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Thursday, October 11

Totally Fort Worth It?

When I was in America I picked up a new OPI nail polish that's described as “A shimmery lavender grey that’s so worthy of you.” Its Totally Fort Worth It is from their 2011 Texas collection.

In the bottle the polish looks like a grey with quite a strong pink shimmer through it but unfortunately when on your nails the shimmer hardly shows. This polish has quite a sheer formula meaning that it takes minimum 3-4 coats to get opaque cover. This is after 3 coats...
I found this nail polish a little underwhelming because I just was hoping for a grey with bit more oomph because of the pink shimmer but it turned out to be more a sheer shimmery silver.
So I thought what can I do to make my nails a bit more exciting? I know, add a Essie LuxEffects topcoat! Shine of the Times is a gorgeous multichromatic flaky glitter topcoat which shifts to every color except purple, but the most dominant colors are red/orange and green. There's a heavy amount of flake in here and it provides very good coverage with only one coat.
Tadaaa much better. What do you think?
It's even more gorgeous in real life but the shine was hard to capture on camera.

I think Shine of the Times is a must-have top coat. It looks fabulously pretty on top light polishes or fun and edgy over darker shades. Have you tried any of these two polishes or can you recommend a great Shine of the Times combo? Xoxo

Wednesday, October 10

Dream big! =

Some weekly Wednesday inspiration...
"Laugh often, dream big, reach for the stars!"

Happy hump day! xoxo

Monday, October 8

Wedding Makeup - The Bride FOTD

Back in September I was in California for the wedding of one of my best friends. In the months coming up to the big day she asked if I would do her wedding make up. She explained that she'd done a couple of trial runs at MAC and said she never was that impressed with what they had done and felt I'd done her makeup just as well, if not better, in the past. Of course in the first instance I felt incredibly flattered of her to ask me but on the other hand I felt very nervous about the whole thing! Yes I love makeup and I feel pretty confident these days doing my own makeup and doing my friends' makeup for events or nights out..but this was something so much more important! I am definitely no professional makeup artists and this I would be one of the biggest days of her life...god what if she didn't like what I did!?

Anyway after an initial freak out moment I remembered, this is one of my best friends and I know what she likes and dislikes and she is certainly NO bridezilla so I went back to feeling super honoured and now also excited to be able to be part of her wedding in this way!

Luckily she had a pretty clear vision of the makeup look she wanted for her wedding day; natural, glowing and pretty with a bit of sparkle but making sure she still looked like herself! We used products by MAC cosmetics that she had chosen with a MAC makeup artists during a previous trial run so it was really great to have such clear instructions to go by. I was still a little nervous on the day but in the end it was so much fun to be there to help her get ready, do her makeup and make her feel beautiful on this special day. Not that I really had to do that much because I think she is the most beautiful woman (inside and outside) already!

So now without any further a-do; here comes the gorgeous bride!!!
(No photoshop or editing used....doesn't she have the most amazing eyes?)
Products used for this FOTD:

♥ Face:
MAC Prep + Prime line filler (link)
MAC Prep + Prime Primer (link)
MAC StudioFix Foundation
MUA Bronzed Perfection (as seen here)
MAC Powder Blush - Melba

♥ Eyes:
MAC Saddle eyeshadow (gold orange brown/matte) - all over lid
MAC Downbrown eyeshadow (teddybear brown/veluxe) – blended into crease &lower lash line
MAC Tan Pigment (muted pinky brown bronze) as seen here– applied to middle of lid
MAC Fluidline in Dipdown (flat brown) – applied along lower lash line only
MAC Zoomlash mascara

♥ Lips:
Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in Imaginaire (56) as seen here

The bride was pretty happy with her look I think ;)
Doesn't her hair look amazing? I loved the romantic but fun twisty half up-do!

The above photos were all taken by me on the day. Now below are some official wedding photographs by Stephanie of Creative Photography Inc. It really was such an amazing day that I will remember forever....
Getting ready, walking down the beach 'aisle' and the kiss!

The "I do's" :)
The beach was the perfect backdrop for their Californian wedding!
Some fun group photos after the ceremony!
At the wedding reception. The dress code for the wedding was 'summer chic' so I decided on this fun turquoise dress I got in Paris over a year ago (as seen here). Makeup wise I went for a bronzed golden look using my Estée Lauder Island Oasis eyeshadow palette.

This is probably my favourite photo of the couple; it shows true happiness, love and fun which I hope their marriage will be filled with for the rest of their lives!!
Lulu & Will; I love you both so much and I'm so happy that I was be able to be part of your special day!
Friends forever ♥
What do you think of my first official bridal makeup FOTD? Xoxo

Saturday, October 6

For the autumn wardrobe: Burgundy & Tartan

When I am in Scandinavia I always try to at least make a quick shopping stop at Gina Tricot! Gina Tricot is a very popular Swedish fashion highstreet chain that is now rapidly expanding into the rest of Europe. It is one of those low-cost shops where you can find some fab fashionable items for a really affordable price. Their clothing and accessories tend to be very simple, on-trend and have that Scandinavian ‘cool’ factor! So when I was in Sweden the other weekend I made a quick pit-stop at Gina Tricot and ended up buying these great two pieces for my autumn/winter wardrobe.

 Elly coated zip jeans in port royal shade - 599 SEK/€59.84 (link)
Simone woven skirt (blue/green) - 199 SEK/€19.95 (link)
 
I’ve been lusting after a pair of burgundy waxed/leather-like finished jeans for a while now and really liked these ones because of the zippers on the front and legs. Also as soon as I spotted the tartan skirt I knew it had to be mine for my winter wardrobe! I can’t wait to wear it with cable knit jumpers, black tights and boots. Both tartan and burgundy are hot trends for A/W 2012. You can read more about how to wear the biggest autumn trends here. 

Both these new purchases can easily be dressed up or down. Think burgundy jeans with heels and a blazer or matched comfy jumpers and converse sneakers. Here a quick collage on how I'd style these items..

Burgundy & Tartan Looks
(Click on image above to view this collage in Polyvore with all item links)

Like my new purchases? Will you add some burgundy or tartan to your autumn wardrobe this season?