Lush Emotibombs - Too Drunk & Up You Gets

Ok first confession, the house I live in at the moment doesn't have a bath...what was I thinking! Second confession, I love Lush, especially their bathbombs.

I'd seen these Emotibombs before but didn't know what they were until someone explained it to me, basically you put them at the bottom of your shower and as they dissolve they release a gorgeous scent. Obviously marketed at idiots like me who don't have a bath then! Ok, so it is a little bit pointless (most of the products I use in the shower are scented anyway, which can overpower the Emotibomb a bit) but it means I can sort of have a bathbombish experience without the bath, yay!

The Emotibombs I had were:

• Up You Gets - very citrussy and refreshing, a good one to have in your morning shower as it has a real zing to it! I had two of these.



• Too Drunk - menthol/minty with a hint of citrus behind it. Think this would be good if you had a cold?

I would say you don't need a full Emotibomb to get the scent around your shower, you could halve or even third them as they're quite big. The first one I tried I put right under the water stream of the shower, and it fizzed away to nothing pretty much straight away. So the next ones, I put a little away from the stream but still so they were getting water on them to dissolve, they don't leave any grit or residue in the shower which is a bonus, I hate cleaning and I'm so clumsy, if there's something I can slip on I will.

All in all, I did like these but I don't think I'd buy them again - even though they're not expensive (between £1.95-£2.50 depending on which you get), I still think they're a bit pointless, they don't give you the nice feel of oils on your skin with a bathbomb or the nice surprise of hidden glitter or confetti you get in a bathbomb! Plus the fact that the scent can get overpowered by other stuff, which defeats the whole point

I also have some other Lush stuff to try out that I'm working my way through:

• Sweetie Shower Jelly
• Creamy Candy Bubble Bar (for use at my boyfriends or my mams, both of whom have baths!)
• Buffy Body Butter
• Rock Star Soap

At the risk of this seeming like a nail only blog...Nails Inc Haul!

Nails Inc isn't a brand I see a lot of on blogs - I'm not sure why? I quite like them, their colour range is excellent and I find the polishes pretty good to use.

I just thought I'd share with you this lovely little set, containing 5 full size and 5 mini Nails Inc polishes, that I got for my birthday.

Full Size Polishes

Lancaster Gate

Hot pink, slightly sheer polish with a light blue duochrome

Berkeley Street

Bright green - not a colour I'd wear myself, it looks weird on me, I don't like it!

Leicester Square

Dark purple with slight metallic-ness to it.

Montagu Square
Lovely muted coral colour

Englands Lane

Very pretty light lilac

Mini polishes

Emporers Gate
Dark metallic grey/pewter - almost black

Romilly Street

Pretty standard bright red

Rosebery Avenue

Muted pink (reminds me of Eyeko's Tea Rose)

Thayer Street

Grey!

Swan Walk

You can't tell from this but this is a sheer pink jelly with tiny blue glitter in, very cute!

What do you think about Nails Inc products? My only criticism of them is that maybe they're a little overpriced - at around £10 for a full size, you could buy a couple of decent polishes for that price or an OPI (which I love). As I said earlier, as a general rule the polishes are lovely!

Since I can't quite afford a Chanel 2.55...

...this will have to do (for now):

These rather lovely little gold CC charms are from our good friend Ebay...what do you think? I have got glitter on my nails too but you really can't see it in the pics.

Eyeko Polish Trio - THE DARKSIDE (Vampira, Indigo & Cosmic)

Since it's getting a bit more wintery around here, I'm definately leaning more towards dark polishes - I'd wanted Vampira and Cosmic anyway, so to get Indigo as well was excellent. Plus I got a free gift, a Liparazzi light up lip gloss (which I gave away as it was a caramel colour, which I don't really suit).

So, onto the important stuff, swatches:

Vampira

Black base with red glitter, there are plenty of these around and this is one of the ones where you can actually see the flash of the glitter in the base. I like! Even indoors you can see the red glitter.

Cosmic

Black base with fine multicoloured glitter. Wow. I totally get why they call this Cosmic...I mean, look at it! Doesn't it remind you of space?

Indigo

Dark blue with fine lighter blue glitter (not quite as purple as it looks in these pics). I have about 4 dupes of this in my collection which is why I'm not so excited by it.

There were no application or longevity problems here, I kind of liked the brush on these polishes. My favourite colour is definately Cosmic but Vampira is amazing too. This was the first time I'd tried Eyeko polishes and from what I've seen here, it won't be the last, I'm liking the pinks they've been bringing out...............

Clarins Instant Smooth Crystal Lip Balm - Crystal Red

I wanted this for a while but the £15.50 price tag put me off a little....that is a lot for a lip balm isn't it? I ended up getting it from someone as a gift which was pretty lucky for me (and very generous, thank you)! So now, instead of saving my Boots points for one of these, they're being saved towards a YSL Rouge Volupte.

In "real life" it doesn't look quite as much like a Push Pop (remember those!), in the grey old Manchester weather it looked more like this - I was really surprised when I first opened it because it looked more like an opaque, browny/red lipstick. In bright light it looks more jelly-like though. The unique see-through lipstick was the real reason I wanted it (I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm a sucker for a gimmick).

My first impression was that it was heavier and a bit larger than a normal lipstick (or a MAC sized one anyway), and then that it didn't look as sheer as I thought it would.

It smells nice, it tastes quite nice and slides on easily leaving lips feeling moisturised. Apparently the red one is the most pigmented one but to be honest I don't think this makes a difference to the colour of my lips, it leaves it with a sheer sheen like any other lipbalm would. The moisturising feeling does last ages though and doesn't feel sticky/gritty/gloopy.

But in conclusion, nice product, nice to carry around in your bag or to have on your dressing table as it looks so fancy but not really worth the £15 price tag when it comes to the actual product. I won't be repurchasing I'm afraid. Apparently this is/was limited edition (according to the SA), so maybe I couldn't anyway!

US Polish Swatches – Sephora by OPI Charge It! & Sally Hansen Strobe Light

Sorry for being so rubbish at posting these, I finally got a chance to do some proper swatching last week.

Sephora by OPI in Charge It!

I like the brush on this but the polish consistency and colour seems a bit wishy-washy, it looked very watery on first coat, it took 3 coats in the pic. And I’ll be honest…I didn’t like the colour or finish as it really didn’t suit my skintone at all, I think it's a little yellower than I'd have liked and showed up streaks. I was hoping it might have a little shimmer or fine glitter secretly in it but it didn't really..I think the problem here is that I was envisioning something like OPI Glitzerland (should have just bought that one!). As a result, I didn't actually have this polish on for long enough to comment about longevity or tipwear, sorry....

Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear in Strobe Light

I love this polish – it would be good for layering with maybe one coat but the glitter is dense enough on it’s own after 3 coats (I've got 2 on in the pic). Its basically pink and holo glitter or various sizes suspended in clear polish. The pics say it all really! It lasts a long time on the nails and is like concrete mixed with superglue once it dries...word of warning , like most glitters, this is a biatch to remove!

Also, I absolutely adore the Sephora Lip Gloss (in Pin Up Pink) that I bought over there, and I'm so sad that I didn't get a back up - I love the colour and the smell and people have actually complimented me on it, I don't think that's happened before! I think arranging another trip to the US solely to repurchase would be a bit much though...

Rimmel 60 Second Nail Polish – 610 Pompous

My Nails Inc dark purple shimmer (the name escapes me now!) has gone all gloopy and weird, there wasn't that much of it left so it wasn't worth saving but with autumn and winter coming I know I'll be wanting to wear dark purple a lot and I like the slightly metallic effect of a shimmer. I spotted this in Tesco when I was doing my weekly shop and it looked a perfect alternative, so I snuck it in the trolley (like a kid!).

Pompous is a dark purple polish with a very fine blue shimmer that claims one coat application and that it dries in less than 60 seconds. It's a little more purple than pics below show.

I loved the colour and the Xpress brush means that I can apply an entire nail in one stroke which I really really like, however on some nails one coat didn’t look enough and the first coat took more than 60 seconds to dry out (I tested this and dented a few nails, oops!), it wasn't really much quicker than a normal polish to be honest. As you can see on the pics, there is some streaking or not enough coverage on the nail with one coat. Another coat sorted this but I thought I'd show you it one coat as it's marketed as a one coat product.

For some weird reason though, I’d buy another one of these polishes again – they’re ok for doing toes, are reasonably priced if you’re in a bit of a rush (and can’t find your Seche Vite, like me!). Rimmel polishes are smaller than other brands though, which actually doesn't make them as reasonably priced as they appear...8ml is the standard Rimmel size as opposed to say, 15ml for a standard OPI polish...hmm!

Guide to buying cosmetics, perfume etc. on Ebay

I regularly buy cosmetics on Ebay but I think a lot of people are a bit scared of getting counterfeit items. Here’s a few rules I go by when I’m buying these things on Ebay, I can’t guarantee they mean you’ll never get caught out but forewarned is forearmed right?

1. Research – make sure you know what the product and its packaging should look like. Does the product actually exist (I’ve seen “MAC” palettes selling for like £30, when MAC don’t even make ones that style)? Is it a stock photo or actual photo shown on the listing? Check out the sellers other items, completed items and feedback. It sets my alarm bells ringing when things are listed as an “unwanted gift” but they’ve got 10 of the same item listed.

2. Buy sealed items – I wouldn’t buy anything that had been tested or used on Ebay

3. Don’t go for the brands that are regularly faked – e.g. MAC, Benefit etc. There are lots of guides around about how to avoid fakes from these brands but for me it’s just a bit too risky, I tend to buy stuff you can’t get in the UK/that’s much cheaper to get from the US (OPI, Revlon) or brands that aren’t quite as well known like Pop Beauty, Pixi etc.

4. Be aware of customs costs when buying from overseas – self explanatory...

5. If it sounds too good to be true, it might just be! Not a bad tip for things generally really!

6. Familiarise yourself with Ebay’s policies – for items that haven’t been received, items that aren't as described, refunds etc.

7. Don’t get caught up in a bidding frenzy and pay more than what the product is worth - for me, Ebay is all about getting a bargain rather than the thrill of the chase or the win. In fact I hate the whole bidding war thing so I tend to use a sniping tool (Goofbay) more often than not, it's gives a massive advantage and isn't technically cheating. It also stops you bidding way more than you intended to!

8. I always pay with Paypal - I find it much easier and quicker than other methods and it gives that additional protection if things should go wrong. Plus if you use a credit rather than debit card it gives even more protection.

I hope this helps – I think Ebay is great but as with all online shopping, a bit of caution should be exercised. Happy bargain hunting!

Viva La Nails Sample Pack

Viva La Nails are offering a sample pack worth £20 to bloggers etc for just the £2.95 shipping and handling fee (what a great idea!)....so of course I went for it! Here's what I received:

I'm really pleased with the selection and variety I received! I think some of this stuff - like the crushed shells, glitter strands and the little balls - would be better in acrylic nail art, embedded in the tip or something but I'll have a go at using it in some natural nail art and maybe keep the rest of it for if I ever actually do get round to learning nails. My favourites are the white flower stickers and the crystal flower stickers.

They arrived exactly a week (including the weekend here) after I placed my order, I was a little surprised that they arrived from Latvia since the website is a co.uk one but that doesn't really matter does it, they arrived here, well packaged and even better than expected!

Now, I have tried some of the stickers and they look really cute on, as well as being so easy to apply. I haven't included any pictures of these though as I'm planning on doing some special posts about nail art in the not-too-distant future and would like to include them in this! They do look ace and I'd definately recommend the stickers.

This sample pack can be found at http://www.vivalanails.co.uk/samples.html, be sure to check out the rest of the site as well, they have some ace stuff including Japanese nail art magazines...argh! I think it might be out of stock at the moment, but if it is, click the "email me when back in stock" link, and they will. That's what I did as it was unavailable at the time.

Products I liked last month

Clinique 7 Day Scrub

I like this because it's "scrubby", you can actually feel it exfoliating your face and removing any dead skin. Despite its name, I don't think I'd actually use this every day, I think it would be slightly too harsh on my skin because of how scrubby it is (did I mention that it's scrubby?)

Superdrug Nourising Nail Polish Remover Pads

These were a godsend on holiday and meant I didn't have to lug a bottle of remover and cotton wool with me. Each pad (using both sides) did all of my fingers and it smelled nicer than normal polish remover too, almost fruity. Theres a lot less mess and waste than with cotton wool this way too, I'm considering using this in future instead of normal remover.
Barry M Lipgloss in Bubblegum Pink

It's cheap, the colour is cute and it actually does smell like bubblegum...result! It's also not sticky at all which I like.

MAC Eye Kohl in Smoulder

Perfect for doing smokey eyes and lining lower lashes, this pencil is super-soft and blendable as well as lasting the whole night - looks amazing with Mac 7 lashes.

Has anyone else made any new discoveries in August?

P.s. I passed my driving test yesterday, woohoo! And I may have just bought a few new bits and bobs to congratulate myself, so expect to see them on here soon :-)