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Posts tagged Silver
Bespoke Sterling Silver Ring by Biggley
5Whilst browsing Twitter a few weeks ago, I noticed that an independent jewellers called Biggley were looking for bloggers to review some pieces from their new range. As a fan of silver jewellery, which they specialise in, I jumped at the chance of applying, and was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the few bloggers to receive a piece.
Biggley are based in Glasgow, and are made up of a small team of qualified jewellers and designers, who handcraft a variety of beautiful, bespoke jewellery. They make a wide range of pieces for women, men and children, from necklaces and bracelets, to rings and earrings, most of which is made of high quality sterling silver.
The piece I received is the D Shaped Ring from Biggley’s latest collection.
The ring is really unusual as it breaks away from the typical circular design of a ring, with a straight bar which sits across the top of the finger. The ring is crafted from sterling silver, and is set with a single cubic zirconia stone, which has a brilliant shine to it. As soon as I saw the ring I was really taken with how unique it is, and I think it’s absolutely stunning. Unsurprisingly, my mum does too, and she keeps asking me for it, so I keep having to hide it from her!
The ring also fits really nicely, and is an absolute pleasure to wear as it goes with any outfit, and due to its shape doesn’t spin round, so feels comfortable on the finger.
Biggley’s jewellery is all bespoke as every single piece is crafted by hand to a high standard, and is made to order. This doesn’t mean you have to wait a long time for your item though, as they aim to have all pieces ready to post within seven days of the order being placed. I am genuinely impressed by just how perfect this ring is. It’s flawless, and has obviously been made with care and attention to detail, by an extremely skilled and precise jeweller. I love it.
The D Shaped Ring costs £40, which for a quality piece which is made especially for you, is extremely affordable. To view Biggley’s current jewellery collections, click here. You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook, where they will soon be launching an exciting giveaway, so keep an eye out for that!
Naomi x
*This sterling silver ring was sent to me by Biggley for review purposes. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.*
What I Wore: Cool Summer Weekends
13
4 years
by Naomi in Fashion
July’s heat and sun seems to have given way to a much cooler August, so a lot of my summer clothes have taken a back seat and my spring skinny jeans have made a reappearance. Last weekend was particularly rainy, but it’s not quite cold enough for jumpers just yet! As such, I’ve been making compromises, and have invested in a dip hem shirt which is perfect for the recent unsettled weather. The long length and sleeves make it great for those cooler days, but it’s sheer and light so not too warm. I think this is a look that will work well in early Autumn too.
So, here is my go-to outfit for this month’s not-so-summery summer days. I wore it recently to see a band play at a pub, and I’ll be wearing it tonight with comfortable flats for a meal out with my partner.
Dip Hem Shirt, Vest and Skinny Jeans – Primark
Suedette Shoe Boots – New Look
Studded Skull Bag – Everything5Pounds
Handcrafted Silver Bat Skull Necklace – Birthday gift from my Dad (bought from Etsy)
What have you been wearing on these cooler summer days?
Naomi x
Ciate Mini Mani Month Round-Up: Part 3
6Hi everyone,
First off, I would like to wish my sister, Freya, a very Happy Birthday! Today she turns 21, an important age, but she’ll still always be my baby sister, wanting all my things. HAPPY BIRTHDAY FREYA!!
Now, down to business… Today I opened the door of Day 18 on my Ciate Mini Mani Month advent calendar, which means it’s time for another weekly round-up! This post will feature Day 13 up to Day 18, and I have swatches of all but one of the Paint Pots this time. I must admit, my feelings were mixed this week. There were a couple that I really liked, and one or two that I wasn’t keen on at all, but you can’t win them all as they say!
Day 13 – Glass Slipper and Day 14 – Speed Dial
On Day 13 I opened the door to Glass Slipper, a lovely blue glitter polish, and the first of the calendar’s three exclusive shades. The glitter is very fine and beautiful, and doesn’t feel too rough in texture, but it isn’t really dense enough to wear on its own (unless you’re willing to apply 3+ coats). It works perfectly as a top coat however, and is surprisingly easy to remove for a glitter.
Speed Dial is an unusual shade – it looks bright orange in the bottle, but I found it applies somewhere between a red and an orange. It is more orange in real life than it looks in the photo above though. I just can’t quite decide whether I like it or not! It definitely doesn’t look that good with Glass Slipper over the top, but with the right outfit I can see it working. Not one of my favourites, but not bad. It applied evenly and has a creamy formula at least!
Day 15 – Headliner
Headliner is my absolute favourite this week… I seem to have a thing for blues at the minute! It is a dark turquoise blue shade with a stunning creme finish and I love it! As you’d expect, the formula is great and, quite impressively, it only takes one coat to achieve a completely opaque finish (the photo above show two coats, however). Headliner got me a lot of compliments when I wore it, and without a doubt I’ll be wearing this one a lot!
Day 16 – Big Yellow Taxi
Ick, I’m not liking Big Yellow Taxi. I initially thought this looked okay as it appeared quite a creamy banana yellow in the bottle, but when I applied it I was soon disappointed. It has a really strange gloopy formula, so it went on very streaky, and no number of coats seemed to be able to even the finish out. The yellow shade is slightly too bright, and in all honestly it looks like tippex coloured in with yellow highlighter pen – not pretty! On the plus side, it doesn’t leave any stains behind at all. I don’t think I have the skin tone to pull this off, but it would probably look great against darker skin… I may use it for Batman nail art though!
Day 17 – Power Dressing
I haven’t tried Power Dressing yet so I can’t comment much on the formula and colour, but in the bottle it looks like a classic deep navy blue, and I imagine it will have a lovely shiny finish. I’m looking forward to using this!
Day 18 – Candy Shop Caviar Pearls
Candy Shop is the third out of four bottles of Caviar Pearls in the calendar, and so far they are my favourite. The beads are very small and coloured in three shades – turquoise blue, pink and orange. As with the other pearls that I have tried, these are very easy to apply (just pour over a wet nail, press down, and leave to set for 15 minutes), and look really striking against a bright varnish. The purple shade I chose to pair the pearls with is actually Cabaret, one of the shades I didn’t swatch in Part 1, so now you can see what it looks like.
So there you go, a mixed bag of mostly brights this week. Which is your favourite? Please vote below! Check back for Part 4 next Monday, on Christmas Eve, and if you want to see the previous shades in the Ciate Mini Mani Month, they are swatched in my Part 1 and Part 2 posts.
Naomi x
Accessorize Baked Duo Eyeshadow in ‘Venus’
8
4 years
by Naomi in Eyes
A couple of weeks ago I bought this Accessorize Baked Duo Eyeshadow from Superdrug. At the time it was on offer for £2.22, but this particular range of eyeshadows cost £4.45 each at full price.
I always enjoy browsing the Accessorize stand when I’m in Superdrug as the product packaging is always so attractive, and the Baked Duo is no exception. The gold butterfly detail on the lid is very pretty, and the packaging is very well designed as it always closes firmly and stays shut.
The eyeshadow itself is also quite beautiful to look at, and looks a lot like a planet which is in its name – ‘Venus’. For one, it is domed, which I’ve always found aesthetically pleasing in an eyeshadow, and the two different coloured sides are very ethereal. One side of the shadow is a rich, luxurious purple (Left), and the other is a dusky pink swirled with silver (Right).
As you can see above, my initial swatches came out quite faint which worried me slightly. I thought Accessorize had gone for image over quality and let the product suffer for the sake of the packaging, but I tried to reserve judgement until I’d tried it out properly, so here is the look I created with ‘Venus’…
To create this look I applied the pink shade across my entire eyelid, and the purple shade along the natural crease of my eye, down to the outside corner, using a shading brush. Then, again using the shading brush, I blended a mix of both shades from the outside corner of my eye to the centre of my eyelid. Finally, with a fine angled brush I applied a thin line of purple across my top lash line, and halfway across my lower lashline, and the pink shade to the inner corner of my eye and the other half of my lower lash line.
Despite my concerns, the eyeshadow is actually quite highly pigmented, and is very easy to apply. It smoothes on evenly and takes very little effort to build up a layer of bold colour, and the formula is extremely light so it doesn’t feel caked on or heavy on the eyelids.
Eight hours after application the eyeshadow is still going strong, and I didn’t even use an eyeshadow primer to keep it in place. It hasn’t smudged or gathered in the creases of my eye, and the colour still looks bright. The only issue I have with it is that it has gone quite shiny and wet looking, but that’s because I have oily eyelids which can’t be helped.
Overall, I am impressed with this Duo. The packaging is gorgeous, the colours are stunning and, probably most importantly, the eyeshadow is good quality and long-lasting. This was a definite steal at £2.22, but it’d also make a nice little treat at £4.45.
Have you tried any of Accessorize’s cosmetics?
Naomi x
NOTD: Illamasqua Nail Varnish in ‘Snap’
17
5 years
by Naomi in Nails
After receiving my Illamasqua order earlier this week, I decided to paint my nails with my new Illamasqua Nail Varnish this weekend. The shade I ordered is ‘Snap’, which is currently in the online sale for £5, down from £13.50.
‘Snap’ is a very thick nail varnish. One coat is enough for it to be completely opaque, but I applied two as the packaging suggested to give it more ‘intensity’. I would’ve been happy with one though. At first, the thick consistency of this proved to be quite troublesome as it was difficult to get an even coat and it seemed quite gloopy, but once I got used to the formula I found it a lot easier to apply. For a thick varnish it dries quite quickly too – after a few minutes it was good to go, but yet again I made the mistake of painting my nails before bed so the sheets left slight imprints on the tacky top coat (which you may be able to see below).
My favourite thing about ‘Snap’ is the colour. Illamasqua describe it as a rich pewter with a shimmer finish, and they are exactly right. It is neither matte nor shiny, so it actually looks like metal, and the pewter shade is very luxurious and highly pigmented.
The nail varnish is proving to be hardy too. I haven’t been wearing it for many days so I can’t comment fully on its lasting power, but I spent a good few hours hiking today which meant scrambling over rocks and grabbing onto tree branches, and it hasn’t chipped or peeled at all! A very good sign if you ask me because my manis don’t often survive my nature walks.
Overall, I am fairly impressed with this nail varnish. It could do with being a bit thinner maybe, but I have been told that one or two Illamasqua nail varnishes are a bit on the thick side, but the rest are perfect. I’ll just have to try a non-metallic colour won’t I? Not that I’m complaining 
Illamasqua’s range of shades is amazing, and this one doesn’t disappoint. At £5 this was a bargain as you get a large 15ml bottle, and I’d be happy to pay £13.50 for the right shade.
Naomi x
Star Gazer Nail Varnish – 712 Black with Silver Glitter
3
5 years
by Naomi in Nails
On Saturday I discovered a basket of Star Gazer nail varnishes in a local shop and they were on offer for £1.25 each, down from £2.50! I had been wanting to try a Star Gazer varnish for a while so at that price I snapped up Shade 712 straight away, which is a midnight black and full of silver micro-glitter.
I applied this for the first time yesterday and I have mixed feelings about it. The varnish went on smoothly and dried quickly, but it is very watery and looked barely there after one coat. The photograph below was taken after two coats and it doesn’t look too bad, but I think three coats would have been better. You can’t tell from the photo but you could still see my nail underneath the varnish in parts.
The glitter looks stunning in the right light and really catches the eye, but it feels quite rough, even with a top coat. The varnish is quite hardy and stays put, but it peels off if you pick it and I got quite into peeling it earlier so I ended up removing it this evening with nail varnish remover. Unlike a lot of glitter varnishes, this one actually comes off really easily (even if it does catch on the cotton wool a bit) so you don’t need to scrub at it for ages which is a positive thing.
Overall, I love the colour of this and how well it lasts, and that it can be removed easily, but the consistency isn’t great and it doesn’t feel very nice to the touch. For £1.25 though I’m not complaining… I think I’ll pick up another shade this week without any glitter to see what it’s like!
Have you ever tried any Star Gazer nail varnish?
Naomi x
Avon SuperShock Eyeliner in ‘Blackened Metal’
8
5 years
by Naomi in Eyes
I received this little pot of wonderful stuff with my Avon delivery on Tuesday. Avon’s SuperShock Eyeliner is unlike any eyeliner I’ve ever used before, as it comes in a glass pot and is applied using an eye liner brush. When I first received the eyeliner and my new brush I was slightly worried that I wouldn’t be able to apply the liner neatly. I don’t have a very steady hand when it comes to this sort of thing, but I thought I’d give it a go this morning.
The bristles on the brush are stiff and fine, and the brush is angled for precision application. I have to say, for a fairly low priced plastic brush it feels quite high quality – the handle is sturdy and the bristles soft and silky.
I was expecting the eyeliner to be solid black in colour, but it is actually more of a metallic grey/black with silver sparkly bits. It looks more solid in the photograph that it really is. In reality the gel is nice and creamy and the brush picks it up well. Before I talk about application, here is a skin swatch to demonstrate the colour of the eyeliner. You can really see the shimmery undertones to the gel in this picture:
Surprisingly, the eyeliner is VERY easy to apply! It glides on in one neat, smooth line and can be layered easily to create thicker and darker lines. I even found it simple to do even, equal flicks on the outside corner of my eyes without making a mess! The eyeliner dries extremely quickly and stays in place with no smudging. I am so impressed with this eyeliner – it has exceeded my expectations and the brush is one of the best I have! This is the final result:
Avon’s SuperShock Eyeliner costs £6 at full brochure price, and the brush is £4, but they are currently on offer at 2 for £8 in Brochure 8. The eyeliner also comes in two other shades – Shimmering Sapphire and Flashy Brown. If you would like to order, visit the ‘Order Avon From Me’ page. I now deliver to Europe and the USA!!
Have you ever tried Avon’s SuperShock Eyeliner?
Naomi x
Simple Glam Sparkle Bracelet
2
5 years
by Naomi in Fashion
I was recently lucky enough to win this beautiful bracelet in the wonderful @simpleglamspark‘s first Twitter giveaway. The piece is made of cream and beige pearl look beads with silver coloured accents. The bracelet adds a touch of feminine class to any outfit and I wear it a lot, more than any of my other bracelets in fact. I get a lot of compliments on it!
@simpleglamspark is a lovely, friendly lady and she is just starting out with her business, crafting cute little bracelets for all occasions at great prices! If you would like to see Simple Glam Sparkle’s jewellery and show her some support, you can visit her online shop here.
Naomi x
