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

Nails Inc Lucky Dip - Part 2

Good morning :)

Here I am with the 2nd half of my lucky dip!

The colours I have today are:

Bruton Mews

Hammersmith

Seymour Walk

and Park Lane

I was pretty pleased with the range of colours I got this month, but some were definitely not summer colours! The first I have today is Bruton Mews. It's a really dark, grungy green colour, which shows almost black in some lights. 

I am honestly unsure of this one. I spied it only a couple of days ago at the Nails Inc counter in Debenhams, and in the bottle, it definitely looks more green. So I think overall I was disappointed with this one.. but at the same time, I feel like I have to hold on to it to try again at a later date. I am annoyingly on the fence about it. 

The second polish is part of the same picture - Hammersmith. From the bottle, this reminded me of Nail Junkie by Sinful Colors. The different sizes of glitter and the consistency are very similar. But I definitely feel I made a fail thinking I could pair this with Bruton Mews - I think I was thinking Nail Junkie which is more green, whereas Hammersmith is more blue and silvery and therefore not at all a good choice for Bruton Mews. Really do not know what I was thinking! But the polish itself is really quite pretty - very dense - only 1 coat over the base colour. What do you think?

The next is Seymour Walk. This reminds me of L'Oréal - Opulent Pink. The formula for this is nicer though - thicker, creamier and possibly a tad lighter? Not sure though. There's nothing all too special about it, it doesn't really wow me in any shape or form.. but it is a nice summer colour.

And last, the most surprising of the bunch for me - Park Lane. As soon as I saw this, I definitely thought oh no, another version of Amethyst Nail Jewellery (which was a massive disappointment for me). But once I got this on, I was literally shocked at how much I loved it. I generally hate purple. It does nothing for me and its purple. End of. 

Park Lane is made up of one size of glitter - lots of small violet ones. The consistency is nice - I used two coats and had a near full coverage, but enough for me to be happy with it. No dabbing required either which was great. I added a topcoat for this one, but in all honesty my nails weren't very rough without it, it just levelled it out a little better. 

So what do you think of these? Do you have any / want any? 

Calling all Pokémon fans! Gen 2 challenge starting soon!

A quick sneak peek at something happening very soon - Pokemon Challenge Generation II!

Becca at Kittys Painted Claws is getting all of the links prepared so there'll be more info shortly, but the challenge will be starting weekly from July 19th for the main rounds.

If you want to join in, drop by the Pokemon Nail Challenge facebook group to hang out with the other Pokemon Nail Challengers until the rounds start! If you didn't do Gen 1, you can still join in and you can pick from any pokemon from 1 to 251!

Or if you just want to do the odd one, you are welcome to share your nails here or at Kittys Painted Claws I'm sure! I will be posting mine as always on Instagram aswell, so I think there should be a hashtag if you want to join in there! :) 

Hope to see some of you join in! Embrace your inner (or outer) geek / child! :) xxx

Nails Inc Lucky Dip - Part 1

Hi all,

Got some Nails Inc swatches for you today!

I have been quiet again, but I have still been amassing more polish. MORE POLISH!!

The ones I want to show you today are some of the ones I got in my latest lucky dip from Nails Inc. I really do love Nails Inc polishes - the formulas for their different polishes are generally really nice, but I have to say the price tag of £11 a polish is definitely out of my price range if I'm wanting more than one colour. 

So of course I love the idea of their lucky dips - only £18 (really just under £22 with postage) for 7 polishes. It is of course hit and miss, as you don't know what you will get - but so far I have been pleased with the majority of polishes I have gotten. This month was a pretty good one!

This month I got:

Dovehouse Street

Farringdon Crackle Topcoat

Porchester Place

Bruton Mews

Seymour Walk

Hammersmith

Park Lane

I have the first three to show you in this post, but just a few notes first. All polishes I used were 2 coats, apart from the crackle which was one over another colour. One coat of OPI Nail Envy Matte as base, but no topcoat on any.

The first is Dovehouse Street. I was reticent about this at first - it looks very thin and sheer, very girly, sparkly, and generally not something I would pick out for myself.

 It was pleasantly surprising on my nails - not completely clear, with enough coverage to 'dim' the nail line. VNL's are really growing on me - but it has to be the right colour to do it. This does - the pinky gold shimmer also adds to how pretty it is - really simple, but elegant on my nails. Definitely going in my keeps pile.

The second I have is the Farringdon Crackle Topcoat. I think I remember being a crackle fan around the age of 15 / 16, but I definitely think its done its course. But the formula looked quite nice in the bottle, so I thought I would give it a go over Dovehouse Street, as I'm thoroughly bored of all crackle colours with black.

 My final thoughts - definitely going in my nieces donation bag - she's 9, so she'll probably still appreciate it!

The last polish I have to show you is Porchester Place. This almost went in my sell pile without even a swatch, but I'm so glad it didn't! I absolutely LOVE IT! 

It's a beautiful creme polish, fully opaque in two coats. I would describe it as a peachy orange colour, not sure if you would agree. All I know is I will be getting full wear out of this stunning colour this summer :)

So what do you think of these? Do you own any of these, or did you get a lucky dip this time and get anything different?

Rachael xxx

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