Which is best? Comparing Cuticle Treatments

Hey everyone! Today I have another 'Which is best?' post for you, this time on cuticle care. Sorry this is a day late but I didn't get home until nearly midnight last night and I just wasn't up to posting. I will be comparing Beauty Secrets Cuticle Oil, OPI Avoplex Cuticle Oil, Burts Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, Jessica Nourish Cuticle Formula*, and LUSH Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter

Comparison No. 1 - Smell: 

(1 being strongest 10 being the least)

1. OPI Avoplex - 8/10 smells really nice and not that strong
2. Beauty Secrets - 8/10 smells quite nutty, but faint and it's really nice
3. Burts Bees - 6/10 Lemony, but more pure lemon than lemony flutter and not quite as strong
4. Lemony Flutter - 5/10 Strong and lemony (obviously) but it's really nice
5. Jessica - 2/10 strong and 'grannyish' (only way to describe it) very perfumed

Comparison No. 2 - Greasiness:  

(1 being very greasy and 10 being not very) - Of course they're going to be greasy as they are there for moisture, but sometimes it's a bit too much

1. Burts Bees - 8/10 you don't need much and it's not too greasy, it doesn't leave a feeling of greasiness like lemony flutter/Jessica do
2. OPI Avoplex - 6/10 very greasy because it's an oil but it sinks in very quickly
3. Jessica - 4/10 probably as greasy as lemony flutter if you use too much, but a little goes a long way so it's not as greasy if you use barely any
4. Lemony Flutter - 2/10 very greasy because of how soft it is, even if you just use a little bit
5. Beauty Secrets - 1/10 as it's an oil its very very greasy, and you do have to wipe it with a tissue

Comparison No. 3 - Does it work:

• Lemony Flutter - Yep, and whilst the grease does put me off as I can't do things whilst it's on, it's definitely worth having
• Jessica - Yep, after about a weeks use you will definitely notice a difference, and a little goes a long way
• OPI Avoplex - Yes, it soaks in to the skin and really moisturises as a result
• Beauty Secrets - Not really, it's just permanently greasy until you wash it off and I really wish I'd never bought it
• Burts Bees - Yep, there's a reason that it's a favourite of the bloggers!

Overall thoughts

1. OPI Avoplex - works well and is easy to apply, and doesn't smell too strong
2. Jessica - it works and a little definitely goes a long way so the size of the tube should definitely not bother you, although the smell is a bit offputting for me
3. Burts Bees - As I said before, there's definitely a reason that this is a favourite with bloggers, I haven't been using it enough to see whether it truly works for me, but I used to use it a lot during my high school years and I love it then, the smell isn't too strong and it isn't too greasy
4. Lemony Flutter - I love it when I'm not in a rush, it's great to apply before bed, but I find it's not very practical if I'm just about to type a blogpost for example as it stays quite greasy for a while, but it definitely works
5. Beauty Secrets - I dont like it and I wish I hadn't bought it, the only nice thing about it is the smell but it's way too greasy for me

Of course, different things work for different people, so I'd love to know what your favourite is. Let me know in the comments!

Alice

*some of the products in this post were provided to me for review but my opinions are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way

Guest post for The Nailasaurus (!!)

Hey everyone, today I've done a guest post for The Nailasaurus so I wont write much as you can see it all here. I still can't believe that I've written a guest post for such an brilliant nail blog, it's such an amazing opportunity!

If you like the look of the black glitter you can get it here at feelunique.com for just £6.80, and they have free worldwide delivery!

More pictures over on Sammy's blog

I hope you like it!

Alice

Layla Polishes Review/Swatches

Hey everyone! Today I have a selection of Layla polishes from Look Fantastic and Sally Magpies to show you, there's another holo polish, a mirror effect polish, some ceramic effect polishes and a soft touch effect polish (which I think is my new all-time favourite polish). I hope you like it! Full review will be after the jump

Brown Hearts

Hey everyone! Today's post was just an experiment I did ages ago with some nail art pens, and not a very successful one, so I've been debating whether or not to post it. However, I'm having a few issues with some of my other posts and until they're resolved this is all I have, so enjoy. 

This is on a base of Models Own - Nude Beige, and I used Supreme nail art pens for the design, topped off with a coat of Seche Vite

What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Alice

Which is best? Comparing Base Coats

Hey everyone! Today I'm back with another 'which is best?' post, this time on base coats. I will be comparing Orly - Bonder, Zoya - Get Even*, Barbara Daly - Goodbye Yellow, OPI - Matte Nail Envy, and Dior - Long Lasting Base Coat. I've had a few comments asking why I chose the things I chose to compare, it was either because they were there, because they were provided for review or because they're what I love to use. Before I start I just want to say that I only use one coat of base coat, and this is what these comparisons are based off, I read somewhere the other day that sometimes people use up to 4 coats and I don't know what is the usual amount but I always just use the one. 

Comparison No. 1 - Smoothness: 

1. OPI - 10/10, may just be because it's matte but definitely feels smoothest
2. Dior - 9/10, smooth and shiny 
3. Orly - 8/10, feels quite sticky (in order to bond). but definitely dry and smooth
4. Barbara Daly - 8/10, smooth but picks up any bumps in the nail (although 2 coats of it sorts this out)
5. Zoya - 3/10 doesn't really do what it claims to do, feels very sandy. My little finger was the least smooth nail and continued to feel that way

Comparison No. 2 - Drying Speed:

They all dried at pretty much the exact same speed so there's not much comparison there

Comparison No. 3 - Does it do what it says?

1. OPI - 10/10 yep definitely, my nails were very brittle from years of biting and this did wonders for my nails, they're now really strong
2. Orly - 10/10, definitely good at 'bonding', it's impossible to peel designs off when using this (something I have a bad habit of doing) and it definitely doesn't chip, I love this base coat just as much as OPI - Nail Envy, which is saying something
3. Dior - 9/10, just claims to be a base coat so it definitely is that, it's also long-lasting which it claims to be, although not as much as the Orly
4. Barbara Daly - 8/10 - i've never used it for a prolonged period of time so I don't know if it does end up whitening the nail, but it does give the immediate appearance of white nails when it's on, so as a base coat it would be good for negative space nails if you usually have quite white nails
5. Zoya - 2/10 nope, doesn't even out, in fact makes it more bumpy if anything (quite a rough texture)

Comparison No. 4 - Overall thoughts:

1. OPI - 10/10 lasts forever, I've been using this for over a year about 60% of the time and it's barely made a dint in it as you can see. It's also a brilliant base coat and does what it says
2. Orly - 10/10 great base coat, does what it says, dries quickly and is very smooth, also seems to last forever, it may look unused but i've used this a good 20-30 times
3. Barbara Daly - 8/10, never had any problems with it but haven't used it for long enough to determine whether it permanently makes the nails white, definitely does a good job at making them appear so
4. Dior - 9/10 does what it says and dries quick and very smooth, if it wasn't for the price I'm sure this would be an incredibly popular base coat 
5. Zoya - 2/10 dries white so wouldn't be good for a base for negative space nails, dries quick, but aside from that isn't really that great, doesn't do what it says and is quite annoying to use (pretty thick)

Holographic Geometric

Hey everyone! Today's post is my first ever holographic polish, and I absolutely love it. I intended to post these a week ago for Digital Dozen Does Tape Manis, which I completely forgot about and therefore missed. But I promised the lovely ladies that I would do a post, and so I did, I just put off writing it for a week. 

The holographic polish is Layla - Red Taboo*, from the wonderful Sally Magpie's, the blue is Barry M - Blueberry and the green is Barry M - Key Lime, all topped off with a coat of Seche Vite*

Here are some pictures of Red Taboo alone:

These lightbox pictures really don't do this polish justice. It's AMAZING, and I definitely feel I've been missing out on the holo front. 

What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

If you haven't already I'd love it if you could vote for me for 'best new beauty blog' in the Cosmopolitan blog awards 2013, you can do so here

Alice

*Some of the products in this post were provided to me for review but all opinions are entirely my own

Models Own Fruit Pastel Collection Swatches and Review

Hey everyone! Today I have a quick review of the recently released Models Own Fruit Pastel Collection. I know you've probably seen these around already but for those who haven't this is a collection of scented pastels based around food, and I absolutely love them! The rest of the review will be after the jump because it's going to be a pretty long post if not.

Which is best? Comparing Hand Creams

Hey everyone! Today I'm back with part 2 of my new 'which is best?' series. Thank you all for the amazing response to last week's post, I didn't expect it to be quite so successful! I hope you will be equally as happy with this weeks comparison of hand creams. I will be comparing Crabtree and Evelyn Jojoba Oil Moisturising Hand and Cuticle Cream*, Avon Care Glycerine Hand and Nail Rich Moisture Hand Cream, Neutrogena Unscented Concentrated Hand Cream, Clinique Deep Comfort Hand and Nail Cream*, Bliss High Intensity Hand Cream*

Many of you may be wondering why I chose to do a hand cream comparison post, but it must be remembered that hand and nail care are at least 50% of having a good blog, and hand creams are a must

Before I start I just wanted to announce that the giveaway winner Brady was chosen and was contacted, I didn't announce it publicly because I didn't feel the need to but I've had quite a few emails asking me about it, so there you go! Please dont feel disheartened as I'm sure that there are plenty more giveaways to come, and I hope you will all continue to enjoy my blog

Comparison No. 1: Drying/Absorbing Time (After 5 minutes)

1. Avon (9/10) - takes just a few minutes, if that, to absorb into your skin, and doesn't leave a greasy residue
2. Crabtree and Evelyn 9/10 - dries quickly, pretty much the same as the Avon one does
3. Neutrogena 8/10 - pretty quick at drying
4. Bliss 6/10 - takes quite a bit of time to dry (although not too long) but once it does it feels great
5. Clinque 4/10 - struggles to dry, which is really annoying because I tend to want to get on with something after using hand cream, like a lecture or doing my nails, and with this it's difficult

Comparison No. 2: Greasiness (After 5 minutes)

1. Avon 9/10 - nothing there except what can be expected
2. Crabtree and Evelyn 9/10 - not greasy after 5 minutes
3. Neutrogena 8/10 - still a bit of a residue after the same amount of time but not too greasy 
4. Bliss 6/10 - relatively greasy after 5 minutes
5. Clinique 4/10 - still really greasy after 5 minutes

Comparison No. 3: Smell

1. Neutrogena 10/10 no smell at all, just as it claims on the bottle
2. Avon 9/10 has a pretty neutral smell, like very very weak nappies 
3. Clinique 8/10 - very faint citrusy smell
4. Bliss - 7/10 - stronger smell but still not too bad
5. Crabtree and Evelyn - 2/10 Absolutely stinks, if I was to describe it I would describe it as 'granny-like', it's very perfumed and flowery, and as I tend to do quite a lot after using handcream, I prefer a more neutral smell (like the others)

Comparison No. 4: Does it do what it says?/Overall Feeling

• Bliss ("High Intensity hand cream") - Yes, this leaves my hands feeling the best out of all the hand creams once it dries. Avon was by far my favourite hand cream before I tried this but I think this has definitely overtaken, my hands just feel so much better after
• Avon ("Rich Moisture Hand Cream") - Yep, I use this as my go-to hand cream in my uni bag when my hands are feeling dry. It's absorbant and non-greasy and doesn't really leave a smell
• Crabtree and Evelyn ("Moisturising hand and nail cream")- Yep, this really is a brilliant product, it's just the smell that is off-putting, but if that doesn't bother you then I'd definitely recommend it.
• Neutrogena ("Instant relief of dry, chapped hands, just a dab needed") - Yep, or so I've found it to. But my mum used it before me and found it to be quite drying, so I guess it depends on your skin type. I also found that I needed more than just a 'dab'
• Clinique ("Deep Comfort Hand and Cuticle cream") - Yes and no, once it's dry my hands feel comforted, but whilst it's drying I feel pretty uncomfortable, but it is brilliant for my cuticles

What do you think? Do you own/want any of these products? Let me know in the comments! 

Alice

*some of the products in this post were provided to me for review, and some were bought with my own money, but all opinions are entirely my own

I was shortlisted!

Hey everyone! So today I have some exciting news. Some of you may remember that last month I had a little button on the right hand side of my blog to enable you all to nominate me for 'best new beauty blog' for the Cosmopolitan blog awards 2013. I never in a million years expected for it to go any further, but amazingly I was shortlisted for the award. Now I'm afraid I need to call on you all again, your votes do count and it would mean so so much to me if you could vote for me to win. I wouldn't be in this position without any of you, but I need you all to push me just that little bit further. 

Thankyou all for everything you've done for this blog so far! You can vote for me here

Alice

Seaside nails

Hey everyone! Summer has finally arrived in the UK and I'm loving it! Of course I had to bring you some summer nails to match. These nails were actually another design that I thought about entering into the Beauty and the Beach competition, but decided that they weren't up to much. I know these aren't great but they're definitely something simplistic that you can wear to the beach if you're feeling a bit uninspired.

The base for these is Essence - That's What I Mint but I'm not entirely sure of the other colours because I did them over a month ago. I then used a coat of Seche Vite to finish off.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments! 

Alice

Which is best? Comparing Top Coats

Hey everyone! Today has been a great day for the UK, as Andy Murray became the first Brit to win Wimbledon in 77 years. Today is also great because I have the start of a new weekly series I'll be doing; comparing the things we nail girls need and love. Base coats, matte top coats, hand creams, cuticle care, and today's post; top coats. I will be comparing Seche Vite*, Dior Gel Coat*, INM Out The Door*, Guerlain Gel Topcoat*, and Essence Gel Look*. I'm going to mark them on shine, drying speed, if you can prod them (and not leave a mark) after 10 minutes, how much they smudge the design below on application and how well they last, I will give them a ranking of 1-5 and a score out of 10, and then I will give my overall view at the end. The rest of the post will be after the jump because it's going to be pretty long.

4th of July Nails

Hey everyone! Many of you will know that I'm not American, so I wont be celebrating the 4th of July, and I've always felt that it would be a bit odd if I were to do 4th of July nails. However, after having seen many of my fellow British bloggers doing just that, I decided that it was time for me to jump on the bandwagon. I'm sure you're all getting sick of seeing 4th of July nails by now, but I really really wanted to use Nichole by Shimmer Polish, because I knew it would be absolutely perfect for this design.

For my thumb, middle finger and pinky finger I started with 3 thin coats of Shimmer - Nichole and then I applied one coat of Seche Vite, and then drew on the stars using the white Barry M nail art pen, finished off with another coat of Seche Vite

For the other fingers I started with a base of Barry M - White and then sponged on Shimmer Nicole, I stuck on these 3mm Stars from KKcentreHK, and topped it off with 2 coats of Seche Vite.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

If you like the look of Shimmer - Nichole you can get it here for £6.85 

Alice