February Favourites

Guess who is back?  It is I! 

This February I took a break from the blogging world to concentrate on me.  I don't want to force blog posts if I'm not in the mood or they'll be rubbish.  After a rest, I am now back.

The first post in March of course would be my February favourites...

Botanics Microdermabrasion Polish Radiant Youth hands down is my favourite skin care product... ever!  I wish we'd met long before now.  It is amazing at giving you silky baby soft skin and getting rid of the grime hidden in your pores.  Review here if you fancy a look.

Botanics BB Cream Radiant Youth is the best BB cream I have ever tried so far!  Light and gives amazing coverage at the same time!  Perfect for those days where we don't want to cake on our foundation.  What more do we need ladies and gents?!?

Soap and Glory Hand Food has been my saviour for my hands.  My hands have been suffering because of the gym and I had little calluses form from using too many heavy dumbbells!  This stuff has been working wonders on them.  Plus it smells so good, you could eat it... but don't try to please :-p

L'Oréal Shine Caresse Glosses in Romy, Eve and Princess have not really left my lips all of February.  The stains last for hours and are very glossy looking without being too sticky.  The three shades I have are very wearable.  They need the occasional touch up but are simply lovely.

Real Techniques Expert Face Brush is overtaking the buffing and stippling brush as the ultimate foundation brush. Flawless application is achieved every time I use this and I love it!  Certainly worth the investment.

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette has been my go to palette of shadows for February - as well as my NARS Isolde eyeshadow duo... yes I still love it.  I was and still am a big fan of the original naked Palette and I seriously don't know what took me so long to buy this!

ELF Warm Bronzer was something I initially didn't like and was planning to sell.  But after hearing some good things about it I changed my mind.  A little bit of this goes a long way.  The right amount of shimmer and golden glow is in this bargain product.

Benefit Hervana Blush was another product which I wasn't head over heels in love with initially   But it has been a grower and I like this little box.  A subtle pink which looks very English rose and delicate on the cheeks. Love love love.

Seventeen Doll'd Up Three Way Eyeliner is definitely going to be high street/drug store hit... A dupe for the Clarins version and about £15 cheaper. If you watch the video below you can see swatches on my hand and you'll understand why I'm loving this.

Seventeen Doll'd Up Curl Mascara is great mascara for keeping a curl and you do look all dolled eyed wearing this.  This is the first Seventeen mascara I have ever tried and I'm liking it lots.

Essie Chinchilly is the perfect neutral beige grey shade. Great for every day wear.  If you're a lover of Nails Inc Porchester Square I think you'd love this beaut!

Rimmel 5 in 1 Top and Base Coat is a cheap product which hits a lot of excuse the pun nails on the head in one sweep.  A base coat, treatment and top coat in one bottle.  This is the perfect item for those of you wanting one product does all.

So that's everything.  I have also uploaded a YouTube version if you want to have a peek!

What have you been loving lately?

Angela xox

Essie Winter 2012 Collection

I'm a nail polish junkie!! There I said it, I haul them like there's no tomorrow.  I think I have a problem but my my I feel better for getting that off my chest.  Almost like therapy.

Regarding another kind of therapy, the retail kind.  Whilst Christmas shopping I stumbled across the Essie 2012 Winter Collection. A mini set.  You know me and my minis, I love them.

A cute trio of mini festive polishes, I simply adore these. If i had to name these in order of how much I love them, it would be a tie between Snap Happy and Beyond Cosy.  These are my favourites.

Snap Happy, Leading Lady and Beyond Cosy

Snap Happy is a classic tomato red polish (which I wore on Christmas Day). Leading Lady is a deep berry red polish with red glitter running throughout it.  Finally Beyond Cosy is a chameleon polish... Is it silver or is it gold? Depending on the lighting, it looks gold and in others it takes on the silver hue. A fine metallic glitter polish, this very festive indeed.

This little trio only cost £9.99 from Boots, which I thought was a shocking price. They may not be full size bottles but for three polishes I think it's a bargain.

Have you seen or tried these?

Angela xox

Essie/Nails Inc/TopShop

Whilst rummaging through ever expanding nail polish collection I came across a common thing. I seem to like turquoise.

Turquoise and Caicos, Haymarket. Pool Party

These three could be related. Distant cousins perhaps.  In the bottles they all have their slight differences but once you apply them to the nails they pretty much look the same.

SwatchesTurquoise and Caicos, Haymarket. Pool Party

When it comes to comparing the polishes and how they apply I will say that TopShops Pool Party is sprinting ahead.  Nails Inc Haymarket is seconds behind leaving Essie Turquoise and Caicos covered in dust.

I own quite a few Essie polishes now and this one is slightly disappointing. It takes three coats to get a good coverage whilst Haymarket and Pool Party you can just apply two.  Pool Party if applied thick enough could actually be applied in just one coat. Amazing huh?!

Now for prices.  The most expensive is Haymarket at a tad expensive £11.  Second up is Essie at £7.99. Then there is my favourite Pool Party at £5.  If I had to repurchase any of these it would certainly be Pool Party.  Not because it is cheaper (but that does help) but because it just better than the rest.  Simple really.

Angela xox

* Nails Inc Haymarket was a PR event gift.  I did not buy this with my own money however the Essie and TopShop polishes were purchased with my own hard earned cash :-)

Essie ~ Lilacism

If you are an Essie fan, there is no doubt in my mind that you would of heard of Lilacism.  A creamy milky lilac shade, which takes two coats to give a non streaky coverage.  A lovely colour indeed.

However I feel this is a little light for my skin tone and also I feel like the polish is missing its 'X-factor'.  It's lovely but I just feel like I need something else with it. Perhaps some glitter or some shimmer of some sort.

Have you tried Lilacism?

Angela xox

Essie Haul!

This post shouldn't really surprise you, as you all know I'm becoming a die hard Essie fan.  My collection is slowing getting fatter week by week.

So what are my new buys I hear you ask?

Bahama Mama and Lilacism

Polar opposites...  an autumnal deep red and a lilac!  They couldn't be more different but they screamed at me in Superdrug and accidently fell into my basket! Honest!

I thought I'd show you Bahama Mama now as this is the 'it' shade for fall/autumn i think.  It's that perfect deep red.

Bahama Mama

A swatch post for Lilacism will follow, I guarantee you that.  It looks so pretty in the bottle.  What was your last polish you bought?

Angela xox

Essie ~ Cute As A Button!

My newest Essie polish has made me all warm and fuzzy inside. I picked this up in my not so recent feelunique haul which you can read here.

I think this has to be one of my most favourite polishes which I have picked up. A hot favourite for summer. Not like it is really summer anymore!  I admit I'm still wearing this and It's now October.

It applies beautifully....like a dream actually. One coat applied thickly will do the trick.  Lasting power as like all Essie polishes is excellent.

What's your favourite summertime polish???

Angela xox

Shopping haul at feelunique.com

I'm always a sucker when I'm sent an email which says if you spend blah blah you'll get blah blah off your shopping.  Well this is one of those shopping experiences with feelunique.com

I've had a imaginary shopping list for a few items I've wanted to pick up and when I was sent to offer by feelunique.com I thought to myself why not.  So here's what I purchased.

Goldwell Rich Repair Leave-In Hair Tip Serum - £6.85
I’ve notice that my hair has been getting a few split ends. I had my hair cut yesterday, so i have picked this up with the intention of using it to prevent the split ends from appearing again.  I find it quite frustrating getting split ends especially when I hardly use any heat on my hair these days :-(  I've never actually heard of the brand before, but the bottle says it's salon exclusive - so this could be why.  This tiny 50ml bottle promises to give healthy shine and silky smoothness to dry damaged hair.  I'll let you know how I get on with this.

Bare Minerals Ready SPF15 Touch Up Veil in Translucent - £18.70
I’ve been on the hunt for a new powder to make me look pretty for a while now.  I’m trying to steer away from heavy powder, as for me I feel like the caked-on face look is so last year. I’ve completely gone off the heavy foundation/powder looks.  The Touch Up Mineral Veil is a ultra light mineral powder which diffuses the look of imperfections whilst reducing shine - certain a bonus for my oily prone skin.  


Caudalie Eau De Beaute Beauty Elixir - £9.90
This 30ml bottle or 100ml if you feel like pushing out the boat, is a cult favourite amongst the beauty world.  It also has celebrity and royal fans, including the Victoria Beckham and the Queen of Hungary.   What you do is spritz this on to the face and neck and it reduces the size of pores, smooths and gives a fresh feel and look to the skin.  You can use this in many ways; firstly on clean skin or to set makeup or to freshen your self up throughout the day.  Full of good for your skin ingredients like mint, orange blossom, grape and essential oils from rosemary this is definitely something I can't wait to use.

Macadamia Natural Oil Nourishing Leave In Cream - £15.95
I have been using  Macadamia's  healing oil treatment and the deep masque which I picked up in the US.  So far I have been having good results from using them, so I thought i’d treat myself to some more Macadamia.  The bottle is so huge I had to lay it down, you get 300ml for your money.  This leave-in conditioning texture cream is infused with nourishing oils that tame unruly hair.  It makes hair soft and shiny and very manageable, as they say this is the ultimate hair rejuvenation.

Essie - Cute As A Button - £8.99
I remember seeing this on Bright Town Girls blog a while ago and thinking I might add this to my Essie wish list.  This is one of those polishes that you're not quite sure what to call it.  Is it a red, coral, peach or pink??? I wasn't after a coral-pink as I own a few of those, I was looking for more of a creamy peach-pink tone - which I think this is.  If you google this colour, lots of the pictures look so different - it all depends on the lighting.  Surely I will show you my own picture in a up coming blog post.

So that's it for my haul!  Have you been shopping recently?  What have you picked up - anything exciting!?!

Angela xox

Essie ~ Fiji

There is another new Essie polish on the block.  You can tell I’m loving my Essie, I’m so thankful they have been released in the UK.  I found out this weekend that my local Boots are now stocking them . . . Hallelujah!!

My new Essie love is none other the Fiji, I’d seen few gurus wearing this I thought it looked amazing on their nails.  When I found out what they were wearing, I knew it would make the Essie shopping list.

I'm completely smitten with this polish, it just has this wow factor about it but I just can't figure out why.  I've never liked white nails, but this is a white with a hint of baby pink.  It is a more natural looking colour - not so harsh as a plain white.

With a base and top coat the longevity is excellent as always with Essie polishes.  You can get around 5 days wear before it starts to look a little tired around the edges.  To achieve the perfect nail look, I did two to three coats.  You can get away with two but it'll have a little streaky patch here and there so three coats gives you the flawless coverage you're looking for.

Are you loving Essie just as much as me?!

Angela x

Essie ~ Tea and Crumpets

Being English I was immediately attracted to this polish because of the name.  Nothing is quite English like tea and crumpets.

For me to describe this colour is a bit of a mouthful.  I describe this as a frosted skin toned nude beige.  A subtle colour which a pearly looking.  This is one of those shades that looks good whether you apply one, two or three coats.

This is definitely going to be a favourite.  Have you ever tried Tea and Crumpets?

Angela xox

Essie - Aruba Blue

If you cannot go to the Caribbean then bring the tropics home with you.  Aruba Blue by Essie is a deep sapphire blue which reminds me of the tropical deep seas of the Caribbean.  Luscious!

What I love about this shade is the versatility.  It will look fabulous in the winter months but also in the spring and summer.  It will be a stunner come rain or shine!

Two coats is perfect to achieve this look.  I also haven't used a top coat and it's soooo shiny.  This without a top coat this lasted around four days.

I'm really loving my Essies polishes right now.  I think they are the polish of choice.  What's your favourites?

Angela xox

Happy Easter + NPOTW

Happy Easter to all . .  I thought I'd throw that out there.  Hope you are enjoying hunting for eggs and eating hot cross buns.  I know I am!  Cough Cough!!!

Yummy

So on this fine Sunday I thought I'd show you my nails.  It's my brothers 30th birthday party so I decided to make all my nails pretty!  My Essie collection is gradually expanding, this is something I picked up in the US.  A perfect spring colour . . . bright and happy!

Haute as Hello by Essie is a bright almost neon corally-peach.  Can you imagine this on tanned feet?  It is a lovely colour but I will be honest . . . it is a pain in the arse.  It took me four coats of polish to get this looking like it like it is.  FOUR!!!! 

You need patience of a saint to use this.  It is very streaky, even with three coats you could see the odd streak still! Seriously!!  Love the colour, HATE the amount of time it takes to achieve the look.

Hope you're having a good Easter break.

Angela xox

If Essie and OPI had a baby + NPOTW

Strange title for a blog post but my my if Essie's Turquoise & Caicos and Sephora by OPI's Top Coat in Spark-tacular!  had a baby it would be BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! See!!!!!

Not the best picture, but still........ full of gorgeousness don't you think?!?!?!

I popped to Sephora and saw the Top Coat in Spark-tacular! on the stand....and like a Magpie I was instantly drawn to it.  I swatched it on my thumb nail over the top of my Turquoise & Caico polish and then it happened......  I fell in love.

Isn't it just the most beautiful thing have ever seen?

I mean look at it ....perfection! The perfect marriage between a funky Tiffany Blue and a kaleidoscope of  rainbow colours of fine and chunky glitter.

One coat gives amazing pay off but two gives it even greater affect.

What do you think of this? Are you in love just like me????

Angela xox

NPOTW Essie ~ Turquoise & Caicos

One of my first purchases in Chicago (you can see the video haul here) was the Essie polish Turquoise & Caicos.  This eye catching polish is beautiful.  The best way to describe this is a Tiffany Box Blue/Turquoise colour.

I wore this yesterday and I had a few compliments.  The lady in Ulta was like'wow that's amazing, what is that....?'.  I told her and she was like I'm going to have to get myself one of those.  That made me laugh :-)  Have to say I'm loving American and I don't want to leave on Sunday :**-(

Any how back to the polish.....the polish itself is very opaque so you need a few coats.  The above picture is two coats but three is definitely better.  If you can get your hands on this it is worth a look for sure.

Have you ever tried this polish or any other of their polishes?

Angela xox

Essie Polishes from EnchantedBeautySpot

The other day I tweeted that a package of Essie polishes had arrived. Yay!! I’d made an order recently through the Ebayer seller Enchanted Beauty Spot.  I have purchased through the site before here.  The low down is EBS, is an online store which sell a full range of nail polish brands and colours/treatments/tools at U.S. prices...not the extreme British prices.  Ripe off Britain!!!  The only thing as a UK citizen that you may have to think about is the Royal Mail Import fees. 

Each time I have bought from EBS, I haven’t luckily had to pay any import fees.  I only ever order a small amount each time, so the package isn’t heavy or costly.  You’re safe to order 4 Essie’s and Orly treatment and not be ripped off by the Royal Mail ;- ) Money in your pocket is better than being in theirs ...yayyyy!

So here are the 4 Essie’s I ordered.  They all look similar-ish colours (it's the dodgy lighting)...but trust me...they are not.

Au Natural, Pop Art Pink, Demure Vixen and Mismatched

As Essie isn’t really available in the UK I often trail the Internet/Google/blogs for pictures of their polishes so I can see which ones are good to buy. That's all i did with these.

Top row (l-r): Au Natural, Pop Art Pink, Mismatched....and the thumb is Demure Vixen

I have painted my nails with approximately 2-3 coats.  My favourites are Mismatched (off white with a hint of lilac/pink), An Natural (a natural skin tone colour with a slight hint of pearl).  Pop Art Pink (a pale pink with a pop) and finally there is Demure Vixen (Lilac purple with added shimmer that catches the light).

Say hi to my new friends

If you're based in England I'd definitely recommend EBS,  Their fees are great and the package was sent from gloriously sunny LA and it arrived on my door mat with 10 days.  Speedy service, keep it up EBS!!

Angela xox