NOTD // Models Own Hyper Gel

Hello lovelies! For my latest nails of the day I have been trying out a recently purchased Models Own Hyper Gel gel effect polish in Lilac Sheen. As I was madly in love with my Hyper Gel Turquoise Gloss I bought a 10 piece set containing a gorgeous variety of colours (you'll see the rest in my haul). 

The first to try out from the set if this lovely pastel lilac shade, perfect for Spring time.

 Having high hopes after being so impressed with my last Hyper Gel I was extremely disappointed with this one! Surely you would think the formula would be the same across the range? Unfortunately apparently not! The consistency was nowhere near as thick and I had to apply 3 coats to achieve an opaque finish, which of course added to the application and the drying time. Managed to go for a few days without chipping, but nothing above average. Although I love the colour (and would wear the polish based on that) I was really hoping it would be easy to apply and have the anticipated shiny gel-like finish which it was kinda lacking. Nevertheless, I will work through the set and hope for the best.

Has anyone else found this problem with some of the shades from the Hyper Gel range?

NOTD // Chinese New Year Inspired Nails

 

Ready for some Chinese New Year celebrations I'm going to be heading into Manchester for the infamous Dragon Parade around China Town. I always seem to associate the Chinese culture with bright colours, especially reds and golds (not to mention gorgeous food), so for Chinese NY inspired NOTD I have used the Estee Lauder Pure Color nail lacquer GF Le Smoking as a base, with an OPI nail lacquer in Gold Shatter as a top coat.

 

 

 

I've never used a shatter/crackle top coat before, but remember when the Barry M ones were all the rage. AHH I'm in love! This lovely gold polish is so much fun to use! The combo lasts really well too, and when it does start chipping it's not very noticeable due to the lovely pattern - what a bonus! The Estee Lauder nail polish was also lovely to use, it applies really well and when worn as base colour you can probably get away with only one coat. This is my new favourite nail polish combo and I can't wait to try out new colours from both of these brands.

 

Have you used any of the OPI shatter polishes?

 

 

Birchbox // October 2014

 

Once again it's time for the monthly Birchbox fix with a heap of exciting goodies. This month's theme was 'Work it', with the focus on helping us get through our 9-5s and beyond. Additionally, this month's box was tweaked to feature a 'CoppaFeel' design to support the October Breast Cancer Awareness month.

 

 

 

 

Featured in this months's box are :

Cattier Pink Clay Face Mask, KMS California Hair Play Playable Texture Spray, Shaveworks The Cool Fix, Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm in Natural Rose and the Lollipops Nail Lacquer in Red, with the Lifestyle goodie - the Birchbox Lipstick pen.

 

 

 

 

Thoughts - very pleased this month, particularly looking forward to having a play around with the Pixi lip balm and the clay mask. The texture spray looks quite promising too, I've previously been using a Charles Worthington one and have liked that a lot so hopefully this will be just as good.

Have you used any of these products before? Let me know your thoughts :)

 

 

 

 

A Few Bits from Fragrance Direct...

 

Fragrance Direct is an addiction... and I just can't stop giving in ...

 

Once again, battling with a basket full of abut 40 items I had to be realistic and narrow down my choices to what I actually "needed"... or so I tried to tell myself anyway. This little haul consisted of:

 

Korres Silk Milk Conditioner for Chemically Treated Hair

 

Mark Hill Overnight Miracle Repair Treatment

 

 

 

I seem to have developed a desire to purchase a silly amount of nail products which I never get round to use, but here are some more:

 

Essie Grow Richer Nourishing Growth Base Coat

 

Bourjois 10 Day Anti Choc No Chips Nail Polish in 25

 

Orly Nail polish in Seashell (gorgeous colour, review to come soon!)

 

Rochas One Coat Nail Lacquer in Antique Pink 12

 

L'Oreal Colour Riche Nail Polish in 824 (I already have a similar one in 822, but I couldn't resist and hoping this one will be just as gorgeous!)

 

 

 

Followed by a few eye products:

 

Pupa Extrapearl Eyeshadow in shade 12

 

Bourjois Clubbing Liner in Bronze Dance

 

La La Lashes in Diamond

 

 

And a few random bits to finish off:

 

Lee Stafford Fake My Tan in the shade light to medium

 

L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick in Pink Fever 285

 

 

 

Have you tried any of these products? Let me know what I've got to look forward to!

 

 

 

NOTD: OPI Dutch' Ya Just Love OPI

Today's NOTD brings me back to good old OPI, one of my favourite nail polish brands around. This gorgeous deep purple is called Dutch' ya just love OPI from the Holland Collection.  This deep colour is perfect for clinging onto the last months of winter. The nail lacquer itself, last really well and remains chip free for a while even without a top cat. The finish is really smooth and shiny and easy to wear.

I'm always on the look out to try more OPI polishes, if there one is that you absolutely love then please do suggest it!

Oh my WOW ... Fragrance Direct Haul

 

Over the past few weeks I have discovered the wonderful fragrance direct website! But seriously, where have I been all my life? If you haven't yet discovered this gem, Fragrance direct (.co.uk) stocks well known brands of make up, skin care products and perfume/aftershave at a discounted price.

I got a little over excited and the next thing you know I ended up with ... 45 items in my basket! Dangerous! After some careful deliberation and a reality check, as hard as it was, I tried my best to whittle this down to a reasonable number. When my parcel arrived (much sooner than I anticipated -brownie points) I felt like Christmas had come early. Most of the items I purchased were priced at £1.99, with the most expensive item priced at £3.99 which was the OPI nail lacquer, but hey what a bargain! And the cheapest (I think) was the little brush and the Rimmel liquid liner at only 99p.

 

 

Here is what I got:

 

 

 

Eye Candy false lashes in 003 and 007

 

 

Calvin Klein delicious luxury lipsticks in Cream Rose and Ethereal

 

 

I think I was a little over excited with the CK range as I also got the delicious truth lipstck in the shade Retro and the delicious pout lipgloss in the shade Sparkle

Rimmel Moisture Renew lipstick in 220 Pink chic

 

 

 

Maybelline Colour Sensational popstick in 030 Pink lollipop

Maybelline Colour Sensational lipstick in 832 Kiss pearl

 

 

L'Oreal Studio Secrets eyeshadow in blue eyes 284

Calvin Klein Tempting Glimmer creme eyeshadow in Bare silk

 

 

Bourjois Intense shimmer loose eyeshadow in 27 Sparkling blue

Maybelline Eye Studio mono in 412 Lagon blue

 

 

Rimmel Glam eyes liquid liner in 008 Aqua glow

Bourjois Khol and Contour eyeliner pencil in 13 Argent creatif

Dainty Doll eyeliner pencil in 004 Shake your tail feather

 

 

 

Essie nail lacquers in Pear and Desire which is a bright orange shade and We're in it together which is a sparkly pale pink.

 

 

L'oreal Colour Riche nail polish in Saphyr Lurex

O.P.I nail lacquer in I'm all ears

Calvin Klein splendid colour nail polish in Silverstreak

 

 

and finally, two very cute Bourjois mineral matt brushes

I have only sampled a few of the products so far and I'm very happy with my purchases. I would highly recommend Fragrance direct as you can find some absolute steals and even though I only paid for the standard delivery (5-7 days), my order arrived a few days sooner that expected so that was a nice surprise. My only issue however, was that the colour swatched provided on the website, in my opinion, are not fair representations of what the actual shade of the product looks like, so I would just be careful and double check the items at other retailers (if those products are available elsewhere).

 

Have you bought anything from Fragrance Direct? Would love to hear what your favourites were :)

 

 

 

　

NOTD: O.P.I Mariah Carey Collection Liquid Sand Nail Lacquer

This lovely nail polish has taken over as my absolute favourite! In the shade 'the Impossible', it's the most gorgeous sparkly dark pinky-red colour. It has a rough texture with bits of glitter and silver stars floating around.

 

 

The little stars are quite difficult to work with however, as they seem to refuse to stick to my nails. I quite like the 'sand' texture so wouldn't normally wear a top coat, but using a Rimmel lycra top coat made the nail varnish glisten and look beautiful! It also seemed to help keep the stars on for longer and prevent them from catching on things (mainly my hair). Apart from the stars, the polish lasts pretty well and I was quite impressed with its longevity.

 

(without top coat)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(with top coat)

 

 

Have you used any of the liquid sand collection polishes? Let me know which was your favourite!

 

 

 

O.P.I Outrageous Neons

 

I picked up these gorgeous O.P.I neon mini nail polishes at TK Maxx a few weeks ago and was dying to try them all out. The set consists of a white base and a top coat, followed by the lovely 'ridiculously yellow', 'formidably orange', 'riotously pink' and 'seriously purple'. All of the colours are lovely and summery but I must say the pink has got to be my favourite. I'm a big fan of OPI polishes as they last really well, which is such a big issue as my nails usually start chipping the next day! Really don't know what I do with them. These little ones have been doing pretty well and the colours look so shiny once the top coat is applied. Very happy with this purchase  :)

 

(excuse the security tag)

 

 

 Which one's your favourite?

 

 

 

 

L x