Not so green with Envy

I have been very queit on my product reviews lately as I have tried to concentrate on my nail art as it is the original reason I opened this blog up. However, that doesn't mean the beauty posts will come to a halt, don't worry your little noggins. This post is actually a nail produt review for the week and I have a few Christmas and winter themed posts in the upcoming weeks .. I am even going to try something fashion-y this weekend, see how you like that :)

So.. O.P.I Nail Envy.

What did I think? When my mum told me she had ordered us both a bottle I was ecstatic. I paint my nails ALOT and have always applied my trusty Avon Nail Strengthener or another favourite Sally Hansen Diamond Strength (which I have featured on here a fair bit), and I've not had much cause for complaint with them. HOWever... My nails do seem to break frequently, probably down to my clumsiness and excessive handbag clutter. So when the package arrived I was rather giddy.

I tried the routine for a week -

2 coats on day 1 > 2 coats on day 3 > 1 coat on day 5 > remove on day 7.

And I honestly wasn't all to impressed with the results, I think I got overexcited and expected a little too much. So I waited a few weeks and tried again, and this time I noticed a difference!..

A few weeks later I tried again again.. and now my nails are so tough it took a bowling ball to break one. They feel thicker, are growing faster and seem to be invincible. The protein must take a few goes to really get to work on them.. If you aren't a nail painter, then I do suggest you keep this on and repeat the process over and over to have impeccable nails for those special occassions when you do lacquer up. If you are a nail painter like myself, then I suggest giving yourself a week break every 3-4 weeks on this formula. Just like your skin needs no make up days, so do your nails.

Take care ladies.

voulez-vous

so tonsillitis has struck again, that is why I've not been able to post again this week :'(

I have many many lovely ideas for posts but one thing after the other means you will have to wait. I am going home this week and to a friends for a few days. I'm hoping to do some posts there so you can see what I think of my their beauty hoarding, as I know my mother's compares to mine in no way at all, it will be very specific and fun to see where I get my beauty tips from. 

I just wanted to let you all know this and show you my classic french manicure :) I used the urcheeky crush on you matte nail polish over the top of my Andrea Fulerton white polish tips, that I did freehand (practice makes perfect but a tip for this is use a slanted straight brush to neaten up the line).

xxxxxxxxxxxxx BAHBYE xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

retro glam

.. is my all time favourite mascara. Now I know I reviewed my top current mascara's a little while ago and included scandal eyes as number two but after using my urban decay one and this one alternatively i think this really is the one. So I have dried up my black and bought an extreme black because I like to do things to the extreme..

Rimmel London Scandal Eyes Retro Glam Mascara £6.99 - click to follow

Firstly, the brush actually hugs your lashes in all the right places. The bumps get to the edges of your lash line so that you don't have to do too much work getting into the very corners (I hate when that happens). The consistency is great - not that I'm an expert - it isn't too thick but it is thick enough to get a good coat without having to do 100 coats to get your lashes perfectious. Meant to give you a retro long lashed look - taking after the 60's, an era of lengthy false lashes and thick liquid eyeliner - it doesn't what it says on the tin.  For the first time in forever I am going to stick with this mascara from now on - I always buy different ones, I've done the legwork, looking for new releases or what's on offer! so I am happy to settle after 7 years of mascara application with this gorgeous one.. until something better trots along.

Here is a lovely B&A including selfies and poses of extreme hilarity. Prepare yourselves..

Before.. obviously! 

After :D

Hope you enjoy my ramblings!

PS. My skin looks photoshopped but it isn't .. well I got rid of two blemishes but I promise that is all! :)

Abigail

<3

my percy & reed needs .. amongst other hair essentials

So, I made a courageous decision a couple of weeks ago to invest in receiving a beauty box every month.. After feeling particularly pooped about being so skint I thought 'Why the hell not?' and it worked out to be pretty worth it. I got some really nice bits and pieces that I will blog about once I've had the chance to use and abuse them all. I have to say, I am most excited to try the Beautify Me supplements as my skin has been really bad lately, you can look out for that in a month when my current pack has run out!

One product I used straight away and instantaneously loved was the Percy & Reed Dry Conditioner. My hair as I have said before gets itself into bad condition fairly quickly despite the fact I hardly ever blow dry it or straighten it - so I was pretty eager to see what it was like seeing as the piles of oil I've been putting on my hair is starting to give me an uncomfortable oily feeling on my face. I LOVE IT. It just makes my hair super soft - just like the Keratin did the other day - but with no need to start from the beginning. It's brill if you have - like me- spent the day trekking around Manchester in the wind and rain, hunting something down for your niece after 3 hours on tubes and trains from London, right before you run out of time to get ready for a night out with the girls! (and breathe) - it's a really good quick fix (and I don't particularly like that phrase however this time it's true!)

I have also found out how amazing the one minute transformation is by Color Wow after kindly getting a little sample from a feelunique event for LFW this week. It was pretty magical when I slapped it onto my 'fro to see just how good it was - but don't apply too much! (my major product tip when it comes to hair, avoid over usage or you will end up washing your hair daily and that isn't good for the natural oils that make your hair grow).

These aren't the only amazing instantly transforming - from work to night out - products I use. I obviously am a massive fan of Batiste Dry Shampoo (pairs well with the dry conditioner I think) and am head over heels for the new oriental scent as it is right up my alley (and prepping me for my trip to Thailand/Vietnam).

Then, once all creams and spritz's and sprays have been applied, you can quickly comb through with the amazing Tangle Teezer (which I have always avoided due to the fact I NEVER brush my hair but I am happy to say it is well worth the wait) and voila, instant hair in an instant for a night out, instantly. 

Good luck ladies xxx

smooth talk

So.. this post is a hairy one. Full of hair and hair talk. I have taken to the idea of doing some beauty blogging and decided - given my tendency to hoard and use a ridiculous amount of products - it would be a good idea.

Over the past 3 days my hair has been a massive curly fro - like that of Julia Roberts or at least I like to think so - something like the below to be more exact ;)

Well I say exact.. that's what I like to think ;)

When it came to washing my hair I have to say I was dreading it - so I piled on the conditioner plus this amazing Shea Butter hair mask! I got it in Primark - Les Karites Hair Mask.

I was really impressed with the results after washing my hair I applied the mask for 5-10 minutes (I have no idea how long I waited to be honest) either way, I then washed it out and it was really easy to brush - surprisingly - and blow dry. And boom I have the smoothest hair I've had in a lonnnnnnggg time.

Woohoo! I would definitely recommend it - and I swear it was only a pound.. but given my terrible memory I can't guarantee a thing but it was definitely at the till! One of the temptation last minute buys ;)

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Inspired by Armani

After flicking through my Catwalk Edit by Vogue for Spring/Summer, very late in the month I might add, I thought about the inspiration I could get from all the fabulous designers and their amazing designs. One that stood out big time was Giorgio Armani - I took the below design and gave it some balanced bright colours so make a little inspired simple nail art. All it took was some sponging and splodging and dotting and dipping... oh and some silver foils.

I used a base coat of Models Own Feeling Blue and Sophie's Pink for the large flowers, I sponged on smaller flowers with B. Complete Mulberry and topped it off with Sally Hansen's Insta-Dry top coat.

And here are the results :)

See yah soon x

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