Review: Kiko magnetic nail polish

As i mentioned in a recent Friday 5 good things Kiko have just released a collection of magnetic nail polishes. When nails inc brought out their collection of 3 magnetic nail polishes i really wanted to try them but with them being so expensive to start with then to add the cost of P&P to Spain would have made them at least 20 pound and i am not prepared to spend that much money on a single nail polish.

Kiko have released 8 different shades each retailing at 4.90 pounds and a separate magnet for 1.90 pound you can view them all and buy online from their website here . I think having a separate magnet has a view advantages, a lot of people struggled with the nails inc magnet because it was part of the lid, this one can be held easily and used in different directions to achieve different effects such as criss-cross, vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines. The only downside would be that you could possibly lose the magnet with it not being attached to the bottle.

I bought 4 of the 8 colours available and one magnet:

(left to right: Emerald turqoise, Purple, Wine red, Charcoal)

The magnet and a close up of my thumbnail

Close up of fingers (difficult to photograph)

The polish applies just like any other nail polish ( maybe a tiny bit thicker), i applied one coat and allowed to dry then applied a second coat (one finger at a time) and while it was still wet held the magnet of the nail polish to create the effect, i didn't try out any of the other ways to hold the magnet on this attempt but i will in the future.

Overall i like the effect it gives, it is much more interesting than plain colour and i am looking forward to trying the other colours that i bought, it dried quickly and is just starting to chip slightly on the edges ( after 3 loads of washing up). For the price and colour range i think these beat the nails inc version hands down.

Have you tried magnetic nail polishes?

Nail of the day - Kiko hologram nail laquer

so.. the jelly bean pink was starting to wear of at the edges so i decided to go for something completely different this week, here it is.....

It is so difficult to photograph holographic nail polish, this was the best i could get, the colour is hologram nail laquer 354 from Kiko. It is a beautiful dark purple/ gold and looks different in different lights, it definately makes a nice change from pink and dries opaque in 2 coats. I think this shade was limited edition but each new collection that comes out usually includes different effect nail polishes and you can buy online from the Kiko website here.

What are you wearing this week?

5 good things

Here is this Friday's 5 good things....

1.My big fat gypsy wedding is back on TV. I find it fascinating to watch and i love how ridiculous it all is and how amazing some of the dresses are. If you haven't seen or heard of the show check this out.

2. Its not getting dark now until after 7pm which means spring is on its way, and i cant wait for winter to be over.

3. My lovely boyfriend bought me a new Guess bag for Valentines day, its from the same collection as this one that he got me for Christmas, but is smaller and a cross body style in black pony skin. I seem to be building quite a collection of Guess bags now. (image from google, ps it looks a lot nicer in real life)

4. I finally got to read the end of Bridget Jones´diary, i have always loved the films but hadn't read the book until this year. However my book ended on December 9th with no blank pages at the end which i thought was odd as it seemed unfinished, so i got a second hand copy of the book the other day which had all of the missing pages so i finally got to finish the book.

5. It´s Friday, i finally get 2 days off work to relax.

Happy weekend everyone

Valentines FOTD

Here is my face of the day from yesterday, we went out for a valentines meal so i got the chance to get a little bit glammed up for a change...

what i am wearing:

Face: Bourjois healthy mix serum foundation

Bourjois healthy mix concealer

Kiko blusher (104)

Kiko highlighter (03)

Eyes: Sephora eyeshadow quad - Taupe

Avon glimmerstick (the blue one) inside and around outsides of eyes- smudged

Kiko black gel liner- along top lash line

Benefit they´re real mascara

lips: nothing, i did apply a pale pink Kiko liplgloss just before i went out

This is 3 coats of Benefit They´re real mascara, they certainly don't look real anymore

And this is what i wore, there is no point dedicating a whole post to it because the picture is so dark, i wore:

Blue lace dress- Zara

Silver clutch- Parfois

Silver sequinned shoes ( with red soles)- Dolores market

Jewellery: Vivienne Westwood necklace, my usual 2 rings and Chanel stud earrings, my usual tennis bracelet and "forever" bracelet which i never take off and my Thomas Sabo charm bracelet.

I hope you all had a lovely Valentines day whether you celebrate it or not

Happy Valentine´s Day

Happy Valentines day everybody!!!!!!! I hope everybody is spending the day with people they love, whether it is one special person or all of your family and friends,

Today i am at work all day but i will be going out for a meal with my lovely boyfriend tonight. We exchanged cards and gifts this morning, he bought me a lovely Guess bag and i still have my roses that he bought me last week, they have blossomed beautifully and have completely changed colour, they are still red on the outside but bright fuchsia in the centres, they are gorgeous!

Introducing The Boyfriend....

This is my lovely boyfriend Jay, it is our 3rd Valentines together and i have never been happier, i cant imagine life without him, these are a few photographs from Christmas..

He is 9 years older than me and we are from very different backgrounds, but we are a perfect match. We are both from England, me from the North and him from the South and we met here in Spain.

Now i am going for a nice bubble bath, try on a million outfits before i decide i have nothing to wear ( despite having about 80 dresses still with the labels on in my wardrobe) then probably settle on the first thing i tried on. Then i just need to do my hair and make-up so that when i finish work at 8pm i can go home, quickly get changed and go to the restaurant. Its a good job we get a 3 hour lunch break in Spain!

I hope your day is filled with love and happiness xXx

5 good things

Happy Friday everyone!!! I can think of a million negative things this week but instead of dwelling on them , here are this weeks 5 good things:

1. Its nearly Valentines day, yay. Even though i believe that if you love somebody you should tell them everyday, multiple times a day even, i love Valentines day, of course i hated it when i was single but being in Love is the best thing in the world and any excuse to celebrate that and I'm there. It is also a good excuse to get our glad rags on and go out for a nice meal, which we cant afford to do very often.

2. I was really excited to learn yesterday that KIKO have just launched a range of magnetic nail polishes, see here . i was debating buying a nails inc one when they came out but at nearly 15 pound plus 5 pound P&P to Spain it just seemed ridiculous to spend 20 pound on a nail polish i would probably only use a few times. so at a 3rd of the price and with a much better colour range i cant wait to try these.

3. My little brother ( actually not so little at over a foot taller than me, but 2 years younger) got engaged this week to his girlfriend of 7 years, they were in the same class all the way through high school then got together when they started college. Of course being 2 years older than him i wish i was engaged first but i am happy for them, which bring me onto my next good thing....

4. Card Town are offering 5 pound free credit to use on any cards on their website as a special valentines offer, so i signed up for my free credit and sent my bro an engagement card. here is the link to the page to get the free credit and you can send all cards internationally and they can all be personalised, the offer ends on Valentines day though so if you want to send a free card get there before the offer ends.

5. I know this one may cause a bit of a stir but.. i was in the supermarket last week looking at the steak and got to a section called potro, the meat looked nice but i had no idea what it was, it was quite a good price so i got some. Then when i got home i checked the translation and found out it was horse meat, yes horse! Well i will try anything once, so i cooked it and it was yummy, i was expecting it to be like beef but stronger but it was really mild. my boyfriend has had it before on holiday somewhere in Europe and liked it then and he loved it too, so that will become a regular food in our house now. And since i bought it i have noticed that most supermarkets sell it, its only taken me 6 years to notice...

What are your 5 good things this week? Has anybody else tried horse?

Nail of the day

So i tried water marbling my nails yesterday, it was a complete disaster, the polish wouldn't spread properly and then it just clumped together when i tried to make patterns with it and went on my nails too thickly (because it hadn't spread). I will try again with different polish and different water, apparently the water has to be perfect for it to work.

So i took it all off and painted my nails with this instead:

Flormar supershine miracle colors in U23

My nails remind me of jelly beans, bright pink and shiny and glittery, nice and cheerful on these cold wintery days.

I love the miracle colors range, i have a few now and they are all super shiny and sparkly and a great price at just 2.99€

Skin saviours

These are my skin saviours, my go-to products when my skin is misbehaving

1. Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream- the original cult beauty product. I have been using this for years, especially on dry hands and feet, cracked lips (i prefer the lip-balm format for this though, purely because it less messy) and cuticles and even on split ends, i know a lot of people don't like the smell but i like it. Available in department stores worldwide and many places online. ( i usually stock up in duty free when i fly anywhere because you can always get travel edition packs at reduced prices)

2. Argan oil- there has been a lot of hype surrounding this recently with many brands introducing argan oil into their products, it is excellent for repairing and moisturizing and i use it on my hands and face at night, the only thing i dislike about this is the smell, i really don't like the smell but i am willing to put up with it for the results it gives. i just have plain Argan oil which i bought from a pharmacy, you can also usually find it in health food shops.

3. Bio Oil- Again another product with a lot of hype surrounding it, this is another product i use as a facial moisturiser at it helps to heal acne scars and reduce the red blotchy pigmentation i have on my cheeks, according to their website it also helps reduce fine lines and wrinkles, but luckily i don't have any of them yet, i don't think i can put that down to the bio oil though as my mum is in her late forties and only just starting to get fine lines. I did buy this product originally to try and reduce the appearance of old stretch marks ( that is its main marketing ploy after all) but it didn't have any effect on them at all, although i know it has worked well for other people. Available in pharmacies, some supermarkets and online.

Both of my last 2 products i use for healing wounds, cuts and spots

4. Sudocrem- this is the best thing in the world for healing spots, as soon as one starts to appear i apply a generous coat of this, 8/10 times the spot wont even fully appear and the ones that do appear heal so much faster with regular application of Sudocrem. I have PCOS and get a few nasty spots around my chin and mouth at that time of the month and this really helps diminish them. I have tried every fancy spot cream out there and this is the winner for me. it is also brilliant on eczema, cuts and scrapes and if its good enough for a babys bum its good enough for my face/ body. Available in all UK supermarkets and pharmacies and it is now available in a squeezy tube, ideal for keeping in your bag.

5. Tea tree oil- another brilliant healer and antiseptic, i usually apply this before sudocrem to any cuts scrapes or spots, it disinfects and heals. my boyfriend also uses it on cold sores and it definitely helps them heal quicker. I buy mine at The Body Shop but it is available in most pharmacies and health shops.

5 good things

Its time for my Friday 5 good things again so here goes....

1.New car- i got a new car this week! Ive had a Peugeot 206cc since i moved to Spain 6 years ago, i had always wanted a convertible so moving to a hot country seemed the perfect time to get one. Th novelty wore off after about 3 years- leather seats, no air con, alloy gear stick and pedals = a hot grumpy Charlotte. So when my Dad was offered a ford fiesta steel this week he bought it for me and is selling my old car for me. It is a company car and he managed to get it sign written within a few hours of me agreeing to have it. But it has air con which is the main thing i needed and a lot more space than my tiny convertible so is much more practical, now i just need to remember to fill it up with Diesel not petrol.

2. Medieval times- This weekend there is a medieval market in the historic city of Orihuela, i went last year and it was brilliant, everybody is dressed up in medieval clothes, the cobbled streets are covered in straw, there was jousting, birds of prey shows, amazing food, thousands of stalls with all handmade chocolates, jewellery and anything else you could think of, i will be going on Sunday with my mum and leaving my boyfriend at home with his Xbox, here are some photographs from last year:

3. TOWIE- the only way is Essex is back on our TV screens and i love it. My boyfriend, who incidentally is from Essex cant bear to watch it and hates the way it portrays Essex, ( ive never been to Essex so cant argue) so i have to wait until its on ITV player and watch it on my own.

4. Roses- My lovely boyfriend bought me roses again today, not just because he felt like it this time though. Apparently these are for valentines day but he is buying them today because they will be four times the price next week, lol fair enough. They make my office smell lovely anyway. If anyone has any tips to make them last longer i would love to know.....

5. Bubble baths- I love a good bubble bath, unfortunately we only have a shower at our house so i have to go to my parents house if i want a bath. There is nothing nicer than a nice hot bubble bath when its cold outside especially when it smells like cake!

This is the sweet cake bubble bath and shimmering body lotion from Sephora´s Christmas collection, i got it from my brother this Christmas and it smells divine!!! and how cute is the packaging!

This is last years Christmas collection- irresistible caramel- also smells divine. I alternate between these two and the chocolate scent from the permanent collection. I'm trying to make the limited edition sets last as long as possible because i know i will never be able to get them again.

What are your 5 good things this week?



Review: Benefit- They´re real! mascara

I´m sure everybody has at least heard of this mascara already ( if not purchased it) as it has made waves on the blogosphere and youtube. It is easily available in most countries and a fair price and for me its an excellent mascara.
I have always loved Benefit products although they are very expensive compared to a lot of other high street makeup companies that offer similar products and colours for half of the price. But, i am on an endless mission to find my holy grail mascara and after all of the hype it had i thought i had better try it, and I'm so glad that i did.

image from google

Excuse the wet hair

Close up they do look like false lashes

This is with 2 coats, also wearing kiko eyeshadow pencils ( review coming soon) and Kiko gel eyeliner.

What Benefit say:

They're real! lengthens, curls, volumizes, lifts & separates. Our jet black, long-wearing formula won’t smudge or dry out. A specially designed brush reveals lashes you never knew you had!

I would agree with everything they say, it looks exactly the same before you take it off at the end of the day as it did when you first put it on and stays really black unlike some mascaras which fade as the day goes on.

The only negatives i have about the mascara are:
1. the bristles are very spiky compared to the usual rubber bristles, which is good for separating your lashes but not so good when you accidentally get a bit too close to your eyeball.
2. i have to use eye-makeup remover to get it all off, i prefer to just be able to use a facewash at the end of the day to get rid of all of my makeup in one go.

For the price, availability and staying power it would definitely be in my top 5 favourite mascaras, well worth buying if you haven't already.

I purchased mine from Sephora for 21.99€ but i know it is cheaper in the Uk and elsewhere and you can buy online from the Benefit website here

Have you tried this mascara? or have you found the perfect mascara yet?