On trial this week - August 17

Products the bd team tested (and loved) this week.

Who's not having a love affair with nails at the moment? I can't resist a nail polish and, despite having a heaving drawer of nail varnishes, will always volunteer to get my mitts on another bottle of the good stuff. But in my haste to try out new nail lacquers at my desk, I usually forgo the base and top coat meaning I have chips within 24 hours - not a good look for client meetings or launches with the other beauty eds. But since the ORLY Top 2 Bottom made its way into my life, my DIY manis have become a whole lot more professional and take a lot less time with less products. The formula doubles as a base and top coat meaning I get a great shiny finish with just two products.

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Another ORLY favourite of mine is the It's Up To Blue shade. ORLY told bd that this shade (which is a bright peacock blue with a green shimmer through it) is consistently their bestseller across all of their nail products including the Hot Stuff Collection nail polish collection, the at-home ORLY smartGELS and handy ORLY Manicure Miniatures. While it can look pretty bright in the bottle, on nails it's a gorgeous shade and isn't overly metallic in its finish. I can see this being a staple for my desk DIY jobs throughout the spring/summer months! - Michelle

I’ve been shaving my legs since I was 15 but even though I’m now 21, I still seem to miss a patch on my knees or on the back of my calves when I do. When Nair launched their Spa Clay hair remover, I thought it might fix my issue of missing spots when shaving my legs. The depilatory cream is quite easy to use. Before entering the shower, you layer the cream evenly onto each leg and wait two minutes. Once you’re in the shower, try to avoid water hitting your legs, but even if a little does it shouldn’t matter, my cream didn’t run off with the water. After three minutes in the shower, use a wet cloth to remove all the hair from your legs - and remove all the hair it will! What I loved about the cream is that you could apply it evenly to the legs without missing any patches (my main concern fixed. Tick). What else was good about the cream was that it left my legs super smooth afterwards, even when my legs were dry there was no tightness or dryness and I had no razor cuts. This is my first time using a depilatory cream and I found that it was actually quicker to apply the cream then to shave both of my legs. I don’t mind waiting a few minutes before hopping in the shower for these results, especially when the hair doesn’t seem to grow back as quickly. - Liz

Banana Boat

After receiving a less-than-thrilling result in a recent sun damage test (13 out of 100… now that’s bad!), this summer I’m going to try and be the most diligent sunscreen wearer this country has ever seen. While I do try and be good with my sunscreen application each summer, I always hate the idea of having to rub cream over every single miniscule bit of skin that might be showing. And not just once, but every few hours. Which is why I’m super excited about Banana Boat’s new Clear Spray sunscreen. It has a wide coverage spray that you hold 20cm from your body and just give it a once over. Plus, you don’t even need to rub it in. Quick and easy, just the way sunscreen application should be. Well done, Banana Boat. – Yelena

and Wake-Up Blush + Highlighter

I was drawn to these colour palettes because they looked so easy to use (and I love anything that combines two products in one). The eyeshadow palette makes creating a smoky eye incredibly simple, plus while I love the idea of an eyeshadow primer, unless it's all in the one palette, I'm unlikely to use it. This one goes on smooth and is slightly tinted, so it leaves a neutral base shade on the eye. I then covered the eye with the soft pink shade, followed by a combination of the purple and sparkly-grey colours on the outer corner of the lid. The blush and highlighter-in-one means you just swipe your brush across the palette once, then apply directly on the cheek for a perfectly blushed and highlighted face. I added a little extra of the highlighter over the top to create added shine. - Lucy