NOTD! 9th Feb 2010 :D

In my previous post here, I showed you my new nail polish and a NOTD photo. Well, I am a little disappointed with the nail polish, but what should be expected from a £1 bottle from George Asda's range??

Even with the streaky brush, I did get pretty much even coverage. It lasted until Sunday, so it was good for 2-3 days without chipping which I think is a pretty long time for a bad nail polish! I think I had a few coats of top coat on it but still!! So it's pretty good for a very cheap polish, but I don't think I'll be buying anymore from Asda!

I had to take it off because chipped nail polish looks nasty and I don't like it flaking off randomly! Also, I start to pick at it and that weakens your nails... I've worked so hard to strengthen my nails that I can't go back now!!!!

My friends who look at my nails always seem quite amazed that they're not fake because I groom them well and keep them rather neat! Also, I shape them square so I guess that could be why. They're rather thick from years of Nail Envy treatment ^_^ (I drink a lot of full fat milk too though!)


I didn't go back to my beloved O.P.I. because I had a mature-ish Max Factor nailfinity nail polish to try from the latest Aussie event that I went to (see post here). So I put on the beautiful nude colour in 223 See Through Peach just to keep them looking tidy and shiny! I don't like the look of my bare nails anymore. I find nude nail polish lengthens my fingers rather nicely, but having a solid plain colour makes me feel a little boring!

*O.P.I. Natural Nail Base Coat (I'm trying to use this up, not particularly fond of it!)
*Max Factor nailfinity in 223 See Through Peach
*17 Double Gloss Top Coat (BEST EVAR!!)


I mentioned this on Twitter (follow me if ya like!) and @charlenejudith replied this to me: "@moonbeamstrlite Haha. I did that last night! You can do navy blue French tips! Or those cute little lace designs from stickers/ stamps." I had totally forgotten about these cute stickers of flowers and dragonflies I had bought myself a while ago! I think I'm done for tonight, but I might apply some on Friday if I still don't like the plain block colour for Chinese New Year this weekend!!


I am very excited!!!

Do you celebrate the lunar new year too??

Love love and naillove!
Toffee xXxXx

P.S. Made this picture in Paint and I am very proud of it :P LOL!

FOTD, NOTD and Sigma Brushes!

I've actually been getting into this whole FOTD thing atm (don't expect it often though...) and I wore this very simple look today :)

My hair needs washing so a ran some Batiste Dry Shampoo in Tropical through it with a brush and then put it into two plaits.


on my face I have:
*Garnier 2 in 1 Tinted Eye Roll-on Anti-dark circles in Medium to medium dark skin tone
* Revlon ColorStay Foundation in Normal/Dry Skin 220 Natural Beige
* Naked Cosmetics Mineral Powder Foundation in #MPF-04


For my eyes:
*Collection 2000 Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liner in 13 Va Va Voom
*Max Factor Masterpiece High Definition Mascara in Black/Brown
*ELF Eyebrow Kit in dark


And my lips:
*Maybelline ColorSensational Lipstick in 338 Midnight Plum
(I lightly dabbed the colour onto my lips)

For cheeks:
*ELF Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder
(I just used the blush)


See how art-sy these looking down photos look?? Haha!!
NOTD:
I bought this £1 Nail Polish from the George. range in Asda


It's No. 34 Be mine which is gorgeous pale lilac colour :)


There are a few cons with this though... the first being it's a small bottle only containing 5ml of polish. The second is that the formula is horrible! It's very thick but the brush is so plastic-y that when you apply it to your nails, the first coat is very streaky. Even looking at my nails now, I can see streak marks! Not ideal at all. And after it dries, the finish isn't as shiny as I would've liked. Even after two coats of my favourite Top Coat (17 Double Gloss Top Coat) it didn't appear glossy at all!

But I decided to jazz it up a little as I have been rather bored with just a solid block nail colour. I will likely do a video tutorial on this soon :D



Anyway, the main reason for this blog post is because I ordered some brushes from Sigma. Here's what I got:


Travel Kit in Nice In Pink:
*SS150M
*SS187M
*SS168M
*SS194M
*SS224M
*SS239M

and the brush that I was most excited about in this kit:
*SS219M

I also bought two brushes separately. I got the SS188 to replace the MAC 188 that broke on me and the SS150 because its a huge brush which is great for powder or bronzer.


They also sent two free things.
*SS190M

*Indian Girl Eyeshadow

Oh, just so you know here is the SS150 next to the SS150M

Apart from the handle colours and length, the bristle length and paddle size are a bit smaller.

Tried any Sigma brushes?? They're pretty soft! What do you think??

Love love and brushlove!!
Toffee xXxXx

New toy??

Okay, so the latest craze that has been spinning round my head since before IMATS is getting a new video camcorder as I am currently using my Canon PowerShot SD1000. This wonderful thing has served a great purpose for me and been on many fun days (and nights) out!! You can tell I've had it a few years as it has been a little battered including a scratch on the screen from when I dropped it before... >.<

Anyway, everytime I take it out with me now, I get scared that I'm going to lose it or break it or something will happen to it! What would I do without it?!?!?!

Since I haven't had any opportunity to upgrade this little gadget yet, I've been researching Flip cameras. They are very cool cameras which are pocket-sized and perfect for on-the-go people :) Simple to use (just point and shoot basically!), it has a flip out - hence the "Flip" - usb adapter to plug straight into a computer :D The only down sides are that it uses AA batteries (which can be charged within the camera when plugged in) and there is no removeable memory. I've read the camcorder has inbuilt editing software to cut clips which is also launched on the computer when plugged in ^__^ So all-in-all, a camera I think I would get along very well with!!

There are two I'm split between:

Flip Video Ultra Camcorder, 2nd Generation with 4GB Memory (in Fuchsia Pink, obvi!)

OR

Flip Video Ultra High Definition Camcorder with 8GB Memory (only available in black or white)

Okay, so on paper, the very obvious choice is the second one. More memory, HD etc. But in reality, some websites say the first one also is HD picture. And the fact that I would like it because its pink is a big pro in my book! Haha!! Black looks very chic though! I've gone off pink phones and love the sexy black of my iPhone so I'm thinking I may grow out of liking the pink camera too.

Have you got a Flip camcorder?? Any recommendations for other pocket camcorders??

Love love and cameralove!!

Toffee xXxXx

IMATS Haul!!

Here's the video I made about this:


On the most recent Sunday (of writing this post, so January 31st 2010) was the second day of the International Make-Up Artist Trade Show (IMATS). I went along to Alexandra Palace where they were holding the show with Helen (cherrychan108 youtube blog) and Vicky (vanity-fashionista). It was such a great day got to meet some great gurus: Suzi (suzit86 stylesuzi youtube blog), Koren (enkoremakeup), Richie (whatstyleistonickel), Gail (ooglemakeup), Claire (moodeve), Klaire (klairedelysart) and Nic and Sam (pixiwoo). At one point we were practically all together and it felt like a YouTubers gathering! Haha!! It's something that we said we should organise and do sometime in the future! Wouldn't that be great fun?? A little like vidcon, but YTcon! And all of us could meet the greats :D

L to R: Gail, Koren, Richie, Klaire, Vicky, Helen
Me, Helen and Vicky
Helen, Me, KlaireNicola, Me, Sam (Pixiwoo)
Gail, Koren, Richie, Me, Klaire, Vicky
Claire (moodeve) and I

Obviously, I did do a little purchasing too! I don't think I got as much as I thought I might, but I spent about £150 (including the ticket to enter) which is less than I expected to!

Brushes!! IMATS was brush heaven with over half the stores being about the brushes! And some, like Crown Brush were huge!

They ranged from some cheaper ones from around £3 to some amazing quality ones that came to about £70. All the ones I bought, bar one, were under £10.

I did go to Crown Brush and purchased the majority (4) of my brushes from this store:
*Mini Fan Brush -£3
*Blender Brush -£4

*Double-ended Foundation/Concealer Brush -£5*MAC 138 Dupe -£14

I bought another two brushes from which are both flat top kabukis.
*BKabuki-19 (smaller) -£5
*BKabuki-20 -£5

I didn't seek out to buy this next item, but both Helen and Vicky wanted this so we went on a little hunt and found a store (based in London! website) with 35% of Make Up For Ever (MUFE) at the show!!
Yes, it's the wonderous HD High Definition Foundation! Which was reduced to £18.17 from £27.xx!! So you can already see a great bargain! I picked the shade #120 Soft Sand. I tried this out yesterday (FOTD post) and I already really like it!! I hope I won't like it too much because I don't think I have the money to buy an almost £30 foundation every few months!

The three of us (Helen, Vicky and I) got a great deal on Embryolisse Lait-Creme so I only paid £8.30 for a 75ml tube!

We also manage to nab a deal where we each paid £45 for 2 sets of Naked Cosmetics pigments and something else. The deal was £135 for 6 sets of pigments, two brushes, an eye primer and a mineral foundation. So I got the two brushes and these are synthetic angled liners.

The two sets I picked are Desert Sunsent and Broadway.
*Desert Susent
(L to R: #DE-01, #DE-02, #DE-03, #DE-04, #DE-05, #DE-06)

*Broadway
(L to R: #BW-01, #BW-02, #BW-03, #BW-04, #BW-05, #BW-06)

Also got a few freebies because of Koren :D
*Tropical Indulgence
(L to R: #TI-01, #TI-02, #TI-03, #TI-04, #TI-05, #TI-06)

*Mineral Powder Foundation in #MPF-04

Illamasqua had a great discount on their stall at the show so I picked up two things:
*Eyelashes -£10

*Blush in Hussy -£9.50

And that's all I got! Very pleased with my purchases :D

Some photos from the show:

Ever tried any of these products or brands??

Love love and haullove!
Toffee xXxXx