Pick and Mix - Week 3 Texture

Hi again! We're on week 3 already!

This week is Matte / Texture or 60's. I'm not really a massive fan of either, but I do like the odd texture so will give it a go!

So I raided Becca's (Kitty's Painted Claws) polishes for this - I (We) chose a base of Sally Hansen - Bewitched and Barry M - Duchess for the texture. I own Duchess myself, but it has sat untried for around a year.. poor polish!

I applied one coat of Barry M - Duchess to my thumb, pointer and pinky, and 1 thick coat of Bewitched to the other nails. 



I then wanted to try the 'quilted' sort of look, so I taped some criss cross diagonals and painted over with some Duchess and then removed the tape. 





I then added a second coat of Duchess to my other nails as it didnt look even. You can see the shift between purple to goldy-brown quite well on the above picture.

What do you think? Are you a texture fan? Have you done quilted nails before? Would love to know your thoughts!

Rachael xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

BNB Colour Me Crazy - Green

Good afternoon!

I am super late with these, but after seeing the gorgeous nails by Anna Bean, I had an idea to do some of my own. Green is also my fave colour, so I didn't want to miss out doing these nails for the Colour Me Crazy challenge!

The base is 2 coats of Barry M - Key Lime, with one coat of Abuse the Ooze by Femme Fatale Cosmetics. This is one of my favourite brands and is particularly special as my other half specially went out and chose this colour for me.

I then used a design from MoYou London plate Artist 03 to stamp over and a generous coat of Seche Vite to smooth it out.

What do you think? Are you a green / glitter / stamping fan? 

Rachael xxx

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

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

Top 10 Seasonal Nail Products and Polishes

Hey all,

Long time no see! Been so run down with work, chocka with cold and whatever lurgies have been passed to me that blogging has taken a temporary back seat. I have however still been painting my nails to cheer myself up!

So here are my top 10 nail products for the season. I love this time of year - I love listening to xmas songs, I love buying presents for people and I love receiving presents too of course! But most of all I love that I get to see a bit more of my family and we get to spend some quality time together, even if it is only a few hours around the table.

Again, I haven't really put these in any order.. I would really be here until after Xmas if I had to decide!

Firstly is a basic product - cuticle balm. With the coldness setting in, my Raynauds has kicked in again - not sure if its related to my Raynauds or just the cold.. but my nails and skin have started to go downhill big style. So I've been slathering on the cuticle balm like theres no tomorrow. It has left my skin and cuticles much better, but I'm not commenting on my nails just yet. My favourites are Sunny's Miracle Balm and Cutie Balm by The Nail Junkie. I carry my Miracle Balm around for every day use, and I usually wear my Cutie Balm before bed when it has time to soak in. Sunny's Miracle Balms come in so many different scents its unreal - my favourite so far is Eucalyptus as its not an overpowering scent. The Nail Junkie's Cutie Balm is unscented and perfect for anyone with sensitive hands and skin (or a sensitive nose like myself!) I also have my own that I've made myself - they're fairly easy to make, I've played around with mine to improve the texture as my first although they did work were difficult to apply and a little on the gritty side (new on the left).

Another hand care product is my hand cream. I have millions of these and to be honest, I don't have a particular favourite. They have all worked well enough for me, but I did happen to really like the texture of one I got as a sample in a magazine - its got a nice texture - not sticky, overpowering or 'claggy'. It works in really nice and left my hands feeling lovely and I didn't need to reapply after washing my hands during the day - so it's on my list to buy. It's called Aveeno Hand Cream with colloidal oatmeal. 

Onto the polishes and other nail products. I think Xmas calls for some solid basic colours. Black, white, red, gold, silver, (blue and green) are my Xmas go-to's. I have always been a massive fan of Zoya Raven for my go to black, but as its hard to come by and also expensive, I have swapped and been using Sinful Colors Black to Black. For £1.99 I really can't fault it - it is a one coater on my short nails and has a nice and easy to level formula with a satin finish. However, my new find is the Kate Spade - New York Noir polish by Nails Inc. Its absolutely stunning. I actually only picked it up for the sake of it being free, but I am so glad I did - it really was worth the £2 price tag on the magazine! Even glossier than Zoya and a fraction of the price!

Zoya - Raven

Kate Spade - New York Noir by Nails Inc

Red is a hard choice. It is one of my most owned colours after pink (which I hardly ever wear - go figure!) and I have so many that I love. I really love jelly reds - most of which I own are very similar, if not dupes.. but seen as I love them so much I can't part with them! One is Poppy Red from the Beauty UK Gel FX collection. 

It's inexpensive and such a beautiful vibrant red - what I love the most is that it's something I can wear whenever I want - red isnt just a Xmas colour. Another very similar red that I love is Sinful Colors Gogo Girl. It has the same vibrant colour and jelly texture as Poppy Red, the only difference is that you would need more coats for the plumped Gel look that Poppy Red has and a good top coat to match the shine. The last red on my list is Crimson Rose, also by Beauty UK. I really expected to dislike this but it is so classy and demure, I just stare at my nails all the time. It is definitely an autumn winter polish, although I'm not sure it's a specific Xmas colour. Just so you're aware, I did get the two Beauty UK polishes as samples for review.

Gold and silver are no brainers - Barry M Gold and Silver Foil Effects. I don't own the latter, I usually steal it from Becca when I'm polishing at her house. I picked up the gold from a blog sale and use it for pretty much anything that requires gold. They stamp great and have fantastic coverage for general nail painting as well.

Glitters! OMG. This was the hardest part by far. I LOVE glitter. Its the biggest section in my helmers as I class glitter as my favourite colour - it has two drawers. There are so many shapes and sizes, I don't think I could ever pick just one, but I do love a good multi-coloured glitter (Ellagee Crazy He Calls Me or KBShimmer Wrapper's Delight are my Xmas faves). 

I also have a passion for circles. Circles here, circles there, big, small, holographic... I LOVE ME SOME CIRCLES! I have a few now with circles in them, and some of my favourites come from Nail Lacquer UK. I have Midnight Prince, Grape Juice, Choose the One, Heart or Love and Ariel which are all circles from Nail Lacquer UK. 

Nail Lacquer UK - Heart or Love

Can you really pass through the season and not have some love for iridescent flakies? I certainly cant! I only own two - Finger Paints Asylum and Sinful Colors Green Ocean. Neither are easy to come by, but they are both worth it if you can get them. Completely different in their own right, but both just beautiful! (I also own a couple of iridescent glitter polishes which also create the same sort of effect and are much easier to find - my favourite is my new Nail Lacquer UK - Snow Topper which also comes with cute snowflakes as well!)

Holos! Could I not mention holos? Definitely not. There are only two holos that I swear by and they are both Zoyas. Zoya Storm - a black scattered holo, and Zoya Blaze, a deep wine red scattered holo. I own back up bottles of both and am considering backups of my backups - no holos have ever come close for me on how beautiful these are!

And last but not least - stamping plates. I have only recently gotten my Xmas MoYou London plates but I'm surprised there are any etchings on as I have used them that much! I don't want to spoil the Xmas manis I've done as I have seperate posts coming.. so here's my most popular and favourite stamp so far (also a MoYou London plate!)

What're your top 10 favourite seasonal products?

Rachael xxx

Very late Pink Wednesdays Post for Breast Cancer Awareness

Hey all!

Dufus here forgot to press schedule on this post, so I've sat all week thinking it mustve been pants because I've had no views. As in NO views. Then I saw the big draft word next to it - duh! Hahaha! It's been a long week!

So these are dual purpose nails. They are using my favourite dusky pink 'Mrs Potts' by Taras Talons as the base, with decorated semi circles of pearls and a light topping of Barry M - Rose Glitter. I really love this base colour and it is surprisingly girly for me. I am getting into these pink wednesdays! I may have to make them a regular feature haha! I am also entering them into Taras current competition, so wish me luck! :)

Please let me know what you think - do you like / hate / would you change something? 

Don't forget to check out the other pink wednesdays we've done!

Rachael xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

ER31DC - Day 16 Tribal

Hey all!

Here I am again - am I sick? Maybe. Catching up super quick for the 31 Day Challenge. Today is Tribal. I took inspiration from the tribal artwork we used to study in art at school. Absolutely loved it and still stop to ogle it if i see it in a gallery or shop window. This is the picture I took inspiration from - can you see the different sections I took from? 

The colours I used were Sally Hansen - The Sky's the Limit, Barry M - Mushroom and Sinful Colors - Black to Black and Snow Me White.

What do you think? Would you wear it? Does it look tribal to you?

Other posts you might like:

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:

ER31DC - Day 9 - Rainbow

Haha bet you didnt think youd see one of  these again any time soon! 

I am soooo behind - but planning to get caught up soon :)

So here is something simple for my rainbow nails - inspired by their catchphrase 'taste the rainbow'.

Skittles! 

Polishes used are: 

Barry M - Block Orange

Barry M Gelly - Key Lime

Ciaté - Big Yellow Taxi

Sinful Colors - Gogo Girl

Sinful Colors - Snow Me White

Loving the red and orange which are jelly like in texture. Beautiful!

Whatve you got on your nails atm??

Rachael xxx

What shades are you wearing for summer? Orange comparisons

Hi all!

I have something a little bit different for you today - (I think) my first comparison post.

These are not in any way dupes, but I am sure like many others out there, you may be sick of the comment 'you've got loads of [insert colour here] polishes'. My other half just does not understand that there are so many different shades of a colour! So I thought I would show you some of my oranges (one of my favourite colours) - my 'summer' oranges as I would call them.

I included a range of shades, prices, brands and finishes, and all are two coats over 1 coat of OPI Nail Envy Matte, no top coat.

The polishes I used are:

Maybelline Color Show - Orange Attack (suggested retail is £3.99)

Nails Inc - Portobello (retails at £11)

Nails Inc - Porchester Place (retails at £11)

Illamasqua - Gamma (suggested retail is £14.50)

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine - Mango (retails at £3.99)

As you can see - not one of these shades are the same. Yet I love them all! There are pros and cons for all of them, which I will detail as we go through.

The first is Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Mango - on my pinky nail. This medium bright orange has a thicker formula than the other polishes, but with careful application could definitely be a one coater. It dries to a beautiful gel like, glossy finish and levels beautifully. It is also a bargain at only £3.99.

On my accent nail is Nails Inc in Portobello. This leans much more yellow than the others and is one of their newer neon shades. The formula is very thin and sheer and needs a good shake as it splits pretty easily. It levels nicely, dries in good time and has pretty nice coverage - but would need a third coat to cover the VNL. Dries to a rubbery finish. Price at £11 - bit steep.

Middle finger is Nails Inc - Porchester Place, which I showed you a few posts ago. You can really see how it leans pinky / peachy in this comparison. This gorgeous creme was a one coater (did 2 for comparison purposes) and levels beautifully. Bit more feminine, less in your face than the other oranges, dried quickly and to a glossy finish. Gorgeous. Only downside is the price - if you want only this, it will set you back £11. Definitely worth waiting for a sale code though!

On my index is Illamasqua - Gamma. This is the priciest polish - retailing at around £14.50 - this was originally from Fenwicks for £13.50 though (and i've just found out its half price at Illamasqua.com at the moment - £7.50). This is definitely what I would call neon orange. Coverage is lovely, but my god it took AGES to dry, and didnt level as well in 2 coats as the others - definitely a 3 coater I think, or possibly two if you are more careful with your application than I am. Once it finally dries, it dries to a beautiful glossy finish though.

And last but not least is Maybelline Color Show in Orange Attack. The darkest of the 5 colours I picked, this was a surprise favourite of mine. This is a gorgeous jelly-like finish, which leaves a VNL. Application however was flawless - formula is perfect, not too thick or runny and just glided onto my nail. Best part - these are only £2 in Asda. Definitely a winner in my eyes!

Which is your favourite? Do you even like orange? What sort of finish do you prefer? What affects you buying a polish - price, finish, shade, occasion? 

Rachael xxx

Swatched - Barry M Retro Purple

Hi all! 

Today I wanted to show you a swatch of a polish I picked up in a grab bag. I am not a big lover of the purple family.. and I am still massively undecided on this one - what do you think?

This is Barry M - Tainted Love from the Retro collection. I have never seen any of the Retro range on sale, in shops, but after googling I see you can find them relatively easily.

The bottom photo is most colour accurate - it does lean blue though. The formula was nice - this is two coats and 1 of SV.

What do you think?

Flip / Flop February Challenge - Day 22 - Plaid / Moustache

I am really quite liking these! I have to admit, I have serious shaky hand, so my lines arent even straight, let alone thin or even, but nevermind!

I really like the colours together:

Zoya - Purity
Barry M - Blueberry Ice Cream
Sally Hansen - Thinking of Blue

What do you think? Would you do (a better) plaid design on your nails?

Check out everyone else's efforts too!

Datyorkloves - Day 9 - Ombre or Gradient

I am still rubbish at gradients, but here is my effort for today!

Polishes used:

Barry M - Gelly Hi Shine Greenberry
Barry M - Gelly Hi Shine Papaya