5 good things

I have been MIA again for a few weeks, but this time i have a good excuse, starting with my first good thing:

1. I have started an NVQ in Beauty therapy (level 2), my job was really getting me down and i felt like i would be stuck behind my desk forever doing laborious jobs i don't enjoy, so i did something about it, and while i am still working for my company i wont be office based for much longer as i can do all of my work from home as it is all internet/computer based now. So i get to keep the job which will pay for the course but i also get to do the course until i qualify then i can find work as a beauty therapist instead. more to come on this soon...

2. Back to school supplies, starting a new course means buying stationary and other fun things like multicoloured metallic gel pens, highlighters, sparkly notebooks and Hello Kitty pencil cases  and who doesn't like buying things like that???, at least now i have an excuse.

3. This Bag!!!!

Its by Gloria Ortiz (Spanish designer) and is super duper sparkly in real life with silver and coral/pink stripes and nude fabric woven through the handles which are long enough to go over your shoulder. The minute i saw it i wanted it, the minute i looked at the price tag i had to have it, it was literally screaming my name (look it says CHARLOTTE!!!!!) and it was 70% off the already reduced price of 99€ in the Corte Ingles outlet store. I cant wait to wear it!

4. I downloaded an App for my iphone & ipad the other week and as i had paid 2.99 for it and wasn't very impressed (as i thought a lot of things could be easily altered) i emailed the developer and told them so, the next day the emailed me back to tell me i was AMAZING, yes really, and if it wasn't for people like me giving them in depth feedback and suggestions they wouldn't be able to improve anything as they had exhausted their own ideas AND to top it off they sent me a 10 dollar Amazon gift card to spend on whatever i want as a thank you, so sometimes it does pay to complain.

5. The lovely ring Jay bought me for our anniversary, anyone who knows me knows that i love crowns, so much so that i have one tattooed onto my back, this one was bought from a small artisan stall in Guardamar night market on a midnight stroll, it is sterling silver and cubic zirconia and i love it, he also bought me a great pair of studded shoes, happy Charlotte!

What are your 5 good things this week?

Review: Flormar 2x DUO chrome nail enamel

I bought this nail polish while I was out shopping last week and as with most Flormar polishes it is great quality, dries quite fast and is opaque in 2 coats. It was more expensive at 4.90€ than their regular range which is 2.90€ but it is still cheaper than most drugstore polishes and the quality outweighs most other similar priced brands.

I have the colour DC06 which is a lovely purple that changes to a greyish colour with a hint of mossy green, the duo chrome isn't that dramatic but it does add another dimension to the nails. It is available in a few other colours but this was the only one that really took my fancy at the moment. I think it will probably look even better with a matte topcoat but I haven't tried it yet.

Review: EZEspa travel rollerball

I hate long car journeys.... If i´m driving i get stressed out and then start to lose concentration after a few hours, if someone else is driving i feel really sick. So its a lose lose situation. "Going for a drive" is my worst nightmare, i don't understand how people can get enjoyment out of "going for a drive". The only reason i drive anywhere is to get to the location at the end and then get back home again.

So when i discovered EZEspa (sister brand of Kleeneze) had released a selection of essential oil rollerballs i decided to order a few and give them a try. I had the perfect opportunity this weekend when my mum asked me to come with her to Marina Dór, which is a resort town in Castellon.. a good 3 and a half hours drive from where we live. I was dreading the journey because i didn't want to be sick and every time i have been there before i have felt terrible after the long drive or got really ill on the way. But she bribed me with a trip to a new shopping centre i had never been to on the way home, and who doesn't love discovering a new shopping centre !? So i agreed to go.

The rollerball is in a nice glass bottle with a silver lid, it is designed to be applied to your pulse points ( temples, wrists, inner elbows, behind knees etc...) and its mix of essential oils (peppermint, lavender, geranium and eucalyptus) promise to ease travel sickness and prevent jetlag. I don't think i will be going on any long haul flights anytime soon so can only tell you about car sickness but for me it worked really well.

Image from Google

As soon as i got in the car i applied to my neck( just below ears), wrists, inner elbows and behind knees so that every time i moved i got a waft of the refreshing minty scent, i re-applied every 40 minutes or so when i felt it was starting to wear off and each time it gave me a bit of a boost and stopped me feeling sick. This is the first time i have ever been a passenger on a car journey this long and not felt nauseous or actually been sick so this was brilliant for me. I think the price is good at 5 pound/ 6€ as it will last a long time.

They also have a few more in the range.. i have bought the calming rollerball (which smells like roses..LOVE) and the energizing rollerball along with this one and I'm dying to try the other 2 which are sleep well and breathe easy. All Ezespa products are available from here or from your local Kleeneze distributor (UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Holland).

Review: Bourjois VOLUMIZER mascara

I LOVE this mascara,

I first heard about it on Sarah Walkers youtube channel and despite the fact she has naturally mega long lashes this mascara made them look even more amazing so i thought it was definitely worth a try. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Bourjois cosmetics, some of their products are amazing ( little round pot eyeshadows, so laque nail polish, white chocolate highlighter.....) and some of their products are terrible (eyeshadow trios and some of the blushers i´m lookin at you!!) i have also had problems with some of their mascaras in the past especially the ones with fibres really irritating my eyes although i did used to love the volume clubbing mascara but its a pain to remove.

So i bought this mascara in a 3 for 2 at Boots last time i went back to England when it had just been released because obviously it wouldn't be available in Spain for months after it was released, it is available here now but Bourjois is so expensive here compared to the other drugstore brands.

So what did i think?  It was love at first try..  i was never overly impressed with the whole 2 step brush idea at first but after about 10 seconds of fiddling i realised it isnt even 2 brushes, there is only actually one brush!!

Step one is a thin brush that is scraped clean of most of the product ( buy the tube which is actually classed as brush 2) and is basically there to define and seperate your lashes...

Step 2 is the same brush but with none of the product scraped off, so it is fully loaded with thick creamy mascara...

The product looks so clumpy on the brush but it really doesnt transfer to the lashes like that, ( unless you try and add another coat when it is completely dry) i also like that if you apply too much of step 2 you can alsways go over it quickly with the step 1 brush to remove any excess and define your lashes again.

And the end result.....  hugely volumised and slightly longer lashes

Sorry i dont know how to crop photos so you get a lovely close-up of my pores

Overall the name is perfect, it does exactly what it says on the tin, the mascara is affordable and stays on all day, it is easy to wash off and doesn't flake, the only problem i have had with it is if i have cried or got watery hayfever eyes this does run into my eyes making them red and irritated and water even more, but that doesn't happen very often and i avoid it when my hayfever is bad.

Have you tried this mascara or any of the others from the Bourjois range?

Notd: Subtle stripes

I was starting to get bored of solid single colour nails so when I found a striping brush in my nail kit the other night I decided to play around. I only had a few nail polish colours with me so decided on a colour only a few shades different from what I was already wearing. I like the subtlety of the stripes and to add a little interest I added a fimo nail art flower to the ring fingers.

unfortunately the striper brush was a cheap one and it didn't hold the shape very well so when I have invested in a new one I will have a play around with lots of other colours. I think a really pale, possibly white base with pastel coloured candy stripes will look good

For this look I did 2 coats of some random cheap pinky/ purple colour then stripes of Kiko 313, I added a clear topcoat and applied the flower while it was still wet then added another coat over the top when it was dry. I am really surprised that the flowers have not come off or even lifted at all yet and they have been on for 5 days!!

Battle of the BB creams (pic heavy)

I´m sure by now the majority of people know what a BB cream is....BB standing for blemish balm originated in Asia as a post surgery cream that would help repair the skin and provide coverage, as they have become a worldwide sensation many brands have jumped on the bandwagon and created their own BB creams, the selection available now is extraordinary with all different degrees of coverage, spf sun protection and all promising different amazing things that they can do to your skin, how do you know which to choose????

With Spain being late on the bandwagon for everything i only managed to get my hands on my first tube of BB cream a year ago and i have to say i have never looked back. Of course, being a beauty junkie i had no intention of remaining faithful to the first brand i tried so as more were introduced to the market here i began to try out a few other offerings. here is a run down of the ones i have tried so far and what i really think:

 

Loreal Nude magique, KIKO BB cream, Garnier BB miracle skin perfector, Garnier BB miracle skin perfector oil free

i will go into detail with each cream individually, what i looked like that morning sans makeup... cringe and after applying the cream then with makeup.

 I don't use moisturiser before applying as the creams have moisturisers in them.

Garnier BB miracle skin perfector OIL FREE   shade: medium

This is my favourite BB cream, it gives natural looking medium coverage and stays put all day on me (without powder), even in the 40 degree heat here at the moment, whilst i did like the original version it does give me a shiny t-zone in the summer months which is why i was keen to snap the oil free version up as soon as it landed in the shops here, it is very affordable ( around 12€ i think) available in all of the big supermarkets and perfume shops. The packaging is nice but the formula is very runny which i wasn't expecting, although it does make application very easy. i think the colour ( medium) is a little pale for me ( even though it is the darkest shade available) whilst i have a tan but that's nothing a dusting of bronzing powder wont fix. Unfortunately that means that it wouldn't really be suitable for people with skin any darker than mine.  

Clean face

with Garnier BB oil free

Garnier eye roll on which i always use after applying my BB cream

With the rest of my makeup

                                                                                   

This is pretty much my every day makeup look, i can do my whole face in less than 7 minutes and be ready to go to work.

1. Apply BB cream then Garnier eye roll on, i then get dressed while it sinks in.
2. Apply a light dusting of bronzing powder down nose and across forehead, cheeks and chin using real techniques powder brush.
3. Apply Sleek blush (flamingo) using real techniques blush brush.
4. Apply champagne coloured eyeshadow over whole lid from lashes to brows and inner corner, then apply darker taupe shade in the crease.
5. Apply liquid liner and flick out at the corners- maybelline master precise ( review coming soon)
6. Apply mascara- Bourgois Volumizer ( review coming soon).




Next up is LÓreal Nude Magique (medium) .... this one is odd, its ones of those runny grey liquids with little purple flecks in it, as you rub it into your skin it changes colour to match you skin tone perfectly (according to them, i´m not too sure about that, after it has sunk in properly it does change to a good colour but it still feels a little grey to me, The formula is a little scratchy which may be a problem if you have sensitive skin but i´m ok with it. I do like the packaging of this one the most, it is reasonably priced and give a nice satin finish more on the matte side but this is a bonus as it does not need to be set with powder and lasts most of the day.

Clean skin

After applying Loreal Nude magique

With Makeup

Next is Kiko BB cream (shade 2)  This one has the thickest consistency and that strange grey colour changing technology like the Loreal formula, you need to use quite a lot of product and it has buildable coverage, it is slightly sticky ( kind of waxy) in texture and feels like a primer ( which means you need to give your hands a good wash after application. This brand has the biggest colour range with 5 shades available and is again really affordable at about 11€  it is available worldwide from their website here. It lasts all day and does not need to be set with powder although due to its thicker consistency i don't use it much in the day time because it is too hot here in the Summer, although it is great for nights out and is water and sweat resistant too.

Clean face

With Kiko BB cream 

With Makeup

And Last but not least.... Garnier BB cream (medium) This is the original BB and was the first BB that i tried as it was the first BB cream to be released in Spain, according to the big signs up everywhere that was stocking it. I do like this, it is easy to apply and has a nice gel like consistency and sheer coverage, which is quite buildable but not as much the the other creams, this one is better for me in winter when my skin is drier and i don't get a shiny T-zone, i do use the light colour in the winter when my tan has faded, i like that this is just so quick and easy to use like a tinted moisturiser, you barely need a mirror and you know it will even out your skin tone, This is probably the most easily available and again is a good price, although i do prefer the oil free version.

So that's a round up of the BB creams that i have tried, I am quite happy with the oil free Garnier BB for the moment and will just use up the other as and when i can but probably wont repurchase them, there are so many available now that it is overwhelming and i don't want to spend a fortune on one that wont do a much better job than the cheaper ones will, i hopes this helps somebody try and find something for them.

Have you tried BB creams? which is your favourite?

Rockstar nails

After searching high and low for the holy grail of glitter nail polishes ( full coverage, mega sparkle, affordable) i gave up and decided to give rockstar nails a try. Wearing flip flops for 8 months of the year means perfect feet and perfect toenails at all times so spending time on my feet is a must, and who doesn't want pretty fingernails to match....

Rockstar nails are real loose glitter adhered to a base of either gel or shellac and then coated with a gel topcoat to seal in the glitter and give a smooth feel, it also ensures that there is no chipping or colour fade, surprisingly none of the sparkle is lost and you can use whichever colour glitter your heart desires or even use a few different colours for a gradient effect similar to what i did here .

  I used the same technique, base coat of gel and cured, another thicker coat of gel and cured then sprinkled the glitter into the sticky dispersion layer, pressed into place then applied gel topcoat and cured then repeated with the topcoat and cured again. The only disadvantage with using gel is that it has to be filed off, unlike shellac which can be soaked off.

Fingers

And toes....

 unfortunately glitter is really hard to photograph with an iphone camera, which is all i have at the moment, in real life this is beyond sparkly.

This lasted a good 3 weeks on my fingers before i started to get bored of the colour, there was only one small chip missing from one finger so this would be ideal if you were going on holiday for a few weeks and didn't want to risk your mani/pedi chipping. Although i don't think many people would go this hardcore on glitter for everyday wear on their fingers it is probably a lot more acceptable on toes, I've had the purple glitter on my toes for 3 and a half weeks now and so far I've only lost a tiny chunk of the corner of my big toe from when i walked into something, it isn't even noticeable enough to bother repairing yet so i will wait until it starts to grow out before i change the colour.


Have you tried rockstar nails? or have you been lucky enough to find the holy grail of glitter nailpolish???