Shopping My Stash [Empties]

 

I'm sure that just like me you all have a bunch of products which kind of just sit there waiting to be used right? I'm a self confessed lip balm junkie and over the past year or so I have made little collections of these things. In particular I seemed to have more lotions and lip balms than anything else, so I set a task for myself recently to use up some of my products before allowing myself to buy anything new.  

Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter / I cheated a bit here, I've included this even though I didn't finish it. The more I used this product, the more I realised I just wasn't a fan of it (way too oily for my liking) and I really don't like how it smells. It had been sitting in my stash for so long it had turned a really pale yellow colour and so I decided to just get rid of it.

S&G No Clogs Allowed Face Mask / This is a self-heating face mask from Soap and Glory which I wasn't too crazy about either. I didn't see any improvements in my skin after using it and so I won't be repurchasing.

Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue lotion / This is the hand lotion that corresponds to their Light Blue perfume and I absolutely love the smell as well as the way this lotion sinks into your skin. I did notice towards the end of the tube though that is has plenty of parabens listed in the ingredients, so as much as I love it, I'm not in any hurry to get another one (I'm slowly trying to cut down on the amount of products I use that contain parabens).

Caudalie lip balms / Whenever I visit France, I always pick up one of these lip balms because I just love them. They're under 4 euros each but feel like the most luxurious balm I have ever used. Although I'm trying to cut down my collection, I already have two more of these sitting in their place ;)

You can read more on what I think about Lemony Flutter, No Clogs Allowed and the Caudalie lip balms by clicking the links.

What are the types of products that you seem to collect or need to whittle down?

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Summer Brights - Polish Picks

Summer is finally here and I've been digging around in my nail polish collection to sort out my more brighter shades to wear now that the sun is finally shining and over the course of the summer months..

Sally Hansen Caribbean Coral - I'm not the biggest wearer of coral nail colours but this one leans more on the red side and the slight shimmer, although harder to see on the nail than in the bottle, just give it that extra something for me.

Sally Hansen Bubblegum Pink - I'm a sucka for blue-toned pinks and Bubblegum Pink is just that with a subtle silver shimmer to it.

I love the Xtreme Wear line from Sally Hansen, the brushes are longer than most polish brushes which makes for an easy application, they apply nice and smoothly and I find that these are some of the most chip resistant polishes that own. 

OPI Bright Lights Big Colour - One of my all time favourite polish colours and perfect for summer! It has a pretty golden shimmer to it which translates well on the nails

Maybelline MNY 261 - This is the darkest of the shades I've chosen to include but I think the strong blue tone in this one makes it that little more bright and summery!

Barry M Blueberry - As you can see, this one dries a teeny bit streaky which is a shame and unusual for Barry M who are usually always pretty good but for me, the gorgeous blue colour makes up for it and I can forgive the odd streak

Primark (no name) - Trust me when I say that the picture does not do this polish any justice in terms of how bright it is - my camera just couldn't seem to handle the brightness of it and this was the best I could do. If you're looking for a neon pink then this will be it and although it doesn't have a name, if you go looking for this polish in Primark you will be able to spot exactly which one it is. The brush is unfortunately wonky which makes it a pain to apply but for just £1 and for the amazing colour that this is, I'm not going to complain too much.. This is definitely going to be my go to shade for summer!

What colours will you be wearing through the summer? I'd love to know!

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NOTD: Barry M - Birthday Superdrug

Hey guys! Well I'm sure you have heard that it is Superdrug's 50th birthday and to celebrate Barry M have joined up with them and created this new polish.

I first saw pictures of this polish a couple of weeks ago and to be honest, I wasn't very keen on it but I decided I would still pick it up in order to not face disappointment later wishing that I had since it's a special edition. On first application (last night) I still wasn't very impressed - it applied pretty sheer and the glitters/sequins were a pain to get even on my nail but once I had applied the second coat, it all started to come together. The glitters were more evenly spaced and it didn't look at all sheer. Then in the daylight today, I noticed what a pretty deep pink colour the base colour is and that the polishe catches the light beautifully. I just constantly kept looking down at my nails all day!

So I've come to the conclusion that this is one of those polishes that just doesn't photograph very well and that you need to see for yourself on your own nails to see how pretty it really is. I'm glad I decided to pick this up and it was only £2.99!

Have you/will you be grabbing yourself a bottle of this polish too?

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Nails Of The Week

Hey lovelies, I snapped some picture of the nail polishes I have been wearing lately and thought I would put together another #NOTW (nails of the week) post! 

First up this week was Cajun Shrimp from OPI which is an orange-y red colour. I'm really not a fan of coral nail polishes but Cajun Shrimp leans more on the red side although it's definitely not a straight up red!

Next up was Utopia by Models Own, which I don't think really goes well with my skin tone but is a lilac/nude colour and pretty none the less!

I then borrowed Embarca-Dare Ya by OPI from my mum, an maroon/gold duochrome polish. This one was tricky to get a picture of which showed the true colour of the polish. You can see from the picture at the top that it looks slightly darker than this picture, which I would say is more true to life.

Finally, I wore Fuchsia by Barry M which was another polish which was incredibly hard to get a true picture of. Fuchsia is slightly darker than the picture shows both in the bottle and on the nail.

What have you been wearing on your nails recently?

Earlier posts:

- November NOTW

- Barry M + Sally Hansen NOTD

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NOTD: Barry M Mushroom / Sally Hansen Time To Shine

Lately I have been a bit (more than a bit) obsessed with Instagram and in particular looking at the #NOTD tag on there and from doing so I noticed all the different ways girls are painting their nails now. Instead of just an accent nail painted a different colour which has been a trend as of late, I noticed girls painting two 'accent' nails or even including their thumb nail into the mix aswell and decided I wanted to try that out myself. 

L-R: Barry M in Mushroom and Sally Hansen in Time To Shine

I realise my thumb is out of the picture but I chose to stick to just two nails in a different colour and painted my thumb nail in Mushroom too. I'm not really sure how much I like this combo and as you can see from the picture Mushroom dries a lot darker on the nail than what it appears in the bottle (pictured is after I applied two coats) which I always find a bit disappointing. On a more positive note though, three days into wearing these neither of them have really chipped. 

I absolutely love all the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polish I've tried and wish they were easier to get hold of in the UK!

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Nails Of The Week #NOTW

Hey guys! I'm doing something a little different today and instead of a NOTD post showing you the single nail polish I'm wearing, I thought I would share with you the polishes that wore over the course of the week!

First is Essie's 'Miss Fancy Pants' which as you can see is a grey/taupe colour. I love the Essie polishes that come with the wider brush because they make applying the polish so much easier and neater (I find). I'm not sure how in love I am with the colour of this one though, I don't really find myself looking down at my nails an loving it whenever I have it on. 

Then was 'Lychee' from the Barry M Hi-Shine Gelly collection. I don't know about you but I find milky/pastel colours like this hard and streaky to apply and usually don't like how they look around the edges of the fingernail but overall I thought this one dried pretty smoothly. I'm not sure how shiny I would say this is though, definitely no more shiny than any of my other polishes.

Then was 'Jamaica Me Crazy' by Essie. I really like this polish (not sure I can say the picture does it much justice). It's a deep magenta/purple colour with a pretty shimmer running through it. Click here for another look at this polish.

Finally is OPI's 'Tickle My France-y' which is a new polish in my collection but one I can already tell is going to be one of my go to colours which I reach for when I want something on my nails but can't decide what. As you can tell from the picture it dries darker on the nail (I have two coats on) than it looks in the bottle, I kind of wish it didn't and stayed more true to the colour you see but I still really like it either way.

Seems like I had a thing for nudes this time around but what have you been wearing this week?

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Barry M Matte Nail Polish

Hey everyone, Happy Halloween! I remember a while back a few companies (I have Rimmel in particular in mind) were selling matte top coats which when put over any nail colour, gave it a matte finish. While I was read a blog recently, I read that Barry M have come out with a line of actual matte polishes and I was eager to get my hands on some and try them and for some reason (not sure what exactly) I thought they fit well with Halloween and so comes this blog post!

L-R: Vanilla, Crush & Espresso

I actually found these pretty hard to find, wherever I was at the time seemed to be sold out of all the colours except a darkish tan/nude colour which I wasn't too keen on. I finally found these last week in Superdrug and since they were on a 3 for 2 offer I decided to try three of them. 

I wasn't sure how I would like these, especially after hearing people weren't so keen on the matter top coats but I was pleasantly surprised. I tried 'Crush' first and while I'm undecided on exactly how matte the finish is, it definitely isn't your typical polish finish. I also found this dried a lot quicker than my normal polishes. I'm excited to try the other two colours which I'm sure will pop up on the blog in NOTD posts soon!

Have you tried the matte polishes?

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NOTD: Barry M - Lilac foil

I mentioned in a previous post that I'm not really a fan of metallic polishes but I have a bit of a soft spot for Lilac foil because of the colour. It's a still a bit streaky, like I find with most metallic polishes, but the silver micro-shimmer in this one from far away makes it look like a pale icy lilac colour which I think is really pretty and perfect for these cold winter months!

Do you like metallic polishes, which are your favouites??

September 2012 favourites

I'm sorry about the light/quality of this picture!

I didn't really have many favourites during the month of September but the few things that did stand out to me  I really enjoyed (and still am!)

Essie's Ride Filler base / St Ives apricot facial scrub / Balance Me's citrus and spice hand and body lotion / Barry M's raspberry nail paint / Bath and Body Works' body spray in country chic

I will be doing more in depth reviews of some of these products soon!
What were your favourite things during September?

NOTD: Essie 'Mint candy apple'

Essie's 'Mint candy apple' is a pastel green colour which is perfect for summer and would look perfect with tanned skin. This polish isn't streaky which I thought it could be since it's a pastel colour and I was impressed with the longevity of it. In the picture I'm wearing two coats with Barry M's clear polish over the top.
If you would like to buy Essie online, you can do so here at Boots.com.

Do you own Mint candy apple?

Blue nail polish!

NYC - Water Street Blue £1.79 

Barry M - Cyan Blue £2.99

Models Own - Indian Ocean £5.00

I have never really been a big fan of blue nail polish (except for the odd dark navy blue colour here and there) but I recently saw someone wearing Butter London's 'Slapper' and absolutely loved the way the bright, vibrant turquoise blue looked on their nails. So, I decided to creep out of my comfort zone and pick some blue polish up for myself. After doing a little bit of research, I decided the best high street dupe I could get for 'Slapper' would be Barry M's 'Pure Turquoise' which I thought I had picked up but - and this will teach me in future to actually look at the names of the products I pick up before buying them - I ended up with 'Cyan blue' which, as you can see from the picture, is still a pretty bright colour.

I purchased all three of these polishes from either Superdrug or Boots.


What are you favourite blue polishes for summer?

NOTD: Barry M 'Peach Melba'

I wasn't too sure how much I liked Peach Melba when I first applied it but after having worn it for a couple of days I started to really like the pretty pastel peach colour and think it would look especially good with a tan. You need at least two coats to get an opaque finish which is what is what I have on in the picture.

Have you worn this colour?