Celebrate with Sally

 I have finished uni for summer! Yay! 

So, I decided I wanted I do a very bright summery colour. However, of course in sunny old England, it rained. Photographic evidence below. 

For this simple mani I used: OPI - natural base, Sally Hansen - Kook a mango, Sally Hansen - top coat. And the born pretty store glitter. I am also trying Sally's Vitamin E Oil. So far so good with it - it has a lot in the bottle so worth the price.

As you may or may not know, I'm not a fan of red polish typically but this one is an orangey red and is very pretty. I don't like the brushes on Sally's polishes, they are way too big for my nails which ends in a lot of clean up. Nevertheless, the finish of the polishes is great. The colour also looked great against my tartan shirt. 

I am doing some work experience over the next few weeks so my mani's will be mostly swatches and simples. Acrylic paints will be out as soon as!

Purchase your born pretty store glitter in the link below to create this look. 

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

Pastel tuesdays

Iphone camera pictures only. 

I keep seeing pastel ombre nails online and they are my favourite! I was hoping mine to be the same but unfortunately these aren't my favourite.

I used: Sally Hansen nail strengthener for the base (didn't have OPI with me) OPI - My boyfriend scales walls, Barry M - Berry ice cream, Essie - Mint Candy Apple, Essie - Fiji and Sally Hansen - UV top coat.

I really like the idea here but it just didn't turn out right for me. 

First, bubbles!! Why the bubbles?! My white OPI never does this, I'm thinking it's because I let them dry in the sun for about an hour, could this be why? 

I'm not sure on the colours used, I did set out to use a fourth colour but it didn't come out too good so I stuck to the three. 

I'm not usually a Barry M fan, I only have a few of their polishes but it works really well on the ombre, shows up well on white so I liked it for this.

The next time I try this - which will be in the next month I expect. I want to get a pastel yellow, test out the colours more and maybe add some studs to it.

I didn't have my Nikon with me today so these pictures will have to do, which isn't too upsetting because the bubbles aren't too much on show!

I won't be posting for a few days because I have an exam friday but will be back shortly!

xox

XOXO Gossip Girl...

After finishing watching the entire Gossip Girl series again I obviously had to create a nail tribute. 

I used: OPI - Natural Base Coat, Sally Hansen - Plum Luck, Sally Hansen - Top coat and Born Pretty Store Glitter. 

The picture really shows how the Born Pretty Store glitter looks in the sun - it is so nice, makes the detailing really stand out. It also shows how good the Sally Hansen top coat is - makes any polish so shiny. I love it!

This Sally Hansen colour is gorgeous, even better because it is a TKMaxx bargain. Definitely going to be wearing this one more. 

I am absolutely loving the shape of my pinky nail - shame the others aren't long enough for that shape yet. 

Also, the clean up of my middle finger is so bad, it went horrible all in my cuticle and I couldn't get it off without ruining the whole mani so I got over it! 

Not sure what designs will be happening next week - need some nail inspo! 
A direct link below to purchase your own born pretty store glitter. 

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

Spring time!

Haven't done a Cath Kidston inspired mani in a while and love doing them so here it is. The base coat is OPI - Stranger Tides. The other colours are acrylic paints. The base is such a nice grey green colour, I should have taken a picture of it before I started painting. I should point out that this mani was inspired by the amazing Cass Gooner's design. I think it's pretty. 

I will be doing a review in a few days.

xox 

My cat kept getting in the way of my pictures, it was too cute not to post a pic of it! 

Nail Caviar

 Warning: sadly taken with an iPhone, see below post!

First time trying Bourjois Paris toppings and coupled with Essie - Mint Candy Apple, it definitely works together! I can't stop touching the beads they are really cool. they lasted pretty well too without any glue! 

My flatmates did good with this as a birthday present! They also got me the pinky coloured one too, so I will be trying that very soon. I wonder if anyone has made a pattern with their beads? I might give it a go. 

florals coming up soon - spring is finally here! 

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

More gradient practice

First things first... I FORGOT TO TAKE A MANI PIC! Can't believe I completely forgot :( 

Soooo... as you know I suck at gradients, just can't get it right but I soldier on. I've attempted a pink one this time. Using: my fave Essie - Fiji and Sally Hansen - Back To The Fuchsia.

I quite like this many from far away (or without my glasses on) but close up it isn't so fab!

Took this quick webcam picture with my tea during essay time. 

Anyway, I will keep on practicing gradients (hopefully soon to make perfect) 

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

Little bit of floral

Valentines mani, very late. I did these before valentines I just didn't have time to post them (my birthday is the day after). This is also why I don't have any better pictures :( I completely forgot about the horrible plaster on my finger. Now it is too late to take another because they have chipped. So this will have to do unfortunately. The polishes I used were the ones I use quite a lot (just love them) The base is OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls. OPI - Kiss Me On My Tulips. Nina Ultra Pro - Leaf Me Alone. And the black wasn't a particularly known brand. I used it because it already had a small detail brush. 

New nails up tomorrow - I got lots of new gorgeous nail polishes for my birthday! 

xox

love, love, love

My second valentines mani - definitely a different one. And much harder than I anticipated - I did most nails twice! And whilst watching Harry potter which was very tense. 

I used Essie - Fiji (one of my absolute faves!)

A random black with no name. I got it from Barcelona 

And Essie - Fifth Avenue (again) 

I like this one because it's not a typical girly valentines mani. I also couldn't resist putting the base coat picture up - it is soo nice. 

More tomorrow - if I get enough work done in time!

xox 

Queen of hearts

First valentines post of the year. I saw a similar design to this which was gorgeous so thought I would recreate. This mani doesn't look as good with square nails, so when I get bored and change nail shape I definitely want to try this one again.

I used: Essie - Millionnails base. OPI - My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Essie - Fifth Avenue. Fifth Avenue is a great colour. I never wear red nail polish because I just don't think it suits me that well - but I'm actually starting to like it. Maybe more red to come. More valentines nails to come + birthday nails. (15th!) Valentines baby.

xox 

I have been poorly and in hospital late so haven't been able to post any nails :( Hopefully I will get round to it later. But in the meantime follow my other social media!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TorBlor

Instagram: http://instagram.com/nailstori

slightly different french mani

This took me like 20 mins max and it's pretty cool. I used Rimmel London - Black Cab and Urban Outfitters - Turquoise 1. I got this one for £1 from a charity shop and it's such a good polish. 

Cheeky little selfie - thought I'd share what it looks like in black and white. I thought it was rather funky!