(excuse the pun )

For some strange reason that still isn’t clear to me, knitting came extremely naturally to me. I thought I’d never be able to knit since I always found it so difficult. Then suddenly I found myself tackling projects that are intermediate or even highly challenging skill levels with ease. Lace knitting, entrelac, stranded colourwork, etc. That last one is the technique I used for the pillow you see above. I’ve only been knitting for two months so I’m pretty proud I’ve accomplished so much in so little time!

I found the pattern for the pillowcase in a Filati Home magazine and I simply had to make it. Why? Because it immediately reminded me of a nail art design. I used my favourite cotton yarn to make this pillow, Schachenmayr SMC Catania.

I decided to merge two of my passions so that’s what inspired these nails! I used the same pattern and colours that I used in my pillow. I painted it by hand using very thin nail art brushes and I used BK Hello Kitty nail polishes in shades #01, #29, #27 and #25. For the black I used OPI Black Onyx and I also used China Glaze Below Deck.

I really hope you like how these turned out! I love them so much because they were inspired by my pillowcase. I’ve noticed there are many nail bloggers that also love knitting and crochet! It’s so exciting to see people that share your passion. If you love knitting and crochet like me, make sure to add me on Ravelry! What are your hobbies besides love for nail polish and nail art? Let me know in the comments!

Left is the Bobbi Brown Mini Hydrating Eyecream, you get 3ml in this jar which is a nice amount. Right is the Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener which holds 6ml.

The Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream serves as a base for concealers and hydrates your eyes. You apply it underneath your eyes and around the eye area by gently patting it across your skin. I have to say it feels absolutely wonderful on my eyes! It absorbs really easily into the skin, and your eyes and skin feel really smooth after applying it. I noticed a big difference in my concealer application after using this eye cream, it makes your application much smoother and even. Love this!

The Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener comes in a tube with wand applicator. The shade I received is Light Bisque which was a good match to my skintone. This Tinted Eye Brightener does what it says on the packaging. It’s basically like a tinted moisturizer for the eyes, so you can expect a light coverage and an overall brightened effect. I have to say this is an amazing product if you have dry skin like me. It doesn’t highlight dry patches or accentuates fine lines at all. A problem which I almost always encounter with regular concealer products.

Here’s a little demo of the Bobbi Brown products. On the left I’ve applied the Eye Cream and Tinted Eye Brightener and on the right I’ve applied no products. On the bottom picture I’ve blended out the Bobbi Brown Tinted Eye Brightener. As you can see the effect is subtle but it definitely makes your eyes look a little more awake! You can also layer it up over your usual concealer if you need more coverage. I’d personally want a little more coverage but this product definitely does what it promises. I am not a huge fan of the scent but that’s about the only downside I could think of.

I have to say I was really pleasantly surprised by these Bobbi Brown products. I’m definitely keen to try more of their products. You can find this Bobbi Brown set at QVC for £19.50, which is an amazing deal! Make sure to check out the other beauty products at QVC. What are your thoughts on these products? Are you a fan of Bobbi Brown? Any products you’d recommend me? Let me know in the comments! 

From left to right: #01, #02, #03, #04, #39, #16, #17, #18, #19, #21

There are 41 shades of the BK Hello Kitty Nail polishes in total, first up are these 10 colours. As you can see they are the pink shades! Since it’s Hello Kitty after all I decided to post these up first. Over the next few weekends I’ll post up the other shades along with more giveaways.

BK Hello Kitty #01 - As you can see this is a lovely white nail polish. It’s great to use underneath sheer colours or neons, or for french manicures or nail art. It covered extremely well in only two coats. It’s my new favourite white polish! There’s something so pristine and lovely about solid white nails I think.

BK Hello Kitty #02 – This shade is a very sheer pink. You can use it for french manicures as I did above (I used #01 for the free edge) or simply use it for layering over other polishes. As it’s the brightest glowing nail polish this works great as a simple glow in the dark top coat as it’s pretty sheer and doesn’t give too much colour. Pictured above is three coats.

BK Hello Kitty #03 – This is a super cute pale pink. I really love this! It reminds me of OPI Soft Shades collections. I think it looks really beautiful and dreamy. It’s a little sheer but it wasn’t streaky and it applied very nicely. This was three coats.

BK Hello Kitty #04 – Another lovely cute pale pink. This is slightly darker than the previous one but application was very similar. These really glide on like butter! This was three coats.

BK Hello Kitty #39 – This is a slightly different one as it has really beautiful shimmer. You could use this as a top coat to add some shimmer to your manicure. Isn’t it pretty?! On its own it’s a little sheer as I used four thin coats.

BK Hello Kitty #16 – This is a stunning hot neon pink! It’s funny because I didn’t expect it to be so bright as it looks much darker in the bottle. I used only two coats and that gave me completely opaque coverage. Love this one! It’s awesome.

BK Hello Kitty #17 – This is a pretty blueish pink jelly. This shade is great if you have a reddish undertone in your skin. I used three coats but there’s still some VNL as it’s a jelly.

BK Hello Kitty #18 – This is another awesome neon pink. Quite similar to shade #16 but this one is slightly darker. It also needed an extra coat for complete coverage, 3 coats.

BK Hello Kitty #19 – This is another bright neon pink with jelly finish. It’s more of a true neon so the sheer finish is normal. I’d personally layer this over #01 for extra brightness! I used three coats.

BK Hello Kitty #21 – Finally this lovely dark red with blue shimmer. The shimmer is absolutely stunning! It’s a really gorgeous shade and application was a dream. I used two coats. Sadly this doesn’t glow as strongly as the others (as you can see in the picture below) but maybe that’s because I didn’t shake up my bottle properly. It’s still a gorgeous polish regardless!

I have to say these BK Hello Kitty polishes are my absolute favourite nail polishes from Born Pretty Store! They glide on like butter, they cover nicely, they don’t have a strong smell (in fact they smell surprisingly good!) and they are glow in the dark! What more could you want? The cute bottles are just a bonus!

These are all shades on swatchicles, the image below is what they look like glowing in the dark! From left to right: #01, #02, #03, #04, #39, #16, #17, #18, #19, #21

As promised I have a giveaway for you! You can win three BK Hello Kitty nail polishes from this post. Feel free to enter if you have daughters, sisters or cousins you want to gift these to, or if you just want to keep them for yourself. To enter simply like my Facebook page, leave your e-mail address so I can contact you and pick your three favourite shades from this post. Make sure to do all three mandatory options to unlock more chances of winning.

My top picks? I’d go for #01, #16 and #03 or #21.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is the Cloudy Ballet Advanced Ombre set by The New Black. It comes with five shades that go from light to dark and features different finishes. You’ll find a creme, shimmers, pearls and even a glitter! The other set that is part of the Advanced Ombre range features greyish blue shades and is called Stormy Vapor.

These are the five shades that come in the Cloudy Ballet set. As always they hold 4ml and are 3-free and cruelty free. I say this again and again, but I do wish they held more product. The main reason being that the formula is so amazing! The New Black promises longwearing and chip-resistant polishes and it’s no lie. I’ve personally had some of the best experiences with the formula. Chip-free nails for over 5 days. That is pretty damn amazing, right?!

Here are all five shades on the nails. As you can see, not an obvious ombre but it’s still a gorgeous effect. I especially love the glitter shade in the middle. Here’s my thoughts on each shade:

• Thumb: This is the darkest shade from the set. It’s a lovely pearly mauve/burgundy with silver shimmer. It’s hard to describe. It’s not a shade I would typically wear but it looks really lovely on the nails! I used two coats.
• Index: This shade is a soft coral toned pink with silver specks and shimmer. I used three coats.
• Middle: As you can see this is an awesome pink glitter! It’s absolutely wonderful! I love this glitter. You can use it for gradients, layering, or on its own. I used three coats to get an opaque coverage.
• Ring: This is a stunning nude creme. I am a sucker for cremes so this is without a doubt my favourite shade from the set. It’s the perfect pale coral-y nude. This had flawless coverage, I could have gotten away with one coat but I used two. Just in case.
• Pink: This is a pale pink with pearly finish. I won’t lie, “pink with pearl finish” makes me not even want to look, but this shade is really well done. It has soft brush strokes but isn’t streaky at all, and I actually think it looks kind of cute. Or am I just losing it? This was three coats.

That concludes my review on another lovely set by The New Black. You can find the Cloudy Ballet Advanced Ombre set for €29.95 online at the-new-black.com. The price may be a little steep for some but you are getting a very high-quality formula and multiple shades, so I think they are definitely worth it! Make sure to check out the site because they have some absolutely awesome sets.

Great make-up brushes are always a good investment. If you treat them with care they will last you a lifetime! They can also make a huge difference to your make-up application. This set of Nanshy brushes features five high quality, synthetic (cruelty free!) brushes that will guarantee a flawless application!

The first thing that I noticed about these brushes is that they are soft. So incredibly soft! Seriously! They’re the type you just want to keep stroking your face with because they feel so wonderful. They are also really dense. The Nanshy face brushes are a nice length and weight too. They feel nice in your hands and I really love the white wooden handles. They just look gorgeous!

I was also lucky enough to try out the Nanshy StandUp Brush Holder. It’s a durable black case with plastic buckles on the side. I’ll be honest and admit that I wasn’t completely sold on this case. It’s a little bulky and I didn’t find it very practical. I couldn’t find a way to secure it at the highest length (pictured left) so it might get squished down (pictured right) in your bags while traveling. It does hold a lot of brushes so it might be more useful for storage rather than on-the-move. But let’s be honest, it’s not the most elegant storage solution.

Now on to the brushes! Pictured from left to right you’ll find the following brushes in this set:

• Nanshy Round Buffer Brush: This is a lovely buffer brush. I absolutely loved using this to buff in my foundation and create a nice blended finish. 
• Nanshy Flat Top Buffer Brush: This brush is great for applying liquid foundation. It’s super dense and it will make sure your make-up goes on flawlessly. It works with liquid, cream or even powders. Flat top buffer brushes are honestly a staple in your kit!
• Nanshy Pointed Brush: This is probably my favourite brush from the set! It’s a pointed foundation brush but it works amazingly for applying concealer. The pointed tip really manages to reach all the creases and corners of your face. I love this one!
• Nanshy Flat Angled Buffer Brush: This one is quite similar to the flat top buffer brush, only angled.
• Nanshy Angled Buffer Brush: This one is perfect for blush application or bronzer.

I have to say I really loved these brushes! They are soft, dense and everything you want from face brushes. The only negative I can think of is that you may not need all five of these as they are a little similar. But you’re getting a great deal by saving money and getting the set rather than the individual brushes.

You can find this set of Nanshy face brushes at Beautystore4u.co.uk for £34.95 and the Nanshy StandUp Brush Roll for £14.95. Not the cheapest set around but the brushes are awesome quality. I highly recommend them, they are definitely worth checking out. I’m also very excited to see Nanshy release some eye brushes. Definitely a brand I’m going to keep an eye on from now on! Have you heard about Nanshy before? Let me know in the comments!

The New Black Super Swagger set I got is the red set called Claret Cream Shine. The other two sets are a black set called Ink Cream Shine and a blue set called Indigo Cream Shine. All three sets feature a lighter colour and a darker colour. The Claret Cream Shine set features a brilliant bright red (shiny) and a stunning deep burgundy red (matte).

It took me a while before I knew what type of nail art I wanted to create with this set. In the end I settled for a chevron manicure using nail art brushes. I sadly didn’t use tape so my lines aren’t perfect. I’m much too impatient for tape manis and I find cutting stationary tape such a hassle.

I still really enjoyed how this manicure turned out! The two shades work beautifully together and create a nice contrast in both colour and finish. The matte nail polish is absolutely flawless. Make sure to check out the bonus swatch of the matte shade after the jump!

You can find the Super Swagger Claret Cream Shine set for €13.95 on The New Blacks website. Once again I can’t praise the formula of The New Black enough! The polishes glide on like butter and have flawless coverage. It’s such a shame they’re only 4ml a bottle. The New Black currently only sells nail art sets (which are awesome!) but I personally would be very excited if they brought out a range of full-size polishes. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Bonus swatch of the Matte polish from the Claret Cream Shine set. Isn’t it gorgeous? Ahhhh! I love mattes.

This is one of their limited edition i-Divine eyeshadow palettes, the Sleek MakeUP Sparkle 2 palette. It was launched for Christmas 2012 but you can still grab it at the awesome online cosmetics store, Licila.si. Make sure to check out their site as they have many other Sleek palettes and Sleek MakeUP products available! (I am totally eyeing up the pout paints and the new Showstoppers palette! )

These are the 12 shades that come in the Sleek MakeUP Sparkle 2 palette. From left to right: Chocolate Penny, Blue Spruce, Mulled Wine, Truffle, Mistletoe, Illusion, Festive, Gold Ribbon, Glitz & Glamour, Tinsel, Twinkle and Starry Night. All shades contain a lovely fine shimmer. It’s definitely a very festive palette!

These are all twelve shades up close. As you can see it’s a nice mix of shades. They’re all quite vampy shades, perfect for sultry smokey eye looks. Though you can definitely create a wearable everyday make-up look with it as well using the browns and grays. I love that there’s a very broad mix of shades but they still work really well together.

These are the swatches which I’ve made on my arm over an eyeshadow base. How crazy pigmented are these? I was honestly blown away. I think out of all my Sleek MakeUP palettes this is by far the most pigmented palette I own! Especially the top left shade, Chocolate Penny, is so intensely pigmented I was honestly gasping out of amazement.

Finally here’s the eyeshadow look I created using the Sleek MakeUP Sparkle 2 palette. I used Chocolate Penny across the inner half of the lid and blended Mulled Wine and Starry Night in the crease. I think this came out as a fairly wearable look but it’s still intense and smokey.

You can find this awesome Sleek MakeUP palette at Licila.si, as well as many other great Sleek Palettes. They’re €11.95 a piece which is a great price for 12 high-quality intense pigmented eyeshadows. If you’re not from Slovenia you can easily navigate the Licila.si site using Google Translate. Are you a fan of Sleek MakeUP like me? Which of their palettes (or other products) do you own? Any recommendations? Let me know in the comments!

This is the nail foil I picked out. A beautiful gradient foil that goes from green to blue to pink, and it also has a subtle geometric reflective design to it. It comes in a handy jar, and the foil is 150cm in length (59 inches) so you’re getting a lot! You can either choose to purchase the foil alone or you can purchase it with a bottle of foil glue. The foil glue comes in a fairly large bottle and as you only need a tiny amount, it should last you a pretty long time.

Here’s how the application process works:

• Add a base colour to your nails, I used China Glaze First Mate. 
• Cover your entire nail (or the area you want to cover) with a very thin layer of foil glue. Wait for it to fully dry and become clear. I am not sure what type of glue the foil adhesive is, as it doesn’t act like Elmer’s glue (but it does look like it!). In any case it’s a super tacky glue!
• Carefully place a piece of foil you’ve cut out on your nail. You can use tweezers for this, make sure to handle the foil with care as it’s very delicate.
• Take a cotton round and rub across your entire nail to make sure the foil adheres properly to the nail. You’ll notice it will start to peel away by itself once the foil has transferred.
• Carefully add a slow drying top coat or a water-based top coat to minimize crackling. Quick drying top coat completely ruins the design and makes it wrinkle up like a crackle polish.

And this is the finished result! I wish it looked even a little close to how it looks in person but it doesn’t come anywhere near. I’ve never had this much trouble trying to accurately capture a manicure! The foils are so bright and reflective. You honestly have to see it on your nails to appreciate the full effect! It’s simply mesmerizing! I’m also in love with this gradient.

I do have to say, application can be a little tricky. It’s hard to cover your entire nail without leaving some bald spots. Top coat also tends to make the foils crackle which is a little frustrating so make sure to use a slow drying top coat. I used a water-based top coat and that worked reasonably well. I did notice the foils are very prone to wear. Maybe it’s the glue? I couldn’t get my manicure to last one day without tip wear which was a little disappointing. The nail foils give an absolutely unique and wonderful effect but it has its downsides.

You can find this stunning nail foil (and many other designs and shades!) at KKCenterHK for $7.69 (not including glue). So what are your thoughts on nail foils? Have you tried them? What was your experience? Let me know in the comments!

This set comes with a black nail polish, gold glitter nail polish, red creme nail polish and a jar of studs and rhinestones. It usually comes with a top coat as well, but mine came with a spare red for some reason. It’s one of the best red polishes I’ve tried so I can’t say I’m unhappy about the anomaly!

• The New Black – Gold glitter: This is a great glitter for gradients or layering. I needed about 3-4 coats to get it opaque on its own which isn’t too bad.
• The New Black – Black: This is a stunning black polish with very fine silver glitter. It’s somewhat sheer on the first coat but it completely evens out after the second coat. I absolutely love black polishes with glitter!
• The New Black – Red: Seriously one of the best red nail polishes I’ve tried. It’s opaque after one coat. That’s right, one coat! It’s simply the perfect red. Glides on like butter too!
• The New Black – Accessories: What I love most about the Rock N’ Roll Royalty set is the bottle of studs/rhinestones that it comes with. Even though the polishes only hold 4ml, you will be absolutely amazed at how many studs fit inside that small bottle. There’s a huge amount of gold square studs, round silver rhinestones and black round rhinestones that come with this set.

Here’s the nail art manicure I created using this set! I went for a fun mix ‘n match manicure to show some different looks you can create with The New Black Rock N’ Roll Royalty set. On my index finger I went for a gradient using the black and gold. I’ve honestly never been able to create such a flawless glitter gradient before! The gold polish makes it so easy. On my middle finger I added a row of black rhinestones on top of the gold glitter base. Then on my ring finger I went for a simple leopard print. Since you can never go wrong with leopard, right?! And finally on my pink I added one of the square studs on top of the black polish.

On my thumbnail I added six square studs to create a triangle. Looks pretty cool right?! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stud manicure I didn’t like, haha!

You can find this awesome The New Black Rock N’ Roll Royalty set on their website for €29.95. The nail art possibilities are endless with this set. Make sure to check out the other amazing sets on The New Black website too. They’ll be releasing some ah-mazing new sets soon so make sure to keep an eye on their Twitter and Facebook page. What did you think of this nail art set? Let me know in the comments!

The BeautyUK eyeshadow palette I received is the #6 Day and Night palette and features ten eyeshadows. A somewhat unusual mix of colours, as there’s brights and neutrals in this palette. However, I soon noticed the pairing possibilities are endless and the shades provide a nice range for lots of different eyeshadow looks. You can go wild with an all bright look, or a neutral look, or a smoky look with a subtle hint of colour.

These are the ten shades up close. On the top row you’ll find a nice matte white, matte nude, matte acid green, matte turquoise blue and a matte pink. On the bottom row there’s a matte black, matte brown, a slightly darker matte brown, a matte purple and a matte red. The acid green shade was slightly damaged during transit, but you can find a handy step-by-step tutorial on the Licila.si site that shows you how to fix a broken pan.

Here are the swatches on my arm! All ten shades were swatched over an eyeshadow base. The colour payoff on the top row was slightly sheerer than the bottom row. Bright matte shades tend to be a little less strongly pigmented but I definitely wasn’t disappointed by the colour payoff, especially after trying them on my lids! Watch for yourself…

Finally, here’s an eyeshadow look I created with the BeautyUK #6 Day and Night palette. I used my trusted Zoeva eyeshadow primer and NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk as a base. I patted on the acid green shade in the inner corner and halfway across the lid and blended the purple eyeshadow in the crease. I also added a little of the matte black eyeshadow to create more intensity on the outer edge. As you can see the colour payoff doesn’t disappoint on the lids!

I was very pleasantly surprised with this extremely affordable palette. I didn’t have high expectations but it definitely didn’t fail to impress me. The eyeshadows were easy to work with, had a nice colour payoff (especially for mattes!) and I didn’t experience any fall-out. Overall this is a great budget eyeshadow palette that’s perfect for on-the-go as it doesn’t take up much space.

You can find this lovely BeautyUK eyeshadow palette for €6,95 on the Licila.si website. After trying this wonderful eyeshadow palette I am dying to find out what else BeautyUK has to offer. Have you had the chance to try any BeautyUK products? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear some recommendations.