Monday, October 31, 2011

Disco ball nail polish

So this is actually a nail polish that I had on LAST week, but I've been so busy with work that I just hadn't had time to upload it!

Here it is though! Hope you like it! xx


So this is what the finished nail look is like.. I basically applied two coats of shimmery grey nail polish, some fine glitter (found at craft stores) and two coats of a good top coat (I use OPI top coat: love it!)




It gives off a really beautiful glittery effect, especially in direct sunlight! The glitter shines in different colors! I tried to shoot some pics of my nails but I don't think the camera picked up the glitter too well.

Oh well.. All in all, love the look! And it stayed on ALL week  without any chips! These images were taken 5 days after I had applied the nail polish, so you can see how well it wore all week!

I'm officially calling this look disco ball nail look because it really reminds me of a retro disco ball!
What do you think of it?


Thank you for visiting cosmeticcraving and hope this helped you all! If there are any questions or requests, do not hesitate to ask! Hope to see you here again and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already! xx

Saturday, October 29, 2011

VERSACE FOR H&M


So a when little birdy (called VOGUE UK) told me that Versace was designing a line in collaboration with H&M, I was stoked! Quickly I got on their website and checked out the collection!
Will definitely be keeping my eyes open on November 17th, when the line will be released in H&M stores worldwide. I’M SO EXCITED!!!
Here are a few items I’ve been drooling over from that line:


Leather jacket (£149.99)

One of my FAVORITE pieces from this collection!! Love the detail at the waist, elbows and shoulders! It's just so beautiful!
This brightly colored bag (£99.99)
Loving the bright colors and cute detailing in the hardware! The print is so unique to Versace. The strap is also very unusual.. I dont think I've seen a handbag that looks like this before. It's just so edgy and gorgeous!
Red silky dress (£49.99)
A very sexy, classy dress from the collection. I love the way the material drapes and extends in the back; it makes the dress look as if it's been wrapped around your body.

Purple cut-out dress (£79.99)
Sexy and sweet, all rolled into one purple dress.. Perfection? I think so!
Light pink silk dress (£129.99)
This dress is just so feminine, so pretty, so delicate... The color is just gorgeous and it really compliments the studs! I also like the leather version of this dress (£179.99) shown below:
 



SO CUTE!! God, I'm dying here! Cant wait until this collection is released!!!!I would wear this dress with a pair of Sam Edelman shoes and stick-straight hair. GORJAS!

Here's a pic of Donatella Versace herself wearing the dress:
Looking good, Donatella!


Those were some of my absolute favorite! Might snag a thing or two when the collection is finally released in November! Can’t wait!

For more from the Versace for H&M line, go to http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2011/06/21/versace-collaborates-with-handm/gallery to see the whole collection!

What are your favorites?

 Thank you for visiting cosmeticcraving and hope this helped you all! If there are any questions or requests, do not hesitate to ask! Hope to see you here again and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already! xx


Please note that I am not affiliated with this brand in any way. All opinions are genuinely mine and 100% honest. Images courtesy of  http://www.vogue.co.uk/

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Melt-proof lipstick: Christian Dior

I often have a problem with lipsticks. I much prefer them to gloss, mainly because of the texture and feel on my lips. But one problem that they have, unlike lip glosses, is that they melt. And I am the worst with keeping track of my lipsticks. I often forget them in pockets for days and days, or like 2 months ago, I will leave it in my car.

The problem with leavings lipsticks in your car is that if the weather is hot, they WILL melt. Many of my bodyshop lipsticks melted in my car, one MAC lipstick and one by loreal too. So eversince my MAC lipstick melted, I've been really careful with them.

Unfortunately, it happened again. The lipstick I left (more like lost) in my car this time was a Dior lipstick. I was looking all over the place for it and just couldn't find it, so a couple of weeks ago, I just gave up on looking. Much to my surprise, when I reached under the seat the other day I found it down there. I quickly grabbed it, pulled off the cap expecting to find melted pink goo inside. But nope! The lipstick was absolutely fine and in good shape!

Here's what the lipstick color is. It's called rose shooting / pink scene in the color 568.


It's a very pretty pink shimmery color, suits about every skin type and it is SOOO moisturizing on the lips!!!! It's feels great! Definitely recommend the splurge on these!

Thank you for visiting cosmeticcraving and hope this helped you all! If there are any questions or requests, do not hesitate to ask! Hope to see you here again and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already! xx

Please note that these products were bought by me using my own money and were not sent to me by anyone for review. I am not affiliated with this brand in any way. All opinions are genuinely mine and 100% honest. Image courtesy of auok.auone.jp

Friday, October 14, 2011

BRAND ANALYSIS SERIES: Soap & Glory

Hello and welcome to "the second episode" of my brand analysis series. If you havent read the previous post, here's a link to where you can find it: http://cosmeticcraving.blogspot.com/2011/09/brand-analysis-series-h-cosmetics.html

If you dont know what this series is about, it is basically a series of posts where I test and analyze some products from each brand (drugstore or otherwise) and tell you my findings and past experiences as well as share some winner and loser products from these brands. So here goes…

The second Boots opened in Bahrain, I rushed in and the very first thing I bought was a Soap & Glory moisturizer. From then on, I have been obsessed with it for as long as I remember. So not too long ago, I walked in, and picked up a few more products to try out.

1) Soap & Glory Hand Food: BEST HAND MOISTURIZER EVERRRR. You know when you wash your hands too many times? Or you use that pink hand wash in public restrooms? Your hands get reaaally, really dry, right? Well this is what I use when that happens to me.


I always keep this in my purse and put some on while i work on the computer (my hands get really dry when I do, do yours do that too?), before I go to bed, or if I'm sitting in a cold classroom that's blowing cold air at me. It smells really nice and is extremely moisturizing without being oily, which a lot of hand moisturizers do not get right. All in all, great product. Mine is almost out, so I should go back and get myself a replacement.

2) Soap & Glory Scrub Your Nose In It:
One of my latest purchases, and absolutely loving it. It feels nice and minty on the skin and has a light fresh smell. The texture is a nice smooth sand consistency. It exfoliates very nicely, and I strongly suggest you follow the instructions and use a moisturizer after this. It really does help minimize pores, but I don't know about the blemishes part. I don't really notice a difference when it comes to that (like many products do to my face). Still, I would use it for my pores because it has good results.

3) Soap & Glory Face Soap and Clarity:

This product is one of the nicest facial washes I've used. Ever. It technically isn't a soap; it's a non-drying facial wash. Now, just because this is non drying, doesn't mean our readers who are like me and have oily skin should stop reading now. I never use face washes for oily skin because I feel like they dry my face out too much, which causes my face to produce more and more oil. This product is perfect in that way. It cleans extremely well, removes excess oil without drying your face and washes off nicely (doesn't leave traces of soap, which is something I really hate).
It smells nice too, and the texture is almost a blue gel-like consistency with relatively regular-sized pink scrubbing grains.

4) Soap & Glory Off Your Face:


Now when it came to this product, I'm kind of torn between whether I like it or not. I guess I like it a little. I certainly bought these on a whim one day, wanting to try out different facial wipes, tried it once and really haven't used them since. Not that this is a horrible product, but I mainly use wipes to remove my makeup (especially my eye makeup) before I wash, tone and moisturize my face.

These don't really seem to do much. They leave my face feeling fresh, but most of my makeup is still on there. You have to really work to get your liquid eyeliner off using this, and its an absolute nightmare to even TRY to remove your mascara (I don't use waterproof, I use MAC's dazzle lash).

However, you must put in mind that these wipes are not MADE to remove makeup and do not claim that they do anywhere on the packaging. The wipes seemed a little dry too. They werent moist like I'm used to. But these do feel great on your face. After you work out you can wipe your face with one of these and you'll feel SO fresh. Did I mention they smell like fresh laundry and soap? They do.

So all in a all, I like these, but not for my makeup. They wont replace my Garnier facial wipes any time soon!

And that's that for Soap and Glory products! These are my favorites, with an okay-ish kind of product at the end. By no means am I an expert on Soap & Glory products.. Or any products really. I just share my own views and experiences.

Some thing I really, really want to get is this massive bag that's filled with Soap & Glory products.. Just because I'm a product junkie and I would love to try them all!

Look at all the product in there!! And the tote is absolutely adorable! If I do end up getting this, I will definitely be doing an updated  Soap & Glory brand analysis post. IF I get it. This baby is for €70!

Thank you for visiting cosmeticcraving and hope this helped you all! If there are any questions or requests, do not hesitate to ask! Hope to see you here again and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already!
xx

Please note that these products were bought by me using my own money and were not sent to me by anyone for review. I am not affiliated with this brand in any way. All opinions are genuinely mine and 100% honest.

Also, I do not claim that the images are mine in any way. Almost all are taken images from non-copyrighted sources on the internet.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Naughty Purchase: Bruno Premi boots


Living in a hot country where summer is prevalent almost all year, I really shouldn’t be buying boots. But I did.

So this post is about my most recent naughty purchase:
A pair of Bruno Premi knee-high riding boots.

If you are not familiar with Bruno Premi, it is a Italian shoe company which is relatively new… Established in 2000 or 1999, I think. They have great leather shoes that I have been drooling over for a while now. The company is well known in Europe, but not widely so in the Middle East where I am, so I tried looking around for a shop in Spain near where I was staying, but unfortunately couldn’t find it. The website doesn’t deliver to Bahrain, which is a huge hassle, but totally worth it if you can get hold of it!

Anyway, so when I grabbed hold of this baby I got butterflies in my stomach! Here’s what they look like:


They are the lighter brown shade, which I like a lot more. The shoes come wrapped in tissue paper, with a note from the Bruel Company (which Bruno Premi is a part of). The note basically thanks you for buying the product and gives you a little bit of care instructions on there.

A mini storm of tissue paper later, I had unwrapped my boots and put them on. They feel incredible. The quality is amazing and the leather is extremely nice.

I will definitely be wearing these all throughout winter. I am itching to wear them right now, but it is just too hot during the day.

I definitely recommend you shell out the €179 and get these! If these aren’t really your style, you can just visit http://www.bruno-premi.com/ and find other styles that you like.

Thank you for visiting cosmeticcraving and hope this helped you all! If there are any questions or requests, do not hesitate to ask! Hope to see you here again and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already!
xx

Please note that these products were bought by me using my own money and were not sent to me by anyone for review. I am not affiliated with this brand in any way. All opinions are genuinely mine and 100% honest.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Sephora nail polish remover: MAGIC!


First of all, I need to apologize for not posting anything for so long! A lot has been going on with my personal life and especially with university! I will be posting more often! I definitely have some things planned that you should be excited about!

Today’s post is going to be a review on a very smart product I found the other day at Sephora. This nail polish remover requires no cotton balls or effort while rubbing. It is an express nail polish remover by Sephora. Yazzi and I bought one for each one of us and I hope they do not discontinue this product because it is absolutely amazing!!

Usually, when I come to remove my nail polish, I suffer quite a bit to be able to remove all of it, and it does leave my nails very dry, causing them to weaken and break. I switched to Quickies nail varnish remover, which is a pack of 20 nail polish remover pads with vitamin B5. These were good, but I went through these like crazy! I also can’t touch anything after I remove my nail polish because they have leave an oily mark on whatever you touch. You absolutely have to wash your hands after this. I liked it, but it was a little inconvenient that I had to run out to the store every couple of weeks and buy a pack.
So me and Yazzi went shopping a while back and we discovered this amazing thing. It’s basically nail polish remover and sponge in one little jar and you pretty much just stick your finger in there, swirl it around a bit and take it out seconds later, absolutely clear of all nail polish.

So here’s what it looks like:


It’s called the Sephora Express nail polish remover. For a little jar, you get quite a bit in there (75ml) and it will last you FOREVER. It is absolutely gentle on your nails, removes even the most long wearing nailpolishes out there, and you don’t have to mess around with cotton balls or whatever.

Definitely: new personal favorite.

The only obvious disadvantage is that you wont be able to remove the nailpolish on your toes using this, which is absolutely fine by me. For that I use my little Quickies nail polish remover pads.
You can find this at any Sephora store near you. I bought mine for BD4.9, so that’s about $13.
Thank you for visiting cosmeticcraving and hope this helped you all! If there are any questions or requests, do not hesitate to ask! Hope to see you here again and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already!
xx

Please note that these products were bought by me using my own money and were not sent to me by anyone for review. I am not affiliated with this brand in any way. All opinions are genuinely mine and 100% honest.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Clearasil Stayclear Review


A quick review to shake things up.

I randomly walked into my sisters room one day and found a product on her dressing table that I hadn’t seen before. So I picked it up and asked her what it was.

It’s a container that opens up from the top and it has 65 cleansing pads. It claims to do three things:

One- fight spots and blackheads. Two- removes oil and thirdly – it has an exfoliating effect.

So I tried out this little thing and was surprised at how clean my face felt after using it!

It’s a little harsh on the skin and indeed does exfoliate your skin. I often use this after a long day outside in the heat and dust after taking off my makeup.

It also does remove oil. I have fairly oily skin and hair and not a lot of things help with this. But these really do reduce the oiliness.

The instructions say to use this twice a day in the morning and evening but so far I’ve only been using it at night.

I recommend buying this product for lazy girls like me who don’t want to bother with cotton balls and such.

Thank you for visiting cosmeticcraving and hope this helped you all! If there are any questions or requests, do not hesitate to ask! Hope to see you here again and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already!
xx

Please note that these products were bought by me using my own money and were not sent to me by anyone for review. I am not affiliated with this brand in any way. All opinions are genuinely mine and 100% honest.

Friday, September 23, 2011

ONE dress TEN ways

It is very important for every woman to have a little black dress. Putting that in mind, I have about 6 of them. But I'm not satisfied. The dresses that I already owned were only suitable for dressier, more formal occasions.  So I was out on the hunt for a casual black dress that was a little on the conservative side....

So I recently purchased this dress from H&M when it was on sale and I absolutely love it. When I first tried this on, I actually wanted to get another dress, but this one looks so great on that I just had to get it.


It's costs I believe BD7 on sale. I actually bought this in a UK size 12, which would normally be MASSIVE on me (I'm a little over 5ft, so I'm pretty petite). But it was the only piece left and I was willing to alter it. HOWEVER! The size fits very well! It is the right length too!

Put in mind that I'm working with one dress, no makeup, and the natural texture of my hair, and that any outfit can be completely transformed with the choice of makeup or a hair do.

So, let's get started then...

Running errands and/or going to class:

In this outfit, I paired the black dress with a skinny belt from New Look, a seashells cuff bracelet from Mango and a 'shopping tote' by Kathy Van Zealand.
As you can see I'm wearing two shoes. The one on my right foot is a peep-toed bootie from H&M. It gives me some extra height, and elongates my leg. On my left foot is a sandal from Alcott and it's flat, comfortable and great for running around. Both are great with this outfit and it really depends on what you would prefer.

Quick lunch with the girls:
This is one of the easiest outfits and yet it looks so put together! Here, I paired the black dress with black suede pumps from New Look, a leopard-print scarf from H&M and a black and brown bag by Pierre Cardin. The sunglasses are Aldo. I'm also wearing gold stud earring from Forever 21 I think. A reddish lip will look great with this, but a nude one will look nice too.

Boho-chic:

 In this pairing, I put in mind the cooler weather. So this outfit will be great for Fall/Winter. I paired the black dress with a patent leather jacket from Forever 21. The contrast of the matte dress and the shininess of the jacket create a cool effect without adding much color. I added a long 2-tier silver necklace from Forever 21 and a headband from Aldo (I think). The boots are also from Aldo (For more detail check out the Boots I love! post). To finish off this look, I added a silver ring and a grey studded bag (nine west)


Here's another boho-chic look more suitable for the transition between spring and fall:

This look uses those same boots, but I added a denim vest, and a floral head band from Topshop. The silver cuff on my left arm is vintage, but I have seen similar styles in Forever 21. You may not be able to see this, but I also layered a silver chain necklace on this dress, also from Forever 21. Go with a rosy pink lip and cheek color, and a couple of coats of mascara.

Effortless:
 For those days when you literally roll out of bed 10 minutes before class. I paired the dress with a denim jacket from Zara and comfortable studded gladiator sandals from Primavera. The blue ring is from H&M? Not really sure, but any chunky ring will do, really.

That bracelet is made by a family member and they are actually for sale! She has quite a collection and I personally bought quite a few. They are great pieces to just stack on and go. They're great quality too!

Casual smart:
 Paired with closed-toe suede pumps (New look), a vintage-feel jacket (Marks & Spenser's) and a black and white clutch (ALDO), this dress transforms into a classy smart piece to wear for a business lunch, or any other occasion that requires a casual-smart look. A pearl necklace and pearl stud earrings add an extra level of sophistication to this look. Don't forget your red lipstick and wing out your eyeliner a little bit for this one ;)

Evening Glam:
Same shoes. Just add a shawl, a statement necklace and a little bag and you're good to go! The shawl adds a blue pop of color against the black. The necklace I'm wearing I recently got from H&M, and the bag is by Julien Macdonald. I would suggest going with a smokey eye and glossy lips to amp up this look even more.

Fashionista:

A dramatic, edgy look. Combines soft pinks and neutrals with basic black. The shoes are ruffly H&M booties, the headband is Topshop, the bag is a Daydreamer Tote from Juicy Couture and the sunglasses are ALDO. Go with a pale pink lip and neutral eye for this one.

Office appropriate:
 Here, I layered the dress with a pale blue shirt and a navy blue vest. Both are from H&M. I'm wearing stud earrings from Pierre Cardin and my (most-worn) swan necklace from Swarovski. I'm also wearing my glasses here, because I think glasses are just soo cute for work. I'm wearing those same close-toe pump I'm wearing in half of these outfits because it's just an absolute necessity for any woman.

Another office-appropriate look:
I paired the dress with a tan blazer that I bought from Zara. I like it with this dress because it has some black detail with the buttons. I'm wearing the same shoes and glasses, but added sheer black tights, a statement gold necklace (H&M) and a black patent leather clutch.

So those are some of the outfits that I came up with for this dress! The possibilities really are limitless with a basic black dress such as this one. All you need is some accessories and a little bit of creativity!



Thank you for visiting cosmeticcraving and hope this helped you all! If there are any questions or requests, do not hesitate to ask! Hope to see you here again and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already!
xx

Please note that these products were bought by me using my own money and were not sent to me by anyone for review. I am not affiliated with this brand in any way. All opinions are genuinely mine and 100% honest.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

whats In My Make Up Bag

I love looking around for make up and actually buying stuff to own them but I don't really use much make up on my face day in and day out. I try and keep it as simple as possible. This post is about what i carry around in my bag everyday for application on the go. I don't put on make up every day but i keep this little make up bag with me at all times JUST IN CASE!


^ I got this little bag from Forever21 in Dubai in the summer when i went with my cousins on a trip there over the weekend. I love how its so cute and floral but also quite small in size but seems to hold a lot of stuff!


^ My foundation is MAC studio fix in NC43. It comes with a little sponge under the foundation pot but i prefer to use this little brush i got at MAC as well but it came with a bronzer i bought a couple of years ago i think


^ Yes i use the same brush for blush even though i probably shouldn't as it sometimes still has left over foundation but i really love this brush and don't feel comfortable using any other one for my face. The blush I'm currently using is by MAC in pinch o' peach.


^ I'm not a big fan of pencil eye liner as you can see this eye liner isn't well taken care of but I keep it in the bag anyways. Its MAC smolder eye kohl


^ Two Maybelline mascaras. I've already done a review on these. Check it out for info>> http://cosmeticcraving.blogspot.com/2011/09/favorite-mascara-of-all-time.html

^^ Sorry about the horrible manicure. I was testing out one of the nail polishes i got from Aysha <3 <3 as a birthday present


^ I switch the lipsticks i have in the bag every once in a while but for the time being i like these two too much to change. YSL and MAC. The MAC is russian red. I don't know exactly what the YSL one is because it has too many number under it and I'm not sure which number is for what so i apologize for that.


^ Raspberry lip balm from The Body Shop because its too yummy to pass up! And finally some Labello Angel Star. I'm not really fond of this particular one but it's always dumped in and I never seem to take it out for some reason.

Hope you enjoyed this overload of photos and little notes!

Thank you for visiting cosmeticcraving and hope this helped you all! If there are any questions or requests, do not hesitate to ask! Hope to see you here again and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already!
xx

Please note that these products were bought by me using my own money and were not sent to me by anyone for review. I am not affiliated with this brand in any way. All opinions are genuinely mine and 100% honest.

Boots I love!

Since fall is practically here, and winter is on its way, I've been obsessing over boots lately. I cant wait to break out some of my favorite boots that have been in hibernation all summer long!

There are basically a few types of boots I like: knee-high, peep toe, booties, riding boots, etc.

Here's a few great ones and some of the boots I own.

First: The Peep-toe bootie
 I bought my first pair of peep-toe boots last year, when I was feeling especially brave. They were a pair of lace-up tan booties with about a 4 inch heel from ALDO. They were absolutely gorgeous and I got a lot of great compliments on them.


As you can see, they've worn quite well. The leather has a textured wear but the quality of the laces, hooks, heel and stitching has not changed one bit. I always felt that ALDO makes great looking footwear, but that the quality was not particularly great. These, however, are amazing and have great quality.

I also quite love these boots from ALDO as well:
 http://www.aldoshoes.com/us/women/boots/ankle-boots/85804947-maytorena/38
they have the same lace-up feel, but a much tougher look.

A few months ago, I bought this particular pair from H&M in Spain. They're the kind of shoes people stop you on the street and compliment you on (which actually happened to me).





These are a little on the heavy side, and do hurt my feet a little, but they are just so gorgeous I couldn't pass them up! I couldn't find them in any other H&M though, but do look for booties with a ruffle on them. They are just so unique and feminine, and add an unexpected flare to your outfit. These go great with jeans or skirts and I wear them with both!

Here's another ruffled bootie I've been DYING over. You can get them in black too, but I feel the beidge ones are just so much more elegant.

These are from ZARA and you can get them here: http://www.zara.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product/bh/en/zara-W2011/118149/499050/FRILLED%2BANKLE%2BBOOT


The "secret wedge" boots

These boots have survived about 3 years of rain, dust, sand and just about any extreme weather condition. I've worn these on a boat and gotten them completely wet with saltwater one winter, I wore these to the desert and gotten them so dusty and dirty and I also wore these through rain, although I'm not supposed to because they're made of cloth!!

I call these my Secret Wedge boots because they have a secret wedge inside. They give me extra height (2.5-3 inches) without anyone knowing. They also fold down or up, but I usually like to wear them up. To maintain their shape, I keep a rolled up magazine in there.

Riding boots
Often do I find myself drooling over a pair of Ralph Lauren riding boots, and to no surprise I loooooved the ones that are on the website now. These are absolutely to die for.



http://www.ralphlauren.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11837975&cp=1760782.1898624&view=all&ab=viewall&parentPage=family

I would looove to have thesee! I would wear them with leggings or jeans tucked in!


Flat boots
These were bought in a time of need when my feet were going to die. I was basically walking uphill in ballet flats all day and the pain numbed my feet so bad, so I had to go out at night and buy a pair of shoes. Good thing I did too, because the next day it rained pretty badly!





I bought these for about 10 euros at a small boutique in Spain. They are soo comfortable and I love them! I bought these at the end of winter, so I really didn't wear them much, but I absolutely can't wait to wear them this winter.

UGGS!
Now I am not usually a fan of Uggs. I always felt like Uggs were ugly, bulky and just not worth it! But when I saw these I fell in love! Me and Yazzi (the other blogger in this blog) co-own these. Long story! They're a gorgeous studded pair for the lazy days when it is just too cold to bother! They are so incredibly warm but i must warn you! They are not waterproof!





Thank you for visiting cosmeticcraving and hope this helped you all! If there are any questions or requests, do not hesitate to ask! Hope to see you here again and don’t forget to follow if you haven’t already!
xx

Please note that these products were bought by me using my own money and were not sent to me by anyone for review. I am not affiliated with this brand in any way. All opinions are genuinely mine and 100% honest.