Jam n' Jelly

The first swatch from my brill boots haul. It is Essie - Jam n' Jelly - what a b-e-a-utiful colour! It's nothing like any other pink polishes I have (which is a fair few) 

The other products I used were OPI - natural base coat and Essie - Millionails for the base and Sally Hansen - top coat.

Essie is by far my favourite nail brand, it is so easy to apply, drys quick and the finish is so smooth. 

Basically, I have a lot of love for Essie. 

xox

Monochrome moon

I haven't done any dark colours in ages so about time. 
For this I used: OPI - my boyfriend scales walls, Rimmel, Black cab, Sally Hansen, top coat and Born Pretty Store glitter.

I always use those french mani tape strips to do half moons but they aren't good, so gloopy and muck it all up. Go free hand guys. I have finally learnt my lesson. Mine are a bit messy because of this but hopefully it hasn't ruined the mani. 
This is the first time I tried out Sally hansen top coat, it is so good, I definitely recommend! 
I'm back from uni for summer pretty much and back on the blogging game.
Until tomorrow... xox 

http://www.bornprettystore.com/

http://www.bornprettystore.com/hexagon-nail-glitter-dust-powder-noble-sheet-decoration-colors-p-785.html

May mani

 Can't get enough of sparkling up any colour with the born pretty glitter! 
Today I went for my new Crabtree & Evelyn polish - it is called Peony/Rose Delicat. And of course I love it ... It is a pale pink. I could wear pale pinks and whites everyday, always a safe option taking into account unprepared outfit days! 
I started off the day with just the polish on. Then I had a lecture break so obviously spent my time adding glitter. Can I just mention, I finished my first year of uni today... which means... more mani time! Anyway, I saw this design online ages ago and whoever had done it, had done it well! It's hard to get look right. I'm not completely loving my version. My nail shape is a little crazy recently maybe that contributes? Or it just did a bad job! 
I think I will be using this glitter again very soon.
Sorry for lack of posts - assignments due, exam season and all that!
xox 

http://www.bornprettystore.com/

http://www.bornprettystore.com/hexagon-nail-glitter-dust-powder-noble-sheet-decoration-colors-p-785.html

April Haul (not just nail goodies)

A spontaneous trip to an outlet mall with my mum resulted with this! Which include: (left to right)

Clinique - dramatically different moisturising lotion

Estee Lauder - Double wear foundation

Crabtree & Evelyn nail polishes

Yankee Candle - Guava

Thin paint brushes

Set of 20 acylic paints

Techniques - Miracle complexion sponge.

I have awful dry skin and have tried all the brands, even the more pricey brands like body shop would not make a difference. I have thyroid issues which do not help my dry skin. I have trouble with any skin make up because it's so bad. After two application of this Clinique lotion it was no where near as dry which makes me so happy! I think I may have finally found my tool. It is slightly pricey but totally worth it. If anyone is suffering as bad as I am give it a go, it works wonders so far! You also get quite a lot in the bottle and don't need much at all. 

The next buy is Estee Lauder, I have heard pretty good things about their foundations and it was pretty cheap in the store I found it in. First things first, it makes my skin FLAWLESS! It blends easily and when put on with a good brush or sponge it covers so well. I have quite red skin and often make up looked 'caked' but this does not. So far I am loving it. My only concern is if it clogs and gives me spots. I find Mac gives me spots easy so I only use their foundation on occasions. 

I already have a techniques sponge and adore it! However, mine is pretty worn already after only a couple months so I would say those with one/wanting one - handle with care! And wash lots. It's still an awesome product regardless.

Below are the polishes from Crabtree & Evelyn and were on sale (bonus!)

I have never bought polishes from the brand before. I tested them on one nail and both the colours are gorgeous! I can't wait to use the blue in a galaxy design (this is also my mums fave so I'm sure I'll be doing her nails the next couple days) I am running out of my favourite Essie pale pink and this is almost a perfect colour match - yay! I don't know how well they stay on with no chips etc. We will have to wait and see! Below are the names of the polishes too.

I hope this post wasn't too much of an essay! 
I will be reviewing Born Pretty Store products in the next few days.
Thanks for reading.
xox

My first Chanel eeeeek

 After years of sneaking into my mum's polish box using her Chanel's I finally got my own! 

I have wanted this colour for so long and I found it in the airport so couldn't not. Do you blame me though? The colour is gorgeous.

As you can see it is called May 535, a barbie pink colour. I took a picture both inside and out because natural light changes the colour. I think my nails are getting a little long for me - I don't want to have any horrific breaks, so next post they may be filed short short!

Anyway, it's a good job I'm not going shopping any time soon - I've been looking at the next colour on my wish list!

xox

St. Paddy's

Happy St. Patrick's day! Even though I am scottish I was once a competitive Irish dancer and loved the celebration with all the dance shows. So I decided to do a design that wasn't over-board and just in the theme of green. I went with a fishtail design, I think they are always effective. The flash on my camera makes the silver look odd but I promise the colour combo looks good in person. 

For this I used: OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Sally Hansen - In a Splash and the silver is L.A Colours with no name, it was very cheap! But still a pretty good polish. Then I used small gold studs from ebay. 

Excuse the pen smudges on my pinky - I'm a lefty and often don't notice because it's always there! 

xox

A mani that kept on evolving

 OPI - 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls'

Gorgeous colour after 2 coats. I use this base for almost every mani. 

 I then got quickly bored of the plain white coat after a day and painted a top coat of Sally Hansen - 'Hidden Treasure'
It is amazing. I didn't think it would work out but it made the colour look so good. 

I then got bored of the other hand being white so started dotting randomly to see how it turned out and was pretty cool. Maybe next time I will actually do a proper pattern! 

Gradient practice

So, firstly my nail posting has been pretty shabby recently - got a lot going on!

Second, these are not the best gradients ever.

Thirdly, that's why I'm practicing!

Couldn't get these to look great in the pictures which is why the picture is a bit weird with flowers in the background, but hey, love a bit of flowers. 

I absolutely LOVE gradient/ombre nails. Every picture I see on Instagram of them I can't help but like. I have done so many ombre nails and never been really chuffed with them. So I'm just going to keep trying until I get it perfect.

For these nails I used:

17 Lasting Fix Nail Polish - Parma Violet

(which I got for 50p, such a bargain!)

Sally Hansen - 640 Plum Luck

I think the sally hansen may have been a bit too dark for this gradient to work, I couldn't find my other dark purple.

How does everyone get their gradients so perfect?! 

Acrylic or nail polish?

I'm also upset because I left my acrylic paints at home so will have to get them sent here or something - upsetting times.

Thanks for reading. More soon, promise.

xox

Birthday gifts!

I was so spoilt this year! A post of all my gorgeous new nail related birthday gifts.

Cool nail beads from my flatmates, cuties. They are 'Bourjois Paris' I am intrigued to see how they turn out when I use them - haven't tried anything like it! Has anyone tried these? What did they think?

From my wonderful mother. TKMaxx Sally Hansen beauties. The picture just doesn't do the colours justice they are amazing. 

(From left to right)

610 Red Zin

640 Plum Luck

419 Hidden Treasure

530 Back To The Fuchsia (one of my fave nail names) 

Also TKMaxx bargains, L'Oreal polishes. Really like the L'oreal colour I have so I'm sure I will love these too. The nude looks really pretty - a girl can never have enough nudes.

(from left to right)

690 Amazon's Flare

790 Raven's Dream

320 Charmed, I'm Sure

335 Mystery

168 Gorgeous Gold

So thank you to my mama if she reads this. Very grateful!

This was a present to myself today. I went into lush, not to buy anything in particular. I've heard so many good things about this cuticle butter - I couldn't not get it. Felt guilty until I used it. No regrets! Definitely recommend it. Smells 
lush!

This was a gift from my boyfriends parents which was very lovely of them. It smells so good too. I really like the fact it isn't really sticky like a lot of hand creams, it soaks in well. It has earned handbag must have! 

Last but most definitely not least... Another present to myself - it was only £3 so again I don't regret it. My other nail box is full. Excluding the boxes that I hadn't brought to uni (too many polishes) I absolutely love this TKMaxx buy, so pretty.

As you can tell I love TKMaxx. I have my mum to thank, she has taught me how to shop well and find all the bargains.

An amazing birthday with lovely people and wonderful gifts. Thank you to everyone. And thanks if you pursued this post and read this far down!

xox