Another Nails Of The Day Courtesy Of My Pure - FNUG - Fashion Editor*

After my previous positive experience with FNUG nail polish I couldn't resist trying another shade for one of my January My Pure reviews.

Like my previous FNUG polish - Hats On (read my review here), this one is also big 3 free and is enriched with caviar extract, to nourish and strengthen the nails.

I'm not sure how well it's coming across here but FNUG - Fashion Editor is a gorgeous champagne colour packed full of microscopic silver sparkle. In daylight it has an almost cool, pink toned metallic finish but turn the lights or use the flash as I have here and it almost seems to absorb the light and you get a warm, sparkly pink toned, copper, bronze.

Again the application was perfect, the short handle and wide brush makes it very easy to control. The wide brush also means that you can pretty much paint all of your nails in one stroke, brilliant if you hate visible brush strokes as much as I do.

In the pictures here I'm wearing two coats of Fashion Editor, but to be honest the coverage is good enough to get away with just the one. Wear time again was good, and I managed 3 days without a top coat before I got a bit of chipping, which for me as you know is pretty impressive.

Two polishes tried, two winners - Like the previous FNUG polish that I tried this one is another winner. The application was superb, the formulation was good, and the wear time for me was excellent. Again the price is a touch prohibitive but for me this polish is well worth the money. FNUG Nail Polish - 80 - Fashion Editor normally retails at £12 but it's currently on special offer at £10.80 for a 8.5ml bottle from My Pure. I'm so, so tempted to pick up another bottle for one of my February or March reviews so if there is any particular shade from the My Pure range that you'd like to see please leave me a comment and let me know x

(*Sample)

Sale Haul - Part 3 - Accessorize - Z For Accessorize And More

Accessorize is without a doubt one of my favourite shops on the high street. I do find it a little bit overpriced so I don't tend to shop there as often as I would like but it's way up there on my fantasy trolley dash list. One of the best things about sales is that they can give you the opportunity to buy things that you really, really want for a cheaper price and that's exactly what happened in this case.

A few month ago now Accessorize launched a collaboration with jewellery designer and daughter of the Monsoon and Accessorize founder Peter Simon, Zara Simon. The range Z For Accessorize features a wide variety of hand crafted, gold plated jewellery pieces, some of which contain crystals and semi precious gemstones. For me it was love at first sight and ever since the launch I've lusted after the entire collection.

As soon as the Christmas shipping deadline passed I started stalking the site, with my fingers tightly crossed that at least one or two pieces would make it into the sale, I was in luck most of the items that I wanted did appear in the sale, and whilst some of the discounts weren't huge, they made it easier for me to justify buying as many items as I did.

The majority of items I ordered were from the Aura range just a slightly irregular, circular faceted gemstone set in a gold plated setting. The first set of items that I bought all featured the amazing off white, slightly opaque gemstone that is Moonstone. The first item that I got was the Aura Precious Stone Necklace. Mummy Lou stepped in to model it for me because I couldn't trust her to take the pictures :)

She's more of a long chain fan so she found this one a little bit too short but I don't mind it I love dainty necklaces and if you wanted you could also layer this one up with a longer gold chain or even one with another pendant. I paid £7.50 for this necklace and whilst it's no longer available in this stone, you can get it a translucent, green shade for £15

I'm not usually a matchy, matchy person but I decided to go for a matching set and get the Aura Precious Stone Stud Earrings in White Moonstone to match.

I love the faceting and the slightly differing tones in each stud that you only get with natural gemstones. I also love the way that these earrings and this stone shows just a hint of the natural skin colour beneath. My only issue with these is how tight the butterflies were I'll definitely by replacing them with something a little looser I actually had to cut the card to get them off! Again the lovely Mummy Lou is modelling x 

The stud earrings appear to have been discontinued which is a shame I paid £6 for these but you can get similar drop earrings in the range for around £15.

All good things come in 3's so I also got the matching Aura Precious Stone Ring in Moonstone too. Again I love the faceting and the way it plays with the light and takes on my skin tone. I have really chubby fingers so I went for the Large size in all of the rings and they fit comfortably on both of my ring fingers. I would love it if in future they did the rings in XL but I love the rings in this range so much I'm sure I'll cope.

I paid £7.50 for this ring and whilst this particular shade is no longer available you can still get the green and pink variants for £15 each.

The rings in this collection really were the thing that caught my eye so I bought another 3. First up I got the Aura Precious Stone Ring is another variant. The shape is ever so slightly different and this time the ring features a Labradorite stone. Again it's faceted and slightly translucent so it takes on the warm tones of the skin beneath.

This one was also £7.50 and yet again it's no longer available on the Accessorize website but similar rings are around £15 and the 2 other Labradorite rings they have are £17 and £25 each.

The next ring that I got is also from the Aura range but this time it's the Mini Aura Precious Stone Ring. The stone is an Aqua Chalcedony, a gorgeous pale, smoky, sea green. Again it's faceted but this time it's an almost checker board facet and the setting and shape is a lot more regular and symmetrical.

This ring was £7 and surprise, surprise it's not available on the website either. Some of the green versions of the other rings though are made using the same gemstone but they aren't quite as delicate as this one.

All of the Aura rings can also be worn stacked for a different look but keeping with the more delicate theme, my final Z For Accessorize purchase is something that I would personally wear all it's own.

The Izzy Triple Precious Stone Ring comprises of three small irregular shaped, Amethyst stones in a gold plated setting. This is a really, small, pretty and delicate ring, the complete opposite of some of the other pieces in the range. This was my most expensive purchase at £8.40 but it's so wearable and comfortable it was well worth the money. This particular ring too is long gone but the Zara ring which is £12 is very similar and uses clear, and grey smoky crystals

I am so, so pleased with all the Z For Accessorize items that I ordered. The quality is great and I just love the style. Finances permitting I will be back for more and I've already got the Isha necklace, and the Jupiter ring in my sights.

I did buy one tiny other thing and it was something that I didn't need but I couldn't resist, the Feeling Lucky Coin Purse.

I'm a cat lover, and I love the whole idea of the Maneki Neko, or lucky cat. The cute zipped coin purse is covered in chubby looking cartoon white cats and I'm really hoping it brings me a bit of luck. Like so many of the things in this haul it's no longer available but for £3.50 I think it was money well spent, even if I have a little less to put in it.

I hope you enjoyed my little Accessorize sale haul, x Thanks for reading and don't forget to enter my giveaway xx

Some New Releases From Make Up Revolution And A Giveaway - Closed

Another week and yet more new releases from Make Up Revolution. Every time I log onto their site lately there seem to be more pretties to look at and to lust over. This week saw the appearance of their Too Faced Melted Lipsticks, alikes Lip Lava and two new Flawless palettes.

At the moment I can just about take or leave lip products but the words neutral eyeshadows make my heart sing. The first new palette is the Ultra 32 Shade Eyeshadow Palette in Beyond Flawless. This is an extension of the original Flawless palette and contains 32 new neutral matte and shimmery eyeshadows.

I'm not the biggest fan of matte eyeshadows but Make Up Revolution are one of the few brands that seems to get it right. More often than not matte eyeshadows are chalky and lack pigment but not Make Up Revolutions. Theirs are silky soft, blendable and packed full of pigment. so it makes sense that they've launched a palette for all you matte lovers out there. The Ultra 32 Shade Eyeshadow Palette in Flawless Matte contains every neutral toned shadow that you could ever want all in Make Up Revolutions matte formulation.

Although I haven't tried these palettes myself I've seen enough to know that they of the quality that we've come to expect this brand. Each palette retails at £8 from the Make Up Revolution website which is pretty amazing for 32 high quality eyeshadows.

Try as I might though I can't justify clicking the place order button, I have so many neutral eyeshadows and I really need to get some more of them used. If you're looking for an affordable neutral palette though then Make Up Revolution really are your brand and either of these palettes, the iconic palettes, the Naked Chocolate palette and the original Flawless palette are worth a look.

 

To celebrate the launch of  the two new Flawless palettes I'm giving one of the original Ultra 32 Shade Eyeshadow Palettes in Flawless.

I've done a full review of this palette here and it really is a beauty, so if you want to win one just fill in the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open worldwide, and will end on the 28th February 2015 x Thanks to Make Up Revolution for the use of the new product images and if you have any questions please leave me a comment below x Good Luck x 

Make Up Revolution I♥MAKEUP Naked Chocolate Palette - Swatches And Initial Impressions

Those naughty people at Make Up Revolution have done it again, more new releases means more orders and slap wrists I've placed two orders in the less than a fortnight. I'm still waiting for one of them but I couldn't resist showing you one of the items that I received in my first order - the Make Up Revolution I♥MAKEUP Naked Chocolate Palette.

I already have the I Heart Chocolate Palette (read my review here) and I was so impressed with both the packaging and the contents that I couldn't resist buying this white chocolate themed version.

I know I said no more neutral eyeshadow palettes but this one was just two pretty to turn down. Packaged in sturdy plastic packaging that resembles a chunky, melting bar of white chocolate, this palette is potentially one of the prettiest that I own.

Again containing a mixture of mattes and shimmer, this is a neutral palette with the volume turned up. If creams, coppers, taupes, gold  and browns are your thing, then this is the palette for you. As we've come to expect from Make Up Revolution all of the shadows are silky smooth, and blendable and the pigmentation on both the mattes and the shimmers are superb. I think I've said it before but this brand really knows what it's doing when it comes to matte eyeshadows - they're silky smooth, and without even the tiniest hint of dryness or chalkiness

This is another winner for a brand that continue to just grow and grow, it hard to believe how far they've come in such a short space of time. Make Up Revolution have a lot of neutral eyeshadow palettes in their range but in my opinion this has to be one of best. The packaging is cute and quirky and the colours and the formulations are spot on. There is only one problem with this palette - it's making me crave white chocolate, Aldi Choceur Smooth White Chocolate, the nicest white chocolate ever, to be exact, but I'm sure a clementine will suffice for now x Make Up Revolution I♥MAKEUP Naked Chocolate Palette retails at £7.99 from the Make Up Revolution website but in the future I'm sure it will be available from the Superdrug website and selected Superdrug stores x  Are you as obsessed with neutral eyeshadow palettes as I am? Let me know x

Sales Haul - Part 2 - Boots - Jack Wills And Illamasqua

As per usual the Boots Christmas sale started on Christmas Eve. I looked and then I clicked the X and closed the page. Why? well everything I wanted had either already gone or it was still too expensive for mean old me. Fast forward though to this week and the 70% off final clearance started. Again I missed out on a few bits but I did manage to pick up two things.

The Jack Wills Weekend Essentials kit was something that I'd had my eye on for a while, unfortunately though the £65 price tag put me off. Like a lot of people I assumed that it would be a Star Gift, but despite having a small reduction on Black Friday it didn't actually become a Star Gift till after Christmas when it was reduced to £35. I thought about but it was still more than I wanted to pay so I held off and I'm glad I did, I ended up paying just £19.50 for it.

The kit comes packaged in a canvas sports bag, and contains 6 products in the Jack Wills Hope Cove fragrance. Everything is full sized and you get a body scrub, a body lotion, a body butter, a body wash, and a body mist. You also get a mesh body polisher and a Jack Wills branded water bottle. I'm useless at describing fragrances but I really, really like the Hope Cove fragrance . It's very unusual, it's warming, with a bit of floral with a tiny bit of fruit.

This sale haul was all about the fragrance, and whilst some of the sets that I really wanted were out of stock I did manage to pick up this bargain from Illamasqua, which was reduced from £45 to just £13.80.

I going to be completely honest with you - I hadn't actually smelled Illamasqua - Freak when I ordered this set. It was a bit of a risk but when you consider what you got in the set,the value, and the saving,it was a risk worth taking.

The Illamsaqua Freak Fragrance & Make Up Gift Set, was a Boots exclusive and contained a 30ml bottle of Freak Eau De Parfum, a 15ml Nail Varnish in Raindrops, and a 1.3g Pure Pigment in Furore.

Furore was actually the real reason why I bought this kit. Illamasqua Pure Pigments in this size retail at £16.50, compare that to £13.80 for everything your about to see and you'll see why this purchase makes sense.

I'd wanted Furore for quite a while, it's a gorgeous peach, champagne, nude shade. I've never actually tried an Illamasqua pigment before so I'll be giving this a good go and reviewing it for you x

As well as the pigment, the set also contained a full sized Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Raindrops. Raindrops is one of Illamasqua's most popular shades. It's a light grey, blue jelly, with quite a bit of iridescent sparkle. This would normally retail for £14.50 but it's currently £5.80 on the Illamasqua website which again shows the overall value of this kit. I actually already own Raindrops and love, so I'm currently debating whether to hang on to this one as a backup or to give it away - decisions, decisions!

So the value of this set is pretty evident already but the star of it, is undoubtedly the fragrance itself. The kit contained a 30ml Freak Eau De Parfum which retails at around £34 on it's own!

I'm very much a sweet fruit and floral girl when it comes to fragrance so this one is a bit of a departure for me. Although it's a floral, it's a very heady almost, masculine fragrance, crammed full of  unusual ingredients such as hemlock, queen of the night and frankincense. At first I found it a little too strong but it's really growing on me, and I actually love the dry down scent, when the initial headiness had evaporated. Being an Eau De Parfum you only need a couple of squirts, and you have a fragrance that will last you all day.

On those two items I saved a pretty huge £77.70 when you compare the price I paid to the normal Boots price. Pretty impressive even if I say so myself. Sometimes it pays to wait and sometimes it pays to take a risk every now and then. Apologies that neither of these sets are available online any more but it's worth checking your local Boots store to see what sale items they have left. Oh, and don't ignore some of the smaller stores I've had some of my best sale bargains from some of their smaller stores x Thanks for reading x

Paperchase Haul - Sale And Non Sale

From the very first moment that I could pick up a pencil I loved stationery. From the Care Bear and Holly Hobbie writing sets of my childhood, to cute stickers, scented erasers and notepaper, nothing gives me greater pleasure than opening a new notepad, or sharpening a new pencil.

One of my favourite places to by cards, paper and of course stationery is Paperchase. Is there a blogger out there that doesn't like Paperchase? I very much doubt it. I do think it's a little bit overpriced, but like Boots, Superdrug, Accessorize, Primark and Thorntons, it's one of those shops that I would love to do a trolley dash in.

As much as I love Paperchase I haven't actually bought anything from them for a while, so when I was looking for a new diary, I thought why not and placed an order.

The main purpose of the order was to get a diary and the one I fell in love with was this A5 Sprionauts Felt Week To View Diary.

It's bound in a felt like fabric,and features an embroidered and apliqued design featuring animals like foxes, owls, and rabbits, and embroidered spirograph designs :) It was £9 which is pretty pricey for a diary but it's a bit different and it's really well made.

It wasn't worth placing an order for just one thing so I also ordered a few more things from the Spironauts range including this notebook.

This Sprionauts Foxy A5 Thick Notebook, is going to be my new blogging notebook. It's really thick, lined and it a nice size so I think it's going to be great for to do lists, and to write down post ideas, and plans.

It also features a cute, removable Foxy keyring. Again it was a bit pricey at £6 but it's good quality and I think it was worth the money.

My final Spironauts purchase was a sale one and it was this cute stationery set. I always used to love things like this when I was younger so I couldn't resist.

You get a pencil tin, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, two pencils, a ruler and a pen. This was reduced from £6 to £4.20

As well as a few greetings cards I also bought another couple of other things from the sale.

Erasers, rubbers? whatever you want to call them but I kind of love them. As an 80's child erasers really were a thing and even more so if they were scented. I actually had a nice collection including ones that smelled of Golden Shred Marmalade, and Pepsi Cola. Alas these two don't smell but they are still pretty cute. The Iwako Orange Drink Can Eraser was reduced from £1 to 50p, and the Beat Box Eraser was reduced from £2.50 to 75p 

The final thing that I bought was an A4 Poster Clip Frame. This one was £3.50 and I think it's the perfect home from my ebay poster.

I hope you enjoyed my little stationery haul - Do you love stationery too? Let me know in the comments box x 

Make Up Gallery - Time To Shine - Quick Dry Nail Colour - 6 Mushroom Magic

Okay the name is a bit of a mouthful but thankfully the price of this polish is much easier to swallow. This polish comes from the Make Up Gallery range that is exclusive to Poundland so surprise, surprise it's just £1 for a 10ml bottle. There are lots of shades to choose from brights, to nudes, and glitters but for my first purchase I went for 6 - Mushroom Magic, which is one of those greige, brown, grey mauve colours.

The polish comes in a Nails Inc, Maybelline Color Show esq cylindrical bottle. The brush itself is quite short, but it's very wide, so I managed to cover all of my nails expect my thumb with just one stroke. It took two coats to achieve this depth of colour and this super glossy finish but like the name suggests the dry time was really quick.

So far so good, but about wear time? Well this polish lasted around 48 hours on my nails before I started to get a little bit of tip wear. For me that's actually pretty good, I'm notoriously hard on polish and I never use a top coat when I'm testing out polish so throw a bit on and who knows how long this would last.

There is always the worry with cheap products that they just won't perform - well this one did and in this case, this polish did exactly what so many expensive ones have failed to do -  It applied well, and it wore well, and the price is just a bonus. I'm really hoping that the rest of the Make Up Gallery polishes are just as good so I'm definitely going to be picking up a few more to try on  my next trip to Poundland. Have you tried any of the Make Up Gallery products? Let me know if you have and I'd love to here your recommendations x