Showing posts with label Nails Inc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nails Inc. Show all posts

Friday, 10 April 2015

Save Money: 6 Dupes for High End Products



Guerlain's Les Meteorites pearls are a cult product, finely milled they give a very subtle glow to the skin and more recently they have been available in a convenient, travel friendly, compact form. The refill price though expensive it what I'd expect from such a high end brand but the compact is a whopping £97.20! (from Escentual. In house of Fraser it's around £108!) That means you're paying  £62.70 for the packaging alone! That will buy you another Guerlain product or two or possibly most of Make Up Revolution's entire stock! Kiko offers a budget friendly alternative, with a mixture of  matte and shimmery shades of violet, green and pink that can be swirled together for a champagne coloured sheen. I understand that the Guerlain compact is actually more shimmery than the original Meteorite pearls and from swatches here and here I'd say Kiko's version is more similar to the Meteorite pearls (£37.50) giving a subtle glow.




Despite it's name the Max Factor blush is actually a powder not a cream. The Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Nude Mauve seems to have the same lasting power as Hourglass Mood Exposure blush and the shades are very similar which you can see in a post by Gemma from Beauty Nook here. The differences are that Max Factor has less product than Hourglass and is also less expensive.


I really liked Benefit's new Rollerlash mascara (you can see the review here) but £19.50 is an expensive price tag. However money savvy beauty lovers have sussed out not one, but two dupes. The first is Maybelline's Lash Sensational Mascara which is the cheapest dupe. They share a similar curved wand (although Maybelline isn't as skinny as the Benefit wand) and you can see just how alike the results are in Elle Sees Blog post here. The second dupe is Max Factor Masterpiece Transform Mascara despite the wand looking completely different the results are very similar which you can see for yourselves in a post by Make Up Monster here.


Although Claire's Valentine Hearts nail polish isn't an exact dupe for Nails Inc Alexa Hearts, they are similar each having red hearts inside which I couldn't find anywhere else. La Femme also do a range of  polish with gold, silver and turquoise hearts in them which you can find here for 99p.





These Maybelline color drama lip pencils are much raved about Nars Velvet Matte lip pencil dupes. Maybelline lip pencils are good quality but significantly cheaper than Nars. Maybelline's Red Essential is thought to be a Nars Cruella dupe and you can see in this post by Make Up Over Mind here that they are very similar in colour. They are great in pigment and texture-wise comfortable to wear and leave a stain. Maybelline's Fab Orange is supposed to be a dupe of Nars Red Square. You can see the swatches on my pintrest beauty board.



Nars Radiant Creamy concealer is often recommended as a good concealer for under the eye. Maybelline Fit Me concealer is it's high street counterpart. The differences are that Nars offers more coverage with less product, while Maybelline needs to be built up, but both give medium coverage. Maybelline dries slower than Nars meaning you have more time to blend. The consistency differs as Nars is creamier than Maybelline. Nars does give you more product at 15ml while Maybelline has 6.8g but is still worth trying out.  






Wednesday, 18 March 2015

St Patrick's Day Manicure

To celebrate St Patrick's day I painted my nails gold and green. I used Kate Spade for Nails Inc in Uptown Glamour, which applies like a dream,it's opaque in one coat and dries quickly. It came with Glamour magazine awhile back,although it's still available on Ebay here. While Sinful  Color's Envy (Poundland) was runnier and needed two coats for complete opaqueness and to eliminate streaks. Sinful Color Envy results in a super shiny finish. I used Bourjois So Perfect Base Coat which has the benefit of being quick dry too. I used PD Topcoat by Butter London.







Thursday, 5 June 2014

Boots Invigorating Foot Scrub Review and Summer Pedicure Polishes




With summer come sandals, so it's time to pay attention to the more neglected areas of our body: feet! So I have a Boots foot scrub review for you and my favourite pedicure shades to follow.

Boots Invigorating Foot Scrub contains mint, calendula and apricot seed. I bought this because I have eczema on my ankles and read on boots.com reviews that it was fine to use for eczema sufferers. It claims to stimulate circulation and soften rough dry feet.

Directions: Wash and dry area to be treated. Using fingertips gently rub in the cream until the surface flakes. Wash and dry the skin.

This has a fresh clean scent which I like, though it does smell a bit herbally, a scent which I generally don't like (think Neal's Yard.)  This is gentle and non-irritating and it did make my feet feel softer and smoother after use. The the creamy consistency was easy to spread, the granules are very concentrated but because they are fine/small the scrub is not abrasive or harsh. However I don't think it's abrasive enough to scrub away hardened callouses you will need a pumice stone or loofah for that. I didn't find much of the flaky effect either. I didn't think it stimulated circulation very much but I do have particularly bad circulation.This is dermatologically tested but does contain parabens (Methylparaben and Ethylparaben.)

The packaging is fairly basic being Boots own brand but I like the fact that the tube is transparent so you can see the product inside. The flip open tube is also hygienic and it closes properly.




While Boots invigorating foot scrub did smooth and soften my feet it could benefit from bigger granules. I appreciated that it was gentle and did not  aggravate my skin and does seem to be suitable for all skin types as it claims. However it didn't deliver on the promise of stimulating circulation.  I would say this is an adequate basic foot scrub that smooths and softens feet but doesn't do anything extra. On the whole this is  not the best nor the worst,  I would give this a rating 3 out of 5. Boots invigorating foot scrub is £3.49 for 100ml at Boots.

You will like this if...
  • You have sensitive skin /expect this to be gentle and non-irritating 
  • You find it budget friendly
  • Like the transparent and hygienic packaging
  • You just want a scrub to make your feet soft.
    You may not like this if
    • You expect to scrub away callouses
    • You want improved circulation
    Summer Pedicure Polishes: My picks





    As a base coat I've been using Bourjois So perfect base coat to prevent any polish staining nails.

    I like bright colours for summer so my current colour choices would be Bourjois So Laque Ultra Shine in Fuchsia Hype: feminine but because it's bright stands out from pastel or barbie pink or Corals such as Nails Inc Copacabana Coral (Exclusive to Instyle magazine but available on Ebay) or alternatively Barry M Gelly Nails in Passion Fruit would look good with tanned feet.

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