Essie Sleek Stick

Considering my love for all things nails, I haven’t tried nail stickers before (although I’m not great at nail art so they really are perfect for me). My only experience of nail stickers is when my friend used them and they didn’t work so well. So when I received some on my Glossybox this month I was a bit dubious at first. However as I’m going out for my birthday tomorrow night (woooo) and I wanted pretty nails without having to go to a nail salon so this was the perfect opportunity.

These little beauties are Essie Sleek Stick in 03 So Haute! There are twelve designs to choose from (see them here) and at first look I wouldn’t say these are my favourite, although they grew on me once I put them on; I love me some red nails! In Essie’s words they are a ‘gold spiked crimson’ with a textured finished. Essie also claims that these will last 14 days, so we'll see how that goes.

There are 18 sizes to choose from and with the clear back sheet it’s pretty easy to see which is the best fit for each nail. The application itself is pretty straight forward and it didn’t take long at all; once you’ve found the right size just line them up to the cuticle, press them down, and file down to size. It all takes around 5 minutes so they’re handy if you don’t have time to wait for them to dry. My one tip is to make sure you don’t stick them over your cuticle as it may start to peel. I made that mistake and had to reapply one of the stickers.

Thanks to these, I am definitely a nail sticker convert. I absolutely love them. They are so easy to apply but look effective. I'm really hoping that they are as long lasting as Essie claim too.  Have you tried Essie Sleek Stick yet? What other nail stickers are you a fan of?

May Favourites

So here we are, it’s June. I mean, woah now 2013, don’t go too fast please! And the end of the month means it’s time for my May favourites. Just a small one for my first favourites post. I have four items that I have been loving over the past month! I just can’t get enough of them and I’m going to share them with you.

The first is the MUA Artiste Collection (available here for £6); I’ve never been a huge make up wearer, saving it for nights out or sunglasses days, so a multi-tasking pallet is a huge step for me! I’d originally been looking for a matte bronzer on a budget and came across this little beauty. I haven’t used all the shadows but I find Mocca (second from left) and Chocolate (second from the right) perfect for a daytime look. I have two issues though. One is that the bronzer/highligher/blushers are rather small so when you tap your brush in there it tends to go all over the place. The second is that, although it lasts for a while, it’s not crease proof. It’ll stay put for a while but by the end of the day it’s all bunched in the crease.

Keeping it in the MUA family, we have the MUA Power Pout in Rendezvous (available here for £3). My own review can be found here so I’m not going to go into too much depth. All I will say is that I LOVE IT!

I tend to keep my hair natural and curly in the day, so all I will do is diffuse it with some curly spray. However if I’m going out, I like to have a bit more volume and texture to it and I’ve found that the V05 Dry Texturising Spray (available at Boots for £3.49). I roughly straighten my hair and then spray this into the ends, scrunching and messing as I go. It doesn’t last all night on it’s own but a little hairspray helps it go a long way.

Finally is the Essie in Cute as a Button (available at Superdrug for £7.99) that I got with a recent Glossybox. This colour is adorable for Summer! It’s really a bright and beautiful. I’ve shied away from the brighter nail colours but this has changed my mind. Thanks Essie!

That’s all for now. What have you been loving in the month of May?