Essie 'Apertif' Review

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I love my nail varnish. My favourite brands tend to be Barry M and China Glaze but after hearing so many great things about Essie and then seeing a counter pop up in my local Boots, I decided to give them a shot. Mistake.

I wanted to so much to like this brand! The colour choice is really good, but I just think the quality is terrible, considering one bottle will set you back £7.99. It applies quite thin and takes a long time to dry. However, the main problem is that when I apply this, it dries extremely bumpy and uneven. This is not a problem with my nails as I keep them in really good condition, and have never had this problem with any of my other polishes. I tried to get past it, but it just looked so ugly that I took it off within a few hours.

I have tried again on a few occasions, but each time I get the same horrible bumpyness on my nails. It's such a shame as this colour is beautiful and I have seen a few other colours that I would like to try also. I'm not sure if this is a defect with this bottle, but I'm a bit unwilling to pay £7.99 for another bottle, only to have the same issue.

Has anybody else had this problem with Essie nail polishes? Let me know in the comments below.

A (late) September Favourites!

Hey! Many apologies for a bit of a lull on the blogging front, I've just started back up at Uni for 2nd year and there's been so much going on with (re)freshers and my course loads and society duties but I should be back on track from now. Today I'm going to share with you some things I've been loving in September.

Quite a small amount of products this month, I've found a really good lot of products which I've been using everyday for the past few months and I've also been living on a tight budget so I haven't been buying as many new things as I usually do - hopefully should be getting something sorted and having a look around soon for some new buys though!

Origins Zero Oil Moisture Lotion: My skin has been a bit of a big oily mess recently so I decided it was time to do something about it! I picked this up after hearing a few good recommendations about Origins skincare and decided to give this ago. It's really, really great and I'm going to be doing a full review on this next week so keep an eye out for that.

Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation: I love, love, LOVE this foundation. It is seriously so good, I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a light, natural coverage. Read my full review of this here.

Naked Rescue Intensive Care Conditioner: It's always been so hard to find a cruelty-free conditioner for a budget price tag, but this is a new range that has appeared in Boots in the past few months. I've also tried one of their shampoos, which just smelt divine but this conditioner is the one I'm really impressed by and have been using alternately with my LUSH 'Retread'. 

Benefit Hoola Bronzer: It's getting into the autumn months and the nights are getting darker already! I've definitely been needing to crack out the bronzer to give my face some degree of colour. I love Hoola but it is getting a bit too dark for me. Any good recommendations for me guys?

No7 Amazing Eyes Pencil in '10 Brown: I've really been using this a lot recently. Black kohl can be quite harsh and dramatic sometimes, especially when you want quite a natural look as I often do. This one is really great as it's quite soft and easy to apply. 

MAC Eyeshadow in 'Jest': I've been reaching for this beauty so much recently, I did a post on this eyeshadow paired with MAC's wedge which I will link here. This is such a pretty and easy look to do in the morning, and one of my favourite combinations to use.

Rimmel Kate Collection in shade 01: This is a classic true red colour, and I've had this in my bag nearly all of this month. It's so great to whip out and make any make-up look appear more dramatic immediately. The formulation is great for a drugstore lipstick and I really, really like this.

Revlon Nail Enamel in 'Lilac Pastelle': The bottle on this is horrendously worn down because I bought it in a market for £1 (unopened). It's a beautiful light purple colour and really cute to wear.

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in 'For Audrey': I was saving this little gem for me to purchase when I finished placement and was finally allowed to wear nail polish again! It had been in my amazon basket for weeks and I finally ordered it this month. It's one of China Glaze's most famous colours and I can see why. I'm wearing it on my nails right now and I've been alternating between this shade and the Revlon 'Lilac Pastelle' all of this month. Love it!

That's it for this month folks! Next post should be up this week :)

Review: Bourjois Magic Nail Varnish Remover!

It's just a quick review today because I am absolutely knackered after placement and am subsequently in bed at 8pm. Living the high life! I've been wanting to review this for a while and just haven't got around to it. Bourjois Magic Nail Varnish Remover is a nifty little beauty product that eliminates cotton wool in the nail varnish removing process (take that cotton wool!) and claims to cleanse your nails in 1 second. If your incredibly lazy like me, then this will sound like the best thing since sliced bread!

 It definitely is easy, you simply put your finger into the hole (oo-er) and give it a little twist for about 5 seconds and it does come out lovely and clean and nail-polish free. It definitely takes more than 1 second to remove all the nail polish. It smells nice and fruity and doesn't have that horrible acetone smell that generic nail polish removers do, which means it is that little bit more pleasant to use. I would say it arguably removes more nail polish than my usual one as I don't find I have so much colour staining on my nails after wearing polish when I've used this to take it off. I wouldn't necessarily say it is easier/any less effort to use than using a cotton wool, but it is definitely move fun and I suppose it is quicker than using cotton wool.

I really like this, my only concern is how quick the sponge inside is going to dry out. If that is not an issue, I would definitely re-buy this. It isn't extortionately prices either, retailing for £4.99.