Nails Of The Week - a-england Princess Tears

I finally caved and placed my first a-england order last week, the service was amazing. I placed the order on Monday afternoon and they arrived on Wednesday! I had to put one of the colours straight on my nails, I chose Princess Tears and it is absolutely beautiful. It's a gorgeous lilac with a tinge of grey holo! a-england describe this as "Lilac with an incandescent holo finish revealing grey/green" I think that's a very accurate description. Onto the photos as no words can do this one justice!

Natural Light

With Flash

 

 

The pictures really do say it all, I think this is the most beautiful polish I own. It looks beautiful in natural light but in sunlight or under strong lights it just takes your breath away. a-england polishes can be purchased from their website for £9 with free postage worldwide.

Nails Of The Week - Ombre With OPI

This was my first attempt at Ombre nails and I really like how it turned out, I had put on two coats of OPI Designer..De Better the day before and I had managed to chip the tips on a couple of nails so decided to give ombre a try using OPI Schnapps Out Of It. I used a washing up sponge cut into 4 pieces and then painted a strip of the base colour and the tip colour next to each other on a plastic wallet and used a cocktail stick to blend the middle. I then pressed the sponge on to the polish then dabbed it on the nail. I think this combination actually went together quite well.

I am definitely going to try this again, I think I will use 3 shades of the same colour and see how that turns out.

Olympic Themed Nails

I don't know about you but I have been totally caught up with Olympic Fever! I live very near to the Olympic Park and to be honest I was dreading it as I thought it would be chaos but actually it hasn't been too bad and I have loved every minute of watching the games, unfortunately just on the TV but I have tickets to 4 Paralympic events so at least I have that to look forward to.
After all the Gold medals Team GB managed to get over the weekend I was inspired to do some Olympic themed nails. Now these were free handed so are not perfect but I am really happy with the way they turned out.

I really struggled doing my left hand but it turned out okay. I used Illamasqua Propaganda as a base on my thumbs and little fingers and Illamasqua Caress on the other fingers. I then used the 17 Cosmetics Best Of British nail art set to do the Union Jacks and the ribbons for the medals and the Hot Metals nail art set for the gold, silver and bronze medals. These are great kits as the bottles of polish have a really fine striper brush which is perfect for nail art and the best thing is these sets are only £5! They are limited edition so if you see them I definitely recommend picking them up.

If you have done an Olympic themed manicure please leave me your links below as I would love to see them!

Nails Of The Week - Water Marble and Tutorial

Since I posted my water marble nails I have had a few requests to put up a tutorial on how I do it so here it is. This time I decided to go for more pastel colours rather than brights. All the nails look different but I like that effect. Whenever I have the water marble on I always get stopped and asked what my nail polish is and where I went to get it done! The colours I used this time where a base coat of Illamasqua Caress, then alternating dots of Illamasqua Caress, Illamasqua Blow, Illamasqua Smash, Illamasqua Force and Avon Loving Lavender.

On to the tutorial:

Step 1:- Get a bowl that you are not worried about ruining and fill it with water, tap water won't work. I use cooled boiled water but bottled water will work as well if you leave it to get to room temperature.

Step 2:-  Paint a light shade as a base on all nails, this doesn't have to be perfect as you won't be able to see it at the end. Tape of the nail you are going to dip. I use two pieces of sellotape, one across at the base of the nail and then a longer piece which goes along one side over the tip of my finger and down the other side. This helps to stop it being too messy and wasting loads of nail polish remover!

Step 3:- Start alternating drops of polish. This can be trial and error as some polishes just don't work and they sink rather than spreading. If that happens just clear off the surface with a cotton pad and start again.

Step 4:- Keep alternating dots until the polishes seem truer to colour on the surface (when you first start dotting the colours will spread a lot so they would come out really faint.)

Step 5:- Draw your pattern in the polish, you can use many different things to do this, I actually use a screw and it works for me. I have tried using cocktail sticks but it always seems to go wrong for me with them. I don't touch the very outer rings of polish as these tend to dry quickly and can mess it up. I pull from the outside in until I have a pattern I am happy with.

Step 6:- Put your finger nail straight into the polish over the pattern you want. Don't push all the way through just submerge your nail and hold it there.

Step 7:- With your nail still in the water use a cotton bud or cocktail stick and pull away all the excess polish as otherwise this will ruin your design when you pull your nail out of the water. Then remove nail from water.

Step 8:- This is the reason for the tape! As you can see the pattern has transferred on to the nail and also on the sellotape.

Step 9:- Remove the sellotape and you are left with just a little bit of clean up around the edges to do.

Step 10:- Remove any leftover polish from the surface of the water with a cotton pad and then repeat for all ten nails!

Obviously this is just the way I do it, there are many different ways and this s just the way I have found that works for me. If you are feeling brave you can dip 2 fingers at a time but just make sure to grab all excess polish between the fingers as it's easy to ruin the design when you pull them out of the water.

So there you go, that's how I do water marbling. I am going to grab my boyfriend next time and get him to film me doing it. I really hope this has been helpful. If you attempt this please let me know and link your photos or blog posts in the comments.

Nails Of The Week Illamasqua Velocity & Muse French Manicure

I have wanted to try a different coloured French Manicure for ages and finally got round to it. I chose to use Illamasqua Velocity (Dusky purple) and Muse (Teal) both of these colours are incredibly opaque. I used two coats of Velocity all over the nail and waited for that to dry. I then used circle plasters cut in half to create the shape and painted Muse on the tips. I sealed it all with Nails Inc Save The Nail 45 second top coat.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out and am definitely going to try more colour combinations.

Nails Of The Week - Water Marble Nails With Illamasqua

I have watched so many youtube tutorials on how to water marble, I have tried a couple of times in the past but have always given up after messing up too many times. This time I made sure I had plenty of time to sit down and calmly give it another go and amazingly it worked! Every nail looks completely different but I'm ok with that. I got loads of comments when I was wearing this. I used a selection of Illamasqua polishes, I used Caress as a base coat which you can't even see as the marble covers it up, I then used alternating dots of Collide (bright neon pink), Jo'Mina (Bright Lilac) and Blow (Pastel Yellow). Sorry about the photos, the flash washed the colours out a bit and by the time I noticed I had already removed it, click on the photos to enlarge them and get a better view.

And this is a photo of the mess of tape, cotton buds and pads I was left with afterwards!

Yes it is messy and incredibly time consuming and it does use a lot of polish but personally I think the final result is worth it. I would love to see more water marbling combinations so if you have a favourite one please let me know.

Nails Of The Week - Barry M Magnetic Violet

I finally managed to get my hands on the last Barry M Magnetic polish, Violet. Well I had to go to Superdrug twice as the the first one I picked up was missing it's magnet! I didn't even notice until I went to use it and nothing happened! The magnet had obviously just not been stuck into the lid of this one. So if you are picking any of these up check the magnet is there before you buy! I know I said the red was my favourite but now I think I have changed my mind as this shade is gorgeous. These photos are taken with what little natural light we have at that the moment.

I love that fact that all the shades come with a different magnet, it makes them a bit different from all the other brands that have put these out so well done Barry M!

Nails Of The Week - Barry M Magnetic Red

I thought it was only right that my first post should be on a product I am absolutely loving right now. I was so excited to see Barry M bringing out magnetic polishes, I have always been a fan of their nail paints and they are one of my favourite drugstore brands. I picked up the red, dark silver and blue polishes from this range, I am only missing the purple which hasn't appeared in store so far. I have tried out all 3 and the red is definitely my favourite.

These photos were all taken in natural light and as you can see the effect is really good. The best way I have found to apply these is paint one coat on all nails then paint a thick second coat and hold the magnet over the nail straight away, I hold it for about 20 seconds to give it time to develop, I then wait until its dry to put on a topcoat as otherwise it can disturb the pattern. I found this magnet worked the best out of the 3 and made the most uniform pattern.

Have you picked up any of these polishes?

Nails Of The Week - Mac Rain Of Flowers

I picked this up at the Cosmetic Company store a couple of months ago as I missed it when it was originally released. It's a gorgeous dark purple with blue shimmer. It does have a tendency to look black in some lights but under bright lights the shimmer is absolutely beautiful.

The wear time on this wasn't great, it lasted a couple of days before I got some major chips and had to take it off!

Nails Of The Week Milani Hi-Res and OPI Funky Dunky

As soon as the sun comes out I find myself reaching for the holo nail polishes! Milani's Hi-Res is one that I picked up when I was in America last year, it a gorgeous light purple holo.

It looked lovely on it's own but I really wanted to try and copy a design I had seen on Chloe's Nails blog using tape. I used 3 very thin strips of tape on each nail and then painted OPI's Funky Dunky on top.

It's not perfect but not bad for a first attempt!

Nails Of The Week - Sally Hansen Pedal To The Metal

When I was in Boots the other day I noticed they had a new range of Sally Hansen Polishes called Complete Salon Manicure, I couldn't resist picking up a couple to try. The first one I put on was Pedal To The Metal which is a gorgeous silver with lilac tones to it. This is the first silver I have found that I am happy with on my skin tone. It is a very metallic colour so I did get some visible brush strokes but I can live with that!

The wear on this was pretty good, I had it on for 4 days and I only had minimal tip wear. Have you tried out any colours from this range?

Nails Of The Week - OPI Guy Meets Galveston Plus Bundle Monster Stamp

My Mum very kindly got me the OPI special value on QVC the other day, this was one of the colours in the set. It's a jelly finish pink/red/coral. It's pretty sheer and needed 3 coats to be completely opaque but I love the colour. I ordered the new set of Bundle Monster plates on Amazon and decided to test one of the full nail designs out.

This is such a pretty, summery design and I had so many people ask me where I had got it done lol! The new bundle monster plates are definitely an improvement on the last set, I highly recommend them as they are so cheap, £16.99 for 25 plates, i will get a full review of them up next week.

Nails Of The Week - Miss Sporty 302

As I have been getting more in to nail art lately I decided I needed to try some brighter nail colours. I didn't want to spend too much on them as these are definitely out of my comfort zone so I decided to pick up 3 Miss Sporty colours in Superdrug on 3 for 2. I am so glad I did, this colour is gorgeous, it's perfect for summer! It's number 302 which I think is called Paparazzi (the name isn't on the bottle) and its a beautiful bright pink.

The application was really easy, it was completely opaque in two coats and lasted a good 5 days with only minimal tip wear. I will definitely be going back for more from this range!

Nail Art - My first attempts at the tape manicure

I recently discovered Chloe's Nails blog and was inspired to try the scotch tape manicure. If you don't follow already I highly recommend checking it out, she is one talented lady!  Here is the first colour combination I have tried, this is in no way perfect but for a first attempt I don't think it's bad. Will definately keep practising!

I used Boots 17 Wicked on the whole nail then put on the tape and used OPI Done Out In Deco on the tips. I used a Kiss nail art polish for the silver strip.

This is such a simple way to create a lovely manicure. It just takes patience, the first time I tried it I didn't let the base polish dry enough and ended up pulling it off with the tape!

Nails Of The Week - Beauty UK Voodoo

Ok I am officially in love with this, it's a gorgeous vampy red that looks very different depending on the lighting so I tried to catch it in as many different ways as possible. It looks at it's best under bright artifical light or direct sunlight.

 It is a deep red with shimmer, it's almost metallic. This was completely opaque in two coats and if you had shorter nails and took your time applying you could probably get away with one. It dried really fast as well. And the best thing about this is the price, £1.99! I own a lot of nail polish and the majority of them are higher end like OPI, China Glaze and I have to say in quality this is right up there with them for a fraction of the price. This is the first Beauty UK polish I have purchased and I will definitely be going back for more! These are available in Superdrug and from the Beauty UK website.

Nails Of The Week - Nails Inc Franklin's Row

My Mum ordered some new polishes from Nails Inc, the first one that really caught my eye was Franklin's Row so I asked very nicely and she let me use it. It's a gorgeous purple with blue and pink micro glitter. It looks different depending on the lighting. Not quite a duochrome but almost.

With flash, this really highlights the blue shimmer.

Without flash, the blue shimmer is still noticeable but the purple base colour shows a lot more.

 This bottle shot really shows of the shimmer.

To be honest none of these pictures do it justice, it really needs to be seen in person. Definately a winner for me.

My Get Lippie Prize and Nails Of The Week Chanel Black Pearl

A couple of weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had won a giveaway from Louise at Get Lippie. The prizes were 3 Chanel limited edition nail varnishes. I was walking around with a big smile on my face for the rest of the day!

The parcel arrived last week and she had put in a lovely card with a note as well as a few perfume samples.

The colours she sent me are Particuliere, Black Pearl and Paradoxal. I already have Paradoxal so I gave this one to my Mum who absolutely loves it. I was most excited about Black Pearl, I have nearly bought it about 10 times but always stopped myself! So obviously that was the first one I put on.

It is an absolutely gorgeous metallic green. It is very dark but as you can see in the photos above it doesn't really ever look black, the green always shines through. This is two coats with Seche Vite top coat.

Thank you again Louise, you made me a very happy girl!

Nails Of The Week - Models Own Pro Green Envy

I went into Boot's on my lunch break and noticed they have started stocking the Model's Own Pro range of polishes. There are some absolutely gorgeous colours which are completely different from the standard range. These are £8 for 15ml and are a 3 free formula with added Vitamin E and UV Filters.
Application was a breeze, it was fully opaque in two coats and I found the lid really comfortable to hold and control.

I tried taking photos under a few different lights to try and get the true colour but none of them are 100%, it's a gorgeous dark green base with multicoloured shimmer. In person the shimmer shows through no matter what the lighting.

This bottle shot really shows the shimmer of well. I can't wait to go back and pick up a few more colours!

Nails Of The Week - Accessorize Tuscan Clay

When I was in Superdrug I noticed that Accessorize had a new collection of nail colours available, this was the only one that I liked. It's in the same colour family as OPI for Sephora's Metro Chic and Call Your Mother. It's a brown/purple/grey shade, it's a cream finish. It only took two coats to be completely opaque.

It does look slightly more purple in reality than it does in the photo. I feel very grown up wearing this, I have a tendency to always go for glitter or shimmer so this makes a nice change. This shade is very work appropriate. I am really impressed with the Accessorize polishes, all the shades I have tried so far have been really good quality and they are reasonably cheap at £4.

Nails Of The Week - OPI The One That Got Away

This is from the Katy Perry collection, I didn't actually buy this colour but my Mum got the mini set and I loved it on her so had to borrow it. It's not the most unique colour but it is very pretty.

 

This is one of those colours that looks different depending on the lighting, it flashes between red, pink and purple. There is a lovely shimmer that seems to make the polish shine even in low level light. I might have to pick up a full size bottle of this for myself before it sells out!