Sparkly Haul

I had some Advantage Card points to spend so I decided to take advantage of Boots 3 for 2 offers and pick up some polish, without meaning to a created a bit of a glittery sparkly theme, here's what I got...

 

First up two if the Seventeen Rock Hard Couture polishes; Charm Bracelet and Celestial Pearl.  I've been meaning to pick these up for ages now but I've been good and waited until there was an offer on.

 

I also picked up one of the textured Barry M polishes; Countess.  I was tempted by others but I already have a few pink textured polishes from the Kiko Sugar Mat collection and the other two in the collection are basically exact dupes of the Seventeen colours above.  

 

I grabbed the new LE bar glitter polish that Boots have available at the moment too, it's a mix of pink, green and blue bar glitter in a clear base.

 

Then two of the new Maybelline Brocades; Foil Flash and Knitted Gold.  I've seen the US collection pictures of these (they seem to have 8) and so I had to try a couple when I saw that Maybelline UK had 4 available, there's also a grey/black and a red but I preferred the silver and gold ones.

 

Finally, Rimmel Space Dust in Total Eclipse.  Since getting back online after the purchase I've realised this is another matte finish textured polish which I didn't know in the shop.  It's a gorgeous colour so I'm looking forward to trying it both with and without a topcoat to see which is prettiest.

 

Look out for swatches over the next few days, I have enough new colours to keep me busy for a good few manicure now. :)  A good use of my hard earned points, I think.



Barry M Summer 2013 Limited Edition Yellow

I posted a while ago about the new Summer 2013 Limited Edition Nail Paints from Barry M, two of which are avaliable in Boots and two in Superdrug.  This is the second of the Boots shades, a bright yellow.  This is the least neon looking of all the colours but it's still very bright and summery.

 

 

These pictures are two coats on their own, there's no need to put this yellow on over a white to make sure it's bright enough, it does that all by itself.  The yellow is a very bright, primary shade.

 

It's definitely a summer sort of colour, great for a cheerful burst of colour.

 

 

Highlighter Pink

I was so taken with my highlighter yellow nails from the other day I couldn't help but continue the theme, this time using two pink polishes from Barry M.  Both are from the Limited Edition collection released for summer 2013, the darker pink is the Boots LE and the lighter one I used as an accent nail is from Superdrug. they're both still available now.

Both colours are two coats over a white base, with an accent stamp done in Pomegranate from the Barry m Gelly Hi-Shine range.

Although I like both shades, the darker of the two is definitely the winner for me, it is so bright and neon, perfect for summer, in fact I think I am going to do my toes in it tonight.



Barry M Limited Edition Summer Neons

Every so often (usually twice a year once in winter and once in summer) Barry M launch a Limited Edition range of colours which are available in either Boots or Superdrug.  Generally, as is the case this time, the Superdrug polishes are free gifts if you spend a certain amount (over £6) whereas the Boots ones can be bought on their own. 

 

This summer they have launched 4 neon colours for summer, all of which I picked up.  Superdrug has a light pink and a green (on the left) and Boots has a yellow and a deeper pink (on the right). 

 

 

Since I was buying the new Gellys anyway I picked up the Superdrug colours with them and then used my Boots points to grab the other two, guilt free.  The two pinks are similar, but not the same as you can see from the comparison swatch below

 

 

Here are some quick dot swatches of the colours along with the new Gelly Hi Shines I posted about yesterday.  The LE neons are in the top row.

 

These polishes seem quite sheer, as a lot of neons are, so I am thinking about layering them over a white polish to make them not only opaque but hopefully brighter too.  Look out for swatches coming soon.

 

 

 

Sinful Colors come to Boots UK!

Hurrah!  Budget US brand Sinful Colors are now available in store and online from Boots!  The best news?  They're only £1.99 a bottle!  Obviously I had to pop along to Boots and check them out.
 

The stand had already been well picked over and there were a few shade missing but you can see there is a pretty big range of shades and finishes available.  Creams, foils, glitters and shimmers all feature in the range and I am super excited to see whether we get the new collections over here like you do in America, definitely another budget brand to look out for, we are being spoiled in the UK at the moment!

I was very good and only chose 3 shades (which were part of a 3 for 2 offer, so that's under £4 for three polishes, bargain!) to bring home with me.

Easy Going, Nail Junkie (how could I not with a name like that) and Social Ladder.

Sinful are large 15ml bottles, so a total bargain for £1.99.  They do however have that cheap nail varnish smell to them (they are STRONGLY scented) so make sure you apply in a well ventilated room and I think we can safely assume they are not 3 free, but to be honest for £1.99 with a great range of colours, who cares?  Not me!

Now for some close up bottle shots of mu purchases.

Nail Junkie is a teal polish, jam packed with different coloured glitter pieces.  The formula seems quite thin so I think this will be a layering glitter rather than a stand alone but the colour is gorgeous!

Easy Going is a pale pink nude; I am feeling the nude love at the moment so I had to try this one out to see what Sinful's cream formula was like.

Social Ladder is basically the shimmer version of Easy Going, a soft pale pink nude which, in the bottle, has a lovely pink green duochrome shift it remains to be seen if it translates to the nail.  This ones also seems to have quite a thin formula so I suspect it'll need to be layered over something to get full opacity (is that even a word?).

Here's a very quick look at a Nail Junkie accent nail I put on with my manicure from yesterday, I couldn't resist using it for a little accent nail to see what it was like.

No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Brush

Boots No7 have recently lunched they're new Cleansing Brush and it's currently on offer for just £15, that's nearly £10 off it's RRP.  As far as I know the offer runs until the end of this month (Feb 2013).

 

I was keen to try it out as I have been lusting after a Clarisonic for ages now but there is no way I could justify the £100+ price tag so when No7's budget version appeared I knew I had to take one home with me.

 

 

The brush is battery powered, unlike the Clarisonic, and comes with two AA batteries to get you started.  I've only been using mine for just over a week now so I can't comment on battery life by suffice to say they definitely last more than a week at a time which was an initial concern. (Update 19th June 2013): I have changed the batteries once since having the brush so I can now safely say that one set of batteries will do you for several months of use.

 

The brush is a very sleek, simple design made up simply of the body of the brush and the detachable brush head (replacements can be bought in packs of 2 for £8), there's only one button which controls the heads two speeds.

 

The brush head itself is fairly large and the bristles are beautifully soft, unlike the Clarisonic which oscillates back and forth the No7 version does spin a full 180 degrees when it's working.

 

So far I have been using speed one (the slower setting) to do my cheeks and then using speed 2 (which is faster) to do my t-zone and more stubborn areas on my face.

 

The brush comes complete with instructions, which I have taken a photos of to show you to save me typing them all up, lazy, I know. :)

 

As I said I have been using the brush for just over a week now and so far I am really impressed.  Rather than buy a new cleanser to use with it I have been alternating between No7 Hot Cloth Cleanser, Superdrug, Hot Cloth Cleanser and Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish all of which seem to work pretty well with it.

 

The brush definitely feels like it is exfoliating but isn't so rough as to feel like it's damaging the skin, I haven't noticed a huge change in the appearance of my skin but it definitely feel softer and well exfoliated and I haven't had any break outs of trouble with my skin while using it.

 

For £15, or even for £24.95, the Cleansing Brush is worth trying out, for me it gives a similar level of exfoliation and cleaning as using a muslin cloth does and it definitely leaves my skin feeling clean and well cleansed so for those who have been lusting after a Clarisonic and not quite been able to justify the price I would urge you to try out this budget version.

 

All in all a good job by No7.  Have you tried the new cleansing brush?  What do you think?

 

Update (19th June 2013): Just a quick update now I have been using this brush for a good while.  I am still really liking it, it leaves my skin feeling well exfoliated without that over raw feeling you can get from harsher exfoliators and it does seem to have made a difference to the troublesome blackheads around my nose.  Although I'd still love to try a Clarisonic I'm happy to stick with this excellent budget version for now as it really does seem to do the job it's meant for.

No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser

As part of my ongoing search to try and find a bargain alternative to my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish I decided to pick up No7's version while I had a £5 off voucher.  The voucher meant that the cleanser was just under £5 which for 200ml of product and a muslin cloth is a pretty good deal.

 

 

As with the Superdrug hot cloth cleanser I tried recently this is a nice product, it feels fairly thick and luxurious when you pump some out of the tube and it applies nicely onto my face.  The smell is very neutral, it doesn't have the same sort of obvious (and in my opinion, lovely) botanical scent that LE, and even the Superdrug cleanser, has.  No7's version is much more subtle, to me it smells the way a lot of unscented products smell, not a major downside but I do like my face products to smell good and this one doesn't really smell at all other than vaguely of generic 'face stuff'. :)

 

It removes make up well and leaves my skin feeling clean and soft, it doesn't seem to leave the same slight dryness that the Superdrug version did so it seems more moisturising.  Altogether not a bad hot cloth cleanser, but again, while I am happy to use it up I wouldn't swap my Cleanse and Polish for it unless I was on a serious budget.

 

It looks like when it comes to hot cloth cleansers Cleanse and Polish is still the original and the best, sometimes you do get what you pay for.

Using up my Boots No7 Vouchers

The latest round of Boots No7 money off vouchers came to an end at the weekend so I popped into Boots to use up the ones I had left and stock up until the next time.  Here's what I got:

 

 

I grabbed two bottles of the Beautiful Skin cleansing water which I tried at the beginning of the month and am really liking, a hot cloth cleanser to try, a nail varnish in Winter Tale (a gorgeous lilac mink grey shade) and another quick dry top coat which I love.

 

I've heard good things about the hot cloth cleanser so I decided to give it a try, I'm looking for a bargain replacement for my Liz Earle cleanse and polish and the No7 one has been touted as being just that, I also have a Superdrug one to try so look out for posts about both of them coming up soon.

 

All in all a successful stocking up haul, I shouldn't need anymore skin care things in the near future, I hope!

 

 

Boots Voucher Bargains

It's that time again, Boots are doing their No7 voucher which means £5 off skincare and £3 off make up with each one you receive.  Annoyingly you can't use both in the one transaction for some reason although you can use both separately one transaction after another, who knows the logic behind that rule!

I'm a big fan of the No7 vouchers and although I was disappointed when they changed from £5 off make up I have started using a few No7 skin care items so that sort of make us for it, plus I can't avoid a money off coupon, even on principal! 

I thought I'd show you what I have used my voucher so far this time round and also link to some other items which I think are a good deal just in case you are looking for some ideas for how to put your own vouchers to use.

 

This time round I used the make up vouchers for Stay Perfect Top Coat and the skin care vouchers for Cleansing Water and Eye Makeup Remover.  I've got a bottle of the eye makeup remover already and I really like it, it's quite oily which means it really cuts through my liner and mascara and removes them easily without scrubbing.  I'm hoping the cleansing water will be similar to a lot of the more expensive Micellar cleansers that are about at the moment, at £4 it would be quite the bargain if it was.

 

In the past I have bought Micro-dermabrasion Face Exfoliator which I really like and I also like the look of the Hot Cloth Cleanser. The £5 off skincare puts everything down to a really good, competitive price so I always find it's a good time to try out something new.

 

Hopefully before the vouchers run out this time round I can bag another couple of top coats and maybe another skin care product.  What are you going to use your vouchers for?  Are there any must have No7 products that I should try out while the voucher offer is running?

No7 Star Shower

I was in Boots the other day having a look at the new No7 counter, they've recently re-branded and re-packaged all of their products and changed round the counters, the majority of the products seem to be similar to what was there before but there are a few new products, including this nail polish shade which I picked up, Star Shower.

Star Shower is a strange sort of colour, on first glance it remind me of Urban Decay's Stash eyeliner pencil or a polish which wouldn't look out of place in the Orly Cosmic FX collection of a few years back.  A sort of murky grey, green, gold combination with the addition of bronze coloured flakies and very fine blue glitter particles too. 

All the glitter and flakies give it a sort of duochrome look, changing through grey, gold and brown depending on how the light hits it.  It's a very interesting colour, very shimmery and glittery but still quite subtle.  It's the sort of glitter that's suitable for people who don't really wear glitter. 

Now on to some nail shots, ignore the fact I have had to crop out my index finger, I've had a mauled cuticle incident and nobody needs to see it in it's current state:

These pictures are 3 coats on bare nails but I'd be interested to try it as a top coat over a black or dark blue to see how that changed the look of the polish. 

 

I bought this polish with a Boots voucher, which gives £3 off any cosmetics purchase.  The nail polishes are now £5.50 so with a voucher the polish cost just £2.50.  More expensive than it used to be when using a £5 off voucher but still a pretty good deal.

 

My Top Coat Heros

Choosing the right top coat can make a huge difference to how your nail painting experience goes.  Nobody wants to sit about for hours on end with wet nails trying to avoid chipping them only to put a huge obvious dent in one as soon as you feel brave enough to move.

 

For me, quick drying top coats totally changed how I felt about doing my nails.  There is no way I would change my polish as often as I do if I hadn't found a top coat (or three) which really make a difference to drying time while still giving my manicure great protection and an ultra shiny finish.

 

So, for today's post I thought I would introduce you to the top coats I use and love:

 

Sally Hansen Insta Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat

Kiko Gel Look Ultra Glossy Effect Top Coat

Boots No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat Touch dry in 60 seconds

 

The first quick drying top coat I found was Sally Hansen Insta Dri, I was amazed when I tried it as it actually did dry really fast!  Previously 'quick dry' top coats I had tried were never really up to much and certainly weren't touch dry within a few minutes.  With Insta Dri your manicure really is touch dry within a few minutes, it also leaves a lovely glossy shine on your nails.  I find the wear time with this top coat really good, although it is prone to tip wear at times, especially if you type a lot like I do.  I would say this is my favourite top coat although it's not my most used, simply because it can be quite costly if you go through as many bottle as I do!

 

The second top coat I tried was another I didn't really have high hopes for initially.  I first tried Boots No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat when I had a £5 voucher that needed using up and I had run out of nail colours to use it on.  With a voucher this top coat comes in at £2 which is a great price for a product which really does work.  The bottle says 'touch dry in 60 seconds' and it actually lives up to it's promise!  This is the top coat I use most often nowadays, simply because it's easy to get hold of, it's a great deal when the Boots vouchers are on and it really does work.  My nails dry fast, the polish lasts well and they look shiny and glossy just like you'd want.  Of the three this would be my top pick, for the money it just can't be beaten (although I wouldn't pay full price (£7) for it).

 

Finally, a recent edition to my collection, Kiko Gel Look Top Coat, this was sold to me as being the same finish as you'd get with a gel manicure cured under UV lights, never having had a gel manicure I can't really comment on how similar the finish is but what I can say is that this is another fast drying, ultra glossy look top coat which I really like.  The one issue I have had with it was that it tends to bubble slightly in the bottle meaning tiny bubbles can be carried onto your nails which then leave little holes and imperfections in the polish.  I've only had this issue when it's been a lot warmer, never at home in Scotland, so it's really only worth mentioning if you happen to live somewhere where heat may be an issue, not the UK then!  If you live in cooler climes then this one is definitely worth trying out.

 

I rarely experience shrinkage with any of these top coats, the worst offender is the Sally Hansen and even then it happens very, very rarely so it isn't something I would highlight as an issue at all with any of these top coats.  I also find they all work well over my stamping manicures and don't tend to drag the polish or smudge and smear my stampied images.  If I'm using them over stamping then I tend to apply a thicker layer and sort of float it over the whole nail rather than dragging the brush through the stamp too much, but even when I am less careful applying them I've never had much of an issue with them dragging or smearing my work.

 

With all of these top coats you can still dent or smear your polish, they aren't rock solid immediately but they dry fast enough that if you have to you can have 3 coats of polish and the top coat on and dry well within half an hour which for me is good enough.  I'm sure they are often dry sooner but 30 minutes is the minimum amount of time I tend to leave myself.

 

A good top coat will definitely make the difference but I still like to allow as long a time as possible to make sure my nails are properly set, for this reason I tend to paint my nails in the evening while watching TV so they get a good chance to set before I go to bed or have to go and do anything.

 

The major benefit for me with all these top coats is the shiny, glossy finish and the extended wear time of my polishes combined with knowing that if I did have to do my nails in a hurry I would have a good chance of getting out the door without them all being chipped within 5 minutes!

 

What top coats do you use?

New Boots No7 Voucher

I picked up a few bits and bobs in Boots today at lunchtime and was pleased to see when I collected my receipt that I had also been given a No7 voucher.  I LOVE the £5 vouchers that Boots regularly do for No7 and I spend a small fortune at the No7 counter, on things I normally wouldn't buy, while the voucher deal is on by justifying that I am saving loads!

In truth, if there were no vouchers there are very few No7 items I would pay full price for, I struggle to think of any actually.  I find the brand rather over-priced and would rather spend my money elsewhere generally.  Don't get me wrong, there are some No7 products I love, their fast drying topcoat for one and also their micro-dermabrasion exfoliator but neither of them are so good that I would pay more for them than I would for a similar product from another brand which is what happens if you purchase at full price.

Anyway, on to the point of this post!  Out pops my voucher along with my receipt and I think to myself; I'll head over to the No7 counter and see if they have any nice new nail colours since they've re-branded or those blushers I want, but then I noticed that the voucher is not the usual £5 voucher; it is in fact £5 off skincare (lucky for you micro-dermabrasion exfoliator) but only £3 off cosmetics (not so good for you topcoat and blusher).

 

Now, £3 off their cosmetics is not to be sniffed at if you are planning on buying something anyway but it doesn't put everything at the No7 counter down to the excellent prices it used to, meaning I can't help but spend my money there, so instead of doing what I normally do and buying something extra I left the store.

 

As a one off, my £2 spend on a nail colour isn't going to mean much to No7, or Boots on a whole, but on average when these vouchers have been on in the past I would say I spend a minimum of £20 each time, often a good deal more (usually a good deal more in fact, this time around for example as well as checking out the new nail varnish I also had my eye on 3 cream blushers, I wanted to try one of their new foundations through the new skin tone matching service they have just launched and I fancied a couple of their make up brushes).  

 

If you take into account the amount of times the vouchers are on each year and multiple my £20 minimum spend that's a fair bit of money for one person to hand over to an individual counter and I'm sure I'm not the only one who spends more on No7 when the vouchers are on than they would normally.  It'll be interesting to see if the new style vouchers are here to stay and I'd love to see the No7 sales figures now they've changed them, I've always thought they must be a great boost for the brand's sales when they're being given out.

 

So, in conclusion, my favourite thing about No7 has come to an end. :(  I loved getting a little extra treat of a nail varnish with my meal deal when the vouchers were on and would specifically shop in Boots more often just so I could do that but now they'll set me back £4 a time I think I'd rather spend my money on other brands, like Barry M for varnish or Topshop for the cream blushes, who I generally prefer and work out cheaper. 

 

So, is it just me who's sulking over the new style vouchers?  Am I looking a (£3) gift horse in the mouth by not using them?  What do you think about the new style of vouchers, will they have an effect on your spending habits?

 

Sk:n Facial Exfoliating Cleanser (for Oily skin)

A friend of mine bought this exfoliator and had good things to say about it, she picked me up a couple of samples and from trying them I thought it seemed to suit my skin quite well, at the same time Boots had a 33% off sale on all Sk:n products so I bit the bullet and purchased a full size.

This cleanser is supposed to exfoliate the skin using Glycolic and Salicylic acid so although it doesn't feel grainy or like it is sloughing off dead skin in the way a lot of exfoliators do the chemicals in it should be doing the same job.

I am still in two minds about this product, although it does feel like it's doing something to my skin and seems to leave it feeling smoother and softer I often find that the day after I use it I get quite a few spots and break out rather badly.  While many products can cause you're skin to break out as they clear it up I am not so sure this one should be doing that. 

The cleanser shouldn't be used every day, in fact it's recommended to only use it 2 or 3 times a week due to the fairly harsh chemicals, which means I feel like I can't get into a good routine with it and carry on through any initial breakouts which appear, whatever face cleanser I use on the days in between seems to improve my skin and then this one breaks it out again.

It could be that my skin is just being particularly troublesome at the moment but the effect that the Sk:n cleanser has been having on my face means I am far more likely to reach for something else in the evenings when cleansing my face.

It wasn't a cheap product so I think I'll retire it for now and go back to it once my skin is in a more settled mood in the hope that the breakouts are coincidence and I can get along with this product.

No7 Total Renewal Micro-dermabrasion Exfoliator

I bought this product during a 3 for 2 promotion for No7 without having read or heard much about it, it seemed to get reasonable reviews on the Boots site, I was after a new exfoliator and I'd heard a lot of good things about various microdermabrasion products so I decided to give it a go.  It's normally £11 for 75ml but I bought mine while there was a 3 for 2 on and then repurchased with a £5 off voucher so it's easy enough to get at a very reasonable price.

I've never tried any of the No7 skin care range before and I have to say I wasn't expecting too much from it but I was very pleasantly surprised.  It leaves my skin feeling wonderfully smooth and really well cleansed and it seems to be helping to keep breakouts to a minimum too.  The only downside is that I want to use it more than the recommended twice a week!

It's a very simple to use product, you simply massage it into your skin for a minute or two and then rinse off.  While it's on the skin you can feel it working in that it has a very fine grainy texture and does feel like it's exfoliating your face as you massage it in, however it doesn't feel harsh or full of big lumps like a lot of exfoliators can.  I get mild tingling occasionally when using it but nothing severe.

The best recommendation that I can give this product is that despite the fact I bought it without having high hopes it has become a bathroom staple for me over the last few months and I reach for it over several other, pricier, microdermabrasion products I have in my bathroom cabinet and I've repurchased a second tube before the first runs out.

If you're after an exfoliator that is both gentle and effective and you don't have a massive budget then I would definitely to give this No7 one a try.

No7 Nail Glitter Top Coats

Yesterday, again thanks to the Boots No7 £5 vouchers, I picked up the two new glitter top coats from No7.  They're part of the new, limited edition summer collection for 2012.

I'm looking forward to trying these two out, I think they'll be perfect for jelly sandwiches!

They seem to have the new version of the No7 brush which is good, it's thicker than the old version and I find it great for coverage on my nails.



No7 Poppy King Lip Crayon - Raindrops Collection (Smiling & Skipping)

As suspected, the lure of a 3 for 2 and the No7 £5 off voucher was too much, I had to go back for the other 2 Crayons in the Raindrops collection.  You can see my first post on them here.

This time I picked up Smiling and Skipping; a bright, blue based red and a very sheer berry colour. Skipping is definitely the least pigmented from the collection and leaves just a hint of subtle colour on the lips whereas Smiling is as punchy and bright as the previous 3 I've tried.

Not much more to say on these other than to echo what I said in my last post about them.  I really like the texture and wear of the Crayons and after having tried them out some more over the weekend I am really pleased with them, they're very wearable colours, look great on the lips and last surprisingly well for this sort of product.

Finally, here are a couple of swatches of my two newest editions:

Revlon Lip Butters

What Revlon says:

Buttery balm with beautiful shiny color to give you baby soft, healthy glowing lips 94% of women felt lips were softer, smoother, and instantly hydrated.

There has been a lot of talk about these online of late so when they launched on the Boots website in the UK I decided not to hold off and ordered a few, 4 to be precise. Revlon had a 2 for £10 deal which was too good to pass up. Here are the online swatches of the colours I chose:

Candy Apple, Tutti Fruity, Lollipop, Raspberry Pie


And here are my swatches:





The lip butters come in very cute, colourful and sturdy packaging. They look very similar to Revlon's lipsticks and each tube is coloured to match the product inside.



The names are displayed on the bottom, and the top of the package is clear to let you peek in and see the actual colour of the lip butter inside.





I really like the packaging, it feels like a quality product, looks good and makes it very easy to tell which tube is which colour wise which isn't always the case with multiple lipsticks from the same range.

The product inside is equally impressive, the lip butters are fairly highly pigmented but in a lovely sheer way, so while they give you a nice touch of colour to your lips they don't look too heavy and are definitely more of a tinted balm than a traditional lipstick.



Overall, I am really impressed so far, while I won't be giving up my regular lip balm totally, these are a much better alternative to lipstick for me as I prefer a lighter more sheer hint of colour than the opaque effect that lipstick gives. They seem to last pretty well, a good couple of hours. They probably wouldn't be ideal used alone on very dry lips as the colour does tend to pool on drier parts of the lip if you have any but over a little bit of regular lip balm they are pretty perfect for me coverage wise.

They're the sort of product I can see myself building up quite a collection of.