Shower Treats

If you were going on holiday, you could always, buy a set of travel bottles and fill them up with your current shower gel. Or you could take the fun route, chuck a few of these cute and colourful Weleda limited edition mini body washes at random in your case and be surprised at your holiday destination.



If you are new to the brand (I am), Weleda is a German organic brand committed to all things natural, organic, eco-friendly, sustainable and fair trade, so committed that they won the Best Ethical Range’ award in the latest Natural Health magazine Beauty Awards 2012.Last year Weleda celebrated their 90 years of existence releasing a Mini Body Oil Gift Set. This year, they have released a set containing five of their best-selling pampering body washes (Citrus, Sea Buckthorn, Pomegranate, Wild Rose and Lavender) all using a cleaning base of coconut, sugar and sesame oil.







To my surprise, you can find Weleda products at Boots but I can't find this mini shower gel gift set online yet. Alternatively, you can get it on Weleda online at £9.95.



Do you know Weleda? Is there a product that you would recommend?


disclosure: I heard about this set by email today and received no compensation to write about it.

Read more ...

Red Carpet is Hard Work

Imagine a cute little bottle of red nail polish, tiny enough to fit into the tiniest of handbag, ready to whip out at any occasions, on the go, packed with a vibrant punch of colour to give you red carpet glam nails in one coat. Well, if this is what you're after, you might want to give Max Factor Red Carpet Glam nail polish a miss. The colour is undeniably cute, its orangey red shade is a breath of fresh air from all the blue toned red nail polishes I own and its application was easy.





But there is one problem: it's sheer, extremely sheer and you would need extreme amounts of patience to achieve full opacity wearing it on its own. I cheated and applied too coats of this over my trusty nude polish and I got the result I wanted.











You can still have fun with this polish and still apply it on the go, and make the most of its ultra portable size but to enjoy it, you'll have to remember to pack your favourite opaque-in-one-coat nude polish. Who said that red carpet glamour was going to be achieved in an instant anyway?





what: Max Factor Nail Polish in colour 'Red Carpet Glam'
how much: £3.99
where: Superdrug, Boots and everywhere really
disclaimer: this polish was offered for review purposes

Read more ...

Dazzled by blue

Can you tell I am a little restless at the moment? Are ready for another little ride? Today, I am spreading my wings again, leaving the cold north, and going to london... metaphorically. I have been featured on London Beauty Queen, where I am waxing lyrical about a certain little blue polish which has melted my heart. Will it melt yours too? Please hop on the magic carpet with me and come and read me at London Beauty Queen.

Read more ...

Oh my gosh! They are back :)

I am very excited to tell you that the 'Oh My Gosh' mini polishes (£3.49, Superdrug) from Gosh are back. They were first released last year in July and stayed on the shelves for a month, if that, pushing the boundaries of the meaning of 'limited edition' to a whole new level.






Amongst this delightful collection, was a true gem, called Nude Champagne (shade 22) which was an instant case of love at first swipe. I waxed lyrical about it here. I knew in an instant that I had to get myself a dupe of it. For me, it's just the perfect nude. The problem is that when I went back to the shop, the whole collection had sold ou, and the stand made way for some new stuff. Well, Gosh has re-released some shades, eight new shades according to my shop.
and the shades are:

22 Nude Champagne (reviewed here)

21 Peachy Rose

09 Cobalt Blue

07 Appel Green (photographed below)

11 Electric Pink

20 Light Nutt (I wonder what this shade is?)

18 Brown Grey (photographed below)

02 Classic Red (photographed below)

Please do not take my photo above as reference. I am not sure quite sure what this baby blue (first bottle on the left) is doing in my shop, haven't got a clue about the name of that yellow polish and this pink is definitely not electric. Yes, it's another majectic shamble on the Gosh front. No one knows what's going on, the company on twitter can't help either. But I can't complain. I have been dying to get a spare bottle of nude champagne and I am over the moon. Woop  


Did you get to buy these mini polishes last year? Will you be having some this year?

Read more ...

Cappuccinos, Moon Dust and Fantasy Fire Nails {notds}

I should really spread out my nail polish posts, add a bit of variety but I am  too excited a-gain and I am dying to tell you about my latest nail polish  acquisitions. I didn't plan to buy a nail polish for a long time. A giant tidy up  over Christmas made me come to terms with my nail polish collection and see the  madness of it all. I didn't plan even less to buy a Max Effect mini polishes from  Max Factor. My first experience with a mini polish from Max Factor was absolutely diabolical, and cloudy blue is probably the worst polish I have ever played with.






But when I saw the little firecracker of 'Fire Fantasy' on Benebelle.com, it was  love at first sight and I couldn't rest until I, too, get my hands on it. Both  Superdrug and Boots had a 3 for 2 offer on Max Factor products about 2 weeks ago,  so I decided to treat myself with 3 mini polishes. I'll spare you the details of  how tricky it was to find a shop which had at the same time the 3 shades I  wanted. In the manner of 3 for 2, I would like to show you three manicures today.






First of all, this is Cappuccino. No hint of creamy brown beige coffee shade here,  this polish, to me, looks like a dirty grey purple and I absolutely love it.  Application was to my biggest disbelief very easy and I achieved opacity in 2  coats.








Now, this is Moon Dust, a very sheer polish which reminded of 'Not like the  movies' from OPI but without the green drama. This is very much a layering polish  really, and it would be in your best interest to treat it as that, as you will  have completely emptied the contents of this teeny weeny bottle if you were  trying to achieve opacity with Moon Dust alone. So I layered it over just one  coat of Cappuccino and the result really impressed me.








And now, ladies and gentlemen, the object of my latest obsession, this is Fantasy  Fire. I have no idea when this polish was first released, probably ages ago, as  Helen Nice Things suggested that people have been trying to find dupes for that  colour for years. Fantasy Fire reminded me straight away of my first time with a  holographic nail polish (read my review here if you're bored), not for the result  but for the emotions it provoked in me. It basically took my heart and did what  it wanted with it. Let's have a look at the bottle: Yes, this is the same bottle. 





Now try to imagine having all these shades at once on your fingers as you move them in the light: absolutely out of this world. Could this polish qualify as a polychrome? I don't know but what I do know is that I've never experienced anything like it. The richness of the red inside the purple is a like a firework burning on my fingers. Even just looking at the bottle, it feels like it contains a firework ready to pop, like a jack-in-the- box. Absolutely mesmerising!     



      





Again, like Moon Dust, this polish is very much a layering polish. If you were trying to achieve full opacity with Fantasy Fire, you would need about 7 coats which, I am sure you would agree wouldn't be the best use of your time and money (£3.99 for such a tiny bottle). However what is a major drawback could also be an advantage. Think of the limitless colour combinations Fantasy Fire could give you. I have wished to layer my fantasy fire over Cappuccino but I can't wait to try it over other colours. If you haven't guessed it by now, I am absolutely head over the heels about Fantasy Fire and it has not become one of my most special polishes.




  


What: Max Factor Max Effect Mini Polishes
How much: £3.99 a bottle
Where: Anywhere around the world which sells Max Factor. Be warned as Fantasy  Fire has become quite a sought after shade.

Do you own any Max Effect mini polishes? Please let me know in the comments below. I’d love to see your photos, if you have posted some xx

Read more ...

Lime Soda and Champagne {eotd & notd}

I am still angry at myself for having missed the 'all nyx eye pencils at £1' from cocktail cosmetics the other day. More than ever since then, I have been obsessed to get my hands on a bright lime pencil. Ideally, I would have loved to buy a Revlon, as a big fan of the colorstay eye pencils, or a Bourjois but both these brands don't offer a bright lime. There was 3 for 2 on Gosh recently and I finally took the plunge and bought Gosh Lime Soda 'velvet touch' eye pencil






The colour is absolutely gorgeous. It's just the perfect shade


 


However, I am not in love with this pencil. I know many of you are absolutely in love with these pencils, but I found the application of Lemon Soda a bit laborious, the texture a bit on the dry side and not as creamy as I would have liked. For its price tag of £5, it took a few goes for the pencil to warm to my waterline, and showing some pigmentation before firmly migrating soon after to my lashline.


Removal of lemon soda was even more laborious. This is not the fault of Gosh. The pencil is meant to be long lasting and waterproof which I failed to read, as I was too enchanted by the colour to consider anything else.


Another product which I have been waiting anxiously for its release is the line of mini polishes from Gosh (£2.99 for 5ml of product). I decided to be good, and just buy 1 from the range and opted for 'nude champagne' (022).






I am absolutely thrilled with my purchase. The colour would suit a darker skintone better than mine but the polish offered me full opacity in just ONE coat, and all the photos outdoor and indoor show just one coat of 'champagne'. My application is very rushed. I didn’t expect to apply just one coat at all!!



 





This would be a perfect polish to take with me if I am in a rush, packing to go somewhere, and absolutely no idea of the final outfit I'd be wearing and when my unsightly yellow nails would need to look pretty and polished. This would also be perfect as a base for other colour polishes which would require 3 or 4 coats to achieve opacity and cover the white nail line. Ironically, this polish would need to exist in ... full size. There I said it.





Lime Soda annoyed me, Champagne excited me. 


Fin.

p.s Like the look of these mini polishes? Nic from Strawberry Blonde Beauty Blog is giving away 6 shades of the Gosh mini polish on her blog. Don't delay your entry, her giveaway closes on August 1st!

Read more ...

Jewels, Peacocks and Mini Skirts Nails {notd}

In the fashion of the popular and frequent 3 for 2 offers on 17 Cosmetics, I would like to present to you 3 nail polishes from  the brand. I own many eye shadows from 17, and I am the first one to be shocked for not having purchased a  nail polish from 17 Cosmetics before.





Purple Jewel was the first one I tried and, put it bluntly I couldn't think of a more disappointing first  encounter of the brand. The photos show my 4th and final attempt at painting my nails. It is part of the 'fast  finish' range of 17 and my goodness they were not kidding about the fast finish feature. Strewth! It's so 'fast'  that you don't even have time to apply the polish on your nails. In the words of JLS, you only have one shot so  make it count.





After 3 disastrous applications, I've learnt that applying the thickest coat ever (Load the  brush to the max baby) and then leave it alone works best. Then apply a second coat. Applying nail polish is  supposed to be a relaxing therapeutic experience but dealing with purple jewel left me all stressed out. Once  you've passed the brush on your nails once, that's it, you just cannot go over. Don’t even think about it! {Incidentally, is that what they call ‘dragging’, or is that spooling?} This one might have to  accidentally fall in the bin. Life is too short to put up with with a stressful nail polish.  Thank goodness it was only £2.99






I've been wanting to purchase Peacock for a while after seeing numerous posts about it. It was actually Rosalyn from  Primp and Preen and Emma from Imagination in Colour which finally made up my mind about Peacock and the next thing I knew, it fell into  my basket. Having just been disappointed with Purple Jewel, part of the Fast Finish range, I was very  apprehensive about the application of Peacock, also part of the Fast Finish range. Purple Jewel and Peacock couldn't be  any more different. The application of peacock felt like a walk in the park on a sunny day, like all polishes  should be. I could take all the time in the world and in 2 coats I achieved the opacity I wanted.






This is not a  unique colour by any stretch of imagination, probably most nail polish brand would have a shimmery turquoise  polish collection, but not many would have one at £2.99, opaque in 2 coats with an easy application. If you like  turquoise, and on a budget, you will need this polish in your collection. Sadly, it turns out that I am not  digging turquoise on my nails after all that, that I am not too keen on the high metallic finish to the great joy of my co worker who will  inherit my unloved peacock.





Last but certainly not least, this is Mini Skirt. I really didn't know what to expect from this one. If my memory  is correct, I've owned 4 white nail polishes in the past, (no.7 nail tip whitener, bourjois nail tip whitener,  maybelline or rimmel (i always get confused between the 2 brands) and a natural collection one) and all turned gloopy  in less time it takes to engulf a domino's pizza (I am not hungry, honest). So why would this nail polish be any different? Time will tell how long it will take to end up gloopy or if it will be gloopy at all, but for the  moment, I am truly, madly, deeply in love with mini skirt and this is actually my favourite from my 3 for 2 purchase. 


“Yes, but who wants tippex fingers”, I hear you say. Hear me out. I believe that using a white nail polish as a  base (a bit like using nyx jumbo pencil in milk underneath an eye shadow I guess) would make the polish on top to  appear brighter and more opaque or so they say anyway. So it was first and foremost for layering purposes that I  wanted to purchase a mini skirt.


Let's have a look at it on its own. The following photos, ladies and ... ladies are just 2 coats only. I was  absolutely astounded.







I expected a very troublesome application, with streaks and patchiness galore. Instead the  nail polish behaved just like a normal polish would. Now, sorry Chanel but if 17 Cosmetics can release a white  nail polish opaque in 2 coats, taking into account that white, yellow and other neon polishes are renowned to be  patchy, how the heck can you release a mimosa (is that £25?) which takes 4 coats  and the patience of an angel for an even finish? I rest my  case.







Below a quick test manicure and layering experiment. The hardest is to avoid a white gap when you layer your coloured polish on the top but if you take it your time (not like my shoddy attempt below then), it is totally worth it. I usually like to use a nudy colour to layer my gold polishes (as most of them are hopelessly too sheer) but from now on, I think I prefer to layer my gold polishes over white. Nails Inc In style Candy didn't work very well under white (opaque enough already on its own maybe?). However, NYC Love Me (I blogged about it on its own here) is absolutely gorgeous on white. I am sold. If it doesn't become too gloopy too quickly, I can see myself ‘wearing mini skirt’ quite often.






Now then, my dear readers, I'd love it if you could tell me which are your favourites nail polishes from 17 Cosmetics and which ones I should avoid. Let me know in the comments. As usual, feel free to leave me your (relevant) blog posts links x

Read more ...