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Posts tagged Sally Hansen
My Top 10 Beauty Products of 2012
6In February 2012, when Bewitchery was born, I decided to broaden my beauty horizons and try as many new products as possible throughout the year, without breaking the bank. In my mission to discover new favourites I came across many products which were less than impressive, but luckily I also found a great deal of fantastic ones, a fair few of which I have used time and time again, and will continue to do so. In this post I will give you a round-up of just a few of the best products I tried for the first time in 2012, linking to my review of each with a little extract of my post, just to give you an idea of why I love it!
1. e.l.f. Studio Cream Eyeliner
“In terms of lasting power, this liner definitely has it. I have been wearing it now since this morning and it still looks as bright as it did when it first went on, and the line is just as clean. I’ve been rubbing my eyes a bit today too and it hasn’t smudged a bit – amazing!”
2. Models Own ‘Disco Mix’
“The absolute best thing about this nail polish is the colour. My favourite colours are purple, turquoise and pink, and ‘Disco Mix’ combines turquoise and pink glitter to create a polish which looks purple at a distance. The glitter colours are SO bright and bold.”
3. MUA Professional Matte Foundation
“One of the things that drew me to this foundation was the fact that it is matte and claims to offer a long-lasting velvet finish. I suffer from an oily T-zone (especially during the summer months) and I don’t like the shine that the oil creates, so I am always looking for ways to minimise the shine. MUA’s Matte Foundation, as you would hope, does give a matte complexion, and it keeps most of the shine at bay.”
4. Hawaiian Tropic After Sun Body Butter
“The body butter itself is fantastically light and creamy and feels so luxurious on the skin. It is absorbed very quickly too, leaving no messy residue. The product contains coconut oil, shea butter and avocado oil to aid with moisturisation, but despite the oil content it isn’t at all greasy. The oils make the butter ‘Intensively hydrating’, and combine to give ’12 hour moisturisation’, and believe me, the softness really does last that long.”
5. TanOrganic Sunless Tan
“Though the tan didn’t give my legs an intense colour, it did make them look nicely, naturally tanned and lightly brown, and I am very pleased with the results. There are no orange blotches or dirty looking streaks in sight, and my skin tone looks very even and smooth. The difference is only minor, but it is noticeable, and that is what I wanted so it has done its job well in my opinion.”
6. Montagne Jeunesse Moisturising Lip Balm
“Not one of Montagne Jeunesse’s lip balms contain petroleum jelly, so they aren’t greasy at all. Rather, they are made from 100% natural beeswax and olive oil and are lightly creamy but intensely moisturising. The beeswax forms a protective layer on the lips making them long-lasting, and the olive oil gives them a subtle shine.”
7. Models Own ‘Northern Lights’
“Northern Lights consists of a very fine dusky pink glitter, and is studded with delicate flakes of holographic glitter which shine purple, blue, orange, yellow and green in most lights. Even in the bottle, the varnish is breathtaking, and I have never seen anything quite like it before.”
8. Nivea Express Hydration Primer
“The primer leaves a smooth, non-greasy base on the skin, and since I’ve been using this I have found that my foundation smooths onto my skin far more easily and evenly than usual, without going patchy on any dry bits. The primer keeps my powder and blusher in place too, so on the whole my make up lasts a lot longer, which I think is down to the lack of greasiness.”
9. Bubbles & Butters Crazy for Chocolate Shower Bubbles
“The gel is very creamy and lathers into masses of moisturising bubbles quicker than any other shower gel I have ever used! Because of its impressive lathering abilities, a little goes a long way with these bubbles, so a £2 coin size is enough for your whole body.”
10. Omni Massage Roller & Sports Oil
“The first time I used the roller I asked my mum to help me reach the tense areas on my back, and even though she used it over my clothing I was amazed that the roller was sensitive enough to pick out all the knots in my muscles. We could both feel them ‘crunching’, which sounds horrible but it meant she knew which areas to focus on. The shape and movement of the ball means that any focused pressure is distributed outwards slightly, so the knots can be worked out without any pain or discomfort.”
…and one that I LOVE and am going to review again because I didn’t write much last time…
Sally Hansen Moisturising Polish Remover
“Unlike most nail varnish removers, this Sally Hansen offering smells lovely, almost like a body lotion, and doesn’t sting your eyes or nose with harsh vapours. It removes nail varnish quickly, with minimum effort, so you don’t need to sit for ages rubbing away to no avail!”
What were your favourite products of 2012?
Naomi x
Sally Hansen Diamond 12 Hr Lip Treatment in ‘Fancy’
11
8 years
by Naomi in Lips
A couple of months ago, during one of my bargain beauty binges, I picked up this tube of Sally Hansen Diamond 12 Hr Lip Treatment from the pound shop for, you guessed it, £1. However, as happens to quite a lot of the make up that I buy on impulse, I put it in my make up drawer and forgot about it. Until recently, that is.
What first drew me to this gloss was the fact that it was from Sally Hansen, as I love Sally’s nail products so thought I’d give her make up a go too. The tube doesn’t actually say what the Diamond 12 Hr Lip Treatment is supposed to do, but according to the internet it is intended to condition and moisturise the lips for up to 12 hours, and give them diamond-like shine!
The gloss comes in a fairly large tube, with a sparkly polka dot lid, which is cute. The applicator inside the tube is very different to what I was expecting, however. Instead of the typical sponge applicator, it comes with a tapered bristle brush. The brush is quite fine which I thought would make precise application a lot easier, but it is actually quite difficult to use. The bristles tend to fan out rather a lot, which makes a bit of a mess, and the gloss itself is horribly thick and gloopy, so it doesn’t smooth out very well. Having said that, the gloss does smell lovely, almost like cinnamon bubblegum, so I will give it that.
The colour I chose from the several available was ‘Fancy’, which in the light of the shop looked like a deep shimmery red, perfect for Autumn’s berry trend. Unfortunately, I was slightly disappointed with the colour when I first tried it, as it is a lot more orange in reality than it looks in the tube, and I’m not a fan of orange make up. The shade is slowly growing on me though, and the gloss does have incredible shine, and the diamond-like shimmer throughout it is really pretty.
On the lips, the gloss looks nice. The colour is strong and the shine is brilliant, but it’s not breathtaking. It’s just… nice. It’s not a comfortable gloss to wear either. As I said before, the formula is very thick, so it feels heavy and sticky on the lips, and though it feels quite moisturising, I always end up rubbing the gloss off within an hour, so I have no idea whether it actually lasts for 12 hours or not! It does make your lips tingle slightly though, which is fairly pleasant.
Overall, this definitely isn’t my favourite gloss in my collection, and I don’t think I’d buy another one like it from the Sally Hansen range, even at only £1. I noticed that the Diamond 12 Hr Lip Treatment glosses are no longer listed on the Sally Hansen website, so hopefully they’ve done the right thing and discontinued it, and replaced it with a better gloss. I think I’ll stick to Sally’s nail products from now on!
Naomi x
NOTD: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Nail Colour in ‘Grape Escape’
3
8 years
by Naomi in Nails
This week I discovered some more bargain beauty products in, of all places, the pound shop! To my surprise, I found that Poundland and Poundworld both stock hundreds of branded make up items for, well, £1 each, so I decided to grab a few things. I managed to get two Sally Hansen nail varnishes, a Sally Hansen lip gloss and two Sinful Colours nail varnishes for a total of £5. I spotted various other brands too, including Revlon, Maybelline and Stila.
So, in honour of my £1 finds, today’s NOTD is Sally Hansen’s Insta-Dri Nail Colour in the deep shade of ‘Grape Escape’.
The formula of this nail varnish is, in my eyes, close to perfect. It is fairly thick, but not gloopy, and applies opaque and even in one coat. I swatched this in the car just after buying it and my sister was amazed at how good it looked after one coat. I think the impressive application is helped by the wide brush that comes with the varnish – you can cover the whole nail in one stroke so you get no streaking. In the end I applied two coats, which gave more intense colour and flawless coverage.
Being named ‘Insta-Dri’ I expected this to dry very quickly, and luckily it lives up to its name. Within minutes it is dry to the touch and it doesn’t take much longer for it to set fully. After sitting down to apply this on Thursday afternoon I was on my way again after half an hour, and it didn’t smudge or mark at all.
In the bottle the varnish looks deep purple with a slight pink hue, but once on the nails it looks different. As you can see above, it has a dark blue colour, almost like midnight sky, but it is a definite deep purple in the right light. There is no pink in it at all though. I do love this shade, however – it has so much depth to it and a delicate shimmer finish which gives it a real look of luxury.
After two days the varnish is still looking as good as new on my left hand, but on my right there is quite a bit of chipping – no idea why! I’m pleased with how it’s lasting so far though.
Which Sally Hansen Insta-Dri shades have you tried?
Naomi x
Bargain Alert! Sally Hansen Continuous Treatment Products
0
8 years
by Naomi in Nails
Just a heads up to my UK readers who might like a bargain or two… I recently discovered that B&M Stores are an unlikely place to find branded beauty products on a budget. It’s the kind of shop you expect to just sell furniture and garden stuff, but the one near me has a whole aisle of cut price cosmetics and toiletries. I went for a browse on Sunday and I picked up these two Sally Hansen Continuous Treatments for only £1.49 each! I’ve seen them retail in other shops for a lot more, sometimes around £6-£7, so you’re really saving quite a bit. I got the Base & Top Coat and the Time-Released Strength Formula. I’ve only tried the Strength Formula so far (and so far, so good!) but I’ll be reviewing both once I’ve given them a good go. I spotted several other brands in the shop too, including Maybelline, Nivea, Garnier and Lypsyl… You just have to keep an eye out!
Happy Bargain Shopping 
Naomi x
Sally Hansen Moisturising Polish Remover
2
9 years
by Naomi in Nails
Until recently, I’d never really given nail varnish remover much thought. I’d always just buy the cheapest or biggest bottle on the shelf and be done with it, until I saw this one. Since I started painting my nails more, they have become slightly brittle and prone to peeling. I’ve been using Avon’s Peeling and Brittleness Solver for a while to solve this, but I thought I’d give Sally Hansen’s Moisturising Polish Remover a try too, as it is specifically designed for use on ‘dry, brittle nails’ and is enriched with pro-vitamin B5, Vitamin E and Aloe Vera.
Unlike most nail varnish removers, this Sally Hansen offering smells lovely, almost like a body lotion, and doesn’t sting your eyes or nose with harsh vapours. It removes nail varnish quickly, with minimum effort, so you don’t need to sit for ages rubbing away to no avail!
I bought this a few weeks ago, but thought I’d wait until now to review it to see whether it actually makes a difference, and I’d say that it does. The surface of my nails always feel smooth and fresh after use; like they’ve been moisturised, as the name suggests. I’ve already noticed that my nails have been peeling less and I’m hoping this will improve even more over the coming weeks/months.
At £2.39 for 200ml from Superdrug, this is a steal as it really does help, and I definitely won’t be going back to the cheap nail varnish remover I was using before!
Naomi x
