pink puff nail varnish holder

PINK PUFF NAIL VARNISH HOLDER - £4.99 @ PINKPUFF.CO.UK

I was lucky enough to receive a new, unique and very nifty little product from the creator of Pink Puff; a nail varnish holder for those tricky moments when you need to find a place to balance your bottle. The product is designed to hug your polish to prevent any spillage or the bottle falling over, it also moulds into any shape and will rest upright on any surface! This is perfect for those tricky times on the go when you need to paint your nails last minute, be it on the way to work or even a night out, the holder is small enough to fit in your handbag meaning you can whip it out, place it on your lap and even rest your fingers  on the holder whilst painting nails. The product will adapt to hug any shape or size bottle, (as you can see in the photos above) I used mine whilst painting my nails in bed (hence the not so professional photos of the product in action!), resting the holder on my knee and it was great not to worry about where I'd put my bottle or moving too quick in case I spilt polish everywhere and ruined my lovely new bedding! It's also really handy to have nearby for nail art lovers, when using multiple polishes it's easy to knock one over but with this tool that's not a problem, perfect!

This product is simple yet helpful, a very clever idea! I'd recommend it to anyone as a must have, handy tool for your make up bag - order yours for £4.99 here :)!

dramatic make up for stage

I'm currently taking a part time stage make up course, it's so much fun and really inspiring, I'm constantly designing face charts in my spare time and searching for make up look ideas. Here's a look I created inspired by black and white photography with the aim of achieving dramatic, clean cut make up for stage. If anyone has any face chart/look requests please feel free to get in touch :).

MUA Lip Boom in 'Cheeky'

MUA LIP BOOM £3 @ SUPERDRUG / MUASTORE

Being somewhat of an addict (okay, a full on addict) of the MUA Cosmetics range I was super excited to get my paws on their new Lip Boom, the companies first celebrity collaboration which they created with X Factor winner, Alexandra Burke who is featured on the packaging wearing each specific shade.

The product provides four ways to transform your lips and is described as 'Lipstick and highlighting gloss that creates fuller curvaceous lips for a dramatic illusion of volume.'  There are eight gorgeous shades available and I decided to order 'Cheeky', a lovely matte baby pink lipstick with a pinky coral toned highlighter.

L - R SWATCHES - LIPSTICK ALONE | HIGHLIGHTER ALONE | HIGHLIGHTER OVER LIPSTICK

L - LIPSTICK ALONE | R - HIGHLIGHTER OVER LIPSTICK

The lipstick is such a nice shade, the perfect pastel pink for this Spring. I applied it before a busy day of bridesmaid dress shopping and it actually lasted for a good few hours before I needed to reapply, I was very impressed. Now, I'm not usually a fan of lipgloss or glossy lips on myself but I adored this highlighter, especially the smell of it! If you tend to stay away from fragranced products I will warn you the highlighter fragrance is quite strong but I absolutely loved it, I found my self constantly pouting and trying to sniff my lips which must have been a sight for people around me! The product has just the right amount of small glitter flecks to create the highlight effect and has a slight coral tone to it which comes out very pretty when applied to the lips or over the lipstick.

In my opinion MUA have done it again, another great product with great value for money! Has anyone else tried the Lip Boom products? What shades are you lusting after? 

MAC Snob dupe

Rifling through my make up bag in a rush to get ready and looking for my new baby; MAC's 'Snob', a pretty pink with blue undertones, a hint of mauve and a satin finish,  I discovered it was nowhere to be found, I had no time for a panic attack so I grabbed another lipstick by Beauty UK, a brand exclusive to Superdrug. After applying I realised it was almost an exact replica of Snob, I found my MAC version in my bag (of course) a little later and compared the two... the Beauty UK version is even called Snob as well!

LEFT - MAC SNOB | RIGHT - BEAUTY UK SNOB

LEFT - TOP LIP BEAUTY UK, BOTTOM LIP MAC | RIGHT - BEAUTY UK SWATCH  ON LEFT & MAC SWATCH ON RIGHT

There are some elements that are identical between this products and some that couldn't be more different. For example, both are highly pigmented and one or two swipes across the lips is plenty of product, however the formulas are obviously very different. MAC's version is creamy and glides on whereas Beauty UK's is difficult to blend and feels almost stiff - I think you can tell the difference from the swatch on my wrist. I had trouble achieving the right lighting for the Beauty UK lip swatch so I applied both lipsticks, one on my top lip and one on my bottom, you can barely tell the difference! In my opinion Beauty UK's Snob is a little more mauve tinted and brighter thank MAC's. My overall comparison on the products...

Finish:
MAC - Satin, after an hour or so however it calms down to a semi matte finish which still looks lovely and lasts for ages.
BEAUTY UK - Matte, the product is well pigmented but feels a little too dry on the lips and after a while you're left with the dreaded lip liner but no lipstick effect unless you reapply often.

Price:

MAC - £13.50
BEAUTY UK - £3.49

Colour:
MAC - This product is more of a pastel pink than Beauty UK's version, the hint of mauve is just enough, a perfect pink shade!
BEAUTY UK - I find the mauve is much more visible in person, it also looks brighter and a darker shade of pink, still nice, but not as nice as MAC!

Winning version -It has to be MAC. Beauty UK is a strong contender and a great dupe for anyone looking to save £10 but the formula and finish of MAC's Snob are too hard to beat in my eyes!

photo diary #2

01 ♡ Ready for our trip to the seaside!
02 ♡ My personal Easter bunny.
03 ♡ Packing hair & beauty products for a mere four days away...
04 ♡ Special edition 25th birthday palette I won from Collection.
05 ♡ Enjoying mushy peas by the sea despite it being freezing (and spilling them on my shoes!).
06 ♡ Virgin Pina Colada from Brick Lane market.
07 ♡ Good as new after the mushy peas fiasco.
08 ♡ Feeding my lipstick addition with MAC's 'Snob'.
09 ♡ Massive face and pea head.
10 ♡ Directions 'Fire'.
11 ♡ My hair is brighter than the sun.
12 ♡ Deathly Hallows marathons.
13 ♡ Playing 'cardingo' at the holiday club house, I have no idea what it is either...
14 ♡ MUA purchase.
15 ♡ Driving home, don't be fooled, I was so sad to leave :(

Easter nails

Better late than never, here is the nail art I designed inspired by Easter... usually Easter only inspires me to eat chocolate but this year I felt creative! Once again I've been a busy bee & my blog has suffered, I do however have a few posts lined up so keep your peepers peeled!

Also, I now have contact details for anyone wishing to get in touch - hayleyfell@hotmail.co.uk

♡