Monday 27 April 2009

REVIEW: Nivea Natural Beauty Daily Scrub, Moisturiser and Eyecream


I love getting the little sachets in the magazines with new products. I love to use them but I also seem to have accumulated two large bubble envelopes full of them?? This month I got a 3 part sachet with Nivea Natural Beauty offerings. I decided I needed to try it instead of storing it for future use. At first glance, I am not entirely sure why they call it "natural", the ingredients lists of all the products is a mile long.


I am not usually overly impressed by Nivea, I find it slightly too chemical for my liking. But the Daily Scrub is lovely! It is a rich gel-creme with tiny, tiny scrubbing particles in it. It feels and smells very luxurious indeed. It scrubs off dead skin cells gently, and makes the skin feel very smooth after. I could do with a tube of this stuff, and that's saying something! :)

The eyecream is ok, it wasn't too heavy or too thin. It is not perfumed, but does contain little shimmer particles to brighten the eye area which can be irritating if you have sensitive skin. I didn't think it made me feel as if it would be worth splashing out on, if you have bags/shadows around the eyes, you're better off with a an eye gel and a good brightening concealer, to be honest.


The moisturiser is very perfumed, which I don't like. The texture is ok, it isn't too thick or oily. It has little shimmer particles in it to illuminate the skin. This for me is just another face cream, I am not sure I am convinced by the "radiance" claims.


I think this series would appeal more to the younger crowd with post-teen skin. Something to brighten the face after a heavy night out, perhaps. Once you get a little bit older, your skinrequires more severe measures :P

Friday 24 April 2009

NOTD: Boots 17 "Smoke Signal"


Ya know, sometime you come across gems in drugstore brands that just restores faith in attainable and budget friendly beauty :) Like this new colour from 17. This is ONE coat with Sally Hansen Mega Shine; it's really shiney in itself, I just put on Mega Shine to speed dry the mani, I've got stuff to do :P


This is a lovely colour, very soft, dark grey. It's not really a spring colour, but I like it a lot!


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Thursday 23 April 2009

NOTD: Revlon "Not so blue-berry"


As far back as I remember I've had a penchant for gimmicky stuff... This came all the way from America! But this is actually a GOOD gimmick! It does actually smell very fruity, and goes on incredibly smooth and shimmers intensely. And the colour is a beautiful pale lilac-blue colour, perfect for spring! Woohoo! :)


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Could it be?...

I had word that there is a parcel waiting for me at home, potentially containing my scented Revlon nail polishes from America! :)


It was!!! And more swap awesomeness!! Woohoo!!


Wednesday 22 April 2009

Happy Earth Day!


So it's Earth Day, people. Here's my manicure for it, an "Orchid" wrapped in... ahem.. a "Money Tree"... :/ OK so it's a rubbish joke.


The lovely green (ALMOST identical to the HTF China Glaze "Moonpool" ) is Savina "Money Tree", and the lilac metallic is Barry M "Orchid". The Savina is quite sheer but has a nice depth to it, the Barry M is as most metallics very, very streaky, but sooo delicious!


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Tuesday 21 April 2009

FRANKENPOLISH: Cotton Candy


I never thought how hard it would be to choose "the perfect nude" for job interviews. China Glaze "Innocence" is lovely but just that bit too white to make me look ill at the moment. I needed something pinker, but still a creme jelly finish and obviously not TOO pink, it is supposed to be a nude after all. Also the see-thru pinky-white of "Innocence" was showing up my nasty peeling middle digit on my right hand. What to do? Well, first I scoured the shops for the perfect pink but didn't find it. Secondly, I despaired. The closest I came was Rimmel French Manicure "French Rose", which wasn't pink enough... Thirdly, I made it myself instead.


I started off with China Glaze "Innocence", then added a smidgen of Rimmel LycraPRO "Urban Princess" and then added the optical whitener goodness of Rimmel Nail Whitener, a bit of Isadora "Milkshake" (an offwhite nude) and then some Rimmel French Manicure "French Rose". Wow! It's the perfect pastelly Barbie pink jelly! And it disguises my peeling nail perfectly! Lets just hope that my potential employer think its lovely too, haha, they should only know the toils I went through to get it :)

Monday 20 April 2009

NOTD: Orly "It's up to blue"


I had a Mini Manicure bottle of this colour, and I love it. I don't know how she knew but Suggrr sent me a fullsize bottle of this in our swap :) I adore this! The colour is a metallic teal-green duochrome, like a tropical sea in colour. It's amazing, but tries my patience every time I use it...


I just forgotten how much I hate the application. This is a suprisingly streaky formula, and dries really slowly (hello dents..) It drags away previous layer of polish if you are not careful. I love to hate this polish! :) I used up the mini bottle, because even though I always get frustrated over the application of it, I love it so much that I still put it on!


The base colour is alike to Nails Inc "Hanover Street" but it has a very distinct green duochrome, which you cannot see properly in this swatch, as my camera cannot pick it up.


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Sunday 19 April 2009

NOTD: Sinful "Show me the way"


This is an amazing goldy-green sparkler! This is one of the many lovely little gems I got in the swap parcel on Friday, was soooooo hard to choose which one to put on! Finally this one won, as I thought I could wear the purples (for now) in the office and the greens are definitely going on my toes, greens were made for sandal toes! :) But as there is another local Bank Holiday tomorrow and I am not working, I put this on my tips so I can enjoy it fully!


This is 2 coats over Sally Hansen Miracle Cure with Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat. It's still got a slight VNL, but as my nails are still very stubby that's not really a problem. It was a bit runny to work with but if you take your time to apply it, this is not such a problem. I feel this is a sparklier sister to Zoya "Irene".


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Friday 17 April 2009

Swapping Goodness!


Lookie here what appeared in my mail today!! A great big fat swapping parcel all the way from America! They are all so lovely, I can't decide which one to try first???
Thank you so much, Suggrr @ MUA! :)

TGIF! or How Many Things Can Possibly Break In One Day?

I have now broken the photocopier - again, the office printer (that's 3 times in one week) and one of my nails. This morning the lens fell out of my glasses, but I had no time to put in my contacts so I had to take glasses off, tape the lens in, walk to work then use a handyman's kit to put it back in properly... :) Thank goodness it's Friday!

Thursday 16 April 2009

NOTD Barry M "Mint Green" & Testing My Email Blogging :)




I am trying something new thats available on Blogspot, blogging via email This appears to work fairly well. Here is Barry M "Mint Green", it is more green in real life, my camera cant cope with these colours very well. This is 3 coats and Sally Hansen Mega Shine. I love this colour! :)

Wednesday 15 April 2009

NOTD: Daffodils


The dotting tools arrived today, as you can see! :) Woohoo! I am planning a ladybug mani already! For when I get the hang of this dotting tool thing, they're very irregular in shape - and this is the good hand... :P
Anyhow, here is my Easter mani - albeit a bit late. This is 2 coats of my bright friend Misa "Bikini with a martini" with dots of Misa "Speed of life" and Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat. Bright and cheerful, and in colour similar to the daffodils on my dining table - deep orange-red centre flutes surrounded by vibrant orange-yellow. So cheerful! :)

Tuesday 14 April 2009

New Kid On The Blog: Wixology

I would like to introduce a new blog, Wixology. Wixbetty, as she's best known to me, is a nail polish crazy gal with some ingenious ideas who recently set up her own blog and is currently showcasing some pretty exciting stuff! How about... extreme closeups of nail polish?? Just go into the older posts once you've admired her holographic Easter loveliness... I was truly amazed, and I think you will be too so head on over and check her out now!

Monday 13 April 2009

NOTD: Cherry Blossom


I'd like to call this manicure "Cherry Blossom" because of the colours used and the delicate Konad pattern of small flowers :)


This is my Easter manicure, I thought of doing the colourful Easter egg-y dotting tool manis I've seen on MUA and the blogs, but I couldn't get it right 'cause I am such a klutz, so I decided to stick to what I can do! This is possibly my cutest Konad manicure yet - I love the delicate colours and flowers! :)


The pink is 2 coats of Barry M "Bright Pink 279" and the flowers were made with Bloom "Isla" and Konad plate M2. This is finished with a slick of Sally Hansen Mega Shine.

Saturday 11 April 2009

NOTD: Color Club "Power Play"


I love this colour, unfortunately my camera cannot capture the depth of this nail polish. It is a royal purple neon. This is 2 coats over Sally Hansen Miracle Cure. I used Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat for this manicure. I loved it years ago when it was first launched but I somehow forgot about my old friend when I got hold of Seche Vite and Poshe. But our friendship has been restored, all is forgiven! :) Supershiney and dries quickly too, and if you shop around, you can get Mega Shine for less than half the price of Seche Vite.


I am on a neon high at the moment, I can't get enough of these ultra-bright colours :) I am soooo ready for summer!!


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Thursday 9 April 2009

Frankenpolish: "Minty"


OK so I went a bit crazy when I finally got my hands on Barry M's Dazzle Dust in "Mint Green" and took full advantage of the special offer and bought two - one for the eyes and one for making a Frankenpolish. "Mint Green" is amazing on the eyes, so I decided to dig out some bottles of clear nail polish kicking around in the stash. Got an empty bottle, filled it halfway with clear polish and then used a paper funnel to put the Dazzle Dust into the polish. I filled it up to the rim of pigment, dropped in two ballbearings, put the brush in, closed it tightly and shook it up. And my goodness!! It's a minty green shimmery love fest!! It is a little bit greener and slightly darker in real life. I've yet to try it on, as it's too dark to get a decent photo of a mani anyway... :)


Frankening with pigments usually mean that the pigments will separate and sink to the bottom so you will need to shake it up, then roll it gently to get the bubbles out before you use it. You may well have to shake and roll between hands as well. That's the reason there is lots of bubbles in this shot - but the bubbles escape easily when you roll the bottle gently. But it's worth it - if you get the right pigment, the colour will be unbelievably rich and vibrant!

Tuesday 7 April 2009

REVIEW: Sally Hansen Diamond Cuticle+Nail Creme

I've suffered some extreme cuticle conditions lately so I've been trying out different combinations of oils and creams to get them to behave. They're splitting and bleeding and look terrible, which you can see in my recent NOTDs.


I got myself Sally Hansen Diamond Cuticle+Nail Creme as it looked promising in it's claims to turn dry, neglected cuticles and brittle nails to smooth cuticles and strong healthy nails. This is concoction is described as "ultra-rich". They're not kidding. It's like putting putty on your cuticles. It's even thicker than Lush Lemony Flutter. It has a strong coconutty smell to it which lingers a bit, so it's best put on before bedtime.

But it so works! I'm never trading in my lovely, luxurious Solaroil for everyday cuticle maintenance but this has certainly turned the tide on my superdry cuticles. I will probably use it as an intensive treatment. It's pretty expensive for a drug store brand at £7 but as its so thick, I think the product it will last a good 6 months at least.


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Monday 6 April 2009

NOTD: Misa "The grass is greener on my side"


Cheerful name, cheerful colour :) Back to micro-nails after breaking a nail and bruising the nail bed at work. I think I need to file my nails right down every week, they grow so quickly. Anyway, I've been dying to try this polish out! It has the same amazing application, drying time and pigmentation as all my other Misa's. Shame these polishes are so hard to find in the UK, they are amazing! This is 2 coats over Sally Hansen Miracle Cure and Poshe top coat.
As with all my neons, this is impossible to capture on camera. It is really sea-green with a strong shimmer, very juicy looking.


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Sunday 5 April 2009

NOTD: Rimmel "Climax"


Wow, this is still sooooo cool, 7 years on! This lovely lilac shimmer has a pink glow that I can't capture on camera. Slightly similar to Sparitual "Disco Inferno". All my old Rimmel's are in dire need of some Seche Restore thinner, this is soooo goopy hense the messy cuticles. But they are so awesome, I love them! :)
Might get banned from Blogspot if I keep posting with naughty words in the title :P My fibromyalgia is bothering me a lot again, and I feel achy and foggy, so I slapped on the Xen-Tan again - it always makes me feel so much better with a bit of colour :) I think I will actually put on Fyrinnae's Meerkat eyeshadow tomorrow to go with my nails! :)

REVIEW: Naked


I've been into organic and natural body care lately and I picked up some Naked products when they were on special offer a few months back. Naked is a natural range of body and hair products with no petrochemicals, phtalates or sulphates. They've recently revamped their appearance, so I assume these were on sale for that reason as they have the old bottles :)


So how was it for me? The Detox hair range is really good for clearing your hair of old products and gives my fine hair a lot of body. It's something I use once a week or so, I think it would be slightly too harsh if you used it every time you washed your hair. All the products have a nice herbally scent from the natural ingredients.


I am in love with the Rose with no clothes body cream, its also slightly sparkly and makes me feel gorgeous! :) And the Starflower Stark Naked body wash is a lovely hydrating body wash that is also gentle on fake tan (yes folks, it's that time of the year again...)


I think this is a reasonably priced and gentle range, they have something for everyone I think!


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Friday 3 April 2009

NOTD: New York Summer "Amaranth"


Love at first sight! The moment I saw this polish on the blogs I knew I would love it! And I do! Swapping made it possible for me to get my mitts on this beauty. It's easy to apply, this is two coats. Its more forest green than this photo, it was really hard to capture. The Konad is Rimmel Camouflage. It dries matte which is really cool but my Konad won't sit without top coat so I put on the old trusty Poshe. Please excuse the scraggy cuticles and left over bits of Konad :)


Speaking of top coats - my very first fast-dry, super-shine love affair was Sally Hansen Mega Shine, years ago, when it was novel and new. It's been forgotten about I feel. I loved it, and now when I am replacing my Poshe and Seche Vite because of the price and postage on these two, I will be running a little trial with SH Mega Shine v Poshe and Seche Vite... So stick around! :)


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Wednesday 1 April 2009

NOTD: NYX "Jungle"


I am so totally into swapping! Once again I was overwhelmed by the fantastic experience that is people swapping what they don't want for something they do want :) What I wanted was NYX "Jungle", and I got it, and a bunch of great extras, all green!


So this is the experience that is NYX "Jungle": incredibly oceanic duochrome with a juicy, jelly finish. This is 3 layers. "Jungle" is one of those polishes I've craved for ages, and boy, it doesn't disappoint.


Lina-Elvira Loves It Thiiiis Much:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥