Loads of people were banging on about Bourjois’ “Magic Nail Polish Remover,” a product that promised to remove nail polish in 1 second per nail without cotton wool. I was sceptical, to say the least.

This little pot is filled with a great big sponge with a hole in the middle and the liquid polish remover, which claims to smell like red fruit and vanilla though I wouldn’t recommend you go sniffing it – it smells like sweetened nail polish remover, no disguising that.
Acetone free and paraben free, Bourjois use nourishing sweet almond oil to help moisturise the nail during removal – but does it actually work?

Bourjois’ claims;

Interesting to note that Bourjois have a star (*) next to the claim on their website, insinuating that there is a disclaimer, but I can’t find it anywhere. Hm.

Well, I applied China Glaze’s Kaleidoscope Him Out – a nice holographic baby blue – to my nails to try. Nothing too challenging, it’s not really a glitter polish as it dries completely smooth, so it shouldn’t be too hard to remove, right? (Yes, I’m aware of how bad my cuticles look, but it isn’t a review for the nail polish, it’s a review for the remover.)

Hm. This is after a quick swipe of the sponge, (instructions are to dip, twist and remove,) probably more than 1 second because I can’t twist my finger that fast, and while the polish has definitely taken some damage I wouldn’t say that the remover has ‘instantly removed’ my nail polish at all.

So, I tried again, probably for about 10 seconds this time and the result was much better. I did the same for my other fingers too. While the results are decent there’s still a lot of polish caught around my cuticles and nail edge, so I had to grab a cotton bud and some liquid remover anyway, but I have to say I wasn’t expecting it to work at all so to see it get rid of most of my polish in a few seconds I was relatively happy.
It did leave my fingers feeling horribly oily though, I had to wash my hands straight after, but that’s just because I don’t like oily stuff on my hands.

Does what it says on the tin: 5/10.
Quality: 5/10.
Colour/pigmentation: N/A.
Packaging: 7/10.
Price: 9/10.
Re-purchase: Yes.

Overall: 6.5/10:

I would re-purchase this product, because even though it doesn’t live up to its claims of clearing the nail of nail polish completely in 1 second, it does definitely shorten the removal process if you use this and then clean up with cotton buds and normal remover after.

Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover – Magic? Not quite.

I got mine at Boots for £4.99, but Superdrug currently have a 3 for 2 on Bourjois products so if you enjoy anything else from their range it might be worth a look.

No doubt if you read beauty blogs you’ll know that MAC recently launched their newest collection, Hey, Sailor! And it’s going down a storm!
I thought I’d get in on the action, but I wasn’t really sure what to buy. I don’t own many MAC products, and that is something I want to change! I know that MAC do lovely lipsticks though, so I thought I’d grab one from the collection, I chose to get Sail La Vie.

On the website Sail La Vie looks to be a pink-toned coral, however in reality it’s definitely more of an orange-based coral. This is not a bad thing!

First of all, the packaging is so cute. Obviously sticking with the nautical theme here the navy blue and white stripes make this little bullet stand out among my (admittedly small) lipstick collection, without being too bulky or garish.
The lipstick itself is a beautifully pigmented coral with a satin finish which shows deep colour even in one layer. It is buildable, but a little goes a long way so use in moderation!

The formula is fantastic, it’s so creamy and smooth, it doesn’t create any drag on the lips while applying and feels light and almost non-existent once applied. It lasted for a good few hours on me with only a little wear, however you will want to bring it with you to touch up just in case, as with such a striking shade some wear will occur. Though, even when it has worn a little it still looks good on the lips and doesn’t go patchy. Thankfully, as the formula is so creamy, it doesn’t dry out the lips which I sometimes find is a problem (I have oddly sensitive lips, to the extent that I’m actually allergic to something in NHS hospitals, so have to carry around cold sore cream with me to fight the allergy, lest my lips end up swollen, dry, red and very sore. This is not good when you are a student nurse who intents to work in the NHS for the rest of her life… Moving on.)

MAC say;

But what do I think?

Does what it says on the tin: 10/10.
Quality: 9/10.
Colour/pigmentation: 10/10.
Packaging: 8/10.
Price: 7/10.
Re-purchase: Yes.

Overall: 9/10:

Hey, Sailor! Sail La Vie costs £14 and is available along with the rest of the Hey, Sailor! Collection in MAC stores, booths and on their website.

Will you guys be picking up anything from the Hey, Sailor! Collection? I’m thinking about getting the green eyeshadow, but I’ve never had an eyeshadow from MAC before. Are they worth the hefty price tag?

The Porefessional is a primer/”pro balm” that claims to minimise the appearance of pores. When I was in store, when I first bought this, I was talking to one of the lovely BeneBabes about having oily and spot-prone skin. She suggested using Porefessional as a primer before applying foundation, then using it over the foundation on the t-zone should I need. She promised it’d help solve some of the annoying make-up slide that I sometimes experience on warmer days. So I thought I might as well give it a go.

Benefit say this about the POREfessional;

Out of the tube it’s got a slight beige tint, but it is completely translucent on the skin. I found that I only needed a tiny bit of it to cover my T-zone (and the rest of my face on warmer/busier days,) and found that it absorbed really quickly in to my skin, leaving it feeling velvety and soft. This seems to happen even quicker if I apply my make-up shortly after I moisturise and wash my face (my morning routine involves a myriad of Benefit products!) This is good, because it costs £23.50! Which, even for me, is a bit much. However, I know that Benefit products are top-notch when it comes to quality, so I although it stung a little I felt I could justify the investment.

I tend not to use Porefessional around the eye area, as I have my Urban Decay Primer Potion for that, and I’m not a big fan of trying out non-eye-area-specific products around my eyes because they’re quite sensitive, but for the rest of the face Porefessional holds up pretty damn well. I have to say that I did notice that my make-up stayed put for longer, though I didn’t really find the product having any effect on the visibility of my pores, then again I don’t have really enlarged pores anyway so it’s not too bothersome for me. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t notice.

Does what it says on the tin: 7/10.
Quality: 9/10.
Colour/pigmentation: N/A.
Packaging: 8/10.
Price: 7/10.
Re-purchase: Yes.

Overall: 8/10:

The Stylfile’s S-file concept is simple – a nail file that follows the contours of the natural nail rather than being flat. Brought to you by the winner of The Apprentice, 2011, Tom Pellereau. He’s also released two more in the Stylfile range, the Emergency File and the S-buffer (all available on Amazon.) The S-file has two sides, a course filing side on one and a smoothing side on the other.

The S-file’s claims are that they make it easier to file nails with less breakage and a more uniform shape, it’s especially useful when filing with the non-dominant hand – which I can attest to. This is something that made me think, “why the hell doesn’t this already exist?!” It makes so much sense and makes life so much easier.
It takes a while to get used to, but the S-file is most definitely one of my new favourite beauty accessories.

I have small nails with my nail-beds ridiculously high up on my fingers (as you’ll have seen if you’ve seen any of my nail polish reviews,) and even if I wanted to grow them longer I can’t because of placement. However, I’m not sure if I can put it down to the file or not, but my nails have grown longer without breaking since I’ve been using this file than they have ever done in the past. I think it might be due to the fact that the file places very little stress on the nails when filing, whereas straight files pull and can damage my nails.

Does what it says on the tin: 9/10.
Quality: 9/10.
Colour/pigmentation: N/A.
Packaging: 7/10.
Price: 10/10.
Re-purchase: Yes.

Overall: 9/10:

The Stylfile S-file is a simple piece of kit that really makes life easier when it comes to nails. I’m thinking about getting the S-buffer and maybe even the Emergency File; they are all available on Amazon. The S-file is £4.49, the S-buffer £4.99 and the Emergency File £4.49.

So I’ve noticed that a lot of people are discovering Inika since the April Glossybox, and as they’re my favourite organic/natural/vegan brand I can’t help but get a little excited for them.

I recently had the chance to try out some of Inika’s Lip Whips, and figured now would be around the best time to post them.

First off, these things smell amazing, they smell like Terry’s Chocolate Oranges, if you know them (amazing, quite sickly orange chocolate that smells beautiful,) but they don’t taste of it. Well, they don’t taste of anything so that’s good.

Bare lips (inside) vs Peach Lip Whip (sunlight.)
Peach is a pinkish coral sheer gloss (I would say the LipWhips are definitely glosses,) which can be applied thinly for a burst of moisture or layered (preferably with a lip brush) to get a bit more depth of colour. There is some very subtle shimmer going on here that you can’t really see in person but it’s apparent on these photos. Peach looks like a vibrant orange in the tube and on my hand, but the subtlety on the lip provides a really nice touch of colour without being over the top.
I included the above picture in different lighting so that you could compare it to the one below this text, just because I feel that Peach looks better in daylight than the shade. It’s definitely a summer shade, perfect for the warmer days lounging in the grass or on the beach.
In fact, both of these Lip Whips are perfect when you want something lighter and with less commitment than a lipstick. I’d wear Peach during the day then take Apricot out for the evening, just thinking of those warm summer nights makes me smile.

Peach (inside.)

These Lip Whips aren’t sticky at all, they’re possibly the least stickiest gloss I’ve ever used. They left my lips feeling moisturised and smelling lovely (though the smell does go after a little while, still, it’s nice!) Their stickiness is comparable to Vaseline – non existent. Love it. Peach could easily go over a darker lipstick to add more dimension and a glossy finish or you can wear it on its own like I did.

I couldn’t get over how pretty they are on my hand or on my lips. Indulging in a bit of make-up porn here, sorry.

Apricot is a little different.
Apricot is a deep bronze flecked with gold and bronze glitter. The glitter isn’t bitty at all, you don’t notice it, but it leaves this beautiful depth to the lips along with the stunning shine. The base is slightly copper-y, not quite as clear but definitely nowhere near opaque. Again, this can be built up and it took a couple of coats to get it to this opacity on my lips. I can see this shade being show-stopping if it were layered over the right lipstick, however I don’t own many mattes without shimmer already so I feel it’d be a bit much (I need to get more of Inika’s Lipsticks too!) I can see myself wearing this quite a lot.
Apricot is quite similar to the Toffee Juicy Tube that came with the Harrod’s Glossybox, but the Inika Lip Whip has more depth and a nicer shimmer than the Juicy Tube. It’s also a fair bit more pigmented, and it’s not as sticky as the Juicy Tube either.

Inika say this about their Lip Whips;

They last for between 1 and 4 hours each, in my experience, which is about right for a gloss in this price range I think. If they were to last longer I fear the formula would have to be stickier. I’d rather carry around the little tube and top up when needed rather than deal with sticky lips.

Does what it says on the tin: 10/10.
Quality: 10/10.
Colour/pigmentation: 8/10.
Packaging: 7/10. I don’t like this style of lipgloss packaging, but I used a lip brush so it wasn’t too bad.
Price: 8/10. At £14.30 each these Lip Whips aren’t cheap, but a little goes a long way and the quality speaks for itself.
Re-purchase: Yes.

Overall: 8.5/10:

I’m on a night shift tonight, so if you guys could help spread this post via Twitter/Tumblr/Pinterest I would be most grateful as I’m not going to have time to share it with others. Also, what do you think of my new rating system? And the little magpies :D

I know I’m late. I know. I actually got my two Lip Butters when they first came out but never got around to posting about them, and you’ll see why. The wear on Crème Brûlée’s packaging goes to show that they’ve been given a chance.

Everyone was raving, really excited and talking non-stop about the Lip Butter launch in the UK, and after seeing swatches from some bloggers over in the states, I could see why. So, it goes without saying that I’d pick up at least two of them to give them a good try out and hopefully add two new lip products to my armoury. Sadly, this was not the case.

I don’t understand how everyone else has got such pigmented swatches on the lip for these products, I really don’t. My lips aren’t that pigmented but these butters hardly made a difference. My lips in these photos are very heavily swatched, and even then I’m still not getting the pigmentation that so many others have. And even then, these photos show the colour more than in real life, so imagine how sheer it is in person.

Sugar Frosting

Yes, I chose two of the lighter shades, however swatches everywhere still show them as way more pigmented than mine. I don’t know whether it’s Photoshop trickery (I try to keep swatches mostly unedited colour-wise when I post mine,) or if I’m just unlucky, but; now that I’ve tried them; I really don’t see what the huge deal was about these things.

Crème Brûlée.

The hype for the UK release? Unnecessary. I was tempted to try another one of the shades, but the thought of potentially wasting the best part of a tenner turns me off majorly.

Revlon describes the butters thusly;

Buttery? Well, I can’t deny that. Shiny colour? No. Sorry.
The Lip Butters are quite soft and don’t dry out the lips, but I wouldn’t say that they felt more hydrated than usual. They did feel smoother, but I can achieve the same feeling with a cheaper clear gloss.

Does what it says on the tin: 7/10.
Quality: 6/10.
Colour/pigmentation: 2/10.
Packaging: 4/10.
Price: 4/10.
Re-purchase: No.

Overall: 4.5/10:

They just don’t perform for me, the colour is hardly worth the £8 price tag and I feel they were extremely over-hyped for what they are. I feel I’ve wasted £16 on these, and I’m glad I only bought two.

I know I’m in the minority among bloggers when I say this, but, these Lip Butters really don’t do it for me.
Have you had better results or did they fail to impress you too? Let me know.

Did you know that 1 in 8 women have experienced domestic violence living in the UK?
As a soon-to-be-qualified mental health nurse I meet a lot of people who have been through tough times in their lives, domestic violence is unfortunately something that we come across quite often in the profession when looking in to the pasts of some of our clients. Domestic abuse can have a huge impact on the life of the victim (and let’s not forget that both females and males can be victims of domestic abuse, although Refuge is specifically for women and children,) and often affects those around both the victim and the perpetrator. Sons, daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, uncles, fathers, friends, family, workmates, teachers… Anyone can be a victim, anyone could be friends with a victim, but not everyone knows.

Benefit have been working closely with Refuge, a charity for sufferers and survivors of domestic abuse and have come up with the idea of a Mascarathon. What’s a Mascarathon you ask?

Benefit are asking you to run over 500 miles, (not each, of course,) between Edinburgh and London from 15th June to 29th June. Each run is about 2 miles in length and an extra large They’re Real! Mascara tube is the baton that will be passed between over 250 people.

This is all in the name of charity and beauty, so Benefit – who rarely disappoint – have promised to be a range of city-based events for runners and their friends, which include ‘make-upper stations,’ sample giveaways and just a hell of a lot of fun.

If this grabs your interest, you can register your interest on the Mascarathon website, or if you don’t want to run, you can donate £2 by texting BENE02 £2 to 70070 or visit their justgiving page and pledge a bit more.
These are exciting times all in the name of charity, love and goodwill.

If you can donate even just a little bit of time or money to this event and the charity, you could be changing people’s lives.
Just something to think about.

As I’ve said on Twitter, lately plus size fashion really isn’t inspiring me at the moment so that’s why I haven’t posted regarding the fashion side of things much. But a few weeks ago I got offered to review an item of clothing from One Stop Plus / OneStopPlus, which is a brand I’d heard of and browsed their pages, but never made a purchase from (I’m stuck in my ways, don’t like trying out new things.) So when the opportunity arose I thought, “why not?” And gave it a go.
I’m glad I did.

I chose this dress, which is a v-neck floral tan and black knee-length dress. It’s made of a jersey-type material. Often I find that jersey materials can be a bit rubbish, I’ve had dresses from Simply Be completely lose all shape and go really baggy half way through the day on me (happened at Alton Towers once, I was not happy,) so I tried it with some trepidation.

Actually, this jersey is pretty good. It holds its shape and doesn’t go all big and baggy after a day’s use, which is a huge relief. Especially as it’s a v-neck, you do not want it losing shape, lest you end up flashing everyone! I like the detailing around the bust, I think it’s cute.
This dress is perfect for those with small chests like myself, the v-neck doesn’t dip far enough to show your bra but it does show a bit of skin. I don’t think it’d be as nice for girls with bigger busts, just because of the shape and material, you may want something a little bit thicker/more structured.

For those who don’t like their upper arms this dress does a fantastic job of keeping your bingo wings in check without hurting you. The sleeves are not tight – I hate tight sleeves, when sometimes you feel like the seams are going to split because of the tightness, this dress doesn’t do that – yay! Personally I’m not sensitive about people seeing my arms, but I wanted a dress with long sleeves due to the weather lately, so these 3/4 length sleeves are pretty bang on what I wanted.
As you can see the dress hits me just above the knee, (I can wear knee-length boots now guys, going to the gym to improve my fitness before I qualify and get healthier has had an unexpected perk in that my calves are now mostly muscle rather than fat, and they’re now only 17″ down from 21″! Anyone who knew me when I first started blogging will know how annoyed I got that I could never find knee-length boots to fit my calves, not anymore! So happy.)

Dress @ One Stop Plus/OneStopPlus.
Leggings @ Simply Be.
Boots @ Simply Be.

So, what do I think of OneStopPlus.co.uk? Hmm. Seeing as this is the only item of clothing I’ve tried of theirs so far, I can say that I’m pretty happy with the quality of the dress, (and the price, at £35 although it’s not cheap I’d say the price matches what you get, not too expensive but not a bargain really.) I’m browsing the site at the moment, especially their sale section, and thinking that when I get paid if anything inspires me I might try another one of their bits.
I’ve also just seen that you get 10% off your first order, which is definitely persuading me.

*Dress kindly provided by OneStopPlus for my consideration, leggings and boots were purchased myself. My opinions are – as always – honest and unchanged regardless of the product’s source, you know this disclaimer by now. I have not been paid to write this review in return for this products.

Soap and Glory’s Lid Stuff is a simple, 4-shaded eyeshadow palette that comes in three different flavours. Personally I would have gone for What’s Nude or Smokey Dokey as those shades are more my thing, but I admit I was pleasantly surprised when I tried out Off The Wallflowers.

First thing I noticed was the packaging, on the back it says this;
“I’M IN NO BRUSH. We chose not to include a cheap spongy shadow brush because not only would it drive the price of this palette up, we thought you’d rather opt for a proper one.”
You know what? I rate that. The palette costs £10 so it’s pretty cheap and I know that if it had a cheap spongy brush I’d throw it out anyway, a smart and clever move by Soap and Glory. (Please tell me that none of you use those horrible sponge applicators?)

From left to right; Sugar Violet, Minky, Dandy Plum, Wild Blue.

The swatches are as above. As you can see I had a bit of trouble with the Sugar Violet purple, the above swatch is several layers and it still doesn’t look smooth. It just did not agree with me, just didn’t want to apply properly. Stubborn colour. The other three I’m very happy with, especially Dandy Plum and Minky. Though, Dandy Plum isn’t really a plum colour, it’s brown on the skin. Brown, but with a red-purple base, the shimmer is definitely a purple-brown, you can’t see the purple so much in the swatch above, but the close-up of the shadow I took is probably close to its true colour. I definitely don’t own a colour like it, so that’s quite nice.

Does what it says on the tin: 7/10.
Quality: 7/10.
Colour/pigmentation: 7/10.
Packaging: 7/10.
Price: 9/10.
Re-purchase: Yes.

Overall: 7/10:

For £10 you can’t really get better than this. Admittedly, I know Soap and Glory mainly for their skincare range, their moisturisers and oily skin-helpers are among some of the things I keep in my arsenal of spot-and-oil-busting products, so it was interesting to try out their cosmetics. The shadows all last for a long time, apart from Sugar Violet. I don’t know why, maybe the formula is slightly different, but it just doesn’t go on well and it rubs off fairly easily. However, the remaining three stick around for a long time – even without a primer. The pigmentation of the other three is near perfect – a buildable but pigmented selection. The eyeshadows are tiny, at 1.5g each, meaning you’d be hitting the pan fairly quickly if you use these shades a lot. However, for a tenner, I wouldn’t complain.

I think I might try the Smokey Dokey kit, which I’ll probably pick up from Boots when I get a spare tenner, and hopefully that one won’t contain a dud like Sugar Violet.

Being one of the first items I’ve tried from the cosmetics side of Soap and Glory I can say, they’re definitely heading in the right direction and I hope to see more from them in the future.

*Products kindly provided by Soap and Glory for my consideration as a thank you gift after pointing out one of their stands being badly maintained. My opinions are – as always – honest and unchanged regardless of the product’s source, you know this disclaimer by now. I have not been asked, persuaded or paid to write this review in return for these products.

The same fantastically designed packaging as the rest of the “Hair.” range, “forget water, there’s a martini waiting!”

After my insane obsession over the Percy & Reed Dry Shampoo I picked up the conditioner with high hopes.
I wasn’t quite sure how to use it though, there’s no suggestion of when to use it and the Percy & Reed website isn’t much help either. No matter! I figured it was best used in the same situations as the dry shampoo. So after my boyfriend slept over last night and before I walked him to the station I decided to combat the bed/unwashed-head by using the dry shampoo and conditioner in conjunction with each other. After using the shampoo I grabbed the conditioner and shook it up, as per the directions, and it made the same clink-y sound that the shampoo makes, as though it’s spray paint. I applied it evenly through the mids to the tips of my hair, working it through with a brush, and was quite impressed.

Although the dry shampoo usually takes care of most of the greasiness I find that my hair is usually still a little limp and doesn’t feel very silky, which is what dry shampoo normally does. By using the dry conditioner afterwards it helps to combat that, reviving hair and leaving mine soft to the touch, as though it had actually been washed.

Alright, so it wasn’t the same as washing my hair properly, but it was a definite improvement on just the dry shampoo alone.
Both of these (the dry shampoo and dry conditioner) now live happily in my handbag, as they work equally as well after doing a long shift on the ward or when you’re just too busy to give your hair a full wash.

Does what it says on the tin: 10/10.
Quality: 10/10.
Colour/pigmentation: N/A.
Packaging: 1/10.
Price: 7/10.
Re-purchase: Yes.

Rating: 8/10. The product itself is fantastic. However, the lid to the spray doesn’t stay on very securely and seems that it’ll pop off quite often in my handbag (and it already has a few times so far,) I can probably fix it with an elastic band or something but it is quite annoying. Second, the lack of suggestions as to when to actually use it is a little annoying, especially if you don’t use dry shampoo. Dry conditioner is a new product to me so I really wasn’t sure what to do with it. I think my way works in the end though.
Other than this the product is perfect, the spray doesn’t smell bad or choke you (it smells the same as all of the other Percy & Reed products – fresh and clean, which is exactly what you want with a dry shampoo/dry conditioner,) and the effects are definitely positive.

The above still applies, HOWEVER, after only ONE day in my handbag the spray mechanism broke and the dry conditioner leaked all over my bag and books, leaving me with only a half-full can which doesn’t work. Those at Percy & Reed have said I can send it back to them directly for a replacement, but as this also happened to my mini-shampoo (which I didn’t mention because I thought it was a faulty one,) before I bought the big one (which is now wrapped up in a plastic bag in my bag in case it happens yet again,) I’m not sure if it’s worth it. I’ve had to go over the rating again and changed what was a 8/10 to a 5, for the fact that they are NOT handbag friendly at all.
Yes, these products are lovely, amazing even, but DO NOT keep them in your hand bag.

Overall: 5/10: