Forward Helix

Hi lovelies! Sorry it has been so quiet here the past few days.. My friend Kerstin from Germany came through to Edinburgh for a little holiday and to stay with me - we've been out and about a lot which is why I haven't really had the time for blogging. I will be back on Monday with a lot of reviews, photos and some nail art though :) Above you can see the piercing I got on Friday, a new one to add to the collection.. Sore though! xx

Another reason to love 17

 

Hi lovelies! I hope you are all doing well :) I went to have a look in Boots on my lunch break yesterday, actually without the intention of buying anything. However, I noticed that 17 give you a free bag filled with three nail polishes and a nail file when you buy any two of their products. I also checked out the advantage card extra offer kiosk - and guess what voucher I found? A free 17 Hide&Chic Concealer when you buy any 17 product... Win! I absolutely love 17 for always having some offers on  - I love their products anyway but getting a few freebies makes shopping so much more fun!
The two products I bought were the solo eyeshadow in 'Rose Quartz' (£3.89) and Fast Finish nail polish in 'Pink Lemonade' (£2.99). Rose Quartz is a beautiful shimmery grey/pink shade (I am rubbish at describing colours!) and I cannot wait to use it for the first time. I haven't swatched it yet but 17 eyeshadows are usually very silky and pigmented, so hopefully I won't be disappointed with this one. I wanted to buy Pink Lemonade for ages and I finally got my hands on it yesterday - however I have to say that I am a little disappointed. It is very sheer and after three thick coats my nailline was still shining through. I couldn't be bothered doing a fourth coat and waiting hours for it to dry thorougly, which is why I decided to add some glitter which hides the nailline a little. It's such a beautiful shade but I can't really see myself using it a lot because it takes too many coats to be opaque...
Anyway, these are the free products I received: Hide&Chic Eye Brightening Concealer in 'Light Rose' (worth £4.99) and the Electric Disco Purse filled with Fast Finish Polish 'Nightscape' (£2.99), High Gloss Polish 'Risky Red' (£2.99), Nail Xtras Glitter Top Coat (£2.99?) and a nail file. The glitter topcoat is brilliant and as you know, I am a sucker for everything sparkly and glittery! I'm excited to try out the concealer as I just ran out of my under-eye-concealer (Artdeco Perfect Teint Concealer). Black and red polishes are always a safe option and you can't ever have enough nail polish anyway, right girls? :) xx

Cobalt Blue

Hi dolls! I have been looking for a new winter coat for quite some while now and fell in love with this lovely Navy Faux Fur Collar Wool Coat from Topshop. Unfortunately it's been out of stock on the website for a while and I wasn't able to find it on my local store either... I'll keep trying as I really, really need to have it in my life! To keep me warm in the meantime I bought this pretty bright blue short duffle coat from New Look. I spotted it a few weeks ago and really liked it, and when I went for a little browse through the shops on my lunch break last week I found out that New Look do a 50% off selected coats and jackets... Which means this coat was only £22! I obviously couldn't say no and I'll be happily wearing it until I can get my hands on Topshop's faux fur collar coat! :)

Black Glitter Nails

This has to be my favourite nail design ever! I have worn this look so many times, especially around Christmas time, and I can't just get enough of it... I absolutely love Essence's Nail Art Twins Glitter Topper - but I'm sure you already knew that considering how much I talk about this little holo beauty. I think it looks stunning layered over black polish and sparkles beautifully in the light, it's so hard to keep your eyes off it!
Another thing I love about this manicure is how easy and quick it is - paint your nails black, add the glitter topper at the tips and slightly pull down to create a nice gradient, finish it off with some fast drying topcoat and you're done.  I used p2 Colour Victim 'Eternal' for my base colour and Essence Better Than Gel Nails Top Sealer. This top coat is incredible and, in my opinion, just as good as Seche Vite - it dries super fast and gives the most beautiful shiny and glossy finish. I wore this manicure for 6 days when I was in Germany and experienced only minor tipwear. And check our the price tag: this Essence topcoat is yours for a mere 2.50€ (around £2). Love it!

H&M Mini Nail Polishes

Hello dolls! As promised, here are finally a few of the things I bought in Germany last week. Even though there are H&M stores everywhere in the UK, I still couldn't resist a to have a little look around in Germany. H&M has been one of my favourite shops for years, it's brilliant for cheap and joyful clothes (I never manage to leave without buying something), lovely accesoires and amazing jewellery. I have never given their make up range a lot of attention, but when I spotted this cute set of four mini polishes it went straight into my shopping basket! I am in love with 'Pear Icecream', a beautiful minty shade, and the bright pink 'Strawberry Lollipop'. I am not really into yellow but 'Summer Sunrise' is still nice to have as I'm sure it would come in handy for nail art, especially as it's super pigmented! 'Pale Violet' isn't that pale actually, but unfortunately not as pigmented as the other three polishes. It took three coats to be fully opaque but it's a lovely colour nonetheless. All in all, I am really pleased with these little polishes, the shades bring a little bit of summer back and for 3.95€ (around £3) you can't really go wrong. Thumbs up from me! But what's your verdict? Mona xx

Getting festive

Hi lovelies! I hope you are all doing well :) Since I got back from Germany a week ago I have been really busy with work, my uni application, buying christmas presents and so on - I didn't really have a lot of time to sit down and just relax for a bit. Sorry it's been a little quieter here in the last few days, but I have already taken a lot of photos and done some swatches so hopefully I'll get the time to actually write the texts soon too! I have got a few lovely products I bought in Germany to show you, I went a little crazy with buying nail polishes ;)

Anyway, this is what I looked like today then! A very very quick and easy look, some smudged grey eyeshadow, lots of mascara and my new blush from p2's Black Deluxe limited edition which is one of the things I bought in Germany last week. It's called 010 Shimmery Rose and the name says it all I think - a lovely rosy shade and fine shimmer, perfect combination right? Application is brilliant as the texture is super silky and it's nicely pigmented. However, it is a quite a light shade which is great for my very fair skin, but it might be more of a highlighter rather than a blush for darker skintones. These are the products I used:

Face: Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream #21, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder 'Transparent', p2 Nice and Naughty Blush '010 Shimmery Rose'
Eyes:  Sleek i-divine Bad Girl eyeshadow palette, Artdeco Eyeshadow #27, Essence Longlasting Eye Pencil 'Black Fever', Maxfactor False Lash Effect Fusion Mascara

 

Kev's parents got us a christmas tree today! I got really excited and couldn't wait to put it up.. Quickly convinced Kev to take me for a little trip to Ikea to get some baubles and christmas decorations - I chose silver and navy blue ones, and most importantly, fairy lights! :) Aww I'm feeling really festive now and the living room looks so much nicer too! I'm a bit sad as this will be the first time I'll be celebrating christmas away from my family, but at the same time I'm quite excited to have my first Scottish christmas here! :)
Have you put up your tree yet, and how are you decorating it? I could have bought a hundred different baubles and choosing colours was so difficult too.. I think I should just get another couple of trees haha! xx

Lights Camera Glitter

A couple of days ago I was really in the mood for purple, so I had a look through my nail polish drawer and spotted p2's Lust polish. It was released as part of the Into Lace limited edition a few months back and I mainly bought it because of its pretty packaging! The actual colour is beautiful too though, a lovely pastel purple with some ultra fine silver shimmer which, unfortunately, you can't see on the nails at all. Application was very smooth, great formula (like all p2 nail polishes) and it dried pretty quickly. I decided to jazz it up a little with NYC's Expert Last Nail Polish in 'Lights Camera Glitter', a clear polish full of fine silver glitter and some bigger blue and purple hex glitter, which I bought at Superdrug for around £2. There is lots of the tiny silver glitter but getting the bigger hex glitter on my nails was more of a challenge, and as you can see, I gave up after managing to get about five hex glitter bits on each nail haha! Apart from that, I quite like the way it turned out.. What do you think? Love, Mona x

PS: I hope you all enjoyed your first two chocolates from your advent calendars! I certainly did, makes getting up in the morning a tiny bit better! x