Just In! Tanya Burr Haul

As I'm sure all of you reading this know, Tanya Burr recently released a line of lip-glosses and nail polishes. It's so exciting that someone who began as a blogger has been able to take this step and its a big accomplishment for her and the blogging community. The whole range has such a lovely palette of colours and definitely has something to suit all tastes. I decided to try a few nail polishes and one lip gloss after much deliberation!

Nail polish wise I chose New York Night which is a deep plum shade, Little Duck which is a bright duck egg bluey/green shade and finally Penguin Chic which is a light grey. So far I've only tried Little Duck on my nails, but I'm so excited to try the others out! The formula is really thick and opaque - you could get away with only painting one coat! Mine lasted chip free for 3-4 days, which is fairly average for me as I tend to get chips quite quickly! I loved the colour though, and even my boyfriend kept commenting how nice the colour was! True praise!!

I am usually more of a lipstick kinda girl than a gloss, but I really wanted to try one of Tanya's glosses out. I chose Picnic in the Park which is a really pretty, but quite subtle pink. I haven't worn this yet but it swatched really nicely and seems quite buildable. It also smells amazingly of fizzy sweets! Yum.

I can't wait to give all these products a proper try out and I'm sure I'll have full reviews in the near future. Have you tried any of Tanya Burr's range?

Aimée
Xxxx

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Review: Topshop Matte Nail Polish in Cryptic

Red nails have never really been my thing. I've always found them too garish, too vampish and definitely would never have thought they'd of been on my nails. However, matte nail polishes are a revelation to me. Thinking back my main issue with red nails was always the glossy finish, but with a matte finish they're much more understated.

Topshop have a great range of matte polishes which are really affordable and a great quality. I also really love the packaging which has almost 'frosted-glass' sides and a clear window stating the finish of the polish. As a matte finish, the polish dries a lot quicker than regular nail polishes. I don't find it lasts as long, although I do feel this may be due to the lack of top coat. You can actually buy a Matte finish top coat from Topshop but as yet I haven't felt the need for it.

The shade is a lovely bright red which feels really festive, great for this time of year! However, I'm sad to say you can't actually buy this polish anymore! I didn't realise until writing this post that the polish was part of the Limited Edition A/W Collection The Damned. After having a look on the Topshop website though there is a great range of matte polishes out, including Bad Orchid which is a great plummy purple for Autumn/Winter.

What're your thoughts on matte nails?

Aimée
Xxxx

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Review | Illamasqua Mottle Polish

Oh my. Just oh my. This little beauty has been on my wishlist for so long, so I was superrr excited to unwrap it for my birthday. My lovely best friend Amy bought it for me, so special love to her :) Like NARS in my post last week, the polish popped my Illamasqua cherry so its been an exciting high-end week for me! :)

The polish comes from their I'mperfection collection, that I'm sure you all know about by now. I really love the idea of this collection, and although some of the products are really daring I'd love to try some of their blushes. Definitely on my wishlist next I think :) The polishes really stood out to me from the moment I saw the collection, mainly because they remind me so much of mini-eggs!! So if you're feeling withdrawal symptoms from the Easter chocolate season ending, this might be just the thing to curb your appetite. Okay, I'm lying to myself here, nothing beats mini-eggs - but this is a seriously pretty looking polish. :)

Green being my favourite colour, Mottle was the perfect shade for me. I love how fresh and springy it looks, perfect now that the sun is finally making an appearance in the UK. :) When I first applied the polish, the first coat seemed so sheer I was worried it wasn't going to look right, but after a second coat and a clear top coat it looked opaque, smooth and shiny.

The little speckled flecks of 'imperfection' really add a cute touch to the polish, and aren't chunky at all leaving your nails feeling smooth. I'd just like to add here, please excuse the really bad picture of the polish on my nails I was having one of those bad photography days, I'm pretty sure I took about 20 pictures and I still wasn't happy! This was the best of the bunch though, so I hope its not too bad!

As far as wear and tear goes, the polish stayed chip free for a good 3-4 days. Not the best polish for longevity, but definitely not the worst. I thought maybe the flecks have something to do with it?

However, I do have one tiny  bug bear. You may have been wondering why I took a picture of the polish half removed. Well, its because its sooooo bloody hard to remove the speckles!! They are seriously strong, and do not want to leave your nails at any cost! So, just a word of warning, set aside a little extra time just to remove the flecks! haha

Other than that minor annoyance, I'm loving having mini-egg nails and reallyyy want to try the other shades! Especially Freckle :) Let me know if you've tried the polishes and whether you had the same issue removing the flecks!

Aimée
Xxxx

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Review | Essie "Cocktail Bling"

About two weeks ago Boots sent me a £2 off voucher for any Essie nail polish, as it would be rude to not take up the offer I took one for the team and trotted off down to Boots voucher in hand.
I'm a saint, I know ;)

I ended up choosing Cocktail Bling, which on first glance at the bottle looked like a very light grey. I know this seems quite an odd choice of colour, but the unusual shade really drew me in. I also wanted to lighten up my polish collection as I've really gone all out on the dark wintery shades recently.

When applying, I used two coats of Cocktail Bling, one coat of my favourite Nails Inc. Top Coat and my Rapid Dry Spray. On the first coat I was a little concerned, as the consistency of the polish was really watery! Not what I expect from an Essie polish! However, by the second coat my nails looked smooth and opaque. I'm not entirely sure why the polish was watery to begin with, perhaps because I forgot to shake the bottle beforehand? Either way, on subsequent applications I haven't had any problems at all.

The longevity of this polish is amazing!! I can wear the polish for a week with only tiny chips on my index fingers appearing. I pretty much always get chips on my index fingers straight away though so I never really take that into consideration. The colour of the polish on the nails is much bluer than it looks in the bottle, so you end up with a very pale grey/blue which is really lovely. Quite wintery still but in a much lighter way, which I really enjoy.

I'm actually really glad I chose this polish, there's always so many on display at the Essie stand that I'm happy this one jumped out at me! What's your favourite Essie polish? :)

Aimée
Xxxx

P.S. Just a quick note to say I've added my Social links up on the top right corner of my blog! If you fancied having a gander or following any it'd be much appreciated and make me a very happy Aimée :)

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Review | Essie "Dive Bar"

Surprisingly to some, this is actually my first ever Essie purchase! I was looking around Boots the other day for a new polish, and after hearing soo many reviews on Essie, I thought I may aswell give it a go! It is abit on the pricier side for a nail polish, which is probably whats stopped me from ever buying one before! But, now after using it for about two weeks I can completely understand the higher price tag!

I wasn't really looking for any particular colour, but as its nearly Christmas (YAY!) I was mostly being drawn to the darker colours! And then I noticed Dive Bar and the shimmeryness (thats definitely a word..!) sold me completely! Its actually described as being a mysterious black-blue with shimmer. But, I think it looks more green and purple when its on my nails! Although, in certain lights it can look very black! I think thats why I liked it so much though, as it constantly looks so interesting!

The actual texture of the polish was amazing! It went on so easily and smoothly! I put on two coats, and then a top coat of the Nails Inc. Kensington Caviar 45 Second Top Coat which I got in the November Glossybox. Both pair together really well and give my nails such a smooth shiny finish!

I've been able to go for about 5 days without any chips, which for me is astounding! I'm usually trying to hide my chipped and rubbish looking nails! So this has all been very exciting for me! :) Although this was a splurge I am really glad I went for it! And next time I buy nail polish I'll definitely be going back to the Essie stand :)

I'm off to see the Silver Linings Playbook with my mum tonight! I've heard such good things about it! Have any of you seen it yet? :)

Aimée
Xxxx

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