NOTD - Boots No.7 Totally Teal

Teal is huge again for Spring/Summer for this year. I had OPI's AmazON AmazOFF on my New Mum's Wishlist, it only made sense when I had a voucher for their £3 off Boots No.7 to see if I could spot any dupes. It's not a faultless dupe, the OPI seems a brighter teal while is more blackened.

The formulation is a thick consistancy, you would get away with one coat but two coats gives a more even colour. Dry is reasonable you can paint a full set and it'll be already dry for the next coat. The wear time is also a highlight, with the amount of times I out my hands in hot water, it lasted 4 days before it started chipping badly.

I am a big fan of the No.7 varnishes for many years, they colours are always on trend and they are starting to rival some of the bigger names in varnish (I have a Chanel dupe you will love, trust me). I am finding, and just not only the varnish, that Boots prices are starting to get rather expensive for a own brand range. A Boots varnish is £6/7 which now matched Essie's price range but not colour range. They've also got stingy on the vouchers two, by cutting the make up discount to £3 when it used to be £5.

New Mum Wish List

Now Bethany is finally getting into some sort of routine and we are starting to adventure out, I can now start to think about giving myself some TLC after the long nights, nappy changes and feeds. This is currently what I am daydreaming about:

A Haircut (after dying it)

My hair is starting to get really long, frizzy and in need of a trim before Beth starts pulling on it. I have a hairdresser that comes to my house who will trim me up for £12, she's also been cutting my family hair for many years (she also did the hair for my wedding at a very good rate). It's not going to be anything extreme, just a tidy and shorten.

Eyebrow Threading

After the disaster of my last visit (When Threading Goes Wrong) I've been growing my eyebrows back out again to get them done by another place. This one is my priority as I do not feel right now I've discovered the difference it makes to my face when they are done.

New Nail Polish for Spring

It's Spring and a season so it means I need to update the varnish wardrobe, but the trouble I have is decided what to get. The short list is as follows: OPI's Jade green AmazON... AmazOFF (Brazil Collection), Essie's Ice baby blue Find Me An Oasis (Resort Collection) and Blue/Turquoise Hide & Go Chic (Spring Collection), and Model's Own Naked Glow (Gel Collection).

Bra's

Now my chest has returned to 'normal' I require new bras that have some support to them and look pretty as well. I have two bits of trouble with my twins: I am on the large side of sizes and unusually the middle does not lean against the sternum in the middle so I cannot wear certain styles or it does pierce my skin. This is my most frustrating thing to go shopping for because the ones I like are the ones I cannot wear. Any suggestions are welcome in comments.

Jean's

I must be the only person I know who lost weight in pregnancy (apart from baby), once Beth was born I was soon back in my pre-pregnancy jeans. A week later they were hanging off of me like when I lost the weight to get pregnant. I have to admit defeat and get new jeans to fit me, there's only so much a woman can wear jogging/PJ bottoms!

Joan Collins Beauty Divine Lipstick and Nail Varnish in Helene

A red lipstick and nail varnish with my name, it's fate.

NOTD - Pink to Make The Boys Wink

Inspired, of course, by my little girl, this is a mixture of two polishes for a pale pink fench style manicure.

After base coat of OPI Nail Envy in Matt, I applied one coat of Essie's Sugar Daddy for a nude pink finish, on the tips is one coat of OPI's Make Him Mine Liquid Sand (Christmas 2013 collection) dabbed onto the tips. All sealed with a top coat of Sechi Vite.

Very simple, but very effective.

Rose Quartz Nail Varnish by Barry M

Rose Quartz with There She Rose by OPI

I had spotted this polish on different peoples blog and always though it was pretty but it wasn't until I saw it on Fee's Blog Makeup Savvy that I was convinced that I had to hunt it down. It is a mixture of small rose gold glitter with fine hologram glitter in a clear base.
Fee had put hers over a nude/white polish while I put mine over a rose tone (OPI's There She Rose), it did look beautiful but to me the glitter seemed to blend in with the polish. The is when I turned to Nail's Inc. Porchester Road

I prefer this as the finer parts of the glitter seem to show more on this slightly darker colour but still in the nude genre. Trying to take it was no longer than any other glitter polish, just a lot of patience and acetone but it well worth getting as it is just beautiful.

Available at all high street chemists/online RRP £2.99

NOTD - OPI Designer Series in Lapis

When initially saw this is I wanted it, the goldilocks of blues (not too dark, not too light) I was instantly drawn to it enough for it to feature in my AW Wishlist. I then went onto buy it at Olympia Beauty when I saw the swatches they had on stand.

OPI Designer Series is a collection of polishes are a step up from they normal collection, they are holographic or full of fine glitter. The two they launced for AW12 is this one and Pewter (a mix of black/grey), what I didn't realise until I painted them on was they dry completely semi matt, the above picture taken with no top coat.

It went from being something I though was beautiful to something that was challenging Essie's For The Twill of It as my number one AW13 varnish to wear. The wear time is good, was still chip free when I took it off a week later and removal was very easy for a glitter polish.

The Designer Series is more expensive than the main line - RRP is £16.75 compared to RRP £11.50 but for the simple WOW factor it's worth that little bit more investment.

NOTD - OPI's Silent Stars Go By (Mariah Carey Xmas Collection)

This is one of the mini's that are in the box set that is currently in my giveaway (finishes this weekend!).

It is one of the Liquid Sand formulations, it has more of a grittier texture than a 'normal' glitter polish. It does dry out more smoother and has a matt finish. You are to wear it without a top coat and it took all of my will not to do, it is however worth it.

Silent Stars Go By does catch the light and really glitters, which is perfect for the Christmas period. I wore this champagne toned colour to work as it is smart enough to wear but has that little bit of glamour to it.

I know exactly what you are thinking - What is removal like? For something that is filled with glitter, it was surprisingly easy to remove with acetone soaked pads held then rubbed, I would say to take off all 10 nails took about 10 minutes with. I had visions of me being locked in the bathroom for at least half an hour and the husband banging on the door.

I wasn't overcome when the original Liquid Sands came out, but I must admit I'm glad I gave them a try as they have surprised me.

I Need to Look Fabulous Giveaway

For those eagle eyed people on my Instagram, I did indeed hint at a giveaway. I do love a good giveaway, and Friday I won the Truffle Shuffle Friday competition to win some money to spend on the site. I hardly win anything before the Truffle Shuffle I think it was a lip balm in a Twitter giveaway over the Summer. I did find it ironic after the latest win that I was scheduling a giveaway for here.

This giveaway has the cutest Limited Edition Liquids Sand minis from OPI that I brought from Olympia Beauty. They are not in the shops yet (October is the launch date I have), so they are exclusive at the moment. To help with glamming up is a set of false lashes with glue and a mini version of Laurens Way Darker than Dark tanning lotion will also be sent with it.

• It is UK only (Stupid Royal Mail and their stance on sending nail varnish aboard).
• There are mandatory entries which must be completed to qualify and yes they will be checked.
• The varnishes were purchased by me but the rest have been gifted to me.
• Closing time and date is Monday 14th October 2013 at 12.00 GMT (London).
• All prizes will be sent 2nd to the winner and a proof of postage will also be collected.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck Everyone

Olympia Beauty 2013 - Haul included (it's a long one)

There is two things I learnt from this weekend: It is not wise to go to a day long event while recovering from Laryngitis and pregnant. I had been unwell with a virus for nearly two weeks but I insisted on going, I love trade shows, not only from a blogger point of view but also as trade.

I arrived about 10.30 as normal the trains confused me (and I know I wasn't the only one), and headed straight to the Media centre. The really wonderful thing about Olympia Beauty is that they do fully embrace beauty bloggers and they are welcome into the rest stop of the media centre. After grabbing a cold diet Coke, I headed into the masses for initial walk around to assess who was there and see if there was any brands I wanted to speak to/spend money on.

After an hour I was back into the media centre for the PR meet and greet, this where the brands who are there come and have a chat with the media about new launches and form new relationships. This was great as trying to speak to anyone on the floor was impossible at this point, the crowds where huge!

I may have done a little fan girl sequel at OPI being there, as many of you know I am a huge fan of their polishes and used them when I first trained as a manicurist. They were there to show off the new Limited Edition Mariah Carey Christmas Collection - rich reds, plums and gold glitters. The part I instantly needed to have was the liquid sands, which have to recently not really bowled me over.

These will be available on the OPI website, on being told that I could buy them at the show did invest in the liquid sands (notice the plural), and if where eagle eyed enough on my Instagram (unevenlemming) you also know that I might have got a set to giveaway.

While I was at Olympia I also refreshed my subscription to Scratch Magazine (Professional monthly magazine for nail technicians which featured Karla Powell's amazing Pop Art make up and nails.) as well as Professional Beauty Magazine (updates on the industry and trends coming through). With Scratch I got a gift worth around £80 with nails foils, OPI mini kit, Morgan Taylor varnish and top coat, files etc.

I also targeted Essie for the AW13 Collection - If you had read my wishlist I had been hankering after For The Twill of It and was determined to get my hands on it. It does not disappoint in person, and after a show and tell to Kat (Tales of a Pale Face) , Alice (Bright Town Girl) , Dani (So Many Lovely Things) and Natasha (Shot of Beauty) we know all now own one (I am not an embalmer - honest). I also managed to pick up some bargain false lashes for £1-£2 each to pop into my kit.

Unfortunately after a long day in London, the Laryngitis returned leaving me with no voice and also open to getting another cold, hence why I'm few a days later than I wanted with this entry as I've been curled up feeling sorry for myself. Lesson learnt.

Unevenlemming's Beauty Box

After British Beauty Blog's Beauty Box (there is a lot of B's there), it got me thinking, "If created my own beauty box, what would be my picks?" Now as normal these thoughts were swimming round my head on a late 1am evening, where either cramp, my bladder, or husbands snoring were keeping me awake.

First of all, what to pack it all into. I used to work for Fossil watches a few years ago and my favourite things about them was the tins that the watches came in. They were all limited edtion and was changed once a month, we also has them on display so customers could chose what tin they have. There was even some really rare ones that could be turned into birdhouses. The tin I have in mind is one you could use after for storing baking in (like I do with the old Roses tins), I do like the style of this one, and it is very much my humour.

So what to put into the tin?

Antipodes Divine Oil

 

I have reviewed this oil in a previous post here - Main summary is that it is a light notorious oil that hasn't broke me out in spots, smoothed and soothed my sensitive skin. The combination of essentials are also evoke relaxation and soothes rattled nerves. One of my facial must haves.

OPI Makes Men Blush

 

This has a special place in my nail collection, this is the colour I wore when I got married. It's a delicate pink/peach with a faint pink shimmer, which I use two coats on but goes opaque in three. I am a huge fan of OPI and even through I now own more Essie, my favourite colours have come from OPI collection.

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle

 

I have used Ojon, Aveda, and a few others that I cannot remember as there has been a few. I do have a sensitive scalp, one that if it doesn't like a product will itch constantly and flake everywhere. I took a gamble many years ago and brought this for when my hair was slightly drier. It was perfect, smooth, glossy and no allergy symptoms. I have tried other things but have always come back to Aussie every time. I've even converted my high end, fussy product mum to it, after she 'borrowed' it one day when hers ran out.

 

Glamglow Youth mud

 

 

OK, let's address the big elephant in the room - It is just under £50.00 a pot (please shop around, I have found it cheaper) and the most expensive thing in the tin. For me I loved how it felt after I took off, fresher, brighter skin that looked smoothed out with no sensitive redness. I have stated my case for it here

 

 Now I throw it out to you guys, what would you put into YOUR beauty box (because I'm noisy!)

Professional Beauty 2013

Inbetween the long hours of work and moving into my new place I went to the beauty junkiwe heaven that is Professional Beauty at ExCel Centre. Previous years it was closed off to non-trade professionals, but tthis was the first time that they let 'Beauty Lovers' into the show. This provided a little more deversity to the crowd rather than previous years where trade people like myself have been going.

As we were heading towards the Spring season a lot of ranges where doing their launch shows here, this included Essie's Spring 2013 collection that I had previously mentioned in My Essie Collection post. I went, I saw and left with nothing. The same was also for OPI's Euro Central Collection, looking at the swatches I think I would of worn them once or maybe twice and decided against it.

I did however go away with OPI's Nail Envy set in Orginal and Matt (that a 2 for 1 pack) as well as Everymonth is Oktoberfest that I have been drbbling over for months after changing my mind from Germani-cure.

In the dark depths of the other stalls I did come across early on a stall that was selling old collections of OPI for £4 each (where at trade price it is £6). I elbowed my way and hunted through the boxes and ended up with 5 polishes in my hands in minutes.

 

From left to right is the line up in it's entirity - Every Month Is Oktoberfest, Number One Nemisis, My Very First Knockwurst, Just Spotted The Lizard, There She Rose, Casino Royale.

 



I do come away with one grumble, as a now newly qualified MUA I wanted to speak to a few brands about their products. It was packed so I couldn't get close, I quened for 30 mins to get face mapped with Dermalogica which wasn't bad as I got chatting to the therapists about working with the brand. They also was demostrating their amazing new primer that illuminates, mattifies but also had anti aging skincare propeties bur more on that another time.

By the time I got my face mapped I was sold I wanted in, and as introduced to the sales people. They ask you about your business, however the moment I mentioned 'mobile' they were, "We don't do mobile". They gave me a pack anyway, a handshake and a "We'll be in touch". I am sorely disappointed, but I understand that they are a therapist based range and they know that a mobile will only invest a smaller amount than a salon.

I am buying that primer the moment it is out (£37.50 it's going to be a dent), ironically Beauty Swot wrote a review for it the moment I got home.

It Started With OPI - My Current Collection

Many years ago when I first started training to be a natural nail technician, I was introduced to OPI. OPI actually stands for Odontorium Products Inc, as it started as a small dental company. It wasn't unitl  Suzi Weiss-Fischmann was OPI's Vice Chairman and Artistic Director of the company that it expanded into the nail industry with acrylic enhancements. This soon took over the dental side and OPI was born.

I like OPI for the performance of the varnish, it lasts well and the range of colours is mixed. They also match the colours not only in the varnish but now in the gel varnish range. Their Nail Envy treatment is still on of the best for making nails more stronger.

I must admit I can't even remember my first bottle of OPI, but I know it was from a mass purchase at the trade show, Professional Beauty. It was also the brand I wore when I got married (Blush pink called Makes Men Blush), and most of the time the brand I get the most excited at new launches.

L-R: Past,Present and Fuchsia, Makes Me Blush, I Don't Give A Rotterdam Swatch Here, Gold Shatter and Wocka Wocka

 

Makes Men Blush

Wocka Wocka

Thanks to my brothers girlfriend, my latest addition is the brilliant The Bondettes from the recent Skyfall Collection

L-R: On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Goldeneye, Die Another Day, Live And Let Die

 

Essie Collection: 0 - 7 in 3 months (With more to come in SS13)

Top L-R: Leading Lady, Ballet Slippers, Sugar Daddy, Beyond Cosy
Bottom L-R: Merino Cool, Mint Candy Apple, Tart Deco

 

Mid November I lost my Essie Virginity after winning a blogger giveaway to win a set of three of Nikki Etc, favourite Essie polishes. Since Merino Cool hit my nails I haven't looked back.

 

I am and will always be an OPI girl, they were the brand I first converted even before I started to train as a manicurist. I have, however, been seduced by Essie with it's slightly higher coverage varnish, easy to use brush and one of the longest wear times I have had.

 

The range of colours every season has been bang on trend and highly desirable. In the case of the Christmas collection there was a mixture of Christmassy colours for the purists and brights for the rebels.

 

Leading Lady (above) is now my favourite red ever, it's a jelly with red glitter infused. To me it doesn't traditional glitter, it glows. I had this on for Christmas and didn't take it off until New Years Eve which is nearly 7 days of wear and I only had the smallest chip on the corner of my thumb.

 

My husband also brought me Beyond Cosy which is a gold glitter, this one sparkles. I do like that's it's not a brassy gold and it is not a intense good, there seems a bit of silver to tone it down. I've found this makes a great accent nail polish.

And now onto my two new ones, an impulse purchase from Fragrance Direct for the grand price of £1.99 each. The one above is Ballet Slippers, an almost white cream, that's soft and feminine. The other is Sugar Daddy which is suppose to be sheer pink nude. I think this will be perfect for the times I more a groomed look.

Onto Spring/Summer 2013 - Delicate pinks, lilacs, blues and greys. I've seen no swatches so far, but I will be keeping an eye out for the whole of that bottom row. With the trend heading towards to pastels again, I think I'll also be able to reuse my Mint Candy Apple (as it matches some of my light jumpers).

Note: Don't worry OPI - I got The Bondette set for Christmas, our love affair is not over yet

Simply Having A Wonderful Christmastime

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas, we stuck to same plan that has happened for the past few years: My parents in the morning before they went out for dinner and then round to the in laws for dinner ourselves.

My parents were as generous as they are (apparently my mum goes a little nuts on presents). I got some really great stuff, I won't bore you some highlights were the latest British Bake Off books, as well as Jamie's 15min Meals, both Adele albums (which I am loving! Have 21 on now), clothes and the compulsory pack of socks.

My brother's girlfriend brought me OPI's The Bondettes mini collection, she didn't even know I was already a huge fan of OPI. Husband also gave me the Essie Beyond Cosy that he nicked off of me when I ordered it for myself (as well as Muse's new album and Maroon's 5), that reminds me he still hasn't paid me back for the varnish.....

Due to a lack of funds we had to be a bit more creative with presents this year, one of them is pictured below for my soon to be sister-in-law.

I painted a set if these for her as she loves Stitch from Disney's Lilo and Stitch. The accent nail has a little happy alien which the others have flowers done by dotting/stripping tools. The main blue/lilac colour is Rimmel's Aqua Cool, and the rest was done using Rimmel's Black Cab and Fuchsia. The glitter is from stripping paints that I had. These took about a day to do while I was waiting for coats to dry as well as in between baking for the rest of the presents.

I am now not back to work until Monday so I can get some rest and catch up on things I've been putting off as well as get myself organised for the next coming months (I got a diary to put it all in now). Time to make the hard decision of what new colour to paint my nails, especially as I've just brought some new ones in the online sales.

Breaking My Essie Virginity

Not only did I break my virginity, but I did it with a threesome! I was lucky to the winner of Nikki Etc (nikkiloub.blogspot.com)Giveaway, first prize was this threesome as well as a Bourjois Nail Varnish Remover (but I'm saving that for another time). The three I got was:

Mint Candy Apple

A creme peppermint that is a breath of fresh air, everything about it just screams springtime.

Tart Deco

Another creme this time a orange/peach tone, very summery lovely and bright.

Merino Cool

A deep muddy purple/brown/grey, I wasn't keen of this in the bottle, put it on and it felt chic. A great AW colour.

However, after these three I already am eyeing up my next Essie additions from their Holiday collection in Leading Lady (A cherry berry glitter hit red) and Beyond Cozy (A gold/silver infused glitter). I also now have their colour chart that I'm ringing colours in. Have I given up my OPI love affair? No, but once you go Essie you never go back!

Olympia Beauty 2012 (Picture Heavy)

I have finally recovered from the onslaught of 259 stands of beauty heaven. On Sunday I travelled across a (partly closed down - grr) London to Olympia for their yearly trade showcase.I got in just after doors opened and got in very quickly even though I had to pick up my ticket. I'd already had checked out the floor layout so I headed straight to the media centre for a quick coffee hit before embarking on the madness.

I did really like the layout, the stalls were downstairs while on the galley on the top is the media centre, competition areas and lecture areas. It meant that you could look down and watch the masses.

After the coffee hit (or 3!), I had some time with the fantastic people at Filthy Gorgeous. These are based in London and offer the pamper service with girlie gossip. They were so fab they're getting their own entry with compulsory pictures of the stunning nails they did for me.

I couldn't put it off enough and did a walk of the floor, it was busy (this was about lunchtime) but enough were I could get round without too much trouble. The only really busy bit was Sweet Squared you are the UK distributors for Shellac, the Que for the stand not only around the stand but across the walkway and half way down the door! The first picture above on the left has part of the Que in.

OPI's German Collection

SPARitual - Resisted remixing nail varnishes

China Glaze - I really wanted the one closest!

I also walked around the Make Up Competition, which for some reason I didn't get any pictures. However, I did get some of the Nailympics which you have never seen nail art like this before!

It was a very very tiring again, I really wished I had time to go Monday and watch the results of Nailympics. My arms and back were/still aching from the amount of bags I had, and the amount of reading I have for the next week. Many thanks to the wonderful team at Olympia who went out their way to make sure that everyone not only media but tradespeople were looked after. Only next time please get more toilets, there was not enough for the 50,000 visitors!

If I didn't have a mortgage to pay

As being more of a 'maturer' bblogger it takes me a lot longer to purchase the stuff I really want. Most of the time by the time I can afford it, I'm already onto the next big thing that everyone is raving about. Being a blogger I do change my a lot, entry to entry, as I skip through my read list. There are however items that no matter what I still really want.

 

1. War Paint: Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein - Their Lives, Their Times, Their Rivalry

I am a bit of a book nerd, my current to be read list is over 20 books already and my amazon wish list is over 100. This charts of the very first rivalries in the beauty world, before women even given the vote, these women created their own business which are two of the most respected companies in the industry. One of the many beauty books on my wish list.

2. Flake Away by Soap & Glory

 

I love a good scrub, not an exfoliated. I like to feel like it is getting rid of dead skin, not just giving them a little tickle. A mixture of Shea butter, sweet almond oil with the duo of salt and sugar scrub, it's not scrubs but leaves skin super soft. The scent is divine as well, for £7.00 well worth it.

 

3. OPI German Collection - German-icure 

 

OPI and I have a very long love affair from when I was first training about 8 years ago to today. If I won the lottery I would buy all the colours in every part of the range. I literally will have to hold myself back at Olympia Beauty next month, because before I would know it I'd probably buy £100's worth without blinking. I have allowed myself one - this one from the AW12 range around Germany. It's a chocolate brown burgundy shimmer that is on trend for the season. (I might sneak in Every Month Is Oktoberfest, a shimmer rich purple but shh)

 

4. Real Techniques Stippling brush

 

First it was sponges, then it was foundation brushes, now it's all about the stippling brush. It suppose to give an airbrushes finished and can be used with a majority of face products. This is suppose to be the F1 of all the brushes, developed by the Pixiwoo girls and everyone who has used them adore them, the more I read about it the more I want it!

 

5. Konad stamping set

 

I actually missed out on buying one of these earlier this year at The Ideal Home on a massive discount because yet again I was broke (I picked up free tickets to go to the show). I've now seen on lots of nail blogs how fab they look and can be done with them, I'm chopping at the bit to get a set. If any has recommendations of sellers then please let me know.

 

6. YSL Le Teint Touch Eclat Foundation

 

I use the concealer for the days I look a little tired, which currently is everyday. When I read this was coming out I wanted to try it, when I started seeing swatches it upgraded to longing. I will be investing in this as I like the look of the finish and colour range.

LatestInBeauty In-Flight Box

This is now very long over due, however bear with me there is a reason why it's taken a while to get round to this one.

I received my box a few days after ordered and dived straight into it as soon as I got home form work. The box was brimming as you can see.

I pulled everything out and was happy with everything, however I did notice my OPI nail varnish wasn't the colour that was said on the website. I got 'William Tell Me About OPI' (AW 2010 limited Edition), a deep purple creme, when the choice was between two The Muppet's Limited Editions which I had been looking forward to because I missed out on them when they launched.

 I thought why not just check? Within 5 minutes of emailing them I got an email back saying that OPI sent wrong varnishes and that some of these had made it into the boxes, with their apologies, do I want to swap it for another?

After checking swatches out on line, yes I did want to swap and duly sent it back 2nd class to them. A few days later I got Wocka Wocka, a Burgundy red that goes brighter red in the sun and deeper in artificial light (so gorgeous it's getting it's own entry!). I was over the moon with not only the colour but the helpfulness of the customer service.

The rest of the box I still like just as much and have pretty much used all of it now

The whole box was themed like your were going on holiday so you have self tan with Xen-Tan Dark Lotion, Hydration with Urban Health Acai Sachet that was great when a few weeks back I has to go on antibiotics for laryngitis; Good to Go Wipes each with its own sealed packet that have gone straight into my handbag; Balitiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry that I've already had before and loved; L'Oreal Mythic Oil which is going head-to-head with my Ojon in the next few weeks, and samples of Garnier BB Cream which is nearly as good as my MUA BB Cream.

In addition there is also a tin of mints that are actually cinnamon which are very different and do take a little while to get used to but now have become a staple in my handbag. I also have the cutest little bottle of Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist which after putting into the fridge have been the most refreshing thing to spray on my face for the past few days in the heat. This after my StiVectin-SH Age Protection Lotion SPF30 to stop my pale skin burning (with added bonus of a bracelet that turns blue when the sun is really strong to remind you not to stay out in it for too long!). There is also Acqua D'Alfresco a insect repellent that I have passed onto the husband as insects seem to love him at this time of the year!

A lot of bloggers have been mixed about this, some love the mixture (like me) or just didn't like it at all, however this is the beauty of LatestinBeauty = no likie, no buyie.

Nail Trends AW 2012

It only seemed right that on the day that it actually feels a little grey and wet that I should look forward into the nails trends of the next coming season.

Metallic

One of the key inspirations of the catwalks was the look of metallics on nails. A simple way to get high shine and shimmer on the nail with the lease amount of fuss as seen in Christopher Kane and Dolce & Gabbana.  Mavala five piece Heavy Metals is a inspired by catwalk colours with China Glaze providing a collection of multi jewel toned shimmers.

Chocolate

I love the way fashion always come back, late 90's chocolate brown was in fashion I was dying to get my hands on the right rich toned shimmer brown. I never did, however this time around I am spoilt for choice: Sparitual yet again producing a gorgeous toned light gold and brown shimmer toned varnishes alongside it's earth spirited collection.

Indian Summer

Red never really goes far from being in fashion, beautifully classic, it's the tone that falls into the fashion styles. This time it's the deep crimson that comes back, Orly's Fired up range brings plum reds and gold tones. This while hot to have, Essie brings out Stylenomics Collection a mixture of reds and nudes with a deep green that stands out

Midnight Hues

Here we are talking about deep navy and purples, slight glitter and shimmer. Nubar's fall collection has sevenal navy, indigo and peacock hues. However, it is OPI that yet again seems of caught onto this trend succesfully with their german collection with the shades of Every Month is Oktoberfest, Germani-cure by OPI and Unfo-greta-ble Blue that are the people who stand out (Launched 8th Aug RRP £9.95 each)

I would like to give one brand an honourable mention, I know in the blog world any kind of crackle is so two seasons ago, however I cannot help be drawn to Diors Jungle Croc varnish. This a warm shimmer gold that has a khaki croc crackle top coat that lets the shimmer come through. One problem - it's £26.00, which works out at £13.00 a varnish, but still a huge dent in my already dented bank balance.

NOTD - OPI's I Don't Give a Rotterdam

Over the weekend my husbands grandad has his 80th birthday and his main wich was to have all the family together. Saturday afternoon we all gathered in one of parish's churchs (his does the accounts for them) halls to catch up, eat lots and general just have a really relaxing afternoon.

I had recently brought OPI's I Don't Give a Rotterdam from Laurzrah's blog sale after seeing it on one of my friends and fell in love with it's blue/grey tones with a silver/gold shimmer. For the party I had a dress that had been sitting in waldrobe for the right occasion, a navy blue V-neck knee length with white doves that I brought at the beginning of the year from Matalan in the sales for £10.

It was a really good day out and was great to see everyone including family down from Scotland. I ate lots of things I shouldn't really of eaten and lots of fizzy pop!

The Whole family - I'm second from the left :)

Could Your Bargain Be Costing You Your Life?

Imitation is suppose to be the highest form of flattery, I would not think that high end make up brands would agree. In the never ending saga of fake make being sold to the public, Leanne Wertheim was sentenced to 8 month suspended sentence, £2,000 costs and 160 hours of community service. She took £40,000 from the public over four eBay accounts, the "brands" she was selling included Bobbi Brown, M.A.C, Benefit, Lancome and Max Factor.

Unsuspecting customers, who were thinking they were getting huge discounts with some products selling at £3.99, were actually buying toxic make up. When customers complained about the quality of products, she claimed that they were genuine. When initial tests were carried out on the products, the results showed that they had 3 times the normal levels of lead in them. Lead contamination can lead to side effects as brain damage, a lowering of IQ in unborn babies and behaviour problems.

In one instance, a Max Factor mascara was showed to be having 68 mg/kg of lead, where the legal amount is 20 mg/kg.

So how you spot a fake?

Knowledge is power, look at the stores to see how the product feels and how its packaged. Chanel and MAC are the most common copies that are sold. Chanel is always dressed in glossy packaging, with very simple writing. Fakes have little touches, logos in the wrong places, lower grade cardboard and lower grade pigments.

With MAC eye shadows and pigments, real items have the bar code as a sticker on the box, as well as having the colour name and finish on a sticker on the top of the box. MAC also do not have mirrors and applicators in with their products, the logo will always be centre (apart from mascaras which is on the left hand side). Sizes on genuine items will be given in grams and ounces - fakes tend to be in millilitres.

The best way to avoid fakes?

Save your pennies and buy only from authorised retailers and manufactures.

For more information on spotting all fakes, try: http://www.spotcounterfeits.co.uk/
Another brilliant entry on Fakes by BritishBeautyBlogger