Today's Nails

Apologies for the quality of the second photograph, was taken on my iPhone & to blow it up blog-size, the pixels went waaaah.

But I change my nails really quite frequently, because working in retail they chip within days! So I'm gonna start posting them a little more, as I never paint them particularly plainly. I just got a new double-ended dotting/brush tool for my nails, so I'm experimenting with that a bit too, hence the dots!

At the moment I'm trying to be really good with my money as I'm saving for a new car, but I'm having a little hiccup this evening as I've found a little goldmine of stuff I love on eBay. So i'll post a bit more about new purchases soon (:

Hope you're all good.

Beauty: Max Factor Freeebies

My make-up always seems to run out at once, resulting in a few days of surviving almost solely on testers, before I can get to Boots. Does this just happen to me, or is this something all girls find? So I got all excited in Boots and took advantage of Max Factor's promotion, of a free gift if you spend over £15. So my essentials were: 

Maybelline Great Lash mascara (I swear by it) 

Max Factor Facefinity 3in1 Foundation

 So it was my first time trying Max Factor's Facefinity Foundation, but I'd heard good things about it from Lil and some good reviews on Twitter. I previously went from Rimmel Foundation to Garnier BB Cream, both of which I hated (went from too thick a coverage, to far too thin). This thankfully, sits blissfully in the middle!

The foundation is amaaazing, I'm using 'no.45 Warm Almond'. This shade is perfect for me, slightly more of a yellow-y undertone than a pink one, which suits my skin way better than the 'Natural' tone I chose previously.

So I bought the mascara and foundation, but to get the promo I had to spend £15 on Max Factor, so I got a really nice nail polish, colour's called 'Graffiti' (but the photo wouldn't do it justice, so I'll post me wearing it another time). And woo I got this fab free gift, so worth it.

Included:

 Masterpiece Mascara (Black)

Mini Glossfinity Nail Polish (Angel Nails)

Colour Elixir Lipstick (Lilac Wine)

Earth Spirit's Eyeshadow (Terra Firma)

Yet to try these products, but I don't think I can go far wrong with them. And being free, they're already on a winner.

Have you tried any of these products?

Today's Winter Nails!

So tonight I used my new No.17 'Holographic' nail polish, courtesy of Company magazine, as it was in my goodie bag from the Fashion Career Event last week, along with these fab nail glitters!

* 2 coats of Holographic nail varnish, then apply the glitter with your finger to a slightly wet nail! Easy peasy.

Ideally I would've liked the glitter to be a bit more built up, but I had to use my finger so it didn't go absolutely everywhere- as glitter usually does! Perhaps it needs a few gems & bits stuck in there.

And exciting for me, I sent off for some free samples of a business card I designed & I'm dead chuffed with how they came out! Took them to the Fashion Career Event last week and I'm so glad I had them to hand. I felt a bit pretentious directing people to a blog that has less than 10 posts on, but I'm so eager & excited about this blog, I know I'm going to build it up quite quickly & as sad as it sounds I'm actually quite dedicated to doing that!

What do you think of them?

DIY: Marble Effect Nails!

 You will need

• various coloured pretty nail polishes
• white nail polish
• a mug of room temperature water (preferably not in your mums best china)
• cotton buds
• nail varnish remover
• a cocktail stick or sewing needle

Okay prepare for it to be veryy messy! You'll need to do each of these steps quite quickly so that the nail varnish doesn't dry in the water. And don't give up too quickly, it may take a few tries before you get it!

So start by painting each of your nails white. This leaves a nice background base colour for the marble effect & it does look better.

Get your mug of room temperature water & hold the brush above it, allowing a drop of nail varnish to fall in. This should spread out across the water. Inside each colour, add another drop until it starts to look like this. Do this about 5 or 6 times!

Next, using the cocktail stick/sewing needle/other pointy apparatus, carefully swirl the drops to make a pattern. Keep it simple, and remember don't rush, but be quite quick as it will dry!

If it dries to much it won't swirl very well & might look like this. If so, dont worry, get your finger in there & if it doesnt work, try again. To clear the mug & start a new finger, use the cotton bud to gather it all to the edge & it will lift out easily.

(Haven't got a picture for the next part, but once you've made your swirly, marble effect in the water, rest your finger nail upside-down over the pattern, slightly submerged in the water & lightly blow at the excess (to make it dry|). Take your finger out and allow it to dry. Do all 10 nails, allowing enough time for them all to dry.

It should look something like this....

Next is the clean-up operation. Once you've done the above steps to all your nails, and allowed them enough time to dry, you need to wipe the nail polish off of your fingers. Do this using cotton wool pads/tissue and cotton buds coated with nail varnish remover. The cotton buds are especially effective at cleaning around the nail, so that you don't take any of the design off the nail! 

And here's the finished product! Comment if you have any questions or anything. Go here if you wanna watch a video that breaks it down a bit slower!

I was actually meant to have this post up a few days ago, but works been hectic & I've been out & about with friends and the chap :) But I'm on top of things, and been brainstorming for the blog & scouting magazines and shops n' stuff for inspiration. So there's plenty of posts comin' your way!

P.S Thanks Mevans for helping me out with this one :) utter babe.