Still don't know if I'll ever get used to having the bumpy on my nails, lol. I always worry if they're going to catch on something and peel off but they rarely do. Experiences with Fimo, people?

Recently, I've been kind of neglecting school appropriate looks - the teachers have been kinda lax in the weeks leading up to SUMMER (woot) and so I've been getting away with the most outrageous eye makeup and nail polish. Orsums. But recently, I yearned for a return to simpler times. Behold, my (sort of) school appropriate design:
If you reduce the amount of pink french tip you can get away with it, I think. I used Nails Inc Sloane Mews to even out any discolouration in my nails and also buffed them with this buffer I got for £1 from Wilkinsons (the Image range). It's surprisingly good...don't know how long it'll last, but for a pound it's alright.
To create a smile line I used a cotton bud dipped - no, soaked - in nail polish remover and basically rubbed it on the excess varnish to make it pretty. Then, I simply put the Sloane Mews polish over it (it's very sheer so I was quite confident it wouldn't stain my nails any more than they were) and yeah, you're good to go.

Isn't it typical? Be draconian on nails = outrageous polish and nail art. Be lax as anyone's business = suddenly, school appropriate again. Ah well. Schools out now anyway so I can do whatever. I. like. That's right.

Until next time,

Lena
xxx

So I'm making do with the three non french tip Konad plates that I own and I used the Miss Sporty Yellow to Konad these.

The thumb has the Hello Kitty design on it, the middle finger has a hugeass flower and every other finger has a rose.
I generally Konad on top of newspaper. I really love doing it, it's so quick and easy and then everyone assumes you've got a tiny little easel and a magnifying glass to be able to paint those designs on your fingers. White lies FTW.
How many plates do you guys own?

Yes I wore both of these to school :P Sorry for the seriously poor quality, guys, I don't know how to crop full face ones so yeah :P

This one was done with a Primark eyedust (the black one) which actually has quite a lot of nice sparkles in it :D The blue eyeliner is Primark also, and that was a total DREAM to work with. You have no idea. It went on soft, sharpens beautifully, pigmented...argh. Love. Love love love. It was 50p (two in a packet and one packet is a pound) and I need to get more. Jeez.
These were done with the Sleek Circus Palette (review coming soon). I used the orange and purple from this palette. Again, they were really good to work with (though the orange was slightly chalky to work with). You can't see it in these photos but the purple has a gorgeous shimmer to it that contrasts with the matte orange.

I am so so sorry people. My laptop has been spazzing out for the best part of three weeks and the main computer packed up as I tried to use that (what is it with me and technology?!?!?!) Even the post I wrote to tell you guys I couldn't write any posts didn't actually publish. ffs. Anyway, I am really sorry and will be back with stuff to say in about an hour :P

I've had a couple of emails from some lovely people informing me that, for some reason, they can't comment on my blog. It might be something to do with the new template or it might just be Blogger playing up. Anyway, please bear with me as I try to work it out and thank you so much for reading and (trying to) comment! :)

I couldn't resist getting another of these awesome shadows :P
I've recently found out that the reason that these feel so lovely and creamy on application and on the lid is because they have quite a high mineral oil content.
It looks like a gorgeous metallic green on the swatches, and it is, but it's a tad lighter than I expected it to be on the lids and can be quite in your face if you don't put black eyeliner on. Also, without a primer this will crease, and quickly.

More work experience flavoured nails.
This is Barry M in Cyan Blue with a white nail art pen. Erm, they kind of look like links in a chain, I guess? *shrugs*

Well, sort of.
I don't know if you guys can see (the lighting was a bit pants) but it's Barry M's Raspberry with black flowers with white centres on it. I've just started Work Experience at an old people's home and so I thought red was a relatively safe colour to choose :P
Thoughts?

This is the last part of my Primark abuse. These are a hell of a lot better than I expected them to be.

The packaging is a tad American Apparel-esque. I like the fact that it comes with a sharpener, though. You get two pencils for a pound and there are lots of colours. I didn't see a plain black one but if they had one, I'd take it easily.
Gotta love the pigmentation on these babies. This was one swipe on a seriously hot summer's day, yet they showed ZERO signs of melting, unlike the Poundland ones. They're just the right amount of soft as to not hurt your eyelid but they are easy to sharpen and don't melt into nothing at the slightest sign of heat. I haven't tested wear yet but these took a bit of effor to get off my hand so I'm hoping it'll be good. All in all, another great buy from Primark!

So you get two pigments in a glass jar (plastic lid) for one pound. Bargain! I picked up three.
My pretties, all lined up obediently.
The "Eyeshadow Dust" sticker on the top is placed really lopsidedly. Irritates me no end. But the actual colours are alright.
It looks like you get more of some pigments than of others but I think it's something to do with how they settle during transit. The gold and the black at the end are definitely my favourites. I don't know if you can see the gorgeous silver sparkles in the black but it's really something. Would make a good liner shade or blended with the gold as an eyeshadow colour.
Above is a picture of the pigments swatched dry (in the order that they are pictured in in their jars). As you can see, the colour of the green fades away into silver and the purple and the blue also lose some pigmentation. But...
Wet, these babies are gorgeous. Sadly the green remains as a silver but the colours of the other colours really does pop. I think I'll use these foiled over a thin layer of Eye Gloss. As you get quite a bit of pigment in each jar, you could also use them for frankening! Primark do a clear nail varnish (10ml, I think) as part of their Essentials range but you could also use the bottles of MUA clear polish which have surprisingly good lasting time (they're also a pound). It's up to you really.

Hey guys.

I went up to the big city with a friend yesterday and we took a look in Primark for their makeup products. I purchased a variety of things but this is the first one I'm going to show you.

This is in "Cobalt Blue". It comes in a squeezy tube.
That's the applicator.
I tried wearing this on my eyes but to get enough on to see the colour made it crease in about two seconds. It also makes your eyelids feel really greasy and heavy. So I don't actually know what you're meant to do with this product.
This is it sheered out. You can barely see it in the photo, but in real life there's this quite cool silvery sheen to it. Probably not noticable enough on the eye but you can use it as a sticky base for pigments or something as it does dry eventually if you've got a small enough layer on. I also tried using this as a lipgloss but it dried out my lips something crazy and stained them slightly blue.

All in all this is the weirdest product I've ever seen from Primark. However, the packaging is quite cool, reminds me of the retro style of Benefit or Soap and Glory.

UPDATE: (Monday the 5th of July, 2010) I went to work experience today with this sheered out as a base over my BellaSugar Shadows (Ariel) and an MUA colour, some green one, and it creased like the dickens. Those two shadows are quite creamy, yes, and it was hot. I'll give it one more shot and then it's consigned to the "never buy again" bin.

So it was our school fair on Friday and we got to wear own clothes. Naturally, I went all out :D
A blurry EOTD. Don't ask me how you're meant to take photos of your eyes, I tried about thirty times before this popped up. I used the matte neons pink, yellow and purple from the Sleek Acid palette.
I painted all but two of my nails white before marbling with Barry M in Spring Green, Bright Purple and Cyan Blue. I also used the generic pink for the last two nails and marbled with it sometimes.

I think doing this in a plastic cup makes cleanup a lot easier.

So I was browsing through my stash when I realised...
I already owned Graffiti, in the form of Grassy by Bella Sugar Cosmetics.

I decided to swatch Asphyxia, as well, to see if I could find a dupe in my (not very large) collection.
Asphyxia on the /right/ and Sprinkles on the left. They're nowhere near the same.

 (left to right) Sprinkles, Asphyxia and Unnamed (also from the Bella Sugar Palette).

Nope. I don't think I have anything quite like it. I'm quite stunned by just how similar Grassy and Graffiti are, though.

Uruguay beat Ghana. That's an entire continent (incidentally, the one where it's being held) out of the cup. My continent. And they beat us on penalties, too, which just adds to the anger.

fucking. suarez and his stupid handball act. DIE.

England is out, Nigeria is out, Ivory Coast is out, Japan is out, South Korea is out, Ghana are out, South Africa are out, Germany will probably be out.

Well, have fun with the cup, South America.

Hey guys! I heard about this offer through the MartianDelights blog.

http://www.beautyoutletdirect.co.uk/gbu0-prodshow/urban-decay-reader-offer.html

I think this is UK readers only, though. The code is RUD4.

So I ordered mine a couple of days ago, and they came today! (seriously fast postage, nice!)

They have this built in applicator thing. I don't know how I feel about this, really. The way the product is designed doesn't allow me to use my own brushes all that easily. However, the built in brush makes it look oh so sleek and it's quite good, soft and even to use. And the design doesn't allow the pigment to spill (even though my sister accidentally opened it upside down! I almost screamed but thank goodness nothing spilt.)
You're not getting a brush down there. Also, I don't know how many grams there are in this but there doesn't seem to be all that much pigment, really.
I find that if you screw the lid on and lightly shake the tube up and down, you soon have enough pigment to coat the brushes again.
Swatches. Asphyxia on the left, Graffiti on the right.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with these. There's no need to foil as there is with cheaper pigments (2True, I'm looking at you) and it's gorgeously creamy and easy to use. With the coupon code, you need only pay postage so you're getting an £11.95 value for £2.95.