Top Summer Nail Polishes.

 Two years ago I wrote three different posts about my favorite summer blushes, lipsticks and lipglosses but I never wrote one about my favorite summer polishes. I realised that haven't done a "nail polish" related post in like ages, in fact my very first blog post was about my favorite winter nail polishes so I think it was about time to talk you about my top five, and of course hottest, summer nail polishes! I really like bright shades on my nails, so every summer I love painting my nails with beautiful corals and peaches and of course neon shades, what can I say, I just love my neons!

 It was hard for me to choose only 5 since I have so many similar shades but I chose the ones that I've used the most and I'm sure these are some shades that everyone loves to use at summertime!

   ChG Flip Flop Fantasy, Model's Own Pink Punch, Nails inc. Notting Hill Gate, Korres Flamingo Pink, OPI Cajun Shrimp

China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy

A very beautiful super neon coral-pink shade, in my opinion the hottest pedicure shade for the summer. The only problem I have with this one is the texture, it has a very thick and streaky formula but I can put up with it because of its amazing shade.

Model's Own Pink Punch

This is the only Model's Own polish that I own and of course it had to be a neon one, it's a bright warm pink shade with a hint of coral-orange, it has a runny formula that never streaks which I prefer.

Nails inc. Notting Hill Gate

One of the few cool toned neon pinks that I own, it's really beautiful, not super bright as the other two that I mentioned before but still quite noticable.

Korres Flamingo Pink

This is by far the most beautiful orangey-coral shade I own that it's not neon, it's a nice alternative for those who like bright and vivid shades but don't want the bright neon that glows in your face.

OPI Cajun Shrimp

I saved the more classy one for last, this was actually the first OPI nail polish that I've bought years ago and it's still as good as new! For those who prefer more classic colors on their nails this one is the perfect summer red with a hint of coral just to make it more warm.

Do you love bright nails at summertime like me? Let me know what are your favorite summer nail polishes!

Summer Essentials Part 2 - Make Up

I know it took me a while to do the second part of my summer essentials post, but that's because I recently changed a lot in my make up routine for this summer and I wanted to be sure of which products exactly I'd show you. These are the products I use all the time now, and I think they're pretty much what everyone likes to use when it's summertime and we're kind of lazy with our makeup routine, and do things more quick.

Face

 I've been the laziest person ever when it comes to make up lately, and I was looking for a product that would act both as a sunscreen and a foundation together, so instead of using 2 or even 3 different products on my face I decided to just stick with one, and I found this amazing product, the Frezyderm Face Foundation Sunscreen SPF30, it's the perfect combo of a sunscreen and foundation in one, I only wear this and I'm ready to go! 

As for concealer I always prefer liquid concealers in the summer because they're super easy to blend. Right now my favorite is Mac's Mineralize concealer, I use it under my eyes and around my nose or on top of any blemishes I might have and it covers them perfectly. 

And because a powder is always a necessity, the best one in my opinion that everyone must have in their make up bag is a blotting powder, because it's summer and most of the times we end up looking very greasy after a few hours. My absolute HG blotting powder for many years now is Mac's Blot Powder.

One thing that is always a must have in the summer, is a bronzer. You can use a traditional bronzer or a brown  blush, I alternate between these two, Mac's Sunny By Nature Mineralized Skinfinish and Seventeen's Matte Blusher in Cafe Au Lait. I like to use them with a big fluffy powder brush such as the Real Technique's Blush brush on my cheekbones and forehead for a more all over bronzed look. The Mac Sunny By Nature is more of a peachy toned bronzer and the Seventeen one is a straight brown shade, I love them both.

As for blushes, I think the safe choice is always a peachy one, at least I always go for the peachy ones! A blush that really impressed me the past year is the Essence Secret It-Girl, a beautiful true peachy matte blush, super cheap and also permanent. A peachy-bronze blush is also a very good choice, Mac's Nuance Mineralize Blush is one of them, and it can also be used as a highlighter because it has a beautiful golden sheen to it, unfortunately it was limited edition many years ago, but I'm pretty sure you can find a similar one.

Eyes

When it comes to eyeshadows I always go for the bronze ones, sometimes I only use one all over my lids and I'm done. You can get a beautiful premade eyeshadow palette full with neutral shades, such as the Too Faced Natural Eye palette which is the best premade eyeshadow palette I've ever used.

   Or you can make one on your own, Mac has some beautiful neutral shades in their collection. My favorite quad consists the shades Arena which is a light satin peachy shade to use all over the lids as a base, Time & Space which is a medium bronze shade perfect to use it on its own on the lids for a bronzed eye look, and it's very similar to Woodwinked. Cork, a medium matte light brown shade for the crease, to give your eyes more depth and last but not least Bronze, a beautiful dark bronze-brown shade for the outer corner.

For eyeliner, even though I rarely use it at summer, you can always go for a bronze-brown one to compliment the neutral eyeshadows. My HG is Seventeen's Brown Pearl 05 Super Smooth Waterproof pencil, it's also very long lasting and it doesn't crease even when it's super hot outside.

Lips

For lips I always go for coral and orange, the perfect shades for summer lips! Dior Addict in Delice is one of the most beautiful coral lipsticks I've ever tried so I had to include it in my summer essentials, it's very soft with a glossy-balmy texture, I could only wear this all summer! And for something less expensive and more affordable the brand new L'oreal's Glam Shine Baume Gloss in Bite The Maracuja, it's still coral but more orange than the Dior one with golden shimmers, I also love the baume texture, it's very moisturizing!

And for those who prefer to use only lip balms at summertime, Korres Mango Lip Butter is one of the best! It's a tinted lip balm, a beautiful true coral shade, and the texture is just perfect, not super glossy more on the waxy side and it makes the lips look flawless. The Korres Lip Butters have the most incredible texture of all the lip balms I've tried.

Nails

And lastly nails, how could I ever forgot nail varnishes, in my opinion it's the most fun part when it comes to summer beauty. You have so many options, so many colors to choose from, pastels, corals, reds, neons, and as you can see from the picture I always go for the neon ones! The three neon shades I enjoyed the most this summer are the China Glaze You Drive me Coconuts, a beautiful purplish pink with a jelly finish, Model's Own Pink Punch a medium coral pink shade, one thing worth mentioned for this varnish is that it has one of the best formulas I've ever tried in a neon varnish. And last but not least Nails inc. in Portobello, an orangy-coral shade with a glossy finish.

So these are my make up essentials for this summer, I hope you liked them! I want you to tell me what are your summer make up essentials. Have you tried any of the products I mentioned? Let me know!

London Haul Part 2

This is the second part of my London haul, there are all the make up and nail stuff that I got while I was there. I bought mainly face products, I wish I had gotten more, but some of the things that I wanted were sold out from every single Boots store I visited.

Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation and Pressed Powder

I was lemming these two products since they were first released and I knew that I had to buy them while I was in the UK. They cost only 7 pounds each, comparable to Revlon's prices here that's a steal.

 I've tried them both together, twice, and I have to say that I'm seriously impressed! The foundation is very lightweight, and it provides a light to medium coverage. I got the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum because I thought it would be the same type of foundation but actually it's not. It gives more coverage than the Revlon one and it becomes more oily throught the day. Nearly Naked in my opinion is the perfect summer foundation, it lets your skin breath but at the same time it gives you a better coverage than a tinted moisturizer or a BB cream that most of us like to use at summertime. My only wish right now, is for the foundation not to break me out, because I'll be very dissapointed. I got the shade 130 Shell and it's the perfect match for my NC20-25 skintone.

The powder is very fine milled and it doesn't give that really matte look, it has more of a satin texture and I can still see a soft dewiness on my skin, especially on my cheeks. I got the shade 020 Light, but as you can see it's a little dark, darker than the color of the foundation, it's not very visible on my skin, but I'll have to wear it on its own to see if it gives any color at all.

Natural Collection blush in Peach Melba

I read so many good reviews about this blush and I was very curious to try it, since it's very cheap. It's actually a warm pink shade, I can't see any peach in it.The texture is so soft and velvety, when I apply it on my cheeks it's like it melts on my skin, it is also quite pigmented. I think it's the most versalite neutral blush, that everyone can wear with anything.  

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent

This powder is on of Rimmel's most famous products, and I had to try it! The pressed powder I love using is Mac's Blot, but I recently hit pan so it was a good opportunity to try this one from Rimmel and see if it's comparable to Mac's powder. I've only tried it once and I still can't tell if I like it or not, I noticed that it made my skin a little cakey, and I don't have that problem with my Blot powder. But I have to test it a few more times to be certain.

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Light

This concealer is so famous in the UK and also very cheap, and to be honest the price was the main reason that made me buy it because I already have too many concealers in my collection. I've tried it once so far, and I noticed that it's very drying, I have to use an eye cream before I use it under my eyes for sure, but it's very longlasting. I haven't tested it on pimples and scars yet, but I'm very curious to see if it works for them since it's very hard for me to find a concealer that will actually last a long time, most of them dissapear within a few hours.

Rimmel ScandalEyes Waterproof Khol Pencil in Nude

I was looking for a nude khol eye pencil for a long time, I only knew Topaz Kajal from Stila but I didn't want to pay 15 euros for an eye pencil, and when Rimmel released these new eye khols I noticed that they released a nude one, I thought it was a good oppurtunity to try one without paying all that money. Until now I've been using my Korres white eye khol for my waterline, and it works really good. I quite often have eye allergies and my eyes turn red, that makes my eye make up look terrible everytime, so the Korres white khol really saved me. Trying a nude colored pencil was a little strange for me since I didn't know if it's going to help with my problem, I've tried it 3 times and so far and I'm really impressed! It doesn't brighten as good as the white one but it looks way more natural, and I noticed that it stays on for many hours. So far it's a winner!

Sally Hansen InstaDri Top Coat

I got a back up of my HG fast drying top coat, because I can't get it from Feelunique anymore so I bought a bottle while I was in the UK to last me a few months. It's the best fast drying top coat I've tried so far, way better than my previous favorite, Poshe, and the Seche Vite, because it's not as thick as they are, and it doesn't shrink my nail polish, which was a major problem I had with the Poshe one.

Model's Own Pink Punch

While I was in Boots at the Model's Own stand I notice a new collection with 4 new neon shades, and if you don't already know it, I'm a huge fan of neon nails polishes! Pink Punch was the one that I liked the most from all the shades, it's a such a gorgeous neon pink coral shade, perfect for the summer!

Rimmel I love Lasting Finish nail polish in Orange Your Life

Rimmel has such a great variety of nail polish shades, but I told to myself that I was going to buy only one, and it was so hard for me to choose only one, but this color was the first one I noticed from all their shades, and I trust my instinct. If you're familiar with OPI's Cajun Shrimp, Orange Your Life is very similar to it, a little more on the orange side but still on the coral red family. I really really love it, I wear it on my nails right now and i can't stop staring at it!

I hope you liked the make up stuff that I got from London, I know they're not much because I tried to limit myself, but I really like everything that I got and I'm very happy with them. 

As for my Greek ladies, stay tuned because I've planned a small giveaway with some UK goodies just for you.