight formula, very different to my MAC Studio Finish Concealer i usually use, which is rather thick to say the least. The product has a slight glitter finish to it (i think this is supposedly the 'brightening' bit, gold star for Loula!!). Its maybe a shade too light for me, yet when i went into Boots to check out the selection of shades, the only do 3, this one and a light and darker pinky under toned tone being the other two, so all in all, i'd probably still have gone for this little puppy! It is a nice everyday eye concealer, due its shimmer finish its difficult to use elsewhere on the face without the explosion in a glitter factory look, yet its coverage is light-medium and long lasting, managing to cover even my dark circles (albeit with a little effort). One niggle, how on earth do you know how much is left? I like to be able to see when a product is running out so I'm not going to be left in a disaster zone looking like a zombie (everyones have look!). But...all in all its a good eye concealer with a nice finish if you're looking for something with lighter coverage and for £4.99 i don't think its priced too bad either :) 

Seeeeee i told you we were getting back to make-up ;)

All my love

Loula x

Happy Halloween(ish) and an apology (hanging my head in shame)

Hello there my lovelies :) I'm back, about time too mrs, some of you may run as fast as your little legs can carry you at this news and others may throw a party (not bigging myself up here at all, one bit...)! Huge, mahoosive, hu-billy-bongus apologies for my absence, they weren't lying when then they said the third year of uni was a lot more work, holy moly, i may never surface from a large pile of books and my looming dissertation, lets not panic now though (purely to try and calm myself, panic mode is full scale...). I have so much to show you, I've been loving some new products I've been trying and will get round to telling you all about them, hopefully before I'm grey and old at this rate! Firstly though it has to be said I HEART HALLOWEEN, i love everything about it, so I thought I'd share a few of my halloween pictures with you to get us back into the swing of thing. Naturally i dressed super scary, as a cat, totes....

N'awwwww! I had such a good night, the lovely people in the pictures are some of my housemates from uni, looking horrifically scary for deffs :) Back to the make-up now i suppose, what a shame..NAWWTTTTT!

Hope you're all well & had a frightfully good (tragic jokes are still here) Halloween!

All my love

Loula x

Magnetic Nail Polish (not sure if i'm attracted- tragic joke).

Well, a little update an apology first *hides head in shame*....

Apologies for the lack in blogging (and for the horrific joke...), just gone into my third year of uni, crickey seriously scary stuff, what am I going to do with my life?! Which therefore meant a lack of internet in new house, bums. So, as I visit my boyfriend and he runs off to lectures, I'm stealing his internet, cunning! :)

Whilst I was browsing twitter I came across a tweet from a fellow blogger, Aimee (whose blog i adore) about Boots' range '17' and their new magnetized nail polish, after a little bit of research I realised we may soon have a new nail trend on our hands (perfect opportunity for another dreadful joke, worry not, i'll spare you all)... Bye bye Mr.Crackle and co! 

The Boots website claims:

'The polish contains very fine metal particles, when you have applied the polish and its still wet, hover the magnet (which is part of the cap) over your nail and watch the effect appear!

How to apply:

1. Apply 17 Magnetized Nail Polish and whilst still wet, hover the magnet (located on the cap) over your nail. Apply to one nail at a time.

2. Hold the magnet over the nail for approx 10 seconds and see the effect appear before your eyes!

3. Allow the nail polish to dry hard & apply a clear top coat for prolonged wear.'

The effects are lovely, search 'magnetic nail polish' on google images for a peek! I do remember seeing a version by Nails Inc a few months back now i think about it, yet this version is a mere snip of the Nails Inc price tag at £5.99 a bottle. I am ever more impressed by the 17 range of make-up, they always seem to step up every season and are super affordable! I hear in the great blogger world a BB cream is their next little no. excited stuff indeed!

The magnetic nail polish is available in these shades: 

...all of which are pretty dark *runs and hides*, poor poor beloved pastel shades! I'm guessing this is because of the effect not lending itself to lighter shades. I have to say the grey or the blue are probably my favourite, yet i'm still not overly enthused, having said this i'm 90% certain one will 'fall' in my basket on my next Boots trip...*sighhhh*

Much Love ♥

My week in purch-ases :)

Hello there my lovelies, firstly I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who's following me, it really does make me smileeee whenever I get a new follower, so thank youuu :) 
So, as ever here's the outcome of my shopping addiction from this week, but not before i apolgise for the birds nest perched on top of my forehead I was in a rush taking pictures so the poor mop had to suffer, sozza about that, praying no blackbirds mistake it for their home on my way to work....

Cardigan -£14.99- H&M  (suprisingly cosy, yummm :)

Strappy Top- £2.00- Primarni :)

Bird Necklace- £2.00- Primark (Last Year) 

Cross Necklace- Stolen from the boyfriend (he doesn't yet know...thankss :)

Double Buckle Belt (i love love love this!)- £2.00 i thinkkk- Primark

Alexander McQueen Scarf- £22.00- eBay (absolute bargain, poor postman's going to be terrified again....). I massively predict leather jackets to be HUGE this A/W, this will look gorgeous teamed with one and some boots, oooh, i'm excited already!

 Sleek True Colour Lipstick- £2.99? (I thinkkk!)- Peaches and Cream- Superdrug

I'm a nude lipstick kinda girl but decieded to pick this up from superdrug the other day, the colour is coral and its highly pigmented and smooth, it did dry my lips out a little though, so lashings of lipbalm required, they do lots of other colours though which I'm eager to try!

And check it out, no nail varnishes! Absolutly shocking (except for Seche Vite below, but lets shhhh about that ;))! Hope you enjoyy and beware Monsieur. Postiemannn!

Much Love ♥

Marry Me Seche Vite?

The need for a new top coat was far past ridiculous, soooo, on many good reviews I made a purchase of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat, I'm actually in love. I think the postman now genuinely has an irrational fear of delivering post to our house after I almost wrestled him to the ground to grab the parcel off him, yeah, sorry about that Mr. Postman, I hate to warn him too that the process with only repeat itself when my Orly polish FINALLLYYYYY arrives, ooops!

(I apologise for my nails looking as if I've 

dug a 6ft hole with my hands, yummm)

The finish is amazing, its SO shiny, I'm so impatient when it comes to drying time too, which is one of the main reasons i love this, its touch dry within at least a minute, AMAZE! I'm so glad i made a purchase, i really do heart it, wedding invite anyone??

You can get your very own bottle from asos for £9.99 :)

Shineeeeee :) Top Coat Dilemma's....

One things thats become very apparent to me this week is: by god I need a new nail top coat (and also, I'm blogging at work, feel super naughty!)! Beside copious amounts of acetone (I reckon its about 10:1 ratio of nail varnish now in my old one, just what you want, yummmm!), I might as well be trying to scoop jelly onto my nails, always a good look and a way to earn friends! Hubba hubba!!!

So can anyone recommend any good top coats, I've heard manyyyyy good things about Seche Vite and I am seriously considering a pur-chase! Has anyone used this and what do you think? I'm looking for something shiny and fast drying, I'm so impatient!!

Ooooh and I'm SO excited to bring you my views on this little baby when mr.postman gets his backside into 2nd gear:

 I had such a hard time geting hold of this but as soon as I saw it, i NEEDED it, it wasn't an option! The colour is 'Fancy Fuschia' from Orly's Precious 2011 Spring Collection, I have a funny feeling we may be very, very good friends indeed, so hurry up postyman!

Much Love ♥

Crackleee

Well, I fully realise I'm about 6months late for the crackle craze, and the ship has well and truly sailed and got back into port, but in my boredom tonight I whipped out half my nail varnish collection and applied it all to my nails it would appear! I can never decide if I really like crackle polishes, but hey ho knowing me I'll probably have changed it by tomorrow! So here's the damage: 

The pictures aren't too clear, my camera was charging so resorted to the trusty iPhone! Its definitely a busy affair! Still unsure if I like them to be honest, the gradient isn't as effective as I'd have hoped, my mums comment: 'they look like they're dirty at the ends' too kind mum!

Products used:

L-R

17 Lasting Fix- 'Chaperone'

La Femme- 'Colour 96' (I've had this well over ten years and its still perfect!)

BarryM- '293 Grey'

BarryM- 'Pink Crackle' (Its gone so gloopy its untrue, besides pouring vast amounts of acetone in, think it may have seen its best after a handful of uses! grrrr)

Rimmer Lasting Finish- '500 Disco Ball'

Just a quick one too show you all what happens when I'm left alone with a house full of nail varnish! I'll be updating later in the week upon my pur-chases, including the worlds cutest cardigan from H&M, yummm! Enjoy :) xx

Nail Varnish Favourites

Sunday 21st August 2011


Well, two blog posts in two days, crickey!! Thought I best got on with showing you some of my favourite summer shades before the summer ship sails completely (not that it ever really left the port looking at the grey skies! Boooo!) As I've mentioned earlier my nail varnish collection is ever growing, I'm thinking of enforcing something similar to China's one child policy upon myself, one nail varnish purchase allowed a month? Pipe down Loula, you know its never going to happen!

Here are a few of my favourite polishes (this literally scratches the surface of my collection...ooopsie!), I seem to be attracted towards pastel shades and own nearly every variety under the sun! I wouldn't really say I had a favourite brand (them all...), but will give you a low down of the most common brands in my collection:

Nails Inc: I love love love the selection of shades they do within their collection, and my all time favourite shade, 'Brompton Place' is from them, yet i do have a niggle: The brushes are too thin, when painting acrylics a wide brush is optimum to avoid gloopy polish when you're trying to spread it and quite often its hard to get a neat finish. They are available from larger boots stores for £11 (10ml bottle).

Misa: This is probably my favourite brand, yet its very difficult to get hold of in the UK, the only place I've ever seen it sold in a shop is a warehouse in Manchester who's website you can view here (you'd think they were shipping from Hong Kong and round the world 3 times with the amount they charge for postage though!). The prices and quality are incredible, its around £7 a bottle (often cheaper) for a 15ml bottle, the selection of shades is amazing, and they're really long lasting.  No niggles, SHOCKER! i heart them!

OPI: I own only a few OPI polishes, they have hundreds of shades, but its rare any ever really take my fancy, I'm not really one for dark shades as they don't do my stumps any favours and OPI seem to favour dark shades such as 'Lincoln Park After Dark'. Having said this I love how smoothly they glide on and are the quickest drying of any brand in my opinion :)

BarryM: I love the colours they do and are a real bargain YET, they go gloopy so fast! You can salvage them with abit of acetone and a session in the fridge (my mum loves it when i fill her fridge with nail varnish.....) a few times but after that, that's them done and you often end up wasting so much of them, I've not bought one in ages, exactly for this reason!!

Rimmel: the I <3 Lasting Finish range of polishes is by far my favourite cheaper highstreet brand at £2.99 a bottle you can't complain! The polishes don't go gloopy easily and the colours are amazing, i'm truly in love with these polishes!


******************************************************

My all time favourite polishes:

Nails Inc- 'Brompton Place'

This is by far my all time favourite polish!

Misa also do a polish 'Poppy Dreams' which is a very similar colour but a little less bright! I love how pastelly (yes, its a word!!) it is yet still really bright, it looks lovely on tips as well as full nails! Namm namm namm.

Misa- 'Sandals, Flip Flops and HipHop'

This is a really bright coral shade, so perfect for summer! I don't actually own this polish, i get these done at the salon where i get my acrylics done, I'm having real issues getting hold of my own bottle, wahhhhh!

Nails Inc- 'Jermyn Street'

My favourite winter shade, this is about as dark as my stumpy stump fingers will allow! Its a gorgeous chocolatey purpley brown shade that almost looks like chocolate!

                                                              Katy Perry for OPI- 'Teenage Dream'As posted previously, I've only just purchased this polish, but is already one of my firm favourites, I love the different glitter shades and it dries so fast :) Yum, its like having diamonds on your nails, what more could you want?!
Well, I don't want to bore everyone to tears cooing over my 1000000001 nail varnishes (quite literally) so a quick low down of my favourites, hope you enjoyed and see you lovely lovely people soon! Much Love xxx

This Weeks Purchasing Outcomes...

Saturday 20th August 2011


As pinky promised, with my exceedingly small pinkys, a post on my purchases from this week. To be honest, I've been putting off because I've been a bit of a hermit crab (stayed in, not walking sideways everywhere), I've been working so much trying to earn some money to go back to uni with so shopping has taken a back seat...wahhhhhhh! But all the same, I managed to get some in, hoorah! So here's the outcome:


I've been looking to buy some polishes from Katy Perry's Collection for OPI for manyyyyy a month now and finally got round to it this week, more nail varnishes i hear my mother cry?! Oooooh yes :)...

'Last Friday Night' is by far my favourite shade of the collection. The colours in the glitter are just gorgeous and shine every colour under different lights. The only niggle I have about the product is its not as highly pigmented as it may first look, therefore I did a base coat of the 2true 'shade 2' polish to ensure some pigmentation! I am literally in love with this polish all the same and cannot wait to try it out with other base colours, I think a navy blue base would make a gorgeous winter colour! Here's a link to the website I bought mine from http://www.beautyexpert.co.uk/opi-katy-perry-collection-4-shades/10375181.html...

....But in true Loula style, one glittery blue nail varnish is just not enough hence the second purchase...

I love the lasting finish rimmel range of nail varnishes, they're really affordable at £2.99 a bottle and the colours are gorgeous! The overall effect is very similar to the Katy Perry polish (I've only painted my toes with it, over a base of the 2true colour, and would show you, but no-one wants to see my trotters), the effect is very similar, yet the glitter looks cheaper, I think its the silver in the Rimmel that does it, although having said this, I do really like it, its perfect for when I can't quite justify the use of OPI :) The shade is called 'Disco Ball'.

I mentioned at the end of my last post that I was going to pay Sally's Beauty Supplies a visit, and indeed I did! I have a serious addiction to nail varnish, I could give all of China one and still have some left over, nightmare!!! So when I left Sally's without anymore I almost had to take my own temperature to check I wasn't delirious! None of the colours just took my fancy, which was probably because I own half the stock anyway! But I did manage to pick up three other items! 

• The first being the buffing block, I always have acrylic nails on and find when they are growing out and I come to paint them the gap where they have grown is really pronounced, sooo, I use a buffing block to buff (clues in the name!) the bottom of the acrylic so its smoother and the gap is less pronounced! A bargain at 69p too!
• The second item I picked up the OSMO Intensive Deep Repair Mask, this was my first purchase of this product, I find my hair gets really dry which is not good when you're trying to grow it, I always use a mask but swap every few months to ensure my hair doesn't get used to one product. The packet suggests you leave the mask for 7-10mins on wet hair depending on damage then wash off. I have left for 10mins on both uses and my hair has been really soft and felt nourished after both uses, I will definitely be re purchasing :)  The tub was £2.49, its a very thick consistency and quite a good size that will last a while!
• The third item was acetone, its a necessity with acrylic nails, the salon charges £5 to remove your nails and i refuse to pay this, this bottle was £1.50 and means i can soak my own nails off before i let them loose, perfect! Acetone also makes a really quick varnish remover on natural nails, its much stronger than your average polish remover :)

The final thing i bought this week was the Clean & Clear Morning Energy Facial Scrub which was £2.50. Recently i've been feeling like my skin is never really fully clean, I'v had loads of tiny little bumps, mainly across my forehead and its been driving me mad, i look like a blinking kids ball pool! So i decided i needed a scrub to try and clear it up, nothing would stop me in ASDA, i was determined!! It smells lovely and the bursting beads give a gentle yet good exfoliation leaving my skin super soft, RESULT! I'm really liking this so far, will give an update when I've used it abit more!

Well, that's all my purchases for this week, I've had a very beauty and nail orientated buying week (I make it sound like a rarity, crikey woman, get a grip with the nail varnishes)!! Off shopping with my sister on Monday though (after taking the dog for a haircut!) so hopefully have some clothes for you next week, lucky things ;) 

Chop Choppity Chop!

xxx

Purc-hases from this week :)

Tuesday 9th August 2011


Every week (or possibly every two depending on how crazy I go!) I aim to give you an update on the items I've purchased within that week, where I got them from and how much they were etc,so here's a little low down of this weeks items :)...

i LOVE this! Whilst on a joyus food shopping trip in Tesco (Tesco i hear you cry? Oooh yes, you aren't going blind, Tesco indeed..) with my mum, I had a little browse of the clothing section (in between being rammed with a pram by a violent young mother, as nothing would stop her getting to the baby sale rail!) and came across this little beauty! I thought the print was just adorable & it would also look nice with tights and boots in winter, and to top things off it was reduced from £12 to £6, bargain. Can't wait to wear this when the weather decides to do something other than it is so i can :)

There was an awful moment last week when I realised almost every pair of leggings I own contained a hole in a very inappropriate place (seriously no idea how i manage it, I think i must lunge half my life without even realising...) and the other trousers I own are either blue, black or grey so I set off on a mission to buy some other coloured trousers, and these are the two numbers I came back with...

So they're both a hareem/paper bag style which I'm really liking at the minute. I love the colour of the ones on the left, burnt orange. They're both a cotton material and are really comfortable to wear. The burnt orange one's were £10 and the beige ones were £3 (bargainnn, they were the last ones and didn't have a price in them and when I got to the till they only charged me £3, no complaints!!), both from Primark, I also have the beige one's in navy, they're so easy to wear with little shoes and strappy top!

I also picked up this necklace whilst I was in Primark:

I seem to have a thing for jewelry with birds on, i though this was really cute and was reduced to £1, perfect :)

The last Primark purchase for this week was an oversized  knit cardigan. I always struggle in summer with jackets, I'm always cold (wimp! haha) so need something light to put on, I came across this in the reduced section, its a size 14 (I'm usually a size 6/8) and is baggy when worn, but I really like the style and it was only £5 :)

I've been on a bit of an ebay scour the past few weeks to try and grab some bargains, I came across these shoes, they're so pretty and not in  a bad condition either, they are originally from New Look and i paid 99p for them... wowsersss :D

Another tesco purchase (golly i sound like a saddo!!) was this bright red nail varnish. I'd been considering one for a while but wasn't too sure (I'm not going to lie that I did paint them and wake up the next morning & think i had a horrific cut, then all became clear...) I bought this to wear with a black dress & it really brightened the whole outfit up, I've never really been one for red nails, but i love this! And a bargain at £2.99 :) The colour is double decker red. (a post on nails to follow, i own an un-natural amount of nail varnishes!!) 

Just read this whole thing back and realised I sound like a riggghhhttt knock off Nigel! HA! I was deffo just lucky this week on the bargain fronts & didn't buy anything pricey (by bank balance is thank me...too kind!!). I'm off to Sally's beauty supplies tomorrow with my sister so a post on that to follow & also a nail post (all will become apparent when you see the amount of varnish i own!!)...But for now, quite a long one, hope i didn't bore you :)

What's in my make up bag?

Saturday 6th August 2011

Well, here we go! After much deliberation on how to start this shindig properly I've decided to dive straight in by letting you have a delve into my make up bag, braveee! (I did omit the dust protector for my iPhone that i found in the bottom, 3 months after I'd thought I'd lost it, not a clue, sorry to anyone who would of like this to be included!haha!!). On your marks, get set..... lets gooooo :)

The offending article:

Bought from H&M a few months ago for £2.99 I think, I really like it because its got a plasticy lining so if anything leaks (this is highly likely, I'm terrible for leaving lids loose!) it can just be wiped off. I fondly refer to it as the bucket bag!! It holds a lot more than you might first think!

Contents L-R: 

Estee Lauder Automatic Pencil for Eyes- '01- Jet Black' 

MACTechnakohl Liner Eye-Liner Kajal- 'Graphblack'

Maybelline One by One Volum' Express Mascara- 'Black'

MAC Studio Fix Fluid- 'NW20'

MAC Fluidline- 'Blacktrack'

Mini Bourjois Eyeshadow- shade '51'

bareMinerals Foundation- '2N Medium Beige' (to set foundation)

Benefit Browzings Brow Shaping Kit- 'Medium'

MAC Studio Finish Concealer- 'NW20'

Leichner Camera Clear Tinted Foundation- 'Blend of Walnut Whip'

(Top black box) Pure Compact Powder- 'No 4'

MUA Bronzer- 'Shade 1'

Benefit 'High Beam' Highlighter

Benefit 'That Gal' Brightnening Face Primer

I did just write an absolute epic about each piece, but I think even a newborn baby would have been grey and unbelievably bored by the time they'd finished reading it, so instead I'll give you a quick lowdown of in my opinion the best and worst!

The Best:

*Estee Lauder Automatic Pencil for Eyes- '01- Jet Black'*- Really intense long lasting colour.

*MAC Studio Fix Fluid- 'NW20'*- My favourite item, couldn't live without it, yes, yes saddo i know!! A medium buildable coverage with a slight sheen finish.

*MAC Fluidline- 'Blacktrack'* - Long lasting intense black colour. (Recently fell asleep with this still on, and looked suprisingly made up in the morning!! Amaze if I'd been going for that look!!)

*bareMinerals Foundation- '2N Medium Beige' (to set foundation)*- A new addition but loving it! Sets my MAC foundation all day with a matte finish.

*Benefit Browzings Brow Shaping Kit- 'Medium'*- Shapes my unshapely slugs into beautiful brows, what more could I want?!!!

*Benefit 'High Beam' Highlighter*- Lovely coloured highlighter for brow bone and cheek bones!

The Worst:

*Leichner Camera Clear Tinted Foundation- 'Blend of Walnut Whip'*- Just too moisturing, no staying power!

*MACTechnakohl Liner Eye-Liner Kajal- 'Graphblack'*- Bought to replace my Estee Lauder, its colour just isn't black enough, would always recommend Estee Lauder over it.

Well, there we go, if you've gone grey in the mean time I do apologise! :)