Tried and Tested: It Style Nail Lacquer in 122

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Hey Guys!

Hope you are all doing great!!!

A few months ago, I was invited to the launch of a new store called It Style, an affordable Italian Make Up brand!

One of the products I was given is the Nail Lacquer in 122.

The polish comes in a sleek bottle containing 15ml of product. The thing I loved most about this nail polish is the amazing colour which at first glance looks like a shiny blue hue, however, in certain lighting, the nail polish looks purple! In fact, as you can see in the picture above, with just one coat, the nail polish looks purple, however, as you can see, it does need another coat to give justice to the colour!

Upon application, the nail polish dries relevantly quickly and is easy to apply.

I left this product on for around a week. With regards to chipping, I noticed the first chipping after around 3 days, however, after a week, as you can see from the above picture, the nail polish chipped slightly on some fingers but remained in tact on others.

All in all, I absolutely loved this nail polish and is probably one of my favourite blue/ purple hue!

Hope you enjoyed this review!

Martina XOXO

Tried and Tested- OPI Nail Laquer in Jade is the New Black

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Hey Guys!

Hope you are all doing well!

If you may or may not recall, a few months ago I went to Barcelona as a Birthday Present from the hubs and I bought some OPI goodies!

One of the nail polishes I bought was a particular shade which has been on my wish list for quite some time, Jade is the New Black!

This polish comes in the famous sleek OPI bottle which contains 15 ml of product. Unfortunately I do not remember how I paid for the polish since I bought it months ago! As you can see from the above picture, the polish works well with just one coat, however, I prefer wearing two coats in order to achieve the desired colour!

I absolutely love the fact that the nail polish dries with a glossy finish and therefore does not need a top coat in order to achieve that glossy finish! 

Another plus to this polish, apart from the gorgeous jade colour is the fact that it dries quite quickly and unlike other polishes which dry fast compared to other polishes, it doesn't dry with a flaky consistency!

I wore this nail polish for around 10 days and was quite impressed by the longevity of this product, in fact, check out the above photo which should you not place your face so close to the screen, you will probably not even notice that there is some chipping going on! Quite impressive right?

All in all, I loved this product, especially the colour and believe me when I say that Green nail polish is not usually my thing, however, OPI nail polishes are on the pricey side but the quality does make up for it!

Hope you liked this post!

Asta la vista baby!

Martina XOXO

Tried and Tested- Pupa Milano Lasting Color Gel Nail Polish in 017- Florida's Sunrise

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Hey Guys!

Today I will be reviewing one of the newest nail polishes to hit the Pupa Milano range, the Lasting Color Gel Nail Polish in 017 Florida's Sunrise.

Pupa has launched quite an extensive range of colours in this gel-like nail polish range. You may view all the colours here:

http://www.pupa.it/eng/nails/nail-polish/Product/lasting-color-gel_80301.aspx

The colour I received is number 017 called Florida's Sunrise which is a lovely Hot Pink shade. 

   

The nail polish comes in a sleek glass bottle with a grey-ish tap and contains 17 fl-oz/ 5ml of product and retails for 6 euro. The brush is described as being a'maxi flat applicator' due to being wider than normal nail polish brushes, containing 440 round-end bristles in order to help with easy application. I found that the brush does in fact help with easy application since you only need a few swipes on some fingers and just one swipe on the baby finger. The nail polish dries relatively fast which further helps with the easy application Pupa nail polishes try to achieve.

Pupa describes this nail polish range as making your nails look super shiny with a glassy effect and a super glossy finish with a volumizing, 3D effect texture.

I used two coats in order to achieve the desired, gel-like finish since the first coat was a bit chalky, however, Pupa does mention that two coats are needed to achieve the best result possible. You can see the difference one coat makes in the below photo. It is recommended that a base and top coats are used, however, I do not usually use any base or top coats.

I wore this nail polish for a whole week, as I mentioned previous, no base or top coat were used. As you can see from the photo below, after a week of wear, the nail polish was still quite presentable with chipping due to nail growth and minimal chipping at the tip of my nails. I noticed that after around 4/5 days my nails started to chip, however it was so minimal that you could barely notice it.

All in all, I really liked this Nail Polish, especially the colour which was quite a hit with a lot of people I met. Although the nail polish is small and may be viewed as being on the expensive side, with these types of formulas and brands, I prefer paying a little extra for the quality rather than for quantity.

I hope you liked this post.

Till next time.

Martina XOXO

*Disclaimer*- I was sent this product for free, however, I was not paid to write this review, moreover, the above review is a reflection of my true and honest opinion.

Fabulous Events- Biocare Graduation Ceremony

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Hi Guys,

I hope you are all doing well!

Last Friday I was invited to attend the Biocare Academy Graduation night, a night honoring and celebrating Biocare's 2013 class!

I was joined by two of my great friends Reb and Lara from Island of Make Believe and Every Beauty Addict's Bible respectively. 

The event kicked off with a lovely ceremony for all the students that took courses with Biocare last year. What immediately drew me in is that not only were the students awarded with their international qualifications, but students were given certificates of excellency together with vouchers and goody bags. Apart from the fact that the relationship between the students and the teachers was truly one of care and respect.

Starting the ceremony

Throughout the ceremony we were also given information with regards to the various courses one can take at the Biocare academy, ranging from Beauty to Make Up to Nails to Fitness courses.

We were also shown round the amazing premises situated in Mosta. We were shown a number of rooms for each of the respective courses, one of which hit home with my fellow bloggers and I!

Beauty Training Room

The Make Up Stations... Bliss!

The Make Up Room!

Apart from the ceremony, we were also invited to join the new graduates and biocare staff for a lovely reception, were we got to know the staff a bit better especially the lovely Marketing Coordinator Roberta!

Apart from courses, Biocare import a range of beauty and make up products including my favourite Dermalogica products! We were also given a goody bag filled with lovely products and information!

If you are interested in pursuing a Beauty, Make Up, Nails or Fitness course, I encourage you to visit Biocare's Website: www.biocareacademy.com and facebook page: www.facebook.com/biocaremalta for more information!

That's all from me!

Until next time!

Martina XOXO

Tried and Tested: Make Up Store Nail Polishes #2- Holographic- Siw

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Hey Guys!

So today I will be reviewing my 2nd Make Up Store Nail Polish! This is a nail polish which I initially wasn't on the look out for but ended up buying it!

You can see my first review of the Matt/ Glossy Nail Polish in Charmaine here:

http://allthingsfabulousblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/tried-and-tested-make-up-store-nail.html

The nail polish taking the spotlight today is none other than the innovative, Holographic Nail Polish in Siw. This product is a new innovation by Make Up Store, so much so, that other brands do not have any nail polish which provides the same effect. Why is it different? As you can see from the swatch below, when the nail polish hits different lighting, a 3D/ Holographic effect is achieved, pretty awesome, right?

Make Up Store- Holographic Nail Polish- Siw

The product, like the Matt/ Glossy nailpolish, comes in a sleek transparent bottle with a black tap and contains 8 ml of product and retails for about 10.99 euro.

The colour of this nail polish is a light blue with glitter undertones, which work to give a holographic effect on the nail. In dark lights, the nail polish looks likes a glittery blue polish whilst in the sun or under artificial light, the nail polish has a certain sparkle to it. You can compare between the two photos (1st photo taken under artificial/ white light, 2nd photo taken in natural light with a dark background). The nail polish texture in itself, dried quite matt rather than gel like like most nail polishes.

Application is quite easy, however, you need at least three coats of polish to get your desired effect. The substance of the polish in itself is watery and you will have gaps if you don't go over the polish.

Unfortunately after a few days I already had chipping, the photo below is wearing the polish after a whole week.

Make Up Store Holographic Nail Polish in Siw

I absolutely LOVED the colour and the effect of the nail polish, however, the fact that it chipped so quickly was a bit of a downfall. With that being said, they do have a product called Aqua Fix Base Coat in order to keep the polish in place.

Hope you liked this review!

Martina XOXO

Tried and Tested: Make Up Store Nail Polishes Review #1- Matt/ Glossy- Charmaine

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Hey Guys,

So today I will be reviewing the first of my three Make Up Store Nail Polishes.

As I have previously mentioned, when I'm trying out new brands, I start testing out different products. This time round I wanted to try out the brand's nail polishes.

I went in with the aim of finding an Emerald Green nail polish, however, I ended up buying another interesting nail polish also! As you recall, I was also given a nail polish from the cocktail collection: http://www.allthingsfabulousblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/haul-make-up-store-m-magazine-part-of.html

I have three nail polishes from three of their nail collections; Charmaine, Siw and Anders. 

Matt/ Glossy- Charmaine Nail Polish

Make Up Store Matt/ Glossy Nail Polish- Charmaine

The Charmaine Nail Polish is part of their Matt/ Glossy nail collection which is their "normal" nail polish collection.

The product comes in a sleek transparent bottle with a black tap and contains 8 ml of product and retails for about 10.99 euro.

This colour is a sort of emerald green/ aquamarine nail polish, however the colour is so unique that I can't really place my finger on the exact colour. This nail polish dries quite gel like, in fact when I was wearing it, it looked as though I was wearing a gel nail polish rather than a normal nail polish! What I liked about this colour is that it changes shades in different lighting, especially in the sun where the glitter in the product make the nail polish stand out even more!

Application is very easy since the brush is quite a decent size and the nail polish is very good to work with.

I wore this nail polish for around a week, you can see from the below picture that I had some chipping just at the edge of my nail which came out after around 4 days of wear.

Make Up Store Matt/ Glossy Nail Polish in Charmaine- After a week of wear

I absolutely loved this nail polish, so much so, that I didn't want to change it, and that's a lot coming from a person who changes/ takes off her nail polish every week! Although it is a bit on the pricey side, I have never come across a similar colour or finish by other cheaper brands.

Stay tuned for my second installment of the Make Up Store Nail Polishes Review featuring the Holographic Nail Polish in Siw!

Martina XOXO

Pins of the Week- 26/04/13

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Hey Guys!

You know what that means?? Pins of the Week! Don't forget to check out our full Board here: http://pinterest.com/allthingsfablog/pins-of-the-week-260413/

And follow us on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/allthingsfablog/

Simple but gorgeous <3

Click the picture to check out the top 15 nail colours for Spring!

Colour bliss <3

Rainbow <3

Stunning Tutorial

Great tips- Click the picture for article!

Loving the combination!

Chic and Casual Combo!

Adorable bathing suit!

Great Tip Pins:

Nail Shape Guide

Workout tips

With the wedding season coming up, we thought to include this stay all day post- click the picture for article

Cute DIY project

Until Next Week!

The Fabulous Team XOXO

Tried and Tested- Pupa Magnetic Nail Art Kit- Review, Swatches and Tutorial

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Hey Guys!

So today I will be reviewing a product I had been after for a long long time, the Pupa Magnetic Nail Art Kit!

I bought this kit a few weeks ago in Silver and I just had to have it!

The kit contains a small magnetic nail polish and two magnets, one to create horizontal stripes and the other one to create diagonal stripes. This product retails for around 10 euro, quite a good price considering that you get a nail polish and two magnets.

The nail polish contains 5 ml of product which is specifically made to use with magnets, however you can still apply it on it's own.

I have filmed a video in order for you to get an idea on the ease of use of the product and also to see how to actually apply this product, take a look:

As you can see from the above video, the product is easy to apply however, it can get a bit irritating to get the right distance away from the nail because if you put it too close it will smudge but if you put it too far away it won't mark.

Since you have to apply the magnet to each separate nail, I thought that it will take long to finish my nails but in around 10 minutes I was up and ready to go! What is good about this product is that it doesn't take very long to dry to that also minimizes the time to finish your nails!

I tested out the product for a whole week, you can see my nails after a week of wear below!

After one week

As you can see, I did have a bit of chipping on the nails however they started to chip after around 5 days of wearing the nail polish.

All in all, I absolutely recommend this product, not only do they make your nails look funky but this kit is very easy to use!

That's all from me.

Martina XOXO

o.b.o The Fabulous Team

*Disclaimer*- I have purchased this product myself. I am in no way affiliated with the company. This review is of my true and honest opinion.

Pins of the Week- 19/04/2013

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Hi Guys!!

Oh how we love that it's finally Friday!! We have been soon busy this past week that we really need a break, hurray!

This week we're were inspired by some beautiful colours this week! Oh summer, don't be long!

Don't forget that you can visit the full board here: http://pinterest.com/allthingsfablog/pins-of-the-week-19042013/  and follow us on pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/allthingsfablog/

Love, Love, Love this make up look! That hint of blue gave the look that oomph factor!

Not very colourful but loving the dramatic-ness of this look!

Aztec Inspired Nails <3

Spring Nail Perfection!

Cool casual hair look!

Sexy but elegant Pin Up Hair Look!

omg this skirt - L.O.V.E

Casual <3

A definite must read article- 101 Fashion Tips and Tricks!

Heels 101- Get to know your heels!

NOM NOM colour goodness!

That's all for this week's Pins of the Week!

Until next time!!

The Fabulous Team XOXO