Catrice Nail Polish in 'Karl Says Tres Chic'

Don't get me wrong, every girl needs a few bright nail polishes in her collection, but she also equally needs more toned down wearable shades for every day. I've tried a variety of nude shades and they just don't work for me at all. Nudes just make me look like a mannequin in a shop window, so if I want a nice neutral nail that's not going to offend anybody at an interview or something like that, I go for in a soft or light pink.
The colour I'm talking about today is neither soft, nor light but it works and is a colour that's not going to draw too much attention or looks of disgust. Its Catrice's nail polish in 'Karl Says Tres Chic' which was part of the 'Ultimate Nudes Collection' so I'm not 100 percent sure if its still available on stands, and if its not, well its a travesty I tell thee! ( I've just checked the Catrice site, it has been re released, whoop!)

Now the name itself to me is something special, as I picked this up one day at a stand after going back with something that was broken and the polish just caught my eye and I grabbed it. I only noticed the name after I got out of the shop, and Karl was actually my brothers name who unfortunately passed away when he was 13, so to me this is a message from above! :)
Anyway the polish itself is a beautiful creamy neutral pink, it just goes with anything. I have found the formula of Catrice Nail Polishes to be fairly decent, and this is no exception. One coat of the polish gives fairly opaque coverage, but I generally tend to apply 2 coats anyway just to make it last a bit longer.
The brush is also a thick enough brush that makes it easy to disperse product over the nail in just one swipe without making a mess, which I somehow always manage to do!
Catrice polishes are cheap as chips at around the 4 euro mark, and come in a great selection of colours, and they also have a great choice of glitter polishes which are perfect as top coats, or else to use as an accent nail.

Have you tried any Catrice Polishes?
What do you think?
Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Nails of the Week

After having my nails a dull and rather boring grey colour for a night out last week, I decided I wanted to go for something bright and a bit more cheery seen as its Spring, (seeing today's weather though we could all be forgiven for thinking otherwise). I went for a look in my nail polish drawer to see what stood out and I fancied something with a bit of glitter. And then I found a white Rimmel polish at the back of the drawer that hadn't even been opened, so I decided to give both a go together and see how they fared out.

 The white polish I used was one of Rimmel's Lasting Finish Polishes in London Cloud. I know white nail polish isn't the most opaque of colours, but it took me 3  coats to get something that looked half decent. The effort! The glitter polish is the same formula but its in the shade Disco Ball. I don't think this is actually meant as a top coat, but it would take a lot of work  and a few coats to get it up to a decent coverage. I decided just to go with one coat, which resulted in fairly sparce glitter on the nail, which I was OK with. However it took me an age to get the lid off the glitter polish, and resulted in big nail marks in the polish on my nails  on my left hand... Some day I will get to do my nails without ruining them in 5 minutes! I was pleased with how they turned out, but 3 coats is a hell of a lot of work, and ain't nobody got time for that! I was also less than impressed when they had chipped by the afternoon the following day!! :( Next time I shall remember to use a top coat!

 

What are you all sporting on your nails at the moment?

Thanks for reading,

Alisha xxx

Fiver Friday

Every so often a product comes along that really makes me wonder how I lived without it before, because it makes life so much easier! I'm a nail polish fiend, in fact I don't even know how many I have, and truth be told I'm afraid to count. For ages I'd been looking for a good nail polish remover, that didn't break the bank but actually did the job it was supposed to.
Well finally I found it. And before you say it, yes I know how familiar it is to another well known product! ;)

Its Primarks (Penneys to us Irish Ladies), instant nail polish remover. The idea is the same as the one that's known and loved by many beauty bloggers across the globe, but this works just as well! The idea is simple. The pot contains a sponge soaked in nail polish remover with a hole in the middle. You put your finger into the pot, twist it around a couple of times, take out your finger and even the toughest nail polish is gone completely! Its so simple! But its only 2 EURO! Yes you read that right, I can't believe how well it works for something so inexpensive.
 I have tried one of these before from a discount shop, and there was barely any remover on the sponge, and it just scraped my nails and it was crap. But you can tell once you put your finger in that there is plenty of product in there.
For a price like this, you can even pick up a nail polish or two to go with it! :)

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

If I were a rich girl.....

Hi, I'm Alisha, and I'm a cheapskate.... (If you've ever watched Extreme Cheapskates, don't worry, I'm not THAT bad). Don't get me wrong, I like to spend money, I like to spend it quite a lot actually, but I don't tend to spend a lot of money on more expensive things. I like cheap and cheerful, and I can't really justify spending high amounts of money for things that can be picked up for a lot less in less expensive places, and I'm afraid this goes for make up too. I just don't spend money on higher end more expensive make up products, when there's such amazing things to be found in the 'drugstore' these days. However, everybody is different, and I'm not judging anybody who does prefer  to splash their cash on high end make up, each to their own. This is just how I roll! Now that being said, I do own some high end make up, but I can count it on one hand!
The whole purpose of this post is to show you all what I would buy, if I by some stroke of luck win the lotto, or if I perhaps marry a rich man!!

Yves Saint Laurent is one of the most luxurious high end brands around. With its elegant packaging its not hard to see why. I mean just look at it! How pretty is this lipstick! However, no matter how pretty is, I just wouldn't pay 32.50 for it at this moment in time. I know it sounds tight, but I find it  hard to pay anything over 10 euro for a lipstick, especially when I've found such great ones for 3 and 4 euro! If I had the means though I would have all colours in the ROUGE VOLUPTE SHINE lipstick, even just to have them sitting pretty on my dressing table!

I love nail polish, at present there is a drawer next to my bed that won't close properly because there is copious bottles of polish sticking out of it, calling out to me to be used! However, there is no high end nail colours in there, so a Tom Ford polish wouldn't be out of place in there! However, at 32.50 for a single polish, I think it'll be sitting pretty in my Brown Thomas online basket for a while longer. :(

Just recently I've really gotten into my skincare, and have really loved trying different bits and pieces to see what suits my skin. I suppose I've finally realised that prevention is better than cure, and now is the time to start looking after my skin. Creme De La Mer is the cream of the crop when it comes to skincare (pardon the pun there), but at 1600 euro for a 500ml tub?? I'll stick with my No 7 moisturiser for now thank you very much! However if I was a lady who had lots to spend, well I'd be very happy to purchase this!

Jo Malone are probably most well known for their huge range of fragrances and candles. I hear very little of the bath and body range, but this Lime Basil and Mandarin Body Creme sounds so luxurious, and its no wonder at 62.50! If money was no object, I'd probably have the body wash and the matching perfume too! Feck it, I'd probably get the candle too just for the heck of it! :)

And lastly, this post wouldn't be complete without a designer handbag, and the one I'd run out straight away and buy for myself if I won the EuroMillions would be this Michael Kors Medium Sutton Tote in this gorgeous bright blue saffiano leather. It would just be the perfect bag to brighten up any plain outfit, and it would fit everything you'd need to carry around with you on a daily basis. However at 328 Dollars, I think I'll wait until someone picks up on a hint or two and maybe buys it for me?? Or else I'll keep an eye out when I go to America for some good sales! :)

What would you guys buy if you had an endless stream of money?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

What I Got For Christmas 2013

Hey everyone! Its nearly time to wrap up another year and look ahead to a new start in 2014... Madness! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and got lot's of nice goodies off Santa Clause! :) I myself had a quiet enough one, I spent it in the company of my family, and saw my boyfriend Xmas Eve, and then popped out to visit his family on St Stephens day, and then hit the town with my gal pals on St Stephens night, which for once was really good!
I thought I'd do a quick post on what I got for Christmas this year, I'm NOT showing off, but I have been watching videos on You Tube from various bloggers on what they got, and I just find them really interesting to watch for some reason! So I figured I would show you all some of what I got! I was really lucky this year and got some amazing gifts, so I'm just going to show you some of the bits I got... :)

So I know some people wouldn't find books very exciting... But I love reading, and am really trying hard to get back into it! My parents picked me up this book from Mitch Albom, entitled 'the first phone call from heaven' and so far I'm loving it! My boyfriend gave me this tourist guide of New York City, and at first I was a bit confused... But the main part of my Christmas present is.... A trip to New York!! How exciting is that! My jaw nearly hit the floor when he told me!! He gave me a choice between Paris and New York.. And of course I opted for New York! I've already started hunting out the different make up brands that we can't get here to pick up when I get there! Sad or what!! :)

The next two pictures are a couple of the presents from my brother, and I have to say he did well this year! He picked me up a heap of lovely goodies from LUSH, including some bath bombs and melts, and I also got another set which contains some shower jelly, some bubblegum lip scrub, some lip balm and some other bath bombs and bubble wands etc... I am so excited to try them as I've never tried any of the bath products from LUSH, and I'm more of a shower person, so I'm going to use it as an excuse to have more baths!! :D  This jewelry set was also a gift from him, and I love it!! I have earring like these anyway, so the necklace is perfect to wear with them, and I love the teal colour for something different! Thanks bro!!

This watch is my new baby, I absolutely love it! My parents bought me this, and it is absolutely beautiful, its a rose gold colour, and the face is a white kind of shell colour, (I'm sure there's a word for it but I can't think of it). The best thing about this is that it doesn't need a battery! Its a mechanical watch, so you give it a wind up as much as you can and its good to go for 2 to 3 days before it needs to be wound up again!

My boyfriend's family were very good to me again this year. I got this Ted Baker Sitting Pretty set from his parents, and its lovely! The bag is gorgeous and will be perfect for putting make up in, and the products in it smell lovely too, slight floral but fresh at the same time!
And from his sister and her husband I got this little pedicure set! It contains some really pretty nail varnishes that I can't wait to use, and also some toe separators, and I think the little owl is a nail file, how adorable!!

I have to say I'm very luck and privileged to have gotten such amazing things from such wonderful people. I know there's a lot of people out there who may be sick in hospital, and there may be a lot of families out there who don't know how they'll get food on the table, never mind get each other presents, and for that reason I consider myself so lucky.
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and wish you all the best for 2014, and to anyone who has ever looked at my blog, even if it was just for a brief look, thank you so much!

Thanks for reading guys,
Alisha xxx

Nails Of The Week!

So I have to apologise first of all, because I have gotten very lacksy daisy with painting my nails. I don't know what it is but some weeks I'm mad to change them up a bit, and then others I'm just happy to let them chip away... Bold me!!
This week however I'm back with a bang, and with a trusty favourite that I've had in my collection for years at that!
Its another from the Rimmel 60 Second Collection in the colour 'Grey Matter'. Seriously, if you haven't tried these polishes, you must! The formula is fantastic!
Anyway, this polish is a light grey colour, which is perfect for this time of year, especially if you want something fairly neutral but don't want your typical nude colours.
In the bottle it does look a light grey, but with this you need two coats to make it opaque, and with two coats it does translate to a slightly darker colour, but I wouldn't mind that! ;)
What nail colours are you lovely ladies rocking this week?

Thanks for reading,
Alisha xxx

Nails of the Week

Over the last week while I've been on holidays from work I've been trying to come up with some new ideas for the blog. I've had it in my mind to do some sort of a series for a while, but I couldn't figure out exactly what. Until now!
A majority of my post's seem to be quite long and somewhat descriptive, so I wanted something short and snappy that wouldn't bore everybody!
So that's where the 'Nails Of the Week' posts come in!
 A weekly account of what nail polish is on my fingernails for the week and what I think!
So this week I'm wearing....

Green With Envy by Rimmel! Its one of the infamous 60 seconds quick drying range, and I think its one of the best nail polish formula's I've tried! The short, wide brush, makes it super easy to apply, and it really does dry in an instant!
This particular colour is a lovely metallic green colour, which was more or less opaque in just one coat. I however did two coats just to be sure! The formula of these is great, and usually on there own they last a few days anyway, but I put this on Monday with an OPI topcoat and its lasted me till now with one or two tiny chips!
This particular formula from Rimmel is priced at 5.49, so its fairly reasonable for such a good product!

What's on your nails this weeks?
Thanks for reading,
Alisha
xxx

Top 5 Nail Polishes for Autumn/Winter

When it comes to make up and anything beauty related, I have to hold my hands up and admit that I'm a bit of a hoarder. But its no wonder when I keep buying products that I really don't need! I'm the same when it comes to nail polishes. For a while during the summer, I had a different colour on my nails every week, even every couple of days sometimes! But after slight staining of my nails, (note to all you lovely ladies, if you do tend to wear a lot of nail polish then wear a base coat, it will save you a lot of hassle), I gave it up for a couple of months and went 'Au Natural' as they say in France, (I think). But now the colder weather is here, I'm all about embracing the deeper colours and decided to get back into painting my nails, badly at that! I've kinda lost count of how many polishes I do actually own, its definitely more than 50, and hopefully less than 100..... That's not bad... Is it???
I decided to have a look in my collection and see what shades I had that are perfect to carry you through the colder months until we hit the springtime!

So as you can see, there's a pretty mad selection of colours in my selection, and I think some of them would be suitable for the summer too! 

From left to right we have: 

Essie Carry on: This is probably the most wintery colour I have in my collection of nail polish. Its a lovely deep purple colour that can vamp up any outfit in an instant! The only thing for me is, it doesn't really translate to the colour that it is in the bottle, because with one coat its streaky and a bit wishy washy, and with two coats, although its more opaque, its more of a black purple. Still and all its nice, but I wish I put on a base coat before using it! :( Even better is the fact that I  got this for a mere 3.20 in Cara Pharmacy in Galway! Yahoo!! :)

Rimmel Green with Envy: I love Rimmel nail polishes. To me they are some of the best out there, and I don't see the point in spending huge money on the likes of Essie, or Nails Inc (I have some of both), when these are just as good! The formula of the 60 Second ones are fantastic, and are dry almost instantly, and when used with a top coat they last ages! I love green, any colour green at that, and this one has a slight duochrome finish to it that just makes it a little bit more exciting for the chilly weather ahead of us! These are so inexpensive, coming in around the 4 euro mark I think, so for that price you could afford to give a couple of them a go! 

Barry M Gelly High Shine in Blue Grape: Everyone and their mother has raved about the formula of these polishes, and I for one am no exception! In a couple of coats of these babies, your nails will look like you've just stepped out from a fancy nail bar after getting a gel manicure! I have a few colour in these, but I think this blue colour is one of my favourites. Especially as blue is everywhere fashion wise for the season ahead! The only slight problem I have with these is they can be a bit messy, and if you forget to use a base coat, then you can be left with some slightly blue tinged nails! Not a good look! These are only 5.95 in Boots, but as always there is probably some sort of offer on so you'll get a bit of a bargain on them! 

Essie A List: Another bargainous product that I couldn't pass up! (It was also reduced in Cara Pharmacy so I decided to try). This a red colour, but not your normal bright red that you'd often see around London in the form of double decker buses or post boxes! Its a slightly deeper toned red that will be perfect at Christmas to jazz up a plain black dress or to tone down a glittery outfit for New Years Eve. The possibilities are endless! I'm yet to try this one, but one of the evenings over the weekend it shall be done! 

Catrice Karl Says Tres Chic: I think this could be one of my absolute all time favourite polishes. I wear this any time of year as its just a perfect pinkey nude colour that looks great on a night out, or if your someone who works in an office or somewhere that dark purple nails may not be the done thing, then this is perfect as it just gives the nails a really polished and pretty  look! I can't remember the exact price of these,  but I have a feeling they were around the 4.50 mark!

So that's it for my fave polishes for this time of year, do you guys have any favourites?

Thanks for reading,

Alisha xxx