Beauty Review: Essence "Nail Art Peel Off Base Coat

I bought the new "Peel Off Base Coat" by Essence last week. Mainly because it was half price but I was also intrigued. I hate using nail varnish remover, I always seem to spill it, I can never get all the varnish off, and you can't seem to be able to put your fingers anywhere near your mouth for hours afterwards, unless you feel like tasting the most disgusting taste ever. I tried and tested it during the week, and I figured a review is in order.

So the base coat is obviously applied before your normal nail varnish. It's recommended that you leave it to dry for about ten minutes, and it dries clear. I applied number 147 of Essence's "Colour & Go" collection on top.

I applied the base coat and nail varnish on Tuesday night, and I got bored during school on Friday and picked it off. By Friday I was experiencing some chipping on the tips of my nails, but honestly that could have been because of the nail varnish. Essence's "Colour & Go" nail varnishes are only 1.99 euro so obviously the quality isn't meant to be brilliant. I figure though, that since the base coat is meant to make your nail varnish peel off quite easily, you could experience some chipping issues.

The nail varnish required a good bit of picking to get off, it definitely doesn't peel off in one go like it appears to say it does on the packaging. The nail varnish basically flaked off bit by bit, and I doubt it did the surface of my nails many favours.

All in all, the product is cheap, so that's definitely a bonus, but I don't reckon it's all too good for your nails. One of the only things I know involving nails is that your shouldn't pick your varnish off. I would say something if the product made the varnish peel off easily and in one go, but it doesn't so I don't think it's very good for your nails.

edit: I actually used this product a few more times and after applying the product more thickly, I find it comes off quite easily when you peel it off, so it works a lot better than I thought it did originally!

Beauty Review: LUSH "Ocean Salt" Scrub

I'm such a sucker for anything to do with the ocean, and this is no exception. I don't suffer from dry skin but obviously exfoliating is still sort of important, I think.

This stuff is actually quite strong, even if you suffer from the Sahara Desert of dry skin, you still wouldn't need to use it everyday. It contains really coarse sea salt, I only use it about twice a week at the most, and it does a really good job at also unblocking pores.

It's filled with all the good natural stuff (sea salt, avocado butter and limes). I've seen a few comments about people disliking the smell. It is quite strong but I like it. I think it depends on how much you like the smell of both the ocean, and various citrus fruits, because that's basically what it smells like. 

It's used just like any other scrub, wet your face, and spread the product around in circular motions. Then, just rinse it off using water. I would heavily recommend using a moisturizer afterwards, simply because this product is so strong.It's not just for your face, it can be used on the rest of your body as well which makes it quite multi-functional. The 120g pot cost about 8.50 in euros. I feel with LUSH it's worth it, since you know that you're buying a natural product that's homemade and not tested on animals, but that's just how I feel.

All and all I love this product. I'm reminded of the beach whenever I use it, and it does a really good job at unblocking any pores that I have.

Beauty Review: LUSH "9 To 5" Cleansing Lotion

So I thought the best way to review these products would be together, since you know, they're typically used together, at least by me anyway, "Ocean Salt" will be reviewed in a follow up post in the next few days.

I adore LUSH products, the stores always smell amazing and everyone is always so friendly in there. I suffer from acne, and even when I'm not technically going through a break out, my skin is still never one hundred percent perfect. Therefore I'm usually searching for good, decent skincare products. I bought "Ocean Salt" and "9 To 5" on a whim around the end of June, start of July, and have used them pretty much everyday since.

"9 To 5" Cleansing Lotion

I might as well start with the product I use the most (my bottle looks a bit battered because it's been on holiday with me). 

For someone who suffers from such bad skin, I'm still very lazy when it comes to actually applying the products I buy. The less work I have to do, the happier I am, (which is why Clinique's 3 step regime never worked out too well, couldn't cope with doing that twice a day). "9 to 5" is super quick an easy to use. It's literally designed for people who don't want to dedicate too much time to washing their face. You simply apply it to your face and neck, and then wipe it off with a damp cotton pad (the saleslady in the LUSH store said not to use a washcloth as they hold too much bacteria). 

A little goes a long way, and after using it twice a day, for well over a month, I can clarify that it definitely lasts long as I've still got half the bottle left, and it's quite a small bottle. I feel that this makes it worth the money in this sense, since I paid 5.80 in euros for the 95g bottle (also available in 240g).

Literally the only way to describe the smell of this is "clean", which has to be good right? It's made with orchid and almond extract, and is scented with honeysuckle and ylang ylang. My skin always feels refreshed after using it.

It claims to remove all traces of dirt and make-up from your face. That may be the one thing I'm unsure it does exactly. It does a good enough job of getting all the foundation I wear off, but sometimes when I wipe my face with my toner my cotton pad gets covered in little streaks of make-up (I could just not be wiping the cleanser off properly though.

All in all, it's still a very good cleanser, that leaves you feeling clean and refreshed and doesn't take too much effort to use. I would highly recommend it for anyone that's lazy, like me.