Showing posts with label nail polish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nail polish. Show all posts

Tuesday, 1 January 2013

Avon Arctic Goddess Limited Edition Nailwear Pro+ Nail Enamels



These are the limited edition Arctic Goddess collection nail polishes by Avon, from left to right; green goddess; arctic waters; chilling teal. They cost £6 for 12ml and are currently half price on Avon's website.

Green Goddess is a deep olive green with metallic gold running through it, a really beautiful shade. It took one coat of this to get it looking perfect but I chose to do two out of habit. It lasted well over the claimed 10 days for me. I also love Chilling Teal which is a very light mint shade with silver sparkle, it takes me 3-4 coats to get opaque colour from this, it's very pretty, like an icy shade for Winter. This also lasted me well over 10 days! The final shade is Arctic Waters, a deep sky blue, this has a very small amount of metallic silver/purple running through it I think, it's definitely not only a blue colour on its own. Again this lasted very well on me and took one coat for even colour. All of the shades apply evenly and go on very well.



Overall, I think these shades are amazing value for me, Avon's website also says that all of their Nailwear Pro+ shades have been fortified with acrylic gel. They last very well, and I felt as though they improved the condition of my nails too, I wore base and top coats with all shades by various brands and also trialed them without top coats, with or without they lasted about the same amount of time and did not chip at all.

I would definitely repurchase and I am looking forward to trying out different shades, I've already tried the shade called Inky Blue which you can read about here.

Have you tried any Avon nail enamels? What did you think?

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

Avon Limited Edition Arctic Goddess Collection




This is the collection by Avon for Autumn/Winter available this month, prices start from £6 and products can be found online or in their catalogues.

Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures at the event so I can't really show you how amazing it was, I got to meet Alesha Dixon - Avon's Beauty & Empowerment Ambassador and the Pixiwoo sisters! I think I was a little more excited to meet the makeup ladies I've been watching for so long!

I have tried all of the products and I do like them overall, I will have individual reviews up very soon. I will however add that I'd never used any Avon products before this and I definitely think I will be trying out more!

I believe there are more items in this collection that I've managed to miss (from reading other blogs) but as far as I know the five items above make up the Arctic Goddess collection; eyeshadow quad in Arctic Goddess; nail enamels in Green Goddess, Arctic Waters and Chilling Teal and finally a lipgloss in Pink Icicle.

Have you tried any of these products? Do you like the look of anything? What did you think?

Thursday, 1 November 2012

Avon Nailwear Pro+ Nail Enamel in Inky Blue


Last month I was fortunate enough to be invited to the launch of Avon's new Arctic Goddess collection, (available in November, will post about it soon) and was lucky enough to get a few products to try and review. This shade is the one I chose for my mini-manicure and I love it!

Unfortunately the pictures do not do it justice, it has lovely shimmery bits in it and it's a very deep inky blue, it's name suits it perfectly! I think this would be a great shade to wear over the Autumn/Winter months as it is so cold it'll match the dark nights well! I do think it would pretty much suit every skin tone. It costs a very reasonable £6 for 12ml from Avon, you can order online here or through one of their catalogues. At the moment these are on a 2 for £8 offer or 3 for £10 offer, making them £3.33 each if you go for the latter. I'd never tried these before and think they are truly amazing nail polishes, I would definitely repurchase and try some of the other colours!

It lasted just over a week on me without any chips or looking "worn", I do think it would have lasted longer if my life didn't require lots of manual work! 2 coats is perfect, it doesn't go on streaky and evens out well, dries very quickly too - something very important in a nail polish for me!

Have you tried any Avon nail enamels? What did you think?


Friday, 21 October 2011

GlossyBox - October 2011

I received my GlossyBox a little while ago and I thought I'd share my thoughts and first impressions about the October box.

Here's what was included:

I forgot to take out the Dermalogica Renewal Lip Complex from the bag - too excited, sorry!


Dermalogica AGE smart Multivitamin Thermafoliant - 15ml sample - worth £8.10
Robert Piguet Eau De Parfums x3 small vials
Leighton Denny Expert Nails Colour & Care in Babydoll - full size - £11
Dermalogica AGE smart Multivitamin Power Recovery Masque - 15ml sample - worth £7.07
Dermalogica AGE smart Renewal Lip Complex - 1ml sample - worth £12.86
Dermalogica Beauty Bag
Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in Moray - full size - £13


Total Value of Box: at least £52.03
Amount Paid: £12.95
Total Saving: £39.08

I think this month's box was brilliant, it was a 6 month anniversary special for them so there were 6 products, admittedly a lot of Dermalogica, but they are a very well known brand with lots of positive feedback on their products. I've had a chance to try most of the products and here are my thoughts.

The Dermalogica thermafoliant felt very strange on my skin, it has very tiny scrubbing particles in it which made my skin feel odd, but after using it left my face nice and smooth. The perfume samples are beginning to annoy me a little because I now have no more than 18, all from various beauty boxes and orders, I suppose it's a nice way to try lots of different perfumes though, so I'll keep my annoyance at bay. I definitely got the nicest shade out of the 3 Leighton Denny polishes that were available but I'm not entirely sure it's for me, I've yet to try it though...I haven't tried the Dermalogica Masque yet but it looks interesting! The lip balm is amazing, I absolutely love it, I can't believe it's so expensive though! Full size (1.75ml) is £22.50! It's luxurious, melts onto your lips well, moisturises and smells lovely. The Dermalogica beauty bag was a lovely addition and they're right, we can never have too many cosmetic bags! Finally Stila's Smudge Stick Eyeliner, I used this on the first day and it was gorgeous, the colour is so pretty, the gold flecks look beautiful with brown eyes, it really impressed me and I looked it up in more shades. I also wore this the day after I got it, unfortunately it broke once, and quite a chunk of it broke off, I ignored this and twisted it up for another perfect line, the third day I picked this up again as I was in a rush but it broke twice! And small chunks each time, I've informed GlossyBox and they were very helpful, they gave me suggestions on how to use it but after I sent them my picture of broken eyeliner they have offered to replace it when stock comes in.

Overall I think I'd give this box a 9/10, every product looked well thought out and in general I think I will like them all. I did enquire as to why there were so many anti-aging products, and they are for prevention apparently, a mask is a mask to me and an exfoliator exactly that, so I don't really mind, it's just that I've heard using anti-aging products early speeds up aging...but a great box all in all!

What do you think of this month's GlossyBox? Will you be signing up?


Click here to sign up!

Monday, 10 October 2011

Feel Unique Beauty Box - October 2011

I received my first ever Feel Unique Beauty Box on Friday and I loved it so much I honestly didn't want to share it with anyone! Feel Unique is £9.95 per month and the box and its contents are amazing.












TIGI Catwalk Sleek Mystique Straight Collection Blow Out Balm - Full Size 90ml - £10.35
Crabtree & Evelyn India Hicks Island Living Spider Lily Ultra-Moisturising Hand Therapy - 25g Sample - £3.50
Caudalie Vinexpert Radiance Day Fluid SPF10 - 10ml sample - £10.20
Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash - 60ml - £5.60
Orly Nail Lacquer in Green With Envy - 5.3ml - £5
Burberry Body Perfume - 1.5ml sample - £1.38

Total Value of Box: £36.03
Amount Paid: £9.95
Total Saving: £26.08

The Feel Unique box itself is a small compact slide-out sleek black box which I love. The contents are from luxury brands and are of deluxe sizes. I love this box! To be honest I'm very grateful for the TIGI Styling Balm but I have no idea how to use it because I don't own a blow-dryer...maybe I should get one at some point...let me know what you think! The Crabtree & Evelyn hand cream is a wonderful addition as I've been wanting to try their products for ages and still haven't. Caudalie is a French brand and I have a bit of an amour for them, also very high-end, I love the sample sizes because I can take them away with me when I travel, this fluid also has an SPF of 10 which is always helpful. Unfortunately my heart sank a little when I saw the Bliss Face Wash because I already have 2 exact bottles, but I hope it's good, so I can use them all up! I love the Orly nail lacquer, and the shade is lovely but not one I myself would associate as a pre-Winter warmer, as the theme of this box is. Finally I really liked the addition of a fragrance sample, I have so many I don't think I'll ever need to buy a perfume bottle! I liked the fragrance of the Burberry Body, although I do feel I should wear it a little more before deciding definitely.

I was very happy with this box and am proud to present it with a 10/10 based on my first impressions and thoughts. I see no flaws in this box, the packaging, the price or the delivery. I'm considering going for the 12 month subscription but again, I have to yet decide which beauty boxes to unsubscribe from!

Thank you so much for reading! What do you think of the box? Will you be joining up?

Monday, 3 October 2011

Boudoir Privé - September 2011

Hi!

I received my Boudoir Privé box last Monday and I've had a chance to play with everything well enough for first impressions/a mini-review. Boudoir Privé kindly offered to send me a box free of charge and I replied too quickly not recalling I'm already a subscriber! However, I told them later on and they were absolutely lovely when I said I'd either be giving it to a family member or holding a giveaway on the blog. I ended up giving it away to a family member for her birthday and she loved it, she took most of the stuff leaving me the box.

So anyway, here's what was in it and my opinions on it:

Lovely note in review box (given away)


My £10 box - and I've forgotten to take a picture of the Tropic body polish because I'd already used it :/

Tropic Body Smooth Refreshing Polish - I really liked this, I used it on my legs and it made them feel a lot smoother and scrubbed, I'm not entirely sure if I'd repurchase as I think I've found the scrub of my life at the minute, but overall it's lovely, works well with a citrus fragrance.

Zoya Professional Lacquer in Tao - I really like the shade of the nail polish, from Zoya's A/W collection Smoke & Mirrors, it applies well and looks good. Normally retails for £9.98 per bottle.

Cargo Boogie Night Eye Pencil - I swatched both of these from both boxes on my hand and I really didn't like the colour payoff or feeling, I think these would be way too harsh on my very sensitive eyes - they'll be in my blogsale soon. 5 retail for £13.

Colbert MD Nourish Eye Cream - This is amazing, I love the consistency of this eye cream and I think my sample will last me for months, it's a nourishing cream and not anti-aging like every cream I come across so I'm glad. Just a basic cream I need. 15ml for £90.

Macademia Healing Oil Treatment - This is another product I love, it's nourishing to the hair without being oily, I think I may repurchase this when I run out or just some more for all of my hair.

Agent Provocateur Fragrance -  This smells lovely :)

Mai Couture Blot & Bronze sheets - I really like these, I was confused as to which side to use but I just used both and I love the slight shimmer they add.

Zoya swatches - I'm glad these were included so that when Boudoir Privé open their online store I can pick up some more shades I love!

I think this box was the best box so far! I hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading, let me know what you think and if you'll be subscribing to Boudoir Privé soon! :) Another thing I forgot to add is how much I love that Boudoir Privé put the samples into the box so they're hidden! I love looking for them! :)

Sunday, 4 September 2011

Challenge: No Nail Polish

The state of my nails is horrible, they are stained, much weaker than they used to be and now peeling as well. I put this down to the obsession I have with constantly changing my nail colour and using so many different products on my nails. So I have come to the decision not to wear any nail polish for the next few months to allow them to grow out, stop being yucky and orange-yellow and hopefully it'll improve their condition too. The only things I'll be using is either cuticle creams or nail and cuticle creams...(same thing really hmm...)

I'm not sure how long I'll last because I always feel less confident without my nails painted but I think it's best for my nails to leave them alone and to "let them breathe" for a bit!

What do you think? Would you be able to stay away from nail polish?

Tuesday, 9 August 2011

Marie Claire Freebies!


Marie Claire (September 2011 issue) are giving away a choice of 2 Ciaté paint pots and 2 Dove Express Treatment Conditioners along with the sachets inside the magazine! The magazine retails at £3.60 and the nail polish alone is worth £9. The 2 shades available are a deep metallic purple with shimmer (Wait Until Dark) or a nude light peach/cream colour (My Fair Lady).


I picked up 2 of Wait Until Dark with the Dove Nourishing Oil Care Express Treatment conditioner, I did think of trying My Fair Lady but I'd just received Beach Melba also by Ciaté in my July GlossyBox, and it's a very similar shade.

I'll review and do some posts about both products and possibly even about the Sanex sachet included!

Thank you for reading!

What do you think of the shades available? Have you picked yours up yet?

Thursday, 21 July 2011

GlossyBox - July 2011

My GlossyBox arrived today so I thought I'd put up a quick post about my first thoughts on it!


The 5 things it contains this month are:

- Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Conquer (1.3g/0.04oz)
- Xen-Tan Weekly Self-Tan (30ml/1oz)
- Weleda Pomegranate Regenerating Body Oil (100ml/3.4fl oz)
- Ciaté Paint Pot in Beach Melba (13.5ml)
- 2 Etat Libre D'Orange Eau De Parfum (1.5ml x 2)


I love the Illamasqua Pure Pigment, Conquer is a deep green shade and looks very pretty. I've never used any Illamasqua products because I am trying to spend the least I possibly can on makeup because my collection is very large now! This is also a full-sized pigment worth £15.50, very impressive!

I have no interest in the next product, the Xen-Tan Premium Sunless Tan because I dislike tanning! Therefore will be thinking of what to do with it... The sample size is great though - 30ml.

The Weleda Body Oil looks interesting, but the claims "Indulgently firms and renews" imply that this is for an older target audience, but I'll give it a shot and if I don't feel like it's doing anything for me, hand it over to a lady older than myself! This is another full size product worth £19.95!

The Ciaté Paint Pot is another great product but I have too many pale pink/nude shades so I would have liked a different shade! This is worth £9 and is another full sized product!

Finally, the Etat Libres D'Orange are very small samples of 2 different perfumes, that upon first "smelling" smell great!


Overall I am very impressed with this month's GlossyBox, it contains 3 full size products worth £44.45 together without the self-tan and tiny samples, although I expect the perfume samples would be free anyway. So a £44.45+ box for £10 and free delivery, I'm impressed! I give this month's GlossyBox a 8/10! Products will be reviewed individually too.

The last point I'd like to make though after seeing a few other GlossyBoxes I would have much preferred the UltraSun sunscreen instead of the tan! A nice little bottle of Orla Keily instead of the random perfume samples and a coloured Ciaté Paint Pot! GlossyBox should get a move on with their profile-creating!

Thank you for reading!

Have you got your GlossyBox this month? Like it? A fail? Let me know in the comments below!


Click here to sign up!

Tuesday, 5 July 2011

My first ever GlossyBox! June 2011

Hi!

Sorry I haven't been posting as frequently as I'd like to, I've had many busy days and some very lazy days so no blogging gets done! This post is going to be a little snapshot of what I got in this month's GlossyBox and my first impressions of the box, its contents and Glossybox in general.


This is my first ever GlossyBox, I ordered on 6th May and the email I received said I would receive a GlossyBox on 6th May! So I asked GlossyBox on twitter what this meant and it turned out that I wouldn't be getting one until June...I was very disappointed. I think as a brand new company it should have been prepared for such a high demand for the service and been able to provide for all those interested! When you usually order things, they are in stock unless stated otherwise and depending on delivery are received pretty quickly. I was very excited to receive my first box...

Onto the contents of this month's box and my first impressions:


There's a small leaflet(?) explaining what's in the box along with some discount codes on separate pieces for the brands in the box.


Here we have this month's 5 luxury samples... I could honestly go off on one about how damaging and unthoughtful it is for GlossyBox to have placed a £1.52, 50ml bottle of Batiste Dry Shampoo in Original, in the box but I will say so politely. GlossyBox advertise themselves to provide luxury samples, from luxury brands, Batiste is not a luxury brand. I cannot emphasise enough how disappointed I am again, especially as this box is/was a lot of customers' first box.

Next up, is an eau de parfum by Perles de Lalique, definitely a luxury brand thank goodness. The bottle is beautiful and I loved the packaging too, it's only 4.5ml but looks like a lot of perfume. Eau de parfum is the most concentrated form of scent available so it would be the most costly if bought alone, £68 for 100ml. The only issue I have with this is the scent itself, it's a sophisticated scent, but one for a much older lady in my opinion, so I'm not sure if I'll be keeping it or just using it up when I can.

In the little pouch is the Bioeffect EGF Serum, the wondrous skincare product from Iceland. This sample is worth £30, and a full sized 15ml vial is £125 and 5ml for £49. I would expect this to be for an older lady again but the leaflet does say it is for any age and any skin type so I will be trying this and hopefully reviewing it soon.

Next is the small designer nail lacquer by OPI in Coronation, the other one available was Extravagance. I really like this colour and the application seems to be good too, I will review this too, but very happy with this item!

Finally in my box was a 100ml bath and shower gel by Abahna, in the white grapefruit and may chang scent. I haven't much to say about this product as I have yet to try it out, so will put it in a review for you. For 250ml it is £17 so a luxury product for sure. Instead of the bath and shower gel there were many other possibilities of various items that could have been in the box, one of which being a Rouge Bunny Rouge lipgloss, that I wish I'd got!

The box itself I am impressed with, the sturdiness and classy décor is something I also love. It's perfect for storing various bits and bobs, and depending on future contents of GlossyBoxes I'd love to have a little stack of these filled with various items. They could also be used to house presents for other people. Love the box itself.

Finally, GlossyBox overall. Disappointed with the fact that I didn't receive a "May box" when I ordered in May, very upset with the £1.52 worth of Batiste - clearly not a luxury brand, disappointed again with the increase in price of GlossyBox from September, to £12.95, the extra £2.95 for P and P - no indication of this was given when advertising the box. Happy with the box itself and most of the items. For June, I give GlossyBox a 5/10. I will review items separately too.

Thank you very much for reading! :)

What was in your GlossyBox? Love/Like/Hate?


Wednesday, 22 June 2011

17 Nail Bar in a Bag

Hello!

Here's the post about 17's offer/GWP. Purchase any 2 17 items and receive this for free! It includes 2 nail polishes, 1 nail file and nail art stickers. I got mine when I bought the Miami Pop Collection and I picked up some more nail polishes too! (I love 17 and nail polish...can you tell?)

Here's an image of what's included in your lovely gift:


The 2 nail polishes included are Pink Grapefruit and Knockout Red. Then there's the nail file and nail art stickers. I've been messing around with the file and stickers and they both seem of great quality, the nail art stickers I didn't think I'd like at all because of the animal print (I hate animal print), but they look surprisingly good on nails!

I've yet to use the nail polishes, but as soon as I have a few times I'll definitely stick a review up on here! Not to worry ;)

Overall I think this is a great deal, I bought 2 nail polishes and got this set, making the deal essentially BOGOF plus extra bits! I generally find that 17 products are of a high quality too and have yet to experience any problems with them so I was very happy with this! I would have preferred it if there were different shades of nail polish available, maybe 3 different sets and you could go on a collecting mission...but I'm very happy with my purchases and my free gift(s).

Thank you for reading! :)

What do you think of this set? Have you picked yours up yet?

Sunday, 19 June 2011

Nails Inc. and Fabulous Offer Alert!


I blog to alert you of an amazing offer Fabulous Magazine (found in News of the World) have on starting from today! Sunday 19th June 2011, to land yourself these 2 beautiful nail polishes by Nails inc. worth £22 for free all you have to do is collect 3 tokens from the News of the World! In addition, you will receive a code for 20% off products at http://www.nailsinc.com/ and you can treat yourself to a half price manicure for £14, usually £28 at participating Nails Inc. salons. (T&Cs apply.)

These two fabulous (pun intended!) colours have been created exclusively for the magazine and are aptly named Atomic and OMP! (Oh My Pink!) - the perfect shades for summer!

How to get your beauty mitts on these:

 - Cut out and collect 3 differently numbered tokens being printed over the next 4 weeks (starting today!)

- Take them along to any participating Tesco Extra or Tesco supermarket between July 3rd-11th to pick up your free Nails inc. polishes!

It's so easy! I was kindly sent both shades as a sneak preview of the kit, I put OMP! on my left hand and Atomic on my right hand, one coat each first, then 2 coats afterwards. This is the first time I have tried the brand and I've only used these for one day, just to let you know! Here are my thoughts:

- Very thick, vibrant, glossy nail polishes, Atomic is slightly streakier than OMP! when used alone
- Application is quite easy, one coat is enough but I personally prefer two
- 2 coats tends to last longer, I experienced chipping after washing lots of dishes with Atomic (one coat)
- Both colours dry very fast, something I LOVE
- Will look gorgeous on all skintones

I didn't put any swatches up because my hands have tanned very deeply (even more so than usual!) in comparison to my natural skintone and I don't like tanning...I'm weird I know...sorry about that! Colours are exactly the same on the nail as shown in the nail polish bottle though, what you see is exactly that you will get!

Disclaimer: I was kindly sent this pack by News of the World PR

So what do you think? Yay or nay? Will you be rushing out to get yourselves these gorgeous nail polishes?

Thursday, 2 June 2011

Review: Pretty Quik Instant Nail Polish Remover


This is an amazing find by me from Boots! I was looking for a quick nail polish remover, because I've really gotten into doing my nails every few days and it just seems a hassle everytime and I wanted something to speed up the process. This one isn't suitable for artificial nails though, there is one available for artificial nails in white packaging, but I thought I'd get this one because I didn't need the extra safety of that remover.

This was quite cheap, I think £2.38 maybe? All you do is stick each digit into the tiny space inbetween the sponge and move your finger about and when you take your nail out it's clean of all nail polish! Close to magic I tell you! I was so impressed because the polish from the sides of the nail comes off really well too and it's such a quick process.

The main issue I have with this is that it really dries the nail out and after about 7-8 uses the colour from the various nail polishes clouds the sponge and it doesn't rub on the nail as well so it takes longer for the polish to come off. So it's a great polish remover but it does have its drawbacks when it's been used a few times.
As I was so impressed with this I'm going to give it a 7/10. Thank you for reading :)

Edit 09/06/2011: It has a lot of negatives that I didn't realise before, it leaves desiccated nails and cuticles, doesn't last very long and makes nails feel horrible. This has only lasted a couple of weeks and the sponge is a fail at the minute, worth the £2.38? Nope. New rating of 4/10, very practical yes, but not great. Would be better to buy full bottle of nail polish remover and cotton pads!

Sunday, 17 April 2011

Review: 17 Lasting Fix Nail Polish in "Forever"

£2.99 for 8ml at Boots
I love this nail polish! It shouts spring in a very subtle way (oxymoron woop!) and it's a very pretty nude/beige colour. I believe it came out with the new spring collection from 17, (with the very pretty eye palettes) but I just caught sight of it recently.

Texture: I really like the texture of this nail polish, it has a creme(?) finish, and is nice and shiny without being over the top. Not gritty, no glitter, very smooth and pretty.

Colour: I really like this colour, I think it's suitable for all skin tones and perfect for the transition period between winter and spring and spring itself! It is a nude, light beige-cream colour with light pink undertones I think - quite difficult to describe!

Application: It goes on very well and quickly, no marks, no streakiness, but I would recommend a minimum of 2 coats (as suggested by 17) for an opaque finish.

Wear: I've had mine on for 5 days now (without top coat) and there is a little tip wear but not so significant, the claim is that the polish is chip resistant and there should be 5 days of last colour and it's true!

Brush: The brush is just right and I love how my whole nail is covered in 3 strokes and it isn't flimsy. It also allows you to decide how much polish you want on it and doesn't drip splodges or pick up too little.

Drying Time: I have a huge problem with drying my nails in time before smudging them or getting fingerprints on them and I don't want to have to buy another item to help that (even though I've tried so many!) This polish dries to the touch in 5-10mins, and properly in about half an hour, so it's the same as most polishes but I appreciate the quicker drying time (to touch) than some other polishes!

Price: £2.99 is a bargain for such a pretty colour and a lovely polish!

Overall: 8/10

Thank you for reading! :)

Saturday, 9 April 2011

Review: BeautyUK Glam Nails in "Smokey Lilac" - No51

I picked up this lovely polish some time ago now, just before the ban started. I've put it on my nails once and it was true love all over again with beautyUK polishes.

This is what it looks like:
Apologies for poor lighting!

It costs £1.99 from Superdrug which is awesome in my opinion for 9ml of nail polish. I've continued to add to my wishlist of beautyUK polishes simply because they're so amazing and at the most perfect price!

No chipping or tipwear for about 4 days, after that there was tipwear, (my nails/nail polish aren't prone to chipping, thank goodness!). I think without a topcoat this is a good period of wear for a nail polish to withstand. However 3-4 coats are needed for an opaque finish and I didn't really like it on my toes sadly :( I think it's a good colour for the transition period between winter-spring and even now!

I really love the colour and the consistency is great. Another great point is that they don't take forever to dry on their own, which is beneficial to anyone I think!

Overall this nail polish receives 8/10! Thank you for reading :)

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Review: No7 Stay Perfect Nail Top Coat

Just ergh. The most horrible disgusting useless top coat I've ever tried, and it's from such a reputable brand. it costs £7 and is available at Boots if you want to give it a go.

Now I'll explain why it's the worst top coat I've ever come across.

- It's gloopy - on the brush it's gloopy and gunky, the consistency isn't nice enough for you to want to polish your fine manicure with.

- It's bubbly - it creates bubbles, micro, tiny, yucky bubbles on my nails which completely ruins them.

- Drying time is FOREVER - it takes forever to dry, even after about 2 hours, you may think that your nails are ready to touch and you can continue your daily chores but NO! If you touch a nail you will have a splodge or a nasty fingerprint left on whichever pretty colour you've chosen to paint your nails with.

- It's Sticky - this isn't really to do with the nails exactly, but if you accidentally do manage to place it somewhere else, it sticks and is very hard to get off or even smooth down to a level of near invisibility.

- It leaves strings - this is a really unattractive, it leaves strings while transporting it onto the nail from the bottle, like honey leaves trails on a spoon!

Basically this top coat sucks, in every way possible. It gives nothing required of a top coat apart from the shine if you manage to get 1 little nail done properly with this.

This really baffles me because I adore No7 Stay Perfect Nail Colours, and they're of a good consistency and wear pretty well. It's just this top coat that ruins my nails completely and does nothing useful. Sorry, it does do one useful thing, once on and if you've managed to dry it well it does keep the colour of your nails going strong, but you may not want colour locked onto your nails with bubbles on top! Most of us don't!

I wouldn't pay £7 for this or even £2 with the £5 off vouchers, I remember it being £6.25...just in awe at the increase in prices now!

But this is a definite no no on my part, have you ever tried this? What did you think? Am I the only one?!

Thank you so much for reading! :)

Sunday, 6 March 2011

Review: BeautyUK's Glam Nails Nail Polish - Mauve Flash No34

I L-O-V-E this nail polish :) I wish I could stop there and end this post and that would be enough convincing for you to go out and try it...I'll continue for all those that need more convincing though. It cost me £1.99 from Superdrug which rockets the value factor by 1000x! For 9ml of nail polish...wow.

So onto the convincing now...I'm sorry I haven't posted any swatches of this (and for saying convincing 3x already!), all the pictures I took came out really shoddy and didn't do the beautiful colour enough justice.

It's a very bright summery pink that would look very pretty on nails in the summer, fingers and toes.The brush is lovely to work with, fans out enough and doesn't allow the formula to "gloop" on it, the wear is chip resistant for about a week and looks absolutely perfect, which is oh so difficult to find in a nail polish nowadays. I took mine off a bit sooner though because as the nails grow the cuticles become worse so I end up flaking/scratching picking at my nails until the colour came off, otherwise I reckon it would have remained perfectly for longer. I wore a top coat on top which completely "glooped" and left bubbles on my nails, yet the colour still shone through. I also put on 3 coats but I think 2 coats were enough, it's opaque enough for 1 coat as long as you pick up a lot of polish on the brush.

I know this isn't a typical transition colour from winter to spring but I needed some cheering up and this polish really did and has cheered me up :)

And there we are, a perfect nail polish for £1.99...shocking I know! A very big well done to BeautyUK for making such a perfect nail polish, I would like it to be a bit more opaque on its own and I have yet to try wearing it alone to further test out the chip-resistant, stay-pretty for ages quality it has, but I give it an 8/10 for now.

Thank you for reading :)

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

Question: How often do you change your nails/nail colour?

I was wondering this because a lot of beauty gurus/bloggers seem to change their nails everyday, I don't have time to do that but I try to change them at least once a week and if we're lucky twice!

Please leave your comments below :)

Thursday, 16 December 2010

Review: Bourjois Une Seconde Nail Enamel (One Second Nail Polish)

These nail polishes and colours are amazing! I had to talk about them on here! Unfortunately I haven't been able to swatch them and I really want to get lots of posting done before the year is over!

Availability: Boots, Superdrug
Price: £5.99
Colours/Types: many!


Shades, L to R, 2, 9, 8
The nail polishes aren't named properly, they have just been given numbers, even though they are absolutely amazing. They claim to dry within a minute or just over and they do! This is shocking news for me because I always manage to get fingerprints on mine regardless of how many claims the companies make about drying quickly.

The flat brush is very innovative and very helpful during application of the nail polish - something I wish all brands would use, it becomes very easy to cover the entire nail in a few strokes and it is an efficient way to save time and yet look pampered.

I also like the packaging and the bottle shape, I think it allows the polishes to stand out from other brands. The colours are all very vivid with just one coat - which again is a pleasant surprise, do not chip for at least a week on me - without any top coat, and of course dry quickly. The texture of the formula itself I find to be nice too, as I don't find it to be heavy or too sticky as I have found with other nail polishes.

Overall I love these nail polishes and wish there were more colours and more brands adapting to the shape of the brush, formula and the quick drying time!

These are most definitely my favourite nail polishes, and at the moment Bourjois are 3 for 2 at Boots! And possibly Superdrug too if I'm correct...

Please do not hesitate to comment below with any questions or comments in general! Thank for reading as always,

Nav x