Spoil Yourself Sunday

Sunday.  The only day of the week that I have completely to myself; no work commitments, no nothing if I wanted to.  Today has been a bit of a busy one for me actually.  I got up earlier than normal, had my breakfast before going out to clean both mine and Liam's car, stocked up on logs for our log burner and stacked them in our shed, washed and dried three loads of washing and even did a bit of tidying up.  So as I sit here leisurely tapping away whilst Liam plays on his Xbox guilt free, I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to my 'me time.'  I've been making time for this for quite a few Sunday's now, and at the moment it features these...

It's not often that I have the time during the week to sit and relax in the bath, so come Sunday I am all about bath time.  After cleansing my face and taking any make up off if I've even been bothered to put it on, I like to sit in the bath with my hair piled on top of my head with a face mask on.  The face mask I've been using recently is the Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask from The Body Shop, but in all honesty I'm not entirely sure if I love it - it can sometimes be quite uncomfortable on the skin, dries it out lots so I can't leave it on too long and  I always have to follow with a hydrating toner and an oil afterwards.  I definitely think there is a face mask out there which will be perfect for my Sunday routine...let me know in the comments what your favourite is!

I love to use my absolute favourite LUSH product which is The Comforter Bubble Bar.  I get lots of bubbles from just crumbling a quarter of the bar under the hot tap, and it turns my bath water purpley pink!  It also smells like Vimto; very berry scented and I just find the scent really relaxing!

After having my bath and going through my skincare routine, I like to sit downstairs in my comfortable pyjamas and paint my nails.  I have been using the OPI Nail Envy for Sensitive and Peeling Nails as my base coat recently, which I much prefer to the Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Base Coat.  I've been neglecting my nails for a few months now, and they need to get some strength and length back in them so Nail Envy has been ideal.  When this runs out though, I think I'll be opting for the Original version.

For colour, what better way to spoil myself  than cracking out my Christian Louboutin Rouge Nail Lacquer.  Liam surprised me with this for Christmas, and I absolutely love it.  The colour is just the perfect red, and it's so glossy!  Plus the packaging is just beautiful...  It's definitely the most luxury beauty product I own, so fits perfectly into my 'Spoil Yourself Sunday' routine!

What's do you do on a Sunday to spoil yourself?

Miss Sporty Peel Off Base Coat

I don't wear glitter nail polish often, but when I do, I am always filled with instant regret when it comes to removal - I hate removing glitter nail polish.

I'd seen that OPI had released their Glitter Off Base Coat not too long ago, but with an £11.75 price tag I just couldn't justify putting that into my basket just yet.  I went on the hunt for a more affordable version and found Miss Sporty's Peel Off Base Coat in Superdrug!  It's also available in Boots, but was sold out when I came to buying unfortunately.  Through out December though, Superdrug Beauty Card holders get free delivery on all orders so I managed to pay just £2.29 and get free delivery!  It's currently £1.99 in Superdrug too if you did want to try it for yourself.

Now...I loved the idea of this.  Hassle free glitter nail polish removal - sounds amazing, right?  I have to say it just wasn't!  I painted my nails with a generous layer as instructed and waited for it to dry - the base coat applies white and eventually dries transparent.  I'd say the drying time is in excess of fifteen minutes which isn't ideal for speedy manicures.  The base coat smelt, looked and behaved exactly like PVA glue.  The finish of the base coat was semi-matte and I actually loved the finish of just the base coat alone.

My glitter polish applied as normal (I chose Butter London's The Black Knight - the perfect glitter for a subtle nod towards the festivities, and definitely one to keep back for NYE) and lasted on my nails approximately three hours before I had fully lost an entire nail of it's paint - it was completely bare!  It lasted perfectly through a meal out, but when I came home and started actually using my hands for more than eating, it just wasn't having any of it - my first polish removal was quickly followed by another two, before I eventually just peeled off the remaining manicured fingers.

Maybe this is a case of you get what you pay for, but in short - this is great for a quick Christmas meal with work that doesn't require much use of your hands.  But, you might as well buy a small bottle of PVA glue as it's cheaper and seems exactly the same.  The Miss Sporty Base Coat also sports some similar ingredients to that of PVA glue so don't waste your money and instead save your pennies for some foil for the more traditional method of glitter polish removal!

What's your method for removing glitter polish?  Have you tried the OPI version?

INM Northern Lights Holographic Top Coat

There are eight sleeps to go before Christmas is here!  I can't believe how quickly this year has gone, and how ridiculously excited I am feeling for this years festivities!  I've been embracing all things Christmas this year; my decorations were up at the end of November, I've had my Christmas jumper out at least once a week at work since December, and I'm definitely pining for all things sparkly.  Enter the INM Northern Lights Gold and Silver Holographic Top Coat*.

I didn't expect it, but I have to say that I am honestly in love.  I might even go as far to say that this is all I will be wearing for the rest of the season.  The holographic aspect wasn't what I thought it would be like.  I was expecting it to be full on holographic like these, but I am actually kind of pleased that my expectations were wrong as I'll be getting so much more use from these now!

They need a good shake up, but I have been wearing three coats of this on top of Nails Inc Regent Street with a base coat of the OPI Nail Envy and it's so pretty.  I've had so many compliments when wearing the INM Top Coat - it's such a subtle sparkle that is added to the nails.  The particles of glitter are micro fine - you can't feel any grains once it has been applied, and compared to other glitter polishes I own, it's an absolute dream to remove.  

I will put it out there right now - you don't need to own both of these top coats.  Despite owning both the gold and the silver version, the difference once applied is very hard to spot.  I've applied the silver top coat on the bottom swatch, the gold one is the top swatch and both swatches are applied onto Regent Street.  Both have micro fine holographic glitter particles suspended in the high gloss top coat, which reflects purple, green, red and blue - the photos really don't do this justice, I just couldn't capture it right!  I have included a photo where I focussed my camera on the background, so you can see the out of focus reflections which are representative of the colours that shine.  The gold top coat has micro gold glitter, and the silver has micro silver glitter as you'd expect.  

If I'm inspecting really closely, I notice that the particles are slightly larger in size in the silver top coat than the golden one, but both are still micro glitters.  After three coats of each, the gold top coat appears to be slightly more dense with the glitter.  I can also see that there are more blue holographic particles in the silver than in the gold - but seriously, my nails were pressed against my eyeballs to really spot these minute differences.  I'd personally opt for the silver top coat; the silver particles make the top coat appear that little bit brighter!

The formula of this is really something.  The holographic particles are actually suspended in one of INM's best selling top coats, the Out the Door top coat.  It might just be my new favourite top coat, and I am probably going to purchase this after my current one has ran out.  It dries really quickly, dries super smooth and looks really glossy.  I don't know if anyone else gets this, but I always wake up with hair/bed sheet imprints on my nails in the morning, and with this I was seriously impressed because they were still completely smooth!

The INM top coats cost £9.35 each, which in all honesty, I do think is a bit expensive.  That said - the top coat formula itself is one of the best I've tried, and the fine glitter is like nothing I already own.  You can find them on Jica, and I've just spotted that they do a mini set of both the silver and gold holographic top coats as well as a small plain Out The Door top coat for just over £7!

Have you tried anything from INM?  What do you think of these top coats?
*Both the Silver and Gold INM Northern Lights Top Coats were sent to me for consideration.

Nails Inc 2013 Autumn Winter Collection

It's getting cold now; the knitwear has come out, my coats are out at least once a week, my boots are firmly on and I've got out my fat socks for in the house.  Alongside all of this, I've been shunning my pastel and coral polishes in favour of darker, richer shades.  Whilst browsing through my collection, I came across this unopened gift set from Nails Inc!

I actually won this on a Twitter giveaway last year, but for some reason or another never got round to using it, but I really love the shades!  Inside there are four full sized nail polishes which are; Old Bond Street, St Martins Lane, Oxford Street and Regent Street.  

From top of the swatches to the bottom; Regent Street is a dark wine shade with brown undertones to it.  I think it has that quality to it where in some lights you can really see the red tones within, but in other lights you can see the browns.  I really love this shade, and it is definitely one that matches this seasons trend of Oxblood!  St Martins Lane is the shade I have had most use from, and is a bold purple grape shade.  Oxford Street is a more unusual shade, and has a real toffee tone to it.  Old Bond Street is a gorgeous deep blue with almost a purple tone to it.    

The formula has been really easy to apply - two coats for a completely even finish, but you could probably get away with doing one on all except Old Bond Street!  I think it's just habit to do the second for me to be honest.  The finish is very glossy, and just looks so perfect for the new season.  I always feel more glammed up with a high gloss nail.  The wear time is pretty good too!  I managed four days before I got my first chip.

I'd definitely recommend picking this up whilst you still can.  It's currently on sale on Beauty Bay for a bargain of £15, which is just £3.75 per polish!  This years 2014 collection looks just as nice, but with lighter shades, in the new Nails Inc packaging and you only get three but with 14ml instead of 10ml a bottle.  (Still a shame to be a shade down, but I love the dusky pink!)

Which shade is your go to shade for Autumn/Winter?

Models Own Speckle Collection

The Models Own Speckle Collection was one I was really excited about.  I absolutely loved the look of the Illamasqua I'mperfection Speckled collection, but never managed to bag myself any what with being a skint student when that collection was released.  Last month, Models Own released their own interpretation of the nail polish at a fraction of the price - hurrah!  Luckily for me, I managed to bag myself the complete collection (and another collection I'll save for another day!) on one of their Twitter giveaways!

I absolutely love the look of these nail polishes and have worn every single one of them.  The collection consists of five nail polishes, and I have worn and loved them all!  The polishes apply quite sheer, so two to three coats make them fully opaque and the finish is semi matte.

Going from left to right on the swatches, we have Swan.  Swan is a really pretty pastel lilac, and I really like this shade.  Next is Magpie, which is quite a vibrant mint green.  It doesn't quite fit into the pastel category in my opinion, because a lot more white could have been added to get a true pastel mint.  Duck is the pastel blue, which is almost a cornflower blue.  Dove is the gorgeous pastel pink, which reminds me of strawberry ice cream!  And finally, we have Goose.  Goose is a bit strange for me, I still like it, but the shade is so unusual.  I think without the black flecks this would be a really nice custard yellow, but the black almost reflects back on it or something and I think it comes out a bit of a muddy yellow - almost like a pastel mustard.

The wear time I was initially really disappointed with, but soon realised that the problem was in my base coat.  Removing the troublesome base coat, I found that the nail polish lasted a good five days with minimal chipping!

I absolutely love these nail polishes - they're such an easy way to add an interesting effect to your nails without going for sparkly glitter or intricate nail art!  I think my favourite is either Magpie, or Dove!

Do you own any of the Speckle Collection?  Which is your favourite?

Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top and Base Coat

In one of my previous ASOS hauls, I managed to pick myself up a Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top and Base Coat for less than the cost of one bottle!  It was a huge bargain and I was feeling pretty pleased with myself.

The Kensington Caviar Base Coat (left) was one that I had never tried before.  It is a pink base coat, which dries semi matte with a pink sheen...yep, a pink sheen.  It's such a shame, because the caviar extract in the base coat is both strengthening and nourishing, and I did notice some strengthening to my horrendously weak nails.  But the sheer pink can alter the shades of some of my lighter nail polishes, which I've been reaching for more now it's getting into the warmer months.  I don't think you could even get away with wearing just the base coat either, because the colouring applies quite unevenly and is obvious against the natural nail.

I'd tried the Kensington Caviar Top Coat (right) before, as I had a small sample in a Glossybox and really liked it.  I do still love the top coat, and it gives a really nice, high gloss finish and dries to touch dry quite quickly!  I have found that, like the base coat, if you apply this in too thick of a layer there is a pink tinge to lighter shades so thin coats are the way to go.  I feel like this works better without the base coat.  Since using the base coat alongside the top coat, my nail polish chips really easily in large chunks, or just peels up completely.  It's almost like the base coat is a bit like PVA glue, and it just peels up in one big sheet of nail polish which is actually damaging my weak nails and leaving them flakey and peeling.  Wearing the top coat without the matching base coat, I found that my nail polish lasted really well!

I think that next time, I'll just repurchase the top coat as a single, unless I can get the duo for cheaper than one like this time!  But I still don't think I can beat my Nail Envy...

Have you tried the Nails Inc Kensington Caviar set?

Elegant Touch Rapid Dry For Nails

When I paint my nails, I could wait for literally ages without moving, and the moment I do my freshly painted manicure is miraculously wet again and it's ruined on the nearest surface.  If I can escape that, I wake up the next morning with a nice cotton imprint across my nails from my bedding so I never have a smooth surface.

Before my birthday, I was in a mad rush around Boots picking up parcels and some last minute bits for my birthday weekend away and I came across the Elegant Touch Rapid Dry For Nails.  I was a bit unsure on how well this would work, but for £3.05, I thought I'd give it a go.

It is an aerosol which you spray onto your freshly painted nails and it dries them in sixty seconds...yeah, right.  Well!  I kid you not, that is exactly what I thought, and I am amazed!  Maybe it's not done in sixty seconds, but I could definitely move, touch things and even wash and dry my hands within minutes without my nail polish being disturbed!  I use this all the time when I'm in a rush, and it's perfect.  I will definitely be keeping this as a manicure staple.

Have you tried Rapid Dry?

Hoarding Nail Polish: OPI & Sally Hansen

If there was one part of my cosmetic collection that did not need adding to, it would definitely be my nail polish collection.  Alas...Fragrance Direct was calling and as well as the Sally Hansen Cuticle Eraser and Balm that I mentioned in yesterdays post, I also came away with three nail polishes.  I got two OPI nail polishes, and a Sally Hansen one.

From the left is OPI Don't Touch My Tutu from the New York Ballet collection, Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud and OPI Steady As She Rose from The Pirates of the Caribbean collection.  All of these look so similar in colour in the bottle, but I'm so pleased with all of them.  The OPI polishes cost just £3.99 each, and the Sally Hansen was just £1.49!  Bargains.

A white based nail polish is probably one of the few colours that I actually don't own, so that could have justified maybe one of these.  Definitely not all three, but it's best to try I guess.  Now I don't need anymore whites...

Starting at the top of the swatches, we have Don't Touch My Tutu by OPI.  This is a gorgeous, sheer soft white.  It took me three coats of this to get the perfect wash of colour with no streaking, and it lasted a good five days with minimal chipping.  For better swatches of this, definitely check out Duckling To Swans blog, as it was her that convinced me that this was the one for me.  (I actually had to place a second order from Fragrance Direct to get this; I had it in my basket but then decided against it, and then regretted it...)

In the middle, Sally Hansen Lavender Cloud.  This isn't a perfect white, it has a very slight tint of lilac.  Literally, the slightest touch added and I really like it.  It kind of reminds me of a set of nail polishes that I saw on Cult Beauty a while back, and it was a set of maybe ten nail polishes that were all slightly off white inspired by white washing that had been tinted with other clothes.  I got really good wear time from this again, and got four days without a chip.  I used two coats to get the polish an opaque white.

Finally, we have OPI Steady As She Rose.  I really love this one, and I'm pretty sure it's my favourite.  It's a lilac nail polish which I think has a hint of a dusky pink about it.  It's perfect for the Spring season which is all about pastel colours, and I'm very pleased!  Wear time is slightly less than Don't Touch My Tutu by a day, and opacity is at two coats!

Have you tried any of these?  What did you last buy from Fragrance Direct?

Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Cuticle Eraser & Balm

Earlier this month, I had a mini spree at Fragrance Direct and one of the things that I bought was this Sally Hansen Cuticle Eraser Balm.  In the past, I've used the Burts Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Balm which was nice, but I never really noticed a huge difference in the look and feel of my cuticles.

This Sally Hansen one is in a screw top pot, with an eye catching white and green swirled pattern.  It is lightly scented with white tea and cucumber which is really nice and refreshing.  It's very faint, and does fade quite quickly though so no worries if you're not a fan of the smell!

I've been using this almost every night since I got it, and I've noticed such a difference in my cuticles.  I didn't think they needed too much care in the first place, but they just seem so much neater and don't need to be pushed back when I'm giving myself a manicure.  They are much more nourished, and feel much softer.

The one small thing that I'm not keen on is the texture.  It's very sticky, kind of feels like a sticky but creamy lip gloss.  Luckily, I use this as I'm going to bed so the sticky feeling isn't too much of an issue and disappears when I apply a hand cream.

A little goes a very long way and I can see this lasting me a long time!  I much prefer this to my Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover Gel, and think this makes a much bigger difference.  At a bargain price of £1.50 too, you can't really go wrong!  I'd definitely buy this again if I ever run out!

Have you tried this Cuticle Eraser & Balm?  What are your top nail care tips?

Butter London The Black Knight

Over the festive and New Year period, this is the nail polish that I was wearing.  I usually hate wearing glitter nail polishes because they are notoriously difficult to remove, but I was literally living in this beauty over the festive period.  It is my first nail polish from Butter London, and this is The Black Knight.

Butter London are "three free" nail polishes and are formulated with no formaldehyde, DBP or Toluene - I had to Google what was so bad about these ingredients, and like practically everything, there have been links with these to cancers in animals so I'm pleased that Butter London are removing these.

So back to The Black Knight...I have never seen a glitter polish like it before, so I was pleased to add it to my collection.  It is a black base with lots of different coloured glitters suspended in it - the glitter is fine grained, so I think it has a slight sandy texture, and I can spy red, blue, pink and silver glitters!

Like the Chanel polishes, these have sneaky grippy caps hidden underneath the original cap so it's easy to hold and use.

I really love this shade, it's a glitter that's not just for Christmas and New Year, you can get away with all year I think.  And if you're a bit wary of using glitter outside of Christmas, this would make an amazing accent nail.  It takes two/three coats to get the shade to go opaque, but you could always put a cheaper black base underneath so you don't use up quite so much product.  I finish mine with a glossy top coat for a high shine feel!  The photo below is without a top coat, and it is just as nice without one!

My only downside to this polish is chipping...  It lasts three days at the most with a top coat, and only lasted me one night without a top coat on my nails, so I've been quite disappointed to be honest.  And it's not small chippage either, they're big chunks missing which I think is really unusual for a glitter polish.  I usually use OPI Nail Envy for my base and top coat, but I think I might experiment with switching my base and top coat to see if Butter London just doesn't agree with Nail Envy.  I bought The Black Knight from Amazon for £12 here!

Have you tried any Butter London nail polishes?  What's your favourite?

What I've Bought: ASOS

Since before Christmas, I have had an outrageous number of items in my saved basket on ASOS.  Let me put this out there - ASOS is a dangerous place.  It is too good, and has too much stuff on, but everything is too nice to leave behind so...I bought the majority of my basket, spent my birthday money and probably even a smidge more.

The only positive I can think to point out is that everything was on the sale, and I had a sneaky ASOS Insider discount code which I was allowed to use on sale items!  I've skimmed my basket down to show you my favourite bits of what I scouted from the sale!

1/2/3/4/5/6/7

1.  I have been meaning to switch up my wardrobe for a while now, I'm very much a leggings/jeans girl because that's all that I own.  One pair of good leggings, and one pair of good jeans.  I know...deprived.  So I bought this dress - it's the ASOS Smock Dress In Nepi and I bought mine in green.  It also came in coral and a gorgeous blue, but I have a lot of this bright blue in my wardrobe so fancied a change.  It's half price in the sale at £12.50.

2.  This dress is the Motel Elsa Skull Dress.  It's £35 down from £60, and I think is one of those patterns which are a bit deceptive.  I think it looks like a nice lacey/paisley patterning, but on closer look, it's actually little skulls with a bit of a Mexican sugar skull feel.  Really like this, and I will be wearing this on my next night out!

3.  The item that has been in my basket the longest, and is my absolute favourite buy is this Evil Twin Buzz Kill Babydoll dress.  I love the print on it, it looks like crazy storms with lightening.  I'm a bit unsure if the fit will suit my figure, but I'm giving it a good go! I really hope I can keep it!  It was the most expensive thing in my basket at £45, but it was down from £75.

4.  The Lavish Alice Sweatshirt in Floral Print is something I've been looking at for a while too.  I really love the bright blue rose print and think this would look nice with some leggings for the day, or even with my black jeans in the evening.  They also have matching trousers which I'd love to try, but I just don't think that a print on my bottom half would look very flattering on my pear shape.

5.  This is the Noisy May Harlequin Sweat.  I think that I like this, I'm a little unsure so it may be something that I send back.  But I need to see it in real life to decide if it's a real keeper.  I like that the print is in a t-shirt shape, and it's not something I've ever really seen before.

6.  You didn't think I'd not get a beauty buy in did you?  I got this Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top and Base Coat Duo for less than £14 with my extra discount, what a bargain.  I've had a mini of the Kensington Caviar Top Coat before, so I'm pleased I managed to get a full size with the base coat for what is essentially free.  It says this has sold out now, but keep your eyes peeled as it might come back!

7.  My favourite of my ridiculous underwear top up was this ASOS Boudoir Floral set.  The bra was a bargain at £8 and the matching bottoms were £4.50.

Did you get anything in the sale?  What did I miss?

Edit: I had to send a few bits back!  Noo!  I was right about the fit for the Babydoll dress, and as much as I loved it, the shape of the dress just didn't flatter my figure at all!  I also had to send back the Smock dress for the same reason, but the colour when it arrived was a lot darker than it looked in the picture, which was disappointing.  The Motel dress was outrageously short, and by short, I mean it didn't even pull past my bum!  It could have passed for a long top - had to go back.  BUT.  I absolutely love everything else, even the Noisy May sweat which is gorgeous!

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour

I must have been very good last year, as Santa bought me three beautiful goodies that arrived in a classic, white bag.  Never have I ever even bothered to browse the Chanel counter, as I know it's something that I just couldn't afford.  Well I could probably treat myself, but us beauty addicts all know that when something is good, one is never enough.

To my surprise, my boyfriend Liam got me these!  The only thing I asked for for Christmas was a pair of pyjamas and some unicorn slippers - I couldn't believe it when I spotted a Chanel gift bag, and when he told me he had spent a good part of an hour carefully selecting colours from the counter in House of Fraser!  What a cutie...and what a good job he did!

He bought me the shades Suspicious, Holiday and Taboo, all of which are absolutely gorgeous!  I don't really own any high end nail polish, and at £18 a bottle, this definitely stocks me up more than enough.  Although I do spy a gorgeous white shade called Attraction which will be perfect for the upcoming Spring and Summer nail trends!

I've been waiting to use this nail wheel for forever and here is it's first debut, how sad is that!  Back to the nail polish though...  Holiday first, Suspicious in the centre and Taboo on the end.  Holiday and Suspicious are perfect colour pops for the summer months - Holiday is a true tangerine shade and Suspicious is a raspberry which almost seeps into the Barbie pink!  Taboo is very blue based which I was surprised about as in the bottle it looks like an iridescent red/purple shade.  On the nail, it is a very deep purple and because of its iridescence and tiny blue glitter flecks, it kind of reminds me of space or galaxies or something.  It's so unusual, but so nice! 

Onto formula...I can't get enough of these.  They are really long lasting; they last a long time without a top coat, but last a REALLY long time with one.  I can make this last a week with very minimal chipping, and the top and base coat that I use is just the OPI Nail Envy in Original.  

One thing I did notice though, but it is the same with all nail polish I try, is that I get a really annoying white line where it has chipped off the very tip of my nail.  Well I say chipped, it kind of looks as though the polish has sort of shrunk away from the edge of my nail?  Anyone have any tips on how to stop this?

The brush isn't my favourite type of brush; it's quite long and thing, where as I prefer fat, flat brushes, but it's still nice to use.  The square cap comes off to reveal a grippy cyclinder which was a nice surprise so it was really nice to hold.

So, all in all, the boy did good.  VERY good indeed.  And I was right...when it's good, one is never enough.

Have you tried Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour?  Any nail tips for me?