Butter London Horse Power Strengthening polish | Review

After coming back from Bulgaria two months ago, my nails have never been so brittle! I've been needing to get something to help them strengthen up a bit for awhile now. A couple of weeks ago I got this one from Butter London, the Horse Power Nail Fertilizer. It was £15, maybe a lot for a polish but my nails were begging for it. And the other option I had was the OPI one and that's around £20. 

I've used it a fair few times now and I'm pretty happy with the results so far. Some of my nails definitely feel a lot stronger, others are still in a lot more need of some strength. 

You can use it as a base coat, top coat, both or even just on its own. 

I'm not using it the way its meant to be used, as you're meant to use it every day for 7 days and then remove and repeat that process for 4 more weeks. I'm going to get into the habit of using it more though, since its certainly doing something - so using it more will only reap more rewards for my poor wee nails. 

Hopefully soon my poor wee brittle nails will be strong and long soon. Anything you've tried that helps the strength of your nails? 

Rimmel Rita Ora Nail Polish | Rain Rain Go Away

Say hello to my new favourite nail polish! This stunning Rita Ora nail polish from Rimmel is just the shade I've been wanting, Rain Rain Go Away is the perfect pale grey purple shade, its the colour I've been looking for for ages!

Ever since I bought it I've had it on my nails. Two coats lasted me a very long time, it managed to last through two shifts at work without so much as a single chip. It was 5 days before I even reapplied my polish, and 7 days in total before it so much as chipped. 
For the tiny price £3.99 this colour is worth every penny and so much more for me! It lasts so well without the use of a top or base coat.  
What's your must have colour currently?

Small Boots Haul

I went and spent some Boots points the other day, so here is the results of my little spree. 
I really only went in with the idea of getting a pale coloured nail polish - preferably a grey one. I definitely didn't plan to get most of this. 

I noticed these new blushers from Collection that looked pretty cool so I decided to get one of them, if they are good then I'll be sure to get more. They claim to be mistake proof, and I suck so badly at blusher so we'll soon see if they live up to their claims. 

The only things I planned on getting were these nail polishes, the colours look so lovely on and I've decided the Rimmel Rita Ora one is my new favourite (its in the shade Rain Rain Go Away). Its just such a lovely pale grey purple shade. The Barry M one is in the shade Almond (I think...) 

Final two things now, both are contour kits - why I thought I needed two is beyond me. The first kit I saw was the Seventeen Define & Conquer Contour Kit and the other is the new Maybelline Mastersculpt kit in the shade light medium. Hopefully my pale skin doesn't look orange with these...

Have you bought anything new recently? 

Nails Inc Micropedi | Review

The other day I went into Boots and picked up their star gift - its that time of year again folks! The star gift was the Nails inc Micropedi set, it was originally meant to be something like £79.99 and was on deal for £29.99. How could I say no? It came with 3 nail polishes worth £33 on their own, and obviously the foot buffer. 
I wanted to try get this post up before the offer ended, but I was just too busy to write up a post before the deal ended. So sorry about that, but keep a look out on Boots for the new deals they have every week!

I've used this a few times since I got it and I'm actually really impressed with it, its sort of gross though watching the flakes of skin fall away. Ew. But despite that, it really does work! Your feet are left feeling softer and smoother than before. It takes next to no effort to use and takes no time to get soft toes. 

The nail polishes are really pretty as well, there's a really pretty gold that would be so perfect for Christmas, a red that I'm pretty sure I already have but its my favourite colour and a pink - this I'm not so fond of but it is pretty none the less. 

I'm so glad I picked this up, it was a total bargain and works a treat. 

  ★

Magazine Freebie | Marie Claire Ciate Caviar Nails

I'm not usually one to let folk know about the little freebies that come in magazines, but I thought I would share this one. Marie Claire is a magazine I usually don't buy but the little Ciate set that was being given away sold it for me.

The shop I went to didn't really have much in the way of choice, there was the red set and this purple one. That could be down to the fact that cheap so and so's stole the sets out of the magazines. But anyway, I'm really happy with the one I bought. The purple polish looks really lovely - the shade is called Pillow Fight, it is just such a lovely greyish purple. The balls that go with it are in the shade Sweet Dreams, and are a mix of light and dark purple shades. Since I've just got it I've not really had a chance to use it properly but I'll be doing a review soon hopefully on it.

New Favourite Nail Colour: Tanya Burr in Bright and Early

When Tanya Burr brought out her nail polishes, I'm not going to lie - I really wasn't interested. I didn't really think a "celebrity" nail polish would be any good - even if one of the most amazing women was the head of it. About a week ago though I was making an order on FeelUnique - and one of Tanya Burrs nail polishes found its way into my basket.
After looking online to see what the colours looked like on the fingers I decided to go for a colour that I normally wouldn't go for - Bright and Early. This colour is super pretty - completely not me, I'm much more a purples and blue kind of gal. But when I saw this on various blogs and such like I fell in love. I automatically thought it would be such a gorgeous spring/ summer colour, and its not been off my nails since it arrived.

I was actually really surprised at how good this nail polish was -  very few nail polished surprise me and make me fall in love with them. Dry time, opaqueness and wear time all factor into how I overall feel about a polish. This really gets two thumbs up in all categories. I find it dries reasonably quickly ( at least compared to other nail polishes I've got) so I've not had the dreaded smudged nails. The colour is pretty vibrant after just one coat - I do like it really vibrant though, so I put two coats on. Its just the most lovely bright (almost neon) pink. And best of all I find that it doesn't chip all that much. General colour fading at the tips, yes, but no proper chips. And that's without a top coat! Imagine how long it would last if I used a top coat?! I got a good week out of it before I felt my nails needed to be redone. So off came the colour, and on it went again. The weather recently has been crazy good (heres hoping that when this post goes live it still is lovely outside), and this colour and the sunshine really makes it feel like summers coming.

All in all I really do love this nail polish and I'm definitely going to be purchasing more from the line - Little Duck I've got my eye on you!

★

Possible Christmas Nails

Recently I've been thinking about different colours or designs and such like that I could use for Christmas Day nails. I don't have many nail polishes - or nail art things so I'm fairly limited when it comes to what I can do to my nails. I also suck at applying nail polish - it takes me quite a few applications to actually get a decent nail.

For this nail look - I used 3 different polishes. My mini OPI Nail Envy, China Glaze in White on White and a Barry M nail pant in Superdrug ( I think that's what it is called anyway).
I first applied the OPI Nail Envy polish - my nails are a little brittle and when I apply this my nails do strengthen up. Next I applied a couple of coats of the China Glaze White on White - I waited at least 5 minutes between coats to ensure that each coat was completely dry - I hate when it smudges. Bane of my life. Some nails did need a 3rd coat, as some weren't quite as opaque that I wanted.
The final step was a couple of coats of Barry M's Limited edition gold polish. 2 coats is fine, but 3 coats is better for a nicer finish. You will probably need a top coat since it is a little scratchy - the little gold flakes could also possibly flake away and fall off. That wouldn't be good if you were eating your dinner and little flakes fell in.

What are you going to be sporting on your nails this year?

★

Tiny Little Boots Haul | Bourjois

The other day I was on my way to work and in the rush I forgot to apply make-up, when I got to Boots (that's were I work) I decided to buy myself some foundation and a mascara - I needed a new one since the one I use just now is pretty rubbish.

After reading so much about Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation I decided to give it a go - I wasn't sure if it was the right thing for my skin type. But I bit the bullet and went for it anyway. I went for the healthy mix serum, I got it in the shade 51 - I think that is the lightest shade they sell. I've worn this a couple of times and so far I like it quite a lot. I think I'll do a review later on it.

I picked up a mascara from Bourjois as well since they were having a free gift with purchase over £15.The one I bought was the Volume Glamour Ultra Colour mascara. I've stuck to the same mascara for over a year so I was a little overwhelmed by all the options, this one looked pretty decent and I'm really glad I bought it! My left eye lashes never look very good compared to my right ones but this makes both sets of lashes look amazing - they look fanned out and thick. So pretty.

The gift was the Iconic Glam set - it contained: a full sized Effet 3D lipgloss, Volume Glamour Max Holidays Mascara, full sized So Laque Ultra Shine nail Enamel and a full sized smoky eyes trio. All of this is apparently worth £29, its such a good deal.
You also get inside the box a £2 off voucher for any mascara or eye shadow - so if I'm going out to buy another mascara or shadow I'll get a little off it.
The Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Holiday mascara has a big fluffy brush, it looks like it will be amazing to use and I can't wait to try it out. The Smoky shadow trio looks really lovely as well - the colours look really pretty but they aren't colours that I usually wear (I don't tend to go for a dark/black smoky eye).
The Effet 3D lipgloss is a lovely pink colour, its not sticky and it smells quite nice - I'm going to try wearing it some more - maybe making up the entire look?
The nail polish I haven't yet tried properly yet - it is a pretty pink - hot pink? - and has a really high gloss finish. The polish dries really quickly and you only need one coat to have a really good colour.

Have you tried any of these products? 

★

#TheWinterProject Week 1 | Favourite Winter Nail Polish

On twitter I noticed a couple of people talking about The Winter Project, I love series type posts so I jumped at the chance to take part in this. I quickly emailed Kellie about taking part, and now here I am getting waaaaay to excited to join in with this. Winter is definitely my favourite time of year, I love the cold weather and of course CHRISTMAS!! So every Tuesday at 6pm I will be posting the weeks topic from the Winter Project.
So I missed out last week, so both week one and week two will be going up within days of each other. This is for week one and I'll be talking about the nail polishes I love most for winter time. I love dark reds, purples and blues for winter time. I've yet to get myself a lovely blue for this year, but I think I'll find one soon. I love dark polishes all year round, they tend to look better on my nails than pastels and bright nail polishes do.

So first up is by Nails inc and it is in the colour Piccadilly Circus. I got this ages ago free in a magazine, its such a lovely deep dark pink/red colour.

Next up is by Rimmel and its in the shade Black Cherries. My bottle of this is starting to run out, so I'm going to have to go and get myself a new bottle. This is a really dark red/purple, that looks almost black in some lights. The polish is really thick so you could easily get away with only one coat. It lasts a good 5 days without chipping, I really love this colour!

My final favourite is one of Barry M's new matte colours. I have the colour crush and I love it so much already. It doesn't have the best lasting ability, but the colour is so cool and the finish is so lovely.

Hope you enjoyed this post. And I'll see you in the next one!

★

Barry M Matte Nail Paint

Barry M in my option are one of the best brands for nail polish. Their Gelly Shine ones are my favourite for formulation and lasting power so when I saw that they had brought out a collection of matte polishes I grabbed one straight away. These have been out for over a month though before I even noticed them in Boots. They only had a choice of 5 colours - I hope they bring out more. All bar one of the colours weren't something I usually went for, so I decided to just go with what I love and bought the red one in the colour Crush.
I love the matte finish, it looks so sleek and classy. When you first apply the nail polish, it looks really shiny but very quickly dries to a matte finish. I do find that I need two coats of this to get a really good solid colour.

I've worn the polish on both my toes and my finger nails, on my toes its lasted so well - not even a chip and I've had it on for over a week. On my finger nails though, well it doesn't last very well.
I applied it one night before I went to a club with my friends and when I woke up the next morning it was all chipped. I was a little disappointed by this, since I wasn't doing anything excessive. Holding cups and dancing like a loony toon. I think I'm going to need to find myself a good matte top coat, maybe that will help it last longer. Since having to reapply nail polish every day is a bit of a hassle and not really what your wanting.
All in all though, the nail polish is really nice and considering they only cost about £3.99 they are worth trying out.

Have you tried these, how did you get on with them?

★

Bourjois 1 Seconde nail polish - Figue Chic

I've had this nail polish for a couple of months now, and I can safely say it is possibly my favourite nail polish. Not just colour wise, as I have a Barry M gel one that is a very similar colour - I love this for the texture, lasting ability and the applicator. Why I don't own more of these is beyond me. And why it took me so long to buy my first one is also a mystery.
The brush is a huge plus point to these polishes, like seriously you only really need one swipe ( maybe two if your being really careful) and you've painted your whole nail. The brush, since its quite short - but very wide - holds the perfect amount of nail polish, no excess polish and no drips. Wonderful.
Colour wise for this, the colour after two coats looks basically the exact same as it does in the bottle. A dark, dusty purple.

Drying time is pretty quick, I wouldn't say that it dries in 1 second like it says on the bottle - but it does dry under a minute, which is pretty quick in comparison to some other brands. I love a nail polish that dries quickly, you can get on with what your wanting to do next, and y'know if you happen to need a pee, you can go without the fear of smudging your nails - it's happened to all of us at least once.
This nail polish is seriously long lasting, this gives a good five or six days before you start to notice chips. If you're like me, then you'll love not having to re-apply or touch up every other day. I'm not the type of girl who likes doing their nails, I like how it looks afterwards but I just can't be bothered painting and waiting for it to dry.

Have you tried these nail polishes? What are your favourites? 

★

Essie Jamaica Me Crazy Polish

I love nail polish - despite being absolutely terrible at it. And I thought I would invest in an Essie nail polish, I found the colour Jamaica Me Crazy and fell in love with it immediately. I don't have a colour like it in my collection and hadn't seen one like it before.

"Jamaica Me Crazy" is a beautiful dark pink, almost purple, colour with a little bit of shimmer running through it. Or at least that's how I see it. The colour is VERY pigmented, I think you could maybe go with just one coat on your nails. If you want an even brighter more beautiful colour then two coats  is right for you.

Apologies for the terrible quality, my camera was not being co-operative. 

This is such a pretty polish that you could pull off any time of day. This will be so pretty in Autumn and Winter, getting excited for the colder weather already. 

Do you have any Essie nail polishes, if so what's your favourite? 

★

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Polish

I've been quite slow onto the band waggon for these nail polishes. But now that I'm on it I never want to get back off.
I love the colours that are available and the formula is amazing. I couldn't ask for a better nail polish.

They last forever and the colours are so lovely. 

 I only have two of the colours at the moment, but I'm definitely going to strive to get all of them. I have The colours Pomegranate, which is a lovely deep pink colour, and Prickly Pear, which is a beautiful pale purple. The colour comes out really bright and you only really need one coat, I usually put on two coats just so the colour looks even better.

 The polish lasts ages on the nails and doesn't chip easily. This nail polish has lots and lots of plus sides to it and to add to it, they are highly affordable. At £3.99 they are a total bargain!

I'm going to make it my mission for the summer to buy all of the shades, hopefully they will bring out even more colours!

 ★