My favourite eye makeup remover

Do you have scents associated with your childhood? I do. Apart from the iconic yummy fruity scents of my native island (vanilla, coconut, mango, etc..) and the not so yummy ones (overripe guava, papaya, banana) I think I will never forget the scents of essential oils of vetyver,  geranium, sweet almond oil and lavender. My mother used to be a big fan of essential oils. Her favourite was lavender and she used to  douse herself in it, as it 'would keep mosquitoes at bay' she used to say. Well, the stuff pongued so much, I'm not surprised it kept  mosquitoes and any form of living species at bay. I also will never be able to forget the strong, powerful and nauseating scents of  geranium and vetyver essential oils. Sweet almond oil, however, was a total different story. I couldn't never get enough of it. When  I left home, my contacts with sweet almond oil became more and more rare, verging non existent. In fact, I even forgot it  existed.


Soon after my poll about eye makeup remover and with the firm intention to purchase one of your recommendations, I ended up  purchasing a bottle of Johnson's baby oil to use as a makeup remover, after seeing lots of rave about it on YouTube. There's nothing  quite like an oil I think to remove stubborn eye makeup with ease. But deep down, I was not fully satisfied. I knew it wasn't the  best for my eyes and that it contained the controversial mineral oil, I turned to eBay and  came across Naissance a seller who sold 100% pure organic sweet almond carrier oil, bottled in the exotic land of ... Swansea.






Very often, when you try to reconnect with food and products from your childhood you end up being disappointed. Scary films from the  past feel suddenly ridiculous, and kids sweets don't taste as good. When I opened my little 50ml of sweet almond carrier oil, I must admit I  was disappointed. It had a lovely smell but it was nowhere as strong as the essential oil that my mum used to have. The fragrance is  very delicate. But then again, I thought that it was a blessing in disguise as I mainly purchased it to use it on my eyes. The very  day I tried the sweet almond oil on my eyes, the very day I threw away my bottle of Johnson's Oil, which was still half full.




I can't describe how lovely it feels to remove my eye makeup with this oil. I love how effortless and quick this removes my makeup.  The whole makeup removal ritual feels like a mini pampering session, with no skin tugging, scratching, and eye stinging whatsoever. 


Doesn't it leave my skin too greasy?
No. In fact, it leaves my dry skin so nourished and I feel that my lashes have been given a second  lease of life. If I need to reapply makeup straight after, say I have made a booboo and want to start over, I try to remember to  revert to my good old trusty eye makeup remover from Simple, in an attempt to finish the bottle but the reality is that I use this organic oil as a  makeup remover 99% of the time.




I feel really happy about myself when I use the sweet almond oil on my eye area. Sweet almond oil is high in proteins, and vitamin E,  an ingredient which I have been very fond of recently because of its universally recognised anti-ageing properties (vitamin e is powerful antioxidant) I feel like I am really caring for my eyes as the whole eye makeup removal  process is so gentle and there is hardly any tugging involved anymore. Twice I just plopped some directly on my face to use as a face mask and it made my skin feel so smooth! My skin is basically loving it and despite being an oil, it doesn’t cause any breakout.


Will I purchase a full size bottle?
The question doesn't even  need asking and this is the first thing on my shopping list come pay day. For now, I am enjoying my very handy travel size (see photographed above with one of my most worn day lipsticks) of sweet  almond oil and will continue to do so until the last drop.


what: 100% pure organic oil cold pressed sweet almond oil (carrier)
where: ebay, amazon or directly on the website.
name of ebay seller: naissanceuk.
how much: £3.29 for 50ml
disclosure: bought myself

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Candy Crazy

The world of cakes & confectionery seem to have unleashed the  creativity of nail companies in a big way, this year. We have seen  NailsInc released their sprinkle collection, MUA won the heart of the  nation with their loveheart collection and now it's the turn of  Beautyuk to have been inspired to release a candy collection: a range of candy coloured nail polishes at the sweet price of £1.99 each.





The first 'candy' I couldn't wait to sample with was Bonbon, a  gorgeous shade of sunflower yellow. I am a big fan of yellow nail  polishes. My favourite yellow nail polish is actually another polish  from Beautyuk, called yellow peril which is absolutely flawless and  opaque in 2 coats. So I was a bit nervous to wear Bonbon in case it  wouldn't be as good as yellow peril.


Bonbon applied very well, with  absolutely no sign of streaks or patchiness, the common problems which  you usually encounter with yellow polishes. My photos (please forgive me for the state of the awfully short nail of my index finger) show 2 coats of  bonbon applied very hastily. Three coats would have been better to  conceal the 'white line' perfectly, but I am quite content with the  coverage that 2 coats provided me.







Dolly Mixture is a bright, luminous {and almost neon in certain lightings} shade of coral mango orange and it's just utterly gorgeous.  Again, only 2 very easy coats were applied on my nails. A little bit  of white edge can be seen on the ring finger but it doesn't bother me  too much.











Lollilop excited me a lot. The opacity is fantastic, this is a true 2  coater, like the nail polishes Beautyuk used to do up to the release  of their urban jungle collection. If you were to buy a beautyuk nail  polish, I would still prefer it if you chose to purchase the set their paint for life set, the set they released in support of Cancer  Research but if you wanted just one shade of pink, lollilop would be a  great option.  










The pieces de resistance of this collection, in my opinion are the  last two shades which feature Beautyuk's new matte finish technology.  I wouldn't define the finish as pure matte and my photos still show  quite a bit of shine but in real life, the finish reminded me a little  bit of the rubber finish from Illamasqua's Theatre of the Nameless  Collection mixed with a glazed cherry appearance. The cherry on the  top is the coverage: they are both opaque in one coat.









When I apply a nail polish, my first coat is usually the sloppiest and  the second coat is there to even everything out, especially the edges.  So if I had known that Jelly Bean (the bright purple) was going to be  opaque in one coat, I would have definitely tried to be neater the  first time round. So even though, the 'white line' was totally  concealed, I felt the need to apply a second coat, just to even out  the edges and even out my sloppy mess.


So when the time came to play with Gobstopper, the semi matte  turquoise, I felt I was more ready to apply it properly and tried to be as neat as I could in just one coat. Gobstopper is a stunner, so much  so that I had to give it more exposure (3 photos instead of 2) and I  can't believe this is only £1.99.












A candy collection wouldn't be complete without its very own skittle manicure, right? So please allow me :)






And what the heck, I have added some 'smarties' dots on top.







what: Beautyuk Candy Collection of nail polishes
how much: £1.99 each
where: Beautyuk online and Superdrug stores nationwide
disclosure: polishes were offered for review purposes

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