A Queen at the Poolside {nails}

My official No.7 Voucher Correspondent, Fee from MakeupSavvy.co.uk tells me that the famous reduction vouchers have started again. It’s all well and good but what to buy with them? Perhaps you could be tempted with some nail polishes. Today, in the fashion of 3 for 2 offers, I  give you 3 Boots No.7 ‘Speed Dry’ nail polishes express reviews with plenty of photos for your eyes only.



First, this is Poolside Blue. The name is prettier than the colour, which reminds me of a very primary blue but the formula of this polish is what makes this polish absolutely worth it. Ladies and gentlemen, the photos which follow are with one coat only, with no clean up at all, zilch, nada, pas du tout.  I was very impressed.















Next we have Queenie. The abundance of photos will show you right away that Queenie is my favourite. The golden shimmer in the centre of the nail is absolutely divine. Queenie will make you feel like you’re the belle of the ball. If I may say, it suits my skin tone just beautifully, and in fact, I’d like to think that this would suit every skin tone really.


The formula was a bit watery and you’ll need to be careful at ‘draining’ the brush very well before applying the polish on your nail. Photos show 2 generous coats. Being so watery, drying time was surprisingly not bad all.  The finish is superb and once it has dried, you have totally forgotten the not so perfect formula.



















Last but not least, we have Beautifully Black or ‘starry night’ as I would like to call it. The formula was very similar to Queenie: when you apply the first coat, you’d think that you would need 3 or 4 to achieve full coverage but 2 were sufficient. Beautifully Black dried to a very smooth finish, with no hint of grittiness at the touch. I really like it.

















What’s your favourite?

Read more ...

Foxglove Nails

Never been a better time to do a little bit of shopping at Boots.

1. You can collect 10 Advantage Card points to spend in store for every £1 when you spend £15 or more in a single transaction. This offer is valid until Monday 30th May
2. 3 for 2 offers on facial skincare, bath, hand and body, self tan and hair removal products
3. The 'get a fiver off a no.7 product' vouchers are on.

Everytime a no.7 voucher is left unused, an angel weeps. What to get with your no.7 voucher? Well if you don't already own it, you could get this no.7 nail polish in foxglove for £2. It's a nice enough colour, application is ok, it could be worse, it could be better but overall it’s good enough value for money. Having said that, and for one penny less I'd buy a BeautyUK nail polish any day, without a shadow of a doubt.
Pictures time. Photos show 2 coats of Foxglove. Nails could have benefited with an extra coat and there are very noticeable lighter patches. Please try to ignore as best as you can the huge gap of bare nail on index finger and little finger x











Did I really put 2 coats on the middle finger? I am starting to doubt myself now…
Blogger won’t let you comment on this post? If you’re on twitter, you can tweet me any comments you have: @tsunimee.

Read more ...

Sultry Sands and Golden Palms Nails from Boots No7 Sundowner Summer Collection 2011

Ever since I saw the preview of No.7 summer collection, back in February on British Beauty Blogger and on the Beauty Swot, I have been really looking forward to the release of the no.7 “Sundowner” collection. The collection was finally released this week and I couldn't wait to get my hands on 2 items in particular: the 2 golden polishes, with a sumptuous packaging: Sultry Sands and Golden Palms.





After months of  impatient waiting, I had already visualised how I would want to be writing this post. The sun would be shining, I would be wearing these polishes under a terrific sunshine: the sun would make every sparkle in the polish shine like a diamond. I would also try to capture these polishes under sunset light and try to replicate that orange glow, part of the whole promotional picture.


Well, today, the end of the world didn't happen. It's tipping it down and the only reliable light I've got is the one from my poxy but trusty point and shoot camera. I could wait for a sunny day, but I am too excited and I want to write about them now, not when the sun wants to make an entrance. 


First off, let me present to you, SULTRY SANDS a sumptuous champagne gold sparkly polish, in the most gorgeous packaging. Let's cut a story short. Don't even waste your time applying this polish on your bare nails. I've tried and even after 4 coats, I was still seeing the white demarcation of my nail. The way to work with this bad boy is to apply a nude base (I am aware of the controversy of the term nude causes, so let's just say 'the flesh colour of Caucasian people).

So I applied one coat of my trusty Missguided Misscellaneous polish (I should have bought about 5 of that polish!!) and 2 coats of sultry sands. The colour is just absolutely gorgeous and I feel super pretty elegant when wearing this colour.





However, this polish presents a major drawback, such a drawback that I would actually like to rename the polish 'gloopy sands' instead of 'sultry sands'. As soon as you apply it, your eyes are mesmerised by the lovely golden glow but they can't help but noticing the tackyness and gloopiness also. It doesn't cause a problem as such for the application in itself, you will get an even coverage in the end but this polish takes absolutely for ever to dry.In fact, I managed to smudge it whilst taking my photos and had to redo my manicure. Boots should redo it and call it … quick sands :)








Now for GOLDEN PANTS PALMS. The colours is absolutely gorgeous and I think this would suit most skin tones. Again, as with 'gloopy sands', you will need to be extremely patient before using your hands again after you've applied your nail polish. I didn't bother to try without a nude base. One coat of missguided misscellaneous and 2 of golden palms will give you this result.









It makes me sad when I imagine how much more stunning these polishes would look under natural sunlight but never mind.





My final verdict: I feel a bit let down by the Sundowner Collection. But despite presenting 2 major drawbacks (too gloopy and too sheer for my liking) I am in love with these polishes and I want to display these bottles in my bedroom. However I will need to find a fast drying top coat which will work with shimmery/metallic polishes {that’s Seche Vite out of the window then} otherwise I will never have the patience to apply these.


Would I buy these polishes full price (£7)? No way! The colour might be gorgeous but £7 is a bit steep for gloopiness. However, £2 (with a reduction voucher) seems reasonable even the polishes are not perfect.






Will you be indulging in the Sundowner Collection? Here are some other items. Pictures are pinched from the website, lousy paint shop pro montage done by moi. There is another lipgloss to go with it, but the Boots website didn’t think it was worthy of displaying a picture?

Read more ...

No.7 NOTDs Silver & Beans

You'd  have to be a little dense unfortunate have to repurchase favourite no.7 product at full price. You will have heard from the grapevine (aka Fee from MakeupSavvy.com) that the legendary Boots No.7 (£5 reduction) vouchers are back. Is it  *just* a very effective ploy to get us down to Boots and buy buy buy lots of products or do no.7 products need a boost anyway and don't sell well? Disappointing sales figures or not for no.7 products, whether you’re an avid fan of the brand, Boots manages to lure us to go to their shop and spend our hard earned pennies and I am the first one to succumb to the temptation.


I cannot help but feeling annoyed at the original prices though. Whatever no.7 product we choose, there will never be one product under £5, and we'll always have to pay at least £1.50. Unless you want yet another no. 7 nail sharpener at £5.75. How many nail sharpeners does one need anyway? I wonder if the face wipes have gone up as well?
 
Oh I remember the times (before January 2010) when the nail polishes used to be £6 or £6.50. Those times are gone and you have not to fork out £2 to get a nail polish you didn't even want in the first place. If the prices have gone up on all the products, maybe the reduction voucher should have its value increased as well?


Anyway. We are where we are. This week end, I bet some of you will have ended up in a Boot shop without their will and would have inevitably left the shop with some No.7 vouchers ;) What to buy with them? Well for £2, and if you don't already own them you could always get your hands on Night Silver' or ‘Beanie’.




I found Beanie a little bit on the thick side for the application but not too troublesome and very decent 'mushroom' brown polish.








And now for Night Silver: very impressive coverage with just one coat. Funny enough, night silver is part of the 'stay perferct' range but I found it more quick drying than the 'speed dry' beanie. I don't usually like high metallic finishes for a polish as I find them streaky, but I didn't have this problem with night silver. You can see some brush strokes but they don’t bug me too much as they are not too overwhelming. I really like this shade actually, it goes with anything, even though it's not a very original shade.






 



Do you own No.7 polishes? Have you perhaps blogged about them? Which shades should I buy?

Read more ...