Fave 5 Bourjois products

There are so many excellent and affordable brands available on the high street these days, but one brand I have been particularly impressed with this year, is Bourjois. This is a brand that's actually been around for a looong, looong time and I had used Bourjois several times before and even though I had been happy with most of the products, I wasn't completely blown away. But this year I've really become a bit of a Bourjois ambassador. It all started when I discovered the fab Healthy Mix Foundation last year, but also some amazing lip and nail products earlier this year. I know that I have mentioned lip products in other earlier posts, but I still wanted to do a post focusing only on Bourjois as a brand, and to show you my current favourite five products.

Since we've had such amazing weather and I was also lucky enough to go on holiday earlier this year, I've had quite a tan for the last few months and I love to play on this in my make up. As you will have seen in my Summer makeup bag post I've been using golden, bronze shades but also vibrant pops of color on my eyes, especially in the evenings. My go to bronzing powder has been the lovely Delice De Poudre in shade 52. It's such a cute package in the shape of a chocolate bar, and it does smell faintly of cocoa as well. The texture is very fine and pliable, so it's easy to work with both to blend in and to build up, so you can use it either for sculpting or as a blusher. As my tan is gradually fading away this is about to be too dark for me, but I will definitely try to get hold of this product in shade 51 so I can continue to use it for the next month or so - until I'm back to my old translucent self. 

On one of my many beauty scouting trips to Superdrug, my eyes were immediately drawn to an eye pencil that was whispering my name (more shouting actually) and it was the Eye pencil in Bleu Clinquant, which is a gorgeous and intense, metallic electric blue shade that I've been wearing on my lower waterline for a dramatic effect. I am cautious of wearing blue shades that close to my eyes since I have reacted badly before to blue eye pencils and mascaras from other brands, but this eye pencil is not only waterproof, it's also very soft to work with. You barely need any pressure at all, and still you'll end up with a lovely and even application. I can't recommend this eye pencil enough, and if you're looking for more natural shades, Bourjois also has a lovely golden and chocolate brown in the same great formula.b

Chubby sticks are definitely the latest rave and you'll now find some version of them, either for eyes or lips in almost every brand but for me the Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayons are among the best, and I now have all the shades currently available. Today I'll only focus on the Lip Crayon in Red Sunset and in Fuchsia Libre since I've talked about the other two shades in my post Lip Service. The formula of the Lip Crayons is amazing - it's smooth, glossy, moisturizing and still highly pigmented. Both colors shown today are shades with a blue undertone; Red Sunset is a bright, deep red electric crimson and Fuchsia Libre is a lovely bright, but soft rose pink. All these shades wear fairly well throughout the day, but you will definitely need to retouch after you've eaten. These are so lovely to wear since they don't dry up, and the fact that they're not sticky in the least is a huge plus in my book - I really hope there will be more shades to look forward to soon!

b

Swatches from left to right:

Delice De Poudre Bronzing Powder - Shade 52

Colour Boost Lip Crayon  - 1 Red Sunrise

Regard Metallise Eye Pencil - 54 Bleu Clinquant

Colour Boos Lip Crayon - 2 Fuchsia Libre

Since I'm a big nail polishaholic I go through nail polish removers faster than the speed of light and one of the best removers available is the Magic Nail Polish Remover. Not only is it quick and easy to use, but it's also acetone free. I have used other versions of this dip and twist product before from other brands, but when you go through as many shades in a week as I do, it's essential that the remover is as gentle as possible, and since this little pot of magic also contains almond oil I get a little bit of care at the same time. If you use glitter polishes it does take longer to remove it, but otherwise in the blink of an eye - the nails are ready to be prettified again.

One of my most loved nail polish shades this summer has been Blue No Blues from the 1 Seconde Nail Polish range. Speed is of the essence when it comes to nails and that's the whole concept of this range - it should take one quick dry coat and then you're ready to go. This is a gel formula, enriched with silicone to give ultra glossy finish (so you don't need to use top coat, another time saving point) and it has a wonderful wide brush to help with even application. It really does work - it's quick to apply, it dries faster than you can say Bourjois and the shine is great. I love this gorgeous aqua blue shade although on my nails it doesn't last more than perhaps 2 days before I have to touch it up again - but on the other hand when touching up only takes a second to do, it's not really a big deal.

Blue No Blues

If you haven't tried any of the Bourjois products before I hope I have tempted you by introducing my favourite five and if you're already a Bourjois fan - which are your most loved products? If there's another particular brand that you would like to see my favourites from, please leave me a comment below!

At your fingertips

With so many nail polishes and so little time, it's important for me to look after my nails and hands. So in between painting my nails all the colours of the rainbow I try to fit in products that provide some care and nourishment as well.

A while back one of my bad habits was to pick off nail polish with my fingers as soon as it started to chip - I just couldn't help myself and it was terrible for my nails. Since I discovered Pretty Quik Instant Nail Polish Remover there's no need for any of that anymore. There are several version of this out there and Bourjois is a well known one, but this little cheapy works just as well. Open the bottle, put your finger in it and twist to get rid of any polish. For ordinary polishes it takes seconds for it to disappear, but if you're wearing several layers or maybe even something sparkly (oooohhh, yes!!!) it might take a little longer. It's a little miracle in a bottle. The only thing I can't stand with this product is the smell - the remover is phenomenally effective but the pungent smell of acetone could knock out an elephant. I really wish they had a similar product that was acetone free - and it would be more healthy for nails too. The things we endure for a magnificent mani....

After that I'll use my beloved glass nail file to do any shaping necessary - truth be told, I do this as little as possible since I find that once you start filing your nails a lot, they get more and more brittle. The great thing about glass nail files is that you only need to barely touch your nail and you've corrected what you wanted. And of course there are so many pretty designs out there with sparkles, flowers, butterflies - you name it and I'm sure you can find it on either Amazon or eBay.

I've tried many nail polishes from Essie but up until a while ago never any of their nail care products, and truthfully I wasn't at all sure about the Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil when I bought it. I thought £9.95 was pretty expensive and I've used some great products that were bargain buys from Lush and Avon, but since I like to try different things I had to take the leap. It has a subtle apricot smell that makes it pleasant to use, it's absorbed quickly and it seems to do the trick. But you can get any of all the multi purpose oils that are popular at the moment, and probably achieve exactly the same result.

When it comes to nail care, there's no other brand in my opinion that produces so many little gems that really do work, as Sally Hansen. I've tried many of their products, and at the moment I alternate between the Sally Hansen Miracle Nail Growth Treatment and the Sally Hansen Nail Growth Serum.

The Miracle Nail Growth Treatment can be used as a base coat, and should then be reapplied every other day to bare nails. When I don't use that, I opt for the Nail Growth Serum and massage that into both the nail and the cuticle. Out of the two products I probably prefer the lacquer since for me that replaces the base coat, but regardless of which one you go for they certainly make your nails grow. A few years ago I had very short nails and simply couldn't seem to get them nice and long. I tried the Nail Growth Treatment and haven't looked back since. If you were to have only one single nail care product - THIS would be the one to invest in. 

I do try to give my nails a few days of rest without polish every couple of weeks to let them breath, but if I do apply a colour I'll finish off with the Rimmel Finishing Touch Ultra Shine Top Coat. Again I know that there are many options available for top coats, including the cult item Seche Vite Top Coat, but for me Rimmel works just as well, and I love the gleaming shine this gives.

I finish my glam it yourself mani with a nice creamy hand lotion and it doesn't get much better than the Caudalie Hand & Nail Cream. It has an absolutely divine smell that makes me feel energized and ready to get on with things - sun kissed Valencia oranges with a sherbetty sparkle for freshness that remind me of citrus candy. Not only does it smell amazing, but it also nourishes your hands and leaves them feeling soft, soft, soft!