Nails Inc - Nail Kale Polish

I currently own over 130 nails inc, nail polishes, I enjoy the variety which this brand offers such as different textures, placing superfood ingredients into their formulas and always staying on trend with the latest styles. Nails inc was founded in the United Kingdom by entrepreneur Thea Green, she was inspired by fashion trends and wanted to create a 15 minute manicure to allow people on the go to achieve a high quality manicure which followed all the latest shades and trends from the catwalks.  

One of their products which I have recently purchased and have received many compliments about is their new nail kale polishes, which I will explain in this blog. Nails inc created this first superfood base coat which they designed to be used as both a colour and treatment for the nails. This product contains superfood extracts of kale, aloe vera, lemon, ginseng pomegranate and grape which nails inc believe helps to nourish, illuminate and smooth your nails. Their formula is also enriched with vitamins such as A,C,E,F and H which they believe give better protection against any damage to the nail plate such as breaking or splitting.

This product is also formulated without any parabens, sulfates or phthalates. With some other brands if I choose to continuously apply nail polish week after week without a break to allow my nails to breathe I generally feel as though my nails have a lot of pressure on them, which causes a lot of discomfort which generally lasts for a few days.  As this formula is breathable and does not contain any harsh chemicals I don’t experience any discomfort when I come to remove the polish. The design of this product has been well thought through, the brush for instance has a curved flat head to it, which allows you to cover your whole nail with colour in one application. 

In this picture I have used Nails Inc "Victoria & Albert" nail polish, as you can see my nails look like they have a high definition glossy colour to them. I tend to find even after a week the colour has not chipped and is still relatively glossy.

Benefit they're real & Benefit roller lash mascara

I have two hero products when it comes to mascara, benefits they’re real and roller lash mascara both from Benefit cosmetics. If I am looking for a false lash effect without the need to stick glue and potentially damage my lashes I will always pick up They’re real mascara.  The brush looks to be made of little plastic bristles which at tip of it has almost like a fanned out effect which allows you to get to corners of your lashes where you tend to find little lashes which a normal mascara wouldn’t be able to pick up. I apply two coats and find there is no clumping or flaking on my lashes.

Roller lash in a similar way to they’re real helps find every little hair, however it also curls them as the brush not only has a curve to it, benefit also advise this product contains a setting lotion which allows the brush to curl your lash whilst the mascara holds onto the curl. I find this mascara gives less of a false lash effect and more of an opened curled effect to my eyes, similar to they’re real I don’t have any clumping or flaking with this product.

These particular products are not waterproof they are water resistant. I have been out in the rain and in a swimming pool (albeit without my head under water) and found these product do not flake or give me a panda eye effect. These products are also easy to remove with any cleansers or facial wipes. If you have an oily eyelid I would recommend you brush over a loose powder such as bare minerals original foundation before you apply the mascara as this will absorb any of the excess oil on your skin.

Elemis Frangipani Monoi body oil

 

 

One of my all-time desert island products for me has to be Elemis frangipani monoi body oil. I tend to use this product for when I really want to feel pampered after a bath or a long hot shower. Some people may be put off using this however as it has a very pungent, musky scent.  The ingredients in this product contain coconut oil and frangipani flowers the only way for me to describe this heavenly aroma is to imagine yourself on a warm exotic holiday surrounded by exotic smelling flowers and coconut palms.  

This product has won various beauty awards of the past 15 years. It comes in a red glass bottle and when you first see it you immediately think how do you get the product out as it is solidified.  You can either place the bottle on a warm radiator or do what I do which is when  you are in the bath place some warm water in the sink and let the bottle sit in the sink until you are ready to use it. The heat of the water or temperature from the radiator return this product to a silky oil.

 

 

Once you have been in the bath or shower apply this product to damp skin and massage all over your body. If you have any dry or rough patches such as feet, knees or elbows I would concentrate on massaging the oil into these areas first. Elemis advise you can also apply this to your hair if you like for a nourishing treatment, although I haven’t done this myself.

Every time I use this product I feel as though I am either transported away to my own desert island or feel like I have attended a luxury spa. This is my weekend indulgent treat when the house is empty and I have a bit of me time. My skin always feel soft and supply and the aroma is still present the next day.

OPI Avoplex nails and cuticles products

During winter I am an individual who would rather hibernate through it rather than being exposed to the elements. I tend to feel the cold a lot more due to the fact I have poor circulation.  I notice more in the winter that I tend to get a lot of pain in my hands and my skin tends to dry out due to fluctuating temperature changes, and general every day wear and tear.  In the past I tried various moisturising creams to try and combat these problems however I tended to find the products were either far too runny or left an oily, sticky feeling on my hands.

I decided to look for a product which was solely designed by nail technicians, as I felt they would have a product which would suit my requirements.  I researched different brands on the internet and decided to book myself in for an OPI manicure. I discussed my concerns with a nail technician who recommended a couple of products to try and incorporated these into my manicure.

When I returned home I noticed the shopping channel QVC had a full hour dedicated to OPI products. I watched the product demonstrations, which went into great detail about each of the products they were selling I noticed these particular products contained shea, cocoa, avocado and almond butters, any product I have had in the past have not had as many natural products in them. I looked up the products online and noticed that QVC’s range of OPI products where better value than some other websites.  I decided to purchase their OPI avoplex lotion and cuticle oil kit in order for me to try this for myself.

When the products arrived I couldn’t wait to try these out as I really enjoyed the manicure and hearing about the benefits of the products. 

I am currently using the high intensity hand and nail cream and find it to have a pleasant fresh smell. It doesn’t feel runny or thick, it sinks into my hands and leave no oily or greasy residue on my hands.  I tend to use the cuticle oil once a week when I paint my nails, as this is an oil you only need a small amount as it goes along way, like the hand cream it smells fresh, and comforting on my skin. This particular product tends to help my circulation as I try to try and massage it into my hands for a couple of minutes which stimulates my blood flow through my hands.  I am pleased to say my hands are back to feeling soft, pain free and not a rag nail in sight!

If you are interested in trying this product out I have included the link to QVC’s website where I purchased this kit from, there is a video clip of the product demonstration in this link too:

http://www.qvcuk.com/OPI-Avoplex-Lotion-and-Avoplex-Oil.product.208565.html?sc=SRCH&cm_sp=VIEWPOSITION-_-1-_-208565

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish

My most versatile product would be Liz Earle’s cleanse and polish facial cleanser. This product has been designed to suit different skin types, such as dry, sensitive and oily or combination skin which can be prone to spots. As you can see the packaging for this product is completely unisex and can adapt to target any skin type and can be used by any age group  which means it’s a great all-rounder with everyone in your home.

Liz Earle over the years have won over 100 awards for this product which range from customers most favourite cleanser to most repeated purchase.  This product is not tested on animals, its key ingredients are naturally active plant based which contain beexwax, eucalyptus, cocoa butter, rosemary and chamomile extract.  

This product is very easy to use, there is a basic two-step process to follow which is:

Step 1 press one or two pumps onto your fingers and massage into your face and neck morning and night.

Step 2 using the pure muslin cloth (which is generally provided with cleans and polish) place this in warm water and wring out prior to wiping the product off your face until you are satisfied that there is no residue left on your skin.

I find cleanse and polish particularly effective at removing make up and excess oil in my skin, I enjoy smelling the essential oils on my skin both in the morning to help wake me up and also when taking my make-up off at night.  I am left with soft, comfortable and clean skin.  Whenever I have a cold it clears my sinuses due to eucalyptus oil in the product. I believe this product allows you to experience a thorough cleanse without unbalancing or drying out your skin. As it contains calming plant based ingredients this product has been recommended by many beauty experts for sensitive skin as it feels comforting without any dragging or irritation.

OPI Starlight Christmas 2015 collection

Every year OPI bring out a christmas nail polish collection in time for the party season. For 2015 they have named their collection "starlight" which contains 18 limited edition nail polishes which they have themed around space and a  glittering night sky. 

OPI made two collections based on these shades which they advertised on QVCUK recently. Both collections contained brand new limited edition Swarovski inspired christmas shades, as well as two nail envy’s, avoplex hand lotion and drip dry drying drops which are packaged in a gift box ready to gift for people who love nail polish.

Painting my nails is one of my favourite past times. I currently use OPI products I was very excited to see the launch of this new collection.  I decided to purchase the cool collection as it contained colours which I liked, I also liked the fun and quirky names which OPI give their nail polishes.

This kit included the following:

1 x Give Me Space (15ml) - night-sky blue sparkle

1 x I Drive a Super Nova (15ml) - pearly silver

1 x The Centre of the You-niverse (15ml) - black shimmer

1 x Is this Star Taken? (15ml) - iridescent gold

1 x Original Nail Envy (15ml)

1 x Bubble Bath Nail Envy (15ml) 

1 x Avoplex Lotion (50ml)

1 x Drip Dry Drying Drops (9ml)

1 x gift box

This kit arrived within a few days and looks like this:

I decided I would try out each of the polishes for a week to see what the colour was like and to test its longevity and would write this blog to discuss my findings.

For each application I applied original nail envy as a base coat and applied two coats of nail polish. Followed by a top coat. The colours which I felt this kit was worth buying for were, give me space (top left) and the centre of the you-niverse (bottom left), together with the nail treatments.  As you can see in the pictures below there is a real depth of colour, with a really pretty sparkle.  For me both of this polishes look like a night sky full of stars. The top coat gave them both a gloss finish and both polishes lasted throughout the week, I did not experience any chips or flaking.

I was disappointed with the other two colours in this collection, I drive a super nova (top right) and is this star taken(bottom right).   You can see from the picture above the silver (I drive a super nova) nail polish has visible brush strokes through it which I don't particularly want to see in a premium nail polish. Although the colour and glitter stands of is this star taken looks  quite pretty, I found them to snag on my bedsheets and clothes, even with a top coat they felt a little bit rough to the touch. I also found both of these polishes chipped after a few days at the corners of my nails.

I found both the nail envy colours and the hand lotion (which I already use) to be very useful and essential for people who have soft or brittle nails, as these are treatment products designed to help strengthen your nails.

Bare Minerals Original SPF15

For those of you who have either not heard of Bare Minerals before or have wanted to try their products but are unsure of the results you can achieve I thought I would give you my personal view on their starting product which was the bare minerals SPF 15 original foundation. 

I came across Bare Minerals make up 10 years ago whilst on a shopping trip on holiday in Orlando, Florida. I was looking for a make-up product that would give me sun protection (SPF) as well as something to act as a foundation.

I saw a Bare Minerals counter in a shopping mall advertising pure mineral make upproducts which contained SPF.  The assistant started to talk to me about the brand and how they were the first brand to develop the mineral make up revolution in which their products are free of any preservatives, fillers and binders which can be found in some other make-up brands. Bare Minerals products are breathable, lightweight with rich pigmentation and contain both UVA/UVB filters which can help to protect your skin from sun damage.

I felt like I had received an education in skin care and was delighted to be able to test out the products on my own skin to see how my skin would adapt to their products.  I was a little apprehensive at first as I was always used to using a liquid foundation, however once I understood how to apply the minerals I was blown away with the results.

I have listed out 3 steps which bare minerals advise when applying their original foundation:

Easy Application Technique

Step 1 – Swirl

Tap out a small amount of minerals into the lid (using a foundation brush) I recommend Bare Minerals flawless application brush, swirl your brush into the minerals.

Step 2 - Tap

Tap the brush against the side of the lid to remove any excess product.

Step 3 – Buff

Start to buff the minerals into your skin using circular motions. Continue to use these three steps until you are satisfied with the coverage.

Although its formation is a powder once I started to buff it into my skin I could see it formed a creamy texture similar to a liquid foundation.  My skin looked healthy, it did not feel like it was caked in heavy make-up it had a luminosity to it. I was extremely satisfied with the results, and as a result I continue to follow bare minerals and purchase their products to date.