Illamasqua Viridian

Hi everyone

This morning I decided to crack open one of my Christmas presents and give it a first time outing. Illamasqua Viridian is a limited edition nail polish and came as a set with a gorgeous purple glitter polish called Glitterati and if you likey then hurry over to Illamasqua now as this gorgeous set is now on sale for £15.50. Its safe to say that I have definitely come out of my comfort zone over the last year when it comes to nail polish, I was a big fan of  neutral colours and still am but sometimes there is nothing more stunning than a simple pop of colour - it can add an extra dimension to an otherwise simple outfit. To be blatantly honest Illamasqua isn't a brand I buy all that often that being said their nail polish is amazing and definitely worth checking out. I decided on trying Viridian first because it was my least favourite of the two and if I didn't like it on then it was going to straight into the give to family members pile - it looked alright in the bottle like a blackened dark green laced with ever so tiny flecks of turquoise glitter, yes in theory it was nice but it just didn't grab my eye, all that went absolutely flying out the window when I applied it. If I had to describe it in one word I would call it dazzling ! Viridian is a joy to apply - the consistency is just right, the brush is a little on the small side for my liking but because of the consistency of the polish you don't experience any streaking, in fact the smaller brush is amazing for precision application helping you to achieve that perfect finish, anyway enough rambling on Viridian can also be bought on its on for £13.50 if you don't want to invest in the set.

What do you guys think ?

Lots of Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx

Nail of the day

Hi everyone

Well it seems like a while since Ive done a nail post - I jest !

Last week I was rocking the nudey natural look with Ciate's Bon Bon so this week I wanted something a bit more daring so I decided on Ciate's Mistress with a ring finger accent of Essie's Leading Lady, its making me feel all Christmassy again.

 

Nail Care - Nail Ridges

Hi everyone

 

Welcome to my first ever Nail Care Clinic.

Todays subject is nail ridges - What causes them and how to get rid of them.

Please feel free to suggest a subject for next weeks nail clinic and if you have any nail problems please post them in the comments section and I will do my best to try and help you resolve them.

 

Nail ridges can occur vertically or horizontally on your nails and produce an uneven surface meaning you will find it difficult to get smooth and even results after applying nail polish or nail wraps, ridges can even cause your nail polish or gel nail treatments to chip prematurely,  but what are the main causes of nail ridges and what can you do to improve them ??

Eczema, dermatitis and dehydration can all cause vertical ridges on your nails along with vitamin deficiency(have you changed your diet recently?)  and ageing.  Horizontal ridges can SOMETIMES (Dont panic) be caused by underlying health problems so a visit to your GP is often recommended to make sure that there are no other causes.

 

 So what can you do to get rid of these pesky ridges ??

 

First of all DO NOT over buff your nails - contrary to popular belief you cannot buff ridges out of your nails and you could cause damage to your nail bed. Regular care and attention is essential and light buffing to stimulate the blood flow is recommended as well as gently massaging a cuticile oil or cuticle balm into your nails and cuticles morning and night, by making sure your hands and nails are well moisturised this will help you win your battle against those nasty nail ridges. Another key element is to make sure your diet is rich in vitamins and minerals and you are consuming atleast two litres of water a day to keep your moisture levels up. 

 

Your ridge fighting kit - a cuticle oil or balm, a ridge filling base coat, a cuticle exfoliator and a gentle buffer.

Please feel free to leave me your questions and comments.

 

Thank you  

Ciate Enchanted Rose

Hi everyone

 

Happy Christmas Eve.

Well Im sad to say  its the last day of the Ciate Mani Month Calendar and I dont think there could have been a more perfect choice for todays polish - Enchanted Rose, a very Christmas appropriate red glitter. Today I am simply going to let the pictures speak for themself !

 

Have a great day tomorrow everyone, I hope Santa is good to you all.

 

Lots of Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx

 

 

 

 

Ciate Mojito

Hi guys

The pre Christmas pandemonium continues today - anyone, can I please have more hours in the day ? So I have just another quick check in with todays Ciate colour - Mojito !! Love the name, love the cocktail but really not sure about the colour - what do you think ??

Lots of Love
Lipstick Fridays
xx

Ciate Caviar Pearls Sundance

Good morning lovelies

 

Thank goodness its the weekend !! Just a quick post today to check in and show you todays Ciate - Its day twenty two woop woop and we have the special edition caviar pearls in Sundance, I think this one is really pretty and it also has little bitty micro sequins in shades of gold and turquoise. I have paired it with Ladylike Luxe and think they really compliment each other - mmmh this caviar mani just might be growing on me.

 

Lots of Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx

 

Ciate Fade To Greige

Continuing with my "Ciate a day" pledge, todays colour is Fade To Greige, a grey polish with a hint of violet. This is a great neutral colour which would go with any outfit over the festive season. Ciate polish is quick to dry which means you can paint your nails in a hurry without having to wait twenty minutes for them to be touch dry !! You will also achieve great results with this polish because it has such a  great consistency which makes it easy to paint with, it has great pigmentation which means no streaks or uneven colour and because it dries so quickly you will have gorgeous, glossy smudge free nails.  This is Fade To Greige with two coats, it is a permanent polish in Ciates collection so you will be able to purchase this from Ciate for £9.

 

Lots of Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx

 

Ciate Magic Carpet

Its day 20 in my Ciate Mini Mani Month calendar and can I just say "Hello beautiful". Todays colour is Magic Carpet and it combines my two favourite things glitter (I have terrible magpie tendancies) and pink. As far as glitter polish goes I think this is one of the nicest ones Ive seen, with different sized flecks of magenta glitter suspended in a sheer polish I find that its rather gloopy in texture but I actually think that this helps the glitter stick to your nails rather having a thinner consistency which can sometimes just slides straight off the nails during application and making it a tad difficult to get a great effect with the glitter, this is Magic Carpet with three coats and to be honest the pictures just dont do it justice. This polish is quick to dry, has great pigmentation and if you havent tried Ciate yet then you need to give their polish a go !!! Magic Carpet is one of the calendars special editions and isnt released at the moment however Im hoping that Ciate might make this a permanent edition to their collection.

 

Lots of Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx

 

 

Ciate Cookies and Cream

Hi everyone

Got a little excited when I opened door nineteen to find Cookies and Cream behind it because at first glance I thought I might have just found a dupe for Chanel Frenzy. The excitement was short lived however because when applied it looks nothing like Chanel Frenzy. They are very similar but as you can see from the pictures Frenzy is a little darker and more of a grey putty colour where as Cookies and Cream is more of a fleshy nude colour. I gotta say Im quite liking Cookies and Cream however it took four coats to get decent coverage so it did take a little longer to dry, I do feel very chic today with nudey coloured nails though ha ha.

If you would like some nudey nails Cookies and Cream can be purchased from Ciate for £9.

Lots of Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx

Cookies and Cream on the left and Chanel Frenzy on the right

Ciate Candy Shop Caviar Pearls

Hi everyone

Todays little surprise are Ciate's Caviar pearls in Candy Shop. My husband made me laugh because he asked what are all those little balls lying about on your dressing table ? Id had a little accident with the bottle !  I told him they are caviar pearls for your nails, he replied I dont understand why you would want to stick little balls all over your nails. Thats a good question which to be honest I couldnt really answer, em its in fashion I replied but honestly I dont really want to stick little balls all over my nails so there you go, the lengths us woman will go to.  I still aint feeling the love for the caviar mani, it seems to be a really popular craze, and I have to think, will we one day laugh at how we used to stick little balls to our nails in the olden days ha ha - does anyone have any solutions as to how to a caviar mani so it doesnt annoy the heck out of you???

Please share.

Lots of Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx

Ciate Power Dressing

Hi everyone

 

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. So whats behind door number seventeen ?? Its Power Dressing the most gorgeous deep blue nail polish I think I have ever seen. Power Dressing is amazing to apply and highly pigmented meaning this only needed two coats, it seems to dry in seconds which for someone like myself who seems to be perpetually in a hurry is just a god send ! I have recently purchased some of Ciate's Speed Coat which is their version of a fast drying top coat so keep your eyes peeled for a review on that coming soon.

 

A full size bottle of Ciate Power Dressing can be purchased from Ciate for £9.

 

Lots of Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx

 

 

 

 

Ciate Big Yellow Taxi

Hi everyone

 

I hope that you are all enjoying your weekend. Its day sixteen of my Ciate calendar and I feel I should issue a warning !! You may need your sunglasses to view the following pictures because todays colour is Big Yellow Taxi - Im a little lost for words and cant quite decide if I like this or not - it certainly makes a statement ! It took four coats to get a decent sort of coverage with this and then I decided to mix it up a bit with yesterdays colour Head Liner and Im still not sure !! I will let you guys be the judge.

 

If you love the yellow then you can purchase Big Yellow Taxi from Ciate for £9.

 

Lots of Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx

 

 

Ciate Headliner

Good morning everyone

 

Happy Saturday to you all.

Well its day 15 and disaster struck when I was painting my nails !! Yes I smudged !! Nothing too drastic but it means a bit of a tidy up which didnt take place before I took my pics today - yes ladies Im in a hurry so its just a quick post this morning to show you todays colour which is Headliner a gorgeous Turquoise shade which I think is pretty unusual looking and not really like anything else in my collection. My apologies for the shoddy paint work !!  I almost didnt get this post up today as Im literally rushing out the door but Im determined to keep my posts up to date !! Have a good day everyone.

 

Ciate Headliner can be purchased from Ciate for £9.

 

Lots of Love

Lipstick Fridays

xx