Aerosol water-marble - without aerosol...

More from the Nail it challenge - this design had the simple theme of blue. So, of course I went for a blue base and an aerosol water-marble. This was my first time trying this design and it is really straight forward so, easily enjoyable to do! 

The polishes used were; Wyvnie and L'oreal - Mystery. 

I achieved this water-marble by dropping the polish into water (as you would for normal water-marble) However, instead of making a pattern in the water you use a spray to break up the polish.

It is called 'aerosol' but I didn't use one I actually used a body spray. A Victoria Secret one to be overly precise! I felt that this worked better than hair spray because it wasn't as harsh and fast when spraying into the water. It broke up the polish pretty evenly. 

Love this design because it really is really quick to do (apart from the clean up obviously) and it makes a super effective mani.

xox

Mexican Skulls

This was part of the 30 day nail art challenge; day 16 - accent nail. 

I saw this design on the talented nail tech's instagram @marikonail1214. I absolutely loved the design so gave it a go myself.

Polishes used were; Sally Hansen - White on, Essie - Pure Pearlfection, the eyes; Orly - Passionfruit, Essie - Fiji, and for the rest; Wynie - 698, L'oreal - Mystery. 

I love this mani because it is so different to anything else I would normally do and it was actually really fun do to! 

Will continue to share my favourites from the challange.

xox

Quel Che Resta

This wasn't actually going to be blogged but I really do love it so thought I might aswell share.

The colour I used for this is a really old one so the name had actually worn off the bottle - after doing some internet searching I think it is called Fire Engine by Collection 2000. 

This was inspired by @sloteazzy her version is amazing! She made it look like it was the most simple design to do and trust me it really isn't.

I very nearly gave up on this, it is the product of my cleaned up mess. However, I am glad I stuck at it! 

As for the name of the blog - I couldn't think of one and was listening to Ludovico Einaudi - Quel Che Resta (give his music a listen) whilst writing this. I wondered what the translation was and it is 'The remains', I thought this fitted the mani quite nicely. 

xox  

Red Arrows

I have been busy doing the Nail It nail art challenge and am up to day 16 so I am still going strong hence the slightly delayed posts. But check out my instagram (@nailstori) to see all of the nails that didn't make it onto the blog. 

This was for the theme; your choice. And I decided to go simple and pretty. 

Using; L'oreal - Raven's Dreams, Essie - Fifth Avenue and LA colors. 

Raven's dream is one of the best nude's I've used, I think it is so pretty. A lot of nude's look odd on my skin tone but I really like this one. (Even though it looks a little yellow in the pictures)

At first I was going to use striping tape to help my lines but I decided to go free hand to get some practice in, and it didn't go too badly. There is definitely room for improvement but isn't there always. 

These pictures are without a top coat - because I forgot! How could i. So it actually looked super glossy and I just loved wearing it. 

I couldn't resist adding a picture of them on my trip to the spa - they looked so good with their lighting. What a sad thing to be thinking about! 

Cannot wait to share some designs I've already done. And hopefully some stamping practice with my MoYou kit finally! 

xox

POTW - Orly Cutique

A little gem I found in TKMaxx - RRP was around £10-£15, but I got it for £3. 

I've used a Sally Hansen cuticle remover and I don't love it so wanted to try something else. 

I really really like this because it just works! 

It has to be left on for around 30 seconds and it literally removes the cuticle itself so you don't end up unnecessarily hacking away at your skin. 

As I hope the pictures demonstrate it is also pretty good at removing stains. This isn't the hand I normally use for pictures so it is a little more neglected. However, you can see the difference with one use - the pictures were the first time I tried the product. 

It also doesn't leave a horrible texture on the nails, it makes them smoother than they were before which I think is weirdly hard to find in a cuticle remover.

Being quite new to orly, I don't have many of their products and I'm really impressed. I now try and use this every 2/3 days and it is helping my nails stay stain free and keep my cuticles in good form.

Recommend this product if you can buy at discount - I would not pay the full price for it though, it seems a little excessive. 

xox

The beauty that is derma-rolling

We have all had our skin insecurities and I am all for feeling confident without having to wear make up. I like using make up as an option rather than an absolute must. Having had such great success with the derma-roller I really want to share how I have finally started to become confident without layering foundation on.

 A few people contact me asking about the new way of improving skin effectively and at very low cost. Below, I have tried to explain the process to the best of my knowledge and answer any questions about my experience with the product. I am not a professional, I have just done my research and found what works for me. I am hoping that this helps others do the same.

What is derma-rolling?

Otherwise known as micro-needling – however, I think this sounds much more intimidating than it really is.  

A derma-roller is a plastic roller with hundreds of tiny titanium needles on the end of the roller. These come in various sizes depending on the personal and specific use of the roller. Only use personal sizes; these are; 0.20, 0.25, 0.30, 0.50. Specialist use is completely different and can make the skin bleed – you don’t want this!

I use a 0.50mm roller, which works mainly for; fine wrinkles, uneven pigmentation and acne scars.

How does it work?

The process of derma-rolling works by slightly puncturing the skin with the tiny needles.

In doing this, the skin recognises that something has caused trauma on the face and subsequently sends stem cells and collagen to repair itself. You are basically slightly scratching your skin pretending there is an injury so your skin works harder to repair itself.

After the skin has been cleansed the user slowly does cross hatch motions on patches of skin until the area looks red and slightly inflamed. This should be continued on specific sections you want to improve of the whole face.

Derma-rolling should not cause pain - if it is painful stop at once - it is an uncomfortable/tickley feeling to start with but should definitely not cause pain.

Youtube the process if you are unsure, as people show themselves doing their regime.

What are the results?

• Gets rid of acne scars effectively 
• Inexpensive when done at home
• Reduces appearance of pores
• Reduces appearance of fine wrinkles
• Promotes collagen
• Promotes natural cell repair
• Rids appearance of stretch marks
• Works fine on my super dry skin.

Which derma-roller to use and with which products?

The exact derma-roller I use is from Ebay and is called ZGTS – Clinicares Treatment solution. I have it in 0.5mm and it was under £10.

I then use a small amount Super Facialist by Una Brenna – intense firming serum with Hyaluronic acid. This is the key ingredient you are looking for in finding a serum. The skin starts losing Hyaluronic acid at 18 so it will help with anti ageing. It also helps with collagen, pluming the skin and aiding skin repair - skin repair is the main reason for this whole process. I actually think this has been discontinued as I can’t find it online and I got it in clearance (of course). However, you will be able to find a high potency hyaluronic acid serum anywhere! Eucerin is a great brand for this but is expensive.

Following this, I use Palmers Cocoa butter formula – Vitamin E skin therapy oil. My skin is so dry so I have to use this to moisturise. The vitamin E is what you want to be looking for. This helps aid skin repair and will fix the uneven skin tone/scars. If you suffer from oily skin naturally, I would possibly stay away from the oils and use creams.

I would recommend not wearing makeup for at least 24 hours after use.

Risks that come with the derma-roller?

• Infection if not used correctly
• Not using a brand wand
• Not researching extensively before use
• Not using the correct products afterwards
• Permanent scarring of the skin if not used correctly/wrong size wand.
• I wouldn’t use over spots – my spots scar like hell (I rarely get them but when I do they are evil) I think this would cause much more damage than good. Do not use on sores etc.

In the picture of my face below, you can see my faint scars - this is actually my skin having had broken out about a week before so the scars are worse than normal. 

The only downside of the roller is that you will have to go a few days a week with minimal make up. The reality is you have to look a little crap for it to get a whole lot better. There will be days when you will have to go out without make up on and feel insecure - just hide your face with some sunglasses and your hair! In a month you will notice a huge difference – promise!

I really hope this has helped anyone who has been asking about it. Please comment if you would like any information I have missed out/doesn’t make 

 sense. It is quite a hard process to explain!

xox

The most british of brands

I have stuck out the NailIt challenge to day 7 so far and here is my take on 'pattern/fabric'. And if you hadn't recognised it is the famous burberry print. 

I didn't actually expect this to be a success, I had seen the design before and wondered what my take on it would look like. I enjoyed the challenge of freehand lines. 

The polishes used were; Essie - Millionnails, Loreal - Mystery, Loreal - Raven's dream, Model's own - French white, Essie - Fifth avenue and Kiko top coat.

I really like Loreal - Mystery, it is more of a grey than a black but with two coats it looks much darker. It is so much easier to take off than normal black colours and it hardly stains. It also has a shimmer in it that more it a lot less harsh than solid black polishes. 

I have a lot of 'what I would do different next time' thoughts on this design but I like the first attempt. 

Straight lines are so easy to mess up and some nail girls are just too amazing at it - practice make perfect I hope. 

Looking forward to seeing what the next 25 designs bring - how excitingly daunting! 

xox

Favouritism

I wasn't actually going to blog about this design, I did it for the Nail It 30 day challenge but I actually quite like it. The design was for 'fave glitter' and these two are definitely my favourites. 

Liquid sand is my absolute lover - I can't get enough of it. And this glitter has always been my favourite, so much so that it is now getting a little gloopy :(

The OPI is called Pussy Galore - OPI outdoing themselves on polish names once again - with Essie - Set in stones. 

It is a super simple and very girly design. I'm not looking forward to getting it off though. 

xox

Game on

Here we go - the beginning of the Nail It magazine 30 day nail art challenge. I have always wanted to complete a nail art challenge but just never actually DID it so, here goes. 

Day 2 was 'moons' - I went for the classic half moon nails. They are an interesting and not too challenging design using Essie - Mint Candy Apple, a glorious polish. 

I have seen lots of nail bloggers doing half moons with negative space - so obviously had to give it a go. I must say I'm not too sure on it yet. I think it takes some getting used to because it is a different look.

I added some of my Born Pretty Store gems to jazz up the design a bit more. I also think it makes the moon line softer. 

The more I look at these nails, the more I like them however, they will be off by tomorrow! 

There is a dent in my middle finger - I must have caught it with a razor. Us girls and our random problems in day to day life! 

I look forward to what tomorrows design brings. 

Happy saturday.

xxx

Lush inspired ombre

I recently got this models own neon green polish and didn't know how to use it in a design until I saw the lush logo. Then this happened and I love it. 

For this design I used: OPI - natural base, Sally Hansen - White on, Models own - Flip flop, Wynie - 969 (I have never heard of this brand, I got it in Lisbon because I loved the colour) and Sally Hansen - Big matte top coat.

At first the colours weren't showing up as bright as I had hoped so I had to sponge on more than I would normally to achieve this. However, I did do this in the evening so it was dark - when I turned a big light on I was almost blinded. It's safe to say it is a very neon ombre!  

I used the matte top coat for the first time on an ombre and I really like it. I was worried that it would separate the colours but it actuallu makes them look much more blended. 

So glad I bought the matte coat, it is so cool and works so well with these colours.

xox

POTW - let the good times roll

Today’s product of the week is Lush cosmetics face scrub - let the good times roll. 

It is an exfoliator for the face and I was told is good on dry skin. It contains all natural products apart from a perfume ingredient. If you are a Lush newbie - all their products are made with fresh products and have a best before date. I love the natural ingredients - makes my skin feel great. 

I use it about three times a week in the shower (so I remember to use it). I rub about a 10 pence piece size into my palm with a little water and exfoliate into my face - not going too crazy to make sure it doesn’t dry my skin out. After my shower I always moisturise to lock in all the lush goodness. 

I absolutely love the results of this product. I find that other products of theirs work best for oily skin - so this is a great product for those of you with dry skin like me. I was in the store for ages with the shop assistant to find me the best products for my skin, which was great because they actually suit my skin perfectly! So, always ask for help because most of the time they really know their stuff. 

I find that this scrub reduces any spots that I get from sometimes over moisturising. I have also used this on my boyfriend a few times who has oily skin and it didn’t give him spots - so it isn’t just for dry skin. 

Also, the pot is lasting me much longer than expected! A little going a long way is such a bonus.

I love the concept of the lush cosmetics business - and their fab products reflects this.
Ps: these nails are a sneak peak of tomorrows nail post.

xox