Thursday 5 December 2013

O.P.I - A Piers To Be Tan




A Piers To Be Tan is a unique shade of brown that looks like melted chocolate on your fingertips. A shade that probably isn't the best for my almost white skin tone, but I adore anyway. This one's not a favourite in the polish world, and I have to admit, it's not the most exciting shade I've come across, but mostly alluring, hence why I went ahead and purchased it. You may have noticed I've gone for shorter nails recently. They definitely feel stronger!

Are you a fan of it or hate it like many others do? 

Thanks for reading!

Thursday 7 November 2013

O.P.I - Strawberry Margarita


Strawberry Margarita is a hot pink that never seems to get boring for me; a 'classic' O.P.I shade. As this photo was taken indoors you can't see the full effect of how bright the polish is. It's the perfect polish to wear when you've had a dark shade on for a while and you need that pop of pink to brighten up your day. It's also great to wear in the summer or winter and it is that bit different to standard pink shades.

The formula was great also, and lasts a lengthy amount of time. I added some clear rhinestones from bornprettystore.com which came in a wheel filled with other lovely colours. These stayed on for 5+ days which I was really surprised about.

Now who fancies a real Strawberry Margarita?


Thanks for reading!

O.P.I - Gouda Gouda Two Shoes


Here is O.P.I - Gouda Gouda Two Shoes; a brick-coloured brown with a subtle golden shimmer, forming a unique and wonderful shade. I love finding interesting coloured polishes rather than the generic shades you can find everywhere. I got this particular one from Fragrance Direct for £3.99 - a brilliant price! I also added a cute flower sticker on my ring finger which I think I got from Nailtopia


Thanks for reading!

Thursday 31 October 2013

Halloween nails with Nailtopia



Tonight is Halloween and to celebrate I've gone a bit nuts with these Halloween nail stickers by Nailtopia. Complete with pumpkins, spiders and witches, these stickers are easy to use and last well with a top coat. I've used O.P.I - Hot & Spicy which is orange but doesn't look quite so orange in these photos. I painted the corner of my ring finger nail with Collection 2000 black polish and added O.P.I - Which Is Witch on top which holds beautiful hexagonal & bar glitter in a clear base. This was supposed to represent the night sky with the witch flying past. The name also goes perfectly with the theme. To seal these lovely stickers I've used my trusty Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat




The last photo shows a more realistic representation of the shade and as you can see it looks more of a pumpkin colour. You can buy these particular stickers here but they've actually sold out of these particular ones at the mo - there's plenty of other spooky stickers on there though! 

Enjoy your night whatever you're doing for it!


Sunday 25 August 2013

essie - Bikini So Teeny


Recently I went on a little polish spree from Fragrance Direct [review coming soon] and I bought 4 essie polish's - which I don't regret one bit at £2.99 each! This one is Bikini So Teeny - a vibrant light blue which is unlike any blue shade I've got and I love the feeling of wearing such a bright colour on my nails. The formula was a little on the thick side but nothing some thinner can't sort out, but I did notice the colour changes substantially depending on how many coats you have on or how thick you apply it. The less coats the lighter it was. Bikini So Teeny is a great shade to combine with other blues, and I can't wait to get experimenting! 

What do you think of this shade? 

Thanks for reading!

Butter London - Yummy Mummy


I've always wanted to try out Butter London's polishes, and after purchasing the Ultimate Summer Nails box by Latest in Beauty x You [review here], my wish came true as they included this lovely nude shade 'Yummy Mummy'. It's very wearable and would look good on various skin tones. The polish holds a blue-ish shimmer that makes the shade unique and interesting. The formula was lovely - which is what I was expecting from this brand and I used two coats for these photographs.



The bottle packaging is also lovely - a large square bottle with a square pull-off lid, revealing a cheeky little fella on the screw-on lid.



Have you tried Button London's polishes? I need more now

Thanks for reading

Thursday 1 August 2013

Fairy Dust on Peach Melba



Here I have Barry M's Peach Melba; a shade that is hard to describe but I would say a peachy cream. It has a perfect mixture of pink and orange, blended into such a colour that is hard to put your finger on. The application was extremely streaky, but after a second or even third coat, it becomes opaque. The shade is perfect, but the formula lets it down. However, once it's sorted itself out after a few coats and a good top coat, it looks laaavely! I find it's such a wearable shade - acceptable for work or evenings out.

Over Peach Melba I've used China Glaze's Fairy Dust which is the perfect shimmer that include micro particles that hold a variety of colours when in certain light. You can layer this over any shade and it instantly transforms the original colour. The photo below is slightly blurred and you can see an array of colours including lavender, gold, green & red.


Fairy Dust does alter the shade of the base polish slightly, making Peach Melba a little lighter in colour. I find the combination is lovely, don't you think?


You can buy Barry M nail polish here (under NP318) & China Glaze on Amazon UK. I bought mine from beautybay and they have an amazing selection.

Thanks for reading!

Thursday 25 July 2013

a-england - Ascalon



ASCALON

Forged by magic and guided by our hero's sainted hand, the steely grey of his spire is alive with a swirling heart of lavender fire.


Today I'm showing you a-england's wonderful Ascalon. If you haven't tried a-england's polishes before then you are seriously missing out. The formula is beautiful; dries quickly & thin, no streaks and never gloopy. The bottles are so pretty and a-england is fast becoming my favourite polish brand. Ascalon is a holographic dark grey with tiny prismatic particles that make you want to stare at your nails all day. With different lighting the shade changes; in the sunlight and in strong artificial lighting is when it looks it's best. Indoors it's still a stunner - the effect is still there. 

I'm always worried about applying a top coat on holos, as I've had a disappointing experience before when it just completely took the prismatic effect away. I've used Seche Vite Top Coat on my ring fingers to keep the studs in place, and you can see a slight difference compared to the nails without top coat.

These cute little round studs are from bornprettystore that came in a wheel containing a variety of studs etc. The top coat kept them in place for two days and then a couple fell off. 





You can buy a-england polishes here. What do you think of Ascalon? I love it!

Also, I'd love it if you follow me via Bloglovin' - link and my Twitter - link.

Thanks for reading!

Thursday 18 July 2013

Orly - Nailtrition Review


I've had Orly's Nailtrition for quite some time now so I think it's the perfect time to give you a review on it. Nailtrition is for weak, peeling / flaking & splitting nails. If you find your nails can't get past a certain length without splitting this might be something you'd be interested in. Before using this product I had very weak nails that I could easily bend and I grew tired of breaking a nail every 2 weeks or so. The peeling on my nails was horrendous and weakened them incredibly. I had to find a treatment that worked, and after reading many reviews, I bought Nailtrition. 

Directions: 
Week One - Apply 1-2 coats daily. Remove at the end of the week.
Week Two - Repeat.
Repeat 2 week programme as necessary, waiting one week before reapplication.

I have tried doing it this way, but I find it very hard to live without a colour on my nails. So instead, I use this a base coat under any polish I decide to use. Orly do claim this is a good base coat and will still work under regular nail polish. 

- Nailtrition has a pink-y / clear shimmer shade by itself. More coats, more colour.
- It has a lovely purple rubberised handle allowing an easy grip and comfortable to hold
- The drying time isn't too bad - a few minutes
- Nails feel considerably stronger and not as bendy or peel
- Free of DBP, Formaldehyde & Toulene
- Can be used as a base coat or alone
- Can leave a bumpy surface / texture which can be seen through nail polish on top - therefore not the best base coat for an even finish.
- Contains Collagen, Wheat Protein, Keratin & Bamboo Extract
- Supposedly makes nails grower quicker
- Brush is a little on the skinny side - a thicker brush would be more appropriate for even coverage

I haven't got photos of my nail condition before because I was so eager to get it on and see the results, but from this photo below you can see my nails aren't peeling anymore and no breakages! Breakages are still going to happen especially as I'm always bashing them on things, but they are generally stronger and less susceptible to breaking.


I've now come to the last dregs of my beloved Nailtrition and after I've posted this I will be buying some more. My nails need this product in their life & I'm very happy with the results it has given. Before, I couldn't grow all my nails to a nice long length without at least one cracking / splitting or chipping. Now, my nails are getting healthier by the day which is amazing considering how often I paint and remove them.


Do consider buying this if your nails are in a similar condition to how mine were as I'm sure this will work for you too. If you've tried other related products to this please do let me know in the comments as I would love to compare them! 

Thanks for reading!

Sunday 14 July 2013

A Rose Combo: Barry M - Dragonfruit + Nails Inc - Totes Pink


Do you ever feel the need to have an extremely girly manicure? Today I did; therefore creating this - 'A Rose Combo'. I used Barry M's Dragonfruit from their Gelly Hi-Shine range, along with Nails Inc's Totes Pink which is a collab with InStyle. Both were very streaky to apply & needed 2-3 coats. I used two in these photos plus a top coat. I found Totes Pink to leave bald patches, whether this is down to wearing Orly's Nailtrition as a base coat I am not sure. However, the overall result does not look streaky and I'm happy with the result. I find Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat usually evens out any lumps + bumps, and although Dragonfruit was a very glossy finish, the top coat makes it that much more shiny.  


I added some rose nail stickers that I purchased from www.nailtopia.co.uk (purchase review here), which went well with the pink colour scheme & made it just a bit more girly. They last fairly well with a top coat and although they look a little lumpy in these photos, it's not actually that noticeable. 


I love the bright barbie pink plus the baby pink shade makes a great combo don't you think? You can find Barry M's Nail Paints here.

Thanks for reading & let me know what you think :)

Essie Geranium Review + Born Pretty Studs


The sun is out and I wanted a bright red on my nails for once! This is the only red I own that actually really like - it's a coral type red with hints of orange which encourages me to wear red more. I can't say enough good things about the formula, it applies like a dream, thin and dries very quickly. The end result is very glossy and vibrant & I only needed two coats to make the shade perfect. Also the brush is a great width, making the application much easier and quicker.


Essie polish always impresses me and I wouldn't hesitate to spend my money on their beautiful shades.  It's worth the money and the polish stays on for a lengthy amount of time. Below is a photo of the shade indoors where you can see it's more orange-y tones which makes it a much more unique red. I also added some gold studs from the bornprettystore.com on each ring finger, and sealed with my beloved Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. I did think that the gold and red combo made my nails rather Christmas-y which is the last thing I wanted for summer! Oops...


What do you think of this mani? Too Christmas-y or a good summer shade? Let me know in the comments! 
Don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' & Twitter - links are at the top right of this page.

Thanks again for reading!

Monday 8 July 2013

China Glaze - Fairy Dust on Rimmel's Grey Matter



China Glaze's Fairy Dust is the most versatile polish and I keep coming back to it because you can jazz up your current mani if you're a little bored of it and it gives you a whole new look! Also it looks simply beautiful on it's own, plus it looks great layered over any shade of polish. It's so sparkly but not so much that you couldn't wear it on an everyday basis. In direct sunlight (above) it's more subtle, however indoors (below) you can really see the glitz. 

Underneath I've used Rimmel's 60 Seconds Grey Matter 805 - a light, concrete-grey shade that I find myself wearing quite often. The formula isn't amazing; a little thick, but the brush is nice and wide, allowing you to cover the nail more evenly. This polish also looks amazing with a matte top coat.



I've included an out of focus photograph below so you can see the sparkly potential of this polish. The only con about this product is that it's quite tricky to remove like all glitter polish's, however if you keep the cotton pads with the remover on your nail for a period of time before wiping off, it should come off easier. 



Plus - this is the same mani after a week! It lasted really well; slight chipping and wearing away near the cuticles, other than that it looked great!


As 'FD' looks great on pretty much any shade, I will be doing more posts soon - watch out for 'Fairy Dust on...' posts. Do you have Fairy Dust? Tell me what you think! 


Thanks for reading :)

Rimmel Lasting Finish Tangy Tangerine 705 Review



Today I'm showing you Rimmel's Lasting Finish nail polish in Tangy Tangerine. It's a vibrant, peachy-orange creme that definitely makes your nails stand out. I also used some nail art stickers from Nailtopia which are very elegant, and you can see my purchase review here.


The polish itself doesn't have the best formula at all - in fact I had to paint quite a few coats before the colour became opaque, and even then you can still see the white part of my nails underneath. It was also extremely streaky - but my Seche Vite top coat does a good job of evening it out. Indoors it does look a bit brighter but this is the shade in direct sunlight. These photos were taken a couple of days after (oops) but they still look okay condition. The nail stickers also last well, as long as you seal them with a top coat. 


It's unfortunate that the formula lets this polish down, as I love the bright summery shade! I shall have to hunt for a better solution. Any suggestions? 

Thanks so much for reading! :)

Sunday 30 June 2013

Nailtopia purchase - Nail Art Stickers


A few weeks ago I bought some nail stickers from Nailtopia which is a great site for nail art decor. I went a bit mad and bought a variety of stickers which will last me a long time! They are so easy to use - simply peel off and apply to dry nails with tweezers. Adding a top coat allows them to last longer, plus it's simple to remove - just use regular nail polish remover and they come right off.

These are just for the comedy factor and because I love puppies haha! It comes with bows too which is an extra plus.

Price - £3.33
Product link - http://www.nailtopia.co.uk



The birds on these ones encouraged me to purchase them plus flowers are always a simple and elegant touch for nail art. 

Price - £1.49


These beautiful roses will look elegant on anyone's nail and will go perfectly with a light pink shade.

Price - £2.99


Check out my post using these fab rose stickers here!



Bows are great for any mani and will always make your nails pretty. Plus the strips of lace are lovely! 

Price - £2.99


Check them out on my Get Juiced mani.


These stickers are the prettiest I've seen and will look great with any shade. Super sophisticated and elegant. They could be made a bit better as the little diamantes etc can easily be knocked off so I found I had to glue them on more securely before placing onto the nail.

Price - £3.31
Product link - http://www.nailtopia.co.uk


If you want to try any of these all the links are provided and I hope you like them as much as i do :) Once I've tried them all out I will be sure to update this to give you the post links - thanks for reading!

Friday 28 June 2013

Barry M Dragon Fruit with Born Pretty Store Holographic Glequins




On my polish wish list was the perfect bubblegum pink which for some reason I don't have even though I've got a wide collection of pinks. Introducing Barry M's Dragon Fruit - a bright, barbie pink that screams 'girl' - and to make it even more girly I added some beautiful holographic glequins on my ring fingers. Recently I did a post on my beauty blog about my bornprettystore purchase which includes these glequins - you can view that here

I also added a cute bow nail sticker which I got from Nailtopia and I'll be doing a review of my purchase soon. They are so easy to apply - simply peel off with tweezers and place onto dry nails. Add a top coat for extra protection. 


After two layers of top coat, the glequins were completely smooth to touch and no rough edges sticking up & catching onto things - which is probably one of my worst pet hates! Bearing in mind these photos were taken after a couple of days, this mani lasted well over a week until I got bored of it. 


What do you think? Also don't forget to follow me on bloglovin'! I've changed my blog template now to a more simple view which means I can finally have my bloglovin' icon showing -  it's at the top right. I haven't got any followers yet so if you like my posts then please do as it will make my day :) 

Thanks for reading!

Thursday 27 June 2013

Ciate Caviar Mani - Cookies 'n Cream & Shooting Stars


This months Marie Claire magazine comes with a cute Ciate mini set which include their famous caviar pearls. I love Marie Claire anyway plus this freebie was too good to miss. There's loads of amazing mag freebies this month and if your'e curious check out my post I did earlier this month here.

The Ciate kit comes with a lovely nude - an easy shade to wear everyday and very elegant. It also has a pot of caviar pearls called Shooting Stars which I couldn't find anyway so I think these might be just in this mini version. Full of tiny beads of various colours, this is an interesting touch to your manicure especially if you like a bit of texture going on. 


Below is a photo before I added a top coat - the above photos have a thick coat as I worried they would all fall off by tomorrow. Now the top coat is in place, it feels extremely sturdy and although a few pinged off, I think most of them will stay in place now. Without the top coat you can see the full effect of the caviar, so when I try this next time I won't bother with it and see how well they last without the extra protection. 


Unfortunately I broke my index nail which is why it's looking rather stubby but I think the overall effect of this kit was brilliant and an interesting way to mix up yo' mani. The full sized kits are a whopping £18.00 so if you want to try this for the price of a magazine (£3.80) then get out there now and get it! 

Do you think the caviar look is pretty or do you hate the textured look? Thanks for reading!

Friday 7 June 2013

Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Get Juiced Review







 Today I have on Sally Hansen's 546 Get Juiced, a bright, juicy coral pink. It's a lovely splash of colour and it just looks so pretty on the nails. I bought it the other day from Boots (who have a great selection in the large stores by the way) and couldn't resist buying this shade. The formula wasn't as nice as I'd hoped, but it was still good, just a little thick.
This is two coats which made them almost opaque, I was thinking about another layer but decided against it. The colour is much brighter in real life, the photos aren't colour accurate.  It's almost approaching neon pink. The formula dries very quickly. I also added two bow nail stickers on each ring finger, plus a strip of white lace on the tips of my thumbnails. You can get these from nailtopia.co.uk; I bought a variety of nail stickers from here the other day and they are all great! Post coming soon.

*UPDATE* - Since wearing this shade for a couple of days I've noticed it actually goes orange in the sunlight. It depends what kind of lighting but I was very surprised to look down at my nails and see them a different shade! 


What do you think of my latest mani? I'm loving the pop of colour after my dark nails yesterday!