Halloween Series #4: Halloween Nails - Terrifying Talons

Hello All,

Having been in Bristol this weekend to visit my best friend, I didn't have a chance to write & schedule any posts!

As it gets closer to Halloween, my excitement it only growing! With 3 Halloween party / events to go to this year, & hope to wear a different costume to each.

My last Halloween Series Post, which you can read here, was fashion based, so this time I thought I would do a beauty focus Halloween post. Being fairly new to Pinterest (missjadebd) I found myself, borderline obsessively, looking at Halloween nail art. Here are some of my absolute favourites from Pinterest.

Now, although some of them look really difficult to achieve, there are so many great nail art tools & accessories out now & very affordable too! I've put together a few tools & items that I think are great for a Halloween nail art kit!

I can't wait to get my hands on the Topshop Nail Art Brush Kit, for only £10 it has 6 different tools, from a dotting tool to several alternative nibs of varying thickness & shape. I'm sure with this kit, any nail art is achievable, even for those lacking in creativity or steadiness!
I also really like the BarryM nail art pens, perfect for accurate & small details, like stripes or dot patterns. I can imagine the white pen would help create a spider web on the nails amazingly!
I've already raved about the Nails Inc. leather and skull effect kit here, & while I would wear it all year round, it's also a great was to incorporate Halloween onto your nails if you aren't a skull fan like myself.
A corrector pen is also essential. This means you can be as messy as you want, but still have fabulously frightening nails at the end!

In terms of essential Halloween nail colours, I think dark colours are obvious, especially deep purples, greens & navy. Of course black, white & red are great. Glitter top coats can add gothic glamour. Lime greens or florescent orange are options too for slimey look or pumpkin nails respectively!
One collection that really caught my eye was the Illamasqua UV nail polish collection. If you're planning to celebrate Halloween in a club, then these are perfect! With 3 great shades & a top coat, all full sized, this set is a really good price.

Tonight I'm going to be trying out some of these, so I will show my results on here!

I hope you're still enjoying my Halloween Series, & I'd love to hear anything you'd like me to cover!
 Also, what're you doing to celebrate Halloween?

J'adore...Barry M Autumn/Winter Launches!

Hello all

I'm in the midst of a very busy week, including 3 interviews (!) Having applied to lots over the summer & hearing nothing, I had pretty much accepted that I hadn't succeeded. Yet this past week I've scheduled in three! Fingers crossed!

This 'J'adore...' post is about the new launches Barry M have later this month. Barry M are one of my favourite drugstore brands, in terms of cost & quality. I have lots of their products already, however when I received an emailing outlining the new products they are offering for AW'13, I couldn't wait to share it with you!

First of all their new nail polishes. Most of my nail polishes are from Barry M. This isn't an exaggeration. I would say over half of all my polishes are Barry M, from regular to the effects, I have a range of them. What I love about them is their colour range, which is extensive, but also their range of textures & finishes. Their first new launch is a collection of matte finish polishes. I love matte nails, & they were seen all over the catwalk for AW. In 5 winter appropriate shades, I am so excited to try these out! I already have a matte top coat, however it can be hard to ensure the entire nail is covered,which can result in shiny patches. Having a matte finish nail polish solves this! My favourite shades are Espresso, Crush & Vanilla.

Shades(left to right): ‘Espresso’ (Black MNP1), ‘Vanilla’ (Pink Nude MNP4), ‘Mocha’ (Medium Brown MNP5), ‘Caramel’ (Light Brown MNP3),‘Crush’ (Burgundy Red MNP2)   

Price: £3.99 each

 

The next product I'm excited for are the eye & cheek palettes. I recently reviewed the B. Smokey Eye Palette, which you can read here. However, I believe you can never have enough palettes! They are great if you travel a lot & you can create such a range of looks without carting your entire makeup collection with you. There are three palettes being launches later this month, 'Glamour Puss', 'Smokin Hot' & 'Natural Glow', however I will be focusing on the latter two. 

Natural Glow Eye & Cheek Palette

£6.49

With a range of natural, & from what I can see, matte shadows this is a lovely little eye shadow collection, paired with a light pink blush. I'm excited to try this out!

 Smokin Hot Eye & Cheek Palette

£6.49

Although I recently reviewed another smokey eye palette, it's a look that I really like so trying out new ones is always of interest to me. These 6 shades are a mix of matte and shimmer. I especially like the look of the third shade. The peachy blush may be too strong for me but I will have a try.

 

Both palettes come with a large mirror & 2 double ended eyeshadow applicators. This, along with 6 shadows & 1 blush, is really good for only £6.49!

 

These are my favourite picks of the launch, which will also include a new mascara & foundation line. These will hit Superdrug stores from September 25th & Boots stores from October 2nd! 

 

Are there any AW13 beauty launches you're excited about?

 

  

 

Adamina Spa Manicure

Hello all

Sorry for my Monday Manicure becoming a Wednesday post! I don't where this week is going, I feel like it's still Monday yet it's already halfway through the week.

On Saturday, I went to the beautiful Adamina Spa in Kensington for a manicure with a friend. I never usually get manicures unless given as a gift as I feel, with my years of practice, I'm pretty good at painting my nails so why pay £20 and upwards for someone to do something I can do myself. However, I thought I would treat myself.

The day spa itself is beautifully decorated, very chic with Victorian-esqu wallpaper and features, an interior that I really like.  

On arrival, I was led to a stunning hallway that lead to the female changing rooms where I was given a robe, slippers and a locker. Even though I was only there for a manicure, they like to make you comfortable and really relaxed, into the 'spa' mode, hence the robe. The changing room was as lovely as all other rooms, and they offered several lotions, Q-tips and cotton pads so all guests could pamper themselves.

The manicure & pedicure room was separate, and best of all they play Sex & The City whilst you have your manicure! How amazing is that?! You can sit back, relax and be pampered whilst watching the iconic series. 

 The manicure itself was 50 minutes long and included shape, cuticle work, arm and hand massage & paint. It was incredibly luxurious and relaxing. All the polishes they use are by Essie, so there was a vast colour choice. But, being me, I played it safe and went for red to match my hair! The shade I chose was 'Rock the Croc', a dark yet vibrant red. Please excuse my boney claw-like fingers! Just focus on the nails.

 

Sorry for the grainy image. 

 My first time at Adamina Spa was lovely & I am definitely planning to go again, next time perhaps for a massage or facial.

The best part of the spa is that on your first visit you receive 50% off your first treatment. Then, if you introduce a friend, not only do they receive 50% off, but you receive 30% off your next treatment. There is no limit to the amount of friends you can introduce, so you can enjoy 30% off and having a lovely day at the spa with as many friends as you wish!

I really enjoyed my manicure at Adamina Spa, and would definitely recommend this spa for girlfriends or Mums and daughters as its a lovely way to bond and in such a nice location too!

Manicure Monday- Chanel Manicure!

Hello lovelies!

Last week I was lucky enough to get a manicure at the Chanel Boutique in Covent Garden, and it was so lovely.

I went in with a diy manicure (I attempted to do the matte black with shiney tips manicure. I will post how I did so once I have practices a few more times- watch out for future Manicure Monday!) and the nail technician flat out refused to just do a black colour. I tend to play safe in the nail department, mostly using the shades from the '5 Nail Shades Everyone Should Own' post I did recently. So I let her convince me to do something slightly different.

Here is the finished mani

I know, I know. It's still neutral and black, but it is interesting and different for me!

The base colour is Frenzy and the black detailing was achieved with a nail art pen. I love that it was eye-catching but also went with everything I wore. Frenzy is the perfect nude for me, as it is less yellow/peach than Chanel beige, but not too greige. 

I was gifted with Chanel base and top coats, which I can't wait to try out!

I'm also looking at buying the Topshop nail art brush kit to be a bit more creative with my Manicure Monday's! Has anyone used them?

I am really enjoying focusing more on beauty blogging, does anyone have any advice as I am new to this?!

 

5 Nail Shades Everyone Should Own!

Hello all!

I've really got an interest in nails at the moment. Browsing tumblr and instagram, I find such amazing nail art, from 3D bows to full on illustrations on your digits, nails are definitely a huge focus in beauty at the moment!

Although crazy nails are in, I think a simple coat of polish completes a look. As I have said before, unpainted nails, to me, make you look unkempt and like you haven't made an effort (a bit like when people put foundation and blusher on, but no mascara and eye make-up..why?!)

I like Chanel on Facebook, and they very recently posted about cult nail shade, and it get me thinking about 5 shades everyone should own. 

 

Like building a staple wardrobe, the following 5 shades should be in everyone's collection. Classic shades that will either blend into your outfit or give a classy pop of colour. I have also selected 3 brands for each shade: Save, Spend & Splurge.  

Shade 1-Taupe

 Barry M- Mushroom, Nails Inc.- Porchester Square, Chanel- Particuliere

Shade 2-Nude

 

Barry M- Pale Nude, Nails Inc.-Elizabeth Street, Chanel- Beige

Shade 3- Red

 

Barry M- Bright Red, Nails Inc- St. James, Chanel- Pirate

Shade 4- Dark Red

 

Barry M- Red Black, Nails Inc.- Victoria, Chanel- Rouge Noir

Shade 5- Black

 

Barry M- Black, Nails Inc.- Black Taxi, Chanel- Black Satin

Save

Barry M is a fantastic 'drugstore' brand, which I found years ago when going through my goth stage (a stage that I often revert to!) with their bright and highly pigmented dazzle dusts. Their nails paints are great value at only £3 and have a huge range of colours, textures and 'effects' available. 

Spend

Nails Inc, are mid-priced professional quality nail polishes. I really like the shade names of the polishes that are named after streets and places in London. At around £11 a bottle it is more expensive than drugstore brands but is a higher quality and I think the bottles are more visually appealing too.

Splurge

Chanel 'Le Vernis' nail colour are definitely splurge polishes. I have 2 Chanel polishes, and I have to admit they are nice quality. Thick but not stodgy colour with a really nice glossy finish. At £18 a bottle, they are very highly priced, but you're paying for the name. Plus the bottle looks nice amongst your collection.

As you can see all three brands have very similar colours at very different prices. You can easily build a classic nail polish collection, whatever your budget. From taupe and nude if you want your nails to go with anything, to bright red for a classic flash of colour, or dark red or black to release your inner rock chick but with a chic edge.

 

 

 

Manicure Monday #1

Happy Monday all!

Happily enjoying the sunny Bank Holiday Monday on my balcony, so I thought I would start a new (hopefully) weekly post- Monday Mani! 

I always have nail polish on, and I've become quite good at giving myself a regular old manicure due to the years of practice. In fact, in secondary school I was constantly told to remove my nail polish and my form tutor even wrote in my year book: "Now you'll have to buy your own nail polish remover...". I just feel that un-manicured nails make an outfit look unfinished. It especially annoys me when fashion advertisements in magazines have unmanicured nails, even more so if there is a close up on the nails! Argh!

So enough of my moaning! Here is my Monday Mani #1:

 I have combined two nail trends in one manicure. I attempted the 'half moon' manicure, free hand, and on my left it worked rather well! The right however, not so neat, so enjoy my left hand! I also used neutral colours, which is another nail trend at the moment. I was gifted some lovely premium quality nail polishes from Only Fingers and Toes so I wanted to showcase these too. They are so pigmented and give a lovely glossy finish.

 

Shades 'Yummy Mocha' & 'Sheer Nude' by Only Fingers and Toes

(Please excuse the awful quality of the pictures. I'm counting down the days until I can upgrade my very old BlackBerry to join the iPhone bandwagon! Instagram here I come...)

I really liked this manicure, and it goes with almost everything due to the neutral colours. Next time I attempt the half moon manicure however I will get the stickers from a french manicure set to ensure I create a really sharp line between the colours. But for a first, and free hand, attempt I am quite happy with them, and the polishes are great too!

5 Ways to Wear...Florals

Of course, being spring floral prints are huge. Generally I always  of florals being pastel, girlie colours. But looking into it, you can really style up floral prints, and there are lots of bold, bright floral prints out there too.
Here are my 5 Ways to Wear...Florals!

 Shirt - Dahlia | Skirt - Miss Selfridge | Brogues - New Look | Socks - TopShop | Sunglasses - TopShop

 Jacket - H&M | Necklace - Rock N Rose | Jeans - TopShop | Boots - Carvella | Bag - Missguided

 Skirt and Jacket - New Look | Satchel - ASOS | Shirt - Lavish Alice | Shoes - Daisy Street

 Trousers - Lavish Alice | Blazer - H&M | Shoes - New Look | Top - TopShop | Nail Polish - Barry M

Playsuit - TopShop | Tights - New Look | Jacket - Miss Selfridge | Shoes - Dr Marten's

Starting off with quite a girlie outfit, this Dahlia shirt is so pretty. Matched with cute socks  light brogues makes it not to girlie.
st up, I always used to think white jeans where quite trashy, but recently I've realised that paired with the correct outfit they can look very classy. Although the Carvella boots are quite pricey, they are lovely. I found these while browsing to spend my Elle gift card from an issue last year.
Next the two piece skirt suit is so classic, paired with a simple blouse and heels, let the patterned pair be the focus point.
A nice tropical floral print, mixed with colour blocking is a great way to do this trend without being too wishy washy. Really want to try the Barry M Gel polishes too!
Finally, rock chick up this girlie plasuit with a leather biker jacket and floral Dr. Martens.
Hope you liked this 5 Ways To Wear, and apologies for missing last week!

Would you believe me when I tell you, you're the queen of my heart

Happy Valentine's Day! I love that window displays are red with hearts everywhere and I love red roses. I'm a helpless romantic, but in my own way! I would hate to have flowers delivered to my office, or other embarrassing public displays of affection. I also would hate those who are single to feel rubbish becuase of what day it is. It's a celebration of love, of any kind I believe. Love towards friends and family not only a partner. I believe romance is personal and everyone's idea of romance is different and each couple will celebrate (or not celebrate) the day in their own special way. I can't wait to spend my evening with my boyfriend at the Hard Rock Cafe!

As I'm feeling in a loved-up mood I thought I'd share something I'm kind of obsessed with at the moment....Heart Manicures! I love hearts on nails, probably because they use my favourite colours and look so cute! See a selection of my favourites (all pictures from tumblr)

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day, whatever way you spend it!