Friday 25 April 2014

beauty | l'oreal perfection colour riche nail polish in 'pistachio drage'


For the past couple of weeks my nails have been naked, just because I could never be bothered to sit down and concentrate on doing it, until today. I finished my dissertation yesterday so have been having a relaxing day off work and decided to pamper myself with a bit of a polish.

I decided to go for the most recent addition to my collection, the lovely new green shade, #852: 'pistachio drage' from L'Oreal's new summer pastels range. I decided to go for this shade over the over the other 3 available just because I have nothing like it, whereas the others were closer to my other polishes.



The polish is housed in the really sophisticated clear bottles with gold lids, which I absolutely LOVE. So chic and minimal. The brush is the typical L'Oreal flat, fat shape which means each nail can be coated evenly in two or three sweeps so it is so quick. However, I always find that the brush leaves really obvious brush streaks on the nail which is a bit annoying but goes with the layers. You can get away with two layers for an opaque coverage but I always do three just so the colour is extra vibrant.


Overall I do really love this polish - but more for the colour than the product itself. I've always found with L'Oreal polishes that they go thick and gloopy really quickly which makes them so much harder to apply evenly - around the tips of my nails are pretty iffy just because it wouldn't go on perfectly. I find this makes it chip so much quicker as well just because it doesn't sit on the nail as nicely.


The colour is lovely, I just wish the consistency was much smoother - like Barry M nail polishes, which is by far my favourite formula for polish. 

What do you think? Have you had the same problems with the formulas of L'Oreal polishes?


The L'Oreal Perfection Colour Riche nail polishes can be purchased from Boots for £4.99  here.


Monday 14 April 2014

beauty | Revlon colourburst matte balm in 'audacious'


I've seen so many reviews of the Revlon Colourburst crayons in both matte and glossy, and I'm always shocked at how different the colours look on each individual person. I've currently only got one of the balms in my make up stash, and it's a matte balm in the shade 'audacious'. 

First off, the packaging. I personally love the idea of lip bullets, just because they are so sleek and portable. You can also twist the silver part at the bottom to twist the bullet up when you're running low on product. 

The product itself smells absolutely amazing, really minty and spot on for summertime. It basically smells like a polo! It's not noticeable once on the lips though so if fragranced products aren't really your thaaang then these are still ok for you!



Onto the application. I usually just whack this on from the bullet, as the point helps to fill in the cupids bow and keep everything neat and tidy. The texture is really soft and it would definitely melt if you left it out in the sun for a little while, so be careful of that! 

When applying to my lips, I notice that it settles into dry patches and crack straight away so once applied I always have to blot it in with a finger to blur these lines. I find this can happen throughout the day when I'm wearing it too so not the best in terms of wear on dryer lips! My lips are quite dry most of the time though, so most people probably won't have this problem. I don't find the product itself drying on my lips once it is applied though - it almost has a velvet finish which is barely noticeable.

On me, the colour comes out much more pink-toned, which I think personally suits me a lot more than orange and coral thankfully! Such a stunning colour. 


Overall I do really like this product and reach for it whenever the sun is out, but I just wish it didn't settle so easily into my dry patches! I'm definitely contemplating trying out one of the glossier balms as I think they'll work much better with my dry lips.

Have you tried any of the Colourburst lip balms? What did you think?


Revlon Colourburst matte balms can be purchased from Boots for £7.99 here.