OPI Skyfall

Today I have to show one of my newest polishes I've accumulated: OPI's Skyfall from the new James Bond Collection. It's a beautiful dark red-raisin like shade which is going to get a lot of use in the Autumn and around the holidays as a deep red colour for nail art and as a base to be loaded with lots of festive glitters. (What can I say? I'm excited okay!)

I really didn't feel like posting any of these pictures because of silly insecurities but some wise ladies from a polish group I adore told me to go ahead and gave me the little bit of encouragement I needed.

Without further ado here are my swatches;

(Sunlight, 2 coats of OPI Skyfall no topcoat)

(Flash, 2 coats of OPI Skyfall no topcoat)

As always I enjoy OPI's formula and brush and the colour was fully opaque in two coats.

If you live in the UK I recommend buying your OPI's from the US if possible, I got 3 OPI's from this collection with shipping inc for just under £18 which I was pretty happy about. Always remember to check feedback and consider paying slightly more to buy from a reputable seller if you are to do this.

Consider this too, most post from the US takes 10-14 days on average so don't get anxious about your package before then!

Thanks for reading,

Jen

Badger Cuticle Balm Review

Long time no posting. Today I've decided to write about Badger Cuticle Balm after me recently posting on Facebook and proclaiming my love for it. I've used this product for around a year. I've hardly even made a dent in the tin and it's become a staple in my nail care routine. I work in health care, and I have to wash my hands and use hand sanitizer which is extremely drying tons throughout the day, so that's something to bare in mind, I needed something intensive and this is my #1 choice.

Cute tin huh? As you can see on the front of the tin, this product is organic and made of natural ingredients. I'm one of those people who generally think products like this need some of the little nasties in them to have some kind of effect. Boy was I wrong. This balm is great, it's rather solid but as soon as your finger touches the surface it warms up and begins to melt - but it's not greasy or messy at all. When I use this, I rub the balm around my finger nail and around the cuticle and either let it soak in (usually at bed time I do this) or if I'm at my desk I find myself putting the balm on and rubbing it around the nail to get the blood flow going. I find this actually quite relaxing and I find myself doing this if I'm feeling nervous quite a lot. I've really had no problems with my cuticles since using this, I only need to push them back or use cuticle remover around once every 6 weeks.

The product contains a 21g of the balm. This balm smells like gingerbread men to me personally with a hint of lemon, I wouldn't call this scent offensive at all, it's almost mouthwatering to me but that's personal preference since I adore gingerbread men ^_^ If you find lemon or ginger offensive I wouldn't recommend this. I do think the ginger scent does calm down my stomach but I could understand why it could make some people feel queasy. This balm doesn't take much time at all to sink in and is not uncomfortable at all. For instance, I can apply this and type on my computer without even rubbing it in and not even notice it at all.

I really have no urge to try out any other cuticle balm/oil-like products as I am completely satisfied with this. You can buy Badger Cuticle balm on ebay here. You can also check out Badger's website here I also recommend their lip balms aswell if you're really into the whole natural thing. :)

Take care & enjoy your day. Thanks for reading.

Macadamia Deep Hair Masque

Ah, the mask that got so much hype on Youtube and blogs all over the world. It's a hype I really got into and  once I saw it in Fennicks I grabbed it and practically ran to the till. It cost me around £23 which is ridiculous, I feel like a complete idiot considering you can get it around £13 on amazon. Anyway; I've tried this mask, used it many times and here are my thoughts on the mask.

When removing the lid  it comes with this white lid ontop of the mask. I am going to recommend MASSIVELY you remove both lids before stepping foot in your shower or bath because opening this darn thing when your hands are wet is literally impossible, I felt like throwing it across the room and being done with it the first time I got the mask and brought it into the shower, so yeah be warned.

Once you get past that, the mask looks like this:

Sorry I used this before I reviewed it, and should have taken photos when it was brand new, but I was too excited. So yeah, it looks like this, feels very thick and luxurious, the smell is fantastic, truly. The instructions say this:


 Liberally comb through clean, wet hair and allow up to 7 minutes of penetration before rinsing. No heat necessary. Deep Repair Masque is an intense treatment. Use no more than twice a week.

& the product claims to be a "Revitalizing hair reconstructor" the product is cruelty free, paraben free & alchohol free.

Okay I'm going to say it. I really tried to love this as much as everyone else but I couldn't. Other than the smell I really wasn't blown away at all. I thought I'd be the perfect target audience with coloured, damaged hair (which is in need of some love.) but alas. Yes my hair felt soft and it was shiny, but for the price there are many others things that do the exact same for considerably less. I wouldn't purchase this again for even the £13 on amazon if that says something. Hair masks are something I am willing to invest money into because I like pampering myself with hair and face masks and I find the experience relaxing and pleasant, a treat if you will. I will finish this up because I feel like I have to because of the amount I paid for it.

I have tried using this for the 7 minutes it has recommended, for 2-3 hours, and even overnight to see if I get these great results but no such luck. I can recommend Aussie's 3 minute miracle as an alternative to this. If your hair is coloured, buy the one designed for coloured hair, if not buy the one for normal hair.

I paid £23 for 250ml of this mask. If you are still interested and want to buy this product, buy the sachet online (or instore if you can) first! You can always buy a tub later. If you are going to buy a tub, look on amazon. Do not buy from Fennicks. I rate this product a 3/5.

Chanel Graphite vs. Eyecandy What A Steal

Hey ladies, shortly after buying my Chanel Graphite, I won an Eyecandy polish on a facebook competition which looked like a pretty good dupe. I thought I'd put them side by side and tell you what I think about them each.

They look amazingly similiar in the bottles, the Eyecandy containing the same subtle gold shimmer in Graphite. Even the cap and bottle shape are practically the same! I'd also like to add, the cap on the Eyecandy bottle is somewhat like the MUA one, where it doesn't always sit properly, which can annoy some people. Excited to see the bottles beside each other, I scramble to swatch both of them. 

Can you see a difference? No? middle and little finger are Graphite, Eyecandy is index and ring finger.

Now we have established they are very close dupes, and to the untrained eye (my dad, mother and sister) they could not tell a difference, and neither could I after a few hours wear. Pictures are shown with no top coat. 

Formula on both were fine, the Eyecandy being slightly thicker. I'd like to point out that the Eyecandy polish looks slightly darker when applying, but when it's dried it lightens up and matches Graphite entirely. 

Eyecandy = £8 I believe? (12ml) Eyecandy is found in large Sainsburys in the UK.

Chanel = £17.50 when it was released, but it's now discontinued and costs around £40 on ebay!

There is also the OPI dupe in the new spiderman collection which I do not own. I'm not entirely sure of how close it is. The OPI would be around £11 in the UK for 15ml. It really depends how much you think you will use, and availability in your areas. 

I hope this proves helpful.

Perfectil Skin, Hair & Nails review.

Hi everyone, I thought I'd make this my first review from haul, because I raved about how brilliant these have been working for me. Before I start I'd like to say that, everyone's experience with these will be unique, but I most certainly think they are worth trying.

Hair
My experience with this product so far has been great, my hair has practically doubled it's monthly growth and I've really noticed a difference. I cannot pinpoint anything other than this product doing that. My hair used to grow half an inch a month, and now it's a solid inch. I wouldn't say it's improved the condition of my hair but I use other products for that kind of thing anyway but it has definitely impacted the growth of it. I would buy this again just for the extra growth each month but it has succeeded even this expectation!

Nails
My nails have definitely been growing stronger and quicker on these vitamins, it's beginning to make me wonder  how much of a bad diet I must have! I must say though when I started, I had a broken nail and when it was growing back it was growing back kind of strangely like in layers if that makes sense, I cut it when it got to a cut-able length, and it's growing solid and strong now.

Skin
My skin, really hasn't changed all that much due to this vitamins, I have generally clear skin which may break out before the ladyflow but other than that I haven't really noticed a change and I've also been testing out skin products lately so I really can't say this has done anything for me.

These vitamins are £6.99 in Boots, and you get 30 in a packet. They look like this:

They look rather large but they're the same size as those cheap paracetamol capsules, you take one a day during your main meal preferably (I suppose to stop some kind of tummy ache if you have a sensitive stomach) though I've taken these whenever and I've been fine. 

I will definitely repurchase these over and over I've been that impressed, I'd also like to point out here, I would NOT recommend buying these online, I just don't trust that kind of thing at all, if you have a trusted pharmacy site online which is cheaper, you could opt for that but I would strongly recommend just going to Boots and getting them.

I hope this review proves helpful.