Nails, nails, nails.

Since so many of you were keen for me to post more nail related pictures I bring you my mother's nails, freshly painted this morning :).Before anyone comments on these nails (or as i like to call them - claws) they are acrylic, and long overdue for an infill, so are very long. However, I think this design would work perfectly well on shorter or square nails too.

I used one coat of ciate paint pots in no. 39, Mistress. It is no wonder that this polish has won the Kiss and Makeup Beauty Awards, as with just one coat I got an opaque coverage and a glossy finish. These ciate polishes come in a really fun range of colours and finishes and I especially love the cute bow detail on the bottle. They can be purchased from the Powder Rooms website for £7.50. Also, be sure to check out Hele's blog for a 20% discount code ;).
For the flower design I used Konad black nail varnish and plate m7.
I then finished it off with my favourite top coat- Seche Vite.

What do you guys think? Too vamp?

Guess where this dress came from...

Today it is another gorgeous Summer day in London, so I decided to go all girly and wear a frilly butterfly print dress.

This dress makes me feel extremely secure given it is a strapless dress. As those of us with larger busts (I'm a 32D) know, sometimes it can be a bit of a struggle keeping the girls hidden when sudden gusts of wind and annoying tube train drivers are determined to free them ;). However, this one has good ribbing and a waist that goes in perfectly to keep everything secure and prevent the bustier from moving up or down when you walk.

All in all it is surprisingly comfortable, and even though it is pretty cutesy it has a silver metal zip detail at the back, which makes it a little more modern. Paired with silver flats and large shades I think it's great for the Summer.

And where did I get this dress you may ask? Well, to my utter shame, it came from M&S. Yes, the shop where everyone and their grandma buy their tights and flab fighting control pants. Perhaps, I am a little bit prejudiced, but I always considered it to be a store aimed at the older generation (my granny loves their nighties.. eeek!!), but yesterday I was surprised to find a few pieces that I really liked. I even picked up a couple of bikinis (once again good support, as I am no longer interested in non-existant triangles that do nothing to protect my modesty when waves are about). These may show up in a latter post- if any of you are interested :).

What do you guys think of M&S overhauling their image? Drab or fab?

Nails of the day

I must confess to you that I am lying... This is actually the NOTD for Wednesday not today (Saturday), but I have been so busy since my mother has been in town and haven't had a chance to sit down and upload any videos or blog. Sorry, my nails are a bit chipped in the photos :(.

So these are my nails from Wednesday, I was inspired by an Indian fabric I saw that day and decided to re-create a little Eastern magic on my nails :).

I used Zoya anchor base coat,
1, yes ONE!! coat of Barry M's nail paint in 302 (fuchsia).
For the pattern I used Konad white nail polish and plate no. m 57.
For top coat I used the incredible Seche Vite.

Hope you guys like them! I have had lots of compliments on them so thought they were worth a post. Would you like me to do more nail posts as I am never sure if it is that interesting?

Love lots,
Natalya
xxx

Naked Body Care Discounts

You may remember that a few months ago I mentioned the Naked Body Care range. They have a large selection including hair, face, body and bath products which are SLS, petrochemical and paraben free. They are also 97% natural, with the remaining 3% made up of preservatives and emulsifying agents which are necessary to stop ingredients from separating (they don’t like divorce). Some of the products are even 99.5% natural. Most importantly they never test on animals :).

To get great discounts and all the latest information with daily updates you can join their facebook and twitter pages.
At the moment there is a code for 50% off all products from their website until June 14th.

The codes are 'face09' from Facebook and 'tweet09' from Twitter.
I hope that if you were interested in trying out some of their products you will take advantage of this great deal :).

The Body Shop Shimmer Cube tut and 20% OFF :)

The Body Shop shimmer cube in no. 18 has such pretty summery colours that I was inspired to create a look to show just how versatile it is.
I used the pink colour on the lid, green on the lower lashline and the grey in the crease and along the upper lashline. The pink was also used on the cheeks and lips :).

Please check out this tutorial to see more:


The Body Shop are also kindly offering my readers a special online 20% discount when ordering any of the following products from their website.
The codes are below in bold. Please use only one code per one online transaction, although the 20% discount will apply to all the selected products.

BLOG_SHIM 20% off shimmer cubes

BLOG_ CAM 20% off Camomile waterproof eye make-up remover

BLOG_SCRUB 20% off Vitamin C Cleansing Face Polish

BLOG_MIST 20% off Vit E Facial Mist

Codes expire 18/09/09
My top pick is the Vit E Facial Mist as it is great for setting makeup, refreshing the skin and adding moisture while on the go. It is also wonderful to use on the airplane to combat the awful dry cabin air.
I hope you can check some of these products out :).
Natalya

Birthday Blues

It was my boyfriend's birthday on Thursday so I created this romantic, flirty look to go with the light blue dress I was wearing. Since my bf doesn't like too much makeup (I guess he picked the wrong girl, right?) I decided to make it quite light, but add some drama with a defined crease and some eyelure lashes.



Products Used

Face:
MUFE HD foundation 115
Bobbi brown creamy concealer
Nars Laguna bronzer
MAC Moon River and Well Dressed blush

Eyes:
UDPP
MAC- Phloof, cobalt, felt blue, scene, print, deep truth, vellum, vapour.
MAC blacktrack fluidline
Covergirl lashblast mascara
Eyelure- Nicola lashes

Lips:
MAC Snob lipstickI am wearing a blue dress by ZARA and navy shoes by Kurt Geiger.

Hope you like it!
xxx

Easy Looks giveaway.

Congratulations to Ana Garcia who is the winner of the Easy Looks Giveaway!!!
xxx

Anatomicals- Perfect hands and feet (just in case you're papped by heat).

Help the paw-
Do you never have to lift a finger to do anything? Have your hands never been in a washing up bowl? Do you never shake hands with anyone unless you're wearing white gloves? In short,are you HRH the queen of England? If you are, we'd just like to remind you that the corgis need a walk and to say that you have no need for this ultra soothing cream. If, however, your blood's more red than blue, buy tubes of the stuff. after all, look at all those dirty plates in the sink.

This hand cream is wonderfully rich, and a little will really go along way. It contains shea butter, sweet almond oil, vitamin E, green tea and licorice extracts, which make it deeply moisturising and perfect if, like me, you absolutely hate the feeling of dry hands (when my hands are dry I get that goosebumpy nails down a blackboard feeling). The scent is a little strange, but not off putting. It reminds me of E.L.F's all over colour sticks or sugar orange sweets from back in the day, but I would not describe it as overpowering and it fades quite quickly.

After using it for the past week my hands definitely feel soft and smooth. Since it is so rich I find it best as an overnight treatment as it does not sink into the skin straight away. It is not super oily, but there is definitely some residue left on my hands for a while (I personally like this as it continues hydrating), but while on the go it can be annoying, especially when turning those round door handles, as I found to my dismay :( hehe.

Soothing foot cream-
"I love you with the ferocity of an exploding thousand megaton nuclear bomb. your eyes are like deep pools I could jump naked into and save you from drowning. you are my rock, my pebble, my grain of sand on the beach of life where I dream of us walking hand in hand forever." if you think these lines are cheesy, take your shoes off after a hard day of being on your feet and you'll then know exactly why you need this ultra cooling, refreshing, soothing and deodorising cream. some new tights or socks wouldn't hurt either.

Feet- not a lovely topic to discuss as I generally think feet are horrible, but this cream does what it says on its wacky little box. It is a deeply moisturising and soothing foot cream containing vitamin E and peppermint oil with a refreshing mint scent.

With summer just around the corner it is time to make our tootsies presentable for strutting in sandals and wedges or even just lounging in flip-flops. This cream certainly helps to mend yucky cracked heels and other problem areas. Once again, I love to put this on after a shower or bath and just before bed to keep my feet looking smooth and smelling, well, fresh. I even used it on my legs as they started to flake a little when I got back from Dubai (silly sunburn) and it worked wonders. It is also good to use if someone is feeling generous enough to give you a foot rub ;).

This fantastic set, with 80ml of each cream, can be purchased on the anatomicals website for the very reasonable price of £3.50. I know, I was pretty impressed too! The site has a good, affordable range of products (made in the UK) and really funny descriptions/blurbs for each item. Just click on the link to have a giggle!

OOTD

On Friday I got all dressed up to go to hall (formal dinner) at my boyfriend's college in Cambridge, so I thought I would share my outfit with you all :). We had pre-dinner drinks, a lovely meal, post dinner drinks and then relaxed in the college bar.

Sorry for the rubbish quality photos, but I had to make do with the camera on my phone.

I wore:
Miss Selfridge 2 tone dress (flowery on top and black from waist downward w/ stretchy belt)
Mango Black Cardigan with sequin and feather detail
Kurt Geiger shoes
I also straightened my hair for the first time in forever, and kept it pretty simple makeup wise with just a line of Sleek's glittery purple liner and YSL rouge volupte lingerie pink (7) lipstick.

What do you guys think? Too short?

Lilash Review.

I have always had short, thin, stubborn lashes which I tried to plump up as much as possible with mascara, or else just give up and go for falsies. I was incredibly jealous of people with long, full eyelashes and wondered why nature had not blessed me with these. After all, my mother has lovely long lashes and even my boyfriend has camel-like eyelashes, though I'm sure boys don't really need them! Highly unfair!!

In a vain attempt to remedy this problem I purchased lilash from ebay in the beginning of February. At first I was skeptical, and after the first 4 weeks nothing changed and I thought that I had wasted my money yet again on a gimmick, but many of you encouraged me to continue so I carried on applying it twice a day along the top lashline. By 6 weeks I did start noticing a difference, and now at 10 weeks I have even had to trim a few of my eyelashes as they were touching my eyebrows and really getting in the way! Have I ever had this problem before? I think not!!

My eyelashes really have grown an incredible amount, but I would not say they have become much thicker or more in number, although I have noticed a reduced loss. Before lilash every night when I removed my makeup I would see a couple of casualties (and weep... not really!.. well, maybe a little), but now they seem much stronger and fewer lashes are fleeing each night :).

They have also become exceedingly curly, which would be great for people who have very straight lashes. However, for me, to be honest it is a bit irritating since it is very difficult to apply mascara as they curl back on themselves and make a mess. I would also caution those who wear glasses as I find the lashes make it somewhat uncomfortable.

Many of you have noticed the difference, even in my low quality videos, which I think is testimony enough! I now wear much less mascara and eyeliner and they still look long and full. I am extremely happy with the results! The evidence is clear in the photos.

Before lilash:
After Lilash:
I hope this review was helpful as many of you were enquiring about it.
Almost the weekend!
Natalya
xxx

Moi Minerals

Moi Minerals is a natural, vegan makeup company that can be found here. Holly, the creator kindly sent me some samples to try out. The Pot of Gold creator kit (pictured above) contains 13 rainbow colours for $25.00.
Swatches from L to R: shimmers and pearls, banana bright, orange juice, tang marang (matte),
merry barry, tuity fruity, plum fun, blossoms and violets,
moon (matte), very berry blue, lean green, saga
black, (extras:) soft lips, buffy, antique red,
Black amethyst

These shadows are very soft and finely milled. I would not say that they were the most pigmented minerals I have ever tried, but the colours are really gorgeous and they are very reasonably priced. With a good base they adhere to the skin and remain vibrant throughout the day. I also like that there are matte colours included in the set, which is often hard to find among pigments, though these require a little more effort when blending.

Please watch my video to see how I create a look using these minerals:


*******Mention my video when making your order to get 20% OFF*******

As I have been in a very neutral eyeshadow phase recently I was excited to play with these minerals and created a bright and colourful springtime look using the minerals moon, blossoms and violets, plum fun, lean green and shimmers and pearls.Happy Spring my lovelies!
xxx

Easy Looks and Giveaway

Beauty Counter Direct is a new website that I have found that has great discounts on beauty products including cosmetics, skincare and fragrances ranging from high to low end (Clarins, YSL, Decleor to Maybelline and Revlon). They have kindly sent me a few of their products to try out so please stay tuned for some reviews coming up soon.

The first on the list is the Easy Looks Make Up Kit in Electric (RRP £9.00, but £2.99 on BCD, coming soon!).
This set contains four sets of makeup strips perfect for travelling or the girl on the go. Each strip has 2 shades of foundation, blush, highlighter, eyeshadow and a lip colour. The quality of the products inside surprised me as I tend to think these can sometimes be a gimmick!

The 2 shades of foundation can be mixed to get the perfect colour for you, or the darker used as a contour. It can also be used as a concealer as it has light to medium buildable coverage and blends well into the skin. The blush and lip colours are gorgeous, the lipgloss/ liquid lipstick in this kit is super pigmented and I adore the bright coral colour (this summer's hottest trend). I think that paired with a natural looking mascara (Maybelline Unstoppable) this is a perfect kit for an easy, fast and fresh look for spring/ summer and I will deffinitely be keeping one in my bag for emergencies :).

Please watch my video for more info and to see how I applied this.





Beauty counter direct have also very kindly offered to sponsor a giveaway for my youtube subs and blog readers so if you want to win an easy looks make up kit just go to beautycounterdirect.co.uk and click on the 'contact us' button, where you can tell them that you have read my blog/ seen my video and would like to win this kit (please also send them your e-mail ad).

Good Luck my lovelies
xxx

Spring in the City

Hello my lovelies, I hope you are all enjoying the beautiful weather we are having at the moment! I love spring and summer and am so happy it is finally sunny, albeit still chilly and windy, but it is definitely getting there! :)

In keeping with the change in weather I have really switched up my makeup recently. With the sun coming out I want to keep it as natural and fresh as possible, and have not worn my beloved dark, colourful looks in over a month! Don't get me wrong, I still love dramatic makeup, but for the day to day I have been sticking to a little concealer, bronzer, something light and shimmery on the eyes with no liner, a dash of mascara and colourful lips. For lipsticks my favourite have been bright pinks and corals such as YSL Rouge Volupte 8 and MAC's costa chic as well as smile dazzleglass.

Have any of you updated your routine for the spring/ summer season?

E.L.F.

Hello my lovelies, I am finally back after my two and a half weeks of YouTube/blog/twitter hiatus. I spent a week in Moscow helping my mother move house, hence no Internet, and a week on holiday in Dubai (pics coming soon), which was absolutely amazing. However, I did have withdrawal pains and missed you all very much.

Unfortunately I have not been able to catch up properly on videos as my computer has decided to finally die on me and has become completely mute. Hopefully I will be getting a new one soon! I really want a MacPro, but am scared that I will be even worse at using it than I am with my sony vaio.. though I am not sure if it is possible for me to be more computer illiterate than I am.. hehe.

Anyway, on to the good stuff. Please be sure to watch the video below where I talk about my collaboration with oxfordjasmine and sirvinya on the brand spanking new elfcosmeticsUK channel.


They are having a channel launch giveaway, so if you subscribe to elfcosmeticsUK (and why not, it is after all free) you will get a chance to win an e.l.f. mineral eyeshadow. How lovely is that!! Just leave a comment below this video for your chance to win:


Hope you are all having a lovely week. I will try and get lots of videos and blogposts done this week, including a review coming up soon on a super cute and innovative product ideal for travelling and the girl on the go :).

Natalya
xxx