DIY False Nails

Boots 200 clear nails: ★★★★★
Nailene Ultra Quick glue: ★★★★★


Back in my Uni days I occasionally experimented with false nails, but I always found they fell off after a day or two so eventually gave in and started going to a salon.

These days I only go to the salon for special occasions because a) it's a bit of an expense when you're a home-owner and b) it weakens your nails so much.

There is still a massive range of false nails in the shops that it got me thinking about having another go at DIY false nails. Then as I seem to do a lot these days I stumbled across a video on YouTube of someone using "Boots 200 Clear False Nails". They looked good because they aren't ridiculously long and are plain for you to paint yourself, which bodes well considering my ever expanding nail varnish collection. The video also mentioned not using the glue that comes with the nails as it's not very strong but using the Nailene Ultra Quick glue. The other good point is that you get 200 nails for £8.50, so the set is going to last you a while. The glue costs about £2.80.

I did my nails last Saturday night, it's now the following Sunday evening (8 days later) and they are still going strong.

Would 100% recommend you try if you want a cheap alternative to salon style nails.

MUA Undressed Palette

MUA Undressed palette: ★★★★★


I have stumbled across various mentions of the MUA palettes in numerous blogs and vlogs lately and saw that they are only £4. Also, certain ones are said to be a bit of a Urban Decay Naked palette dupe so thought it'd definitely be worth a try.

After much deliberation between the "Heaven and Earth" and "Undressed" palettes, I went for the Undressed. It has 12 colours which can be described as neutral/smokey eye colours. (The Heaven and Earth was all browny/neutral shades.)

I have to say I'm really impressed with it for the price. Although it is quite a small palette, you couldn't expect much more in light of the price tag. The lid is clear so you can see the colours (useful if you decide to build up a collection) and it comes with a double ended eye makeup applicator. I haven't used all of the colours yet, but I've been happy with the ones I have, and they seem to last as well as my usual daily Rimmel eyeshadows.

If Wikipedia is to be believed, MUA is actually a phantom brand created by Superdrug. They have a very reasonably priced range of makeup starting at £1. This is a great way to treat yourself inexpensively on a shopping trip.

Tip of the week: Head to Superdrug and get yourself some MUA!

Cheap but quirky eBay tat

I am a bit of a bargain hunter, and have recently taken to doing searches on eBay for "lowest price first" or "ending soonest" in the beauty category. A few weeks ago I came across this...

A waterproof liquid eyeliner in the shape of a Japanese doll. It was so cute and on an auction starting at 1p so I thought I'd try and grab one. After missing out on a few, I eventually picked up this little beauty for 75p. Absolute bargain.

It is not only a pretty decent liquid eyeliner, but looks adorable on my dressing table (on top of my Muji drawers) too!

Tip of the week: love eBay!

Optrex Dazzling Eyedew - brighter eyes?

I bought the Optrex Dazzling Eyedew eye drops a couple of weeks ago and have been considering how to review it ever since. They claim to make the white bits of your eyes brighter and whiter.

My initial reaction was that it was crap and doesn't really do anything. But I did a bit of research and came across a blog where someone had taken a photo of their eyes before and after using it, and it had noticeably reduced the redness.

So I began to think that maybe my eyes are just quite white to begin with, so it's probably not going to make much difference to me.

This is probably a good product to use if you suffer from red/bloodshot eyes. If you tend to have pretty much white eye balls then I don't think you'll notice much difference.

For this reason I am not going to give this product a star rating. So you'll have to see for yourself.

Gel "Gellux" Manicure

Gel manicures have been getting more and more popular over the past year or so. Rather than the acrylic extensions that I usually go for when I have special occasions to attend, I decided to give these a go for my holiday to the Algarve.

Absolutely loved the finish on them. They are nice and thick so protect your nails from breaking and don't chip. Well mine did chip a little, but the manicurist did warn me this would happen if I was in and out of the pool a lot. I suppose them getting wet so often is not going to help them last.

One did fall off during the week long holiday, but luckily I selected a colour of which I have a similar nail varnish so I was able to get away with painting it. (You wouldn't notice unless you looked up close.) Again, I believe it fell off due to my endless use of the swimming pool. But that's what holidays are for after all!

Overall, I'd definitely recommend a gel manicure and I will be having one again.

St Moriz tanning lotion versus tanning mousse

I've written about St Moriz tanning lotion before (here) when I first discovered it at the bargainous price of £3.00 in Wilkinsons. The next time I visited they had the mousse, so thought I'd try that too.

I have to say the mousse wins for me and I'll explain why along with the pros and cons of each to help you make an informed decision as to which would be best for you. Here is a summary of which wins each category for me:

Category	Lotion	Mousse
Even coverage		✓
Smell	✓
Colour		✓
Staying power		✓

The only real downside to the mousse it that when it's on you can notice that fake tan smell on yourself, I don't find this with the lotion. However, one plus side of the mousse is that it's easier to apply with an even coverage. As for the colour, the lotion does initially go on darker, whereas the mousse seems to be more developing. But, if you drip water on yourself once you've applied the lotion it takes off that top layer of the darker tan and leaves you with a patch. This doesn't happen with the mousse.

Which do you prefer?