Chanel's Reformulated Longwear Le Vernis and Gel Top Coat

Christmas Day as a child is probably the only comparable degree of excitement that I felt for these arriving in the post. Sure, let's all mock the girl getting passionate about nail polish. But in the wise words of M&S, these aren't just any nail polishes... 

Despite the wonderfully chic bottle, and incredibly beautiful shades, Chanel nail polishes are a nightmare in one area - longevity. So upon hearing the news that Chanel were reformulating, releasing a capsule collection of pre-existing favourites with some new additions and a gel top coat to boot, I got understandably excited.

So managing to get my grubby mitts on new shades Organdi*, Mythique* and the Gel Top Coat* and give them a good road test. Organdi is an elegant dusty salmon shade, opaque in 2/3 coats with tendencies to last 3-4 days, with any minor chipping being mostly unnoticeable. (Side note: I find the original range differs largely in formula and longevity. Tapage is opaque in 1 coat on me, and lasts days. Secret can take up to 5 coats and lasts only one day) Mythique, opaque in 2 coats, doesn't offer the same longevity, but the soft burgundy shade is a pleasure to apply, going on smoothly without any streaking.

Both shades lasted an extra day with the Gel Top Coat, which is quite the far cry from the 7 days claimed by Chanel. In my honest opinion, the only way to achieve a gel finish is with gel. It does however make the polish look like an ultra-glossy professional gel nail, offering flexibility and strength to the colour. So if like me, your nails are very much prone to breaking, this extra step is helpful in reinforcing your otherwise weakling nails.

Apparently these shades are more nail-friendly in their ingredients than the previous range. I haven't worn either enough continually to comment on this, so we'll have to take Chanel's word on that one...

I would recommend these to any Chanel fans, and those looking for a slightly longer lasting version than the original formula. If you own some of the cult classics like Ballerina and Pirate but want an extra couple days, of wear fork out a little cash for the reformulated Longwear Le Vernis or Gel Top Coat and you will not be disappointed. For perspective, I'd place the original formulation at 7.5/10 - these being closer to 8.5. These are available in Debenhams now. Retailing at £18 for 13ml.

Upping Hydration Levels the Luxury Way - Chanel Hydra Beauty Micro Serum

Now coined one of Chanel's "Essentially Chanel" products (which is the 5 most sought after products from their range) their Hydra Beauty Micro Serum is a hydration product which packs an extra elegant punch. Bearing in mind it's still quite a new product, to go down with the infamous Rouge Coco Lipstick, and Tan de Chanel Bronzer is a pretty huge feat. I'd been lusting after it since it originally came on the scene, thanks to the lovely Dave Lackie (you all know that lovely fellow on Twitter by now, right?) I managed to get my mitts on one *swoons*  

So the main question is... how did I get on with such an expensive serum, right? Taking money out of the question for a second, here's the pros of the micro serum;

- It's texture is so lightweight, it sinks in immediately, and a little goes a long way.
- It's watery texture hydrates like no other. Think, the effects of a day of drinking 8 glasses of water and nothing but green tea (yup, that hydrated)
- The hydration benefits go beyond giving skin an even, non-flaky appearance, and seem to plump any fine lines (cough, frowning) 
- The serum makes a perfect base for makeup. Skin is left smooth, plumped and well hydrated for whatever other products will be bombarding your face.
- On a superficial note, have you seen the bottle? It's incredible. And the water droplets suspended in the formula just scream luxury.

And down to the dirty stuff, the price... it's steep at £66 for 30ml. (Debenhams) But we're all willing to pay slightly more for something that works I'm sure? It does work, it's amazing for extra hydration, pure luxury and looking more than beautiful on your vanity. I've been using it just over a month now and don't seem to have used up even a third of the bottle, so chance is this will see me through summer. And when winter comes Winter is Coming I'll quite happily run out to repurchase.

A Haul of the Large Variety

As I write this, I sit angrily staring at my camera, that has temporarily decided to go kaput. Of course I'm not actually sitting giving a Canon camera stink-eye, I just do every time I'm stuck for words. I did promise quite a while ago to share another haul, which I just managed to shoot before my camera went to sleep. So there is some good news to accompany the bad.

Here's some of the things I've bought recently... (And pretty please do note, that some of these were birthday gifts, some bought with birthday money, a couple were gifted by companies, and some were bought with various reward cards). 

Naturally, there's a good dose of Chanel. I'm obsessed with the Destiny cream blush and the mascara, so they will be popping up here on ze blog, and on my face much more! Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Utopia was something I felt completely smitten with, and it's pretty much the lavender version of Emerveille, but the purple tones are much more brightening on the eye area (apparently lilac lids are something we associate with children, hence the anti-ageing. Smart!)

I caved. After buying my first Charlotte Tilbury bits a few months ago, I had to jump on the Filmstar Bronze and Glow bandwagon, and BOY is it amazing. (I'll be reviewing all my CT bits on The Beauty Corner soon.) When you think Dior can't make even better nail polishes, they go ahead and reformulate to a gel-finish and release beautiful vintage red shades like Rouge 999 - I'm in love! And needless to say, I just NEEDED two more lip balms. 

I'm blaming the purchase of this wonderful bottle of Lani hair treatment on Steph, cause it's always much easier blaming it on someone else. This is an all-natural hair oil treatment, that smells like holidays, and does incredible things to your hair. I insist you try it. And as I found a LookFantastic discount code, and kept hearing about Shu Uemura's Art of Hair products, I am a bad person that doesn't need this many hair products had to make a purchase.

More hair products? I have a problem. Another oil? Yes. Neal and Wolf were darling enough to send me the blow dry balm to help me along the way whilst I'm introducing my hair to cleansing conditioner. FYI, the first stage isn't pretty, but when you get used to it, you feel like you're living a shampoo commercial. The lightening spray is 110% justified, if you could see my roots you'd be trying this too. My hairdresser is on maternity leave, so I wanted something to keep me going until she got back. Unfortunately I chickened out, and I'm still waiting on her return, just this time with about 2 inches of roots instead of 1cm. 

No haul is complete without a couple bits from Space NK. After running down my second bottle of REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal I was impatiently trying to replace it - I love this stuff! I wish I could say the same for the He-Shit tan (That was HONESTLY a typo. It seems pretty darn relevant though.) which is the worst fake tan I've ever used. It soaks through mitts, smells of biscuits, and has zero benefits, whatsoever. BOO, what a waste of money.

This beautiful necklace was my Birthday present from my Nanna and Grandad. I love it so much. Dogeared has lots of jewellery with meaning, and the packaging helps make it so much more personal. I can see this becoming attached to my neck like no necklaces have done before.

What does anyone that's obsessed with fashion do with their birthday money? Ray-Bans of course! These are the small Clubmasters, and they're the perfect mix of classic styling, hippy influences, and the ideal amount of me in the reflection. Hey!

With my Waterstones card collecting money like there's no tomorrow, I went a tad book crazy. I love reading, so I like having a good selection to choose from when I'm due a new read. I'm currently reading Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, and it really isn't the best book to read in bed, but it's definitely peculiar...

Hope you're not all wasting away by the time you've reached the bottom of this post. Congratulations though, you've made it, you can go and get a cuppa now and go back to the real world.

Lots of love.

Cheating Perfect Skin

If someone complements me on my skin, I always do a little snigger internally. Not that I can't take a complement, (I can't, but we'll leave that for another day) it's more that it takes me forever and a year using skincare products and various makeup products to cheat something not even close to "perfect" skin. These two products are the ones that are currently acting as real-life Photoshop for my face...

Given tinted moisturisers were my first venture into make-up (and that's something we usually wish to forget) I somewhat surprised myself with how much I liked this Chanel Les Beiges fluid when I tried a sample. So I took myself down to the closest Chanel counter and the rest was history. It offers a very light coverage, but covers everything you want it to. I'm looking at you, hormonal redness and spots. And being someone that prefers an unfragranced base product, the white rose scent of this is heavenly, and helps to protect skin from environmental damage, whilst offering boosts of hyaluronic acid to up the moisture levels of your skin.

And once again, I find myself revisiting the This Works Perfect Look Skin Miracle on ze blog, and I realise how big of a cliche this is now becoming, but I just cannot get enough of this literal miracle product. This "tinted skin perfector" is highly rated by Lisa Eldridge, and for good reason; it's sheer, hydrating, and has the good variety of natural ingredients, that collectively help to make us all beautiful. With the caramel and mica ingredients offering the colour, this is suitable for all skin tones, and will adapt to your natural skin colour.

These two products work amazingly together, and just as well on their own. The This Works perfector is ideal for light coverage, but won't cover any spots, at which point the Chanel offering will come in handy. Layering both of these products or using them singularly will perfect skin, depending on whether you want a sheer or heavier coverage depending on time of day and skin concerns. With each of them having no nasty ingredients, the only other thing you'll be needing is your SPF, then you're good to go.

Have you tried either of these products? And what products do you use to fake perfect skin?

Unsung Multitaskers

On one of those days when you know you have to go out, but just have a serious case of "cannotbearsed-itis" the idea of standing by your Muji drawers and perfecting your brows, lashes and under-eye bags seems completely overwhelming. So on these days everyday, the idea of grabbing a few products, sitting on the edge of your bed with a mirror is so tempting, and the idea of multi-tasking products sounds just perfect. So, I've compiled my list of the products we all know, love, and use, but for the purposes we don't always think of.

Chanel Soliel Tan De Chanel (or whatever this bizarre pot is called) is a wonder product for all year round. It's supposed to be a cream bronzer, but it's quite firm in texture, and nearly matte in finish with zero shimmer, making it perfecting for bronzing and contouring. This bronzer seems to offer quite a pleasant coverage too, and I've found that occasionally using this on it's own is perfect for letting skin breathe, but keeping a healthy glow. FYI it also works darling as a warm eyeshadow.

Benetint is one of those products that can take a while to get used to, being the same consistency as water, and a super-strength stain, the slightest drip on anywhere it isn't supposed to be is going to look like some sort of infectious disease. I found the best way to apply this to my cheeks is with a buffing brush (apply to the brush) then apply very light-handedly to my cheeks. Its a beautiful shade when applied directly from the brush to your lips, and buffed in with fingers. I always find using the teeniest amount of excess from this in my crease really helps to define my eye and lift and brighten my complexion.

RMS Living Luminizer is another weird little pot, but one that offers a beautiful, none-shimmery dewy look, whether it be used on cheekbones, eyelids, or in the cupids bow. This really brightens my eyes when used as a sheer tint across my lids, but it lasts no longer than an hour- any tips for avoiding creasing with something so creamy? (Yup, I did buy this because it featured in Phoebe Tonkin's ITG Top Shelf)

Clinique Naturally Glossy mascara in Brown is something I bought as when I have very little makeup on, black mascara looks so obvious and stark, I wanted to try something new... This is ideal for a natural look, adding volume, length, and a slight curl. It also works amazingly as a brow gel, I discovered this after dropping my brow gel under my bed, its glossy finish doesn't compromise on hold, and with it being a warm brown, it's ideal for dark brows.

Listing Eight Hour Cream as an "unsung" multi-tasker was probably brief stupidity, but the list of things this miracle product can do is longer than my legs... This beauty can be used as; lip balm, cuticle cream, dewy highlighter, on dry/cracked skin, on brows and lashes, knees, elbows, heels... You name it, this cream does it.

Now, LET'S GO DANCE IN THE SUN...

The six BEST nail polishes

It's hard whittling down what your favourite polishes are when you have a large collection of them, probably, if I counted, over 100. But when you look at them individually, there are some clear favourites, and some regularly repurchased.

I thought I'd share the six polishes that I believe to be the best, and probably the ones that would complete a nail wardrobe, without the necessary other 100+ polishes. I guess it's kind of like where to start if you're a newby with nail polishes, too.

Sheers and tints are something I'm a huge fan of, not for everyone, but, something that depending on where you work, or go to school could be a necessity...

I always say that Essie's Ballet Slippers is my favourite polish of all time, and despite the fact that it boasts similarities to OPI's Bubble Bath, the OPI offering is the much more subtle of the two, being pinker and sheerer in tone, and mimicking your natural nail colour more than Ballet Slippers which runs quite white and creamy in appearance. I love wearing this with Dior Nail Glow, which is a completely sheer, pink toned polish. Reviewed here, and obviously, I am still loving it, it'll be due a repurchase soon as I get to a Dior counter!

Butter London's Nail Foundation is a weird concept, but basically, it is a sheer, semi-matte nude/pink colour, one coat mimics the nails natural colour, evens it out and preps the nail for other sheer colours, or works brilliantly on its own. Using this as a polish does work, in about three coats, you can have the mannequin-look nails that were all over catwalks last summer, or with one single coat, your nails will just look healthier, yet people won't know you're wearing any polish (score for those that aren't allowed to wear polishes!)

I'm not always one for colour, and if you were beginning a nail polish collection, the "anti-colours" are the ones you need to go for, the none-bright, and quite classic. Chanel are ideal for fashion colours, and as the brand itself suggests, for classy colours, Rouge Noir and Frenzy are two of the brands most popular shades, I believe, and it's easy to understand why. Rouge Noir is a beautiful deep oxblood red, almost black, but so much softer, and ideal for people that tend to stray away from dark shades. Frenzy however, on the lighter side, is a beautiful grey-toned nude, completely beautiful, suits numerous skin tones, and is appropriate for work and play.

A classic, pillarbox red shade is a must in every ones nail polish collections, being seductive and appropriate for most occasions, all seasons, and the perfect colour for those intimidated by the other brights on the market. I've stuck the Balmain Nail Couture Rouge in here as an example of one of the classic reds I use, but this isn't the easiest to get hold of, all brands have a perfect blue-toned red (Essie-Fifth Avenue, Revlon Red, Chanel- Dragon)

The dupes I know of for the other shades are as follows; 
OPI Bubble Bath; Chanel - Ballerina, Essie - Mademoiselle
Chanel Rouge Noir; Revlon - Vixen, Essie - Wicked, 
Chanel Frenzy; (There are truly no identical dupes of this shade, Essie - Sand Tropez is close, as is Rimmel - Oh, Mr Darcy!)

Currently feeling a touch of irony, typing this with naked nails, now I'm feeling temptation for a couple coats of Chanel Frenzy...

Birthday Gifts and Lots of Pretty Things

There's quite a few pictures in this post, for no other reason than, I got, well, a little camera happy! I thought I'd share with you my birthday gifts, a lot of which were from me, to me. Any excuse!

Oh, and just to clarify, before anyone goes off on one... I'm not bragging in anyway. Some of these are gifts, and some of them I bought for myself. I just love shopping...

One of my favourite jewellery pieces ever, comes from this beautiful, elegant, gold open heart ring by  the Irish jewellery designer, Chupi. My Nan and Grandad bought me this so it means more than it would have if I'd bought it for myself.


The beautiful Chupi ring in action, and with a vintage, ornate rose ring my Aunty got for me. I won't wear these together all the time - just thought I'd save a picture and put them together (I'm so helpful, right?!)

My Aunty bought me this beautiful coffee table book which is currently on display on my shelf, its Audrey Hepburn in Hats, and showcases a beautiful collection of images like the one above. (Isn't she just the epitome of elegance?)

The DVD collection is actually a gift to myself. I've already worked my way through all of these, and love them all so much. I'm currently becoming very much addicted to Audrey, and if you follow me on Instagram, you'll probably already have been bombarded by Audrey related pictures already...

I mentioned in my previous wishlist post I'd like to read The Notebook and my beautiful Aunty bought it for me, alongside Safe Haven, which I haven't seen the movie of yet, so I'll be holding off until I've read the book.

It's not as excessive as it seems- I promise! A lot of these are freebies which I got with various orders, but I decided, after buying my first Chanel polish that I'm very much in love with them and need more. I bought Frenzy in Southport on my actual birthday, and Blue Satin when Debenhams had a sneaky 10% off. I bought my MAC lipsticks at the same time (because of course I needed more...) And as a self-confessed Dior addict, I decided to pick up this gorgeous nude lip colour because I had £10 in points on my Beautyclub card.

They're beautiful, right?
Mac's Pure Zen and Plumful, and Dior Incognito.

(Left to right: Dior Incognito, MAC Pure Zen and Plumful)

Another treat for myself thanks to sales. This beauty was 1/3 off in Argos, and only cost me £20! It comes with a heat proof mat, full glove, and a carry bag to store it all in, not to mention how brilliant it is. I'll be reviewing this soon.

I can't say I usually shop in The Body Shop, but when I heard about the beautifying oils which had come out, I decided to go and pick one up, I use it mainly for my cuticles every evening, but it's a bugger to apply from this bottle! I also picked up a foot cream with the "Buy one get one half price" offer... GLAM.

My "to-read" list is getting ridiculous, but I still had a little stroll into Waterstones and came out with these...

And I had to add this little fella to the end of this post. If you don't follow me on Facebook, or Twitter, you won't know that I'm planning on bringing some nail-art tutorials onto my little corner of the web, so keep an eye out, and no doubt you'll find out how to make this little guy yourself.

And another reminder, my giveaway closes tomorrow, so don't forget to enter! I can't wait to draw the winner, and I'll be letting you know via Twitter, and email!

Hope you've enjoyed this post, and I promise I'll be back with more substantial posts soon, I've been a little bit of a let-down during the summer months.

I shop a lot/Haul

You all must know by now that I shop, a lot. I've bought a lot more than this in the previous month, believe me, but I thought I'd show you some of the more interesting things... I think I may make hauls a regular thing on my blog. My Instagram pictures of tons of beauty products tend to be popular, so I may just bring them over here. Think I may do them every month around the time of my Favourite Things posts, and the next one will be after my Birthday, so hopefully that'll be an exciting one. (Fingers crossed...)

Given that Boots had "buy one get one half price" on all cosmetics, it'd be wrong to not buy myself some new Essie polishes wouldn't it? I'll just keep telling myself that... I picked up "The more the merrier" a beautiful bright lime green shade from the summer collection, and Splash of Grenadine, an opaque purple with slight pink-tones. Both are equally beautiful and very summery, ideal for this beautiful weather!



MAC YOU GET ME EVERYTIME! Okay, so I may or may not have treated myself to a new quad, no biggie... Left to Right, it's Nylon, Naked Lunch, All that Glitters and Mystery. I also picked up Vanilla Pigment. As you can tell, this quad, my 217 and myself have already been on a date (wink, hubba hubba...)

I couldn't resist posting more pictures of these beauties by Chanel. How I managed to stop myself at three, I really don't know. Despite my Chanel Soleil tan de Chanel, these are my first Chanel makeup purchases, and I decided to get something classy, and elegant, given that Chanel is almost like the God of elegance in beauty. I decided on the Rose Cache Le Vernis, and the Rouge Allure in Evanescente, a beautiful pink/nude which is a "your lips but better shade." I'm going to save both of these for my upcoming birthday to make me feel extra special. Chanel, I do believe you have started a love affair...

With all that nail polish, I need a new remover, right? I'm loving this one at the moment! The scent is very strong when you open the tub, but the scent which tends to linger on your finger tips is really quite lovely, very floral and summery.