OPI Nail Envy

My nails naturally grow rather quickly, having said that they are extremely brittle and often peel at the ends once they gain any sort of length. I don't bite my nails, but they never tend to grow more than a few millimetres above the ends of my fingers tips and I can never get the edges to square off as I'd like! In an attempt to combat this, I invested in OPI's infamous 'Nail Envy'.

At first I was a bit apprehensive as to whether these sort of products do have that much effect, and as a student I wasn't prepared to waste my money on another base coat that I couldn't reep many benefits from, so decided to go for the mini version.

As it happens I did in fact LOVE this product, and invested in the full sized bottle, which set me back £13.50 for 15ml from eBay.

I now keep the full sized pot stashed away with all my other nail goodies, and pop the mini bottle in my bag with me, or if I'm travelling I make sure I always have it to hand. The only downside I've found is that as applying coats becomes some what of an obsession, the product does get used up quicker than most other base coats - I'm nearly all out of my travel bottle!

The bottle instructs to apply 2 coats of the product, and then one further coat every other day. Now, as I'm not one to follow instructions when it comes to beauty products (naughty, I know) I use it a little differently. For example, I'm going on holiday next week, therefore I've stripped back my nails to basics, dealt with my cuticles, filed them to shape, the whole shabbang! I then applied a few coats of the nail envy, and then a further few coats for the next few days until they feel a little stronger with a little more length, then I'll be ready to paint them with my Barry M 'strawberry ice cream' and I'll be jetting off to turkey :)

The only major downfall for me with this product is that after its applied and dried, it looks very matte on the nails. My nails are naturally very dull and lack any sign of nutrition or shine, therefore I have to apply a shiny top coat such as my Sally Hanson top coat, just to achieve a healthy shine to a natural nail. But other than that, this product is fantastic not only for achieving some length in your nails but also strengthening them, allowed more confidence when us DIY ladies have some business to handle!

I highly highly recommend :)

beccxbeauty
Xoxoxo

LUSH: Shaving Cream

You all know that my passion is finding beauty alternatives, and this times ladies, I've outdone myself.

I've been an avid lush fan for years and years, a few of their skin care products are staples in my skin care routine and I've often been known to enjoy a bath bomb or two. I also highly rate their shower gels! Yummy.

For Christmas 2011, I wanted to get my boyfriend something he could start to collect and really enjoy - lord knows he deserves to be pampered :) so I thought the perfect small present was a Lush gift set called 'Dirty' as it gave him a selection of products to try and see what he thought of them. Thankfully, he loved the idea and the products! And it had been dually noted that his face was smooth and stubble free (yay!)

He raved and raved about the scent and the products, so one day when I was feeling particularly cheeky I thought I'd help my self to a dollop of the Dirty shaving cream and shower gel whilst in the shower (he uses enough of my essentials, eh?)

To my surprise I absolutely fell in love! Although I adore the shower gel scent that lingers on him from the beginning of the day until bed, for me it's just a bit too masculine, although the lovely helpers in the shop claim it to be unisex. However, don't let the fact the shaving gel is for men put you off - it was without doubt the most luxurious, thick and moisturising shaving cream I have ever used! So much so that if you didn't moisturise after your shave, you really wouldn't notice any difference as it seems to do the job for you!

We then later tried a similar product, 'Prince' - neither of us were impressed. The texture and consistency was the same, but the heavenly scent just wasn't there; not was it replaced by the fragrance of orange of which it claimed.

All in all we were both more than delighted with the product and the Mr's even venturing out into the world of Lush skin care! Who knew eh - he's getting worse than me! ;)

I've recently bought the 'cosmetics lad' gift box for my brother upcoming birthday so I'll be sure to report back with my findings :)

Beccxbeauty
Xoxoxo