Sally Henson Hard as Nails and Cuticle Remover

Ever since the Teechers set build over 2 months ago my nails have been absolutely ruined.  Weak, peeling and constantly snapping with the cuticules in a right state as well.

I am now getting desperate.

A friend recommended Sally Hansen Hard as Nails as a remedy.  It promises to strengthen nails and prevent peeling and splitting.  Three coats, twice a week should do the trick.

In addition my cuticles (always a problem area for me) have become really hard and painful.  I thought I would also give the Sally Hansen Gel Cuticle Remover a go as well.  It promises to soften and help gently shed excess cuticles.

Right now I am willing to try anything!

I'm therefore going to try it for the recommended month and then review progress to see if it has made any difference at all to the condition of my nails.  I'm always very dubious of anything that alleges to improve them as I know how weak they are and nothing in the past has really worked.

Let the trials begin!

A Package of Pretty Parcels

One of the nice things about the blogging community is the chance to read and comment upon other blogs that you like.  I have a number that I follow on a regular basis and they cover everything from feminism to makeup, recipes to lifestyle, culture to current events, all over the world. 

Bloggers on occassion run competitions on their blogs - it's a recognised way of increasing interest, marketing new products and a 'Thank You' to their regular readers.  I try and engage with as many blogs as possible, chat to their owners and other readers and have on occasion entered competitions but never won one.

Until now.

I entered a competition run by Jen on her blog Vibrant, Vivacious, Veracious Beauty.  It's not the first time Jen and I have interacted - we have each commented on the others articles in the past and Jen was one of my first ever readers back in January.  She was running a comp for a variety of goodies so I entered her competition and thought nothing more of it.

Imagine my surprise when a short while later I got an email telling me that I had won!  I was seriously excited - I mean, it's not every day you win a competition!

Jen lives in Canada so I thought it would be a little while before I received anything.  It arrived just one short week later.

I ripped open the package with the frenzy of a three year old on Christmas morning.  Steve was a little taken aback when he came home to find bubble wrap and brown paper strewn around the living room and me sitting cross legged on the floor like a kid with my camera, cooing over the beauty products.

I have now been able to give most of the products a good test run.

The Consonant Face Cream is very rich but absorbs remarkably quickly.  I suffer from dry patches as well as oily spots and need to be careful about what I put on my face.  This feels moisturising without being heavy and it acts as a good base for makeup.  It is also travel sized, perfect for the wedding last weekend!  The fact that it is organic and unscented is an additional bonus. 

The Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips I haven't worn yet - I'm still trying to find the right occassion.  They would have just ripped right off in production week and aren't exactly work appropriate, but I'm sure I will give them a go over the Easter bank holiday weekend.

O.P.I Top Coat is good.  I have resisted buying O.P.I nail varnish as I am worried I may get hooked on them and they aren't exactly the cheapest brand out there.  This is a good top coat though and kept my mani in pristine condition for all of three days as well as shiny and glossy - a personal best for me as mine are normally chipped within 24 hours!  A top coat is always useful as well!  The only downside with this is the drying time.  It takes ages.

The NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil in 715 Burgandy is a good lip pencil - little to no bleeding and non-drying as well as fairly easy to apply.  Be warned though - it's a pain in the backside to sharpen.  Most people say either take the bottom off and scrape the product out, or scrape the top off the black and then you can sharpen it.

 The Urban Decay glide on eye pencil is ok.  I'm a bit funny with eye liners - I have every shade under the sun as it is the one thing I will not step outside without, and as such I advocate the cheaper brands with the broader colour ranges.  This has good pigmentation, glides on well without pulling and is generally a good eye liner and the colour range is OK.  I have quite oily eyelids (colour just disappears on me) and I find it isn't as long lasting as other, cheaper brands.  I wouldn't necessarily buy it over any other eye liner.

The Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey is my standout product.  Released last Summer, I had heard about them as a dupe for Clinique's Chubby Stick but had not managed to get my mitts on one yet.  Oh boy do I wish I had bought one ages ago!  It is uh-maze-ing, heavily moisturising (my lips are ridiculously dry at the moment) and smells like menthol which is the secret to adding a little extra plumpness to lips.  They are a chubby pencil with a swivel up design so you don't need to sharpen them.  Pigmentation levels are really good and there is a wide range of colours which are easily buildable.

I'm really picky about lipstick colours - it is so hard for me to find a shade that actually suits my skin tone and I also have a naturally plump lower lip with a defined heart upper lip which makes all lipsticks really obvious on my face and quite hard to wear so I tend to stick to lip liners with gloss or balm over the top.  This colour and formula was so easy to wear and if, like me, you struggle to get on with true lipsticks, I would highly recommend these.

So Jen, thank you so much for sending me the goodies!  It's been like a second Christmas!

Make sure you all pop over and check Jen's blog out.  She is so down to earth and funny and I have learnt a lot of beauty tips from her!

Versailles Gold

I've been eyeing up Essie's Penny Talk nail varnish for a while.  I'm a bit late to the rose gold bandwagon but it is an extremely pretty shade that works well with my skin tone and in a varnish it is work appropriate (unlike my neon green).  I just can't justify spending £10 on a nail varnish though so I have been looking for a good dupe for it for a couple of months now.

I popped into Boots yesterday to pick some bits and pieces up for Steve as well as a couple of bits that I *needed* myself.  I may have used my Boots points to get the Real Techniques Core Collection (something else that I have been eyeing up for a while, even more so since I got the stippling brush which is seriously good) and the Eco Tools Smudge Eyeliner brush as well as a crystal nail file.  I am so sick and tired of continuously purchasing standard ones I figured this would save money in the long term.  At the till they gave me a voucher for £2 off Max Factor foundation and as my day to day staple is the Max Factor Facefinity compact I stocked up.

While perusing the shelves I spotted the L'Oreal Colour Riche nail vanishes.  Normally £4.99 each, these were on offer for 2 for £7 and they had the Versailles Gold (106) in stock.  This is the closest dupe for Essie Penny Talk I have ever seen.

I am wearing two coats, with no base or top coat and no nail preparation before hand (I was very impatient and just wanted to see what it looked like).  It went on incredibly easily, even for someone as cack handed with nail varnish as I am and dried to a beautiful finish very quickly.  The pictures don't really do it justice; it is a very pale metallic gold with a subtle rose shimmer through it - very wearable.  I absolutely love it.  I also picked up another L'Oreal shade in Babydoll (207) but have yet to try it.  So far it has been on for 24 hours and it hasn't cracked or chipped or bubbled or peeled.  Which for me is impressive as my nail varnish never lasts particularly long.

I also picked up some dry shampoo.  I wasn't going to mention this but used it last night before I went to rehearsal as my hair was a mess, came downstairs and Steve commented on how nice my hair was looking.  Not bad for a dry shampoo!  The one I picked up was Lee Stafford Dark for oily roots.  It smells quite nice and is easy to use (spray and rub with your fingers) and had the bonus effect of providing lift, texture and volume.  It did leave a little bit of grey residue which I had to work out but it did the job. 

Moody Plums

Last night I was home alone, without rehearsal for a change and Steve was in Cairo for work so I thought I would pamper myself.  This is rare.  Very very rare.  One shower, shave, exfoliate, body wrap, face mask and big cuddly pajama pile later I decided to tackle the issue of my nails.  Pinterest is great for makeup inspiration and I remembered a look I had seen there using different shades of purple.

Base is MUA in Moody Mink while the tips are MUA in Plum Noir

I had no tip liners available so used as steady a hand as I could manage, tongue sticking out in concentration.  The cat decided to 'help' half way through.  Is your cat as obsessed with nail files as mine is?