OPI Mariah Carey Liquid Sand Review

When Caroline from Musings of a Beauty Addict Mum went on holiday to America for Christmas she kindly asked if there was anything I would like her to pick up for me.  I had seen quite a few swatches of these online so asked her to pick me up the mini set, these retail at approx $10 (£6) in America and £12.95 over here on Lena White so it was quite a saving! 

The mini set contains 4 shades L-R

Get Your Number

Can't Let Go

The Impossible

Stay The Night

Get Your Number - matte blue with holo glitter

Can't Let Go - matte purple with purple glitter

The Impossible - matte pink with pink glitter and stars

Stay The Night - matte black with red glitter 

These are two coats, no topcoat.

Consistency of all the polishes is really good, drying time average (although felt like a long time without the help of Seche Vite!)

The polishes are a lot more sparkly in real life, I thought that the glitters would be matte but its is the base that is matt not the glitter.

I thought the texture of the polishes would be quite rough but while you can feel they are slightly rough I wouldn't say its a much as a normal glitter.

I was disappointed that no stars come out of the bottle for the swatch of The Impossible!

These have one coat of Seche Vite, they probably need two coats to feel smooth.  

Caroline got me these as a Christmas present!

Wet n Wild palette in Petal Pusher

EOS balm in lemon drop

I can't wait to try the palette the shades are perfect for me.  I have read a lot of good things about Wet n Wild eyeshadows!

I love EOS balms, I currently have three on the go.  I'll open this one when the weather starts getting sunny as the SPF15 will come in very handy.

What do you think of these polishes?  Will you be buying them?

Balmi v EOS

Hope you are all having a good weekend! 

Since I got my EOS Alice in Wonderland balms and my Balmi balms in my Latest in Beauty box and my September Joliebox I have had a lot of questions asking if they are the same or which one in my opinion is best, so here is a comparison review on the Blueberry Potion EOS balm and the blackcurrant Balmi.

EOS balms are not stocked in the UK but you can buy them on eBay for around £5-£6 inc postage, Balmi balms are stocked in Boots and retail for £4.99.
The EOS case has no scent at all, the Balmi has a very strong blackcurrant scent.

The EOS balm looks a lot bigger in the case but it holds 7g of product and the Balmi contains 10g.

Balmi has a message printed on the packaging warning that it contains Oxybenzone as it has an SPF of 15, EOS does not contain an SPF.

EOS has a pleasant blueberry muffin scent, Balmi has a very strong artificial blackcurrant scent.

Whilst they both apply nicely they are quite different in their texture, EOS is thick and balm like Balmi is thinner and feels more oily on the lips.

EOS balms are  100% natural and 95% organic they do not contain parabens, petrolatum, phthalates or gluten. They are also not tested on animals.

Blueberry Potion Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil*, Beeswax (Cire D'abeille)*, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil*, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil*, Natural Flavor, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)*, Stevia Rebaudiana Leaf/Stem Extract*, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil*, Tocopherol, Vaccinium Angustifolium (Blueberry) Fruit Extract *, Limonene, Linalool.

Balmi does not have anything about animal testing on the packaging so I am unsure if it is or isn't tested on animals.  Although if it isn't I am sure it would be marked on the packaging!

Blackcurrant Balmi Polybutene, Paraffinum liquidum, Petrolatum Ozokerite, Synthetic Wax, Ethylhexyl, Palmitate, Paraffin, Ethylhexy Methoxycinnamate, Cera Carnauba, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Benzophenone-3, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter, Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil, Aroma Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate, Tocopheryl Acetate, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, CI 77891 

As you can see the ingredients are quite different, EOS contains beeswax Balmi Synthetic wax.  Balmi contains Petrolatum, Paraffin and Parabens EOS does not contain any of these.

EOS is the clear winner of the two for me, it smells much nicer and is made from natural ingredients, which as I am finding out more about what goes into cosmetics and skincare, is becoming more and more important to me.

Have you tried these balms? What did you think EOS or Balmi?

EOS Alice in Wonderland Limited Edition Lip Balms

Look what the postman delivered today! How cute is this limited edition EOS Alice in Wonderland inspired lip balm set?! 

I saw this on another beauty blog, as I have a real soft spot for anything Disney and Alice in Wonderland is one my my favourite Disney characters I just had to get this.  EOS is not stocked in the UK so I bought this set from America on Ebay and it cost me approx. £14 inc international postage.

The set contains three limited edition lip balms

The balms are 100% natural and 95% organic

The packaging is lovely too - the mad hatters tea party and lots of Alices!

Look at the Mickey faces, I think it's a lovely detail

Blueberry Potion

This is my favourite out of the three, it smells really nice like blueberry muffins!

Watermelon Wonderland

I'm not sure I like the smell of this one, it doesn't smell like watermelon to me, in fact I think it smells quite "ashy".  I asked Curtis and he said he does think it smells like melon (without me telling him what it was) so it may be my nose. Luckily once it is applied I can't smell it!

Sweet Vanilla Nonsense

This smells like vanilla and also slightly nutty, it smells very natural and doesn't have that horrible cheap vanilla smell.

This is a really lovely set, I have a honeydew EOS balm that I keep on my desk in work that I have nearly used up so I was going to buy a new one to replace it but once I saw this set I couldn't resist!

Have you tried EOS balms? What do you think?