RapidLash Eyelash Enhancing Serum

Mascara alone is never going to give me the gorgeous fluttery lashes I want and my eyelash extensions were a bit of a pain maintenance-wise (they're always amazing when you first get them done, but I'm always disappointed after an infill appointment as they never last as well or look as good) so I decided to try something else - RapidLash. Now this doesn't promise to make lashes grow but is marketed as a lash conditioner to improve the condition and appearance of your eyelashes. It has a long list of features (ingredients) and their benefits listed in the instructions.

You apply it every night to the base of your lashes for 8 weeks - I'll chart my eyelash progress (fingers crossed) by fortnight. This is how short my naked lashes are, don't you feel sorry for me?

Eek, I could probably do with a brow appointment too...

So...do you have a blog?

I need some new blogs to read so thought it might be a nice to ask you lot if any of you have any blogs or know of any fab blogs I should follow? My interests are beauty and nails (obviously!), shopping, travel and food - that's pretty much me in a nutshell to be honest! So feel free to leave your blog links below (even if I already follow it as other people might not), and hopefully we'll all discover a few new gems.

My contribution is Cynful Nails - a Singapore based nail tech who does some gorgeous acrylic and gel nail art (like this pic below). I always look forward to seeing posts from her in my blog feed, as the designs are so intricate and pretty!

Pic courtesy of Cynful Nails

In terms of essays, I've submitted two out of the four I want done before January ends, I've nearly finished my third (just waiting to submit it) and I've started my fourth and final one (until the end of February anyway). Phew! Roll on my new module starting in February...

What I always buy whenever the Boots No 7 vouchers are going...

...No 7 Cleanse and Care Eye Make-Up Remover. No matter how much I linger over the cosmetics or think about trying something else, I always stock up on this if there's a 3 for 2 or voucher going.

I just like it - all of my make up (including my tricky eyelash primer) comes off really easily, it doesn't irritate my skin in any way and feels really nourishing. Those of you that don't like the feel of oily products on your face may want to give this a miss though.

I also missed out on the Clinique mascara swap, Debenhams were all out when I popped in, booo!

Grey Nails with Pearls, Studs and Diamantes

I've had these little pearls, studs and diamantes for ages (another Ebay buy) and only just got round to using them! I was originally going to do this with a pale, sheer colour but I decided to go for contrast instead and used Models Own Grey Day, with Essie Matte About You topcoat (which has gone very thick and glue-looking but still did the trick making my nails matte).

I started thinking about adding Barry M Nail Effects in there too for a real contrast between the grey, black crackle effect and delicate pearl and crystals but I decided that was probably a little bit too much for work. I tend to like accent nails better than doing a full set of nail art too, I think it stops it from being TOO much (though I secretly love really ghetto OTT nails but more in an arty way than actually wearing them), on my left hand I only had the embellishments on my middle nail.

I used my trusty Nailene Brush On Nail Glue and an orange stick with a bit of blue tack stuck on the end to pick the gems up and apply them to the nail. Technology! I'm not sure how long everything will stay attached - because I made the polish matte, I didn't apply a topcoat over the top of the gems too - and I suspect I might wake up tomorrow with a couple missing.

I think this would look better with something darker in it as well, like a black crystal or bead or something, maybe the Nail Effects wouldn't have been so bad after all....

Good news! Free Clinique sample mascara when you swap it for an old mascara!

From tomorrow, you can get a free sample of Clinique High Impact or High Lengths mascara when you trade in your old mascara at a Clinique counter in Debenhams. It can be any brand of mascara and it can even be empty!

To get the freebie, simply visit the Clinique counter in Debenhams and hand in your old/empty mascara. Then choose which one of the two Clinique samples you'd like. The offer ends Sun 30 Jan and is limited to one per customer.

I like Clinique mascaras anyway but I didn't get round to doing this last time it was on and I'm sure (ok, I know) I've got some old mascaras lying around somewhere. Sales and discounts are basically the only good thing about January!

Red and Black Tip n Moon Mani

I did these nails really quick on an impulse in about 5 mins before bedtime - what do you think? The red is Illamasqua Ruthless, I did the stripes and half moons freehand with a (fairly crappy) striping polish I bought from Ebay. I think those Models Own Nail Art Pens (which I have yet to try) would be a lot easier and better for something like this, hopefully I'll get my paws on some soon!

Sorry but I think posts will be a bit sparse this month - I've got loads of products etc. to write about, but unfortunately I've got loads to write about for uni at the moment too! Boo, I'd rather write about nails and false lashes than law and management any day...

Deborah Lippmann - Bad Romance

I've coveted Deborah Lippmann polishes for quite a while now and Bad Romance is right up my street - a black base filled with various sizes of purple glitter (larger hexagonal pieces and normal glitter). And this didn't disappoint, I wore it for New Years Eve and I've been reapplying it ever since. This really isn't like me, a few weeks ago a woman at work joked that I was the only person she knew who wore a different colour nail polish every day!

I love the bottle that this comes in, is that really sad? I just think it's a really pretty and classy bottle, a little bit different from other brands.

Application of this was easy, the glitter placed quite well, the consistency is good and it dries reasonably quickly between coats - I've got three coats on in these pics as well as Seche Vite on top, as it didn't dry quite as glossy as I would have liked, but I think I could have got away with two. It doesn't feel totally smooth on the nail, but no worse than any other glitter polish; and like all other glitter polishes, it's a bit of a pain to remove when you want to change it (or in my case, reapply!).

I've just noticed these are definately not the neatest swatches I've ever done, and my nails are short at the minute but that's what happens when you're trying to write essays and do your nails at the same time I suppose!

My only criticism of Bad Romance is that it doesn't last that long before it chips, even with Seche Vite I'm lucky to get a day or two out of this. I suppose this is because of all the glitter?

Nevertheless, I love this polish...it may even be my new favourite. I definately would buy more Deborah Lippmann polishes, there are some really gorgeous ones. My faves are definately the glitters - Ruby Red Slippers would be my next polish of choice I think, though Boom Boom Pow and Across the Universe are gorgeous too!

P.S. Hope you all had a good new year and hello to the new (and old) followers I seem to have picked up :-)