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