Picture Polish Lagoon

So currently it's summer. Or so I'm told. I don't know about the rest of the country but up in Scotland I am not feeling the summer love! That is where this polish comes in.

Some of you may be jetting off on lovely holidays in the sun, but for me, I will make do with the beautiful Lagoon by Picture Polish. Don't you want to just dive right in!

I'll be honest, I lemminged this polish for a long time, it just looked like that rare shade of light turquoise I have wanted to experience since I got into nail polish. It wasn't. I had about five minutes of disappointment and disbelief before I began to appreciate how gorgeous Lagoon really is. It's more of a blue jelly than a green on the unofficial turquoise scale with solid glitters as well as Picture Polish's glorious holographic scatter glitter which just makes it as sparkly as the Lagoons it is named after. It was opaque in two coats but I gave it three for luck, and wear time was a little over a week. I love how these scatter glitter jellies don't chip.  

I've tried to capture it's sparkle in the sun so excuse dodgy window shots, but go ahead and enjoy!

Happy summer, Bx

 

Gryffindor

Well I’ll start by being honest, when I say there was a Harry Potter collection by Above the Curve that was as shiny as this I almost cried with excitement and proceeded to buy my favourites for me and for several of my friends for Christmas and birthday presents! I found it all very, VERY exciting.

Today I have Gryffindor to show you. Probably my favourite of the collection, this is a classic Gryffindor-inspired maroon with gold flecks, nicely matching the house colours and a very warm polish to wear. It was very easy to apply, not too thick and it flowed nicely onto the nail. It is long lasting too! I wore this for around a week because I liked it so much and there was nothing more than some wear and tear, not a chip in sight! I then topped it up with the glitters from my NYK1 post here. So I was already very happy with this polish.

But wait, it gets better!

The magic (intended) happens when light hits it. Look at all that holo goodness! It is so sparkly with every imaginable colour, I could have photographed it for days and no two pictures would have been the same. It is so eye catching, and doesn’t even need much sunlight to glow like this. For all that glitter it is still quite smooth, no bumps on the nail.

I reckon even JK herself would appreciate this gem of a polish. Above the Curve – you have done justice to my favourite franchise so THANK YOU!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Glittery Mess - NYK1 Sercrets Glitters and Blogger Fails

*These products were sent to me for honest review*

Hello and Happy New Year! I've finally made my way back to my blog after another few months have flown by, where does the time go?! 

Today I have several manis to show you, all of which using loose glitters by NYK1 Sercrets. These glitters come in a pack of 12 different colours and currently retail at £7.95.

This has been my first proper foray into the world of loose glitters, and as you can see there were varying results! 

The website suggests that the glitters can be applied with a brush,sprinkled on with fingers or you could dip your nail into the pot. I never tried the last suggestion,I think that would lead to a total lack of control,  but it could work for you. Best way to learn how to apply glitter is to experiment!! 

The website suggests that the glitters can be applied with a brush,sprinkled on with fingers or you could dip your nail into the pot. I never tried the last suggestion,I think that would lead to a total lack of control,  but it could work for you. Best way to learn how to apply glitter is to experiment!!

Attempt number 1: Brush

As you can see from the pics, applying with the brush did not work for me!! It was utter chaos with glitter everywhere and such a huge amount of glitter on my nails it had a 3D spiky effect like frost had grown on my nails. Every time I tried to fix it, I ended up moving the nail polish.

I applied over black, using the blue glitter and actually the green one was the clear glitter which has lovely bright holo particles in and which my camera picked up as green. I didn't bother with clean up as I made such a mess I took it off immediately! 

Blogger error: I used too hard a brush, with too much glitter, on nail polish that was still wet. 

Attempt number 2: Freehand gradient using fingers.

First I took some pictures to show how nice and fine the glitters are. They are so soft to the touch! 

This was my Christmas manicure, and I applied over China Glaze Meet Me Under The Stars from the Christmas 2014 collection. This polish has been described as 'galaxy in a bottle' and rightly so, it's a lovely blackfull of glitters, easy to wear and perfect for glam parties. It was easy to apply in two coats and last a lot longer than other China Glaze polishes have with me.

I used the red and green glitters for a festive effect (yes I know it's now January, my bad) and applied once the polish was dry - lesson learnt! I stuck it down by applying a light dab of the polish on the tips of my nails then dabbing the glitter on with a fingertip. 

The effect was a lot neater, and I especially liked the way the glitter flecks merged with the rest of the nail to create a more natural gradient. 

Attempt number 3 - tri-colour gradient, using fingers and stencils.

I tried this 3 colour gradient over Above the Curve Gryffindor (review to follow shortly) and chose the purple, deep pink and light pink, although the light pink photographs rather more silvery than it was in person. I used a french manicure template sticker to get straighter lines, applying a clear coat on the exposed area before lightly applying the glitter again with my fingers. I like how effective the finished article was, but it was so simple and really quick to do! I'd definitely recommend this technique to people who are a bit shy of nail art but want eye catching party nails! 

Overall I can't compare these glitters to other loose glitters as I've not had much experience with them, however I can say that (with a bot of practise!) these are easy to use and the variety of colours helps create good effects. They seem good quality to me and I loved the feel of them, they were really light. 

I'd recommend these to anyone who loved arts and crafts at school, but beware the mess you will most definitely create!! 

B x

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