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! 

Shop Eighty4 Pastel Neon Flowers Nail Art

My blog mainly focuses on swatches and reviews, however I also have an instagram (@elaine.nails) which also includes a lot of nail art!

I love nail art, but I go through phases where I take a brake and just paint my nails 1 colour. Right now.. I'm in a nail art phase!

I created this pastel neon gradient floral nail art design using Barry M and Shop Eighty4 nail polishes.

I started off creating an all black and white floral design.

I used Barry M Cotton as a white base.

This is my favourite white polish and even though it's still relatively new to my collection, you can already see a clear usage line.

With careful application this is opaque in just 1 coat! So it's great to use under nail art. If I wear the polish alone I'll usually use 2 coat, but under a gradient or other design I use 1 to save time and layers.

I then used the Barry M Nail Art Pen in Black to add some flowers. I just placed 5 dots in a circle to make a flower. Super easy.

I really liked the design but felt like it needed some colour.

I decided to add a gradient on my index and pinky finger used 3 pastel neons from Shop Eighty4.

I used Cotton Candy (pink), Lasha Lavender (purple) and Powder Puff (blue).

To create the gradient I used a white base of Barry M Cotton and applied a topcoat so the polish won't pull up with the gradient.

I applied the 3 colours onto a cosmetic sponge. I buy mine from Primark, the cheapest seem to work best for me! I then dabbed it onto my nails. I applied 2-3 "coats".

I also used a dotting tool to add colour to the centre of the flowers using the same colours as the gradient.

I finished it all off with a topcoat. I use a fast drying topcoat from Hema. It's amazing.

I really love this design, it's super easy to create and great for the spring.

xx Elaine

Freckles Polish Holographics Haul & Swatches

Freckles Polish is a UK indie brand who sent me a few polishes to review a couple weeks ago. I fell in love with the polishes so I bought a few more! Julieann, the creator of Freckles Polish, makes some amazing holographic polishes. I literally want them all, but unfortunately I have to pay rent :(

I bought 4 polishes. From left to right: Papa Legba, Blue Lagoon, The Seven Wonders and Birthday Suit.

Full size bottles of 10ml cost £6.50, and minis of 5ml cost £3.50.

First up is Papa Legba.

This is a stunning deep blood red linear holographic.

I didn't have any sun on the day of swatching these so this is a photo with flash. In real sunlight (macro shot coming up) it's much more holographic.

This is inspired by the TV show American Horror Story.

More info and swatches after the jump! 

Let It Glitter! Haul & Swatches

Let It Glitter is a Dutch indie brand created by Suzanne. I'm seriously in love with her polishes, but unfortunately I can't afford to buy every single one.

To check out my first haul click here!

I picked up a few random polishes. Three are from her new Anniversary collection, and I have 3 randoms.

I'll start off with my favourite.... and the most difficult polish to photograph. EVER.

This is Soulmate. This is from the Anniversary Collection.

It's a really bright neon medium warm toned pink. It's unlike any other pink I own. The picture isn't 100% colour accurate, but it's as close as I could possible get it. I actually swatched this 3 times on 3 separate days. It was frustrating.

Luckily it has an amazing formula.

I used 2 coats for the swatch. The coats are super easy, smooth and streak free. The second coat fully covers up the nail line.

It dries to a semi matte finish so I did apply topcoat to the swatch.

More info and swatches after the jump! 

Freckles Polish Swatch & Review Part 2

I received half of the Back To The 80s Collection by Freckles Polish to review a few weeks ago, and I loved them so much I decided to buy the other half of the collection! Check out the first half here!

Freckles Polish is a UK Indie brand run by Julieann. She's created some amazing holographic polishes and I literally want them all. Spoiler alert, I also bought some holos which'll be in a different post.

The Back To The 80s Collection consists of 4 neons and 4 complimenting holo polishes. This post will include the purples and the yellows.

First up is Get Off My Bum ... Bag.

This is a beautiful bright warm toned purple. I love it!

I used 2 coats for the swatch plus topcoat

The first coat was slightly streaky and there was still a clear visible nail line. It's fully opaque in 2 coats. The second coat also brightens the colour.

It dries very very quick, so you have to be careful with application. It dries to a matte finish.

I compared it to China Glaze Violet Vibes from the Electric Nights collection and Ulta3 Spring Break.

As you can see Get Off My Bum ... Bag is much brighter a pink toned.


More info and swatches after the jump!

Free Nails Inc Polish with InStyle Magazine

This month Nails Inc is giving away four free nail polishes with InStyle magazine. It's a great combination of brights and pastels so there's something to suit everyone!

There is a gorgeous minty green, a red, pink and a purpley grey. The pink and red aren't very unique, and as you'll see from my comparisons coming up, it's easy to pass those up. The other two shades are great and I'd definitely recommend them.

First up is The Tide Is High.

This is a gorgeous mint which leans slightly more blue than green. It's beautiful and my favourite of the 4.

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

It was streaky on the first coat but the second coat covered everything up.

I did do 2 very careful coats, I think this could easily be a 3 coater, especially on my other hand!!

I compared it to Optic Wave from a little over a year ago.

Optic Wave is 1 of 3 polishes that I actually have a back-up of.

The Tide Is High is a much lighter version of Optic Wave. I think both are equally beautiful.

More info and swatches after the jump!