NOTD: Mavala Fresh Melon

(top photo taken with flash, which is how it looks in direct sunlight.)

A super gorgeous, creamy apricot shade, from the Mavala Delicious collection. They new collection comes with some great polish colours, and I am regretting not picking up the yellow one as well. I picked this up at Professional Beauty, as it reminded me a lot of Chanel's June, but at the bargain price of £2.50.  It's got a lovely shimmer/sheen (no glitter!) to it, which make your nails seem really glossy. (I tried to capture it, but it's so subtle it's hard to pick up- especially as I missed the sun for the day). I had quite a few compliments on it, it really is the perfect spring/summer colour. This is my first ever Mavala polish, and to be honest I don't know why I haven't picked any up before. It applies beautifully, and dries sooo quickly, which is something I love in a polish. I did use three coats, but as mentioned before I always apply my polish in thin layers, but I reckon with a normal applicable you would be able to achieve full opacity with two coats. I highly recommend, and defintely think you should check out the rest of the collection for some perfect pastels.  

Mavala polishes are available from the usual department stores, (Debenhams, John Lewis etc) for around the £4.10 mark.

You can pick them up from lookfantasic online for £3.45 but they don't have the ful range of colours. feelunique stock the full Delicious collection for £18.50 - that's for 6 polishes so a pretty good deal if you ask me!

Let me know if you pick up any of the Delicious collection for yourself. Or if you have any Mavala recommendations please post them in the comments below, I'd love to add to my collection.

Have and amazing weekend everyone.

Nic xxx

ps. The third installment of my LUSH skincare round up is coming up tomorrow- need to take some photos in the sun. You can check out the cleanser review here and the toner reviewer here. :)

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NOTD: OPI 'Did It On 'Em'

Hello!

I hope everyone has had a fun weekend in the lovely weather, I had a day of blogging/uni worked planned for today, but early yesterday afternoon I started to feel rubbish and was up most of the night with a horrible fever which has been coming and going all day. Which is really sucky as all I wanted to do was frolic in the sun all day. 

I painted my nails on Thursday night, so they at least have been keeping me happy all weekend. I went for Did It On 'Em, which is the limey/yellow shade from the Nicky Minaj minis (which I really really like and have enjoyed wearing all the shades.) This one is definitely the brightest of the lot, and is really eye catching. The colour does change slightly depending on the light, and it definitely leans more yellow in direct sunlight. In my opinion it's a shade that really looks best on darker/tanned skin and I've waited till I've fake tanned to wear it, and it definitely looks better than when I tried to wear it a few weeks ago. It did take three shades to go opaque, but then I do like to apply thinner layers- it dries quickly and leaves quite a glossy finish. I have got a full three days wear without any chips, which is something of a miracle for me, I'm lucky if I get 12 hours usually!

Do you have a favourite from the Nicki Minaj collection? Or any other eye catching shades for the summer?

Nic xxx

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NOTD: OPI Coney Island

A quick post to show one of my purchases from The Professional Beauty Show, it's OPI's Coney Island Cotton Candy which is a very milky peach with quite yellowy tones (at least that's how it looks on me).  I had to use a whooping 5 layers, as the white tips of my nails were still showing through, but  it does apply thinly and dries quickly, so it wasn't too much of an issue.

I have bumped a couple of them, so sorry they don't look too great and for obvious reasons I couldn't be arsed to redo them! I really wanted to show what a lovely shade it is; I love the hint of peach. It would be nice if it went opaque in fewer layers but hey! It hasn't put me off, as it's quite a unique colour, at least to my collection.

I would like to say, I'm not too far off 50 followers which is uber exciting for me, and I would love to do a little give away when I reach it to say thank you to you all. Not sure exactly what I will be yet, but I'm heading into the shops this weekend to pick something up!

Nic xxx

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Professional Beauty Excel & Haul

On Sunday I headed to Excel for the Professional Beauty Show. I've been a few times before as my moms company exhibits there, but usually I'm working; this time I just went to see the new stand and have a wander round. Yu also came along, and we had lovely, albeit, slightly stressful time trying to maneuver round the crowds. The show is obviously a professional one and it's based more towards salons and spas etc, but you can pick up some good deals on nail polish and fake tan, without having to buy in bulk! I took a few pictures (still trying to figure out my new camera!) to share or you can just scroll to the bottom to see what I bought! Enjoy.

OPI Heaven

Yu getting her eyebrows did by my aunt.

Young Blood.

Brushes galore at Crown.

Essie

My mom's stand! Calgel/Christian Eyebrow.

I had such a good day, time went far too quickly and there were stands I would have liked to have had a nosey at but didn't get the chance. One in particular was Young Blood, but they had a small stand and two girls were busy using the products from the little displays so we just left it. I've heard such good things, so it was a little disappointing I couldn't have a little play.

 Nail polishes were definitely the highlight, and myself and Yu went a little crazy. You can see her post on the day, as well as her purchases here. (I hope I didn't scare her off too much with my comment about silver dangling balls.)

L-R. OPI Pedal Faster Suzi! Mavala Fresh Melon. Essie Topless & Barefoot. Mavala Toulouse. OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy.

Crown C209 Chisel Pointed Fluff

I'm getting really excited for Spring now, and I don't actually own a lot of creamy, or pastel colours so I really found myself being drawn to the colours above, and it was hard to limit myself. Malava's new 'delicious' collection is amazing, and I easily could have bought every shade, but I went for Fresh Melon as it reminded me of Chanel's latest offering 'June'. Toulouse is a lovely bright pink salmon colour. I've had my eye on Coney Island for a while, and am looking forward to wearing it, it's a very creamy yellow peach that will look amazing with a tan (to be fair, all of them will!). Topless and Barefoot, I've wanted for months but where ever I looked it has been sold out, so I'm very happy to have my hands on it finally. And the last varnish, is from the new Holland collection by OPI, Pedal Faster Suzi! it's a gorgeous lavender pink with very small silver flecks in it, which make the nails look super shiney, rather than glittery. A lot of the range seemed to be more Autumn colours which we found a bit odd, but this one is very season appropriate and looks great on.

I highly recommend Crown eyebrushes, I bought 4 back in November and they have really impressed me. They hold their shape really well, don't shed and are super soft, I haven't look back since. I picked this one up for £3 so it was an absolute bargain, and I know it will last, as I already have the smaller version!

Pedal Faster Suzi!

Did anyone else go to Pro Beauty? Or picked up anything from the new OPI collection?

Nic xxx

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Belated Christmas Nails

I totally forgot I had taken a photo of my nails on Christmas Eve, it was such a hectic day as we celebrate on in the eve, so everything was rushed and my dad and his girlfriend only landed back from Kenya at 5 that afternoon arriving home at 8 with puppy in tow. (I may have over boiled the potatoes due to puppy excitement) But here's a quick photo of my nails, so at least I'm not a totally beauty blogger failure!

Base: A free Maxfactor Red Polish I got in a Boots offer. On top I used OPI's I Lily Love you and then OPI Divine Swine for a bit of extra sparkle!

Nic xxx

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NOTD: OPI

I've opted for an OPI combo tonight, after wearing red and nudes the last couple weeks I've gone dark again in time for the snow, or shall I say slush, that is making an appearance.

I used OPI's 'Ski Teal We Drop' which is from their Fall 2010 Swiss Collection with 'Last Friday Night' as a topcoat from the Katy Perry Collection from the beginning of the year.

 In direct light

I adore the Teal, it's such a deep rich colour. I really love dark nails in the winter and this is favourite of mine. As it's such a deep colour, it almost looks navy on the nails/ from afar. (see below)  Friday Night adds a bit of festive sparkle  and also a slightly bluer tone to the teal as it's a blue based glitter. It's very sheer with super fine flecks of glitter with green and pink hexagonal glitter. It has a very even application and I only needed one coat. It's really too sheer to wear by itself but does a great job as a top coat.

Out of direct light.

Unfortunately, Last Friday Night was limited edition, but you may be able to find one on eBay. But Ski Teal We Drop is still available from the main OPI stockist Lena White who currently have a deal on for all twitter and facebook followers. You can get 20% off the RRP of £10.50. Follow them on Twitter here and get the discount code! The offer is valid until midnight 12th December.

I would definitely recommend OPI, the quality is great  and love all their limited edition collections. I have to say the most impressive thing is that I've got a few bottles in my collection that are a good few years old and still apply like a dream. Not a hint of gloop in sight!

You can find 'Ski Teal We Drop' here on the LenaWhite website.

Nic xxx

PLEASE NOTE: I am in no way affiliated with OPI, nor have been asked to write this post. I coincidentally came across their offer while I was looking for their Twitter after writing a draft of this post.

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Panels & NOTD

I popped into Zara on the weekend to exchange a top, and I laid eyes on this little piece. It was love at first site. (I fall in love with clothes and shoes far too easily!) The faux leather panels really add some zing to an otherwise very standard top, but it still remains very wearable. I paired it with black skinnys, flat ankle boots and a khaki parka jacket to uni today.

 Excuse the webcam shot. Couldn't capture my face with the camera. May need to invest in a tripod!

Zara 'Special Edition' £19.99

 I just thought it was so cool, and different to anything I own.  The material is so light and falls really nicely. I am a very happy girl and for that price you can't really go wrong. I couldn't find it on the website, but it's definitely worth popping into a store as  Zara has some really great stuff at the moment, I was very impressed. Might have to add a few items to my Christmas wishlist. 

Nails of the Day

 I am currently sporting Essie's Lady Like with a couple random silver accent nails through in. I picked up Lady Like at Professional Beauty North in the Fall Mini Collection last month, and I've worn it quite a few times already. It's definitely my favourite of the collection, it's great neutral colour, perfect for autumn and I would describe it as a dusty grey based mauve (if that makes any sense!) My camera seems to pull it a little more pink than it actually is though! My index finger in the photo below is pretty much how it looks usually.

I've also used love&beauty by Forever 21 in Silver. I'm not sure if the UK F21 stores sell the polishes but they aren't available online. But if you get the chance to try them, I highly recommend them. I've got a few in my collection, great consistency, apply easily and last well. Plus, they are super cheap! In the US they retail for $2.80. I am majorly impressed by the quality of these polishes, especially at that price.

The Essie Carry On fall collection is available at the BeautyBay.com in full size bottles for £8.50

here

Thanks for reading!

Nic xxx

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