MY FAVOURITE NAIL CARE PRODUCTS

Hi everyone! 

I was planning to do this post for a while, but I waited to see if a dramatic change in my nail care routine makes a difference to my nails.

I used to moisturise  my nails a couple of times a day, used many different nail strengtheners and every week I do a full manicure and pamper my nails. 

My nails were always weak, splitting and breaking. They never looked bad or anything, but the only time I managed to grow them was during pregnancy and breastfeeding when my hormones were going crazy :) 

About 2-3 months ago I decided to follow all the advice for strong nails to see if it makes a difference. I have been using cuticle oils and creams a couple of times a day, moisturisers as often I could, nail strengtheners daily and I also started using a crystal nail file.  To be honest, the biggets thing I noticed is the fact that the splitting of my nails stopped thanks to the crystal nail file sealing the edges better. My nails are a little bit  stronger now, but there isn't a big difference. They look very healthy and nice, but still feel weak and I can't grow them. As soon as they reach about 3mm they start breaking. :( I am convinced that not everybody can have strong nails and no matter how hard I try, even with taking vitamins etc, I will never have my dream nails. Here are all the products I am currently using to improve the condition of my nails:

Review: ELDORA EYELASHES H105

Hi everyone!

I love having full, long and gorgeous lashes, but unfortunately my natural lashes are not amazing.

That's exactly why I love fake lashes! I remember my first experience with falsies... omg! It was a disaster. I ordered a set of 10 pairs from Hong-Kong for 99p and they were the cheapest thing ever! I felt very uncomfortable wearing them and they actually distracted my vision!

After that fiasco, I done some research and found Eylure and Eldora lashes. Oh my... What a difference! They are amazing! Today I am reviewing a gorgeous pair of lashes from Eldora, my current favourite brand when it comes to falsies!

 ELDORA human hair lashes £4.25 free delivery H105 link

I am in love with this pair of lashes! They are light as a feather and I can't feel them on my eyelids at all. This design is very flattering. The lashes are long and thick and a perfect size for my eyes. The application is very easy and the glue is really strong. They cost only £4.25 but the quality is amazing! The lashes are placed on a thin white strip to give a natural effect and as you can see on the pictures below, the white strip is visible once the lashes are glued on. You can easily hide the white bits, by painting them with a black liquid liner. I did it on my left eye (right on the photos) to show you the difference. The lashes are reusable and I normally use them 5 times before getting a new pair.

What are your favourite lashes?

Colored Contact Lenses

I haven't tried contact lenses or colored contact lenses until recently, but I blogged about my experience here and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. My eyesight is perfectly fine but I was always curious about contact lenses and I find them very intriguing. My older sister uses them on a daily basis instead of prescription glasses and every time I've seen her putting them in I was freaking out. I would have never thought that one day I will actually use coloured contacts, but surprisingly I gave it a go. It took me absolute ages to put the lenses into my eyes for the first time, but after hours of trying different techniques I managed to do it! I am sure that everybody would love to see how they look like with a different eye colour, simply out of curiosity. I was very excited to see my eyes looking totally different and at the beginning it felt really weird to have big blue eyes :) I looked like  a manga character. I picked 15mm lenses and they were a bit too big and didn't look natural. I will go for a smaller size the next time. At the moment I only own one pair, which you can see on the picture below. I thought it will be a good idea to show you a before and after picture. You can see that the size of my natural iris is much smaller than the lens size and because of that my brown eye is still visible on the inside of the colored lense.

Review: LIZ EARLE Signature Foundation in shade 03 Nude

Hi everyone!

The full Liz Earle Colour range is finally here and complete with every product I could imagine, from foundations, powders and blushers to eye shadows, lipsticks and mascara.

I declared my love for Liz Earle skincare and make-up many times  and every single product I try is absolutely amazing and I am never disappointed.  I received the Liz Earle Signature Foundation and foundation brush last week and I am very excited to share my thoughts with you.

happy face :)

LIZ EARLE SIGNATURE FOUNDATION in shade 03 Nude* 25 ml £21.00 link

"Our silky formula offers easy-to-build coverage and glides on easily to give a smooth, radiant finish and an even, natural-looking complexion. Beautifully buildable and blendable, with a special mix of spherical particles and coated pigments that offer long-lasting colour. Enriched with our own natural source vitamin E. Available in nine shades"

First of all -the packaging is gorgeous. It is a classic and elegant design- a glass bottle with a dark navy blue lid and white Liz Earle logo. I love good quality foundations and I am always ready to pay a lot of money if something works for me. I think that prices of Liz Earle make-up are very reasonable, becasue the quality is equal to all expensive, high end brands I tried. 

 I am happy to say, that I am in love with this product. The consistency is lovely and creamy, but at the same time it feels light on the skin. It gives a beautiful finish and medium coverage with one layer or full coverage with two layers. It is easy to apply and blend and looks very natural. Shade 03 Nude is darker than I expected, but it suits my light olive complexion. If you are pale I would suggest shade 01 and if you have average white skin tone, shade 02 would probably be the best option for you. There is nine shades to chose from and I think that everybody will be able to find a close match for their skin tone. One thing about this foundation that really stands out is the lasting power- it stays on my skin all day, without going cakey or patchy. The quality is amazing! I usually set it with Liz Earle natural Finish Loose Powder to achieve a matte finish, but it looks lovely on its own too. 

Overall, I am very impressed and I have been using this foundation every day since I got my little sample in the Liz Earle Beauty Insider magazine. I got the full size product a couple of days later.

LIZ EARLE FOUNDATION BRUSH* £18 link

"With its semi-flat head, our brush has been specifically designed to effortlessly apply and blend your foundation. The rounded shape allows expert application to those harder-to-reach places around the nose, chin and under eyes."

To be honest, I never use foundation brushes and always apply foundation with my fingers and blend with a  buffing brush, but I gave this brush a go and I love it!  The finish it gives is perfect and it distributes the product evenly allover my face. It really helps to reach tricky areas, like around my nose and under my eyes etc. I used RT buffing brush with the Liz Earle Signature foundation as well, but instead of distributing the product it was sort of absorbing it. I will definitely use this brush to apply my foundation from now on. It is perfect! Liz Earle brushes are made from 100% man-made fibres, so they are animal-friendly :)

NOTD: Very Structured, Lady Like and Pink Bows

Hi everyone!

I won a Betrousse box giveaway on Danielle's blog (here) and there was a cute set of nail art stickers and little diamonds/gems inside. I love nail art, so I used them up very quickly :) They look so pretty!

I used 2 nail polishes from Essie: Lady Like and Very Structured + a top coat.

WHAT'S IN MY TRAVEL MAKE-UP BAG

Hi everyone. I hope you are having a lovely, lazy Sunday :) 

We were house sitting/ dog sitting this weekend so I thought it will be a perfect time to do a "What's in my travel make-up bag" post. I took some essentials and favourites with me and here they are:

FACE PRODUCTS:
I love having mini versions of my favourite products, so when I got a cute little bottle of Lancome Teint Miracle in Harrods Glossybox I was very happy. It is perfect for traveling! I also got some minis with magazines (Benefit) and online(Lily Lolo).
-mini Benefit Porefessional
-mini Benefit That Gal Primer
-mini Lancome Teint Miracle Foundation
-Liz Earle Loose Powder
-Liz Earle concealer
-Collection 2000 concealer
-He-Shi bronzer
-mini Lily Lolo highlighter
-NARS orgasm blush
-Collection 200 Fix me up setting spray

LIPS:
I always have my current favourite lipstick with me. At the moment I am loving Vegas Volt from MAC. It is soooooooo beautiful! I can't get enough of it! :)
EYES:
I try to take a minimal amount of products with me, so I usually go for a neutral eyeshadow palette, a brow kit, liner and mascara, to keep it simple. -Fashionista brow kit
 -Liz Earle mascara
-BOURJOIS liquid eye liner
-MUA heaven & earth palette


I always take my favourite brushes with me and I am loving Real Techniques!
My most used brushes are: buffing brush, powder brush, blush brush and contour brush.
 

Panache lingerie

Hi everyone.

Today I am featuring some gorgeous lingerie. The brand I would like to introduce you to is Panache.
Panache is a leading D plus lingerie specialist that has built its reputation on 3 core values: Fit, Support and Comfort. I am a size 85 DD at the moment, so this sounds perfect to me.

I am already familiar with the brand, because I ordered Panache lingerie for my wedding day 2 years ago from Very. The quality is really good and the fit is perfect and I felt very comfortable wearing the set I ordered. Panache offers a selection of gorgeous designs in a wide variety of colours and patterns you will fall in love with. You can also find classic designs perfect for everyday wear, swimwear and specially designed sports bras from B-H cup.
You probably heard about the fact that 80% of woman wear the wrong bra size. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if I was wearing the wrong size, because after pregnancy and breastfeeding my body changed totally and I feel a bit uncomfortable in most of my bras. I know that it is very important to wear a perfect bra, but I also know that I am not the only one who never used a bra fitting service. If you think you are wearing the wrong size, you can find advice and a bra size chart on Panache website, explaining the problems associated with wearing the wrong size bra and also pointing out the benefits of getting the correct size.

I always find an excuse not to go get my bra fitted in a shop. At the moment I am losing weight, so I will probably wait until  I'm done with that, before I splurge on some new amazing lingerie.
I picked a couple of designs from Panache website which I really like. My favourite must be the Tango Plunge bra. I usually go for this style, because it is comfortable and very flattering.

1. Loretta Balconnet Bra link

2. Tango Plunge Bra link

3. Sienna Balconnet Bra link

4. Ariza Balconnet Bra link

NOTD: Barry M Aqua Glitter

Hi everyone. 

Another quick NOTD post, before I start reviewing some make-up and skincare again :)

I love Barry M nail polishes and I ordered some new colours from www.asos.com recently.

Aqua Glitter is one of my new purchases and  love it. I stopped using glitter on my nails for a while, but I really missed it to be honest. I like a bit of sparkle :) Barry M Aqua Glitter  is a beautiful and bright shade of blue/turquoise. I applied two coats of it on top of a clear base coat, but you can also use it on top of another colour. It looks lovely applied over dark blue, mint green and black polish. 

It costs £2.99 and you can get it here with free delivery. 

PS.What do you think of my new header? 

Denim dress + gold necklace / sequin collar and coral lips

Hi everyone. 

It's been ages since I published an OOTD post. As usual, I am not adding a full length shot :) just a sneak peak :) I am wearing a knee length denim dress with a drawstring waist and chest pockets and gold accessories. I also tried on a black sequin collar and I quite like it, but I felt a bit uncomfortable, so I took it off and left the gold necklace. I am adding pictures of both options :) Let me know what one looks better in your opinion. I added some gold accessories and painted my nails with a bright orange nail polish and fuchsia pink for the accent nail. On my face I used Liz Earle foundation, powder, concealer, bronzer and blusher. I know... I am obsessed with Liz Earle make-up. On my lips I am wearing the most beautiful MAC shade I have ever seen- Vegas Volt. I am so in love with this lipstick! I will be reviewing it soon. I also used Eldora eyelashes (H105).

What do you think about the sequin collar? I really like the look of it with the gold necklace underneath, but it was very annoying and uncomfortable.

option 2:

Quick review: MUA lipstick in shade 6

Hi everyone. 

I was so busy today that I almost forgot about blogging :) 

I received my MAC order today and I am in love with the lipsticks, but I will review them at the weekend or next week. I added some pictures to my instagram. My username is: theblackpearl2012

Today I am "reviewing" another bargain from MUA. This time it is shade 6. 

-It is a soft, shimmery pink. 

-It is sheer but buildable and very moisturising. 

-It stays put for about 2 hours and overall I think it is a lovely shade and a great buy for £1.

Have you tried it? What do you think?

NOTD: ESSIE NAVIGATE HER

I will be swatching some of the Essie nail polishes I bought recently,starting with "Navigate Her".

 I like Essie's formula and finish and some of the colours I bought are absolutely beautiful. 

Navigate Her is a gorgeous pistachio shade and it only needs one coat to give an opaque finish. 

Have you ordered any of the £1.99 Essie polishes from Fragrance Direct yet? 

The worst beauty product of the month/year- Lipcote review

LIPCOTE lipstick sealer 7ml £3.79 link

This product claims to keep your lipstick in place for hours and it is adored by "Luke Anthony, Jemma Kidd, Florrie White and Karin Darnel to name a few, as well as some of the most famous lips in the world... Rihanna, Rosie Huntington-Whitely and Daisy Lowe" blah, blah, blah...

After reading such a statement and a couple of reviews of the famous Lipcote on popular blogs, I decided to buy it from www.feelunique.com. I am glad it costs a very reasonable £3.79, because if I paid more than £5 for it I would be furious! I am so confused about this product! It has done nothing for my lipstick, except ruining it!!! I tried MAC, MUA and Lancome lipsticks with Lipcote, all of them came off/peeled off in tiny bits. As soon as I touched my lips the lipstick was coming off and it looked horrible. I don't want to add a picture of it, because it looked horrid! Another thing I absoluetely hate about this product is the fact that as soon as I put it on my lips it felt like it was burning my skin! My lips were on fire!!!! So horrible! I know that I  am not the only one who experienced this. It  is meant to be a tingling sensation, but for me it was like acid on my lips! It also stinks of alcohol. Yuck!

I am not impressed. I absolutely hate this product and it was a waste of money.
Have you tried it? What do you think about it?