Not Halloween It's Adventure Time!

Happy Halloween!

I'm the first to admit that I don't actually like this particular 'holiday', I struggle to get into dressing up and I hate horror films! So a scary themed party is not exactly my idea of fun.

 

However this year I am going dressed as Fionna the Human for Halloween! Fans of Adventure Time will know what this means, but for those of you who haven't seen the show, it's a cartoon on the Cartoon Network channel about a load of colourful characters who have essentially evolved from the items which survived the end of the world as we know it. Cheerful huh? Finn is the last of the human race, and Fionna is his female counterpart in a series of character written fan fiction in the show. I've probably confused you now, so on to the nails!!

 

Each nail represents a different character, from thumb to pinkie it's B-Mo, Jake the dog, Finn the Human, Lumpy Space Princess and Gunther the Evil Penguin.

 

I started by doing the base colour for each nail, again in that order I used China Glaze Towel Boy Toy, a yellow from George @ Asda, China Glaze White on White, a purple from George, and China Glaze Liquid Leather.

For the details I used a combination of dotting tools and a striping brush.

Once dry I topped it all off with a coat of Seche to seal them, and then a coat of OPI Matte to make them really pop! I think the matte really helps the whole cartoon character aspect.

Unfortunately I didn't seal my thumb first (learnt from my mistake!) so B-Mo's poor face is all smudged :(

 

Hope you like these, I'd love to see what you all have done for Halloween so feel free to leave me a link and I'll check them out!

Bx

 

 

 

Omg

Today I have a review of something a little different – nail strips!

I was approached recently by OMG Nail Strips and asked to review some of their nail decals. Firstly, I was just happy to be asked! Secondly, once I had a look at their website I decided there were definitely some designs there that would appeal me. So I agreed.

I’ll be honest; I have never ever used nail strips before. I love painting my nails and creating designs and have never been drawn into the world of decals. However some of these designs are so fabulous I would never be able to replicate them, and who am I to shy away from trying new things!

From OMG Nail Strips you receive 14 strips (2 sets of 7 different sizes) for $7.99 and currently you can receive 5 for $25 with coupon code "5pack" or 10 for $45 with the coupon code "10pack".

How to do:

To begin with, the pack suggests you soak your nails in warm water then moisturise. I didn’t do this, I just applied them right on top of my nail envy I already had on. I guess this only really makes a difference to wear time, as they claim they last for up to 10 days, so they probably won’t last that long for me!

I found that the variety of size was surprisingly good – I’ve always thought my nails were the wrong shape for nail strips but I was wrong! Four I could fit perfectly to my nails, for my middle finger I did to trim slightly with nail scissors as the sizes remaining were all too wide or too narrow. Awkward middle finger being awkward! As long as the edges fit right down the sides of the nail it should be fine.
Once you’ve ensured that the strips are the right width for your nail you feel off the clear top layer, then carefully remove the backing. This can be quite fiddly, and be careful not to roll the sticker back on itself (which I did. A lot.) as they are really sticky! Place the top of the strip right down against the cuticles and smooth out.

You should be left with a lot of excess at the tip. To get rid of this you simply take a nail file, hold it so the blade is horizontal, flat against the nail, and gently file at the strip until it comes away. You can also use this technique around the sides of the nail if you’ve overlapped onto your finger. (which I did. A lot. You can see a trend here can’t you!)

Once finished, the instructions recommend that you swipe lightly with a little bit of nail polish remover as this helps melt the strip onto the nail. I forgot, and I just finished with a few coats of Sally Hansen fast drying top coat.

Overview:

I was quite surprised by how much I like having these on my nails! They took around 40 mins to apply, which isn’t much more than me painting my nails – less than if I try nail art! – so I can definitely see the appeal in using nail strips. Although they were rather fiddly they weren’t too difficult to use, not more so than a dotting tool or a striper brush! I think that although I’m a polish girl at heart it will never hurt to have a few of OMG’s fab designs in my stash – I’m very much looking forward to trying out my Christmas themed strips *spoiler!

OMG Nail strips are available at http://www.omgnailstrips.com/nail-polish-strips or you can check out other pics and reviews on their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/omgnailstrips

DISCLAIMER: I was provided these items free of charge to review on my blog.

 

 

A Jolt of Pink Volt!

Today I have a VERY pink pink for you!

This is the gloriously cheap and cheerful Pink Volt by Maybelline, part of the Megawatt Superstay Gel polish. It’s not every day you find such an intense pink.

This polish is thick in the best kind of way, easy to work with and applies easily with the wide brush. It is super pigmented so you could easily wear with one coat. I gave it two but only because I’m fussy and could still sort of see nail line if I held it up against the light. They aren’t kidding when they call it Megawatt Gel either, I’ve never personally had gel nails, but this has an almost cartoonish level of shine, a permanent white reflection of shine down every nail which didn’t fade.

Pink Volt fairly held it’s own in the wear and tear category too, lasting a full week (I only removed it because I’m impatient and wanted to try something new) and I only re-tipped one nail because it’s a weak nail and bent.

To summarise, I was very impressed with this polish, perhaps coming from such a massive brand like Maybelline I shouldn’t be so surprised but when I got it on 3 for 2 in Boots it hardly broke the bank to add a heavily pigmented, hard wearing super-pink to my collection.

Bx

 

Moyra - Gravity

Warning: the following post contains a LOT of pictures of a very shiny polish. Little description will be needed. 

Just a little picture-heavy warning for you, but how else to review such a pretty holo polish!! I don't often wear holo polishes as I find when not in direct sunlight they can be, well, boring! This was not the case with Gravity! 

I should go back to the beginning. Moyra UK is a Eurpoean brand who sell lovely polishes for incredibly reasonable prices! They are just starting up, so why not head over to their facebook page and give them a like https://www.facebook.com/moyrauk

 In May, they very kindly got in touch with the British Nail Bloggers offering us a special discount (with no obligation to review, I should point out). As I've not been too hot on my blogging lately I have only got around to showing you this now. 

Gravity is a dusty pink holo polish which has the look of a shimmering glitter in the shade and full blown holo in even a small amount of sunlight - which is all we get in Scotland! When the holo kicks in it picks up every colour on the spectrum and throws all kinds of crazy shapes! Check out the pictures below if you don't believe me ;) 

Moyra polishes cost around £3.50 and can be found on their Facebook page or at http://www.moyra-shop.co.uk/

Bx 

Barry M Princess

Hi all, today I have a Barry M textured polish for you, the pretty-in-pink Princess.

Barry M textured polishes are pretty decent, as long as you give each coat a minute or two to dry it applies very easily without being too sharp around the edges once dried. Princess had a rather gritty finish, instead of the smoother but lumpy finishes. (I know those two words together makes little sense, hopefully you know what I mean!)

Princess reminds me more of the Zoya pixie dusts as it is just so sparkly, packed full of golden glitter. It is definitely aptly named, the girly pink with gold shimmer is perfect for the little princess in all of us! It shines gold even without direct sunlight too which is always a plus. fitting with Barry M's usual standards the quality was high and the wear was long, I probably wore this a week with no problems to report. 

I did think this would be a bit of a dupe for OPI Pussy Galore, but it's a lot more special, instead of just pink with a small amount of shimmer Princess is as much gold as it is pink as I hope you can see from the pictures, and I'd definitely chose this budget option over the OPI.

Bx

Lizzie by piCture pOlish

I am so excited about this post, as I’m showcasing probably my favourite polish that I’ve worn this year.

This is the beautiful Lizzie by piCture pOlish. There are not enough pictures to capture the beauty of this polish. Based on everyone’s favourite classic heroine, Lizzie Bennet from Pride and Prejudice, I was already pretty excited about this polish (call me sad but I love polish based on my favourite things) but once I applied it I fell in love.

Lizzie is a surprise holo, and with a little help from PP’s signature formula it sparkles in every light. In case you haven’t tried a piCture pOlish before (or seen me rave about how wonderful they are) they have a formula for glitter polishes which doesn’t actually contain glitter particles! This means that it applies smoothly on the nail and removes super easily. It also has the effect of making the polish look really deep, like a pool of glitter. With Lizzie, when it catches the sunlight it comes alive with all the colours of the rainbow.

The wear on this was amazing, I’ve been wearing Lizzie for nine+ days and although there is a little of understandable tip wear there has been zero chipping, I am very impressed. This is another thing that makes PP worth buying, they are a little expensive to get here in the UK, usually around £11.50 each from Sally Magpie, but when you get such a great formula which lasts well over a week I see no cause for complaint! Lizzie was a rare treat to myself and worth every penny!

Does anyone have a favourite piCture pOlish they would care to recommend for my next treat?

Bx

British Nail Bloggers - Purple Week

Recently the British Nail Bloggers have been running Colour Me Crazy themed weeks and this week is purple!

Fortunately for me I was already wearing a stunning purple so it was easy to add some simple purple nail art.

The base mani is the very lovely Lizzie by piCture pOlish – but more on this polish to come shortly on the blog.

For the nail art I decided to do this sort of half flower shape that I’ve seen in my hours of trawling through Google images, and I was amazed to discover that it is a lot easier than it looks! My flowers may not be as refined or elaborate as some but I did them in five minutes with very little issue, so these are a perfect way to spice up a mani as well as looking quite impressive!

Technique:

I used a short, square tip nail art brush with China Glaze Jungle Queen from the On Safari collection and drew three, rough triangle-like shapes started at the edge of my nail. I then used a Barry M nail art pen in black to neaten up the edges, making them a bit more petal shaped and with the flicky tips. The white was using a Models Own nail art striper.

I will definitely be trying this technique again with different colours and maybe a load of glitter! I’d also love to see if any of you have tried it for the first time.

See below for the other British Nail Bloggers contributions to purple week :)

Bx

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