Honk If You Love OPI!

I'm sure all of you with other halves know the puzzled look on their faces when you mention things that go on in the beauty blogging world, like "hauls" or "Illamasqua" or "swatching", and my boyfriend's no different (he likes to entertain me by saying "MINERALIZED SKINFINISH!" :P). But I think it's super sweet when they support your blog like mine does, and this time he's given me something to post about! :D

He was off to Amsterdam with a bunch of work friends, and he knows that whenever I stop by Schipol Airport, I always get myself some OPI - so he said he was going to bring me one back and to choose one. What's the fun in that? I told him to pick one for me :P

OPI Honk If You Love OPI

OPI Honk If You Love OPI (I can't help but notice the symmetry there lol) is a gorgeous dark, almost black purple that has a very strong red undertone - like a really dark magenta, and it is SUCH a classy winter shade. It's a cream finish so there's no shimmer, but as with any OPI, the glossy finish adds some oomph to the colour. The colour's a bit more feminine than a black, and you can really see the magenta-y shade when the light hits your nails. And it goes amazingly with glitter top coats!

As usual the formula is flawless - pigmented, fast-drying, glossy, easy to apply brush. It will take a lot for a brand to knock OPI off my favourite nailpolish spot! :) I think the name is very apt for me as well ;)

I also felt like I wanted to give Ben, and other other halves, a bit of credit here on the blog cuz he does trudge around department stores with me, deals with my tweeting obsession and listens to me babble on about MINERALIZED SKINFINISHES! but he's so very supportive of my blog and I'm sure many other halves are. It's easy to forget how slow it can be to listen through things you have no idea about, so I think they all deserve a pat on the back, a great big hug, and a blog post once in a while! ;)

You can buy OPI from ASOS with Free Delivery and with 10% off if you have an NUS Extra card :)

Do you have this OPI shade?

What's the funniest thing your other half/friends have said about blogging? :P

<3yu

P.S. I may be a bit MIA in the next week or so as I have a deadline coming up and I'm spending a lot of time with Ben and Christmas shopping as I am back home in Japan on Sunday! Will still be checking Twitter and my email though ;)

Products I Miss Most..

We all do it - we overpack when we're going somewhere, and we still manage to forget things or not think of a situation that may require different/more make up - am I right? :P I've definitely had that these past few weeks, and sure there have been several products I thought "dang, I wish I had that with me!", but there have been a couple that I thought that on several occasions!

Here are probably the ones I've thought of the most..

NARS Sin

(I thought it was an autumn/winter colour but it'd be a nice natural accent on the face when I'm not wearing e/s and having a tan. Pinks/corals makes me look a be clowny atm..) 

 28 Neutral Palette

(I want this for highlighting - not liking MAC Brule very much - and for matte light browns!)

Lipbalms

(I only brought my Body Shop Lip Roll On, which is lovely - but it's a bit wet. I miss that balmy feel! The ones in particular that I miss are the BodyShop Born Lippy, the LipIce ones and the Burt's Bees.) 

 OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy (centre)

(A sheer nude that when you have long nails, can make you look like you have french nails - compliments the lightness of summer! I've only got cream/opaque or bright colours atm!)

MAC Style

(Like I said, corals and pinks can look a bit clowny on me at, but MAC Style is relatively sheer - so it'd be a nice wash of colour on my cheeks right about now :( )

Sigma F80 (right)

(Getting a bit sick of applying foundation with my hands - it can get a bit dirty, and I always have to be cautious about streaks! At the same time, I'm not quite sure how often I would've used it cuz it doesn't seem to work with my Diorskin Forever.) 

Pirates of the Caribbean Box Set

(It's not make up but I've watched this set more times than I care to mention - atm I only have the third one, because it was what was in my laptop when I left the UK and as much as I love the film, it's getting a bit repetitive.. AND my favourite one is the second one.)

and finally..

Dior Amber Diamond

(No, I'm not quite sure you can miss something you never had - but I miss having a shimmery white highlight for my inner corner, and I miss highlighting my cheek bones. I actually only have 1 e/s shimmery highlight and 1 powder highlight and that one can look quite white on me when I'm tan, so I'm thinking it would be wise to invest in this at a early stage so I don't spend so much finding the perfect one. I've swatched it and it was a bit shimmery but I reckon it's cuz your finger picks up a lot! Other than that I thought it was perfect, esp cuz I've heard it can be used as eyeshadow too! So I'm debating using some vouchers to get this baby.. of course, after I try it on my face :))

A bit of a self-ramble there at the end, lol, oops. But I'm thinking this is proof that all these products are, or have been at one point, some of my favourite products, as I don't need to see them to think about them and how good they are, and they just pop into mind when you want something in particular!

It sucks, but it's also a good feeling cuz you know you've got some gems in your collection :)

What products have you missed when you were out and about? :)

<3yu

O.P.I & China Glaze

Just wanted to show u guys they way I painted my nails this week ^.^ I'll be posting every week my nail design :D

Solo les queria mostrar como me pinté las uñas esta semana :) Estaré haciendo un post semanal mostrando como me las pinto ;D

Purple 'O.P.I - Do you lilac it?'

Blue 'O.P.I - What's with the Cattitude?'

Green 'O.P.I - Gargantuan green grape - matte'

Pink 'ULTA - Tickle me'

Yellow 'China Glaze - Lemon Fizz'

The BodyShop Haul & Giveaway Win! :)

I do love the BodyShop, most of you probably already know that, but I friggin' hate their Love Your Body card, because the rewards are so complicated and you can't actually get the reward unless you spend £10! Anyway, I did use it because I was running low on stuff and wanted to use it towards my holiday at the end of June :) Here's what I got!

Mini Pink Grapefruit Body Scrub

Mini Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel

Mini Pink Grapefruit Body Butter

Born Lippy in Mango Peach

Body Polish in Satsuma

For that I paid £13, which is a good deal BUT - I would have preferred to just buy something that's a tenner for a fiver. Needless to say I don't think I'll be renewing the card after this year, their website has amazing deals on all the time anyway!

But yes, the Pink Grapefruit range is my fave - could you tell? ;P I've already used up a full size of their body gel, and I also quite like the Satsuma range and use their body gel as well. I've got the Born Lippy in Pink Guava which is one of my favourite lip balms for the summer, and I've only got about 30% of it left so I think a back-up was in order :)

I also got some goodies in the post today after I won a giveaway over at 25FLONDON :)

OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy

Cadbury's Mini Eggs (which my boyfriend has already ransacked..)

Some ramen soup.. LOL! (inside joke)

Thank you H! So yes, very happy with today's hoard-age! :)

Whilst on this shopping trip I stopped by the Dior counter and got a sneak peek of the new bronzers coming out on the 19th - AND I got to swatch them, the woman was so lovely! Very exciting :) Definitely have my eyes on Aurora - you can take a look at them here. It's definitely a lot darker in real life. The finish was matte with a few shimmers from the brown :)

I also got some samples of some foundations as I am on the hunt for my first ever high-end foundation - VERY EXCITING, AGAIN :D And, I swatched NARS's blush in Torrid - definitely on the wishlist! Very glad that I have pulled out of the make-up slump!

That being said I have calmed down in the past 6 months in that I really only ever buy things that when I'm doing my makeup, think, "I wish I had a coral blush", rather than looking at a product in a store and going "Ooo that's pretty, I'll get that!" cuz the former actually means you'll use it.. if you know what I mean. I love it, anyway, I am maturing ;P

Other than that the boyfriend and I had a lovely day in the small town, we treated ourselves to a lovely meal at Pizza Express - although, we are both itching to move to the city :)

<3yu

Spring Pink Nails! - OPI Elephantastic Pink

I can't believe how warm it's getting here in England these days, I am loving it! My make-up is changing, my wardrobe is changing, but I want to bring your attention to my changing nail habits. No more nudes and taupes, it is all brights from here.

The first one I want to show you is OPI's Elephantastic Pink:

It's a toned-down version of a mid-toned neon pink (if that makes any sense at all). It is not as blue-toned or light as BarryM's Bright Pink, and it is just so extremely playful. It's not exactly what I thought it would be - I thought it would be warmer but I like it nonetheless :)

However the formula seems to be a little bit sheerer than the other OPIs, in that in some bits I can see through the streaks after 2 coats - not happy, but hey!

I got this from Beautyzone2007's eBay shop, and I believe it took about 9 days to arrive from the States - not bad at all! :)

Have you switched up your nails since the warm weather? What have you got on your nails for the Spring? :)

<3yu

P.S. I want to show super lovin' to my Mom for sending me these today:

Bless! The watch is absolutely gorgeous and the toothbrushes are to die for.. Confession: I use a similar Little Miss one atm hehe <3

Valentine's Nails w/ OPI Katy Perry Teenage Dream :)

Just wanted to show you 1) my nails for tomorrow 2) the extent of my nail art abilities 3) another way to wear OPI Katy Perry Teenage Dream..

I think it's so pretty and so feminine, and it's a much better way of wearing OPI Katy Perry's Teenage Dream (post here) than wearing it all over. The nude layer is OPI Malaysian Mist.

Hope you like, and hope you try :)

<3yu

O.P.I Katy Perry - Teenage Dream :)

When Katy Perry's OPI collection first came out I'd never tried OPI and had no interest in doing so (silly me). So a week ago when I was looking for a break from all the matte OPI's I've been trying, I was surprised to see that the swatch I quite liked was 'Teenage Dream' from Katy Perry's collection - how ironic.

Anyway, after a few days of deliberation, I got it. And I haven't looked back, even if this is the only OPI I've paid full price for! :P This is why:

IT'S SOOOO PRETTYYYYYY!

Pink + Bling? What more could I want?!

The photograph does not do justice to the amount of bling that is in this baby. It's a magenta-ey pink liquid with lots of and lots of glitters, both tiny and chunky. The tiny glitters almost create a pearlescent/shimmer effect, while the chunky glitters catch the light like crazy and add that multi-colored bling to your nails. 

I think my biggest fear was how sheer it was going to be, but it's not as sheer as some polishes, and incredibly buildable, because believe it or not that picture has 4 layers on it and it does not feel heavy or clumpy. You can't see it but with 4 layers it's pretty much packed with shimmer, and so you do have the choice of how you want it to look :) Even with 2 layers on, it's nice - just more baby pink than it is magenta, and the shimmer effect is slightly less, and suitable for non-party occasions :).

My way to use this in the future will probably be on the tips of my nails after I've put pale nude colour all over the nail. I think that'll create a very feminine and pretty effect :)

Have you gotten anything from Katy Perry's collection? :)

<3yu

P.S. This is only the start of my nail varnish posts.. hope you don't mind :P

O.P.I Barefoot in Barcelona!... I wish!

I wish I was friggin' barefoot in Barcelona, it's miserable weather today!

Anyway! I received this in the post yesterday from the lovely Marilou's blogsale (alongside another nailpolish that I bought from her - shall be a surprise for another day), and it has been a colour that I've been eye-ing up since my first encounter with O.P.I. It's called Barefoot in Barcelona and this is what it looks like..

(Idk if it's just me but please click on it, as the colour seems to change when I do.. and it's more accurate in the real size!)

Yes, I know, very similar to my other 2 O.P.I's but they are quite different when swatched and I cannot have enough nudes - I love them! Check out the tag on OPI's to see the other posts :)

Barefoot in Barcelona is a brick-reddish nude, that can look a bit pink-ish in certain lighting. It's something that I think only middle-dark skintone people would call a true nude. On fair people, I have a feeling it may even have a bit of an ageing effect - but I wouldn't know! However, on mid-toned people like me, it's just a bit darker than your typical nude and gives a very sophisticated look.

Do any of you guys have this colour? What are your favourite OPI nudes? :)

I have loads of nailpolishes waiting to be blogged about, so brace yourselves for a nailpolish-infested week from me!

<3yu

O.P.I 'Tickle My France-y' :)

I am back in England now, and en route I did a shop at the Duty Free in Schipol Airport in Amsterdam, and got myself my second O.P.I, which turned out to be Tickle My France-y :) (Was so slow to realise what the name was a twist to.. embarassing).

I know it's SO similar to Dulce de Leche in the bottle but it's actually quite different on the nails. While Dulce de Leche (see post here) is very warm and beige pink, Tickle My France-y is more lavender-grey, cool and a lot more paler.

I really like this polish, but again feel like I got it at the wrong time of year. I can't seem to find my perfect winter time dirty pink colour! Seasons aside though, I absolutely love this colour and can see myself reaching for this very often. As with my first O.P.I, not disappointed with the pigmentation, application or the drying process at all - I can't go back now! :)

Any of you guys have this colour? :)

<3yu

My First O.P.I - Dulce de Leche (yummm) :)

So as I was en route to Japan, I stopped by Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. With a 4 hour lay over, what sane girl wouldn't head straight to Duty Free? Ok, bad question, shouldn't generalise.

After hearing all this hype in the blogging world about O.P.I, I decided to give it a shot (also - not enough dosh for the likes of Chanel, YSL, etc., even in Duty Free!), and had a hard time picking between Barefoot in Barcelona and this beauty:

Dulce de Leche is kind of a relatively dark neutral pink. Not too light, dark, or blue for my skin :) Apparently it's Lauren Conrad's favourite O.P.I. I'm going to be honest.. I can't really think of what she looks like, I'm a bit celebrity-ignorant.

After approximately 20hrs (due to liquid restrictions, all items bought must be in a sealed Duty Free bag and cannot be open until final destination - twats!) I put it on, and it reminded me of a nailpolish version of Rimmel London's Moisture Renew Lipstick in Nude Delight.. strange.

Definitely impressed with the quality. I am very picky with nail varnishes, as I need them to be opaque, unsmelly, easy to apply, the right consistency, dry fast, and easy to take off. Checks all the boxes (especially the last one.. amazing!). Definitely grabbing another one on the way back to Birmingham.. :)

Any suggestions for my second colour, ladies?

<3yu

P.S. Post definitely inspired by ViviannaDoesMakeUp's O.P.I post :)