Essie 'Bikini So Teeny'

Hello all,


I'm sorry I have not posted for such a long time, I have been a very busy lady! I have been revising for my driving theory tomorrow (eek!) so I have not had a lot of time to put any posts up, unfortunately.

So this week, I have been mostly wearing: Essie 'Bikini So Teeny'. I fancied a really different summery change this week and decided to wear this blue I was gifted this Christmas (thank you lovely boyfriend!).When I asked for this from my boyfriend, I was absolutely desperate for it. I had seen this bottle in the shops but it was far too pricey for my budget range. So when I saw it on Fragrance Direct, I knew I had to have it! I loved the shimmer it had in the bottle and hoped this would be relayed when applying the polish.

When I tried this in the winter, I was disappointed. There were bald spots, no shimmer and it wasn't an appropriate shade for the winter. Afraid I would never wear this polish again, I promised myself I would wear this when the good whether came as it would match shorts and light colours.

Essie 'Bikini So Teeny': Freshly applied

Essie 'Bikini So Teeny': 6 days old, no topcoat

So I decided to take the plunge and wear it this week. Since Christmas, I have learned how to properly prep my nails (buffing, basecoat etc) and so my experience of this polish is been far more positive than before.

The consistency of this polish is thin, but not runny. This makes it ideal to apply and each coat dries really quickly. This time, there were no bald spots. In fact, one coat of this polish was opaque and there was no need for more but I decided to paint three coats as I wanted longevity. As usual, this bottle came with Essie's classic wide brush which made application as easy as usual.

I was very impressed with how long this lasted. Yes, I am guilty of being a bit lazy this week and forgot to put a topcoat on which did cause a little bit of fading with the colour. Despite that though, this polish lasted 6 days! I had taken it off today and there was still no chips. It even withstood my nail breaking as it did not look messy after it broke.

(Note: I did use OPI Chip Skip and OPI Nail Envy as my basecoat)

The one this that was the same though was the lack of shimmer relayed on the nail. I have noticed this complaint with a few other Essie polishes (e.g. 'To Buy Or Not To Buy) and it is cheeky to be that misleading. However, the colour is still beautiful and wonderful for the summer.

Would I recommend this? Yes, for £1.99 from Fragrance Direct you can not go wrong. Essie is a fantastic brand with some amazing colours on the market.

Do you like Bikini So Teeny? What are your other favourite Essie colours?

Essie 'Neo Whimsical'

This is another polish from the Fragrance Direct haul. I have noticed that so far on my blog, I have only really posted about O.P.I and Rimmel. Well I want to change that and hence I decided to put something different on my nails recently and try Essie's 'Neo Whimsical' which can be purchased for £1.99 online. Usually, I do not tend to wear nude colours as I get far more excited about bright colours. But as my Mum had bought this, I thought I would try it out.

In the bottle, it looks like a dingy, milky pink. I was not too excited about trying it. However, the swatches online looked a lot better. As you know, sometimes the colour in the bottle is not what always relays on the nail so I decided to give it a go.

Essie 'Neo Whimsical'

I was pleasantly surprised by this. I expected the formula to be really runny and thin but it was not. One coat was translucent and a bit streaky but after the second coat it became opaque and beautiful. The picture above is three coats. Application was smooth and evens out when it dries.

The colour of this is more pink/lilac than I expected. It certainly didn't look murky like it did in the bottle. This would be a good base for a French manicure. The best thing I can liken it to from my collection is Nails Inc Elizabeth Street but slightly more toned down. It is definitely worth buying this over Elizabeth Street!

I would certainly recommend this to others. It would be good for people in a professional working environment or those that want to try nail polishes that are not too 'daring'.

Do you own 'Neo Whimsical'? Do you think it is a great understated colour?

xxxx

Fragrance Direct Haul!

Hello all! I apologise I've not posted anything for a few days. I have just been very busy and found it hard to get the time to come online. However, I have been looking forward to writing this post :)  (Do excuse the blurry photos)

This is what I have been excited for over a fortnight. My mum and I had ordered two lots of products between us. She placed the first order, then I made a second order. You may think this sounds odd but if you have been reading any of my perfume post, you will know my mum and I were organising party bags for someone's birthday. We wanted to put in each bag a nail varnish each. The cheapest place to purchase branded polish is Fragrance Direct (we do not have a pound shop near us :( ).

So we put in a big order! And this is what we got...

 Rimmel Nail Polishes
(L-R) Red Carpet,Fast and Fushia, Man Overboard (back, Dark Grey), Pink Punch, Euphoria, Star Kissed, Ethereal, Princess Pink, Celebrity Bash, Purple Addict & Magnetise.

Essie is 'Mojito Madness' & 'Neo Whimsical', Rimmel Glam Eyes Eyeliner

in 'Diamond Kiss' and 'Intense Plum'

The Essie 'Mojito Madness' and both Rimmel Eyeliners were what I purchased for myself while all the Rimmel nail polishes were for the party bags. My mum bought herself 'Neo Whimsicle' as she loves a nude polish :)

The reason we bought a second haul was because I had spotted Fragrance Direct had put more OPI polishes online and noticed they had 'Nothin' Mousie 'Bout It' available to buy. I have been seeking this one for ages but never seen it at the right price so I had to get it. And after my Mum had received more responses to the party invite, it meant she had to buy more polishes 

for each bag. So this is what we got...

The second haul.

(L-R) OPI: Nothing Mousey 'Bout It, The Color of Minnie, Rimmel: Magnetise, Grey Matter, 'Ready, Aim, Paint!', Sorbet So Good, Revlon Lip Gloss 'Shine City, Sally Hansen Salon Manicure 'Hidden Treasure', Rimmel 'Purple Addict'

A few bits for myself.

I got quite a few bits for myself. I bought:

• OPI 'Nothin' Mousey 'Bout It'
• Rimmel 'Sorbet So Good'
• Pretty Quick Nail Polish Remover pot
• W7 Eyeshadow Brush (04)
• Revlon Lip Gloss in 'Shine City'
• OPI Tiny Treats (Complete with mini Nail Envy, Chip Skip, Rapid Dry Top Coat and Acetone Free Nail Polish Remover)

My other OPI is the 'Colour of Minnie' which my Mum had seen before and love the colour.

Good news is, we over ordered accidentally so we got to keep a couple we liked for ourselves. I kept Rimmel 'Purple Addict', Sally Hansen 'Hidden Treasure', Rimmel 'Red Carpet' and Rimmel 'Grey Matter'.

I am so excited about all these products that I will share them with you soon. My favourite of the whole haul is the OPI Tiny Treats. I have heard a lot of good things about 'Nail Envy' that I cannot wait to try it out!

I'm a little disappointed in the colour of Essie's 'Mojito Madness' as it looked a little different that the photos I had seen. But you never know, I might be pleasantly surprised :)

Do any of you like Fragrance Direct? Do you tend to buy 'hauls' from there?

xxxx