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?

Feeding my necklace addiction :)

Hi everyone.
I think I have a necklace addiction :) I can't stop buying them and when other bloggers get clothing via fashion programs- I always get jewellery :)  There is so many pretty designs out there... I want them all! I recently received my orders from www.sheinside.com and www.oasap.com and all the items I picked were necklaces, so I decided to do a joint post :) I am planning to do a post about my full necklace collection, but I need more time to prepare it. I think that at the moment I own over 200 necklaces... and it would take me ages to photograph them all. I actually bought a special stand for my necklaces and bracelets, like the rotating ones you get in jewellery stores :) plus 3 smaller stands/racks. I hope I can organize everything and share my collection with you soon.

 Colored Ribbon Embellished Cubic Necklace* c/o oasap link

 Black And White Geometric Triangle Necklace* c/o sheinside link

Black and Gold necklace* c/o sheinside link

Medal pendant necklace* c/o oasap link

gold choker necklace* c/o sheinside link

Spike necklace* c/o oasap link

Spike necklace* c/o sheinside link

I decided to wear the spike necklace as a hair accessory :)

NYR Pure Essence EDP No2 Rose - review

Today I am reviewing another addition to my perfume collection. I don't own many perfumes to be honest. I think there is around 10 bottles on my dressing table at the moment. I always wanted to try natural perfumes and the first one I got to test, was Liz Earle Botanical Essence no1 which I really liked and it lasted on my skin for a good couple of hours. The one I am reviewing today is Neal's Yard Remedies Pure Essence EDP No2 Rose.

Urban Decay NAKED palette dupe- MUA Undressed palette- comparison and swatches

I became  a big MUA enthusiast recently :) and I am loving all their palettes. The one I was excited about the most is the Undressed palette. The name is an obvious hint that it was created based on Urban Decay Naked palette. Well... It is a great dupe in my opinion! Read on for more details and have a look at my swatches of all shades. They are a really close match.

If something is hyped about and everybody and their mother owns it - I usually buy it to see if it is as good as everybody claims it to be. Urban Decay was always my go to brand when it comes to eyeshadows and I had a little UD addiction going on in the past, so when I seen the 1000th review of Naked and Naked2 I bought both.

I am really happy with all the shades and the quality and I can't deny, that Urban Decay does the best eyeshadows on the planet- in my opinion anyway. Not everybody can afford a £36 eyeshadow palette though, so many brands released cheaper alternatives. MUA Undressed palette is one of them and the RRP is £4, but I got mine on sale for £3.00!!! Can you believe it? The full palette comes at a price of one little Urban Decay shade from the Naked Palette :)

I am a bit of a makeup snob and I want to own the most expensive and luxurious products in the world, but to be honest... the only high end make-up product I keep repurchasing is Lancome Teint Miracle foundation. I don't like to spend more than £20 on a beauty product, but I do make exceptions sometimes, if I really want something.

 

THE COMPARISON:

-the packaging is totally different and I actually prefer MUA, as it is more sturdy/

-there is 12 shades in both palettes

-all shades are a very close match, dupes of matte eyeshadows from Naked are matte in the Undressed palette and the shimmery UD ones are shimmery in the MUA dupe. (unlike in the fake Naked palette)

-the pigmentation of both palettes is really good

-Urban Decay shadows feel more luxurious and the quality and pigmentation is better. The quality of MUA Undressed is surprisingly good too and all the shimmery shades are creamy and apply beautifully, but matte shades are slightly less pigmented than UD ones.

-I don't need a primer if I use the Naked palette and the shadows stay on my eyelids all day, except matte shades(they need a primer) All shimmery shades from MUA undressed stay put for most of the day- around 8 hours, but with a primer they last all day and look perfect. Matte shades need a primer no matter what to last for more than 2 hours.

 I think that MUA Undressed Palette is an amazing dupe of the Naked Palette and if you don't want to splurge £36 on eyeshadows, there is no need to do it. Please, do not consider buying fake UD makeup from ebay etc... It is very dangerous. Why risk your health, if you can get the same shades from a brand you can trust for a fraction of the price? I don't see the point of buying fake makeup, knowing that it is definitely fake. We want the product to be good quality and to give amazing results, so If you buy a fake it is a totally different thing, so why buy it just for the packaging?

I wrote a comparison post about the real UD Naked palette and an ebay fake a couple of weeks ago, so if you want to have a look and consider buying make-up on ebay, please read my post here.

There is no need to risk your health, if you can get a perfectly safe dupe for £4!!!

Many bloggers find great dupes and share reviews on their blogs, so if you want to find a cheaper alternative of a product, I am sure you will find it in the blogosphere.