NOTD: Avon Nailwear Pro in Dynamo

Another day, another nail polish!

I know it's not good for your nails to constantly wear nail varnish, and that you're meant to give them a break every now and then, but I don't have naturally nice nails, and always feel a lot better and more polished (no pun intended!) when i've got my nails done.

Moreover, because I used to bite my nails and therefore my actual nail beds are quite short, where my nails have started growing out means weak points that can bend and therefore cause polish to chip even easier - another excuse for constantly changing my nail polish!

I have quite a ridiculous collection of nail polishes, and am trying my best to work through what i've got and not buy any more in the mean time (although I'm desperate to get my hands on the China Glaze Hunger Games collection - yet to be released in the UK, but there seems to have been several bloggers given sneek previews, such as here and here.)

Anyway, to cut a long story short, instead of reaching for my usual Revlon, Essie or No7 shades, I opted for one of the two Avon polishes I own: Dynamo from the Nailwear Pro range, which cost £6.00 for 12ml (although I received mine as a present).

Gives you the look of a professional manicure. Shine lasts up to 10 days* The advanced formula contains diamond dust and acrylic known for its strengthening, and protection properties giving your nails a high-gloss finish

A colour I can only describe as a burgandy-wine shade, shot through with very finely-milled silver/medium pink/hot pink glitter, this polish gives a very pretty slightly dusky foil effect, whilst being easy to remove (unlike traditional glitter polishes). I would say however that the glitter/shimmer/foil effect seems to be its downfall in the sense it can make the polish somewhat brittle on the nail - i.e. not very flexible and therefore likely to break off in chunks.

The polish applies well using the standard-size brush (always I plus-point - I hate the tiny thin brushes in the Essie polishes!), although is quite thick in formula so you have to be careful not to overload the nail.

I went for two fairly thin coats, followed by my Sally Hansen Insta Dri.

Like i've mentioned, it is a very pretty polish, but for some reason I find it just a bit 'meh', and dare I say, mumsy?! I don't know why i've taken an aversion to it, especially since I love all things foiled and sparkly, but the shade isn't appealing to me, nor is the staying power - it's the morning after application and already I have a chip!

However the general verdict for this shade and the Nailwear Pro range in general on the internet seem to be positive ones, so maybe i'm just being picky!

I would like to try out some other shades in the range, but only if I could get them in the Avon sale or elsewhere online, and in the meantime I think I might give this one to my mum!

Have you tried any of the Avon polishes?

Avon Supershock Mascara and Gel Eyeliner Review

Evening all,

I mentioned the Avon Supershock mascara and gel eyeliner in my Feb Faves, but thought I would review in them in (slightly) more detail here, now that I've had a couple of weeks to use them and incorporate them into my daily make-up routine.

First up, the Supershock Mascara.

Surprisingly, the Avon website says very little about this product, stating only that it is a Thickening base coat and plumping colour in one for volumised lashes. Now, going by that statement alone would have made me pass over this mascara completely, but I am an avid follower of the the model Ruth Crilly (find her blog here) and she had highly recommended it along with the eyeliner, hence the purchase from this Ebay seller (for a grand total of £2.20 compared to the RRP of £8.50!)

So for your money you get 10ml of product, and you have a choice of either Black or Brown Black (mine being the latter). The "brush" itself is not actually a brush as such but a plastic "wand", similar to that of the Max Factor Great Lash, if somewhat longer and slimmer with more plastic bristles (see below for comparison: Supershock on the left, False Lash Effect on the right).

I did have concerns the length of the brush might make me smudge mascara all over my eyelid, but this didn't happen and the multitude of silicon-plastic bristles helped grab and hold onto my lashes, giving a really nice effect when the mascara was worked into my lash roots then brushed up the lash (does that make sense?!)

I don't tend to do many coats for daytime (however see the pic below which shows how thick/dark it makes my lashes look when my eyes are closed!), but it still gives a natural, "fluttery" effect to your lashes.



Thanks also to those fine little bristles the mascara is less likely to clump, and compared to my previous mascara, L'Oreal Voluminous, it hardly flakes or smudges. It's also easy to remove, and, in terms of price, is a good mid-range priced mascara (and bear in mind you can always get it cheaper from the likes of Ebay!). I've not yet tried it with eyelash curlers therefore I can't comment on how good it is on holding curl, but if you're looking for a mascara which provides buildable length and volume, then this is the one for you!

Now onto the Supershock Gel eyeliner. I purchased this (again from Ebay, this time from this seller, for £2.99) with the intention of using it on my waterline, as I tend to prefer pencil here and gel/liquid liner on my eyelid which tends to get a more precise result. Avon says it is a smooth-glide eyeliner for bold,intense colour that lasts for hours, and many bloggers/YouTubers are hailing it as the cheaper (RRP £6.00) alternative to the cult-classic Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil.

                                      

                                      This was the eyeliner applied at 8am on my waterline.

Picture at 5pm. As you can see, the eyeliner is still on my waterline, albeit slightly faded, and it has disappeared from the inner corner of my eye.

When swatched on the hand the black colour is INTENSE, and, like the 24/7 pencils, after a few seconds the pencil has set, making it quite difficult to budge, although still easy to remove with make-up remover. It's very creamy, making it easy to apply on the top lid without drag (even for someone like me!) - indeed similar in that sense to a gel eyeliner- and before it sets it can be blended/smudged for that smokey look.

One problem with the gel formula however is that it can be hard/messy to sharpen, but to get round this simply pop the liner in the fridge for a couple of minutes before sharpening and you'll produce a lovely pointy tip!

Currently the colour range for these pencils is very limited - only black and silver are available on the UK Avon website at the moment, and I think (from looking at other blogs etc) gold might be available abroad - but I can only presume that Avon will expand the range in the near future.

If like me you can't quite stretch to paying £11.50 for the Urban Decay 24/7 pencil, I'd say this was an excellent alternative at £6 (and even better when you can get it for £2.99 off Ebay!)

Have you found any good highstreet dupes/alternatives lately?

Melanie x

February Favourites

...better late than never!
I actually did a YouTube video on my favourites, but I thought I'd do a blog post too, with the inclusion of 2 other items that I forgot to put in my video!

So, in no particular order, here's what i've been rating this month...

1. Natural Unrefined Shea Butter from The Aromatherapy Shop, around £5- I had originally bought this (humongous!) 400g tub of shea butter with the idea of using it as a facial moisturiser, but it is INCREDIBLY thick, and so i've started using it as an amazing overnight foot treat. Just smother over feet, pop on cotton socks, leave overnight et voila! Fabulously soft feet! All for about a fiver a tub.

2. Clinique Super City Block SPF 40, RRP £15 - I picked this up whilst at the duty free at the airport, and it was a choice between the SPF 25 or 40. Now i'm approaching the grand old age of 23, i feel the need to start protecting my skin, and I figured this was a good place to start. Lightweight, non-greasy and gives a slight glow whilst acting as a primer, i'm already a fan.

3. Sleek Face and Body Highlighter in Peach Shimmer, RRP £6 (approx) - This has been languishing in my make-up bag ever since I grabbed it as part of a 3 for 2 offer in Superdrug a while ago, but honestly I don't know why! I've been applying it with the E.L.F. blush brush and it's amazing at contouring whilst adding a lovely slightly shimmery golden glow to your cheekbones. Fantastic alternative to the Bobby Brown Shimmer Brick!

4.Avon Supershock Mascara in Black, RRP £8.99 (although I purchased off an Ebay seller for around £4) -for those of you who love Maxfactor Great Lash mascara or Covergirl Lash Blast, i'd say this is a good competitor, as it has a similar fine-combed plastic brush but (in my opinion) a better formular. It's quite buildable, but  i've been wearing it during the day for a wide-eyed look. 

5. Avon Supershock gel eyeliner in black, RRP £6 approx (although again mine was an Ebay purchase for £2!) - This is a FANTASTIC contender for the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner. it's similar to the latter in that you have a couple of seconds to apply and work with it before it sets, and it does have good staying power, although admittedly more so on the top lid than the waterline (however I think you'd need to get your waterline tattooed for any liner to stay put here!)

6. E.L.F. 2 in 1 Conditioning Gloss in golden, £3.50 - this gloss is part of the studio line from E.L.F, and for anyone who hasn't yet checked out E.L.F. I thoroughly recommend that you do, as there are some fantastic products avaulable, all at equally amazing prices. This 2 in 1 gloss is one of my favourites, as it combines a sort of lipbalm treatment with incredibly high shine gloss. It's very thick but not stringy (ugh) or gloopy, and my lips do feel quite smooth once it wears off.

7. E.L.F. Studio lipstick in Runway Pink, £3.50 - yet another fabby product from E.L.F., this time in the shape of their mineral lipstick. I love the sleek and simple packaging, and there is a good variety of colours available. This particular colour, Runway Pink, is a beautiful nude-pink colour, and matches my own lipcolour perfectly, serving to enhance them perfectly and goes fantastically with the above 2 in 1 gloss. It doesn't have particularly amazing staying power, but it is not at all drying, and at £3.50 you can afford to buy another one should it run out!

8. Seche Vite top coat, £8.95 (approx) from Salon Services/Sallys etc - considered the Holy Grail of top coats, I jumped at the chance of buying some of this when the girl who does my nails said she could get me it for about £4 with her trade card at Sally's. I'm so glad I took up the offer as it really is fantastic in setting nails to a beautiful shiny finish in literally seconds - perfect for those times when you decide to change your nail polish just as you get in bed!

9. Dove Supreme Body Silk moisturiser, RRP around £4 - i've always been a Palmer's Cocoa Butter girl, but as I received so many moisturisers at xmas time, I decided to work my way through my stash, and this is my favourite moisturiser of the moment. It's got that beautiful light Dove smell, is lovely and thick without being "cloggy" and yet sinks in super fast. A classic!

10. Veet In-shower hair removal creme, RRP £5.99 (approx) - I think the idea of an in-shower hair removal cream is an excellent idea, and whilst it doesn't always necessarily work in practise (especially if you're in the direct stream of shower water!), it is a good alternative to hanging about waiting for conventional creams to work! I've actually been using this on my bikini line as an alternative to waxing. I find that the regrowth is actually fairly slow and comes through more easily and with less hassle (e.g. no ingrown hairs!) than with waxing. I just pop it on before getting in the shower, wait a couple of minutes, then let it get to work whilst I wash my hair. Ta-dah!

What were your February favcs?

Melanie x

NOTD - Avon Matt Nailwear in Violetta

Hello again Lovelies,

Thought i'd give you a wee peek of my nailwear today - Violetta by Avon from their new Matt Nailwear collection.

This was first brought to my attention by Fleur at FleurDeFlorce when she mentioned in a video that she had been sent this nailpolish by Avon to review before the actual release. She raved about it, and so when I discovered that Avon were having a sale in January and I could get a bottle of this for £3 rather than the RRP of £6, I snapped it up.
It looks amazing in the bottle: a stunning deep metallic-y purple, but on application it goes quite a lot darker and duller (which I guess is part of the effect since it's the matt range!)

I'm undecided on this one. I think i'm a definate glossy girl, in the sense I love using my Seche Vite over the top of polishes to get that uber-shine. To me this just looks a bit dull and "blah".
Since i've only had it on a day (and over my Shellac) I can't really comment on the staying power of this polish, but I can say it dries VERY fast on application, and you could probably even get away with just the one coat, as it applies quite densely (however I did two to make it more even).

I have a feeling it might be a grower - what do you think?

Melanie x