Nick Verreos on TV Guide Network's Emmy Award Fashion Wrap with Carrie Ann Inaba

Dancing With ....the Red Carpet!!!!Red Carpet Dishing: Nick Verreos returns for some red carpet "schooling"

....and with a new FABULOUS HOST, the one and only Carrie Ann Inaba from Dancing With The Stars. I am so excited to be doing the Emmy's Fashion Wrap with Carrie Ann. She's worn a couple of my NIKOLAKI gowns and I've known her for YEARS!!! Nick Loves Carrie Ann! Carrie Ann Inaba in NIKOLAKI gowns on ABC's Dancing With The Stars

I'm also excited to be dishing with my TV Guide Fashion Wrap "bestie", stylist Jennifer Rade--also known as the "Project Runway Cougar" after her much-touted Project Runway Season 6 judging stint. Love her! I have a feeling this is going to be good!
Don't miss it! Tune in tonight or set your DVR's for 7pm TONIGHT!!
For all the information click HERE

First Photo of Heidi Klum in Marchesa at the Emmys Awards!!!!

Pregnant and ROCKING IT!!!!!Here's Heidi Klum arriving at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, the Nokia Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles. She whispered in my ear at her recent LA Confidential Pre-Emmys Party that she would wear a "lace Marchesa" gown. And here it is! It's black, strapless; has beaded embroidered lace overlay and a fabulous train for added drama! What do you guys think? I think she looks HOT!!! Go on Miss Heidi--work the belly out!

Matte nails- Nubar

When I first heard that this season brings with it a trend for matte nails I was excited. After all, it is something fun and new to try, and a great excuse to buy more polishes. I was therefore happy to be given the opportunity to try out the new Modern Matte collection from a brand I had not previously heard of- NUBAR.

These polishes are described as eco friendly because they are free from formaldehyde, phthalates and toluene as well as being carcinogen free, suitable for vegetarians or vegans (not quite sure what they mean by this), and not being tested on animals (yay!).

I received one of their four polishes in the shade Vital, a beautiful deep purple, somewhat similar to one of my all time favourites OPI's plugged in plum.

This polish is very richly pigmented and is opaque after just one coat, though I found that two coats gave it a much deeper colour. It was also a little streaky at first, but with two coats it seemed to even out. The best thing about it was the drying time. It was dry to the touch within a matter of seconds and set in a couple of minutes, which is great for me as I am always doing my nails in a rush. Also, even though the finish is matte it did not look dull as it has tiny flecks of shimmer to give it dimension.

 

Sounds great right? However, one of the most important things for me in a nail polish is longevity, and this one unfortunately did not live up to its promise of a 'chip resistant formula'. After application in the afternoon it started chipping within a few hours, and by the time I had finished preparing dinner  some of my nails had barely half the nail polish left on. I am glad they say this polish is suitable for vegetarians as some of it probably ended up being a 'special' ingredient in my Thai green curry yesterday.

Overall, I would say that for £8 this did not quite live up to my expectations. I loved the super fast drying time, the colour and the unusual matte finish, but it just chipped far too quickly. However, I am determined to make it work so I shall try to invest in a good matte topcoat to improve its lasting power and shall report to you all.

The Modern Matte collection and other nubar nail polishes are available at www.beautyshed.co.uk.

Do you guys have any recommendations for a good matte topcoat? What do you think of matte nails, is it just a passing trend?

Front Cover True Colours Perfect Nude Palette

As promised, here's a full detailed review on the Front Cover True Colours Perfect Nude Palette. This is a brand that I hadn't heard much about before trying this product but as soon as the palette arrived in the post, I was blown away by the packaging idea. Basically the brand fuses fashion and makeup together (a match made in heaven!) and the palette has been designed to look like the front cover of a magazine which I think is a brilliant design concept. The thing that really makes it stand out is the lid, which is holographic! When you tilt the palette the image on the lid changes e.g. the model's eyes close and the text on the palette changes) . I have taken two photos of the lid to try and demonstrate what I mean...it's just the coolest thing ever!When you first pick up the palette, you notice that it weighs a ton compared to other palettes on the market, but then again, you are getting alot of product for your money. The palette contains two sections, the top one contains 8 eyeshadows and the bottom drawer contains 8 lipglosses.Some of the eyeshadow pans have a gorgeous embossed motif on them...I almost didn't want to disturb it coz it was so prettty! These had a texture that I am unfamiliar with but I loved the effect they gave. The only thing I can liken it to is a suede effect, they are velvety smooth and give a subtle matte finish. The eyeshadow pans without a motif offered more of a subtle shimmer that wasn't too over the top for daytime. I love the colours of the eyeshadows...from beige/brown/taupe/slate, all the shadows work together really well to create a natural look (as seen in my previous post). The applicator supplied is also of really good quality (natural bristles) and I used that to apply it for the FOTD. The swatches don't really do the colours any justice as the one that looks green in the top row is more of a grey in real life. You really have to see this palette to appreciate how gorgeous it is.The lipglosses were all shades that I would happily wear, bar one (the red shade on the far right, top row). The first 2 shades on the top row are very irridescent and a bit blah. My interest was more in the bottom row as those lipglosses all have tiny gold flecks in them and are all variations of nudes...I especially love the baby pink colour on the right! They are all gorgeous neutral shades that work really well over most lipsticks.These are swatches of the top row of glosses...I think the red shade is pretty wearable My favourites...look how gorgeous they are!

The palette is available from 1st October in larger Boots stores and I was amazed to find out that it's only £15! I think it's really good value for money as you could take this with you if you were going away for a weekend and it would contain half of your makeup you would need. The palette even has makeup artist tips on the back detailing how to apply the products. The only downside to this palette (and this is a very small point) is that I wish the pans had names as it would make it easier to make reference to them when doing FOTD's with it. I also think that giving the colours names just draws people in more and I know that personally, I would prefer to use something with a name like 'Smoke Cloud' than something boring like 'Grey'. They could even have named the shades with a fashion twist like 'Stiletto' or 'Catwalk'.

Let me know what you think of the palette

FOTD using Front Cover palette

This FOTD was to try out a Front Cover palette that I was sent and also to try out the Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation I received.

It's a really neutral look and I used brown liquid eyeliner for a slightly more subtle look, complete with my trademark flicks!...I can't help myself, it's a staple look for me.
Here's what I used:

1) Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation (the shade was too light for me and I think it makes me look a bit pale!)

2) Benefit Erase Paste in no.2

3) MAC MSF Natural in Medium

4) Prestige SLM in Rich Bronze (all over face)

5) Bare Escentuals All Over Colour in Faux Tan (to contour)

6) Benefit High Beam

7) MAC Paint Pot In Bare Study (used as a base)

8) MAC eyeshadow in All That Glitters (used in inner corners of eyes)

9) ELF Liquid Eyeliner in Coffee

10) Clarins Eyebrow Pencil in Blonde

11) Lancome Cils Booster

12) Loreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black

I used a mixture of the eyeshadows from the Front Cover palette Here's the Front Cover eyeshadow/lipgloss palette that I will be swatching and reviewing in my next post...

I will also do a post on the Illamasqua foundation that I used for this look.
The eyeshadows don't have names so bear with me...I used the white shade above all over the lid up to the browbone, then the beige shade next to that on top (only on lid), the light grey shade next to that in the outer corners and in the crease then I used the darkest shade on the bottom row right to darken the outer edges

I used a mixture of the bottom far left lipgloss with the shade third from the left.

I will go into this palette in more detail in my next post though.