Swooning my self silly over OPI's New York City Ballet Collection

I've always had a particular fondness for OPI polishes and I'm not sure where this started but suspect its something to do with Executive VP & Artistic Director, Suzi Weiss-Fischmann and the regular polishes named after her. For those of you now giggling at my sadness and impressionability tell me you don't think names such as "Suzi Skies in the Pyrenees", "Crepes Suzi-ette" and "It's a Doozie says Suzi" are incredibly cute?! Anyway I digress. Fellow fans will know that OPI regularly collaborate with  brands, celebrities and film studios with limited edition issues. Their latest has literally blown me away... it's a collaboration with the New York City Ballet and I am smitten!

The Details:

Well the range has six shades and I can honestly say I love them all equally (an expensive and daunting prospect!).  They are up there with my regular favourites in terms of colours - beautiful classical soft pastels. They are quite sheer however so to get a nice opaque finish you will have to layer them up. OPI polish generally is quite liquid and almost watery compared to other polishes so will take a bit of getting used to for newbies to the brand. They are however brilliant and pretty chip resistant so stick with it!

OPI comes in at the pricier end of the scale but it is a pro polish so you get pro results. Bottles usually come in at €12.99+ for 15mls of product. Stockists include McCabes Pharmacies, many salons and also a little mobile beautician known as Nail Candi by Suzi (shameless plug I'm afraid!).

The Images:

From left to right:

My Pointe Exactly - a beautiful sheer dove grey

Care to Danse - a bang on trend soft lilac

You Callin' me a Lyre? -  the palest of sheer pinks (much lighter in reality than image depicts)

Barre my Soul - a sheer nude colour

Don't Touch my Tutu! - a wispy white

Pirouette my Whistle - an OPI glitter classic with small and large silver glitter particles in clear polish

The Sceincey Bit:

I'm sure I've covered this in my previous party polish blog at Christmas last year but in 2007 OPI succumbed to public pressure and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and became 3 Free. That is they no longer use DBP (Dibutyl Phytate), Formaldehyde and Toulene. Basically for us as consumers its a healthier polish to use now!

The Conclusion:

Well what can I say - this is probably my favourite item of the many I've blogged about to date. I am a total ballet fanatic anyway so in fairness the names alone were enough to reel me in. Add in the imagery of NYC Ballerinas, and the colours that are so graceful, balletic and fashionable and I was sold. They are absolutely beautiful and I believe your real struggle will be deciding which ones not to buy!

Re-Gen Oil - Another Great Aldi Dupe!

Well as my regular followers probably know I'm a big fan of quality bargain products and Aldi has regularly come good in this area. It's latest beauty offering is called Re-Gen Oil and one look at the packaging and you can guess  what better known brand it's duping - Bio-Oil of course! Bio-Oil hit the global market in 2002 as a specialist skincare oil improving the appearance of stretch marks, scars, uneven skin tone and signs of aging. It is also ideal for dehydrated skin.

The Detail:

Well this came in the form of a "special buy" which means it's a one off special, while stocks last only. It was due to hit the stores on Thursday 10th May but I couldn't find it in my local Aldi yet today there was a reasonable sized pile of products so either they landed late across the board, or my local got it's stock late and the other stores I checked had sold out (my previous assumption when unable to find it). I realise it sounds a bit mad to assume something new to the shelves in Aldi would sell out but believe me their beauty goods do... in minutes! I was very fortunate to grab a solitary bottle of their Miracle Oil, a MoroccanOil Dupe (which I'm loving by the way) after visiting 3 stores in search for it by 11am on the day it was launched. Anyhow, I digress... my point there was to create a sense of urgency if you are interested... GO...NOW!! There was two options to choose from the subject of the review, Re-Gen Oil, 125mls for €4.99 and secondly the Re-Gen Cream, 125mls also for €4.99. That's a whole lot of product for relatively small spend. Comparatively Bio-Oil comes in at about €10.99 for a measly 60mls!

The Images: 

The packaging & product:

A press shot of Bio-Oil, the muse for Aldi's above Re-Gen Oil:

The Sciencey Bit:

Right well as I mentioned above I've only just picked up this product so haven't used it much at all so my real review is an ingredients based comparative one. Bio-Oil lists 30 ingredients whereas Re-Gen Oil has a lot less at only 17. I've listed below the different types of ingredients and comparisons:

1. Oils (Base/carrier oils)

Re-Gen Oil has 4 oils in total here, all found in Bio Oil also and mainly synthetic. None are desperately alarming but purists would probably not be happy with some of them (mineral oil aka Parafinnium Liquidium for example). Bio-Oil has 3 further natural oils and a chemical anti-oxidant also. In my opinion, (limited cosmetic ingredients knowledge allowing) only one of these additional ingredients is of any huge consequence and this is Bisabolol which is a naturally occurring anti-inflammatory. 

2. Botanicals (essential oils)

Both products contain the same 4 essential oils - Lavander, Rosemary, Chamomile and Calendula. 

3. Vitamins

Both products contain the same vitamin ingredients - Vitamin A great for regeneration and Vitamin E a powerful anti-oxidant.

4. Colour

Both products include a red colouring and Bio-Oil contains a further Violet colouring also.

5. Fragrance

This is where the two products really differ. Bio Oil has a total of 12 fragrance ingredients, 4 of which occur in Re-Gen Oil also and a whopping 7 of which are synthesized scents. Re-Gen Oil has 6 fragrance ingredients, the 2 which don't appear in Bio-Oil are, rather disappointingly, synthetic. 

The Conclusion:

As usual I find the ingredient lists of the products so intriguing. The key ingredients - botanicals and vitamins are identical and ironically these are the best bits about the products. Colours and Fragrances annoy me in products as in all honesty we'd probably be happier with less of each for a healthier and safer product. Bio Oil wins out in terms of carrier oils and this may be important as they may aid the absorption of the essential oils or botanicals as I have headed them above. In reality this may make it a better product, I am unsure and would need an aromatherapists opinion on this. However of the additional ingredients found in Bio-Oil 5 need to be listed ingredients due to their potential allergen affect. This worries me slightly in a product marketed with strong natural connotations.

As ever, I believe money doesn't always buy better products or ingredients. Bio-Oil is a world renowned, award winning product and I am not in any way knocking it. Some of it's ingredients raised my eyebrows sure, but then that happens when you analyze most product ingredients lists. I reckon Re-Gen Oil is a great cheap alternative. My plan is to pop a few drops in my bath as a skin conditioner, to use it as an intense treatment weekly and finally I am hopeful it will be a great solution to my recent bout of, as of yet, unexplained blemishes. Are you going to buy this? If so let me know your thoughts and plans for it....

*If using either oil during pregnancy I would recommend getting your doctor's approval first*

Lee Stafford - my hair "go to guy"

Now this title is somewhat misleading in that Lee and I, unfortunately, are not besties! In fact if he passed me on the street he wouldn't bat an eyelid unless I wasn't acting anywhere near as cool as I should do when meeting a sleb! Anyway, what I mean to say is that Lee Stafford's hair care range has long being a favourite of mine. So much so that I never even thought to blog about them because they have always just been there and are not a new product or indeed new range. However as I run low and need to head to Boots (Lee Stafford products are sold exclusively through Boots in the UK and Ireland.) to re-stock I realised that up to now this was my little secret and for the sake of hair everywhere I suppose I should share it!!

The Details:

One of the many things I love about Lee Stafford is he is a real business man, making it to the top through hard work and slog. He got his big break in 1997 when he won British Men's Hairdresser of the year and he's gone from strength to strength since. In 2001 he launched his hair care range, now called ThE PiNK RaNge (yes spelled all funny like that), and I remember getting my grubby little hands on some soon after for my 19th Birthday. My first and longest love was his Poker Straight Glistening Balm which was a pot of silver speckled hair smoothing balm which tamed my frizz and gave super sparkle...god bless me I went through pots of the stuff and when it was discontinued  I nearly lost all reason! However, today I am thankful for this as he replaced it with an entire Poker Straight range and the Shine Serum is clearly a better, more mature product than the glittery balm guise of it's predecessor! I also adore from this range his Poker Straight Treatment which comes (pictured below) in a giant tub, well 200mls, which lives perennially in my shower. I whack it on between shampooing and conditioning and when your hair dries (either naturally or by hairdrier) it hardly needs a straightener as its so sleek and shiny after this treatment. This comes in at apx €10 and I reckon is a bargain for the wonders it works.

Another staple in my bathroom is his Dry Shampoo and again I have been using this for years, long before people even knew about dry shampoos much less the market leading brand Batiste. I will admit I bought a batiste mini once to compare but unsurprisingly there was no comparison. I have continued to use Mr Stafford's ever since and with much delight last year they brought out shades also for mid brunette and dark hair. For anyone who has never used dry shampoo shame on you!! GO, grab a bottle now. It is amazing... you spray it on and its all grey & powdery (unless you use a coloured one) you rub it in with fingers or my preference, a dry towel and hey presto you have non greasy lovely locks for one more day. I use this to get an extra day from my salon blow dry, used it to train my hair out of ever other day shampoos, use it to shade greys when I'm overdue a colour touch up and finally i ALWAYS use it when styling my hair into an upstyle to give it extra hold and volume. As you are probably beginning to gather - it's entirely multifunctional and great! Coming in at apx €8 for 150mls.

The Images:

Poker Straight Treatment packaging (a little worn from living in my shower!):

Poker Straight Treatment - the actual product:

Dry Shampoo Dark:

The Sciencey Bit:

The poker straight treatment includes panthenol which is a provitamin of B5 and basically acts as a moisturizer. It frequently appears in shampoos and conditioners as it seals the hair by coating it and lubricating it making strands appear shiny. This treatment also contains hydrolysed silk extracts to prevent breakage and split ends. Finally it contains P2FiFTY COMPLEX which apparently contains vitamin E, a thermal protecting polymer and living desert extracts of olive leaf and cactus flower for extreme heat protection.

Dry shampoo is a powdered shampoo which acts without water. The powder absorbs excess sebum (hairs natural oil) and is then brushed out. Regular shampoo removes sebum, scalp particles, styling products, and dirt from the hair and is then washed away. Therefore dry shampoo, while not as effective at removing everything it does improve hair's look and feel between washes.

The Conclusion:

By the way I've raved about Lee and his lovely products so far I reckon you can guess what my conclusion is but humour me....

Lee Stafford products have long been a favourite and for good reason too. Since their launch 11 years ago he has modified and expanded the range bit by bit with each new addition being as high quality or even better than the rest. My favourite bit about ThE PiNK RaNge? well it has to be the smell... these products smell good enough to eat which makes slathering them all over your head very enjoyable indeed!  I could have blogged on so many more of his products but for brevity had to show restrain! Hold Tight Hair Spray, colour love shampoo & Conditioners the list goes on and on - I've yet to try one of his products I don't love.

Rarely Boots do a 3 for 2 on these but when they do get buying ladies... they are well worth it. In the meantime if you fancy dipping your toes in the water without splurging grab some of his mini's to see what works for you. More recently Lee has brought to market a new range called AgranOil from MoRocco which I have yet to try so if you go for any of these let me know what you think!!

 Finally while I researched for my blog I learned that only today Lee launched his range in America via Duane Reades in NYC... so now my blog seems all the more timely!

Ombré nails - love or hate them?!

Well the ombré trend is only growing stronger and stronger with more celebs donning ombré hair (which personally I'm loving). So while I am a fan of all things beautifully co-ordinated I struggle a little with the thoughts of multiple colours on my fingers...but in the name of research and for you my lovely readers I figured I should give it a try!

The Details:

Well the word ombré comes from french meaning shaded or shading. It's been borrowed by the fashion world to describe extreme bayalaged hair (with dark roots graduating lighter down the length of the hair), garments, lips (which are immense and every time I sport this look i get tonnes of compliments on them) and finally the seemingly least popular ombré trend - nails. So there are two ways to achieve the ombré trend on your fingertips and that's either with the graduation of colour on the individual nail or across all 5 fingers. The first option is the harder to achieve in my opinion so I went for the latter for all you at home diy-ers. (besides it just helps justify my every growing collection of polishes with varying shades of the same colour!!). I first tried it when I couldn't decide what colour top to wear on a night out but had to get my nails done hours earlier. I was toying with yellows and oranges for my outfit so figures if i did both on my nails I was free to choose either top! The second one was because I'm still undecided so thought something bolder may work..its really strange for me as I hardly ever wear blue polishes opting for the turquoise and pastel blue/green options but unsurprisingly I found many a blue in my polish collection so there you go!!

The Images:

The yellow/orange attempt:

Polishes Used from L-R (Pinkie to thumb!): Leighton Denny Brick Road, Catrice Bye, Bye Birdie!, Leighton Denny Bon Bon, Essence Marble Mania Peaches, Barry M Peach Melba.

The blue/green attempt:

Polishes Used from L-R (Pinkie to thumb!): Glo Baby Glo! (discontinued Penneys Brand) Electric Blue,  MUA Shade 9, Glo Baby Glo! Cyan, Bio Sculpture Turquoise Teacup, Catrice Am I blue or green?

The Sciencey Bit:

Well apparently there is quite a bit of psychology behind ombré. If you look at the beautiful animals designers take their inspiration from, cheetahs, leopards, zebras and peacocks for example, you will notice that all of these have shading and markings that draw our eyes to them. There is research that shows sexual selection is linked to these adornments in the animal kingdom so humans now are replicating these adornments in a contrived manner!!

The Conclusion:

Honestly?? I'm not convinced! I think they definitely achieve their goal of being eye catching and have a very definite pro of justifying my array of polishes in varieties of one shade. In reality however I reckon most normal, non obsessed people probably would not have 5 bottles of gradients of one polish shade and therefore can be costly to achieve. I'd recommend either buying some Catrice or Essence polishes to achieve the look without breaking the bank or some brands are now bringing out ombré packs so you don't have to do the work of shade matching. This would also help avoid another negative I found while wearing a multitude of polish brands - different nails had different wear/chip resistance with one poor brand ruining the entire look far to quickly.

Both sets above got lots of comments when I wore them but often it was someone telling me they liked one particular colour. I did however get an awful lot of compliments with people really loving the look. Personally I reckon nails look much prettier when they are all of uniform length and colour. Ombré is just too haphazard for me in this regard! I reckon the gradient on one nail only may be more to my liking... that way I'd still have 10 matching fingers! I would however LOVE to do the ombré hair look in brown to blonde... think its fab!

Getting your lines blurred?? Maybelline Gel Liner 24H reviewed...

When I was a teen I used to love those columns asking celebs the contents of their make-up bags and their one "could not live without" make-up product. For many many years mine was Dior's Waterproof Trinidad Black pencil eyeliner. However as I dipped my toes into the world of liquid and gel liners I now find my kohl is simply just not intense enough and am always on the hunt for the perfect gel liner...

The Detail:

The catwalks went crazy with gel eyeliner in A/W12 and so far S/S12 is showing no signs of it disappearing. This lead to every brand and her granny releasing their own version of gel liners and the good news for us is that this includes the more affordable high street brands. Maybelline's offering with a ridiculously long name, Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner 24H, comes in at a well priced €8.65 for a small pot (size not listed anywhere on the packaging as far as I can see but I reckon its about 3g). A bonus for some would be the inclusion of a brush for application but as ever with these freebie brushes I tend not to like them and opted to use one from my ever growing collection of make-up brushes! The jar itself reminds me a lot of Bobbi Brown's Ink which indicated a positive start!

The Images:

The packaging and product alongside it

The gel in jar and a swatch

An unwilling model - me with newly applied liner prior to any alcohol and dancing!!

... a few drinks and 8 hours later the liner is still looking well!

The Sciencey Bit:

Eyeliner is worn primarily to enhance the eye's natural shape and size or in many cases to change the apparent shape of the eye. The more intense the colour the greater the effect. Eyeliner actually originated in ancient Egypt where wearers used makeup to protect their skin from the sun. Eyeliner was believed to do this and also to protect eyes from a multitude of potential eye ailments. Wikipedia tells me that research also showed eyeliner, in particular, was worn to protect the wearer from the Evil Eye!! Technically speaking "kohl" is liner made in ancient times using ground lead sulphide. We continue to use this word in the modern day to describe black pencil liner but obviously lead is no longer an ingredient.

The Conclusion:

Well as mentioned above I started out as a kohl/pencil liner girl. My brief foray with liquid liner in my teens was pretty disastrous and while I have finally mastered the use of it now I still find the smallest tremor in your hand can lead to an absolute make up disaster. Liquid liner requires one smooth swoop to look its best where as gel can be built up and I reckon it is perfect for beginners and those with shaky hands looking for that more intense effect than pencil can provide. It's also great for achieving more dramatic liner looks.

So is Maybelline's Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Liner 24H worth trying if you fit any of the above catagories?? In my opinion most definitly! It's consistency is great - super creamy and not too wet like some of the other budget brands offerings. This means it goes on really smoothly and also dries in seconds becoming smudge proof and also preventing the need to keep your eyes closed for AGES after application in the hopes of avoiding murky brow bone smudges. Another major eyeliner issue I have is it slowly sliding it's way off my eyes and down my face as the night progresses!! As you can see from the above pictures while my powder clearly needed topping up my liner was still in place 8 hours later... I was incredibly impressed with this and for me it's sealed the deal! The final pro was it slid off easily with my cleanser not leaving me with my usual panda eye look the following morning.

Prior to trying Maybelline, I found all the good gel liners were over €25. While that may not seem like the highest price point the problem is you get a relatively small pot of product and even worse it dries out much before you get to the end of the jar (and believe me NO amount of Inglot's Duraline fully restores  BB's Ink or MAC's Black Track). I'm really impressed and reckon its the best dupe out there for BB's Long Wear Gel Liner shade Ink. My only disappointment is that Intense Black is currently the only shade Maybelline have on sale here. In the states they have an Aubergine one so fingers crossed they will extend this range in the coming months.  For me I reckon this one's a keeper cheap as chips and super long lasting!

Sod the rain... I brought some summer to my fingertips!!

Right well it's the 1st of May and everything feels just a bit dull and I'd almost go so far as to say grim!! The weather out there is like a wet November evening but there is no santa coming with sacks of presents in under 8 weeks time. Sadtimes.  This being the case I decided my nude coloured top with neon pink trim teamed with tailored trousers would brighten things up while conforming with "office attire". My nails were sporting a lovely nude colour anyway and I also have a great pair of slipper like quilted satin nude ballet pumps which suited my craving for comfort this morning.

HOWEVER... the bleak weather outside and a reasonably stressful morning resulted in my mind wandering to all things beauty and particularly nails (very common occurrence for me!) I decided I needed to funk them up a bit as the neutral nude talons were boring me rigid... So hunting in my makeup bag at lunchtime I found my neon pink polish I threw in the other day and gave my nails some french tips!! After quite a bit of nail doodling I decided to do an accent nail also on my ring finger - with hindsight  possibly killing the original "low key" bright and office smart aim of the project. Sod it... I liked the results and got a little grin from them with every email I typed for the rest of the day!!

The Details:

I used 2 polishes for this look, one from Essence and one from a brand I only stumbled upon last week called Flormar. 

1. Essence

Range: Nude Glam

Shade: 07 Café Olé

Size: 5mls

Cost: €1.29

Stores: Penneys, Dunnes Stores, McCabes Pharmacies and many other good pharmacies.

2. Flormar

Range: Super Neon Colors

Shade: N008

Size: 11mls

Cost: €2.49

Stores: Grabbed this at the till of an A|ware store in Dun Laoghaire last week. Further investigations show it to be a big brand on in Europe, www.flormar.com , having been founded in Milan in 1970.

The Images:

The 2 bottles of polish:

The result of my lunchtime mani efforts:

The Conclusion:

I've got to say I LOVE it. It's a little cheeky but I reckon without the accent nail that it is completely passable in most offices, granted maybe not for some customer facing companies. I love matching polishes to my outfits and really like how close the two colours are to my top. In fairness unless I can find another clean neutral outfit in my wardrobe it's probably coming off this evening but definitely added a bit of cheer to an otherwise dull day!

As a result you have probably gathered I'm not really reviewing the lasting power of these products or indeed even looking into any "science" behind the products. Just a bit of frivolous fun to enjoy. Let me know what you think ladies... would you get away with this? Would you even try? Love or Hate I want to hear it...