Ciate Speed Coat - Fast Drying Top Coat Review

If there's one area of my beauty regime that I often need a helping hand in, it's nails. As someone who leads a busy life, I often find it hard to find time to sit down and give my nails the love and attention they deserve, and it's not that I don't enjoy painting my nails - it's just the waiting around afterwards that kills me.  The Ciate Speed Coat - Fast Drying Top Coat* is a product that seems like it was created for people like me.

I hate waiting for my nails to dry, i'm slightly clumsy and usually after having them painted I've ruined one within 5 minutes - so when a product like the Ciate Speed Coat* comes along that 'guarantees touch dry nails in 60 seconds' you know that i'm all over it. Retailing at £11.00 this top coat isn't cheap, but  let me tell you this - it works, and is easy to use too.

After painting nails as usual, wait a few minutes for the colour to dry, then apply a slick of Speed Coat* over the top. I found it took a little longer than 60 seconds - more like by time you've listened to a song on the radio, or caught up watching a vlog, your nails will touch dry, leaving you able to carry on life like a functioning human being!

Overall, It's a great product that actually works and makes life easier! With the downside that it's a little bit pricey, and it takes a little longer than 60 seconds to dry. Needless to say, painting my nails should be a lot easier now.

I'd love to hear your top tips for speed drying nail polish! Let me know in the comments..

Em xxx

*PR Sample

Bourjois 1 Seconde Nail Polish - The perfect shades for AW14

The thing about Autumn and Winter is, that everything is berry crazy... and sometimes, I just want to be a little different. I'm a big fan of the Bourjois 1 seconde 'gel' nail polishes as they're incredibly long lasting - even on my peeling nails.

For me, what sets these polishes apart from other high street alternatives is the brush. There's just something about this brush which makes the polish so easy to apply, it's almost like the polish hugs your nail as it glides on.

Shade 11 - Rouge in Style* is a beautiful statement red nail, and one that will certainly brighten up a monochrome outfit to give you the wow factor.

Shade 44 - Grey to meet you* is a silvery slate grey shade that is so beautiful and easy to wear. It's perfect for the dark days and nights ahead.

Shade 45 - The Glitterizer* is a clear polish that contains glitter, but almost like torn glitter. It's just the right level of sparkly that can be used as a top coat or alone for an understated glam effect.

I love how easy and straight forward these polishes are to use and they'll certainly be on my fingers this season.

Shade 44 & 45 Will be launching in November as part of the Enchanted Nightbird collection.

Which is your favourite shade? Let me know in the comments.

Em xxx

Models Own Scented Sweet Shop Collection Review & Swatches

Nail polish is one aspect of beauty I always seem to forget about but I'm hoping to make a change to that. I have a massive sweet tooth and when I walked past the Models Own stand and saw these, I couldn't help but be drawn in by the idea of sweetie scented nail polish. I'm a complete sucker for a gimmick sometimes. There are 5 shades available in the Models Own Scented  Sweet Shop Collection and I picked up Rhubarb & Custard and Fizzy Cola Bottles in my recent nail polish haul. These are £5.00 each but I managed to get them on a 2 for £7.00 deal.

Rhubarb n Custard

 I love this deep raspberry shade. When worn, I feel like I've got that extra layer of glamour which can really dress up a look. This applies quite easily and in regards to formula it feels like a gel type polish. The downsides to this one is that although the silver glitter looks beautiful, it doesn't apply in the smoothest way an in the swatches above, you can see how uneven the glitter is. A good topcoat would even this out, but if you don't have time for that (like me) then embrace the glitter and just go with it. 

Although this is rhubarb and custard scented, you'll be able to smell more rhubarb than custard. I noticed the scent for a few hours after painting my nails, but the next day I did struggle to smell it at all, so be prepared for the scent to wear off.

Fizzy Cola Bottles

An unusual shade for me, but after the first swatch I was won over. I love how this has the understated glam factor about it. I can see this being paired with a nice tailored suit jacket, leggings and a cute pair of heels for a fabulous evening date look.

I found the Fizzy Cola Bottles nail polish harder to apply than the Rhubarb n Custard as it seemed to streak much more. 

The gold glitter throughout is a really nice touch and brings that wow factor to make this a beautiful shade.

In regards to scent i definitely picked up the smell of sweeties and cola bottles from this one! Again, I could smell it on first polish, but after waking up the next day I struggled to catch it at all.

Overall I loved these polishes, and they're ones I'll be wearing again. I got about 2-3 days out of them before they started chipping which I was quite impressed by as I usually chip my polish on day 1.

 I'd love to hear your thoughts on these shades, which was your favourite? Let me know in the comments.

Em xxx

Mini Nail Polish Haul!

If there's one area of my current beauty regime that's seriously lacking, it's my nails. I love how painted nails look, however what I don't love it how easily they chip at the worst possible moment. Because I rarely paint my nails, when i do get around to doing them I often forget that they're done. Naturally,  It's only usually when I'm on my way to an important meeting do I realise how many chips are on my nails and then the panic trying to peel off the remaining polish begins.

I headed to Superdrug recently to pick up a few essentials and came home with these polishes. All of them are unusual choices, but I'll talk you through my reasonings....

Models Own Scented Sweet Shop Polish - Fizzy Cola Bottles.

Price: £5.00 each or 2 for £7.99 

So, I don't know where to begin on the colour of this. It isn't one I'd ever usually pick out and honestly - I didn't choose this one - my boyfriend did. He's a big fan of Coke Zero, and when asked which one I should get, he chose this erm, brown shade. I think I'll wait to see how it looks on before I pass judgement, and I'm looking forward to seeing how scented this is! 

Models Own Scented Sweet Shop Polish - Rhubarb n Custard.

Price: £5.00 each or 2 for £7.99 

I'm a massive fan of sweeties and I was drawn to this polish instantly. I love the sparkle in this deep raspberry shade and I'm looking forward to seeing how this looks on!

Barry M Nail Art Pen

Price:  £4.99 Each or Buy one, get one half price (at Superdrug)

So I rarely wear nail polish and I can't draw, but for some reason I really wanted these nail art pens. I've got quite a few cute pastel nail polishes in my collection and thought whilst summer is still here, I should try and attempt some summer nails! I Picked up 2 of these as they were buy one get one half price. I'm looking forward to giving them a try... and If all else fails, I may even try and persuade my boyfriend to do my nails for me as he has crazy drawing skills.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these picks, Have you tried any of these before?? Let me know in the comments.

Em xxx

Bourjois Nail Polish Remover, Hands & Feet Review!

I admit it. I'm a rubbish girl. My bag is full of junk and my nail polish is often chipped. So when a product such as the Bourjois Nail Polish remover for Hands & Feet* comes along, I feel like I know 'how to girl' again. 

When you live a busy life, or what I usually refer to as 'lack of life' constantly trying to juggle working a full time job as well as blogging consistently, managing your social media profiles and giving the time and effort deserved to those all important offline relationships with a boyfriend, family and if you have many left, friends -  one of the first things that can slack for me anyway, are my nails. 

I go through stages of painting my nails multiple times a week, to not wearing polish for months simply because of the chips that occur so easily and out of my sheer laziness, the effort that it takes to remove the polish as well as the slightly fragile nails that I find nail varnish remover leaves behind.

Bourjois have introduced a product that relieves so many of the factors that makes me loathe painted nails sometimes. The main bottle is filled with a sponge that you can dip your finger into. I like to use the erm, dip and twist method. That usually works for me and takes my nail varnish off so easily. However, they've also introduced the much needed Foot sponge! A small sponge fixed to the lid of the product which can be used as a handy sponge to remove any pedi polish and also stops you trying to shove your toes into the main pot... yeah, don't do that... It hurts.

The Bourois Nail Polish Remover* is one of those unexpected great products that actually works incredibly well. It doesn't have that nasty nail polish smell, and it doesn't make my nails feel like they've been soaked in paint stripper and brittle. It's a new firm favourite and because of it, I can look forward to painting my nails again. 

How do you remove your nail polish? Let me know in the comments xxx