Nails of the week: Essie Charleston

I had my nails done this week as part of a Wahanda deal. The manicure was so-so but I was excited to try two products I haven't tried before.

The first thing was an Essie polish, this is the shade Charleston, which is a pretty brown and very autumn appropriate. The colour wheel actually made this look a lot lighter but because it falls into the neutral class of shades in my opinion I was happy to go with it.

After two coats the technician applied Seche Vite top coat, which has been on my wish list since the start of the year. She then immediately applied cuticle oil, which apparently helps the polish dry faster.

The top coat does seem to give a really glossy finish, so all that remains to be seen is if it lasts chip free any longer than my usual top coat.

Of course because I didn't apply the products myself I didn't get a feel for the application but at least now, I can have a rough idea of what to expect before I splash out.

How a beauty deal should work....

I have just arrived home from the best facial I have had in a long time. I fell asleep — twice — waking out of my massage coma only after starting to snore and then having one of those involuntary muscle spasms that also had me making a weird noise...…I chose to pretend it didn't happen.

The facial was an hour long and where in the past I have been left alone for the time that the steamer and face mask is applied, the beautician I had organised everything so that at no point was I left unattended or feeling like I wasn't having a treatment.

The steam was applied while my face was cleansed, followed by extraction, exfoliation and then the massage that put me to sleep. A little later I had a neck and shoulder massage and then a face mask was applied and left as I enjoyed a head massage.

The atmosphere was perfect. The music playing in the background seemed to coordinate with the whole routine, although I’m not sure if that was just coincidence or my imagination.

The reason I labelled this post 'how a beauty deal should work' is because I purchased the facial as a package (which included a manicure) from Wahanda. I love having facials, but I don't always love the price, so Wahanda and other deal websites allow me to treat myself. The risk with that is you really don't know what you are going to get in terms of service because the pictures and the description can be deceptive. It doesn't help either that reviews can be so mixed.

Putting all that aside, if you do go ahead and book and make it to your appointment you can end up feeling like you are getting a lesser service than full price customers — something I experienced at a well known beauty clinic that allowed me leave with bits of face mask on my skin that I only noticed when I got into the car.

This wasn't my experience today and that it how it should be because now I would actually consider returning and paying full price, which after all the point of running a promotion?

In case you are wondering, I visited was The Retreat based just off Oxford Street in London, which uses Dermalogica products. I found some of the products very strong smelling but this is a minor point. If I had to find a fault it did take me months to secure an appointment that was in the evening (the team appears to be very small) but it was worth wait. 

September empties

I didn’t get through too many products this month but I am glad they are a few I have been wanting to finish for a while.

Aussie luscious long leave in conditioner — I really disliked the smell of this and it wasn’t a scent that grew on me with time. I didn’t notice any significant difference in the condition of my hair whilst using this either so, needless to say, it is not on my repurchase list.

Soap & Glory Greatest Scrub of All — I have mentioned this product in the past and it was something that I enjoyed using, however I’ve built up a collection of so many face scrubs that I just keen to testing out news ones and I don’t like having too many products open at once.

Molton Brown vitalising vitamin AB+C bath and shower gel — This came as a Glossy Box sample and as much as I did enjoy using it for its smell I don’t tend to spend a lot of money on shower gels.

Liz Earle Botanical Body wash — This was thrown in as part of a QVC TSV I purchased and as above it was nice but I won’t be repurchasing it.

Benefit They’re Real mascara — I realised that I have had this open for almost a year, since it was given to me for My Birthday, last October! I have loved using it and have reviewed it previously but it is time to go!

I hope that my October empties will be a bit more plentiful since I have a lot of products down to their last squeeze.

I am contemplating trying ‘blogtober', I have just made it to posting this in time for October 1, but we will see how I am feeling about that tomorrow. Let me know, would you like to see a post every day this month?