Nails Of The Day - Nails Inc - Elizabeth Street

If there is one thing that I probably don't need any more of it's nail polishes, I probably have enough to stock several nail salons, but throwing all logic out of the window it's something that I can't seem to stop buying, throw Christmas into the equation and I've probably acquired about 15 nails polishes in the last 2 months alone - I think I have a problem!

So I guess it makes some sort of sense that I've decided (natural nails depending that is) to start sharing regular nails of the days with you again, What probably is a little bit stranger though is that the polish in my previous NOTD post (Nails Inc - Victoria - read it here if you haven't already) and the polish in this post are almost vintage models!

This is another one of my original Nails Inc polishes - Elizabeth Street, like Victoria has pretty much been around since Day 1, and again it's easy to see why it's probably as popular now as it ever was.

Elizabeth Street is a perfect creamy, natural nude shade. If you've been lucky enough to have a French Manicure at one of Nails Inc's many nails bars, then this is one of the shades, that they could have used. Team it up with a shade like Whitehall for a full on French look or wear it on it's own for a clean, fresh, classic natural nail look.

If you're a Nails Inc historian or aficionado then you'll know that again this is one of their very early bottles, so no wide, curved brush here. The original Nails Inc polishes had quite a thin brush, it takes a little bit longer to paint with admittedly but if your nails are shorter,  then it does make it a tiny bit neater, especially if like me you aren't the best nail painter!

After the first coat it was a bit streaky and you could definitely still see the colour of my nail bed and nail tip through the polish. Apply one coat really well though and you would a very natural nude pink shade, aka your own nails but better, build it up like I have though and you get more of the true, cream, nude shade. The density and coverage improves with every coat, so depending on how well you apply it and your nails, it could take 3 or more coats for full blank out coverage. As you long as you apply thin coats though it should dry quite quickly, and  even given the age of my bottle I didn't have too many problems with drying time.

For speed in theses photographs I'm only wearing two coats, but to be honest on some nails I probably could have done with 3 coats because it does look a bit streaky. This is one of those colours that in theory should be easy to paint but as you can see it's not! I'm going to hold me hands up and say that this isn't the neatest manicure that I've ever done, but I do think that the pale colour has at least a little bit to do with it, for some reason it seems to show up every imperfection especially around the cuticle area - all I can say is just don't look too close ;) Never mind at least it made up for it's less than perfect finish with wear time, because you can't really see any chips I managed to get nearly a week out of this without a top coat, which is almost completely unheard of for me, 

Despite the odd flaw here and there this is a really easy to wear colour, it's a proper neutral, that's perfect for any nail length, it is a true classic, and there is literally nowhere that you couldn't wear this colour. As I say it's perfect on its own and as part of a French Manicure but given its very neutral tone, and its ability to almost white out / blank out your nails, it like Victoria, makes the perfect base for all of those fabulous glittery, holographic, and iridescent top coats. If you read my Nails Inc INC.redible Cosmic Girl post before Christmas (check it out here x), then you may have already seen this shade topped with the fabulous colour shifting Cosmic Girl, to give it an amazing transformation from safe, classic, neutral, to sparkly wonderfulness!

Elizabeth Street is one of those must have shades, and even if you think it's a bit boring, and a bit safe, get it and have a play with it, it's such a versatile colour that you won't be disappointed - look even Tallulah likes it! Nails Inc - Elizabeth Street in it's new and funky packaging is readily available at Nails Inc concessions, nails bars, and online x 

PIXI + It's Judy Time Get The Look It's Eye Time Eyeshadow Palette + Giveaway - CLOSED

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas or a lovely long weekend if you don't celebrate! After a couple of days of overeating and family time though I'm ready to get my brain working again, and I thought I'd write a little (or maybe not so little!) blog post for you.

If you were lucky enough to receive a little bit of Christmas money, and you fancy splurging on some new make up then I might have a little recommendation for you, especially since it's something that now appears to be on sale from a few retailers

I've tried a couple of products from cult brand PIXI over the last year or so, but up until recently I hadn't tried a lot of their make up, but now I have and over the next few weeks I'm going to treat you to a few PIXI make up reviews. Given my recent eyeshadow palette splurges I didn't really need this palette, but to be honest what has need got to do with it! I have so many neutral palettes in my collection but there was something about about this one that called to me

Apologies That This Picture Is A Bit Washed Out 

PIXI are one of those brands that have embraced the whole social media thing and they are famous for their collaborations and work with bloggers, and You Tubers. and this particular palette was created in conjunction with You Tube star, Judy Travis, aka It's Judy Time.

The PIXI + It's Judy Time - Get The Look - It's Eye Time Eyeshadow Palette contains 12 super silky, and blendable eyeshadow shades, that are designed to take you from day to night

The sturdy plastic palette features an adhesive mirror so you put it exactly where you want it. I like to see the shadows in the palette through the clear lid so I've stuck my mirror onto the back of the palette.

The palette contains 12, good sized 1.2g powder eye shadows in a combination of matte, metallic and shimmer formulations . This is the perfect neutral palette and the shadows range from golds, to neutral browns and taupes, to coppers, and bronzes, with a few dark chocolate colours, and 1 deep, slightly shimmery, charcoal shade which is perfect for creating a smokey eye.

The shades are - 1st row from left to right - Snowflake, Bubbly and It's Mommy's Life,

2nd row from left to right - Good Morning, Brick and Honey Bear,

3rd row from left to right - Tu Tu, Getaway and Ping,

and 4th row from left to right - Dark Chocolate, Aww Snap, and Night Night

Having never ever tried an eyeshadow from PIXI before, I was really impressed with both the feel and the pigmentation of the shadows. The matte shadows particularly impressed me, they have a smooth and silky almost cornflour type feel and the shadows are pigmented and not in the slightest bit chalky.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but I was blown away by this palette, the colour palette was perfect, the shadows with smooth, silky and pigmented and they blended like a dream and wore well. The PIXI + It's Judy Time Get The Look It's Eye Time Eyeshadow Palette isn't tested on animals and it's free from parabans and it has a recommended retail price of around £28. It is currently available from the PIXI website, ASOS, and Marks and Spencer and I know I'm always saying this at the moment but shop around and you might be able to make a little bit of a saving on this palette, I've seen it online for as little as £14 from M&S so get moving quickly if you want it x

This palette is a real winner and you can be a winner too, if you enter my kind of festive giveaway. I've got one PIXI & It's Judy Time Get The Look It's Eye Time Eyeshadow Palette and a lovely clear and eyelash print NEXT cosmetic bag to give away to one lucky reader. All you need to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below x

Terms, Rules And Conditions

Unfortunately due to postal issues in the past this giveaway is open to UK residents only
If you are under 18 please get your parent or guardians permission before you enter as I will need your contact details if you're the lucky winner.
Entries will be picked at random using Rafflecopter
I reserve the right delete any entry that hasn't fulfilled the entry criteria or redraw the winner
The giveaway will end at midnight on 27th January 2018
The winner will have 7 days to respond to my email, if no response is received in this time I will draw another winner
This prize was purchased with my own money I have not been compensated from holding it and this giveaway has not been endorsed in any way by PIXI or NEXT.


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks for reading if you have any questions leave me a comment and good luck x

W7 In The Buff Natural Nudes Eye Colour Palette* - A Perfect Dupe For Urban Decay Naked 2?

I've said it before and I'll say it again but at the moment I'm having a major love in with more budget friendly makeup. I love buying and owning high end products but at the moment I'm just not feeling the need to splash the cash. In my mum's day, cheap makeup was exactly that cheap - you just didn't get the quality and you didn't get the technology but thankfully now things have changed, and a cheaper product doesn't necessarily mean a bad one.

There seems to be a bit of a trend at the moment of budget brand producing palettes, and products inspired by higher end items. I know this has caused a bit of controversy in some quarters but personally I don't see the problem. Everybody from catwalk designers, to musicians, to bloggers and make up brands get their inspiration from somewhere, so at some point in time everybody is influenced by someone else or something else. It happens and as consumers in this case we're the ones that benefit, we can buy high end or we can hopefully buy something just as good at a cheaper price.

One budget brand that have consistently produced more affordable versions of high end products is W7. I have to be honest and I've only tried a couple of things from the brand mainly nail polishes, but  I've read a lot of good things and by and large I've been impressed. Recently I was lucky enough to be sent one of their most popular products to try out - The W7 In The Buff Natural Nudes Eye Colour Palette.

You know me I'm all about the nudes, so before I received it I did a little bit of online nosing and I found out that several people had described as a pretty much perfect dupe of Urban Decay's Naked 2 Palette. So as soon as I got it I dug out Naked 2 and did a little bit of comparison work.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of difference between the two does there? I'm sure you've already either got a Naked 2 palette or seen a zillion posts on it already but in case you haven't, it's brilliant the shadows are smooth, creamy and pigmented and it's a neutral shadow lovers dream, but it retails at around £37 putting it out of the price range of a lot people. Compare that to the W7 In The Buff Palette which has a retail price of around £6.95 than you could be on to a winner, how does it perform though?

Well we'll start off with the packaging. The palette comes in a similar vintage style metal tin. It doesn't feel quite as sturdy as the Urban Decay version, and it doesn't contain a mirror, but it looks nice enough on a vanity and it does the job. It also comes with a double ended brush and sponge applicator. I would have preferred a double ended brush as oppose to the sponge end but it's not bad, and I would definitely use it.

The palette comes with 12 shadow, all of which are named which is a nice touch. The colours are almost identical to those in Naked 2, you get a nice combination of mattes and shimmers, featuring everything from matte highlighting shades, to bronzes, and golds, and shades that you could even use to create an alternative smokey eye look.

I don't think I really need to tell you this as I think it's pretty obvious from these pictures but the pigmentation is superb. All the shades feel very soft and creamy without being powdery. The matte shades in particular were a pleasant surprise. They feel very soft, and there is no chalkiness just smooth pigmented colour. All of the shades blend really well, and the wear time is pretty decent.

Basically if I'd had this palette before I'd had Naked 2, I wouldn't have bought it. There shades are almost identical, the pigmentation is easily on par, and every look with Naked 2 you can do with W7 In The Buff. Yes, it's nice to have a high end product and the packaging of  Naked 2 is definitely better quality but as often as I buy products for the packaging, it's the colours and product inside that matters. If your on a budget I would recommend this product and even if your not I can't recommend this palette highly enough. W7 In The Buff Natural Nudes Eye Colour Palette has a recommended retail of around £6.95 and is available from various outlet including the official W7 website where it retails for a slightly higher price. I've also seen for less so it's worth having a little search on the internet before you buy x

After this 100% positive W7 experience I'm definitely going to be trying more from the brand. I'm quite fancying the Honey Queen Bronzer Box, the new Make Up & Glow Bronzing Base, and the In The Nude Eye Colour Palette for starters, but if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them. so leave me a comment and let me know what you love x

(*Press Sample)