Babbles About... Sensationail Manicure - Pink Daisy

I love nailpolish. A couple of coats of a pretty pink or ravishing red can cheer up even the dullest day! The only problem I've had in the past is chipping. No matter how carefully I apply, even with a base and topcoat, I'm lucky if my freshly painted nails see out the day without a chip.

A few months ago I had my first gel manicure in preparation for my holiday in Dubai and I've never looked back. I don't know why it took me so long to have one but there was a great deal at a local salon and it was fantastic. It was a good two weeks before I had my first chip. I was hooked. 

Sensationail

I'd seen Sensationail at Boots and even although the hefty £70 price tag did make this a considered purchase, I figured it would save me pennies (and hopefully pounds!) in the long-run! I've had this for about 3-4 months now and love it! It's made by Nailene and promises up to 'two weeks of dazzling damage-proof wear'. 

I use a variety of polishes including Sensationail, Red Carpet Manicure (as I did last week) and Harmony Gelish. I received lots of lovely goodies for Christmas including Sensationail 'Pink Daisy'.

The Application: Step by Step

If you want a manicure that's going to last two weeks its going to take a little longer...but trust me it's worth it.

Step 1: Preparation

Nail Prep Essentials

Leighton Denny Crystal Nail File

I start off by trimming my cuticles with 'Kiss Cuticle Trimmer' and filing my nails with my Leighton Denny Crystal Nail file. I really recommend investing in this (£12.50) as it's a great file and because its a crystal file you can file both ways! I then gently remove the shine from my nails using the pink-side of the double-sided buffer that comes with the Sensationail Starter Kit.

The next step is to clean my nails with the Sensationail Gel Cleanser using a lint-free wipe. After this, I apply the Gel Primer and allow to air dry for about thirty seconds. Now I'm ready to start applying the polish!

Step 2: Application

Apply, Cure, Repeat.

Now it's time to apply! It really is as simple as apply, cure and repeat. (And repeat....) First off, is the base coat. It goes on very much like a normal polish. After each nail it's important to cap the bottom of the nail with polish. Once one hand is painted, I cure under the LED lamp for 30 seconds.

I then repeat with the other hand.

The base coat is super-shiny so perfect if you are looking for a natural look.

If applying colour, it's pretty much the same steps as the base coat except this is cured for 1 minute. I apply two coats  - one coat, cure for 1 minute, apply the second and cure again for 1 minute.

After two coats of colour, it's just one more coat of the top and base coat and a 30 second cure. 

It may seem like this is really time consuming but it doesn't take too long and the best part is that after a few finishing touches, the polish is completely dry and there it zero chance of smudges.

Finishing Touches

After the curing, the gel polish is a little tacky. I was a bit worried about this when I first used the kit but apparently this is normal. The final step will remove this. To finish off, I wipe each nail with a lint-free wipe and the gel cleanser.

To complete the manicure, I treat my cutucles to OPI Avoplex Oil and a quick lathering of Philosophy perfumed hand cream,

The Result - Sensationail Pink Daisy 

This is the finished manicure - pretty as a (pink) daisy huh? 

All the sentationail polishes are high-shine and I am head over heels for Pink Daisy. The colour displayed on the box does not do it justice! It's a bright being without being to OTT. It's £10 from the Sensationail website or £15 if you buy it from Boots! I often find some pinks can be a bit on the cool side but this is just perfect. I think I may have just found my new favourite shade....until next week ;) And with gel polish it will be at least a week before I need to re-do my nails!

I also was lucky enough to be given the French Manicure Kit my by lovely boyfriend (he's been dying for a mention :) ) which I'll be sure to post a full review once I try it out!

Have you tried sensationail/gel polish? What's your favourite colour?

xo

Babbles About... Soap & Glory Peaches & Clean

I'm a bit of a sucker for a pun so I'm always drawn to the Soap & Glory section in boots whenever I'm in. I'm a big fan of their Kick-Ass Concealer but I must confess that I haven't given their skincare much of a trial even through I have long admired the clever quips on their packaging!

I have very temperamental skin. In fact, it's been very difficult for me to find a cleanser that has not broken me out. I've tried loads that I have loved using (like Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish) that even with copious amounts of perseverance have not seen me past the supposed 'purging' phase. It's a nightmare and is the reason I'm quite reluctant to change my cleansing routine.

For the past month, I have been using Soap & Glory's 'Peaches and Clean' Deep Cleansing Milk to remove my make up before cleansing with my Clarisonic (and Garnier Pure Active Face Wash).

Soap & Glory's Peaches and Clean
4-in-1 Deep Cleansing Milk

This is Soap & Glory's blurb about Peaches and Clean:

Our special clogged T-zone formula Includes peach extract (with skin smoothing fruit acids), quillaja bark (a gentle natural ‘soap’), jojoba oil (an emollient skin softener), Detoxyboost™ technology (to help purify and deep clean) and Poreshrink R2™ (for a clearer, fresher, brighter complexion). In our opinion it’s the best cleansing milk on the market!

This cleanser smells gorgeous - a mixture of mint and peach. It's not overpowering so makes the the product a pleasure to use. My only negative about the smell is that it is quite invigorating due to the minty scent and to be honest I don't really want perked up before heading to bed.

It's a cleansing milk so the consistency is quite thin making it easy to smooth over the face and really work into any nooks and crannies. What I love about this product is that it's rinse off so it makes it feel like a proper clean. It doesn't leave my face tight whatsoever and my skin is left silky soft.

Part of the product's promise it to help with a clogged t-zone. As I say I have been using this for about a month and the appearance of my pore has definitely decreased but I put this down to the clarisonic.

Overall, I really enjoy using this. It leaves my skin feeling clean and refreshed and I must say I do look forward to using it at the end of the day. Most importantly it's not broken me out which is a big plus for me :)

What do you think of Soap & Glory's products?

Babbles About... Sleek Face Form (Review)

Unfortunately I'm not blessed with cheekbones so need to cheat a little in this department. Most of the time I have been using my bronzer of the moment to contour. This does work but I've always found that the look was not as subtle as I had hoped. Plus my bronzer's tend to have shimmer doesn't help with the 'contoured' effect!

I was recently looking for a contouring powder that wouldn't require me to break into my piggy bank. After a quick search online, I came across some fab reviews for Sleek's Face Contour Kit. I ended up purchasing the Face Form kit which is very similar with the addition of a blusher.

This is Sleek's description of the product.

"Face Form is the ultimate contouring compact and definitive accessory for nailing that chiselled supermodel look. Bound in a luxurious handbag-friendly palette, complete with a mirror for on-the-go application, each shade variant contains different products to suit specific skin tones."

The kit comes in four colour options: Fair, Light, Medium and Dark.I would say I have a light-to-medium completion and purchased the fair option. I'd read some other reviews which advised to go down a shade as the contouring powder is quite intense.

In each kit there is a contouring powder, highlighting powder and blusher.

Sleek Face Form in Fair

I apply the contour powder on the hollows of my cheeks. The powder is completely matt which I like as it gives quite a natural finish. You can definitely build this from a very subtle look to a more defined contour. I really like the contour powder. It's highly pigmented so even having had mine for a couple of months, there is barely a dent in the palette. If I am going out, I tend to build up the contour and also use it on the jawline to hide my double chin :)

The middle powder is the highlighter and it is quite shimmery. I apply this to the top of my cheekbones. It definitely does highlight but I find I have to use it really sparingly or it looks a bit too much and kind of leaves me looking washed out.

The b;usher is a pretty shimmery coral colour. I don't use this very often as I prefer creamy blushers. Overall it is a nice shade but not very long-lasting.

Here is the result of using all three:

Sleek Face Form Result

Overall, I think this is a very subtle look and just what I was after. As a said, you can build this up to a more  defined look. I use the contouring powder everyday but prefer to use other products for my highlighter and blush. I would love it if you could buy the contour powder by itself but at just a tenner for the palette it's still good value. I've had mine for a couple of months and barely made a dent!

This is my first Sleek purchase so would be interested trying the others to see how they measure up. 

Do you guys use a contouring powder? Have you tried any of Sleek's other products?

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xo

Babbles About... This Week's Nails Featuring Red Carpet Manicure and Gelish

This week I am wearing Red Carpet Manicure in Fake Bake (cream) with Harmony Gelish in Twinkle (golden glitter) on top.

RCM Fake Bake with Harmony Gelish Twinkle

I normally wear darker or bright colours but was inspired by Anne Hathaway's pale caviar manicure at the Golden Globes to try something a bit more neutral.

Anne Hathaway's Pale Caviar Manicure

Fake bake is a really wearable work colour. I'm pretty pale and pasty at the moment but I think this would even nicer with a tan. I used three coats of this as the polish is quite sheer.To add a bit of sparkle, I added a coat Twinkle which is a gold-glitter clear polish with a hint of iridescent glitter. Both of these are gel polishes so each coat had to be cured with a LED lamp.


I'm a recent convert to gel polish so I'm going to dedicate a longer post to the different polishes I use and how I apply.

What's your nail look for today/this week?

Babbles About... Philip Kinglsey Elasticizer - Hair Holy Grail

Part of the reason I decided to start my blog today was I used Elasticizer last night and really want to shout from the rooftops I much I love this treatment. It's been called the holy grail of hair by countless bloggers, been featured in just about every magazine and it really does live up to the hype!

The Holy Grail of Hair

I first got this product many moons ago after having my hair stripped from dark brown to dark blonde. Needless to say my hair was not the same afterwards and I'm not just talking about the colour! My lovely mum gave this to me back then and to be honest at the time I didn't really fall in love with it. It's a pre-shampoo treatment and I guess that was just too much of a faff for a teenager. It gave me results but I don't think I gave it enough of a chance.

Fast forward a few years - I'm now 24 - and this product is my saving grace cannot do without hair product. After a scissor happy hairdresser left me severely lopsided a couple of years ago, I've been growing out my hair ever since. A lot of patience and effort but my hair was anything from the glossy locks I longed after. I'd tried intensive conditioners and I just felt they really weighed my hair down and were more of a cosmetic fix than a treatment. Then I remembered Elasticizer and decided it deserved another try.

As I said, Elasticizer is a pre-shampoo treatment. You wet your hair, slap on the product and leave it on for 10-20mins with the provided shower-cap. I've found it easiest to wet my hair using a spray bottle rather than jumping in the shower twice.

It seems a little strange to use a treatment and then shampoo your hair as normal.  I kind of felt I was washing out all of the goodness but hey ho that's what the instructions said. The first time I used this, there was a noticeable difference. My hair felt super smooth, dried quicker and took far less taming with the straighteners. It wasn't weighed down, it just seemed to have more life. I became a little addicted and against my bank balance's protest, I stocked up on the litre size so I would never be without it. I use this about twice a week and the results just seem to improve with time. My hair is silky soft and styles much more easily than ever before. It is an investment but I think it is totally worth it as it means I have to visit the hairdressers less.

I find the best way to use it is to dampen my hair at night, put the treatment and was off the following morning. I did this last night and my hair is lush today. I'd been a bit lazy since New Year so when I used it last night, I just fell right back in love with it. Head over heels.

Have you tried this? Have you got any hair products you can't live with out? I'd love to hear from you!

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Nicola xo

Welcome to Babbles about Beauty

Hi! Welcome to my blog!

I'm Nicola and I'm blogging from the Glasgow in Scotland. My job is marketing but my passion is beauty, in fact I've always been a bit of a beauty/make-up junkie! I love everything from high-street to high-end (although my day job allows for a lot more of the former!).

After years of reading beauty blogs, I've decided to take the plunge and start one of my very own. I hope you enjoy reading this and would love to hear about your beauty loves !

To start off I am going to post about some of my favourite products and how I use them.

xo