Glossy Box September 2014 Nails

This month the Glossy Box had a Karen Miller Thee, and the box was beautiful. It was a messy painted London Skyline on an off white box. Seriously beautiful. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to recreate it on my nails....

I started off with an off white base, using Essie Urban Jungle. I'm in love with this colour and it's already visibly gone down in the bottle, which is pretty terrifying since I've had it for about 2 months! It's a super creamy polish that applies like a dream. I used two coats for full opacity.

I then used acrylic paint and a tiny brush to draw the skyline. I'm in love with how the London Eye turned out.

I created a London skyline mani 13 months ago as well which I was so proud of back then! I wonder if in 13 months time I'll do another skyline and show even more improvement!

Here's a close up of the London Eye on my pinky.

What do you think of this months Glossy Box? And did you like the goodies inside?
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!

Floral Bestie Twin Nails

I decided to do Bestie Twin Nails with on of my friends on Instagram. Bestie Twin nails basically means that you and a friend decide on a design and both create it at the same time! Put it in a collage and post it on instagram.

We decided to recreate this design by @adelislebron, and it was so much more difficult that I originally thought it was going to be!

I started off painting my nails with Barry M Guava, it's one of my all time favourite Barry M's, but I don't really wear it enough. I then used Alpine Snow by OPI to paint the shapes of the flowers an used my Barry M Nail art pen to draw the outline.

I then used a whole bunch of colours to colour in the design. I finished it off by using a mattifying top coat. I'm not sure why but I preferred it matte!

xx Elaine

Happy Cloud Nail Art

I saw this print on @365daysofcolor's instagram and thought it was so cute I wanted to create it on my nails! It isn't perfect, but I quite like that about it.

I used Kester Black Forget Me Not as the blue base. It's such a beautiful slightly dusty blue with the most amazing formula.. oh how I love Kester Black!

I used Barry M Damson for the dots, this is a great dupe for Pacific Blue by Sally Hansen! And OPI Alpine Snow for the clouds.

Finally I used Barry M's Nail Art Pen to draw the little faces. I think it looks adorable!

xx Elaine

The Body Shop Nail Polishes

The Body Shop has come out with a range of 24 new nail polishes to add to their make-up range called the Colour Crush Nails range.. The new polishes are colourful, inspired by nature, 100% vegan and 5 free! I picked up three, which seems to be my go to number! They cost £5 so very affordable, but only contain 6.8ml, compared to OPI's which have 15ml. The bottoms remind me of the Clinque nail varnishes, skinny and round with silver lids.

It has thicker brushes, which make the application incredibly easy. I covered my nails with 2 brush strokes!

First up is Rosy Cheeks, a beautiful pink toned coral. This is the first polish I picked up, it just stood out to me for some reason!

The formula was amazing. It applied so easy, no streaks at all. I used two coats for the swatch and dried with an amazing shine.

The second colour is Minty Amour a bright turquoise.

I used two easy coats for the swatch and it again dried with the most incredible shine.

The third colour is A Grape Affair. Of course I had to pick up a purple... This is a great medium warm toned purple. Does that make sense?? I think this is my favourite from the three.

Again 2 coats for the swatch and a super glossy finish.


What do you think of the new Colour Crush Nails range from The Body Shop? Will you be picking up any of their polishes?
xx Elaine

Barry M Autumn/ Winter 2014 Gelly Collection

Barry M has come out with 6 new Autumn/Winter 2014 gelly shades that perfectly sum up autumn. I picked up 3 of the 6 shades.

I have loved the gelly polishes from when they were first released. They all have a fantastic formula and are all opaque using 1-2 coats. They dry quick with an incredible shine.

First up is my favourite from the 3 I bought, Chilli. If you've been following me on instagram, you'd know I used to have the cutest dwarf hamster in the whole world named Chili. I might be a little biased....

This is a beautiful slightly muted deep red with a hint of brown. I love colours like these, and I'm currently wearing it on my toes!

I used two coats for the swatch and no top coat.

The second colour is Paprika. A beautiful burnt orange. It's a great pumpkin colour! I think this colour is the definition of autumn.

I used two coats and no top coat.

The third colour I picked up is Chai. This is a medium toned grey, and changes colour depending on the lighting. Sometimes it looks much more blue.

Again, I used 2 coats and no top coat.

The other three colours are Mustard (a mustard yellow), Cardamom (which reminded me of OPI Thanks A Windmillion), and Cocoa (which reminded me of OPI Scores A Goal from the Brazil Collection). 

What do you think of the new Autumn/Winter collection? Will you be picking up any of these shades?

xx Elaine 

Mod Lacquer - Paranormal Paradise

Shade

Last month the Indie Brand Mod Lacquer posted on their Instagram page that they were looking for swatchers, and of course I was interested. Jennifer, the creator of Mod Lacquer, makes the most amazing holographic nail polishes I've ever seen, but she also makes a ton of unique super sparkly glitter combinations. It's a 3 free hand blended nail polish brand.

I received three nail polishes to try out: High Strangeness, Aerial Phenomenon and Paranormal Paradise.

I decided to dedicate a different blog post to each nail polish, since I took about 100 photos of each of them.....

Sun

The third polish is this glitter bomb called Paranormal Paradise. This is a multi-size, multicolour holographic glitter polish in a clear base with large holographic circles in various colours.... I took that directly off of Mod Lacquers Etsy description... there is so much in this polish!!

The base keeps the glitter suspended so little to no settling occurs.

Sun

Here is my description of what I can see: it has teeeeeeny tiny little silver holographic dust glitter, some slightly larger micro glitters in pink and blue. Some slightly larger green holographic hex glitter, and even larger pink holographic hex glitter, and then some super large circle holographic glitter in various different colours.

Sun

The photo to the right shows the same large holographic circular glitter in different angles.

I used one coat of Paranormal Paradise for all the photos. All the glitters were easy to get out, apart from the large holographic circles, I kind of had to fish them out and place them on my nail.

I love how the glitters look over different bases. I think the dark blue and the pink look the best!

The mini's retail for only $4 (US) and the full size polishes cost $11(US). Luckily for us UK girls, Mod Lacquer ships internationally! 

Mod Lacquers new Fall/Autumn collection The World's Fair will be released on Friday September 19th at 9 PM EST! 

What do you think of this glitter bomb? Check out Mod Lacquers Etsy for more glitters and holograph nail polishes!

Mod Lacquer - Aerial Phenomenon

Last month the Indie Brand Mod Lacquer posted on their Instagram page that they were looking for swatchers, and of course I was interested. Jennifer, the creator of Mod Lacquer, makes the most amazing holographic nail polishes I've ever seen, but she also makes a ton of unique super sparkly glitter combinations. It's a 3 free hand blended nail polish brand.

I received three nail polishes to try out: High Strangeness, Aerial Phenomenon and Paranormal Paradise.

I decided to dedicate a different blog post to each nail polish, since I took about 100 photos of each of them.....

The second polish is Aerial Phenomenon, a bright pink linear holographic polish. This is so insanely holographic it's unbelievable! 

The formula on this is very similar to High Strangeness, it's applies smoothly without any streaks or unevenness. The polish also dries incredibly quick, so you don't have to worry about dragging the polish on the second coat, or having to wait 15 minutes before going to the toilet! 

I used 2 coats for the swatch and no top coat. The first coat is much more opaque than High Strangeness, but not quite opaque enough for it to be a 1 coater. The second coat completely covers up any nail line. 

I am so impressed with the holographic polishes from Mod Lacquer! I think my bank will be a little less impressed with I place an order! 

The mini's retail for only $4 (US) and the full size polishes cost $11(US). Luckily for us UK girls, Mod Lacquer ships internationally! 

Mod Lacquers new Fall/Autumn collection The World's Fair will be released on Friday September 19th at 9 PM EST!

What do you think of this colour? Check out Mod Lacquers Etsy store for more holo goodness!

Mod Lacquer - High Strangeness

Last month the Indie Brand Mod Lacquer posted on their Instagram page that they were looking for swatchers, and of course I was interested. Jennifer, the creator of Mod Lacquer, makes the most amazing holographic nail polishes I've ever seen, but she also makes a ton of unique super sparkly glitter combinations. It's a 3 free hand blended nail polish brand.

I received three nail polishes to try out: High Strangeness, Aerial Phenomenon and Paranormal Paradise.

I decided to dedicate a different blog post to each nail polish, since I took about 100 photos of each of them.....

First up is High Strangeness, a very light violet linear holographic nail polish. It's even more holographic in real life than in these photos!

All photos are taken outside in direct sunlight. The holo is most obvious and beautiful in the sun, although you can still easily see the holographic effect in artificial lighting.

I used 2 coats for the photos and no top coat. I found the first coat was very sheer, and would probably look beautiful layered over another colour. However, the second coat completely covered everything up beautiful! Absolutely no visible nail line.

The formula was very smooth and applied evenly. Even with the sheer first coat, there were no streaks.

The polish dried quickly and applying a second coat was just as easy. With some holographic nail polishes I found that if you don't wait long enough the second coat will drag the first coat and create bald spots. I had no issues with that whatsoever.

A quick summery:
Easy, quick drying, non streaky formula
2 coats for full opacity
Insanely holographic, even indoors
Beautiful light violet shade
Hand blended 3 free formula.

The mini's retail for only $4 (US) and the full size polishes cost $11(US). Luckily for us UK girls, Mod Lacquer ships internationally! 

Mod Lacquers new Fall/Autumn collection The World's Fair will be released on Friday September 19th at 9 PM EST! 

What do you think of this colour? Check out Mod Lacquers Etsy store for more holo goodness!

Free Orly - Cosmopolitan Magazine

 This month Cosmopolitan Magazine are giving away free mini Orly nail polishes. There are 4 to choose from: Neon pink, red, gold and nude. I picked up the pink and red.

The neon pink is called Passionfruit, and the red is called Monroe's Red.

Before I start, I have to say these bottles are the cutest in the whole world!

First up is Passionfruit. This is a super bright neon pink that dries with a satin finish. The formula is a little on the sheer side, and even after 3 coats you could still see my nail line, so I decided to compare it to using a white base.

I used a white base on my index finger and ring finger. Although it's hard to see in the photo, there was quite a big difference in real life... neons are so difficult to capture! Two coats over a white base made the colour pop so much more and made it slightly lighter.

The second colour is Monroe's Red, a beautiful red with slight shimmer - which doesn't translate onto the nail. It's a really easy opaque formula and I used 2 coats for the swatch and no top coat.

Will you be picking up any of the 4 shades? 

xx Elaine 

Claire's Nail Polish Haul

I've been really curious about the Claire's nail polishes recently so bought 2 polishes and one nail art set. I posted this photo on my instagram and asked people which brand they thought it might be. One of the guesses was Orly, but no one expected it to be from Claires!

This holographic glitter beautify is called Magical Unicorn. It's a super gorgeous pale purple ultra beautiful scattered holographic micro glitter polish. I used 4 coats to get it fully opaque, but you can definitely get away with three thicker ones or some extra glitter placement at the tip.

I paired it with Kester Black Lilac and created a quick glitter gradient.

The second nail polish I bought is White Neon. It's a pastel neon, which are totally on trend this summer.

The formula on this was amazing. I used three coats to get it fully opaque. It was really easy to apply and I had no trouble with bald spots.

This is what I was hoping Grass Is Lime Greener from China Glaze would be like. The formula on that is pretty horrendous, streaky, bald patches, dries too quick and matte finish. White Neon is smooth and super glossy. Although the colours aren't identical (Grass Is Lime Greener is slightly more warm toned) I'd pick this over China Glaze any day!

The nail art set I bought are these neon studs. They come in this little wheel and have round and square studs in blue, orange, green, pink, yellow and purple.

The colours are really bright and will add a cool pop of colour to any manicure. I decided to apply the studs to a plain white base and paint my middle and ring finger with Peonies and Park Avenue by China Glaze.

What do you think about these items from Claires? Will you be stopping by and checking out their nail polishes?

xx Elaine