Mani Swap with Pocket Money Polishes

Hey all!

I am away all this week in the beautiful Glencoe in Scotland. But even though I am pretty much signal-less and internet-less, I have managed to get on at least this once to share my nails with you.

So we decided to pick one mani that we liked and recreate. Both of us prefer to be a little creative, so we decided to produce a mani that was loosely based on the others original.

I know that the lovely lady at PMP loves OPI, so I decided to create my own version of this mani below, using a new OPI I had just bought.

I didn't have an exact colour match, so I used the opportunity to use OPI Stir-fried Eggplant that I had just bought. This is one of the re-named NOPI colours I believe, but either way, its pretty beautiful especially for purple. It's less eggplanty on the nail to the bottle I think, but it has beautiful flecks that shine gold and pink in the light.

I also couldn't find a gold to match - I'm sure I own a gold glitter polish somewhere?? But my eyes fell on a Revlon Moon Candy Nail Art duo in one of my drawers. The brown it is paired with isnt anything amazing by itself, but the shard/flakie end is lovely, shining blue to green to gold. Its very thick though, so I just dabbed it onto my nails.

What do you think of the end result? I really like it, considering its purple.

Have you ever done any mani swaps before? Would you like to do one? I've really enjoyed this one so if you fancy doing one with me, let me know!

Check out what Charlie chose to recreate here!

Rachael xxx

Inspired by.. I dream of lacquer

Hey all!

I follow most people on Instagram - when I'm in a rush, it's so much easier to have a quick flick through my instafeed than to scroll through Bloglovin and read everything.

One person I follow on Instagram is @Idreamoflacquer. Around two weeks ago, she posted this mani. I instantly fell in love with it and knew I wanted to recreate it.

Try as I might, I just can't get chevrons. They're on my to practice list. So my final mani is a bit different as it has a different pointer design and a different colour to the neon green, but the inspiration still shows pretty clearly I think.

I've also lost my DSLR battery charger, so I apologise but my photos for today are from my iPhone!

Polishes used:

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine - Guava

Kate Spade by Nails Inc - New York Noir

OPI - My Favourite Ornament

The leopard print is freehand, the pointer finger beads are a stamp from Pueen - Love Elements with OPI My Favourite Ornament dotted over.

Please let me know what you think - these sorts of mix and match skittles are by far my personal favourite!

Rachael xxx

Swatched - 'Mystery' Essie #1

Just a quick swatch today - this is of a mystery Essie that I picked up from TK Maxx in a set of 5. It has a strangely smaller lid than other Essie's in the set and has no identifying information other than 23 stamped into the glass bottle. This information has yielded nothing as to what colour or shade this polish might be.

I would describe it as a frosted caramel colour. In the bottle it looks much darker and richer brown with streaks of silver pigment. When you apply it to the nail, it comes out like an antique gold. It covered well in the first coat, but I added a second for good measure. With its frosted appearance, it does show brush strokes so you have to be careful when you apply it to reduce how obvious they are.

What do you think? I'm not sure...

Rachael xxx

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:

ER31DC - Day 12 Stripes

Hey all!

Still trying my best to catch up - here is my Day 12 - Stripes. I'm still in love with my Essie Naughty Nautical and Barry M Gold Foil Effects combo, so here it is another way :)

Don't forget to check out everyone else's nails for Stripes day!

Other posts you might like:

ER31DC - Day 11 Polka Dots

Hey all!

Here I am again with the 31 Day Challenge - today is Day 11, Polka Dots.

I decided to try out my new polish as a base - Essie Naughty Nautical. I LOVE IT! My dots are Barry M Gold Foil Effects.

What do you think? Would you wear it? 

Don't forget to check out everyone else's polka dot posts!

Other posts you might like:

Nail Art Challengez - Comic-Con Geek Week Day 3 - Inspired by a Movie

Today is Inspired by a Movie! Sooo many options for this, but I have certain ideas for Day 4 and 5, so I went for something different today!

STAAAAAAAAARGAAAAAAATE! The film that officially initiated me into geekdom. I have loved all things futuristic and fantasy since I saw this!

Can you work out what each nail is? Most of them turned out how I planned, so hopefully you will get them all!

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

Here's who I'm pretty sure is participating!

Peace Love Lacquer (Host)

Dipped in Lacquer

Galactic Lacquer

Rachos Nail Love

Kate Kreatez

Makeup and Nails not War

Glitter Me This
Samarium's Swatches
Leslie Loves Nails

Rachael xxx

Nails Inc Lucky Dip - Part 1

Hi all,

Got some Nails Inc swatches for you today!

I have been quiet again, but I have still been amassing more polish. MORE POLISH!!

The ones I want to show you today are some of the ones I got in my latest lucky dip from Nails Inc. I really do love Nails Inc polishes - the formulas for their different polishes are generally really nice, but I have to say the price tag of £11 a polish is definitely out of my price range if I'm wanting more than one colour. 

So of course I love the idea of their lucky dips - only £18 (really just under £22 with postage) for 7 polishes. It is of course hit and miss, as you don't know what you will get - but so far I have been pleased with the majority of polishes I have gotten. This month was a pretty good one!

This month I got:

Dovehouse Street

Farringdon Crackle Topcoat

Porchester Place

Bruton Mews

Seymour Walk

Hammersmith

Park Lane

I have the first three to show you in this post, but just a few notes first. All polishes I used were 2 coats, apart from the crackle which was one over another colour. One coat of OPI Nail Envy Matte as base, but no topcoat on any.

The first is Dovehouse Street. I was reticent about this at first - it looks very thin and sheer, very girly, sparkly, and generally not something I would pick out for myself.

 It was pleasantly surprising on my nails - not completely clear, with enough coverage to 'dim' the nail line. VNL's are really growing on me - but it has to be the right colour to do it. This does - the pinky gold shimmer also adds to how pretty it is - really simple, but elegant on my nails. Definitely going in my keeps pile.

The second I have is the Farringdon Crackle Topcoat. I think I remember being a crackle fan around the age of 15 / 16, but I definitely think its done its course. But the formula looked quite nice in the bottle, so I thought I would give it a go over Dovehouse Street, as I'm thoroughly bored of all crackle colours with black.

 My final thoughts - definitely going in my nieces donation bag - she's 9, so she'll probably still appreciate it!

The last polish I have to show you is Porchester Place. This almost went in my sell pile without even a swatch, but I'm so glad it didn't! I absolutely LOVE IT! 

It's a beautiful creme polish, fully opaque in two coats. I would describe it as a peachy orange colour, not sure if you would agree. All I know is I will be getting full wear out of this stunning colour this summer :)

So what do you think of these? Do you own any of these, or did you get a lucky dip this time and get anything different?

Rachael xxx

TIOT - Nails Inc - Clifford Street

This is a relatively new polish for me - Nails Inc - Clifford Street. I picked it up as part of the 'Gold Rush' Collection - it was one of 4 polishes that have some sort of golden element to them.

As you can see, its quite a dark, purple blue colour with a subtle gold shimmer. The shimmer is easily noticeable in the bottle, but doesnt translate onto the nail as obviously. Application was lovely - two coats to be certain but I think with careful application, this could be a 1 coater if you're in a hurry.

After swatching this, I was a little disappointed with the end result not having as much shimmer as I had hoped. But then when I caught my nails in direct light they just lit up - with the weather etc around here its quite dull atm, so I was over the moon to see what these really lived up to in the light :) problem solved!

 

Can't believe the difference - you wouldnt think it was the same polish!

What do you think? Do you like the shade / Nails Inc in general? I've only just recently started to buy Nails Inc and I have to say I have been really pleased with the quality of all of them - the shades, formula, brushes.. really can't fault them (and I shouldn't for the retail price!)