Catrice Mono Eyeshadow in #050 'The Noble Knights' [Review]

Dear readers,

Check out my latest review for the Catrice Mono Eyeshadow in #050 'The Noble Knights' for Beauty and Fitness Malta.

You can read the whole review by following this link here.

Love,

Lorraine
xoxo

Summer Giveaway! [Open Internationally] [Closed]

Dear readers,

Hope you are all having a good weekend!

Three months after my first one, I thought that it is about time that I did another giveaway! This one will have two winners, and is open worldwide!

I wanted to thank all of my lovely readers for taking the time to read and comment on my blog. Hopefully somebody who really likes this blog will win, because I really hate it when people unsubscribe from a blog as soon as a competition is over - so rude! So please if you are one of those persons, or you are not interested in my blog, kindly do not take part in the competition - so it would be fair on the persons who truly follow my blog, thanks! ^.^

The first prize winner will get the Skin79 Miniature BB Cream set (there are 4 different ones which you can have fun trying out), a Tony Moly Baby Doll Concealer (which is my all time favourite concealer), and a Famous Cosmetics Party Pouch (you'll get a cute animal print pouch with x4 miniature glitter polishes).

The second prize winner will get a gorgeous 72 colour eye shadow palette.

A closer look to the prizes:

The giveaway will run from today till the end of July. I will announce the winners on a blog post and will send them an email, afterwhich they will have 3 days to get back to me or I will have to choose another winner.

To participate, just fill in the Rafflecopter below. The only mandatory rules I have are that you must follow me via Google Friends Connect [GFC] and Blog Lovin', to like my Facebook page and to leave a blog post comment. All the others are extra and some can be done daily to get you more chances of winning!

Important! Please do not follow via GFC privately, or else I won't know who is following or not.

Good luck everyone!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

P.s All the makeup is brand new and I bought all the items myself.

I will not be held responsible for undelivered items, breakages or any other extra cost. If the winner would like to insure the package I can check out the cost and let her know prior to items being shipped.

Love,

Lorraine
xoxo

Holika Holika Aqua Petit Jelly BB Cream in #02 'Aqua Neutral' [Review]

Dear readers,

Me and my love affair with Korean BB creams proudly presents you my latest review, this time for the Holika Holika Aqua Petit Jelly BB cream.

This BB cream comes in just 2 shades: #01 Aqua Beige and #02 Aqua Neutral.

I got Aqua Neutral because it is the darkest shade from the two of them. I paid $12.22 including shipping and you can get yours from here.

I had seen this BB cream around and the fact that it has a jelly like consistency really intrigued me; so much so that I went out and bought my own!

The Holika Holika BB cream comes in a frosted jelly like glass container which is rather heavy and not really travel friendly. On the inside of the cap it has a spatula which is excellent to use (and there's no need to use a separate brush), and you also get a sponge - but I never use it because I tend to blend it with my fingers.

Like the name claims, this BB cream has a jelly like consistency which feels really wet and cool once you apply it to your skin. Once blended, it dries completely. Due to its consistency, you do need to blend it better than you would with other bb creams/foundations.

It offers SPF 20 which makes it excellent to use during summer (and the fact that this feels cool on your skin helps all the more). It offers light coverage which can be built to a medium coverage.

Normally my face starts to turn oily about 3 hours after I have applied it (and fixed it with powder) but this is normal for me (and especially since over here the temperature has already reached 35 degrees celcius).

This does not give you a grey tinge - but it does give you a glare if you take photos with flash.

My only problem is how I will manage to get to the product at the bottom of the jar once the spatula can't get to it - most probably I will have to store it upside down or something like that.

What made me laugh was that it comes with a 'Do not eat' warning in bold on the packaging. Hah :)

blended, no flash

blended, with flash

Any other questions let me know =3

Love,

Lorraine
xoxo

Ombre Gradient Nail Art with Roses [Step-by-Step Tutorial]

Dear readers,

I bring you another simple and gorgeous design which you all can do at your home: the ombre or gradient nail design with simple black roses.

I really loveeeee how this turned out [earlier this week I showed this in another post here]. This is one of my favourite nail looks ever! You can also omit the black rose design if you do not feel too confident using a thin striper brush.

What I used are:

• A mint nail polish 
• A vivid blue nail polish
• A black nail polish [or black acrylic paint]
• A make up sponge which I've cut in half
• Cotton buds or q-tips
• Nail polish remover
• Top Coat
• Striper brush or thin brush to draw on the roses

This is how they turned out:

Start off by painting your nails with 1 coat of the mint polish [or any other light colour of your choice]

Paint on several coats of the mint and blue nail polish on a wedged make-up sponge, starting with the mint at the top and the blue at the bottom. Try to overlap the blue on the mint to help achieve the gradient effect;

Dab the sponge on your nail, wait for the first coat to dry then repeat;

Use a clean cotton bud dipped in nail polish remover and clean up the cuticle area off any excess polish. Using a nail striper or black acrylic paint, draw out the outline of 2 roses - they are really easy to do promise! Just start from the inside and work yourself outwards using small semi-circular lines;

This is how my palette looks like atm......

Allow the roses to dry and seal the polish with a clear top coat;

Colours I used;

Hope you try this cute ombre design out :)

Love,

Lorraine

xoxo

Cute Coloured Pencils Nail Design [Step-by-Step Tutorial]

Dear readers,

So today I did one of the most fun, cute and colourful nail designs ever: coloured pencils!

This design is best achieved on pointy or almond shaped nails, but can also be done on on square ones if you flip the pencil over.

For this design I used acrylic paints (the primary colours) but you can also use nail polish and a striper or thin brush to outline the 'pencils'

This is the finished result:

Sooooo, start by drawing 3 half moon shapes near the free edge of the nail and fill the top part of the nail with the colour of your choice like so;

Then fill in the pointy part of the nail with a sand coloured polish or acrylic paint, whichever you prefer;

Use a lighter version of the main colour [in this case, blue] and draw a wide stripe in the middle of the nail, then paint the point with the darker colour you used for the base;

Repeat the process for the rest of the nails, using different colours. I used orange, blue, red, yellow and green.

If you do not have a steady hand you can leave them like this, or you can outline them in black like I did. Finally finish off with topcoat to protect your design and hardwork!

What do you think of this design? Would you wear it?

Love,

Lorraine
xoxo

Catrice Perfect Resist Foundation in #030 'Perfect Sand' [Review]

Dear readers,

Hurrah for the first day of Summer!

I am now a contributor on Beauty and Fitness Malta [check out the website here] - a website which features everything which is beauty and health related.

My first review for them is up! It is for the Catrice Perfect Resist Foundation in 'Perfect Sand' which actually is a really good and affordable foundation.

Check out the following link for the full review: here

Love,

Lorraine
xoxo

Make Up Store Nail Polish in 'Margret' [Review]

Dear readers,

When holographic polish was first launched I searched high and low around Malta and online, but the ones I found were not to my liking because either the holo effect was not nice, or they cost a bomb.

I was really happy when I sent a message to the Make Up Store in Malta and they confirmed that they had holo polish in stock....

...but when I did check it out I was told that you had to buy a special kind of basecoat in order to use it under the holographic nail polish for it to have effect.

So I bought the next best thing, which was the 'Margret' nail polish with a shimmer finish.

I paid around Euro 11/12 for it and you get 8ml, so it is on the expensive side for a nail polish.

It is a gorgeous nude colour with holographic specks - excellent for those who love nude polish but would also like a twist in their usual manicure.

I haven't had any problems with it, the brush is the perfect size for use on both wide and narrow fingernails and it does not take ages to dry.

As usual I cannot talk about chipping since I only use nail polishes on nail extensions.

All in all very happy with this nail polish and would recommend it!

Love,

Lorraine
xoxo

Some of My Latest Nail Designs

Dear readers,

I'm finally done with my exams! Woot! Woot! Woot!

I start teaching next week, so I have a full week of relaxing (except when I have nail clients, that is)

So I thought it's about time I did more nail art designs! Some of them turned out really cuteeeeee!

I posted my favourites from the bunch I did. Just let me know if you would like a step by step pictorial for any of the designs

And let me know which one is your favourite too :D

P.s you can check out my nail page by clicking this link here

Love,

Lorraine
xoxo

Good Things Stay Clear Purifying Cleanser [Review]

Dear readers,

I must make a confession....

I am sometimes too lazy to remove my makeup.

And that is why I use baby wipes. Most of the time I cannot be bothered to cleanse, tone, moisturise etc.

But lately I have made a habit out of cleansing and moisurising my face every morn and eve, yay!

In the last few months I was using the Witch Hazel Oil Controlling Face Wash [review here] but I fancied a change and so I bought the Good Things Stay Clear Purifying Cleanser with Superfruit Extracts: Mango and Berry.

It cost me around Euro 6.00 and you get 150ml of product.

This claims that it is "free from Parabens, Mineral Oils, Sodium Laureth, Sulphate, Animal Ingredients" and it is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

The first thing I would like to say is that this smells gorgeous! I have never had a cleanser that smells so good. Thumbs up for that.

I use this every morning and every evening (when I can) and I never suffered from any breakouts. Thumbs up for that too.

This is real gentle and so you are not left with a tight feeling once you're done, which means that if you're in a rush you can skip the moisturiser.

To use, you just massage into damp skin for about a minute, then rinse with warm water.

This removes all traces of makeup (but I do not use any waterproof mascara so I can't tell if it does remove that too).

Definite recommend, will certainly re-purchase!

Which brand do you use?

Love,

Lorraine
xoxo

Etude House Sweet Recipe Candy Stick in 'Lemon Candy' [Review]

Dear readers,

I do not really wear any lipsticks during the morning (since normally I am at university) but I do love wearing coloured balms.

A while back I got the Tony Moly Petite Bunny Gloss Bar (review here) which I looveeeeee.

Then I saw the Etude House Sweet Receipt Candy Sticks and I fell in love with the packaging, because it looks like a Candy Cane stick ^.^

The Candy Sticks come in 3 different shades: Strawberry Candy, Orange Candy and Lemon Candy.

I got mine from this seller here (RubyRuby76 - I always buy Korean Makeup from them) and it cost me $5.98 including shipping.

I chose the Lemon Candy one and you get 2grms.

The balm itself looks yellow but it changes to a nice pink when applied. The more you apply the stronger the colour turns out. It also smells delicious - much like lemons in fact!

Unlike the Tony Moly one, this one is a balm tint - so it stains your lips while also giving them a mild glossy look.

It also helps soften my lips, and the glossiness/balminess stays on for about 1-2 hrs (I keep nibbling on my lips grrr >.< )

My only problem with this is that when I tried twisting up the lipbalm to see how much product I got, it got stuck! I had the same problem with the Tony Moly one too. I then had to push it with my lips while twisting it down - so I'm never going to twist more than I need.

one swipe looks really light and natural, but it gets darker the more you swipe it

Love,

Lorraine
xoxo

Essence Stays No Matter What Waterproof Eyeliner Pen [Review]

Dear readers,

Hope you're all having a nice day.

Yesterday I had one of my uni final exams, and thank god that that is over. My other final exam is on the 17th so I have about a week to revise for that one, and after that it's Summer for me, yey! Hopefully all of my hard work will pay off.

I feel really naked without any eyeliner on, but I was so busy with studying I not always felt like going through the process of gel or liquid liner. And so I started using the Essence Stays No Matter What Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in #01 Midnight Black.

I think this cost me around Euro 3/4. It is a marker/ pen type eyeliner and the name implies that it is both waterproof and durable (24h). You get 1ml of product which is a tiny amount even for an eyeliner.

The nib of the pen is quite slender, pointy and flexible, allowing you to create wings, thin or thicker lines, and even intricate designs.

I always have to go over a line twice because it is not the blackest of blacks, but I love it because it is so quick and easy to use.

And no, it is not waterproof as the product claims to be and I noticed this immediately when I tested my swatch under running water - so don't go swimming with this one on! [Check out my before and after pics].

Yesterday was also the first time that this has smudged on my eyelids - not cool. So now I am a bit wary of using it during Summer [especially since it is not waterproof as it claims].

As with out pen like eyeliners, it is better if you store them upside down unless you want it to dry out in a matter of days.

You can find better pens around, I don't really recommend this even though it is quite affordable.

After running it under the tap - and please note that I did not even try to rub it out!

Love,

Lorraine
xoxo