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

Layla Polishes Review/Swatches

Hey everyone! Today I have a selection of Layla polishes from Look Fantastic and Sally Magpies to show you, there's another holo polish, a mirror effect polish, some ceramic effect polishes and a soft touch effect polish (which I think is my new all-time favourite polish). I hope you like it! Full review will be after the jump

Brown Hearts

Hey everyone! Today's post was just an experiment I did ages ago with some nail art pens, and not a very successful one, so I've been debating whether or not to post it. However, I'm having a few issues with some of my other posts and until they're resolved this is all I have, so enjoy. 

This is on a base of Models Own - Nude Beige, and I used Supreme nail art pens for the design, topped off with a coat of Seche Vite

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

Alice

Which is best? Comparing Base Coats

Hey everyone! Today I'm back with another 'which is best?' post, this time on base coats. I will be comparing Orly - Bonder, Zoya - Get Even*, Barbara Daly - Goodbye Yellow, OPI - Matte Nail Envy, and Dior - Long Lasting Base Coat. I've had a few comments asking why I chose the things I chose to compare, it was either because they were there, because they were provided for review or because they're what I love to use. Before I start I just want to say that I only use one coat of base coat, and this is what these comparisons are based off, I read somewhere the other day that sometimes people use up to 4 coats and I don't know what is the usual amount but I always just use the one. 

Comparison No. 1 - Smoothness: 

1. OPI - 10/10, may just be because it's matte but definitely feels smoothest
2. Dior - 9/10, smooth and shiny 
3. Orly - 8/10, feels quite sticky (in order to bond). but definitely dry and smooth
4. Barbara Daly - 8/10, smooth but picks up any bumps in the nail (although 2 coats of it sorts this out)
5. Zoya - 3/10 doesn't really do what it claims to do, feels very sandy. My little finger was the least smooth nail and continued to feel that way

Comparison No. 2 - Drying Speed:

They all dried at pretty much the exact same speed so there's not much comparison there

Comparison No. 3 - Does it do what it says?

1. OPI - 10/10 yep definitely, my nails were very brittle from years of biting and this did wonders for my nails, they're now really strong
2. Orly - 10/10, definitely good at 'bonding', it's impossible to peel designs off when using this (something I have a bad habit of doing) and it definitely doesn't chip, I love this base coat just as much as OPI - Nail Envy, which is saying something
3. Dior - 9/10, just claims to be a base coat so it definitely is that, it's also long-lasting which it claims to be, although not as much as the Orly
4. Barbara Daly - 8/10 - i've never used it for a prolonged period of time so I don't know if it does end up whitening the nail, but it does give the immediate appearance of white nails when it's on, so as a base coat it would be good for negative space nails if you usually have quite white nails
5. Zoya - 2/10 nope, doesn't even out, in fact makes it more bumpy if anything (quite a rough texture)

Comparison No. 4 - Overall thoughts:

1. OPI - 10/10 lasts forever, I've been using this for over a year about 60% of the time and it's barely made a dint in it as you can see. It's also a brilliant base coat and does what it says
2. Orly - 10/10 great base coat, does what it says, dries quickly and is very smooth, also seems to last forever, it may look unused but i've used this a good 20-30 times
3. Barbara Daly - 8/10, never had any problems with it but haven't used it for long enough to determine whether it permanently makes the nails white, definitely does a good job at making them appear so
4. Dior - 9/10 does what it says and dries quick and very smooth, if it wasn't for the price I'm sure this would be an incredibly popular base coat 
5. Zoya - 2/10 dries white so wouldn't be good for a base for negative space nails, dries quick, but aside from that isn't really that great, doesn't do what it says and is quite annoying to use (pretty thick)

Holographic Geometric

Hey everyone! Today's post is my first ever holographic polish, and I absolutely love it. I intended to post these a week ago for Digital Dozen Does Tape Manis, which I completely forgot about and therefore missed. But I promised the lovely ladies that I would do a post, and so I did, I just put off writing it for a week. 

The holographic polish is Layla - Red Taboo*, from the wonderful Sally Magpie's, the blue is Barry M - Blueberry and the green is Barry M - Key Lime, all topped off with a coat of Seche Vite*

Here are some pictures of Red Taboo alone:

These lightbox pictures really don't do this polish justice. It's AMAZING, and I definitely feel I've been missing out on the holo front. 

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

If you haven't already I'd love it if you could vote for me for 'best new beauty blog' in the Cosmopolitan blog awards 2013, you can do so here

Alice

*Some of the products in this post were provided to me for review but all opinions are entirely my own

Models Own Fruit Pastel Collection Swatches and Review

Hey everyone! Today I have a quick review of the recently released Models Own Fruit Pastel Collection. I know you've probably seen these around already but for those who haven't this is a collection of scented pastels based around food, and I absolutely love them! The rest of the review will be after the jump because it's going to be a pretty long post if not.