Accessorize NOTD

I had a right hassle trying to get hold of one of the Illusion polishes from Accessorize's new make up range.

I originally ordered Pink Spice online alongside a baked eyeshadow duo but it was cancelled (so I paid £2.95 postage for just the one item, I hate it when companies do that!) and eventually I got hold of Aztec after I popped into one of my local Accessorize branches in Shrewsbury where the lovely Yvonne helped me get hold of one by phoning another store and having them post it to me! 

I've not been disappointed though, it's a really amazing colour with decent wear and a lovely formula. All for £4! 

The base to it is almost a sheer bottle green colour with pink and yellow duochrome flashes when it hits the light. I ended up applying 3 coats as with 2 the tips of my nails were lighter than the rest of my nail due to the distribution of the glitter-y stuff inside the base. 3 coats makes it quite a bit darker than 2 and it almost looks like a purple-y/black base rather than the green, which I like. It lasted 3-4 days with a top coat before chipping occured and tip wear was impressive considering the amount of typing I do! 

Have you tried out the new Accessorize polishes?

x

NOTD and Oh dear George!

I was very VERY excited to find an Asda living store with their cosmetics in the other day, mainly their polishes which were all £1. Unfortunately everyone else had clearly been just as excited as what was left was a very small range indeed, the teeny little turn around.. shelf thingy... was almost empty. 

A few colours remained, one of which was Twister, a gorgeous metallic looking purple in the bottle... Although it wasn't until I was applying it and it was drying matte that I located the "Matte Finish" sticker on the top... Oops! 

Ooh, look how pretty! Unfortunately these pictures were taken in the evening with flash, I would have taken new ones the next day had I not been greeted with chips... Which now, less than 48 hours after painting nails have become this..

Admittedly, this is my right hand, and the above is my left, but that doesn't really matter ;)

I'll update this post if I have any better experiences with this in the future, but for now..

Asda, you disappoint me!

Have you had any experiences with asda polish? 

x

The vast array of matte top coats.... WHICH ONE?!

Yes. I'm slow aboard this. Months ago when 17 started tempting us on their facebook page with their matte top coat I decided that I'd go for that one when it came out... Which at first they claimed would be in August, then September.. and now October. If it was a ploy to get me to hold off buying another matte top coat IT WORKED! However it's left me annoyed. (they even gave 2 away the other day. I am not lucky.)

Now I'm not overly happy with paying £8 or so for a matte top coat that I may or may not like. I'm also not particularly keen on the finish of ELF's mattifier (though imagine I will buy it!) so that leaves mid range like the Rimmel one... Of which I'm not a fan. (Getting a theme here? Fussy? ME?!) It just seems like it was an after thought, it wasn't advertised, and then suddenly it plonks itself down in Boots. 

Then after an ebay search I came across Nubar's V for men matte finish nail protector, a quick google led me to this page at All Lacquered Up where it looks like it does a pretty good job! This one is around £7 or so I think but as it's original job is a nail protector it's a 2 in 1 product I'm ok with that ;)

Same goes for OPI's nail envy, which I've been eyeing up ever since I saw it on Vaguely in Vogue at the beginning of the month. Then I remembered that when I was searching for cheap Nail Envy's on ebay I'd come across a matte version which I've now decided is the one! Next month I'll hopefully be going for this, a real 2 in 1 product that will hopefully bring my nails back from the dead (flaky, splitting.. GAH!) and mattify polishes tooo! Genius ;)

If you'd like to run screaming down the (aisle?!) at me to warn me of the horrors of any of the above, please do. 

Or if you've got recommendations and/or can convince me to spend more then that would be great too! I'm definitely more into the slightly-satin finish than the blackboard-style matte finish. 

x

Update on Sally Hansen's Nail Growth Miracle...

This follows on from this post here!

It's been just over a week since I started using Sally Hansen's Nail Growth Miracle in the hope that it would speed up my nail growth which is insanely slow normally. I've not tested it over 5 consecutive days, as that involves having naked nails (Argh!) but it's probably been applied about 5 or 6 times in the 9 days I've had it for.

I've definitely noticed a difference, I can see the new growth as it grows through as "pink" nail rather than sexy yellow nail like I have at the tips of my nails because of nail varnish use! They also seem to be stronger, I've got no mismatched nails, which I think is down to them not breaking, and growing too!

I'm not sure I can back up 30% growth in 5 days however, but in all fairness I haven't used it every day. I do plan to try and use it every day for a week or so (take nail varnish off at night, apply nail growth miracle at night, again in the morning, and then paint them, and repeat... So as not to scare anyone, or disgust myself with my nails!) and I look forward to seeing results!

Again, I plan to update you once I've used it "properly" for a week but I would so far, highly recommend it!

Rach xx

Sally Hansen's Nail Growth Miracle

So I guess you could class me as impatient... Or fickle... Or both ;) 

I've only had Sally Hansen's Hard as Nails a couple of weeks and I decided that although it was doing something for my nails when it was on them as soon as I took it off my nails reverted back to near their usual fragile state. They do seem to be a little better though. 

Anyway, this one promises both strength and growth.. Oooh! And immediate results (30% longer nails in 5 days with daily application) happy Rachel! It really does smell incredibly strongly but I can deal with that. I've only applied it once so far underneath my nail polish and a couple of days later I can genuinely see the growth as it's left a bigger gap between where my polish is and my cuticles. It may only be like a millimetre or so, but I'm hopeful that this will continue! Hello long nails for the first time ever. Will be updating as I continue to use this! 

I got this from Amazon for the bargain price of £5.75 (including p&p) as opposed to Boots' price of £8.95! 

Rachel xx

NOTD

This is Rimmel's 60 second Sunrise. It's a beautiful cool toned orange with a hint of coral and shimmer. 

Formula was good although as I've found with others in the 60 second range they don't dry in 60 seconds, not even touch dry as they're quite thick. However they're priced well and the colours and brush are gorgeous! 

I decided it was time for a bit of dotting again, so I used ELF's white and the finished look reminds me somehow of a summer picnic tablecloth... In a good way!

What are your summery favourites in nail polish?

Rachel xx

My love for Fragrance Direct...

... Cheap nail polishes galore! 

And so much more that I've yet to explore...

(Just look at that poetry!) 

I've only tried out their nail polishes and I'm really impressed, I recently got 3 bottles of Rimmel polish (60 seconds, lasting finish and an I heart one) plus a Miss Sporty colour for around £4! There doesn't appear to be anything different about them, they may just be end of line.

Rimmel's 60 second polishes are a bargain at 99p (at least £2.99 in store!).

Plus their postage prices are cheap at £1.95 yet super fast, I ordered my last little lot on Sunday and got them today! Always really well packaged too.

Really really worth popping over to have a look! 

Happy shopping bargain lovers ;)

Rach xx

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails

For weeks I've been thinking I should get some of this and putting it off, but after the horrible sight that I was met with with I removed my last nail polish this became essential....

My nails are chipped/flaking to halfway down the nail on some fingers, and on others the layers are separating at the tops, they bend really easily and break and are really flexible and thin, it's not good! 

Sally Hansen say that this "protects your nails against housework, water, detergents and everyday hazards. Hard as Nails with Nylon forms a super strong, super smooth coating that reinforces the nail surface, edge and tip to help prevent chipping, splitting and breaking...." I'm feeling hopeful!

Today's the first time I've applied this, I'm going for 2 layers (allowing them to dry well in between) and will see how that goes, just hope it works and it doesn't make my polish peel off! 

I'm hoping to give you an update some time in the next month or so, depending on how fast I see results (if at all!)

Boots currently have buy one get one half price on a lot of their Sally Hansen things, so now's the time to have a look! I think I paid just over £4 for this today, which seems pretty reasonable! 

Have you tried Sally Hansen products? How did the work for you?!

Rachel xx