52 Week Challenge: Week 13

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVERYONE!

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New Years Eve 2011 Nails, perfect for the challenge

Base: ELF - Navy

Glitter: Kleancolor - Afternoon Picnic 194

Nails: Stars and Arrows

Base Polish: Stargazer - 157

Stamping Polish: Special White Stamping Polish

Stamping Plate: BM 20

Review: ELF - Eyeshadow Applicators

This is a really quick review as I don't think there is much to say on the item. 

For £3.50 you get 12 disposable eyeshadow applicators. While I don't work on other's you can't have enough of these things for smudging, and I have such a bad habit of loosing things when travelling which is why these are a great idea.

I actually got these for £1.75 in ELF's last 50% off sale which made them very well priced. 

Ultimately they serve their purpose and aren't extortionately priced so throwing them out won't break the bank, I say if your looking for something like this then go for it. The quality isn't 100% but for a disposable brush you aren't wanting a wooden handle.

£3.50 - 12pcs

ELF UK

Swatch: Rimmel - Hard Edged

Hard Edged is a shimmer polish verging on duo chrome. It flits between a warm dark brown, and a cherry mocha shade. 

Lasting Power: Average

Opacity: Two coats for ultimate colour depth

Brush Type: Flat and wide

I managed to find this in Poundland!

Comparison: OPI - Unripened V's NYX - Robotic

I was looking at my polish collection, again and I noticed that these two polishes looked similar, and after swatching them next to each other I have to say I think the NYX and the OPI are very similar.

Being completely honest there isn't a difference between the two polishes. Both are flecked with the same toned particles and have the same base and finish. 

What do you think? Dupe?

Review: Jeunesse - Hot Chocolate Self Heating Face Masque

Jeunesse Claims - "Take a deep breath of our self – warming Chocolate Orange masque and you'll be in chocolate heaven! Mediterranean Clay cleanses dirt and oils from deep within pores. Rich dark chocolate and orange oil leave skin feeling soft and refreshed"

(my skin type is combination)

What do I think?

+ Amazing chocolate orange scent, imagine terry's chocolate orange

+ Smooth and easy texture to apply

+ Left my skin feeling moisturised and cleaned deeply

+ Got two applications from one sachet!

+ Self heating was a nice level, not too much like some other products I have tried

- Sachet isn't the easiest to get in to

- Left a brown ring around my sink, so had to clean that!

Really though this masque ticks all the boxes, it lives up to all of the claims they make which is so important. I have bought back up's of this one because it gives that chocolate fix without eating actual chocolate. Perfect for this time of year. I also noticed this warning on the back of the sachet, it made me smile! 

Especially the bit about adding bits of animals as some companies over look that and just claim not to test on animals.

9 / 10

15g - £1 / 99p

Asda | Boots

[I won this in a competition ran by Lara]

52 Week Challenge: Week 12

Theme this week was Christmas. I'd been dying to try out the gingerbread man design! 

Should have stamped it in gold though for better authenticity

Base Polish: NYC - West Village 205b

Stamping Polish: Stargazer - Silver Chrome

Stamping Plate: BM222

Swatch: Revlon - Facets of Fuchsia / Scandalous

I wore this polish for my wedding day, its so special. Exceptionally similar to Lippmann's Bad Romance, it has since been made in to a permanent line polish called Scandalous rather than Facets of Fuchsia.

Revlon - Facets of Fuchsia 

Review: BIC - Gloves

Not only does Buy In Coins sell really great nail items, they also sell various other things. In the past I have bought an 'ePad' from them which actually meets my needs for under £50. I've also bought a couple of scarves from there too which were bargain-ious. 

On to what I actually was supposed to be reviewing! Anyone would think I was being paid to say these things! Which I'm unfortunately not.

Its really quite cold in the north of England right now, gloves are a necessary! I ordered these ones as they were black and a £1. In the past I have been known to make my own arm warmers from stripy socks, but obviously these are a lot better as professionally finished. 

Thumb hole

Fully stretched out the arm warmer goes about three inches above my elbow

These are great for writing with while keeping your arms and most of your hand warm.

The material is the same feel and thickness as a standard sock. It's well made and serves its purpose well.

Nothing much else to say other than go for it if you like the look of them. Sometimes you take a risk when buying things without feeling them and seeing them first but this isn't one of these items.

10 / 10

£1 - Pair

BuyInCoins

Don't forget you can use my referrer code 'Enigmatic-Rambles' for a 5% discount

Happy Festivities!

I will be celebrating Yule, hope that you all have fun celebrating whatever you celebrate!

It will be really nice to welcome the sun back, longer, warmer days are so much more energising!

Review: ELF - Nail Polishes

I have reviewed these before, but I think its time I did a proper review

As you can see I have quite an extensive collection of eyes lips face nail polish

Chocolate                                        Metal Madness

I have tried 41 of the polishes out of the current 78

Smoky Brown                                                         Pearl

The polish are of a good enough quality to be worn without a top coat, however the glitters do need one to help smooth out the finish, which is typical of a glitter finish

 

Blush                                                       Navy

Around 98% of the polishes have lasted 2-3 days or more. Dark Navy in particular is the polish which chips so quickly, use a top coat though and that solves the problem

Red Velvet                                                                      Rosy Raisin

Sometimes it seems as if the manufactures of ELF products don't have any quality control as you occasionally get a polish brush which is splayed and wonky. The UK ELF team do have great customer service though and will give you a replacement or a refund

Purple Pleaser

Polish dries at a pretty standard rate and the black is great for stamping!

Mint Cream                                                                         Purple Dream

The formula which they use is the big three free! Which is a fantastic thing!

No toluene

No formaldehyde

No dibutyl phthalate

(why is this a good thing?)

10ml of product for £1.50 - Bargain!

Tag: Nail Tag

1. How many polishes do you have?

Around 150 but that is with topcoats, base coats and treatments 

2. What is your favorite brand of nail polish? 

I like lots of brands, Barry M, ELF, OPI, NYX, China Glaze, Stargazer etc. 

3. Do you like crackle nail polish, or do you hate it? 

Its alright but I think its difficult to create something unique with it. 

4. What is your first nail polish brand? 

First one I think was a bright red by Maybelline when I was 10-11 

5. If you're going to have a nail polish line, what are you going to name it? 

Think this would take a lot of time to think about! 

6. What nail polish colour does not compliment you? 

Neon's. 

7. What colour does compliment you? 

Black 

8. Name your nail art friends. 

My little protégé, not quite as addicted as myself but getting better and better! 

9. What was the best nail polish gift you have ever received? 

I can't think of any nail varnish I have received that wasn't wanted! 

10. Make a speech about thanking the blogger who tagged you. 

I forgot who I was tagged by, what I will say is nail art is an art. One with 10 little canvas's

52 Week Challenge: Week 11

The challenge of this week was violet nails

Base Polish: China Glaze - Grape Pop

Stamping Polish: Barry M - Indigo

Stamping Plate: M64

Nails: Snowflakes

I wanted to try out my stamp for a snowflake and think this turned out quite well. 

The hex glitter really adds a twinkle.

Base Polish: George - Witchcraft

Glitter Polish: Barry M - Hex

Stamping Plate: BM 14

Stamping Polish: ELF - Black

Review: Jeunesse - Very Berry Masque

They claim

"Bursting with the juice of pressed Blueberries and crushed Cranberries our fruity beauty is packed with antioxidants. Nourishing Peach Kernel oil and soothing Aloe will leave your skin refreshed and cleansed"

What do I think? 

The scent is very berry like, as you would hope for with a product named very berry!

Texture of the masque was creamy which did dry out a little bit while wearing but not dry to the touch, very easy to remove

Claims of being refreshing isn't untrue but I wouldn't describe it as a wake up call where a lemon based product would. It did however perk up my skin which has been problematic recently

New sachet design makes opening nice and easy, especially for weaklings like myself!

Didn't leave my face dry and lives up to the claims made by Jeunesse. I actually think it did help to calm my skin down after its stress related break out. But that's what wedding's do to you!

9 / 10

Boots - 99p | Asda - £1 | Montagne Jeunesse - £1.09

New Look | Savers | Claire's

15g

[My skin type is: Combination / Broken out]

PR product sent for review purposes

Hair: Ginger to Violet with Directions dye!

So this is part two of my hair adventures!

Part one can be found here, where I went from black to 'blond' / ginger

Once my hair was dry from the bleaching, I went ahead and used Directions - Violet on the bleached part of my hair. This is semi permanent and its very conditioning so you can leave it on as long as you like. I left it for a couple of hours and this is how it turned out...

Basically its the bottom section of my hair, in a dip dyed sort of a fashion

This one is colour accurate

It worked exactly how I imagined in my head

What do you think?