Friday, 11 October 2013

Nail Art using MoYou London stamping plates

Good morning all!

Just a quick little post to show you my autumny nails - these are my first full hand of successful stamps - I feel like I have just 'got' stamping!


I used an image from one of the new MoYou London plates - I picked up a few when they released some of their new collections. This is one of the XL plates, although my nails are easily small enough for the small plates at the moment.


The base is the beautiful Butter London Tee Total. I then used Barry M Gold Foil Effects as the stamping polish (because its brilliant for stamping!) and used the tree rings from the top row. I really love this plate and can't wait to try out some more images - the tree rings turned out really crisp - they picked up well from the plate and then transferred brilliantly from the stamper to the nail. Really really happy!


You will definitely be seeing more stamping from me! Those cobwebs are definitely on my to-do list for Halloween! 


What do you think? Are you yay or nay for stamping? Do you have any of the MoYou plates yet? What do you think? 

Rachael xxx

Thursday, 10 October 2013

Nail Art with Revlon's French Mix 'Sneak Peek'

Hey all!

Today I have some nail art to show you using one of Revlon's French Mix dual ended polishes in 'Sneak Peek'.

I actually picked this little beauty up in TJ Hughes a while back for £2.99 as its last years line, but after getting some of the Moon Candy range, I wanted to try these.

I've only just read reviews of this line while searching for the name of the polishes. I was surprised to see that so many people haven't rated them at all, but I really love the combination of light blue and a sort of difficult to describe golden caramelly brown colour. 

Here is my nail art - I am determined to master stamping, so I tried out my NC01 plate again and used the small dandelion image to stamp onto two of my nails. Its really quite subtle, but the image transferred well and both polishes dried nice and quickly.


Sneak, the pale blue needed 3 coats to be completely opaque. I wasnt surprised as pastel cremes are notorious for needing so many layers, but they dried quickly and levelled nicely so I couldn't complain too much.


I was worried after waiting for those layers to dry that Peek (the shimmery golden coppery caramelly brown) wouldnt stamp, but luckily it did and next time I will be double checking by stamping first!

What do you think? I know these are supposed to be for french manicures which I am sure I will try at some point, but I quite like the subtle stamping design. Please let me know what you think!

Rachael xxx

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Pink Wednesdays for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Hey all, I have a new little wednesday installment for the next month - Pink Wednesdays for Breast Cancer Awareness month.

I know there are already a lot of reasons for wearing pink on wednesdays, so I thought why not mix the two together.

So here is my first pink mani of the month - a stamped mani using one of my new MoYou London plates - the Princess plate 14.


I am loving so many of the MoYou London plates - I still have about 10-15 (and soon to be more with the new Mother Nature release) on my wishlist. I picked up 3 in my first purchase - this was one of them. I love the flower design, as well as the swirly dots and hearts, the jigsaw puzzle pieces and the interlocking hearts and the gingerbread men. I will definitely get plenty of use from this plate!



I used the swirly hearts design for this one - I was worried it wouldnt pick up as if you run your finger over it the design is so shallow and delicate that you can barely feel the engraving. But it picked up beautifully and looked lovely over the paler pink. The two polishes I used were both Essie - We're In It Together for the base and Big Spender for stamping with.


What do you think? 

Rachael xxx


Tuesday, 8 October 2013

KKCenterHK - Chrysanthemum Tear Drop Nail Decorations

**Products in this post were provided for an honest review**

Good morning everyone! Today I have a product from KKCenterHK to share with you.


They are almost 1cm (9.9mm) in length, 6mm wide and are rigid. They have a pretty flower and circled dot print and make a nice accent to any manicure.



As they are quite large, they do not sit flat to the nail. I have particularly curved nails so they certainly do not sit flat to mine. However, with enough adhesive (I would recommend nail glue as topcoat will not hold them for very long because of the size) they will stay on for long enough. They are quite a statement and therefore I think they would be great for a special occasion. The colour makes them quite summery so I will definitely be reusing these come spring time!



The drops come as a pair - which makes them perfect for accent nails, but it is a shame they dont come in bigger packs. 

What do you think?


Rachael xxx

Monday, 7 October 2013

Swatched - Butter London Tee Total

Hey all!

Firstly, I'm so sorry for being quiet the last week or so. Work is so hectic and last weekend I had no time to prepare anything.. so unfortunately I only managed a couple of posts. I have been trying this weekend to get a little bit more ahead so there are a few more posts coming this week!

Here is one polish I've saved for awhile - I am SO glad I picked it up as I am loving neutral shades at the moment and this is definitely on my keeps list. Butter London Tee Total. Like its brand name, it applied like butter. The first coat is deceivingly patchy despite being easy to apply but the second coat just glides on leaving the beautiful glossy cappuccino coloured creme finish you can see. I am in love. 


This is 2 coats, base of matte Nail Envy and a top coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. It dried really quickly and levelled beautifully. Like I already said, it needs the second coat as the first is patchy. Other than that, I can't fault it.. really love it and can see it being a staple in my winter polish collection!


I picked this up from TK Maxx when they had an influx of Butter London polishes for £5.99, so keep your eye out for some!

What do you think? Do you have it / want it / like / dislike it? 

Rachael xxx

Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Giveaway Time!

Hi all!



Great news - I'm taking part in a Multi-blogger giveaway to offer all my readers some fantastic prizes!

They include plenty of international prizes such as gift certificates for a choice of 3 e-tailers and also two lovely ladies have submitted some of their own polishes as prizes. Exciting!

To get involved, start following all our lovely sponsors using the rafflecopter widget below!

There are 5 entries per follow and a whopping 10 entries for each share of our giveaway, so get entering!

If you follow me already on Bloglovin, Twitter, Instagram or Facebook then there are 5 entries for each of the platforms you follow me on! Get entered! If you aren't - quick links are on the left or are in the Rafflecopter widget.

Good luck!

Rachael xxx

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Nelly Polish - Swatches and Review of Jonah's Green and Freckled Primrose

Hey all! Happy 1st October!

First of all.. what do you think of my swanky new header? I am really not talented with these things, but my wonderful friend Becca whipped this up for me. Thanks Becca <3 LOVE YOU LOTS! :)

Today I have two more beautiful colours from Nelly Polish.

After having the opportunity to review 2 of her first collection, I jumped at buying a few more colours. I really enjoyed making them up and now have biceps of STEEL from shaking them about so much!

The first I tried was Jonah's Green. I ADORE this colour. 



This is everything that Essie Naughty Nautical promised to be but wasnt. A gorgeous deep teal green with a sprinkling of small gold hex glitters peeking out at you on occasion. I just love it.



 It was really easy to mix (I did need a small amount of help from Becca's OH to get one tiny corner of dry pigment mixed) and the finished formula was lovely - much thinner and easier to work with than a lot of indie polishes I have had recently. It has lovely coverage as it is so pigmented - I used two coats here with my usual Rimmel Stronger basecoat and SV top coat.


Freckled Primrose was much more difficult to photograph. Firstly, I lost daylight as I was painting my nails and secondly, it was just a pig to photo. I ended up waiting until the morning to rephoto them. Even so, for a yellow I REALLY loved it (I have well over 500 polishes and I now own a grand total of 3 yellows including Freckled Primrose) and autumn be damned, I will be wearing this again soon! 



As per all yellows, it needed extra coats for full coverage and to level out - 3 in total. I used OPI topcoat to mix this one (lucky polish!) and I was interested to see if there was any difference in the suspension and mixing. Although it looked completely mixed (I sat shaking for a good 5-10 minutes) the pigment in this didnt mix quite as easily as Jonah's Green and when I applied it to the nail I was concerned that I could still see specks of pigment that wouldnt dissolve properly. However, once each coat dried you couldnt see them at all, so I wasnt bothered really as it didnt affect my finish. This mix has a gorgeous holo lavender hex mixed into it, so once dry you can see specks of lavender sparkling out at you. Such an unusual but really very pretty mix - I love it!


Both polishes dried super fast - much faster than any other indies I own. They dry matted, so you will need to add topcoat, especially if you're a matte hater like me. It will also help you protect your beautiful new Nelly'd nails for longer.

So, what do you think? Do you like either of these? Have any of them? Want any? I am sure in the coming weeks I will see some more that I want.. I just love playing mini polish maker!

Rachael xxx

Saturday, 28 September 2013

Beauty UK Posh Polish Gel FX - Swatches and Review

**Products in this post were provided for an honest review**

Good morning everyone! I have the latest range of polishes from BeautyUK to share with you today. I am always happy to share more British brands and this is no exception!

There are six new shades in the brand new Gel FX collection - all gorgeous for the coming autumn and winter months. 

The colours are:


Midnight Iris, Crimson Rose, Himalayan Blue, Poppy Red, Pink Orchid and Café Cosmos.

They are all 9ml and will cost £3.49 each, available at Superdrug from this weekend - keep your eye out for them!

Here is a what BeautyUK say about them:

The silky and ultra-smooth, high coverage formula combined with the vivid shades makes this latest addition to the popular posh polish collection a must have item. Available in six on-trend catwalk colours, new GEL-FX not only provides a high gloss finish it also uses a plumping agent to make the nail appear fuller. Get your hands on the collection in 6 exotic-flower inspired shades.

Midnight Iris - an intense and mysterious dark inky blue.
Crimson Rose - a deep dark velvet red with hits of burgundy.
Pink Orchid - the essence of pink rich with berry coloured undertones.
Blue Himalayan - colour of the ocean with the waves of intense electric blue.
Cafe Cosmos - cushioned by the colour of the clouds in the grey winter sky.
Poppy Red - vibrant red exploding with festive spirit.

Onto the swatches! All swatches are WITHOUT topcoat to show you the finish of these polishes. I have used a base of OPI Nail Envy and two coats of each polish unless otherwise stated. I have altered colour settings on some photos to give you the most colour accurate photos I can.

(with flash - this is how it looks up close)

The first one I have to show you is Crimson Rose - one of my surprise favourites. In the bottle, this looks deceptively browner than it turns out on the nail. It is a vampy brown/red that looks almost black in certain lights and something I would normally avoid if I was out browsing for a new polish.


 (natural light)


(In shade)

The bottles are nice. A good size and at a good value price, so I was unsure of what the formula would be like. It is surprisingly nice - slightly thinner than the Gelly range by Barry M, but with just as much pigment and good coverage. This colour in particular is much redder with one coat, and levels out browner more burgundy with the second. It  It dries to a beautiful glossy finish as you can see. I was truly surprised at how much I liked this one. Be careful when you take it off, as I rubbed the wrong way and it stained my cuticles. No stainage on my nails though which is the main thing.



The second I have is the nude - Café Cosmos. A gorgeous light cream/beige creme that covered perfectly in just one coat. I have shortish nails, so this might not be the case for longer ones but it was perfect for me. Again, the formula was excellent - no streaks, levelled beautifully and dried in good time to a lovely shiny finish. Couldn't fault this one.


(both in natural light)

The next - the pink. There's always a pink. This is Pink Orchid. I am not a big pink fan, but its always good to have one as a back up, and this is one I'd recommend. Good formula like the others, full coverage in first coat, but I did use two here to level it out. Beautifully glossy and easy to apply.


(both natural light)


(shade)

The next - Midnight Iris. An inky, dark navy blue. This was a slightly thinner formula than the other five, but it was still super pigmented and covered fine. This was like Crimson Rose - so difficult to photograph as in certain lights it is almost black. Really nice work polish I think, but has endless possibilities with some nail art for a nice occasion.

(natural light)

(natural light)

This is Red Poppy - a totally different formula to the rest. This is what I refer to as 'tart red' - the best kind. Beautifully bright, slightly orange leaning but unlike the others as it is a true jelly. It doesnt fully cover the nail line  as you can see, so you might decide on a third coat - but I like it just as it is. It dries just as beautifully glossy as the rest as you can see.


 (both natural light)

And last, but definitely not least - Himalayan Blue. I own a ton of blues, but this is a new shade in my collection - what I would call a cornflower blue. Again, lovely formula and a glossy finish. Not what I would choose first for the time of year, but one can always find time for a nice injection of colour!

(natural light)

I wore this last colour for a full day and night - I would advise using a topcoat. It does stay glossy, however it doesnt hold up too well to wear and you could see a lot of dints (not much wear on the tips though which is good) so I would recommend a topcoat just to protect your mani for longer. 

Overall thoughts - I am so impressed with these. I will be holding out in hope that eventually the collection will get bigger and there will be more colours available. But the colours they have released are on the whole nice wintery colours that will get plenty of use with the odd less seasonal colour for whenever I need a colour pick me up! They have picked a nice selection too, so if you're picky about your colours there will at hopefully be at least one that piques your interest. Favourites? Definitely Crimson Rose and Himalayan Blue, but Poppy Red is close behind!

What do you think? Will you be grabbing any of these? Are you a fan of Gel effect polishes? What do you think of the price? 

Rachael xxx

Thursday, 26 September 2013

Pokémon NAC Week 8 - Electric

Hello again!

Another pokémon mani today - this time my favourite electric pokémon and first choice every time for the game. Ampharos!



 I always pick up a low level Mareep as soon as I can find one, then I raise it to evolve to Flaaffy and finally to Ampharos. I am mega excited about the new version of Ampharos coming in X and Y - only 2 and a bit weeks to go and ITS ALL MINE!!!




I see a sick day coming... only joking! 

So anyway, here are today's nails:

Base - Sinful Colors Black to Black with 1 coat of Green Ocean
Freehanded Ampharos on my ring finger and lightning on my middle.




What do you think? I had one of those days where I took 100 photos and they all looked the same when I came to edit them.. so I managed to cut down to 1. LOL - sorry!

Rachael xxx

Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Pokémon NAC Week 7 - Poison

Hey all!

Yaaaaaaay another installment of my favourite challenge - Pokémon (gotta paint em all :D)

Today is Poison, which I proper groaned at. I hate poison attacks, theyre so annoying. I'm a hit them and bash them hard, very little strategy type player, unless its against a friend, then of course I am full of strategy. But poison is never something I go for, I'm a lover of the Ghost move Curse and then I tend to revert to hitting them with everything I have and reviving constantly haha!



There are only 3 new poison pokemon in Gen 2, so I went for the one I actually used in game. The first time round I played, I started late at night and picked up a low level Spinarak. They're actually pretty cute I think for a bug / poison pokemon and especially for a spider. I played with him for at least 2 or maybe even 3 gyms, so thats a long time for a bug pokemon which are pretty much weak and rubbish for fighting with.




My nails are a base of Deborah Lippmann - Wicked Game, with some freehanded spiders webs and of course my freehanded Spinarak.

What do you think? I wasnt sure at first, but I quite like the duochrome background for these :)

Rachael xxx


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