Now I’m usually all
about the dark vampy reds, purples and navy’s this time of year but this OPI
polish has caught my attention and I cannot get enough! This stuff has not left
my nails for longer than two days since I got it a month ago and I can’t see
that changing anytime soon!
If you have read my
Manicure Essentials post you will know that I usually forego coloured nail
polish on my fingernails and save it for my toenails. This is because I cannot
stand chipped nail polish or more likely, my obsession with then picking the
rest of the polish off! This stuff however is on a whole other level and the
little nail combination I have been using has ensured this is the longest
lasting manicure I’ve ever had, lasting a good four days before chipping which
is a lifetime for me!
As usual, I apply my OPI Nail Envy as a base coat, this is
the most amazing nail polish ever and I often wear this on its own because it
gives the most amazing shine to my nails and really strengthens them. Nail Envy was actually
the only OPI nail polish I had tried prior to getting this one but I have a
feeling this will change as I love the formulation of the two I have so much!
I first sawOPI My Very First Knockwurst on my
friend at works nails about a month ago and had to know what it was! She
couldn’t remember and wrote it down for me that evening and I had it ordered
before break time at work the next day! It is the most perfect nude-y, pinky,
pastely, chic, sophisticated shade of nail polish I have ever owned and I am
obsessed with it! I mentioned that I have been so impressed with the wear time
which could be down to the top coat I've been using (I haven’t tried it
without).
Now I know Seche Vite hasn’t got the best
ingredients in it but boy does it dry fast! Gone is the endless flapping of my
hands to try and dry my nails quicker only to hit something by accident and
smudge my whole nail anyway! Overall, this has become my nail dream team and I
can’t stop wearing it!
What nail colours have
you been loving recently? Do you like this one or is it too nude for you?
As a big fan of Eucerin
skin and body products I was excited to give this a try when it arrived a few
weeks ago! It promises to provide deep 24 hour hydration to dehydrated,
sensitive skin. This is right up my street this time of year when my usually
oily/combination skin starts to play up with the change in weather/heating etc.
and dry patches pop up! I recently took a reaction to a face tanner I used and
my skin got really dry and flaky and none of my usual moisturisers were working
so I gave this a whirl and have been so happy with the results! At first,
although this moisturiser has SPF I though it would be too rich for me during
the day but since my skin was so dry I piled it on anyway and was surprised by
how well it soaked in, soothed and smoothed my skin. I didn’t use a primer and
felt it gave a good base for my makeup too! I love the fact it has both UVA and
UVB protection and will definitely be taking this on a short trip away next
month (thank God for hold luggage)! There is a whole scientific explanation as
to how this hydrates involving the skins aquaporin’s which you can read about
here. The Eucerin range can
be found at Boots, Look Fantastic, Escentual, Feel Unique and some independent
pharmacies!
I got this in a set last
Christmas and its one of the first Origins products I've tried and loved. The
activated charcoal in it is meant to act like a magnet to draw out anything
clogging your pores like dirt and pollution through daily life. I like to use
this about once a week for a real deep clean and my skin always feels amazing
afterwards! It really softens it and seems to draw out any impurities by drying
up spots and blackheads! Plus I love how quickly it dries in! I like to rinse
this off just in the sink with my hands, I found when I used a facecloth it
stained really badly and didn’t come out in the wash but other than its great! I’ll
then follow up with a moisturiser like the Eucerin one I’ve mention above as I
find it can dry my skin out a bit but it’s totally worth it!
Top to bottom - Avene Triacneal, Eucerin AQUAporin Active SPF 25 UVB + UVA Protection, Origins Clear Improvement
This has become my Holy
Grail spot product! It’s pricey at £23 but it lasts ages! The product itself is
a yellow paste that is not greasy in the slightest and helps eliminate severe
imperfections. I use this over active spots at night where it helps to dry them
out and also over old acne scars which I find it helps to fade. I have a funny
feeling this is being discontinued as unfortunately as it’s out of stock on a
lot of sites, this seems to have happened to a lot of products I love over the
past few months! Avene did just bring out a new product called Triacneal Expert
and their Cleanance Expert is also targeted towards spot prone skin so they
would work well too!
Alpha H Liquid Gold RRP £33.50
This is one of my
favourite treatments and I have gone through various bottles of it! It’s an
overnight chemical exfoliator and I bloody love it! It claims to resurface the
skin and help to diminish wrinkles, pigmentation and sun damage. I totally
bought this because of the hype and its one I’m happy to say completely
delivers on its claims! I can’t quite put my finger on it but my skin just
looks better the morning after I’ve put this on. It’s clearer, more even, and
plumper and my old acne pigmentation doesn’t look as pronounced. Couldn’t be
without this now! Available at Beauty Bay, Cult Beauty and Look Fantastic among
others!
Have you tried any of
the products I've mentioned? What are your skincare saviours?
P.S. I also just got Twitter and Instagram and they are embarrassingly empty at the minute but links are below if you feel like saying hello :)
*denotes
a PR sample that was sent to me. All opinions are my own.
A lovely friend of mine recently came back from a year in America and
before she returned, I placed a sneaky order with ColourPop for her to take
back home for me! Here’s what I got…
This is a bright peach colour that is a lot brighter/neon than what I
was expecting! This is definitely more of a night out colour for me but to be
honest I find the formula so drying on my lips I don’t know if I could get make
it out the door with this! It’s the quickest drying of any matte cream formula
of lip product that I’ve tried so it’s got that going for it but I just could
not get on with it! I did try putting a little Carmex over it like I do
with a lot of matte lipsticks to make them more wearable for me but this did
not agree with that at all and turned into a bit of a gloopy mess!
This is one of my favourites! It’s a peachy coral colour that lasts a
long time on my lips keeping them nicely moisturised and it really brightens up
my complexion! I am completely in my comfort zone with shades and formulations
like this and it did not let me down! It’s sheer but it’s buildable and I absolutely
love it!
Another ColourPop lip
product I am obsessed with! This is a dusty mauve pink created by Kathleen
Lights who I actually never really watch on Youtube but this shade was so hyped
I had to try it for myself! I’m so glad I did, it’s like nothing else I own and
although I don’t usually get on too well with matte products this one is a
different story! It’s creamy and it doesn’t dry my lips out or accentuate dry patches
(although I always use a lip scrub before applying lipstick for the day!). This
lasts ages on me before I start getting a tell-tale outline around my lips and
have to reapply! I love the size of the nib of the lippie stix too as I can be
more precise when applying!
This is a neutral pink colour with a satin finish and I actually
struggled with this in the beginning because I couldn’t get a brush that would
pick up enough product for me! Since upgrading my old No7 blush brush to the
newer version I have been having more luck with this and love the flush of
colour and healthy sheen it gives me. The formulation of this, the bronzer and
eye shadows is absolutely amazing and like nothing give ever felt before! It’s
so soft and malleable and just a dream to touch!
ColourPop describe this as a warm
tan bronzer which I think is very light and perfect for me to contour with when
I have no tan on, it’s very natural looking and I love it! I don’t find it
overly warm either and I think it would be impossible to go overboard with it!
The super shock shadows were where I think I made a few rash decisions!
I was in a rush so had about ten pages of google images of swatches laid out in
front of me and decided to go with all mattes because I wear them every day. To-a-T is a mid-tone warm brown that
looks pretty much identical on my skin tone to Intoxicate from the Rumer Has It
Collection (not available anymore). Mittens
is a deep warm brown with a red violet undertone. Now when it comes to
eyeshadows I like them cool and taupey/brown/grey so these are slightly on the
warm side for me for everyday wear! I do have blue eyes so by rights they should
suit me and I think they will if I have lots of liner and mascara on to balance
out the warmth of the eye shadows so all is not lost! They are so inexpensive
too I’m not that upset I panic bought and didn’t read the descriptions properly
before buying!
I went with the photos on ColourPop’s website which I found really
helpful as they show the shades on fair, medium and dark skin tones but maybe
should have looked up some more close up swatches and read the descriptions or
I would have stayed away from the warmer tones! Sometimes swatches can be
deceptive!
The stars of the show for me were definitely Crunch, Lumiere, Birthday
Suit and Skinny Dip! Have you tried anything from Colourpop before? Or have you
seen anything you like? I hope they get shipping to the UK sorted soon!
Hi everyone! I've got a few quick reviews and swatches today of some of
my old and new favourites from Boots own brand SEVENTEEN! Keep reading to see
what I love from the brand!
First up are some old favourites of mine that I absolutely love. The Phwoarr Paint heavy duty under eye concealer in Fair (£5.49) comes in two shades of which I have the lightest. It is a very thick
and creamy concealer that covers dark circles really well! As with other cream
concealers I have, I like to use this with my ring finger in order to warm it
up and blend it under my eye. I really like setting this with a separate powder
I will talk about later in this post but this ensures it doesn’t settle into
any fine lines around the eyes and that it lasts throughout the day. I also
sometimes use it to conceal spots too and it does a good job at this as well!
Brow’s That! brow kit £5.99
I feel like this was the original drugstore/highstreet brow kit! It was
the first brow kit I owned anyway and I got it in one of Boots’ trusty free
gift offers a few Christmases ago! I was actually using it to do my make up for
New Year’s Eve at my friend’s house and she pulled out the same kit – we can’t
resist a Boots bargain! It only comes in one shade but I find the colours are
very cool toned and a great match for me, the wax and powder are not overly
pigmented so perfect for an everyday look if you just want to define your
eyebrows a bit. They can be made a little more dramatic if you also use the
pencil before filling in with the wax and powder and I love the fact it’s so
easily buildable and the highlight shade has a lovely shimmer to it that’s not too
obviously glittery!
Mirror Shine lipstick in Beehive £4.79
I first bought this a few years back (when it was in the blue packaging
– anyone remember?). Vivianna Does Makeup raved about it so I picked it up to
see what all the fuss was about and fell in love with it! It is the perfect my
lips but better nude, sheer, natural looking, glossy, moisturising lipstick and
it’s a long standing favourite of mine! I haven’t done a top five favourite
lipsticks yet but this would be on it! I love the new packaging too, when you open
the lid a mini mirror pops out which is handy for on the go! I could apply this
shade in the dark but it’s maybe more useful for the other shades in the range
which I definitely need to check out!
Stay Pout lip colour in Audition* £4.49
These are SEVENTEEN’s long wear lip colours and Audition is a gorgeous bright
pink blue toned colour (which makes your teeth appear whiter)! I am completely
in my comfort zone with pinks as well as corals as opposed to reds and this
lipstick applies so smoothly and sits so comfortably on my lips it doesn’t dry
them out at all! It’s not totally opaque and I find I still have a little bit
of slip on my lips which is probably why I like the formula so much as its not
drying. It lasts a really good amount of time on me and you can layer it on for
a really bright pink colour which I would for a night out or apply it lightly
for a gorgeous stain that lasts hours and really brightens up the face!
Lip Crayon in Bold* £4.99
I love lip crayons like this for throwing in my bag when I want a bit
of colour, moisture and don’t have time to look in a mirror to apply! It’s a gorgeous
coral colour with loads of shine that’s so easy to top up throughout the day!
Like I said, pink and coral colours are my go to, they suit me and I look
healthier with a bit of colour on my lips! Saying that, I do want to give the
berry shade a go next!
Define and Conquer contour kit in Medium* £5.99
I was so excited to receive this as I have eyed this up in Boots many a
time and swatched the shades only to find they were all sold out! It seems to
be one of SEVENTEEN’s most popular products and rightly so! I could not wait to
get this out of the packaging! It comes in two shades, of which I have the
darkest and originally I thought it was going to be too warm toned for me but
thankfully I was wrong! This is buttery soft and blends like a dream leaving a
realistic shadow on my cheekbone and no harsh lines! What I love most about
this kit though is the fact the highlight shade is matte! I will get so much
more use out of it and have been using it to set the my Phwoarr paint concealer
under my eyes where it brightens really well! I love the sleek black packaging
too!
Falsifeye HD mascara in Blackest Black*£6.99
Finally, we have the Falsifye HD mascara! I love the plastic wand which
has two different sides, one with shorter bristles and one with longer. This
really coats my lashes evenly and I like to twist this as I apply which really
separates and fan out my lashes! It doesn’t clump at all and the wand easily
combs through my lashes. I always do two coats with any mascara I use and this
gives me so much separation and length! Although I would usually choose the
waterproof version of any mascara I’m using, I've been so impressed with the staying
power of this one! I don’t often put mascara on my bottom lashes but the size
of this mascara wand would make it perfect if you did!
So there we have my old and new favourites from SEVENTEEN! They are
always on offer in Boots and there really is no reason not to have a swatching
session when they have so much choice at brilliant quality and reasonable prices!
They also have a ton of new releases
making their way into stores and I for one cannot wait have a look at the new makeup
brushes and powder blushers!
SEVENTEEN have also recently launched their Blogger Network which is
free to sign up to and includes loads of product information, news, makeup
trends and tips!
What’s your favourite SEVENTEEN product or what would you most like to
try?
