CIATE BIG BEAUTY BUS COLLECTION - BOOTS OFFER OF THE WEEK

Ciate London is such a cute nail brand. I have brought many of their sets in the past including the Mini Mani Month Advent Calendar, the House Collections and the Caviar Manicure gift sets. I'm always impressed with their huge shade range and how long lasting they are on the nails. Boots have started to bring out their Offers Of The Week and star gifts which change every week before the run up to Christmas. One of the offers this week is this Ciate London Big Beauty Bus Set which is so cute, I had to pick it up! This is £25.00 on the Ciate website and is reduced to £12.00 at Boots, which is great value! You receive six 5ml bottles in must-have shades; Ferris Wheel, Pom Pom, Hopscotch, Pool Party, Locket and Snow Virgin. There is a lovely mix of fashion shades in the obviously London colours, red, white and blue and then a baby blue, a hot pink and a silver glitter shade. It's great to try the mini polishes in a set before plumping for your most used shade in the full-size. The polishes are highly pigmented, give a high gloss finish and the brush is so easy to apply with. The long handle provides the best strokes every time and the curved bottle is designed to sit comfortably in your hand for maximum control. Ciate is a new brand to be stocked in Boots and I have added the Candy Cane House gift set to my Christmas Wish List. Ciate also do a Nail Taxi Collection with the same London theme, which features three full-size paint pots. The packaging is so creative and playful and this would be a great gift or even just a treat for yourself! My favourites shades in the set are Pool Party the gorgeous bright blue and Locket the silver foil, which is great to apply over the other shades. I would really recommend picking up this set if your a nail polish junkie like me, it works out at £2.00 per polish so you are getting such a good deal. You could even split up this set and give your friends a single nail polish as a stocking filler. I will be keeping my eye out for more great Boot's offers. Ciate are also doing there own Nail Advent Calendar again this year, so exciting!

Have you tried Ciate paint pots?

#bigbeautybus

NAILS INC SPECIAL EFFECT - EXHIBITION ROAD

Nails Inc has always been one my favourite higher-end nail polish brands. I have enjoyed collecting their bottles in the past and love their little sets, including the My Nail Polish Diary that I picked up last year. Nails Inc has undergone a major rebrand to mark it's 15th anniversary, with a brand new logo and bottle redesign. The new packaging is just right up my street, the glass bottles feel weighty and expensive to hold and the concave design is sleek and modern looking. You remove the chrome lid and use the plastic wand to apply the polish. This new bottle design is very clever indeed, if you place your finger underneath the bottle you can see what the shade looks like against your skin tone. The brush is also new, a wide flat brush which is curved at the ends to fill the whole nail, I much prefer this smooth application. The bottles were designed in collaboration with Art Director and Editor Fabien Baron and contains 40% more product than the old bottle design.

There were so many shades I could of picked up including the new Alexa Chung Range, but I picked the special effects colour is Exhibition Road, which is a lovely lilac and gold chunky glitter. Exhibition Road is a new limited edition shade which is inspired by Pop Art. You can apply 2-3 coats for a full coverage finish or apply one coat over your favourite polish. I would definitely recommend the new brush, it's so much easy to apply the polish, if you are a fan of the Essie brush you will like this one. The polishes leave a lovely glossy look to your nails and the colour stays around with no chips, like every Nails Inc polish does.

Alexa Chung is the new face of Nails Inc for Autumn/Winter 2014 and has collaborated on her own range of fabric inspired polishes. Nails Inc have also formulated a range with the Superfood Kale 'NailKale' in it's ingredients, which apparently helps to strengthen and nourish the nails, I will definitely have to hunt these down. At £15 a pop they're a real treat, but I can see myself picking up a few more colours in the near future. I'm in love with the Alexa shades in Lace and Camo and I've also seen Alexa Hearts and Stars are coming soon, I think I've started a new obsession...

What do you think of Nails Inc re-branding?

ESSIE NEONS - GLOW GET 'EM NAIL POLISH SET

Essie has to be one of my favourite nail polish brands to use lately. Since they have become easier to get hold of in drugstores, my collection has built up quite nicely. For Summer 2014, Essie have introduced a Neon Range which contains six bright, stylish shades which look awesome on every nail. I have bought a few nail polish sets in the past and have found a use for every shade. Essie have brought out two sets of four nail polishes, this one which is called Glow Get 'Em and Paradise is Calling, both perfect for summer! 
The Glow Get 'Em contains four shades; Blanc, Sittin' Pretty, Vices Versa and Serial Shopper. Essie's Top Tip is to use the shade Blanc which is the white one, underneath your neon shades to make the colour pop. Sittin' Pretty is a vivid lavender, Vices Versa is a juicy neon lime and Serial Shopper is a florescent fire coral. I think Sittin' Pretty has to be my favourite, I will definitely be taken these shades on holiday with me.
In the photos I have used Essie's Top Tip and the colour appeared a lot more intense and colourful, than when I just used them alone. The first time I used them, I made the mistake of layering up too many coats so that the formula took ages to dry, but with practice I have found that one coat of Blanc underneath your neon shade is just enough. The formulations are glossy, long lasting and the shades are so pretty!
Essie polishes are normally priced at £7.99 per bottle, so at £24.99 for the set you are saving yourself £6.97, which is nearly one bottle free! I might have to go back for the other set. Boots are currently offering £5.00 off when you spend £25.00 or more online on selected items. I might have to go back for the other set. 

Will you be picking up any Essie polishes this Summer?

CIATE MINI MANI MONTH - ADVENT CALENDAR 2012

It's the First of December and we can officially get excited for Christmas! If you were lucky enough to get your hands on one of these (as I know they kept going in and out of stock online), you will be starting your advent today. This Advent Calendar appeals to me a lot more than the average chocolate ones, although deeming more expensive at £38. The calendar includes 17 of their best selling mini pots, 4 caviar blends plus funnel and 3 exclusive new glitter shades. You get all of this for the price tag of just 4 full-size regular paint pots.

The first colour behind door number one was 'Cupcake Queen' a lovely shimmery, bright pink. I really like the look of 'cookies and cream' and 'halo' shades and can't wait to get them on my nails. I love the formula of Ciate polishes as I think they dry so quickly on the nails and have a great colour pay off. I can't wait to open a door to find a bottle of caviar pearls as I haven't tried these yet. I'm also looking forward to finding out what the exclusive shades are too!

It's such a great gift for a friend, any beauty lovers out there or even an early Christmas present for yourself. There are still some available here if you want to get your hands on one! I think it's such a great concept and the design of the packaging is so lovely. I hope other beauty brands take note for next year. 

Have you got a beauty advent calendar this year?

PRODUCT REVIEW - ESSIE NAIL POLISH

I had never tried Essie nail polish before it was introduced into Boots and Superdrug as a diffusion line, a couple of months ago. I had always stuck to OPI or Nails Inc as they were more widely available in the UK. But once I saw the stand in my local Boots, I knew I had to try the popular colours I had been lusting over and the reduced price of £7.99 was more appealing to me and my bank balance.

I know these polishes have been really popular over beauty blogs and YouTube. They may be a tad pricer than the average drugstore/high street nail vanish, but the quality has really won me over. The size of the brush is great, it fits the whole width of the nail and I know this has been changed from the original line of Essie polishes. It does take a few coats to get the required colour that I want, but this is worth it as the staying power is brilliant and lasts a good while without chipping with a top coat. 

99 Mint Candy Apple - This is probably the most popular colour in the Essie line. A true bluey mint green. As you can see from the swatch, the colour is very build-able and is pigmented after about two coats.
77 Chinchilly - This shade is a purpley brown. This is my most wearable colour, and is most suited to me. Another bestseller, and is very pigmented after just two coats.
13 Mademoiselle - This shade is the perfect french manicure nail colour. The formulation is quite sheer, as you can see on the swatch it is still quite sheer after a couple of coats. I would use this colour if I just wanted a wash of colour over my nails to freshen them up.
I will be definitely building my collection of these polishes. They are fast becoming my favourite to use, just because I know the colour is going to last and the formula is great. I have my eyes on the shades Tarte Deco and Cute As A Button.
Nail Wheel from - Solo Beauty Supplies

What Essie colours do you like?

Thanks for reading!x

NOTD - BOURJOIS 10 DAY NAIL POLISH GUIMAUVE T26

I don't normally go for girlie, barbie pink colours when picking out nail vanish. But there was something about this shade which was so unusual that it caught my eye. My favourite thing about this polish is the brush, its perfect for application and covers the entire nail in one brush stroke. It is wide, angled and short, so it is great for touchups. It doesn't last 10 days without chipping with a top coat but to be honest I didn't expect it to. It still lasts a good 4-5 days without chipping and I am impressed with the quality.

For the price, £5.99 I would probably pick out an Essie nail vanish next time instead, but it is a nice colour for summer. I bought this when Boots were doing an offer of buy any Bourjois product get another one half price. But Bourjois are currently offering 3 for 2 on selected products at boots.