Clarins, GlossyBox & Elf!

I love shopping online because I love lovee loveee receiving packages in the post & I received 3 this week, yay!

 

Cleansing Milk with Alpine Herbs (Normal or Dry Skin)

I've been looking for a Cleansing milk for a while now & I heard good things about this one so I wanted to try it out. Clarins were having a free P&P offer so I jumped at the chance, you get to choose one free sample aswell so I chose the Water Purify One-Step Cleanser. When I opened the box there were also another two small samples inside from the Daily Energizer Range, yay :)

 

GlossyBox (September)

My first GlossyBox, love the range of products in this box. Love the HD Brows palette & I can't wait to try out the hair treatment & salt brushing.

 

elf Makeup

Whenever I shop on elf I only ever buy their brushes, I was never too interested in their makeup although I hear good reviews on them. I'm a big packaging person & theirs just put me off. I always worry about buying makeup that is too cheap because most times I believe you get what you pay for but they were having a 50% off offer so I thought I might as well try some of it out & see if its worth all the fuss. I got all of this for £12.50, cheap!

I actually received one more thing aswell but I'll write about that another time.

I've been spending so much lately, I went to the opening of Westfield, Stratford City as well. I need to stop & start saving up now! Well after I buy a dress :D

Clarins 230 over Black

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Around noon today I began what I thought would be the relatively simple project of evening out my nails and switching the soak off gel, but it ended up being quite a project to remove the old.  Were I not exhausted from the arduous task of removal I'd tell you all about it, but since I am I'll leave pertinent facts out, making it best to let that wait until another day.

I ended up losing lots of length in order to reshape, so I figured I'd go with a good shorter-nail choice, black creme.  I picked black because I like how a lot of polishes look layered over it, but I don't like the application with nail polish.  I always end up digging the brush for my layering color into the black base near the cuticle on at least one nail, and that ends up leaving me with bald spots.  This way, I can get all the layering colors out of my system without that being an issue.

After finishing the gel, I added three coats of Clarins 230 to it, then a coat of Poshe.  The sun's out and I got a couple of pictures I like, one that clearly shows the main color well and another that shows the variety of colors well.  My application of the black is imperfect, and my cuticles took a heck of a beating with the removal of the pink glitter, so please forgive those parts and just have a look at the pretty colors.

Clarins 230 over Black, Main Color

Clarins 230 over Black, Three Coats, All Colors

Clarins 230 is such a pretty polish, and I don't think I've worn it over black in a few years.  I like it.

So for another week, I have the fun task of picking out come good layering colors to wear over this one.  I have tomorrow's in mind already, so until it's time to show you that one, I wish love and nail polish to you!

Clarins 230 over Black

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Around noon today I began what I thought would be the relatively simple project of evening out my nails and switching the soak off gel, but it ended up being quite a project to remove the old.  Were I not exhausted from the arduous task of removal I'd tell you all about it, but since I am I'll leave pertinent facts out, making it best to let that wait until another day.

I ended up losing lots of length in order to reshape, so I figured I'd go with a good shorter-nail choice, black creme.  I picked black because I like how a lot of polishes look layered over it, but I don't like the application with nail polish.  I always end up digging the brush for my layering color into the black base near the cuticle on at least one nail, and that ends up leaving me with bald spots.  This way, I can get all the layering colors out of my system without that being an issue.

After finishing the gel, I added three coats of Clarins 230 to it, then a coat of Poshe.  The sun's out and I got a couple of pictures I like, one that clearly shows the main color well and another that shows the variety of colors well.  My application of the black is imperfect, and my cuticles took a heck of a beating with the removal of the pink glitter, so please forgive those parts and just have a look at the pretty colors.

Clarins 230 over Black, Main Color

Clarins 230 over Black, Three Coats, All Colors

Clarins 230 is such a pretty polish, and I don't think I've worn it over black in a few years.  I like it.

So for another week, I have the fun task of picking out come good layering colors to wear over this one.  I have tomorrow's in mind already, so until it's time to show you that one, I wish love and nail polish to you!

Beauty Review: REN & Clarins Masks

After an intense week back at medschool I could tell my skin was in need of some definite TLC! Being product obsessed I was given truck loads (not really but a substantial amount) of lotions and potions as Christmas gifts. So last night I tried two new products and without a word of a lie I woke up this morning feeling like a new woman! My skin was literally glowing! Didn't even need to wear foundation... Yes, these were that good!

REN Glycolactic Skin Renewal Peel Mask:

This little bottle of gold juice is designed to renew the complexion by removing dead skin cells (I was glowing, not shining - key difference), reduce the appearance of fine lines (which I don't have yet but prevention is better than cure, right?) and dramatically improve skin tone (my skin appeared more even, less blochy) whilst getting rid of blackheads and blemishes (not one in sight)!

I love it! Don't think I'll ever use another mask! 

Clarins Skin Smoothing Eye Mask:

I love eye creams but a mask is extra luxurious, this one contains:


- Serrated Palmetto: decongests, prevents swelling.

- Wild Rose: drains, prevents puffiness.

- Rice Starch: absorbent, promotes a matte appearance.

- Chicory extract: smoothing, energizing.

- Apricot: moisturizing.

- Rose Water Concentrate: softening  

I once read an interview with some high-end magazine editor (think it was French Vogue, not too sure) who in her forties was praised for her lack of crow's feet. She blamed the early use of undereye cream & had bought her first bottle at 21! You can imagine reading that at the tender and easily influenced age of 19 how eye-cream crazy I went! Upon every visit to the chemist I would attempt to slip eye lotions into my mom's shopping basket & she would in turn promptly put them back on the shelf. The nagging eventually paid off because I got one for my 20th birthday and have been hooked ever since. If it makes any differnce only time will tell - watch this space...

*Note: My great skin could be due to the 3 week beach holiday, morning runs, drinking lots of water and eating way too many berries but the mask really was great & pepped up my skin the whole day.

Clarins 230 & Just A Little Dangerous

Happy New Year, Dear Reader!

I thought I'd start off the new year with a fun manicure, so I figured I'd go with Clarins 230.  Since I'm not entirely wild about it on its own, I layered it over Sephora by OPI Just A Little Dangerous, a deep royal purple shimmer.  I used two coats of the SOPI, then two of Clarins 230.  Since I knew it would be a lot of layers of polish, I waited about two minutes between coats to allow each to set a bit before applying the next, and after one coat of 230, I tested a second coat on one nail to be sure it actually made a difference.  It did, so I used the second coat.

I took the pictures outside, where it's daylight bright but cloudy, so the light isn't glaring.  I took several pictures, but I would have liked to have gotten more to show more colors in Clarins 230.  Unfortunately, it's really dang cold out, so I lasted as long as I could before my hands started to get pink.  Of the pictures I took, I think this is the most representative of how this mani looks in regular light.

Clarins 230 Nail Polish, Two Coats over SOPI Just A Little Dangerous

So that's my first manicure of 2011, which ain't a bad start.  I hope your 2011 is off to a fantastic beginning, and until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  


Edited to Add:

Hello again, Dear Reader!

I don't normally edit a post to add to it, but in this case, I am.  I was out and about running errands, one of which required my camera, when the sun came out and I was able to get a decent picture of Clarins 230 in the sun.  It's dangerous to drive with this manicure - check out the color variation from thumb to pinky.  That's a result of the angle of the sun, which makes it hard to not play with this one in the light.

Clarins 230 Nail Polish over Just a Little Dangerous in Sunlight

I just wanted to add the sunlight picture since I had a chance to get it.  This time, I'm really done for the day!

Clarins 230 & Just A Little Dangerous

Happy New Year, Dear Reader!

I thought I'd start off the new year with a fun manicure, so I figured I'd go with Clarins 230.  Since I'm not entirely wild about it on its own, I layered it over Sephora by OPI Just A Little Dangerous, a deep royal purple shimmer.  I used two coats of the SOPI, then two of Clarins 230.  Since I knew it would be a lot of layers of polish, I waited about two minutes between coats to allow each to set a bit before applying the next, and after one coat of 230, I tested a second coat on one nail to be sure it actually made a difference.  It did, so I used the second coat.

I took the pictures outside, where it's daylight bright but cloudy, so the light isn't glaring.  I took several pictures, but I would have liked to have gotten more to show more colors in Clarins 230.  Unfortunately, it's really dang cold out, so I lasted as long as I could before my hands started to get pink.  Of the pictures I took, I think this is the most representative of how this mani looks in regular light.

Clarins 230 Nail Polish, Two Coats over SOPI Just A Little Dangerous

So that's my first manicure of 2011, which ain't a bad start.  I hope your 2011 is off to a fantastic beginning, and until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  


Edited to Add:

Hello again, Dear Reader!

I don't normally edit a post to add to it, but in this case, I am.  I was out and about running errands, one of which required my camera, when the sun came out and I was able to get a decent picture of Clarins 230 in the sun.  It's dangerous to drive with this manicure - check out the color variation from thumb to pinky.  That's a result of the angle of the sun, which makes it hard to not play with this one in the light.

Clarins 230 Nail Polish over Just a Little Dangerous in Sunlight

I just wanted to add the sunlight picture since I had a chance to get it.  This time, I'm really done for the day!

Dior Black Plum & Clarins 230

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Yesterday I tried out Dior's Fall 2009 nail polish, Black Plum. I applied like a Dior (like buttah!), and is a great deep plum creme which definitely doesn't look black in normal lighting. This is two coats.

Pretty thought it was, it was begging me for a little something else, so I added one coat of Clarins 230 to it. 230 is magical!

I like Black Plum both ways, and I'm really happy with it. The application on this one is just amazing!

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Hard to Find Nail Polish & Carolyn New York News

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have some older pictures for you today of some precious hard to find colors. The reason they're hard to find is that their manufacturers decided to discontinue these fabulous colors. I've shown these to you before, but since I don't have new pictures today, I went through The Vault to find something to show you, and this seemed like fun theme. I tell you, going through my pictures in chronological order is like watching a flip book of my nails growing!

First up is the spectacular China Glaze Wet Velvet, which was a gift from a dear lady friend. It took several coats to be opaque, as the polish had thinned with age, but it was worth it. I'd been told it was a dupe for OPI's Real Teal, but it's not. They're cousins, but definitely not dupes.

As I flip through pictures, I see China Glaze is a big offender on dc'ing the good ones! Here's another great one that was a gift, Dorothy Who? (the question mark is part of the name, not me asking...).

The last one is another great one, Clarins 230. This one I got in an amazing swap with a dear friend, where we traded large flat rate boxes of polish, each color more hard to find than the last. We used a spreadsheet to make our selections from each others' lists and just valued everything at retail to be able to compare apples to oranges, and away we went. That final list with two LONG columns of hard-to-finds was a sight to behold! We were both like gleeful schoolgirls when our packages arrived!

On its own, Clarins 230 is sheer, so I layered it over Sally Hansen Salon Addicted to Red.

Those are the pictures for today. As I think about it now, I think I might appreciate my HTF's more for the experience of acquiring them than the colors themselves, because so many of them came to me from the generosity of others.

On to the CNY news! Unfortunately, it's more of a CNY warning. One of my friends has been suffering through trying to contact CNY, and although their site is up, their email accounts and phone numbers are not in service. I even had the cell number for someone there, and that's no good anymore either. Now is definitely not the time to place an order with Carolyn New York - my understanding is that their site can still charge you for an order placed even though you can't get hold of them later. If there's any word on what's going on or their communication comes back up, I'll let you know whatever I know as soon as word comes through.

Our last order of business is about the poll on the upper right. There's been enough interest in a little, private, G-rated (but with swearing allowed...) message board to get started on one. Just email me some info and I'll get it going: if you just know me from here, the name you use to comment, or if your know me from elsewhere, the forum and your username there. So we all know who's who in the zoo, I was thinking of keeping the usernames to same, and I'll reply to you with a password and we'll get going. It will be once I'm settled in the new place before we're up and running, so you'll get the notification emails probably starting Wednesday. I've gotten a lot of requests already, and will send you the login info in the order in which I received the requests. It looks like we're already assembling a really great group! I think we'll have some fun together.

That's all for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Clarins 230 and Sally Hansen Salon Addicted to Red

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I have a very special polish to show to you today!  This morning, I noticed some tip wear on my Zoya Jo mani, so I decided to change it.  I'd kept Jo on for a couple of days because it had some sentimental value - it looks just like an old L'Oreal Wear Extraordinaire I use to have, only more pearly.  I've been looking for this color forever!  That exact blue and a green Wear Extraordinaire which I have yet to match have special value to me.  

When I was in college, I had a best friend who was very different from me.  She introduced me to ska, and I introduced her to the joys of nail polish.  Since we were in college, I was very, very poor, and had only a tiny stash of polishes, and the blue and green were my favorites.  On Sunday afternoons (once a week, since I didn't know of quick dry top coat thirteen years ago), Quincy would come to my room, and we'd sit on my bed and do our nails.  She ended up enjoying doing her nails as much as I did, and her nails grew out to be very pretty.  We both loved my blue and green, so we'd alternate between the two each week, one wearing one and the other wearing the other, and we'd either watch TV or study together (we were both math majors) while we waited for each coat to dry.  Happy memories!  Since I had to remove Jo, I thought I'd use a polish with equal sentimental value, one out of the train case of my 32 most precious polishes (the train case that glows like the Pulp Fiction suitcase when it's opened). 

I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Salon's Addicted to Red, which I've shown to you before.  To save you from having to look up pictures, I took new ones as I did the mani.

 

 

Now it was time to add one coat of the sentimental polish - Clarins 230.  I missed out on this one, and since it's been long discontinued, I came to the point of acceptance that I would never see it, and was okay with that.  Shortly thereafter, I was arranging The Swap of the Century with my dear friend Love8Brain (we both sent over 20 polishes to the other, each more fabulous than the last), and she offered me a new Clarins 230 as one of her available polishes.  I was floored!  My Clarins 230 arrived safely with all the others, and promptly went into the train case after its first use.  I took it out today for its second use, and it's special because I never thought I'd have it, but more so because it came from dear Love8Brain and makes me think happy thoughts of her.  It makes Addicted to Red spectacular!

 

 

That's today's NOTD and the story of the sentimental value it has.  I love it, and am grateful to my generous friend for giving me the opportunity to share this one with you.  

That's all for now, Dear Reader.  Until later, love and nail polish to you!

EDIT:  I just got Scrangie's permission to link to a deal she has going on Misa polishes, so I thought I'd add that to this post.  Basically, you can get 12 Misas for $23.50 shipped, an absolute steal, and you can order fewer.  Here's a link to Scrangie's post with the details, and if you order, make sure you let Misa know you want Scrangie's offer.

Clarins Ocean (209) Dupe

Good morning, Dear Reader.

As I was savoring my SpaRitual Solitude mani yesterday, I was thinking, "This really looks familiar..." It finally hit me why - it turns out it's a dupe for Clarins Ocean, a longtime lemming that was just recently fulfilled. I removed the Solitude from two nails and replaced it with Ocean to compare, and the sun peeked out for me at just the right time. See for yourself - they're almost identical in direct sunlight, and are identical in normal lighting conditions.

That all I have for you for now, Dear Reader. Love and nail polish to you!