Friday 31 May 2013

Flowers for Mom Nail Art Challenge - Day 5 - Poppies

Good afternoooooooooon! <3


How are we all today? The sun has been a shining here, had a lovely chilled out day.

Only a couple more days until I am back to work, so enjoying my time while I can - getting caught up with this and hopefully a few other challenges! :)


Here are my poppies for today - I quite like these. Only problem is that the base (Sally Hansen - Dorien Gray) was a total ***** to dry - took over 10 minutes and still turned out tacky in places so I tried to cheat with Seche Vite and there may be the odd smudge.. sorry!





Don't forget to check out everyone else's flower manis - I am only a few behind now and some gorgeous abstract flowers got posted yesterday / today! :)

Rachael xxx







Swatched - Barry M Retro Purple


Hi all! 

Today I wanted to show you a swatch of a polish I picked up in a grab bag. I am not a big lover of the purple family.. and I am still massively undecided on this one - what do you think?





This is Barry M - Tainted Love from the Retro collection. I have never seen any of the Retro range on sale, in shops, but after googling I see you can find them relatively easily.

The bottom photo is most colour accurate - it does lean blue though. The formula was nice - this is two coats and 1 of SV.

What do you think?

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Flowers for Mom Nail Art Challenge - Day 4 - Sunflowers

Good evening all!


I'm here again with another installment for this challenge - Sunflowers. I love sunflowers, theyre so beautiful. I have great memories of growing these as a child with my mum, so theyre a perfect flower for me to do for this challenge. 

Also I think that the colour of sunflowers really just cheers you up - how can you feel down, sad etc when a big yellow flower is smiling back at you? :)



Colours used:

Sinful Colors - Savage
Ciate - Big Yellow Taxi
Different Dimension - My Bear

I wasn't sure about these when they were finished.. but they're definitely growing on me! No pun intended! Only one photo as well as I was too impatient to photograph and I caught one on the desk edge and took the sunflower clean off :( sad times!

Please check out everyone else's beautiful flower manis!

Rachael xxx





Flowers for Mom Nail Art Challenge - Day 3 - Perfect Gift for Mom

Hi all!

Flying in again, super late.. are you surprised? No, me neither. But they're here. 


Here are my nails for today's theme - Perfect gift. My mum is really hard to buy for, but I do always make sure her prezzies are wrapped up nicely :)




It looked really great in my head - as most things do! But it didn't come out so great I don't think! Nevermind, it was good practice for some freehand and striping tape lines :) 

Don't forget to check out everyone else's manis for this challenge! 

Rachael xxx








Tuesday 28 May 2013

The Tenner Challenge @ Pocket Money Polishes

Morning all!

I decided to share something a little different with you today. Charlie at Pocket Money Polishes currently has a competition running with Sally Magpies to win a £10 voucher. All you have to do is explain what you would spend your only £10 on polish wise.

I worked quite hard to make good use of my £10 - so I thought I would share with you today :)

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If I only had a tenner to spend, I would definitely like to get my moneys worth. I am the same with clothes - theyre only worth it if I can wear them a number of ways. So first of all, to save money I would use my own DIY tools. I use things you can find around the house pretty easily - a rubber, paperclip, pins and nails of different sizes (free). I can then put these together (stick in the rubber to make it easy to hold each one) to make some different sized dotting tools. There is an orange stick here, but it is only for mixing which you can also do with the paperclip :)






I would then spend £2.20 on some Scotch Tape (available most places - mine is from Asda). Scotch tape is really versatile and you can use it to make lots of different patterns. I would also splash out on some striping tape from eBay - its a little faffy but so cheap I dont know how they afford to make and produce it without a loss. I got mine for around £0.25 for 10 different colour rolls.

My favourite thing at the moment is the Bling it On sets from Nails Inc - in particular the large skulls and studs sets. I can't afford one of those sets on a good day for £19, especially with the measly number of studs you get - so back on eBay again - a pack of 10 skulls in either silver or gold for £1.49. If you want to be slightly different there are two other skull choices for an extra 10p a pack.



Now for the colours. Like I said, I like to shop around and get the best deal. Poundland is one of my favourite places to check - I know some people are wary of the age of the polish, but if you use your common sense you can pick up some decent products - my favourites are the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure and Insta-Dri ranges, (the former which still retails at £6.99 in places like Boots) and also the odd Sinful Colors, Wet n Wilds and some others which pop in occasionally. My latest find for £1 is Me Me Me! in Carefree, which looks bright blue in the bottle but comes out an acceptable blue navy on your nail. While I'm in Poundland, I'll also spend £1 on some makeup sponges which work out nice for gradients and mottled effect backgrounds.


Total spend so far: £5.94
I did originally choose to use my LA Colors Art Deco pen. Theyre around £1.50 but only place I know I can get them is Boyes - which are few and far between. So i changed my mind - the basis of my collection is now my extensive Sinful Colors range so I picked a white from that instead. They do some gorgeous colours as well, all at only £1.99 each. If you can catch them on Boots 3 for 2 offers, then you can pick up a good range fairly cheaply. The colours I can't live without are Snow Me White and Black on Black, but I use the white much more often. Its great for mixing and you can then franken any lighter shades you might need. So I have picked two colours for today - Snow Me White and a muted pink - Soul Mate. (£3.98). Watch out for Snow Me White in Poundland - I have picked up a few back up bottles from there for the reduced price of £1. :)

Total spend: £9.92



And here is my final mani - a bit of a skittle but gives you ideas of how you can really stretch that £10 to come up with some different designs.



And also with some roses :)

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What do you think? Would you spend your £10 in a similar way?

Please please please go check out Charlie's blog. You can find details of the competition here along with some of the entrants (including mine!), and you can check out what other people would spend their £10 on here and here. Even if you don't plan on entering, please go take a look - there are some fabulous ideas in there!

The contest is open until 30th May 2013 so a winner can be picked on 31st May. Good luck to you if you have entered / plan on entering!

Rachael xxx




Swatched - Catrice King of Greens


Hi all! 

Today I wanted to show you another swatch of a polish I picked up in a blog sale. I love Catrice polishes, and my small collection is expanding ever slowly. I love greens as well so I was really pleased to pick up this stunner!





Catrice polishes are always fantastic formulas and this is no exception - this is 2 coats.

Do you like greens as much as me? x

Friday 24 May 2013

Swatched - Nails Inc Franklins Row


Hi all! 

Today I wanted to show you a swatch of a polish I picked up in the latest Nails Inc Lucky Dip. I love Nails Inc polishes and despite not being a purple fan, I fell in love with this polish when I got it in my nails!




Its beautiful blue / purple duochromey glittery goodness, all smushed inside a bottle. I really love it. Formula was gorgeous, this is two coats and 1 coat of SV.

What do you think?

Tuesday 21 May 2013

Swatched - Models Own Edamame

Hi all! 

Today I wanted to show you a swatch of a polish I picked up in a blog sale. I love Models Own polishes and despite seeing this being slated on numerous Brit blogs.. I still wanted it!





I finally have it, got it at a good price and I have to say I was not disappointed. Edamame is a beautiful spring green with a beautiful silvery shimmer that is clear to see in the bottle. The reason Edamame got slated a lot is that apparently you cant see the shimmer on the nail. You can! However, it is really difficult to photograph :(


Even so, I really love this colour. What do you think?


Saturday 11 May 2013

Pokémon Nail Art Challenge - Week 13 Rock - Golem

Hello!

Finally got my nails done for Rock week!

I chose Golem - and I thought, Golems so 'grr manly' that he can rock some hot pink nails haha!


The polishes I used are:

L'Oréal - Opulent Pink (base)
Sally Hansen - Choco Latte mixed with Nail Junkie - Coffee for head and arms
Sally Hansen - Grass Slipper mixed with Nail Junkie - Coffee for shell
Sinful Colors Black to Black and Snow Me White for details.



What do you think?

Check out all the other rock pokémon nails so far!



Thursday 9 May 2013

Flowers for Mom Nail Art Challenge - Day 2 - Inspired by my Mum

Good morning all! 

Today is Day 2 - Inspired by my Mum! I am very lucky to have a wonderful mum, she is so great. I decided to do something that reminds me of her, and that is actually flowers - or rather, anything to do with gardening. She has always been so green fingered and talented with growing plants etc and always comes and helps me with mine - bringing me plants etc. Every time I look outside I am reminded of her.



The mani I have done is from a memory of an old garden we had, when I was little. The garden was huge, and to get to the lawn you had to pass under a massive rustic trellis that my mum put up herself. It had beautiful red roses growing over it and as a child it always reminded me of the Secret Garden and I used to pretend I was passing into a secret place that only I knew about. Lesson learned today - you cant get away without a base coat of colour if you're  sponging - cause the edges look crapola! Won't be doing that again!





I just thought I would include a photo of my mum too, shes so beautiful, I love her so much :)




What do you think of my nails today?

Don't forget to check out everyone else's mum inspired nails today!






Wednesday 8 May 2013

Disney Nail Art Challenge - Day 5 - Beauty and the Beast

Hi all!

This is my second attempt at these. My first attempt was to do something around Chip - my favourite character. I ended up doing Mrs Potts, Chip and all his brothers and sisters. They were a massive fail.





So instead of posting them, I decided to wait for some inspiration to pass me by! Its taken awhile but I came up with another idea so I hope it works this time!



What do you think? Its supposed to be the passage of time where the enchanted rose loses its petals.

Don't forget to check out everyone else's Beauty and the Beast nails! :) xxx


Tuesday 7 May 2013

Disney Nail Art Challenge - Day 4 - The Little Mermaid

I am soooooo late with these!

I was very uninspired by this theme, even though originally I was like oooh, under water, sea, blue.. brilliant - when it came to it, I couldn't think of anything!

So I put off posting these.. but now I want to catch up.. so cutting my losses and moving on!



The 'half moons' (if you can call them that) are supposed to be like the shells Ariel wears... but they failed haha! :/ Nevermind!

Don't forget to check everyone else's nails for this!


http://www.inlinkz.com/script.php?id=250433&nojump=1&key=ILiQTn6elLwXc

Monday 6 May 2013

ER31DC - Day 8 - Metallic Nails

Hi all! Guess what? Yeah, I'm still not on time!

Today is my metallic nails for the Extra Relaxed 31 Day Challenge. I am not a massive fan of metallics, but I did pick up a few in my latest Nails Inc Lucky dip.

The two metallics I got were Roland Gardens (a beautiful red) and Great Tichfield Street (a pinky gold). GTS is more of a foil, but I still like it none the less.

I decided I was going to try and conquer one of my fears today - tape. Becca from Kittys Painted Claws normally helps me if I need to do anything tape related, so I'm sure she will be very proud that I tried these out myself!





As you can see, I still need some practice - some parts are not perfect but I was pretty pleased after my previous attempts!

What do you think?

Rachael xxx

Check out the other metallic nails (which were done on time!)







Flowers for Mom Nail Art Challenge - Day 1 - Roses

Yeeeeeeees, I've joined ANOTHER nail challenge. This one isn't massively demanding so I am looking forward to it :)



Day 1 is Roses - I've done rose manis before, but I saw a special one I loved on Instagram a few days ago, so I tried recreating it from memory. I now have some fantastic polishes that I can use for it as well, so I'm really pleased!





The polishes I used were:

Sinful Colors - Black to Black
Ellagee polish - Lime-O-Rama and Way Orange
Essie - Off the Shoulder and Mojito
L'Oréal - Opulent Pink

What do you think? Are you a neon / roses fan? Do you think they work well together?

Don't forget to check out everyone else's rose nails today!




Saturday 4 May 2013

Nails Inc polishes - Its Red Babez, Totes Pink and Youre a Peach - Swatch and Review

Hi all!

Most of you will probably have read somewhere, or seen that Instyle have teamed up again with Nails Inc this year to include a range of free polishes with their magazine. The colours this year are:

- Totes Pink
- It's Red, Babez
- You're a Peach

I'm sure you can guess what colours these are from their names, but the colours are below for you to have a look at. Personally, I think the photo is a bit misleading - both the pink and the peach are brighter in person and the red is more coral.

Nails Inc free with InStyle
(Image Source: Instyle.co.uk)

I love Nails Inc, and its not every day you get to pick them up cheap, as they usually retail for £11 each from the website. These three shades have been designed specifically for Instyle and therefore I believe this is why they do not follow their normal naming ritual of naming after roads. I am slightly disappointed with the names, but I picked up all three colours anyway. Instyle magazine retails for £3.90, so less than £4 for a good magazine and a polish as well - can't go wrong at all.





The first colour I tried is Totes Pink - mainly because I know it doesn't suit my skin tone and to get it out of the way. My first thoughts (or rather, my friends thoughts) were that its a dupe of Elizabeth Street, but it is marginally lighter in the bottle, much more opaque and more pink, whereas Elizabeth Street is a tiny bit more nude-ish I think. Swatches are 3 coats, with 1 coat of Seche Clear as base, and 1 of Seche Vite as top coat. Like I thought, it doesn't suit my skin tone, but is a nice spring / summery shade of pink for anyone with a lighter tone than I have. I will probably keep it for nail art anyway as it applies nicely for a creme polish. I didn't realise at the time, but lighting was not as great as I thought.. so nails do look just like the Instyle bottle shot - well done me :/





The second is You're a Peach. I definitely think this is close to Wellington Square or to Peach Sorbet, which was the peach polish free with Instyle last year. I don't have Peach Sorbet, but I do have Wellington Square so I will do a comparison of the two. I think Wellington Square may be a tad darker.


The formula for this was just like Totes Pink - it applied well but needed 3 coats to level out. I like this more than the pink, but again I don't think its great for pinker skin tones. It really reminds me of summer though and despite it not doing much for me, I'll defo still be wearing it!





The third was my favourite - Its Red, Babez. Despite the more than tacky name, this is a beautiful coral red polish. I wore three coats, which still showed a VNL, but if you are happy with a more visible nail line, you could go for two - it was smooth in the first coat and was dreamy to apply. Dried, it has a lovely glossy finish, but obviously if you want to prolong your mani then top coat is the way to go - I really am just anal about top coat - even if my mani is only on for 5 minutes I'll add one! These photos were taken in artificial light, as the sun was gone by the time I got to the last bottle.

Which is your favourite? Did you pick any up? I like all three shades but Its Red, Babez was by far the winner for me.

Rachael x


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