Nails of the week #2 : In Stitches by Essie

Well, it seems like everytime I speak about how sunny the weather is, it suddenly gets worse in the following days... ? I'll stop mentioning the weather from now on I guess, if it always brings us rain and clouds !

As a consequence of this brutal change in weather, I'm not in the mood for wearing pastel colours on my nails for the week. Instead I've chosen a lovely dusty pink, which goes with everything I wear. 

It is the "In Stitches" by Essie.

As you probably know, Essie is a very good brand. They have a lot of shades and every collection they make is amazing. The only thing is, as for OPI, the price, unfortunately ! Although Essie nail polishes are a bit cheaper than the OPI ones.

I only have three Essie polishes, and they are all pinks ! I have a fushia pink (which I'll probably wear in the summer only), this dusty pink and a very light nude pink. They're all so good, I love wearing them ! Easy to apply, quick to dry...

I've noticed this one doesn't stay on very long, it goes off quite quickly on the ends of the nails, even with three coats on. That bugs me a little because I hate when you can see the white of the nail on the tip of the finger, but it's not overly important either, it won't stop me from buying other Essie nail polishes in the future !

Julia xx

Nails of the week #1 : I don't give a Rotterdam by OPI

Hello !

Now that spring is coming and the sun is there more often, I've been more excited about painting my nails. I always paint my nails and never go without nail polish, but I don't know why, these days I've been super happy to do it ! That's so strange. But I truly feel like buying new colours, bringing back my pastel polishes, etc. 

So I thought I could do "nails of the week" posts sometimes ! Just to show you a few of my favourite colours and brands.

This morning I've applied the nail polish that I'm going to wear this week. It is the I don't give a Rotterdam by OPI, from the Holland collection. I remember when I first saw this shade, I fell in love with it and knew I had to buy it.

(Sorry, I just noticed that I have applied the nail polish very badly and I haven't taken off the excess. Oops !)

It is a light blue shade, almost greyish at time, and it has tiny silver sparkles - or speckles, you can't really tell. It is a very good colour for spring and as it is an OPI nail polish it does stay on a long time (but of course you should always wear a top coat on it). The only thing is that the colour is very sheer so you have to apply quite a few coats to get a good coverage. I've applied four coats here (!), but luckily it dries very quickly so it doesn't take hours to do your manucure anyway.

I do hope that the weather this week will be nice enough for me to wear springy clothes to match this nail polish !

Julia xx

Review : Full Cover concealer, by Make Up For Ever

I've had the Full Cover concealer by Make Up For Ever for a while now, and it's about time I speak about it on here because it is definitely worth a try !

The product looks like this :

Mine is in the shade 8. It is a bit too dark for me unfortunately - I hate the lights in these beauty shops, they always make the colour of the products appear different than what they actually are in daylight. But luckily for me you can't really tell the difference once it's applied on my skin, so that's okay.

The texture is quite thick (well same as any other concealer I guess). The lady in the store told me it could cover scars and tatoos, so I thought it was really good and it would be enough to cover my blemishes ! To give you an idea of the coverage, here is a sort of swatch on my hand :

The coverage is actually very good. You can cover the little scars you have once your blemishes and spots are gone (y'all know these little scars which seem to never disappear ? argh !), your rednesses, your dark circles even (I use the Full Cover as a concealer too), and in the end your face looks really good already !

In my daily routine I don't even put liquid foundation on anymore, I just put the Full Cover, then a bit of mineral powder, then transluscent power to set everything on, and that's enough ! If your skin isn't too damaged or if you don't have severe acne, you could definitely just put this concealer to hide what's to be hidden, instead of going for full foundation every day.

For the lasting effects, I haven't been disappointed either : it stays on all day long, but of course you have to use a long lasting foundation/powder on top, otherwise it'll probably mess everything up.

The only negative aspect of the Full Cover is its price - 26,50€ is a lot, but all Make Up Forever products are more on the expensive side... I guess if you want the best quality you have to pay more (or get it for birthdays or Christmases, hehe !).

If you can afford it and are in need of a good concealer then you should spend your pennies on the Full Cover, that's the only advice I can give you ! ;)

Julia xx

My Sales Haul | Winter 2014

Hi everyone !

First of all, my apologies for the lack of posts these days (or rather these weeks, huh). I've been so busy with university and work that I couldn't find the time to sit down and write a proper thing. But I'm back today with a haul !

I know it's a bit late but I've decided to do a sales haul. I don't post hauls every time I go shopping, but I'm so happy with what I got this year (in terms of clothing) that I cannot keep that to myself !

I've picked up a few nice pieces for very good prices, which always makes you happy, right ? I'll start with the clothes because that's the main thing I bought, then I'll show you the two tiny makeup items I bought also.

First from New Look, I got two cute dresses, which look like this :

As you can see, it is a black dress with pink and purple flowers all over. Isn't it cute ? I've taken a better picture for you to see the print :

 

The shape is also very flattering, and this is the main reason why I finally bought the dress. It really fits me and makes a pretty silhouette :)

It was 12.00€ reduced from 29.99€, so quite a bargain !

The second dress from New Look is this one :

And the detailing on the top part looks like this :

It is a simple black dress, with a floaty skirt (I love it !), and the only touch of colour is the detailing on the top, embroidered with light pink flowers (you can't really see the colours on the pics though). I thought it was very feminine, and it looks waaay prettier in real life ! I know it's going to become one of my favourite dresses.

Again, it was 12.00€ reduced from 29.99€ !

I bought another dress, from Pull and Bear this time. It is a light beige dress with lace on the sides and on the top part. It will be perfect for spring and summer !

 

I looove the detailing around the edges at the top, it is so pretty and makes it looks more "finished" and delicate. It was 25.99€ reduced from 39.99€, which is a good price compared to what I would have paid for it if I had bought it a few weeks earlier !

Next I went to H&M, where I bought two amazing shirts/blouses.

The first one is this beige blousy top with lace at the front :

 

It is very sheer so you have to wear something underneath it. The sleeves are in a different material than the rest, very flowy and nice. You can't really see it but the collar goes up on the neck, which gives the blouse a very vintage style. I looove it ! It was 15.00€ instead of 29.95€.

The second one is a pale pink shirt :

The colour doesn't really show in the pictureS but it is pink. The thing that got me to buy it was the collar, I think it is the cutest thing ever. It is a very simple shirt, but then it can be worn with anything so it's a staple to have in your wardrobe. This one was also 15.00€, instead of 24.95€.

I'm done with the clothes ! Here are the few beauty things that I got :

 I got two lip products from Sephora :

 - An ultra vinyl lip pencil, in this pretty pink shade, perfect for spring. The pencil reminds me of the Chubby sticks, although the quality is not as good obviously.

 - A long-lasting vinyl lip lacquer. I bought it because of the colour, which is dark, almost burgundy, but with fushia pink sparkles on it. When you put it on the lips, it is darker than what it is in the packaging. The texture is very sticky, which bugs me a little. It is quite difficult to apply also, you struggle to have an even colour everywhere on your lips and you have to take your time to apply it properly. I'm very disappointed in it, if I knew that I wouldn't have bought it even if it was really cheap !

They were both 2.00€, so I got them for 4.00€ instead of 16.80€.

Lastly, I went to a Make Up Forever shop, because I heard they were making sales on a selection of products (unfortunately it wasn't in the whole shop) and some were very interesting. And indeed, you have some little palettes which were reduced by 70%. Amazing ! There were also liners, and the other things I don't remember.

The only thing I bought was this small-sized HD Powder, which was also with 70% off. It contains 5g of powder, so I think it will last for a while ! And for 4.26€, it was totally worth it !

***

So that's it for my sales haul ! I thought I would get more beauty products than clothes, but I'm actually happy that I came across such bargains to add to my wardrobe !

Julia xx