Ojon Hydrating Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner

I've used Ojon products before and been impressed, especially with their restorative treatment so I decided to take the mini bottles of shampoo and conditioner I had on my holidays with me. Sadly, I really didn't like either product.

The packaging is typical Ojon, quite minimalist and natural looking. The shampoo lathered well but I didn't feel it smelled particularly nice (it wasn't awful either, it just smelled a bit boring), the conditioner was bright green which I found a bit offputting and felt really thick so I ended up using loads of it to cover my hair. After use, I found my hair was really really tangled and hard to get a brush through - then when I had dried my hair it felt really quite dry and fuzzy. Any "thickening" effect was due to the fact my hair was frizzy and like a bush! There was definately no "hydrating" effect which I found surprising, my hair really needs a good moisturising shampoo/conditioner and this definately wasn't it.

All in all, I'm glad I didn't splash out on the full size versions of these as I think they'd just be languishing unused in a drawer somewhere. They served a purpose on holiday though and I had no qualms about chucking the remainder at the end of the holiday, which is a nice change!

OPI Katy Perry - Teenage Dream

Sorry I seem to be having a bit of a nail moment here at the minute, particularly with OPI stuff! I was a bit disappointed with this at the first coat because I thought "oh boring, another layering polish" but a few more coats and the base came through (a little pinker than in these pics) and I love it! I'd describe it as a baby pink glitter polish with larger pieces of holo glitter suspended in it. Gorgeous!

This was actually pretty hardwearing on the nail and lasted about a week without looking too shabby (unless you looked close), and as you would expect it was an absolute nightmare to remove!

OPI Nail Apps - Hearts

I'm a massive fan of Minx and overall have preferred it to any other nail coverings I've tried but when I spotted these on ASOS I was really interested! The design reminds me of a set of nails WAH do, and I always fancied getting/trying myself, only this way the design is perfect and much easier.The plastic backing and instructions that these come with are very Minx inspired. The instructions are that you apply them just with heat from your finger (as Minx have patented the lamp application method and I suppose as these aren't sold as a pro product, not everyone will have a nail lamp knocking around) after trimming to the correct size then file away the excess. This was fairly straightforward, though they felt a bit more plastic than the Minx I've used and it was harder to twist the excess away from the nail.

I didn't want to go too OTT with the design so I just used the nail app on my ring finger and put China Glaze Ruby Pumps on my others. What do you think? I didn't find application as easy as Minx but then again they're not a pro product.

I used a discount code with these so they weren't £13.80 which I feel is quite expensive for something so temporary. Some of the other designs are in the ASOS sale now and are more like £6 which I think is a lot more reasonable. OPI say that these last 1-2 days and it did but I think this would have been less if it had been on my right hand or my thumb.

I quite like the Star, Peacock and Skull design too. Interestingly, Minx have also brought out a heart and a star design, which I personally don't think are as nice. I also noticed that even Primark has jumped on the nail coverings bandwagon now too, I was tempted to pick some up but the queue was so huge I just couldn't be bothered for the sake of spending so little.

OPI Nice Stems Collection - Mini Pack

After seeing pictures of these minis I decided I would probably like all the colours so I went for it. As you can see, the packaging the minis came in was so cute, I actually felt guilty throwing it away!

L-R: Play the Peonies, I Lily Love You, Come to Poppy, Be a Dahlia Won't You

My favourite in the packaging was I Lily Love You, a light pink sheer polish with a variety of glitter in it. On the nail it would probably be better as a layering glitter polish really due to how sheer it actually was, I think over another pink this would be really nice. Come to Poppy has come up a little more orange in the swatches than it appears in real life, it's definately more of a coral than a true pink though and I think this is what my camera is picking up. I liked Be A Dahlia Won't You but I this is the kind of bright pink colour that I've had a million of in my collection over the years, nothing new - it does have a hint of shimmer to it, which I find OPI do so well. I was surprised that I quite liked Play The Peonies - OPI describe it as a soft pink, I'd say it was a pearlised white with maybe the tiniest hint of pink or lavendar. It actually applied really well for its finish as well with no streaking or dragging.

I think the OPI mini sets are a great way to try different polishes or a whole collection, especially if you like to wear different polishes a lot, it's an affordable way of doing it.

No 7 Natural Blush Cheek Colour - Candy Pink

I've not tried that many No 7 cosmetics before (I always spend my £5 vouchers on their eye make up remover) but when I think about it, the stuff I've tried has always impressed me. And this blusher is no exception - it's really soft, lasts well and is a lovely wearable baby pink colour. Just the kind of blush colour I like, not too bright or too natural and nice and matte with no shimmer.

I'd definately recommend this and would buy another No 7 blusher in future. I preferred this to Benefit Bella Bamba which was more than twice the price!

Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner - 01 Intense Black

I've not really tried gel eyeliner before so thought I'd pick this up - it comes with the gel and the brush applicator so I thought it would be a good starting point. I'm an eyeliner fiend but I tend to either use a liner brush and black shadow or a liquid liner pen. Sorry for the stock photo by the way, I managed to clag everything up before I remembered to take a photo.

Overall, I didn't really like this. The pros were: it's a really intense black and lasted well throughout the day (though there were a few little "crumbs" that flaked off during the day), plus doing flicks at the end of my lids was quite easy. The cons: the brush really (or maybe my technique), it felt a bit hard/stiff and I found it a bit difficult to do thin lines on my eyelid. My eyelashes are short so I like daytime eyeliner to be quite thin so you can actually see my eyelashes - trying to apply this thinly looked a bit odd and patchy like I'd applied it with a toothpick or something.

I wouldn't repurchase this mainly because I didn't like the brush, I'll continue to use it for nights out but probably with a different brush - I think I do prefer the look of powder or pen liner though. If I did purchase a gel liner in future, I'd purchase that and the brush seperately so I could do a little bit of quality control brush-wise.

Models Own 50% off sale...

If Models Own get 50,000 likes on Facebook by 31st August 2011, they're going to have a 50% off sale as well as the chance to win £5,000 worth of prizes along the way!

I love Models Own (especially the nail polishes) at their usual price so 50% off is amazing! If you're not already a Facebook fan of Models Own, make sure you like their page before the end of August. It's for the greater good!