Which is best? Comparing Cuticle Treatments

Hey everyone! Today I have another 'Which is best?' post for you, this time on cuticle care. Sorry this is a day late but I didn't get home until nearly midnight last night and I just wasn't up to posting. I will be comparing Beauty Secrets Cuticle Oil, OPI Avoplex Cuticle Oil, Burts Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, Jessica Nourish Cuticle Formula*, and LUSH Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter

Comparison No. 1 - Smell: 

(1 being strongest 10 being the least)

1. OPI Avoplex - 8/10 smells really nice and not that strong
2. Beauty Secrets - 8/10 smells quite nutty, but faint and it's really nice
3. Burts Bees - 6/10 Lemony, but more pure lemon than lemony flutter and not quite as strong
4. Lemony Flutter - 5/10 Strong and lemony (obviously) but it's really nice
5. Jessica - 2/10 strong and 'grannyish' (only way to describe it) very perfumed

Comparison No. 2 - Greasiness:  

(1 being very greasy and 10 being not very) - Of course they're going to be greasy as they are there for moisture, but sometimes it's a bit too much

1. Burts Bees - 8/10 you don't need much and it's not too greasy, it doesn't leave a feeling of greasiness like lemony flutter/Jessica do
2. OPI Avoplex - 6/10 very greasy because it's an oil but it sinks in very quickly
3. Jessica - 4/10 probably as greasy as lemony flutter if you use too much, but a little goes a long way so it's not as greasy if you use barely any
4. Lemony Flutter - 2/10 very greasy because of how soft it is, even if you just use a little bit
5. Beauty Secrets - 1/10 as it's an oil its very very greasy, and you do have to wipe it with a tissue

Comparison No. 3 - Does it work:

• Lemony Flutter - Yep, and whilst the grease does put me off as I can't do things whilst it's on, it's definitely worth having
• Jessica - Yep, after about a weeks use you will definitely notice a difference, and a little goes a long way
• OPI Avoplex - Yes, it soaks in to the skin and really moisturises as a result
• Beauty Secrets - Not really, it's just permanently greasy until you wash it off and I really wish I'd never bought it
• Burts Bees - Yep, there's a reason that it's a favourite of the bloggers!

Overall thoughts

1. OPI Avoplex - works well and is easy to apply, and doesn't smell too strong
2. Jessica - it works and a little definitely goes a long way so the size of the tube should definitely not bother you, although the smell is a bit offputting for me
3. Burts Bees - As I said before, there's definitely a reason that this is a favourite with bloggers, I haven't been using it enough to see whether it truly works for me, but I used to use it a lot during my high school years and I love it then, the smell isn't too strong and it isn't too greasy
4. Lemony Flutter - I love it when I'm not in a rush, it's great to apply before bed, but I find it's not very practical if I'm just about to type a blogpost for example as it stays quite greasy for a while, but it definitely works
5. Beauty Secrets - I dont like it and I wish I hadn't bought it, the only nice thing about it is the smell but it's way too greasy for me

Of course, different things work for different people, so I'd love to know what your favourite is. Let me know in the comments!

Alice

*some of the products in this post were provided to me for review but my opinions are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way

Guest post for The Nailasaurus (!!)

Hey everyone, today I've done a guest post for The Nailasaurus so I wont write much as you can see it all here. I still can't believe that I've written a guest post for such an brilliant nail blog, it's such an amazing opportunity!

If you like the look of the black glitter you can get it here at feelunique.com for just £6.80, and they have free worldwide delivery!

More pictures over on Sammy's blog

I hope you like it!

Alice

Which is best? Comparing Hand Creams

Hey everyone! Today I'm back with part 2 of my new 'which is best?' series. Thank you all for the amazing response to last week's post, I didn't expect it to be quite so successful! I hope you will be equally as happy with this weeks comparison of hand creams. I will be comparing Crabtree and Evelyn Jojoba Oil Moisturising Hand and Cuticle Cream*, Avon Care Glycerine Hand and Nail Rich Moisture Hand Cream, Neutrogena Unscented Concentrated Hand Cream, Clinique Deep Comfort Hand and Nail Cream*, Bliss High Intensity Hand Cream*

Many of you may be wondering why I chose to do a hand cream comparison post, but it must be remembered that hand and nail care are at least 50% of having a good blog, and hand creams are a must

Before I start I just wanted to announce that the giveaway winner Brady was chosen and was contacted, I didn't announce it publicly because I didn't feel the need to but I've had quite a few emails asking me about it, so there you go! Please dont feel disheartened as I'm sure that there are plenty more giveaways to come, and I hope you will all continue to enjoy my blog

Comparison No. 1: Drying/Absorbing Time (After 5 minutes)

1. Avon (9/10) - takes just a few minutes, if that, to absorb into your skin, and doesn't leave a greasy residue
2. Crabtree and Evelyn 9/10 - dries quickly, pretty much the same as the Avon one does
3. Neutrogena 8/10 - pretty quick at drying
4. Bliss 6/10 - takes quite a bit of time to dry (although not too long) but once it does it feels great
5. Clinque 4/10 - struggles to dry, which is really annoying because I tend to want to get on with something after using hand cream, like a lecture or doing my nails, and with this it's difficult

Comparison No. 2: Greasiness (After 5 minutes)

1. Avon 9/10 - nothing there except what can be expected
2. Crabtree and Evelyn 9/10 - not greasy after 5 minutes
3. Neutrogena 8/10 - still a bit of a residue after the same amount of time but not too greasy 
4. Bliss 6/10 - relatively greasy after 5 minutes
5. Clinique 4/10 - still really greasy after 5 minutes

Comparison No. 3: Smell

1. Neutrogena 10/10 no smell at all, just as it claims on the bottle
2. Avon 9/10 has a pretty neutral smell, like very very weak nappies 
3. Clinique 8/10 - very faint citrusy smell
4. Bliss - 7/10 - stronger smell but still not too bad
5. Crabtree and Evelyn - 2/10 Absolutely stinks, if I was to describe it I would describe it as 'granny-like', it's very perfumed and flowery, and as I tend to do quite a lot after using handcream, I prefer a more neutral smell (like the others)

Comparison No. 4: Does it do what it says?/Overall Feeling

• Bliss ("High Intensity hand cream") - Yes, this leaves my hands feeling the best out of all the hand creams once it dries. Avon was by far my favourite hand cream before I tried this but I think this has definitely overtaken, my hands just feel so much better after
• Avon ("Rich Moisture Hand Cream") - Yep, I use this as my go-to hand cream in my uni bag when my hands are feeling dry. It's absorbant and non-greasy and doesn't really leave a smell
• Crabtree and Evelyn ("Moisturising hand and nail cream")- Yep, this really is a brilliant product, it's just the smell that is off-putting, but if that doesn't bother you then I'd definitely recommend it.
• Neutrogena ("Instant relief of dry, chapped hands, just a dab needed") - Yep, or so I've found it to. But my mum used it before me and found it to be quite drying, so I guess it depends on your skin type. I also found that I needed more than just a 'dab'
• Clinique ("Deep Comfort Hand and Cuticle cream") - Yes and no, once it's dry my hands feel comforted, but whilst it's drying I feel pretty uncomfortable, but it is brilliant for my cuticles

What do you think? Do you own/want any of these products? Let me know in the comments! 

Alice

*some of the products in this post were provided to me for review, and some were bought with my own money, but all opinions are entirely my own

Seaside nails

Hey everyone! Summer has finally arrived in the UK and I'm loving it! Of course I had to bring you some summer nails to match. These nails were actually another design that I thought about entering into the Beauty and the Beach competition, but decided that they weren't up to much. I know these aren't great but they're definitely something simplistic that you can wear to the beach if you're feeling a bit uninspired.

The base for these is Essence - That's What I Mint but I'm not entirely sure of the other colours because I did them over a month ago. I then used a coat of Seche Vite to finish off.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments! 

Alice

Which is best? Comparing Top Coats

Hey everyone! Today has been a great day for the UK, as Andy Murray became the first Brit to win Wimbledon in 77 years. Today is also great because I have the start of a new weekly series I'll be doing; comparing the things we nail girls need and love. Base coats, matte top coats, hand creams, cuticle care, and today's post; top coats. I will be comparing Seche Vite*, Dior Gel Coat*, INM Out The Door*, Guerlain Gel Topcoat*, and Essence Gel Look*. I'm going to mark them on shine, drying speed, if you can prod them (and not leave a mark) after 10 minutes, how much they smudge the design below on application and how well they last, I will give them a ranking of 1-5 and a score out of 10, and then I will give my overall view at the end. The rest of the post will be after the jump because it's going to be pretty long.

Spotted Rose Curtains

Hey everyone! Just a quick post today because I've left it until late (yet again). I decided to recreate my 'rose curtains' nails for a tutorial for lookfantastic.com and once that was done I decided that I wanted to add a bit of a twist to them. I just got this Nubar Black Polka Dot nail varnish* from feelunique.com and I just couldn't wait to use it, so I thought I would combine the two. 

You can see the colours I used for the roses within my tutorial but the base is OPI - My Vampire is Buff and then I used 2 coats of Nubar Black Polka Dot*, with a bit of placement for the bigger pieces. I absolutely LOVE this glitter, and if you dont own it, you should. You can get it here 

Please let me know what you think of my tutorial, I tried something a little different this time around by not using my full hand, so let me know if you still think it's okay!

What do you think? Will you be buying Nubar Black Polka Dot?* You can get it from feelunique.com for just £6.80 (definitely worth it) and they have free worldwide delivery!

Alice

*some of the products in this post were provided to me for review but all opinions are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way