Spotted! Essence Hidden Stories and KIKO Perfect Gel Duos.

A quick update for you this morning, our local Essence stand has a new Trend Edition available.  This is Hidden Stories. It mainly pastel in the range, both in the eye products and nail products.  The nail products come in a variety of finishes.  There is a matte one, a frosted one, a sparkling one, a metallic one and an iced one.  Not sure what the last one is, but you can see them all here. Also on my travels in Leeds, I saw the new KIKO Perfect Gel Duos.  A good range of core colours.  You get the nail colour and the gel top coat.  According to the website they are limited edition, so if they catch your eye, best to grab them sooner rather than later! RRP is £7.90 and all shades appear available on the website.  

I know not both of these ranges are easily available to everyone, but KIKO can be ordered on the website and Essence can be found in more and more Wilcos stores.  Not sure on the availability of the Trend Editions, but if you see them in your local Wilcos, do let me know in the comments.

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Essence The Gel Nail – Wear Test with Electriiiiiic

So I picked up two, well three in the end, of the new Essence Gel Nails range that has just been released.  You can see what the stands look like on this Spotted post.  And I’ve been giving them a test drive whilst visiting family over Easter.

First up are the top and base coat needed to make the Gel nail polish, Gel Nails…. these are £2.50 each. These are the two polishes I bought originally – one the left the Jelly is Bubble Gum and one the right, the blue shade is Electriiiiiic The instructions are quite clear, base coat, then gel nail polish and the finally the top coat.So following these instructions I put on the base coat.  It dries quickly to a waxy finish.  Even when its dry, it is slightly tacky to touch.  it is recommended that you wait until each layer is dry before doing the next one.  Then I applied one coat of Electriiiiiic.

Formula was good, similar to the regular Colour and Go polishes, it was not opaque with one coat.  I then waited until the first coat was dry, before adding a second which evened out the colour and provided better depth. After a few minutes drying, I applied the top coat.  This is quite gloopy and takes a bit of getting used to, I did flood my cuticles once and then didn’t apply enough on another occasion.  However, once on it does dry quite quickly and is touch proof in about 4 mins and rock hard within 10.

So, here we go, a long line of images showing you the polish at the point of application, 2 days later and then 5 days later.  I couldn’t manage more than 5 days as I was itching to change my polish!

First up, after the original application –  

Here is the polish after application on the way to work – you can see the glossy finish.

I found that the first small chips appeared quite quickly.  This may be because the sides of my nails are weaker and I have a little bit of splitting and peeling on one or two of them as well.

This is 2 days post application –

As you can see only a little bit of tip wear on my thumb.

Here you can see chips on the sides of several nails but overall, unless you inspected in great detail, I don’t think you could actually notice.  The glossy finish from the first day is still apparent.

Finally, 5 days post application

You can clearly see the chips on the sides of my nails now, they have gotten larger over time.  The shine is still evident despite having been on for five days.

First thoughts – I am quite impressed with the wear time of this polish. It will be interesting to see if this is repeated with other shades in the range (another review coming up in a week or so..)  What I do like about the range generally is the price point, £2.50 for the top and base coat and £1.60 for the polish, and the fact that the whole range has been done as The Gel Polish.  I didn’t try it on its own, but I would imagine it would be similar to a regular polish.

The top and base coats are a little bit smellier than regular polishes, so work in a ventilated area away from anyone who is sensitive to smells.  The finish is also quite impressive, it  is super shiny and remained so throughout my wear test.

I haven’t tried any other gel nail combo so I have nothing for comparison, but I would say for a weekend away, or a period of time when you know you will not be able to change your polish, this might be for you!

Have you tried other gel polishes?  Let me know what you think the comments, could you try the Essence Gel Nails?

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here. I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

Spotted! New Essence The Gel Nail

I was in quite a large Wilcos and having seen a new leader for The Gel Nails, I thought it best (for you my dear reader natrually) to pop by the Essence stand and see if the Gel Nails had actually landed. And they had! Along with some of the other new products….

So first up, just to say that this Wilcos has two bays making up it Essence display, so you may need to either visit a stand alone pop up or a larger store to get a bigger range.

As you can see, the whole top row on this bay and the next, is given over to the new polishes.  Every polish is the Essence core range is now a Gel Polish.    Here you can see is still includes the special finishes, such as the matte one you can see above.  Here you can also see the base and top coat needed to make the nails Gel.  The price point is excellent, polish is £1.60 and the top and base are £2.50 each. Also new to the stand, and I’m only focussing on the nail items here, are updated top coats.  From the left, holo glitter, sparkle sand, satin-matt, pastel ombre and the (not new) crackle top coat.  NB if you want to see all the new products, you can on this page on the Essence Website. Above you can see the wider range of pastel shades – these are not gel polishes, it appears to be the core range with the little colour cap that match the polish inside.

And finally, just another shot of the two required base and top coats for the Gel Nails.  This does mean that

I did pick up a few things, namely two gel polishes, the top and base coat for the gel nails, the ombre nail topper, the holo glitter topper and a foil transfer liquid (not picutred).  I have one of the gel nails on now for a wear text, so pop back in the next week or so, or sign up to alerts either by following me via email or through one of the links below.

Anything catch your eye?  Have you picked up any of these new items yet?

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here. I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

L’Oreal Boheme Flower Top Coat – Coachelala

We saw these a few weeks ago, part of the new releases from L’Oreal. There are two that I’ve seen to date, one with pink glitter bits and white flowers, and then this one.  The excellently named Coachelala!

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I do love this one, orange bar bits with white flowers. I wore one coat of Coachelala over a base of one of the Essence Colour and Go in one of the Brazilian Greens, Beijos From Brazil, from last year – it reminds me of fresh green grass.  I based with Nailtiques 2 (still a little bit of peeling going on…) and then did one coat the Essence and one coat of the top coat.

Those flowers are probably the hardest to get out of the bottle.  It does come with quite a thick clear base, not unworkable, but you will need to roll it in your hands for a bit to get the glitter off the sides of the bottle.  Mine has two metal balls in it, to help mix the polish.  I got four flowers on each hand, so that isn’t too bad.

I picked up mine in a 3 for 2 cosmetics promotion in Boots, and a word of caution, check the bottles.  Often I find they have been opened and tested and so the bottle neck is all crusty.  Or you find one with a wonky brush like I did, so I just swapped the brush with another bottle.  I believe it was £4.99 and yes its a small bottle, but lets be honest – how ofter do you ever finish one?

What do you think?  Let me know in the comments!  Thanks for popping by

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here. I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

Spotted! Updated Essence stands

I happened into my local Wilcos, just to pick up a few bits you understand, to notice that the Essence stands had been updated.  First up, the new edition Nude collection Then to the right of that, an intriguing new sign…. And beneath the sign, the full range of nude polishes. OOhhhhh, I wonder what the new items will be! Do you have any ideas? Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here. I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

Spotted – Speedy Quick Dry Barry M’s & Essence Trend Editions

If you haven’t been hanging around on social media, you may have missed the new polishes from Barry M.  These are the Speedy Quick Dry range.  Also released is a plumpy top coat. I saw this twice in two different stores, one had been hammered and the other one looked brand new out on the shop floor.  Move quickly as I think these are going to fly off the shelves and some of the blogger swatches are gorgeous!

I also took the opportunity to swing by the Essence pop up to see what Trend Editions were on sale. First up, Like An Unforgettable Kiss range.

And the Mountain Calling winter range.

So, not much new out there to report.  I would expect a bit of a flurry of new releases towards the end of hte month, so watch this space or sign up to the blog via Bloglovin’

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here. I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

Spotted! Sally Hansen Miracle Gel, Seventeen Polka Dots and Speckled Top Coats, WAH Nails, Essence Wave Goddess & Road Trip

More spots for you today.  First up, the new Sally Hansen Miracle Gel out now in Boots.  Each one is £9.99

Then I also Spotted some new Seventeen polishes.  These are all toppers for polish.  First up, Polka Dots.Then some Seventeen speckled shades…. close ups coming…..

And there more Polka Dots

And now the close ups of the Speckled shades.

Then, I saw some of the new WAH false nails.And finally, some of the new Essence collections out in Essence stands.  First up, Wave Goddess collection.

And then the Road Trip collection

So quite a few new things popping up – have you see any of these yet?  Let me know in the comments.

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here. I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

New Essence products

I just received an email from Essence with some of the new products coming out this autumn and I thought you might want to see some of them.  I’ve picked a few bits from the email, but do go onto the Essence website to look out for new and forthcoming products!  There are some additions to the colour & go line and some new additions for nail art – lots to pick from!

First up, Thermo Nail Polish. Now correct me if I am wrong, but I think this is the first available in the high street thermo polish! Exciting!!

weather expert! this nail polish reacts to outside temperature changes and changes color accordingly. and the color-change works the other way around, too. cool nail polishes with a guaranteed wow-effect!

electrified effects! exciting and fashionable effects like glitter jewels, sugar in metallic, sparkling or jeans style, a holographic shimmer and polka dots combined with bright colors like rose, turquoise, blue, pink or grey-black conjure-up unique nail styles. the nail polishes offer great coverage and are super easy to apply for a 3D wow-manicure you can touch!

colour explosion! the huge colour & go range has the beloved gel-shine finish with a highly intensive shine and an extremely short drying time for perfectly polished nails in a flash! the patented quick & easy brush is particularly flat for an even easier application. the 8ml bottle has a cool essence design – with the usual colour-coded cap in the corresponding nail polish colour.

fabulous foils! these nail foils bring cool graffiti styles straight to your nails. and here’s how it works: apply the transfer solution on your nails and wait for 80-90 seconds. separate a piece of the foil and press it onto your nail with the shiny side up. remove the foil again and seal with a top coat – and you’re done! repeat this step for each nail. totally creative and unique!

shake it! the name of this top coat says it all. simply shake the bottle of shake me! i’m pretty top coat to mix the cool holographic glitter particles with the texture. apply the top coat over any nail polish for an extra portion of bling.

I’m very excited about these hand cremes, but I think they are not going to be available via UK outlets.  perhaps the online essence store might be the best place for these as they sound awesome!

There are also some new mascaras and some additions to the lovely metal glam eye shadows (I have more than one women ever needs!)  And some more trend editions, images below!

All the new products can be found here, what catches your eye?

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here. I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails

Essence – Redvolution

Another soon to be discontinued Essence Colour & Go polish for you today – as soon as I saw it on the list, I went through my untrieds and sure enough, there it was.  This is Redvolution*

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This is a pretty poppy red, even redder in real life than in my images, but it does have that warm orange tint to it so it doesn’t pull cold on my skin tone.  I quite like that.  Formula was OK with this one, almost pooled the polish a couple of times in my cuticles, but managed to avoid it.

The Colour & Go bottles have caps that match the colour of the polish and have a tapered brush so that you can get close to your cuticles.  Drying time is good, quick really.  This is two coats over a base of Essence Anti Nail Split Sealer (purchased by me) and topped with G&G HK Girl (also purchased by me).

Have you gone out to get any of the discontinued Essence shades?  If you have, let me know what you got in the comments!

*Disclosure: This product was sent to me for review but this does not influence the opinions expressed in this blog which are entirely my own.

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Essence – Miss Universe

Once I realised this little beauty was on the discontinued list, I rushed out to find my nearest Wilkinson’s so I could pick this up.  And boy am I glad I did! Lets check out some pictures….. (just a side note, I was visiting my parents so this is my mums wallpaper….)

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What you see above is three thin-ish coats over a base of G&G Stuck on Blu! and topped with a coat of G&G HK Girl.  Formula was  bit thin, so three coats is need to achieve opacity.  However, it is well worth it!  Look at that payoff and the gittery-ness trapped within.  Wow, drying time was great and I got through three coats and my top coat quick quickly.

Its a lovely blackened teal and it has a slight duochrome look to it once on the nail.  I was in town and popped into Boots and checked this shade against one of the new Revlon Gel Envy Shades I saw a couple of weeks ago.  Its pretty much the only one in the collection that I wanted to test out.  No need now as I have this fab shade.

As with all Essence colour and go shades the brush to tapered so you can get close to the cuticle.  The tops of the bottles match the shade within and every one provides 8ml.

What are your favourite Essence shades?  Let me know in the comments!

Don’t forget that you can follow this blog via Bloglovin’, either by clicking the icon to the right or by clicking here. I can also be found on Twitter @BakingNails