How to strengthen your nails on a budget – Nu Nale Cream Review

Being  a self confessed addict of all things beauty, it is very rare that my nails are not painted. I always look after my cuticles with creams and oils but sometimes no matter how much of a conscious effort we make to treat our nails with care, sometimes  constant painting and removal can leave nails somewhat thin.  The beauty shelves are full of products you can paint onto your nails to resolve this common beauty problem but they are often quite pricey.

I was wandering a Boots store recently (a popular drugstore to my american readers!) when this product stood out.  Not only because I was intrigued by the thought of a nail strengthening cream that I could incorporate into my manicure, but also the price.  An absolute bargain at £3.60.

So, what do we get for £3.60?, well a tube of 30ml Nu Nale cream in a box. The packaging is not all that special, but for the price I really can’t complain. The instructions state that I should apply a small amount of the cream to the nails and massage it well into the cuticles and nail tips.  I should do this 2-3 times a day initially, particularly after washing my hands and then as nail condition improves, once daily preferably last thing at night.

So, the image above shows roughly how much product I apply to the nails.  I then gently massage around the cuticles and then lightly over the entire nail. The cream itself contains Lanolin, a product well known for its ability to protect from what can be the harsh affects of water.  Lanolin is a product that comes from wool bearing animals and it helps in weatherproofing the animals by aiding the shedding of water from their coats. So, you can imagine what this property does for our nails.  If you are someone who is constantly in and out of water all day then this cream would be perfect for you.

As you can see from the image above, this cream really does work! The product above has been rubbed into the nail and no residue is left. The glossy healthy sheen has not been achieved by buffing my nails, only from using the Nu Nale Cream. I have been using this for a couple of weeks now and can certainly notice a difference.  They feel harder and less likely to break.  I also use this cream over painted nails to protect the cuticles.  So, not only is it good at a deep repair every now and then but also for topping up that good work throughout the week.

Overall, I really can’t rate this cream highly enough.  Sure, we can buy other creams and nail treatments that protect our nails but they are often near the £20.00 mark and I really can’t fault this cream at the bargain price of £3.60.

Hope you found this review useful.  It’s great when you discover a bargain product that exceeds your expectations, isn’t it?!

Talk to you all soon x

How I apply sheer nail colour | A Pretty Honest Beauty Tip!

Sheer nail polish can be quite disappointing when it applies so sheer you lose the colour it is meant to be.  I wanted to share with you all a little tip of how I apply my sheer colours to really make them pop. And the good news is, you only need one product to achieve this; a matte top coat.

Recently I bought OPI’s Bubble Bath after thinking how pretty the nude nail colour was.  However, when I applied it I was disappointed to find it looked like I had only applied a top coat, no matter how many coats I applied. You will be able to see this finish in the picture below.

One way I have found that really makes a big difference is applying a matte top coat.  This of course means that I am then able to paint another layer of nail colour over the top.

The image above shows how the top coat looks when applied over the sheer nail colour.  You will see how it almost neutralises any pink tones of my nails that show through the sheer polish.  I then paint another coat of my sheer nail colour, in this case OPI Bubble Bath over the top.

And this is the finished look.  So, just to recap this is one coat of OPI Bubble Bath, followed by a coat of Barry M Matte top coat, then another application of OPI Bubble Bath and finally my regular glossy Sally Hansen top coat.

I think this enhances the colour of the nail polish while not losing the pretty delicate sheerness of it.  It allows the colour to shine through without being influenced by my natural nail tones.

I hope you find this little tip useful. It has given a whole new lease of life to my sheer polish collection!

Talk to you all soon x

Christian Louboutin Loubi Nail Care (Top and Base Coat) Kit – Review

I can’t quite believe it is September already! The weather is definitely getting colder and the nights are drawing in.  The change of season also brings some changes to my makeup.  Plum lipstick one day and red nail colour the next!

Wearing darker nail colours makes using a base coat really important, and it is with this in mind that I wanted to share with you my thoughts on the Louboutin Loubi Nail Care Kit.

This box set really is a touch of luxury.  It contains two bottles – one containing the Loubi Nail Primer and one containing the top coat.   The base coat (nail primer) creates a smooth and flawless base to make the best out of our chosen nail colour. The Loubi top coat (nail gloss) seals our chosen colour and helps to provide a chip-free shine and also UV protection.

The bottles are as to be expected – stunning! The bottles are not as big as the nail colours but still have the same tall handle inspired by the heels of his beautiful shoes. This sculpted handle makes application a dream.

Using the base and top coat gave me a manicure that lasted a week with minimal chipping on some tips.  This isn’t quite as long lasting as a fast drying top coat but it also did not cause any shrinking to the edges.

If I had to choose between buying this set and a nail colour from the Louboutin collection there is no doubt that I would choose the nail colour.  That said, the quality of the top and base coat are exceptional.  And it is after all exceptional quality that makes Louboutin stand out as being very special.

The Louboutin Nail Care Kit is priced at £40.00.

You can read my reviews on Louboutin Nail Colour here and here.

Talk to you all soon x

Christian Louboutin Me Nude Nail Colour- Review and Swatch

Christian Louboutin.  My guilty pleasure! For today’s post I wanted to share with you all my nail colour choice for the weekend.  What better way to celebrate the end of the working week than with a glossy new manicure. My choice for this weekend is my new Christian Louboutin polish in ‘Me Nude’.  A beautiful opaque camel shade that is both distinctive yet natural at the same time.

This is my third bottle of Louboutin nail colour.  Yes, it is expensive but in my opinion worth it.  I have also reviewed the ‘Sweet Charity’ nail colour Read my Sweet Charity Review here.  Between the two of them, this one is my favourite.

The bottle is beautiful.  It is a faceted bottle with the signature spike handle. The bottle comes in a little box with the handle poking out of the top.  The bottle holds 13 mL.

I applied two coats and a topcoat to achieve this finish. My manicure lasts a full week looking perfect.  It applies beautifully with no streaks.  So, would I repurchase? I most definitely would! This colour will see me through to the winter.  The nail polish costs £36.00 and is available to purchase from various outlets including Selfridges online.

Christian Louboutin really knows how to do nail colour! Have you tried any from his collection? I would love to hear recommendations and how you find the product.

Talk to you all soon x

Nails Inc Victoria Beckham Bamboo White – Review

I have had my eye on the Victoria Beckham Nails Inc collection since getting the email announcing it at the end of last year.  I prefer to stay quite classic in my nail colour choices favouring nudes and reds, so this duo was perfect for me!

The bottles are beautiful and look very pretty on my dressing table.  They are matte opaque black and white bottles inspired by the Victoria Beckham Spring 2015 collection. The side of the bottles are clear and give a hint of the colour inside.

Judo Red is a vibrant tomoto red shade and Bamboo White is a delicate bone shade.  For today’s post I am sharing with you all my favourite out of the two; Bamboo White.

The colour applies beautifully to the nails.  I didn’t find streaking to be a problem, but I applied two coats for the finish above and one coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Top Coat.  The brush is lovely and wide making application very easy.  The colour has no sheen or glitter speck in it.  I own a lot of nudes but this colour really is very unique and not like any other.   I bought these colours for my holiday and the manicure lasted about 5 days chip free and I couldn’t wait to wear it again when I got home!  It’s the prefect, clean, ‘my nails but better’ colour and has taken the place of being my current favourite shade.   Victoria Beckham and Nails Inc have got it spot on with this colour.  I recommend to any nude nail colour fan.  You won’t regret it! I may not be adorned by Victoria Beckham clothing, but at least my nails can say they are!

I bought the duo box set from John Lewis for £45.00.  You can also purchase this separately for £25.00.

The Judo Red review will follow in the near future (but I will have to remove this colour first which I may find hard given my love for it!)

Do you love this nail colour as much as I do? I would love to hear from you!

Talk to you all soon x

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Creme de la Creme 430 and Top Coat – Review

I love nude, glossy, manicured nails.  You may have guessed that by now! Not only do they make your nails look clean and well manicured, they also compliment any outfit.  I have already reviewed Birthday Suite from the Sally Hansen Miracle Gel collection Read more here and as I rated it highly, I couldn’t help but buy it in another colour! This is just a short review as my findings regarding the formula are covered in the earlier post, however this colour is so gorgeous I wanted to share it with you all!

This colour is a lovely cool toned, nude pink shade. It is opaque in two coats.  My manicure has two coats and one coat of the top coat.

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Creme de la Creme looks good for a week and has a lovely gel shine. Another pretty, glossy colour from Sally Hansen!

Sally Hansen Creme de la Creme is priced at £9.99 and the Top Coat is also priced at £9.99.  I purchased mine from Boots.

Talk to you all soon x

The Body Shop Sweet Almond Oil Nail Varnish Remover – Review

As you can probably see from the pages of my blog, I love to paint my nails. In fact, my nails are rarely au natural.  For this reason I think it is really important to find a nail varnish remover that is both effective and kind to my nails.  So many polish removers seem good at removing my colour but at the same time are very drying to both my nails and cuticles.  Being a fan of the almond oil collection at The Body Shop, I was delighted to see this nail varnish remover that is enriched with almond oil.  This remover promises to take off my nail colour gently with a 4-in-1 caring formula, infused with sweet almond, soya oil and Community Fair Trade sugarcane essence.  It is acetone free and gentle with a formula that actually improves the condition of my nails and softens my cuticles. I can see a layer of oily sheen coating my nails once I have removed all traces of my colour – so it really does do what it promises!

This is a lovely nail varnish remover.  It does not have the usual chemical smell that many have and really has improved the condition of my nails.  At £6 for a 100ml bottle I would recommend taking a look at it the next time you visit The Body Shop!

This is only a short review, but I wanted to share with you all my thoughts on this product as I really do think it is brilliant.

Talk to you all soon x

Sally Hansen Gel Shine 3D Top Coat- Review

Today I have another nail product to share with you all! The Sally Hansen Gel Shine 3D Top Coat is designed to go on thick and dry quick.  This polish has a unique vinyl & gel formula that once applied on top of any regular nail colour creates multi-dimensional shine. Sally Hansen promises that we can transform our regular shine that we would achieve with a normal top coat into gel-like brilliance with no UV light.  Well, Sally Hansen didn’t need to say a word more….I bought a bottle!!

I chose to use this top coat on top of my Lancome Vernis in Love Sugar Rose.  The brush is wide and this made it easy to apply the top coat evenly over the nail colour.  The product is very thick and needs only one coat to achieve the desired finish.  The polish dries quickly and leaves a beautiful high gloss finish. However, I noticed that by day three the high gloss shine started to dull.  This was quite disappointing but of course easily put right by applying another coat of top coat.

Whilst I think this top coat is a nice addition to my collection, I was somewhat disappointed with how many days it stayed looking fresh. I am a huge fan of Sally Hansen products particularly favouring the Diamond Flash Top Coat and can honestly say I prefer that one over this particular top coat.  If you have a special occasion coming up then this would be perfect for a beautiful high gloss manicure for a day or two but if you are going on holiday or want your manicure to last over a week perhaps consider using a different top coat instead.

The Sally Hansen Gel Shine 3D Top Coat retails at £6.95. I bought mine from Boots.

I hope you find this little review helpful if you are thinking about buying.

Talk to you all soon x

Margaret Dabbs Professional Foot File and Discovery Kit – Review

Summer holidays are just around the corner and we all know what that means….the need to make our feet pretty!  Margaret Dabbs is a leading foot expert who has groomed the feet of the rich and famous in her Spas in London and Dubai.  I was first introduced to the wonders of this collection watching QVC.  Margaret Dabbs demonstrated her foot file on a model showing how hard skin can be turned to powder in seconds!  This product looked just too good to be true!  I have always liked to look after my feet but with flip flop weather getting increasingly closer I decided to buy the foot file and discovery kit from FeelUnique.com.  I am so impressed with it and couldn’t wait to share it with you all!

These luxurious foot care products have been expertly formulated to give healthy looking feet. Using organic emu oil for its anti-ageing, moisturising and healing properties, and scented lemon myrtle, these products will give you amazing long lasting results and beautiful feet.

The Margaret Dabbs Professional Foot File is priced at £24.  It is designed using compressed crystal technology. It is absolutely wonderful at removing hard skin from the feet effectively but safely. The foot file is made from stainless steel and very easy to use.  It comes with some replacement foot pads however you can also buy a pack of 10 replacement pads priced at £10.  It is important to use this file on dry skin.  I am fairly heavy handed with the foot file paying particular attention to any areas of hardened skin.   It really does turn troublesome areas into powder.  It is important not to immerse the foot file in water as it will damage the effectiveness of the crystal technology.

The Margaret Dabbs Discovery Kit is perfect for trying a wide range of products.  This kit is priced at £39.00 and includes the hydrating foot soak, exfoliating foot mousse, intensive hydrating foot lotion and the intensive treatment foot oil.

I like to pour a small amount of the foot soak into a bowl of warm water and soak my feet for about 10 minutes.  I rub some of the exfoliating foot mousse into my feet paying particular attention to my heels.  A little really does go a long way.  It is a very gritty product that leaves my skin glowing.  After rinsing any residue away with warm water, I then apply some of the lotion all over my feet and finish with the foot oil.

Finally, as a little extra I added the Margaret Dabbs Nail and Cuticle Serum priced at £12.00 to my nails.   This product is handbag sized and perfect for building up the strength of my nails.

These products are widely available through outlets such as Feel Unique.com, QVC, Space NK or direct from Margaret Dabbs website.  If you are interested in buying these products and live outside the UK you can purchase from Net-a-Porter who will ship internationally.

I can honestly say the Margaret Dabbs collection are the best pedicure products I have ever bought and are worth every penny.  Maybe one day I might get to visit her Spa in London?! One thing is for sure, I cannot wait to buy more products from the collection!

Thank you Margaret Dabbs for making such fabulous products that give me the ‘Spa Treatment’ at home!

Talk to you all soon x

Sally Hansen 18K Gold Nail Hardener – Review

Beauty products enriched with gold are gracing the shelves at a rapid pace.  I was intrigued when I saw the latest offering from one of my favourite nail brands Sally Hansen.  A strengthening nail product that contains real 18K gold that acts as a shield to lock in moisture and strengthen nails.  The promise on the box is that this product will make my nails feel stronger and harder.  My nails are definitely in need of all the help they can get at the moment.  I am experiencing particular problems with nail peeling and this is causing unsightly chips in my manicures.

The great thing about this nail hardener is that it can be used alone (its certainly pretty enough!) or as a base coat under a regular nail colour making it a fabulous multi use product.

I applied this product to clean nails ensuring all of my nail colour had been removed. I trimmed my nails trying to cut off the peeled areas and pushed back my cuticles in the hope of salvaging the situation before it got worse.  I then applied two coats of the Sally Hansen 18K gold hardener.  It applied smoothly with a wide brush and dried very quickly.  The finished result is a very pretty glossy sheen with subtle golden specks that glisten in the light.  It has made my nails feel harder and more resilient which is the most important factor.

 

For optimum results Sally Hansen recommend that we apply every day for three days, removing on the fourth day to re-start the process.

Whilst I think the gold flecks look pretty, I’m not entirely convinced this alone makes the product work.  Is it any different to a regular nail hardener from Sally Hansen? Not really, but there is no doubt that this product is very good and lives up to the promises it makes.

The Sally Hansen 18K gold hardener is priced at £7.95 from Boots.  They also make an 18K gold cuticle remover to compliment this product.

Have you tried this nail hardener?  Can you recommend any products to help prevent my nails splitting and peeling? I would love to hear from you.

Talk to you all soon x