Review | Mavala Nail Colours

Mavala Nail Colours in Metallic Grey* & Peacock Green* £5.55

Mavala is a Swiss nail polish brand that I had heard of a couple of times, but never got round to buying. Recently I was able to try 2 of the nail polishes from the Arabesque Collection, which features 4 metallic shades inspired by the Autumn/ Winter 2013 season. The shades you can collect are: Copper Gold, Shimmer Violet, Peacock Green and Metallic Grey (I have the last two). Metallic shades are also in for Spring 2013, so I was really excited to try these shades out!

Each polish comes in little glass bottles with golden handles that holds 5ml of product. This isn't much compared to other brands, in actual fact it's half the amount to a Barry M Nail Paint. However, I rarely find myself finishing a nail polish so I know this will still last me a long time.

The first shade is 192 Metallic Grey, which is a light grey/ light lilac with silver iridescent shimmer. You can't really see the shimmer on your nails once it's applied as it's very subtle, but it does look pretty in the bottle. The second shade is 191 Peacock Green which is a beautiful emerald colour with shimmer. Both of the polishes are very easy and smooth to apply. However I do find them to be a little streaky with just 1 coat, but applying 2 coats makes them look perfect. The brush is quite small and flat which means you can get right to the cuticle without flooding it and making a mess.
The finish of each polish is glossy and shiny so look great without a top coat. The drying time is also quite quick, which I was pleasantly surprised about. Once dry, your nails feel very smooth which was an added bonus!

In terms of how long they last without a top coat, both polishes started to chip after the first day. By the second day, my nails were looking a bit tatty so I think it's essential to wear a top coat with these polishes. I also found that with Peacock Green, one of my nail's polish peeled off quite easily. This could be because I applied it thicker than I did with Metallic Grey, but I did only do 2 coats which is what it needs! However, I don't think this will put me off wearing these polishes again! I really love the colour of Metallic Grey as it gives my nails a simple yet pretty finish. Peacock Green is also a really pretty colour and I love how shiny it is on the nails.

Overall I really like these nail polishes, the formula is nice to work with and the range of colours is great! The next shade I want to try is Blue Mint as I think it will be perfect for the Spring time!

Mavala Nail Colours are available on the lookfantastic.com website for £4.30 plus free delivery!

Have you tried Mavala Nail Colours before?

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Blog Lovin' | YouTube 

Mini Haul | Makeup & Nail Polish

Revlon Lip Gloss Palette £1 | Barry M Nail Paints in Blueberry, Prickly Pear & Clear £3.99 & £2.99

Rimmel Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Lip Gloss in 080 Cherry Blossom £1 | Makeup Academy Lipstick in Shade 1 £1

So I recently went to 3 of my favourite shops to pick up some beauty products: Boots, Superdrug and Poundland! I managed to pick up a couple items that I've wanted to try for quite a while plus some extras that "accidentally" fell into my basket.

The first things I picked up was a Revlon Lip Gloss Palette from Poundland. I've never seen this product before but because I like Revlon, I decided to give this a go! This little palette has a mini brush and 5 different lip glosses (there is one underneath which you can just about see) which consist of: a hot pink, a sheer white, a sheer glittery white, a nude/ brown and a vampy purple. The texture of the 4 lip glosses on top are quite gloopy, but once on the lips they blend out nicely and give a hint of colour. The consistency of the purple shade is much drier and harder to blend, which I really don't like. I don't think I'll get much wear out of this palette, but it was quite nice to try out and has a good selection of lip gloss shades.

The next product I bought from Poundland was the Rimmel Lasting Finish Kiss & Stay Lip Gloss in 080 Cherry Blossom. This is one of the nicest lip products I've found in Poundland! This is a combination of a cherry red lip stain and a clear lip gloss. The formula of the lip stain is amazing, it's very pigmented, opaque and creamy to apply. As it dries quite matte, your lips do feel dry but the clear lip gloss gives you the shiny finish. I find the gloss isn't the best in the world, so I usually pair it with a different one like Barry M. This lip stain also lasts a really long time and is actually quite hard to remove so is perfect for a night out as it won't transfer on to your glass or budge when you eat!

Next from Superdrug, I picked up a Makeup Academy Lipstick in Shade 1. You may be able to tell that I'm loving red lips at the moment, so I thought I would pick up yet another one to add to my collection! I love MUA lipsticks (you can read my review of them HERE) and this shade is no exception! The pigmentation is incredible and the formula is so creamy. I haven't bought a MUA lipstick in quite a while, but I'm glad to see they have made the bottom of the lipstick twist off so you have a mini pot of the product to use!

Finally, I was sucked into the 3 for 2 offer on all Barry M products at Boots. I've wanted to try the Gelly Hi-Shine Gel Effect Nail Paints for quite a while so thought this was a good of a time as any to pick some up. I chose Blueberry and Prickly Pear because I think these colours are so pretty for Spring and Summer! I have tried these and, despite the fact the colours are gorgeous, the formula isn't so great! With 1 coat these nail polishes are streaky and thin, so they definitely need 2 coats to make them look decent. As for the free product, I picked up the Basecoat, topcoat & nail hardener in Clear. I've been in need of a new top coat and nail hardener, so thought I would try this out! So far I really like it and has definitely stopped my nails from peeling and breaking as much - finally!

Have you tried the Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Gel Effect Nail Paints?

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Blog Lovin' | YouTube

Review | Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette* £20

I'm a huge fan of Urban Decay and when I heard about this new eye shadow palette, I was really excited to try it out! I already own the Naked original palette and absolutely love it, but I felt that it didn't offer a lot of matte shades to make a simple everyday look. This is where the Naked Basics Palette takes the spotlight. This little palette offers 5 matte and 1 satin finish eyeshadows that are perfect for creating that everyday look.

As you can see from the photo, the Naked Basics Palette is half the size of the Naked original making it great for popping in your hand bag and using it on the go, especially when you're travelling. The Naked Basics has 6 full sized eye shadows including 4 exclusive shades to the palette:

Venus - (New) an off-white satin finish shadow which is perfect for highlighting.

Foxy - a creamy biscuit matte finish shadow which is a lovely lid colour.

Walk Of Shame - a very light nude/ brown matte finish shadow which again, is a great lid colour.

Naked 2 - (New) a taupe matte finish shadow which can be use in the crease for day time or as a lid colour for a night time look.

Faint - (New) a warm, dusty brown matte finish shadow which is great for the outer corner or crease.

Crave - (New) a deep, dark brown/ black matte finish shadow which is perfect for the outer corner. 

All of the shadows are soft, pigmented and so easy to blend. I do find Crave to be chalkier than the rest, but it is still very easy to work with. With an eye primer, these shadows last me all day, even through working long hours in the college salon. By the time I'm going to bed, I can still see I'm wearing the eye shadows, but they're just less intense than when I first put them on. I find that Venus wears off quite quicly when placed in the inner corner, but the rest have amazing staying power, which I would expect nothing less from Urban Decay. All of these shadows are really wearable and you can mix and match between the palette and still end up with a pretty eye look. The only problem I have with this palette is that the first 3 look very similar in the pan and when on the eye, however I know I will get a lot of wear out of all of these colours.

As for the packaging, Urban Decay definitely stuck to the "Basics" theme and kept it as simple as possible. The outer packaging is slightly rubberised and is a lovely bronze colour. It also comes with a large mirror which takes up the whole lid if the palette, so is perfect to use on the go! Unlike the other two Naked palettes, this one doesn't come with a brush or a mini freebie. Personally this doesn't bother me as it's much cheaper than the other palettes and contains the 4 new eye shadows.

Overall I think this is a great palette that I now use in my everyday makeup routine as I find the shades so wearable. If you're into creating neutral eye looks with matte shadows or just want to expand your eyeshadow collection, this palette would be great for you!

You can order the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette from lookfantastic.com for £20 plus free delivery!

Have you tried the Naked Basics Palette?

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Blog Lovin' | YouTube