Nails Inc. - Glitter Crackle

I like Crackle polishes & I love glitter, so when I found out about the Nails Inc. Glitter Crackles, I had to try them out.

There are three shades available - The West End,  blue, The City, purple, & Farringdon, gold. On the whole, I don't wear gold polishes much so I skipped Farringdon & got The West End & The City.

These glitter crackles seem to take a little longer to dry than a regular crackle polish. It's not a ludicrous amount of time, but the crackling starts to show through more slowly than normal crackles.

Another point with these is that the glitter looks quite matte & the crackle effect isn't very apparent until you apply a glossy top coat. 

80's Nails!

Got a bit bored yesterday & decided to do something fun with my nails. It turned into this 80's-inspired mani that I loved once it was done.
Originally, I tried using three colours on each nail but, due to my nails being quite small, it didn't work out.

For this nail look, I used the following:

• China Glaze - Turned Up Turquoise
• China Glaze - Pink Voltage
• China Glaze - In The Lime Light
• China Glaze - Flying Dragon
• Konad plate M57 & black special polish

Definitely one I'd try again, using the same colours & also with different combinations.

MAC - Semi Precious Haul

Just a small haul from this for me, three of the Mineralize Skinfinishes & one shadow.

Semi Precious Pearl MSF

The base shade is a champagne shade whilst the middle is comprised of a mixture of white, plum & bronze. Quite a shimmery one, but it doesn't have glittery chunks. The main colour is a highlight shade, mix it with the the centre colours & it gives a light colour that can work as a shimmery, subtle blush on pale skin.

Semi Precious Pearl 

MAC - Bloggers' Obsession Shadows

Four shadows with this small collection. Since these are limited edition & selling like hotcakes, I had to try them out.

The four shades are Sparkle Neely, Sparkle!, a warm reddish brown with golden shimmer (Velvet), Hocus Pocus, a sooty grey with silver shimmer (Satin), Jealousy Wakes, an emerald green with teal & golden shimmer (Veluxe Pearl), and Parisian Skies, a greyed-blue shade (Satin).

Illamasqua - Skin Base Foundation

Illamasqua's newest foundation, Skin Base, is based upon Asian BB creams. Having tried a couple of BB creams, I decided to give Skin Base a whirl. Upon looking at the Illamasqua site, SB 06 seemed like the best match, as I have fairly neutral undertones. When I went to the counter & said that I used their Rich Liquid foundation in shade 133, the lovely counter staff agreed that SB 06 was the shade I should go for.

Sugarpill - Asylum Chromalust & Sweetheart Palette

My latest Sugarpill haul - Asylum Chromalust & the Sweetheart palette. My collection was missing Midori, Afterparty & Tako, so the Sweetheart palette seemed like the perfect solution, plus there's the amazing Dollipop in there too.

Asylum was also missing from my collection. I really love the Chromalusts & a pretty, sparkly red was just too good to pass up.

Asylum Chromalust

Not as vivid a red as the pressed shadow, Love +, Asylum is still a definite red, no pink tones here. I'm a huge fan of the Chromalusts & this one is no exception. Well pigmented with a soft, fluffy texture that makes it easy to apply & blend, it's bright used dry but both the colour & shimmer absolutely pop when applied with a damp brush.

Left - Asylum, used dry. Right - Asylum used wet.

Swatched straight on to bare skin, no primer used as a base. Asylum turns a slightly brighter red when used wet. Either way you choose to use it, it's a gorgeous colour.

Sugarpill - Buttercupcake Shadow & Buttercupcake look

I've been missing in action for a while, mainly due to recovering from the post-Download blues. I had an amazing time at Download festival, caught some great bands & hung out with a fantastic bunch of people. Getting my mojo back & catching up on blogging (or anything, really) has been somewhat of a hard slog. As far as the bands went, my favourite sets of the Download weekend were probably Twisted Sister & Rob Zombie.

Anyhoo, I had a look in mind that I wanted to do for an upcoming Cyndi Lauper gig. It involved yellow, orange & a touch of gold. I already have MAC's Chrome Yellow but I find it to be hard work to get it looking how I want. Since I love the other Sugarpill shadows I have, Buttercupcake seemed like the way forward.