Nails of the Day (NOTD) // Ice-Cream Pastels // BARRY M AND MUA!

Hey guys

I hope you’re all okay, and my UK readers are enjoying the sunshine we’re getting!  I’ve got a few longer posts in the making, but I’ve had a lot of medical appointments this week so unfortunately today’s post is a shorter one.

The sunny UK weather has inspired this nails of the day, in these gorgeous pastel ice-cream inspired colours!

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Fondant and MUA in Pistachio Ice Cream

I used my usual Nails Inc Kensington Caviar base coat.  I then used two coats of Barry M Fondant on all but my ring fingers.  On my ring fingers, I used two coats of MUA Pistachio Ice Cream.  I topped all my nails with a coat of Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy Diamond Top Coat.  They’re a bit messy round the edges, as I was in a rush before a hospital appointment, sorry!!

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Fondant and MUA in Pistachio Ice Cream

I absolutely love these two pretty pastel shades – they are perfect for Spring!  Both polishes have a lovely, creamy consistency and are opaque in two coats.  From past experience, the MUA one doesn’t last too well before chipping, which is why I used that one on the ring fingers instead of the majority of nails.

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Fondant and MUA in Pistachio Ice Cream

Too much exposure on this photo – oops, sorry!  What do you think of my ice-cream themed nails?  Are you craving a mint choc chip or strawberry ice cream? 😀

You can find the Barry M polish here and the MUA one here (only £1!!).

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Nails of the Day (NOTD) // Essie Leggy Legend (Bronze) and Frock ‘n Roll (Black)

Hi guys!

It’s been a while since my last nails of the day post, hasn’t it?  I was doing them once a week up until recently!  I haven’t been too well and have been concentrating on hospital appointments etc, so my nails have gone a bit by the wayside (ie chipped or plain!)

Since I hadn’t worn any polish for a little bit, I decided to come back with a bang and choose two strong colours.  They might seem a strange choice for Spring, but here in the UK it’s still really cold and we’re even having the odd bit of snow, so my bright varnishes are on hold until it warms back up!

Essie – Leggy Legend and Frock ‘n Roll

Bursting into Spring with Super-Bright Nails!

Hey guys

I don’t know about you, but the sunny weather in the UK last week really got me excited about spring and summer!  I love warm weather, and am always counting down to the end of winter (well, once Christmas is over anyway).

Nails Inc Brook Street and Porchester Place

I decided to ‘shop my stash’ and see what I had that was pretty, bright and perfect for bringing my nails into spring!  I got these two nail polishes last year, at the same time.  I’ve only ever worn them separately, but looking at how pretty the colours are together in these photos is tempting me to use them together as part of one mani.  Maybe coral with a pink accent nail?

The gorgeous, bright, hot-pink is Nails Inc Brook Street.  I find colours like this so easy to wear!  It looks just as great on toenails as it does on the fingers. It’s a nice, smooth consistency that needs just two coats to look great.  They have updated it to the squared bottle since last year, and sadly it is now £14 instead of £10!

The bright, orangey-coral is Nails Inc Porchester Place.  I love this colour!  It’s almost a neon-coral in some lights.  I wear colours like this loads in the spring and summer, as they add such a lift to any outfit and the brightness makes me smile!  As with Brook Street, the consistency is smooth and two coats is sufficient.  This is still on sale in the same bottle style I have, for £10.

I tend to find that Nails Inc nail varnishes are a little disappointing in how long they last before chipping – as they are fairly expensive, you always expect them to last a bit longer.  Although they last 3-4 days, which is fairly average.  I really like using the Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Flawless Base Coat underneath, as it definitely does make them look nicer and last a little bit longer without chipping.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I do think Nails Inc polishes are a bit too expensive – especially now that the new ones are £14.  However they often come free with magazines, or in gift sets or beauty advent calendars etc, which is how I got most of mine.

What do you think of these colours?  Which nail polishes do you tend to wear in the spring and summer?  Let me know in the comments!  PS this post is in no way sponsored – thought I’d better say that, since I have mentioned Nails Inc a million times haha!

Fancy reading some more…?  Have a look at all my nail looks using Nails Inc polishes here!

 

Nails of the Day // NOTD // Orly Rose Chrome and Ciate Caviar Ring a Rosy!

Happy Monday guys!  I hope you had a good weekend.

I’m back with my ‘becoming-a-tradition’ Monday nails of the day post!  I actually can’t for the life of me remember how, when or where I got this bottle of Ciate caviar pearls but I spotted them the other day and thought it was time I experimented with them.  They must have been a gift from a friend.  I remember reading that they don’t last on the nails very long, so I thought I’d just use them on my ring fingers.

Orly Rose Chrome Foil & Ciate Caviar Ring a Rosy

I teamed the caviar pearls with one of my absolute favourite nail polishes – this rose gold beauty is Orly Color Blast in Rose Chrome Foil.  Isn’t it pretty??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used two coats of the Orly (it’s so opaque that you can actually get away with one, but it’s nicer with two).  I topped it all with Revlon Diamond Top Coat, and applied the caviar pearls to the ring fingers whilst it was still wet.  As the top coat is all that sticks the pearls on, you have to be quite generous with it and apply them straight away before it dries.

The easiest way to use these is to hold your nails over a tray or container and just tip them straight over the wet nail.  Then you can just make a funnel out of a little piece of paper to pour the unused pearls back into the bottle.  One thing to remember is that they advise not to apply a top coat over them, as it breaks the pearls down a bit and the colours all merge together.

At the time of writing this post, I’m on day 2 of these nails and the pearls are actually all still attached, but I haven’t washed my hair yet and I hear that can knock a few off!

You can find the Orly here.  Unfortunately I can’t find Ciate Ring a Rosy anywhere to link for you, but there seem to be a few around on Ebay.  There are some other colours that are easier to get hold of though.

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What do you think of these nails?  Have you ever tried caviar pearls?  Let me know in the comments!

Nails of the Day // NOTD // Tanya Burr ‘Midnight Sparkles’ and Nails Inc ‘Buckingham Square’!

Welcome back!

I hope you’re all well and not feeling the January blues too much!  Here are some nails of the day that I did in December, shortly before Christmas.

I was really pleased with how these nails came out, as they not only looked pretty but they lasted really well!  They lasted almost a week without chipping, which is almost unheard with regular nail polish for me.

Over a base coat (Nails Inc base), I used two coats of Tanya Burr’s ‘Midnight Sparkles’, which is a gorgeous super-deep purple with shimmer (it looks almost black once on).  Then I used two coats of Nails Inc Buckingham Square, which is the chunky gold foil.  I applied it quite carefully to get the foil evenly spread out over the nails.

Finally, on went a top coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine.

I was really pleased with how these came out – they actually look more like gels in real life, which is always good (I like the more solid, chunky look of gel manicures).

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What do you think?  Have you tried either of these polishes before?  This is my first time using Tanya Burr and I’m impressed!

Nails of the Day (NOTD) // Black Sparkle // Essence & Ciate!

Hey guys

I haven’t done a nails of the day post for a little while, so I thought I would share this dark but festive one with you.

To get this look, I used a few different products:

• 2 coats of Essence Latex Matt Effect nail polish in The Black Cat
• One coat of Ciate Mini in Couture Noir/Tweed (it says both!)
• Gunmetal loose glitter on the ring fingers
• 1 coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine Topcoat

I really like Essence nail polishes – they are usually no more than £2 each but are usually really good.  However this Latex Matt polish chipped within hours and kept chipping really badly until I removed it a few days later.  As it’s an effect nail polish, it probably isn’t really designed to be used as a base for glitters etc so I will try it again on its own at some point and give it another try.  I have noticed that matte nail polishes do chip quite badly in general (as obviously you can’t use a topcoat with them if you want them to look matte).

The Ciate glitter went on really nicely and only needed one coat for enough glitter to show up nicely.  The glitter itself is unusual, it is little silver strands rather than glitter particles.

The loose glitter is part of a set I picked up in the pound shop!  They do little boxes which contain three glitters – they are called Candy Dip by Miss Elegant Touch.  I think this set was called Liquorice.

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What do you think of black nails for the festive season?  Do you like the look of glitter nails or do you prefer something more subtle?  Let me know in the comments!

Essence // Holo Shimmer Nail Polish // Pixie Dust!

Heey guys!

I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time blogging recently as I’m struggling with my energy levels.  But I’m trying to keep my posts regular, even if they’re only short!

Today’s nails of the day come courtesy of Essence.  I bought several different ‘effect’ nail varnishes from them recently and am just getting around to trying them out.  This one is Holo Shimmer, which is a really fine, holographic effect glitter.  This shade, Pixie Dust, is the only shade they seem to do in the Holo Shimmer which is a shame as I think it’d be really pretty in some stronger shades.

The polish is easy to apply and you don’t have to be too neat with it as it’s so light.  It is quite sheer, so although you could get away with one coat for a light mermaidy-shimmer effect, you need 3 or 4 coats for an all-out obvious sparkle!  This is 3 or 4 coats (I can’t remember) and as you can see, the white tips of my nails are still clearly visible through the polish.  It’s still quite pretty though, and catches the light really nicely, picking up on green, pink and purple hues.

Next time I use this, I think I’ll lay it over a nice opaque pastel coloured polish to see how it looks.  The effects range also includes liquid foils, sparkling sugar (a rougher, textured glitter) and latex matt.  I picked up a black latex matt polish, which will I’ll show you guys when I use it!

You can buy these nail polishes in Wilkos stores, or online here for just £2!

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What do you think of this Holo Shimmer effect?  Have you tried any Essence nail polishes?  Let me know in the comments or show me your nails on social media!