Swatched: Sinful Colors Green Ocean

Hello all! 

I just have a simple swatch for you today, but it is a beautiful one.

I managed to get my mitts on Sinful Colors Green Ocean. A beautiful green/blue flakie polish with a handful of triangular holo shards thrown in for good luck. I think (dont quote me) that it was released around St Patricks Day this year. I havent seen it anywhere in the UK, but we were flooded with swatches of it, giveaways of it.. but I never managed to get hold of it until now. And it was only £1! Bargain! :D

So here it is over black - I truly love it and can't stop looking at my nails. I have actually used it for a base for a challenge, so keep reading over the next few days to see what I did with it!

What do you think? Were you lucky enough to pick one of these up somewhere? 

Rachael xxx

ER31DC Day 24 - Inspired by a Book

Good morning!

Got another episode of the 31DC for you today - I'm getting there! Today's is inspired by a book. I recently finished book 3 and 4 of the Rachel Mariana Morgan / The Hollows series by Kim Harrison.

If you haven't read any of these books, then check out the first one here:

Dead Witch Walking

I really love all the characters, but I instantly thought 'this is what I'm doing for the 31DC' when I first read about Ivy and her cross necklace. She always dresses in black leather (hence the black matted nails) and I dotted and freehanded my imagined version of her cross necklace onto my accent nail.

What do you think? I'm still not a fan of matte.. maybe in time it may grow on me!

Rachael xxx

ER31DC - Day 21 Inspired by a Colour (Nail Lacquer Heart or Love review)

Day 21 - Inspired by a colour time!

I was not inspired by this at all, so asked Becca from Kittys Painted Claws to suggest something, anything for me. She then delegated the choice to her other half.. who not knowing me so well.. chose PURPLE. ARGH!

My initial thoughts.. do I OWN any purple polish? So I had a little rummage about in my unorganised helmer drawers and discovered my little untried beauty from Megan at Nail Lacquer.

When she announced this was coming soon, I just had to have it. Megan was kind enough to give me one as a present, before it was released for sale. How lovely is that?

Heart or Love is a beautiful glitter topper packed full of circle glitter. Heaven. I LOVE CIRCLE GLITTER!

Not my usual colour combination - theres some purple in there, along with pink and blue.. but omg I love it so much! Here I have it layered over Sinful Colors Black on Black. Didn't want to take it off! Perfect going out / special occasion mani! Application was great, lots of glitter and the circles came out fairly easily. It levelled nicely and dried in good time. The circles laid flat to the nail with no curling. Can't fault it!

Don't forget to check out everyone else's mani's for this week!

Rachael xxx

Dragonglass Nails - UK Indie Review and Swatches

Good morning!

Today I have for you a new UK indie brand - Dragonglass Nails by Georgia.

I stumbled across them originally on Instagram and then after stalking them for a while, finally parted with my cash in exchange for two polishes - Good Witch and Bad Witch.

I tried Good Witch first. Both polishes are described as being textured, but I found the two to be very different. Here's how Georgia describes it:

Good Witch is a pink iridescent shimmery polish. It is sheer and best used over another colour (both pictures show it over a pale nude colour, but it can be put over any colour) and layered to be more pink and glittery. It can be made opaque in 4-5 coats and gives a "jelly" appearance, but it has to be left to dry in between or it will go squidgy. Give it a coat of clear or matte top coat, and it's good to go! 

I found Good Witch to be incredibly thick, it definitely needed a drop of thinner. I dabbed it onto my nail for even coverage, over 2 coats of We're in it Together by Essie (a bright baby pink). I think it looks quite pretty, but for me I definitely need to tone down the undies as they really werent the best choice for me! Good Witch was very textured, so I decided to leave it that way - it was already very sparkly so didn't need a topcoat.

I did then see that Georgia recommends wearing it over nude. So i tested one finger with Ciate Cookies and Cream as a base. I also topcoated and you can immediately see the difference. It has a much softer, delicate look and is incredibly even more sparkly. This was 1 coat over 2 thin coats of Cookies and Cream.

And here is Bad Witch.

Bad Witch is a black polish with green sparkles that glitter in the light. It is opaque in one coat and dries to a leather-like finish, which can then be made smooth and sparkly with one coat of your favourite top coat.

 

This was pigmented enough to wear alone - I wore two coats over a base of OPI Nail Envy and with 2 coats of Seche Vite. It DRANK the first coat, so definitely needed the second to smooth everything out. This was nowhere near as textured as Good Witch. Infact, I would say it was more like regular indie polish - just in need of a good topcoat. I really liked this otherwise though - a great choice for Halloween which is scarily not that far away. Also, a great evening choice for green lovers (like myself). It was so sparkly in person, I really did struggle to capture how glittery it was on the nail. Unlike Good Witch, I could apply this like regular polish with no need for any dabbing.

What do you think? Have you tried any Dragonglass Nails polish before? 

Rachael xxx

ER31DC - Day 18 Half Moons

Hello again, its Half Moon Day!

I went a little outside of my own personal box today and started with a yellow base (Ciaté Big Yellow Taxi). I then chose to paint white triangles where my moons would be, and outlined with a double black line. 

What do you think? I'm not sure yet. But it reminds me of Brownies. Did anyone go to Brownies as a kid? It reminds me of the jumper and neckerchief I had to wear :)


Don't forget to check out everyone elses Half Moon manis!

Other posts you might like:

ER31DC - Day 13 Animal Print

Hey all - another installment for the 31 Day Challenge. Today is Animal Print! 

You'll have seen I've done quite a lot of animal print lately, especially leopard print, so I had a go at my first free hand animal stripes. What do you think?

Then I added in some leopard print, just because. The colours I used were Sinful Colors Black to Black and Barry M Gold Foil Effects.

Don't forget to check out what everyone else did for Animal Print week!

Other posts you might like:

Nail Art Challengez - Black and White Day 6 - Recreate Your Favourite

Hi all!

Last day of the Black and White challenge hosted by Beauty Shoes Nails and Fun. So again, thanks go to her for hosting this fab challenge! X

I decided to go all the way back to Day 1 - Geometric, and I chose Cubbiful's mani to recreate. I loved this as soon as I saw it - I hope you like my version with a twist :)

As you can see, I am not great with the striping tape. I also knocked this after taking only a couple of photos.. so I redid with another twist, but you'll have to wait for another post to see that one!

Don't forget to check out everyone elses manis!

Rachael xxx

Other posts you might like:

Nail Art Challengez - Black and White Day 5 - Faux Fur

Hi all!Time for Day 5 - everyone loves a bit of animal print!So I wasn't hundred percent sure what to do for this.. browsed my bloglovin for some inspiration and although I didnt find any animal print inspiration, I do love this new pinky accent thing loads of people are doing now instead of the ring finger. Here are today's nails.. actually quite like them - what do you think? 
 Don't forget to check out everyone elses manis!Rachael xxx

Other posts you might like:

Nail Art Challengez - Black and White Day 4 - Glam Cute

Hi all!

I have really been looking forward to today! Exciting times!

Today is Glam / Cute. I did try to go for glam.. but I think I tripped and fell over the border and rolled pretty far into CHAV. Hahahahaha.. and after posting a cheeky picture on my personal facebook, ALL my chav friends liked it. Coincidence? LOL.

Surprisingly enough, I wore this for half an hour and then ended up liking it enough to do my OTHER hand.......... so there ya go haha! The studs and diamantes are all from nail wheels available from Born Pretty Store.

Don't forget to check out everyone elses manis!

Rachael xxx

Other posts you might like:

Nail Art Challengez - Black and White Day 3 - Freehand

Hi all!

Time for Day 3 - Freehand!

Today I decided to go floral - these are similar to the poppy nail art I did back in May - what do you think?

Don't forget to check out everyone elses manis!

Rachael xxx

Other posts you might like:

Nail Art Challengez - Black and White Day 1 - Geometric

Hi all!

I love doing challenges - they really push me to try something new and different. So I've joined another one - the Black and White challenge hosted by Beauty Shoes Nails and Fun. So first of all, thanks go to her for hosting this fab challenge! X

So day 1 is Geometrics. Not going to lie, I had to google what that was to make sure I wasn't completely mistaken! Good thing is, I was heading in the right direction after all :) 

The pattern I chose is one I've seen over at Lucy's Stash - its called Jonqal. I was going to do full hand, but it took so long with my shakey hands to do one nail that I was really glad I started on the accent, and thats where I'm finishing! Hope you like it!

Don't forget to check out everyone elses manis!

Rachael xxx

Love the basics - Zoya Raven

Hi all!

I've been sat today preparing a couple of manis for a new challenge I'm starting next week, when I realised how much I ADORE this polish.

I was very lucky to pick it up when Zoya had a promotion on, and a very kind friend let me have it posted to him, then he sent it across the water for me. So I am really not looking forward to the day this runs out, and I do keep swapping between it and my trusty Sinful Colors.

I always forget how much I love black manicures. I always think oh it'll wash my hands out, look too gothic for me and make me look pale. But it doesn't. It looks classic, timeless, elegant.. I could go on. I really love Zoya Raven for this because of its formula and finish. It dries glossy, has a beautifully smooth formula, and is a definite 1 coater with careful application.  I can't capture it on my camera but it also has a very very fine, faint charcoal grey shimmer to it. It also dries speedily, but not so fast that you have to rush your nails. Perfect. It is also a staple colour for pretty much all manicures - I hardly ever don't have a black element somewhere in the mix.

So what do you think - are you a black mani fan? Have you tried Zoya Raven or do you have a different favourite black polish? 

Rachael xxx

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!

Cubbiful  

 Dipped in Lacquer 

  Makeup and Nails, Not War 

 Paint Those Piggies!  

 Paulina’s Passions  

Polish and Repeat 

 Tes Did It Nails

ER31DC - Week 7 - Black and White

Decided to challenge myself today! Watermarbling!

These came out quite well but think the colours show up every little blemish - few bubbles, smudges etc. But its another learning curve :)

Don't forget to check out everyone else's black and white manis!