Nails Inc Christmas Mini Collection

Well another opportunity for a review has presented itself. Nails Inc. is one of my favourite nail brands, mostly for the colour Jermyn Street which is a wonderful taupe (will write more about that colour next time I wear it) so my husband decided the Christmas Mini Collection would make a nice Christmas pressie for me. I knew as soon as I saw the shape of box what the present was! The piccie next to this is from House of Fraser.

There are five colours in the collection in small 4ml bottles - the size doesn't bother me as I am fickle about nail varnish colours and rarely will use a whole bottle before it goes too sticky to use anyway. The colours are: Maddox Street - a gunmetal grey with a hint of sparkle, Aspen - a rich red which is deep and glossy, Seville Street - a royal purpley blue shade with a subtle blue sparkle, Haris Crescent - a gold/bronze colour and Jubilee Place - a fine silver glitter.

The colours which immediately leapt out at me were Seville Street (the purple/blue) and Maddox Street (the grey). Both are very wearable suitable for day wear colours which look best with two coats. Seville Street looks navy blue in the picture but it is more of a vibrant shade than that. The brush is small but applies well - I found one dip enough to paint each nail (however I will note I have small fingers and quite short nails - anyone with long falsies may need more than one dip) and the texture as you apply is good. The red and gold colour both only needed one coat - the red is divine, a very smooth sophisticated red, slightly more muted in shade than most bright reds but still striking. The gold is not really my cup of tea but I will probably wear it on my toes with a tan and gladiator sandals in the summer, there I can see it coming into its own. The glitter is, well, a glitter!

Overall it is a nice set and one I would recommend for newcomers to Nails Inc or as a gift. Although it is the Christmas Collection there is no reason why you would not be able to wear the colours at any other time of year - they are not really obviously "Christmassy". I wore Seville Street for 3 days with no chips and this was despite the fact I did not bother with base or top coats - my experience with Nails Inc is colours will last a week in reasonable condition if you use base and top coat and wear washing up gloves when doing cleaning/washing etc!

The set was on offer at £10.50 (from £15) in House of Fraser. I believe this offers good value for money as a regular sized Nails Inc bottle will cost you at least £10 which is expensive, especially if you are not sure if you like the colour.

Link: http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Nails+Inc+Christmas+Mini+Collection/141385232,default,pd.html

John Frieda Precision Foam Hair Colour - a review

As I used a new product today, and started this blog - it seems to make sense that my first proper post will be a review.

I am going to review John Frieda's Precision Foam Hair Colour, a relatively new addition to the extensive range of hair colours already available. The colour I used was Medium Chocolate Brown (5B). I decided to dye my hair at home after having highlights and going quite blonde in early summer, they had started to grow out, look brassy and I thought they made me look washed out in the winter. I started the transition from dark blonde to brown with a semi perm a couple of weeks ago - I think it was L'Oreal. This stopped the change being too drastic.

The folk at John Frieda claim that the dye is much less messy than other dyes, it provides non-patchy and multi-tonal colour.

Its simple to use, the usual add the colour to developer - but don't shake just tip the bottle. Very good quality gloves are provided, and they are black which made me smile :) The dye is very easy to apply, you just squeeze the middle and out comes the foam, some reviews have mentioned that its hard to squeeze the foam out, I didn't have this problem at all and I am a wussy need a man to open jars kind of person. It is dead easy to apply - you just load your hair with foam and massage. BUT the foam gets everywhere - all over my bathroom, way more than an ordinary dye! Although once it was on my head the dye didn't drip at all, I didn't need a towel. The smell was an average hair dye smell, not overly pungent but not lovely, it started to get a bit cloying in my small bathroom - but it is a windowless room.

Developing it looked very red which was surprising but I didn't mind as I quite like a bit of red. Washing it out was easy and the conditioner smells nice - the portion is enough for three uses for my medium length quite fine hair.

It dried as a deep dark brown with red and gold tones. A lovely colour, I really like it. My hair also feels incredibly soft and I keep touching it. Its shiny too which is lovely after having dull blonde hair for a while. Because I applied it onto my hair with bleached and highlighted streaks and my natural quite dark roots you can see a colour gradation from the top to the bottom but its coverage is quite impressive and it looks nice and even. I have a few quite stubborn greys and I am pleased to report I can't see them!

Overall I would recommend the product but go for a lighter shade than you think you will need as my hair really is quite dark!

The Cold, Hard Facts

Name: John Frieda Precision Foam Hair Colour
Price: £9.99 (on offer at Superdrug though)
Available: most large shops e.g. Boots, Superdrug, Sainsburys
Pros: Good coverage, lovely colour
Cons: Messy, very dark.

Please note: You should always do an allergy test.

Welcome to my blog...

If you are wondering about the title...it's where I usually am in my head. Bordeaux is a chic and lively city with a good buzz and atmosphere, cooler than Paris (also as it's quite far south it is normally a lot warmer and sunnier than Paris!) and yet with that laid-back French city vibe.

This blog isn't just about France though, although it will feature, I will be writing about my daily experiences, the things that make me happy. I adore make-up, fashion, shopping, shoes, good food, cocktails with friends, good quality wine with my husband - all these things will feature! I will also do reviews of new products and old faithfuls, share some recipes for yummy food, pass on some make-up tips and generally share my outlook on life. Not sure how interesting this is to many people...time will tell.

I hope you visit sometime, have a read and a nosey into my life, one lived Secretly in Bordeaux...