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Avon

NOTD

NOTD – AVON Diamond Sparkle in “Stunning Cobalt”

November 7, 2013

NOTD Avon diamon sparkle stunning cobalt 2

Since Gem and I were struck down with the lurgy (god knows how since we both work from the comfort of our home, away from outside germs!) posting has come to a standstill.

Thankfully, after sitting in front of the PC all week feigning work, with a head feeling as though it is full of tea towels, I finally managed to remove my nail varnish.

I’ve had this diamond sparkle varnish for about a week now, but have been too under the weather to test it out, a sure sign that something is not right! Alas today was the day.

Having seen these in Avon for a good few months now, I have resisted purchasing any until now. The pictures looked so beautiful and glossy and I wasn’t sure if they would really turn out that way.

NOTD Avon diamon sparkle stunning cobalt 1

Unfortunately pictures do not do this justice at all, and after two coats I am in love! It’s so shiny and glossy and I think it will come in handy for the Christmas season for many nail art tutorials!

I will definitely be purchasing more of these in future.

The Diamond Sparkle range ranges from £3.00 and can be found online or from  your local Avon rep.

Totally hellbent for painting nails whatever the weather and whilst under or over it!

-Pants

 

Nails

Halloween Frankenstein Nails

October 25, 2013

 

I have another festive nail design to share with you all. This one is simply adorable!

Things you will need:

  • Black nail varnish/nail art pen
  • Green nail varnish
  • White nail varnish/nail art pen
  • Top and base coat
  • Dotting nail tool or toothpick

As always prepare your nails with a base coat. I’ve used my usual Avon peeling and brittleness solver and base coat.

halloween frankenstein nail 1

I’ve picked NYC’s In a Minute quick dry varnish in “High Line Green” for my green colour. Paint all of your nails with this to begin with.

halloween frankenstein nail 2

Next take your black varnish or nail art pen and draw a jagged line for the hair line at the tip of your nails. It doesn’t have to be neat as this adds to the effect.

halloween frankenstein nail 3

Once you are happy with your lines, fill them in. You can’t see too well in the pictures, but I used a nail art brush and dabbed the black varnish on to create a textured “hair” look.

halloween frankenstein nail 4

Add some eyes with your dotting tool and black, I’ve made mine a little uneven for a quirkier look.

halloween frankenstein nail 5

Add some lines for the mouth, you can make him smile if you like!

halloween frankenstein nail 6

Once your eyes have dried, take your dotting tool and dot a white circle in each of the eyes.

halloween frankenstein nail 7

Finish off with a top coat and there you have it. Adorable little Frankenstein monsters that you want to hug!
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Nails

Halloween Pumpkin Nails

October 24, 2013

It’s that time of year -again- where we have just a few precious months before Christmas and Halloween strikes! What better way to celebrate than to play around with lots of funky nail designs.

This is just a quick one to get into the spirit of things so I hope you enjoy it.

Things you will need:

  • An Orange Nail Varnish
  • A Black Nail Varnish
  • Obligatory base and top coats
  • Nail brush/dotter or tooth pick/cotton bud

Halloween nail 1First of all coat your nails with a base coat. I always use Avon’s peeling and brittleness solver and base coat.

halloween pumpkin nail 2

halloween pumpkin nail 3

Next paint all except your “accent” nail with a black colour. I’m using Avon’s nailwear pro+ in Licorice. I absolutely adore this black and have not found one like it yet. It gives such a beautiful shine!

halloween pumpkin nail 4halloween pumpkin nail 5

Next take an orange and paint your accent nail. I’m using technic Party Brights in Sunset Strip which I bought specifically for Halloween-esque nails. This took quite a few coats before I was happy. I also used this to paint the tips of my black nails. Because this is such a weak colour and needs so many coats, this gave a haunting opaque orange look over the black which I liked so much I kept.

halloween pumpkin nail 6Take your nail brush and draw an upside down apply shape as an outline for your Pumpkin.

halloween pumpkin nail 7Colour this in and add a curved line either side in black which thickens in the middle. You can also add a stalk at the same time.

halloween pumpkin nail 8Once dry, take your orange or another colour and use a dotter for the eyes and mouth. I used O.P.I’s The Drummer is Hot from the Rock Goddess set, mostly because I wanted to play with it.

halloween pumpkin nail 9

halloween pumpkin nail 10Paint over with your favorite top coat and basque in the glory of your shiny Pumpkin nails! Simples.

Do you have any Halloween nail designs you can share with us?

 

Totally hellbent for seasonal nail art

-Pants

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Fragrance

Avon Ultra Sexy EDT

October 20, 2013

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I’ll admit it was the burlesque-ey boudoir design that drew me in being the shallow creature that I am, but the fragrance certainly lived up to it’s gorgeous bottle.

Described as “The sexiest fragrance you will ever wear” with “fruity and tempting accords of passion fruit, pear and bergamot. Magnolia in the heart is infused with peach and peony. The base includes golden amber, musk and sweet woods.”

It is very light at first with a definite fruity aroma, but once it settles on the skin it becomes much deeper, muskier and yes sexier!

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When purchased at launch you get a free 150ml body soufflé and 125ml shower gel, which rather disappointingly don’t smell much like the perfume at all! The soufflé barely has any scent at all, but at least layered adds a bit more depth to the fragrance.

Avon Ultra Sexy launches in November and will be available for £15 from local representatives or from the Avon webstore.

Totally hellbent for all things boudoir

– Gem

 

 

Skincare

Nip + Fab Dry Hand Fix and other lovely treats!

October 17, 2013

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It’s rather handy to have a different skin type to your best friend. I have very greasy skin and Amie very dry so when freebies or bonuses come our way we can have a nice switch-around.

I am now the happy owner of the Nip + Fab Shine Fix, Nip + Fab Dry Hand Fix, Avon Naturals Lilly and Gardenia Body Whip and a little sample of The Body Shop warming mineral mask.

I want to give the Shine Fix a good few days to try out, so I’ll have a review on that sometime next week. The Body Whip is a product we both use a lot, but Amie didn’t like the fragrance of this one so I’m going to swap a cherry one that I ended up with two of.

Amie is going to be reviewing the facemask on Friday, so look out for that. I’m guessing it’s going to come highly recommended!

Nib + Fab Dry hand Cream Pistachio

Which brings us to the Nip + Fab Dry Hand Fix. I’ve been aghast ever since the Pistachio body butter was discontinued, and actually got to the point where I’ve been craving the scent! Amie HATES the smell, but received it as part of a special offer on the Nip + Fab website so yay for me it’s now mine!

It takes a lot for me to be drawn away from my favourite L’Occitane hand creme (which you can currently get for free with Marie Claire!), but today I’ve not reached for it once. In fact I don’t think I will reach for it until I’ve used this all up!

As far as doing it’s actual job, the Dry Hand Fix does exactly what is says. It’s very moisturising but not greasy, absorbs quickly and leaves hands feeling very very soft. For me though it is ALL about the delicious pistachio and almond scent, and though I still miss the body butter this is fulfilling that craving till I can track some down!

Available for £4.50 from Nip + Fab

Totally hellbent for surprise treats!

– Gem

 

 

Facemask Friday

Facemask Friday: Avon Planet Spa Dead Sea Minerals

October 11, 2013

avon planet spa dead sea

This has been one of my favourite facemasks for ages but I’ve had to do without  as it was omitted from the brochures and online for a while. Then suddenly I found an unopened tube in the back of my facemask drawer – hurrah!

These tubes last a really long time as I find you only need a very thin layer, as opposed to the sachets where you have to use it all in one go.

It works great at absorbing excess oil and minimising pores, and always leaves my skin feeling really fresh and deep cleaned – so ticks all the boxes for me!

They’re a bit tricky to get hold of, but you can sometimes find them floating around on Ebay when they are not available from the brochure.

Totally hellbent for finding lost beauty treasure!

– Gem

 

 

Hair

Avon Naturals Chamomile and Aloe Vera Care and Repair Conditioning Balm

September 23, 2013

avon hair

I put my hair through hell with the amount of bleach and dye it takes to keep it this blue, so I turn to nourishing treatments for damaged hair at least once a week to try and keep it in good condition.

If you’ve ever had extreme hair colour (or style for that matter – mohawks do a hell-a-lot-a damage too!) you will be familiar with the dry ends, dull colour fade and other assorted unwanted side effects of fabulous hair.

On a day to day basis I use Aussie Three Minute Miracle to combat these symptomswhich if I’m honest in my opinion is the single best conditioner on the market (and well deserving of a blog all about it..soon!) but sometimes I need a little extra kick to stop my hair drying out.

I picked up the Avon Naturals Chamomile and Aloe Vera Care and Repair Conditioning Balm (what a mouthful!) for only £1 on special offer and was really surprised with the results I got for such a low cost.

The balm has a much silkier and thinner texture than I would have expected, and was doubtful of it’s results when I was applying it because of this. The scent was very light and natural and it didn’t feel at all like the usual thick and heavy intensive conditioners I’ve used before. The results however were amazing! My hair is shiny, silky and healthy looking with no styling, and retains a slight hint of the lovely (and very natural) scent.

I used about half a tub in one application, but I do have very long hair so that’s a little more acceptable. If you have shorter or finer hair I imagine you would easily get 4-8 uses out of the tub – but then at such a low price you could use the whole thing and you’d still be getting better value than most intensive hair treatments!

Available from Avon for only 99p (125ml) or £2.50 from your local Avon rep.

Totally hellbent for a scrimping but amazing hair care solution

– Gem

Skincare

Avon Naturals – Spiced Orange & Ginger

September 20, 2013

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Autumn is definitely here, and the first thing it makes me crave is thick warm comforting scents.

The newest fragrance from Avon Naturals seemed to promise just that with it’s creamy apricot colour and image of a juicy orange, cinnamon sticks, star anais and ginger.

Avon naturals Spiced Orange and Ginger

The scent is only available as hand & body lotion, shower gel and fragrance spritz, which is minimal considering their last naturals scent releases spread across haircare and body whips too.

I’m a big fan of the naturals range, but the spiced orange & ginger scent just seems a little too artificial for me, especially the fragrance spritz.

The fragrance spritz is a re-brand and slightly different formula from the Naturals room and linen spray, meaning it can now be used both on fabrics and on skin. As much as I love a good multi-tasker I think I will be sticking to it’s original use, the scent is just too thick and unnatural to wear on the body. I don’t want to walk around smelling like a seasonal air freshener!

The shower gel and hand & body lotion are much lighter on the scent and will do just fine throughout autumn, but I hope Avon pulls out something amazing for a Christmas fragrance.

Shower gel 200ml £2.60

Hand and body lotion 200ml £3.00

Fragrance Spritz 100ml £4.00

Available  for the intro price of 99p each in Avon campaign 17 from your local rep or the Avon website.

 

Totally hellbent for autumnal delights

– Gem

 

 

News, NOTD

NOTD – Ciaté paint pots in “PP107 pocket money”

September 19, 2013

NOTD Ciate pocketmoney

I received Ciatés “Pocket Money” (£9.00)  this in July 2013’s Glossybox.

On first glance, it not normally the colour I would go for, but I tried it for the first time on all my nails (not just an excited swatch on an already painted nail, which I do whenever I get new nail varnish) yesterday. First of all I tried it with Avon’s Opal, (on sale at £3.00) but it looked terrible.

Anyhow, I enjoyed the colour so much, that I repainted them today with Avon’s nailwear pro+ in “licorice” (on sale at £3.00) for the tips, and swapping them round on my index finger for an almost “accented” nail.

I adore how the glossy black Avon varnish compliments the classy grown up colour of the Ciaté. It’s like putting metal and finesse together! To finish up, I used my nails inc LONDON (£12.00) top coat.

Definitely going to be doing this one again as well as purchasing more from Ciaté’s range, which is absolutely beautiful!

On a complete side note … it will soon be Christmas, so look out for some nail tutorials of some of my signature “Christmas Nail” looks.

Totally hellbent for combining rock ‘n’ roll and chiqué

-Pants

 

 

Make-up

Avon Mega-Effects Mascara in Blackest Black Review

August 15, 2013

Avon lashes

 

No matter what your make-up style, mascara is a staple in pretty much everyone’s cosmetics bag. Every single mascara I own comes in a long tube with a wand…except this one!

 

mega effects mascara 2

Mega Effects is nothing at all like other mascaras – it features a “new multidimensional wonder-brush” that claims to give “Bold lashes with panoramic volume. Eyes look bigger and lashes look darker, denser and more dramatic. Clump-proof, sweat-proof, non-flaking and non-smudging” .

The packaging is very nice and sturdy and I have to admit, is quite fun to play with! You wiggle the brush and then use the bottom of the container to bend it into your desired shape. The curved bristles are shaped to fit the eye and are quite flexible so you can easily bend it into a shape suitable for you.

mega effects 3

Now this all seems very exciting, no-one has seen anything like this before, right? Well I couldn’t wait to test mine out, so I gave the brush a wiggle and started applying!

 

mega effects 4

 

Though the novelty of this product made applying it very fun, this is definitely not something I would reach for if I were in a hurry. Perhaps application gets easier with practice but I found it a little awkward to get the brush from root to tip and it took at least twice as long as a conventional mascara to apply.

The colour is definitely blackest black, and did make my lashes look full, but I have to admit I do still prefer my go-to Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes mascara for ease of application and results.

Worth purchasing for the novelty, and perhaps it will grow on me more in time, but I don’t think it will be making it into my everyday make-up any-time soon.

Avon Mega-Effects Mascara will be available from mid September for the introductory price of £10 (including a free eye pack worth £23 for a limited time only) from your local Avon lady.

Totally hellbent for origional products, even if they arn’t quite perfect for my tastes!

– Gem