Miss Sporty & Mr M - Pink & Gold Fit For a Princess!

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 Last post, I promise, then I'm back up to date!

Whether you are excited about the royal baby or not, a new Princess is a great excuse to crack out some gorgeous pink polishes! Congratulations to the happy family on their new arrival. :)

I have to admit, I never really gave Miss Sporty make-up the time of day before. I have very sensitive skin which tends to flare up with cheap drugstore brands, so I never really visited the Miss Sporty stands. That and I hate spherical polish bottles as they are very hard to empty! However, in the interests of blogging (= they were reduced and gorgeous), I picked up two "Crush On You" polishes.

Well, I'm sorry, Miss Sporty, for I had misjudged you. The colours are stunning, cover well and, though I'm not fond of the "crushed" texture (if polish isn't smooth it fidgets me), it lasted beautifully under a couple of top coats. So much so, in fact, that when it started to grow out I decided to try a trick I spotted on xoVain and fill in with some glitter.

Also, the three photos below show what a difference lighting makes, especially with glitter polishes! They look like two different colours!

Miss Sporty "Crush on You - 065"


Topped with Barry M "Aquarium - Treasure Chest"


Catch-Up Post...Many Manis!

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I have taken a lot more photos than I have posted recently, here's a quick catch-up of the manis you missed. In many of them I am holding random objects, but it just happened to be the only decent shot of that polish!

My first attempt at water marbling.





Nude by Nails Inc, gold foil effect by GOSH.

Models Own "Freak Out - Mirror Ball"

Barry M I believe it is "Cocoa", with OPI glitter tips from the Moulin Rouge collection.

Barry M "Amethyst" and Black Multi glitter with nude stripe (using French Tip stickers as masking tape).

OPI Crackle "Shatter The Scales"

Models Own "Magpie Green"


Miss Sporty "Crush On You - 063"

  Bridesmaid nails! Subtle and summery to match my dress, all colours Models Own Hyper Gel "Lilac Sheen" and "Purple Glare", and glitter Models Own "Mermaid Tears - Splash".



Eep! Naked! Take II! Seeing as how the last post of my natural nails is one of the most popular, here you go again. This time much longer. I'm guessing they are either recently buffed or have a slick of OPI Nail Envy.

Cinderella Butterflies

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These were meant to be shared for the Cinderella premiere but, as you can see, I suck at posting things lately. Sorry about that! I have been busy setting up my Etsy shop, Blissikins Boutique, and making lots of lovely things to stock it, as well as doing a few craft fairs along the way.

As I have now invested a little money here (you can now find the blog at www.ynails.co.uk! Much less typing!) I hope my dedication to blogging will increase. :) I certainly have enough photos and new polishes to keep me going for a while.

I made the error of using a Hard Candy polish which is probably older than some of you reading this right now. Cue muchos bubbles. :S But, never mind. The glitter is a combination of cheap silvers, topped off with OPI Nicki Minaj in "Save Me". True story, I picked this up for $8 in Florida when it was being sold in the UK for £18. Yes, I got two bottles!

Recently I discovered a fabulous site here in the UK called Charlie's Nail Art. They sell a wide variety of nail trimmings, including 3D pieces and water decals, stamping plates, glitters, cuticle tattoos, wraps, tools, false nails and gems. All the items they sell are great value, and their delivery is usually next day.

I picked up these metal butterflies used below, 25 pieces for 75p as well as some other items, some for my nails and some for my resin craft. I can't wait to show them all to you!

The butterflies are beautifully delicate and very easy to use. To make them fit better on the nail I picked them up on the pad of my finger and rubbed them gently on the edge of something (I used the edge of a Nails Inc bottle cap). This gives them just enough curve to sit nicely on the nail without sharp bits sticking up and getting in the way. They are so delicate that I found I didn't need to use glue, wet polish is enough to hold them on easily.

Butterfly nail decals from Charlie's Nail Art, 75p/25 pieces.

OPI Nail Tints

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You guys...I'm in love. There. I said it.

I recently ordered some OPI nail tints and I LOVE them. Buy some. You will love them too. I almost guarantee it.

The tints come in four colours; Be Magentale With Me (pink), I'm Never Amberbarassed (yellow), I Can Teal You Like Me (blue) and Don't Violet Me Down (purple), .

Here you can see them on white (excuse the checky pattern showing through, I just grabbed an old envelope to test some swatches!), and over silver (Maybelline Colour Show 231 "Light Up").

One coat (top), two (thick) coats (bottom).




"Base coat" of GOSH (silver (I believe it's 555 but I've misplaced the bottle!)), Maybelline 231 "Light Up", and Barry M 439 "Starlight". If anything slightly disappointed me about this mani, it was that the stars sort of got lost in there once the colour was over the top. The little stars are so cute!

I wanted to create a rainbow effect so cuticle to tip I painted pink, yellow, blue and purple, overlapping them slightly. 

One coat of colour. You can see the rainbow coming together. You can also see my sloppy painting. Sorry. The formula felt a little weird to me, thicker and more gelatinous than normal polish. I guess if you are used to using gel-effect polish you might not notice? They're not my favourite polish texture to work with.

Two coats of tint. Sloppier painting. I apologise for not cleaning up before I took photographs, but I was SO excited with the finish!

I will definitely be trying a LOT more with these!


Ohmigod! Ohmigod, You Guys!

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...What do I spy with my little eyes?! (Bonus points for spotting the musical reference...).

Anyway. Meadowhall has a BRAND NEW ARRIVAL!
*squee*
Aaaaaaarghthere'saModelsOwnBottleShopInMeadowhall!!!!!!!!!!! W00T!!

Models Own went under my radar for the longest time, I only tried one of their products for the first time a few weeks ago (Apple Pie scented nail polish. It's as amazing as it sounds), but I was really impressed, so I was very excited to hear that they were bringing a bottle shop to Meadowhall! Another bonus locals will recognise instantly is that they have replaced the soap-hawkers who accosted you every time you tried to walk past them with their tiny cubes of soap (which a relative of mine took, thinking it was a piece of Turkish Delight...True story).

I would never believe how much stuff they can cram into two tiny aisles of goodies. Plus if you visited in the first couple of days, you got a free gift.

(Only the mirror was the freebie).



OK, the polish wasn't free (unless you're my husband...Then I definitely did not buy more nail polish...*whistles innocently*).

The Models Own range was already available in Boots, but the benefit of a bottle shop is that you can talk to someone who knows the ins and outs of every product in detail. I was helped by the lovely Chelsea (Hi Chelsea! *waves* ), who was extremely knowledgable on all the products, and also made sure to mention one of my very favourite points about Models Own...It's Cruelty-Free! You can read more about it here (where someone else has handily done the research so I didn't have to type it all up. Thanks Humanely Chic!).

They do also have a full range of other make-up, but, hello! I did not get excited about a shop in a giant nail polish bottle to go there and look at lipstick. I'm sure you can find a blog for that sort of thing elsewhere.

I picked up one of the new Hyper Gel colours ("Coral Glaze"), which I'll get around to reviewing over the summer. The best point so far is that it seems to be a near-perfect match for my current absolute favourite colour from Accessorize which is only available in a kit. Fingers crossed I have found a worthy successor to Sandstone coral. It certainly looks it so far (moreso in natural daylight).

Have I found an heir to the coral throne?

There is SO much more that I want to test when I can afford to hit up the bottle shop again, particularly these (pictures from Models Own site):




And obviously EVERYTHING from the Wonderland collection. Roll on pay day! :)


Here, Fishie Fishie!

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I bought some of the Accessorize 3D Nail Glitters a while ago (at the moment [Apr.2014] they are half price at Superdrug), and this weekend I decided to try them!
 
The large glitter flakes are from the "Sun Stone" kit, the polish was just a generic one I had lying around.
 
I think the finished product looks like little goldfish scales!
 


Deck The Halls!

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Merry Christmas one and all (and Happy Holidays to those who aren't celebrating Christmas)!

I did kind of phone it in this year, I'd seen this manicure idea (I really MUST get my act together and start taking note of where I see things because I always feel bad not giving credit where it's due) but it was a lot more intricate. I simplified it due to time constraints. I like the overall effect though!


NYC 298 "High Line Green", NYC 226 "Madison Avenue", Claire's Accessories 66953 "Festive Fun", No. 7 "Sun Rays".

This was also the first time I've sponged on glitter polish to get a better coverage without layers and layers of polish. It took a while (first time?) but I was pleased with the technique and shorter drying time!

What nail goodies did everyone get for Christmas? I was spoiled with some Nails Inc (including the Kensington Caviar Gel Effect Plumping top coat that I've been too tight to buy for ages!) and an Avon kit of magnetic polishes and "wands" to use with them. Expect reviews in 2014!

Halloween 2013

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I wasn't sure quite what to do with my nails for Halloween! Then I found some Andrea Fulerton nail stickers in my box of tricks, and decided to go a bit gothic...
 
 

Barry M - 47 Black, Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique "Crosses" nail tattoos, OPI - Silver Shatter, Nails Inc - Trafalgar Square.

Rainbow Ruffles

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I have to admit, I did see a similar design to this online and I can't remember where. So, if it was you (there was more pink in the design) please comment and claim your credit!

The colours are *deep breath...* Background blue: Barry M 287, Red: NYC (lost the bottle, can't think of the code :S), Orange: Nails Inc, Draycott Place, Yellow: Nails Inc, Carnaby St, Green: NYC 28 High Line Green, Blue: Barry M 25 Pure Turquoise, Indigo: Nails Inc, Hanover Square, Violet: Belgrave Place, Glitter topcoat: Xtras 4 Mix White.
 
I used a dotting tool to create the "ruffles", making lines of dots in each colour. Pretty easy, took about 45mins, though I didn't leave each colour to dry for long enough, hence some running together a bit. :S

Amethyst Glitter

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Last one of the day, I promise. More beautiful Barry M glitter, this time "Amethyst" glitter. It's very similar to my very favourite polish ever, "Mad As A Hatter" by OPI. Love it!

Barry M "Cyan Blue", with "Amethyst" glitter (1 coat).

Girls In Pearls

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This was for my friend's "Mad Men" themed hen party. We were girls in pearls, and I wanted nail art to match!

Please disregard the ring finger (and the polished fingers, this was pre-tidy-up) :S It went horribly wrong. I didn't go out with it like that, I re-did it, but unfortunately I don't have a photograph of the new version.

 Nails Inc "Elizabeth Street", Barry M white.

Dotty Flowers

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Nearly done, I promise. This was a trial for my friend's wedding in a couple of weeks.
Barry M "Pure Turquoise", Nails Inc "Spitalfields", Nails Inc "Power Pink" (InSyle magazine freebie).

Spotty Dotty!

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I got this idea from one of the Butter nail art tutorials on AOL. I don't have any Butter polishes (I would love to review them...*hint hint*), so this is done with Nails Inc. I love how it turned out!

Nails Inc: London (Diet Coke freebie), Glamour Glitter (Glamour magazine freebie) (base colours), and the dots are Elizabeth Street, Spittalfields, Portobello Market, Bluebell (InStyle magazine freebie) and Power Pink (InStyle magazine freebie). The black is just stock Barry M black.

Nicki Minaj OPI Glitter.

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Another of my favourite glitters, Nicki Minaj "Metallic4Life". True story, to buy this in the shop in the UK it would be about £18. Bought it in Florida last year, not reduced or on offer, for $8. Yes, I did buy two bottles!!

Testing: Nails Inc Magnetic

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Sorry for the multiple postings today, guys and girls. Christmas has been hectic (as usual!) and post-Christmas almost moreso, I have a backlog of photographs!

Believe it or not, I'd never tried magnetic polish before. I bought one when it first came out, in fact I was on a waiting list for it before it first came out, but on my way home from eventually buying it I went to visit a friend who was ill, gave it away, and never got around to buying another one. The other week Boots had a bargain bin of Nails Inc, so I picked up a bottle of "Picadilly" gold sparkle with new "fishnet" magnetic effect cap. Now, I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed. I'm also going to guess that the image on the bottle cap has been digitally adjusted, because I have not been able to find another photograph where the effect is as strong as it is on the cap image. Which is disappointing, as the effect doesn't really look like much. I think the problem is the glitter. I'm tempted to pick up a different non-glittery magnetic polish, and try the fishnet cap on that, because I think it's the larger glitter flakes that deminish the effect of the pattern.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Eep...NAKED!!

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My nails, that is.

In real life, particularly at work, I get SO many people assuming that my nails are acrylic or stuck on or otherwise fake. So, here in all their unadorned glory (not even with a slick of Nail Envy), are my nails.


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