Pink and Green NOPI with Dashica Stamping

Hi all,

Oh, it has been a while indeed!  I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas, and that the lead up to it wasn't too stressful like mine was.  I was still buying the odd gift on Christmas Eve (yes, I was one of those people this year!)

I was sent some Nicole by OPI polishes back in summer from the lovely PR ladies, and I wore a few of these religiously throughout July and August.  The polishes shown below are from the collection Seize the Summer.  I also stamped these using BYS Black Satin, and my Dashica Big SpD-A plate.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colours: Nicole by OPI - Leapink for Joy & Lay it on the Lime

Glitter: Nicole by OPI - Shaved Nice

Stamping Polish: BYS - Black Satin

Image Plate: Dashica Big Spd-A

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

And below is the base before stamping.  Two coats of Leapink for Joy, and Lay it on the Lime with one coat of Shaved Nice.

Not quite a great shot of the glitter, but as you can see it's quite an odd mix.  I however like the overall effect of how the pale white glitter brightens up the base colours.

That's all from me for now, I'm going to try and get my life more organised soon, so I'm hoping I can get back into the routine of doing my nails for fun, and not because my polish is more chips than anything, which is shocking I know!

NYK1 Secrets Glitter Review

Hi all,

Today I have a quick post on some glitters that I've been sent to review.  NYK1 Secrets contacted me to swatch some glitters.  So far I've only tried one glitter, so that's what I have to show you today.

Two coats of Essie - Navigate Her, and a sprinkling of the pale pink iridescent glitter from the glitters I was sent.

And here's a blurry shot to show how pretty this glitter is.

 

So I used a pale pink glitter that sparkled with a green shine, I sprinkled this over the wet second coat, and added a top coat before stamping.  There wasn't any problem with the colour in the glitter bleeding either.

A day later I did some stamping on top as It had been a wee while since I had done any stamping, and halloween was right around the corner (I joke, it was a few weeks away :P) so I decided to do some bat stamping using Bundle Monster BMH08.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Essie - Navigate Her

Glitter: NYK1 Secrets

Stamping Colour: BYS - Black Satin

Image Plate: Bundle Monster - BMH08

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

I think what I love most about this image is that from a distance it actually looks like tiger stripe nails.  Please excuse my nubby thumb, I ripped it right down :( and since have ripped it down again after it had grown.  Bad times.

That's all I have for today.  I should be back soon though as I have brought my laptop to my boyfriends for the week, so I should get some editing done; that is if I don't get too engrossed in my new love Gotham!

**These glitters were sent to me for review**

HJ Manicure - Peach Blossom Swatch

Hi all,

Today I have a quick Swatch shot of a brand that is new to me, HJ Manicure.

Here's what they say about the shade I was sent:

"Peach Blossom is a beautiful soft pastel peach shade, perfect for everyday wear. This HJ Manicure polish is long lasting, 5 FREE, easy to apply and quick drying. Apply two coats and finish with HJ Manicure Dual top & base coat, for a professional shiny finish."

Peach Blossom is a perfect peachy for nude-nails occasions.  I've actually worn this a few times since (but wasn't near a camera!) for some bridal style nails after swatching these.

HJ Manicure - Peach Blossom 2 Coats

 

This polish was really hard wearing, and basically didn't chip.  I did have some tipwear, which is to b expected from the length of my nails at the time, my employment, and for the length of time I was wearing these.

You can get your hands on these polishes from www.HJManicure.com - I would check on Thunder Storm, a gorgeous lilac-grey!


**This polish was sent to me for consideration of review**

Nicole by OPI - Roughles Swatches

Hi all,

I've recently been sent some Nicole by OPI polishes. And oh boy I'm in love.  Now it's no secret that I have a slight problem with textured nail polishes.  I love the look of them, I think they're a great change to the normal finishes, but, I can't stop touching them!  However I seem to be overcoming that problem every time I wear one of these Roughles polishes.

I'm Stucco on You is the first polish up, a lovely purple, which dries a little lighter on the nail.  It has navy and hot pink flecks in the mix. This is two coats:

Nicole by OPI - I'm Stucco on You

 

I think probably one of the things I like most about this collection is the sheen of the flat base peeking through from the rough particles, It gives so much dimension.

Next up is Rock the Look, a lovely pastel pink with darker pink and grey specks.

Nicole by OPI - Rock the Look

 

This is probably is my least favourite from the bunch, it's a lovely polish that reminds me of strawberry cheesecake, but it just doesn't do much for me.

The next beauty up is Sand in My Shoe.  I love this colour.  It's my favourite from the bunch of Roughles.  It's a bright pastel yellow with flecks of orange.  This polish totally reminds me of pollen, and it's such a lovely summery colour!

Nicole by OPI - Sand in My Shoe

 
The top picture is in sunlight, showing its full glory.  I probably could have done with dabbing some more polish in places to get an even fleck effect.

And last but not least, a gorgeous turquoise that's almost more of an aqua in my eyes, which has navy and grey specks.  Bright and fun and perfect for summer, this will be gracing my fingertips more than once this month at least.  This is On What Grounds?:

NOPI - On What Grounds?

And just for funsies I wanted to see how this polish would look with top coat:

These polishes, and some more I will be posting soon will be available in Superdrug stores nationwide on 30th July 2014.

Hope you've all had a good week so far.  I've got a couple extra days off as I was hoping to go camping, so I imagine lots of pampering will be occurring!

**These polishes were sent to me for consideration of review**

OPI - The Muppets Most Wanted

Hi all.

Today I have swatches of two gorgeous polishes from the new collaboration from OPI & The Muppets.  To celebrate the release of the new movie Muppets Most Wanted.

Here's a little bit from what OPI had to say about the collection:

"The Muppets are a fun-loving, colorful cast of characters. These eight new nail lacquers were inspired by their latest adventures in Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted, which include a glamorous international stage tour – and lots of surprises"

I chose to review two polishes, Gaining Mole-Mentum, and Miss Piggy's Big Number. I am so happy with my selection as Miss Piggy's Big Number is a really gorgeous eye-catching blue, which does tend to streak a bit, but to the eye you don't notice.  Gaining Mole-Mentum is described as a chunky shredded glitter made of rose and gold, but I swear there's silver pieces in there also.  This polish, surprisingly dried quicker than Miss Piggy's Big Number.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: OPI - Miss Piggy's Big Number (3 coats)

Glitter: OPI - Gaining Mole-Mentum (2 coats)

Below is the swatch shots of Miss Piggy's Big Number.  This is three thin coats, and as it's one of those polishes that looks different in every light, there's a few pics!

This is probably the better picture of the polish, the mirror-like quality is coming through, and you even get hints of the super subtle duochrome effect too.

I will admit though, the next day I added another coat of Gaining Mole-Mentum and it looked so much better!

I was also going to include a clip, but there was an error sadly :(

**These polishes were sent to me for consideration of review**

Born Pretty Foil Review

Hi all.

Hope you've all had a good weekend, I've had a pretty decent one so far, and I'm planning on doing a massive spring clean of my clothes and shoes this evening so I'm sure I'll be feeling marvelous when there's less clutter.

Today I have my first ever experience with nail foils. I was contacted recently by the Born Pretty Store and I decided It was time to finally try nail foils. I was sent numbers 76, and 1, and these can be found here, there's so many designs to choose from though, so good luck trying to pick!

Now, I'm not saying I'll never try foils again, but I had such a hard time with the timing of waiting for the polish to be tacky, but not too wet.  Trying to get the holographic part of the foils to show through was also quite a tough task, and although the nails below were my second attempt at using foils (the first attempt at these was so bad I didn't even take pictures), you can still only see the holo part on the ring finger.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Barry M - Blackberry

Foils: Born Pretty Store

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

So although I struggled with these, and really struggled with the other colour I tried I love the effect nail foils can give.

If you're interested in any of these foils, or any other products the Born Pretty Store offer use coupon code DS5X31 for 10% off.

**These nail foils were sent to me for review**

NOPI - I Lilac Gumdrops

Hi all. Happy Wednesday!

By the time this posts i'm hoping my newest little nephew has been born. My soon to be sister-in-law has been in labour since yesterday evening. Dying to find out his name; dying to meet him!

Today I have some swatches of Nicole by OPI - I Lilac Gumdrops from the Gumdrops line.  This is a really stunning sugar-matte frosted polish, which has the prettiest irregular silver flecks in it. I believe this is two coats shown below, not the best light, but murky overcast days are full upon the North East of England.

Nicole by OPI - I Lilac Gumdrops

I really love the glow of this polish, in fact, all the polishes from this line (I still have more swatches to come). I also couldn't help but try this with a top coat, and with a matte top coat too, to see the difference.

Still very glowy with a top coat

Matte Top Coat, gives such a beautiful powdery finish!

That's all from me today! I'm hoping to be back at the weekend with some more stamping, and some more from the Gumdrops collection.

**This polish was sent to me for consideration of review**

Born Pretty Store Review - Holo Shade 12 & White Stamping Polish

Hi all. Hope you've all had a good weekend like I have so far :]

I've been putting off doing this review for weeks now as I've not managed to see a single scrap of sun on my days off when I've had a chance to swatch this polish. And as you all know, holographic polishes must have sunlight photos, or else they don't make me fall in love or make my face look like this: *.*

The Born Pretty Store were kind enough to send me this lovely holographic polish in shade 12 which is a gorgeous greeny-teal. They also sent me some stamping polishes to try, and for the testing of these below I used the double ended stamper they sent me the last time.

Born Pretty Store Holo Polish in Shade 12

Just so pretty! The formula on this is really great, and I'm really impressed with the drying time. I feel with Holos they're either super speedy, or deceptively slow at drying, but this was quick drying, but not so quick that you wouldn't be able to stamp using it (I have major difficulty trying to stamp with Gosh - Holographic Hero).

When trying the white stamping polish they sent me I noticed a few things; the formula is very good, stickier than most stamping polishes I've tried so it really gets to the edges. The downside of this polish that it's just not as white as Konad White (ring finger) but it's a really good polish if you're looking for a manicure that's not as harsh. I'm yet to try the black, but I will be testing that out soon.

Base Colour: Born Pretty Store - Holo Shade 12

Stamping: Born Pretty - White Stamping Polish, Ring finger - Konad White
Image Plate: Bundle Monster - BM406

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

 As you can see it really can't compete with Konad White, but it does give a very different look, so I will definitely be using for future manicures. Using the double ended stamper was an experience.  I have no idea now how I managed to live so long using the small Konad stamper. The double ended stamper is just much more comfortable to handle, and it definitely gives a lot more control when rolling across the nail, almost because it's longer you have to use less pressure because of the leverage.  I haven't compared it to my Konad stamper, but I feel no need as it stamps perfectly.

And for good measure heres' a shot of the very pretty shade 12 with a flash.  This is from a few weeks ago when I was hovering by the window most of the day trying to catch the sun!

Born Pretty Store - Holo Shade 12

To check any of these products out simply click on the links within the post.

If you're interested in anything from the Born Pretty Store, don't forget to use my coupon code DS5X31 for 10% off your order.

*These products were sent for possible review*

NOPI - Love Song & Barry M - Gold Foil Stamping

Hi all, happy Monday, can you believe there's only just over two weeks left until Christmas?!

I'm hoping I may get the chance to post some festive manicures before Christmas rolls around but I don't hold high hopes - so I may not even do any, and how crazy is that?!

Today I have a little post showing the lovely NOPI - Love Song with some stamping from the Viva Mexico Cheeky Plate using Barry M - Gold Foil.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Nicole by OPI - Love Song (Selena Gomez collection)

Stamping Colour: Barry M - Gold Foil

Image Plate: Cheeky Viva Mexico

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

And here's a swatch shot of Love Song.  It's a really gorgeous Lilac shade, with very slight shimmer, which is mainly hidden on the nail but it definitely lightens up the whole thing.

Hope you've all had a good Monday so far.  I think by the time this posts I will be setting up the Christmas tree in the office :]

*This NOPI polish was sent to me for consideration of review*

Nicole by OPI - Gumdrops Swatch & Review

Hi all!

Today I have some extremely pretty polishes to show you, Nicole by OPI - Gumdrops.  These polishes all have a lovely frosted sugar-like finish, however some are more frosted than others, some have holographic glitter & micro glitter. Basically there's definitely something for everyone in this collection.

First up A-Nise Treat:

A-Nise Treat

A-Nise Treat.

A-Nise Treat is a really gorgeous Warm Black with silver glitter. These pictures show the glitter quite well, but in the swatches on a nail wheel below is where you'll get a better judgement of the real colour.  This is the first of the polishes I decided to try, and I didn't really expect to love it so much, like, so much I kept twiddling my fingers at work to watch it sparkle!

Next up is Blue-Berry Sweet On You:

NOPI - Blue-Berry Sweet On You

NOPI - Blue-Berry Sweet On You

Now this is a colour I originally thought was a gunmetal type shade, but trying it on it really showed it's true blue shade.  This is one of the frostiest of the bunch, and with the frost and the hue of blue it really gives a pretty chrome like appearance, but with this textured finish. This is one of the polishes I feel has a sort of glow about it.  Two coats was perfect coverage, and the wear on Blue-Berry Sweet On You was also really great.

All so beautiful, but these do not do My Cherry Amour any favours!

In Shade: L-R Blue-Berry Sweet On You, A-Nise Treat, I Lilac Gumdrops, Cinna-man of My Dreams, My Cherry Amour, Candy is Dandy

In sunlight: L-R, Candy is Dandy, My Cherry Amour, Cinna-man of My Dreams, I Lilac Gumdrops, A-Nise Treat, Blue-Berry Sweet on You

And because I can't help myself here's a couple of shots of these with topcoat on:

 L-R Blue-Berry Sweet On You, A-Nise Treat, I Lilac Gumdrops, Cinna-man of My Dreams, My Cherry Amour, Candy is Dandy

L-R, Candy is Dandy, My Cherry Amour, Cinna-man of My Dreams, I Lilac Gumdrops, A-Nise Treat, Blue-Berry Sweet on You

So I feel as though some of the details in these polishes are really hard to capture when they're in their normal sugar-matte form although you can see them in real life. This flash photo above really shows how the holographic hex glitter in Candy is Dandy sparkles, and My Cherry Amour, which is my favourite from the bunch shows it's looovely holographic micro glitter.  But I will talk about these more when I wear them.

Next time I post about these beautiful polishes I promise I will use my camera instead of my phone for photos so you can see more of the beauty!

The Gumpdrops collection is available from Superdrug stores now, they retail at £8.00 but Superdrug are running 3 for 2 at the moment, so grab a bargain.

*These polishes were sent to me for consideration of review*

Born Pretty Hex Glitter

Hi all, Happy Sunday.

Just a little post today as I'm not feeling too grand.

The Born Pretty store contacted me maybe some time back in July and sent me a few items to try out, the first I've shown was the flocking powder, here. I was kind of putting off using these glitters, because after obsessing over manicures that covered the nail entirely with different colours, I wanted to do something epic. But It came to 9pm one Sunday evening and I realised I had naked nails, and that would mean naked nails for work so I did something really quick.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Zoya - Carey

Glitters: Born Pretty Store Hex Glitters

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

This kind of thing is actually something I used to do way back in the day when I was about 13, I used to do glitter flowers on every nail, but the hex glitter was much smaller than this.

And here are the colours I used, Pink, Aqua, and a pretty pale gold.

If you're interested in anything from the Born Pretty Store, don't forget to use my coupon code DS5X31 for 10% off your order.

*These were sent to me for consideration of review*