Lipstick Review: MAC | Candy Yum Yum |

MAC - Candy Yum Yum - £15.50

Everyone knows I love a good shade of pink. The majority of my lipsticks are made up of this colour but I have to say that this shade has become not only my favourite pink but one of my favourite lip products in my entire make up collection.

'Candy Yum Yum' used to be limited edition but due to its popularity it got its own place within the permanent line up of MAC lipsticks, which is when I got it. It is so different to anything I own and is just so beautiful, although notably difficult to photograph. I would describe the colour as a deep yet almost neon pink that has a definite blue tone running through it which was hard to capture but I urge you to swatch it yourself. It is also long lasting through eating and drinking with wear to only the centre of my mouth but nothing too noticeable. The formula is matte but it is still creamy and non drying. Like all bright colours, especially those that are less hydrating, I would recommend using a good lip scrub before otherwise it will highlight those imperfections. Most people would probably see this as a dramatic evening colour but I enjoy wearing it in the day too to pep up a monochrome outfit with pared down make up on the rest of my face.

I'm not wearing a lip liner in either of this pictures so if you have a recommendation of something that would match it well that would be perfect. Like all MAC prices the lipsticks seem to be rising all the time and they are now priced at £15.50 each. The shade range and quality is fabulous though so I can understand why people are willing to pay the price. You can pick this up at your local MAC store or online.

What's your favourite MAC lipstick? xxx

NOTD: Tropical Glitter

American Apparel 'Neon Orange' // £9 // Models Own 'Sunset Chillout' // £5 //

If you follow me on instagram you might recognise this amazing duo for summer, featuring two of my favourite polishes of the moment.

My Models Own collection is quite substantial now and the large majority of the polishes I own from them are glitter. I think that proves that they are definitely one of the best brands if you are looking for sparkly fingertips. In particular I really like the Hed Kandi range, so when I saw this new one I naturally had to pick it up. 'Sunset Chillout' is unlike any other glitter I own - an array of different shapes and colours of glitter suspended in an easy to apply clear polish. I love that the glitter is really packed into the formula so it applies as an even covering, rather than just giving you one or two pieces per application.

I think it goes really nicely with bright colours - this time I paired it with a neon orange from American Apparel which is another lovely polish (read my review here). What do you think of this combo? Do you have any favourite nail polishes for summer? xxx

P.S. I have recently set up a Facebook page for this blog as another way to follow me for you to receive updates on my blog and other beauty related things! Please 'like' it if you are a Facebook user - it's free :)! 

NOTD: Color Club | Reign in Spain |

The Wanderlust Collection // 4 mini pack //

As soon as I saw this colour in this month's Birchbox I fell in love. A mix of peach and coral with a neon/pastel finish make this perfect for summer and a bit different to the typical neons you get around this time of year. I've been obsessed with all things peach and coral at the moment, so this varnish will go really well with some new pieces I have recently bought for my wardrobe. This colour is so nice that a stranger on the tube asked me to write down the name of it for her - if you've ever been to London you will know people barely even look at each other on the tube so this is a massive credit to the polish! The pictures unfortunately don't do the colour justice, I think the best representation is the bottom one from my instagram.

'Reign in Spain' is part of another collaboration between Birchbox and Color Club (see this NOTD for the other) named the Wanderlust collection, consisting of 4 special summer shades in mini bottles. The formula is just as good as Insta-This - only 2 layers of colour needed for an opaque finish, tip wear by about day 3 and no major chips to be seen at all. 

The only pain is that to get one of these polishes on the Birchbox site you have to get the whole set - and considering I got two in my Birchbox I don't really want two duplicates to get my hands on the other half of the shades (although the green 'London Calling' is literally calling my name!)

What do you think of this colour? What are your favourite summer polishes? xxx

NOTD: American Apparel | Neon Orange |

Neon Orange // £9 // 15ml

At the beginning of last week you may remember when the UK actually saw some sun and life was generally better because of it. I think the very brief spell of warmth went to my head as it influenced me to put some colour back into my very boring essay filled life, and I opted to paint my nails the brightest shade I could find.  Now, a few NOTD posts ago, I blogged about a neon yellow shade from American Apparel that I had been bought for Christmas and was left bitterly disappointed by. Well, that has since been returned, but I still had a neon orange that I had also received so thought I might as well try it out.

Thankfully, the quality of this nail varnish has been a million times better than the yellow, so I'm hoping it was just a duff one rather than a representation of all of the range. I love that the colour really does live up to the neon name and I got many compliments when wearing this. Even when the fog returned (I think I jinxed it) this still managed to shine from my fingertips and brighten up my day. The wear time was also incredible and it lasted around 5 days until minimal tip wear set in - pretty fabulous in my opinion.

In regards to application, I used two thin layers to achieve an opaque finish and the wide brush made it a doddle. This polish dries to a matte finish so you could follow up with a matte top coat if you have one. I don't so I opted for my standard Sally Hansen.

I've now got my eye on more colours - especially the glitters (5 in total!) - and am hoping that the rest of the ranges can live up to this quality after being sorely let down before. What do you think of this colour? xxx

NOTD: American Apparel | Neon Yellow |

American Apparel Neon Yellow // £9 // 15ml //

For Christmas I received two Neon nail varnishes from American Apparel which I had been lusting after since summer - yellow and orange. At nearly ten pounds each they are not cheap but I had seen good things about them and you get quite a big bottle too. 

I was so excited to try it out but turned out to be really disappointed. I love the colour as it is true to the neon you see in the bottle and the matte finish, however the formula was so gloopy. This meant I couldn't layer thin applications to build up an effective colour and left me with thick, gloopy and extremely streaky nails. I ended up having to take it all off and start again once I tried to thin it out with some nail polish remover. After a second go, the formula was a bit thinner but I was left with the same result of streaky and patchy nails, which you can kind of see in the pictures but was more apparent in person so I had to take it off again. For such an expensive polish I was so annoyed at how rubbish it was, especially when the quality of Barry M and Models Own is so much better for a lot cheaper.

Yesterday we went into the Covent Garden store to exchange my disco pants and return this varnish - however, we found out that American Apparel don't do returns or exchanges at all in store which is absolutely ridiculous! So now we have to spend more money returning them through an online process.

Overall, I've been so disappointed with the product and the customer service from American Apparel. I haven't tried the orange yet but will write up of how it fares. Have you used these particular polishes from AA? xxx