November and December Nails

Hello everyone and happy new year! I hope you all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to what 2014 will bring.

As with the last monthly nails post I have teamed up November and December as I made a rather exciting purchase which has meant that my nail polish has been lasting longer, and as a consequence I've been painting my nails less often. Can you guess what it is..? Yup, I took advantage of the Boots Star Gift offer and got the Sensationail starter kit and I have to say I'm really impressed with it! You've no doubt already seen lots of reviews of it but do let me know if you're interested in a more detailed review/tutorial from me and I'd be happy to post one.

Onto the nails! First up we have a wintery look using Models Own Blooboo topped with Models Own Jack Frost glitter. I love MO polishes as they are always a really nice formula to work with and wear they well.

Next up is OPI in Dutch Ya Just Love OPI? with Barry M's, imaginatively (haha!) named, Gold Glitter for the tips. I love using glitter on the tips as it is a simple way to add a little sparkle to your mani without the hassle you usually get removing it! Also, using glitter on the tips rather than a second colour polish allows a little more room for error as you don't have to get the line perfectly straight for it to still look good (although as you can see I had a little mishap on the ring finger!). 

Now for the one you may have been waiting for... Sensationail! The two shades included in the starter kit that I bought were Sugar Plum (shown here) and Taupe Tulips (which I haven't yet tried). The kit was really simple to use with the easy to follow instructions and only slightly more time consuming than a regular paint job. The photos don't do justice to the shine on these but boy were they glossy! Gorgeous, and they lasted two weeks, so definitely worth the extra effort. 

Finally, we have Models Own Northern Lights, a gorgeous pink and holographic glitter which I wore to see me through the weeks of Christmas and New Year. This is the first normal nail polish that I have tested sandwiched between the Sensationail gel base and top coats and I'm pleased to say that it worked really well and still lasted two weeks! I'm looking forward to trying more of my normal nail polishes with the Sensationail kit to help them last longer.

That's all for November and December nails but January should be a good one because I managed to find the Ciate Mini Mani Month advent calendar in the sales at John Lewis for half price at £21! It looks like JL have sold out now but there are still some available (at time of posting) on ASOS for £33.50. There are so many beautiful colours that I'm looking forward to trying, here's a sneak peek! 

Which colours stand out for you?

September & October Nails

Hello lovelies :)

Hope you're all well and looking forward to Christmas (is it too early?). This post is September and October nails combined as I had gel nails done at the beginning of October for my birthday and as they lasted so well I didn't really wear anything else on my nails all month! 

First up we have a couple of beauties from Bourjois, the So Laque! Ultra Shine polish in 23 Fuschia Hype and the Laser Toppings in 38 Sun Scales on the thumb and third finger. Fushcia Hype is a gorgeous berry pink, perfect all year round and the finish is so glossy and hardwearing. I'd also like to add that I applied this on the train home from Brighton, pretty steady handiwork hey?!

Here is the Bourjois Laser Toppings in Sun Scales in use again, this time teamed up with an old favourite of mine Rimmel Lasting Finish in Hot Shot which is just a fab, girly hot pink. This colour never fails to cheer me up!

 Next up is OPI 'I Don't Give a Rotterdam' a lovely light grey blue with a silver shimmer. This didn't last as long as I would've liked it to for an OPI polish but it was lovely and did wear fairly well.

Here we have my gel nails which I had done on a spa day for my birthday. It was the first time that I'd had gel nails done and I was so pleased with them, the colour is Soak Up the Sun by Jessica GELeration which was an almost corally hot pink, totally me and totally gorgeous! They lasted just over two weeks before I had to soak them off, fantastic!

Finally, another pink polish (November will be a bit more varied, I promise!) comes in the form of Barry M Textured Nail Effects polish in Princess. I wasn't sure how I would get on with the textured finish but the colour was so attractive that I had to try it out and it didn't disappoint! A beautiful light pink with lovely gold and silver micro glitter running through it that gives a stunning effect on the nails, like rose gold. Unfortunately, due to the texture of the polish this did chip quite early on and didn't last too well but a couple of days is bearable for me when it looks this pretty!

So there you have my September and October nails, I've clearly been going through a pink lovin' phase the last couple of months! What are your favourite polishes and what have you been wearing on your nails recently?

Mini OPI Haul!

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share my OPI haul with you briefly and to alert you to that fact (if you weren't already aware) that Fragrance Direct are currently selling these OPI nail polishes for £3.99 each!

I have shopped with Fragrance Direct a couple of times in the past and they always have a great selection of cosmetics at really low prices, for example Essie nail polishes can be picked up for as little as £1.99! Their stock is a mixture of older, discontinued items (worth a look if you have an old favourite of something which you can no longer get hold of!), current items with older style packaging, past season shades etc. but they also have quite a few current lines at a fraction of the price you'd pay in the likes of Boots or Superdrug so it's worth keeping an eye out as their stock changes frequently and there is always a bargain to be found!

Delivery is a very reasonable £1.99 and is pretty speedy too! I ordered on Thursday and my order arrived on Monday.

At the time of writing this there are over 30 shades to choose from at £3.99 each and here are the three I chose...

L-R: 'I Don't Give a Rotterdam', 'Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI?' and 'Elephantastic Pink'

I Googled swatches of these shades before making my decision so that I knew what to expect! 'I Don't Give a Rotterdam' is a grey-blue with a fine silver glitter running through, 'Dutch 'Ya Just Love OPI?' is a purple shade with a pink and gold shimmer and finally 'Elephantastic Pink' is just a lovely bright bubblegum pink. I'm sure you will be seeing swatches in one of my monthly nail posts shortly (I'm already wearing 'Elephantastic Pink'!

Let me know which shades you choose if you're taking advantage of the offer! I have a feeling that I will be returning for a couple more after deliberating over shades for ages and considering these were my first OPI purchases! 

August Nails

Wow, I can hardly believe it's the end of August already! Time is flying by and I'm starting my 3rd year of uni in a couple of weeks, eek! Anyway, here are my August nails...

First up we have Rimmel I ♥ Lasting Finish in Hot Shot, this is an old favourite of mine as it's just a simple, gorgeous hot pink. If I'm feeling a little down or under the weather when I use this it never fails to make me feel a bit better. The power of pink, haha!

Here I have another Rimmel offering, this time from the 60 Second range in the shade Mary Mary Quite Contrary. This is quite similar to Models Own Utopia I believe and is a lovely, subtle off-white lilac shade. I have also painted my ring finger with a top coat of Models Own Jack Frost to give a little glitter.

Lastly, we have Seventeen Lasting Fix in Mint Choc Chip. I actually spotted this in the reduced to clear section of my local Boots for £1 and thought I'd give it a go as I liked the colour. I was however, disappointed as this looks more like a china blue than a minty green in daylight. This wouldn't have bothered me but I already have two other pastel blues so didn't really need another! Another disappointment was that this chipped really easily (before I managed to get a picture!), even with top coat so only lasted a few days before I had to remove it.

July Nails- Color Club for BirchBox Wanderlust Collection

There was only one set of nail polishes I wore throughout July and these were the Color Club Wanderlust Collection polishes exclusively from BirchBox. I first heard about these through FleurDeForce and Zoella and as soon as I saw their pictures I knew I had to have them! These were included in the June BirchBox but in case you missed it or want to complete your collection, the set is £10 here. This collection consists of four gorgeous pastel neon shades named Reign in Spain (orange), London Calling (green), Pardon My French (lilac) and Mod in Manhattan (off-white).

 I first wore just two of the shades (Reign in Spain and Pardon My French) and loved them so much that I wanted to try out the others straight after I finished wearing this combo! I was really impressed with how long these lasted without chipping, about 5 days using Seche Vite top coat. The finish was really glossy even without Seche Vite and the photos don't quite capture the intensity of these colours, they're beautiful!

The next time I used these polishes I couldn't resist including every colour! I love how Mod in Manhattan sets off the other 3 colours, I'd love to do some nail art with this as a base and some kind of neon splatter using the other three shades, hmm...

As you can probably tell, I'm a huge fan of these polishes and would definitely be interested to try out more from Color Club in the future.

June Nails

Hi! Sorry it's been a while since my last post, I've been busy with a mixture of dissertation preparations and fundraising activities which hasn't left me much time for blogging recently. I hope to be able to start posting regularly again soon and have a few posts planned, but for now here are my June nails...

First up we have Butter London in Disco Biscuit. I'd had my eye on this for ages after seeing it reviewed by Fleur De Force and finally spent my Boots points on it. A gorgeous pink with a really fine blue glitter running through it and an unusual textured finish. Such a unique shade and one of my new favourites!

Next up is No.7 Stay Perfect polish in Paradise Love, a gorgeous, summery aqua with very fine gold/silver glitter and larger bits of blue glitter through it. For a metallic polish this lasted longer than I expected, very impressed!

Finally, we have the Essie Sleek Stick nail wraps in Love to Love You. Having only used nail wraps once (Minx on my toes, applied in a salon by a pro!) I found these incredibly easy to apply, just peel off the sheet, press onto the nail, fold the ends over and file off the excess (Essie even included a mini emery board!). Their shape and slight stretchy feel meant that the wraps could easily be placed over the nails and flattened down edge to edge meaning no creases or big gaps down the edges, I found the size choice was good and the wraps were plenty long enough to cover my nails. I had only wanted to wear these for one night but they lasted almost a week before they started to look worn and I removed them. I had loads of compliments whilst wearing these (and people trying to read them, haha!) and many thought that I'd had them done in a salon, definitely a bonus! Overall I really liked these and would definitely repurchase them and try out some other designs. 

May Nails

Wow, it's June already! Mr Sunshine is late to the party though surely, we keep seeing snippets of summer but nothing solid as yet. Anyway, here are my nail pics from throughout May...

Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots in Speckled Pink 

Looks really cool but chipped so easily and needed the foil method to remove!

Models Own Lilac Dream with Revlon Girly over the top 

Very impressed with how long lasting this was, 6 days totally chip free-amazing!

 Models Own Pro Pinky Grey and Cuter Pewter

Lovely colours, Cuter Pewter is almost a rose gold with tiny holo glitter in which doesn't show up well in the photo. Not as chip resistant as I'd have hoped for from a Pro (£8 per bottle!) range though, maximum 2 days totally chip free.

If you don't like feet, look away now because here are my super sparkly toes...

Models Own Disco Mix, Emerald City and Magenta Devine

I have finally bitten the bullet and purchased 2 Butter London nail polishes (using my Boots points- woohoo!) so expect to see at least one of them in June's nails next month!

April Nails

Just thought I'd share some recent pictures of different colours and combos I've had on my nails...

Rimmel 60 Seconds Instyle Coral with Models Own Jack Frost

Seventeen (17) Lasting Fix in Darling with Models Own Indian Ocean

My first attempt at watercolour nails! Using Bourjois So Laque Glossy in 03 BCBeige for the base and Rimmel I ♥ Lasting Finish in Hot Shot, Barry M Gelly in Greenberry, Models Own Lemon Meringue, Purple Poppy, Top Turquoise, Feeling Blue and Fuzzy Peach.

Seventeen Fast Finish in Ruby Gem with Essie Leading Lady (on ring finger).

Models Own Jade Stone with Jack Frost (on ring finger).

So these are pretty much April's nails, I may start doing this as a monthly post so look out for May's nails as although some of them are on here! I have some exciting new things to try including 2 Maybelline Colour Show Polka Dot polishes and the new Barry M Nail Art Pens in black and white and some Essie nail wraps so I should still have plenty to show you in my May post!

I ♥ Spring Tag!

First of all, thank you to Miss Budget Beauty for listing the questions! I've enjoyed watching and reading my favourite bloggers and YouTubers versions of this tag so decided to give it a go myself!

1. Favourite spring nail polish?

This has to be Jade Stone by Models Own, it's lovely pastel green and was the first nail polish I reached for at the first hint of spring! This shade of green is a favourite of mine and my bedroom is a similar colour so I am slightly biased but I find it both relaxing and uplifting at the same time. Rather appropriately (and by coincidence!) I have on my nails here Jade Stone with Snowflake on my ring finger nail, this picture was taken last Thursday while the sun was shining and before the snow hit us!

2. Must have spring lip colour?

I'm not very confident wearing lip colour so I usually stick with a safe option like the Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait. However, I have recently purchased something rather more daring for me, the Bourjois Rouge Edition lipstick in shade 17 Rose Millesime. This is a lovely raspberry pink which is still very wearable, although it doesn't go with every outfit like my Peach Parfait Lip Butter does, it's still pretty versatile and is nice to have a change sometimes.  I have also purchased the Revlon Lip Butter in Juicy Papaya, a new shade for spring/summer and love it! (as well as a couple of Rimmel Apocalips but I'll do a separate blog post on those!).

3. Show us your favourite spring dress!

Sadly, I don't really have a spring dress so I decided to show you this top instead which is probably the most springy item of clothing I have. Once again it's my favourite shade of green, but also has splashes of purple, pinks and yellows. The design is so pretty with flowers, butterflies and dragonflies, which is what makes it a lovely top to wear in spring. I bought this from Dorothy Perkins last year and have worn it loads, it's lovely soft cotton, really comfy and very flattering.

4. Favourite flower

For me, daffodils epitomise spring, my dad loves them and has always filled the house and garden with them during the spring months. However, I can't resist a daisy so I'll go with that! I love sitting out in the sun reading a book or making daisy chains. I love their simplicity and think they look so cute in the grass and love it when they have those little purple bits on! Here are some pictures I took a few years ago on a May bank holiday weekend...

5. Favourite spring scarf/accessory?

My favourite scarf is this pink one which was a total bargain from Forever 21. I bought it in the sale after Christmas and spent a couple of months waiting for the weather to warm up so that I could wear it. The colour is a gorgeous, light, salmon pink with silver sparkle running through it. It's so soft and lightweight and a good length so that it can be worn in different ways and the colour looks great with lots of things in my wardrobe. It also matches my Ted Baker handbag and purse perfectly, all I need is a pair of shoes this colour to finish off  *wink*! 

6. What spring trends are you most looking forward to?

I don't tend to follow trends but I am looking forward to ditching my Ugg boots in favour of something more feminine. I love my Uggs and wear them literally all winter but there comes a time when I just want my feet to have a little more freedom and look a bit prettier!

7. Favourite spring candle

I have been loving this Very Berry candle from Bomb Cosmetics. It's a lovely fruity fragrance without being too sweet and the scent lingers for hours after you stop burning the candle. I like tin/jar candles in general as I can put a lid on when they're not in use as I find that dust can gather in open candles and make them smoky when burning. I recently bought some gift sets from Bomb Cosmetics for friends birthday presents as I received some for my own birthday last year and was so impressed and whilst I was there I couldn't resist trying one of their delicious candles. This was my first candle from Bomb Cosmetics and I'm looking forward to trying more, the only problem is deciding which one!

Photo from http://bombcosmetics.co.uk/very-berry-candle

8. Favourite perfume/body spray
10. What is your favourite thing about spring?

My favourite is the same all year round and that is Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy! I first bought this in 2009 on a trip to New York and haven't been without it since.

9. What is spring like where you live?

Well, right now it's still pretty wintery but spring is one of the best seasons in England, I think. We've put the clocks forward so we now have longer daylight hours, it's not getting dark until about 8pm which is so refreshing after months of darkness from about 4pm! It's lovely when the trees start blossoming and everything just looks more colourful in spring. I also love seeing lambs in the fields jumping around, they're so cute! My boyfriend and I went to feed some lambs a couple of years ago and I think we'll go back this year as it's great fun! Everyone sits in the barn on a hay bale and gets handed a bottle and then they open the gates and let the lambs loose! You just hold out your bottle and a lamb will come running up to get it.

The weather getting warmer is definitely a plus, although we're not quite there yet! Spring always makes me feel more energetic and motivated about doing things, I think if the year started in April rather than January then more new years resolutions would be kept! I also love the first time you can go out without wearing a coat and as I mentioned, the time when I can put my Uggs away until winter!

11. Are you a spring cleaner?

Haha! Um, no... I'm ashamed to say that I'm a bit of a hoarder and no matter how hard I try I can never seem to have a good clear out.

12. Any plans for spring break or upcoming vacations?

Not really, although I'm finished with lectures at uni and don't have any exams this year (yes!) I still have assignments due for a few weeks so am not really finished just yet. I am, however, going to dog sit for my Granma's dog Poppy for a few days in May while my Granma is on holiday, so that will be fun!