Ciate - chinchilla

Ciaté – Chinchilla

This colour is from the ‘Nail Taxi’ collection from which Mistress also came.

I am still unsure on the brush that Ciaté use in their nail varnish; I am hoping that the more I use the brand the better I will get with it. The brush is so chubby, which means it goes absolutely everywhere I managed to get more on my fingers than I did on my nails this time round.

The colour is beautiful and I am a huge fan of the formulation of the paint itself; it goes on smoothly and effortlessly with no drag allowing you to apply with some sense of speed. The colour is a soft dove grey with the slightest hint of pale blue, when I have used similar shades by other brands it makes my hands look so pale they gained a blue hue to them but Ciaté somehow seemed to warm up the colour of my hands but still achieving a winter frost on my nails.

Overall the good points of ‘Chinchilla’ are:-

• Great colour,
• Smooth formula
• Easy application

Bad point is only one really and that is the chubby brush. I do highly recommend Ciaté as a brand if you can get past the brush.

Bye for now

Nicola xx

jelly pong pong - mascara

Jelly Pong Pong – Fairy Lashes Mascara

This is one of the products from my October GlossyBox.

First off this is such a great name, its one I really enjoyed telling people I used it just a shame that I don’t rate the product. Let’s start off with the positives;

• No mineral oils
• No Phthalates
• Fragrance free
• With moringa seed resin
• Hypoallergenic
• Non-comedogenic
• Suitable for contact lens wearers
• Not tested on animals

Now I don’t know what most of that means if I am honest and I don’t wear contact leanses so for me that is not a plus point. The only points that have any significance for me is the no mineral oils, the inclusion of moringa seed, and that it isn’t tested on animals (I don’t seek this out but I would buy a product because of it).

Packaging is a pretty purple with white flowers on it; all writing is in black making it clear to read and follow. The tube itself is shaped like most mascara tubes with a pointed end where the brush is, it is dark purple/brown in colour with pastel pink writing. All in all the packaging to me isn’t the best the colours are ok but I have seen better, I would not pick it out from a shelf in a shop which to me is what packaging is for.

(Picture is with one eye with the mascara and the other clear)

The wand and brush are the most important part of any mascara in my opinion, the brush is a fat oval with the same style bristles all the way down due to this the mascara struggles to pick up my smaller lashes leaving a lack lustre set, I felt that it gave me no curl and no definition. It’s so sad as in principle and on ethics this is such a lovely idea but it just failed to deliver on what you need a mascara to be. A big positive for it was that it never moved, it didn’t leave black specks on my cheeks after a few hours or smudge marks and it is a very intense black.

                                (This is with both eyes coated)

Overall I would not buy this again.

Bye for now

Nicola

xx

Talika - Photo-Hydra Day

Talika – Photo-Hydra Day

This is a product from my October GlossyBox.

I am a huge lover of moisturisers; with my dry skin I really struggle to keep it hydrated so given the chance I attempt most moisturisers on the market starting at the lower end all the way to the expensive part of the market.

Packaging on this product really reminds me of elemis, simple, sophisticated and elegane. Simple colours finished off with a very reflective silver cap, I love the white with blue writing.

Photo-Hydra is a semi translucent cream which had a gel like texture that applied easily and evenly and quickly sunk in leaving my skin feeling smooth and silky allowing my makeup to go on straight away afterwards. I tried it with a BB cream afterwards and powder; neither time I struggled to get an even layer or drag. Once applied the cream appeared to decrease the size of my pores and left a beautiful sheen on my skin that lasted all day. It has a very subtle fragrance that I can’t describe but I liked it. The moisturised feeling didn’t go down either which I was really impressed by especially in the winter months where your skin has to suffer not only the cold but the wind and rain also.

Overall I really enjoy using this product and would definitely consider buying again.

Bye for now

Nicola

xx

Calvin Klein - Orange Too Lipstick

Calvin Klein – Orange Too

I have an obsession with Calvin Klein Lipsticks; I have a good collection and thought I better share my love with the world and begin reviewing the colours I have.

Orange lipstick would not be my colour choice in fact I would be running in the opposite direction as fast as I could, but I thought I would give it a go due to my loyalty to brand. What you find with Calvin Klein lipsticks is they go on with great ‘slip’ there is no drag at all and you only need to apply one layer to get the full impact of colour without the effort of lip liners and reapplication.

As you can see in the picture it is a full colour that I would say is more on a red spectrum than overly orange but is has definite orange hues. Overall I highly advise if and when you see these lipsticks buy them all they are amazing.

Bye for now

Nicola xx

Miss Sporty - Miss Cocktail Lip Gloss "Bloody Lilac"

Miss Sporty – Miss Cocktail Lip Gloss “Bloody Lilac”

As a brand Miss Sporty is at a lower price point than most starting at just £1, so my expectations were not great but I needed a quick gloss before going out and this was the only brand I could find. That is probably not the best reason to try out a brand but it is the truth.

Application is easy with a quick squeeze it glided on smoothly and effortlessly leaving a beautiful sheen and a lovely colour that didn’t look cheap and lasted roughly an hour to an hour and a half which for me and gloss is pretty good going. The colour looks so intimidating when you look at the tube a shockingly bright purple but it goes on so sheer it just adds the right amount of colour.

Overall I would buy this brand again; the price point is cheap enough to buy a wide variety of colours.

Bye for now

Nicola xx

Glossybox October 2015

Glossy Box October 2015

This is my first glossybox and overall I am impressed; now as I have mentioned in previous posts I am a sucker for packaging and glossybox hits the nail on the head although I am slightly disappointed that my pink box looks like it has been dragged around and thrown with scuff marks and black lines.

The outer coating/ posting box is a glossy black box with the company logo emblazoned all over; this leads to no confusion about what is inside leading to more excitement.

Once through the black box you are greeted by a baby pink shiny lid with ‘GlossyBox’ written in a large black font with the same emblem as on packaging above the writing. Once you lift the lid the sense of importance and decadence screams through; with the softest of pink tissue paper and black grosgrain ribbon tied lightly in a bow just waiting to be opened. On the tissue paper there is a round monochrome sticker with the company logo boldly sealing the tissue shut like a 15^th century letter sealed with a wax seal.

Beneath your luscious layers the real fun begins with five great products waiting to be played with; in this month’s box you have-

• So Susan – Haute Light Highlighting Pencil £15
• Talika – Photo-Hydra Day £24.85
• Nicka K- Airbrush Blending Sponge £6.50
• Lanolips – Antibacterial Hand cream £8.99
• Jelly Pong Pong – Fairy Lashes Curl Mascara £17.95

I will be reviewing all products in separate reviews to give them their own voice and my true opinions in a deeper exploration of their uses.

I hope you have enjoyed this review,

Bye for now

Nicola

xxx

Lanolips - Intense Hydration & Protection

Lanolips – Intense Hydration & Protection

This is the first product in which I am reviewing from my October Glossybox;

As a mum of a 10 month old and a 4 year old I have to was my hands a crazy amount of times in a day especially when we are out due to continuous nappy changing and toilet breaks for my 4 year old. When you add in that the baby cries at loud noises and the 4 year old has managed to grow a fear of hand dryers (God knows why) using sinks in public toilets is pretty much a no go hand sanitizer gels are my saviour however I have really sensitive eczema prone skin the drying formulas hurt more than they help on some days.

So on the surface Lanolips is a perfect compromise an antibacterial hand cream that kills 99% of germs whilst moisturising and protecting my poor hands, what is great about this product is it uses lanolin a completely natural product. As a mum who breast fed I am well aware of the soothing quality of lanolin so to see this in a hand cream is a huge bonus.

The cream itself has a lovely subtle fragrance that I can only describe as is clean; it is non offence and I really like it. I think it comes more from the aloe within it as that has a distinctive smell but this is not as strong as other aloe products I have used. When you apply it has a slight drag to it but nothing too drastic, it instantly sinks in and leaves a lovely texture and feeling on my skin which is great in this season. The feeling on my skin lasted ages and if I was to buy this as just a hand cream I would be very happy with soothing effects it has on me but to have the antibacterial quality too is such a huge benefit.

As I have said before I am a true lover of packaging and it has a big impact on whether I buy a product. The outer box is lovely in a subtly blue with a watercolour drawn version of the product on the front panel; the look of the packaging has a beautiful vintage feel I think it would look just in place in 1950 as it does now. The one thing that does disappoint me with the packaging is the size, from the outside it looks like you are going to get a fair size product however when you open the top of the box you are greeted with a separator that splits the box in half which to me seems like a waste really.

Overall I really like this product and would definitely purchase again as a treat for me rather than for the kids as my son did not like the feel if the cream he prefers the gels.

Speak soon

Love Nicola xx