Saturday, January 22, 2011

Half Moon Manicure

This past week I decided to do something different with my nails. I found half moon manicures which I saw in a lot of magazines lately so I really wanted to try it!

This is what they're meant to look like....
First paint your nails a light colour, I chose "Moon over Mumbai" (Review here) You want to pick a colour that doesn't need a lot of coats. Wait for this colour to COMPLETELY dry, trust me you may even want to wait for the next day.

After that you take hole re-enforcers (for paper) and stick them halfway on your nails. I cut mine in half and then stuck them on. They should cover the bottom half of your nail (This would be the moon part). Then you pick a darker colour for the second half, I chose "We'll always have Paris" by OPI. Paint the upper half of your nail over the first lighter colour and it should look like this...
Once the second colour has dried slowly peel off the sticker. Once all colours are set, paint a clear top coat over them. and you're all done! These are what mine looked like before I cleaned them up..
Some problems I had were I stuck the stickers on too early so I ended up with my lighter colour messed up :( and I was really disappointed. I also applied too many coats to the bottom layer making it thicker so it took longer for the darker colour to dry and it chipped easier. All in all I really like these! It's easy to do at home and it looks professional! Hopefully I'll have better luck the next time! :)

PLH,
kmatheson

Monday, January 17, 2011

Two Reviews

First up is OPI's "Happy Anniversary!" This colour (I think) is meant to look like diamonds, the picture is a little deceiving that way because you can't really the dimension of the polish. But it's super sparkly while maintaining a smooth finish. I would recommend this colour to replace some of the Burlesque ones because it's smoother and it also doesn't chip as easily. The finish is really metallic and super pretty! A definite must buy!
Secondly, is OPI's "Russian Navy" my apologies for the blurry picture but I was trying to capture how blue this colour really is. The bottle makes it look like its almost black but I swear it's a bright navy once painted. I found that this colour is really nice neutral, it matches with a lot of stuff and I have a soft spot for navy.

Both of these colours are ones that I got for christmas, you can see the rest of them here.

PLH,
kmatheson

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Lip Stains

As I had mentioned in my New Year's post, I want to be more creative with my lip makeup (if that's how you say it) This blog is a semi requested blog from The Parisien Pigeon who also has an awesome blog check out here. The way I started to experiment with lip colour is with lip stains! I have purchased two so far, I got one of the Covergirl lip stains in 440 which is the most red one and I got a dupe for Benetint (by Benefit). Lip stains are a good way to ease into lip colour but there are some faults.

Lip stains give really bright colour and it does last a long time. It also doesn't feel like anything on your lips aka the way that lipstick feels or gloss or anything. I found that the covergirl one really dried out my lips and the overall look was just not good. The other one that I have (that's called true beauty) is a little brush in a pot, (as I said before, it's made to copy Benetint) this one is really nice stain but it tastes funny! I only know this because it will leak into your mouth a little bit and it's not so pleasant. That being said though, I pair MAC Dazzleglass lip gloss in Baby Sparks over this, and it makes the nicest fushia lip colour. I LOVE IT! I didn't pair a gloss with the Covergirl one because I couldn't find a nice one to go over it but it's really cool that it looks like a marker.

If you're interested in lip stains, definitely try them! It's a neat product to try and it's super easy. I would recommend Benetint but I only have a cheaper copy of it and not the exact product (I got mine in Ireland and haven't seen it anywhere else :( sorry) so I'm not 100% on how good the product is.

I'm really excited to try Revlon's lip stains because they come with a lip balm to cancel out the drying effect! I also want to try Posie tint by Benefit which is the pinker verison of Benetint. Hopefully there will be more on these as I explore more into them!




ENJOY!
PLH,
kmatheson

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Review: OPI's "Moon over Mumbai"

This photo is SOO terrible! But I didn't have time to take another one because I repainted my nails after this. So this "Moon over Mumbai" also it looks like a white nude in the photo, it is a more greyish purple in real life. This colour is gorgeous! I love it! I got it from one of my best friends for Christmas (she gave me another one too, so expect a review on that later as well) This colour didn't chip for a whole week, which is really impressive considering I usually change my nails every 3 days because of chips. I found that this colour is a nice alternative to the popular taupe colours this season because I could never find a taupe that suited me. This is a perfect neutral and one of my favourites!
These are all the nail polishes that I got for Christmas and I will try to put reviews up on them all! From left to right: Moon over Mumbai, Russian Navy, Lucerne-tainly look Marvelous, Kristi, We'll always Have Paris, Louvre me or Louvre me not and Happy Anniversary!

PLH,
kmatheson

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

New Year's Resolutions

Better late than never! I kept forgetting which resolutions I made so I figured I would write them down and it would make an interesting blog post!

I have a lot of basic ones, aka eat healthier, work out more BUT I've tailored them to me.

1. Eat colourful vegetables
it sounds easier than it is, but being on my own I don't really know how to cook veggies (I know, terrifying) so hence why this healthy choice is tailored to me. I don't think I eat badly, I just need more vegetables in my life.

2. Stick to a work out routine
I've been going to the gym five days a week since September but once I go home for a visit or I get too stressed; I lose my groove, so my goal is to stick to it.

3. Learn German
It'd be awesome.

4. Try to wear colourful lips
The Natalie Portman cover basically convinced me of this! If you don't know what I'm talking about, see my last post.

5. Master "bedhead"
I have curly hair, I don't really like it and I straighten my hair everyday. I try to embrace the curls but I end up hating it more and more each time, so my goal is make peace with my hair and master the bedhead look.

6. Take better care of my nails!

7. Rely on natural remedies
I'm a big wuss, I go to the doctor for everything which is terrible. I'm currently sick and I've forbidden myself to go the doctor so I'm toughing it out.

I'm sure that I will remember some that I've forgotten but that's all for now!
Happy 2011! :D Happy New Year!

PLH,
kmatheson

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Natalie Portman on the Cover of Elle Canada


I am the first to admit that I buy the majority of magazines if they have a cover that I'll stare at. I know that's completely the wrong reason, but I'm a sucker. I LOVE this cover so much! I love the contrast of colours (the pink lipstick and the yellow dress) and her hair! Just love it so much! It makes me want to go buy a bright pink lipstick right away!
I also saw Black Swan over the holidays which made me love Natalie Portman more. If you haven't seen it, it's a great flick.

PLH,
kmatheson