NOTD - Purple sparkles

First up let's get this out there - this NOTD was way out of my comfort zone. Glitter polishes are not something I am familiar with, and unless I am dressing up as a crazy character or attending a crazy disco party (because I have totally gone to a thousand of them) then I don't ever wear them, not even on my toes. In addition to that, dark purples, blacks and blues are not polishes I tend to wear on my fingernails either. I have no idea why I decided to combine both of my nail polish 'fears' in one NOTD, but here is the result, and I don't like it.

When I saw the Essence Snow White polish in Evil Queen, I loved it. I thought it was just the greatest thing and I imagined myself using it all the time. I have since changed my mind.

I still think the whole glittery polish itself is quite pretty (mind you I only like it on other people) but the formula was really hard to work with. I couldn't distribute the hexagon shaped glitter chunks evenly, and the more I went over it to spread them out the more base coat I found myself stripping off, leaving uneven bald patches. Sounds pretty, doesn't it? It also made the base purple colour considerably darker in colour, and I'm not terribly keen on the result. Perhaps even more frustrating than all of that, was that it took so long to dry. I applied this two hours before I went to bed, and then when I woke up the following morning it was all smudged and had imprints in it. It looked awful. And, to top it all off, I found this ridiculously difficult to remove (because I removed it almost as soon as I put it on!) Not impressed Essence!

The bast coat was a Mini Miki polish that doesn't appear to have a name.

So basically, I really, really don't like the way this NOTD looks. I think it looks strange, tacky and just poorly done. I can almost guarantee that should anyone else have attempted to do this they would have been successful at creating a look I was jealous of, but I just didn't nail it this time (excuse the pun).

Miki Lip Balm - Red Apple

Miki cosmetics are those that don't seem to have a stand, the ones that you get as part of a 10 piece birthday gift containing other small knick knacks, the ones that are in small baskets on the counter as you go to buy a beauty haul and catch your eye. Their products cost token prices of about three dollars and they are always mini and adorable.

Somehow I found myself possessing an adorable little lip balm with the cutest packaging. According to their website (which is very cool, for your information) this lip balm doesn't exist. I couldn't find any evidence that they produced such a product, but I know that they do because I own it.

It is shaped as an apple the unscrews in the middle to reveal a bright pink balm. It smells very strongly of raspberry fruit, however it does have a soapy/shampoo kind of smell to it which does result in slight hesitance in regards to using it as a lip product.

The formula is okay, it is not very moisturising but it doesn't seem to be overly drying either. It lasts an okay amount of time and gives a bit of a shine to the lips. I can still smell it once it has been applied which I think is quite good, but I guess that depends on whether you like the smell of it or not. It has no taste, feels a little greasy...there really isn't much to say about it to be honest.

This is by no means an amazing product. It is a bit moisturising, a bit glossy, has a bit of a tint to it, smells a bit nice...to be honest the best way to describe it is 'a bit.' It is however very cute, and at a cost of about three dollars who could resist? Even if you just want it for display, I say go for it!

I give this product 5 out of 10 because it is neither good nor bad...just 'a bit.'