25 May 2010

Cute coral - Nails Inc Brook St


Brook St is a pretty pinkish-coral by Nails Inc. It's bright and summery without being completely in your face.
I've been wearing it on my hands and feet now for two days and no sign of chipping - usually when I do my own mani / pedis the polish chips within a day or so, so I'm feeling quite pleased about this. It also applied really easily with no streaking.





















I like the fact that there's no shimmer in this, it makes the shade feel more modern somehow. It really is a delicious shade! I can see it becoming one of my favourites this summer, the only drawback being that it really is one of those polishes that demands a sunny day. I shall most certainly be making hay when the sun shines!

This polish costs £10.50 on the Nails Inc website but they also have a mix and match offer of 3 polishes for £20 or 10 polishes for £60. I have a few other Nails Inc shades in my collection already but my newfound love of Brook St has inspired me to check out more. Anyone have any recommendations?

24 May 2010

Korres Walnut and Coconut Face and Body suntan oil SPF 4

Okay, I know, SPF 4!! Why even bother I hear you ask?? So I should start with a disclaimer that I would only recommend this product for those with darker skintones used to the sun. I should also add that that is not me but this product smells so DIVINE I couldn't resist trying it out yesterday (prob the hottest day so far this year in the UK) on my legs which never seem to tan anyway (I was sensible and used factor 20 everywhere else).



I was really impressed, it's a spray pump so easy and fairly unmessy (for an oil!) to apply, and it gave my legs a nice glowy sheen. And actually, despite the low SPF, they didn't burn after a day's hard labour in the garden. But the smell is definitely the best thing about this - coconutty, summery, like a holiday in a bottle! I can see myself actually using this as a summer moisturiser as well as a sunscreen, though I'd be wary about using it on my chest and back as it's quite thick and that is the last place I want breakouts in the summer! Also it says it's suitable for face - again I probably wouldn't use it for that purpose as I always use a higher spf on my face and again I don't think I'd use an oil this thick on my face for fear of breakouts (and looking incredibly greasy!) - for legs and arms however, it's perfecto!

I picked this up for a bargainous £4 in TK Maxx - it retails for £12 full price in Harvey Nicks so if you like the look of it get yourself down to 'the Maxx' pronto. They also had a few other bits of Korres suncare on offer.

19 May 2010

Spring Ins

In the absence of having any time to do proper product reviews at the mo (well also the fact that after 8 hours at a computer sometimes I just can't face my laptop when I get home!) I thought I'd sneak a quick post of my current Ins* in to my lunch break.


Nails
I'm obsessed with polish at the moment. I've just ordered my first two Ciate polishes from ABC Beauty - Superficial, a beautiful dark teal and Dangerous Affair, a medium red. I had to buy them after seeing these beautiful swatches http://nihrida.blogspot.com/2009/07/ciate-nail-polish.html

I've never tried Ciate polishes before so fingers crossed!!

I'm also going to give my Illamasqua 'Muse', a medium cream teal, another go. I tried it once and didn't like it but I'm feeling the blues at the moment  - I desperately want this new Essie shade Lapis of Luxury, heavenly!!




I'm also very much in to corals and reds at the mo, have purchased the very vibrant Red Hot Tamale and Cherries in the Snow by Revlon - swatches soon I promise!

Exercise
I have foolishly entered the Great North Run this year and will be running for the MS Society, a charity v close to my heart. So far training has been... patchy... but now that spring is in the air I'm hoping I'll be inspired to get out a bit more. Any runners out there care to share some tips???

Avene Eau Thermale spring water spray
I am absolutely loving this facial spray which can be picked up for a reasonable price in Boots. I spritz it on instead of moisturiser, and apply my Kiehl's tinted moisturiser on top. It applies so much better and my skin looks dewy all day. I think it also helps my make up stay a bit longer too.



IPL Laser hair removal
I've had my second session of this now and I'm so glad I took the plunge and went ahead with this (my poor credit card might not be so thrilled!). The results are amazing already - after just two sessions (the therapist says it usually takes 8 - 10 for complete results) I can go far longer without shaving and my legs feel so much softer, none of that horrid stubble - this morning I actually thought I had oil on my legs. Never before have I had soft smooth legs (even after waxing) and I'm loving it, so much so I'm actually looking forward to my next treatment! The only downside is if you tan you have to wait for the tan to fade before you can have a treatment (I think it's because it works best on pale skin, possibly something to do with patchiness, must ask my therapist next time!)... anyway I'm off to Mexico in a couple of weeks so sadly I'll have to wait a few more weeks til my next session (or slather my legs with Factor 50 for two weeks - NOT an option!!).

Nars Amour blush
I'm going to do a separate post on this as I'm loving its glorious spring (matt) peachiness. I'm wearing this every day at the mo, a first for me!




*This was going to be an ins and outs post but I ran OUT of time (sorry!). So just my ins, much nicer anyway. If I did have time to do an out list though those pesky greenflies that seem to be plaguing me every time I step outside would definitely be top of it!!

6 May 2010

Bloom nail polish - Claudia

I fell in love with this Bloom nail polish when I saw it in Superdrug - slightly underwhelmed on application - it's a nice colour and the consistency is actually quite good but the colour is just not doing a lot for me. I can usually tell how much I love a nail polish by the number of times I steal glances at my fingertips. Pretty though this colour is, for some reason it is way down on the glance-o-meter. I do normally tend to wear reds and browns as oppose to pink polishes, I think perhaps this is just not quite right for my yellow toned skin (the Bloom website describes this colour as 'carmine').


Sorry about the smudged middle finger!


I don't know much about Bloom other than that it's an Aussie brand and I've only seen it for sale in Superdrug in the UK (and online). I also have one of their lipsticks in Babe, a deep pinky red which I love.

Although not enamoured with this colour, I'd probably check out some different shades by Bloom as it applied well and was quite reasonably priced at around £8.

Anyone got any Bloom items in their collection?

Essie - Buy Me a Cameo nail polish (blah)


Very pretty in the bottle, but usual nightmare to apply and streaky finish as shown below, though admittedly I did have some manicure oil residue on my hands which may have caused a bit of bubbling. The colour was a bit sheerer than I'd hoped too (pictured with two coats).


I think I'm just going to have to accept that as much as I love the colours (I also adore the simplicity of the bottles) me and the Essie formula just do not get along. And yet perversely I already have my eye on the new resort collection which just looks divine, so no doubt you'll be seeing more photos of dodgily applied Essie polish and hearing more of my moaning in a couple of weeks time!

Anyone else have difficulties with the Essie formula?