NOTD: Butter London Union Jack Black, Manicare, and a dash of the Green Fairy

I don’t always wear black nail polish, but when I do……

it’s always Butter London.

Here I am, posing creepily with Butter London Union Black Jack on my fingers.

I have a love- hate relationship with Butter London nail polishes- They dry so slowly I have to do the mani over 2 days; I’m useless the entire night while its drying; and I still end up with sheet marks in the morning. Yet, the beautiful colours and finishes from Butter London has me constantly coming back for more. There’s a sophistication about Butter London polishes that I can’t put my finger on, even if it’s a straight up black.

Top and Base Coats:

To prevent staining of my nails and to extend the life of the manicure, I’ve used Manicare Base Coat Plus Strengthener (rrp $13.50) underneath the colour + Manicare Beginning To End (rrp $15.50) on top. I find both products quite good as base coats so if you don’t care for a nail hardener I would say that the Beginning To End is all you need. As a top coat, Beginning To End performs well in terms of extending the life of my nail polish (by about 2-3 days longer than not using a top coat for Butter London on me)- however, it is not of the ‘quick dry’ variety of top coats.

I’ve also been trialling The Body Shop Absinthe Hand Cream. It has a pleasant aniseedy refreshing scent with a light texture that absorbs quickly with no residue which makes it great for the warmer months.

Note: The Body Shop Absinthe Purifying Hand Cream and Manicare products have been sent to me by PR for consideration. I purchased the Butter London polish previously.

Posted by myfunnyvalentine on Apr 17th, 2013 in Nail Polish, Skincare | 1 comment

Tags: nail care, The Body Shop

Stocking fillers: Body Shop Festive Treats

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Hi all!

I recently attended a launch of the Body Shop Christmas collection at the Collins Street store in Melbourne. After making sure we were not without a fresh glass of bubbly each, the Body Shop team walked us through their mouth watering collection of gourmand scented skin care, their new holiday makeup collection, and the story behind each carefully crafted re-usable vintage packaging.

Feast your eyes on these goodies…