Bourjois

Nails

Bourjois Manucure Toppings in Coral Bikini, Lilac Sand & Maliblue

June 19, 2014

As with all nail trends I was inevitably late to this party but I seem to have suddenly acquired quite a collection of nail caviar sets, and this the latest was a competition win from the lovely Pretty for Pence!

The trio contains three shades; Coral Bikini, a mix of red silver and gold, Lilac Sand in purple and silver and Maliblue, which is made up of blue silver and black. I’ve tried quite a few different caviar manis recently and I have to say I can see no difference between the original Ciate (£18 a set) and the Primark (I paid £1 for mine!) set, nor indeed this Bourjois offering somewhere in the middle at £6.99 each.

To apply you simply pour the tiny beads over the top of wet nail varnish and leave to set. None of them survive longer than a day or two, but they do give an amazing 3D effect whilst it lasts!

My favourite of the three is (unsurprisingly) Maliblue, but as I’m so into this look at the moment I think all three will find plenty of wear on my nails. If you’re like me and enjoy changing your manicure every few days anyway then it’s no extra bother to take it off and start again once the balls start going AWOL. If you are after something that will last you a whole week then caviar nails are definitely not for you!

The only thing I don’t really like about the Bourjois Manucure Toppings is that they don’t come with a funnel, which is pretty essential if you don’t want to throw away the inevitable spillage that occurs when you pour the beads onto your nails. Luckily I have a few from my other sets, but if you don’t have one it’s quite tricky to try and pour the beads back in even if you do collect them in a piece of folded paper. My advice would be to pop to Primark and grab one of their sets for £1 just for the funnel!

Overall I am quite smitten with this summery trio, so big thanks to lady luck and Katie from Pretty for Pence for bringing them into my life!

£6.99 each from Boots.com

Totally hellbent for loving a freebie!

– Gem

Make-up

Bourjois Paris Little Round Pot Blush in “Rose d’Or” Review

April 30, 2014

Recently, I’ve been lusting after the Bourjois blushers like nobody’s business. I admit I’ve always been a fan of their whole range, but the really good stuff is just out of my price range and I really can’t justify buying it when I already have so many things. This one however, has been following me around like a lost puppy for months, so on a recent Boots trip after finding out I had over £40 worth of points on my card, I may have had a little accident and dropped this in my basket … whoops.

I still don’t know if it was the cute packaging, or the creamy blush texture that really sold this for me. I couldn’t quite decide on which shade I wanted to go for out of the whole range available, but I ended up with “Rose d’Or/Golden Rose” – a beautiful, shimmery pink colour. When swatched, it’s even more gorgeous than in it’s adorable packaging – which is also blessed with a mirror! It’s perfect for blending and does come with a teeny application brush, but let’s face it girls – who actually uses these? I also think it’s made from animal hair which is also a bit of a no no. Despite this, I’m in love – it’s also slightly perfumed, which really reminds me of sitting a my mother’s dressing table and playing with her powders when I was little.

A little more than I would usually pay for a single blusher, but totally worth it. For £7.99 you can be the proud owner of this delicate, yet feminine blush from your nearest Boots. This little round pot has stirred something inside of me and I can only imagine that little something is the urge to go out and buy the rest of the collection!

Have you tried Bourjois’ Little Round Pot range? If so I’d love to know what shades you picked and what you thought.

Totally hellbent for spending my hard earned points on something I really really want!

-Pants

Make-up

A haul full of bargains!

April 15, 2014

I’m always one for a bargain but I think I got some real steals in this haul!

As always this wasn’t planned…I was just going to look! Then suddenly I remembered I had a boots gift voucher and it all got a bit..out of hand. No regrets though as I already love everything I picked up!

My story starts in Superdrug as I decided this would be the day I finally fulfilled my long desire for Sleek’s Rose Gold blusher. Handily enough the Sleek counter faces the MUA counter so it was a no-brainer that I’d turn around and pick something up. I settled on the MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Laquer in Reckless as Amie loves hers in Atomic (reviewed here) and it’s the only thing she’d found that can survive an hour under stage lights!

My next stop was Boots, and how glad was I to have saved my gift voucher from my birthday haul when I spotted the Sanctuary Illumination Moisture Lotion and Soap and Glory CC Superfluid and Sit Tight Intense XS in the clearance section! I also took a swing by the Bourjois counter where I found the light Delice de Poudre (which I’ve been looking for for ages!) and powder blush in 41 Healthy Mix.

I can’t resist the bargains in Poundland, and so picked up a Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Colour in Silver Elements, Nail Rock Nail Caviar in Acid Caviar and Mars some Deep Heat and Deep Freeze style sprays as I pulled a muscle in my Body Combat class earlier in the day (owie!), a Love Hearts scented candle in Very Vanilla and some bright blue face cloths for my gym bag.

My final stop was Bodycare where I found my favourite nail varnish remover – Sally Hansen Moisturising Polish Remover – for half it’s usual price and then did a little happy dance as the Technic Electric palette was back in stock!

The best part of all was that (with my £25 boots voucher which covered all the purchases there AND gave me some change!) was that all this came to only £21!

Totally hellbent for all the shinies at a fraction of the cost!

– Gem