Paul & Joe Ornamental Nail Enamel Collection in O Holy Night and Merrily On High

O Holy Night (left) and Merrily On High (right)

Paul & Joe is my guilty pleasure when it comes to make up. Very sophisticated colours and lovely vintage looking packaging make it impossible to resist. And the gorgeous smell is so addictive… I absolutely adore every make up range they create. As I am self-confessed addict to nail varnishes I decided to buy two shades from their latest ‘The Ornamental Collection’.

The formula of the nail polishes is fine; it spreads on nails quickly and evenly. The massive downer is that it takes ages to dry and even putting a clear coat on the top doesn’t help to speed it up. I think it’s got to do with the fact that the formula is quite jelly and gluey, which I guess is used to hold the glitter together (although I have Paul & Joe nail polish that is not glittery and the formula is jelly like and it takes ages to dry, too). It is hard to remove it from the nails as well but on the plus side it stays on forever once dry.

O Holy Night is a deep turquoise shimmery shade with three different colours of glitter in it: silver, blue and turquoise. It is a bright and vivid colour that is easily noticeable. 

Paul & Joe Nail Polish in O Holy Night

Merrily On High is a pale shimmery purple shade that is less opaque than the turquoise one and you need to put at least two coats on to cover your nails completely. It is a nice pastel and pearly shade of purple. As I prefer vibrant and dominant colours the first shade is definitely my favourite out of these two.

Paul & Joe Nail Polish in Merrily On High

Overall, I think they are very pretty Christmas-y shades and they would make a great prezzie. The price is very acceptable (£10.50 for 10ml) especially if you compare it to other high-end brands. Plus, no one makes such a pretty packaging as Paul & Joe. ;) A.

Review: 17 Magnetized Nail Polish in Lilac

Description: What is 17 Magnetized Nail Polish...The polish contains very fine metal particles, when you have applied the polish and its still wet, hover the magnet (which is part of the cap) over your nail and watch the effect appear! (source: boots.com)

17 Magnetized Nail Polish in Lilac is one of four shades to choose from, the other shades include: Gun Metal, Blue and Teal. I was very excited about these nail polishes, as I read about them a couple of moths ago on boots website. I loved cracking nail polishes (well, I still do), so I was pretty sure this time it will be the same with the magnetizing ones. I couldn’t decide which shade I wanted (all of them looked fabulous) so I quickly grabbed the purple one and left the shop just in case I would want to buy them all.

What you have to do to get your nails magnetized: apply the nail polish to one of your nails and whilst still wet, take the magnet located on the top of the cap and move it towards your nail (remember, don't let the magnet touch your nail) and wait for a few seconds. You should see the ‘wave’ effect appear before your eyes. It takes a bit of practice to get it right and you can also try to place the magnet in different directions to get different effects. I was quite pleased with mine.

The formula is nice and thick, not too watery and easy to apply. The brush spreads the nail polish evenly. It stays on for ages as well. I think the finished look is fantastic and it is well worth the money (£5.99 from Boots). Definitely recommend it. :-) A.

Review: DIOR Nail Polish in Tuxedo

Dior Nail Polish in Tuxedo is one of the two nail polishes released as a part of Fall 2011 collection. (the other one is called Blue Denim) I absolutely adore Dior nail polishes as the texture is just fantastic and they stay on forever as well. It is no different with Tuxedo.

Tuxedo is a deep and intense shimmery blue, which is a bit darker than I expected. It looks like metallic colour but when I put it on nails, it looses a lot of shimmer – it’s not as glittery as in the packaging. I had to have a close look to notice any. But still, with the right lighting you can see it’s not just a plain colour. I think it’s a nice shade for evening parties and nights out with friends.

The formula is great, the nail varnish spreads on nails evenly and you only need one coat to cover your nails completely. The brush is thick and only one stroke is needed to cover the whole nail. Although I find it a little bit too thick but I will probably get used to it. Overall, I totally recommend this nail varnish, I wish I could purchase them both :P A.

Estee Lauder free gift alert!

Because red lips are so hot this season I decided to buy myself a lovely Pure Color Matte Lipstick in Red Velvet from Modern Mercury 2011 Collection. There are many red lipsticks out at the moment but I always tend to come back to lipsticks with a matte finish when it comes to winter months. :)

I’ve also had my eyes on crème eye shadows for a while now and decided that Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Shadow Crème in Café Au Lait (22) looks gorgeous enough to give it a go. 

Reviews for both lipstick and eye shadow to follow soon. And…

…you get one of these fabulous gifts at Debenhams when you buy two or more Estee Lauder products. Yaaay! Offer ends 1^st October. Your 7-piece gift includes:

 - A choice of moisturiser, repair serum, eye creme and cleanser (you can choose Resilience Lift SPF15 moisturiser, Resilience Lift Eye Creme, Perfectionist [CP+] Wrinkle Lifting Serum Corrector for Lines/Wrinkles/AgeSpots and Soft Clean Moisture Rich Foaming Cleanser OR DayWear Advanced Multi-Protection Anti-Oxidant Crème SPF 15, Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex, Advanced Night Repair Eye Recovery Complex and Perfectly Clean Splash Away Foaming Cleanser – that is what I chose)

 - Pure Color Quad Compact with applicator

 - Pure Color Long Lasting Lipstick in Candy

 - Sumptuous, Bold Volume Lifting Mascara in Black

 - Plus a lovely cosmetics bag

Can’t wait to try them out! Thank you Estee Lauder for this fabulous gift! I definitely recommend it! A.

Review: CHANEL Nail Polish in Peridot (531)

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour in Peridot is one of three colours released by Chanel as a part of Autumn/Winter collection (the colours in the collection include: Peridot, Graphite and Quartz). I picked Peridot because I think it stands out the most out of all three. Although the other two nail varnishes look beautiful as well, this one is the one that I liked the most. It might seem odd, but the colour also reminds me of Christmas…

Peridot looks like metallic green-ish shade of gold if that makes sense. The colour has a sparkly – shimmery gold base with a hint of green. It looks very festive and elegant and it’s very pleasing to the eye. It’s very shiny and the formula is better than usual. (I bought Chanel Nail Polish in Mimosa from S/S collection and I swore to myself I’d never buy Chanel’s Nail Polishes again – more to follow) It spreads evenly and it covers the nails well. I put two coats on my nails for a better coverage.

I’ve had it on my nails for a few days and it still look great! Normally a nail varnish lasts about 1.5 day on my nails before it starts chipping so a couple of days is quite good!

Overall, I would definitely recommend this nail varnish; although it’s expensive (£17.50 each) it’s definitely worth the money!

Review: e.l.f. Nail Polish in Purple Dream

E.l.f. Nail Polish in Purple Dream is slightly glittery yet pearly purple and has a slightly matte finish when applied to nails. I know, it is hard to explain – it is just like a metallic nail varnish. The formula is quite watery but it covers the nails well with just one coat. However, to build up the colour, I put two coats on my nails. To avoid any stains on my nails I always use Sally Hansen nailgrowth miracle as a base coat first (it really helps my nails to grow!) before applying my nail polish.

The brush is easy to use, it spreads the nail polish nice and evenly. It takes some time to dry completely so make sure it is dry before applying second coat.

Overall, I definitely recommend this nail polish (only £1.50 from e.l.f. website) – I think it’s great value for the money and I am sure I will buy it again in the near future :) A.

E.L.F. Products

My fantastic order from e.l.f. has arrived! I am so excited and can’t wait to try them out! I have had my eye on e.l.f. products for a while, but somehow I’ve always missed the 50% off sale! Can beauty products be so cheap AND good at the same time? It’s time to find out. Individual reviews with photos for these products to follow soon! ;)