Winners of the British Bloggers Giveaway!

The massive British Nail Bloggers Giveaway finished last Friday.

It ran for three weeks and attracted 65,815 entries. What an amazing competition to be a part of!

As it has now come to an end, those of us who sponsored it are pleased to be able to announce the winners of the $100 gift certificate and the three $50 gift certificates – all of which can be used at any online nail polish e-tailer of the winner’s choice.

So, without further ado, congratulations go to the following winners:

- 1st prize – a $100 gift certificate – Lena Payne

- 2nd prize – a $50 gift certificate – Nina Wilson

- 2nd prize – a $50 gift certificate – Courtney Beck

- 2nd prize – a $50 gift certificate – Kris Wilson

Congratulations to the winners. To claim your prize, please email crumpet@the-crumpet.com, before the end of Wednesday 3rd July. Happy spending!

Thanks everyone for entering – if you followed me, I hope you enjoy reading my blog.

Rachael xxx

 

ER31DC - Rainbow Nails

Good evening all :) 

Today i decided to go outside of the box to show you my new addition - a big lemming of mine. Kunimitsu polish - Rainbow Trout.

Found this beauty in a nail sale - cant stop looking at my nails 😊

What do you think? Would you wear it? I am in love!

Pokémon Nail Art Challenge - Week 15 Dragon - Dratini

Hi all! 

Well here I am, 'upcycling' another mani. This really is such a beautiful base, I thought it would be suited for Dratini! 💙 

Technically I have not done my Ghost nails yet.. But I cant produce a half assed mani for my favourite ever pokémon!

So here are my simple Dratini nails - sometimes less is just more I think :)

What do you think? Xxx

Is there ever a time when glitter is not appropriate?

Hey all - slightly different post from my usual swatches and reviews today.

Last week was a pretty crap week for me - first I was pretty badly with the worst migraine I have possibly ever had, and two, wednesday was the funeral of my other half's grandma.. who after 9 and a half years is pretty much another grandma to me.

Grandma was a beautiful lady inside and out, and I chose my outfit carefully - a navy blue dress and black leggings, with Deborah Lippmann - Across the Universe on my nails. The service was a beautiful tribute to her and the flowers everyone sent / brought were beautiful. The wake afterwards was full of family and friends all ready to share a happy story of how they remembered her.

When I said I would paint my nails however, I was met with 'its a solemn occasion - is glitter really appropriate?'. Here are the nails I wore - I like both versions, but I chose to top them with my Butter London Matte Top Coat for the occasion.

Normal:

Matte top coat:

Quick few comments on the polish - really panicked when the first coat went on so thin - hardly any glitter, it wasnt looking positive. But it really evened out on coat 2, and I added a third to fix a couple of patchier nails. Lovely and smooth, nice thin formula and nice to apply. Dries quite slowly however. Levels really quite nicely but little bit of dabbing needed to distribute glitters evenly.

Back to being told glitter isnt appropriate - what are your thoughts on this? I thought my choice was 100% appropriate - it wasnt illuminous or in your face in any fashion.. no, it wasnt black or a plain colour.. but it was in my eyes matching to the rest of my outfit and a darker colour choice suitable for something like a funeral. 

Would you wear glitter to a funeral?  

Rachael xxx

The 'hiatus' will soon be over!

Hi all,

Good news - today I got offered two terms starting immediately from my end date (next friday) as a Science teacher!

So firstly I want to apologise for not being around - the grey cloud of being unemployed had descended and I was seriously lacking in any form of happiness let alone creativity!

So tonight I will be painting my nails in celebration... of being able to now justify new nail polish buys!

YEEHAW! :D

Swatched - Orly Bailamos

Hi all, today I have a swatch for you from my very first Orly haul. 

I spotted a few come up for sale in one of my blog swap and sale groups. Orly only comes into shops in the tiny bottles over here (5ml) and they're extortionate at £5 each. No way am I paying that. Ever!

So this is Orly - Bailamos. Picked up for a very respectable £4. For a 15ml bottle. I cant quite decide how to describe this.. or decide if its me or not. Formula was great, 2 coats and 1 of SV here. 

What do you think? x

Invogue Polish Tea Leaf - Swatches and GIVEAWAY!

**Polishes in this review were kindly provided for me by Oh Beauty**

Good morning all!

Today I have a very special post for you - swatches of Tea Leaf, a beautiful shade by Invogue. You may recognise the name Invogue, as they are the makers of the Nails Inc Feathers dupes that I shared with you here and here.

  

This is the first chance I have had to try some of their 'Core' polish line. I was not disappointed! Tea Leaf is a beautiful mint creme polish. All the Invogue formulations are free from Toluene, Formaldehyde, Camphor and DBP, which for me is definitely a winner! 

The formulation is fantastic - cremes can be a real pain for being streaky, being hard to level etc but this isnt, it levelled really nicely and the formula was just right - I think this could be a one coater for those a bit more careful than me! (Here I have used 2 coats with Seche base and top coat to finish out of habit). The brushes are also really nice with these polishes - no stray hairs and nice and firm which helps with application.

You can find Tea Leaf and a whole range of Invogue polishes (including the Feather effects, Concrete, Neons, Metals, Matt Suedes and Glitters) here at Oh Beauty. They retail at £4.49 each for a 10ml bottle, which works out cheaper than other retailers such as Superdrug when you factor in their free delivery (to UK).

What do you think of Invogue polishes? Do you own any? Are there any on your wishlist? I'm loving the neon range - they're definitely on my to buy list!

What do you think of this shade? Would you wear it? I'm loving it!

---------------

Now - to the giveaway! This is open to UK readers only - sorry! Oh Beauty were kind enough to send me a second bottle of Tea Leaf to give away to my lovely readers! 

Rules:

Giveaway is open until 30th June - get your entries in! Open to over 18s only. I have added in some mandatory entries as I think we need to show Oh Beauty some love for giving us a free polish! More entries are available for sharing - you can do this each day to get another 5 entries per platform! Good luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

British Nail Bloggers Collaboration Giveaway!

Today is a very exciting day – the launch of the British Nail Bloggers Giveaway!

A group of us have clubbed together to lay on a Giveaway worth $250.

So what’s on offer?

* 1st prize $100 gift certificate

* 3 x 2nd prize of $50 gift certificate

The gift certificates can be used at any online nail e-tailer to fill your Helmer / shoebox with the polishes of your dreams.

The Giveaway is open internationally and runs til 8pm on Friday 28th June.  You must be over 18 to enter.

All you need to do is click on the Rafflecopter widget below – make sure you follow everyone for the best chance of winning!

Good luck !!!

Rachael xxx

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway ...

Swatched - Seche Lumiere

Hi all! 

Today I wanted to show you a swatch of a polish I picked up in a sale and swap group. It was a steal at only £2. I really like the colour and I have worn it a couple of times for work. 

It has a satiny finish, and is slightly brush strokey but other than that I am really quite taken by the colour :) 

What do you think? x

Swatched - Essie Mojito

Hi all! 

Today I wanted to show you a swatch of a polish I picked up on the cheap. By now, I'm sure you know I love a polish steal - I picked up this beauty for £1.99 from the 'bargain barrow' near me. 

I have used this quite a lot for nail art, but never as a full mani. The formula is gorgeous and almost a one coater. I am completely in love with this - the shade, the price, everything! I love the Essie brushes as well - the wide brush is so much better for painting your nails - my smaller nails are literally one stroke!

What do you think? x

Small Blog Sale now up!

Feel free to check out my little blog sale - time to let some of my pretties go to new homes! UK Only

Blog Sale

See anything you like - email me at rachosnl@gmail.com

Rachael

xxx