Essie luxeffects As Gold as it Gets

The Essie luxeffects range have been knocking about for at least a year or so and its bad that I have not tried them.....until now!  In a nod to the festive season I decided to give As Gold as it Gets a try.  It is varnish with gold metallic flecks in and can be worn alone or on top of another shade.

I wore two coats of Essie Fishnet Stockings (on top of a base coat) and then applied one coat of As Gold as it Gets.  

The effect is quite nice, its like gold flecks have been sprinkled onto your nails.  It's not completely uniform but I wasn't expecting it to be especially after just one coat.  I finished with Seche Vite Top Coat which gave the nails a nice glossy finish.

There are five shades in the Luxeffects range so it would be nice to try some of the others as well as the different shades will create different effects.  I think this range is great to liven up any varnish or wear alone for a more subtle look.

Essie Toggle to the Top

Toggle to the Top is one of Essie's Winter 2013 offerings.  I was very excited about this particular shade coming out as I love a bit of glitter especially at this time of the year.  Essie describe the shade as "show-stopping sparkling crushed garnet lacquer" but on this occasion I am afraid I didn't completely agree with their description.  First of all have a look:

Now I admit my photo isn't the best but I really didn't feel this polish was as sparkly and glittery as it could have been.  I feel its a glittery shade for someone who doesn't want to draw too much attention to their nails. A kind of muted glitter if you will.  Maybe I feel like this because I have, in the past, gone for brighter red glittery shades that just feel more Christmassy and fun to me.

However whilst I was a bit disappointed by Toggle to the Top, I have to say it wasn't a bad colour, I just think I thought it would be more eye catching.  However if you want a dark burgundy shade with glitter in then this would be perfect for you.

My one tip would be to use a good top coat as it gives a smooth finish otherwise your nails may feel a bit rough (there is a lot of glitter in this varnish).

I have the Orly shade Spar Spangled at home and I think I have to try that next as it looks like the perfect glittery red and probably what will make me gaze happily at my nails!!

Smashbox Photo Finish Primer and Benefit That Gal Primer

Recently I was given a couple of sample sizes of two primers I had wanted to try for a long time.  The sizes of the samples were great as you only need to use a small amount so it meant both samples lasted me a good while so I could really give them both quite a few goes!

So here they are:

As you can see both tubes have been bent and twisted to get every last ounce out!  Well a gal has to get her value for money!

So the first primer is Benefit That Gal Brightening Face Primer.  This primer is a light pink cream, its has quite a light texture.  I enjoyed applying this as it has a light feeling and didn't leave my face feeling sticky or tacky.  Benefit say this contains light reflecting pigments and it did feel like it gave me that healthy glow.  I would use my Kevyn Aucoin foundation or my Ellis Faas foundation over this and the results were great although both are really nice foundations so I can't 100% say that the primer helped that much.  

I liked this primer but I don't think I would rush out and buy it again, I will probably try another primer.  For me to repurchase a primer I really need it to make a noticeable difference and whilst this was nice enough it didn't blow me away.  However if I ever got another sample I'd happily use it (I just wouldn't spend £22.50 on a full size That Gal Primer).

The second primer is Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer.  I had wanted to try this primer for years, I had seen adverts for this for such a long time so when I bought a lipstain from Smashbox and the assistant gave me this sample I was chuffed!

At first I was really impressed.  This gel texture primer which contains vitamins A and E applies like a dream and it seemed to blur any imperfections on my skin as soon as I had applied it.  The only downside was it had that silicone feel which I am not mad about but I was willing to overlook that.

Once I had applied my foundation (again using Kevyn Aucoin and Ellis Faas) I loved the flawless finish I got and this time I felt like the primer was making a difference to the finish.  My foundation stayed in place all day  and still looked really good when I came to remove it at 10pm!  

I used this primer over about three weeks and by the time the tube was finished I had problems with my skin.  I normally get one or two hormonal spots but this breakout was bad.  I had several angry spots on my face and its only about now (a month later) that things have settled down and my skin is back to normal.  Now I can't say for certain that the Smashbox primer caused this breakout but nor can I rule it out so to stay on the safe side I shan't be purchasing a full size tube.  Its a shame in some ways as I did like the results but on the other hand I won't miss the silicone feel.

My search for the perfect primer goes on - have any of you got any recommendations?