NOTD: Essie - Luscious Lips

Things I love about this polish

- The colour is simply beautiful.  A feminine, creamy baby pink.
- It applies so smoothly - no streaks in sight.
- It lasts!  Days and days!
- It's amazingly cheap when ordered from America.

The 1 thing I'm not so crazy about

- It is really sheer and therefore takes about 3 or 4 coats to get a decent colour pay off.

BUT, as it lasts so long, I probably still use less as I don't need to change the colour after 1 day.  Swings and roundabouts.. :)

A definite permanent feature in my collection I feel.  It's a perfect, every day colour that's always appropriate and classy - I love my greens and purples etc but I just feel 'polished' in colours like this.

I really rate Essie at the moment - my next purchase will definitely be Merino Cool from the latest Fall collection.

Any other Essie colour recommendations?  I can always be persuaded to buy more...

NOTD: OPI vs Essie

Seeing as it is currently exam time for me, absolutely any activity is deemed more exciting than actually revising.  I have therefore spent many hours this week cleaning and painting my nails (as if I really need an excuse!)

I have always loved doing my nails but until I discovered the online beauty commnity I never really realised just how many different colour polishes there are out there.  Couple that with being in the UK and having a pretty limited range of drug store colours and you get someone who thought a purple polish is just a purple polish.  Well after realising the true extent of the colour range out there and finding my favourite eBay seller I now realise just how wrong I was....!

I therefore decided to see just how much difference there is between OPI's Done Out In Deco and Essie's Lilacism.

The result?  A pretty big difference -

The OPI is a lot darker and more of a grey toned purple whereas the Essie is what I see to be a true Lilac.  They are both beautiful colours but I think I am leaning more to the Essie if I'm honest... it's just that little bit more summery.

As for the the difference in brands?  They both come in at 15ml (0.5oz) and lasted pretty much the same amount of time on my nails with Seche Vite on top - some slight wear on the tips after a few days but no major chipping to note.  The major difference I found was with the brush - OPI's is much larger and although this allows for a smooth finish over all, the Essie allows for a more precise and neater application near the cuticles.

My overall opinion?  Essie wins this one - I prefer the colour, it's easier to apply and comes in cheaper (£2.70/$3.99 vs £3.40/$4.99).

Which colour do you prefer?!  Let me know!  Also are there any great Essie colour recommendations you have for me?!  I need to build up my collection!

xxx

All the way from the U S of A

I placed another little order with my favourite eBay seller - BeautyZone2007

I refuse to pay the extortionate UK RRP for OPI etc so I always order from this seller.  The items are shipped so quickly and always packed well....big thumbs up from me!

I was therefore so excited when I got back from a weekend away and found a little package waiting for me holding these goodies...

I desperately needed some new false eyelashes for nights out but I hate spending £5 a pop when I always end up losing them after one too many...  I was contemplating ordering from Eldora but the only reviews I have read seem to be from people who were sent them free so I'm not sure whether to completely trust them or not..?  Has anyone actually PAID for Eldora?!

I therefore decided to go with a name you can trust and picked these Ardell lovelies for around the £2 mark...

These 110s are made from 100% human hair and are lovely flirty, natural looking lashes - perfect for some subtle extra length.

These 105s are also 100% human hair but are from the 'Glamour' range - i.e. longer, thicker and bloody gorgeous!  I can't wait to wear these on a night out and hopefully be good and not lose them...!

We only seem to have available a few styles of Ardell lashes here in the UK and they are in black packaging.  I'm not sure whether these are in old packaging or this is just how they look in the US?  If anyone could enlighten me I'd be very grateful!

Also, these lashes do not come with glue so if anyone was to order them, add some DUO to you basket too!

Next up - the polishes...

L-R: OPI Mod About You; Seche Vite Top Coat; Essie Mint Candy Apple

I have wanted Mod About You for as long as I can remember as well as Seche Vite, so these two are long overdue purchases.  As for the Mint Candy Apple - with a name like that, who could resist?!  I thought this was from their Art of Spring collection but turns out it is a permanent colour - I really can't wait to try this out.

Expect some NOTD posts coming soon...!

What has everyone else bought recently??  Link me to your hauls so I can have a gander!

xxx