Meebox UK Swatch & Review (and nail art!)

Hi everyone!
Today I have something else exciting to share with you! I feel like I start every post like this lately, but I am just honestly so excited with all the new launched here in the UK.

Meebox is the latest launch and it is a brand new monthly subscription service dedicated to all things nails! Meebox has just launched and this is their very first box. They were kind enough to send one to me for review. Meebox will feature the worlds most sought after polish and nail treatment brands and colours as well as the best independent polishes.

I have LIVE SWATCHES of this box on my YouTube channel!

Every month on the 1st Meebox will announce the theme. This month is California Dreaming'. Boxes are limited so you have to be quick! You can either do a one off payment of £20, or receive a discount for long term subscriptions. This way you'll be saving money and you'll never miss a box! The box will ship around the middle of the month with tracking!

Lets get started with the box! The second photo in the post is how I received the box, how cute!? And the third photo is what you see when you open the box. Meebox really took their time when creating this box and these details make a huge difference.

The reason I love subscription boxes is because it's like a little present every month.

Everything was wrapped up nicely so that nothing could break during transit.

The box contains 3 full size nail polishes, 1 mini almond cuticle oil, nail vinyls from What's Up Nail Art Store and 3 empty swatch sticks.

The theme this month was California Dreaming' and I think these colours are perfect, they're bright, vibrant neon colours perfect for hot summer days (if the english weather would cooperate....). The nail vinyls are shaped like palm trees!

First up is Models Own Turquoise Gloss.

This is a beautiful green toned turquoise. It's very vibrant and perfect for summer.

This is part of the hypergel line from Models Own, meaning it's glossy and long lasting like gel polish, but without the curing UV light.

The formula was great. I used 2 coats for the swatch.

The first coat was pretty streaky, but as it dried the streaks actually disappeared! It was still slightly uneven so I did apply a second coat.

It dried super glossy so I didn't need a topcoat.

Next is Disco Dress from Color Club.

This is a very saturated, bright, deep purple.

The formula was a little on the thick side and I needed 2 coats for full opacity.

The first coat was very opaque, but I had some spots that weren't quite covered.

This dried matte so I did apply a topcoat for the swatch.

The last colour is the very famous Flip Flop Fantasy by China Glaze.

This is impossible to photograph so please don't take this swatch to be true to colour.

This is definitely a neon. It's a very orange with a hint of pink.

This is famous for a few reasons. Firstly because it's an absolutely stunning neon. Secondly because the formula has changed and everyone is obsessed with getting both formula. Thirdly because it has the most difficult formula in the world. I might be over exaggerating a little, but it does have a difficult formula.

I used 3 coats for the swatch. The first coat was very streak and uneven. This polish also doesn't self level meaning you don't have a smooth finish on your nail. I applied a thicker second coat, but it was still quite streaky. I used 3 coats for the swatch, but it still wasn't perfect. I would recommend using this over a white base.

It dries matte so I did apply a topcoat for the swatch.

I am definitely a fan of Meebox.

I think it's a great colour selection and the three polishes included come from very popular brands. The nail vinyl from What's Up Nail Store is also a great addition to this box. I also love the fact they added swatch sticks to the box, this way you can try out the polishes even if you've just painted your nails. It's also great if this is your way of organising your stash. I haven't tried the cuticle oil yet, but I'm seriously in love with the smell, it reminds of of almond spicy biscuits I used to eat in Holland <3

And now moving on to the nail art!

I won't go into detail because I have a whole tutorial of these featured in my review video!

I used all three polishes from the box for the gradient and I used the stencil from What's Up Nails. I also used by Barry M Nail Art Pen to draw the ground for the palm trees.


What do you think of the first Meebox? Will you be getting the next one? I can't wait to hear the theme!!

Check out Meebox on Facebook and Instagram for more details!

Meebox Website!

Models Own Colour Chrome Collection Swatch & Review

Models Own contacted my on Instagram a little while ago telling me that they love my swatches and they wanted to send me a little gift. Obviously I was literally over the moon excited. They didn't tell me what they were going to send or anything, just that it was a little gift. I was patiently waiting and of course I wasn't home to receive the package so had to wait another day and pick it up from the post office!

They send me 5 of the Colour Chrome nail polishes. I did pick up a few of this collection when they first came out and everyone was going cray cray over them. 3 of the 5 were completely new to me, so I was very excited to try them out.

Before I get started I want to mention that I just started a brand new YouTube account!! This is something I've wanted to do for aaages and I feel like I'm finally ready for it. I have already uploaded quite a few videos just to get started, one of which is a LIVE SWATCH video of these polishes. I am literally so excited. Just a little heads up... I have a weird accent.... That's what happens when you're Dutch, learned to speak English in America, then moved to the UK and also spent a year in Australia.. lol!

Anyway here is the link for the live swatches, but keep reading because I'll have photos and a review here too.

First up is Chrome Cerise.

This is a bright pink chrome. I didn't even know chromes could be this bright!

I'm not sure how often I'd wear a bright pink like this, it's definitely beautiful and unique, I think I'd more likely use this for nail art. I've heard these polishes are fantastic at stamping!

The formula of nearly all of them are the same.

It's incredibly quick drying, and although usually that's a good thing, it makes application a little more tricky. Once you know how they work, you'll be fine, but for me it took a little while to get used to them.

You have to make sure not to apply the nail polish in the same area twice as the polish will drag and you'll be left with a hot mess. If you're quick and try and stick to the 3 stroke method, you'll be fine.

Check out the other colours after the jump!

Neon Gradient with Nail Mail Stencils

I am a huge fan of creating gradients. I think it's the easiest nail art to create and it always looks so impressive!!

To make it even more impressive I used nail stencils from Nail Mail. Nail Mail is a UK nail stencils company to help you create difficult designs with an easy stencil!

For this design I used the Moroccan Vintage design.

To find out how I've created this design keep reading! 

Models Own Polish For Tans 2 Swatch & Review

Models Own has released a second set of colours for the Polish For Tans collection. This line was originally created last year and consisted of 5 bright neon shades. They were super bright, didn't need a white base, had an easy formula and enhanced your tan.

I'm very pale, so this whole tan aspect means nothing for me, but the colours were stunning! Read my review of last years colours here!

This year there are 5 colours again. I picked up these three and there was also a yellow and a pink.

First up is Turquoise Sea.

This is a very bright slightly green leaning blue. It's definitely a blue, but if I compare it to the hypergel Blue Glint, also from Models Own, this is definitely more turquoise.

The formula is very opaque, there are very slight streaks on the first coat, so I applied 2 coats for the swatch.

It's a very smooth polish and it was incredibly easy to apply. It dries glossy.

Next up is Beach Hut.

This is a super bright neon orange. I usually don't like bright pumpkin-y colours on me, but this was so neon I could get away with wearing it.

This was slightly streaky on the first coat, but the second coat covered everything up. Again it dries glossy.

My favourite of the three is Cocktail Hour.

This is a hot neon red toned coral. This is seriously beautiful and so incredibly bright!

It had the same formula as Beach Hut, it was slightly streaky on the first coat, but the second coat covered everything up beautifully.

It dries glossy.









What do you think of the new Polish For Tans collection from Models Own? Will you be picking up any of the shades or do you prefer the ones from last year?

I love these three shades. They have a great formula and they're all so incredibly bright!! It makes me want to go on holiday right now. I wish!

xx Elaine

Pastel Gradient Lighting Bolt Nail Art

I received some nail stencils from Nail Mail, a company on Etsy selling Nail stencils in all sorts of different shapes and designs. I kind of wanted to do a bit of everything... glitter, gradient, holo, lightning bolt...

I used Inevitable by Emily de Molly as a base. This is a silver linear holographic polish that's super holographic. Of course, living in England there isn't much sun....

Once that fully dried I applied the lighting bolt nail stencils. These are super easy to use. All you need to do is stick it on your nails, cover it with nail polish and slowly pull them off. Done!

To create the gradient is a little bit more work, but still easy. Once I applied the stickers I used OPI Alpine Snow to get a white base. This way the colours would pop.

Once the white polish dried I sponged the gradient. I used (from tip to cuticle) Models Own Apple Pie, Kester Black Blueberry, Models Own Grape Juice, Strawberry Tart and Peach Melba.

As soon as I was done with the sponge-ing I slowly removed the stencil, following the shape of the lighting bolt.

Apply a top coat and you're done!

Models Own Sweet Shop - Gumball and Liquorish Allsorts

When Models Own released their new Sweet Shop collection I knew I wanted them. Then I found out they were scented and wanted them even more. Then I found out there was a liquorice fragrance. I couldn't resist. Liquorice is my all time favourite sweet in the whole world.

I'm really proud of myself for only buying two out of 5. I much prefer creme polishes and the other 3 had glitters/flakies in it.

First up is Gumball. It's a super glossy and opaque hot pink that smells of bubblegum. Can it get any better?

I'm always very impressed with the formula on Models Own nail polishes and this was no exception. I used two coats for the swatch. And look at that glossiness!! I didn't use a top coat!

It smells super sweet, but it isn't overwhelming. I always kind of forget about the scent, until I brush my hair out of my face or apply mascara or something. It's always a pleasant surprise!

The colour itself isn't very unique, but you can never have enough hot pinks!

The second nail polish is Liquorish Allsorts. Another super glossy, opaque and scented polish.

The formula is just as amazing as Gumball, I used two easy coats for the swatch. And it's so so glossy! I love it!

It smells exactly like liquorice. I can eat liquorice all day everyday and not get tired of it.. maybe fat.. but I'll never have enough.

Again, the colour isn't the most unique, it's an opaque black. I used to always think black polish was very gothic, but it doesn't have to be at all! Sometimes it's nice to have black nails, but it's also great for nail art!



What do you think of the new Sweet Shop collection? Have you tried out any of the other three polishes?
xx Elaine

Floral Nail Art Match OOTD

The summer weather has been amazing and I've been wearing some lovely floral dresses and skirts so I decided to match my nails to my outfit!

I bought the dress in the photo to the left from Camden a few years ago. Camden is such an interesting place in London, it's literally got a bit of everything!

I used OPI Alpine Snow for the base, what else?! For the base of the flowers I used Models Own Grape Juice (purple) and Leighton Denny Blue Lagoon (blue). I used Ulta3 Spring Break for the darker purple detail and Color Club Glossy Seal for the darker blue detail. I used Essie Navigate Her for the leaves.

I really like how these turned out, the colour combination is great and not something I would traditionally use for floral nails.

The second design is recreated from a skirt I bought at Primark last year. It's another pretty spring/summer floral outfit and great for nail art!

For the base I used Models Own Coconut Cream, which is an off white and smells like sweet coconuts.. yum! I used Kester Black Peach Melba and OPI Toucan Do It If You Try for the base of the flowers. I used Coconut Cream for the detail of the dark flowers and Toucan Do It If You Try for the detail of the lighter flowers. I used Kester Black Blueberry Tart for the leaves and Barry M Damson for the detail of the leaves.

I'm also really happy with how these nails turned out. It's nice to match your nails to your outfit, but both manicures have used colours I don't ordinarily use for floral designs. It's nice to try something new!



What do you think of these floral manicures?
xx Elaine

Birthday Swatches (Revlon, Sleek, Models Own)

My 22nd birthday was on the 21st of July and I received 4 beautiful nail polishes including 2 Revlon Parfumerie Scented nail polishes, 1 Models Own Hypergel and a Sleek nail polish. All of them are completely new to me so I was very excited to try them out.

First up is Lavender Soap, part of the Revlon Parfumerie line. I have been wanting to try some of these polishes since I lived in Australia, but they were $20 each, which was a little bit pricey for me...

Lavender Soap is a very pale pearly lavender shade, I'm usually not a huge fan of pearl finishes, but this was surprised me! It looks very elegant and so shiny and just like a pearl haha. In direct sunlight you can see the lines of the brush strokes, but in the shade it looks glowing.

The formula is a little sheer and liquidy so it was a tricky to work with. I applied three careful coats for full opacity.

The smell is really nice and fresh and soapy!

The second Revlon Parfumerie polish is Lime Basil. This is a gorgeous medium jade green - I had a hard time describing this colour. It isn't too bright so it's a great colour for everyday wear. I think it'll also be great for nail art.

I used three coat for full opacity, although you could get away with 2 careful coats. The only thing I have to say application wise is that you have to be careful not to brush over the same place twice as it'll pull the nail polish and create a bald spot.

I was expecting a lime or a basil kind of smell, but I found this also smelled very soapy... It's still a nice, fresh smell, but I'm not sure whether it's supposed to smell of lime/basil or whether all the nail polishes have the same smell and the names just refer to the colour?

The third nail polish is Blue Glint by Models Own. It's one of their new Hypergel finishes, meaning it's glossy and long wearing like a gel polish, without the UV lights! I really like these kind of gel polishes and they seem to be getting very popular amongst other brands too.

The formula is a little thicker than other polishes, but it's also very very opaque. I used two coats for the swatch. It dries super glossy and looks incredibly! I wasn't sure whether the polish had dried already haha

It's a really bright cyan blue and great for the summer.

The final nail polish is Sleek nail polish in Waikiki 008. I have never tried anything from Sleek before but have seen their nail polishes and have been very curious about them.

This is another gel finish, similar to the Models Own Hypergel, where you don't need a UV light. The bottles are really cute, similar to the Butter London polishes, but these have a twist top, not a pull top.

I used three thin coats for the swatch, but I think you could easily get away with two thicker coats. It started off slightly streaky but the third coat finished it off beautifully. I loved the formula, although it was a bit streaky, it was super easy to apply. It has a thick flat brush so that made application easy too.

I am in love with the colour and it's perfect for the spring and summer. I think it really matches my skin tone. I literally have nothing bad to say about this nail polish!

Pastel Ombre & Stamping

Ombre/Gradients are probably my favourite style of nail art, it's so easy to do and always looks so beautiful, no matter what colours you use. For a while now I've been wanting to create a pastel gradient and here it is!

I used from the cuticle to the tip: Kester Black Bubblegum, Sambora Baby Wave, Canmake in purple, Models Own Strawberry Tart and Models Own Peach Melba. It smells amazing, and I love the way it turned out! The colours are so beautiful together.

Canmake is a brand of nail polishes that I bought while I was in Japan, the nail polishes are very cheap, around 300 Yen, which at the time was about $3 (AU) and that converted to about £1.70 at the time. They're great quality and are opaque in 2-3 coats.

Like I mentioned before, I thing gradients are super easy to do, all you need is a cosmetic sponge and your nail polish! I start off with a white base.. OPI Alpine Snow. I use super cheap primark sponges, I think it's £1.50 for 20 sponges? I find these work much better than the more expensive ones from Boots of Superdrug.

I then draw a thin line of each colour onto the sponge, I don't use a lot of nail polish. It looks better when you apply a small amount and use 3 "coats" rather than overflowing the sponge with polish and applying 1 "coat". The more "coats" you apply the more intense the colour becomes, I usually only apply 2 as I like the pale pastel look.

I dab the colours onto my nail moving up and down slightly to mix the colours.  And when I'm happy with the intensity of the colours, I just need to do a lot of clean up.... The photo to the left is just a quick snap from my phone.

After creating the gradient I really wanted to try out my new stamping plate, the Cheeky Jumbo Plate 9 Wild At Heart. I'm pretty miserable at stamping, but with the help of some of my Instagram friends I managed to get 2 of the 4 images almost perfect!

This is probably the cutest stamping plate in the whole world. It has two sections, small animal stamps at the top, and large full nail stamps which I haven't quite mastered yet!

Do you own any of the Cheeky Plates?
xx Elaine

Nail Art Challenge June - Picnic & Tropical & Summer

During the month of June I decided to take part in two nail art challenges. To view my other posts click here! Taking on two challenges might have been a bit too hopeful, because I'm drastically behind! As you can tell I'm trying my best to try and get them all done.... today...... So I'm a little more up to date with the challenges on Instagram, but like I mentioned in my previous post: It's about the nail art, who cares if it's a little late.. right?!

Today I am combining three different themes: Picnic and Tropical from #nailartjun and Summer from #nailartchallengejune. At the start of the month I was looking through all the themes and immediately wanted to recreate this manicure by @littletipoff and @sprangleynails on Instagram. I have seen this design floating around instagram and pinterest for a while, but I mainly looked at these two ladies.

It's a Sex and the City style picnic with tropical cocktails and how could this not resemble summer?! I have recently started rewatching Sex and the City from the start... again... and I love it! This is probably the only show I can watch and rewatch and rewatch. I used a ton of nail polishes. Each cocktail is made out of two colours.

I started off with a white base, of course OPI Alpine Snow. I used Furless Cosmetics Clouded and the bottom of the two brushes to draw the cocktail glasses. I love that grey and for a full review click here! I then used China Glaze Grass Is Lime Greener and Essie First Timer and slightly mixed them together using the thicker brush on the top. For the second cocktail I used Cotton On Body Candy Floss and Essie Camera. I love the Cotton On Body nail polish, it only cost $2.95 and it extremely opaque and neon. Camera by Essie is also a neon but requires a white base as it's a jelly formula. For the third cocktail I used Kester Black Blueberry Tart and Now, part of the Architecture in Helsinki limited edition due. And finally for the last cocktail I used Kester Black Peach Melba and Models Own Beach Bag.

I used Black Satin by Ulta3 for the straws and Mecca Cosmetica Ophelia for the cherries. Lastly I used Barry M Diamond Glitter for the glitter ice cubes. That's a lot!! Each cocktail had a bright pastel and a neon so the colours really popped.

I think these nails look really cute, what do you think?
xx Elaine

Models Own Scented Polishes

The two UK brands that I missed most while being in Australia were Barry M and Models Own, needless to say, when I arrived back in the UK those are the first nail polishes I purchased. I fell in love with the Models Own scented polishes about a year ago. I bought Blueberry Muffin and Apple Pie from the Models Own Bottle Shop in Westfield last year and have been using both of them like crazy. I'd say Blueberry Muffin is in the top 10 nail polishes I've used the most.

Since being back I added Strawberry Tart, Grape Juice, Peach Melba and Coconut Cream to my collection. I literally cannot pick a favourite from the collection. Don't they all just look so beautiful together? This is probably my ideal collection, something full of pastels is my ultimate weakness.

I'll start off with my very much loved Blueberry Tart. This is a very light grey toned baby blue. The very apparent grey tone in this polish makes it unique amongst other baby blues.

The polish is a little thick which made it a bit tricky to work with in the beginning. Once you get the hang of it it's pretty good. It's a streaky polish so you do need three coats to even everything out. It's definitely worth it though, the colour is beautiful. And the smell..... It smells super sweet, but it isn't annoying. I usually just forget about it until I move my hair out of my face and get a whiff of it. Amazing. Even with a top coat, you can still smell the sweetness of the polish.

The second nail polish is Apple Pie. Who could not buy a nail polish that smells like Apples!? Again it's a very sweet but crispy apple scent. The colour is a gorgeous mint green, it's more green than blue which I prefer in a mint polish. The formula was similar to Blueberry Tart but not quite as thick. It was easier to apply but was still a bit streaky. I applied three coats for the swatch.

The third colour is Strawberry Tart. This colour really surprised me. I'm a huge fan of pale pinks but this is very different from any other pale pink and I was surprised at how pretty it looked! It's a much more peach toned pink and is a lot more wearable. The formula was a good consistency and I needed three coats to even out the streakiness. It smells like super sweet strawberries. Amazing.

The fourth colour is Grape Juice. I'm not the biggest fan of grape scents or sweets, but the colour is this is beautiful. Purples are my most loved colours. Again it's very different from other pastel purples as this has much more of a warm tone.

The application on this was the easiest. It's the least streaky and I could definitely get away with just 2 coats. I used three for the swatch so all the swatches are identical.

The next two colours are brand new and I think they've come out for summer. This first one is called Peach Melba and it's a gorgeous pale orange. Again it smells super sweet! The application is similar to the others where it's a bit streaky and needed three coats. The formula is a little thinner which makes it easier to apply.

The final colour is Coconut Cream. I am just so obsessed with these creamy whites! I can't get enough of them!! This is such an amazing off white shade, it's much more wearable than a plain white. The application was the same as the others, it needed three coats as it was pretty streaky. The end result for all of them is beautiful though. This polish smells of very sweet coconuts, I love it!!

There is one more yellow scented polish that smells of bananas but I don't own that colour.

I love all of these colours, they're so beautiful and surprisingly unique for being a pastel collection. All of them apart from Grape Juice needed three coats as they are pretty streaky, but it's definitely worth it.