Nails Of The Day | You're Such A Budapest

O.P.I Nail Lacquer in You're Such A Budapest* | £11.50

Hello everyone! Today I wanted to write a post about my first ever OPI nail polish! OPI is a high end nail polish brand which until now, I haven't got round to trying. I was recently able to choose any shade I liked from the Half Price Perfumes website and the one that stood out the most to me was You're Such A Budapest. I've heard some lovely things about this shade and I thought it looked perfect for the summer time. I've wanted to try OPI nail polishes for such a long time so I was very excited to be able to try this gorgeous shade.

You're Such A Budapest is a pastel lilac shade that has tiny pieces of shimmer in. It sort of reminds me of Essie's Bikini So Teeny, just more on the lilac side rather than blue. I love these sorts of shades for the summer and I think they compliment my skin tone really well. This polish hasn't got the thickest or creamiest formula I've tried, but is still easy and smooth to apply. It takes around 2-3 coats to make it completely opaque and it dries quickly with a glossy finish. I do wish that the shimmer was more noticeable once on the nails but I think it still looks very pretty. What amazed me about this OPI nail polish was how long it lasted on my nails! It took a good few days to start chipping and even then it was only slightly on a couple of nails, and that was without wearing a top coat! I'm really impressed with the OPI nail polish formula and I can see why it's such a popular nail care brand. As for the packaging, the brush is quite wide so makes applying the polish easy and quick. I also love the OPI nail polish bottles and think they look gorgeous when you see them lined up together in beauty salons! You also get 15ml of product which is quite a bit more than standard nail polishes (usually being around 10ml) so you are getting amazing value for your money!

I absolutely adore this nail polish and I know I'm going to get so much wear out of it during the rest of summer. OPI nail lacquers retail for £11.50 but on the Half Price Perfumes website you can pick one up for just £6.99 - bargain!

What are your thoughts on OPI's You're Such A Budapest?

What's your favourite OPI polish?

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Makeup Of The Day | My First MAC Lipstick

Hello everyone, I hope you're all well and having a lovely weekend! I'm finally back from my holiday to Mallorca and I had such a lovely time! I'm planning on making a little post about my holiday, so if you're interested in the more lifestyle posts then keep an eye out for that. I also hope you enjoyed my guest bloggers and their posts and that you found some lovely new blogs to read. Last but not least, thank you so much for over 1,000 followers on Blog Lovin'! I'm so amazed as to how many of you are following my little corner of the Internet. So to thank you all properly, I'm going to do a giveaway here on my blog which will celebrate reaching over 1,000 GFC and Blog Lovin' followers, so keep an eye out for that too!

Today's post is about a makeup look that I have been wearing pretty much every time I do my makeup. It's very simple yet includes one of my new favourite products - my very first MAC lipstick! A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a giveaway by the lovely Charlotte from Cosmetic Charlotte on YouTube, and amongst the amazing selection of prizes was the MAC lipstick in Ramblin' Rose. This isn't a shade I have heard much about, but I have fallen in love with it and I cannot wait to try some more shades out!

♥

Urban Decay Naked Skin Beauty Balm*| Review & LINK

Benefit Stay Don't Stray primer | LINK

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation in 100 Ivory | LINK

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in 01 Fair | LINK

Bourjois Cream Blush in 02 Healthy Glow | LINK

Stila Angel Light Powder Foundation

H&M Bronzing Powder in Light Brown | LINK

Urban Decay Eye Shadow in Midnight Cowgirl (lid) | LINK

Urban Decay Naked Palette: Sidecar (crease) & Smog (outer corner) | Review & LINK

Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette*: Venus (inner corner highlight) | Review & LINK

Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eye Liner in Black | LINK

Soap & Glory Thick & Fast Mascara in Superjet Black | Review & LINK

MAC Lipstick in Ramblin' Rose | LINK

Ramblin' Rose is a natural shimmery rosey shade that also has a slight coral tone to it. It's one of those shades that would suit any skin tone as it's so natural looking on the lips! I loved wearing this lipstick on holiday (I wore it pretty much every night!) as it complimented my tanned skin really well and added a nice glow to my face. I've also been trying out H&M's Bronzing Powder which I also won in the giveaway and I have to say I'm really impressed! This is a matte bronzer that can be used all over the face for an extra glow or used as a natural looking contour. It's highly pigmented and a little goes a long way - for £2.99 this huge compact will last a long time and is great value for money! I really recommend you trying out this brozing powder if you're looking for a new one.

What is your favourite MAC lipstick shade?

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In A Makeup Minute Guest Post | Taking Care Of Oily Skin

Well hello there beautifuls!

I'm Zahra (pronounced Zara) and I blog over at inamakeupminute.blogspot.co.uk - Amie has been very kind to let me blog on her little space whilst she's on holiday (ah, I wish I was abroad somewhere, *whistful sigh*) - so today I'll be sharing with you a few tips and some of my favourite products for dealing with oily skin.

I have a particularly oily T-zone and I find that in the summer is when it really takes its toll - nobody wants to look like a greaseball in the summer, right? Read on to find out some of the skincare and makeup products which I use to combat this. 

Skincare

Moisturise: Even the oiliest of faces need to be moisturised! When I was younger I made the mistake of thinking that there was no point in moisturising - but if you don't your face ends up producing even more oils and that can result in clogged pores, and you know what they equal, right? Breakouts!

 

A moisturiser which I'd recommend is the Garnier Skin Naturals PureActive Spot Fighting Moisturiser - This is a gel-based moisturiser with blemish fighting qualities, perfect for those of us who are oily all over and prone to breakouts. If you have combination skin, I'd recommend Korres Pomegranate Balancing Cream-Gel Moisturiser - also gel-based, but more on the creamy side and incredibly moisturising too!

Choose your face wash wisely: The number one rule of oily skin is cleansing well. Use skincare products which are oil-free , there's no use in cleansing your skin if you'll just be putting more oils on, right? I'd recommend Garnier PureActive 3 in 1 Wash & Mask - I'm in love with this because it really does what it says - gets rid of excess oils, mattifies your skin plus you get a face mask with it too, which leads nicely to the next point - use clay or mud masks at least twice a week as they draw out the impurities in the skin. I'd recommend the Superdrug Mud Therapy Deep Cleansing Mud Mask range, they have natural products, smell amazing and work wonders :)

Makeup

Invest in a good mattifying powder/ blotting sheets - these are different to setting powders as their aim is to absorb excess oils on contact with your skin, a lot of people on the blogosphere love the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder - what's great is that you can get the transparent shade so you don't have to add extra coverage if you want a more natural look!

Blotting sheets are great to use throughout the day too - The rice powder on these also absorb oils like the powder, they're so cheap and come in little booklets which are handy for when you're out and about. I use the Superdrug brand and these have lasted me and entire year, there are so many sheets!

Prime your face: I can't stress how important this is, especially in the summer where sweat is also a problem, it's really important to apply primer (particularly for oily/ combination skin) as an insurance  that your makeup will stay put. I recently tried a sample of Nivea Express Hydration Primer and I saw a noticeable difference.

A word of warning: Don't completely cover your skin though, otherwise you risk looking like what I call, a piece of cardboard - leave some shine on your face to have a slightly dewy effect on the skin - this is a definitely a look which a lot of people are sporting this summer, so embrace those oils!

I hope all of these tips and recommendations help you to control those oils, I know that is can be quite a huge nightmare, especially in the middle of summer when you want to be having fun instead of worrying how shiny you look. But as a final note: it's not all doom gloom! Did you know that people with oily skin are less likely to get wrinkles? It's a proven fact that they age more gracefully, so at least we have that to look forward to!

Thanks again Amie for letting me do this, and be sure to pop over to my blog In A Makeup Minute, thanks for reading guys.

Mwah!
xoxo

Thank you Zahra for such a great post on how to take care of oily skin - I really hope you found it useful and interesting! Please do take the time to pop over to her lovely blog In A Makeup Minute.

How do you take care of your oily skin?