Essie Turquoise & Caicos swatches

Hi, I can't believe it's been this long! So much uni work is the cause...my project is due on monday which is probably why I'm finally posting; major procrastination ;). I actually took these photos 5 days ago, tut tut.

Anyway, the polish in question is the perfect turquoise; Essie Turquoise and Caicos. My experience was much the same as other reviews - thin, streaky formula but it's worth it, the colour is just so happy! I think I did 3 coats as I had quite a few bold patches after the second.
I decided to do an accent of Barry M Limited edition christmas gold thing, as I think turquoise and gold is the best combo yo.

A nice bit of handcream there on my pinky ;)

The ring on my index is from catbird nyc (they deliver internationally), I'm always getting asked where it's from, I neeeeeeeeeed another especially the opal drop! So cute!

In the bottle I don't think T&C looks like anything special but once it's on the nail it looks so good (IMO). I did do some nail art over the top but everyone seemed underwhelmed by it so I didn't bother taking pictures, I liked it, it was simple patterns but no one else felt the same so I just took it off. That's the problem I'm facing at the moment, people are expecting really complex/exciting nail art and when I don't do that they aren't bothered lol I'm taking about people who know me irl/facebook page. Ahh I hate to say it but it's a total firstworldproblem.......trivial.

I know I've been awful at posting since like october, ie since I started my second year, but I've also been slacking at reading and commenting on other blogs so I'm sorry, I'll try to catch up!
I suppose I should do some work now but I can't stop listening to Eminem, you can't work and listen to him, he deserves your full attention haha darn it I love him so much! Hehehe :) see you soon I hope!

Another gorgeous Illamasqua swatch - Caress

Hi! Another day another Illamasqua beauty! They really are my favourites :) Caress is a pale blue that is by no means a boring snoozy baby blue, it is soft but bright which makes for a very flattering combination. No lobster hands here. This is the perfect Cinderella blue, the colour of her ball gown is this colour in my head :D.

 

Warning: Mahoosive ridges ahead....I had no time to smooth them with topcoat! Sorrrrry.

 



 

Two smooth coats. Dries lovely and glossy on its own. Quick dry time. Perfection in a bottle!!! If you've never tried an Illamasqua polish I implore you to get at least one! I haven't heard much about Caress as it's quite an old polish but for me it deserves more attention!

 

Check back soon for some tasty nail art ;) oooh spoilers ;P

 

Have a good week! 

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 ;)

Nails Inc Baker Street swatches

Like I said on saturday I was going shopping and I did indeed acquire the much lusted after Baker street along with the amazing studded booties :D and I got sold Benefit's 'They're Real' mascara and let me tell you, it is soooo good!! I hardly wear any but it makes me lashes look long and curled :). Anyway enough babble onto the polish. I have wanted this one so bad for so long, I was hoping to get it for my birthday but obviously I didn't :( I got mine from a large Boots store, they now have a stand featuring mini Orlys, Nails Inc and Models Own Pro which is pretty cooool.

I put this on saturday night and I still have it on now Tuesday! I'm not getting bored with this colour at all, it's such a lovely colour, I won't go on as you've all seen it a million times before.

 The little hand is this really cool pair of earrings I found in Topshop, I had to get them!! They are so me hehehe

I might have something really cool to tell you soon but we'll see ;).

Seeyou sooooon

Illamasqua Nomad with nail art x2!

I'm back again and I won't be dissapearing again for a while :) I haven't had the chance to read all the blogs I missed yet but I will!

So to make up for my bad blogging I have two manis to show you woohoo. The first is a very lazy mani, basically I had Stance on both hands and I wanted to try Nomad out so I simply painted it over the top of Stance! I know it's very naughty and lazy but I didn't have time to do a whole paint job ;). I only did this on my left hand though as I really like the colours together. I painted both ring fingers white over the top of stance too, in order to do a quick nail art accent :P.

Here is a weird hand pose as I wanted to show both hands without being boring and whilst on self timer....it's seriously hard!
Nomad is a two coater with lovely formula and is a gorgeous colour, quite accurate in my photos I'd say.
Before I went on holiday I took this off and then repainted all my nails with Nomad again because I really love this colour!

 The index finger is inspired by the amazing nail art by Deco nails for the Insa x nailporn competition, her nails were incredible!! My attempt has gone wrong again :P it's okay I guess but a bit crap in comparison :P. The ring finger was a spine and ribs with a heart but the topcoat killed it :( it smudged all my little bone details :(.

The thumb is by far my favourite :D as you all should know I am obsessed with the crazy talent that is Astrowifey so I decided to pay tribute to her by putting her slogany thing on my thumb 'Go hard in the nail paint' as it should be all of our mottos ;) She actually saw this on instagram and commented on it!! How cool :D.
Everything was done with nail art pens and brushes (which are super hard to use with nail polish! Argh I'm hoping I'll get better with practise)

Bonus picture is of my boyfriend's dog Molly who is kind of my dog too as they got her a couple of months after we got together and we are kind of in love! She's a pedigree and she is the most beautiful doggie ever! But she's super naughty hahahah

 Those eyes! She gets me every time :) and the best part is that I don't have to poop scoop as my nails are too long ;) hahahaha.

Have a good day! I'm off to buy the most amazing studded boots you'll ever see :D and maybe a certain Nails Inc shade.....

Cute rainy nail art

For this mani I used a drugstore polish! Long time no see, I felt I should show a nice affordable polish after all the Dior. I chose Rimmel Pro Aqua Cool which is a soft blue, verging on periwinkle I think, it's nice and mellow anyway.

Ignore my horrid cuticles, especially my index finger

I've actually used quite a bit of this polish, there's a visible usage line :O. This applies nicely as the formula is good, and the brush is tapered which makes application easy and quick. The only problem I'm having is my Seche Vite is getting really low which is making it gloopy and bubbling all over the place also when it dries it is going a bit white and it sticks up which makes it impossible to resist piggling the polish off :( I'm going to try a different quick drying topcoat as £10 is a bit steep! 

Anyway the reason for my mani is my mother, she keeps saying to me "do umbrellas it'd be so cute" and I finally agreed and they are pretty darn cute :) I decided to add little boats into the mix too cos they're too cute! (Boats are from The illustrated nail...again) 

I love how it turned out, it was fairly tricky to colour inside the black lines with the white nail art pen but I managed it but I think that those little bits where I missed add to the design, it's quite cute right? Ha the best part is the fact that it was sunny today! After days of rain when I finally do the umbrellas, one isn't needed! I wish I had my other black nail art pen though as this one is running out so I had to squeeze so hard to get a thin line out and it made it really hard to do my other hand as squeezing leads to unsteadiness and an achey thumb :(. 

I am happy with this, it's cuuuuute :). 

My nail mail came yesterday! I couldn't believe it only a week from the US is good but Lizzy's package still hasn't got to her yet :( boo. My package was full of awesomeness which I will show you tomorrow :D. 

One last thing....I won Chanel Graphite off ebay!!! WOoo I'm very excited, I didn't like it at first but now I see it's beauty, can't wait for that to get here :D. 

Nails Inc Chelsea Swatches

I'm officially back from my mini staycation in Felixstowe :) it was really nice to get away for those couple of days. I cannot believe that it's July! It's my birthday next month :O it's come so quickly, I've been blogging since the end of january so that's nearly 6 months already!! Double :O. LOL. 


Chelsea is an extremely dark red/brown/maroon(?) it's so dark that it looks black at two coats so it doesn't really matter what colour it is as all you see is black ha. It's lovely and glossy though but I did have to do a bit of clean up which I never normally do as this polish was a wee bit prone to flooding :(. It went on nice and smooth though. 

Flash

Natural light

No topcoat here, all the shine is from the polish. This seems like a nice change from all the summery pastels and neons that are around at the moment and it's also more appropriate for our weather......rain and thunder! Pooey or what. My nails feel quite slinky in this colour, like a silky dress for ma nails ;) and they are getting longer each time I look at them! I love being able to keep them this long :D. 
Trying to remove skinny jeans with wet nails is extremely difficult!! why must I paint my nails before I go to bed? When will I learn...


This is going to be the base for some very colourful nail art that I am going to do tomorrow so keep those eyes peeled! 
I think the next time I take my polish off I will take a picture of my naked nails :O to show you the difference in length and state of them compared to how I used to have them. That should be interesting ;) Hope it doesn't scare y'all!! 


Oh yeah one last thing, does anyone know how pintrest works? I noticed a couple of my pictures are on it, I don't mind at all as there is a link to my blog and it's exposure but I was just wondering how they get there with the link? Lol I'm 19 and I don't understand a website what's wrong with me ;)

Essie Sand Tropez Swatches

Hey, this is my first scheduled post woo ;) I have gone back to Ipswich till friday to see the boyfs art as it's in an exhibition and Ips is too far to travel just for the day, so we are making a mini break from it :). 


So I bought Sand Tropez as I thought (stupidly) that it would be a good match for my skintone as it turns out it's really not :P on me it's just a neutral colour kind of stone grey ie grey with brown undertones. 

It only took two coats to opacity and it was so smooth, the brush was really good as it covered my nail in one swoop ;). I still like it but it just wasn't what I was expecting. My nails have grown so much but you can't really tell, my thumb nail measures 2cm from base to tip! Lol that's quite long but I still want them a bit longer so I can shape them properly. I love my oval/points now I can't see me ever going back to square! 


Just a quick post today! Hope everyone's having a good week

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. 

Gosh 606 Early Green swatches & a surprise!

Hey everyone (new followers yay!) 
Today I bought a polish that I've been needing for ages; lime green :D hehee so I got it from Gosh in superdrugfor £4.99 which is totally stingy seen as you only get 8ml! Anyway it is just the colour I was looking for, it's nice and bright but not neon but still in your face ;). From the bottle it looks quite subdued but don't be fooled. 

Surprise!! 

I finally did it. I finally had enough length to reshape my squovals into ovals! Eventually I want them to be skinnier almost pointed but not like scary stilettos but that won't happen until they grow some more (which should be in a couple of days ;)) I was scared to do it but I was really bored of my nails plus this way I can have them longer than I used to without them looking creepy long. LOL. I really like them now, at first I thought I'd made a mistake but not anymore, they look more elegant too :). 

Having them this shape also means I could do this design that I've wanted to do for ages but it wouldn't suit squovals and I didn't have a lime green :P. 

These are all taken in natural lighting.....obviously :P as it was nice outside for about 5 minutes ha. I freehanded the pink tips using the pink nails supreme pen, then I added the white with Barry M Matte White and did the leopard splodges. When I put seche vite on it somehow dragged the pink back onto the bottom of my nails? I saw this design in a wah nails advert and I knew I would have to recreate it one day! I love it, so fun and summery. 

What do you think to my new nail shape? 

Chanel Blue Boy Swatches

Good evening, tonight I have my very first Chanel awwwwww given to me by my lovely boyf! I've been wanting Blue Boy for such a long time and it does not disappoint! It has the perfect formula; not too thick and very moveable and it dries so glossy on its own. Now I think I have found the perfect base coat combination, I've tried this three times and I've had no canyons! First I used Save the Nail Bridge the Ridge, let that dry and then I put Seche Vite over that. I believe it works as the Save the Nail creates a cushion that Seche Vite sits on top and fills in the ridges. Get me being all sciencey ;). On to the smooth pictures...

Natural Light

Natural Light

With flash

I'd say that the first two photos are pretty colour accurate, it's a gorgeous dusty medium blue and is perfectly creamy. It's a really sophisticated colour IMO it feels grown up despite being blue, I think this would be office appropriate too as it's a muted beautiful colour, funnily enough it does match the jeans I am wearing today so it really is like having jeans for your nails :P. The only downside to this polish is that it has given me a taste for Chanel ;) and I really don't need that as well as my addiction to Dior! 

I'm not happy with the quality of these pictures but what can you do? My camera should take 7-10 days to be fixed! It can't come soon enough, I miss it so much lol! 

What do you think to this? Worth the money? 

Maybelline Pro Rose Poudre Swatches, studs and soppyness

You've been warned from the title that this is about to get soppy (only a bit I promise) but first the polish. Can you believe that this is my first nude polish! I saw this on makeupsavvy.co.uk a while ago and decided it would be a good place to start, I was right lol it looks quite dark in the bottle maybe too dark for me on first appearances however I think it's a decent match. It's quite beigey with pink undertones. 

This is only two coats that glided on so easily, a really lovely formula, it dries quite dull but obviously that's not a problem when I was going to Seche Vite it anyway :). These polishes cost £4.09 which is an odd price right? But I think this is worth it, I really like it. 
I bought some studs off ebay for £0.99 you get 75 little gold studs in a resealable bag I'd been wanting some forever but I kept forgetting to get some hahaha. To put them on I used a cuticle stick thing as for some reason they stuck to it :P and then just pushed them around until I was happy that they were lined up properly. 

I am cray about this, honestly I love this!! I think it looks so chic and sophisticated (first time for everything ;)) nude and studs are a timeless combination that everyone should try once, they look great, easy nail art :D. 
Here's where it gets soppy, tomorrow is mine and the boyfs two year anniversary, I know that it's not a very long time to some people but I like to celebrate the little things in life. So here is the final touch to my mani my fake tat ;) I used Orly Ma Cherie (which the lovely Anna sent me) and dotting tools to create the heart and my white nail art pen which as you can see is going stringy, oh noes. 

The claw....sorry about the hideous flash!

I'm really happy with this mani :) my only quarrel is the photos, I always do my nails at night for some reason lol so I am forced to use flash, I don't think they're that bad? 

Can I just say that I'm super happy that my nails look smooth for once!! No canyons!!! Woo this must be a miracle working polish!

Have a good night/day lol 

Graphic Lines nail art

Hi, I feel like I haven't blogged in ages and that's because I, like many others around the world have been making the most of this glorious weather! But I promise I am back now, I have a couple more posts lined up after this so that should tide me over until I change my nails :). 

You know how the best designs are the ones you didn't want to create initially? Well that is what happened today. I set myself an ambitious 5 different pattern design but it went completely wrong and then I got a new idea from the wreckage and I love it! I love instagram as there are so great nail artists showcased on there and my absolute favourite is astrowifey (type that into instagram to find her) she does amazing work and I urge you to check her out if you want to see some serious mini artworks! Anyway this mani is inspired by her :)

As usual I freehanded the lines with my nail art pen (you can probably tell on my pinkie!). The pink is one of the unknown color clubs, green is Kiko 345 Jade Green and yellow is Unicorn by Sinful Colors (from the wonderful Katee) I really like this yellow it's nice and soft and only takes two coats to reach opacity :). All three colours took two coats for opacity. 

Like I said earlier I really like these designs, they're quite simple and it's something different for me too and I think they look good ;). My favourites are the middle and index fingers. 

I should be getting some nail mail tomorrow :D only small but good! 

Seeyou all tomorrow! 

Models Own Coral Reef Swatches

Morning! 
I bought this polish years ago to wear to my year 13 prom and hated it, I thought it was garish and bright :P how things change haha. I'm glad I kept it cos now I can appreciate how nice it is :). Coral Reef is a creamy bright orangey pink that leans more orange inside and pink outside. It's a really nice summery colour that was opaque in two coats and was smooth as expected from Models Own! Last night I cut my nails I thought I'd done them a bit too short but I haven't you can't really tell the difference in the photos ha! 

These are taken without topcoat, it's nice and shiny on its own but srsly my ridges are redonk I really need a good ridge filler! I'm trying Save the Nail Bridge the Ridge which doesn't work at all but I like it cos it dries fast and is a nice milky pink, I think for it to work I'd have to use about three coats which is pointless! 

Anywho ignoring my horrid canyons isn't the colour lavely! It is a lot brighter than these photos show, it's not quite neon but it is bright :) I really like it, it clashes against my pale hands and makes them seem even whiter which I like :P also it's sunny today woooo! So I feel happy today, I have the whole of summer to enjoy :). 

What do you think to this colour? 

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? 

Red comparison post

Hey, today I decided to something I've never done; a comparison post (obviously....) I chose reds as in the bottle they can look quite similar and to try and help people who are on their search for their perfect red! 


I only have a few reds in my collection so I chose a variety dark to light 

All five in natural light, I thought it'd be nice for you to see how they look against my skin tone 

Funnily enough I didn't realise I had achieved a perfect ombre mani ;) 

Kiko Dark Crimson, Barry M Raspberry, Essie Limited Addiction, Orly Ma Cherie and Barry M Bright Red.  

The first two (Kiko and Barry M) are cremes whilst the other three are more sheer and jelly ish.

All 5 only took 2 coats to opacity and all were lovely to apply, my first Orly was a dream, my bf liked that one the best he said it was the most sluttiest....LOL but by that he means it's a classic red that is unfortunately associated with naughty ladies ;) but that means it's sexy! Waaa ha :). Anywaaaay, I did like all of them and I always find it interesting how polishes change colour when next to other colours, I always thought that Limited Addiction was a bright red until I put Orly next to it. 

I tried to mix polishes that are easy to acquire in both continents, I think that Bright Red and Ma Cherie are pretty close, I prefer the Orly though. 

I hope you found this helpful and if not then I'm sorry ;)

Which is your favourite? A classic red or a deeper classy red? 

Nails Inc Instyle Bluebell Swatches

Today I have a pretty mani for you, featuring the free nails inc polish Bluebell, I haven't seen too many swatches around so I figured I'd wear it now for people to see how nice it is ;). I did an accent finger with Sinful Colors Cinderella which I got in my swap with Katee, I think they go together real nice. I'm going to layer cinderella over the top of Bluebell tomorrow :) 

I think this photo above is colour accurate, it is a very purpley blue. 

This was amazing it was opaque in one coat! I did two to cover up my ridges, it was so smooth to apply and dried fairly quickly. I used three coats of Cinderella, it's so beautiful I know it's been featured on everyone's blog and I now why, I can't wait to wear it as a full mani. I can't decide whether Bluebell is blue or purple, it changes in different lights, now in my low light it looks very lilac but earlier in the day it looks very cornflower blue. Either way it's so nice and definitely worth £3.80 so if you have access to Instyle magazine I recommend you get it for this polish! 

I've trimmed my nails down again, even though you probably can't tell but they are at the perfect length for me I can't wait to wear Lucky and Waterlily when it gets here and my other swap package and my Kiko order lol a lot of things :P

How'd you like this?