I've been off sick today (just a bad headache, nothing serious) so just a quick post of the nails I've been wearing since Sunday. I wore these glossy for a day, and then made them matte. While the water marbling isn't perfect, and there are a couple of smudgey bits, I still think it looks pretty nice!
I used a base of Barry M Cotton, and then marbled using Pink Punch, Rose Hip and Dragon. I then covered up the worst of the smudges with a topcoat of China Glaze Travel in Colour for the shimmer. Then I used Barry M Matte Topcoat for the matte effect.
This reminds me of ice cream!
Even my right hand came out quite well! (Although I found it harder to tidy the edges!)
I'm a total convert to water marbling, especially now I know about using liquid latex to keep the skin clean for it - see my post here.
Hello! Not only have I not blogged for two weeks, but I haven't painted my nails at all either. I had bare nails throughout Christmas... Plus they've all broken and chipped and had to be cut short.
Today I have a very simple look for my first nail painting in two weeks. I started with bare nails and stamped over them with Konad White and MoYou London festive plate 02.
I thought this looked really simple and pretty!
I then thought it was a bit plain, so I added a coat of China Glaze Travel in Colour topcoat, just for a wintry sheen. I think that looks much prettier!
What do you think?
This is a polish I bought months ago, and hadn't got round to trying yet. The Orly Color Blast range was new to large branches of Boots when I saw them, and the display was so beautiful that I was seduced into buying three bottles at about £9.50 each.
This is Royal Purple Color Flip.
This is three coats, with topcoat. The polish is quite sheer, but has a lovely jelly-like quality to it.
The polish is a bright pinky purple jelly with lots of shimmery blue-purple particles that give a blueish duochrome effect in the right light. The polish is much more purple in the bottle than it is on the nail, looking much pinker when it's applied.
This is really sheer - three coats still gave plenty of visible nail line, so next time I might try it over a creme base. I do think it's a really pretty colour though - it's bright and zingy and does have a lovely shimmer. I find it quite pricey for what it is though.
What I do really like about these polishes is the lid - it's a nice rubbery texture with a lined pattern which makes it really comfortable to hold easily.
I've had very little nail mojo this week, and I've been wearing the same polish for the last four days. Having said that, it is a lovely polish!
This is the last of the Models Own Diamond Dust polishes that I bought, Oval Plum. This is two coats, with topcoat.
Formula on this is fantastic, really even and smooth. It's quite thick, but I find that makes it easier to apply as it can't overflow the cuticles.
Oval Plum is a really nice deep pinky purple that's packed with golden shimmery bits. I've been wearing this since Tuesday night and it still looks like I've only just applied it.
Is there anything you'd like to see me do with my nails this weekend? I have no ideas at all, so I'm open to any suggestions?
I was contacted recently by a brand new British nail varnish company, Vivien Kondor London, and was offered the chance to try out some of their polishes! I love something new, especially if it's a British company, so I jumped at the chance! Vivien Kondor is part of Elegance by London, and is about to launch a really big range of nail polish, which will be for sale on their website and on Amazon. (The colours on the website are still only a rough idea, as it's not finished yet!)
Tonight I have 5 different colours to show you. First up is Shiny Baby Pink. This is two coats, with no topcoat.
Shiny Baby Pink is just that - a pretty pale baby pink, with a metallic finish.
As with most metallics, this does show the brushstrokes a bit, but I don't find them too obvious in this polish. The formula is really nice - this is smooth and buttery, and didn't need any clean up. The brush is good - not too stiff, not too floppy, not too wide (something I find a real issue for my narrow nails with some brands). I think this is really pretty! It's not my usual style - maybe a bit too pink and sweet for my usual taste, but it is pretty.
Next up is Cobalt Blue. This one has a gorgeous jelly-like quality to it.
This is three coats, as it's more sheer than Shiny Baby Pink. This time though I did add topcoat for extra shine.
The formula on this one is really good, and I love the vibrancy of the colour.
Isn't it gorgeous? Because the colour on this is so pigmented, I worried that it might be a stainer, but I'm happy to report that it isn't at all.
Before I took this off though, I thought I'd try one of the other polishes over it. Lilac is quite sheer, so I layered one coat over Cobalt Blue.
Oh wow! Isn't it gorgeous? Lilac transforms Cobalt into a shimmery, duochromey purpley-blue stunner!
I love these two together.
Next up is Lilac on its own. This is three thin coats as it's on the sheer side.
This is another lovely one - this is a shimmery bluey purple. I bet it would look fantastic over black too.
This one has a good formula, but is a touch on the slow side to dry. It's really pretty though!
Next up is one called Neon Gold. This is the one I was most excited about in advance, because I LOVE a gold, and I've never heard of a NEON gold! The company tells me that this one is still being tinkered with, as they don't think Neon Gold is the right name for it at the moment. I have to say, I'd agree with that.
This is two coats of Neon Gold, with no topcoat. Formula is nice, like Shiny Baby Pink. I like this colour a lot. But I don't think it's gold, and it's certainly not neon. It's a bit of an odd colour - a sort of peachy orangey gold, but I'm a fan of orange and of gold, so that's fine with me.
Actually, this totally reminds me of butternut squash!
The company would like some feedback about this one - what do you think? Should they try and make it more gold? More neon? Try a different name? I don't even know what a neon gold would look like - I'm struggling to imagine such a thing!
The last one is imaginatively called Gold Glitter, and I think it's my favourite. It's a straightforward gold glitter, with tiny square pieces in a slightly yellow-tinted base. The glitter is dense, so it's got great coverage.
You could certainly use this as a glitter topper over a coloured base, but I wanted to see what it would be like on its own, whether I could get complete coverage without a base colour.
The answer is yes! The tinted base really helps with this.
The accent nail is 2 coats of Cobalt Blue with one coat of Gold Glitter. I think that works well. But I love the other nails! They're three coats of glitter on its own. As you can see, there are some tiny gaps, but the tinted base evens this out.
Overall, I think these polishes are good - nice colours, high quality, decent brushes. I don't know how much the company are planning to charge, so I'd be interested to know. I like the look of a lot of the other colours too.
On a very very trivial note - I like the lids! The shape makes the brush nice and easy to hold, but also mirrors the zig zag shape of the VK in the logo, which makes me smile!
You can follow the company on Twitter @Vivien_Kondor for news of the range launch.
These polishes were provided by the company for my honest review. Please see my Disclaimer section for more information.
So, I got a bit carried away with the new Barry M releases, and bought everything I could get my hands on. Today, I have swatches of the new Silk colours for you.
I loved the first Silk colours that came out earlier this year; the pretty pastel range with the gorgeous silky matte finish and the fantastic quality. So when I heard there were three new colours for autumn, with rich berrry shades, I was very excited! Left to right here we have Poppy (the red one), Forest (the green one) and Orchid (the purple one).
First up is Forest. This is two coats. Application on all of these polishes was excellent - smooth, even, quick-drying, and with a beautiful matte-but-silky finish. I found that two thin coats was better than one thicker one.
Forest is a gorgeous shimmery dark green. As this was so pretty, I wondered what it would look like with topcoat...
GORGEOUS is clearly the answer!
Next up is Poppy, a lovely red that's just on the autumnal side. I love this - it makes me think of autumn leaves and rusty autumn colours.
Again, it's stunning with topcoat!
I mean - just look at it!
Last of the bunch is Orchid, the purple one, and I think my favourite.
I love the way this looks with the silky sheen. It's just so eyecatching!
And glossy... well!
I don't think I have any colours quite like this, and I really love it. I can see this one getting a lot of wear this winter!
This is another of the new Models Own Diamond Luxe collection, Marquise Maroon. And oh wow! It's a beauty!
This is two coats of Marquise Maroon, with no topcoat. Application is lovely - really smooth and even. It isn't as thick as the other Diamond Luxes that I've tried previously.
The shimmer particles are so pretty!
Isn't it lovely? This is a gorgeous deep red, just the kind of colour I love.
It is highly pigmented, and I found the colour a little stainy on my skin (although not the nails). I've got a cut on the cuticle of my index finger, which is why I haven't cleaned up too well on that side.
The shimmer in this really adds depth to the colour, and I really like it.
I decided to add some stamping to this, using MoYou London Pro XL 06 and Barry M Gold Foil. I love how this turned out! It looks sort of Christmassy, I think.
The MoYou London plates are so gorgeous! This one was a birthday present and I've used it three or four times already in a couple of weeks.
Have you tried the Models Own Diamond Luxe yet? I've loved the three I've tried so far!
Last week I was in Boots, buying some Orly Color Blast polishes, and the barcode scanner wasn't working. The lady on the till couldn't read the tiny barcodes on the bottles, so I read them out to her - and she then gave me a free bottle of Essie as a thank you! So this is Essie Naughty Nautical.
This is two coats of Naughty Nautical, with no topcoat.
The formula is really nice - very smooth and opaque, with a really pretty shimmery sparkle that's subtle but lovely.
I really like the brush - it's the normal Essie brush (which is great) but slightly narrower as this is a mini bottle, which is even better for me and my narrow nails!
I think this one is a hit!
