My First Mac Nail Polish

A couple of weeks ago, I treated myself to my very first Mac nail polish.

I don't often spend more than £3 or £4 on a nail polish, but when I spotted this polish on sale at The Cosmetics Company Store outlet shop at Bicester Village, I couldn't resist.

Yes, I'm wearing Care Bear pyjamas!

I was drawn to the unusual colours of this nail polish from ten feet away and went in for a closer look. The polish is called Formidable and turned out to be a very dark purple with a sapphire blue shimmer. To me it looked like petrol, and reminded me of Models Own Beetle polishes. 

It was on sale for £7.75 down from the RRP of £11, and as the price wasn't too outrageous, I had to take it home with me. But was it worth the splurge?

And the answer is... no, it wasn't! Let me tell you why...

I didn't waste any time in painting my nails with my new polish, using it later that same day.

The long brush was easy to handle and the polish painted on smoothly. Each coat dried within a minute, which I was very impressed with. I applied three coats to each nail, and waited until my manicure was bone dry before I let my hands come in to contact with anything. All seemed great... and I thought I was on to a winner, but within a couple of hours, several nails had already chipped! My hands had barely come in to contact with anything, certainly nothing that should've left my nails looking like an eroding week-old manicure. It's not something I would expect from an £11 nail polish; for that price I would expect something a little more hard-wearing than the budget drug store brands. 

As for the colour, it's a little darker than it appears in the bottle, and it's a little bit different to anything I've tried before. The purple is so dark that I often think it looks more like a chocolate brown (which I kinda like), and the pale blue shimmer is pretty but subtle. It's a very unusual colour combination, but it's not the worst shade of polish I've ever worn.

Here are a couple of shots of me wearing it:

Untouched photo. (Above).

Photo which has had basic auto adjustments. The colours are accurate. (Above).

So, sadly, I wasn't impressed with my first Mac nail polish. It started out well, but ended in disaster. I am surprised that a nail polish which would usually retail for £11 chipped so quickly. I've used £1 drug store polishes which have been far superior, and I think I'll be sticking with my old faithful budget brands from now on. 

I am left wondering why Mac is so popular, because I've not been impressed with their powder eyeshadows, either. Sorry, Mac, I'm not sure that we're ever going to get along. It's not me, it's you.

What are your thoughts on Mac?

A Little Outlet Haul March 2014

A couple of weeks ago, I ventured out of the house for the third or fourth time this year, and popped over to Bicester Village with my older sister. She wanted to shop, I just tagged along for some fresh air.

I find it difficult to come home from Bicester Village, an outlet village located in Oxfordshire, without purchasing something. I always get tempted by something, no matter how small. (I blame my sister!) I can't afford to shop in the designer shops, but Cath Kidston and the cosmetics companies always get a visit. On this occasion, I came home with a few little things from Cath Kidston, and some make up.

I wasn't swayed by a lot in Cath Kidston this time, but I couldn't leave without the set of two bunny and toadstool print cosmetics bags. I'd been admiring them online before the winter sales and fell in love with the print. (The crazy bunny lady strikes again!) They were £10 for the pair down from £15, which was a good discount.

Just look at how lovely that print is!

I also had to have these red and turquoise polka dot hair grips, which were just £2.50 instead of £6.00. I also came home with a pretty writing set for just £2, and some canape flags that were dirt cheap that I'll probably use to decorate a cake at some point this year.

If you love Cath Kidston's bags, the Bicester Village branch was well stocked with them when I visited a fortnight ago and the discounts on them weren't bad.

While we were there, we also visited The Cosmetics Company Store, which for some reason I'd never noticed on previous visits, even though it was practically opposite CK. I think it's probably a good thing I hadn't! It's basically a beauty lover's paradise, with discounted products from luxury brands like Clinique, Mac, Bobbi Brown, and DKNY. We spend some time having a play with it all. 

I'd never seen most of Clinique's make up range before, so treated myself to a few pieces, and also my first Mac nail polish. My above purchases were the result of restraining myself. I could of quite easily gone far more over board than I did, but still spent far more than I'd planned to that day. Oops.

My older sister has recently got in to watching beauty vlogs, which has rekindled her love of make up, and came out with a few finds, too.

I got three Clinique powder eyeshadows, and a Clinique Chubby Stick lip crayon... I'll be revealing the shades I bought when I review them for you really soon. They're lovely!

And I got myself my first Mac nail polish, Formidable, which I'll also be reviewing for you very soon.

If you love your designers and a good bargain, I really do recommend Bicester Village for a little outlet shopping. The outlet village has a great atmosphere and I find it quite relaxing to dawdle around from shop to shop... apart from on the days when it's incredibly busy with bargain shoppers. Weekends can be mental! There are places to grab some food and drink, and it's got a good selection of stores. It's located close to Oxford and it's easily accessible from other parts of the country.

Have you snapped up any bargains lately?

Green Eyed

I was going through my make up drawer the other day, choosing which bits to take with me on my mini trip to Bournemouth, when I reached one of life's extremely challenging and completely life-altering dilemmas: which green eyeshadow(s) do I pack for eighteen hours away from home?

I know, absolutely important, nail-biting stuff, right?! How I made that decision, I will never know.

I hadn't quite realised just how much green eye make up I owned, so I collected every eyeshadow and every eye liner together and laid them out so that I could decide between them. I wasn't quite prepared to learn I had twenty-two different eye colours! 

Twenty-two! That was a surprise, even for me!

I mean, I knew I had quite a collection brooding in the make up shrine, due to a slight addiction to green eye make up that goes back at least a decade, but regardless, it still came as a shock. Twenty-two does sound rather excessive, doesn't it, but in my defence, no two shades are alike. Some I've had for several years, some were bought recently. Two were purchased last week for the festive season. And each one is loved and used.

Hello, my name is Louise and I'm addicted to green make up!

My favourite shadow of all time was a stunning light olive green called Beatrix (in the trinket pot) that was by a company called B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful. They were the sister company to Lush who sold the most beautiful vegan beauty products and cosmetics, but who sadly went in to administration a few years ago. That eyeshadow was the main reason I was heart broken when they closed their doors; I went through several pans in my early-mid twenties and I adored it. I still have a tiny bit left which I'm trying to make last as long as possible. 

I've been searching for a replacement ever since, but so far I've had zero luck finding a near-identical shadow. However, I purchased a similar, but slightly darker shade called Kush by Urban Decay last week (the silver pot), which is the closest match I've found. I've fallen in love with the colour, and it's so perfect in colour and performance that I think I've found a new favourite! I adore it already.

I also really love my Inglot shadows, and the liquid liners by Lush and Jemma Kidd.

I don't know what it is about green eye colours that I love exactly, but I've always liked the way they look with my pale, freckled skin, brown eyes, and dark, or, currently, red hair. I think green compliments those features perfectly, whether it's a bold lime, or a rich emerald. They bring out the brown of my eyes and are a great contrast against both red and brown hair colours, and most importantly, I feel good wearing them. Dare I say, green eye make up even gives me a little confidence boost every time I wear it- which is often! I wear green more than any other colour, and probably more than all the other colours combined.

I think that everybody should give green eye make up a chance, as it's the most beautiful, varied colour palette, and there's a shade out there to suit everybody. 

Have you got a particular make up colour or product that you can't stop collecting? Do you own more green eye make up than me?