Review: Birchbox August 2016 - Dive In

The past few weeks have been very busy for me so I have missed out on blogging but I'm hoping to make some time for it now.

This blog post is long, long overdue (2 months now?) but I'm still going to post it and hopefully catch up with all my Birchbox reviews in the next couple of weeks.

I've been subscribed to Birchbox for over a year now and one of the main reasons I've stuck with it is because there is always at least 1 product I really love and it is always worth the £10 (+ £2.95 P&P) fee - if you sign up for a year of boxes you only pay £100 (+ P&P per box) which is 2 free boxes in the year!

August's "Dive In" Birchbox (or Birchbag rather?) had a very summery feel and the Birchbag will come in useful for makeup or nail polish when travelling, mine came with a neon yellow ('Yellowtail') zip.  The contents were: an eyeliner, dry shampoo, skin serum, body scrub, hand cleansing gel and a perfume sample.

Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in Espresso, RRP £10.50
This was the product I got to choose the shade of prior to the box being sent out.  The choice was between 'Espresso', a deep brown shade, and 'Mulberry', a deep purple shade.  I went with my go-to eyeliner colour, brown, and I was happy with my choice.  The eyeliner goes on smoothly without dragging the skin and can be blended/smudged to style.  I'm usually very selective with eyeliners as I've only ever found that the Avon Glimmerstick ones do not run during the day for me, however, during the short time I wore this eyeliner it seemed to stay put so I will give it a longer test at some point.

Philip Kingsley One More Day Dry Shampoo, RRP £14.50
I'm not going to lie, I do often use dry shampoo when I've been too lazy or simply haven't had time to wash, dry and style my hair.  I normally rely on Batiste's dark brown dry shampoo so that it doesn't make my hair look chalky like some others I've tried.  I haven't tried the Philip Kingsley dry shampoo yet but it smells amazing and the packaging says it is meant to be refreshing and soothing for the scalp.  It's an ideal size to take with you in an overnight/weekend bag and I'm sure it'll come in useful once I've ran out of my Batiste sprays.

Balance Me Congested Skin Serum, RRP £16
I haven't tried this properly yet as I've been using a mix of products already and didn't want to upset them, but I will use it eventually.  The serum has a herby, medicinal scent which is down to the chamomile, aloe vera and lavender included - I'm not quite certain whether I like it or not.  The serum's formula is very light and soaks into the skin easily, I can't comment on if it helps with "congested skin" yet though.

Anatomicals The Buff Stuff Citrus Body Scrub, RRP £3.99
Something a bit more budget-friendly, this body scrub smells really refreshing and fruity (grapefruit to be exact) and includes beads which should help to exfoliate.  I haven't tried this product yet either (I have a stock-pile of body washes and scrubs to get through already) so can't comment on how well it works just yet.

Merci Handy Antibacterial Hand Cleansing Gel in Flower Power (FULL SIZE), RRP £2.90
I've used various hand gels before and some leave your skin feeling drier than others, this one so far has actually made my hands feel smoother and slightly more moisturised.  It has a pretty, slightly floral scent that masks the usual alcohol hand gel smell and it looks quite funky in the bottle too - plus it's a great size to pop into your bag whenever you're going out.

English Laundry Signature for Her EDP Sample, RRP £60
The little extra this month was a sample of English Laundry's Signature for Her.  The perfume has some grown-up floral notes mixed with a musky undertone. It's actually the type of perfume I would wear, especially for special occasions and events.  Very nice.

Overall I was impressed with the products in this month's box,  I will use all of the samples.  Not sure if I will go on to buy any of them at full size though, except maybe the hand gel if I use up this one!

Do any of you subscribe to Birchbox? What are your thoughts on the recent boxes?

Weekly Nails - Textures and Croc Effects

I hope everyone's enjoying this week's heatwave, it just needs to last 2 more weeks till I go on holiday!  Anyway, over the last week, as well as swatching some colours and reviewing the MeeBox, I've also done some other nail art (this post is actually 2 days overdue, oops) and wanted to show it off.

This is 3 coats of Rimmel London "Sherbet Sweetheart" (from their Sweetie Crush collection) - it is a lovely pastel lemon textured polish which has a yellow glitter in it too.  I used some hand tattoos that I received from MoYou-London as part of one of their mani boxes a while ago (I will be reviewing this shortly) - I think they give the look more of a boho feel.

This is 1 coat of Barry M "Burgundy Croc" over 2 coats of an unnamed pale bronze polish by Boutique London (from B&M) with a glossy top coat.  The croc polish has to be applied when the base coat is still tacky and then over the next few minutes it will crackle and produce the 'croc' effect, it's really fun to watch.

This is 2 coats of Revlon "Espresso" (from their Parfumerie range) with 1 coat of Barry M sequin nail effects in 'Black' over the accent nails, I used a top coat on the non-accent nails.  The Espresso polish scent is quite strong to start with (I wasn't overly keen on it) but faded the same day, it's very glossy though.  The Barry M polish is another textured polish but has medium sized pieces of gold glitter in it which makes an unusual combination - next time I'll probably try 2 or 3 coats to see if it makes more of an impact.

I've got a busy couple of weeks at work coming up so might not get to paint my nails as much but I'll still post any looks I do and I'll hopefully be posting a couple of reviews next week too.

Eyes: MUA Luxe Paradise Palette

I wanted to talk about something non-nail related today: the MUA Luxe Paradise eyeshadow palette.

I bought this in Superdrug for £8 a while ago, it is no longer showing on the website but you can still purchase it directly from the MUA site for the same price.

From what I've seen previously from MUA, and with it being such a budget friendly brand, I am really impressed with the packaging.  Firstly, it comes in a beautiful, art deco styled cardboard outer (which seems a shame not to keep!) and the shades are shown both on the front and reverse of the packaging.  The palette itself is in a plain, glossy black clip case with the branding in gold on the front and a large mirror inside.  It is rather compact in size too, so ideal to take on holiday or if you're staying overnight somewhere.

The 'Paradise' palette includes 10 pink, purple, gold and copper shades.  The majority of eyeshadows I already own are in the bronze/brown colour scheme so, if you're anything like me, this offers some slightly different shades that are still wearable for everyday.  The eyeshadows look really velvety and luxurious in the packaging and have no dividers or spaces between them which I think makes the palette look even prettier, though I can imagine accidentally picking up the neighbouring colour on your brush if you're not careful. The palette doesn't include an applicator but this isn't really an issue as I don't often use the brush included with palettes anyway.  Finally, the shades all have a shimmer to them which I like but if you're not a fan then this palette won't be for you, there's no matte here.

The eyeshadows are described as smooth and silky on the packaging and they are certainly that.  They apply easily and can be blended well to create different looks.  Some of the shades might need to be builded up in order to make more of an impact but they certainly do not lack pigment.  I have worn a few of the different colours during the day without a primer and they have lasted for several hours with minimal creasing.

The following swatches are shown over a primer:

With LED light



With flash

The shimmer in the eyeshadows helps to create a metallic look which has been popular this year and looks set to continue through autumn and winter.  I feel that between the light peaches and pinks and the darker bronzes and purples, this palette can be used to create both daytime and nighttime looks so it is sure to get plenty of use.

Has anyone else bought this palette? What do you think of it?

Nail Art Catch-Up #01

I've been posting my nail art on Instagram for over 2 years now so I wanted to write a series of blog posts (hopefully bi-monthly) just to recap on my different looks, plus I thought it would be fun to see which colours and styles I've used the most.

I'm starting things off with the white and yellow polishes I've used.  Now these aren't two of my favourite colours, and I don't actually own many polishes of either colour, but I've still got a few different pieces of nail art to show using them.

LEFT: 1 coat of Rimmel London Crack Your Colour 'Break the Ice' over 2 coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails 'Buff' (December 2014)

Not the best crackle polish I've used, not sure how it would look over a darker base as its formula is quite thin.

RIGHT: Floral water decals over Barry M Silk 'Pearl' (March 2014)

The decals were purchased from eBay and turned out very subtle once on the nails but they still looked pretty and vintage.

LEFT: 2 coats of Sally Hansen Sugar Coat 'Sugar Fix' with Rimmel London Space Dust 'Shooting Star' as a gradient (December 2014)

This was my nail art for Christmas day, I wanted something that resembled winter and snow and I think this turned out quite nice, plus I'm a sucker for textured polish!

RIGHT: 2 coats of Barry M Silk 'Pearl' with Barry M Gelly 'Plum' to stamp with over the tips (July 2014)

This was my first attempt at nail stamping and it didn't turn out great, I believe the stamping plate I used was just a cheap one from a bargain shop.

LEFT: 2 coats of Barry M Gelly 'Coconut' with Sally Hansen Sugar Coat 'Red Velvet' applied over a stencil (March 2015)

This was my belated Valentine's nail art, the stencils were just ones from eBay and didn't turn out great originally so I had to touch them up by hand.

RIGHT: 3 coats of W7 'Salt and Pepper' with Rimmel Pro Matte Finish Topcoat (July 2014)

The formula of this polish was rather thin so took a few coats and I didn't like it shiny so I added a matte top coat and it looked quite funky.

LEFT: 2 coats of Sally Hansen Sugar Coat 'Sweetie' with Sally Hansen Sugar Coat 'Sugar Fix' plus silver studs on the accent nail (December 2014)

I decided to toughen up these delicate colours by adding a couple of studs to the accent nail.

RIGHT: 2 coats of Models Own 'Banana Split' with a matte topcoat, then Barry M 'Lady' as an accent (June 2014)

I was disappointed with both the formula of Banana Split, it was quite thin and patchy, and the scented effect, you could hardly smell the banana scent to start with and it went away not long after.

LEFT: 3 coats of W7 'Fluffy Duck' over a clear base (March 2014)

I just loved the name of this W7 polish!  Unfortunately I wasn't impressed with the formula as it was very thin and it still looked patchy after 3 coats.  Over a white or yellow base I imagine it would look a lot better and pop even more though.

RIGHT: 3 coats of Spoiled 'Designated Driver' with Avon Colour Trend 'Gold Flecked' at the base of the nails (thumb, fore and little finger) and 2 coats of Orly 'Luxe' on the accent nails (May 2016)

Designated Driver is a lovely egg yolk yellow but the formula is poor, very thin and not 100% even after 3 coats.

Does anyone have a favourite white or yellow polish that they use?  I have bought a couple more since these but they're in my 'To be used' box.

All nail art in this post was originally posted on my personal Instagram account @clare_e

Review: MeeBox July 2016 - Rio

This post is a little overdue as I've received the August box since this one but I still wanted to write about it as it was my very first MeeBox and I was really impressed with its contents, plus it's theme of 'Rio' coincided with the Rio Olympics really nicely too.

MeeBox is a monthly subscription box which costs £20 (including P&P) if you want to pay month-to-month or £18 per box if you prepay for 3 months.  I wanted to give it a chance to see how good it was so I opted to pay for 3 months at once.

July's box came with nail polishes from Models Own, Morgan Taylor and Trust Fund Beauty in the colours of the Rio flag, plus some Deco It nail art stickers from iZ Beauty of London and a Tweexy, which just days before I'd actually been looking at online as I was thinking of buying one to try out.

Models Own - Luis Lemon (£4.99)

This is a super-bright neon yellow, it is from the Ice Neon Collection which I already own the mini collection of but haven't actually got around to using yet.  I tried it over bare nails and it took 4 coats to get a decent coverage, over a white base it would most likely only need 1 or 2 coats and it would possibly pop even more.  The polish has a nice wide brush which is great to paint with, it has a good consistency and smooths out on the nail and has a semi-matte finish.  I used 4 coats with no top coat for the swatch below.

Morgan Taylor - Later Alligator (£11)

This is a new brand to me.  The polish is an emerald green creme which has a thin formula but is really pigmented so covers well and dries quickly and very shiny.  The brush is quite thin but this didn't cause any issues when painting.  I used 2 coats with no top coat for the swatch below.

Trust Fund Beauty - Denim with Diamonds ($15)

This is another new brand to me, I loved the pretty little box the polish came in, it was a lovely extra touch.  The polish is a rich blue jelly with a light turquoise shimmer throughout, it looks really pretty in person and I think with a top coat over it would look even better.  The formula is quite thin but still has decent coverage on the nail after a couple of coats.  It did stain my skin a bit when I was cleaning up which makes me think it could stain the nails as well.  I used 2 coats with no top coat for the swatch below.

iZ Beauty of London - Deco It Nail Decals (£4)

The Deco It stickers I received have a tropical theme with flowers and parrots and you get a generous amount of them per sheet.  They are really easy to use - you peel them off the sheet using tweezers, place them where you want on the nail and press them down firmly using a top coat over them to seal onto the nail.  I did manage to peel one off when I was applying them as I wasn't happy with its position and doing so didn't lift any nail polish off which was impressive.

Tweexy - The Original Nail Polish Bottle Holder (£14.95)

I did use the Tweexy whilst I was painting my nails and, except for one mishap with the Morgan Taylor polish, it worked quite well, kept the polish in place and didn't really interfere with how I painted my nails.  I like the fact it's made of silicone so if you do get polish on it, you can clean it off with nail polish remover without damaging it.  I'm not sure if it's something I'll use regularly at home since I usually paint my nails on a flat surface anyway but it could possibly be handy for when you're on holiday or somewhere where you don't have a sturdy surface.

I wanted to do something really fun and bright using these polishes to suit the Rio theme.  I decided on using Luis Lemon (over a white base this time) and Later Alligator to create a gradient effect. Then on the accent nail I used Later Alligator and Denim with Diamonds for a gradient effect but used a couple of the Deco It nail stickers too.  I finished it off with a coat of Sally Hansen's Mega Shine top coat.

I wore this design for a few days, even at work, and I only suffered minor edge wear - the stickers did not lift at all.

The photos below show the nail art indoors with LED light and outdoors with natural light.

With an overall value of roughly £47 the box is definitely value for money and the products included are impressive and work really well together, I'm definitely looking forward to the next box!

Does anyone else subscribe to MeeBox?  What are your thoughts?

An Introduction

I have something to confess... I am a nail polish addict. 

I love to paint my nails, I love to buy nail polish and I love looking at nail art.  It makes me happy.

When I was younger I would buy lots of different colours and glitter polishes and paint my nails like rainbows, but then I went through a phase where I got rid of all but a few basic "everyday" shades.   I'm not quite sure what triggered me to start buying nail polish again but over the last 3 or so years I've built up a pretty huge collection and one of the reasons I've decided to start a blog is so I don't feel quite so guilty about buying yet more polish!



Just a sample of my polish hoard!

The majority of my polishes are high-street brands and most of them cost £5 or less - one reason I can afford so many! - but I'm not averse to trying mid-range or indie polishes.

So you can expect to see swatches of new polishes I buy plus nail art and mini beauty hauls.  I subscribe to a couple of beauty/nail boxes so I'll post about those too.  I'll also slip in the occasional post about other kinds of beauty products as even though I'm not a full-on makeup user, I do have a current obsession with eyeshadow palettes.

Also, follow me on Instagram @thepolishhoard for more posts and pictures.