On My Nails This Week: MUA's Frozen Yogurt with L'Oreal's Confetti Topcoat

In keeping with the promise that I made to myself to tackle some of the beauty products lurking in my stash I added L'Oreal Paris' Confetti Top Coat to my nail polish choice for the week, Make Up Academy's Frozen Yoghurt. After last week's dalliance with an Essie nail polish (link) I am really feeling the low quality of this polish formula. MUA nail polishes are (I think) a bargain at just £1 but the brushes are thin and the polish is thin too, meaning I had to use three coats before it became opaque and even. Also, the final finish isn't very shiny which didn't affect me as I knew I was going to add a top coat but it is worth bearing in mind if you love shiny nails. 

I personally love the shade of MUA's Frozen Yogurt, it is a mid-purple so it isn't too pastel-y for mid-summer but it is still oh so pretty (purple is my favourite colour so it isn't hard to woo me). The L'Oreal Paris Confetti Top Coat isn't exactly a dream to use (the brush has gone cray-cray, like, bristles all over the place) and I personally find it a little bit thick. I like one coat of it for a subtle speckle but I prefer two to three coats for a more in your face effect, I find it gets noticed more often and I get more compliments. Vanity drives this nail choice. Anyway, together I find it to be a very pretty combination and I'll definitely be wearing these two together again!

Do you like these two polishes together? What have you been wearing on your nails this week?

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Oriflame Ever Lasting Foundation and Perfect Blush (review and swatches)

Oriflame is a new brand on my radar this month. There have been a few reviews of some of their products (most notably some very favourable reviews of their lipsticks) popping up on a number of blogs over the last few weeks and I have been keeping my eye on them! I was sent Oriflame's Ever Lasting Foundation in Porcelain* and Oriflame's Perfect Blush in Classic Rose*. 

Initially, I worried that the Oriflame foundation might be too light now that I've achieved a bit of a summer tan but lightly applied it actually looks fine and it is definitely the right shade for me for the winter. The Ever Lasting Foundation range is supposed to offer medium to full coverage and I think that if you used more of it (I used it lightly due to colour matching issues) it would definitely offer quite full coverage. But the magic is in the feel of the product, it feels pretty weightless to be honest. I really enjoyed having this on my face, which in summer isn't exactly the norm when it comes to fuller-coverage products. However, when worn without a primer it does sink into my pores and really highlight them so a primer is a must! As I'm now in the habit of wearing a primer anyway this isn't such a concern for me and I don't think it should put you off using this foundation. The coverage coupled with the weightless texture makes it a unique addition to my collection - you can see how it looks on me in my FOTD below (I'm only wearing foundation on my skin, no concealer).

Oriflame's Blush in Classic Rose is a truly perfect my cheeks but better colour (I don't think this is a thing but it should be). Dusted on lightly with my Real Techniques Blusher Brush it was really easy to lightly build this up until I reached the perfect 'natural glow'. It layers really well so it's a great 'beginner's blush' as you can really play around with it quite a lot without looking like a badly painted china doll! The colour 'Classic Rose' is perfect for me- it is definitely a pink but it isn't too rosy. Anything super pink does something slightly unpleasant to my colouring, this pink is edged with coral (as you can see in my swatch above) and it makes it really very flattering and easy to wear. I put together a super natural make-up look using both the Oriflame products and I'm personally really happy with how it looks.

The foundation comes in at £11.45* and the Blush costs £8.95* and I think perhaps this is a little steep when you compare them to drugstore prices, however, the quality is definitely there and I think that choice pieces would be worth investing in. The foundation has a lovely feel to it and I prefer it to my Bourjois Healthy Mix which offers a similar coverage but feels a lot heavier! I also have my eye on another shade of the Perfect Blush in the shade Glowing Peach - I can just imagine the colour and it makes me shiver in delight at the thought. TMI? You can find all of Oriflame's beauty range on their website here.

What do you think of  how these products look? Have you tried anything from Oriflame before?

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The Mid-Week Remedy

I don't usually have the time (or the inclination) to throw myself a bit of a pampering party mid-week. However, lately I've been burning the candle at both ends, going out a lot into central London (which leaves my skin and hair a polluted mess) and for the first time in a long while I've been going out drinking at the weekends. A month into this new lifestyle of mine (it's a temporary foray into the fun life I'll be returning to once my final year at university ends) has left me in serious need of some all over refreshment. Cue the Mid-Week Remedy, the battle against clogged pores, dull skin, dry hair and positively reptilian looking hands... I wish I was joking.

A Summer Must Have: John Frieda Frizz-Ease Hair Serum

I bought this a really long time ago and it was sadly eclipsed by another hair serum- it wasn't anything special but it smelt divine, and truly I am controlled by my nose when it comes to beauty products. So, when this summer heatwave of Britain's struck I realised that I was in need of something that didn't just smell nice, I needed a serum that could eliminate frizz. This is the result that John Frieda's Frizz-Ease boasts, this is what it promises. I think I would plonk my hair-type in the "fine-medium" category so this serum isn't strictly advertised towards me, however, I have lived with seriously unruly locks for my entire life so I felt like I needed to bring out the big guns.

I am very happy to report that since starting to use this (near the beginning of July) my hair has honestly been less frizzy than ever before, even in this heat and humidity. Since adding John Frieda's Frizz-Ease to my daily haircare routine (you simply apply one-two pumps of this to wet hair) my hair has been sleeker, neater and although not completely frizz free it has been much less frizzy. Like with all serums sometimes one wonders "what's the point" but as is the case with all the serums that I've tried, well the point is that sometimes you can come across an absolute winner. There may be better hair serums out there, I'm not exactly a hair serum aficionado. However, if you're a student like me or for whatever other reason you're on a limited budget and want something easy to pick up in both a handy travel size or in a bigger 'value' size that actually works then I wouldn't look too much further if I were you! In short, I'm really impressed, this small bottle of serum has done things that none of my lovely hair oils managed (although they do a good job in their own ways). You can find John Frieda Original Frizz-Ease Hair Serum for £6.29 for a larger 50ml size or for £3.99 for the 25ml travel size. I think this is definitely suitable for fine/medium - course hair types and there is another version (an extra strength version) for very course hair.

Do you use a hair serum? How do you keep your hair frizz-free?

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