Sinful Colors Nail Polishes | Collection & Swatches

Swatches - clockwise from far left | Unicorn / Cloud 9 / Pinky Glitter over 290 / 290 / Dare Devil / Timbleberry / Soul Mate / Let Me Go

Show me a blogger who doesn't love a good nail polish. Ever since I was a little girl I've loved painting my nails pretty colours and it's just something I find relaxing to do of an evening. If ever I have a spare fiver and fancy treating myself, I'll often pop a nail polish in my basket on a stroll through Boots.  For me, nail polish is just one of those instant almost-guilt free pick-me-ups - they don't cost the earth and you're never stumped for choice. They're just colourful, pretty little bottles of happiness and rainbows for me. I'm very much a nail polish magpie!  It comes as no surprise then, that I recently treated myself to a selection of new summery shades  from Sinful Colors.  I spotted them a while back on a casual mosey around the shelves of Boots, and at £1.99 I couldn't resist. I bought myself my first bottle and I've been hooked ever since (this was only a couple of weeks ago so to say I now have 8 is saying something!). They're just really good quality polishes, and the shade range is amazing.  They offer everything from pastels, to brights, glitters and darker 'classic' shades.  The application is lovely and I haven't found a 'gloopy' one yet - the bottles are also of really good size - much bigger than your average bottle o' polish! Smashing. I thought I'd give you a run through of the shades I picked out...

Unicorn | A pastel yellow
Cloud 9 | A vibrant, bright orange with teeny-tiny shimmers
Pinky Glitter | A pink glitter polish with a pink coloured base
290 | Bright fluorescent pink (it's much brighter in person than shown on the nail-wheel)
Dare Devil | A vibrant fuchsia with shimmers (this is so bright in person - the photo doesn't do it justice!)
Timbeberry | Reddy-coral
Soul Mate | Warm toned pink
Let Me Go | Pearlescent purple/lilac which changes to blue in the light depending on how you look at it.

What I love about these polishes is the amount of coats it takes to get them fully opaque - I kid you not, I could probably have gotten away with one coat of 'Timbleberry' and 'Soul Mate'. Personally, I prefer two coats anyway to coat any bits I may have missed with the first one but these 2 shades are so impressive.  The rest are very similar - they're not at all sheer and require very little building up at all. Honestly - you'll have to try them to believe me! They're amazing. Probably the best nail polishes I've ever had for pigmentation on first 'swipe' - big claims!  Of course, this does vary with the pearl-y finish ones.  'Let Me Go' takes a while to build up but this is one that I'd wear over a lilac polish anyway.  Even the pink glitter impressed me. I haven't yet worn this on the nails, but when painting the nail wheel I expected the colour pay off to be a bit sheer and not too great (as with most glitter polishes) so I painted a coat of '290' to layer it up with.  But the swatch above of 'Pinky Glitter' on its own is just 3 coats and it actually looks pink. I'd probably still layer it - but I was still impressed with the finish of it.  The polishes themselves dry fairly glossy - aside from '290' which dries quite matte.  I've applied a glossy top coat on top of each swatch purely so you can see what the finished result is with each one - I love glossy nails so this is just a step I never really leave out. I couldn't live without my top coat!

My personal favourite has to be 'Dare Devil' - it's the most vibrant pink fuchsia purple I own and it looks amazing with a bit of a tan. I also really love the vibrant orange colour of 'Cloud 9' - I cannot wait to wear this in the height of summertime or on holiday! I'm usually not one for orange polish but I made an exception with this one - it was just too stunning to ignore. Overall, I really recommend Sinful Colors and I can imagine my collection won't stop here.  I honestly really love them to bits and for £1.99 each they're an absolute steal.

Have you tried Sinful Colors? Which shade takes your fancy?

Liz Earle | Hot Cloth Cleanser

Liz Earle | Cleanse & Polish | Hot Cloth Cleanser Starter Kit - £14.25

One thing that I've been more aware of ever since I started reading blogs, let along writing my own, is skincare.  I have ridiculously sensitive skin and I struggle no end finding products to suit it. It's mostly normal - I don't struggle over the top with dryness or excessive oil but I do suffer from a bit of uneven skintone here and there, visible pores and the odd pesky spot now and again. I've been using the Hot Cloth Cleanser now since Christmas time, and have noticed the benefits of it already - not only has it helped to clear some of the uneven skin tone around my inner cheeks, it has also seemed to aid the healing of blemishes at the same time as helping to keep winter skin moisturised. I can really see now why this product receives as much praise as it does...

My Motherbear bought me the starter kit for Christmas containing the 100ml Cleanser and 2 muslin cloths. You simply apply and massage the cream into a dry face and neck - you can even apply it over the eyes as its removes all makeup. You then rinse the muslin cloth in warm/hot water, and 'polish' off the cream. This feels absolutely divine. Honestly, it's addictive. The hot water feels as if it's bringing all of the impurities to the surface and polishing with the cloth exfoliates all of the 'badness' away. The cream is really rich and smooths out easily, and smells really natural and fresh. It contains naturally active ingredients such as cocoa butter, rosemary, chamomile and eucalyptus - and has a very refreshing and soothing aroma that I find rather relaxing both in the morning and at night.  After removing my makeup and cleansing with the cloth, I splash my face with cool water and proceed with the rest of my skincare regime. My face always feels so soft at the end - it really does remove all the cruddy-stuff your skin has collected during the day.

At first, I wasn't sure how i was going to get on with a hot cloth cleanser. It has received such good reviews but part of me always wondered if I could personally be bothered to use one (that sounds so lazy, i know). When I'm tired I really just want to get into bed and i really don't enjoy cleanse, toning and moisturising at night - but at the moment this is something I really enjoy and it's nice that I'm starting to see the benefits of it.  It's just really soothing, and the heat from the cloth makes you feel as if you are getting a really good, thorough deep cleanse.  Overall, a really big thumbs up for Liz Earle so far - it's not given me any grief with my silly sensitive skin, and it's helped to soothe some of my uneven skin tone. It's safe to say that at the moment, I've been converted to a completely different cleansing routine.

What are your thoughts on Liz Earle/hot cloth cleansers?

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