Mavala Metropolitan Collection

The new Metropolitan collection is the latest addition to the Mavala range. This launched in shops this year, but it was exclusively launched in salons over Christmas. The collection resembles some of the Autumn/ Winter shades from other ranges we have seen this year. Metallics and duotones have clearly been the trend this Christmas, as seen in collections from Jessica and Leighton Denny.

The collection is clever in the sense that each colour has a duotone, meaning in different lights, there is a different colour. This means you can wear two colours on your nails at once. I used to never be a fan of metallics, but the recent metallic craze that has taken over this season, has made me think twice about my opinion.

Pink Gold

I featured 'Pink Gold' in my latest piece of nail art which you can see here. In the bottle, I don't think Pink Gold looks very special. When on the nails though, the two toned shades really come out. I think out of the whole collection, this colour has the most dramatic duotone. In my nail art, I used a pink paint next to it, which I think brings out the pink shade more.

Silver Chrome

'Silver Chrome' reminds me of the silver foil Barry M brought out. Its a really metallic silver and has a really strong colour after just one coat. It looks like melted liquid metal, and will be a fantastic base for some nail art I have coming up.

Metallic Blue

This blue reminds me slightly of my favourite Mavala colour Flashy Violet. Its a much lighter and bluer version though, and will be great in the summer. In normal daylight this is slightly darker and changes between light and dark tones.

Gold Bronze

'Gold Bronze' is another colour that looks much more exciting when on the nail. This really bronze tone will look great with a tan in the summer. This is another duotone that changes from light to dark and changes more dramatically with light.

Copper Violet

This is probably the most iridescent shade, and needs a few more layers for the best effect possible. The purple shade is a cooler tone, but the copper hues warm it up when it reflects in certain lights.

Emerald Gold

This is probably my favourite colour in the collection. Emerald green was THE colour of 2013 and this combined with a metallic duotone is the recipe for success. The Emerald and the Gold really shine out. This is the colour I have kept on the longest from the collection, and it has had a lot of comments from people who have seen it. One comment was that it was very 'mermaidy' which is a comment I like a lot.

These colours have really inspired some ideas for nail art I am planning to do soon so keep watching to see what I come up with.

Day 6: Sparkles

Today is day 6 of the Nail art challenge and so I give you my design for 'Sparkles'

For this design, I used Pink Gold from the new Mavala Metropolitan range. I will be doing a full review on this range, but this is just a little sneak peak of what you can expect! It's an amazing gold colour which turns pink under some light. I used this as my inspiration for the rest of the design as it has a metallic sparkle. I used Nails Inc 'Brompton Place' for the index and ring finger, and free hand the diamonds, using a pink nail art pen on the gold finger to make them stand out. Obviously diamonds sparkle, so I used my new Barry M top coat to add the finishing shine. The diamond design is one used in Wah Nails a lot so I took the inspiration from there.

before the Sparkle

finished look

January Nail Challenge

So after my new year post saying I would better with my blog, it is coming to the end of the 5th of Jan, and I have posted squat! Apologies! Anyway, I am here to tell you that Califonails, a nail artist I follow on Instagram, has posted a nail art challenge for January. I am such a sucker for these things, and did a December photo challenge on my personal Instagram. I will admit my efforts for day 3, fresh were poor. I just posted a picture of my nails with nothing on them. Not very blog worthy! Anyway, I will be doing this so please follow my Instagram to keep updated!

I have already done my nails for tomorrow, sparkles, and I have tried to think a little outside of the box so come back tomorrow to see what I did.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 2014 is a year I have been looking forward too, and I hope to spend lots of time on my blog and to make it the best it can be!

For last night's nail attire, I was inspired by some nails I saw on the ASOS website a while ago. I used my new purpley O.P.I colour I got for Christmas as a base, then went a bit wild with nail pens for the firework effect. For the accent nail, I used Barry M white, (which I really need to replace because its so gloopy!) and a black nail art pen.

Nails on the ASOS website

I wish you all the best of luck in 2014, and you will hear from me soon!

Konjac Sponge

The Konjac Sponges are the strangest, most intriguing face care accessories I have seen for a while. These completely natural, man made sponges are infused with different ingredients for certain skins, and are completely biodegradable so great for the environment. These sponges are so natural you could eat them as they are from the potato family!

With brands such as Liz Earle and Eve Lom, encouraging the use of a muslin cloth whilst cleansing, the Konjac Sponge is its own accessory, and can be used with cleanser or without.

These little sponges encourage gentle exfoliation so can be used daily, and the natural clays infused into the sponges can help every skin type. I have had two sponges from the company. The 'All skin Types' (pictured above) and the 'Dry and Sensitive' (pictured below)

The red clay sponge has Iron Oxide and helps the skin to regenerate and repair damaged skin. It is hydrating and helps reduce blemishes from damaged capillaries. The texture of the sponge is quite slimey at first, but do not let it put you off! The sponges last for about 3 months or longer depending on how well you look after it. 

I am currently using the 'All Skin Types' sponge and I can't imagine cleansing without one now! The shape of the sponge allows you to use different parts of the sponge to make sure you get the best cleanse possible. 

My skin type has dramatically changed recently and I have become more oily skinned, so when I replace my sponge I think I will try the Green clay sponge, which is for more normal to oily skin, and is the brands best seller. It removes oil and bacteria and deeply cleanses.

For only £7.00, I think these sponges are a great investment into improving your cleansing just that little bit more, and the brands newest additions are sponges for the body, which are larger and have a waved look to them.

For more information on these sponges, and to see what other types of sponges they do, click the link below

http://www.konjacspongecompany.com/

Tom Ford Lip Gloss

The department store I work at got a Tom Ford counter a few months ago. When it was going in I went in early to help, and this is what I got as a Thank You which was so worth getting up early for!

The counter where I work specialises in the fragrance of Tom Ford, and also sells the nail varnishes (which I have had my eyes on!). We do not sell any of the makeup, but the quality of the lip gloss is fantastic so I would be interested in trying it.

The gloss I received is called 'Lost Cherry' which is a very bright red colour which, as a lover of a red lip, I absolutely adore. You can apply it by itself for a very intense colour of over lipstick to add shine. I prefer to wear it by itself. I don't usually like gloss, but this is not sticky at all.

Here is a picture I posted on my Instagram a few weeks ago wearing it. As you can see it has a very strong colour. It such a great accessory for my handbag as the name is an accessory itself. The packaging and everything about it is so classy, and especially around this time of year, it has been one of my most used products.

Lip Care Regime featuring Lush and Bliss

Tis the season to wear red lipstick! I love red lipstick and have been wearing so much recently that even when I take it off, my lips are still a little bit stained and it looks terrible when my lips are dry cracked.
I have had a few lip treatments lying around so decided to finally try them out.

Firstly, I used the Bliss Fabulips foaming lip cleanser. It makes sense to cleanse your lips seeing as you cleanse your face everyday. This cleanser is made to lift impurities from the lips and to leave them clean. I would not apply this straight onto lipstick as it just smudges it round your face, so I'd suggest wiping of the lipstick best as you can, and then applying it after to remove the last stained bits. The foaming action of the lip cleanser gives you a tingling sensation, and once wiped of with water, there is not a trace of lipstick. I used this when wearing one of my darkest lipstick and it worked a treat!
The Fabulips cleanser retails at £12.

Next in my lip care regime, I used the Lush Santa lip scrub. Lush have lots of different flavours in the lip scrub such as popcorn and bubblebum. This festive flavour is meant to taste like Cola, but I think it smells slightly like that banana medicine you used to get when you were a child, which I loved so I'm not complaining. As Lush is a natural company, the scrub is nothing more than sugar, and is gentle enough to be used on the more delicate area.

This product is applied to dry lips, and then any excess should be washed off with water. This product tastes really nice, so you can afford to go to the inner bits of lip. This is a perfect product to gently remove dry flakes of skin on the lips. It doesn't hurt at all, and afterwards your lips feel so so smooth. This little scrub is only £2.75!

 The other product I have from Bliss is the Lip plumper.  This is just a clear gel form that has a peppermint taste and leaves a tingle on the lips to make them appear plumper. I've always been a bit skeptical about lip plumpers. I don't think lip plumpers actually work, I think the tingling feeling makes you pout slightly making them appear fuller, but they actually don't physically plump up the lips anymore. That said, this product leaves a nice gloss and feels very hydrating which makes the lips feel fresh and looking healthy. This retails at £16

Finally, the Lush Santa lip tint. This is perfect for giving your lips a rest from lipstick, but still gives you a bit of colour. The pigment in this product is actually really strong, and it can be built up to have a denser colour. A big fan of this product and at only £5.75 its perfect for the handbag.

Are there any lip products that you swear by? I would love to hear from you!

*one of the tags in this post is 'natural ingredients'  which only applies to the Lush products!