When I'm Feeling Blue - Nails Of The Day - Sensationail Colour Gel Polish - Steel A Kiss*

Hey My Darlings - It's been a while again but I thought I'd ease myself back into the whole blogging thing this Bank Holiday Monday with a little nails of the day post.

I'm not going to lie I actually photographed this manicure a couple of months ago now and it's been sat in my drafts for goodness knows how long but it's too pretty not to share. My nails are currently super short again, but there are some signs of growth there, and when they are long enough to paint and stick under the lamp again, I will more than likely be applying this shade again.

Sensationail Colour Gel Polish in Steel A Kiss is by probably the most used gel polish in my collection, and I'm sure you can see just why I love it.

There are two things that I really love when it comes to nail polish, the colour blue, and sparkles, and this particular shade ticks both of these boxes. This gorgeous almost denim blue shade is crammed full of almost holographic sparkle - I'm probably not showing it in the best light here but wiggle your fingers in strong sunlight, or even a really bright indoor light and watch those sparkles flash! 

Application was a breeze, I used all of the Sensationail prep products and their top and base coat, and a full manicure probably took me less than 20 minutes. The finish is smooth and  super glossy and the wear time as you would expect from a gel polish is excellent - I got nearly 2 and a half weeks out of this particular mani with only minimal tip wear, and a couple of tiny chips.

Obviously the one drawback of gel polishes is the removal but despite the shimmer and sparkle this was pretty easy to remove without any chunky of glitter with both gel polish remover (acetone), and the gel polish remover liquid that looks like nail varnish. Both methods as you would expect are a bit drying on the nails and cuticles but I usually just load up on cuticle oil and hand cream for a few days to counteract any dryness. 

As the Phil Collins song goes "when I'm feeling blue all I have to do is take a look at you, then I'm not so blue" and for me that certainly applies to this nail polish - It just makes me happy every time I wear it and I will definitely be picking up another bottle.

The original Sensationail polishes are quite hard to find now but in my opinion they're worth tracking down. This particular polish the Sensationail Colour Gel Polish in Steel A Kiss, is still available though on Amazon for the pretty bargaintastic price of just £5.96. Obviously you need an LED lamp etc. but if you have all that, for me it's a no brainer x Are you a sparkly polish fan ? Let me know in the comments x 

*This Post Contains Affiliate Links

Nails Of The Day - Milani 3D Holographic Nail Lacquer - 512 Cyberspace - Reshot And Rewritten

Before I start on a run of unboxings and reviews I thought I'd share another re shot and rewritten nails of the day post with you. I originally talked about, and bought this polish way back in 2010 from an American based website called Cherry Culture.

Cherry Culture was a brilliant site that used to stock brands like Beauty Blender, NYX and Milani, and ship them over to the UK, long before they available in UK stores. I bought quite a bit from the them but one of the brands that I really came to love was Milani. I was always really impressed with the quality and the prices were incredible. Alas Cherry Culture now only seems to stock their own brand of products but the good news is that we can get an all be it limited, and slightly more expensive than I remember, range of Milani products in the UK from various retailers including Boots, Beauty Bay and Just My Look.

Something that doesn't seem to have made the trip across the Atlantic though are their nail polishes, which is a real shame. I only own 4 or 5 of them but the quality was excellent and they were great value for money. You can still buy their nail polishes in a few countries but from the research that I've done, their 3D Holographic range seems to have been discontinued. As a result of that I wasn't too sure about whether I was going to share this with you again, but it's so beautiful I that think it's worth sharing.

Milani 3D Holographic Nail Lacquer in 512 Cyberspace, is a gorgeous light blue, that is crammed full of holographic sparkle. With a long thin brush, it applied like a dream, there was no bittiness, or patchiness, just a formula and a nice even finish. To achieve the full depth of sparkle and the colour that you can see here I applied around 2 - 3 coats on each nail. As a result it takes a little bit longer to apply but it dries quickly and it leaves such a smooth, glossy multi dimensional finish, that it's well worth taking a little bit longer to apply it properly.

Now being a holographic polish it changes colour slightly, and dances, and sparkles when it hits the light. I've taken all of the photos that you can see above in natural light, but like in the photographs below,  when you add a bit of sunlight, incandescent light or even a camera flash it comes to life

I really don't think any of my photographs do this polish justice, it's so sparkly and gorgeous, and the wear time was excellent too. In fact even though this particular bottle is nearly 10 years old now, it's as good if not better, than it ever was.

As I say there is probably no chance that you'll be able to get your hands on this one now, but thankfully holographic polishes are a lot more accessible than they used to be, so you should be able to get your hands on something similar. I actually have a few similar shades in my collection including a real beauty from Maggie Anne, that I'll be sharing with in some future nails of the day posts. It's still a shame that this particular range has been discontinued by Milani, and I really hope that they consider bringing not only this range back, but also bringing their nail polish range back to the UK. Are you an fan of holographic nail polishes? Let me know in the comments x

A Review Of The Benecos Natural Highlighting Powder In Stardust*

Thanks to celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Victoria Beckham, layering on the highlighter has never been more popular. Whether you call it sculpting on strobing it all means the same thing, using a bronzer or darker shade to contour and shape your face, and a lighter shade of cream or powder, with or without shimmer to give you face a glow and that lit from within look.

I'm slightly obsessed with highlighters, and whilst yes, you can definitely over do it, a little bit of shimmer and light here and there, gives the face movement and texture and takes your make up to the next level. I probably have more highlighting powders and liquids than most department stores but I can't seem to stop adding to my already ridiculously large collection. I just can't help myself all that shimmer and sparkle just looks so pretty, it's no surprise therefore that for one of March's My Pure reviews I decided to try a pretty highlighting powder from one of the sites newest brands, Benecos.

I lost my Benecos virginity back in February when I tried their Natural Nail Care Pen (read my review here) and I have to say I was impressed not only by the brands philosophy but also by their very, friendly price point. This BDIH certified German brand produces a large range of affordable beauty products that contains predominantly organic natural ingredients and no nasty chemicals. There products are also cruelty free, and are free from genetically modified ingredients and gluten.

The product that I decided to try was the Benecos Natural Highlighting Powder in Stardust. Again Benecos are a brand that combines make up with skincare so this product is full of ingredients that are good for the skin including kaolin clay which is designed to absorb excess oil and aid wear time, natural light reflecting, mineral pigments including mica and organic moisturising oils including macadamia, sunflower, and castor seed.

Packaged in a basic but chic and practical, clear plastic compact, this is a solid, champagne, nude toned powder, packed full of tiny little sparkles There is a small floral design embossed on the top which isn't essential but it adds a nice touch to the product.

At first I found the powder quite hard and I didn't get a lot of pigmentation from it but once I'd used it for a while, and worn away the top layer it became a lot softer, and the pigmentation improved. I've tried to swatch it but to be honest I think it looks a bit flat in natural light and you really can't see the sparkle that well.

This isn't the most pigmented or sparkly highlighter on the market but if you're after a more subtle look then this could work for you. Your never going to achieve a shimmery, sharp  Kimmy K or Vicky B cheekbone with it but if you want a bit of glow it could work for you. I've been using this quite a bit over the last month, and I have found that you do need to put quite a bit on and blend it in well or at least I did. You can use it on the cheek bones, and the eyelids like I have here, and you can also use it on the decollete or the shoulders or anywhere the light naturally hits to give the skin a bit of a sheen. Again it didn't show up too well in the photographs but  strangely enough my huge pores did! Funny that but I've taken a few pics with the flash to try and give you some idea.

Because of the pale shade, and lack of pigmentation I don't think that this product would work on some skin tones but if you're after a subtle glow, you're on budget and you prefer to buy cruelty free, then this highlighter from Benecos could be something to try. The Benecos Natural Highlighting Powder in Stardust retails at £6.95 for 9g, from My Pure x  Are you a highlighter fan? Leave me a comment I'd love to hear your thoughts x

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