Royal Vampire Nail Polish Manicure for Halloween

For those of you following the Hebridean Sprite Beauty shop on facebook you probably know I've been working on this Vampire inspired shade for a while now- about a month. First it was too dark, then too light then too opaque, then the subtle shimmer wouldn't show up on the nail, then it dried too matte. Finally I managed to get a shade that I'm happy with though I still need a topcoat for it in order to reach it's full potential I think. 

Anyways it's a dark bloody red jelly shade with a subtle regal purple shimmer that is only evident in some lights. Shown is with three coats and I'm loving it, especially for Halloween. I'm actually posting it today in the shop and it will be a part of the permanent mythological line if anyone is interested. I wanted to post it earlier but as you can tell from earlier I just wasn't happy with it yet.

Above you can see some evidence of the purple shimmer. It's much harder to catch on camera than I'd hoped it would be.

Strangely but kind of ironically in the bottle Royal Vampire looks like bottled half-dried blood as it has a weird brown tone to it. None of that tone really shows up on the nail though and the shimmer is much more prominent in the bottle. I have no clue as to why this is but I thought I'd mention it.

a shot of the shimmer

Looking like partially dried blood

Hope everyone has a lovely candy-filled Halloween this evening! Stay safe and have a blast!

Avene's Clean-Ac Moisturizer~ Review

Clean-AC Hydrating Cream

Avene is a skincare brand that I tend to go back to again and again but frequently forget to talk about. This product in particular is actually one of the best ones in my skin-care essentials and I can't believe I haven't blogged about it before.

Avene is a brand that uses spring water from a special healing spring in France in all of their products as well as solid dermatological formulations. I'm not so sure about all the water's healing properties myself but I have had success with their products.

Clean-Ac is a thick white moisturizer that smells lightly of cucumber, designed for red, irritated or acne prone skin. This is perfect if you are using an acne fighting system that is drying to your skin but you still have acne.

A little too thick for day, I prefer to use this at night as it's soothing, very moisturizing and I've always noticed a decrease in overall redness and acne appearance by the next morning. It also reduces the flakiness that can come with the harsh systems to fight acne.

I don't recommend this for daytime though as it doesn't have an SPF or sunscreen component (which is important for keeping skin healthy and youthful) plus it can feel a bit greasy after about 3-4 hours. I much prefer to slather on at night and cleanse off in the morning.

Priced around $18-$20 dollars it is on the pricy side, but you don't have to use much due to the thickness of the product.

Overall, it's a moisturizer but a very good one that calms the skin as well as it's hydrating properties. A bit on the expensive side but worth it, even if you only use it occasionally for agitated or reddened skin.

Sprite Rating: 9/10 (lost half a point for price and half a point for greasiness if used during day time that can occur after a few hours).

Would I buy this again? Yes, in fact I'm almost through my second bottle.

Check out Pointless Cafe's Review!

Shiela the blogger over at Pointless Cafe is featuring 4 of our mythological collection shades over the next couple days! Her review of Underhill is amazing- the photos way beyond anything I could have managed! I can't thank her enough!
Check it out here:http://www.pointlesscafe.com/2012/10/hebridean-sprite-beauty-underhill.html