Review - Leciel nail polish

The past couple of weeks I have seen endless amounts of blogs on the new 'Models Own' polish for tans range. I will hold my hands up right now and say that I have not been a fan of the range ever since I set my eyes upon it. Not because of the quality, but just because of the colours. I am not a fan of having brightly coloured nails that always seem to distract the human eye away from an outfit to the nails. I believe nails should just compliment an outfit.

However, during the week I was going through my nail polish collection to give it a quick tidy up. This is when I came across one nail varnish that reminded me of this new Models Own range. This specific polish that I am talking about is from the 'Leciel' brand in the colour '305 Carrot' which I bought from a pharmacy in Cyprus for €7. I was not familiar with the Leciel brand which is why I decided to give it a try. There were so many colours to choose from, so I have no idea what possessed me to get this bright orange which I have not even worn since its purchase. So, I decided to give this colour a chance to see if the brightness would grow on me. Maybe I would change my mind and end up buying the Models Own collection.

Note: This picture does not show off its brightness :/ 

After one day of wearing this carrot coloured polish, I think my hatred for brightly coloured nails has grown even more. I applied the nail varnish at night, and then the next morning I woke up to get ready for work and just could not decide on an outfit that would make my nails seem more dull. They seemed to stand out against each colour I tried on, I just hated it. I suppose I could understand people wearing this nail polish in a sunny country, but in the UK I could only see myself wearing it to a rave....which is likely to never happen.

The brand of the varnish itself is horrible. It's very thin to apply, it took about three to four layers to get a coverage yet still managed to look pretty streaky, after a few hours of wear the coating had created cracks and chips even though I had not done anything to influence this damage, and after removing the polish it ended up leaving a yellow stain on my nails....nice! So, seeing that this range seems not to be sold widely in the UK (fortunately) I would just like to say that if you do see this range of nail polishes whilst on holiday abroad, don't bother wasting your money on it, especially for €7 a bottle.

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Review - Rimmel sweetie crush nail polish

These new sugary textured nail polishes are amazing! I first saw them on Dahlia Nails blog and thought they looked ideal for Easter, so I just had to go out to Superdrug and buy a couple for £3.99 each. The pink and blue colours that I have bought are called '009 Candyfloss Cutie' and '012 Blueberry Whizz', but there are three other colours in the collection which are yellow, purple, and green which all look just as juicy as the two I bought.

Both of these colours are easy to apply which is surprising seeing that they are a textured varnish, but you do need to apply about three layers of polish to get a good and even coverage on your nails. Luckily though, the polish itself is actually pretty quick at drying so you are not waiting around for ages for your nails to dry.

So sorry for the nastiness of the skin around my nails! 

The word to describe the texture of the polishes would be grainy. Wait, is that even a word? Basically, they just feel like you have just glued some grains of sugar or sand onto your nails but in a more pleasant way. The texture is also not overpowering so that the grains are not falling off during the day, or snagging tights like some textured polishes.

Even though I do love these varnishes, I cannot help but think that they look better having a different colour on each individual nail, just how it is shown on Dahlia Nails blog. I guess this just means that I have to go out and buy the other three colours :)

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Heal dry and peeling lips!

For as long as I can remember I have suffered from dry, chapped, and peeling lips. Everyday I would wake up to a new layer of dry and hard skin on my lips, and by the end of the day that new layer of skin would be peeled off by myself to reveal red, cut, sore, and inflamed lips. It was not attractive at all.

It became such an annoyance to my life that I ended up going to the doctor to see if anything could be done to help. Unfortunately, that doctor's visit was pointless. They mentioned how it was likely that I had a mild form of  'exfoliative cheilitis' which actually had no cure or any product to help, so I left the doctors surgery with nothing. Since this diagnosis I have googled the condition and I have to stress to you that I must have had a VERY mild form of it because some of the pictures I saw during my search were vile and much worse than what my lips looked like. But still, the condition did seem to outline my problems.

Since this diagnosis, I have tried and tested plenty of natural and chemical products to see if anything would help. And hallelujah, I think I have finally found my cure. I understand that this routine may not work for everyone, but I thought I better blog about the products I used just incase someone wants to try it out.

First off, this may be obvious to some but you must stop licking your lips. I found out when I started this search just how much I unconsciously licked my lips to make them more hydrated. But in fact, by licking your lips you are instead dehydrating them. To avoid myself from licking my lips I made sure to always carry my trusty ol' Vaseline lip balm around with me. If I ever felt the need to lick my lips, I would instead apply Vaseline. I have got to admit, this was surprisingly very hard for me to get use to during the first couple of days. But on day three, I became much more conscious of my lip licking and the use of Vaseline.

The second thing you must do, or should I say you must not do is to peel the dry skin on your lips. Do not touch them! By peeling the skin off is like picking off a scab..... you are not allowing your lips to heal. You may find that over a couple of days the skin will naturally fall off, but this is absolutely fine. I should also mention now that it would be best to start this routine during a period when you haven't got much planned, because having obvious dry skin hanging off your lips is not a great look.

The third and final thing I do is apply castor oil and Vaseline petroleum jelly onto my lips every night to create a lip mask that will help hydrate my lips throughout the night. Castor oil is basically just a vegetable oil that has been claimed to help hair growth, help skin infections, help acne, and help hydrate the skin. And this last point is exactly why I thought it would maybe work well for my lips. Each night I get a cotton bud and dip it into my castor oil bottle and then apply a generous amount to my lips. Fortunately, this oil is odour free, but sometimes you will get a taste of vegetables in your mouth if you accidentally digest a bit. After the oil has been on my lips for about ten minutes I will then add a bit of petroleum and massage it onto my lips with the amount of oil that remains on my lips. Try and do this just before you go to bed so that it hydrates through your sleep. Sometimes, I will even apply a small amount of castor oil onto my lips in the morning as it is a clear substance so it will look like you have just applied some clear lip gloss.

And there we have it, this is my routine to help heal peely lips. It took me about a week to actually start seeing some results, but do persevere because it is totally worth it. I now have smoother lips and I can now even wear matte lipstick for the first time in my life!

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Accessorize daisy handbags

These daisy handbags from Accessorize are so adorable. I don't normally go for pretty and girly looking accessories as my style seems to be quite plain with my wardrobe mainly consisting of block colours. But these handbags are drawing me in. I suppose this is somewhat understandable seeing that the pattern on these bags aren't overpowering. They are in fact, plain enough for my style to deal with.

Daisy patterned clothes and accessories seem to everywhere this summer, so one of these bags can be the perfect addition to any girl's wardrobe. They come in three different pastel colours: cream, turquoise, and yellow. Again, these colours are perfect for this time of year.

When I first saw this bag it actually reminded me of Marc Jacob's 'Daisy' perfume. You know the one I am on about, the cute bottle that is topped with three white plastic daisies. Well, this perfume is actually my scent of choice, I can't live without it. And I can't help but think that because of my love for this bottled perfume, this is one of the reasons why I am so attracted to this bag. Plus, how weirdly cute would it be to smell like daisies whilst wearing them.

I am currently trying to decide which one to buy..... at the moment I am thinking either the turquoise or cream. But which ever one I pick I believe they would both look perfect with a plain top and skirt.

Get the bag from here for £19!

x x

Review - Soap & Glory Glow All Out

I have always loved Soap & Glory's bath and skin range, but for some reason I never ventured into their make-up range. Well this was true until I went Boots last week and picked up a cute packaged illuminating powder called 'Glow all out'.

Although I absolutely love the packaging of all Soap & Glory products, I can't help but be a little bit disappointed at the fact that this powder is set within a cardboard compact rather than a sturdy plastic container. I can already see it being bashed, dented, and damaged in the future. And the fact that it only closes shut through the use of a magnet, I am scared to put it in my bag just incase it opens and let's powder escape everywhere.

The powder itself is amazing. I don't normally like products that have a shimmer/glitter ingredient but the shimmer within this powder is so minimal that it is not overpowering at all. It provides a natural and subtle glow to your cheeks, and it even makes my complexion look dewy and flawlessly smooth which I love.

It is the perfect product to finish any daytime makeup routine as it's so effortless. All you need is one swipe of the palette and one swipe on the cheek, repeat this for the second cheek and then you're good to go. Now that it is in my routine, I use it on my cheeks, nose, and occasionally along my neck and shoulders if I am in my summer clothing.

Sorry for the bad quality swatch - hopefully you can still see the difference

Now that I've seen just how good the quality of this product is, I definitely will not be shy to try more of the makeup range. And fortunately, it all looks to be well priced. This particular powder was only £11. But as I said before, I just wish the packaging was stronger.

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