Hand Cream Round Up

Spring is here and I am trying to get rid of some of the dryness all this cold weather has created! And just because I am now wearing acrylics doesn't mean I can stop taking care of my hands and the nails that are growing underneath all the glitter. So here is a round up of my current hand cream collection. Let me know what you think and if you have a favourite cream you think I should try out!
Hand and Nail Treatment Cream
This cream came as part of trio last year, but I have it on my rotation because it smells so good. It has a subtle tangy grapefruit scent. The cream itself is very light and absorbs fast leaving absolutely no residue at all. Its lightness makes it good as a handbag cream to use throughout the day, but I would go for something heavier if you want a treatment.

Hand and Nail Treatment Cream
This bottle is very deceptive - to look at it I was expecting something boring to come out of the tube but I was very wrong. It has a sweet vanilla and floral scent to it that is divine. The cream is a light weight (but heavier than the Clarins) and absorbs quickly although it does leave a slightly sticky residue. With avocado oil, vitamin E, almond oil and lavender oil, it has everything you'd want to help keep your hands soft. 

In the Rau - Dry Body Oil
Ok this isn't strictly a hand cream, but I am including it because I really love it. It is a spray bottle of oil that I like to use all over my hands and arms at night to get them nice and soft in the morning. It has a subtle scent that is hard to describe, it's somewhere between a vanilla and a wood. The oil is made up of raw marula oil, coconut oil, milk thistle, and camellia oil. As it is straight up oil it is very heavy, but great for that intense moisture. 

L'Occitane
Dry Skin Hand Cream
You can probably tell from the state of this tube that this gets a lot of use. It's a super heavy cream - perfect for smothering your hands/feet in and then popping on some gloves/socks. I spend a lot of time in hospitals and this is my go for being stuck in air conditioning without enough to drink and not enough skincare. It boasts being 20% highly concentrated shea butter. Its only downfall is it has quite a bland scent - almost a little bit like sunscreen.
Hand Cream
True fact - Nivea hand cream is the first cream I ever bought for myself and to this day I always keep some at the office to combat air conditioning dryness. The have 3 different formulas: anti-age (with Q-10 to help with age spots), smooth care (with shea butter) and nourishing care (with almond oil). They are pretty self explanatory for weight - and they range from a medium weight to a heavy weight. They all absorb nicely and leave a slight silkiness to the skin once absorbed. The scent is that signature Nivea scent that all their creams smell like. 



Beauty Expo Australia Haul

So here is my nail haul from the Beauty Expo - I know it doesn't look like a lot, but I still spent a small fortune! The only things I got that aren't pictured are some tints from Belmacil for my lashes and brows, and LeChat gave me some merch so I can walk around draped in their logo (which I kinda love!) I'll put the prices that I remember - but keep in mind that some of these would have been show specials. 

4 glitter shades from Glitter Haven:
Atomic Tangerine, Ace of Spades, Refreshing - Flakes, Snap Happy. All $6 each. Love these and am already wearing Refreshing on my nails. So pretty!
LeChat Perfect Match in Gemini. A blue holo polish in gel and normal nail polish. This is super holo and I love it. I'm wishing I had got more of these holo babies! $25 for the set. 

Spectrum Aurora Firefly ring light. I got this to take nail photos when the natural light isn't good enough. It does both white light and yellow light so it stops that awful blue cast you get under LEDs. $25.

Nail File ($2), Eternal Beige acrylic 20grams ($15) and Gel Paints ($15 each) from Enail Couture. I got these all to try out, but I could have spent a LOT more on this stand! 

Beauty Expo Australia

Last weekend was the Beauty Expo Australia at the ICC here in Sydney. This is always the highlight of my year - I love catching up with people, checking out all the new nail trends, and of course buying as much as my poor bank account will let me. 
This year the main stand out new item was the variations of Aeropuffing (gel sponging art) - this is something I have been wanting to try for a long time with the proper gels, so I was happy to get my hands on some. The rest was all the usual culprits - pretty art items, glitters, acrylics and the dipping systems are still going strong. 
What was missing? Although a lot of my favourite companies were there, there were a few notable absences, which did surprise me seeing as we have had some pretty big product releases in the last few months. Like Pacific Nail and Beauty - with the new CND Luxe ,and none of the ORLY stockists with their new soak off builder gel. I was also sad that Indigo weren't there, despite being on the directory, as they are usually where I would do the most damage. 
All that said, there was loads to see and do, so lets get on to the pictures! I am sorry for my photos - I took my SLR with me, and it decided to stop working half way through the day so I had to rely on my poor old iPhone 4!
(I have so much to talk about that I will post about my purchases later in the week)


Beauty World
This company is the Australia stockist for Light Elegance, as well as Perfect Nails and Joss. I'm still kicking myself for not buying anything here - if you are after hard gels that are actually pretty, this is the best company out there!


Enail Couture
This is the second year this company has been here is Australia. They had owner Max Estrada on the stand - so I got to be a fangirl and get a photo with him. All their own original products made in the USA. I bought loads here - but I am kicking myself for not stocking up more (I live for their packaging and files)



High's Australia
This is a new-to-me brand that comes from Canada. They have their ow range of home pampering products, and the most adorable gel polish kits ever!



Lechat
This was one of the big international stands - with their range of acrylic powders, dip system, and gel polishes. They sell some really exciting items like glow-in-the-dark acrylics, holographic gel polishes, and their new range of shimmery effect Perfect Match top coats. 




Micole Secret
This is a Korean company that is now here is Aus. They sell a whole range of nail art items and Korean brand gels. (They had Sweet Candy gel but were only selling by the CDU, not single bottles.)
They had an entire wall of art elements, all roughly around the $3 mark. 


Bio Sculpture Gel
Bio Sculture Gel is one of the original gel companies, and they had a great range of pretties - with glitters, a nail art bin, and their own gel sponging gel art it. There was also a class on how to use it... it is basically Aeropuffing, but actually an English version - yay!





Brillbird
Brillbird is an international brand that has been brought to Australia. They have a full range of prdocuts you need for nails - acrylics, gel polishes, art supplies.... everything you could want. Also check out the amazing nails I spied on the stand! 





Glitter Haven
I've talked about Glitter Haven before, but they are a great Australian glitter company that also ships worldwide. They have a range of bio glitters as well as traditional glitters and their own glitter adhesive if you want to wear them on the skin (which I tried and can testify that the glitter did not budge all afternoon, but washed off with just water)





Lish
Lish is totally Australian, and they sell a range of nail products as well as spa/tanning/waxing products.  I got drawn in but their range of pretty glitters and coloured acrylics. 



Australian Beauty Imports
These guys are the Australian distributors for Ezflow - who sell the most awesome range of nail products, like glow acrylics, chrome powders and their own dip system with a million colours. 


Downunder Cosmetix
Although this is technically a cosmetics company, they sell a huge range of glitters and pigments - and we all know they are more fun on the nails than on the face!

The Social Media Network
http://www.tsmn.com.au/
Ok this is another non-nail stand, but what they do is interesting if you have a business or salon that doesn't have much of a social media presence. They basically do all your online marketing for you - which we all know how important that is. I had a long chat to them and even though I live online, they still had some really helpful advice for me, so totally worth looking into

Mavala Switzerland
This is a company you have probably seen at chemists before, and it was really nice to see a stand in a see of art dedicated to normal polishes, hand and nail care. 










Rau Raw Marula Beauty Oil


I recently got gifted some new items from NuSkin - and one of which was the Rau range. All these products use Raw marula oil and are meant to be used for a whole range of beauty treatments. Now I am not any kind of beauty guru (there is a reason you see my nails not my face!) so I had never heard of marula oil. But I was curious so I went down the Google rabbit hole.

Marula oil is harvested from kernels of the Marula trees in Southern Africa. Apprently this can only be done once a year. The oil is very moisturizing and leaves skin hydrated and soft.

So after reading that (and realising that Ciate has create a cuticle oil using it, so there is a precedence) I decided to give it a go on my nails. Result: instant love! First up there is almost no scent. I loathe the smell of almond oil, so this is a huge plus for me. It absorbs really fast, much faster than the Solar oil I usually use. And it doesn't feel oily on the skin at all. I have now used it daily for the last 2 weeks and there is a noticeable difference in how nice my cuticles look.

You only need a tiny amount, so although this bottle is a bit on the exxy side compared to the usual oils you might use, it will seriously last forever. I'm so in love I've even ordered myself an empty oil pen so I can put some in and have it in my handbag. Scroll down for some comparison shots.

Rau Raw Marula Beauty Oil is available from NuSkin - www.nuskin.com.au (available from October)


Pink and ring finger: Revlon Cuticle Oil
Pointer and middle: Rau Marula Oil

After allowing to soak in - no oily residue left from the Rau





Born Pretty Store Haul

I have a lot of pictures here today for you! This is my latest haul from Born Pretty Store. Yes they give me products, no they don't pay me. But to be honest I think of all the nail art supply stores out there, they really are one of the best.  As always, if you're getting any full priced items, use my code VHW10 for 10% off. 

So first item is Polymer Powder. Yes they are finally selling acrylic powder! They sadly didn't have any monomer though. The pot you get is very tiny, but it is very cheap. Not heaps useful for techs, but if you're doing your own nails or are just starting out using acrylic then it's perfect. I got the clear and it is nice and clear too - it's pretty much identical to the Mia Secret one I usually use. 



Duel-Ended Magnetic Stick - With the magnetic polish making such a huge comeback at the moment, I had to try out this magnet to try and create some different designs. It has nice strong magnets so creating the designs is really easy. And it comes with a holo handle! So it looks great with all my mani tools (yeaahhh I'm so vain!)


Holo Nail Flakies - When I got these I thought they would be that thin kind of flakie that you rub into a non-wipe top coat. But I was wrong, its actually more like tiny flakes of glitter. So I ended up doing these more like sugar nails. That said the colour and the holo are STUNNING and I want to keep playing with this product. If you know what you're getting then it's totally worth it.



6 Pack of Glitter - I think out of everything I got in this parcel, these are my fav. So cheap for so much glitter. All the glitters are super irridescent and they all have little hearts and stars in them. I used 3 different shades to imbed in this nail dseign. It is so shiny and eye-catching!


Holo Chevron Stickers pack of 8 - These are all super holo and super pretty. My main problem is that they are really hard to get to sit flush on the nail, which means you won't be able to use these as a decal, but if you want to stick a little extra bling on your mani and happy to use a lot of top coat then these are gorgeous.