Spring chickens | Ayesha

This post has absolutely nothing to do with chickens, FYI. 

As Spring is in the air and the daffodils have grown (which makes me think, are daffodils a type of weed? It seems like they just spring out of nowhere!), the beauty world is also adjusting itself out of the warm, deeper winter colours to paler, pastel, and more fun and vibrant shades.

I dug out 10 of my favourite nail colours to wear during the spring.

They are all pointing to the middle shade - Chanel Rose Insolent - my favourite colour of the bunch!

As you can see, there are a mixture of colours including pink, coral, a pale blue, and even a mustard yellow thrown in there.

Essie polishes L-R: Chubby Cheeks (pale terracotta), Lovie Dovie (pure Barbie pink)

As I was applying them to my nails today, polish went everywhere. Look at Lovie Dovie's handle - that was all today! The rest went onto my clothes! There is a reason I am not a manicurist or a surgeon.

L-R: Chanel 489 Rose Insolent (it's not bright pink like it looks - it's a very wearable bubblegum pink) and No7 Gel-Look shine in Orange Spice (coral).

I'm actually really impressed by this particular range of No7 polishes. The formula is great AND they have a wide brush! 

Topshop L-R: Peaches and Cream (pale peach), Obey (shimmery pale pink)

I didn't realise that Obey was a shimmery colour; I prefer the matte or gel-effect nails. However, it is still a pretty colour and really nice to layer over a pale colour.

Barry M polishes. L-R: Huckleberry (pale blue), Coconut (off-white), Lychee (beige/brown), Mustard (self explanatory!)

My favourite of the Barry M's here is most probably Huckleberry. I even wore it throughout the winter too. Mustard is one of those shades where you look at it and think, "how garish, that would suit nobody!" Maybe that's why I like it - it's so satisfying and surprisingly wearable, even for someone like me who prefers classic shades and looks.

So there you have it! Barry M are your best bet for really affordable nail polishes. The range of colours they have are amazing, the formulation is great and they last a good 4 days without chipping. However, Essie are my favourite brand overall because the formulation is just that much better than Barry M, but I also enjoy the wide brush that comes with it. It makes application seriously easy, especially if you are as clumsy as I am. Things just fall out of my hands.

What are your favourite colours for Spring? 

Seasonal favourites - Autumn (2/4) | Ayesha

You might remember when I posted during the summer featuring my beauty favourites from that season. Well, it's gone 3 months since then and I now have a new set of my favourite things for Autumn!

L-R:

1. Chanel Le Vernis in the shade 'April'.

2. Essie nail polish in 'Take it Outside'. Don't be put off by the grey colour, my husband coined it 'as natural looking as cement', but I think it is GORGEOUS. 

3. Barry M nail polish in 'Mustard'.

4. Garnier Ultimate Blends oil - this stuff is very light and smells amazing. 

5. MAC lipstick in the shade 'Plumful' - this is a pale berry shade and my new favourite lipstick shade ever! It's very wearable for every day use as it leaves a nice stain on the lips, and is super moisturising too.

6. MAC lipstick in 'Rebel'. I bought this in the summer but I'm getting more wear out of it now. It looks really scary and dark in the tube but when applied in a very thin layer, it looks how Plumful does in the tube. It can be built up for a very strong berry red shade with a purple undertone which is so satisfying.

7. Benefit Dallas blush. This is a mix of a bronzer and blusher, but it is more on the blusher side. It looks amazing in Autumn/Winter on my skin when I don't have a tan, but somehow when I do have a tan it makes my face look really red like I've just travelled on the tube at rush hour.

8. Lush Ultrabalm. Now this has all of 3 ingredients - organic jojoba oil (does anyone else have trouble pronouncing that? I always want to say 'jojoba' with an actual 'j' but I think its meant to be like 'yoyoba'. Both sound equally weird.) and 2 types of wax. So it doesn't smell great but it hydrates my skin really, really well and isn't greasy. I had a full face of makeup on 2 days ago and I was rushing around on the tube, and when I came home my face had a little bit of shine but not so much that I thought I couldn't use this on my face at all. 

So there you have it! My next installment will be in the spring, but spring is questionable in the UK... Might be May!

On a side note, I am moving to a new flat tomorrow and once I've settled in will be doing some more home-style blog posts, and also more baking/cooking ones. I don't know how I have survived without an oven this past year! 

Enjoy whatever you're doing!

Autumnal accents | Ayesha

Recently, after watching Essie Button's video on her favourite MAC lipsticks, I fell in love with the shade 'Plumful'. It looks like a fun berry/plum colour with pink undertones, and apparently looks different on everyone. That excited me. However, not being close to a MAC store and not being able to be for a while, I decided to tide myself by with a dupe. After trawling the internet to see what I could find, someone mentioned the Revlon lip butter in Berry Smoothie as a good alternative. So, I went to Boots to get it, much to the bemusement of the Mr.

Here's what I came back with:

Berry Smoothie layered over MAC Rebel lipstick

So the lip butter was slightly disappointing. It's a lovely colour, however it is very, very sheer. Even after building it up there was only a hint of colour, but not the same consistency as some other lip butters I own and definitely not the same as plumful. However I am still keeping it, because it looks lovely as a glossy overcoat to MAC Rebel lipstick (the one that looks dark purple in the tube!).

After I picked up Berry Smoothie, I naturally found myself scouring the aisles to see what else I could find. I owned a Soap and Glory 'Archery' eyebrow pencil, but sadly after travelling in my suitcase a lot it did not hold up well and I found the last 1/4 broken up in the lid. Hence the Rimmel Brow This Way eyebrow gel (the short dark brown tube in the haul picture). I would say this is a great dupe for Benefit's Speed Brow - in fact, even better than it! The gel is tinted, but I'll test it's longevity out properly on Monday after being out for 11 hours of the day.

The mascara is Seventeen's Va Va Voom. I have heard some good reviews on this as a cheaper mascara to add lots of volume. Again, will be testing it out on Monday properly.  I have been on the lookout for a cheaper mascara to add volume, to replace my favourite Lancome Hypnose, so I will let you know how it goes!

Check out the fat brush!

Lastly, this was a complete impulse buy. I've been intrigued by greyish colours but felt they may make my nails look dead (Barry M's Prickly Pear was a no-go for me sadly!). I was so impressed with this one and couldn't find a similar colour in any other brand:

Essie 'Take it Outside'

As my husband would say, it's 'as natural looking as cement'. I think it's very cute and quite smart for work. Can I just point out that the colour shown above is only ONE coat? 

I did spend last week with yellow nails which I thought were very fun but even some children in my class did double takes. Maybe I'll save it for the weekends...

Having said the above, this was another colour I thought would make my nails look dead but it was a surprisingly perky colour, but in person was not over bright. Mr F didn't even notice they were there! 

I'm loving all the Autumn stuff on the shelves at the moment. What are your favourite autumnal beauty colours to wear?