The Beauty of Louise MAC give away!

The wonderful Louise over at 'The Beauty of Louise' is having a very generous giveaway on her blog! All this MAC make up is up for grabs so enter now for a chance of winning!! Link is in my sidebar xxx

The coolest nails I've ever done! (so far ;D)

I just HAVE to share this with you!

I have my friend staying with me at the moment and she's going down to London this weekend for her friend's birthday. She wanted some statement nails so she painted them a purple colour and she asked me to cover her 3rd nail on each hand with gems... this was the result...

We thought they looked fab! Anyways she had had them done for a couple of days and none of the gems had fallen off... in fact they didn't look like they we're gonna budge at all!! So we decided to cover all her nails in gems - we were dying to see what it looked like!! It took me nearly an hour and a half but I got there eventually ....

What do you think??


Raphaelle xXx

March Wishlist!

Hey Everyone!!!

First of all I have to make a huuuuge apology as I haven't blogged in over a month!! *the shame*
I've had such a lot to contend with... My boyfriend and I moved into our new house a month ago tomorrow (yey!) so we have been settling in and sorting out all our stuff, and I have also broken my ankle (not so yey!) so I haven't been getting around very much and I'm under strict orders to rest it! I know they're not much of an excuse and I really do apologise but I'm back now!! With a new March wishlist (as I'm sat here on my bum all day so all I can do is window shop on the internet, naturally... as if I'm not depressed enough at the moment!)

YSL Silky Sensual Radiant Lipstick SPF15 in 107 Impetuous Beige - £23.50

Doesn't this lipstick just look divine?? From the colour (even though it doesn't look beige whatsoever?!) down to the deluxe packaging... I have £10 worth of points on my Debenhams Beauty Card so I really am contemplating treating myself to this as I'd only have to pay £13.50! Hmm....

River Island Cream Pussybow Blouse -£25.00

I am very much a blouse person I think they look so classy! And I'm still searching for a lovely cream blouse to go with my burgundy jeans... and I think this may be it! 

OPI Original Nail Envy £11.95

I have recently developed a new love for OPI and now have 6 colours. I'd really love to add this to my collection as my nails are so weak, and if the lacquers are anything to go buy this would be a really high quality strengthener!

MAC 187 Stipling Face Brush £32.50

I have been meaning to add this to my collection for ages, it's just so much to pay for a make up brush and I never seem to have the spare cash! Anyone know of any good quality cheaper alternatives??

Topshop SPECTOR Contrast Back Platforms £62.00

I am soooo in love with these shoes and I can imagine they go with almost anything as they're a nude colour. I think I deserve a new pair of heels to celebrate getting my cast taken off on 3rd April :) (Can't bloody wait!! I'm forced to wear a flat shoe on my good foot and a sock on the other! Attractive? I think not!!)

What's in your wishlist this month??

until next time....

Raphaelle xXx

More nails! :)

Hey guys!!

I haven't posted on my blog for what seems like aaaages as I've been so busy! But I'm back now yey :) Was in two minds what to write about today as I haven't done a make up post for a while and I'm kinda getting withdrawls, but I decided on nails as I have just done mine and am pretty damn pleased with them, plus I wanna share with you all my bargain of the month :) enjoy....

Ok so my mum and a couple of friends have been wanting me to do them a french manicure for a while now but I lost my french white polish :( so I thought to myself if I see one cheap I'll get it just until I can afford a good quality one. Anyways I was in my local Bodycare getting some toiletry essentials when I spotted a stand with these little beauties in...

There was a white and the transparent nudey colour that goes over the top. I thought they'd be ideal for now so I checked the price thinking they'd be about £1.99...... 29p they were!! I couldn't believe my luck! So I snapped up a couple and tested them out on my mam that evening. Here's the result...

I had to do a couple of coats because it is quite a thin polish but for a total of 58 pence I'm pretty pleased with that to be honest! I do love a french polish!

I also bought some fakes for myself as I'm missing my nails at the moment but can't afford them right now, so  I thought I could just about manage £1.99 to make me feel slightly more groomed :) I've had them on for 4 days now and the white tips were chipping slightly ( well what can you expect for £1.99??) so I thought I'd do a bit of DIY and paint them.... I have a thing for painting the ring finger gold at the moment (or silver, depending on what colour I use for the rest), not quite sure why :/ but I really do like the effect. So here's a couple of piccys of my nails and the colours I used...

I used Barry M Nail Paint in Mushroom, and Barry M Instant Nail Effects in Foil. I hope you all liked this post :)

Until next time,

Raphaelle xXx

Review - 17 BB Blemish Balm!!

Hey all!!

I've decided to do a review on 17's BB Blemish Balm 'All In One Magic Make-Up'. I was going to buy the BB cream fron No7 aswell and do a comparison but I have to share this with you now! I bought this from my local Boots store as I had heard a lot of good things about Blemish Balms and I thought I'd give this one a go. It is quite cheap at £6.99 so I wouldn't feel so bad if I wasn't keen on it, plus I'd heard a few good things about this particular BB cream anyway so I thought it can't be that bad.

The boots website says
 'Discover the new 17 BB Blemish Balm to reveal the magic of flawless skin with this all-in-one foundation plus skincare wonder product.'

I picked up the medium shade as, even though I have quite pale skin, the light shade looked a little too light for me. When I got home and checked my receipt I noticed that I'd only paid £4.99 for it so it must have been on offer which was a real bonus! (Something as small as that can always brighten my day :D)

Here's what the packaging looks like...

I really do like the packaging. 17 is a cheap, affordable brand and I love the way they've made it look a lot more expensive. I've just realised it looks a bit dodgy at the bottom but that's just because I haven't screwed the lid on properly :) You get 30ml, same as your average foundation and when I've been using it I've used the same amount as I would with my foundation.

The all important swatches (flash and no flash)

At first sight the cream seems a lovely consistency but you can tell it's not going to give you full coverage, not that I would expect it to - even though it claims to on the Boots website, the packaging says it is the ultimate 'no make-up make-up'... and that says to me 'light coverage'.

I was expecting to get a tinted moisturiser effect, but the finish is a lot more impressive than that let me tell you! I was honestly planning on wearing this underneath my foundation so I didn't have to use as much (as my foundation is quite expensive), but I would actually just wear this on its own with a touch of blusher for a daytime look as it does give me the coverage I need (this coming from a girl who never normally leaves the house without a full made up face!) I am so happy with this product, especially for only £4.99!! I'd even pay the full £6.99 if I were to buy it again.

Now I know I should have really done a before and after picture so you can see the difference but I can not STAND the thought of putting a picture up of me with a bare face for the world and his wife to see!
So here's as much as I could muster - a pic of me wearing just the BB cream (massive apologies for the state of my hair, don't even recall dragging a brush through it this morning :/)

I haven't exactly got problem skin, all in all its pretty smooth, but my complexion can be somewhat uneven in terms of colouring sometimes, so as you can see the cream has definitely evened out my colouring and it has the most amazing dewy finish to it (if you have oily skin this can easily be resolved with a light dusting of powder). All in all I think this is a wonder product and it has certainly exceeded my expectations :) Would definitely recommend!

Hope you all enjoyed this post! Do any of you use a BB cream that you would recommend?

Until next time...

Raphaelle xXx

Mini Clothes Haul/OOTN!!

Hey Guys!!

I thought I'd share with you a couple of bits I got today :) I went to town with my friend to get something to wear for Saturday (as we are hitting the town!) and we popped into New Look, well I say popped.. I think we dragged half the shop into the changing rooms with us!! ... I was avoiding River Island and Top Shop as they weren't in my price range today unfortunately. Boo :(

Anyways I ended up picking up these...

The blouse was £14.99 and the bracelets were £7.99 (Both from New Look) and I will be wearing these on Saturday along with a long plain black vest top I also bought (£7.99) and black leggings or possibly jeggings, along with these bad boys I got for Christmas off my amazing friend....

Just LOVE them!!!! (they're a burgandy colour, pic makes them look darker) think they may well be up there as some of my fave shoesies :D I might even do a post on some of my shoes... I'm almost as obsessed with shoes as I am with make up... Almost ;) Will most likely get some pics up of my outfit on the night and post them on here :) Don't know how to do my nails though... maybe gold with a little pearl on each nail?? What do you think??

I also got this beauts dress from New Look which was £19.99 and will probably be wearing this on my Birthday night out (My birthday's 9th Feb but we shall be tearing it up on the 11th - can't wait!!)

I totally love this dress!! You can't see it very well on the picture but it has brown and turquoise feathers on it and looks lovely on!! Will have to dress it up with some accessories... maybe some feather drop earrings...

Eeeek I love how much more excited you get for a night out when you have something new to wear!!

Anyway I'm off to get some beauty sleep, day of make up coursework and pampering (ready for Sat!) ahead of me tomorrow! And maybe a cheeky post... if you're lucky ;) Take care lovely ladies!!

Until next time....

Raphaelle xXx

Heart Kristel's MAC Giveaway

The lovely Heart Kristel is having a give away on her blog!

Check it out http://heartkristel.blogspot.com

Good luck girlies xXx