'Ard As Nails Swatch & Review

Today I have swatches of the brand new indie nail polish line called 'Ard As Nails. This is created by the brand Soap Dodger and they've recently expanded into nail polish! Soap Dodgers is a family run company set up in 2013 specialising in bath and body products. Earlier this year they also expanded into home fragrances. All their products follow the UK and EU regulations, they're not tested on animals and contain no harsh ingredients. Most products can be used for people with sensitive skin. Their nail polish line is the same. It's 5 free and cruelty free. The nail polishes cost £5.50 each for a 15ml bottle. At the moment they have an introductory offer where you buy 4 nail polishes for £18 and pay no postage.

I received 4 nail polishes to swatch. 2 cremes, 1 jelly and a holo.

The polishes come in a square bottle and the cap is removable for easy grip and application.

As always, I have LIVE SWATCHES of these on my YouTube channel!

First up is Dolly's Day.

This is a pink coral creme polish. It's very bright, definitely not neon but still very very bright.

This photographed slightly darker than it is in person - my camera has issues with pinky corals....

The application was incredibly easy.

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

It was almost fully opaque on 1 coat, but it had very slight unevenness and it did need a second coat.

It dried quickly and very glossy.

Next up is Crime Scene.

Is this not the most perfect Autumn red ever?!

Crime Scene is a jelly polish, meaning it's very sheer and build able. Below I will show some photos of how 1 and 2 coats compares to the colour in the bottle.

This is such a deep gorgeous rich red. I think Crime Scene is an excellent name because it looks like blood. To me it reminds me of a glass of Merlot!

I used 3 coats for the swatch.

The application was very even, and if you like the sheer look you could definitely do fewer coats.

I reckon if I added 1 more coat it would be as dark as in the bottle

It dries super super glossy. It's touch dry pretty quick, but it's still dentable.

The formula was a little bit thinner than the other polishes because it's a jelly. In the live swatches you'll see I had a bit too much on my index finger and I had to brush some off. Once you're aware of the thinner formula it's very easy to work with.

1 coat

2 coats

Next up is this holographic tester polish. It's still in the testing phase so it doesn't have an official name.

This is a beautiful raspberry red with a linear holographic effect.

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

There is a very slight visible nail line, but it's not very apparent in person.

The first coat was on the sheer side, but the second coat deepened the colour and covered up my nail line.

The macro shot is in direct sunlight. It's so gorgeous!!

The last polish I received to review is Sharona.

This is a beige nude and it's so beautiful!! I used to love pinky nudes, but I feel like these beige ivory type nudes are just so elegant, chic and sophisticated.

This had the most amazing formula.

It was almost fully opaque in just 1 coat!!

If you're in a rush you could definitely get away with just 1 coat, but I applied 2 for the swatch as I had very slight unevenness.

Again it dries to a glossy finish so no topcoat needed.










I'm so impressed with this new line of nail polishes by 'Ard As Nails. The cremes are super creamy and opaque and easy to work with. The jelly, Crime Scene, is probably my favourite, together with Sharona. But it's honestly so hard to choose!

Check out Soap Dodger's website for all their products and check out 'Ard As Nails on Instagram for more swatches!

Freckles Polish The Pitch Perfect Collection Swatch & Review

Hi everyone! I hope you've all had a lovely weekend and enjoyed the sunny weather yesterday. Hopefully summer isn't over yet!

Today I have the new Freckles Polish The Pitch Perfect Collection to show you! Freckles Polish is a UK indie brand created by Julieann. Julieann creates everything herself from scratch in small batches. Everything is cruelty free and 4 or 5 free (depending on the polish!).

The Pitch Perfect Collection is created for Autumn 2015 and it consists of 12 polishes! It will be released on the 28th of August. I have 6 to show you. Three of them are linear holographic, something Julieann is aaaamazing at. I want to buy all of her linear holographs! The other half of the polishes are scattered holographic polishes. The colours, although still being quite bright, are definitely made for Autumn. They're a little darker and more muted than previous collections.

As always, I also have live swatches of these on my youtube channel!

The first photo is taken with flash, the second is taken in my studio and the macro is taken in direct sunlight.

First up is The Treblemakes.

This is a deep plum linear holographic polish.

This is quite similar to The Seven Wonders, which I reviewed here, but this is a little bit lighter and warmer toned.

The application is super easy, and I didn't except anything else!

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

The first coat is a little sheer and you can see a visible nail line.

The second coat deepens up the colour and covers everything up.

The polish has a great consistency, not too thin or thick.

I didn't use any topcoat for the swatch.

Next up is Fat Amy.

This is a raspberry linear holographic.

This is very bright, and it photographed a little brighter than in real life, but if you compare it to the neons from the previous collection, swatched here, it's definitely a lot more muted and toned down.

It was a little tricky to really capture the holo in this polish because it's such a saturated raspberry pink. It's definitely there and much more obvious in real life. You'll be able to see more holo in the sunshine macro below.

The application was the same as The Treblemakers.

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

It is a very opaque polish but after 1 coat you can still see a slight visible nail line so it does need a second coat.

The second coat also deepens the colour.

Again I didn't use a topcoat for the photo.

Next up is A-Ca-Awesome.

This is a real linear holographic.

It sits right in the middle of a blue and a green, but in some lights it leans much more green than blue.

This is the last of the 3 linear holographics.

Again it was a little tricky to capture that holo, but you can see from the bottle it is very strong!

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

The first coat is a little more sheer than the previous two polishes, but the second coat completely covers up the nail line.

The second coat also deepens up the colour.

The formula is very smooth, easy to work with, not patchy or streaky.

The first scattered holographic is Bulletproof.

This is a white silvery scattered holographic polish in a metallic pearly finish.

Again I did struggle to capture the holo in the flash photo, but the sunlight macro shows it a lot better.

Unfortunately while I was swatching these it was super dark and rainy and horrible outside!!

I used 3 coats for the swatch and 2 thicker coats for the macro.

You can still see a visible nail line in the flash photo above, but in real life there was no visible nail line, as the studio shot shows.

The first coat was very sheer, but it did build up very easily.

Julieann warned me that the formula of these polishes would be slighter thicker due to the pigments used, but I didn't notice any significant difference during application. It was really easy to apply, it wasn't too thick or too thin and it spread evenly on my nails.

These do dry with a slightly textured finish so I would recommend using a topcoat to smooth it all out and make the glitters pop.

(sorry about the cat hair in the photo below, I had very limited sunlight so had to swatch quick!!)

Next is We're Back Pitches.

This is a green toned teal scattered holographic polish.

It's right in the middle of a teal and a green, but it's definitely more green than A-Ca-Awesome.

Again this is in a metallic pearly type of base.

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

The first coat was a little on the sheer side, but not as sheer as Bulletproof. It definitely did need the second coat to cover up my nail line and deepen the colour.

Again it also needs a topcoat since these polishes dry with a bit of a textured finish. A topcoat will smooth everything out and make the glitter pop.

Last up is I've Been Shot and this is a burnt red scattered holographic polish with a little bit of orange.

This is the most holographic out of the 3 scattered holos and it's also the most vibrant, while still being a little muted.

I used 2 coats for the swatch.

The first coat was a little sheer and you could see a visible nail line. It was also a lot more orange toned.

The second coat covered up my nail line and deepened the colour into a more red tone.

Again I did apply topcoat for the swatch.

Those are the 6 polishes I received from the new The Pitch Perfect Collection by Freckles Polish. Again the collection consists of 12 polishes and I can't wait to see the rest!! My favourite of the linear holographs is The Troublemakers, that deep plum colour. The holo is so vibrant and I think it's the perfect shade for Autumn. My favourite from the scattered holos is I've Been Shot. Again, it has the strongest holo, but I'm also a sucker for anything red!

This collection launches on the 28th of August so make sure to keep an eye out on Freckles Polish Instagram and Etsy pages. I've already seen a gorgeous purple scattered holographic polish I've got my eye on!

Morgan Taylor Hello Pretty Collection Swatches, Review, Nail Art

Today I have swatches of the Morgan Taylor Hello Pretty Collection. These are my first ever Morgan Taylor polishes and they definitely didn't disappoint. This is a random story, but I am very very picky with nail polish bottles and I won't buy any nail polish from a brand if I don't like the bottles. I don't like the Morgan Taylor bottles. They're so big and chunky and take up so much unnecessary space! I couldn't resist these minis though..

The two reasons I picked up these is 1. it's a collection about Japan and Tokyo and I LOVE Tokyo. 2. @nailtalk on Instagram posted the most beautiful swatches of these.

Like always, check out my YouTube or LIVE SWATCHES!!

First up is Manga-round With Me.

This is the only one where I really really really struggled to capture it accurately. I failed. I have another photo below which is the same polish, but completely different. Imagine these colours mushed together.

It's a very very neon coral. And it's stunning. I actually wanted to swatch these polishes about a week ago and I started off with this one and didn't take it off.... lol

Anyway! This is a stunning warm pink coral neon. I used 2 coats for the swatch. The first coat is a little streaky and you can see a visible nail line, but the second coat completely covers it up. It dries with a matte finish so I would recommend a top coat.

Next up is Pop-arazzi Pose.

This is a much darker cooler toned neon pink. It's almost red.

I used 2 coats for the swatch, The first coat is a little sheer but the second coat covers everything up completely as well as darken the colour.

This dries so incredibly quick that when I apply the polish to my ring finger my index finger is almost fully dry. You'll be able to see this during my live swatches.

Again this dries to a matte finish so I would recommend a topcoat.

Next up is Look At You, Pink-achu.

I was least excited about this one. In the bottle it looked like every other pale pink that exists.. I was totally wrong.

This is so incredibly bright it's like a bleached neon effect. And also the name is super cute.

This had a fantastic formula. It was also fully opaque on 1 coat with careful application. There was still a bit of unevenness so I did need a second coat.

It dries to a matte finish so I would recommend a topcoat.

The last polish is the whole reason I wanted the set... this is Tokyo á Go Go. Looooook at how pretty!!

This is a warm toned almost fuchsia purple. And best of all.. this is ONE coat.

Again it dries to a matte finish so I would recommend a topcoat!

Those are the swatches of the Candy Cuties. I loved all 4 of these colours and they all had a great formula. I think what made the application so easy is that even these minis came with a flat wide brush rather than a tiny skinny brush which is much harder to work with.

Now onto the nail art!

I created this aztec Hawaiian design using the 4 minis for the gradient!

I have a tutorial on how to create this design, both the gradient palm trees and the aztec design on my youtube channel so make sure to check it out!

Click here!! 

xx Elaine

Polished By Leanne Wedding Day Collection Swatch & Review

Today I have a very exciting collection to show you! This is the Wedding Day collection from Polished By Leanne. Leanne has been posting b&w sneak peek previews of this collection on her instagram page for weeks now! I received 4 of the 8 polishes to review and they are stunning. They are the perfect colours to symbolise a wedding. I can't wait to see the others!

As always check out my YouTube channel for LIVE SWATCHES!

This collection is set to launch on September 10th. It's inspired by and created for Leanne's own wedding day which makes this collection even more exciting.

First up is the incredibly elegant Wedding Dress.

Wedding Dress is a satin white with a pearly finish.

Normally I'm not the biggest fan of these pearly whites, but honestly this is so graceful and sophisticated and I didn't want to take it off.

The formula is amazing. I used 3 coats for the swatch but you can easily get away with 2 slightly thicker coats.

The first coat is a little on the sheer side, but has a completely even finish. If you want to go for a sheer look, this could definitely be worn at 1 coat.

For full opacity I needed 3 coats.

As you apply the polish it looks very brush stroke-y, but as it dries the brush strokes disappear and it has a gorgeous even finish.

For more swatches keep reading after the jump! 

What's Up Nails Watermarble Tool Review

It's summer and I've been obsessed with the Pipe Dream Polish Neons and water marbling. I always struggle with drawing a design in the water. I've used toothpicks and dotting tools and I could kind of create something, but I'd get more and more annoyed along the way.

I always though "naahhh I don't need the water marble tool from What's Up Nails...". Well... I did. I finally placed an order with them and the water marble tool was one of them.

Now, I can't stop marbling!

The tool is called the Pure Color 7 Watermarble Tool. What's Up Nails ships worldwide and the shipping was pretty quick.

The tip of the watermarble tool is shaped like a needle, but not quite as sharp! This way it's very easy drag the polish into a design. I made the floral loops design (whatever it's called!). Normally I'd have three little loops on my nails, but even on my pinky I have 4 loops! I have tons on my thumb!

The needle tip makes the application very precise.

The difference between using this tool and a regular needle is the grip. This has a large handle like any other nail art brush. It's very easy to hold and sits in your hand nicely, again for the most precision and a steady hand. It also has rubbery circles for extra grip.

After every dip in the water, I cleaned the needle with some nail polish remover.

I know my water marble still isn't perfect, but it's a thousand times better than it was.

I actually managed to do both hands without getting frustrated!

If you're thinking of getting the tool, but not too sure... you NEED it. Trust me!

xx Elaine

Illamasqua TK Maxx Haul Swatch & Review

I recently went into TK Maxx and saw a whole bunch of Illamasqua polishes for only £3.99!! I think Illamasqua is a great brand, but I never want to spend the money on them full price. They're also difficult to find in store in the UK so it's not a brand I'm easily tempted with. When I saw them at TK Maxx for a fraction of the price, I went a little crazy...

I have live swatches of all these polishes on my YouTube channel so check it out!! 

First up is Superstition.

this is a super beautiful bright pink. It's not quite neon, but it's almost there.

This is fully opaque in just 1 thicker coat. I used 2 coats for the swatch as I had a very slight visible nail line on a few nails, but if you're in a rush, this could easily be a 1 coater.

The formula is so smooth and easy to work with, it almost applied itself. I had absolutely zero issues.

It dries a little dull, so it definitely needs a topcoat.

For all swatches, keep reading after the jump!

What's Indie Box July 2015 Swatch & Review

I purchased my very first What's Indie Box and I am literally over the moon excited. What's Indie Box is an Australian monthly box with 5 Australian based indie nail polishes. Every month there is a different theme and the box includes different brands. I have been wanting a Whats Indie Box since before I moved to Australia, but for some reason never ended up getting one..

I bought the July What's Indie Box. This had a fashion catwalk theme and included nail polishes from Emily de Molly, Bella Belle Nail Couture, Peita's Polish, Lilypad Lacquer and Sayuri. I had heard of 4 of the 5 brands and have wanted to try Bella Belle and Lilypad Lacquer for ages.

The shipping of the box was incredibly quick. You pre-order the box and the start of the month and it gets shipped about halfway through the month. Whenever I order from Australia I am always surprised by how quick I receive it, usually easily within a week. Whereas packages from America take up to 2 weeks.

I also have LIVE SWATCHES of these polishes on my YouTube channel, so check that out here!

For all swatches, keep reading after the jump!