Guest post: Gradient dots nail art

Hello everyone!

I'm Kizzy and I have a little nail art blog. When Niki asked me if I wanted to do a blog post swap I was so excited! I've never done one before and after some deliberation of what I would do settled on some really pretty but easy to do gradient dots that anyone can do even if you've never done any nail art before :)

I painted my nails with 2 coats of Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream. Then I used a dotting tool and Rimmel Blue Vogue, Barry M Cobalt Blue and Barry M White for the dots. I got the dots on my ring finger by mixing a bit of Barry M Cobalt Blue and Barry M White. If you don’t have a dotting tool you can find loads of things around the house to make dots such as bobby pins or a pencil which work really well! I usually take a drop of polish, put it on a sheet of plastic, dip the dotting tool in it and then dot the polish on my nail.

I really like the gradient on my thumb! I think it's my favourite nail :)

Let me know what you think and thank you again to Niki for letting me post on her blog for the day! Make sure you take a look at my blog to see what Niki posted!

Thank you very much for the post Kizzy!! You can go and check out Kizzy's blog here and follow her on twitter here

If you're interested in being the next person to feature a guest post on my blog, please don't hesitate to email me nikiniknak@hotmail.co.uk and we can sort something out!

Thanks for reading 

Niki

Make up and beauty haul

Hey everyone. So firstly I'd like to explain why I have been such a rubbish blogger lately. In my last post I quickly wrote to you all to say that I recently had a baby and all my time and attention has been on him. With Alexander now being five months old and having a regular bedtime routine, I've started to get back some time to myself and what better way to spend that time than writing blog posts, reading blog posts and watching youtube videos. I am now aiming to do four or five posts a week, wrote mainly in the evening, and hope to get back on track with this little blog land. So without further ado...

I turned 23 on the 30th August and went on a big shop to treat myself and splash the cash I had been gifted for my birthday. This is the first of three hauls I am hoping to do in the next few days and, being a blog that primarily shares my love of make up, I thought it only right to start with the make up. It's not the biggest of hauls as the main reason of my shop was to get new autumn clothes, but I thought I'd share what I got with you anyway. 

Firstly, on my hunt through the pound shop to see which gems I could find, I bought this, the Rimmel wake me up instant radiance shimmer touch blush. I have yet to use the products of this haul but after swatching it on my hand, I can say that it is a really nice, subtle colour which doesn't have too much shimmer. I'm not personally a fan of the shimmery, glittery blush look so this is a plus for me.

Another pound shop find is the ALLURA caviar nail art set. I have not yet given into the hundreds and thousands nail trend but after seeing these cute little pots for only one pound, I thought I could give it a go.

I found a stila angel light whitening powder foundation sponge whilst shopping in this store. I had read on other peoples blogs that they had been lucky enough to find some stila products in their local pound store so, although not a make up product, I was quite excited to find this. It's been a long time since I used a sponge to apply foundation so I am intrigued to see what this will look like. 

If you've ever dreamt that you'll one day be able to buy an OPI nail polish for one pound, it's finally a reality. Not yet leaving the pound store (you really can find some bargains! Route around!), I found this shatter by OPI. I have used quite a few cheap crackle polishes and not really been a fan. Having put this down to them being cheap and not a great formula, I thought I'd give the look one more chance, so I'm really looking forward to using this. I'm not sure which colour to put underneath though? Red maybe? 

Being well and truly on the blogger bandwagon, I bought the Collection 16 hour wear lasting perfection ultimate wear concealer. I am quite ashamed to admit I have never tried this concealer. I have read about it on every blog I ever come across, and have had it on my shopping list for months, but always forget to get it. Now I do, I have high hopes that it will make the 5 months of not much sleep dissapear from my face and make me look flawless. Quite high hopes for a five pound product, but if I believe what I read, it's true! 

To compliment the concealer, I bought the matching Collection lasting perfection ultimate wear foundation. This was on offer and only about five pounds and what appealed to me was the oil free and SPF 20 claims. With the heat being how it's been recently, I certainly need both of these things in a foundation.

Another foundation I decided to try is the RIMMEL lasting finish 25 hour foundation. I don't quite believe that this foundation would stay put for 25 hours, but I'm willing to give it a to see what the coverage is like. 

Not  very exciting, but I bought these eyelashes as my sister told me good things about the wilkos eyelash range, and I liked the look of these ones as they are quite natural and not too over the top.

After loving my Barry M make up for a long time, and needing a concealer brush, I bought this concealer brush by Barry M. I'm hoping it's good as they have quite a good range of brushes I can go back and buy and they are quite cheap. 

This was a repurchase for me, as I have just run out of this and absolutely LOVE it. This is the Natural collection blushed cheeks blush in pink cloud. I am soon posting an empties post which will go into more detail on this product.

I am wanting to get more into lipsticks. I have quite a few already but only ever use two quite nude shades. I want to experiment on what suits my face so I thought I'd buy some cheap lipsticks and try them out. This is the MUA lipstick in shade 13. 

These are the Avon COLORTREND lipsticks in nude flash (swatch left) and coral you later (swatch right). I love the colour of both these lipsticks. The nude is a really nice colour to wear on the not much make up days, and the coral is a lovely shade for a more adventurous day. 

These are Natural collection lipsticks in sheer natural sand castle (swatch left) and moisture shine pink orchid (swatch right). I really like the lipsticks in the natural collection range. There is a lot of choice available and they are really long lasting. I'd definitely recommend them.

Another crackle polish I decided to try is the Collection 2000 nail smash top coat in shade 2 white smash. I thought that a white one would be quite different and go with every colour so I'm also excited to try this out. 

Finally in the make up and beauty part of my haul, I bought these three products from the boots own range. I bought the essentials cucumber facial wash, essentials cucumber moisturising cream and the essentials cucumber eye make up remover gel. I have only been using these for the last two days so I cannot tell you if they are working miracles on my skin, but they are really refreshing and I am enjoying using them. 

That's everything in the first part of my birthday haul. I hope you enjoyed reading and I'd love to know if you've tried any of these and what your opinions are. Thank you very much for staying with me during this very silent period of my blog. I am now once again a dedicated poster who will be with you a few times every week. I'd love to get some feedback on this post as I am using a new camera and am out of the swing of writing. 

Thanks for reading 

Niki

Poundland beauty buys

Whilst shopping in my local town last weekend, I went into poundland after reading AThirftyMrs' blog about the things she had found in one. This is what I picked up

Sally Hansen diamond strength no chip nail colour in rose amore

Revlon nail enamel in smoky canvas 

Mabelline express finish 50 second nail colour in iced mauve 

Sally Hansen hard as nails in pink sapphire

Rimmel SPF15 moisture renew cream lipgloss

Sally Hansen colour comfort lip colour in sunburst

NYC waterproof mascara in jet black

Miss Sporty studio lash black matrix eye opening lash sculpting mascara in carbon black

Rimmel colour rush eyeshadow in moonstone

Have you found any one pound bargains in these shops lately? 

Niki xx

You can still check out my blog sale here and enter my giveaway here!!

Everyone needs a coral lipstick for summer

This is the Rimmel moisture renew lipstick in the shade soft coral. Firstly, I absolutely love the packaging. To me, the design of the lipstick makes it look more expensive than it is and I think it looks like quite a classic lipstick.

I decided, after looking at countless blogs with everyone wearing coral lipstick, that I should finally try some myself. When applying the product, I instantly loved how it felt on my lips. I can see why this lipstick was named moisture renew, as I felt like my lips were being moisturised all day, and the product felt more like a lip balm than a lipstick. When buying the lipstick, I was hoping to get a more orangey colour, and this came out quite pink, but to be honest I'm not too bothered. I still love the lipstick and will definitely be getting a lot of use out of it in the summer

Niki xx

A Rimmel blush

I picked this up the other day and I already love it. It is the Rimmel powder blush in 001 Santa rose. It is a really nice peach shade (which I love on my skin tone) and is slightly shimmery which looks lovely in the sun (what sun?). The only downside is the really fiddly packaging which I cannot open unless I use my teeth!! I hate that with some products!! Nonetheless, this is a lovely, lovely blush and I'm loving using it. 

Have you tried this? What do you think of the colour? 

Niki xx

Drugstore concealer sticks- Best and worst!!

Today I thought I would compare the four concealer sticks I currently have in my collection. I don't know about you guys, but I love concealer, and it's one of my must have items, so I thought I'd share my experiences with you. All four of these are really affordable, ranging from £1 to £2.50.

Left to right: W7, Rimmel, 2true, MUA

MUA hide and conceal cover up stick in light-  £1.00

I LOVELOVELOVE this, I can't believe a  £1 concealer is covering up all my blemishes and circles with no problem. It is quite a heavy, drying concealer, but try putting it on after your moisturiser has soaked in, and you'll see it really does it's job. The Superdrug closest to me seems to be sold out of this 90% of the time, so when they next stock up, I'll definitely be stocking up on it too.

2True cover 'n' conceal stick shade 1-  £1.99

If you have dry, sensitive skin like me, do not buy this concealer!! As you can see from the picture at the top, it's a really 'fake', unnatural colour which doesn't compliment my skin tone, nor does it hide anything. In fact, I think it highlights the fact that you have bags and blemishes, rather than disguise them. I wouldn't ever buy this again (I only kept it to do this post, it's now going into the bin). 

Rimmel clear complexion coverstick-  £2.50

First of all, this is the only one of the four with an ingredients list, which also claims to be dermatologically tested (good for my sensitive skin) which I like. This concealer is good at hiding dark circles, although you may find you need to reapply it several times throughout the day. It also feels really moisturising when applied, and doesn't flake off or go into the creases like most. I would buy this again, for the price it is really good. 

W7 hide it! concealer in light/medium-  £1.69

I've saved the best for last! I bought this the other day when I took my Grandma shopping to Boundary Mill, and I'm so glad I did. I simply bought it because it was on offer, and because I needed some concealer quick for the night out I had planned that night. This concealer is a really creamy, moisturising consistency. If you look at it against the others on the top picture (the left hand side), you'll see that it has a pinky, skin coloured finish to it, as oppose to the unnatural look of the 2true one. This covers EVERYTHING! I'll be buying this again and again and again without a doubt. 

Niki xx