NOTD: Bourjois Rainbow Apparition

I picked Bourjois 1 second polish up in Rainbow Apparition after seeing Katie's blog post. I love any glitter polish and immediately fell in love with this as it looked like a more purple version of the OPI Katy Perry Collection Teenage Dream (blogged about here). It has a lilac gel sheer base with smaller and larger particles of Glitter running through to build up an almost holographic type effect. The difference between Teenage Dream and this though I find is that the Bourjois colour isn't quite as sheer as Teenage Dream so it can easily be worn without wearing a base colour, whereas with Teenage Dream I almost always wear a pink base coat with it. This has a shorter wider brush on it for easier application, I do find it's almost a little too wide for my nails though as I end up with glitter on the skin around my nails, not a huge issue though as you can easily rectify it, the gel like texture though also means it takes a little longer to dry in between coats I find so not one to use if you are in a rush.

Overall, I really like this, it looks really cute on, very girly and sparkly, which is always a bonus! The name Rainbow Apparition is definitely apt as well as it really does show every colour of the rainbow when it catches the light. This could look really cute over Barry M's Berry Ice Cream - review here!

I picked mine up in Boots for £5.99 and they are also doing a 3 for 2 offer across Bourjois products at the minute.

What do you guys think?

Soph xx

Simple Gel Toning Cleanser

I hope you're all enjoying Wimbledon, I'm a huge fan so as I write this I'm on tenterhooks hoping that Murray can win this! But anyway, I have been trying to re-vamp my cleansing routine recently, generally, I tend to just use wipes in the evening and morning for ease but I know these aren't great for the skin, more recently, I have been using the Biore Products I have posted about recently but my skin doesn't need these on a daily basis so I tend to use these every couple of days. So basically, I just need a new daily routine of cleansing and toning. I am still a huge fan of the No 7 Beautiful Skin Moisturisers so I am sticking with these as my go to Moisturisers.

I love Clinique and Clarins products but I wanted to try some cheaper brands to see what type of make up remover I wanted as there are so many different formula's, Creams, Gel's, Soaps etc, I didn't want to spend a fortune on products that wouldn't work with my skin, so I decided to test it with some of Simple's products, I picked this out as I've never used a gel based cleanser before and thought it would be interesting to try, I picked this up alongside the Simple Eye Make Up Remover, (review here) which I wasn't mad about, and if I'm honest, I'm half and half about this product, it cleaned all the make up off my face and actually did quite a good job with my eye make up as well but my skin just didn't feel clean afterwards, it was a little bit like there was a layer of the gel left on my face so I had to go and wash my face afterwards which defeats the point really.

I'll probably use this product up but I don't think I'd re-purchase again.

Have you used this? What did you think of it?

Soph xx

NOTD: Chanel Vendetta

Today's post is about one of my favourite polishes that I own, Chanel's Vendetta polish, a gorgeous deep purple with the slightest hint of blue shimmer running through it. This comes in the usual lovely Chanel packaging. I love this polish because it can go with a variety of looks and is also great for work. Longevity isn't great with this but it's certainly not the worst of my dark polishes, I struggle with dark polishes anyway as I think once you have a chip with a dark polish, it's glaringly obvious, very easy with this to just touch up though and cover it up, or more often than not, I just work a more rock-y outfit with it. I do get around 2 days worth of wear out of this with a good top coat before I start to notice any tell tale signs of chipping though (The pictures below are a day after I put it on). I really do love this colour, so chic and ladylike but then a bit grungey too.

Chanel polishes retail at £18 and you can pick up here.

What do you think of this polish?

Soph xx

Simple Kind to Skin Moistureboost Hydro Mist

I picked this up in Boots recently after seeing a post on it by Lily. I really liked the sound of this refreshing your skin during the day and the fact that it could be sprayed over make up without it dripping down your face. I travel quite a lot with work which means lots of jumping on and off trains and sitting in air conditioned offices which does nothing for my skin, I carry around Avene Thermale Spring Water Spray in my bag during the summer, which I love for just giving a bit of a boost, but this product is a little more moisturising and states that it works over make up to help refresh the skin.

It comes in a small clear bottle (50ml) which is handy to keep in your bag and has lovely things like Lotus Flower, Pro-Vitamin B5 and Vitamin E as some of the ingredients so it's also doing good for the skin, and it just gives skin a little boost which I really like, I normally spray a little bit during lunch and then once again before I go home, unfortunately, it doesn't refresh make up (would love a product that did this!) but it does definitely help to make you look a little more refreshed and dewy which I love. I find one spray works for me, leaving a fine mist of the product on the face that sinks in quickly. During our brief 2 week heat wave a while back, I kept this in the fridge overnight so that it was nice and cool when I spritzed it on by lunchtime, it was heaven in the muggy heat!

This is £5.99 and I picked it up here, a little goes a long way with this as well so I think this is a really good price for it.

Have you used this?

Soph xx

Boots Botanics Facial Loofah

Just a quick post today to show you these Boots Botanics Facial Loofah's I picked up a few weeks ago in Boots, they come in a little pack of 4 and when you first pull them out of the pack they are thin and quite hard which I was slightly anxious about, I did have thoughts of whether I would have any skin left on my face after using them, but luckily they transform when wet. They increase in thickness and the soften up quite a lot when you run them under water, they still have a slightly rough texture but this is what I was looking for and expecting really and it didn't feel like it would be too harsh on the skin.

I have been using these once or twice a week with my Biore Skin Balancing Cleanser (review here) to get rid of any dry or rough skin and they have worked brilliantly, my skin feels so lovely after using them, clean and smooth. I was having a few issues with breakouts around my chin area which I think i've mentioned before and since sticking to this little routine it's cleared up, I don't know whether it's solely down to these as I have been drinking Dr Stuart's skin purifying tea and taken Starflower Oil tablets as well, but I think that they have definitely helped.

These are quite a bargain price at £2.75 for 4 and I will definitely be re-purchasing.

Have you guys used these, do you like them?

Soph xx

NOTD: Essie Licorice Nail Polish

So after I fell in love Recently with Essie's Mint Candy Apple, I decided to try out another of the polishes, and went for the Essie Licorice polish which is a shiny black polish. As I said here, I love the brushes of these polishes, the thicker rounded end means that I can coat the nail in one application and gives a smoother looking finish and literally takes seconds to apply. I also love the bottles, which although very simple, look quite classy.

I wanted to love this polish, but I was a bit disappointed, initially it was great, I had full coverage in one coat, which I was really impressed with, I put 2 coats on anyway, just so I had a flawless finish but I definitely could have gotten away with just the one coat. My issues with this was that it chipped really easily, well, it wasn't really chipping, but it just seemed to rub off really easily if that makes sense, I could have just peeled the polish off so after a couple of hours, it looked like  a 2 day old manicure which is a real shame, bearing in mind I have an office job so the majority of my day is spent sitting in front of a computer which isn't hugely strenuous on my hands. I have taken pictures below of the manicure after 2 hours and after 24 hours of wearing the polish.

Have you used this polish - did you have the same issue?

Soph xx

After just applying, one coat.

This is one coat of Licorice (sorry about my disgusting cuticles!)

This is after 2 hours, admittedly, I did wash up 2 cups but I would still expect less chipping than this.

This is the manicure after 24 hours of wearing it - pretty shabby, I like the "rock chick" look but disappointed with this :(

Palmolive Damask Rose & Musk Hand Wash

So this is a little bit of a random post but I wanted to share my love for this hand wash that I picked up at Sainsbury’s recently, I love all things British so have loved having all the jubilee inspired items around recently, I picked this up about a month or so ago for the bargain price of a £1 and I believe they are still around in some supermarkets but as they are a jubilee item, I think they are limited edition so if you like the sound of this, get them quick! This is the Palmolive Damask Rose and Musk hand wash, although, I am not a huge fan of musk smell, it’s not very over powering in this, instead it’s a lovely rose smell that really reminds me of Turkish delight, so it’s a slightly sweet rose smell, and leaves a gorgeous smell on your hands.

The soap itself is a lovely pretty pink colour and I really like the shape of this bottle as well, it’s got a vintage feel to it and reminds me of the old perfume and lotion bottles, with a slightly curved shape so it looks pretty next to the sink (which is oh so important!) as with most liquid hand washes these days, it also has a handy pump that doesn’t drip when you’ve pumped it (I have a Carex Anti-Bac hand wash that drips bright blue soap every where once you’ve used it, which drives me MAD having to clean it up constantly). Having just had a look on Sainsbury’s website, I can’t see that you can buy this on line but check your local store to see if they still have it in. I did spot on the websitt though, two other hand washes that look they may be similar, they’re in the same vintage inspired bottle so definitely ones to look out for if they appeal to you, There is Chamomile & Lavender and Verbena & Bergamot, both of which sound good to me, I absolutely love the smell of Lavender, so I’ll be trying these out too, and again these are on special offer for £1.

Have you tried this out?

Soph x

Barry M Lemon Ice Cream Nail Polish

Another NOTD, sorry if you don't like these but been getting really into my Nail polishes again recently and as my last post - here - on Barry M's Berry Ice Cream was such a hit I thought I'd post this one up.

I bought this a few months ago but have only just gotten round to trying it out. I have a slight love/hate relationship with yellow polish, I think you have to find the right yellow polish for your skin tone otherwise it can look a bit garish. This is quite a cream/pastel polish compared to some of the other yellow polishes that are out there at the moment, I've bought some that were more on the neon/bold side of things that just looked wrong with my paler skin (e.g Maybelline NYC Yellow Polish, would look amazing on someone with a good tan, but was just not right for my pre-summer pale skin), but, I kinda really like this polish, it's just got a slightly paler tone to it that I think will make it easier for most people to wear it.

One word of warning though - when removing this, I found that the skin around my nails got a kind of a yellow-y stain so be careful when removing not to rub the pad around the skin otherwise it just sticks and makes your fingers look a bit jaundiced.

These sell for around the £2.99 mark in most chemists/supermarkets that sell Barry M.

What do you think? Are you a fan of the Barry M "Ice Cream" pastel polishes?

Soph xx

Essie Mint Candy Apple

I had been checking Boots and Superdrug almost daily waiting for the Essie Polishes to come in (I'd also been waiting on the Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover - review here) I had seen a review by Lily from What I Heart today here including some of her favourite Essie polishes and I fell in love with Mint Candy Apple as soon as I saw it so I knew that was going to be my first purchase of the range to test out the brand as I have never tried anything by Essie before and have heard mixed reviews, although in my head I already kind of loved it despite what I'd heard. I don't like buying a polish online without actually seeing it in the bottle so I had to wait for it to hit the shops which was almost torture....anyway, enough rambling.

What did I think of Essie  as a brand when I first got hold of it? I immediately fell in love with the brush, it's tapered at the edges and has a kind of almost rounded end, very similar to the Rimmel polishes, which makes it super easy to apply, one stroke and the nail is covered perfectly with polish, it also makes it easy to get right up to the cuticle without going over the cuticle and getting polish all over the skin around the nail. I also really like the bottle, it's very classic with a white lid but see through bottle with Essie stamped into the glass of the bottle, It makes me really want to buy more and line them up next to each other because it would look really pretty, but I think that's just my weak excuse to buy more though!!

Mint Candy Apple is a really pale green, very pastel-y and is perfect for the summer, fresh, cute and clean looking, I don't like wearing really bright colours on my nails for work but I think this really works as it's not too in your face and is quite a neutral colour. I really love this and can definitely see me wearing this a lot over the summer.

I really want to try Licorice as well which is just a plain black but I have been on the hunt for a plain black for ages and with my new found love of the Essie brush, I really want to try it out! I picked this up in Boots for £7.99.

Have you guys tried any of the Essie polishes yet?

Soph xx

Benefit Coralista Blush

Hi Everyone,


Hope you are all having a great Jubilee weekend, I'm writing this listening to the Jubilee concert, definitely feeling very proud to be british right now, the road I live on had a street party for it yesterday, which although it was a complete washout with the rain, it was definitely quite amazing to see everyone come together to celebrate anyway. Anyway, onto my review, I'm a huge fan of Benefit's Blushers, The packaging is always amazing, they have great pigmentation and quite literally last for ages, I think I have had most of mine for at least a year and haven't hit the pan on any of them yet so although they seem quite expensive at £23.50, they are definitely worth it in my opinion, they come in a little flip top box and also come with a little brush to sweep the colour onto cheeks, although personally, I don't use this brush, I tend to use the Real Techniques Blusher brush that came in the real techniques Core Collection to apply my powder blushers.

Coralista is definitely one of the more popular of the Benefit blushers, it's a very pretty coral-y, pink colour and makes me feel like it's summer even in the middle of winter, it has a pretty shimmer running through it that makes cheeks shine when it catches in the sunlight and adds a lovely "pop" of colour to cheeks. I dug it out this morning because I love how it looks when the sun is out as well, it looks really great with a tan but is equally as good brightening up the face when my skin is a little paler too.

I'll do reviews soon of my other Benefit Blushers as well!

Which is your favourite blusher?

Soph xx

P.S - I have been having a bit of a beauty clearout recently and put some stuff up on eBay if you want to check any stuff out - My eBay