Monday 25 February 2013

Gel Manicure Cheat...Sally Hansen - Complete Salon Manicure Nail Polish in 'Fairy Teal' 450

     All of us would love to be able to afford to have gel manicures constantly and not just for special occasions like birthdays or holidays.

     Yet, while the more pampered of princesses amongst us have these little luxuries in life, the rest of us can rest easy with the new range of nail polishes that are giving pricey gel manicures a run for their money.

     Brands like Rimmel and Max Factor have all in recent months released polishes promising to possess as much durability as the gel manicure.

     Despite this, I had yet to try any of them until I came across this lovely turquoisey-teal colour from Poundland of all places!





The colour goes gorgeous with my puau shell bracelet from New Zealand!

      Initially, I wasn't expecting it be like the same consistency as a gel polish, mainly because it was from Poundland and the quality of the beauty products there is somewhat lacking...

     However, even after one coat, it's easy to tell that this polish is not your standard run-of-the-mill watery polish. It's thick without being gloopy or lumpy, and the colour is highly pigmented.

     I especially like the broad brush as it enables me to do my nails quickly and aptly.


    I havent't had this polish off since I bought it a few weeks ago, and I'm kicking myself for not buying a few more in different colours as there's none left now at such a bargain price!

Sunday 24 February 2013

GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in Burgundy

     GOSH isn't a brand that I'm very familiar with. In fact I usually bypass it completely when I'm doing my usual beauty browse in Superdrug. 
     Yesterday however, being the ultimate consumer that I am, was reeled in by big red signage stating that the velvet touch lipsticks were part of a special offer.
     Cue hawk-eyed interest from me. The lipsticks were £4.49 instead of £6.49, granted not a huge discount but still a saving nonetheless. 
     Another reason I told myself it would be totally fine to purchase yet another lipstick was that I hadn't bought or tried a GOSH lipstick before so it would be the perfect excuse to compare it to my usual favourites. 

     The lipstick is a lovely wine colour, perfect for the still snowy months. Factoring in the weather at the moment, the lipstick is very moisturising without being too sheer, which is perfect for when our lips are prone to dryness at this time of year. Everyone knows there's nothing worse than a matte lip with chapped lips!

     I love the sleek black packaging and I think the intricate little GOSH detail on the lipstick makes it seem so much more expensive and classy. 

     The colour lasted on me all night, even with drinking, when a lot of the time I find myself topping up my lipstick if it's from a less expensive collection like GOSH.

     Has anyone got any favourite GOSH products I should know about?
Swatch of 'Burgundy'

Monday 18 February 2013

Soap & Glory - Skin Saviours Review

    
    Despite my long suffering battle with my spot prone skin, I've never really been that much into skincare.

    I've always preferred to splash my cash on makeup to make me look better, rather than something that claims to turn my skin into something resembling a baby's bum. 
Having said that, I am loyal fan of Sudocrem for my spots, which ironically is actually meant for babies bums...

    Anyway, enough talk of bums. My mam bought me a huuuge Soap & Glory giftset for Christmas, and oddly enough, I have fallen in love with the Peaches and Clean 4-in-1 Wash Off Deep Cleansing Milk

    Soap & Glory claim that it's "The best cleansing milk on the market!", and I agree.

    With peach extract, quillaja bark (no I don't know how to pronounce that either,) and jojoba oil, the milk smells divine and once applied to the skin, seems to have a cooling effect. 

    Not only does it help to improve the appearance of your skin and pores, but it completely removes all traces of makeup, leaving you feeling really refreshed. I used to be quite lazy with removing my makeup, I have used cleansing wipes for years, but no matter how much you rub, you can never quite budge every little trace of makeup. This is why this cleansing milk is so perfect.


It's an absolute steal too at only £7!


    Now onto my other fail-safe lush skin product - The Fab Pore Facial Peel.

    This little beauty doesn't look a lot, in fact, when I bought it in desperate need of something to combat my humongous pores, I thought perhaps I was being a little bit robbed of my pennies at £8 for a small-looking tub.

    However, as usual, I was wrong.

    Soap & Glory say that you need to use "a grape sized amount" of the peel, but as I don't slap it over my whole face, (just my t-zone and chin usually,) I use slightly less than that.

    You can leave it on for a quick refresher for 5 minutes, or 15 for a real deep clean. I tend to use it for 15-20 minutes in the evenings when I'm not going to see anyone...(note the scary sun-cream esque photo below.)

    Once reluctantly washed off, my skin feels baby-soft and super refreshed. Appearance wise, my skin is visibly brighter and more 'glowy' and fortunately I can see a decrease in the size of my pores.

Swatches: Left - Cleansing Milk, Right - Pore Peel
    After using these divine products, I'm going to scope out more Soap & Glory products to add to my collection, and at such reasonable prices it would be rude not to!


Does anyone else have a favourite Soap & Glory product?