Revlon gave me a few of their newer Gel Envy nail polish shades to play with and they’re fabulous. If you haven’t tried a Colour Stay Gel Envy long wear nail enamel (R129, Clicks) yet make a plan to snap one up. I haven’t tried every shade the make but every one I’ve tried has worn like a boss.

Of the new hues, I tried the blues and found Wild Card’s first coat goes on a tad streaky but the second sorts you out in a flash. Dealer’s Choice was easier to apply (both coats went on evenly) but my heart belongs to Wild Card. It’s a fresh-feeling shade that’s perfect for a big city girl in that weird transition where it’s not quite winter but not quite spring.

It’s been a few days now since I slicked it on (I’m currently wearing both shades – one on each hand, such is the life of a beauty blogger) and there’s not a chip in sight. Much of this, however, is owed to Revlon’s Gel Envy Diamond Shine top coat. I’ve used this dude for ages and consider it to be one of the best drugstore top coats* money can buy in terms of wear and shine.

Moving on, let’s talk about Bodyography Lip Lava liquid lipstick (R290, Placecol salons). A cruelty-free make-up brand with great eco-values, this is one of their many vegan-friendly lippies available in both matte and metallic finishes.

I was given the shades Rose Moon, a metallic mauve, and Candy, an ultra bright pink that will thrill anyone who’s crazy about MAC’s Candy Yum Yum.

While Rose Moon washes me out Candy looks pretty good.

I like that it goes on evenly and dries super fast although the formula a little drying but this is the case with most long-wearing shades and it really does last for ages. In a way it reminds me a lot of Stila’s All Day liquid lipstick.

Now let’s chat about Elizabeth Arden’s new eye shadow trios. These guys are sold as little refills that slide into a palette that can house two of them. If you buy the palette it costs R770 and you get to pick from two trios to fill it. If you buy a trio of shadows seperately afterwards that’s R385.

This means that if you want just one of them you’re not going to be able to ‘house’ them nicely, unless you’re happy to keep it in the little plastic cover it’s sold in. While that’s annoying if there’s only one trio you fall in love with but if you’re keen on several it’s not going to be an ish and it works out better in terms of value to snap up two.

Some of the shades are matte but the majority of them are shimmery and they can all be used wet or dry. I’ve only used them dry – I pretty much only ever use shadow dry – and they all glide on nicely with decent pigmentation and are very easy to blend. In this way they remind me a bit of Clinique’s eye shadow but the shimmery shades are slightly less buttery.

I really like the trio called Bronzed To Be.

I put the darkest bronze shade on my eye lid and then go over my lid and crease with the gold colour and blend it up.

The result is a flattering bronzey wash that makes my blue eyes pop. While the colour’s wear well on their own, especially when worn with foundation, I have oily eyelids so I team these with a primer and then the colour sits tight a full 24 hours.

See anything you’d like to try yourself?

Love, love

Leigh

*If you’re looking for another top coat drugstore gem consider Sally Hansen’s Insta-Dri. (My most nail obsessed friend Alize considers this to be her holy grail, ride or die top coat.) It will dry your mani in a flash and the wear is awesome. The only downer there is that I find the bottle always turns gloopy before I finish it whereas I can use Revlon’s Diamond Shine down to the very last drop!