Manicure Monday: Essie Gel Couture

Trying a little somethin' new with the old blog photos today - do let me know what you think in the comments. If it's a hit I'll probably alternate this style with the usual flat lays.

Anyway, on with the post. Today I'm talking about yet another gel polish release, this time from Essie. Everytime I go into Boots it's Essie's stand that catches my eye but I only ever really buy anything when there's an offer on as £8 for a single polish is a little expensive for me personally. However, recently I came across the new Gel Couture polish range, which comprises of new twisted style bottles as well as twisted brush stem and super wide brush for ease of application, and I just had to give them a go. You simply pop on the base coat of choice, I picked up 'Looks to Thrill', which is a orange-toned coral shade, and then whack the clear top coat on top. Simples.

I'm a huge fan of the wide brushes on these polishes, they cover the entire nail with ease. The top coat brush in particular is pretty huge!



I needed a couple of coats of the base colour, which is such a gorgeous shade, as it was a little streaky. Two coats did the trick though and it dried super duper fast too, ready for the top coat, which gives it a gloriously shiney finish. Essie claim the gel polishes last up to 14 days but this is really dependent on how often you're using your hands and for what sort of tasks you're using them for. If you were a lady of leisure, unlike myself, I'm sure this would last the full 14 days.

Unfortunately one of my nails started chipping after two days of application. None of the nails lasted even seven days, there was minimal chipping on most of them and on one nail the polish was coming away in great chunks. REALLY disappointing. The point of gel nail polish is to be able to get a gel manicure at home at a fraction of the price, which means it should at least last longer than your average highstreet nail polish. I hadn't even put my nails through their paces either with housework or washing up. By day six I removed all the polish, I actually peeled it all off as it was coming away so easily.

Overall I'm super disappointed with this. The colour is amazing but it just doesn't last, chipping after two days is just not good enough, especially as these polishes are on the more expensive side. It seems like a real waste of money.

Have you tried the new Essie Gel Couture polish? Let me know in the comments what you thought.

Don't forget to let me know in the comments what you think of the new style of photo. Also, don't forget voting in the Bloggers Blog Awards is now open and it would be great if you could vote for me for Best Beauty Blog! You can VOTE HERE

Primark beauty haul

Recently I went on a shopping trip to Birmingham and of course had to pop into Primark. My nearest Primark is the Bristol one, which alongside the London ones is probably one of the biggest in the country I believe, however I found more in the Birmingham one than I ever do in the Bristol one, mainly beauty tools/nail polishes.

I was seeking out the PS Pro range from Primark in particular and was really impressed with the amount on offer. I got myself a new bargainous eyeshadow brush and some rose gold/copper eyelash curlers, which are not only necessary tools but they make nice blog photo props too! I was in the market for some new tweezers too and for £1 I picked up a pair of pretty Aztec print ones.




Primark has always been great for make-up bags too. I have loads in my collection but I spotted another with my initial on it and just had to pick it up. It was only a couple of pounds and is really roomy so can fit lots in. Again another product that can also be used as a blog photo prop - don't you just love it?!




What really impressed me most about Primark's beauty offerings were its nail polishes. There was a HUGE selection of pretty colors but I chose to pick up two really cute, bright polishes, which were only 60p each. I also picked up a pack of three bronze/glitter polishes. These are definitely my favourite, the colours are just gorgeous and I can't wait to feature them in a Manicure Monday post.

Have you picked up anything from Primark recently? Let me know in the comments.

Before you go - voting in the Bloggers Blog Awards is now open and it would be great if you could vote for me for Best Beauty Blog! You can VOTE HERE

Natural Collection Festival Basics

Keeping packing to a minimum is hard enough but when you're packing for a festival, you really need to be ruthless when it comes to necessities. Personally some deodorant and a packet of wet wipes just won't cut it for me, I need something to at least make me feel a bit more alive and basic make-up can really help.

I recently featured Natural Collection and recommended it as a great brand for anyone who is a bit of a beginner when it comes to beauty. Even if you're not a beginner, the range is fab, affordable and I believe cruelty free too. The products are also brill little festival basics too and it doesn't matter if you misplace them in your tent as they're super cheap so you can simply replace them when you get home.




I absolutely swear by Natural Collection mascara. It's the only brand of mascara I find that doesn't clump, makes my lashes look nice and long and doesn't have stupidly thick brushes so application is really easy. I usually use the LashLength but have recently been trying the Water Guard as a waterproof alternative and have found it works really well, perfect in fact for unpredictable festival weather.




In your festival make-up bag you could also pop a concealer ready for those late nights and hiding dark circles. Not a necessity as such but something to perk you up a bit and make you feel a bit more like yourself as it can be hard living out of a back pack and being caked in mud. The Natural Collection concealers are particularly handy as they come in fab lipstick type applicators, protecting them from all the heavy drinks cans you stuff in your bag alongside them.

The lip balms and nail polish are definitely not essential at all but they are great for creating a fun festival look. The polish will last a good couple of days while you're at the festival and a slick of lipbalm every few hours will keep lips hydrated as well as looking good thanks to the hint of colour.

What are your festival basics? Have you tried taking any Natural Collection products along to a festival? Let me know in the comments.

Before you go - voting in the Bloggers Blog Awards is now open and it would be great if you could vote for me for Best Beauty Blog! You can VOTE HERE

*This post contains PR samples

Manicure Monday: Kylie Jenner Sinful Colors Trend Matters Collection

I've never heard of the brand Sinful Colors before. I have of course heard of Kylie Jenner, although I can't say I'm a fan as such. I've been watching the whole lip kit debacle from afar but I'm not a fan of lip products so I wasn't really interested in trying these myself, however nail polish is definitely my bag so thought I'd see how I got on.

I spotted a display of the Trend Matters Collection from Sinful Colors in among all the sickly sweet Youtuber products in Superdrug so decided to pick up two shades. I went for Haute Koffee, a dark coffee/purple shade with a hint of shimmer and the bold pink Miss Klaws. I thought these in particular looked quite pretty and would work well together as well as individually and I was not wrong.



I wasn't a huge fan of the brush on these polishes. These days I expect most brushes to be quite wide/fanned as we all know this makes applying the nail polish so much easier, but brush problems aside, the polish did apply really nicely and dried super speedily. I was interested to see that these dried matte but then I realised the name of the range Trend Matters and had a little chuckle to myself at old clever cloggs Kylie's little play on words.

The colours themselves are really pretty and I only needed two layers of polish for each nail so they weren't too thin and not too thick either.




At £3 each these are on the cheaper side of most high street nail polishes but they lasted a good four days before there was any really bad chipping. On the fourth day I did start the day with very minimal chipping but then I went swimming and this seemed to strip the polish a lot. I didn't use a top coat so this might of helped but I'm more than happy with it lasting four days, I would say that's just as good as any other high street brand.

They are really reasonable and a nice cheaper alternative to some other high street polishes. I just wish the brushes were a little wider!

Have you tried the Kylie Jenner for Sinful Colors Trend Matters collection? Let me know in the comments.

Before you go - voting in the Bloggers Blog Awards is now open and it would be great if you could vote for me for Best Beauty Blog! You can VOTE HERE

H&M Home blog photo prop haul

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about my New Look blog photo prop haul and I have say it went down rather well. It seems I'm not alone in seeing homeware products as blog photo props instead so when I was in London recently I just had to pop into H&M Home.

I was very good and quite restrained, just picking up three little bits in order to give my blog photos a bit of a makeover as I have to admit the copper props were getting a bit samey in every pic. I got myself a very pretty silver pinapple, which only when I got it home did I realise it was a candle, a geometric print cushion cover and a small porcelain plate with some really cute detailing around the edge. You can see the first set of photos I took with the new props here and I have to say I'm really pleased. I like the monochrome look and the plate in particular is fab for popping nail polishes on.




I'm starting to build up a bit of a collection of little plates, they're just perfect props for blog photos and I've seen lots of other bloggers using them too. I know that TK Maxx and Sainsburys have lots of cute ones so I may need to pick up some more. I love the detailing on the edge of this one, very pretty with the blank, white and gold colour pattern.

I also find that tea towels and cushion covers make fab backgrounds too, in particular monochrome ones with geometric patterns like this that I picked up. It looks nice just poking out of a photo and takes away the harshness of the fake wooden floor background. I definitely need to pick up more cushion covers, H&M had loads of different colours and patterns...I feel like this could be my new obsession.

So what are your thoughts on this mini H&M Home haul? What bits have you picked up recently for use as blog photo props? Let me know in the comments.