For the love of... dots! #4 - Taras Talons

Good morning all!

Another dot filled mani today, this time from the lovely Tara from Tara's Talons. This is called Princess of Darkness. I can't remember how or when I came to get this polish as I have quite a Tara collection now, but I am sure it didn't take much thinking to press the confirm button on my order when I saw the circles in this.

I have this swatched over two polishes. I actually didn't realise until I took photos, but I sleep painted my base colour and I have an OPI shade on my pinky, and Sally Hansen - Dorien Grey on my other nails. I love the mix in here of different shapes. Pink (especially neon) and black is just an unreal combo, never gets old. The silver circles just complement that really nicely.

You can find Tara here:

The Tara Emporium

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

What do you think?

Rachael xxx

Guest Post from Rachel at Monkey Nails

ATTEMPT 2! I am so sorry, especially to all my guest posters as I b*ggared up royally when I thought I could 'quickly' upload my guest posts before my holiday. Lesson learned, it doesnt work! Again, really really sorry.. so here is the first guest post from last week, this time with all the beautiful pictures!

Rachael xxx

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Good morning all!

After a good few years of having no holidays, I am finally getting myself a way for a week. So while I am away, I am leaving you in the very capable hands of some guest bloggers who have offered to entertain you!

First up is a fantastic blogger, another Rachel (Best name ever. Fact.) from Monkey Nails <3 After seeing her photos, I just had to leave you with her post first as its getting me excited for the beautiful blue waters of Majorca!

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Hi there! When I said I'd do a guest post for Racho's Nail Love there was no contest what it was going to be about - my name is also Rachel, and one of the meanings of the name is ewe - that is, a female sheep. I got started on my sheep nails and there was going to be green glitter and googly eyes... then I left all my nail gear at my partner's house when I came home and I found myself with a problem. No googly eyes, no paintbrushes and no nail polish, not even a base coat. So I got inventive! What I did have was a whole bunch of new polishes that had just arrived in the posts from Nails Inc and Tara's Talons. I also found some PVA glue, a blunted pencil and some cotton buds. So here's what I came up with:

I used the PVA glue as a base coat. I applied it just before a long drive so by the time I got home it was totally dry! Then I applied three coats of Reef by Tara's Talons. I'm loving this dreamy blue polish - it reminds me of looking into a pond - there are bits of gold and green glitter in it and the slightly sheer finish means you feel like you're looking right the way to the bottom. I added dots of Tara's Talons Champagne and Nails Inc Mornington Crescent with the tip of the blunt pencil. (The more blunt the pencil is, the bigger the dots will be!) This look reminds me of paintings of water lilies by Monet. Did you know that Water Lilies is actually a series of about 250 paintings, and not just one? I did not.

I removed a bit of the cotton from the tip of my cotton bud and dipped it in nail varnish remover. Using just a little bit of cotton and the blunt end of the cotton bud made it much easier to clean up around my cuticles. And the marvellous thing about PVA glue is that it all just peels off afterwards!

Of course, this means that when I get all my nail art stuff back I'm going to have to finish off my Rachael/Rachel inspired nails. But this is not exactly much of a chore!

Thanks to Rachael for having me and I hope to see some of you over at Monkey Nails!

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Thank you again Rachel for your fantastic post, your nails are so beautiful and I am sure everyone else will think so too!

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

Swatched: Taras Talons - The Best Things in Life are Polishes!

Hey all! Got another one of my TT beauties today to share - nabbed this awhile back as I love circle glitters, and I am pleasantly surprised which how much I love this!

The Best Things in Life are Polishes (TBTINAP) is a very pale mint-leaning off white crelly with a fine sprinkling of small gold circle glitters and large blue/teal holo circles. I impulse bought this for the circles, without thinking about whether the colour would suit me, but as it isnt stark white, I really like how it looks.

It is very thin in consistency, and this was 4 coats to build full opacity. Because of the small amount of glitters in the polish, I think it would be best as a topper to make sure every mani gets a fair share of glitters. I did have to fish for the circles but it wasnt a massive effort, I just wanted big circle glitters on every nail (have to be even!).

This had a beautifully soft look to it - I had loads of compliments while I wore it for work.

What do you think? Is it something you would consider buying? Are you a lover or a non lover of circle glitters and/or crelly polishes? 

Rachael xxx

Taras Talons - All Work and No Polish! Swatch

Hey all!

Another Taras Talons polish here - got a few more in my untried pile, but I'll break them up so I don't spoil you all at once haha!

This is a single mini (5ml) that caught my eye a few weeks back. I'm normally a bar glitter hater but its very sparse in this polish so I thought I'd give it a try. All work and no polish is a sheer grey base with a mix of black, white and pink glitters in a variety of hexes and bar glitters in black and white only. It can be built into an opaque look on its own, but I decided to layer it over Sally Hansen - Ion for quickness. 

I decided to wear it as an accent as you know how much I like non-matchy nails. So I went for 2 coats of Sally Hansen - Ion on my pinky and pointer, 2 coats of Catrice - Raspberry Fields Forever on my middle finger and 1 coat of AWANP over 2 coats of Ion on my ring finger and thumb (not shown).

I really like how it looks, I love glitters, and these matte glitters are great for an every day look. I love the variety of colours and glitters in this and surprisingly like the addition of the bars. It was a beautiful formula and had a nice variety of glitters that went easily onto the nail. I did fish for the bars though as they are quite sparse, but thats how I want the polish anyway so its not an issue!

Small thank you to Becca from KPC too as these are all her polishes (bar All Work and No Polish) as I was having a polish afternoon at her house! It was her birthday last week, so I took over her presents and we had a swatch fest! Happy birthday Becca, love ya lots! 

Anyway, back to the polish - what do you think?

Rachael xxx

Taras Talons & Pocket Money Polishes Collaborations - Swatches and Review

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey all!

Excited to show you todays polishes - some collaboration duos from Taras Talons and Pocket Money Polishes, two UK indie makers.

I was lucky enough to snag one Cinderella duo and one Beauty and the Beast duo for myself.

The first I have to show you is the Beauty and the Beast Duo - Mrs Potts by Taras Talons and Enchanted Rose by PMP. 

Here is Mrs Potts by itself. I can't decide if this is lilac or pink. I'm thinking a lilac leaning pink. Its really pretty and has a beautiful formula. This is 2 coats, with a base of Rimmel Stronger basecoat and 1 coat of Seche Vite. I would happily wear this on its own, its a rare pink that suits my skintone but I love this soft blush look.

And here it is topped with 1 dabbed coat of Enchanted Rose. These two polishes compliment each other perfectly - the various sizes of rose pink hex and a spattering of holographic hexes really make this look magical. As I said, I dabbed this on for even coverage, but thats just the regular for any glitter toppers if you want an even covering. 

What do you think overall? I think its super pretty as a duo, but Mrs Potts is great for a less sparkly occasion too! 

So here is the Cinderella duo. I found out about these really late, but was over the moon to find my favourites of the collection were the last ones available! These are Bibbity Bobbity Boo by Taras Talons and Magic Pumpkin by PMP.

You might think these are an odd match together, but I love them combined. Here is BBB (nobodys got time to type that over and over haha.. plus I can't spell it!) on its own. Its a beautiful turquoise shade. My favourite!

Application was perfect, lovely pigmented formula which self levelled perfectly. I only used 1 coat here with my Rimmel Stronger base and Seche Vite topcoat. Yay for short nails!

Aand here it is topped topped with Magic Pumpkin. The only slight thing I would mention is the base discolours turquoise. If any of you use Seche Vite, you will find it yellows certain colours and alters their true colour - mint green, turquoise etc are the most noticeable. Unfortunately this is the case for a lot of indie glitters too as they have the same ingredient in the base. Practically all my glitter toppers do this. A shame for the base colour, but it still looks good with the glitter shades Charlie has used. One thing I will say is that it doesnt yellow it as much as Seche Vite does though. This again has that magical sparkly holographic glitter element. Beautiful! This is one dabbed coat.

Do you have any PMP / Taras Talons polishes? Which is your favourite? 

You can find Taras Talons here:

Website

Etsy Shop

and Pocket Money Polishes here:

Website

Rachael xxx

Taras Talons - Polish Club September

Good morning all!

Today I have my very first indie subscription to show you!

Taras Talons recently set up polish club - the first UK indie subscription box. For a small price of £10 a month, you will receive 2 unique polishes, 1 full size (10ml) and 1 mini (5ml). These are like all Taras polishes and will be one offs.

The two I received I was uber pleased with. Theres a story behind one of them, which I'll fill you in on. The mini I received is called Forget Me Not. As soon as I saw this I loved it. More so for the name. September is my 'big Gran's birthday month. She passed away when I was in school - I was about 14/15, so over 10 years ago now. I've always wanted to get a tattoo to remember her by, and as I'm a big scaredy cat, and also because I want something tasteful and small, I decided that when I'm brave enough, I'll get a small forget-me-not in her memory. So of course when this polish arrived I did get a bit of a lump in my throat, but I do only have wonderful memories of my big Gran and wearing this on my nails will only make me think of her and how much I love her more.

Forget Me Not is a beautiful mulberry colour. Its unlike anything I own already and isn't something I would instinctively choose, but it was a lovely colour on my nails. It does look slightly more brown in the photos, but when it hits the light you can see the red tones and the lovely shimmer.

My second polish, the 10ml was a glitter polish. I won't lie, I did initially feel a bit disappointed at a gold glitter. But once I applied it I realised how lovely it was - its not a two dimensional flat gold glitter, but a mix of gold and gold holo hexes and multiple sizes of glitter, so its so sparkly! It transformed Forget Me Not from a classic work-appropriate mani to a beautiful sophisticated special night out mani. The polish is glitter packed, so rather than a full nail, I decided to lightly sponge it on as a glitter gradient. I had no problems with application, the formula was great and no problems getting glitter out. Lovely! Only problem was the dying light, so although you can see tiny flecks of holo, I didnt manage to capture just how sparkly it really was!

I am so happy with this subscription and can't wait for next month. I really think for £10, its a good price for something hand made and unique. 

If you fancy trying Polish Club, you can sign up for it at Taras Talons via Paypal.

What do you think? Did you sign up for polish club? What colours did you get / would you like to see? 

Rachael xxx

ER31DC - Day 10 - Gradient Nails

Hey all!

I am trying my hardest here to catch up with this challenge - everyone else I believe is on.. Day 22/23. I am on... Day 10! Yaaaaaay for Day 10 haha! Got to be positive about these things :)

So anyway. I was not looking forward to today - I am not great at gradients they always look not blended. I try my hardest - maybe its just the polish I choose. 

Today I went for something unusual for me - a mix of orange and coral orange/pink. I used Barry M Gelly Papaya and one of my new Taras Talons polishes - Orange Juice.

I've worn Papaya before - its a very bright juicy orange. Orange Juice is a corally orange, which looks a bit pinker when you put it with Papaya. I think they work well together. I used two coats of Papaya, and then sponged Orange Juice on at the tip. What do you think?

I then thought it didn't look quite finished, so I went for your typical sunset look and freehanded a palm tree silhouette onto my accent nail.

Don't forget to check out what everyone else did for gradient week!

Other posts you might like:

UK Indie Treats - Taras Talons Part 2!

Hi all!

Today I have another bottle of my Tara's Talons to show you! :) Don't forget - check out her shop and use my 20% off code - RACHO20 (go on, treat yourself!)

As a reminder, here are her details:

Etsy

Blog

Website

Facebook

Twitter

This one is Bubble Bath - I knew I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't buy at least one blue or green, so this is what I chose :)

Bubble Bath is a gorgeous frosted blue, creme like polish with tiny blue glitters and what looks like opalescent white hexagon glitters (on closer inspection, theyre silver, but they look opalescent white on the nail).

The first coat applies quite sheer and patchy, but evens out nicely on the second coat. The formula is average - not too runny, not too thick, and there is a nice amount of glitter in there. The only downside I see to this polish is that the silver glitters dont stand out too much - the pigmentation of the polish hides them and they are only noticeable on close inspection. However, on the other hand this does give the polish a softer appearance - it reminds me of winter snow actually, and so I think it depends on what you're looking for out of this polish.

This is definitely a winter polish for me - it's the frosted element and the silver / white glitters that make it. I have already visualised many many different designs - snowflakes, snow men.. etc :) so watch out for me whipping this beauty out from November onwards! 

I decided after wearing it for awhile to jazz it up a little - so here it is with some Born Pretty Store accessories! 

 What do you think of this one? Is it a colour that you'd wear? Are you bothered about 'seasonal colours' or do you just wear what you want, when you want? Yay or nay to the accessories?

Rachael xxx

UK Indie Treats - Tara's Talons!

I have something extra special to share with you today (and some more days in the future!) Swatches and review of some indie polishes by Tara from Tara's Talons :)

I spoke to Tara the other day after seeing some gorgeous swatches of her polishes over at Special Girl Nails (go check em out!). She was so nice, she even HAND DELIVERED my polishes so I could get them faster - how lovely is that? <3 She also offered me a discount code to share with all my readers - no end date! Read on for that, plus some gorgeous polish porn!

Little bit about Tara's Talons first - Tarastalons is a UK based indie nail polish and nail art creator shipping worldwide! All nails are hand designed and all polish is handmade and limited edition, with a maximum of ten polishes of each shade being made and more often only one of each polish being made! Tara also create custom polishes and nail art! Check her out using the various links below!

Etsy

Blog

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Back to the polish - I was a bit greedy (or buy happy!) and picked up 6 colours. The first I have to show you is "Don't talk, just polish". 

I was intrigued by this, as it looks slightly textured in the photos Tara has of it. But what sold it for me is the beautiful Coral-Orange shade. You all know how much I heart orange! Such a beautiful summer colour - don't you think?

When it arrived, checking out the bottle it looks like it is filled with little glass flecks, the size of grains of sugar.

On the nail is beautiful - can you believe it - this is ONE coat of polish. When I opened the bottle, it looked very grainy and I worried about application but it was surprisingly smooth and very easy to work with. Formula is just the right thickness and perfectly pigmented for full coverage in one stroke. It dries to a glossy finish and does have a textured feel. It is my first textured experience, and I am unsure how I feel on it. I am sat debating it now, while stroking my nails! It is not rough in any way, it is not something that would catch or click on your clothes.. so I think maybe in time I will love the feel. However, for now I will add a coat or two of Seche Vite and admire the beautiful glass like flecks and the beautiful colour :)

These both have 2 coats of SV to even it out. Top coat hungry! You can see in the bottle how the little glass flecks look :)

So why are you not over at her Etsy shop yet? Code for all you lovely readers is RACHO20 to take 20% off your order :) keep reading over the coming days for my other colours.. they'd come faster but I can't take this off just yet! 

What do you think? Do you own any indies / UK indies? Do you like textured polishes? 

Rachael xxx