NOTD : OPI Color to Diner For

Hi everyone! I hope you had a Lovelly month cause now it is December! Xmas month yay !
Today I present you one of my favorite reds - this polish was love at first sight! It is OPI's Color to diner for from the Touring America Collection. Here it goes :

Is it just me or you just love it too? It is a true "Hollywood" red with pink and gold micro~shimmer which comes alive in bright light. Here I have used 2 coats whereas I should have gone for 3. This formula tends to leave some tiny blank spots and topcoat didn't even it out.
Also, I am so ashamed about my hands and cuticles which have chosen to dry like crazy this winter :( I hope the image doesn't insult you in any way! Anyway, more stuff on the way and till next time,
xoxo Dee!!

NOTD : Nubar Dark Wash Jeans

Hi everyone! Today another NOTD, a perfect dark blue Jelly ~ Creme, by Nubar the jeans collection. This collection is meant to be a dupe collection for Chanel Jeans. To be honest, I didn't buy the Chanel one (beacause all 3 polishes would cost me 70 Euros here in Greece), whereas the Nubar collection cost me 17 euros for all 3 :) Here is a quick swatch :

I will soon post the full Nubar collection cause it is just lovely :)
Till next time lovellies,
Dee

NOTD : Zoya Yara

I was waiting so long to get mu hands on this polish...And this is why :

This is an olive green with beautiful gold shimmer! the application is perfection and the colour was love at first sight! Excuse me for nail polish on the edges, I was in such a hurry but I couldn't resist showing this to you!
Yara is part of the mirrors collection from Zoya and I bought mine from E-bay (approximately 9Euros shipping included to Greece). What do you think Lovellies?

Sephora - Jacuzzi Bubbles

Hi all! I was at Sephora the other day to find Diving in Malaysia (The Peridot dupe extraordinaire - Swatch coming soon) and this is what caught my attention: Jacuzzi Bubbles a shimmery cornflower blue - grey which in the bottle says it dries matte. It has light blue, silver and pink microglitter. I would describe it as satin finish.
So here we have it:

I love how it looks in the bottle ! It dries a little bit greyer than I expected. The shimmery satin finish is just gorgeous! Reminds me of the Orly matte collection. I totally recommend this, despite it's small size !
Available on all Sephora stores.
xoxo,
Dee Lovelly

Fashion Polish Giveaway yay :D

 Hi Lovellies,
Today I am here with a super awesome giveaway by Fashion Polish, one of my go to blogs for swatches and collection previews! Follow the link below to participate (I sure did!)

http://www.fashionpolish.com/2011/11/one-million-pagesviews-blogaversary-one.html?m=0

The prizes? One of each form these amazing effects:

Hurry hurry let's try our luck! The giveaway is open internationally and the winners will be announced in 48 hours. Image is from Fashion Polish.
xoxo,
Dee Lovelly

OPI Rainbow Connection

Today I have a very special NOTD: Candy inspired manicure, similar to Deborah Lippman's Happy Birthday.
It's OPI rainbow connection  from the Muppets Collection :)
Here it goes:

This is 2 coats over Model's Own Utopia. Cute huh? You could try 4-5 coats and have a full glitter mani, but I prefer it layered. Overall, great polish though I wasn't crazy about the application. The glitter is hard to tranfer. What do you think?
xoxo Dee

All about skin ~ Part 1

So we have the cover of Vogue. You see this gorgeous, size 0,waist length haired, blonde model who on top of all this has glowing skin which looks like a beige PVC panel with the texture of silk.

Then we have you, {insert any name here}. You have redness, discolorations, acne, scars, freckles, zits, blackheads, puffy eyes, dry lips or worse: all of the above. No, you are not the ugliest person on earth, you are NORMAL. We sure cannot achieve the vogue look IRL, but hey, we always have photoshop.
What I mean to say is we shouldn't chase the unrealistic but I am more than happy to offer some useful tips to minimize your problems.
I am not gonna talk about acne cause I never had one and I only like to write about things I have experienced myself. And while I was blessed to have 1 zit per month maximum my whole life, I myself have issues with discolorations. I have gotten over my shame and grief in time, but I know that any of these can REALLY affect your confidence.
So, Lesson One.
DON'T touch your skin. And I don't mean "never touch it" but stop touching and scratching and leaning on your hands for no reason. Our hands are full of bacteria and zits are caused mostly by -well- bacteria.

My OCD makes me wash my hands approximately 7 times while doing my makeup. Well, that may be an exaggeration but never blend and apply products on your face with unwashed, unsterilized hands. The same applies to your brushes, wash them regularly with a brush shampoo to keep them clean. I use the MAC one or sometimes the e.l.f studio one, it's a nice cheap alternative for like 4 Euros.

 

Lesson two. NEVER sleep with your makeup on. Even when I return home at 7 am, even if I am so drunk I can't walk, I always remove my makeup. While you are sleeping your skin actually rejuvenates and restores it's balance. You don't want to ruin this process by burying it under unnatural products. Try layering a good night creme or moisturizing mask with some aromatic essential oils (which also help you relax) instead. My favorite skin care brand is Darphin but I am going to dedicate a whole post to them later on cause these products are SO cool.

And this brings us to a tip known for centuries.. Beauty Sleep. Believe it or not, plenty of rest and at least 8-9 hours of sleep at night make a HUGE difference to your skin (as well as to your whole body). Take it from me, skipping proper sleeping hours means you sacrifice healthy skin, fresh, renewed skin.

I could make this post 1500 pages long so I gotta stop. Part 2 with more tips coming soon!

Till next time,

xoxo Dee

NOTD: Essie School of Hard Rocks

It's not an airplane..It's not a bird...It's a Post!! And finally a Nail of the Day :) I received my 3 first essies from the new collection (I think it's called Cocktail Bling or something) and here is my personal fave, ladies and gentlemen, School of Hard Rocks:

So shiny my precious..! Actually what looks like streaks in the 2nd picture is the reflection of my curtains. I know, photo fail. School of Hard rocks is a dusty~muted kinda teal and I am happy I was able to photograph it correctly (with the exception of the curtains on my nails). I love teal. and I have been searching one for so long :)
Application was great,really flowing and opaque, and what you see is two coats. No need for third, the wear I havein my thumb is purely accidental.
In reference to the name, combine your polished claws with a huge rock (preferably real diamondz :3 ) and there you have it. Fall polish 101.
You can find Essie in http://www.essienail.gr/ for 12,50 euros.
Till next time lovellies,
Dee 

Busy month..

Sorry for the silence guys, these days I've been actually really busy! I promise I am coming back these days with:
Fall fashion & back to school ideas :)
Essie fall and winter 2012 swatches :D
Nfu-oh swatches ( my first nfu-ohs on the way! )
My growing MAC collection looks & swatches!

Any look requests, now it's the time to ask!
Till next time,
xoxo Dee

Review : e.l.f lipstick

E.l.f main range lipsticks only cost 1,5 pound and I have to say, they are some my favorite products this year!
Here are some swatches to take a look at first:

From Left to Right : Seductive , Fantasy , Gypsy, Voodoo
The colours are all well pigmented and on the lips they have a smooth, rather matte application.

When I was buying them I was rather sceptical. Will a 1,5 pound lipstick really last more than 10 minutes?
Well they all do last for a long time (even after lunch and coffee-my ultimate test drive) and keep my lips hydrated at the same time.
The packaging is neat and practical, as you can see the actual color of the lipstick without taking the cap off. It looks like this:

 

It contains 3,5 grams of actual product which is good quantity for it's price.

Overall, value for money is excellent! I'm planning on buying all available shades! What about you :) ?
Till next time,
Dee

China Glaze Cha Cha Cha

It was about time I sported a nice green! This is from the summer 2011 china glaze collection and it is a lovely green shimmer :

Doesn't it resemble a precious stone ? :) I love the gold shimmer in it and the application was very smooth. This is 2 coats with top coat. 

After this manicure I think I'm gonna wear more fall-esque colours. I'm kinda sick of the brights at the moment. What do you think of cha cha cha? Till next time,

Dee

Fall Loves Nails

I am so excited about fall collections! Dark , murky, rich colors and at last no more corals! It's not that I don't like corals and vibrant pinks but it's the only thing I've seen the whole summer! Come on guys, you can do better than this! Anyway, to the point. This is the fall Essie collection for 2011 which seems rather intriguing!



 
Case Study - An on trend dusty camel








Glamour purse - An Almond taupe








Lady Like - Mauvish pink








Power Clutch - Grey ~ Green







Carry on - A warm Burgundy

Very Structured - A beautiful Sienna!





What do you think? I'll definately be buying very structured and case study! Somehow I feel I miss colors like that in my collection! Till next time,
Dee

Glitter Thursday with OPI!

OPI Shimmer and Simmer is a beautiful multi coloured glitter! This is 2 coats over a navy blue base from Sephora. I like this one better layered as even with 3 coats you can still see some gaps on its own . What I love about Glitters is that they won't chip even after 5 days! They won't come off as well, even with vast amounts of acetone , but the bling is worth it :)

Till next time,

Dee

NOTD : Essie Borrowed & Blue

Hi Lovellies!
This time I have my favorite shade from the Essie Wedding Collection! Borrowed & Blue!

I really love this shade now that I'm tanned :) It's a chalky - conflower blue colour. I was expecting it to have a tricky application, but after 2 coats it is nice & smooth, and I love it's consistency!
You can buy your essies in Greece from essienail.gr for 12,5 Euros.

NOTD : OPI Zom-body to Love

Hi Lovellies!
Long time no see huh? I'm back from vacation and meanwhile I received my new polishes! First is Zom-body to love from OPI's Halloween Collection 2011, and it is a Glow in the dark polish! Here it goes:
In sunlight:

This is 3 coats. The polish itself is very sheer and when you look in the bottle as well as on your nails, you can see the green micro particles in a clear base. Right now my hands are pretty tan, after 60 hours on direct sun exposure in Greece, but I wouldn't mind the sheerness in pale skin. I guess. Now for the fun part, In the dark :

I had to adjust this like crazy so you can see in this picture what I can see in real life, and that is pretty much accurate. It has the glow of these "glow in the dark stars and planets" I used to put on my ceiling as a child. It will not light up a room for sure, but it is visible .

As for layering now, I layer it with 3 green polishes, using it as a top coat, but I found the glow was no longer detectable.

I also used glitters on top of it to make it more interesting in light. I found that with sparse glitters (like China Glaze Party Hearty) it did continue to glow, just not that much (it was hardly visible in a picture).

 So is it worth buying? I think that for a halloween party or a costume ball it would flatter a zombie look. Can also be used under blacklight I guess (but I didn't have one :P) where the effect would probably be more visible.

Nail Trends Alert!

Long time no post - been sooo busy studying-working-running errands! So, tomorrow I am leaving for Paris in a trendhunting journey! Here's a post to keep you busy manicuring till tuesday :)

The Nudes And the Peaches

 To achieve the coveted "Mannequin Hands" nudes and peachy-pinkish tones are the way to go!

ASO: Golden Awards, Photo by Real Style Network.
Short Nude nails were the choice of many and we can see why, Minor upkeep, match with everything and make your nails look naturally beautiful.

Step Right Up by OPI - Around 14,5 Euros
Wonderful pinkish pink

Chanel Peche nacree - Around 18 Euros
Pearly Peach

The Foils

They are HOT, HOT right now and you can find them everywhere on the red carpet.

Available at salons and also on the internet, I got mine from www.nailtips.gr.
















The Yellows
I am telling you, yellow ASO many stars this month (Katy Perry) is gonna be a must this Spring-summer.

Coming Soon: Chanel Mimosa

China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
Pretty extra bright yellow, like REAL yellow.

Wardrobe Talk

Urban Chic

This look summarizes my obsessions for spring 2011: Skinny Colourful jeans, Prints and patterns everywhere, crazy block heels!
The mix of different styles and fits, the 70's touch and the retro glasses make a fashion forward statement and are all very wearable.
Everything but the bag is from Topshop.The bag is from Jessica Simpson's Collection .
Approximate cost of this look: 230 Euros.

What do you think of this look?

I'm back!! + Some hair talk

Sorry I've been away for a while, truth is I was feeling really tired these past few days so I didn't manage to edit any material I wanted to post.. Anyway, I hope next week I'll finally post some reviews I have been doing and also post some makeup tutorials. ( I have convinced two of my beautiful friends to participate!)

Having said all that, I wanted to stress an important issue - Hair. Lately it has been sooo cold and rainy here and I really had to take measures to save my hair, which I have been patiently growing for a year now, since my really short jaw-length bob cut which was proven necessary to take away all the dye damage I had done. From natural medium to dark blonde in just 3 years I had orange, pink, plum, chestnut brown, platinum blonde, purple brown and finally light brown - that was when I decided to cut it all off and grow my natural colour from scratch. Now, the previous light brown at the ends ha turned to light blonde and I finally have my exact natural colour with my natural highlights and all :)Plus, it is unbelievable how much healthier my hair is now - still not perfect though.

What I want to say is that people like me, who are obviously no hair experts and also refuse to get professional help with colour and maintainance should better leave the dyes alone.

Learn from my experience and don't experiment with different and wild colours in a short period of time and most of all don't do it on your own. A nice alternative to dyes and highlights is clip-in extensions in cute colours. I recently bought some baby pink extensions which add a little bit of colour without gradually destroying your hair shaft.

That was all for now, I am going to get a nice little 1cm trim from my mother now to keep these split ends away :) As for the colour journey I'm going to post some pictures soon!

Till then,
Dee

DIY: Design your own shoes

I've always had lots of ideas on designing shoes but it is hard to get all that special equipment and materials. If you'd like to wear your own designs, here is this site I discovered: http://www.shoesofprey.com/

These designs are actually drawn by YOU! You first choose the shoe's style:
Gladiator, Ankle Boot, Round toe, Platform, Wedge, Pointed toe or Ballet Flat.
Then in a canvas like application, you add the desired material (Leather, Suede, Fish scales, silk and more) in the various places of the shoe. Choose any decorations and heel height and your shoes are ready! Then you can order them. Prices are rather high, but when do you get the chance to wear your own shoes?

These pictures on the side are actually finished products displayed in the site's gallery. The gallery is the best place to get an idea of what your design will look like in real life.

 

Here is the official Shoes of Prey video tutorial to get you started. Enjoy!

Season Alert: Capes

Love 'em or hate 'em capes are becoming a huge trend lately, and I'm glad about it. I've always loved them and now it's time to show them and not receive weird comments :) I got these babies lately. Love them?

ASOS Vintage Cape: Obviously, a vintage twist on a very nice cape. 

Goes with everything, for me works best with blue jeans and knee high winter boots.

At 100 euro currently.

River Island Cape at ASOS: A more modern version of a beautiful cape.

Also easy to mix and match and I love to wear it with skirts and mini dresses with military ankle boots. Best value for money, at 25 euros.

ASOS Fantasy Fur Cape: My personal Fave, and a more formal cape. Very warm and cute, at 44 euros i find it a must have accesory! Wear it over your leather jacket, favorite sweater or even maxi dress and you add a touch of eccentricity in your style!

Pictures are taken from asos.com

Hope you enjoy !

Dee