Nails Inc Gel Effect Polish In St James

Hello Lovelies

Today I have a review of a nail polish for you, as you probably already know, I love nail polish and paint my nails on a weekly basis. I received the Nails Inc Gel Effect Polish in St James, a gorgeous red colour in a goody bag that I was kindly given at the Mid Summer Meet blogging event held by the lovely Hannah with Look Fantastic, All Sole and My Bag a couple of weeks ago, it was a brilliant event and great to get out for a couple of hours. 

I was really pleased to find the Nails Inc Gel Effect polish in my goody bag, and can I just say the goody bag was amazing, I will be filming a You Tube video soon where I will show everything I received, the video has been highly requested and I can't wait to show you all the other products I received.

Anyway on to the nail polish.

Nails Inc Gel Effect Polish in St James is a gorgeous red polish, Nails Inc claims the polish provides a high shine, super glossy finish without the need for a UV lamp or soak off. The gel effect polish contains the same plumping technology as a salon gel manicure to provide a flawless, high gloss manicure. The polish is formulated with plasticiser technology creating a "gloss finish like you've never experienced before with a standard nail polish".

I loved the colour of the polish and was really excited to try it, the polish was really easy to apply, I used my Orly Bonder base coat as I always do with any polish and then applied 2 coats of the Nails Inc polish, I finished with a coat of my Orly Glosser top coat, as I always use both the base and top coats with all my polishes I felt to enable me to write a fair review I would apply the polish as I apply all my polishes, with a base and top coat. 

As you can see from the above photograph, the polish is very glossy, in the photograph I have not applied the top coat, I wanted to show you the finish without a top coat, it is very glossy and I was really pleased with the polish and how it looked. 

I took photographs of the polish over the next few days so you could see how it wore. 

I applied the polish on a Tuesday afternoon, day two is Thursday afternoon, my left hand was fine but my right hand had a couple of small chips but they weren't really noticeable. By day 4, Saturday afternoon my nails were quite badly chipped and normally I would have removed any other polish if it had chipped in the same way. By day 5 you can see my nails were badly chipped and the polish needed to be removed. 

I was a little disappointed in the polish as after only 48 hours my nails did have small chips on them, if I had paid the £14 price tag for this polish I would be very upset indeed. Usually if I paint my nails with an Essie polish or an Orly polish and use my usual base and top coat, my nail polish lasts 7 days without chipping.  

I had high hopes for this polish but sadly it didn't live up to my expectations, yes it is very glossy and it's a beautiful colour and easy to apply but for £14 I would both expect and want a polish to last longer than 48 hours before chipping, if the polish had lasted 5 days and then chipped I would have been happier. 

I won't be re purchasing the Nails Inc Gel effect polishes but if you'd like to try them they are available in 4 shades here and retail at £14. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x

*pr sample 

Dr. Jackson's Natural Products 03 Face Oil - A Review

Hello Lovelies

Today I have a review of the Dr. Jackson's Natural Products 03 Face Oil. I was kindly sent this for review purposes from the lovely Laura from Beauty Expert a couple of months ago and I have been trying out for the last few weeks and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.

What Dr. Jackson says about the product 

Improve your skin's firmness, tone and radiance with Dr. Jackson's Natural Products 03 Face Oil 25ml.
Formulated with an expert blend of 100% natural ingredients, including Baobab and Marula oils, and extracts of Calendula and Arnica flowers, it's rich in protective antioxidants and nourishing acids which leave your skin with improved elasticity and hydration. With anti-inflammatory properties, it also soothes redness and areas of sensitivity.

Directions for use

Massage a couple of pumps into clean, dry skin. A patch test is recommended before use.

Dr. Jackson's Natural Products 03 Face Oil 25ml rrp £30* 

My thoughts

I have been using the Dr. Jackson face oil for around 4 weeks now. I have extremely dry skin and was looking forward to using the face oil and thought it would be great for my dry skin, after reading about the product, I was looking forward to firmer, toned and more radiant skin.

I applied the face oil to my cleansed and toned skin using 2 drops from the pipette style dropper. The oil has a nice consistency, not too runny and not too thick and applied nicely rubbing easily into my skin. The first thing I noticed about the face oil was the scent, it has a very strong herbal type scent to it, and one I really disliked, this is my least liked scent though so not the best start, and as I have mentioned in previous posts my medication/condition has started to have an effect on my sense of smell and certain smells I find strong and have a real dislike to them, unfortunately this was one of those scents.

I persevered and got past the scent which wore off after a few minutes, and then waited for the product to sink into my skin. I waited and waited and 2 hours later the oil still hadn't absorbed and I had to remove it with a cotton pad. Since the first time I have changed things up by not using my spray toner before I used the oil and that made no difference to the absorption of the oil, I then tried to use the oil only at night and leaving over night, but still even hours later the oil had not absorbed into my skin.

I have very dry skin and in the past have tried face oils from other brands which have absorbed within a few minutes so I was really disappointed with the Dr. Jackson face oil, I think it might be nice for a gentleman with razor burn or anyone with sore skin as the oil contains anti inflammatory ingredients. I haven't noticed any difference to my skin at all, it isn't more hydrated or radiant and unfortunately it isn't any firmer either.

I am really disappointed in the face oil and certainly wouldn't purchase it, I had high hopes for the face oil especially because my skin is so dry, but I'm afraid it just wasn't for me.

If you do want to try the Dr. Jackson face oil it is available from Beauty Expert here or if you'd like to try any of the other products in the Dr. Jackson range they are available to buy from here. I did like the fact that the product was 100% natural and that was something I was very impressed with.

I absolutely love Beauty Expert as a place to purchase my favourite beauty items online, and will continue to shop there, they have a massive range of beauty products from skin care to hair care with everything in-between and are one of my favourite places to buy my beauty products online, the customer service is excellent and they offer free standard UK delivery which is fantastic.

Have you tried the Dr. Jackson face oil? What did you think?

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x

*pr sample

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Feel Unique Summer Sale Wish List

Hello Lovelies

Today one of my favourite online stores started their summer sale. Feel Unique is where I buy a lot of my beauty products from, they are a fantastic site stocking a massive range of beauty products from make up to hair care with everything in between. As their summer sale started today I felt it would have been rude of me not to hop along and take a look what was on offer, and before I knew it I was compiling a wish list in my head and in the basket, there's nothing wrong with adding things to the basket is there? Doesn't mean I'm going to buy them, right? Well moving swiftly on. 

I thought I would share my wish list with you, bare in mind this could have been so much bigger and I have, I think been rather restrained for me, but I went through all the things I really needed, ok ok things I really wanted and narrowed it down to 6 things, I told you I was restrained didn't I? 

1. Jessica Nail Colour In Renaissance Fair £7.80 was £9.75

If you have been reading my blog for a while or watching my You Tube channel you will know I love nail polish, I have quite a collection coming on and most of it is Essie with some other brands, I do have a couple of Jessica nail polishes and they are really good so when I saw these in the sale and saw they had some lovely pinks which I have been on the hunt for, I was sold. Renaissance Fair is a lovely bright fuchsia pink it does look a little neon in the photograph too but I don't mind that, I love bright pinks especially on my toes. 

2. Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Lipstick In Lingerie Pink £19.98 was £23.50

I have lusted after a YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick for a very long time, every year at the airport before I depart for my summer holiday I almost buy one and then worry it will melt on holiday so don't and then I kick myself for not buying one. The packaging is to die for, isn't it beautiful? Lingerie pink is a soft almost baby pink colour that would look lovely with many eye looks and especially in autumn/winter when I don't tend to wear bright lipstick. There is 14% off so not a massive saving I know but still just over £3.50 off, shall I be ruthless and get it or wait another 12 months until my holidays? 

3. Diorskin Nude Skin - Perfecting Hydrating Concealer £17.85 was £21.00

I've heard a lot of great things about this concealer, and the word hydrating is always something I look out for as I have extremely dry skin, my Mac moisture cover concealer is almost out as is my Maybelline dream lumi touch pen and I am on the lookout for a new concealer, I do have the Benefit Fake Up concealer but I'm not thrilled with it to be honest, it creases like nothing on earth and considering I need a concealer for under my eyes I need something that won't crease or settle into my pesky fine lines. The Diorskin looks amazing, and does have great reviews, I have been umming and ahhing over this for what seems like forever and think maybe I should just go for it and get it, what do you think?

4. Marc Jacobs Honey Eau de Parfum 50ml £45.00 was £50.00

I have yet to find a Marc Jacobs perfume that I don't like, Juicy Couture, DKNY (the apple ones) and Marc Jacobs are my perfumes of choice, I currently have 2 Juicy couture perfumes plus a little double ended perfume roll on in the new Viva La Juicy Noir and Viva La Juicy which my lovely friend Laura kindly bought for me, and I have Marc Jacobs Daisy so technically I don't really need anymore perfume, but how amazing is the bottle? Cole has the Dot perfume which is the ladybird type bottle and it looks lovely on her dresser and this would look equally as lovely on any dresser and my room is next on the list of home improvements with new dresser included, is that a good enough reason to buy it? 

5. Tweezerman Breast Cancer Awareness Tweezers £16.50 was £22.00

I love Tweezerman tweezers and over the years have found that out of all the tweezers I have ever bought they are the best, my current pair are some small lilac and white polka dot ones which I have had for around 6/7 years and they are still going strong, they are expensive tweezers and you can get a lot cheaper but in the past when I have bought cheaper tweezers I find they aren't as good and I always go back to Tweezerman. I am long overdue some new tweezers and since these are both pink and glittery and every pair sold £2 is donated to breast cancer campaign it is a no brainer really, they are a must have purchase. 

6. Jessica Nail Colour In Flirty £7.80 was £9.75

As I said previously in the post I am on the look out for some nice pink nail polishes, I have a lot of coral colours or corally pink colours but not too many pinks, I have a couple but I would like some more in my collection. Flirty is a lovely almost barbie type pink, not too pale but not massively in your face pink, it really is a lovely colour and would look nice all year round and make a gorgeous finger or toe colour, it would look especially nice on holidays but I do think it is an all year round colour, I love it. 

So there are all my wish list picks from the Feel Unique summer sale, did you see anything you fancy in my wish list? I highly recommend going over and checking the sale out they have some great savings on so many brilliant things, there are some fantastic skin care and hair care items on sale, typically I have recently stocked up on my skin care and hair care though, isn't it always the way?

Let me know if you do buy anything or if there is anything you'd like, it is definitely too tempting to ignore. 

If you want to check out the Feel Unique summer sale you can find it by clicking here . 

Happy shopping :)

Thanks for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x

* Image Source - Google Images

Decleor BB 24 Hour Moisture Activator - Review

Hello Lovelies

I have tried quite a few BB cream samples over the past few months but never liked any of them, and certainly would never go out and buy a BB cream after my experiences with the samples I have tried. So when Look Fantastic kindly sent me a sample of the Decleor BB 24 Hour Moisture Activator to try I was very sceptical about it. 

Decleor BB 24Hour

Moisture Activator* 

10ml sample size

I was sent a 10ml sample of the bb cream to try for review purposes.  The first thing I noticed about the bb cream was the scent of it, it has a lovely scent to it, I really don't get on with scents and this was lovely, a little floral but not too floral and in no way overpowering and once I had applied the bb cream I couldn't smell it at all. 

When I first swatched the bb cream on my hand I thought "oh no it is way to dark for me" but thought I would use it anyway to test the application and longevity and how it sat on my very dry and sensitive skin. I was so impressed as soon as I applied the bb cream, it wasn't too dark for me at all and applied beautifully, I used my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush to apply the bb cream and was very pleased with the result, it blended nicely and sank into my skin and didn't cling to any dry patches at all. 

I have used the 10ml sample every time I have applied my make up since it arrived which is around 6 weeks ago and I still have some left, a little definitely goes a long way. The texture of the bb cream is a gel like consistency and does look a little dark when you first squeeze it out of the tube, but it blends in well and adapts to the skin beautifully. 

I am always the second palest skin shade in foundations, so not the palest but the next one up, or in MAC I'm an NW 20 for reference and this is a perfect match for me, I do feel though that a touch darker skin tone could easily wear it too as it does adapt well to the skin. Nichole is very pale but she swatched the bb cream on her hand and it blended in nicely to her skin too but she hasn't tried it on her face.

Swatched on my hand

Blended out 

As you can see the bb cream blends out well into my skin, the swatch above shows how dark it is when swatched but as you can see it blends out really well and doesn't look to dark at all. 

I am wearing the bb cream here

I was really impressed with the bb cream and would not hesitate to purchase it, it retails at £29 and is available from the Look Fantastic website, judging on how much product I have left in my sample and how much use I have already had from the 10ml sample I have, the full size would last forever. 

I had no problems at all with my dry skin, the bb cream didn't settle into my fine lines or into any dry patches I have, I actually ran out of moisturiser whilst using the bb cream and after my normal skin care routine I used the bb cream as my moisturiser as well as my base and it was fine, it looked as lovely as it always did and worked well as a moisturiser and is very hydrating.

I also wore the bb cream for Nichole's graduation on what was one of the hottest days of the year and it didn't budge, I was very impressed, I was so hot that day and my make up looked exactly the same when I got home as it did when I left the house.

The coverage is a light coverage, like that of a tinted moisturiser, I liked the way you could still see my freckles through the bb cream, it gave just enough coverage, the bb cream has a dewy finish and is a lovely base for the summer months. 

One of the first things I noticed on the packaging was it said no parabens, this is something that is important to me and I was really pleased. The bb cream is also SPF 15 which is great, I like to wear a base with SPF to protect my skin. 

This is the first Decleor product I have ever tried but since loving the bb cream so much I would love to try more of their products and already have a wish list of things on the Look Fantastic website. 

What Decleor says about the BB cream 

This BB 24hr Moisture Activator from Decleor is an ingenious moisturiser designed to deeply nourish and hydrate the complexion whilst giving you an even, natural skin tone. Formulated with active ingredients that give you noticeable effects, this BB 24hr Moisture Activator boasts five impressive benefits.

Working to keep the skin hydrated for 24 hours whilst illuminating the complexion, this multi action moisturiser is a must have. Refining the skin's texture and protecting against UVA/UVB rays, your skin is sure to benefit from this innovative cream. 

My Overall Thoughts 

I would totally agree with everything Decleor says about the bb cream, it is extremely hydrating and does give a natural and even skin tone, my skin looked healthy and glowing, I really liked the look of my skin when wearing the bb cream.

I am really very impressed with the Decleor BB 24 Hour Moisture Activator and would most definitely purchase it, that is a strong claim since I have never liked a bb cream before and most of the times have taken them off before I have got to applying my concealer so for me to love a bb cream so much to say I would buy it is amazing. 

There was no settling at all, the longevity is fantastic, the colour is brilliant and it smells divine, if you haven't already tried this I would highly recommend it. Buy it, you won't be disappointed. 

Have you tried the Decleor BB cream? What were your thoughts? Do you like bb creams for your base? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x

*pr sample