I haven't posted for a couple of weeks - sorry! I don't even have any reasons. I've been doing my nails, just not posting.
Anyway, here is what I have on right now, some mermaid fish-scale nails using more of my stencils from Whats Up Nails.
I started with a base of Barry M Pacific, which is a greeny blue metallic polish. This was two coats.
I then used the vinyls and splodged on a random pattern using 3 textured glitters: 2true Christy (silver) and Barry M VIP (blues) and Fashion Icon (purples). The final design was very very textured, so I added one coat of Seche for a little bit of smoothness and shine.
I really like how these came out, and they are really sparkly in the sunlight.
I think next time I would use a more contrasting base colour though, so the fish scale pattern shows a bit more clearly. Having said that, the vinyl stencils themselves are really good. I bought loads of designs, so I have lots more coming up!
This morning, Emma from Em's Little Corner spotted this gorgeous mani by PiggieLuv and shared it with me because she knew I'd got the OPI Color Paints recently.... and wow! What a fantastic design! I knew I had to have a go at doing my own version.
I did mine a bit differently, as I didn't want to paint white over the top of glitter and end up with it lumpy, and certainly didn't trust myself to do neat lines freehand. Instead, I started with a base of white (Barry M Cotton) and use curved tip guides to tape off the central section of the nails.
Then I painted a silver glitter over the curved central section. This is 2true Sequins Christy, which is a lovely dense one-coater but with small particles which won't overlap the tape too much.
I topcoated over the silver to make it smoother (Christy has a rough finish to it), and then used the Color Paints to paint my rainbow. I removed the tape, added more topcoat, and there you go.
It's not as fantastic as PiggieLuv's, but I'm pretty damn chuffed with this! The Color Paints look fab over glitter, and I love the contrast of white and the colours. I included this blurry photo because it shows how glossy and juicy these colours are!
What do you think?
I'm sneaking in at the very last minute with my August Polish Party nails! This month, the theme was Glitter and Gems, and as I'd just had a sparkly delivery from the Born Pretty Store, I went for both!
I bought these 3D charms from the Born Pretty Store recently after I reviewed a similar set only without the colours. You can read that post here. This new set is item #12396 in the Born Pretty Store, and costs $3.79 for the pack. As you can see in my photo, the colours and shapes aren't exactly the same as those on the store website, but they're a similar mix.
I started with a bare nail, and taped off a triangle at the base of each. I then used a variety of glitters to pain my nails - from thumb to little finger they are China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, 2true Naomi, Zoya Sunshhine, China Glaze Material Girl and Zoya Solange.
I then removed the tape, and when the glitter was dry, added topcoat, stuck the gems down while it was wet, and that was that. The topcoat held these fast with no problems. Yes, I wore sparkly glitter 3D rhinestones to do a Sunday morning Sainsbury's shop, what of it?!
These are reusable - I just wiped the backs with a bit of nail varnish remover on cotton wool when I took them off. I did manage to take off the foil backing on the first one I cleaned (a green one) and realised that that also removed the colour, so that particular one is now clear and sparkly instead. But a gentle wipe was fine for all the others, and I'll be reusing them soon!
Aren't they pretty? I love these 3D sparklies!
This is another of my weekend purchases, one of the Barry M Matte collection. I chose Vanilla, a beigey neutral polish.
This is two coats of Vanilla, no topcoat. The first coat is a little streaky, but the second evens that out and dries smooth and even. The finish is almost a satin matte, there is a nice soft sheen to this which I love. I think it looks really pretty.
I wore this all day at work and thought it looked quite elegant and smart. It also wore well, and would easily have been fine to leave on for another day or two. However, I decided to jazz it up by throwing some glitter at it, and I chose 2true Elle (which I blogged about previously here) and sponged it on the tips.
I love how these two go together! They're both nicely subtle, so I've got blingy, sparkly tips that are also understated - at least, I think so!
I love how versatile Elle is - without topcoat as you see here, it's quite a subtle, dusty pink, with a rough texture that I think goes perfectly with the matte base. With topcoat it becomes much more vibrant in colour, and the sparkle really goes wild.
I haven't topcoated this yet, I'm still enjoying how it looks matte. I am toying between keeping this for work tomorrow, or adding a smooth shine...
This is the last of my 2true polishes. This is Shade 8, a limited edition from the Crystals range.
This is three thin coats of Shade 8. It is a fairly sheer browny-purple base, packed full of fuschia and some turquoise glitter.
For some reason, this polish doesn't have the same flat brush as the red polish I tried last week, which disappointed me. The brush is perfectly ok, but I preferred the flatter one. The formula is fine, although it is a little runnier than some polishes, so it is a bit trickier round the cuticles than it could be. However, I think it's worth it, as the finished effect is really nice!
This slightly blurry photo gives you some idea of the glitter effect, and the colours that are in there.
I think that next time, I might layer this over black, as it is fairly sheer, and I think it would make it opaque in one coat.
After having worn this for a day at work, my Seche Vite topcoat had made the tips shrink a bit, so I decided to add some glitter! I taped off my nail tips with sellotape, added topcoat, and sprinkled the next of the loose glitter pots from 2true, Jennifer (the pink one). This is SO sparkly it's almost insane! .
I mean... look at it!
I love this glitter! It's so fine and soft that it doesn't leave a thick layer of glitter, and it sticks really well in topcoat. Through an evening of cooking, eating, typing and playing with the cat, I don't seem to have shed any glitter from these.
This polish and glitter go together really well, as they both have the pink and turquoise hints in there.
Shade 8 polish sells for £1.99 in Superdrug, and the glitter (Sparkles Nail Art in Jennifer) costs £4. Superdrug often has special offers such as 3 for 2 as well, so it's always easy to pick these up for a pretty good price.
These products were provided for honest review purposes. Please see my Disclaimer section for more details.
Tonight I have a third of the 2true Pro Sequins range for you - this is Naomi, the purple one.
This is two coats of Naomi, with topcoat.
Naomi is a gorgeous lilac-purple glitter. It has the same excellent quality as the previous two (Elle and Christy) but with this stunning purple colour. Without topcoat it's a slightly paler lilac than you can see here, but topcoat not only makes it super glossy, it also slightly darkens the shade of purple as well.
Isn't this gorgeous? I loved it so much that I decided to add some of the silver glitter, Christy.
(Urgh, I wish my scratches would hurry up and heal!)
I sponged this on the tips of my nails, and then added more topcoat.
The Sequins range is really good, in my opinion! These sell in Superdrug for £4, and as well as the three I've tried, there is also a blue and a gold. I think I definitely have to go and buy the gold one, being such a fan of gold and these being so good.
These polishes were provided for honest review. See my disclaimer for more information.
Today I have another 2true polish to show you. This is the first of three of the new 2true Pro polishes that I have, from the Sequins collection. This collection is named after supermodels from the 90s, and this is the pink one, Elle.
This is two coats of Elle, with topcoat.
Elle is a lovely pale pink glitter, that covers really well. The first coat covers the whole nail but leaves some visible nail line, but two coats is totally opaque. Without topcoat, the polish has a gritty texture that is pretty cool on its own (textured glitter is everywhere at the moment!) but I chose to wear it with topcoat for a super shiny finish.
This blurry photo gives you an idea of the sparkliness of this polish - there are a few different shades of pink in there which makes it really pretty.
While pale pink isn't my favourite colour to wear, I do really like this, as it's very pretty and sparkly and wore really well today at work. Wait til I show you the other colours in this collection though!
The 2true Pro glitter collection is available in Superdrug for £4 - although I was in Superdrug today and they had the whole 2true range on 3-for-2, so you might be lucky and be able to grab a bargain at the moment!
This polish was provided for review purposes. See my disclaimer for more detail.
I was very excited last week to be contacted by the lovely people at 2true, who asked if I fancied trying out some of their new range of sparkly goodies! I of course said yes, and on Saturday received this bunch of goodies!
I mean - look at them!
Today I'm wearing the red crème, Shade 6, and some of the gold glitter, Danni.
This is one coat of Shade 6, with no topcoat.
I love this red! I've tried 2true before, but not in ages, and while I thought the polish I tried last time was ok, it was nothing special. However, this red is much better than the polish I tried before. The formula is really good - opaque, pigmented and very glossy. I didn't need to do any clean up at all, as the brush let me paint really neatly. The label says that this is a new flat brush, and it's definitely much better than the old brush. I'm not a huge fan of the narrow bottle, but that's only because you have to be careful to hold it when you're painting, because it's easier to knock over than a squarer bottle.
Anyway, after letting the red dry, I used Seche Vite to topcoat my thumb and a stripe down my ring finger. Then I used the gold loose glitter, Danni. These loose glitters, the Sparkles range, are tiny pots of very fine glittery powder, with a screw top and a dusting cap. I've always been a bit apprehensive about using this sort of powder glitter before, because I'm convinced it'll make a huge mess.
However, this wasn't anywhere near as messy as I expected. I did consider doing a fancy pattern of dots, but thought it would be easier to keep it simple for the first time. As you can see, there is a fair amount of glitter that I didn't manage to brush off, but it's not that visible in real life.
This glitter is SO sparkly and pretty! I really love how it looks, it's far sparklier than normal glitter polish. 2true say that for extra wear, you can add topcoat to this, but I was concerned that it might dull the glitter or make it gloopy. I needn't have worried, as it didn't, it just made it smoother.
I think the glitter looks so good because the colour isn't totally uniform all over, there are different shades of gold in there, making it look less flat and more multi dimensional.
The 2true range is available in Superdrug - the Sparkles glitter pots sell for £4 and this polish costs £1.99 - however, if you're a regular in Superdrug you'll know that there are often special offers, letting you get a real bargain.
I have several more 2true posts coming up for you in the next week - and now I know how easy the loose glitter is to use, I have plans for something more detailed and interesting with the other colours that I have.
These products were provided for review from the company or their PR.
Apparently I have been under the illusion for the last six months that this colour is called Lilac. I've just realised that it isn't! This is Barry M's Berry Ice Cream. I wore it a few times in the summer, and liked how light and summery it was. This week I've worn it again for a couple of days - I felt I needed a calmer, plainer colour after all the glitter bombs I've had on my nails over the last few weeks.
I couldn't stop looking at my nails with this colour on. They looked so shiny and smooth and pretty. This is two coats - one on its own was a bit streaky - and a coat of Seche Vite. As usual with Barry M, this was a nice easy application, a good brush, and a smooth, even coverage.
I think this is a really pretty colour. Having worn it for two days though, I was getting some tip wear, and I was itching to do SOMETHING to it...
I dug out my unused bottle of something I'd picked up for £1.99 in Superdrug. It's probably full of nasty chemicals, but it's so pretty that I don't care! This comes in a little, thin bottle. The brand is 2true (I'd never heard of them before) and the colour is the imaginatively titled "Shade 4" (I also have "shade 2", which is a shiny teal-y blue colour). I taped off the tips of my nails, and added one coat of Shade 4 to the ends, then peeled off the tape and topped with more Seche Vite.
I apologise for the state of my cuticles! I'm really struggling to get the light at the moment, as I'm leaving for work in the dark and coming home in the dark. Today I got home a bit early, and the sun was still shining, so I dashed out to take photos without checking my hands - and didn't notice that my fingers were all dry and peely from a day in a very hot office.
Shade 4 is a rich, shimmery purple with plenty of sparkle. It's quite a thick polish, and this was one coat. The brush is quite skinny and long, and I'm not sure I fancy painting my whole nails with it, as it isn't as easy to control as some other brushes. It was nice coverage though, and it looks so sparkly.
Today I had a bit of a splurge on nail varnish! My favourite local shop was having a 20% off sale, so I bought a new bottle of Seche Vite, and a China Glaze and an Opi. Then I went to Superdrug, and they were doing 3 for 2, so I bought four Barry M polishes and a Bourjois one and a striper pen. I had a nice heavy bag full! But this means my nail varnish collection now stands at over 110 bottles, which makes me feel a bit ashamed! I definitely have a problem! I plan to try out my new polishes over the weekend, and of course share them here.
