Thursday 30 April 2015

A2Z Nails and Y is for..

You

Hey lovely readers, almost the last letter in this A2Z Challenge, and this one was my nemesis!  I really mean that, as I was contemplating not even doing this letter. My mind was a total blank and all inspiration had left me. I would have loved to have thought of something myself, but as this wasn't happening my Y for You was inspired by Tartofraise. So with my nails painted with 2 coats of MUA in Lavender and black, grey and white acrylic paint, I was ready to start.




How cute are these Me to You Bears! I'm super happy with them but unsure of the glossy finish. So I matte top coated and I like them better.



What's your favourite? Shiny or Matte?
Don't forget about the hub page, where you can view all the A2Z Nails, and be sure to come back next week for the last letter of the challenge.
Till then, stay safe and much love...



Monday 27 April 2015

Comparison Polishes

Polishes Dupes..


As pointed out to me by my 10 year old daughter!! Hello all again, I'm here with a post that I really wasn't expecting to be doing. But over the weekend I was going through my polishes with my daughter, when she pointed out to me I had polishes that looked the same and I had no idea! So I thought it would make an interesting blog post.


So we have Barry M Silk in Mist vs 2true shade 48, Barry M Silk in Heather vs 2true shade 11, and Models own Indian Ocean vs Jess Breathless. On looking at the in the bottles I can see some similarities, but lets take a look when painted on my nails..



 
Mist vs shade 48 looked more like each other in the bottle. 2 coats of the Barry M whereas the 2true took 3 coats and no topcoat. Both are very pretty but no exact dupes. Barry M Silk priced at £3.99 and 2true priced at £1.99.




Heather vs shade 11 are very similar, the only difference is the finish. They are a very close colour match. 2 coats of the Barry M and 2 coats of 2true, again no topcoat. Barry M silk priced at £3.99 and 2true at £1.99.





Indian Ocean vs Breathless. These two were the closest match of the 3. But the Jess took more coats, Models Own only took 2 coats, but to get the same look the Jess took 4!! The shift between blue and pink in the sun is exactly the same. Models Own from the Beetle Juice Collection priced at £4.99 and Jess priced at £1.00.



I had fun doing this post, hope you like it too :)
Stay safe and much love...


Saturday 25 April 2015

Nails Inc Goodies

Grazia UK Prize


Happy Saturday and I hope you are all well. Another busy day ahead for me today, just recently life has been so hetic!  Anyway a few weeks ago I was luck enough to win the Graziauk #ManicureMonday competition. The Nails Inc Goodies were sent out to me very quickly. But with different reviews, challenges and life in general I haven't had a chance to try them. So today I made a point of using them for my usual Saturday nails. 


Kensington Caviar base and topcoat as well as Nails Inc Gel Effect in Covent Garden Place. I also got a cuticle oil and they all came in a pretty black Nails Inc bag.
I painted the base coat,  which was very easy to apply with a nice big brush and dried quickly. The gel effect polish states on the lid, no uv needed, with plasticiser technology and enriched with conditioning flower extract.
Such a pretty pink colour and right up my street! Again with a nice size brush, application was so easy. I did two coats and drying time was quick.
Photo here with no topcoat, inside and outside as it stopped raining. 



Now to try the topcoat,  which says a 45 second drying time to touch dry and gives the nails a wet look finish.
Well all I can say is I'm very impressed, fast drying,  super glossy and smooth. 




Can't believe I left it this long to try all these. So impressed with each of them and a big thank you to Grazia UK for running the #manicuremonday comp, Nails Inc for the polishes,and a bigger thank you to everyone who voted for my mani to win :)
Have a great weekend and stay safe, much love...


Friday 24 April 2015

Dried Flower Nails

Charlies Nail Art Review 

Well lovely readers this is my last review for April from Charlies Nail Art. I have been itching to do this review, don't even know why I left it till last!! I have never heard of using dried flowers for nail art. Have you? Well I was sent these beautiful orange flowers.



The flowers I was sent come in 9 different colours for 75p you can find them here, there are also another set of flowers in 7 colours for the same price, here.
For these I painted my nails an ivory colour and stamped delicate writing with a grey polish. I applied the flowers once I'd top coated,  working on one nail at a time and gently pressing each flower to lay flat on my nails.




How gorgeous does this look! The dried flowers are amazingly pretty and something I would definitely use again. Just imagine how pretty multi coloured flowers would look, just like a pretty summer flower bed :)
FacebookTwitter and Instagram is where you can follow Charlies Nail Art and keep updated with a the nail items.
Great customer service, fast delivery and a great range of products to choose from.
Take a look...till next time stay safe and much love...
*update* I was asked if you could topcoat these flowers, so I did a quick test on my cindy hand. Yes you can topcoat, however it does seem to make some petals look thinner. Saying that though it still looks pretty and will protect the dried flowers, making your mani last longer.



Thursday 23 April 2015

A2Z Nails and X is for..

eXtra Special 


Well here we are again and almost at the end of this A2Z Challenge. This letter X for today was a right pain in the bum. I've lost count how many times I changed my mind on what to paint on my nails to represent eXtra Special. At one point I was going to do a complete micro bead flower design. But even on one hand this would have taken hours! So I ended up dressing my nails for this occasion and they all wore a Tuxedo.
Such an easy mani to do, and good job too as I left this one right till the last minute to paint.



Started with a white base,  side swiped each tip with black and added the buttons and bow tie. 
There is a new hub page, where you can see all the wonderful mani's from this whole A2Z challenge. 
That's all for today thank you for stopping by and as always stay safe and much love...



Saturday 18 April 2015

Freehand nails again...

Tiger Print Nails


Hello lovely readers, just a quick post today, as I have a busy day ahead. I had no inspiration for my normal Saturday nails, as I have been busy with different challenges and reviews. I was going to do a water marble as it feels like I haven't done one in ages, but then just the thought of how long that takes put me off!!
So looking around the room for ideas and the thing that jumped out was a cross stitch I finished years ago of my favorite animal.


So I made a gradient using MUA White Wash and W7 Orange Sorbet. I didn't take a photo of this as when I'd finished I didn't like it and was going to take it off. 
But I decided to carry on, as I so liked the freehand neon tiger print I did the other day, only on my swatching hand though. I haven't done any freehand on my cindy hand in ages, and fingers crossed I could pull it off!!
I added a holo topcoat when finished. What do you think..




And on my cindy hand..



Yes :) I did it!! So so happy and I love how the holo adds a subtle sparkle. Hope you like them too.
Have a great weekend and as always stay safe, much love....


Friday 17 April 2015

Frozen Water Decals

Charlies Nail Art Review

Hello beautiful readers, I'm here with another water decal review and my third for this month from Charlies Nail Art. This time I have the ever popular Frozen film decals. Now I will admit I have not seen the film and think the song Let it Go was over played, but that's my personal opinion. However these decals are just too cute. You can find the ones I was sent here and they are only £1.00. There are also other designs available in the Frozen theme for this amazing price. 



So for my background I painted my nails blue and added white stamped snowflakes, to add to the 'frozen' theme.




How cute are these, very detailed and the easiest decals I've ever tried. You really don't have to hold them for long in water, and they slide off the backing paper so easily and are a dream to apply on your nails. For my last photo I couldn't help but to get my hubbies fire in the background, for a fire and ice look!!


What fun :)
You can also find Charlies Nail Art on FacebookTwitter and Instagram. I have one more review for this month, which will be ready next Friday.
As always stay safe and much love...