Spring Summer Nail Picks

 

I thought I'd share the nail polish that I always reach for when the sun comes out. I love the turqouise/ light blue shades like Topshop- Air Kisses, models own- Top Turquouse and Essie- Bikini So Teeny. Air Kisses is my favourite as it is so long lasting! Top Turquoise is slightly less summery but a bit of a different option as it's a pretty unusual colour. Essie Bikini So Teeny is great if you want a slight shimmer, this polish makes me feel like wearing a floaty dress and enjoying the sun (on this very rainy day)

 

Last but not least, I threw in a bright pink for when you're feeling adventurous (or not) Essie- lights is a lovely bright pink but unfortunately, doesn't last too well.



Manicure Monday: essie Lights

A nail polish I'm loving at the moment is essie in 'Lights'. I'ts a lovely hot pink and weirdly, I used to hate pink but I've been loving a bit of bright pink on my nails to add some fun to my outfit lately!

If you read my Life Update post you'll know I've had a couple of interviews recently and because they've been in schools I haven't wanted to paint my nails. But I actually really missed having them colourful so this colour has cheered me up!

Unfortunately, this seems like a different formula to other essie polishes I've tried and chips really easily and doesn't last too long. Which is a shame cuz' I love it!

Manicure Monday: Topshop Peel Off Polish

I picked this up at the #NottsBBMeet in the shade 'on the blink'. I was intrigued to try it as sometimes when I pick my nail varnish off it leaves my nails damaged underneath and I hoped this wouldn't. I've actually found  that models own polish with a base and top coat peels off pretty easily but still leaves damage.

after one coat

after second coat

When applying it, it needed two coats but was quite easy to apply and left a gel like finish which didn't need a top coat.

I was worried that it would peel off when I didn't want it to but that wasn't an issue, it lasted like any other polish.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed. It wasn't actually that easy to peel off and left my nails looking very dry and damaged. This wasn't the base coat, it was my nails!

look at the damage to my nails!

once removed, my nails were sore and really dry.

I used nail varnish remover to remove it from the other hand and you can see that they were left in much better condition! It was pretty difficult to remove though.

I might try and use this again without a base coat, but so far I'm unimpressed! It's a shame because I like the colour.

Have you tried 'peel off polish'?

Monday Manicure: Essie and Holographic

Hey guys! I'm on a blogging role and have three ideas for series posts that happen on a certain day every week, the first of these is Monday Manicure where I share with you what I'm wearing on my nails every Monday.

This week I'm sporting the manicure I did before the #NottsBBMeet on Saturday. I opted for Essie we're all in this together and 17 Holographic silver on the accent nail.

Also, In case you're wondering I use Sally Hansen Double Duty as a base coat and No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat, my nails tend to last 4-5 days.

I hope you like this short and sweet monday post, what nail look are you loving right now?

Rimmel Matte Finish Topcoat

Today I purchased a product I'm pretty excited about, Rimmel Pro Matte Finish Mattifying Topcoat. This cloudy bottle transforms any nail varnish into a matte colour with a velvetty feel.

Models Own Top Turquoise before topcoat, one of my current favourite colours.

After Topcoat, I love the finish of this and am so excited to try it on other polishes.It also feels really nice and smooth.

I tried adding some No7 Top Coat (my other favourite) to see what would happen! I made shiny tips which turned out quite well although they're not that obvious.  

Excuse my messy nail painting, I'm raving about this top coat and am excited to experiment. I'll let you know how it lasts as a topcoat (Rimmel claim up to 10 days) in comparison to others.

What do you guys think?

Edit: This lasted really well on my nails, just as well as the No.7 Top Coat on it's own. I've had it on for four days now and it's still going strong!

Rimmel Matte Top Coat is available at Boots for £4.59

February Favourites

I haven't really been buying many products this month but here are my favourites!

I'll start with Nails as I forgot them last month, If you saw my Essie for £1.99 post you'll see that I got 'We're all in this together', a lovely light pink, and ''Bikini so Teeny', the light blue. I've been loving these and am massively impressed with the lasting power and application of essie, I definitely can tell a difference!

I also got the No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat with a £5 off voucher and love it! It really does keep my nails perfect, it applies well, dries quickly and protects my nails for longer.

Onto Hair, my aussie products ran out and when I popped to Boots I noticed the Tresemme on 2 for £5. I decided to give the 'Split Remedy' a go because my hair is due for a cut and looking fried at the ends, I've only used this a couple of times I have already noticed a difference. I also worried that since I'm used to using intensely moisturising hair products that I might notice it getting drier with these but it hasn't.

I've put my real techniques stippling brush in here again as I continue to be wowed by it! I can use it with all consistencies of foundation and BB cream and it always gives a great finish.

I purchased the Rimmel Scandeleyes waterproof eyeliner as I struggle with smudging, using this really does make it stay in place longer. I also like that it's a creamer nib and not a pencil that can be stratchy sometimes.

When buying the Rimmel eyeliner I also bought the Match Perfection Foundation in Porcelain. Unfortunately It's a little light for me but I have been mixing it with another foundation and it works well. I love the runnier consistency as it gives good coverage.

And as Rimmel was on 3 for 2 I bought my first ever lipstick, Kate Moss lipstick in 16. I love this pinky coral colour and am getting on well with it, despite it being quite matte.

Are any of these products in your favourites this month?

Valentines Day NOTD

Inspired by FleurdeForce in this nail tutorial, I recreated it for V day! 

I'm really pleased with how they turned out. I used Sally Henson Double Duty as a base coat, Essie 'We're in this together' which has a nice shimmer to it. I then used white and red nail art pens and No7 Top Coat.

If you're interested, I spent this valentines day a little differently this year by going speed dating with a couple of friends, it was such good fun! It was something I always wanted to do and I can now tick it off my 101 things list. It was really nice to meet to meet new people and everyone was surprisingly easy to talk to for 2 and a half minutes.

January Wishlist

Marrocan Oil: I've heard rave reviews about this and would love to try it.

Urban Decay Primer Potion: Again, I've heard lots of good things about this and I'm struggling to find a cheaper alternative that's as raved about. Any dupes?

Benefit They're Real Mascara: This looks awesome, I love Benefit and I love mascara, shame it costs so much!

Real Techniques Brushes: Another blogging influenced want, I really want to see what all the Real Techniques hype is about. I particularly want to try the Buffing and Stippling brushes.

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara: I think this is a great idea and it is supposed to be really good for preventing dropout too.

Soap & Glory gloss sticks: I am loving Soap & Glory more and more and would love to try these as I love the Revlon Balm Stains.

Tangle Teezer: I think this would be good for my knotty, curly hair to prevent breakage.

OPI Rapid Dry Top Coat: I have a love hate relationship with top coats, I love how they make my nail varnish last longer but hate how they always smudge! I know OPI is supposed to be a good brand so would like to try this one.

Here's hoping I win the lottery! What's on your wishlists?

Essie for £1.99?!

I'm no longer an Essie virgin! I have been wanting to catch on to the hype for a while now but didn't want to fork out the money at £7.99 a pop.

So you can imagine how excited I was when I found them at £1.99 each at Fragrance Direct, so I ordered three!

The colours I bought were We're in it together, Lights and Bikini So Teeny. The pale pink and pale blue both have a bit of sparkle in them which is really pretty.

So far I'm impressed, the formula of Lights is well pigmented and of a good consistency, the brush is also amazing for neat and convenient painting. I'll let you know how it lasts.

wearing gloves cuz' it's cold!

Review: MUA Fur Effect Nails

I was a bit dubious to try this new nail trend, the swatches looked nice but the thought 'why would I want fur nails?!' does come to mind! I went for the fluffy puff baby pink colour as I thought it looked the nicest on the swatches. I already had a nails inc polish in a similar colour so used that underneath.

First of all I followed the instructions on the back of the pot which told me to paint my nails with two coats of polish and while the polish was still wet, roll it in the 'fur'. This involved tapping the pot upside down so that some 'fur' came through the sifter tray in the pot. Firstly, I found it difficult to get enough to come through leaving some half covered nails as shown on the thumb and third finger above.

I then decided to remove the sifter (with difficulty) to roll my nail directly into the 'fur' and this was much more effective at getting a better coverage.

The instructions then said to wait 30 seconds before brushing of the excess. I found it most effective to use a eyeshadow brush to brush away the excess from my finger first and then from the nail.However, sometimes this lead to the nail varnish also being brushes off as it was still tacky, not ideal.

Overall, once I got to grips with this the effect was pretty good, although a little strange. The nails felt velvety and soft. The fur gradually wore off and after about a day it was noticeably more bald! This would be good for a special occassion like a day or night out but not something that I will be trying all the time!

Fur effect nails are available in 5 colours from MUA here, usually £3 but currently £2.

Recent Purchases

I went to town today and became disappointment with the stock in Superdrug and Boots. The two things I went to MUA for were not there, the gel eyeliner and the eyelid primer.

MUA Fur effect Nails in Fluffy Puff: I've been wanting to try these for ages and was suprised they actually had it since the rest of the stock was shocking. I liked this colour best on the swatches so went for it.

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer in Light: As you know I'm still catching up with the blogger favourites from the last few months so I had to tick this one of my list. I haven't tried it yet but from swatching on my hand I must say it lasted pretty well on the back of my hand. If you're interested, I ended up getting the Collection 2000 stuff from Wilkinsons.

Collection 2000 Lasting Colour Gel Eyeliner: This is my first gel eyeliner so I hope it's a good one!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush: I have been obsessed with these since christmas, especially the Honey shade. This one is quite similar and I wanted a darker shade that would suit me as Lovesick is a little too pink for me. These are £5 at the moment in Superdrug and Boots.

NOTD: Christmas Glitz

I decided to go sparkly with my nails today for Christmas. I used Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Plum then used the purple glitter polish I got in my Barry M goodie bag at the Clothes Show (it doesn't seem to have a colour).

What's your favourite christmas nail design/polish?

NOTD: Models Own 'in the navy' and christmas nail art

Today's nails of the day are Models Own 'in the navy' which is a lovely navy blue which I got from the Clothes Show. I instantly loved this and only needed one coat as it gave perfect coverage.

I then had a brainwave and decided to do some snowman nail art. Here is how it turned out....

I was very pleased with it, and of course I did the same on the other hand. This was really easy to do, I used a white polish to colour part of the nail, then used my black models own nail art pen to add eyes and a mouth. I then used a cocktail stick in my new Barry M orange nail polish to make his little nose.

However, I had a bit of an issue with the white polish. As I'm home from uni at the moment I didn't have all my supplies and I'd left my white polish at home. The only alternative I had was the OPI white shatter polish I got at the Clothes Show. I decided to give it a go and thought a couple of coats might solve the problem. It started ok, the first coat started to crackle so I just went over it and it seemed relatively crack-free so I went on with the other details. However, I don't know whether this is because OPI is a particularly good brand (one I haven't tried before) but this crackle polish continued to want to crackle even after I thought it was dry! After I applied the topcoat and it was dry my snowmen appeared to become cracked so the look is not quite as good as above now.

Anyway, this nail art is really easy to try so I would recommend having a go yourself, just be sure to use normal white polish!

NOTD: Models Own Thunder & Lightening

Today's polish is one of the Models Own polishes I got from the Clothes Show: Thunder & Lightening. This is a black polish with silver glitter suspended in it.

Having been very impressed with Models Own before, I have to say I wasn't quite as impressed with this one. Firstly, the polish isn't opaque as expected, even after two coats it still is more translucent that expected with a slight brown tinge.
Secondly, the polish remains tacky for a while resulting in smudging of my nails, I had to repaint some.

However, I love this colour and the overall effect is great for Christmas.

Clothes Show Live 2012 Haul

I had an amazing day with friends at the Clothes Show today and I'm excited to haul for you guys what I bought.

Highlights of the day: meeting Jamie Laing (Made In Chelsea) and the Catwalk show.

So starting off with my beauty goodie bags...

Barry M: £10 goodie bag containing a make up bag, three nail polishes, a glitter stack, lip gloss, three dazzle dusts, green mascara, gold glitter liner and three pastel eyeliners.
I was pleased with this even though some of the colours are ambitious.

Models Own goodie bag when you bought two nail polishes for £10

I bought 'Thunder and Lightning' and 'In the Navy' (excuse the flash and lighting). Unfortunately they had sold out of the Clothes Show exclusive glitter 'Showstopper'.

Goodie bag containing nail art pen, lip balm, nail file, two eyeliners, two eyeshadows, liquid eyeliner, lipgloss and nail scissors. I was pretty pleased with this actually, the lip balm is bubblegum flavour and smells yummy!

I also loved the carrier bag!

Company and Cosmo Goodie bag £3

contains: two magazines, chocolates, jelly beans, hair serum, kleenez shine away sheets, batiste travel size, Rimmel eyeshadow trio and OPI crackle polish. This also contained a packet of tomato ketchup crisps which I ate! A great deal, it's just a shame the polish is white!

Jelly Pong Pong/So Susan goodie bag £5

contains lip cushion, fairy lashes mascara, brazilian bronzer and wide awake concealer, highlighter and eyeshadow pallette. I think these products sound great and I can't wait to try them, the lip cushion smells gorgeous!

Then onto the shopping. I went into David and Goliath and fell in love with the dinosaur things so bought some pyjama bottoms and a T-shirt for £20.

How cute are these? He's drinking tea!

I also bought a Nica handbag for £29 reduced from £39. I love the teal colour and It's a good size.

Excuse the pictures as it was pretty dark when I got home but overall I love the things I got and I think I got some bargains. I may have to return next year.

Recent Purchases

I went shopping today for the first time in ages. It was dangerous as I added more things to my Christmas list and didn't actually buy many gifts.
Anyway, I treated myself to....

Nivea Daily Essentials Fragrance Free wipes- repurchased these as I ran out.

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Plum- I've been wanting to try these in ages and couldn't resist this gorgeous colour.

MUA Nail Constellations- not sure what colour this is but it's black with the odd blue bead. I like it anyway, will be giving these a go!

Nivea Daily Essentials express Hydration Primer- I tried a sample of this and liked it. I think it might work for me as I can skip the moisturiser step in my face routine!

NOTD

Today's Nails of the Day are purple and silver Natural collection polish. I layered the purple with Models Own Indian Ocean and the silver with Models Own Juicy Jules.

It's all about the glitter today!

NOTD

My Nails of the Day today are done with my lovely new models own polishes.

I used Top Turqoise as a base and Juicy Jules on an accent nail, both two coats. The picture above is after 2 days wear.

I'm so glad to have found a glitter polish with enough glitter to make this effect!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here to win your own models own polishes.