Avoplex Cuticle Oil To Go from O.P.I

I've really neglected my nails the last few months. With the intensity of my course and the challenge I set myself running up to Christmas doing my every day, they are not in the best condition. On top of that, the bad weather this year meant that for the first time I noticed my very dry cuticles!

I started using O.P.I's Avoplex Cuticle Oil To Go, which has been added straight to my hero categories list. The ingredients include vitamin E plus avocado, sunflower, sesame and kukui nut oils, which makes the oil very moisturising.

I can't really compare it to anything because I've never got into the habit of using a cuticle oil before. My cuticles were at the point where the dryness made them sore, and with this I was able to sort out the dryness overnight.

My favourite feature about this product is the application. Part of the reason I haven't used a cuticle oil in the past is the mess and inconvience of carrying round a bottle of oil.

The oil borders on being the consistency of a gel and has a lovely sweet but light scent. You gently squeeze the tube to release the product and then brush over your cuticles.The design and formulation of this means no mess, and no feeling like you have to wait for the oil to soak in/dry before you can do anything else.

I got this with a bundle of O.P.I polishes from QVC and I’m glad I did as I wouldnt have purchased it otherwise.

On its own it can be purchased for £10.25 from Boots, but I also found it on CheapSmells for £7.49.  I think this is a little pricey but because it is so convenient travelling and the application is mess free it is something I would add to my repurchase list.

If you have any suggestions for cheaper but equally effective cuticle oil please let me know!

100 follower giveaway CLOSED

WOW! When I first started my blog I was never sure how well it would go, if anyone would want to read and comment on my posts and more than that if people would want to come back for more. So it makes me really happy to see that I have reached over 100 GFC followers!

I wanted to give a HUGE THANK YOU to all who have followed and continue to support my blog, and in return I want to give back a small token of my appreciation to two lucky followers, which means there are two prizes up for grabs!

The first is the complete Sleek nude collection which I have reviewed previously and is my everyday makeup at the moment. I wanted to pick something that can suit everyone so this seemed perfect, is there anyone who doesn’t love nudes?

The second prize is a set of nail products from OPI including Nail Envy, cuticle oil and a selection of mini polishes from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection.

I want to make the process as simple as possible but also fun. To enter all you need to do is state which prize you would like and give me your favourite beauty tip or fact (which must be true!). For example:

GFC follower: Discovering Beauty 
Prize entry: OPI nails
Fact: Your lips are red because there are many blood vessels around the lip area and because the skin on your top and bottom lip is very thin the color from these blood vessels is seen through to the surface of the lips, making them appear red.

The rules are simple, you must be a public GFC follower (I will be checking) so anyone who is shy should come out now! Leave your entry below this post. I will allow two entries per person, one for each prize.

I will keep the giveaway open for three weeks making the final closing date Sunday October 30th 2011 at midnight (GMT) and I will choose the winners soon after. This giveaway will be open internationally. I look forward to reading your entries!

My address is Hollywood

So I finally removed my shellac nails. On this occasion I had them on for over 3 weeks with no chipping occurring at all, but my nails were very long and I was so so bored of the colour!

I started by just soaking my nails in nail polish remover (acetone) and when it looked like the polish was coming away from the nail using an orange stick to remove it by gently scrapping away. This took a long time as you can imagine so I decided to replicate the salon manicure by soaking cotton pads in acetone and wrapping these around my nails and leaving them for about 10 minutes, until the polish started to lift. After all the polish was removed, I buffed all over the surface of my nails and filed them down a lot!

For this week I chose the newest of my auto-delivery OPI colours from QVC.

French Quarter For Your Thoughts lacquer (grey)

Plugged-In Plum lacquer (purple)

My Address Is Hollywood lacquer (rose pink)

The shade is from the 2011 autumn collection, “My address is Hollywood” and is a great transitional shade in my opinion. It is a pink-peach with a subtle gold shimmer. The polish dried very quickly and went on well, with one coat enough to get full coverage and a good finish.

My major complaint with polish is that within 3 days whole sections of the nail polish peeled off. I am hoping with the use of a different base coat this won't happen and that the quality of the nail polish isn't so poor. Needless to say this is not what I would expect from a brand like OPI, so I am hoping the other two polishes give a better first impression.

Nails of the week - Silver shatter

I have been really lazy with my nails this week and haven’t removed the shellac polish yet. However, I quickly got bored of the colour and decided to refresh the look with shatter polish!

I used silver shatter by O.P.I. I love this polish, not only for the colour but because the consistency is the thinnest I have used of any shatter polish which makes it really easy to apply.

Interestingly when I applied this straight on-top of my nails the polished dried but didn’t shatter.

I then removed the shatter polish layer with acetone-free polish and applied a layer of top coat to my nails and reapplied the shatter on-top of this, which worked!

I am not completely sure how shatter polish works so if anyone does I would be really interested to know. I assume it is something in the polish it reacts/interacts with, which is not present in the shellac polish. Either way, I love how it can transform the look of any polish.

Nails of the Week - You Don’t Know Jaques

The final polish from the OPI set ‘You don’t know Jaques’ a more brown than taupe shade in my opinion. I usually wouldn’t want to opt for a dark shade like this in the summer but this went best with my wedding outfit.

Of all the polishes I received in the kit, this is the most disappointing. This shade is much more opaque than the other shades, which is the only positive. That being said the formulation is very streaky and doesn’t allow you to go over the same area twice without pulling polish away and adding to the streaks. The second coat did sort this out though and you don’t need more than 3 to get a good finish. Even with a top coat the polish has already worn a lot at the tips and begun to chip in places after 2 days. I don’t see myself pulling this one out again any time soon.

Nails of the Week - Guy meets Gal-veston

I changed my nail colour earlier than I normally do to fit in with the brief sunshine we had. This shade is by OPI and was part of the bundle I purchased from QVC last month. It is called ‘guy meets gal-veston’ and was part of the Texas collection.

It is a beautiful coral colour but what is most unique about it, is the fact that the colour can look completely different in different lighting, taking on a more orange or red tone. It has a cream finish and a wonderful shine. I really like the brush which makes applying easy without also getting polish on your fingers. The only down side was that I had to apply 4 coats to get the opaque level I wanted, since the polish is very sheer but thankfully the drying time between each coat was quick.

Because of how different it can look this is another difficult polish to photograph. I love the colour and have had so many people comment on how striking it is.

QVC O.P.I Set

I mentioned in a previous post that I took advantage of a QVC today’s special value featuring O.P.I nails. The parcel arrived on Monday and I immediately tore it open and swatched everything!

A little disappointingly, the package arrived with very little in the way of pretty packaging. Just as well I was so excited about the contents. 

I’ll start with the less exciting stuff, O.P.I nail envy, which is just on time in terms of my nail condition, since they are peeling and breaking regularly. Also a cuticle gel, package for your handbag.

On to the colours, if you did read my last post, I primarily brought this set for the silver shatter polish (more about that later!). On air I was not too impressed with the colours. Having now seen them in the bottle and on my nails, I love them.

My favourite is the ‘houston we have a purple’ which is like no other shade I own, there is a strong pink to the shade, and in different lighting, the shade can look completely different, but always beautiful.

Surprisingly, I also loved the ‘guy meets gal-veston’ shade, which is a lovely coral, which I was expecting to be a lot more neon than it is. Also included was ‘you don’t know jacques’ a deep taupe colour, which is more of an autumn shade than a summer in my opinion, but will work great with neutral outfits. When I first saw the taupe polish on air, I thought it may be similar to ‘mushroom’ by Barry M, but as you can see from the image, mushroom is a lighter shade.



Finally, the star purchase in my eyes, the silver shatter. A beautiful, shimmery silver, which looks stunning on the nail. I love this more than the black shade and I think it will work perfectly in the summer and winter.

All of the polishes have a sheer finish, and need a minimum of two coats. Unfortunately, my base coat took an age to dry and in my impatience I applied the polishes anyway and found they took ages to dry too. I am assuming this is the base coat rather than the polish itself, otherwise this will be quite disappointing, but I  will comment on this again when I get round to a nails of the week post. 

Let me know what you think of the shades, and do you think the silver shatter will get everyone excited about shatter polishes again?

 N.B. Incase you were wondering, no it’s not my hands featured in all the pictures, I used my mum as a tester too! 

Bargain Alert! O.P.I

Today’s Special Value on QVC is the OPI Fashionista Collection. Six-pieces featuring, three nail polishes and my whole reason for purchase the brand new shatter coat!!

Contains:

• 1 x Original Nail Envy (15ml) - a high-gloss formula helps replace moisture lost in dry nail plates, and can help prevent peeling, cracking and splitting. Can also be used as a base coat and top coat
• 1 x Avoplex Cuticle Oil to Go Pen (7.5ml) - soften cuticles with this oil formula, rich in OPI's Advanced Avocado Lipid Complex, avocado oil and vitamin E
• 1 x Guy Meets Gal-veston Lacquer (15ml; coral)
• 1 x Houston We Have A Purple Lacquer (15ml; red-violet)
• 1 x You Don't Know Jacques Lacquer (15ml; taupe)
• 1 x Silver Shatter Coat (15ml) - crackles to leave a two-texture pattern on each nail

QVC always have great beauty bundle but this really struck me today. Not only have I brought this one, but I have gone for the auto-delivery option, so that every 90 days I get an additional nail envy and cuticle oil, 3 new shades and a new crackle coat. OPI polishes typically cost £10.50 each, so for just over £33 I have 4 as well as the nail treatments. 

Of course this is only available for just over 12 hours so take advantage!!