Hurray for hoarding

I'm guilty, as I'm sure all you other make-up obsessives are, of hoarding unwanted, unused items. It's not a conscious thing, but every time I try to part with things I know I haven't used in such a while, there's this feeling that I may want to use it again at some point and so I mustn't get rid. Take my nail varnish collection for example. There's varnishes in there I've forgotten about, so old they've been discontinued and over the months, gone a little bit congealed and hard to use.



Well the other day, I dug out one of said varnishes and realised I'd had it so long it's even gone out, and returned back in to fashion! It's a gorgeous pastel, lavendar shade and reminded me of the latest MAC collection which is the reason I resurfaced it. As I'm sure you're aware, nail varnish is not the best at staying in good condition and does harden with time, making it nearly impossible to apply. But here's a little tip if you want to revive an old nail varnish: leave it in the fridge for a few hours, ideally overnight, and then apply it to your nails straight after removing it from the fridge! This seems to work really well and I managed to get a brilliant result from a varnish that was...I'm guessing 5 years old! Cringe, yes I really do hoard for a long time. I think I should be forgiven though because I did get to use it again.

Tri-Coloured Lip Glass by Mac

There was nothing that really grabbed me from the last collection from MAC. I expected there to be a few items I would want to purchase but it appeared most items were pastel colours, something I really don't go for. One thing that did get my attention however was the tri-coloured Lipglass.


I chose this in the shade Simply Delicious which is described as follows: Top: Sheer peach with reflects, Middle: Pale coral with pearl, Bottom: Creamy mid-tone coral. I think if there's nothing you feel very drawn to from the Sugarsweet collection this is something that might appeal. To be honest I liked the whole novelty of it and to me it kind of defines the collection. It's fun, it's original in it's design and has the same quality expected from MAC. I enjoy using this product, the colours go very well with my skin tone and I like the way I get a slightly different colour from it every time. It's almost too pretty to use, but the feel and smell of the gloss is very addictive so I haven't put it down the past week!

Beauty Product of the Month

Each month, I will do a review of two products that are my products of the month. One will be a make-up product, the other will be a beauty product. A product that I have wanted to review for some time is the Oil Balancing Moisturiser by Simple. With my oily combination skin I got into the habit of averting from using moisturiser. I believed that adding moisture to already oil rich skin would cause havoc to skin and cause outbreaks and only rarely in the winter would I need to moisturise. Wrong! Actually no matter what your skin type, you should always moisturise.



Simple's oil balancing moisturiser is in no means a new product to me, in fact I've used it on and off for about 3 years. Now I am definitely back on and have been using this moisturiser morning and night religiously for the last 6 months. The verdict: contrary to what I thought would happen; more breakouts, I can safely say there are LESS breakouts and my skin feels smooth and healthy.

As well as moisturising my skin, this product is useful to me in the way it counteracts excess oil. After moisturising with any other moisturiser, whether it be hand cream, or a body butter, after soaking into the skin, the skin feels hydrated and very smooth, their aim to prevent dryness. With Oil Balancing, my skin is left hydrated but mattified, which I didn't think I could get from a moisturiser. Certainly for oily or combination skin this is a must-buy. After using it for a few days you will see an improvement to the overall condition of your skin. It contains natural anti-bacterial properties to counteract spot-forming bacteria.

I don't use foundation primers, but I believe that applying foundation to well cleaned skin is enough preparation. The great thing about this moisturiser is that you don't need to let it dry, but can apply liquid foundation directly over it, and get a good, even coverage.

Make-up product of the month

Product of the month for April has to be this new nail polish by Bourjois. This is shade 31 which is called Bleu Violet. A bit of French we can all translate as purple blue which is exactly how to describe this shade, it's not quite purple, not quite blue. It's a gorgeous colour and when I went to pick mine up from Boots it was the last one available, so clearly a popular choice.

Excuse the chipping in the picture, but these are painted nails a day old. For me this a little soon to begin chipping, especially as the varnish is advertised as having lasting hold up to 7 days. I would recommend putting on a thin layer of top coat to make your nails last longer. I opted out of using one this time because the So Laque! range is very shiny so there didn't seem much need for a top coat, but it would be useful just to get extra wear from it. Here I've used two coats of the varnish which is expected from most varnishes and this is definitely enough coverage.

So this is a new shade for spring and I think it will see me through the summer months too as it's much bolder and brighter than the darker shades I tend to wear in autumn/winter. It's described on one fashion website as being "electric", which I think is a perfect term for it and it ties in with the latest neon trend. Great for summer nights with a clashing colour summer dress, experimenting with nail colour is an ideal way to try out trends you might not want to extend to your face make-up.