Tuesday 31 May 2011

Christmas time Metallic Red

Another polish sent from Nicole from Noir Lacquer is a gorgeous red from Santee and it is simply called Metallic Red.







I love everything about this polish which comes as a bit of a surprise because I don't normally wear red polishes. This polish applied so well, one coat would have been fine, but out of habit I applied two coats. It went on so smoothly and I just love the hints of silver running through it. It really reminds me of Christmas, it is such a festive, jolly polish. 




Sunday 29 May 2011

Why do they discontinue great products?

Why is it when you find a great product after many trial and errors then the company decides to discontinue it?! 


For starters is my absolute favorite facial moisturiser, Biore's Shine Control moisturiser. I have been faithful to this product for years. It was just amazing, it absorbed quickly into my skin and gave a wonderful matt finish. It stopped my face from becoming shiny throughout the day and it was a total bargain at under a fiver. So for the last few months I have searched high and low for another bottle, but could I find one, no!





So I contacted the team at Biore to ask where I could get hold of the product (it is still listed on their website) and this is the reply I got:


Dear Nicole

Thank you for contacting us!

The product you have contacted us about has been discontinued. We have no remaining stock and at this time we do not have a replacement. 

Our company's goal is to provide consumers with a variety of products to meet their needs and preferences. Consumer demand is a major factor, and when the level of demand is insufficient, stores are not likely to carry the product so we usually have to channel our activities to products that can still be provided to you on an ongoing basis.

We do regret taking away one of your favorite products and we hope you will continue to turn to our company for your personal care needs. 

If you have any queries about our products, please do not hesitate to contact us Monday-Friday, 9.00am-6.00pm. Tel: 0800 652 1496.

Yours Sincerely,

Hayley Stokes

Biore Consumer Relations UK



I had this reply the next day which I was impressed with, I didn't expect a response so fast. I am upset they have got rid of a good product without having something else similar to replace it. Oh well, the search continues.


Next up is my all time fav bubble bar from Lush, Flosty Gritter.




It is a bright pink glittery bubble bar, I always break it up in quarters to get at least four uses out of it. I like my products to go a long way!


It smells divine, with hints of sweetness and lavender, it is very soothing and comforting smell. The bubbles it makes even with a small amount of product is impressive too (it also turns the water pink) 
From what I can see, many people loved this bubble bar, so God knows why they have discontinued it. I did contact Lush asking why, I did not receive a response.


What products have been discontinued which you love?


Also on a final note, does anyone remember this chocolate bar?





Friday 27 May 2011

Play that Vinyl Record in Cyberspace

I am so excited to try out one of the (many) Milani 3D Holographic nail polishes from Nicole. I have done a mani using Cyberspace on all my nails apart from the middle finger which I painted Vinyl Record from LA Girls.


Lovely shiny holo goodness! The polish applied really well, this is a more scattered holo effect.





I then applied the rose design from Konad plate M65 and stamped with Konad special polish in black.

I applied China Glaze non chip top coat over the design but it did smear it a little which is annoying.





Wednesday 25 May 2011

Neon lights

I haven't done any bright eye make up looks recently, so today I quite fancied playing around with bright colours. This is what I ended up with.



I used my Maxfactor smokey eye effects (the silver end) as a base, then I used pink, orange and yellow from the Sleek acid i-divine palette. Next using Urban Decay liquid eyeliner in Radium and Urban Decay glitter eye liner in Stagedive I lined the top lash line with alternating dots.
To finish I applied Maybelline False lash Effect mascara.







I miss using bright colours, I must not leave it so long to play with bold looks next time.

Monday 23 May 2011

Holographic dreams

Another polish from Nicole is Worth The Risque from Color Club, a gorgeous silver holo. I haven't tried Color Club until now and I am really thrilled with it. 

The polish applies like an absolute dream, smooth, non streaky and a lot easier than the Gosh holo. This polish didn't have that annoying balding that the Gosh seems to have and this one was good to go in two coats.



The holo in real life is amazing, not as vibrant as the Gosh holo and these pictures don't do this polish justice at all. Infact I had a really hard time trying to capture the affect, does anyone have any tips for photographing these types of varnish?





Saturday 21 May 2011

Yellow and pink fishnets

Hope everyone is having a good weekend? At the moment I am down in Falmouth, Cornwall with my mum, i will do another post about the trip when I return. Here is a mani I did recently, yellow and pink fishnets.



I started off with a white base then painted two coats of Star Gazer in neon yellow over half my nail, then neon pink over the other half. After having waited for the coats to dry I stamped the fishnet design from Konad plate M57 with Konad's special polish in black.




I wish I had used tape to make a more accurate division, there is more pink than there is yellow, I will definitely try this next time to make the two colors even.

Thursday 19 May 2011

The girl is awesome

So after my first swap with the fab Nicole at Noir Lacquer I have to admit I am rather hooked with swapping! Nicole loved the polishes I sent to her a couple of months ago and so we agreed to so another swap. Last time my parcel to her took a while to reach her in America, I got really worried it had got lost or something, but it turned up almost a month after I posted it. I really hope this parcel doesn't take too long.

My parcel from Nicole was posted today and I am so so excited! I am so thrilled with what she has picked out for me. One things for sure, I can't wait for the sun to start shining, she sent me lots of holographics which are just lush.


When I first opened the package I was greeted by a letter written on Hello Kitty paper and some sweet treats.
Now onto the polishes, here is the line up:



Amazing! Here is a closer look at each of them.

Milani 3D Holographic in Hi-Res, Cyberspace, Digital and Hi-Tech. I have been eyeing these up for ages but couldn't find anywhere in the UK that sells them. Thank you Nicole for picking these up, I can't wait to try them out. They look so amazing in the bottle.


Next up is Nicole by OPI in Iceberg Lotus, Santee in Metallic Red and Sally Henson Xtream Wear in In The Spotlight. 

Next up we have three polishes from Color Club, these are so gorgeous! The deep purple is Wild at Heart, the next is a stunning silver holo called Worth The Risque, then the black polish with silver running through is called Revvvolution. Gawd I love these! 


Next up is is a gorgeous purple and blue glitter by Sinful called Frenzy, Let Me Go another polish by Sinful which is a lilac duochrome with gold and green hints. Then a polish my elf which is quite simply called Lilac. 



Then finally we have a wet n wild polish called Red Red, then an LA Girl polish in Vinyl Record which is just my kind of blue. Then we have Nabi in Teal which has a subtle sheen which is more obvious in real life. Finally we have Rose Pink from Sephora.

A massive thank you to Nicole for sending me all these incredible polishes. She has been really generous and I can't wait to see what she thinks of the varnishes I sent her.

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Bubble White fail


My nails were starting to become a little stained so I bought the Bubble White nail brightener/ cleaner. I had heard some good things about this nail soak and thought I would give it a try.

My nails before using the soak:


My nails after the soak:



I don't know what your guys think, but I don't really see much of a difference? or maybe I am being too critical and expecting too much.

I poured the powered contents of the packet into a medium sized bowl and filled the bowl a little way with warm water. The powdered fizzed up and turned the water cloudy, this soon settled. I soaked my nails for 5 minutes like the instructions stated.






The product made the water slightly oily which I liked, when I took my hands out of the water and dried them, my cuticles did feel softer. I am not so convinced it actually did anything to brighten the orangey staining though. I took a nail brush after the 5 minute soak to remove any  grimy bits.

I got the packet from my local Sallys for a couple of pounds so I am not too upset that the product didn't make much of a difference. Has anyone else used this? If so how did you find it? Is there another brightening/ whitening product you would recommend?