Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dreams Nail Polish & Disney

Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream

I mentioned this in my last 'Take 5' post.  I wrote a nice paragraph on this in that post so I don't want to repeat myself too much As it really is a pretty polish I thought I would share a few more pictures.  It's colourful, sparkly, shimmery- I think they looked at Ariel's tail from Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' (the version where they live 'happily ever after'- slightly different to the original tale).

Two coats- it's like those speckled Illamasqua polishes, but with shimmer and glitter instead.

Square bottle.  Win!

I love the square bottles because the store so neatly.  The colour is gorgeous although removing glitter nail polish is always a chore.  The one thing I'm not so in love with is the price.  These are a little on the pricey side- but an occasional splurge wont hurt right?  There are some really unusual colour combinations in the range.

Even with one coat it looks good.  Also worth trying over a coloured base like Gold, champagne or teal!

You can see the full range at House of Fraser online (link) or find some at slightly cheaper prices on ebay (If any of you can recommend reputable sellers, please leave a comment below).

Do you have any Deborah Lippmann nail polishes?  Would you recommend them?  What is your favourite Disney fairytale?

Disclaimer.  This item was a personal gift.  I mentioned it because it's pretty and I like pretty things.

Take 5: Part 3: Bargains, Nails, Food

 Food, H&M, La Roche-Posay bargain alert, Apivita and Deborah Lippmann all make an appearance to keep reading :)

La Roche-Posay, Deborah Lippmann and Apitiva.

I found La Roche-Posay Effaclar K reduced from £13.00 to £6.50 in Boots.  A number of items in the range were reduced so I hope this doesn't mean La Roche-Posay are downsizing their range in the UK.  (I am asking my contacts!)  I'm not opposed to a bargain, but we only just got the brand so I hope it isn't leaving so soon!

£6.50 Bargain!

I haven't not tried the Effaclar range so I'm not sure what to expect.  This product makes up part of the cult Effaclar Duo product, but part K just targets bumps, blackheads, deep congestion rather than the surface spots.  If you want to read more then Boots have it online and currently have a 3 for 2 offer.

Apitiva Natural Serum

I'm really loving Apitiva Natural Serum for Radiance.  The Greek company Apivita makes a range of ethically sourced natural products.  There are 4 serums in this range, and they recommend them according to your age.  This one has bilberry, vitamin C, Lycopene, Wild Rose, Pomegranate, Coenzyme Q10, Propolis, Lemon, Orange & Neroli essential oils and Green Tea infusion in it.  Lots of good, super food ingredients.  It smells delicately fruity (which is good- I'm not a fan of overpowering face products).  I also like the simplicity of the application, which involves a pipet.  Apivita is available online and in most Marks and Spencers stores (and online).

Mermaid's Dream.  So pretty!

Deborah Lippmann nail polish in Mermaid's Dreams.  The nail technician famously discovered by Bobbi Brown has a gorgeous range of polishes.  This one is teal green littered with gold shimmer and green/Teal glitter.  It's very pretty and builds well.  I have worn it on it's own or over other colours.  The polish lasted to the 3 days mark when I had to remove it for other reasons- and the gorgeous colour was worth the faff of removing glitter nail polish ;)  I'm very into mint green this season and this polish compliments my new mint green H&M jumper perfectly.  You can find this range with a recognition points offer at House of Fraiser (although these are a little pricey and perhaps a treat for most of us).  (Side note- LOVE the square bottles for tessellation and ease of storage).

Yum.  A firm cake favourite.

Salted Caramel Millionaire's shortbread.  I made a batch of this earlier in the week for and event where I had to bring and share.  They went down really well, but I forgot to photograph them before they went.  However if you want the recipe I used this one.  They taste so good, but just don't look at the amount of sugar and fat in them!!

Jennie Runk for H&M beachwear campaign.

I came across this image for the H&M beachwear campaign, featuring Jennie Runk.  I thought it was a really beautiful shot. Jennie is in fact a 'plus size' model.  To me that doesn't define her, or this photograph.  I just see a happy, healthy, beautiful model in a lovely dress and a stunning location.  I wrote a little more about Jennie on my fashion blog http://www.5foot10.blogspot.com

So there is another edition of Take 5.  I hope you are enjoying these little snippetts.  As always, if you have anything thoughts I'd love to hear them :) Bloggers always like a comment or two :)

Have you tried any of these products?  What is your cake weakness?  Do you think H&M got it right?

(Disclaimer: Items bought by me apart from Apvita which was a sample, and Mermaid's Dream which was a gift.  All words and thoughts my own).

You know you are a (beauty) blogger when.....

1.  You have a box of new unopened products that you need to photograph before you can use them.
2.  You spend months waiting for a certain eyeshadow/lipstick to be released only to cry all the way home on the train because you can't swatch it (before you have photographed it).
3.  When people talk about Mac- you think makeup, not Apple Mac computers...
4.  You have the Mac website on your bookmarks and know how to find Limited Edition products on there before they hit the main homepage..
5.  The word 'swatch' makes your heartbeat a little faster.....

Swatch, Swatch!

6.  #bbloggers means something.....
7.  You stalk reality TV shows waiting for the 'celebrities in the bathroom putting on makeup' clip and then pause the TV so you can identify what products they are using, before making a list.
(You then instagram the paused TV clip and tweet your findings feeling very proud).
8.  You buy girly magazines only to see a blogger friend featured on the next page.
9.  (You then tweet that blogger with a twitpic just to prove that 1) they are in the magazine and b) you purchased the magazine).

Magazines!

10.  You enter 'purchase ' into your diary purely because Miss said that there is going to be a free Nails Inc/L'Occitane/Neal's Yard/Benefit/Avon product with next issue- you then buy 4 copies of the magazine jsut to get ALL the products....
11.  You are willing to pay double the retail price for a limited edition makeup item on Ebay.
12.  You pay extortionate shipping to get super, super cheap makeup items shipped over from the US- just because it looks cooler than what we have in the UK.
13.  You plan your trip to Paris around what Pharmacies to visit.
14.  You leave space in your luggage on ANY trip to Europe just to stack up on the biggest bottle of Bioderma.

French skincare :)

15.  During aforementioned trip to Europe you photograph the inside of the pharmacy (much to the bemusement of the locals.
16.  You are unable to eat ANY meal without arranging it on your plate and then photgraphing it with your iphone, applying a nice sparkly filter and then tweeting it (with #food after).
17.  You cringe at the state of makeup counters in shops and have to resist taking your own makeup sanatizer to the unmanned counters.
18.  You have to explain what a Clarisonic is to most people- 'no .. it's a toothbrush for your face'.
19.  You have a world of weird named people as friends- and when you talk about them to your real life friends, most of them think you have a load of make-believe friends.....
20.  You cringe when people say they only use face wipes to cleanse their face.

Sephora! Mother ship!

21.  You plan your holidays around places that have a Sephora.
22.  You notice when the tv makeup artist uses the same lipstick/blush/eyeshadow on multiple characters/presenters.
23.  You watch other people apply their makeup in public- and then steal tricks or tweet the faux pas!
24.  You get emails addressed to 'Hi Mrs Blogger'... (and vent your rage on twitter)...
25.  You smile when you see blogger products in real life- Pixiwoo brushes.
26.  You plan your spending ban around IMATS.
27.  You buy a random fluorescent jumper and jacket because you saw other beauty bloggers wearing them...
28.  You find out breaking world news while on twitter chatting to other beauty obsessives about Sleek's latest blush or MAC's 37th collection of the year...
29.  You randomly stop strangers while out shopping and ask them what lipstick/highlighter they are using- and then think about buying it-' for the blog'.  Lots of things are bought 'for the blog'.. ahem...
30.  You have a daily narrative going along in your head in the style of a blog post...
31.  You know you are a beauty blogger if you have identified with 10 or more of these points!


So, are you a beauty blogger?  Do you know someone who is unsure if they are a beauty blogger?  Do you or your friend need help for this strange ddisease which is beauty blogging?!  What points could you add to this list?  I hope you enjoyed this post- feel free to retweet, comment, or click the reaction boxes :) If you do this as a TAG please link back :) Thank you!

Take 5 : Makeup Brushes

Continuing my '5 things' posts, today I thought I'd bring you the 5 makeup brushes I'm currently reaching for.  I do have a little growing collection.  This is because I hate washing them.  It's boring and tedious.  Of course the easier option is to go into denial and just buy more brushes.....

5 Brushes... spelling '5'....

 Of course this is not 'the ultimate' top 5 brushes- just the ones I'll reach for if they are clean.

Top to Bottom!
1) Gosh flat eyeshadow brush.  I have posted about this before (link) so all I want to say is it is affordable, soft, applies and bends my eyeshadow nicely :) Great for travel or carrying in your handbag.  Available from Superdrug

2) Real Techniques Blush Brush.  Reviewed here.  Again, soft, synthetic and affordable.  I like this brush because a) you can see when it's dirty (and when it's properly clean during washing) due to the white tips, and b) it's tapered edge makes it easier to apply blush (or bronzer) lightly- it distributes the powder more evenly rather than in a big blob that you have to blot out with tissues (think Aunt Sally!).  Available at several places but I picked mine up at Boots (link)

Nice lineup! (1 Gosh, 2 Real Techniques, 3 ELF, 4 MAC, 5 Japonesque)

3) Elf Powder Brush. Link.  This is my go to foundation brush.  It eats foundation which is a downside but I love the finish it provides.  It really works the product into the skin.  Plus it's a bargain at £3.75.  I'm hoping the invest in a smaller one by a different brand shortly so it wont eat up my chanel foundation so quickly- but still gives me a good foundation finish.

4) Mac 210 eyeliner brush.  I don't think ALL Mac brushes are good- there are some good dupes about.  However I love this brush for gel liners.  It washes well and retains it's shape- something which is a must for precision brushes.  This has been the best small liquid or gel liner brush I have found.  Worth the  £16 price tag (although Debenhams often have money off all beauty so worth a look!)

5) Japoneque Pro Concealer brush.  Flat, tapered edge.  Washes well.  I use this for my liquid concealers and under eye highlighters.  It's not so good on thicker concealers (like Mac Studio Sculpt) because I find it wipes some off- however if the consistency is more mailable then I use this brush.  I also use it to blend out under eye concealer/highlighters (we don't want reverse panda eyes now, do we?!).  I should also add that this generally what I use when the spot/pimples/pigmentation surface is not too uneven (or picked tsk!).  I have a different routine for those kinds of spots- but I'm hoping my days of getting bad acne are numbered (more on that to come).  This brush is synthetic and afforable at £11 from HQHair or BeautyBay but keep an eye out for discounts!

So there you have the 5 brushes I am using a lot at the moment.  What brushes are you using?  Have you tried any of these?  Hope you are all having a great Sunday :)


(Disclaimer: All purchased by me apart from the Japonesque brush which was a sample.  As always, all products are included because I choose to and all words are my own).