Long overdue catch up AKA Mega Blog Entry

Well hello. As my own version of a Constant Reader, the lovely Emma, pointed out, I haven't blogged since May. May! I hang my head in shame. Honestly though, I wasn't feeling like it, and I said all along (to myself, obviously, no one else cares) that if I didn't feel like blogging, I wouldn't. I go to work enough, I don't want blogging to turn into a chore.


Anyway, despite the fact that I've been quiet for so long, I have still been doing what I do best - my nails, and so I've got quite a few manis to share. Here's a selection of my favourite from the time that I've been gone...

  [Above] The gorgeous Nails Inc Copacabana. This one saw me through large part of our holiday in Turkey, it's a bright and beautiful coral.      

  [Above] Barry M Gelly Shine in Greenberry, with Models Own Indian Ocean on top! Proving once again that Barry M make beautiful nail polish for bargainous prices.       [Above] Nails Inc Basil Street. I wore this uncharacteristically plain colour for a fancy dress party. I was dressed as Clark Kent, and he doesn't usually wear nail polish.      

  [Above] Color Club in Pardon My French. This is BRIGHT. Retina searingly bright, though that clearly doesn't translate to the picture. I love it. Perfect formula, gorgeous colour.         [Above] Exposed in Grey with China Glaze Fairy Dust on top. Who doesn't love a good holo? Fairy Dust is one of the finest, most holo of all. It's lovely. 

[Above] Rimmel London Cocktail Colours in Baby Bellini. This is so pretty. The only downside is the one coat claim. Not true. This is three coats - one coat is very, very thin. I want this whole collection though, the colours are gorgeous. 

  [Above] And finally, of course, a bit of leopard print Konad stamping. Barry M Pink Flamingo with black Konad polish and plate m57.       I think that should just about do it! It's good to be back.

Nails Inc Knightsbridge Green

Here's another of my Lucky Dip polishes:

This is Nails Inc Knightsbridge Green, and it's lovely. However, and I want you to know this so much that I'm going to shout it. USE A BASECOAT. Use two. Seriously. I double basecoat my nails and they were unbelievably stained when I removed this polish. I looked like an extra from The Walking Dead. It is the stainiest polish I've ever used (yeah it's a word) My basecoat was Nails Inc Kensington Caviar, and topcoat was Seche Vite.

Beautiful colour though, it got a lot of compliments.


What do you think? Is it worth the zombie nails afterwards?

Nails Inc Draycott Place

This is the first of my Lucky Dip polishes, Draycott Place, and what a beauty. It's eye-searingly bright in the sun (woo, sun!) but this is the best picture I managed to get today. It's the kind of colour I want to wear on the beach, with a tan!

It looks much more dull here...Also, the bottle is covering the spot where I cut the palm of my hand with a breadknife (I'm an idiot) It stings when I wash my hair, haha.


This is two coats, with Seche Vite topcoat. What do you think?

Nails Inc Lucky Dip!!

Okay. This is the best Nails Inc Lucky Dip ever. EVER.


The Lucky Dip is an incredible 7 full size polishes for £18. I always try and get one if I can (they sell very fast, as you might imagine) and in the past I've had a few dodgy colours/spiky brushes. I received this one this morning though, and it is brilliant!

I got (L-R):

• Cherry Road - from the Sprinkles collection
• Notting Hill Carnival
• Westbourne Grove
• Draycott Place
• Knightsbridge Green
• Southwark
• Grosvenor Street

I think I'm in love with them all. I actually don't know which one to try first! What do you think?

Are you tempted to try and get a Nails Inc Lucky Dip?

Models Own Indian Ocean, Barry M Berry Ice Cream, Avon Nailwear Pro in Midnight

Two different manis to show today! Totally different ones at that...


The first is Barry M Berry Ice Cream with Models Own Indian Ocean on top - Indian Ocean looks good on everything.

As always, it's hard to capture properly, but in the light it's absolutely lovely, and shimmers between pink and blue.

Next up is a beautiful polish that was given to me by my lovely friend Emma. Emma is my own Constant Reader, to borrow from my favourite author of all time, Stephen King (not that I would dream of comparing myself to him, the man is incredible, I just like the term. Ramble ramble.)

It's from Avon, and is part of the Nailwear Pro collection. The shade is 'Midnight'. It's a very dark, very vampy purple, and it goes on really smoothly. I was also surprised that it doesn't smell as bad as most polishes (not that it bothers me, nail polish smells like home, haha) and also that it dries very quickly. Thank you Emma!!

Avon claim it is "Nail enamel fortified with acrylic gel for strength" and I agree that it certainly has the shine of gel.

Two coats, Nails Inc Kensington Caviar base, Nubar Diamont topcoat

Awful picture, as usual, but hopefully you get the idea. It looks a tiny bit patchy here, but not in real life. I would like to try more Avon polishes if they are all as nice as this.

Edited to add: I just noticed that these are on sale at £2.50 on the Avon website HERE. Bargain! I might have to invest in a few shades...


Thank you for reading!

Nails Inc Brook Street

A nice bright pink tonight. I've become such a fan of pink, my 17 year old self would be cringing. I actually used to use black nail polish...

This is a rare daylight shot. I actually think the colour is much brighter and pinker in real life though. This is three coats, with Nails Inc Kensington Caviar basecoat and Nubar Diamont topcoat.


What do you think? Do you have a favourite shade of pink?

Leighton Denny Rampant Rose

This is another one of the colours from the Leighton Denny Little Black Dress pack.

I quite like it. To be honest, it's just a standard red. I love reds, probably more than any other colour, but since I have so many, it does take something special to really stand out. This one is perfectly pleasant though. The formula is a bit patchy, but two coats was fine. Topcoat is Nubar Diamont, basecoat is Nails Inc Kensington Caviar.


What's your favourite colour group?

Nails Inc Westminster

I haven't done anything more than just paint my nails in ages. Lazy, I know. So the other day I decided to try and do something a bit more interesting. Here's what I came up with:

Eh, I don't know. I suppose it's okay, I just blended lots of shades of purple with a piece of cosmetic sponge. They look a bit smoky I think. Base colour is Nails Inc Westminster and topcoat is Nubar Diamont. I also used a couple of Barry M purples.


What do you think? Do you like blendy, smoky, cloudy weird nails?

Leighton Denny Jailbird

Tonight, I used another Leighton Denny colour. I was thinking that it looked nice, that I quite fancied wearing green, so yep, started applying it...

It is beautiful. Italics and everything. I really, really like this colour. In the bottle it looks average, on the nail it's amazing. It's so pigmented that you could probably use just one coat (I used two, habit...)and it goes on extremely smoothly. This is the way that all polishes should be!

This is a mini bottle, by the way, my hands aren't ginormous

This is two coats of Jailbird, over Nails Inc Kensington Caviar basecoat, and Nubar Diamont topcoat. Lovely, right?! I really want to try more Leighton Denny polishes now, they're next on my list!


Thanks for reading!

Leighton Denny Razzmatazz

I went to TK Maxx the other day and just look what they had in!!

It was £7.99, I couldn't leave without it. I love TK Maxx for nail bargains, they had loads of OPI and Nails Inc too. I get drawn in every time...

So, anyway, tonight I tried the purple, Razzmatazz.

I layered it over my all time favourite purple, Exposed Mystic, as it's quite thin and I hate to waste it. This is two coats of Mystic and two of Razzmatazz. The colour is beautiful, with flecks of purple, red and black. It dried to a disappointingly matte finish but that's nothing that Nubar Diamont topcoat (my new love) couldn't fix. Basecoat was Nails Inc Kensington Caviar.


Which colour would you like to see swatched next? I love them all!


Thanks for reading!

Kinetics Nail Colors in So Coral

Tonight I have a lovely pink mani to show you. There was a time where I didn't like pink polish, but there are just so many gorgeous shades out there that I can't resist.


 This is Kinetics Nail Colors in So Coral:

Kinetics So Coral

Kinetics So Coral and Catwalk (review soon!)

Awful 'with flash' picture that shows off the lovely pink!

Now, I wouldn't necessarily say this was coral enough in colour to warrant the name, but it's a lovely pink. The kind that seems to go really well with all the navy blue and grey clothes that I wear. It goes on very smoothly, although I had to be careful to keep the coats nice and thin, and it was perfect in two coats. It's not the best in terms of self-levelling, but I have used polishes way more expensive that were much worse, and this is nothing that a good top coat doesn't help. In terms of formula, if you're familiar with Barry M Pink Flamingo, then this is similar (though this polish is perfect in two coats whereas Pink Flamingo takes three to four) The polish is also beautifully shiny before topcoat, which is really nice to see.

One of the best things about this polish was the brush, it's nice and thin - if you've read my blog before you'll probably have heard me whinging about those annoying 'one stroke' brushes. I have very small, narrow nail beds, and I loved the thin brush on this polish - it allows me to do three strokes of the brush without smearing polish everywhere. I definitely want to try more Kinetics colours.

Topcoat today was my brand new Nubar Diamont, which I love, and basecoat was Nails Inc Kensington Caviar.



Kinetics are at www.margaritabelska.com priced at £3.37 for 15ml (ex.vat) and I noticed that they've got a 'buy two get one free' offer on, which is useful, as there are almost too many colours to choose from.

Margarita Belska Nail School have kindly offered a 5% discount for all my readers - just enter code SAVE5VDBL at the checkout to save.


What do you think?




*press sample

More Max Factor Fantasy Fire!

I couldn't resist - after the other day I fell in love with Max Factor Fantasy Fire all over again. It's still very much a layering/topcoat type of polish of course, but it's just so beautiful. I know it's old news, but I don't care...

This is over two coats of Barry M Indigo, which is pretty much perfect to show it off. Basecoat and topcoat are Nails Inc - Kensington Caviar and Albert Bridge.


What do you think? Are you still captivated by Fantasy Fire?

Max Factor Fantasy Fire over Barry M Navy

Bit of the lovely Fantasy Fire tonight...I forget how awesome it is every time!

 

The Barry M Navy is a firm favourite too, it's just so shiny! I sponged Fantasy Fire just on the tips, and it looks great when it catches the light.


This is two coats of Barry M Navy, two sponged layers of Fantasy Fire, and Seche Vite topcoat (which I have had enough of...the shrinkage is getting to me) Basecoat today was Nails Inc.


Are you a fan of Max Factor Fantasy Fire?


Thanks for reading!

Nails Inc Buckingham Street over Exposed Grey

I did a bit of a reverse glitter mani tonight. Normally I paint the tips of my nails, this time I went from the cuticle...

I really like the effect. It's not perfect but it looks nice in real life, stands out a lot more that in the photos. This Nails Inc glitter is really a gorgeous colour but I think it needs to be layered, it's suspended in a clear base so you wouldn't get far with it on it's own.

What I used:

• Essie Trillionails basecoat (still going strong, LOVE this stuff, it makes my nails so strong)
• Exposed - an unnamed polish in grey (2 coats)
• Nails Inc Buckingham Street glitter (sponged on)
• Seche Vite top coat

What do you think? Do you prefer cuticle glitter, or just on the tips of the nail?

Thanks for reading!

Nails Inc Aspen with Ciate Enchanted Rose

Another bright mani to show you tonight. I've gone back to brighter colours for some reason...

This is Nails Inc Aspen with an accent nail (ring finger) of Ciate Enchanted Rose, which was a limited edition colour for the Mini Mani Month calendar. I love Aspen, and it looks even nicer with a sparkly nail!

Nails Inc and Ciate are available at QVC HERE.

Two coats of Aspen, and two of Enchanted Rose, under Seche Vite topcoat. My basecoat at the moment is still Essie Trillionails, because I love it.

Do you like red polish?

Nails Inc Beaumont Street

On the back of telling you that I've been wearing lots of dark, wintery polish, I decided I needed a bit of sunshine in my life...here's one of my favourite Nails Inc polishes, Beaumont Street:

This must be one of the easiest polishes in the world to paint with - it's smooth, even and lovely - and what a colour. I used to be the sort of person that didn't like pink polish, but I've changed. Oh how I've changed...This is two coats with Seche Vite topcoat. This would probably be okay with just one coat, but as I've said before, it's a habit.


Nails Inc is available HERE at QVC. I've got my eye on the Sprinkles collection, amongst others!


What do you think?

Nails Inc Victoria and Albert Christmas Jumper nails!

So, here are my Christmas themed nails! Anyone who knows me knows I am a little bit of a Scrooge (okay, a lot) but I do like these tacky Christmas Jumper nails...

It could be that Victoria and Albert is one of my favourite red polishes, it could be that I like jumpers...who knows, but they don't bring out the Grinch in me, so it's okay.

It's two coats of Nails Inc Victoria and Albert (which by the way is SO nice to paint with!) with Konad M79 special white polish. 

The Nails Inc polish is available HERE at QVC. I could buy all of these happily!


Happy Christmas!

Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle over Nails Inc Queensgate Mews

Here are tonight's nails...after struggling to foil off a Mirrorball glitter polish, guess what I went and put straight on...

Beautiful though, huh? It's two coats of Nails Inc Queensgate Mews, a deep red, with one coat of Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle on top. As always, basecoat is Essie Trillionails and topcoat is Seche Vite.

There are so many Deborah Lippmann polishes I would love to try. This is the only polish I have, and I really love it. It's like ruby slippers...


What do you think?

Nails Inc, Models Own - Lazy Blogger! Also, La Roche-Posay

Wow I've been rubbish at blogging recently! I'd like to say that I've been busy doing amazing things, but I can't think of any (unless you count making forts out of the incredible huge box our new bed came in, more of which later...)

Anyway, I'm back, and as usual I have a few different manis to show you!

Nails Inc Chalk Farm with Models Own Freak Out!

Nails Inc Henrietta Street

Exposed in Mystic with Nails Inc Electric Lane accent

Nails Inc Berkeley Square with Butter London The Black Knight tips

Oh...and me in the box ;)

So, there's a catchup of all the nails I've worn recently. I promise to try and be good and upload as I go. You'll be pleased to see that I've shared a picture of me in the box too. Seriously, it's better than the bed!


Also, recently I've been using La Roche-Posay skincare as my skin has a bad time every winter (I was designed for warmer climes, without doubt) and it's really very good. Just thought I'd mention in in case you happen to be reading and suffering from the same problems as me - oily forehead and dry cheeks are the issue. Also, some really painful spots. I've been using La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo as well as their toner and Micellar water, and I've just ordered Effaclar K. So far, so good. My skin is calmer and smoother, and the spots have stopped flaring up. It's a big deal for me, as I have always had very good skin in the past, but now I've reached the grand age of 28, something has changed!


The recommendation came from Ruth Crilly at A Model Recommends, so I'm very thankful to her!


The only other thing I wanted to mention was that I'm very excited to start opening my Ciate Mini Mani Month calendar soon! I'll be blogging it as I go.


That's all for now - if anyone is interested in more details on the skincare, or the polish, just leave a comment below! Thanks for reading.

Nails Inc Motcomb Street

Tonight I used Nails Inc Motcomb Street. It was another Lucky Dip polish and I really like it.

This is two coats, over Essie Trillionails basecoat, under a coat of Seche Vite topcoat. It's the darkest of midnight blues, so dark that it looks black until you see it in good light. I was intending to stamp over this, but I had one of those stamping attempts where you mess up a single nail about a million times, so I gave up and left it as it is. It's kinda nice though, so shiny...


What do you think? Are you a fan of dark polish?