Green jungle / tropical nail art

Hi y'all!

Tropical prints are obviously in fashion at the moment, even Beth on Corro was rocking a tropical ensemble ;) but yeah I can see the attraction; if you can't go to the rainforest/beach bring it to you and it sure makes you feel a lot happier (espesh when the weather is soooo shocking).

I used Illamasqua Radium (swatches here) as the base for this as it's nice and vibrant! I'm going to go ahead and say it; I am in the love with these nails!! Heheheh

If you have an aversion to knees then you might not like a couple of my pictures...

See it wasn't that bad :P hahahha

Polishes used for this mani, R-L: China Glaze I'm with the lifeguard, Dior Amazonia, Dior Waterlily (I still haven't worn this!!) Essie Going Incognito

Another knee shot coming up but it's a closeup of the nails

That is a little banana on my middle finger :P I liked doing these as it's about layering to make a scene which is something I've never really done before. I just used my little paintbrush to do everything. A trick I have picked up when doing little details such as the pointed ends of the skinny leaves is to try and get it as small as you can and then use the background colour to go over the line and make it thinner from the outside, it is so much easier to do it like that!

I'm not sure how long I'll keep these on, despite my love for them, as my nails grow super quick so manis look scruffy on me pretty quickly due to growth! :( but I got my second HEX order yesterday, so much cutenesssss! I can't wait to use them and show you :)

Have a good weekend!

My stash (Picture heavy!)

Hello, by popular demand, I spent some time yesterday photographing my stash. Now this is only about half of it, the other half is at home so I'll have to photograph them when I get home in Easter!
As I don't have that many here with me I figured I would divide them into brands and do them like that. 

All names will go L-R and bold names are ones which I have swatched, they won't be linked but you can simply search the name in my blog to find it.

First up is my precious Dior rainbow :D

 

Forget me not, Riviera, Lucky, Bitter Orange, Gold Nugget, Waterlily, Saint Tropez, Nirvana and Amazonia

 

 Blue Boy and Graphite

 



Monogamous, Nomad and Stance I need more Illamasqua, I love all these!

Sweets Way,Pudding Lane, Baker Street, Chester Terrace, Park Crescent, Chelsea, Holland Park Avenue, Fenchurch Street and Hampstead Gardens which I intend to swatch tomorrow for you :)

Nude, Vivid Purple, Pink??, Black, Blueberry Ice cream, Blue?? and Blue Plum

Gold Foil, Boots Xmas LE (currently on my toes), Gold Glitter, Gold Mine, Yellow Topaz Glitter and Silver Diamonds

Riveting, I'm with the Lifeguard, Westside Warrior and Swimsuit....nailed it! 

Sand Tropez, Little Black Dress, Going Incognito, Gemma and Saint George

The Hungry Asian - Sea Creature, Funky Fingers - Tinsel Town and Sand and Stillettos, Androgynie, Fowl Play, Unknown (Urban Outfitters), Sneeze Breeze (Seriously need to wear this!!) and Vote for purple

Kiko 338, Kiko 332, Kiko 346, Holographic, Intense Plum and Fantasy Fire. 

Phew! Like I said this is only about half my collection, I could only bring as many could fit into my box so that's why the rest are being neglected at home :P. If you like to see a swatch of any of the colours please let me know!

And this is how I store them and my nail art stuff, not the usual way lol

I feel kind of bad for just shoving them all in there but I ain't got time to arrange them by brand and colour! Hahah. Ain't nobody got time for that ;)

So there you go my half stash! My uni stash haha, I have a hankering for Taylor by Shimmer as I saw A Polish Addict's swatch and just fell in love!

Like I said if you wish to see a colour swatched then comment :)

Dior Amazonia swatches

I am saying that this is the start of autumn in terms of my nail polish wearing, it has turned colder and windy and the days are gradually getting shorter (and I'm back to uni next saturday!!) so the jumpers are officially out of the cupboard. And so are the dusty cremes and jewel tones that only autumn can inspire! So the first of my autumnul colours is Dior Amazonia.
I got it for my birthday off my sister :) and is a lovely dark khaki creme with the Dior hidden shimmer. Perfect in two coats as to be expected from Dior with the tapered brush which makes application so easy.

This is the only colour accurate photo I took, you get an idea of how dark and delicious it is ;) it's perfect for cooler weather and would be a good way for green newbies to wear a green polish without it being in your face, it's a sophisticated colour :).

So I shall see you all soon with a very unseasonal nail art and possibly a tutorial too ;)

Birthday polish

Firstly, I am sorry that I've been so patchy lately it just seems that I have no time for myself: tuesday was my birthday, Wednesday I saw my best friend who I seldomly get to see anymore and then yesterday we took my nana to the Deep (underwater aquarium) for her birthday and today I'm seeing Tom but I NEED to do my nails so bad! So I'm going to make time this morning.

Until I get to do them I'll show you what I got for my birthday

 Illamasqua Stance and Nomad from my mum and Dior Amazonia from my sis

Urban Outfitters Medusa and ?(name came off) from my bfffff

I'm very happy with those :) I'm going to get Nails Inc Baker Street as a present to myself ;) as it's too prettttty not to own it.

Thanks for the happy birthdays :) I had a very nice day!

Cray cray Leopard print Rainbow gradient

Sorry Lizzy it's not Zuza just yet :P 


I saw a design on Wahnails instagram of these rainbow leopard print nails and I thought they were so awesome so I had to recreate, mine are a bit different and very bright! I started with a white base to make all the colours pop and to save time ;) so I used Barry M Matte white, which is an okay white, I only used two coats as I didn't need full coverage. Here are all the polishes I used 

Barry M Matte White, Kiko 358 Peach Rose, Dior Riviera, Barry M Cyan Blue, Kiko 355 Canary Yellow and China Glaze I'm with the Lifeguard 

Kind of a teaser for what's to come in like 5 seconds hahahhaha 

I used the on the sponge method, I love how the colours blended together to make new colours :) I am in LOVE with Lifeguard, it's so neon hahaha. In real life this is very bright and vibrant. Next is the leopard print on top of this cray cray gradient. 

Left hand in natural light 

Right hand in natural light 

I love the way the gradient on my right hand turned out the best, it's so pretty! I wish you could see how bright this is and how fun it looks. All we need now is sunnnnnnnnnn stupid England, I swear we are never going to get summer here :(. I freehanded the leopard print using my new and improved Wah nail art pen in black, I have a much better experience with that pen now that it's changed haha.
The gradient looks so much nicer in real life not as sludgy as it looks on the first picture. I'm happy happy happy with this and my photos too. I think I'll start doing photos of both my hands when I do nail art from now on so you can see that I do it on both nails ;). 


You like how I've decided to get all fancy with my photos? I want my blog to look good and I should put my degree to use ;). I got my results and feedback through the post today and I'm very pleased with myself, I got a 2.1= overall which is good to say I never studied photography in college, it goes to show that you can do anything you want! I love this course so much, I can't wait to start my second year in september!! Wooooo. 

Dior Bitter Orange swatches

 I noticed that I'd had a few people coming to my blog to see Dior Bitter Orange swatches so I figured I'd oblige. Bitter Orange is a discontinued shade I'm not sure when it's from as I got mine off ebay for a couple of quid ;). As it's an older shade it doesn't have the tapered brush just a regular square brush which is fine with me :P. Bitter Orange is a chameleon, sometimes its orangey, sometimes pink and sometimes a pinky orange/orangey pink. Haha it is lovely, is has small silver shimmer running throughout that is straying into frosty territory but stays on the pretty shiny side. Swatches below are with one coat!!! Amazing! 

One smoothalicious coat and no topcoat. I hope this has satisfied anyone who was interested in this polish. I'd say if you can get your hands on it, go for it. It feels quite classic yet modern? It's because it's quite bright in real life and therefore looks quite youthful which is what I think Dior stands for!! :) I like it. I want to change though and do GOOD nail art. ;) I think I'm becoming a Dior collector :| also I don't know which of the new Summer Mix to get? Blue, red or pink? Ugh decisions decisions  

Dior Saint-Tropez Swatches

Dior Saint-Tropez is a gorgeous creamy aqua shade that applies like butterrrr. It just looks like a swimming pool, I want to be on a beach with this colour on my nails, so delish! It's so smooth and shiny, everything you want from a polish :)

Gorgeous right? It's more green than these photos show, it's a true aqua :). This is two quick and easy coats. I read somewhere that someone thought this shade wouldn't look good on pale skin, I think it does :P I think this colour would look amazing on darker skin though, I think it's a universally flattering shade which is always good. I couldn't resist it any longer after I kept seeing it sat there in the shop, I HAD to get it ;). 

Sorry for the amount of pictures but it's too lovely! Haha I just wish the weather would liven up and stop being so windy :( I don't really have much else to say about it, I love it and that's that. 

Is anyone else going to be watching the England match tonight? Normally I hate football but I've been really getting into the Euros but only when England is playing ;) I'm excited about tonights game!  Ha I never thought I'd be saying...typing that :P. 

Part stash, part gradient

So today I did another gradient, again it was quite subtle, as I don't have my camera I couldn't capture it, IRL you can see the colour change but alas in the photos it's like looking for the lochness monster....you have to look real close for a long time to catch a glimpse ;). It's a shame though cos it looks nice in person. I did do three layers then topcoat but it was too shiny so I added a couple more layers which helped but not much lol 

Shiny, you can kind of see it

More visible without topcoat

I added Dior Nirvana over Chanel Blue Boy, like I said it looks nice IRL and super smooth, almost airbrushed :D but it just isn't coming across in pictures :(. I can't wait to wear Nirvana on it's own, it's so pretty! 

Here's the part stash...part :P this is my most favourite part of my stash...the Diors :) 

Bitter Orange (discontinued, bought off ebay the other day for a fiver!!), Waterlily (ebay), Forget-me-not (£13), Nirvana (present), Lucky (£3), Riviera (ebay £9) and Saint Tropez (full price....I couldn't resist it:P) 

I have to put the prices to show that I'm not made of money I just find bargains and collect Debenhams beauty points, they really add up :) I've only ever paid full price for one Dior polish so it's okay, aren't they so pretty?! 

Hope you enjoyed!

I've been haulin' haulin' haulin'

Hey, here is the promised haul post, it's not much but they are all goodies apart from the Nails Inc but we'll cross that bridge when we get there ;)


First Dior haulin' 

Dior vernis Saint Tropez and Riviera, Dior Addict Extreme Lipstick in Lucky 

Here is my new favourite lipstick with the matching nail polish, yes they do match!

Look how pretty they are, lucky and lucky :D

I can't wait to wear the two Luckys together and neither can I wait for sun to wear Saint Tropez and Riviera!

Then my first indiesssss! The Hungry Asian! Woo Kae is so sweet, I love the little note she included with my package. I love that she ships internationally I got my order a week after placing it and that's including the bank holiday!! And those little heart shaped bottles kill me :)

Eeee Sneeze Breeze, Sea Creature and Vote for Purple, I cannot wait to wear these!

And finally my Nails Inc Lucky Dip, I feel like I've been conned lol I know it is just me being silly butI thought that a lucky dip would actually be a lucky dip not get-rid-of-all-the-old-polishes-that-noone-wants.......I was expecting summery colours, neons maybe a nude but nope I got dark colours, I know they'll be good for winter but it is summer now and I'm impatient. Ha

Gold glitter crackle in Farringdon, Buckingham Street, Park Crescent, Chelsea, Hampton Court and Chester Terrace

I'm willing to give all of these the benefit of the doubt bar the crack and Chelsea as I hate crack and I already have one dark brown; I really don't need another! But hey for only £15 I can't really complain. 

So there you go what do you think of my hauling? 

Dior Lucky swatches + Paisley Nail art

I think I managed to get a kind of colour accurate photo of Lucky at last, it's a really unique and beautiful colour, it's really bright and happy, perfect for summer! Even better is the fact that it cost me £3 hahaha 

Lucky is from the summer colour blocking collection and it's a very pink red, it changes but it's so beautiful. 
It was opaque in two superrrr smooth coats and it dried rather quick, it is a creme but it has the Dior secret sparse silver shimmer (oh yeah for alliteration ;)). The brush shape makes it really easy to apply as does the perfect formula. I'd have been happy to pay full price for this to be honest. 
I ordered a set of 10 Nail Supreme nail art pens and they arrived today, super quick shipping btw, I have always wanted to do Paisley print nails but my old Wahnails pens are too unreliable and prone to blobbing everywhere so I thought I'd try a different brand. You get 8 cremes and two glitters and from what I have tried so far they seem to be good quality.

Originally I wanted to use the yellow or blue but they weren't showing up very well so I went with white. Once I figured out the best way to hold and squeeze the pens, making the design was a breeze, et voila!

As you may be able to see I smudged my little finger nail with the top coat so after that I dotted the top coat on :P. I love this! I think I did a good job, if I say so myself, I can't imagine getting rid of this anytime soon, I'm proud lol! I think I'm going to love those new pens too, they cost £19.99  for the set of 10 so not bad really. 

What do you think of my creation? 

Nail Mail x3!

Hey today was my final critque of this year and it went really well :) my tutors really liked my photographs so I'm happy and to top it all off I had 3 packages waiting for me when I got back to halls wooo! 


First up is my precious Dior Waterlily from ebay....it didn't come in its box though :( that made me really sad lol 

Second is my swap with the lovely Anna! Look how amazingly she wrapped everything! Gah so much effort :) 

 Love this paper so much! 

Back row, L-R: Sinful Colors Hazard, China Glaze Riveting, Zoya Gemma & Danii, Claire's Candy Shop
Front Row, L-R: Orly Oui, Ma Cherie, Androgynie
I can't believe I got Gemma! It's like she read my mind :D and Danni looks amaze too, I just love Zoya! 


Finally I received my order from Kiko cosmetics 

Back Row L-R: 254 Wine Red Microglitter, 364 Dark Crimson, 358 Peach Rose, 356 Melon, 355 Canary Yellow.

Front Row, L-R: 345 Jade Green, 346 Olive Drab, 338 Light Lavander, 332 Dark Violet, 202 Violet Transparent 

These were £2.50 each and you have to spend £25 minimum to order so these were bargains! I have quickly dabbed these onto paper and they all appear to be heavily pigmented and have a big brush which I was not expecting for the price! I can't wait to swatch them and then wear them as full manis, I have a few ideas in mind :) I think Melon looks great for summer! 

all of the above = awesome Nail Mail!! 

Thanks again Anna your package was soooo good! I can't wait to swap with you again :D I have saved that lovely paper, it's currently on my inspiration board :) 


What do you guys think to these polishes? Which are you looking forward to seeing? 

Nail mail!!

Today has been a very good day! 1. Handed in my final project so I can relax for a bit now (without feeling guilty :P) 2. I got two packages 3. I got two Dior polishes :D. 


One package was my Paul and Joe polish, soo pretty! The other was one of my swap packages :D it was from Katee off of A girl and her polish and she totally surprised me with a bunch of 'non- nail related goodies' as she said :), it felt like my birthday when I opened it, sooo much stuff! 

Sorry about all the mess, I was too excited to arrange it nicely lol but yes you are seeing 10 polishes, two lip glosses, one body wash, one body lotion, one card and one bag of sweetiess!

Orly - Fowl Play and Androgynie 

Funky fingers - Power Chord, Tinsel Town and Sand and Stilettos. 

Sinful Colors - Cinderella, Unicorn, Amethyst and Rise and Shine

China Glaze - Fast Track

How awesome! I can't wait to wear the Orlys, I might wait for autumn though, they are so perfect for that season. Fast track looks so coool and cinderella is so cute! Basically this is a lovely package from a lovely lady! I am sure all of you follow her anyway but if you don't you should! 

I had £15 on my Debenhams beauty card somehow (I'm not complaining though!) so I got one of the Dior polishes Lucky :D I am seriously considering going back and getting the matching lipstick, I really like the thought of matching lips and nails. So Lucky cost me £3 wooo, a couple of months ago I would never have bought this shade but now I can realise how unique and pretty it is. Here it is with the Paul and Joe 

Love the bottle! So cute 

Alsoooooooooo I have finally won Dior Waterlily!!! After weeks of bidding I finally won one for £14 so not exactly a bargain but I don't care, all I knew is that Forget me not needed the partner! Ha  

So I have had an awesome day! I got a really nice jumper from H&M too but that's a whole other story ;)