Space Stamping

 So while I have the Purr-fect Plum on I thought I would try out some of my newer Cheeky plates. 

I haven't actually used stamping a lot recently as Ive been doing other things but i do love a good stamping :D

Here i have used a Space theme using Cheeky plate CH 46 from the summer 2012 collection. I purchased these on +Amazon.co.uk 

I used Barry M Foil Effects in Silver for the stamping.

Purr-fect Plum

 This is China Glaze's Purr-fect Plum. A dark berry type purple.

 In the bottle it does look very dark and almost brownish..

the coverage is good and was completely opaque in two coats. 

I got this from Sally's Express and i in fact ordered a few different shades as they were on sale for £1.28. But i only received this one as there was a big mix up and they didn't have any stock of the others that they had on offer. Then they were less than helpful in sorting it out. I wasn't even made aware that i wasn't getting the others and to be frank, they were down right rude on one occasion :(

Which is a shame really, you think an a big international brand would know how to handle things better. 

anyway apart from my rant ;p this polish is very pretty but not my favourite purple I own.

Accessorize Electric Purple

 This is Accessorize in Electric Purple. It dries a silky matte rather than a shiny finish, which i actually love! 

The colour is a beautiful, forget me not purple. 

It was really hard to photograph the actual shade of this polish. 

I would say that to my eye, in real life, it is a far more purplish hue. 

Although one of my neighbors said they saw it as a more blue shade.

 Well whatever the shade, it is one of my fave polishes at the mo. Really summery and looks great with embellishments. 

The one thing i will say that is has the same tendency as a metallic polish, it brings out your nail imperfections. So make sure you use a good ridge filling base coat. 

This is 2x coats with no top coat

This polish along with other Accessorize polishes are available from +Superdrug 

 

Art Deco Design

 This is an Art Deco Design using Sinful Colors in Envy.

Two coats with Poshe top coat. I used Barry M Foil Effects in Gold, Barry M nail Art Pen in White and Barry M Nail Paint in Black.

The studs are from the Born Pretty Store. 

I love Art Deco but this design was annoying, in fact i changed my mind halfway though, and i actually think i should have stayed to my original idea :P

Barry M Ice Cream Collection

Ive been without a camera for a while, hence why i haven't posted recently. Did ya all miss me ?!

Well i have a camera now, so here is some Barry M Ice Cream swatches :)

I got these on my last haul from +Superdrug on a 3for2.

First up is Blueberry Ice Cream, a lovely creamy light blue. This is quite an opaque shade. Here is 2x coats with no topcoat.

  It applies well, although there was some visible brush marks. This would easily have been smoothed out with a top coat.

Next is Lemon Ice Cream. A sunny bright yellow. Here is 3x coats with no top coat.

This needed three coats to be opaque but totally worth it! i mean look at this lovely summer shade!. Again this applies really well. 

And last up is Berry Ice Cream. A pale, pastel violet. Here is 2x coats with no top coat. 

As you can see its a very pale shade but it does have a really good coverage and is opaque in 2 coats, 

This shade is really nice but is my least favorite of the three.

Out of all three my fav would have to be Lemon Ice Cream with Blueberry coming in a close second. 

I love pastel shades and Barry M doesn't disappoint. Especially when they are only £2.99 Each! 

You can purchase them HERE

My Haul 22/05/2013

Today I received these absolute beauties in the post.

 +Superdrug  were having a 3 for 2 on all cosmetics so i couldn't resist!

What i have here is 

TOP PHOTO 

Barry M's in  Lemon Ice Cream, Mint Green,Berry Ice Cream,Blueberry Ice Cream and Vivid Purple

LEFT PHOTO 

L'oreal Confetti, Maybelline ColorShow Polka Dots in Speckled Pink,Shooting Stars and Rain forest Canopy. 

RIGHT PHOTO

Gosh Holographic Hero, Hello Kitty Got That Thang, Accessorize Electric Purple

I just had to get the Hello Kitty Polish, just for the bottle! I had to have it on my shelf :) 

I used to own Gosh's Holographic Hero years ago when i worked in Superdrug. It was the most i had ever spent on a polish and even with my discount i still had to think for a few weeks before i actually bought it. Unfortunately it went gloopy not so long later so when i saw it online i had to buy it, just for old times sake :)
 Purchase online HERE

Paris Nail Art

 This is my very lame attempt at Paris themed nail art!

I chose this design as my sister is going to Paris tonight on a school quiz. 

I did the Eiffel Tower three times and its still terrible! The annoying thing is that i did it PERFECT the first time but then I went and smudged it :( 

But i must say the flag are darn near perfect!! 

I used Barry M White as a base x 2 coats

Racey Rouge by Sally Hansen 

Barry M Gelly in Blackberry and Barry M Nail Art Pen in Black

Austin-Tatious Turquoise

 This is OPI's Austin-Tatious Turquoise. From the Texas Collection. 

A sheer shimmering blue. This is three coats. As you can see it is still not completely opaque but with 4 coats it would have been completely opaque. Next time i think ill layer it over a blue base to cut down on all the layers! 

As you can see its very shimmery and its a lovely bright summer shade.

 

I purchased this from +Fragrance Direct at the very good price of £3.99! You can get it HERE

Blue Rhapsody

 This is Essie's Blue Rhapsody. A beautiful iced blue metallic shade. Its not overly blue.

It applies okay, although there are some visible brush strokes caused mainly by the quick drying time. The drying time on this is really fast. 
I also find that streaks are normal in metallic polishes but usually they are not that noticeable, not enough to cause a problem.

 

**The bump on the middle fingernail is not a bump, its my cameras reflection!**

This is two coats with no topcoat. I added a flower sticker just to jazz it up a tad, but its a showy polish on its own so I didn't want to over do it.

Essie are one of my favorite nail polish brand as they have a wide range of colours and a perfect brush, in my opinion. the brush is wider than usual so you can apply in less strokes causing less streaks. Although there is visable brush stroke on this polish. 

Blue Rhapsody dries slightly matte.

The one thing about metallic polishes like this, regardless of brand, is that they really do show up any imperfections you may have in your nail so its best to use a ridge filling base coat. 

Beautiful!

Royal Bow

 I have been so ill this week I haven't had chance to do anything! So here is my first nail art, a red, white and blue mani with a bow. 

This really reminds me of a English Royal celebration with the colours and confetti type topcoat. 

Unfortunately the blue i used for the bow smudged a bit when i added the Poshe topcoat. 

I used;

Base colour: OPI's Red Lights Ahead,Where? 

Confetti: InVougue feather Effect in Jaye Bird

Bow: Barry M's Gelly Nail Paint in Blackberry, Barry M Nail Art Pens in Black and White. 

I absolutely love this design, and I really like the InVogue Feather Effect on top of the red. It really reminds me of England!

The OPI looks orange in this light and it is really more of a bright red, but for some reason i couldnt really capture this on my camera.

You can purchase the whole InVogue range in Superdrug and HERE

 Here the colour of the OPI is a lot more accurate.

Jaye Bird By InVogue

 I received this lovely polish from Nick at ohbeauty.co.uk.

This is Jaye Bird from Invogue Feathers.

It features strands of blue and white glitter. The polish has a high density of glitter so its easy to position and get a full coverage. I did use four coats though, just to get the placement right.

It can be used on it own or over another polish. 

I wouldn't have called it feather effect, i would have called it Sprinkles! As to me it looks like cake sprinkles!

Pictured here alone with one coat of Poshe topcoat.

This polish is really pretty and completely different to the other polishes I have seen, as a lot of glitter polishes don't have this type of coverage.

This polish, along with the whole InVogue range, is available HERE for £4.49 with FREE UK postage :)

 Reminds me of streamer or sprinkles on cakes. It also reminds me of the Queens Jubilee?! Very royal colours!

*some of these products were sent to me for an HONEST review. The views on this product are COMPLETELY my own.*

Design Your Own Indie Polish With TarasTalons

Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of nail art Ive been very poorly this week :( 

I was browsing TarasTalons Etsy Shop and found that she was now offering a custom polish! 

So basically you email her with what your looking for and maybe email her some pictures of a swatch you like and she will design a polish just for you! 

You can even name your creation and TaDa! You will be the owner of your very own custom, one of a kind polish! 

A must have for any nail addict! It would even be a great gift idea for any one who loves nail polish! 

I can see it now "Here you are, Ive had this made just for you!" Id swoon after anyone with that gift offering!! If your reading this Hubby, take note!! 

And to make the offer even more sweet you can use the Life In Lacquer discount code lifeinlacquer20 to receive 20% off your order (no minimum order!) 

So you can get your very own unique polish for under a tenner, postage included! 

Go and check it out HERE

Ive ordered one myself so keep your peepers peeled for a swatch when its made!!

Panda Skulls!

 These are the decals that were sent to me by Nail Delights. 

I chose to do a gradient using Sinful Colors Pistache and OPI's Don't Mess With OPI.

I Also used Kleancolors Peaceful Heart as the glitter. 

It was hard to get enough glitter for the effect that I wanted so this is about 3 coats. The problem i fine with Kleancolor glitters is that they don't self level so they leave an uneven finish. They remain silky and shiny to the touch but you can feel that they are not even. 

I love this panda design and i havent seen a decal like this before now. I chose to do green as it reminded me of bamboo. I also like the way the fade is subtle.

You can get the Decals HERE

*some of these products were sent to me for an HONEST review. The views on this product are COMPLETELY my own.*

Summer Citrus

This is my first time using Fimo Canes. I got these sent to me from Nail Delights. They came s a cane not pre-sliced so I had to cut them. I used a Stanley knife, and man was that hard! I think with practice they will become thinner and even shaped.

The design was really let down by the nail polish I used. I had to redo a few nails and it didn't really come out as I had hoped.

I used Manhattan shade 3 for the peach colour and InVogue Hi Res Glitter in Feeling Fruity for the glitter.

The Manhattan polish is a nightmare to apply! I used FOUR coats and it was still streaky!

I also used gold studs from the Born Pretty Store.

I loved working with the Fimo Cane and I have another one from Nail Delights that I am itching to try.

You can buy the Fimo Canes from Nail Delights  HERE

Nail delights also have a awesome range of nail art supplies and my current favourite thing....water decals!

You can buy the InVogue Hi Res Glitter from Oh Beauty HERE

I really feel like I could have done this design better but as I am sure you know we all have days where nothing seems to go right!

:( :( :(

*some of these products were sent to me for an HONEST review. The views on this product are COMPLETELY my own.*

Stranger Tides Design

 

2x coats of OPI's Stranger Tides 

Water decals over a clear base coat

Black pearl studs

It just so happened that the green background of the nail decal is exactly the same as Stranger Tides 

A simple design which took a matter of 15 mins but lovely none the less

nail art doesn't have to be hard or time consuming to be pretty :)

Something Blue

 

These are my take on the Bridal Weekly Challenge on the nail Polish Lovers Community on Google+

 

I was going to do a nude pink but I saw this Pastel Bue By Kleancolor and I thought this blue shade would make a nice change.

"Something Blue"

 

I used 2x coats of Kleancolors Pastel Blue

Lace Nail Stickers

Flat Back Faux Pearls

1x coat of Poshe

As you can probably see I smudged a few of them when I applied the stickers.

 

I have noticed that a lot of fast drying topcoats do not speed up the drying time of Kleancolor? I have no idea why?! But its really frustrating as I always expect it to be dry and make silly mistakes, like this :(

 

And I couldn't even redo it as I ran out of stickers boooo :(

 

Look At My Stash!

 

My Granddad has been every lovely and made me some shelving for my beauties!

 

I had to get rid of a few as they had gone abit gloopy :(

I have arranged by shade and by brand, it took me forever!

it looks so good and I cant stop looking at it!

Its like a beautiful glittery rainbow

But.......

Where am I going to put all my embellishments and other equipment.....

and how am I going to secretly buy polish and then hide them from the other half?

 

I'm sure I'll find away!!

 

Butterfly Desire

I received a lovely bundle of goodies from Viva La Nails so I decided to use some of the butterfly's to do a lovely bright design.

Essie, as always, goes on like a dream. I actually love the Essie brush and lid. Makes the polish easy to control and means I never need to do a clean up after.

I loved this design so much its also on my toes!

I used Fear and Desire by Essie

Butterfly's from Viva La Nails

Gold floral water decals from Born Pretty Store

Dots are done using Barry M Nail Art pen in Black

Poshe Top coat.

So what do you think of this design? Do you like wearing bright colours?

*some of these products were sent to me for an HONEST review. The views on this product are COMPLETELY my own.*

May The 4th Be With You!

 

I cant believe I forgot to post this nail art up!

 

I did these for May 4th!

May 4th Be With You!

Star wars, get it?

 

I've actually never seen Star Wars so I had to use google for a lot of inspiration

 

Hope you all like it :)

 

Matt Suede Revlon VS InVogue

Okay so today I thought id have a play with two Matt Suede Effect polishes.

We have Revlon's Ruby Ribbon (the darker colour on the index and middle finger)

InVogue's Hot Gossip (Ring finger and pinky)

These are Matt suede polishes so as you can expect they are Matt. I don't know how to suede factors in as this effect doesn't look anything like suede?

The Revlon polish is a lot darker and has less of a noticeable shimmer/glitter.

InVogue has a bigger glitter content, the glitter itself is bigger also.

I then used Poshe topcoat on the index and ring finger to see what it would look like as a normal,shiny polish. I have to admit I prefer both of them with a shine!

The shine really shows off the different shimmers and glitters.

As per usual the Revlon polish was a pain to apply as the brush is so thin.

InVouge is easier to apply but I still hate the lid as its so small so hard to grip.

3x coats

No topcoat

TOPCOAT ON INDEX AND RING FINGER ONLY.

You can purchase Invogue Matt Suede with free uk postage HERE

So what do you think? do you prefer shiny or matt?

Love Leopard Design

 

As you have probably noticed I love leopard print!

It is one of the easiest nail art designs to do and it can be done in so many different ways

On this design I have used a full nail water decal and cut it into a heart shape. Then used Barry M nail art pend to do the print.

I tried to use the Barry M Silver Nail Art Pen around the heart but Ive found its really not that bold. (not pictured) Its quite translucent and that's a real disappointment as I have so many designs in mind!

The base is Kleancolor's Pastel Pink. I wouldn't personally describe this as a pastel colour as i always imagine pastels as a lot lighter than this. But it is a great pink, very girly!

The glitter is also Kleancolor 24 Carat.

Pictured with Poshe Topcoat

Devilish Flowers

 

 

This is Revlon's Devilish with water decals from Viva La Nails.

 

This polish was a nightmare! Three Thickish coats and still streaky!

I also find the Revlon brush so annoying to use as its so thin.

I just wish it went on better as I actually love this colour and the simple design.

The flower is really pretty.

 

I am a big fan of water decals as they are so easy to use and give a lovely finish.

They can really jazz up a mani.  Great for a beginner to nail art.

These decals come in a sheet with 20 individual flowers. Enough for quite a few mani's if you only use them on a few fingers. Each sheet is £1.95

You can get the decals HERE

 

*These decals were sent to me for an HONEST review by Viva La Nails. The views on this product are COMPLETELY my own.*

Stud and Square Design

I thought I would do a design on top of the Sandcastles By TarasTalons.

I used TarasTalons, Sandcastles x3 Coats

China Glaze, Fuchsia

And Barry M nail art pens in Pink and Black

The studs are from the BornPretty Store