Nails | Make Up By Katy

The Longest Lasting Manicure I’ve Ever Had…

June 30, 2010 By Katy Messer 3 Comments

Hi Girls!
A few months ago I saw a tweet from Wahanda with one of their ‘too good to miss’ deals and I scooped it up pronto! It was a Manicure Deal in conjunction with the Aveda Puro salon in Marylebone. I paid £10 for a Manicure that would usually have cost £30. Can’t go wrong with that, eh?
Firstly, the treatment I got when I walked in was lovely. Nice and polite without the fawning. I really cannot abide the fawning. Just offer me a coffee and give me a magazine, please don’t make out you’re in love with me?! Thanks..
Now I’d just raced from my pedicure on the other side of Oxford street, with my kit in tow, flustered, hot and did I mention that this was a Saturday?! Tourists, get OUT OF MY WAY! Or I will tread on your heels. You’ve been warned…
The lady who had the pleasure of rescuing my pathetic nails was a refreshing change from the manicurists I’ve had in the past. She was gentle yet firm, she gave me a stern talking to about the horrific injuries I’ve inflicted on my thumbs from my picking habit. My hand massage was to die for. If you’re going to massage my hands, you darn well better be firm with it. Do not try and palm (hah!) me of with anything less than a really strong squeeze… It’ll just make me want to swat your hands away.
This treatment lasted approx 45 minutes, I has a thorough hand soak followed by an expert cuticle tidy. She didn’t try and strip my nail down the the knuckle but she handled my ravaged cuticles without causing any pain or bleeding. All good!
My nails were all different lengths, (my hands were truly vile) and she filed them into a nice even shape. No scrubbing with the nail file and no bending my fingers in awkward positions to suit her.
After a quick base coat, she let me choose from the selection of colours they had laid out from the Zoya range they carry. This range is described as ‘award winning, long wearing, vegan friendly’. It’s also free of the usual suspects ingredient wise.
I chose a typical holiday colour, a delightful shade called Elodie which in the bottle and on the website looks a lot more coral that it came out on my fingers. I feel the end result is definitely ‘redder’.
A swift top-coat, a drop of oil and I was done.

A quick picture of my Nails on the train home.

I had this done on Sat June 12th and I went on holiday and didn’t remove it until I got home on Thursday 24th.

Excuse the poor quality, it’s an i-phone picture and it’s also the other hand but I’m seriously impressed. Hardly any tip wear! You can clearly see the growth of the nail at the cuticle so it’s proof that it’s a good 12 days old. Now I know I wasn’t working but I was on the beach with the abrasive sand and I tell you what, those beers don’t drink themselves…
All in all, I’m really impressed and would go back again. I do wish they had a wider range of colours in the salon to choose from though.
Yours,

Filed Under: Aveda, Nails, Review, wahanda

Nail of the Day – Asda Raincloud

February 14, 2010 By Katy Messer 4 Comments

Hi Girls,

I recently bought 7 of Asda’s finest in the form of their little bottles of £1 nail polish. Here is the post where you’ll see all 7 shades.

I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge nail person. If I’m really honest, I neglect my poor nails quite a bit. I have cuticles that are crying out for TLC, which you’ll see in the picture. This has embarassed me into doing something about it though and I will return to my cuticle oil which is sat in my bathroom doing a fat lot of no good.

What do I love about these polishes? Alot! The size for one. I have never finished a nail polish and probably never will. So the small bottle means less waste.
I like the brush, it was easy to use, even with my ‘wrong’ hand.
The shades, they’re unusual yet flattering.
And the cost. £1. I can’t think of much that is good value for a quid these days.

In this picture I have put 2 coats, no top coat. I used a top coat on top of it the other day and it stayed chip free for 2 days. That’s enough for me!

I have had more compliments about this colour than any other I’ve worn. I’m a sucker for a compliment!

Yours, as always

Katy xx

Filed Under: Asda, bargains, Nails, NOTD, Review

Boots and Asda Haul! (Beware, this post contains graphic images of bargains galore.)

February 10, 2010 By Katy Messer 7 Comments

Hi Girls!

Today I decided was the day I wanted to redeem some of my well earned Boots Advantage Points. I work hard for them so I didn’t want to spend them willy-nilly. I didn’t want to waste them on Toothpaste and Shower Gel. Or tasteless Shapers Crisps. No way Jose! (True fact, I have an Uncle called Jose and he doesn’t find that phrase at all funny.) So I put aside a good half hour to really get stuck into the colour and find some new miracles.

First stop was Bourjois. For those who read my posts, you’ll know I’m quite a fan of their colour products and have already had a splurge on their Shimmering Liquid Eyeshadows, you can read about my experience with them here. So I picked up another colour in the range, plus a new Eyeshadow from their Ombre Stretch Range in a wicked Mauve shade called Violette Profond.

I then scooted accross the aisle to the Prestige stand. I already have one of their Kohl Pencils in Black and it’s fab. I picked up a great black-based Purple that smudges like a dream and stays the day.

I also picked up a VO5 Hot Oil treatment that was reduced to £2. I recall my mum slathering my knotted mass of hair as a child, with good results.

My favourite lashes of all time – Ardell Demi Wispies and a new tube of my favourite mascara, Rimmel Volume Flash ‘Max’. This is aparently the new, improved version of the original that I ~~loved~~ love. This however, I do not. I explain it more fully in my tutorial which I am posting this week, but the brush has changed and I don’t think for the better. *has tantrum*

I then hot-footed in over to my local Asda… Now I loved my Asda before I’d even discovered that they have the George nail varnishes. Not only that, they have the whole range.

I posted a few weeks ago that I was trying to stop being a make-up snob. A year ago, I’d never have dreamt of stopping by the George cosmetics stand! Now however, I subscribe to lots of blogs and I follow the general chit chat on twitter about new discoveries. Which is where I heard about the Nail Varnishes…on roll back at £1 each!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the bargain line up…..

From Left to Right- 32 Streamer (pale mint green)/ 35 Frost Bite (pale ice blue)/ 37 Raincloud (pale grey)
36 Smog (Deep Grey)/ 44 Deceit (metallic gunmetal Grey)/ 10 Indigo Dazzle (dark blue metallic)/
21 Deep Sea Blue (dark indigo blue)

This is photography at it’s worst but I wanted to show the colours and the finish. This is 2 quick coats and no topcoat.

Also only 2 coats. I’m impressed. I’m also cack at painting my own nails but the brush on these are good! I stayed in the lines! Woohoo! Roll on summer so I can wear these bad boys on my tootsies

Now here’s where I got really excited. I started dipping my fingers into the eyeshadows.

As a make-up artist I look for a few things from my eyeshadows. Pigment and colour payoff, texture and finish. I swear, these Asda eyeshadows had it all. I started off throwing a few of the singles in my basket, £1, £2.50 etc until I spotted the quads. Including all the shades I’d been ogling! On rollback at £2.50!

Autumn Leaves

Mermaid

Outer Space

These shadows gave me such a fabulous saturation of colour from one swipe on my hand in store, I was uber shocked. I then proceeded to sell them to the lovely lady who swiped my make-up (and potatoes) through the till. She asked me if I was a make-up artist, I said I was, she asked me which pallete I’d recommend for her, I told her. Only in Asda my friends, only in Asda.

I will do colour swatches when I have better light. Promise.

This is a look I put together this evening using a few of my new buys. I have filmed a tutorial of it which I hope will go up later this week. For now, here is a preview of the look.