Burts Bees Beeswax and Banana Hand Cream

A couple of months ago I was in need of a new intense hand cream. I didn't want anything light, I was looking for something thick and nourishing. When browsing Waitrose I came across this beauty from Burt's Bees. If you have been a reader for a while you will know that while being treated for acne I swore by the Burt's Bees lip balms to prevent my chapped lips, but other than those I hadn't actually tried any of the brand's other products so i was excited to give this a try.

The Beeswax and Banana hand cream is an incredibly thick, nourishing cream which is honestly a bit more like a paste. In the jar it feels fairly solid and there isn't much whip to the consistency.



However, despite its heavy begininngs It only takes a pea sized amount for my hands to be completely nourished after being wind chapped and dry. The product is mainly made from sweet almond oil and when warmed between the hands it melts to a slightly oily, balm like consistency. It takes a little while to sink in, but not so that you can't function. I am typing away without worrying too much about smudging my keyboard with this cream applied. The beeswax ingredient provides a protective balm which prevents your skin from becoming further ravaged by the elements while the oils get to work with nourishing. When looking for an intensive treatment I want a bit of a protective layer to my hand cream, if it sinks in too quickly I tend to think it isn't rich enough to do the job!

The scent is very synthetic despite the product being 100% natural, it reminds me a lot of banana Nesquik, which I personally am a fan of so I don't mind but it could be too strong for some. If you think it might be I would consider the Almond and Milk hand cream, which appears to be very similar (and which I am considering purchasing for keeping at work!)



A pot of 57g is £9.99 from John Lewis (not currently on the Waitrose website) which when I first purchased it I thought a little expensive but this jar will last me a lot longer than I had first anticipated, this image above is after about 3 months of regular use and it isn't even below the thread on the jar so it is actually a better deal than buying a squeeze tube of my old hand cream.

Have you ever tried Burt's Bees skin products? What is your favourite hand cream at the moment?

Autumn Winter Nail Polish Picks

Long time readers of my blogging antics will know I love to paint my nails, for a long time I tried all sorts of art and colours, and you may have been wondering where those posts have gone. Well, unfortunately I fell foul of the damaged nails problem. I am not sure if it was my Roaccutane treatment that did it or removing polish with a cheap remover a lot but all of a sudden they lost all their strength and started peeling.

This means that nowadays I am much more sedate with my polish painting, I don't have nail polish on all the time, giving my nails a polish free break of a week or so between reapplications, and I usually go for something that can blend easily with outfits or make a bold statement, but which ultimately I can get wear out of for at least a week before having to break out the nail polish remover.

Before my nails weakened, my brand of choice was OPI, and I had only tried other brands a little bit, but in the interim I have become a huge fan of Essie's diffusion line polishes, and they are now my go to for all my polishes. On my nails they last for an unbelievably long time (we are talking getting on for two weeks with only a bit of tip wear) and they apply smoothly and easily.

I thought I would show you the four shades I have picked out for autumn/winter this year. I may add a shade or two to this line up, but these are the ones I think I will be applying on the regular.




First up, my autumn pair. For my fingernails, it has to be Eternal Optimist, I have been wearing this for a couple of months now after picking it up as a cross between a neutral and a pink. I hate the mannequin hands look, as I have awful circulation in my hands so need a bit of colour to pep up my skin tone. This blush pink is just the right shade to look neutral but not cold.

For my toes I have been going with a vampy red in the form of Fishnet Stockings, When I bought this I got home and had a D'oh moment because in the bottle it looks very very similar to my brighter red Apertif, but once painted this dries as a very deep berry red, perfect for autumn when you want your toes to match the fire they are warming up near.




For winter, and by winter I really mean getting closer to christmas, I will probably switch it up but stick with the same colour palettes. For fingernails, I will be reaching for Tea and Crumpets, which I mentioned in my September lust list. I have been eyeing this shade up for ages, and although it looks a bit nothingy in the bottle it is really very pretty. Closer to christmas when there will be festive decorations around I will want a little shimmer and this provides just that, subtle shimmer which still looks classy.

On the toes I will probably go deeper in tone, this time reaching for a true plum in Bahama Mama. Although originally sold as a summer shade I believe, this immediately sang to me as perfect for winter, it is worth noting too that Essie shades last so long on my toes (they never ever chip, I only reapply because of nail growth) that I may only need to reapply these a couple of times, and they always still look glossy and freshly painted. Nothing better than your toes looking smart for the winter season.

Have you chosen your autumn/winter nail shades? Or do you prefer to just switch it up?

Review: Essie Nail Polishes Old and New

As I am sure you all know, recently Essie released a difusion line of their most popular nail polish shades in selected Boots and Superdrug stores across the UK. When i heard about this I got very excited, as I have ordered a couple of shades from eBay before and in general I quite liked them, and wanted to try more. I already had Mint Candy Apple and Marshmallow, which can be seen above, and I love the shades. However the application has a little bit to be desired, they could be a bit hit and miss and often took three or four coats rather than two to be opaque.

However my hopes rose a little bit when lots of bloggers began talking about them and how great the new brush is which supposedly improved application no end, great I thought, problem solved! But when I saw that brush, my heart began to thud with dispair. It looked exactly the same as the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polish brushes, which I am not a fan of!

A couple of weeks ago while in Lincoln I decided to bit the bullet and try a couple of shades I had been admiring anyway, Splash of Grenadine and Lilacism, and risk hating the brush. However I am really pleased with these! The previously thought of as awful brush actually works wonderfully with the quite thin formula of the polishes, a combination which Sally Hansen didn't achieve, and application is really quick and easy because of it. The brush is a standard length and density bristle brush, but the bristles are arranged flat, with ever so slightly curved ends, which generally just means less streaks!

I will definitely be picking up a few more of these next time I am in Lincoln, top of my list are Tea and Crumpets, Merino Cool, and Angora Cardi.

Have you picked up any of the Essie Diffusion Line polishes yet?
xo

NOTD: Topshop Hidden Treasure

I feel like I haven't done of these for a while! I was avoiding wearing nail polish because my nails had taken a battering, but I am getting back into it now.

I first saw this polish on Fleur De Force's blog, a post featuring petrol polish dupes and comparing them to Chanel Peridot, but coming in at just £6 (and then minus a cheeky student discount) this was the obvious choice for a bargain dupe.
The next time I was in my local Toppers I grabbed a bottle, and had a full blown chat with the staff about it being a dupe, enlightening them as to why they had had a sudden increase in sales of the shade.

This is the first Topshop nail polish I have used, though not the first piece of Topshop makeup, and while I have found the rest of the range to be somewhat hit and miss, this polish hasn't disappointed! I applied it 4 days ago and there is barely any wear to the finish, for my nails this is a miracle, it isn't unusual for my polish to chip within a day.

The formula is a nice consistency, not too thick but not too watery, meaning you get full opaque coverage in two coats, and you don't have to be really careful to get those coats even. The only thing I would change would be to reverse the duochorome, I prefer the deeper blue green as opposed to the yellow green, and the yellow green is the shade that catches the light and is therefore dominant. Obviously this isn't possible, but it is something I often wish for with duochrome polishes.

I would definitely recommend you give Topshop polishes a try if you haven't before, I will giving them more consideration myself in future.

:) xo

NOTD: Nubar Treasure

Happy Leap Day everyone! I wanted to post something today but wasn't really sure what as I have lots of posts scheduled at the moment so I thought a little NOTD would be appropriate.

I picked up Nubar Treasure a couple of weeks ago from FeelUnique.com after hearing wonderful things about Nubar Gem I almost placed an order for that one before Treasure caught my eye. It is a beautiful purple with holographic glitter which causes it to reflect pink and gold as well.

 I had never tried Nubar before and was a little wary as I find some brands who use the 3-free formulations (free of DBP (phthalate), formaldehyde and toluene) sometimes have slightly gloopy formulas but this polish went on smoothly and easily, I actually applied it while stood at the bus stop with no problems! I think next time I place a Feel Unique order I will definitely pick up another of these, possibly the famous Gem, but potentially the equally beautiful Brilliant.

This image is taken with one coat of OPI A Grape Fit underneath one coat of Nubar Treasure, which I found is the easiest way to get some opacity, but I have worn Treasure on its own and achieved opacity with three coats. I have a layer of Seche Vite to protect the polish on here and the polish didn't start to chip until after about three days wear, which may seem like a short amount of time, but my polish usually chips in just one! (I know at work I really put them to the test, and washing my hair always seems to wear away the cap of polish I paint along the edge)

The polish isn't cheap, as with all 3-Free formulas, but is a little cheaper than most coming in at £7.85 with free delivery, for me this is definitely worth it!

NOTD: Rumples Bones

Excuse my dehydrated cuticles!

This look is actually off my nails now, as it started to chip yesterday when I was taking Blog Sale photos.

(That should be up later today, lots of highstreet and higher end brands in case you are wondering)

Anyway this is OPI Skull and Glossbones, from the Pirate's of the Caribbean collection  

with OPI Rumples Wiggin, from the Shrek Collection, as the tips.

I am really glad this has shown up in pictures because in person it didn't look that obvious, which disappointed me slightly. Though the negative is that in this picture the Skull and Glossbones looks much more khaki then it is, its actually much more grey. 

I did like the combination though!

xo :)

NOTD: Girly Glittery Nails

 

These pictures are after a couple of days of wear, but I wanted to post this after I had uploaded my 

2011 favourites. I chose OPI Teenage Dream as my favourite nail polish of the year, and I thought I should show you some of the ways I wear it.

The colour is a translucent pink with a range of glitter, including holographic sparkle.

This is quite possibly my favourite way to wear OPI Teenage Dream, with a coat over two coats of the much more subtle glittery polish OPI Princesses Rule. Together they make me smile whenever I catch a glimpse of them, or get ever so slightly blinded by the sparkles.

What was your favourite of 2011?

xo

NOTD: Festive French

Barry M Gold topped with Barry M Gold glitter.
Tips are Barry M Bright Red topped with Barry M Red Glitter

I have been wanting to paint my nails all Christmassy for days and finally got around to it last night!

These were really simple, just 2 coats of a gold polish followed by a gold glitter topcoat and then freehand painted 1 layer of red on the tip and added a layer of glitter.

A simple way to get sparkly Christmas nails without getting too messy playing around with nail art brushes and actual glitter.

:) xo

Nail Polish Collection

Regular readers of the blog will not be surprised by the length of this video, 

it is no secret I am a fan of nail polish.

I was really excited to make this video though even though it took me a whole day!

Enjoy :) xo

NOTD: What's With The Cattitude?

Blue seems quite apt for today seeing as I am rather cold, I swear our heating is never on!

Anyway this is OPI What's with the Cattitude, one of the limited edition shades from the 2010 Shrek Forever after collection, and my personal favourite light blue.
The shade is almost opaque with two coats, you have to be careful to get them even, but it is such a nice shade that it is worth the little bit of effort.

Although this is limited edition, I got mine from eBay where there are always a few bouncing around, it was also still on ASOS a short while ago.

The dots (which I added because I was bored, story of my life right there) are OPI - OPI Ink, a new winter favourite.

XO

NOTD: Sex Kitten

Leighton Denny - Sex Kitten

This polish popped through my letterbox the other day as a part of my GlossyBox (more on that in another post) and I was a bit dubious about whether I would like it or not to be honest. 

If you have followed my nail of the day posts for long you will notice that I don't really favour the whole pearlescent metallic look very often, I am more of a creme polish lover or i go for shimmer so the finish wasn't something I was looking forward to.

This is the first Leighton Denny polish I have ever used, so I can't comment on all the other ones out there, but the finish on this polish did exactly what I thought it would upon application, and its the reason I don't go for them, they streak.

Now obviously I am not talking streaking as in uneven coverage, I am talking streaking as in I can see where the brush bristles were. It drives me insane, I openly admit I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my nails, but the lines in the application are something I can't tolerate, and I have actually just taken this off after wearing it for a day.

Other then the streaky appearance this went on fairly well with two coats. I can still see the whites of my nails which is always an issue when dealing with a light shade polish, but the colour was fairly opaque and it is pretty being what i would call a true ice blue.

I did find the brush to be a little hard to control because the cap is quite large but fairly short, which never allows for graceful application (all polish producers should take note of Ciate bottles I think) and this probably increased teh streaking as it meant on my fairly slim nails I had to attempt to curve the brush away from my skin. 

At £11 each these polishes aren't cheap, and I think that although I would be happy to try a cream finish polish by them I won't be rushing out to pick one up, if I happen to spot some in T.K.Maxx though I might grab some to try.

xo

OPI Muppets collection

Picked up some limited edition OPI polishes just now from the muppets collection, the Fozzie Bear one reminds me of the Chanel Peridot Polish.

OPI - Warm and Fozzie and Rainbow Connection

NOTD: Ombré Nails

OPI-Just A Little Rosti At This

This is my first attempt at an Emma Watson inspired ombré nail look.

Emma had these awesome blue black airbrushed cuticles in the November Elle magazine that immediately drew my eye and I have been excited to try them ever since!

Obviously i don't have a nail art airbrushing kit, so i just used normal polish and it did take a bit of practice, but Once I have the technique perfected I shall film a quick tutorial for you :)

XO

NOTD: Oh so Perdy!

I succumbed to the whole dalmation thing and broke out my OPI Alpine Snow and Bourjois So Laque in Noir de Chine to give it a go.
I tried to do just random splodges but it didn't quite work so I had to break out my nail art pen too for the smaller dots.

I do like how it turned out though, very funky!!

NOTD: OPI Ink

Another almost impossible to capture nail colour today:

This is OPI Ink

It really is beautiful, I have it on both my fingers and toes at the moment, that is how much I love it.

As you can (hopefully) see the polish is a purple/navy colour with purple, blue and pink shimmers in it.

It is one of the few polishes that I own which has an effect in the bottle which translates accurately onto the nail, the almost oil slick look that the shimmer has in the sunlight actually works, though I will say it works more so on my toe nails.

My favourite Barry M polish, if you have followed/known me for a while you will know is called Navy, and I like to think of OPI Ink as Navy with extra juice, it really is beautiful.

:) xo

NOTD: Sweetheart

Random on the go post today, as I am off tutoring and forgot it would be dark by the time I got back.

This is OPI Sweetheart, taken with two coats, most people say they need three but two medium coats always seems to work for me!

xo

NOTD: OPI Lincoln Park After Dark

Well I think October officially means that I can start wearing dark nails again!

I have had my eye on this one for a while so I knew I had to grab it up when I was recently at Sallys, I also grabbed OPI Ink so expect to see that soon too.

OPI LPAD (Which ALWAYS without fail makes me think it says Linkin Park, as in that band that I used to listen to at school lol) is actually an aubergine colour, even though it just looks black here. Next time I wear it I will try to photograph it again, but it is very difficult to get the purple to show up on camera.

In person natural light let's the deep shade reflect the purple however and it looks smart and sophisticated, perfect for pairing with my favourite winter lipstick, Clinique's Black Honey.

NOTD: Orly all the rage?

Orly - Rage

So I mentioned this in my haul video, which I think went up yesterday, but I grabbed this polish from eBay the other week. I have been after it for a while, I love the whole Rose gold metallic thing at the moment.

When I first opened the package I thought 'ohhhh dear' as it looked very similar to GOSH Frou-Frou, but actually that one is much more pink, where as Rage has a very subtle peachiness to the gold.

I don't like the brush, but I never do unless it is OPI/Ciate so that is no surprise. The wear we will just have to wait an see, I have had this on my toes for a week with no top coat and it hasn't chipped yet, but I have only just popped it on my fingers.

Overall I am glad I got it because I had wanted it for so long, but it isn't as amazing as I thought it would be, maybe it will grow on me in time?

Xo

P.S. I'm posting on that there new blogger app on my phone, so have nooo idea how it will turn out!

NOTD: Nail Envy

OPI Nail Envy for sensitive and peeling nails.

So this is why I haven’t had any NOTD pictures lately, my nails have been a mess ever since I tried to use up my Sally Hansen Hard as Nails. That stuff completely ruined them, they peel and flake like mad now so I am giving them a break and using some trusty Nail Envy to try and get them all nice again.

This is the first time I have used this one, I used to use the original Nail Envy exclusively. The price may be astronomical (and it has risen since I bought my last bottle, by about £4!!!) but I really do think that this stuff helps.

XO

NOTD: Knotted Leopard Below Deck!

China Glaze Knotty,

China Glaze Below Deck,

Star Nails black art pen.

A few days (and a long shift fitting shoes on children) wear on these, but this is the leopard print look I did the other day. It was really simple, I just blobbed the darker colour on randomly and then outlined with the nail pen in a few different ways. I found it looked better if the black lines were a bit blobby too, and went back and made them less neat!

I really quite liked this neutral version, so it might just pop up again!! 

XO