I abstained!! go me...

So following the beauty resolutions 2012 I faced my first rather monumental challenge today when I ventured into Superdrug for a new toner.  I have pledged not to horde products any longer and also not to buy replacements for yet to be finished products (unless in the name of research) in the beauty cabinet and beyond! I can confirm that my toner is actually gone and I had not one emergency or back up toner in my possession... not even a mini! This is incredibly unusual for me as I tend to horde multiples and am also the one who doles out minis to everyone who has the pleasure of doing a short trip abroad with no carry on luggage. I have a rather large collection of minis from various hotels and then of course Boots and Superdrug started selling minis so I had no hope of diminishng the collection no matter how many I dole out! But I digress (the joy of minis to be discussed in a future post perhaps).

So in I went to Suzi mecca and spent forever pouring over the makeup displays checking out the many many new products I'd like to buy and review and trying out almost every tester in the shop! I came home with hands covered in various products including Barry M blusher, MeMeMe blusher, Gosh bronzer, Barry M nail polish, Maybeline Eyeliner, L'oreal lippy and their new shadows that the fabulous Derrick Carberry used on Xposé last night - oh it was wonderful! However I resisted the many many offers in the knowledge that I've got enough product over the past few weeks to keep my blog alive for another while at least.

Then I came to the toners and one of my regular choices was on offer but 2 for like a €1 more than the price of one. I was torn...between a great deal that led to hording or taking the opportunity to buy an alternative. So I seized the moment and picked up a Garnier one I haven't tried before ... which was less than half price and cheaper than my regular one!

Then the final test - the dreaded queue!! Where all the pretty and "on offer" products are lined up in their colourful glory to tempt and tease you. After much hesitation on this bit I successfully cleared the final hurdle and exited having spent a measly €2 .

In case you haven't yet gathered - I'm feeling rather pleased with myself!!

Crackin up over your nail art?

Well it seems I'm not the only one out there blessed with bundles of lovely presents from the cosmetic and beauty counters. On Wednesday I got a text from one of my besties asking me had I heard about Rimmel's Crack Your Colour Nail Polish. She went on to explain that its gloopy and thick and goes on kinda funny and asked had I used them and suggested maybe I blogged about it! So here I am and Yvonne - this one is for you!!

The Detail:

Nail art has always been a popular choice to accent your tips and grab attention and in current recessionary times there has been an explosion of DIY options on the market from wraps to magnetic nails to the almost mandatory crackle range in each brand out there. Surprisingly crackle polish first hit the market via high street brand Barry M only later to be adopted by the higher end pro brands. Crackle came to us in Autumn 2010 and by now we have seen almost every polish line run their own version. The idea is the polish shrinks on the nail bed as it dries, cracking and revealing the colour underneath. Yvonne kindly donated her bottle for the cause and rather unsurprisingly I had a couple of bottles of crackle polish myself that I'd picked up last summer out of curiosity!

Rimmel Crack Your Colour €5.25

Available in black only

W7 Crackle Polish £5 (not presently available in Ireland)

Available in 9 colours

The Images:

The 3 x W7 ones and the Rimmel one:

Each of the black crackle polishes, Rimmel on the left (middle finger) and W7 on the Right (index finger):

All four polishes on:

The Sciencey Bit:
Well thanks to the clever bunch over at The Beauty Brains I have found out just how this works. Ethanol is added to the polish which makes it dry quickly and unevenly. Completely opposed to the flawless finish of regular polish you get an irregular, uneven polish that shrinks and therefore cracks as it dries. This is why the polish can often look thick and gloopy and generally unappealing to regular polish users.


The Conclusion:

Humm, well personally the crackle look just isn't really for me.  I find it can look well if you get the right combination of colours but god help us if you don't it just looks a bit 80's! Also while it's supposed to be an easy to achieve look it can take a while to achieve as your base colour MUST be completely dry for the crackle coat to work and if you don't cover the crackle layer with a top coat you can actually just scrap it off! (it also looks quite dull and matte). Me? I'd rather use a nail art pen to draw on stripes, dots or flowers than watching LAYERS of nail paint dry! 

However if you do like the crackle effect beware that most of the look is achieved through your application skill. You can't really layer it up as it ruins the crackle effect so apply one layer (in one or two strokes that don't overlap) thinly for small fissures or a slightly thicker layer for larger cracks. I've come across lots of different brands ranging from €3 - €13 doing crackle so my advice would be not to spend too many pennies on these as they all seem to produce similar end results (as shown in picture 2 above!). In my opinion the best thing about crackle is that you can use it to get an extra couple of days out of your manicure if you have a few wee chips appearing at the top - lash on a bit of crackle over it for a fast fix!

How lovely is this?!

Hello Ladies. I am actually in the middle of writing not one but two review blogs but just couldn't resist sharing this in the meantime! (see how easily I get distracted !?!)

This was one of the many Soap & Glory gifts I got this Christmas, much to my delight. I LOVE their hand cream and could not believe it when my mammy and daddy had found this HUGE pump dispenser full with a matching hand wash and lovely little holder for them also. After scrubbing my bathroom clean I decided it was high time they went on show.... putting my Molton Brown hand cream and accompanying Abbott & Broome hand wash (see Oct 3rd 2011 post) to shame!!

Yeaaaaay!! I totally <3 this and now have loverly moisturised hands too :)

Beauty Resolutions 2012...

Hello all and Happy New Year!

Personally, I tend not to be a big believer in new year resolutions and other such new year inspired nonsense as detoxing, getting fit(er) as the case may be, giving up bad habits and promising to keep new good ones! I tend to side with the school of thought that if somethings worth doing its worth doing now, when you feel like it... not just because the calender has moved on a year.

However (and I'll bet you had sensed there was a but coming) for some reason I feel the need to embrace it this year.. to welcome it as a line in the sand which leaves behind a year which left me tired and a little weary. I actually feel quite excited about the prospect of the year ahead and thought it fitting that I set myself some new challenges goals to coincide with my high hopes for 2012! (I also must admit that there is a wee bit of fear motivating me having turned the big three-ooh last month)

So here's my beauty resolutions.. hopefully by sharing them I'll feel more pressure to keep them!

1. Keep my personal make-up stash as tidy, clean and organised as my professional make-up kit 
2. Stop hoarding products (eeek!)
3. Commit to a suitable skin care routine
4. ALWAYS ALWAYS remove my make-up before bed...even after a night out!
5. Avoid buying replacement products until the originals have run out. (unless it is in the name of research or there is an absolutely amazing deal to be had of course!)
6. Find a decent yet reasonably priced eye cream, invest in it and then the key bit - use it!
7. Exfoliate more often (i.e. not just when getting a tan done)
8. Moisturize more often (i.e. not just when trying to maintain my tan)
9. Drink more water.
10. Be more adventurous with my lippy i.e. try new bold colours that I admire on others but am too lazy to wear because of the necessary touch-ups involved! 

So there you have it - some easier done than others but I'll be sure to keep ye posted on my progress. Has this inspired you to make some? or do you already have a list made?? Let me know below what yours are....

Bring on 2012!!

Well this is just a super quick post to apologise for the mahoosive delay in getting some posts up but unfortunately December was a wee bit frantic and I simply could not get the time to blog about all the wonderful things I wanted to. Fear not however!! 2012 is almost upon us and I have BIG plans for my wee blog space.

I have had a fab Christmas and have buckets of products to review from my Rimmel prize pack, my soap and glory bucket of fun, some uk exclusives and much more (with the amount if stuff i got under the tree and in my stocking im guessing i was a very good girl). My only problem now is where to begin?!

So here's to 2012, I truly hope it brings good fortune, love and success for all my followers as well as many hours of happy blog reading!! Have a great time ringing it in tomorrow nite xxx

Christmas is a coming!! 10 great high street party polishes...

So it's probably fairly obvious from my business that I do have a bit of an obsession with nail polish. However, I have avoided blogging about polishes in the fearof it being construed as a shameless plug. Until, yet again, I found myself standing in the local pharmacy, waiting for a prescription and "browsing" the loverly nail polish collections to occupy my time! Guess what happened?? LOL a nice festive sparkly blue polish found it's way to the till - ahem in the name of research of course!  So with christmas parties coming up I figured it makes sense to cover off some great high street brands from cheap to not so cheap to help you achieve the perfect party nails!! (its important to note here that I have since lost the loverly sparkly blue polish that inspired this post so I have subbed in another close colour that I just happened to have!!)

The Detail:

Ok so quite a lot of brands going on here so I have them listed in order of price starting witht he cheapest. Note prices below are per bottle not based on quantities but I have included the sizes if you fancy doing a bit of maths!

Essence Colour & Go €1.29
Shade: "Blue Addicted" no 78
Description: Navy Blue lacquer with large hexagonal green and blue glitter
Size: 5ml
Stockists: Most pharmacies including McCabes excluding Boots & Superdrug, Some Dunnes Stores & Some Penneys

Collection 2000 Hot Looks €2.39
Shade: "Shimmy Shake" no 52
Description: Fine gold glitter in clear lacquer
Size: 8ml
Stockists: Boots & Superdrug

Catrice €2.79
Shade: "I'm a Star..." no 660
Description: Pearl shimmer lacquer with a pewter/goldy green colour
Size: 10ml
Stockits: Some Dunnes Stores (Liffey Valley def.), Penney's O'Connell Street and most good pharmacies

2 True Glossywear €3
Shade: no 14
Description: Pearl shimmer lacquer midnight blue colour
Size: 9ml
Stockists: Superdrug
Offers: all products €3 each or any 3 products for €7

Barry M €4.50
Shade: Green Glitter no 298
Description: Green glitter in clear lacquer
Size: 10ml
Stockists: Boots, Dunnes Stores, Superdrug
Current Offers - 3 for 2 on any Barry M products in most stockists nationwide

Bourjois €7.99
Shade: Prune Stellaire no 9
Description: Prune nail laquer with lighter prune fine glitter giving high sheen wet look
Size: 8ml
Stockists: Boots, Superdrug, Most Chemists

GOSH €7.50 - €8.50
Shade: Gasoline no 541
Description: Light purple lacquer with fine silver and blue glitter
Size: 8ml
Stockists: Superdrug, McCabes Pharmacies
Current Offers - 3 for 2 in Superdrug on all GOSH cosmetics, €2 off all GOSH cosmetics in McCabes

INGLOT €10
Shade: 318
Description: Pearl shimmer light green lacquer
Size: 10ml
Stockists: INGLOT

OPI €12 - €15
Shade: Yodel Me On My Cell
Description: Teal green shimmer lacquer
Size: 15ml
Stockists: McCabes Pharmacies, Salons nationwide providing OPI treatments

Leighton Denny €16
Shade: Best Seller
Description: Rich red lacquer with a slightly lighter glitter giving a high sheen wet look finish
Size: 12 ml
Stockists: Leighton Denny Nail Bar in House of Fraiser Dundrum, Salons & Spas nationwide poviding Leighton Denny treatments

The Images:

The line-up: 8 of the 10 reviewed (INGLOT & Essence nails painted using testers in the shops!!)

Close ups:

INGLOT # 318

Catrice, OPI & 2 True

Bourjois

Leighton Denny

Collection 2000, Barry M & GOSH

Essence

 

The glitter hand  from pinkie to thumb: GOSH, Essence, Barry M, Collection 2000 & Leighton Denny

The shimmer/pearl hand - from thumb to pinkie: Bourjois, 2 True, OPI, Catrice & INGLOT

The Sciencey Bit:
Ok so in more recent times nail polish manufacturers have been put under pressure to find healthier alternatives to the standard ingredients used to make lacquer. Normally speaking nail polish is a combination of nitrocellulose which is dissolved in a solvent usually either butyl acetate or ethyl acetate. After this pigments and glitters are added for the colour and a melting pot of chemical are added to plasticize them, help them to adhere tot he nail plate, prevent fading etc etc etc. Perhaps happier to be blissfully ignorant one asks??  Well possibly but the big buzz term with nail polishes worth knowing is "3 Free" which effectively means polishes that is free from the 3 biggies in terms of potential harm and sometimes you may hear
1. Formaldehyde which is a known carcinogen and can be harmful for asthmatics
2. Toluene which has been previously linked to cancer and in its purest form can cause drowsiness & nausea
3. Dibutyl Phthalate or DBP for short which has been linked to testicular problems in lab rats and later in humans
4. "4 Free" covers polishes that exclude the above 3 ingredients but also Camphor which is an extreme toxin and has levels allowed in consumers products reduced to a maximum limit of 11% by the FDA in America.

Conclusion:
Right there are 10 polishes to cover off here so bear with me!

Essence Colour & Go
One of my favourites for trying out new colours on the cheap - they are pretty good with keeping on trend and you will actually get a couple of days wear if you are reasonably careful and use decent base and top coats. They are also cruelty free (don't test on animals) and 4 Free which is quite surprising for such a cheap product. They do however run out quite quickly being such tiney tiny bottles - my only quibble! This is definitly my favourite shade of the 10 for a super festive sparkle without being too blingey.

Collection 2000 Hot Looks
Right well just my luck I got a bottle with a gammy brush (it had like half a second brush up the side so was virtually impossible to paint on my nails and not fingers!!). It dries super quick and while it looked very disappointing after one coat the second coat built the colour up well. A wee bit too yellowey gold for my liking (which I think cheapens the look slightly) but perhaps with a darker skintone it looks better?! They are a cruelty free product line but info on ingredients is seriously lacking formt heir website and given they have an animal testing policy I would imagine if they were indeed 3 or 4 Free we'd know about it.

Catrice
OMG I simply LOVE Catrice polishes. Rarely can I visit a stand and resist the urge to pick up a new polish shade. They have a fabulous range of colours, cute names and I really like the packaging. It's also a good consistency to apply (not too thin, not too thick). Unfortunately it's not terribly chip resistant and really is a one day/one night polish in my experience. However the low cost and fab range of colours makes this a happy compromise for me - it may drive others mad tho. Again like Essence they are a 4 Free lacquer and also are cruelty free.

2 True Glossywear 
A decent enough polish promising up to 5 days wear...I've never got past 3 days but hey thats me. I can't put my finger on it but for some reaosn it's just not a brand I love. Perhaps the colour range is just not for me - this shade is lovely on mind you! Unlike many polishes they do put their ingredients on the bottle but mine is all faded so I may be wrong but they do appear to be 3 Free. Very importantly agian they are cruelty free.

Barry M
Amazing coverage for just 2 coats (I reminise about glitter polishes from my formative years where you had to paint on about  6 layers to get the full on gliter look). I reckon their glitter polishes give as good a finish as rockstar nails so well worth the investment if you like this look. However it is an absolute nightmare to remove - takes forever!! I'm a massive Barry M fan for longevity and amazing catwalk  colour dupes released quick smart. They list ingredients by the colour range online and this one seems to be 3 free wich is all good, they have been known to include touline and DBP in the past but it appears this is being phased out. They are also cruelty free. Barry M polishes have won countless beauty awards and is worth the couple of extra quid for its coverage and longevity.

Bourjois
I've always enjoyed treating myself with a Bourjois polish. A big fan of their So Laque range (particularly their french manicure peaches) I was actually slightly disappointed with this polish. It looks far more glittery in the bottle than on my nail...you can really only see the glitter under the light so not one to go for if you arelooking for sparkle. It holds true on it's one second dry time but I'm not a lover of the fan shaped brush allowing you to cover the nail in one stroke -it doesn't!! One coat is pretty good coverage though and it does last a fair few days before chips set in. They have a quality statement on their website btu it's vague enough so difficult to establish if they are in fact 3 Free and cruelty free. As ever if they don't say it they probably don't do it!

GOSH
Well GOSH this one was a BIG disappointment. The colour is jsut SO much paler than it looks in the bottle and while it is nice it far more pinkey than purple and the name Gasoline made me think of almost black purple colours...but nope not in this. It wears well and applies well as with most GOSH polishes so really my gripe here is just the colour. The glitter is so fine that it really just gives more of a shimmer than sparkle. Its Formaldehyde and Toulene free and also cruelty free.

INGLOT
Some may say I'm biased but I do love INGLOT polishes. They are 4 Free and Cruelty free too. A very watery consistency they remind me a lot of OPI and need quite a bit of practise to get on jsut right with n brush strokes visable. They are just a durable as OPI and all in all a happy alternative as a professional polish. The best bit probably has to be the colour range - it is virtually impossible not to find a perfect match to your outfit. I went for this shade as its nice and light but still very Christmassy. Its probably the one that got the most comments - yes yes as I walked around liek a crazy woman with 10 different coloured nails all in the name of research for you guys!!

OPI
Another firm favourite of mine I do like OPI. They are 3 Free and Cruelty free and I just love the mad names the polishes all have. (especially all the Suzi ones..!) The bottles are huge at 15mls so while pricier you are getting more product. They are very watery polishes so do take a bit of practise to get used to but worth it. This colour is nice and festive but very wearable in the office. Only negative is the bottle size and shape makes it hard to store - but thats only an issue because I have so many feckin' bottles of polish!!

Leighton Denny
Finally the lovely Leighton Denny - I always complan about the longevity of these polishes but all the same I keep buying them! They are very very pricey for not great longevity but do have a few colours that just are amazing on. While I like this colour and it is incredibly popular with clients its far from my favourite - All About Me. This is an amazing candy pink colour which I wanted to put on with white stripes and pass off as a Christmas colour but figured that was cheating! So back to this... as it's name would suggest it was a fiercely popular colour when in test stage so got its name Best Seller and has lived up to it ever since. The glitter is so fine that it really just gives a shimmer. A very nice finish overall. Very difficult to get detailed info on the ingredients. I have ascertained that it is formaldahyde free but so far thats it!


Ok - I hope this hasn't sent you  all to snoozeville because holy god its long! I guess it was an ambitious post trying to cover 10 different products but I wanted to give ye all a nice bunch of polishes to choose from! Let me know your thoughts and any of your festive favourites below..

"Watch false lashes become a thing of the past.." - Does Rimmel's latest Mascara live up to it's promises??

So, the tricky minefield that is Mascara! The market out there is literally flooded with so many types - lengthening, volume, defining, curling, thickening...etc etc. Endless benefits that sadly are often  over-promised and under delivered. Mascara is usually cheap enough so I'll place safe bets that most of us ladies have at least a couple in our make-up bags possibly having been drawn in by a new product's promises or indeed (and I am definitely a culprit here) by it's pretty packaging! So as I browsed the shelves in boots this week I could not help but be drawn to the funky orange packaging of Rimmel Volume Flash Scandal Eyes Mascara. It promises scandalous volume and no clumps.... so in the name of research I popped one into my basket....

The Detail:

Ok so when it comes to mascara the challenge is getting the perfect combination between the wand and the erm gloop (formula??) itself. Rimmel are boasting this is their biggest brush ever and by god its BIG. Apparently the combination of the gloop and brush will give, wait for it, 12 times more volume!! Now Rimmel do mascara - they have 8 different Mascara brands many with 3 or more options within that brand - so one would expect they are good at it. Currently there are two options to choose from: 001 Black and 002 Brown. Disappointingly as of yet there is no waterproof one available in the range. So promises of scandalous volume and no clumps seem somewhat high aims for a very reasonable €8.55 price tag but as Boots had a introductory offer of €3 off I figured for €5.55 it's got to be worth a go! (Rimmel Ireland have agreed an introductory €2.50 discount on RRP with all stockists so you will get varying prices depending on where you shop but Boots is the cheapest I've seen)


The Images:
Ok, quite a few images on this one - excuse the poor excuse of a model!

Firstly the fab packaging that caught my eye -

 
The wonderous wand -

And again but beside a regular mascara wand for comparison -

erm finally some dodgey modeling -

The Sciencey Bit:
Right, well my wee tub of mascara unfortunately has no space on it for ingredients (12x Boo!) However Rimmel do provide a pdf copy of all product ingredients on their website, unfortunately it hasn't been updated to include Scandal Eyes just yet. I have messaged them and will make sure to comment below with any updates. In the meantime I have gleaned some info from their website which  states "This Rimmel revolution has 3x the collagen* for plumper, sculpted lashes, 3x the keratin* for strong and healthy lashes.." Now I am a little dubious as to the presence of the asterices and despite numerous checks and attempts to find the small print they relate to  as of yet I have not.

The Conclusion:

All in all I was actually really pleased with Scandal Eyes.  I'm not convinced about the plumping effect nor the 12 x volume promised but it is definitely a really solid mascara and a good addition to the make-up bag. The brush is absolutely fantastic - it is full enough and big enough to make sure you completely cover each individual lash which definitely helps with definition and length. I have  read that some find it a wee bit tricky at the roots because the size can lead to smudging but I did not find this and am sure after one or two attempts it should be easy enough to eliminate as an issue. I am lucky in that my natural lashes are quite long so any decent mascara will make a notable impact, hence my preference for a softer brown for the daytime look - I think this mascara in black is, for me, more of a night time mascara but would recommend it for day wear for most. I shall be picking up a brown one this week and give this a confident 2 thumbs up...however I won't be hanging up the false lashes just yet!!