Sinful Colors - Mint Apple Aztec (ish) Nail Art

I promise you i haven't disappeared again.. I'm settling in to a pattern of posting once weekly, and then any other nail art i can fit in will be a little added bonus for you guys. I was preparing to do a 'naked nails' post, as i've been religiously using OPI - Nail Envy for a few weeks now, after recovering from three nasty breaks on my left hand. It was working wonders, until half term hit. If anyone else works in retail and manages to keep their nails long PLEASE let me in on your secret! My nails really do take a battering at work, especially when we have a lot of ear piercings as the hand sanitizer destroys my hands. So of course, i broke a nail. So i now have my nubbins back, shorter than ever. 

Despite this, i still treated myself to a new polish yesterday. Sinful Colors - Mint Apple is a gorgeous pale green, with a really subtle pink shimmer. It's so pretty i wish i'd left my nails bare and not bothered with nail art. But at 11o'clock at night you never make sound decisions! For this look i only used one thick coat but i'd suggest two thin coats for maximum opaqueness. 

For this look i used:

Sinful Colors - Mint Apple

W7 - Salt n Pepper

Barry M - Black and White Nail Art Pens

Claire's Accessories - Gel Top Coat

I can't believe i resisted buying this beauty for so long! Sinful Colors you never let me down :)

Stay tuned as i'm feeling like doing some nail art tonight, will hopefully post something tomorrow night as well!

Becky x

12 Days Of Christmas: All Wrapped Up

Hi there lovelies!

It's the 1st of December which means two things.. Firstly, i'm starting my own 12 Days of Christmas Advent Challenge! And secondly, i'm hosting my very first giveaway :D

I'll tell you more about the giveaway in a separate post, but let's crack on with today's manicure. These are the prompts for the 12 challenges, which i'll be posting every other day up until Christmas Eve. Anyone can join in, whether it's all 12 or just the odd one or two! 

So today's challenge is a look based on a wrapping paper design. I chose this gorgeous design by John Lewis that you can purchase here. 

I loved its simplicity and colours, so went for a nice subtle mani to match. 

To create this look i used:

Natural Collections - Unnamed Pink (2 coats)

W7 - Mirror Blue Mirror

W7 - Pink Suede

Claire's Accessories - Unnamed Pink

Born Pretty - Matte Top Coat

Barry M - White Nail Art Pen

Dotting tools

If i'm honest i'm not 100% happy with this manicure. I wish i'd left out the accent nails and just dotted them all the same. The matte effect did look beautiful though and it's definitely one of those mani's that just looks better in real life!

Stay tuned on the giveaway update,

Becky x

All That Glitters Is Gold!

Hi there!

Today i have a really quick and easy manicure to show you.. that looks super glamorous! I used three polishes for this look and it took me less than an hour to do, and that's with a coffee break :P

To create this look i used these beauties..

W7 - Gold Dazzle

Barry M Texture - Countess

Max Factor - Fantasy Fire

Want to see photos now? Yeaaaah!

 

I know that Countess had been swatched eeeverywhere lately so i popped over a light coat of Fantasy Fire to bring out some red glitter as well. I then dabbed on some Gold Dazzle with a makeup sponge and voila.. super glitzy autumn nails :)

As much as i love the texture of this polish i had to pop on a topcoat, and i definitely prefer it this way. It really makes the glitter pop!

Which do you prefer? :)

Becky x

33 Day Challenge: Animals

Hi there!

So today's challenge is animals. I did have a vision in my head of doing something super cute based around pugs since they are, in my humble opinion, the greatest thing on this planet. Howeeeever.. I've had a cruddy day and my face somewhat actually resembles a pugs right now, in the sense that i couldn't have a bigger frown on if i tried.

So in order to replicate my mood on to my nails, and stick to the theme of course, there was only one solution. Grumpy Cat.

To create this manicure i used:

Claire's Accessories - Un-named Blue

W7 - Salt 'n' Pepper

Seche Vite - Top Coat

Barry M - Black Nail Art Pen

Various Acrylic Paints

Bring on the grumpiness!

I'm actually kind of pleased with how these turned out, and i must admit doing a fun manicure like this always cheers me up.. in a stressful this-has-to-be-perfect way. That's it for the challenges this week, so there's only one thing left to say..

"Grumpy cat, do you like my nails?"

Well you can't please everyone can you!

Becky x

Oh Yeah, Wait A Minute Mister Postman!

Hello there!

I wasn't actually planning on writing a post today, but after coming home from work and receiving my W7 order from nailpolishdirect i literally couldn't wait to swatch some! Unfortunately since i got home pretty late the pictures aren't fantastic quality but i've tried to get the colours as close to real life as possible.

Here are my little beauties! They only cost £1.99 each, with free delivery when you spend over £10. They also have an option to like a page on facebook to get £1 off your order.. so i brought 6 bottles for just £11 :)

On with the swatches!

First up is Lava Flow which is a gorgeous indie style polish. The base is a grey/violet colour with plenty of red and black glitter. It's a brilliant formula, it only took two coats to become opaque and the glitter spreads really evenly. It's completely different to any polish in my collection and i'm in love with it! I get complete indie jealously as i'm a bit of a bargain buyer so can't afford the indie brands, so this beauty can be my substitute!

Secondly we have Pink Suede. I already own W7's blue suede which i love, but this colour trumps it by far! I'm usually not one for pinks, but this is such a gorgeous deep pink i just love it. Again this was opaque in two coats. I added a top coat to see what it would look like without the matt finish and it looked nice, but i definitely prefer the matt look. The only niggle i have with this polish is the application. You have to be quiiiick. If you take your time it drags, a lot. So as long as you don't have too much on the brush and don't take too long there shouldn't be any issues. Trust me though, it's worth the tricky application.

 

Next up is Space Debris. This polish is probably the epitome of pretty. It's a stunning light red/coral colour with some pinky undertones. And it is full of multi colour glitter. It took two coats for an opaque finish but i think i'd go for three if i was going to keep the manicure for a few days. I can definitely see myself wearing this colour in the summer! (Note: they appear a lot lighter in photographs)

Lastly we have a swatch of Gold Dazzle. I applied this as two accent nails as i didn't want the hassle of taking them off all five fingers! With two coats this gold was pretty much opaque, which i'm in awe over. Most glitters take me about 4/5 coats so i'm so happy with this one. It's also the first gold glitter i've purchased so it's a great first buy! I think if i had the patience to use this as a complete manicure it literally would be dazzling. Heh.

  

I still have two left to try out but i'll be saving them for another day. Hopefully you can get a good idea of how they look despite the poor photo quality! But trust me when i say they are all prettier in real life. Also nailpolishdirect is a brilliant online retailer to buy from, the delivery is always really quick despite being free over £10, it's worth checking out!

Til tomorrow, Becky x

(These products were purchased by me and all opinions/reviews are my own)