I'm back!

So first of all, I must apologise for my absence - if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen me post about my recent disappearance. I'm in the midst of all my last Uni assignment deadlines of the semester, so it's been very full on. I haven't been able to spare the hours I normally do to enjoy painting and posting. 

However, today I allowed myself a day off after about a 15 day streak in the library all day. So here is my first post back!

Today I decided to do a spring mani but the weather hasn't been great so I went for a nude feel. 

Polishes used were; OPI - natural base coat, Orly - Dare to bare, Sinful colors - Snow me white and Seche Vite - fast dry top coat. 

This mani is really easy to recreate using a bobby pin if you don't have a dotting tool. I would recommend this flower nail art for those just starting out/wanting to do something easy! 

The nude polish and gold stud combo is a fave of mine, it was such an effective look. I dabbed the tiniest amount of nail glue to hold them in place before using a my top coat. This made them last really well and they weren't difficult to remove.

I'm looking forward to sharing a few more mani's I have to come over the weekend.

Thanks for sticking with me through my absence when life gets in the way of blogging!

xox 

Pinking about you

Today's mani was inspired by the amazingly talented @coffeeandnailpolish. (On Instagram) 

Because my nails are shorter than usual at the moment, I want to focus of designs that look best on the shorter square nail. 

And I must say I'm loving having slightly shorter nails recently - so much easier to manage!

Polishes used for this design were; OPI - Nail Envy, Orly - Dare to bare, Essie - Pinking about you and Seche Vite.

I adore every single nail polish used. This Orly nail polish is to die for - it is my favourite nude. Massive statement. It matches my skin tone perfectly, so I'm very happy with this TKMaxx find.

Sidenote: TKMaxx (UK) have lots of Orly polishes recently. It's been a struggle not buying more.

Pinking about you is becoming one of my favourite glitters. It is similar to so many amazing indie polishes out there. You'll definitely be seeing more of it on Nailstori! 

I painted and sponged the glitter - applied like a dream. In my opinion it is really hard to find a glitter polish that applies well on an ombré design. It is fast drying too, which I think it really important if you want it to set and enjoy a lasting manicure.

I'm keeping this design on for the weekend because I love it so much. My fave mani so far of 2015!

Happy (nearly) Friday everyone! As always thanks for reading.

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

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

A little boxed miracle

I have seen so many bloggers talking about the Orly nail rescue and I'm not going to lie... I break my nails often so I was eager to see what it had to offer. 

First thing I noticed is how easy it is to use. The steps are super simple and quick.

Here is my tragedy but all shall be fixed in a minute. 

 After removing any base coat. I applied the orly nail glue to the broken area. It didn't stink like most nail glues which was a big plus for me - I hate the smell. It didn't stick to the side of my skin when I went over my nails. This annoys me so much with normal glue so this was also a bonus. 

 I then dip the glue into the powder immediately and let it dry. Also, this pot will last a life time - barely any comes off on the nails. 

 At first I filed off the glue too quickly and it sort of smudged off. So, wait a few minutes until it dries then file really lightly just to get off any excess glue or smooth out any bumps. It does not give a completely smooth finish so if that's what you are looking for with this product you will need to use a buffer of your own. This didn't bother me much because I used liquid sand over the top. 

 Tadaaaaah! All fixed for now. I love how it worked out so far, I've only had it on a day but it is looking good! I would recommend this product for people who have regular breaks to their nails and are looking for a quick fix when fed up of using up all their tea bags! If you have really weak nails this could be a good way to strengthen them up a bit, preventing breaks.  

I hope this was of a little help and I am loving the product so far!

xox

Massive American Haul

Some of you may know that I've been in America the past few weeks - the reason behind my lack of posting. However, I did not come home empty handed so this post will be showing off my new purchases.
I cannot believe how cheap everything is in the US, every year I go back and forget! You American blogging lot get it so cheap. 
These products are from; Victoria's Secret, Sally's, Walgreens, Target,  Tjmaxx and dollar tree. All of the polishes I got were on offer - there is no other way to buy polish in my opinion. 
I had saved a long time to get all these products and stuck to the list I made very well (surprisingly)
Leaving polishes last (from left to right) the other products I got were;
Dermalogica, Dry skin kit - absolutely amazing stuff. The only products that got rid (and kept away) my teenage spots. It is ridiculously expensive in the UK but I picked this up for around $35. 
Naked Palette 3 - been on my list for months. Only used it once but am loving the fact all the colour work together. 
Orly nails rescue - heard great things about this so couldn't resist, can't wait to see how it works. 
Orly spritz away - I needed a new polish dryer and it looked pretty good.
Orly nail lacquer thinner - I was fed up of putting polish remover in my polishes to make them thinner I wasn't sure if I was making them better or worse. So it was time for some proper thinner. 
Victoria's Secret - Passion struck, Sheer love and Amber romance. Adore these my fave is Amber Romance! 
Lastly at the front - Maybelline - colour show fashion prints, Essie - sleek stickers (love love love the print on these) and some simple dotting tools. 

Onto polishes and names! 
Sinful colours - we no longer get this in the UK we had it for a few weeks and then it vanishes. So upsetting so I got some basic colours of theirs. 
Jolly, Dream on, Teal the end, High strung and 24/7. 
Sally Hansen - Big Matte Top coat (want this for so so long!) Colour foil - Titanium flush and Leaden Lilac. I had no idea these existed until I found the clearance section in Target. They look amazing in the bottle! Xtreme wear - White on and Lacey Lilac. Finally, Lady lavender. I went a bit lilac crazy with the Sally's polishes. 
Orly - Retro red and Live wire. 
Essie - Come here - looks a beautiful deep pink. 
OPI liquid sand - Pussy Galore (what a name) and Solitaire. I am so in love with liquid sand and both at only $8 it was an absolute dream. I cannot wait to try them but want my nails to grow a little longer first.
Finally onto the massive ELF collection I acquired. So the deal was 15 polishes for $6 I just couldn't not. I have never tried ELF polishes so they could be really bad or really good. Left to right the names are; Gold star, Mango Madness, Wedding bells, Desert haze, Nude, Blush, Raspberry sorbet, Gina girl, Purple dream, Purple pleaser, Sea escape, Love me, Smoking hot and High tide. 
So, that's my BIG American haul, I am so happy with all these products and cannot wait to try them out.
Some stamping on its way in the coming weeks too.
I'm happy to be back.
Have a great relaxed Sunday nail peeps. 
xox