50 Followers Giveaway!! Woo

So I have reached 50 followers! This is a total milestone for me as I genuinely thought that no one would be interested in my blog but I'm super glad they do :) I write this blog as I enjoy doing it so I'm happy other people enjoy it too! To say thanks I am holding my first giveaway :) featuring these polishes: 

Barry M:

Dusky Mauve ie Chanel Paradoxal Dupe! Mushroom, Teal and Lilac Foil 

Topshop:

Hypnotic

H&M: 

No Mambo Jambo

If you read my post yesterday you will no that none of these polishes are brand new however I have used No Mambo Jambo on one nail, Topshop on two nails and I have never used Dusky Mauve! Some of the Barry Ms have purple grey polish on the bottle as they were in my box when purple grey smashed :( but other than that they are fine! Woo 

New followers are welcome but please don't be a dormant follower, I really love reading comments s don't be shy :)

There's a week to enter so go go go! It's open internationally by the way :)

You can use the picture on your blog/post if you wish

What to do......

I need you guys help, I have just bought a ton of polish from Kiko and I have two swaps arriving over the next couple of weeks and so I thought it was a good time to have a clear out of my stash, I only have about 15 that I don't want but I don't know what to do with them......


Should I give them away? The problem with that is that most of my followers are in the US and postage can get quite expensive 


Should I sell them?


Should I hold a 50 followers giveaway and have an epic prize :P 


I don't know what to do, help lol 


There are 2 OPIs, 2 Nails Inc, 3 Barry M, 2 Sinful Colors, 3 Color Clubs, 1 H&M and 1 Topshop, I'll put pictures up later but what would you lovely people like?? 

Spring Retro Nail art with the mysterious Color clubs

Lol! Good title right? :P
It's the only way I can describe what this mani is haha. So after yesterdays disaster nail day, I swiftly removed the Barry M and decided to do some fun nail art. I chose two of my newly acquired unknown Color clubs, a green and a pink (!!). Here are the 6 colours that I got in the "Alter Ego" set. 

L-R ?, Revealed, ?, ?, ?, ?

 The pink is okay for as it isn't straight pink, it has a purple undertone to it, if that is possible haha, I thought the green went perfectly with it, they looked pretty and spring appropriate. Here they are without the design. 

Pretty right? Both colours only took 2 coats each.  
Then I used the nail polish brushes to paint one stripe down the middle of each nail, they took forever to dry so I added SH ID to speed it up and then once they had dried I used my Wah nails art pen to draw the zig zag/ diamonds and that was it :)

The good thing about this design is that the zigzags don't have to be perfect, it adds to the fun when they are less perfect ;) I think it looks like a retro pattern off a pair of awful trousers from the 90s :P

Question: Why don't Color Clubs have names on the bottles??

Hope you enjoyed! 

Barry M Denim Swatches and Review

I have been in a nail rut today, nothing was going right :( I took off disappointing Teal and put on one of the unnamed Color Clubs buuuuut it refused to dry! So I took it off and put on Denim instead, hoping to love it but no.....it was a horrid experience. It was runny and thick and kept pooling at my cuticles and dripping down the sides of my nails after I'd applied it! It was so frustrating D: it genuinely looked like a 5 year old had done my nails.....

On top of that I had major tipwear after a few hours! All I had done was boil some eggs, go to the post office and I was in the darkroom for 3 hours printing so not exactly strenuous on my nails, I know it's a matte but that is ridiculous! 

It's a real shame cos it has potential to be amazing! It really does look like a pair of jeans, the silver flecks throughout are the same as the ones in OPIs I have a Herring Problem, it's a lovely deep blue but the formula and wear completely ruined this for me :( so disappointed. 

Barry M Teal Swatches

Hi, yesterday I managed to find four of the new Barry M shades, Silvery Lilac, Black Multi Glitter, Teal and Denim, I bought the last two as they were the most interesting. I believe that Silvery Lilac is the same as Topshop Hypnotic! That let me down so I assumed that the Barry M would. Anywhooo Teal, I wanted to love it but I think it let me down, in the bottle it has a purple flash but it is not visible on the nail. 

It's pretty enough but I feel like it's something I would have seen donkeys ago, it just feels old fashioned, and I don't understand the conection between the new colours, they don't scream summer to me.....but then Barry M isn't really into collections so that is probably why. I think I'll be taking it off tomorrow morning and changing it to Denim as that looks gorgeous!! I have it on four of my toes and it looks hot! Haha :) 


what do you guys think? 

Maybelline Express Finish Khaki Green Swatches

Morning! 
Yesterday I went to TK Maxx (bad idea :P) and saw a set of 7 color clubs that were supposedly the Alter Ego Reveal your Mystery collection but when I got home and looked up swatches, I found that only three are from that collection and I have no idea what the other three are as they have no names on the bottles which I find weird. But anyway I bought this Maybelline polish the other day, I thought it was interesting. 
It was fairly sheer but easy to be built up, I used 4 thin coats with topcoat, 

 These two are with flash to show the shimmmmmer ;)

This is what it looks like normally, pretty :)

I really like this colour actually it's a nice pale green and the shimmer is pretty, it shows brushstrokes but it's not too bad, it's a quite refreshing colour like in the sense of it feels clean lol! It claims to dry in 40 seconds....not quite haha it was pretty quick though and it was really easy to apply so it was an enjoyable experience haha. 


Thanks to everyone who offered to get Candy Shop for me :) I've got it sorted now thanks to some lovely ladies :). 

Swap-ortunity

Okay I need someone's help to obtain Claire's Candy Shop!! I reallllllllly want to get it for my sister but they don't sell it in the UK :( waaah so would anyone be able to get me a bottle? If there's anything you want from the UK, barry M, models own, nails inc, max factor etc let me know please :) 
my email is abbie21@ntlworld.com so don't be shy :D


Thanks! 

Fierce summery Zebra/Tiger nails!

Yeah I said fierce. Cos' that's what these nails are! Haha :) I was meant to post this last night but I was too tired :( boo. I almost forgot to take a picture before I striped them hence why one nail is striped :P

Haha my bf's face was skeptical he thought they were looking horrible but then after I added the stripes, he was approving :P. This mani took no time at all! So quick, despite that I had to use thick blobs of polish hmmm. I told you that I would do a spongy gradient next, it's just a gradient with different colours haha. Here are a lot of photos :)

Unamed Blue - Barry M 

Purple Poppy - Models Own (right hand again! To prove I do wear these manis hehe)

Sunshine Sparkle - Revlon 

On my right hand I went for a different approach I started to blob the polish on a wonky line and then lightly sponging the lines, I think both work but I prefer the more obvious sponging as it looks like spray paint (to me anyway :P). I love this so much, it's so summery and happy and Fierce as Tyra would say ;). As usual I freehanded the lines, I made them triangular by adding more pressure at the base and less at the tips, I learnt that from my beloved Wah Nails book of Nail Art :D

I love that sticker 'No nails no life' it's so awesome and basically what a lot of us bloggers live by ;) I don't know where to put it though....

Love this mani and love this book (available from amazon) I want to be a Wah grrl :D

Hope you enjoyed and have a great weekend! 

Zoya Phoebe plus Nubar Polka Dots

So as you can probably tell from the title, Phoebe didn't last long on her own, today was the second day of wear and there was already noticeable tip wear and I felt that it had lost a bit of its matte effect as to my eyes it appeared to be more shiny and satiny but that may have been wishful thinking but nonetheless I took a picture with one nail repainted to show the differences (that may or may not be there) :P It's my index that is repainted...could you tell?

With my new revelation that it had faded etc I touched up the tips and then added the Polka Dots :) these are so fun I alternated nails to show you the difference between the two polka dots, enlarge to see the pale white dots 

As you can see the black Polka Dots were a lot more willing to come out than the White Polka Dots, I really had to fish them out and still only managed to get a few out :( these are both using one coat. But I love the way they look when they are layered together the white is kind of opalesque in my eyes and I love the little sprinkles of black and white fine glitter :)  Phoebe looks pretty when glossy, I like this combo a lot :)

This is what I'm wearing at the moment but I'm not sure how long it will last but I do have loads of work to do so it might stand the test of time ;).

I tried some combinations on my nail wheel, I layered the White Polka Dots over OPI Stranger Tides and it looks quite nice and subtle and it brings out the duochrome nature of the sprinkles from the white polka dots, I might try it one day soon after I have tried a gradient mani :). 

What do you think to the Polka Dots? 

Zoya Phoebe Swatches

Good afternoon :) Yesterday I put Zoya Phoebe on in order to cheer me up and to distract from the constant rain that most of England is suffering with, April showers and all that *sigh*. Anyway this is one of the polishes that Bethany sent me and I couldn't wait to wear it, it's so pretty! 

This is two coats over two coats of base coat (to try and smooth out my ridges ;)) It went on so smoothly and obviously dried super quick! I didn't find any problems with the application, it was perfect :). I really like it, it's so bright but not garish and it is a perfect summer colour, it also is working on making this weather feel less miserable especially when paired with my equally bright pink jumper :D

So summery! I think they match pretty well :P. I have decided to challenge myself to wear this polish for as long as I can, I guess it's kind of a wear test as obviously I can't put a topcoat on to protect it but the main reason for doing this is because I used to wear the same polish until it was completely chipped! But now I change like everyday two days, so I want to slow down, I'm not sure I can though so this will be a good test. I plan to put Nubar Polka Dots on top later in the week for a refresh, I'll keep you updated on wear and my will to go on ;)

Also I'm kind of fooling myself thinking that I might like the pink from this mini collection as the matte makes it okay but I know I would hate it...I just want to like pink nails!  LOL

Hope you all enjoyed! Seeyou soon 

a-england Galahad

This evening I have another a-england polish for you, it's Galahad which is from the first collection, the Mythicals, I bought Avalon as well but that's for another day. I am struggling with 
how to describe this colour so I'll just show you.

It's quite the chameleon so I'm not sure whether this photo is colour accurate, I think it is a greeny blue, it's a very nice colour looking at it on my nails now it looks deeper and less bright than it is in this photo. I wanted it to be more dusty like the colour in the bottle, but it's still nice. I got bored pretty quickly as is the norm nowadays so I did a little wahnails inspired design on top. As a little treat you are going to see my left and right hand! As I did the design a bit too big on my left hand so I wanted to show you my favoured hand :P

 Left hand

Right hand 

It didn't quite turn out the way I wanted but I still like it :) something different I guess, I freehanded the design with my extremely blobby nail art pen. Also I just realised I inadvertently stole Sarah from Chalkboard nails hand pose! Oops it's a nice elegant pose hehe imitation is the biggest form of flattery :D. 

Also today my Nubar Polka Dots arrived and Indigo Illusion! I'm so excited to wear both Polka Dots, I've tried them over Zoya Pheobe which Bethany sent me so I expect I shall wear the zoya on its own for a day and then go Polka Dot cray cray ;)

Hope you enjoyed! 

Barry M Magnetic Dark Silver Part 2

Hey, as promised here is the second part of my Barry M review, I magnetised three nails and left the ring so that you can see the colour and finish difference :). I personally haven't seen this magnetic design before, I'd love to know if anyone else has, here it is

The magnet was really easy to use as it had the little guide that you rest on your finger, I liked the unusualness of the pattern that formed but I have noticed in these pictures that it makes my nails look weirdly rounded even though I am a strict squoval lover! Probably just an illusion. I like how dark and shiny they became without topcoat. Overall I had a nice experience using my first magnetic polish but I still really love the colour without the magnet :) I am happy with this purchase but I don't think I'll be getting the other colours as red, blue and purple/green are boring :P and I don't need anymore of those colours in my stash haha.

Hope you liked this, tomorrow I have another a-england polish :) woo

Barry M Magnetic Dark Silver Review Part 1

Hi, like I mentioned the other day I found two Barry M magnetic polishes, I thought there were 8 colours however I've now learnt that is not the case, there are only 4 red, silver, blue and green/purple I can't remember which :P. Anywho today I have my only one on, Magnetic Dark Silver, catchy name right ;), I am currently wearing it as a normal polish ie no magnetised patterns yet. What you are about to see is one easy peasy coat!

I chose this one as it was out of my comfort zone but wow I think it's gorgeous! It went on so easily and was opaque in one coat, it took a while to dry but that is probably the fault of my basecoats, these were taken without a topcoat on. It'll be a shame to do the magnetic pattern tomorrow cos I really love this as it is, it feels edgy and sophistocated at the same time and totally sexy, mwahah. I can't tell whether they were right to call it dark silver or not, it's definitely got a pewter, lead vibe to it and it has silver shimmer, so yeah I guess silver is right just a grown up silver. 

I know Barry M are late to the magnetic party but I'm glad they came, in love! Ha

Part two tomorrow :)

What do you guys think to it as a colour? 

OPI Swimsuit...Nailed It! Swatches and Review

Hi, superrrrrrrr excited to talk about this one, this was my one real lemming and o-m-gee it does not disappoint! I am forever grateful to Bethany for getting this for me, I think it is my new favourite polish....I've never really had one favourite before but all shall now bow down to this! :P. Gah just look at the pictures! :). 

would you believe that this is one perfect coat? It went on so smoooooth, I'm so happy with this polish, it's so shiny and sparkly and blue! Lol that may sound silly but it is so blue it's gorgeous, I might not be showing any other swatches for a while as I totally love this! I don't really know what else to say about it apart from it's amazing! Also it isn't brush strokey at all it's my stupid canyon nails again *sigh*

Hope you enjoyed!

Polish swap has arrived :D

Hey, so finally one of my packages has arrived and it was the one I was most excited about :) myself and the lovely Bethany from A plethora of Nails did a big polish swap, I sent her two Butter Londons and she sent me an Opi and Zoya that I wanted and then we decided that we would go out and buy each other a few polishes from our local shops ie Boots, for a polish culture swap ;). 
I was so excited when I was told I had a package eeee it was THE package so I ripped it open (quite literally) and three mini bottles rolled out of the tissue paper, they are so cute!! I want to say a massive thank you to Bethany, it has been really nice getting to know you better, I hope we continue to stay in contact :) I really love everything that you sent me :D! 

L-R Fruit Smoothie by Confetti, Lets Talk by Sinful colors, Phoebe by Zoya, Disco Ball by Sally Hansen, Trust Fund Baby by Spoiled, Sparkled by Wet N Wild, Battery Park Purple by NYC, Swimsuit Nailed it! By OPI and the three superrrr cute minis an unnamed Bon Bons (?) and HD Nails and This is it by Sinful Colors. 

How cool!! I am so in love with Swimsuit, it's so gorgeous and weirdly I nearly bought Lets Talk by Sinful the other day I kept picking it up and then I put it down, great minds and all that ;). 

The one that I have on right now is the pink glitter! I can't believe I'm typing this but I was drawn to the pink glitter! I tried it on my nail wheel first and decided to put it over the top of one of my only pinks lol. 

This is one easy coat of Rimmel's Style Hunter, it has a strong fine silver shimmer that make it have a pearlised finish.

I think this is one coat of Sparkled, I'm not sure though, this is in the shade as it were.

Two coats with flash

Two coats in sunlight.

My bf really wanted me to wear this one, I was attracted to it too but it was mainly him :P I do like it, Sparkled is a mix of small pink glitter and larger silver glitter, it is very bling as all glitter is but this is so sparkly like its namesake, haha. It is quite gritty, one thick coat of SH ID sorts that out :). One thing I do know is that I can't stop looking at my nails, they're pretttty, so far so good :P. Good choice Bethany!

On a side note I discovered today that Barry M now do Magnetic polish! There were about 8 slots but only two had polish in, one was red with a striped magnet and the one I got was grey with a circular waved pattern, I know another is blue with a star as that is what the woman in the promo is wearing! I'll be sure to check back soon to see what the others are, they cost £4.99 which is steep for Barry M but I guess these types of polishes are two in one and you can switch magnets if you get them all :). I'm quite excited to try it out to be honest I wasn't really feeling magnetic polish when it first came out but I am seeing the fun in it now :P. 

Thank you again Bethany :) I hope you're having as much fun with my package and I hope everyone else enjoyed this swap post :)

Nails Inc. Emerald Street Swatches

Hi, I have the final Nails Inc polish to show you today from the boxset that I got a couple of weeks ago, this is the polish that really sold me on the entire set as I thought it was lovely and unique in my stash at least. It went on in two easy, supa smooth coats and dried nice and quickly and shiny too :)

It is a gorgeous glowy colour but I'm just not loving it right now, it feels too christmassy I guess, I might mattify it see what that does but I like the shimmer and shine lol. It feels like the green sister of Barry M Navy and Vivid Purple, I love those two polishes but I'm not sure about this one.

One thing this has shown me however is that I really need to invest in some ridge filler! Jeez it's like I have canyons on my nails....

I am still waiting on three packages, I swear I am one of the most impatient people ever! Its just that normally they get to me within a week of ordering :(. I am trying to resist going shopping tomorrow but I think I will fail :P. 

I might feel better about this polish in the light of day (literally) we shall see. 

Hope you enjoyed!

Mix up nails

I was meant to post yesterday but I didn't cos I had a massive migrane *hangover* so I really didn't want to look at a bright screen but I'm here now so that's all that matters. I really wanted to do something fun and bright so I took out my nail art pen and nice colours and got to work, I only had three colours that matched so I decided to use a opposing colour as an accent so that's why it looks odd haha. 

 For my index finger I used Topshop Hypnotic which is silver with flashes of pink and green

 For the thumb I used Ultra Violet and Aqua Cool both by Rimmel Pro 

 The red is Urban purple by Rimmel Pro and the gold for the chains is 25 carot gold by Models Own.

I almost left the pinky and middle fingers with just the two colours but I thought they needed something to link (haha you get it ;)) with the metalic nail, I am happy with the way it turned out, the outline of the chains are really messy as it was my first time using the smallest dotting tool to draw with as it were so I didn't quite get the hang of it :P. I like it, it's fun to look at and so I'm pleased with it. I did this on saturday and everything is holding up well without a topcoat, naughty I know but I couldn't be bothered if I'm being honest lol. 

All the polishes dried nice and quickly and all bar the red are two coats, I really like the Rimmel pro polishes they are really saturated and have a nice big brush which makes applying it super easy, one stroke for my little nail :P.

I'm still waiting over a week after my orders for my two ots of polish to arrive, it's totally annoying because I ordered them to my house and I'm returning to uni tomorrow for 6 weeks.....I'll have to get my mum to post them up to me if they ever arrive *sigh*. I got two polishes from a-england and 3 from Nubar (my first Nubars, will they ever get here? Lol). 

Hope you enjoyed! 

Models Own Indian Ocean Swatches and Review

Hiya, today I have Indian Ocean from the new Beetlejuice collection, it is a lot more pleasing than the previous polishes from the collection, it feels so fresh :). 
I know it is a very sheer polish but I didn't have a suitable pale blue with me so I chose to wear it on its own, this is 5 layers and there is still VNL but it's pretty.

I'm not particularly pleased with these photographs but I have no choice! I do really like this polish, it's so pretty and delicate and it has a really strong duochrome, changing from blue with pink to golden yellow flash. It's really sparkly too and shiny without topcoat :) I think it should be called spring evening sky or something lame like that as the colours are exactly what the sky looks like blue and pink with the sun like this...

Lol. 

I like it alot, it dried quickly and went on nice and smooth, £5 well spent :) I kind of want to try out the other two now haha they see nice and summery as is this one but I think it could work in the colder months too as it is kind of icy looking. Go get it!