Lazy Girl Beauty Must Haves

We've all had a case of the CBA's and for many it's a daily occurrence. Well, if you're one of these people. This post is for you.

Here are my three favourite things that I think every lazy girl needs.

1) Orgins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask - So for those evenings where the thought of a fully blown skincare routine leaves you edging towards sleeping in your make-up, use this guy. All you need to do is get the make-up off, give your face a wash and slap this on. (Then fall into bed.) You'll wake up with nice hydrated skin and a feeling of getting an extra five minutes sleep.

2) Bourjois Quick Dry Polish - If you're like me and love having painted nails but hate the process of doing it, then this guy is a life saver. Paint your nails in the colour of your choice, plop a drop of this on and your nails will be dry in about 2 minutes. It's perfect.

3) Batiste Dry Shampoo - I'm sure you've heard of this, and it's a morning lifesaver. Washing your hair can be a right chore, and an arm ache too if it's long. Sometimes you need to eek it out an extra day before washing and this is your guy. When it comes to dry shampoo, Batiste is the only way to go.

What are your lazy beauty faves?

Review: Bourjois Instant Dry

Earlier this year you may have read my post about the Mavala Oil Seal Dryer (http://call-of-beauty-xo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/review-mavala-oil-seal-dryer.html) which I absolutely loved. It dried my nails so well and really nourished them too. However one fatal afternoon I ended up knocking it over and lost about 3/4's of a bottle! Sad times. Whilst it is a great product I really didn't want to part with another £11 so soon. Then Bourjois released their Instant Dry so I decided to give it a go.

At first I was hesitant as I thought the pipette dropper would make the application messy, whoever I actually really like it. One small drop covers the whole nail, however it doesmt spill over the sides or make hardly any mess.

It really is instant dry. After about 10 seconds I can touch my nails and by about five minutes I'm good to do whatever I want. Perfect for those like me who forever need the loo after painting their nails or have to scratch their nose. Or are just plain lazy and can't be bothered to sit and wait for them to dry. (guilty!) 

What do you think of this?

Laura 

Giving Your Nails Some TLC

I love having freshly painted nails. Something about it makes me feel all special and girly. I hate, however, chipped nails and having to re-do them. That is just not fun. But I'm also a fussy one who doesn't like not having anything on my nails. I know, I'm never happy. However, lately I've found a little routine, mainly for Sunday, that leaves my nails looking and feeling healthy for the week ahead. Hurrah!

I begin my giving my nails a file with that round looking nail file you can see here. I like to do this whilst I still have the old polish on as my nails are stronger then and not weakened by nail varnish remover or water. Once I'm happy with the shape I then take my nail varnish remover and get rid of the polish that's left from the previous week.

Next up I take my Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover to get rid of any overgrown cuticles and help me push them back a bit. Once they're all pushed back I grab my No7 Revitalising Hand Saviour and give my hand a good scrub and refresh. I bloody love this stuff!!!

Nails and hands all fresh and washed, I take this second nail file and give my nails a bit of a buff and shine. Then it's down to painting. I find that something strengthening such as the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails is a good base coat when you're trying to rescue your nails. Finally, to make them look a bit more polished I grab Essie's Mademoiselle polish to go over the top. I find this colour is almost like a BB Cream for your nails if you like. Love it.

What do you do to treat your nails?

Laura xoxo

Trying the Trend: White Nails

So, extremely badly painted nails aside (the camera has made them look worse!)  I thought I'd try the whole white nail trend a try. It's definitely something I haven't dabbled in since the awkward primary school Tipex as nail varnish days.

My weapon of choice was Pseudo Silk Kimono by Deborah Lipman*. It's a matte offering which was a first to me. I've never really used a matte polish before, the application is a bit tricky if I'm honest. You have to work fast and really layer up the product to get a decent finish (yes mine is messy!)

The matte look reminded me a bit too much of tipex nails, so I decided to use a top coat that had a bit of shine to it, and I think that made the varnish a bit more wearable for me.

Overall I think this trend is quite interesting, however, can I pull it off? I don't really think so. I do however think it would look nice with some glittery polish over the top!

What do you think?

Laura xoxo

You can pick the polish up from LookFantastic here.

*this product was sent to me for review purposes, however all opinions and views are my own and I was not paid to write this post.

Review: Mavala Oil Seal Dryer

I'm sure many of you agree with me when I say waiting for your nails to dry is one of the most tedious tasks out there. The worst is when you've waited an hour, desperate for the loo or to pick up that biscuit next to you, and you end up smudging it within minutes. Well, fear not, I may have found a solution!

The Mavala Oil Seal Dryer aims to dry your fingers to touch within a matter of seconds, whilst also nourishing your cuticles. Sounds a bit too good to be true right? Well I've tested it and I must see I'm very impressed.

I've not once smudged my nails since using this, and it pretty much is dry to touch in a matter of seconds. The fact that it's an oil makes it super easy to apply too. You don't need to concentrate on the application and I find it has a nice nourishing quality to it too. I'm also hoping that this will mean I'll be able to use a whole bottle without any of the glooy -ness that occurs with polishes.

I've tried both the Sally Hansen Insta-Dry and the OPI Rapid Dry and must say that I think this wins hands down. Coming in just over £10 it won't break the bank and is definitely worth each and every penny.

Have you tried this? What do you think?

Laura xoxo

Manicure Must Haves

I love having freshly painted nails, however hate it when they start to chip after a few days. It got to the point where I just decided I couldn't be bothered with the up-keep and stopped painting them all together. But then I found some pretty awesome items that help keep my main fresh for a good 5-7 days, score! So today I'm sharing them with you.

Mavala Oil Seal Dryer - One of the most annoying things when painting your nails is the waiting time after. The number of times I've thought my nails were dry then ruined them is ridiculous. I did have a long standing relationship with the Sally Hansen Insta-Dry but it got to the point where that wasn't even cutting it for me so I decided to try this one, and boy am I glad I did. It dries my nails in seconds, and as it's an oil is really nourishing too.

Orly Bonder Top Coat - I would marry this little bottle if I could. The difference it's made to my nail lasting days is amazing. I honestly believe this is the reason my polish lasts for as long as it does. I can't sing its praises enough. I think everyone should try it.

Maybelline Super Stay 7 Days Colour in Clear - For me this top coat is the best I've tried. It gives a nice gel-like finish to the nails which I'm fond of and does help nail polish stay in place. It's not as good at keeping polish in place without Orly, but the finish is something I love.

Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover - I find it quite soothing to push back my cutilces each time I paint my nails and I think it's great at giving me a good canvas to paint as my nail beds are quite small. You simply pop this on your cuticles and after 15 seconds they've dissolved and easy to push back.

What're your manicure must haves?

Laura xoxo

Review: Orly Bonder Top Coat

I love having painted nails, theres just something about it that makes me happy and feel better about myself. However I hate having chipped nails, which usually occurs after two days of wearing nail varnish and I don't have the time or patience to keep on top of my nail painting, so for a while I stopeed painting my nails altogether.

Then a couple of weeks back I was watching a video my MissGlamorazzi and she mentioned this Orly Bonder Top Coat and I became a woman possessed trying to track it down to test it out.

I painted my nails on a Tuesday evening and the picture above is the following Sunday. Pretty impressive considering I'm constantly washing up at work and had done some tidying. I hadn't noticed anything wrong with it until the Saturday either. Plus, this is a No7 nail polish which doesn't last long on me anyway.

Overall I'm really impressed with this basecoat, my only issue is the size of the bottle. Smaller than my little finger I think it could be bigger, however for a fiver I can't grumble too much. Also hopefully I'll be able to use the whole bottle before it goes gloopy.

Have you tried this? What do you think?

Laura xoxo

Review: CND Sticky Base Coat

I love having painted nails, but hate having chipped ones and hate having to re-apply. It really is a love/hate relationship. So when I heard about a nail varnish that's meant to make your nail colour last, I jumped at the chance. The real question is though, does it really work?

Just applied//Four days later

Four days later without CND

So as you can see, it hasn't really made that much of a difference. Whilst it is a nice base coat, I doubt I'll be getting it again. Especially as it's quite difficult to get a hold of.

What do you think of this? Have you tried it?

Laura xoxo

Throwback Thursday: Rimmel's Coral Romance Nail Polish

Before I started blogging and was drawn into the whole world of shades and ranges of nail varnish that used to overwhelm me, the Rimmel Pro nail varnishes, and this colour in particular were my go-to. I have many a shade in this range, and do still rate them highly, but this was definitely my favourite. 

Now it's probably in my top three fave shades, I still love this product, but it appears they don't make it anymore (and I have a vast array of polishes.) Though O.P.I's Cajun Shrimp is an exact dupe (evidence!) and Hip Hop appears to be pretty similar, I still think you can't be the quality, colour and price of this varnish.

What do you think of this shade?

Laura xoxo

Friday Fact

Don't paint your nails straight after applying cuticle butter/oil to them.

I was surprised to read this a couple of weeks ago (I forget where) but, apparently is you apply polish straight after an oil or butter, it stops the nail varnish properly sticking to the nail, meaning it will come off quicker. Now I'm not a 100% sure how true it is, but when I thought about it, it kind of made sense. So save the moisturization till after you've finished painting.

Happy Friday!

Laura xoxo

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Friday Fact

File your nails before you take your polish off.

Filing your nails after you've used nail varnish remover, or whilst they are wet will make them break easier. This is because when they are wet they become weaker and are more prone to damages. So filing them whilst they are hard with polish on makes them stronger, and allows them to take the harshness of a nail file.

Happy Friday!

Laura xoxo

Throwback Thursday: O.P.I Kiss Me on the Tulips

This was my first ever O.P.I Polish, and I bought it just over a year ago now, and found it in my little (I have two of these 'little' boxes) nail polish box, and thought it was perfect for the sunny weather we were having.

Kiss Me On The Tuplips to be is pretty much a fuscia pink, with a bit of neon about it, and I love it. I forgot how much fun it was to wear bright colours on the nails, opting for nudes due to their ease, and dark colours due to the weather.

I know feel fully ready for summer.

What do you think of this colour?

Laura xoxo

Blogmas Countdown: 10 Nail and Lip Colours

For today's blogmas countdown, I thought I'd share with you 5 lip colours I think are perfect for the season, and 5 nail colours.

For lips:

For nails:

What are your favourite festive colours?

Laura xoxo

Blogmas Countdown: 12 Christmas Nail Arts

So, I wanted to symbolise Christmas somehow on my blog. In case you haven't noticed I've changed my header, but I also wanted to do posts related to the jolly holiday too. Twenty four Christmas posts seemed too much, so an advent style countdown was out of the question. Then I was informed the 12 days of Christmas start after Christmas (yes, I'm rather slow for not knowing,) so this is just a Christmas, or blogmas countdown. I hope you enjoy them. I'm startying with 12 festive nail arts.

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I think I'm going to have to try the Rudolph nail art.

Which is your favourite?

Laura xoxo

None of these nails are mine, unfortunately.

Autumn Nail Colours

I think I've mentioned before that I really love Autumn and Winter, they are two of my favourite months. I love snuggly jumpers and scarves, and whilst I also love the colour that summer brings, I can't wait to break out these darker colours sometime soon.

Don't Mess With O.P.I

Rouge Diva - Bourjois

Beige Babe - Rimmel Pro

Saville Row - Nails Inc.

Can not for a life of me find a name/number on this, but love the colour!

Are you looking forward to Autumn?

Laura xoxo

O.P.I Minnie Mouse Collection

Two post in one day, I haven't done that in a while, but I really couldn't wait to share this with you.
The lovely Shen sent me the mini set of the Minnie Mouse O.P.I Collection as I had been wanting it for ages. So firstly, major thank you to Shen.
Anyway, I am slightly Disney mad, and the thought of this collection left me feeling all warm and lovely inside.

In this collection is The Colour of Minnie, If You Moust You Moust, I'm All Ears and a RapiDry Top Coat. 

The Colour of Minnie is very much a red colour, but it has a slight silver chrome in it, which I think adds to the shine, and takes it away from a bright red, red. A gorgeous colour!

If You Moust You Moust, this colour kind of scared me in the bottle, but I really like it. I thought it would be a matte bright pink colour, but it is actually a nice shiny pink with a hint of purple in it.

I'm All Ears is the colour I was most excited for, and it did not dissapoint. To me, it reminds me of jelly. It is the perfect dark pink/ almost red colour with some glitter in it, without being a glitter polish.

Now, I kind of wish they had put the glitter heart polish in with this set, but this rapiddri is awesome. I love it just as much as my Sally Hansen Insta-dri, this is a more fluid version of that.

Overall, I love this collection, I think they are all perfect and wearable colours. Again, another big thank you to Shen.

Do you like this collection?

Laura xoxo

Check out my earlier post for some great fashion blogs :)