NOTW: Stiletto nails in Barry M's 'Bright red'

Hello lovely bloggers,

I haven't done a nail post in SO long! 

I've been seeing stiletto nails absolutely everywhere recently. They seem to be all the rage. A

Although i originally did not like the pointed tips, they've really grown on me. So i decided to use artificial nails to create my own!

To create the actual stiletto/almond nail shape, i followed this youtube tutorial.  Its so simple to do, and looks just as good as having your nails professionally done! 

I painted the nails before i applied them though so they would remain neat, without smudges (i'm terrible when it comes to letting nail polish air dry on my actual nails). This is why they look so sleek/neat for a change!

The colour i used is an old favourite of mine. It's Barry M's nail polish in the colour 'Bright Red'. Its such a gorgeous post box red colour, and is by far my favourite tone of red to wear. Its so bright, yet still remains quite a classy colour to wear.  It also looks amazing with a tan!

opaque nails from ebay, found here 

Due to my terrible nail biting habit, i have literally no nails, so the only way i could actually do this look was to use artificial nails. The nails i used were from an ebay seller found here.  For 200 short/medium nails in the colour 'opaque', it only cost me £2.99 + 99p postage.  Pretty cheap! And the nails are great quality. BEcause they're all attached together, it makes it so easy to paint them before attaching them to your nails. They do come with their own nail glue but it isn't as good as this nail glue (1.99 for two bottles, and they last AGES).

I'm finding it hard to adjust to having long nails, but i love the way the look so i'm making myself get used to them!

Have you tried stiletto nails? What do you think of this nail style?

March favourites:

hello lovely bloggers,
i realised i haven't actually written a 'favourites' post since december, whoops! but that's mainly down to how busy i've been with uni work and such.

So here's my march favourites!

Above is all of my beauty favourites for this month! I know some of them have been featured on my blog before but they really are becoming my holy-grail products!

First up:  Nails

left to right: prickly pear, blueberry, green berry

I have really been loving the Gelly Hi-Shine nail polishes from Barry M! the shades are gorgeous for spring summer, and i can't wait to develop my tan this easter to wear these with.  They have a high shine finish (obvious from the title) almost like a gel manicure. My favourite part about these shades is how quickly they dry. I hate waiting for my nails to dry but these are so quick! i have been wearing a lot of greenberry and blueberry. They retail for £3.99 (unlike the usual Barry M shades that are £2.99) but they are more than worth it! 

Eyeshadow:

The original naked palette will always be one of my favourite palettes of all time. The colours are gorgeous and suit absolutely everyone. I wear this palette a lot, but more so this month. You can see from the photo how battered mine is.  For a day look, i wear sin on the lid, with buck in the crease, and smog in the outer corner.  For a night look, i wear half baked on the inner part of lid, smog on the outer corner, and a mixture of darkhorse and creep in the crease and outer V.
It does retail at £36, which is a lot for a palette, but i've had this since november 2011, and its still going strong! Definitely worth the money, especially with how much i use it.


Lipsticks:

left to right: MAC cremecup, MAC morange, Maybelline Coral Tonic

MAC Cremecup: I've worn this practically everyday this march. Its such a wearable colour and goes with so many different eye shadow looks. Perfect!

MAC Morange: I reviewed this on my blog a few posts back which can be found here. Its a gorgeous orange/red lipstick. Perfect for those who want to try an orange lipstick, but still want to play it safe with the red tone. It goes perfectly with a tan!

example of morange on the lips

Maybelline Coral Tonic: This is a recent purchase but i love it! Its a bright coral pink, in the photo it looks so similar morange, but its definitely more of a pink/orange. Perfect for spring/summer!

Face:
 

Smashbox photo finish foundation primer: This is perfect for me as a primer.  Its oil free so no chance of breakouts, and it helps my foundation slide on smoothly! I've found that it blurs any pores/imperfections i have, and at the same time, my skin looks flawless when photographed! I've noticed how different my skin looks when photographed wearing this.

MAC Fix +: Again, i reviewed this in another post, found here.  I just found that this is perfect for setting my foundation and giving my skin a dewy complexion.  As i have dry skin, it is prone to looking a little cakey with powder on, but a couple spritzes of this and voila! dewy perfection a la Millie Mackintosh.

MAC paintpot in 'Painterly':  This is another recent purchase and i wasn't sure whether to put this in the eye shadow section because i actually use it as an eyeshadow primer.  For me, it is the perfect base for my eyeshadows and helps show their true colour.  I will be doing a full review on this within the next couple of days that includes swatches and closer pictures.


What have been your favourites this month?

Just reached 100 followers! Giveaway coming soon!

Hello lovely bloggers,
today i just reached 100 lovely followers! Unfortunately i am not currently in the UK at the moment but as soon as i come back i shall be hosting a giveaway on my blog.

I can't believe how many followers i've gained since september, and i am thankful for every single one!

I am open to suggestions as to what to give away, perhaps a mac lipstick, and some MUA eye shadow palettes.

Again, thank you so much for following my blog! This has really made my day!

MAC Morange

Hello lovely people!

I've been looking for the perfect orange lipstick for a while now as i think that its such a gorgeous, flattering shade, especially with a tan.

I didn't have much luck with drugstore/high street brands as i could never find the bright shade that i wanted.  Then i saw shaaanxo from youtube wearing Mac Morange in one of her videos and it was gorgeous!

I ordered it from the Mac website, retailing at £14 (pricey i know).  Although i did have some problems with the delivery (i paid extra for saturday delivery and it only just arrived today), i'm in love!

it literally is the most flattering shade for my skin tone + eye colour! I can't wait till i'm back home in dubai next weekend to wear this when i get a tan!

The formula is amplified so the colour is bright and saturated, as well as creamy.  I think it definitely is my new favourite lipstick!

 What do you think?  orange lipstick, yes or no?
i personally love them!

The search for the perfect nude! MAC blankety + Velvet teddy

Hello lovely followers!
I've been on the hunt for the perfect nude lipstick now for SO long.  My problem is, i have very pigmented lips (from living in dubai for 23 years, the sun will get ya!) and a very warm complexion.

My skin is very yellow, and due to the pigmented lips, a lot of nudes make me look either sick or dead!

So i scoured the internet for hours, looking for the perfect wearable nude.  It took a while, but i found these two!

Unfortunately, they are MAC lipsticks so they retail at £14 each.  But i had £5 of points to spend (at debenhams) and instead they came to £23!

I know Debenhams is also having 10% off all beauty so currently their lipsticks are £12.60!

I decided on getting two different shades of nude.  Blankety and Velvet teddy (both mac, obviously)

First up: Blankety

Described by MAC as a 'soft pink beige',  it is literally my perfect nude lipstick. The finish of the lipstick is amplified so its quite pigmented, and almost a little drying (but that's because i have dry lips normally). It really is one of those 'your lips, but better' shades.  I'm in love!

Next up: Velvet teddy

This lipstick is a matte lipstick, described as a 'deep tone beige'.  This also is very much like my natural lip colour. The tone is deeper, with more of reddish tone as opposed to a pink tone like blankety. I really love this for more of a classier look :)

Here's swatches of the two :)

left: Velvet teddy   right: blankety

What's your perfect nude?

What's your chat, blogger? TAG

Hello followers :)

I was tagged by the lovely katie from Katie's Cup of Tea to do this tag, so here it is!

BACK TO BASICS

Whats your name? 

Alexia Jade, but most people call me jade (long story)

How old are you and when's your Birthday?

I'm 23, and my birthday is the 13th of July! 

Where do you come from?

This is where it gets complicated. I'm half swedish, half english, but i was born and raised in dubai!

What's your current occupation?

I'm a history student!

FILL ME IN, WHAT'S YOUR BLOG ABOUT?

What category does your blog fall into?
It falls into the beauty/fashion/health category. I like to write reviews and posts about things i love!

What's the aim of your blog?

Just to review products and interact with other bloggers with the same interests as me! I post a lot about my experiences with products and healthy regimes. 

What's the reason behind your URL/blog name?

Its pretty much just a straight forward blog name, i wanted something that was simple and got the theme of my blog across.

Three great blogs to check out, go go go!

INSPIRE US

What inspires you the most?
My dad. He's literally who i look up to most. He has overcome so many obstacles and really made a name for himself in the world. Theres not one day that goes by that i am not thankful that i have the greatest dad ever :)

One quote or motto that you live by?
“All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be.” 
It's from the song 'Breathe' by Pink Floyd (my favourite band). 
I dont feel like its a quote or motto to live by, but pretty much represents life.

Favourite icon, dead or alive?

I dont think i have a specific favourite icon, i've never really looked at famous people as icons.

LET'S BE RANDOM

So you're an animal, what are you?
A cat.  I'd love to be able to just sleep and eat all day!

You can eat one thing for the rest of your life?

Either swedish hot dogs, or pasta.  I love both!

*Click* and you're anywhere in the world, where are you?
I'd love to go to anywhere sunny. Maybe somewhere in the Caribbean! 

Insert random picture here?

i love both seals and french bulldogs! 

I TAG - 

Rachel - http://thenew62.blogspot.co.uk

Abbie - http://abbiesbeautyblog.blogspot.co.uk

Amber - http://amberluiselove.blogspot.co.uk

Beth - http://www.bethblogsbeauty.com

Dana - http://doseofdainty3.blogspot.co.uk

Charlotte - http://www.lurchhoundloves.com

Amelia - http://missmeliaa.blogspot.co.uk

Sophie - http://sophie-lm.blogspot.co.uk

Andrea - http://lipstickrouge.blogspot.co.uk

Lacey - http://misslaceyloves.blogspot.co.uk

How to go from dark brown to blonde! ColourB4 review + new hair

By now i've realised how many posts i've dedicated to my hair, it's getting out of hand!
Unfortunately i'm one of those people who just can't leave their hair alone :(

I did say i was only going to be brunette for winter, and as soon as it hit january, i decided it wasn't winter anymore (even though it clearly is).

So without further do, here is how i achieved it without killing my hair!

ColourB4 extra strength:

This is a product i've used before, and i swear by it whenever i'm trying to remove dark hair. It really is the best way to do it without destroying your hair with bleach!

I bought mine from boots, for £11.99 (available here)

I bought the extra strength as my hair was quite a dark brown, and had been dyed a few times since i went dark as well.

The product works as a colour stripper, it reduces all the artificial pigment using the mixture you're given, and then you wash or 'buff' it out for about 15 minutes in the shower! It really is brilliant.
I wouldn't say it doesn't damage your hair at all, but its no where near as damaging as bleach.

The mixture absolutely STINKS.  It smells like rotten eggs, but thats down to the chemicals that are used to strip your hair, so there isn't actually much you can do about that, but it works great!

I would definitely recommending sticking EXACTLY to the instructions in the leaflet, the product will not work properly if you do not follow the instructions properly.

Anyway, here's what my hair looked like just before i used colourb4:

During:

(before i washed out the colour b4)


After:

As you can see, it worked excellently at removing my previous colour! I was so happy with the result! However, i still wanted to go blonder, so i used the same highlighting kit (Jerome Russell Bblonde) i used in a previous blog post (found here: DIY highlights at home)

I've also been using this shampoo recently too, to rid me of any brassiness:

Touch of Silver: Twice a week brightening shampoo.
This shampoo has been a life saver with freshening my blonde and keeping it from going that awful butter yellow blonde. I'd definitely recommend it!

available from super drug and savers

and here is the result!

the lighting is very yellow here, but my hair is ash blonde :)

Have you tried colour b4?