Revlon Nail Enamel in Grey Suede (705) review

On a recent trip to Florida, I had a list of beauty products that I knew I just had to buy while I was in the States to save myself otherwise extortionate shipping and customs costs to get them to the UK. Most of them are 'US only' shades or products and I'll do a big haul post once I've taken pictures of everything. So, in the meantime, I'll review this lovely polish from Revlon I picked up in Target.

Since finally having the courage to grow out my nails I have gone nail polish mad! Before going on holiday I researched lots of Revlon colours since I know them to be particularly long-lasting and chip resistant compared to other similar brands. This shade above, Grey Suede, stood out to me as being a very pretty neutral and when I couldn't seem to get it anywhere in the UK, I knew it was handy to be going to America the following week!

Colour: Now, this is one of those polishes that look different in every light. In the photo above, I was in a very well lit bathroom so it shows it's 'truest' shade, a creamy brown mink-y pink. In darker lights it looks a darker brown and in direct sunlight it sits on the pinker side of the spectrum.

Application: It applied well but needs about 2-3 coats to appear completely opaque. With a base and top coat applied I found that it didn't create air bubbles and had a nice shiny finish.

Longevity: Revlon polishes, as far as I've found, last well and this one lasted a good 4-5 days before chipping. I did have a strange occurrence on holiday where the colour on some of my nails gained a green tint in certain lights but I've pinned it down to me going in the pool too soon after painting my nails since it hasn't happened since in other applications!

Price: $4 US/£8 UK

Verdict: A wearable neutral polish that is great for every day and has good staying power. I should have bought more shades while I was in Florida!

Foundations for Pale Skin - with swatches

hi there!

This is my first post on this blog, so I decided to go for a topic that I've seen other fellow fair-skinned bloggers do, the inevitable foundation post!

Now, I'm a bit of a foundation junkie; it's practically what I spend all of my hard-earned cash on! I guess I'm on a kind of mission to find my perfect or 'HG' foundation that has top marks in the following sections:

• Colour: has to be pale enough; not ghostly white but definitely not orange. Undertones, of course, play a big part. Too many times have I bought foundations only to find out that they're too pink for me or too yellow. Personally, by following all the guides online concerning skin undertones, I think I'm quite neutral toned and this is the tone least catered to in the foundation market. Great.
• Consistency: can not be too heavy on the skin! Revlon Colorstay is a wonderful colour match for my skin but it's just too heavy, to the point where it feels like paint on my skin! I only ever wear it on bad skin days when I need extra coverage.
• Coverage: I like a nice middle ground when it comes to coverage, I have my foundations for days when I need lots of coverage and I have ones that are perfect for that no-makeup look, but my perfect foundation needs to be somewhere in between.
• Scent: for me, scent is quite a big factor. Most foundations carry that 'make-up' scent and that doesn't particularly bother me. I quite like floral scents (Laneige Snow Crystal foundation, gorgeous!) as long as they're not too overpowering. However, when make-up smells like industrial chemicals or paint (I'm looking at you, Revlon Colorstay!) then frankly I don't really want them anywhere near my face.
• Price: price used to be a big deal for me, but since making my way through most of the drugstore brands in my local Superdrug, I knew it was time to loosen my purse strings and start testing out the more higher end brands in hope of finding 'the one'. 

Every time I go to buy a new makeup product, or any product now that I think of it, I check out reviews from blogs online as they usually have photos and indepth analysis of the product and this is usually a deciding factor in whether or not I spend my money on it or not. I have spent so much money over the last year on buying and testing out foundations based on other people's recommendations that they are 'ideal' for pale skin, only to be disappointed.

So, I guess, the point of this blog is to help other people out there looking for their perfect foundation by saving them time and money and weeding out the foundation winners from the losers.

swatches of all my recently purchased foundations

L to R: Laneige Snow Crystal (13); L'oreal Infallible (Porcelain); Boots Botanics Complexion Refining (Almond); Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect (71); YSL Teint Radiance (Ivory); Bobbi Brown Skin foundation (Alabaster)

Last three: Gosh X-ceptional Wear (Porcelain); Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream (13); Revlon Colorstay (Ivory)

Revlon Colorstay; a nice colour match but too heavy on the skin!

Hope you enjoyed the swatch fest! As you can see, I have to wear the lightest shade in every range. I've ordered Illamasqua's Skin base foundation (02, nervous as it's not the lightest but then again, the lightest shade was white so...) and Nars Sheer Matte (Siberia) so I'll go into separate reviews on each foundation once those two babies are here and I've had time to properly investigate them!
Laters!