Essence French Glam Nail Polish in 03 Rose Glam Review

This is a very pale and delicate shade of pink with some fine shimmers through. I like it, it's fine, but the glittery/shimmery bits looks a bit cheap.

Disclaimer: I'd like to mention that I have purchased this product myself, have given my own honest opinion, and am not affiliated with the company. 

Essence French Manicure French Nude Nail Polish in 05 Simply Nude Review

This nude shade of French manicure looks gorgeous on. And I absolutely love how quickly this stuff dries. This is why I was able to do about three coats of this, and not wait around for ages then end up with smudges. 

The nail art in the picture is from one of those stickers that Essence do.

Disclaimer: I'd like to mention that I have purchased this product myself, have given my own honest opinion, and am not affiliated with the company. 

La Roche Posay Hydraphase Intense Eyes Review

The texture of this eye product is neither a cream, and not a gel, but for review purposes I'll call it a cream just so it's easier. :)

I was looking for an eye cream that will hydrate really well, since I tend to have dry skin, and I recently noticed a few baby wrinkles under eye which I was very unimpressed by, so decided to see if I can do something about them or even prevent new ones for a while. 

I was told straight away by the sales assistant, that the little wrinkles that are appearing under my eyes are from dehydration, so off she went and introduced me to this non-cream and non-gel eye product! 

I was very quick to say that this might not be enough for me, since I already have dry skin on top of my "dehydrated eye area", but I was reassured that this will hydrate well, is anti-pufiness and will do wonders for my eyes. :)

I had my doubts of course, but I went off to give it a go and see what happens. So, I got home, took my makeup off, and opened the eye cream to find the consistency I was on about above, but very surprisingly once on, it felt refreshing, even cooling and............ very moisturising!!!!!!! Amazing how such consistency could be moisturising but it was, and on top of all that if felt seriously soothing. I am hooked, instantaneously. :)

I must say the packaging is great. I love it when they put stuff like this in squeezy type tubes for hygiene purposes, and squeezing the mother out of it when it's nearly gone, but you don't really want to part with it just yet!

On opening the cardboard box you find the above instruction in a few different languages, I only bothered taking a picture of the English version. Apparently, this is the correct way of applying eye creams, and this instruction is very clear explaining how it must be done. And as the case is with most things, less is more, especially around the eye area. I read in some article how plastic surgeons find a huge amount of these fatty-like deposits when doing an eye job on most women. These pockets of fat are the eye creams we use over the years, and in excess which is not needed. The eye area is so fine, that it only needs a very small amount, so when we use too much of it, it is getting absorbed, but not used. Sick really thinking about it, so since then I'm extra careful. And because of this, most of my eye creams are way past the little 6 month jar thing, because I use so little of them. I really wouldn't mind if companies thought about this, and halved the size of them, and slashed the prices too.

Disclaimer: I'd like to mention that I have purchased this product myself, have given my own honest opinion, and am not affiliated with the company. 

Careprost (Latisse Generic) Lash Growth Review

I bought Careprost based on the reviews online, and the raves about it being similar to the expensive Latisse. I was very curious since my lashes are quite short, and I wouldn't go anywhere without putting on some mascara first at least!

I found a girl on MUA who was offering doing group order so that you don't pay the high shipping from ADC, and as it was in my case, for those people where the website doesn't ever offer shipping to their country. Therefore, because I really wanted to give this a try, and since I hadn't found any other site that delivers to Ireland, I decided to go ahead and join this group order, and see how it goes.

So, I ordered two of those bottles of Careprost and paid USD36 by Paypal to this girl, and this amount included the shipping from India to the US, then repackaging my individual order and sending it out to Ireland.

I read through the instruction, which to be honest is quiet scary because of all the side effects warning it has described in it, including changing the colour of your eyes, darkening the lid etc etc. I decided to be brave anyway, and took the plunge trying to see if it will really work for me, despite the possible side effects.

When opening the packaging, and seeing that this Careprost looks exactly like any other eye drops, it didn't feel so intimidating after all to give it a go. :) 

On the 13th September I tried it for the very first time. I put a drop in the little hollow on top of the cap, and dipped a very fine eyeliner brush there, and applied it on my lid, close to my lashes, just like I would apply any other eyeliner. The liquid dried off pretty quick, and I was waiting for the stinging, or reddening of the area where applied, but this didn't happen even after nightly applications till this very day, and fingers crossed I won't have any in the future of continuing to use this.

When I got more comfortable using this, I thought it was such a waste wiping the leftovers from the cap with a tissue, so I decided that after applying it on my lid close to my lashes, I'd apply it on my brows too.

Here are the "before" pictures, they really are not great because I took them on my phone, but you'll still be able to see just how tiny my lashes are...

13th September 2011:

25th September 2011:

20th October 2011:

 

29th October 2011:

 

 

7th December 2011:

I will try to keep track of my progress and take pictures every now and then, to see if there really is a massive difference, and will update this post as I go along, so stay tuned. :)

Disclaimer: I'd like to mention that I have purchased this product myself, have given my own honest opinion, and am not affiliated with the company. 

Essence Colour & Go Quick Drying Nail Polish in 36 Enchanted Fairy

I've recently bought a few things from Essence, and I am really liking everything I get from them. The quality is really amazing, and at the low prices you pay for their products, it won't brake anyone's budget either. :) 

So, when I feel bad about wanting something expensive that I don't need, I turn to brands such as Essence, Catrice and other low ends that offer quality products.

My recent purchase was this Essence polish in Enchanted fairy. It's kind of a lilac shade with some pink, and an almost pearly shimmer. I have two coats on, and it dried really really fast, so no smudges, which is great. Today is my second day wearing it, and it's still going strong.

Disclaimer: I'd like to mention that I have purchased this product myself, have given my own honest opinion, and am not affiliated with the company. 

Mavala Nail Polish in 152 Mauve Cendre

Mauve Cendre is a really cool mushroom brown colour, it looks beautiful and glossy once freshly applied, but it takes forever to dry, so smudges very easily.

Disclaimer: I'd like to mention that I have purchased this product myself, have given my own honest opinion, and am not affiliated with the company.

Mavala Nail Polish in 97 Wichita Review

This Mavala shade is a gorgeous delicate light pink. I used two coats above with no base or top coats, and it lasted about four days, before I had to take it off.

Disclaimer: I'd like to mention that I have purchased this product myself, have given my own honest opinion, and am not affiliated with the company.

Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV 4 Eyeshadow Palette / Kit / Set Review

I happen to get this palette in Debenhams when they had the 10% off beauty offer, that was just a bonus because there was no way I was going to leave this behind me! The palette is very pretty, bulky yes, but so eye catching overall.

This is great value for the quality of the products you get, the amount of shadows, and the bits and pieces that they have included here. So, they packed in this "book" sixteen eyeshadows(!); a full version of their new 24/7 liquid liner in Perversion, which is a gorgeous black; a travel size of their eyeshadow primer, this comes in the new tube version, which is great really, that they listened to everyone out there complain about the other packaging which was horrendous; they also include their super curl mascara in a mini size, which I didn't get to try yet, but I'm liking the look of the brush. 

UD is really trying to keep up with time, and therefore mixing in a bit of technology for a change with beauty. They're including in this kit a little card with QR codes, which are these images, and with the help of your smartphone (any phone really that has a camera and access to internet) you get referred to a link, in this case you get to see the UD "get the look" videos. To save you the time and hassle, I'm attaching the links to these videos below. :) They also include a little speaker that can be attached as a keyring, it's really cute, and not a bad sound at all for such a tiny device.

And here are the links to the videos from the QR codes. The videos are not bad actually, apart from the music blaring in the backround and having to strain your ear to hear what the girl is saying! You still get the drift though, from what she is doing, and what she uses..

http://www.urbandecay.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-UrbanDecay-Site/default/Video-Show?video=1
http://www.urbandecay.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-UrbanDecay-Site/default/Video-Show?video=2
http://www.urbandecay.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-UrbanDecay-Site/default/Video-Show?video=3
http://www.urbandecay.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-UrbanDecay-Site/default/Video-Show?video=4
http://www.urbandecay.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-UrbanDecay-Site/default/Video-Show?video=5

I have to admit though that the whole thing is a bit gimmicky, and some may think unnecessary, but it is different. 

When you open the top of the palette there's this gorgeous applique of butterflies, a mirror on the right hand side, on the left hand side there's a little dock station to place your phone on when watching the videos. And because the eyeshadows are underneath that, in a pull out drawer, it's quite handy, not necessary however..

The sixteen gorgeous eyeshadows included in this palette are:

• Blue Bus - Periwinkle blue sheen
• Gunmetal - Gunmetal gray with silver glitter
• Cobra - Smoky green with gold shimmer
• Baked - Rich golden bronze shimmer
• Bender - Moss green sheen
• Gravity - Violet with silver glitter
• Lost - Neutral brown shimmer
• Hijack - Metallic muted teal
• Midnight Cowgirl - Golden beige with gold glitter
• Sin - Light shimmering champagne
• Midnight Rodeo - Beige shimmer with silver glitter
• Crystal - Pale icy blue shimmer
• Bust - Taupe sheen
• Missionary - Light taupe sheen
• Skimp - Ivory peach sheen
• Zephyr - Pearly cream sheen.

This is one of the few palettes that I know I will actually use the whole lot of what is included in! All the shadow colours are completely wearable and versatile, if you want to do a day look, or play it up for night. My favourite shades have to be Lost and Baked, and the other neutral ones with glitter are absolutely beautiful, and quite unique. You will get some glitter fall out with the most glittery ones, but with those the only tip I have is to pack them on your lid with your finger and not a brush, then clean up any fallout with some sellotape.

Overall. this is a very good buy. Especially if you don't have any other versions of the Book of Shadows, which is great for me because this is my first one from that line. I am completely blown away at the colours they included, and the products for such a great value, yet not compromising on quality. It's early days still, but this set would make a great Christmas gift :).

Disclaimer: I'd like to mention that I have purchased this product myself, have given my own honest opinion, and am not affiliated with the company.