Review: Ardell DuraLash Naturals Individual Lash Extensions

Hello :) I had purchased these lashes ages ago but only now decided to give them a try. It was quite a while back so im afraid I cant remember where I got them from :P 

The ones I bought were the Ardell DuraLash Naturals Combo in black which you can buy for around £5.00. I also purchased the Ardell LashTite Adhesive in clear which again was also around £5.00. 

Other than the lashes and the glue you need a pair of tweezers and some foil to place a small blob of glue on while you apply them :)

So to start you make sure you eye area is clean and free of oils by using an oil free make up remover. You then place a blob of glue on your foil, dip your selected size of lash in, wait 20 seconds till its tacky then apply to your lash line making sure it is not places on your skin. Some people say to place it above, on top of your lashes, some say below and under but I tried to place them between my lashes as that's how they were applied when I had eyelashes done professionally.

To read the instructions Ardell provide click ***here***

The process is rather fiddly and does take a while to do but I think the results are worth it. Id imagine if you were to make this a regular part of your beauty regime you would be able to apply them in just a few minutes!

When you have had enough of your lashes or if some fall out and you want them all off there is a lash remover made by Ardell but you can also use an oil based eye make up remover. 

According to Ardell they should last around 4-5 weeks but this really depends on how you treat them.  You have to make sure they make minimal contact with water and avoid any non oil free beauty products oh and the obvious one of not rubbing your eyes which wont be easy for me! I will probably remove them in a few days time!

There are 56 lashes in the pack but you only need around 7 to achieve the look I got. I used 4 long ones on my outer eye and 3 on my inner eye.

Here is what the looked like on me:

In natural light:

(Click picture to enlarge)

They don't look so dramatic from afar like in the above picture.

But the closer you get.....

With Flash.............woah!:

(Click picture to enlarge)


In natural light:

(Click picture to enlarge)

Extreme close up in bright sunlight:

(Click picture to enlarge)


Eyes shut:

(Click picture to enlarge)

Would I use them again: YES! But id probably buy a pack with just the medium ones and go for a volume look as I think that would look better on me :)

So have you tried installing your own eyelash extensions? Or would you rather have a professional do it?

Marina xo

Experimenting with Reverse French Manicure Looks

Hello :) Was bored so I thought id try out some reverse french manicure looks as its been a while since I have tried this design.

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

Are you a fan of the reverse french manicure style?

Marina xo

Hello Kitty Nails (Nail Art Pens)

Hello :) Got some fine tipped brushes and some black acrylic paint from my local Hobbycraft store :)

Quite pleased with how this turned out which is a rarity for me.

Think the Hello Kitty face turned out better than the bows! 

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

What I used:

Green base polish Miss by Sporty 

Snow White by Models Own for HK's face

Red nail art pen for the bow detail

'Folk Art' acrylic paint in Black for the outline/details

Marina xo

Im a hoot : Owl Nails : 3rd attempt with the nail art pens! :)

Hi :) I decided I would give owl's a try next so without looking at anything and really knowing exactly what an owl looks like I came up with this beaut :P 

(Click picture to enlarge)

Gosh its awful isnt it! Doesnt even look like an owl :P

Then I remembered I was wearing an Owl hairband so used the owl on that for inspiration :) 

The result was a tad better:

(Click picture to enlarge)

In the bright sunlight, you can see the shimmer of the holographic topcoat.....much prettier in real life :)

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

I just did the owls on each thumb but id like to try doing an owl on every nail next time :)

What I used:

Blue base was 2 coats of Models Own 'Beth's Blue'

The white eyes are Models Own 'Snow White'

Pink, black, blue, blue glitter, orange & yellow nail art pen for the dots and details of the owl

China Glaze wireless holographic topcoat

Marina xo

Review: Nubar Nail V For Men Matte Top Coat

Hello :) I have had this for around a month now but am only now getting round to giving it a try :P I know im jumping on the matte polish bandwagon 2 years late but what the hell its worth a shot :)

(Click picture to enlarge)

£7.50 from http://www.nailz2go.co.uk/

I have ordered from this website and would highly recommend it. Postage is free on orders of £10 or more and they always send it really quickly.

Now onto the review of the polish. I painted my nails in 5 random colours all with a glossy finish (some more so than others).

Here are the polishes I tested it on:

(Click picture to enlarge)

Now here they are after 1 coat of Nubar Nail V For Men Matte Top Coat:

(Click picture to enlarge)

As you can see the shine has been dulled on all of them quite a bit but it was not enough to get rid of the glossy finish of 'Raven' By Zoya.

Now with 2 coats on each nail:

2nd coat doesn't appear to have made them any more matte *sighs* 

Not quite the ultra matte look I had hoped for which leaves me pondering was this worth the purchase? I really do not know.....it is a good topcoat just not sure its a good 'matte' topcoat :P

Maybe I should have bought the Essie one!

what do you think? Enough of a matte finish to justify buying this?

Marina 

xo

Review: GEO Nudy Blue Circle Lens

Hello :)

I got these lenses free from http://mycandyeyes.com when I linked them to a review I did on some lenses I got from them before. 

They asked me what ones I wanted and I picked the Geo Nudy blues as I LOVED how they looked on all the lovely people who had tried them :)

So pretty :)

I should add that they just send them to me and im under no obligation to do a review of any kind.

Although I have had them for around 2 months now I have not been able to get them in both of my eyes. When they go in they are incredibly uncomfortable....my eyes water like crazy and I have to get them out!


I am new to contact lenses and I admit it always takes me a while to get them in my eyes but these ones I just couldn't wear. I soaked them for a good few days and they were very clean with no bits on them before they went in my eyes so it cant have been that there was any residue on them

Here they are in one eye for all of 10 seconds:

Gosh my eye is so bloodshot and watery....it really was agony :(

Oh woe is me........my first freebie and I couldn't even use them!

I have had no problems with contact lenses before despite being very new to them and scared of putting them in my eyes! I think I will stick to the GEO Angel series which I have had no problems with *big sighs*

I would of course order from http://mycandyeyes.com again any time as they always send things quickly its just a shame they didnt work for me :-/

Marina xo

NOTD: Ladybug Nails (Nail Art Pens)

Hiya :) Another attempt with the nail art pens......This was before I had a dotting tool which would have really helped :P My dots are a bit wonky and all different sizes *sighs*

(Click Picture to enlarge)

In the sunlight you can see the shimmer of the topcoat......think I should have just used a clear one as it would have looked better :/

(Click Picture to enlarge)

(Click Picture to enlarge)

What I used:

For the base a plain red polish (cant remember the brand sorry)

Black nail art pen

Very small white pearls for the eyes from here *clicky*

China Glaze wireless holographic topcoat

Marina xo

Haul: Nail Art Brushes & paint

Hello, I should explain why I have not been posting much lately....

My nail says it all :-(

 I have not been feeling too good lately......mentally or physically im trying to snap out of it but its not easy.......

Anyway!

Here are some of the things I got recently as I intend on trying out lots more freehand nail art designs :)

1st up is this 16 brush set from ebay which cost a mere £5.00

(Click picture to enlarge)

Close up of the brushes

(Click picture to enlarge)

When I was waiting for these to arrive I got a bit impatient and decided to take a trip to my not so local hobbycraft as I couldn't wait :P

(Click picture to enlarge)

I was amazed by the selection of water based acrylic paints on offer......I set myself a £5.00 limit and was determined to stick to it so I got a basic black but im sure I will be back for more colours really soon :)

For all of you girlies that do freehand nail art could you tell me if there is anything else I should get? What do you recommend?

Marina xo

Panda Nail Art 'Peek-a-boo Panda's' : 2nd attempt using the pens

Hi :) First off I know this is not perfect.....its far from it but I really had so much fun doing this! I really think this whole freehand nail art thing is something you get better at with practice so I will definitely keep plodding along!

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

What I used:

China Glaze 'Admire' which was the pink base

Models Own 'Snow White for the panda body

Cheapo Black nail art pen as mentioned here *clicky*

China Glaze Wireless Holographic top coat

Note to self: Buy some tiny nail art brushes.

So what do you think of my 2nd attempt? 

Would you wear panda nails? :)

Marina xo

Bunny Rabbit Nails : My 1st attempt using the nail art pens

Hi everyone :) So here is my rather embarrassing 1st attempt at free hand nail art using the nail art pens I mentioned in this post ***clicky***

(Click picture to enlarge)

(Click picture to enlarge)

I really didnt like how the above rabbit face turned out on so I redid it:

(Click picture to enlarge)

Better? Worse? 

(Click picture to enlarge)

I think clearly I need ALOT of practice.....getting straight clean lines is not easy :/

I did have fun doing it! Its quite time consuming but that doesn't bother me......well not if the results are worth it :P

Oh and a quick review on the nail art pens. The ones I used went on really well, they were opaque and dried really fast which was a surprise! Both the pen part and the striper brush worked really well....it would obviously be a more impressive review if I was actually good at it so you could see the pens being used to their full potential! :)

I will keep trying! I want to try ladybug nails next as that looks easier :)

Marina 
xo

Bargain Buy: Nail art pens from Ebay Hong Kong seller

Hi :) I have been wanting to branch out and give other forms of nail art a try and whilst browsing ebay found these nail art pens:

24 2-way nail art pens for £9.77 with free worldwide shipping

The seller sent the pens the day after I paid and it took just under 2 weeks to arrive from Hong Kong.

They are extremely cheap for what they are! I had been looking at Nubar nail art pens and will probably still try them I just wanted a collection of cheapies as im new to using them and ill probably make a mess :P

The colours are lovely, there is a mixture of metallic's, glitters and basic creme colours. Only thing thats lacking in this set is that there is no white :/

I have never tried nail art pens before so I didn't know what to expect......I did think that the colours would be watery but this is not the case at all! 

Upon testing the colours on some paper I discovered all of the colours are pretty opaque. Both the fine tipped pen and the brush work well and seem to be of pretty decent quality :) 

Now all that's left is for me to test them out on my actual nails....don't expect much please as I know my freehand drawing skills are rubbish!

Will test them out in the next few days.........why am I so nervous?

Do any of you use nail art pens? Any particular brand that you would recommend I try?

Marina 

xo

My few flat shoes :)

Hiya :) I decided it was time to pick up some flat shoes as I have been suffering WAY too much in heels lately :P

Redfoot 'Mischa' Folding shoes £34.99

These pretty Redfoot shoes fold in half and fit into a tiny little pouch and are designed for popping out of your bag when you just cant take any more walking in your heels :) so handy!

Red Herring at Debenhams crown detail pumps £12.60

Reduced from £18.00 to £12.60 I picked these up the other day. They are rather large made so I had to get a UK 4 instead of my usual 5 :)

Vivienne Westwood Ballerina Pumps £66.00 

I couldn't resist these Westwood flats as I LOVE the Westwood Melissa range so much :)

Are any of you diehard heel fans that just would NEVER be seen in flats? Any of you live in flats and hardly ever wear heels?

I feel ALOT more confident in heels......I am petite so I can look tubby without the extra height *sighs*

Marina xo