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Nails, News

Free Nails Inc. polishes with Glamour

November 11, 2014
Free Nails Inc with Glamour

Free Nails Inc with Glamour

Free Nails Inc with glamour magazine

 

This month Glamour are really spoiling us with four very autumnal polishes from Nails Inc – Tate, Hanover Square, Marylebone Mews and Wigmore Street.  They are all absolutely gorgeous shades and worth £11 each, so considering the magazine is only £2.00 you’re getting £44.00 of nail polishes for £8 (which is far too much of a bargain for anyone to resist I’m sure!)

All four were instant must-haves for me, but I think the very vampy purple hues of Wigmore Street have stolen my heart and pride of place on my nails for the foreseeable future!

Also included is a 20% off H&M voucher and a Body Shop “Little card of Christmas wishes” worth between £3 and £1000!

Usually I find I have to search around a bit to complete a magazine freebie collection, but I’ve seen all four shades in plenty of shops this time around so if you’re after all four head out now whilst they are plentiful!

Totally hellbent for Glamour filling up at least half of my Nails Inc collection over the past few years!

– Gem

Cosmetics Storage, Nails

DIY Nail Varnish Rack Tutorial

July 8, 2014

 

final

Since I’ve started blogging, my Nail Varnish collection has gotten out of hand. It was so bad, that trying to choose a shade from my precariously placed free formed Nail Varnish pyramid was like playing a game of Jenga. Because of this I tended to go for a few staple colours to avoid setting off the Varnish grenade atop my bedroom drawers. I had a pitiful acrylic Nail Varnish rack which could hold around 20 bottles but this was not enough and the only thing that came close to what I wanted was a large wall mountable acrylic shelf that at over £50 I really couldn’t justify spending that kind of money.

Alas a few weeks ago on a Saturday evening, my partner Brains and I were in bed and I told him that I wanted to make a nail varnish rack. He did his usual “Oh right, Okay” and gave me a smile and off to sleep we went. On the Sunday morning he called to me and asked if I was ready, not knowing what I should be ready for I asked him, so when he told me we were off to Wickes to buy some supplies for my Nail Varnish rack I squealed with delight.

The supplies cost around £20, which included the wood, glue and paint – things you may already have lying around. Each shelf holds approximately 21 full size bottles depending on the shape, so should hold a minimum of 168 bottles with 8 shelves.

Now although I will make reference to “we” as in Brains and I – I’ll be the first to admit that he did approximately 98% of the work. I helped to hold things in place, painted it and filled it with Nail Varnish. So here’s how to make your own DIY Nail Varnish Rack:

Things you will need:

  • Dry Weather or space to work
  • Wood for shelves – we used Sawn Wood – 22mm x 47mm
  • Wood for the front of each shelf – we used Sawn Wood 19mm x 32mm
  • Hardboard (enough to cover the back of the shelf)
  • Wood Glue
  • Nails (4 for each shelf and enough for the back)
  • Saw
  • Hammer
  • Sandpaper
  • Tape Measure/Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Right angle tool/Spirit level

DIY-rack-one

1. The first thing you need to do is cut your wood to size. I wanted 8 shelves, so we cut 9 pieces of wood which were 29 inches in length. Once you’ve cut your shelves, you need to measure and cut two pieces of wood for the sides. We took the tallest Nail Varnish bottles I had as a guide for spacing each shelf out (the gap between them is around 3.7 inches) and our two side panels measured 40 inches.

2. Now you have all your pieces, you want to start assembling the rack. Make sure you measure the distance between each shelf and mark your side panels before you begin – Brains marked this in pencil on both of the side pieces as a rough guide. Begin by gluing the first side piece to your first shelf – this will become either the top or bottom and you should use a spirit level or a right angled tool to help you out here (Brains was very inventive and used an old motorcycle number plate). To help the rack become sturdier, 2 nails were hammered through the side piece to secure the shelf. Attach the remaining shelves to the first side part, measuring carefully. Once you’ve attached them all, you can do it all again on the other side and attach the second side piece.

3. Leave the rack to dry fully before moving onto the next stage.

4. Whilst the wood glue is drying, measure a piece (or two on our case) of hardboard and cut to size to fit the back of the rack. In our case it was 30.7 inches by 40 inches.

DIY-rack-two

5.  Attach this with some glue and secure with small nails. We picked up some hardboard that had a white finish to it, so make sure this is facing forwards if you intend on doing the same.

6. Next you need to cut to size the wood you will be using the front of each shelf. This is optional, but I think it gives a nice finish to it. You will need to cut one for each shelf and it needs to be as wide as the rack (Our’s measured 30.7 inches). Attach these with wood glue – you can use a few tac’s to secure them in place, but ours held well enough without.

7. Now it’s assembled you can sand any rough edges and it’s ready for painting – although make sure you choose a paint specifically for wood. I chose a white with an eggshell finish, which gave a slight matte finish rather than a gloss – but you could go for a sheen or even wood stain, it’s completely up to you. This only needed 2 coats, but it really depends on how porous the wood is, so it’s best to pick up more rather than less paint.

8. Once it’s dry, fill it with all your lovely varnishes!

I’m actually really pleased with how this looks, although Brains is already coming up with plans on how he can improve this for the “Nail Varnish Rack Mark 2” of which there will be more and better pictures! Unfortunately the weather was so unpredictable that we had to keep running in and out of the house with bits of wood and a half finished rack due to the infamous British Jekyll & Hyde weather, so all of my perfect picture plans to carefully document each and every stage was a massive failure. Thankfully when I was painting it, the weather stayed marginally dry until the final coat and it ended up finishing off the drying process in the conservatory on an old towel whilst the heaven’s opened.

Of the salvageable pictures in between transporting everything in and out the house, at least 50% of them were photo-bombed by CJ our pooch, so here are some of my choice cuts for your own amusement:

cjs-photobomb moments

Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed this and it’s been somewhat informative (please do ask any questions in the comments below if you are unclear about anything!). The possibilities really are endless with this and you can make it as big or small as you like. If you’ve made one similar, or indeed we’ve inspired you to make one through this post, please send us links to your pictures below!

Totally hellbent for being able to see all my Nail Varnish’s

-Pants

 

 

Nails

Bourjois Manucure Toppings in Coral Bikini, Lilac Sand & Maliblue

June 19, 2014
Bourjois Manucure Toppings

Bourjois Manucure Toppings

As with all nail trends I was inevitably late to this party but I seem to have suddenly acquired quite a collection of nail caviar sets, and this the latest was a competition win from the lovely Pretty for Pence!

The trio contains three shades; Coral Bikini, a mix of  red silver and gold, Lilac Sand in purple and silver and Maliblue, which is made up of blue silver and black. I’ve tried quite a few different caviar manis recently and I have to say I can see no difference between the original Ciate (£18 a set) and the Primark (I paid £1 for mine!) set, nor indeed this Bourjois  offering somewhere in the middle at £6.99 each.

To apply you simply pour the tiny beads over the top of wet nail varnish and leave to set. None of them survive longer than a day or two, but they do give an amazing 3D effect whilst it lasts!

Bourjois Manucure Toppings

My favourite of the three is (unsurprisingly) Maliblue, but as I’m so into this look at the moment I think all three will find plenty of wear on my nails. If you’re like me and enjoy changing your manicure every few days anyway then it’s no extra bother to take it off and start again once the balls start going AWOL. If you are after something that will last you a whole week then caviar nails are definitely not for you!

The only thing I don’t really like about the Bourjois Manucure Toppings is that they don’t come with a funnel, which is pretty essential if you don’t want to throw away the inevitable spillage that occurs when you pour the beads onto your nails. Luckily I have a few from my other sets, but if you don’t have one it’s quite tricky to try and pour the beads back in even if you do collect them in a piece of folded paper. My advice would be to pop to Primark and grab one of their sets for £1 just for the funnel!

Overall I am quite smitten with this summery trio, so big thanks to lady luck and Katie from Pretty for Pence for bringing them into my life!

£6.99 each from Boots.com

Totally hellbent for loving a freebie!

– Gem

Beauty Boxes, Make-up, Nails, Skincare, Travel

Glossybox June 2014 Review

June 16, 2014

glossybox-june-14

glossybox-june-14-2

This is the last of my beauty boxes to arrive this month, and Gem and I have been waiting on tenterhooks after a few spoilers were going around, but now the wait is over and I can finally see what is in my Glossybox!

The first thing I noticed, is that mine was prepared a little more shoddily than the usually impeccable presentation. My Glossybox (GB)  sticker looked as though it had already been peeled off, and everything was just kind of “thrown in”. I know this has absolutely nothing to do with the contents, but one of the reasons I love GB so much, is down to the presentation and packaging.

That aside, let’s move onto the contents:

glossybox-june-14-nailgirls

nailgirls – 3in1 base/topcoat & nail strengthener | Full Size Product | £13.50

I received a nailgirls in one of my boxes last month, unfortunately it was the most disgusting barbie pink that I am likely never to wear. The formula was amazing though which was a shame, so I’m pretty glad I’ve received another, this time more multi-functional product from them. I am running out of base coat (and at the rate I paint my nails it’s no wonder), so I was gearing up to look around and buy a new one. No need now though. Having base and top coat in one is going to be especially great for when I go away, knowing that I don’t have to fill my bag with lots of varnish. Because when you are on a 6 hour boat ride to a festival, you need to occupy yourself!

glossybox-june-14-teeez

Teeez Trend Cosmetics – Beautiful Flat Stiff Brush | One Size | €19

This brush looked absolutely amazing, but from the moment I tipped the tip out of the box, my heart sank. There it was, the distinct sand coloured bristle that generally means some form of animal hair. I therefore narrowed my eyes and replaced this brush back into it’s box never to be used on my skin. Although my first impressions of the brush were that it looked fab, on closer inspection it is a mere spec on the horizon compared to it’s cruelty free counter parts and the bristles were quite stiff and and rough. I know it’s always difficult to know for sure if a brand is cruelty free, but for a company that thinks it’s Okay to use animal in their brushes, I don’t hold out any hope for the rest of their products. Glossybox take note.

glossybox-june-14-rituals

Rituals … – QI Gong anti-perspirant spray | 50ml | £3.50 for 50ml

Moving onto a product that I am happy to use, Rituals QI Gong antiperspirant spray. A company who appear to be fairly transparent about their cruelty free products and state categorically that they do not test on animals, nor do they allow third parties to. Although they admit to using beeswax and lanolin (wool fat) I can live with these, although I know there a lot of Vegan’s out there who would disagree. Ever since I procured one a Rituals body wash, I’ve relished the chance to try more of their products. This is a perfect size for taking to festivals (of which my first is going to be a week on Thursday!!), it smells absolutely gorgeous – infused with “white lotus and Yi Yi Ren” it’s a light and subtle summery scent, with a slight musky undertone to it. This is definitely going to be packed and I can’t wait to use it.

glossybox-june-14-qv

QV Skincare – QV Skin Lotion | 15ml | £6.06 for 250ml

Really? Really Glossybox? Really? For anyone that is unfamiliar with QV as a brand, they are heavily regarded as one of the cheaper go to companies for Doctors when writing prescriptions for Eczema and dry skin conditions. It’s issued by a pharmaceutical company named “Ego Pharmaceuticals” so sticking with what seems to be today’s theme of cruelty free, the chances of this being animal friendly are probably very slim (thanks to my nursing knowledge of pharmaceutical companies *boo hiss*), I note that they seemingly appear to avoid any questions asked about whether the product is Vegan or Vegetarian through skipping through their website earlier. I have in fact tried QV Lotion before, due to my very dry and sensitive skin and it really didn’t help at all not to mention my sheer reluctance to use a lot of products issues by my Doctor. Anyway, as much as my skin is a pain in the backside at times I definitely prefer organic, natural products. I suppose it’s the thought that counts GB, and I should really presume that you were sending my this because you actually took note of my beauty profile. Although next time I want to test out pharmaceutical lotions and potions, I’ll stop by the Docs.

glossybox-june-14-susan

So Susan Cosmetics – Universal Blush | Full Size Z £18

And a nice end to half and half box. A lovely “cruelty free” (alleged) blush. I do love my blush – not quite as much as Gem, but this is a welcome product to my collection. The colour is a gorgeous shimmery pink/peach and the pigment is perfect. A quick swatch and I’m very pleased and excited to test this out. The packaging is adorable and if that wasn’t enough, this blush supposedly reduces redness and offers UV protection – you know how much we thrive off UV protection here at “Gem and Pants land of pale”. I’ll definitely be looking out for more products from So Susan Cosmetics, given this one is such a hit. My one criticism is the lack of shade/name, but I can live with it.

Overall, 3 out of 5 isn’t bad. That’s over half of the products that I’ve enjoyed right? If I’m going to be honest, this month’s box has put me in a bit of grump. Although there are three fantastic products that I’m really pleased with, the QV lotion and brush have really irritated me. I am definitely siding with Birchbox at the moment who are offering a lot more high end brands and more for your money rather than Glossybox who seem to be offering me products I can either pick up from Superdrug or from the local Doctor. I am really torn as to whether I want to keep my subscription at the moment but perhaps it’s time too move on to better and more animal friendly pastures?

Have you had this month’s Glossybox? What were your thoughts?

If you are wanting to try Glossybox out, you can do so for £10 a month + £3.25 p&p here.

Totally hellbent for not smothering my face in goat hair

-Pants

Hauls, Make-up, Nails

Elf Clearance Haul Part 2

June 7, 2014

elf-haul-1
elf-haul-more

 

It happened again – well actually no, this happened pre “accidental shopping haul” which is why I felt so guilty about going shopping, knowing that I had already ordered a box of goodies from elf. For those that didn’t know, one of their latest deals was a free “Mystery Collection” (worth £15) when you spent £20 in the clearance section, as well as free p&p. What actually happened, is Gemma asked me whether or not she should go ahead with her elf order (you can check out her haul here), I asked her what she had put in her basket and instead of being the good friend and telling her she didn’t need any more blusher, before I could begin typing my supportive message to her over Skype, I had already filled my elf basket and purchased my order.

Bad Pants … very bad Pants. So what exactly did I order? How many of these did I need? (Absolutely none of them … at all!!!!)

 Mysterious Nail Polish Set – £2.25

Beach Party Nail Polish Set – £2.25

Studio Cream Blush in “Flirt” – £3.25

Studio Cream Blush in “Tease” – £3.25

Primer Eyeshadow in “Sexy Silver” – £2.50

Tinted Moisturiser in “Porcelain” – £2.25

Mineral Lipstick in “Ripe Rose” – £2.00

Mineral Lipstick in “Cool Coral” – £2.00

Mineral Lipstick in “Cheerful Cherry” – £2.00

 

elf-mysterygift

Mystery Collection in “Movie Star” – £15.00

Because I spent £20 in the clearance section, I could choose a “Mystery Collection” for free, worth £15. There were three to choose from; Movie Star, Diva and Night Owl, but after seeing a glimmer of red in the preview, I hoped for the best and bet on Movie Star. Boy am I pleased with my decision, these products all look absolutely perfect and luckily are all things that I usually wear.

Included in the “Movie Star Mystery Collection” were:

Flirty Lash Collection – This includes 2 eyelash sets, an adhesive glue and a pair of tweezers for easy application.

Waterproof Eyeliner Crayon in “Gunmetal”

Mineral Eye Brightener – ( I think in layman’s terms, this is pretty much just a highlight/eye-shadow base)

Studio Lip Gloss Stick in “Movie Star”

Look out for some full reviews of some of these products very soon. Despite me not needing anything I bought, I’m pretty excited at being able to play with some of these, especially in time for festival season. If you fancy a little elf streak, check out their website at www.eyeslipsface.co.uk and see what offers they have to lure you into a purchase!

Totally hellbent for free gifts that come in my colour

-Pants

Nails

ETOS Feather Effect Nail Polish in Blue Bird and Purple Bird

June 4, 2014
ETOS Feather Nail Polish Purple Bird Blue Bird

ETOS Feather Nail Polish Purple Bird Blue Bird

If you read a lot of our posts you will no doubt know that I have a long distance relationship with a delectable Dutch man, which means I often just pop over to the continent (Sounds very swish and glamorous when I put it like that!) for mini breaks to see him. Of course I take a keen interest in Holland’s cosmetics, and of the few I’ve actually tried this brand is my favourite.

Etos  is the Dutch the equivalent of Boots  or Superdrug, selling drugstore to mid-range cosmetics  on every other street corner. I’ve got quite a few different colours and finishes from their range and they all cost a bargainous  €2.00 –  €3.50. I picked up Blue Bird  and Purple Bird  on special offer so got both for  €3.00. 

I’m really into my glittery nails but I’m trying to ease off the all-over-in-your-face-sparkle-argh-you’re-burning-my-eyes-with-your-disco-ball-nails, so I’ve been flittering around with a couple of Barry M  confetti polishes and decided I could definitely add to my “subtle glitter” nail collection.

Blue Bird  and Purple Bird  are both clear polishes with rectangle slithers of glitter. The swatches below are only one coat, so I theorize that each pot will last approximately forever…

 

ETOS Feather Nail Polish Purple Bird Blue Bird

 

The drying time was very quick,and the bonus with such glittery topcoats is that you (usually…hopefully!) get a few extra days out of your manicure because the clear polish adds a layer of protection over the colour beneath.

I got five days out of this stuff on my nails, not bad for a budget own-brand!

Unfortunately Etos polishes aren’t available in the UK, but everyone knows someone off on a weekend trip to Amsterdam, right?

Volledig hel gebogen voor mijn nederlands pools collectie (en de nederlandse vriendje is niet slecht;))

– Gem

 

Candles, Clothing and Fashion, Make-up, Nails, Skincare

Accidental May Haul

May 29, 2014

may-haul

Sometimes you just want to shop. It’s an urge that truly can not be ignored, especially if Gem and I are left alone, unsupervised! This afternoon was definitely one of those times and we ended up going on a completely unplanned spree.

may-haul-2

No budget style shop would be complete without a trip to Primark and even though I didn’t -need- anything at all, I still ended up with a bag full of stuff. I absolutely adore giraffes and I squeeled with delight when I found the giraffe print dress and the tote bag. Even though I usually buy matching underwear from La Senza or Ann Summers, I often pick up some cheap briefs when I can for the gym or lounging around, because lets face it, no one wants to spend 30 minutes on a treadmill in lacy briefs. I really couldn’t resist the pack of four Brazilian style briefs which came in red animal print, red lipsticks, red hearts and navy polka dots and the 5 pairs of animal print “shoe liners” or better know to me as … socks I can wear at the gym with my trainers.

Giraffe Dress – £5 – Primark

Giraffe tote bag – £1.50 – Primark

Pack of 4 brazilian briefs – £4.50 – Primark

Animal print shoe liners – £2.50 – Primark

may-haul-3

And now the stuff that I really really didn’t need. Another candle to add to my collection from Primark in “red berries & orchid” a beautiful berry candle in a gorgeous purple tin, surely this was meant for my dressing table?

A trip to boots ended up in me picking the Rimmel Scandel Eyes gel eyeliner up, which you can read Gem’s review about here, and also NO7’s Beautiful Skin Day Cream with spf15. This was my primary reason for going into Boots as I had a £5 off No7 skincare voucher and really needed some day moisturiser which had spf in. This was for dry to very dry skin and all the reviews I’ve read about this cream were pretty good, so I’m excited to give it a try when I run out of my current moisturiser.

Despite my worries of going to Superdrug and buying half the store, I was actually very sensible, as it was 3 for 2 on most of their makeup, I did pick up an MUA lip-liner in “Red Drama”, MUA lipstick in “Shade 3” and another MUA power pout in “Crazy in Love” (you can see my review of the MUA power pout in “Runaway” here). I also picked up some Garnier Micellar water, which I really did need and some more deodorant which I’m almost out of.

Lastly, we fell into Poundland where I stupidly decided that I had to have a Revlon nail varnish in “Runway Pearl”, two W7 “rock and roll” eye-shadows in “sage” and “envy”, some zebra pens (I already have a vast collection of these exact pens in my desk drawer!) and some beautiful blue paper, a nice addition to my craft room.

Purple tin candle – £3.50 – Primark

Rimmel Scandel Eyes Gel Eyeliner – 4.99 – Boots (usually £6.99 and also £6.99 in Superdrug)

No 7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream – £12.50 – Boots (only £7.50 with my £5 off voucher)

Nivea deodorant – £2.29 – Superdrug (2 for £3)

MUA Power Pout – £3 – Superdrug

MUA Lip Liner – £1 – Superdrug

MUA Lipstick – £1 – Superdrug (3 for 2 – £4 in total)

Revlon Nail Varnish – £1 – Poundland

Decorative paper – £1 – Poundland

W7 rock and roll eyeshadow – £1 each – Poundland

Zebra animal print pens – £1 – Poundland

I absolutely blame our shop on Lauren over at Lauren Amy Blogs, since I was up late last night reading some of her “Superdrug haul” posts and I had an overwhelming urge to go out and buy things. Despite both Gem and I having a no spending month *cough*, together we are a force that is unstoppable – thankfully we did manage to resist the £5 blow up chairs in Ann Summers complete with built in penis’ – something we thought would be absolutely hilarious to take to our upcoming festivals.

This is definitely my last haul for a while, but if you’ve had a recent haul, please post us your links in the comments below so instead of spending our money we can live precariously through you and your blog posts :o).

Totally hellbent for having an uncontrollable addiction that I thankfully share with my bested friend in the whole world

-Pants

 

 

Lifestyle, Make-up, Nails

Would You Rather? Beauty Edition Tag

May 27, 2014

would-you-rather-post

We were tagged by the lovely Jaq at Lazy Days Beauty, check out her post here. We really like these tag posts as it’s a chance to get lots of other bloggers involved and also discover some great new reads!

 

Would you rather lose all of your mascaras, eyeliners, lipsticks, and lip glosses or lose all of your palettes and eye shadows? 

Pants: I would definitely sacrifice my palettes and eye shadows, a little bit of liner, mascara and lippy can go a long long way! Also, I’ve always thought I look a little odd when I just have eye-shadow on, before I’ve finished my face. That’s not to say I wouldn’t miss all of my treasures!

Gem: I’d have to sacrifice my mascara, eyeliner and lipstick. I could replace all of them for far less than I could if I lost my palettes! 

 

Would you rather chop all of your hair off or never be able to cut it again?

Pants: I love my hair so much, I would rather never be able to cut it than ever considering chopping it all off.

Gem: Beauty confession: I’ve not had a haircut since 2008, pretty sure I could last forever without another one.  

 

Would you rather have coral cheek or pink cheek? 

Pants: I’m not sure pink cheeks would go wonderfully with my perfection and since I have such a soft spot for Coral, that’s the choice I would make!

Gem: I like both, but I probably go for coral more often than pink.

 

If you had $1000 to spend, would you rather buy clothes or make up? 

Pants: Ugh, I don’t know! I mean I could buy a lot of amazing stage wear and maybe a corset or two for £500 but knowing me I would probably spend it all on make-up.

Gem: I definitely don’t need any more make up (and if I keep telling myself that I might  believe it!) so I’d go for a Primark Haul, a big pile of band t-shirts and a corset or two!

 

Would you rather apply lipstick as eyeliner, or eyeliner as lipstick?

Pants: Most of my eyeliners are black, grey, green or blue so I’d probably go for the lipstick as eyeliner – I have enough neutral lipsticks to make work and I’ve long given up my black lipstick wearing goth days.

Gem: Urgh, no I couldn’t put lipstick on my eyes, all I can think about is it being sticky and greasy! I’ve got a few eyeliners I could probably pull off on lips though.

 

Would you rather only shop at MAC or Sephora?

Pants: Sephora isn’t for us in the UK at the moment, however if it was, I’d definitely pick this over MAC, at least I’d have more options.

Gem: Definitely Sephora, I could never stick to only one brand no matter how good they are. 

 

Would you rather only use one eye-shadow colour or one lip colour for the rest of your life? 

Pants: Definitely one lip colour. Despite my vast collection of lipsticks, I generally only ever wear red and I much prefer mixing my eyes up a bit with a flash of colour.

Gem: I could get through the rest of my life with one neutral eyeshadow if it meant I could change up my lipstick. I’d just have to cheat and share with Pants for gig days!

 

Would you rather wear winter clothes in summer or summer clothes in winter?

Pants: Probably Summer clothes in Winter, being British, my Summer “collection” is mostly the same as my Winter “collection” albeit a few maxi-dresses. Besides, the thought of wearing Winter clothing during our journey to the scorching holy Wacken lands each year makes me feel a bit sick.

Gem: Haha, my first thought was of us wearing big woolly jumpers at Wacken and feeling a bit sick! Oooh I’d definitely have to go for summer clothes in winter, I hate being too hot but I can always go get a blanket if I’m too cold. 

 

Would you rather have dark nails or bright nails all year round?

Pants: Well, I’m guessing “bright” could incorporate pillar-box red or a nice coral? So yeah, I’ll go for brights.

Gem: I could live with black nails every day for the rest of my life to be honest. 

 

Would you rather give up your favourite lip colour or favourite eye product?

Pants :I think my favourite lip colour. Assuming that this means my favourite ‘lipstick’ and not a colour in general. I think I’m definitely too attached to some of my favourite eye products to let them go … I need them all!

Gem: It takes a long time to find perfect lipsticks that look good with blue hair, no way I’m giving them up now!

 

Would you rather only be able to wear your hair in a ponytail or a messy bun?

Pants: Out of all the question’s so far, this is surprisingly tough! Having so much and such long hair, both styles are pretty crucial to me. But for practicality, I’m going to go for a messy bun because sometimes, you just need to get your hair out of your face!

Gem: I live my life with my hair in a messy bun, and wouldn’t have it any other way!

 

Would you rather never be able to paint your nails again or never use lip gloss?

Pants: Never use lip gloss as I rarely use it (although my collection would speak somewhat of a different story here).

Gem: I could live without lip gloss, but I hate the look of my unpainted nails. 

 

Would you rather shave your eyebrows and have none at all or sharpie them in everyday?

Pants: I would definitely rather have shaved eyebrows than use a sharpie on my face. 

Gem: Can I just grow a fringe so you can’t see either? =\

 

Would you rather live without make up or nail polish?

Pants: Nail Polish … no competition there :oD.

Gem: I suppose I’d have to keep my make-up and just make an effort to make my natural nail beds look nice again. Saying that if I had no nail varnish I’m sure they’d look great after a bit of airing out!

 

We really enjoyed this “Would you rather tag” even though it was a little scary to imagine being without all those products we can’t live without. (We are defo materialistic to the max!)

And for our tags … we have chosen the following lovely ladies:

Britnee over at Britnee Loves

Aimee at Aimee Belle

Lauren at Lauren Amy Blogs

and

Charlotte at Makeup by Candlelight

If you’ve completed this tag too, we’d love to read! Just post your link in our comments below.

 

Totally hellbent for loving all of our things (perhaps a little too much) … forever

Gem & Pants

Nails

Free Nails Inc. With InStyle

May 17, 2014
Free Nails Inc. With InStyle

Free Nails Inc. With InStyle

I seem to have quite a collection of Nails Inc. polishes, yet I’ve never purchased a single one at full RRP! Most of my collection has come from free gifts with magazines and I was over the moon to spot another freebie this month with InStyle.

There are three shades to choose from, but as I’m (supposed to be) on a spending ban this month, I only picked up one shade (booo) – Sao Paulo Streets. I’m not sure of the names of the other two shades, but there is a pink and a coral red that both look lovely.

Sao Paulo Streets is a lovely mink nude with a subtle lilac undertone, very grown-up and understated. As with all Nails Inc. polishes application is a breeze and you’re guaranteed at least a few days wear before chipping.

Have you picked up one of the three Nails Inc. shades from InStyle yet?

Totally hell bent for a quick magazine freebie pick me up.

– Gem

 

Nails

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Colour in Iconic Indigo, Electric Emerald, Red-y Response & Silver Elements

April 20, 2014
Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Colour in Iconic Indigo, Electric Emerald, Red-y Response & Silver Elements

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Colour in Iconic Indigo, Electric Emerald, Red-y Response & Silver Elements

Today I want to share with you another amazing Poundland find! Sally Hansen is a brand I absolutely love, and I must have at least thirty different polishes from various lines but I’ve never paid more than £1 for a single one of them! At any time you can find a variety of Sally Hansen polishes in most Poundland stores, and this week I picked up these magnetic nail colours that are so much fun!

 

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Colour in Iconic Indigo, Electric Emerald, Red-y Response & Silver Elements

 

I missed out on the trend when it first appeared because I was sure it would be fussy and complicated (but Amie was really into it as you can see from her post here!) but it was the colours that drew me in this time. The great thing about magnetic polishes is that you can wear them without the pattern so you essentially get two looks with each shade. I thought I might just wear these four lovely metallic shades (Iconic Indigo, Electric Emerald, Red-y Response & Silver Elements) as they are, because they swatched so beautifully, but once I had a play with the magnet I knew I was smitten!

 

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Colour in Iconic Indigo, Electric Emerald, Red-y Response & Silver Elements

 

The great thing about the Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Colours is that the magnet is in the polish lid (though it is removable which makes using it -much- easier!) so there’s no rooting around in your nail polish storage. You simply paint each nail in turn and hold the lid over for a few seconds to get the lovely wavy design. These four polishes all have the same pattern magnet but you can get a wide variety to give different effects.

I’ve been wearing Iconic Indigo for a few days now and there is only minimal chipping at the nail tips, so I think with a good quality top coat you could easily get a few days longer out of them!

If they take your fancy, have a root around your local Poundland or look on Amazon or Ebay!

Totally hellbent for pretty nails at minimal effort

– Gem