Big heart for Mini Mavala nail polishes

I've recently discovered these adorable miniature Mavala nail polishes and I can't get enough of them!

Why I love these:
- They're 5ml(about one-third the size of your average polish) which in my mind is a good size. One gripe I have with nail polish in general is that it'll often thicken up before I'm halfway through the bottle.
- They come in quite a few pretty colours, so are a great way to test out new shades without investing in a full-size bottle
- For less than 4 pounds, you get a very high quality product with good length of wear, which is a great pick-me-up if you're on a budget

These came in a set of 8 polishes, which I picked up on sale for the princely sum of 15 pounds. All the colours are gorgeous, soft shades. What I love most is that this set came with a miniature base coat (SuperBase) and top coat (Fixator), which I haven't tested yet but I'm sure will come in handy, especially on long holidays where I know I'll have to retouch my nails.

From left to right, the shades are:
- LOTUS: Pearly white, this is a little more opaque than I'd like, might pass this one onto my sister as it's more her colour!
- DAKAR: Soft plummy pink with silver shimmer
- BAGHDAD: Pinky coral with silver shimmer
- BORABORA: Sheer peach with gold shimmer, very subtle on but quite pretty
- ADELAIDE: Medium warm pink with shimmer. A little brighter than my usual everyday taste, but nice to have an option for special occasions!
- TOULOUSE: Cream Barbie-pink, will look great in summer
- SUPER BASE: Base coat
- FIXATOR: Top coat

Stila deal on StrawberryNet

Just picked up this great deal on a Stila kit on StrawberryNet! For £13.50 (including free worldwide shipping), you get:

4x eyeshadows in shades: Kitten, Go Lightly, Wheat & Mystic
1x Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer in Shade 01
1x Convertible Color in Peony
1x Major Lash Mascara 5g in Black
1x Lip Glaze in 'Ulta Mate Pink'

Most of the products are full-size, and seeing as Stila has pretty much pulled its distribution in the UK, it's a great chance to snap up some classic Stila (particularly Kitten eyeshadow, and Peony Convertible Colour). The tinted moisturiser I think will be a bit light for me, but it's still worth it even just for the eyeshadows. I get a 10% loyalty discount at Snet, so in total it was £12.15. Bargain.

Click here for link

MAC Holiday Kits: Going naked this Xmas...

You might call me boring but I'm a sucker for neutrals. I'm not sure if it's because I'm just a chicken when it comes to wearing hot fuschia lipstick to work, or because I'm always trying to justify my purchases ("But it's neutral so I'll wear it all the time.."). Anyway, so although I'd originally planned to pick up the MAC Holiday kits in Sorceress and Smoke & Mirrors, I ended up with the latter plus the Heavenly Dish neutral lip kit.

The Smoke & Mirrors kit is the best smokey palette I've seen from MAC in several years. However it's not really a smokey palette as such, more of an everyday neutral kit. The colours are sheer, & if you're after sparkle or glitter you won't find it here. (Nor any horrible Lustre finishes - thank you MAC!). You can pretty much do anything from a barely-there look, to a soft everyday grey or warm brown eye, to a full-on smokey look with this. Some might find it boring, yes. Personally I think really decent neutral palettes are surprisingly hard to come by, so this one is a gem.

I've taken some pics with a handful of other MAC colours for comparison. The shades in this palette are all unique to the palette as far as I'm aware, & none of my other colours were exact dupes. The closest dupes would be Clue (from the Originals Collection) for the mid-tone grey, and perhaps Brun for the matte brown shade. All in all, I think it's a great buy for anyone.

The lip kit was an impulse buy, I didn't even try it on in store! It really is a very natura,nude look. The darkest colour is slightly darker than my lips. The midtone colour reminds me of a slightly peachier version of MAC Angel lipstick. The gloss goes on completely sheer, it's not pigmented at all. I can see why some people wouldn't bother with this kit as the colours are on the sheer side & don't exactly scream.. well, anything really. But I think it's quite cute and practical - I love that you can use the darker shade on the lips, then apply the lighter pink in the centre for a volume effect. A little gloss on top and it's perfect.

I'm on the fence about the packaging of these - it certainly feels classier than previous years but the mirrors are much smaller. They also don't angle back as far, which was a definite bonus with the old style of palette. The eye palette is very small - even though it has the same amount of product, it looks tiny compared to last year's warm palette!

Overall, I'm very pleased with this year's purchases though. I love MAC Holiday... can't wait until my next trip just so I can take these babies along!