November Favourites 2012

Hey,

So, we're back around to the time of the month where everyone starts to post their favorite products/things from the previous month. I really like these kinds of posts (and the similar videos on Youtube) because you can see what products people have been loving and it helps if you want to get a few opinions on a product before you buy it yourself. As always, links are included wherever possible!

First up, I've gone slightly nail polish mental this month and they are a large chunk of my favourites and this is why. I went through a very long period of time without wearing any nail polish at all, because of my emetophobia (I was worried I would associate which nail polish I was wearing with being ill, if it ever happened. Sounds crazy but it just shows, when I say it affects every aspect of my life, i really mean it!) and it's only been the last few months that I've been gradually starting to wear it as regularly as I used to. These are the ones I've been loving the most-

Models Own Nail Polishes in Snow White and Juicy Jules

(L-R: Juicy Jules & Snow White taken with flash)

(L-R: Juicy Jules & Snow White taken without flash)

 These colours are currently what I have on my nails at the moment and I really love the combination- it's very wintery looking, especially the Juicy Jules glitter polish which reminds me of frost. The Snow White polish is just a basic white polish that is pretty much opaque after two or three coats. You get 14ml of polish for just £5 which is a bargain really, especially compared to some other brands such as Nails Inc or Butter London. Also if you purchase them from the Models Own website if you buy 3 polishes you save £3 and if you buy 5 you save £7 and the packaging they are delivered in is really nice too!

The Juicy Jules polish is what I really want to talk about though! At first glance, and even in the picture on the Models Own website, it seems to be just a basic silvery glittery nail polish but it's so much prettier than that. The glitter particles are really fine and circular, but when the light hits it just the right way either in the bottle or on the nails it turns almost holographic and instead of plain, boring silver it becomes rainbow coloured. I really love the look of this polish as it can be quite subtle or you could apply more or even mix it with a different size or shape of glitter polish.

I also mentioned these polishes in my recent Movember Favourites post, with more pictures of them on my nails rather than in the bottle. 

E.L.F Nail Polishes in Mint Cream & Fire Coral 

(L-R: Mint Cream & Fire Coral)

 E.L.F is another brand that I've recently been using a lot and I particularly love the formulas of their nail polishes. These are only £2.50 a bottle for 10mls and E.L.F quite often have special deals and codes which mean you can pick them up for even cheaper than that!

Mint Cream was one I recently purchased after seeing quite a lot of people wearing minty coloured nail polishes and really liking it. Normally I steer very well away from anything with even the slightest tint of green, and although I am still on the lookout for a slightly bluer toned mint polish, I fell in love with this colour almost straight away. I think this is about as close to green nail polish I will ever get to! 

I received the Fire Coral polish in a goody bag that E.L.F were doing a while ago with every purchase (they do these occasionally so keep an eye out for that, as well as the codes!) and again, it's not normally a colour I would have chosen if I'd seen it on the website but I instantly fell in love. It's a mix of red and orange, verging more on the red side I would say so is perfect for people like me who aren't a fan of bright bright orange but don't want a bog standard red polish either. 

E.L.F are currently running a discount code to celebrate their 5th birthday but it only last until 10.30AM on Monday 3rd December 2012, as it is only a 24hour code. It's a 50% discount for purchses over £30 so I will definitely be making a little purchase and I would reccomend you do too!! 

Nails Inc Kensington Caviar 45 Second Top Coat

I promise this is the last nail polish related item in this favourites post! I hadn't realised how many I actually had until I started to write!! 

I received this in the November Glossybox in a 4ml sample size worth £5 and I was really pleased to see it in my box as I'd wanted to try it for a while but wasn't sure if I wanted to pay £12 for a full 10ml bottle. After trying it a few times this month I will absaloutely be reurchasing it in a full size. I was using Seche Vite previously and I don't know if I was applying it wrong or something but I could paint my nails in the morning and have a guarenteed chip in my nails by the end of the day which I was not impressed with! If anyone has any tips for getting Seche Vite not to chip that I'm clearly missing, then please leave a comment! Anyways, Kensington Caviar is doing much, much better on the chip proof test! I painted my nails on Tuesday and it's now Sunday and it's only been today that I've got a real chip on my nails which is pretty good going! I currently have two of these mini bottles to get through, thanks to the free gift from Nails Inc after I spent above a certain ammount on their website and then I can definitely see myself purchasing the full size! 

Ok, onto products that aren't nail polish!! I thought that was never ending hehe...

Dermalogica Daily Microexfoliant

This was another product from the November Glossybox and at first, I admit I was a tad sceptical. It's a powder, rice based exfoliant which when mixed with water becomes a paste and you use it as any other scrub after that. I couldn't believe that a powder could exfoliate but I was definitely very wrong and this has quickly become one of my favourite ever products and not just for November! It's a very strange product to use the first time but it has a nice smell and texture to it and it leaves my skin feeling so soft and smooth and just lovely! The only downside I have to this product is it's difficult to gauge how much to use as it just pours out the top really quickly. It is expensive at £38.50 for 75g which I would pay because it is such a good product! 

Garnier Skin Naturals Pure Active Fruit Energy Daily Energising Gel Scrub

This is the face scrub that I've been using for the past few months (and there is also a gel wash which I haven't tried yet) and it's the best one for my skin that I've found so far. My skin can be quite oily (lovely I know!) but I also have patches of dry skin, especially across my cheeks and my nose. This is meant for use on oily skin prone to imperfections and it's definitely the best scrub I've found for my oily skin but I'm sure if I'm a fan of the actual scrub. After using it my face does feel a bit tight but once I apply moisturiser it's fine so that doesn't bother me. It has extracts of grapefruit, pomegranate and Vitamin C and has a really nice fruity scent to it. 

So, after feeling like I would never get to the end of this post i finally made it! Hooray!! I hope you enjoyed reading about my favourite things from this month- what have been some of yours? 

Also, my next post will be a review of The Body Shop 3-in-1 Honey and Oat scrub mask which has also been one of my other faves this month. Keep an eye out for that, it should be up sometime this week, if not the next few days! 

Lauren
xx