The Nail Polish Declutter

Following on from my 2015 goal of slimlining my skincare and makeup stash, I decided to also rifle through my ridiculous nail polish stash and get rid of a few bottles. I must admit that I had hopes of trimming it down in anticipation of gaining some new nail polish racks and storage in the New Year, something that the husband hinted at looking into to help get my beauty room looking neater. It sure would help selecting manicure colours, which is often frustrating with my collection being spread out in various storage units in that office!

colours I have given away or am about to

I knew I needed to relinquish my hold on ‘nice colours’ that I would never wear – using excuses about future nail art enterprises and how pretty they looked in the bottle just isn’t going to cut it anymore. I basically know what I like to wear when it comes to nail shades, and yet here I sit with a veritable tonne of baby pink shades that will never see the light of day on my fingertips! I have to admit that it was hard for the hoarder in me to look at beautiful bottles from Australis, Darling and Essie and make the decision to add them to the pile, but ultimately they are too nice to waste away collection dust and the shades will better suit the deeper skin tones of my family anyway.

My plan is to go through and get rid of a few polishes at a time (judging by these photos I'm keeping all of my cool-toned shades, ha!) and whittle down my collection bit by bit, that way it won't feel overwhelming for me. Seriously though, if you saw how many polishes I have...

Charlie being most helpful during my nail polish declutter!

Most of the ladies in my family wear nail polish regularly so giving these away shouldn’t be too hard, and I’m looking forward to displaying my beloved nail shades once we decide on what racks would suit the room best. Would you be interested in a polish storage post when that day comes?

-Emma x

Rosy Accent

I've taken to doing my makeup in the bathroom while my beauty room is being organised, and have found the natural light in there to be really lovely at certain times of the day. As I went past the foundation and concealer stage I perused my blush options in my daily tray, and picked up Chanel Accent from the recent limited edition collection. I wanted a nude lip to go with my heavier-than-usual daytime eye look and picked up Rosy Future* from the newly re-released Revlon Super Lustrous lipgloss range, and wouldn't you know it, they are two peas in a pod!

I'm quite partial to a brown toned nude lip, I think that often people have a few that they will look like an 80's dance music model, but in reality brown tones are often really flattering in nude shades! For me personally, I think it gives a bit of an edge to a nude lip that makes me look a bit older and perhaps more professional, which is handy considering I'm often mistaken for a student while teaching at high schools!

I am still playing around with Chanel Accent and have not made my mind up about it - most of the time I wear it over the top of Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed to give a bit of dimension and shimmer to my cheeks, but then I get this strange feeling that I'm betraying the blush code by using Chanel as a topper rather than a main player. Does this happen to anyone else, or am I just that blush mad?

Couldn't resist throwing in this shot of my little helper Charlie, who sits at my feet or on the bath mat to watch me swirl my powders and smear my lotions on. He can't seem to work out mirrors just yet, and so seeing his eyes flick from me to my reflection is the cutest thing! 

 

 

A quick iPhone snap of me wearing Revlon Rosy Future and Chanel Accent. Complimentary, non?

What do you think about matching makeup? Love it, or hate it?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

*Provided for editorial consideration. Honesty, always.

 

 

The Bovary Christmas (Makeup, Nails, Our Day + Gifts I Received)

I absolutely love hearing about the Christmas celebrations that everyone else enjoyed, so here is my day.

Charlie ran around in his Santa suit on Christmas eve when I returned from a late shift at work.

Protecting his gifts on Christmas morning.

...and I was protecting mine!

I will admit that I bought this and put it under the Christmas tree for Mister Bovary. There is no way he would enter a Chanel boutique without me, so it seemed like the easier option.

Doing the right thing by Santa.

Another cute shot of Charlie because I can't help myself!

One last shot of the Christmas tree full of gifts before we took the gifts around to Mumma Bovary's.

The beautiful gifts I received this year! We didn't have a big Christmas gift wise as we've just bought the house and brought Charlie home, so low key was the go this year. Along with my beautiful Chanel Accent blush Mister Bovary bought me some NYX makeup, Disney Princess lipbalm set and an EyeTab palette.

The Chanel sample I wore on Christmas Day.

The contents of my stocking at Mumma Bovary's! Always contains a gold coin and some fruit, it's our tradition.

The Coconut lip balm ball from Colette Hayman, which is supposedly more moisturising than the EOS ones (I haven't tried those so I can't compare, but this one is lovely!)

80 colours in faux iPad form - wicked idea! Will have to test the colours and see how they fare.

The amazing tree ornament that we received from our family in America!

The stars of my Christmas Day face! NYX Butter Gloss in Vanilla Cream Pie, Chanel Accent blush, Dior Amber Diamond and Dior Fairy Golds palette. I've been wearing Fairy Golds almost every day in December, such an amazing palette.

Bovary's! I rocked that Santa hat all day long.

Mister B is pretty impressed with the gift my parents bought him!

Nails of the day weren't your traditional festive fare, but matched to my Tokito City dress. OPI Hey Baby! from the Gwen Stefani collection and Which is Witch as an accent nail.

Charlie and my family dog Senga!

A lovely tree from my sister, this flashes all different colours - I'm happy to have another decoration for our place. Mister B's family do a KK for Christmas and so my sister in law bought me a Pandora glass charm and Taylor by Taylor Swift (which was on my later list!)

Pink lips and big smiles for Christmas!

 

I would love to hear how your Christmas was?

What gifts did you receive and what blush did you wear?

 

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty