Swatched - OPI Thanks a Wind-Million

Good morning all!

Just a swatch post here. I had to share this beauty that I picked up recently in the UK OPI sale. Someone (whoever you are, my addiction thanks you.. my bank balance does NOT!) posted in one of my nail groups that there was an OPI sale.. I picked up two beauties. This and Jade is the new Black. I went halfers on an order with Becca from Kittys Painted Claws and after swatching, she was sooooooo generous to give me OPI Animalistic as well. I have yet to swatch the other two, but anyway.. I digress.

I swatch a lot of colours, mainly to do nail art on top of and I rarely decide to share on their own. OPI is probably the main brand that I end up having to share swatches of, because they are just so lovely!

So here is Thanks a Wind-Million. For a creme polish this is SO easy to work with, I just love it. A one coater! It is very thin for a creme polish, but pigmented enough for full coverage. I did have to do 2 on my middle nail which is a fraction longer, but definitely just one coat needed if you have short nails. All photos have no topcoat on and its beautifully glossy. Definite keeper!

What do you think? Do you have this colour, would you wear it?

Rachael xxx

Back to School NAC - Day 3 Fave / Least Fave Subject

Gooooooooood morning!

Day 3 already - wow!

Today I went for least favourite subject. Why? Because I'm not confident in it, and to be honest, when I was in school the teachers made it boring as sin.

I'm hoping now that I have become a make-shift science teacher that I can make it more interesting for the pupils I teach!!

Don't forget to check out everyone else's favourite / least favourite subjects! 

Rachael xxx

August Tri-Polish #4

Hey all!

Last tri-polish of the month today. Here they are. I just had to do this because the colours scream drugs and rastafarianism to me. When I was a kid and drugs were cool, I used to wear loads of badges with these colours and the cannabis leaf on them. I had earrings to match. Now, I think drugs are stupid, but I have fond memories of my old clothing and accessory choices!

Also, my Ciaté Big Yellow Taxi finally gave up the good fight.. so I had to substitute for my new Bondi NY Brick Road. Its much more straw yellow than my Ciaté, but its the best option I had.

Rachael xxx

Back to School NAC - Day 2 ABCs

Good evening everyone!

Really late with these today, been a mental one running here there and everywhere yet I feel like I got very little done!

So here is my feeble attempt at ABC nails - calligraphy style! Not a patch on everyone elses!

Don't forget to check them all out though, we have so many people joining in and their efforts are just amazing! Also if you were thinking about joining in, or dont have time to do the full challenge, feel free to hop in and out on the days you fancy! All welcome!

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

Pokémon NAC - Week 4 Water - Chinchou

Good morning! 

Another Pokémon update today - I'm still behind but today I am upto week 4, Water pokémon!

There are a few new additions to the water list, but this one is by far the cutest! It has a really cute storyline in the anime where once a year they leave the water to go on a big migration, so I thought I would base my nails on that.

The base I have used is Mentality - Scalawag, its a beautiful blue holo. I then decided to cover that with Sinful Colors Hottie for an extra twinkle, and I've then used my trusty Sally Hansen Skys the Limit, Sinful Colors black and white and Revlon Sunshine Sparkle to freehand Chinchou onto my nails.

What do you think? I'm honestly really pleased with these. They're probably the best nails I've ever done. Ever. But then again, I love Chinchou a lot, its so cute!

Don't forget to check out everyone else's water nails! 

Rachael xxx

August Tri-Polish #3

Morning everyone!

Here's my third tri-polish effort. I quite like these, I got the stitching idea from a mani that Cazzy did over at SpecialGirl Nails.

What do you think?

Don't forget to go check out everyone else's Day 3 manis!

Rachael xxx

Back to School NAC - Day 1 Apples

Hellooooo!

Promised you a post, so here it is! My apples mani for Day 1.

Here I used Deborah Lippmann Modern Love as a base colour, an unnamed red Essie (472) for the apples, Catrice I'm Not a Greenager for the leaves and Mentality - Proper for the stalks and pips. The half apple also uses Ciaté Cookies and Cream for the flesh, and of course any white is my trusty Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

Pretty pleased with how these turned out! Don't forget to check out everyone else's nails for this challenge! If you're thinking of joining in - please do! More the merrier! 

Rachael xxx

Back to School Nail Art Challenge

Hey all!

Anyone up for a quick nail art challenge? Cause i'm hosting one right here! As per usual I am right on the line with organising everything - it starts today!

No worries if you're a little late, I love seeing everyones nail art and I don't really mind when!

So here are the details - please share if you're joining in - the more the merrier! Even if you've never done it before, have a go - challenge yourself!

Inlinkz can also be found here if you're sharing on your blog:

Click here for inlinkz

If you don't blog, feel free to share your photos here (email me and I'll post them) or post to my twitter (@rachosnl) or my Facebook page (Rachos Nail Love). 

Hope to see you joining in! Mine will be up later I promise!

Rachael xxx

One from the vault..

Hey all!

Never believed I would do my nails often enough to have 'a vault', but I do have one mani to show you. I was saving this for a nail art competition, but I got rejected so many times for even being in the short listing that I just gave up even trying. 

So here are my nails which I was going to enter into the Grazia and Nails Inc competition on Twitter. They were a second version of my black and white nails with a twist which were a couple of weeks ago. I loved these and wore them for several days.. I really love neon still and am gutted that summer is coming to an end and all the autumn colours are coming in.

My pointer and pinky have two black Born Pretty studs each. What do you think?

Rachael xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

Pokémon NAC - Week 3 Fighting - Hitmontop

Hey all!

Another pokémon installment today. This time its Hitmontop. Fighting pokémon are thin on the ground for the first few generations, so I just went for a cuter option.

I desperately need a new small detailer brush. Not happy with my outlining at all, but can you see the general resemblance?

Don't forget, if you fancy joining in, you can join any time - either post links to your pictures on here, or you can join at the facebook group! Everyone welcome! We also have a hashtag for Instagram if you want to post on there - #pokenailsgen2 .

Don't forget to check out everyone else's fighting manis - theyre really fab!

Rachael xxx

Pokémon NAC - Week 2 Fire - Cyndaquil

Hey all!

What a surprise, I'm super late with this one.

Cyndaquil is the HARDEST ever pokémon to freehand. And I chose to do him on two seperate nails? Whats wrong with me?!

Anyway, here is my mani. Not my best work but its all a learning curve :)

Still loving my Sinful Colors UFO glitter which is on my middle and pinky over the Zoya base colour.

What do you think? Is it as bad as I think it is?

Rachael xxx

August Tri-Polish #2

Hey all!

Here's Day 2. Technically I should be onto Day 10 by the time this didnt go completely wrong!

Hope you like it!

Don't forget to check out everyone else's Day 2 Tri-Polish manis!

August Tri-Polish Mani #1

Hey all!

Trying something new today - my first attempt at the Tri-Polish challenge. This is the genius idea of Debbie over at The Crumpet, but if you feel like finding out more such as the 3 colour choices for each month, you want to head over and join the Facebook group.

This month's colours are red, green and yellow.

I've picked Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri Rapid Red, Ciaté - Big Yellow Taxi and Barry M - Spring Green.

So here's attempt one. I decided to go retro and crack open the black crackle. Gotta get my money's worth - this baby cost me a whole £1 from Poundland!

Don't forget to check out everyone else's Day 1s!

Rachael xxx

Bad Apple Review and Swatches - 3D Arlington, 3D Red Cape, 3D Russett and Barn

Hey all :)

Today I have some long overdue swatches for you of some Bad Apple polishes I picked up. I couldn't say no to the fantastic offer on Wowcher which is where I picked up Arlington, Red Cape and Russett. The other polish 'Barn' I picked up from CheapSmells.com after seeing it reviewed on Lucys Stash. I also love that they are a British company, and I am all for supporting companies from home!

Here's a little bit of information about Bad Apple - 'The Bad Apple design was developed by Darren Woods who prides himself on being the sole designer of these exclusive colours. By drawing upon his extensive experience within the industry and from all the advice he has given to others about colours, he has finally been able to design and develop his own range of stunning nail varnishes. This Bad Apple range is based on 70s cars such as the TVR. Bad Apple nail varnishes are no drip, no chip and high gloss. Bad Apple Cosmetics do not contain Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP or Parabens.

All these shades I am showing you today are worn over a coat of OPI Matte Nail Envy and finished with a coat of Seche Vite unless otherwise stated.

The first I have for you is 3D Russett. This is the one that caught my eye in the bottle - a beautiful duochrome that flashes green / brown / gold. From other reviews I have read, I expected it to be quite sheer, but it was opaque in one coat. I used two coats in total. This is beautiful for autumn - there are a few duochromes coming out from indie polish makers and this is a beautiful UK substitute! The formula was great - applied nice and smooth, the brush is a standard slim brush but the long slim handle made it easy to grip and use. Nice!

The second I have for you is 3D Red Cape. From the bottle this looks predominantly purple with hints of brown and gold. On the nail this is... odd. The formula is different - much more watery and thin in comparison to the other two. When you first put it on, its quite a dreary brown, mauve colour and is really sheer. I used 3 coats here and you can see the visible nail line still. It could be layered over something else, such as black to give it a more pigmented look on the nail. However, what saves this polish is the beautiful purple shimmer it has. I used the flash on my camera to show you this when it catches the light - it really is gorgeous (even though its purple). I will be keeping hold of this but I think it will be better layered than worn on its own - such a shame it doesn't share the same formula as the others though.

The third I have for you is 3D Arlington. This looks like a greeny / blue duochrome in the bottle, but looked predominantly green on the nail when I first put it on. After it dries completely, it does shine a more teal blue at certain angles. It had the same formula as Russett, which I was pleased with. Again, bottle was easy to use, formula was nice for application and I only needed two coats for full opacity.

The last I have for you is Barn. There is nothing 3D or duochrome about this polish - I just liked it. It's a bright pink with a lovely shimmer to it.  The formula is lush. Different again to the other 3 polishes but lovely and smooth and could definitely be a 1-coater for shorter nails. I actually think this might be my favourite pink ever! I wore two coats here WITHOUT topcoat (look how beautiful and shiny it is!) and you can at certain angles still just see the VNL, but I'm happy with it as is.You could always add another coat if you want - the bottles are nice and big at 14ml each.

These polishes retail for £9.99 each at the Bad Apple Cosmetics website. You can pick some shades up cheaper at various other websites like I did, such as CheapSmells.com.

Overall I am quite impressed with these polishes and would definitely like to try some more. Russett is definitely my favourite of the '3D' duochrome polishes, but Barn is my overall favourite. I have also seen they have some beautiful looking gel-like polishes, so watch this space for some more! ;)

What do you think of these? Are you a fan of duochrome? Or is the pink your favourite?