*NEW* OPI Sheer Tints!!!

Check these out my lovelies!...

...Do excuse my haphazard posts this week; been a very busy bee indeed and it was my birthday yesterday!... 29 Argh! Lol!... I had a fabby morning kicked off with a lay in; followed by going to meet the very lovely Sam of Fingerfood Nails for hot chocolate, nail gossip AND to pick up the OPI Sheer Tints that she very kindly ordered for me, heavenly! It was so very nice to meet a fellow nail blogger/tech in the flesh at last and I'll look forward to our next get together :)

So in this collection we have a Pink - Be Magentale With Me, a Yellow - I'm Never Amberrassed, a Purple - Don't Violet Me Down and a Blue - I Can Teal You Like Me. They are sheer topcoats to use alone for a simple hint of colour, over white for bright or ombre looks and over other polishes to add a hint of colour; whilst also providing you with a super glossy, fast drying and hard wearing topcoat! Amazeballs!

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I'm Never Amberrassed

Be Magentale With Me

Don't Violet Me Down

I Can Teal You Like Me

These swatches consisted of a simple two coats over my natural nails. The polish is a little like sugar syrup (it also looks good enough to eat), so I recommend you have a good amount on your brush and just glide/float a coat on and use as few strokes as possible; they were by no means hard to work with though. Loved the candy shine and rock hard finish with just that hint of colour... I wasn't too keen on the yellow though, unless nicotine stained/dead is a look you're aiming for?!

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I had to try a rainbow ombre...

So simple... I did two coats of white and then simply overlapped two colours on each nail three times over, they blended beautifully! Each coat dried so fast the whole thing took me 30 mins while watching Eastenders lol. The easiest ombre I've ever done and with a bit of practice with them, I think I could improve on it.

I'm gonna finish up by simply saying... Buy them ALL!!! Hahaha ;)

Have a good weekend everyone!

Rebecca xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

Bubble Fun with Luv Polish!

Evening Friends!

To make up for a lack of a Saturday Swatch last week (I was busy enjoying the delights of a friends FAB wedding) I decided to do a swatch come nail art post tonight. I already knew just the polish I wanted to use too; Bubble Fun from Luv Polish arrived in one of my nail mails a week or so ago and I've been dying to try it out, it's my first one from this indie brand! Won't be my last! It's a sheer pink polish with dark pink, light pink and holo hexes, I LOVE it!

This is two coats of the sheer pink pretty which gave the right amount of colour without entirely hiding the white free edge or cuticle moon. So on trend for Spring/Summer! I then created the bubbles by drawing different sized circles with a nail art pen, round and round until it was thick; and then whilst still wet, I dipped a cotton bud into some water and dropped into the circles. I left that to sit for a few minutes before dabbing off any remaining water. Sounds more complicated than it is I assure you!... Finished off with topcoat.

So what do you think of the bubbles??? I was quite happy with how they looked in the end... I took a while deciding how I was going to go about creating them and there wasn't much inspiration around to go on with this theme. This technique I remember seeing somewhere for another type of look but worked just great for some bubbles too! 

Luv Polish - Bubble Fun, Color Club - Topcoat, Barry M - White Nail Art Pen

Rebecca xxx

The Monday Meme

Ladies! If you're having a tough morning, look down at your hands and make this your mantra!

We all have those days where every itty bitty little thing that can go wrong, does, work drives you mad and life just gets TOO much. On these occasions, I often get a passing comment from a stranger on my "lovely" nails, or I just find myself gazing at my own handywork and a warm feeling rises inside. This meme is for such times.

What comments have you had on your nails that have made your day?

Later alligator's!

Rebecca xxx

GOT Polish Challenge: Ruffle

I've been a bad blogger this week lol... Had a stressful week at work and a FAB wedding to attend yesterday so nails have taken a back seat for once :)

So, a little later than planned, here's Thurday's ruffle manicure. New one on me as I've never done a ruffle before, but it wasn't too difficult and I quite like the finished look; so many colour combinations you could choose!!!

First off, a base of two coats of the pale pink... Then I used a small square nail art brush to add the ruffles; starting with the larger light pink ruffle, then the mid and dark pink smaller ones and repeating. I used the polish quite thickly to avoid having to coat over the ruffles again and then evened out any ridges with a nice thick topcoat.

Love the triple dose of pink and am quite pleased with how decent the design looked even on my little nubbies! The colorshow's performed well as ever, can't get enough of these polishes!

Maybelline Colorshow - Nebline, Pink Boom, Bubblicious, Color Club - Topcoat, Small Square Nail Art Brush

Rebecca xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

TPC: Blue, Green & Purple

Hey lovelies! 

Little late with this post... I was having issues with Blogger again last night and in the end gave up and had a night off! So, for my second installment of this months tri polish challenge I decided to use the same polishes as in the previous TPC mani but this time opted for a nice dotticure. I'm a big fan of dotticures, quick and simple nail art that looks great! I skittled it up a bit too and switched the colours around...

Started with three coats of each polish, not sure why but they seemed a little thin this time around?! Dried in no time and then it was time to add the dots; I chose the colours of the large spots by simply using the base colour of the previous nail :) I then added the smaller dots around in the only colour that hadn't been used on that nail and finished off with a few gold spots in any sparce looking areas for a bit of contrast before topcoating.

Not blowing me own trumpet in any way, but I loved this mani! Was super popular on Instagram and at work today too :) I think it's the colours, they just get you right in the mood for Spring/Summer which compliments all this sunshine we've been bathed in in London lately!

China Glaze - Highlight of my summer, Too yacht to handle, That's shore bright

Rebecca xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

The Monday Meme

My endless conundrum...

...Isn't it every NPA's problem?! Some may say "tone down the collection", but... No way! Because regardless of not having a billion fingers, sitting at my desk staring at the mesmerising beauty of all my polishes lined up in rows on their shelves, brings me great joy!... As does shopping for them in the first place... And if an occasion occurs where I do have a billion fingers, well guess what?!... I'll have some of the most varied, prettiest fingers you've ever seen ;)

Rebecca xxx

Saturday Swatching: Color Show

In a change to routine, they say a change is as good as a rest, I'm swapping indies for a brand. This time, Maybelline Color Show. It's a brand I've become a MEGA fan of over the last year; both their core collection and their seasonal collections are FAB! I have just about bought the entire lot over the last few months lol. I picked up this nude the other day and paired it with one of my Brocade's, none of which I had tried yet! 

This was three thin coats of the nude polish, then two coats of the Brocade polish on the accent ring finger. I didn't topcoat, there was no need as I'll change it in no time and the shine was pretty damn good. The formulas and coverage were great on both and drying time was super fast, which is something I have found across the range actually.

Love this shade of nude - Bare It All. Works better than most with my skin tone, might be tempted to take a closer look at the others in the range next time I'm in Boots!

Really impressed with this Brocades polish - Knitted Gold! It's a clear base but is so packed full with gold micro glitters that the coverage is almost entirely opaque in just two coats :) The added copper/rose gold hexes is just lovely and works beautifully with the nude. It also dries super smooth!!!

Was thinking of wearing this mani for a wedding next weekend... What do you think?

Rebecca xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

*NEW* Barry M Aquarium Collection!

Evening beauts!

I'm bringing this to you later than planned because Blogger had a mare!!! I wrote out this whole long post and saved, then went away to check a few other things, came back to find it had saved only the first line!!! OMG! #FirstWorldProblems

But nevertheless, here we go again. This new collection is inspired by the sea, they all reflect that well and I just adore the golden scales pattern lids! There are four shimmery, two-tones, a gold, pink, blue and green; and two chunky glitters one gold/pink and one green/blue. Complimenting each other perfectly. I picked these up in the 2 for £6 offer (on £3.99 Bazzas) in Superdrug. I had to have the lot because I actually don't have any two-tone/flip/duochrome polishes in my vast selection lol.

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First up is Caspian or AQNP3, I'm calling it gold with a dusky pink flip. It looked a lot more pink in the press pictures... but it just isn't really. Three coats were needed to achieve an opaque finish over the tips.

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Next is Mediterranean or AQNP4, this looked hot pink in the snaps Barry M first put out, but it's more of a rose pink with a deep pink flip. This again was three coats.

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Over that pink I popped one coat of Treasure Chest or AQNP2, a clear base with gold & pink chunky glitter. It took a little work to get the placement right as the flakes of glitter tended to clump together a bit in this one.

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Now for Pacific or AQNP6 which is blue with a teal flip to it. This was just as good as I thought it would be and took just two coats to become opaque.

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Fifth up Arabian or AQNP5, a light and bright green with a darker green flip. This one again took just two coats and was actually better than I was expecting lol!

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Over that green, I rounded off with Mermaid or AQNP1, the blue and green chunky glitter. Just one coat again but this one was a little easier to apply beacuse the flakes were a little smaller.

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So, that's the lot! Despite the pinks not being quite what I expected, I liked them nonetheless and the blue and green are beauts! The green I actually really like and I'm defo not a greenphile by any stretch. The mirror finish they promise is plain to see and all apply pretty well; they also dry fast as usual for Bazza goodies. I would suggest fewer, neater strokes with the two-tones though, as they can show up in the finish.

Rebecca xxx

FingerFood Friday!

Happy Friday Folks!

This week's FingerFood theme is 'Dots & Lines'... I said this aloud to myself whilst pottering about in my nail room and wondering what to do... My other half overheard from the next room and exclaimed as he walked past my door "Circuit boards have dots & lines!" Genius! So thanks to my fabulously geeky boyfriend, I bring you my attempt at this look...

Started with two coats of the teal base. Then used a pale green to paint on the various lines in a circuit board-esque fashion. I finished by adding a few gold dots and a square chip here and there, and topcoating. Pretty quick and simple once I got my head round what pattern I wanted to do on each nail :)

I was really happy with the finished result; the boy really liked it, apart from the index finger, he said that one looked more nail art than circuit board lol. I take his point actually... but I didn't care to change it, I was happy enough.

ColorShow - Urban Turquoise, Green With Envy, Barry M - Gold Foil, 3 in 1, Avon Dual Nail Art Tool

Rebecca xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

GOT Polish Challenge: Purple

Morning dolls!

Today's Golden Oldie theme is purple and I've decided, I'm bringing back the beads! In 2012 and 2013 this caviar effect was more popular than I ever imagined it to be... and against my first impressions, I grew to like the technique myself too! Cannot remember the last time I used them?!? So, I paired them with the lovely Pukka Purple and we were off...

Kicked this off with two quick coats of the purple, love this shade and the slightly flat finish, and it also dries super fast! I then coated the accent nails in an old topcoat, so it was more like glue than polish lol, perfect for sticking on beads! So I did just the one thick coat and then sprinkled on the pretty little balls before patting them down securely with a hoof stick. Where any were a little sparce, I pressed in some extra beads using the tip of my finger and then left to dry thoroughly. Done!

I fully expected to have gone off this look again by now... but I haven't! Once it was finished, I was taken by them all over again :) What are your thoughts??? Beads fan or foe???

Models Own - Pukka Purple, Color Club - Topcoat, Mua Nail Constellation

Rebecca xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

Picture Polish: Serenity

Hello Beauts!

Today I have a lil swatch mani of  'Serenity' from Picture Polish, my FAVE Aussie brand. I received this in last weeks nail mail from my friend Heather. It's a shimmery, almost metallic finish, jade green polish with a handful of small and medium, dark blue hexes floating around. I usually steer clear of greens on the whole, they just don't appeal to me, but I'm warming to this one! I mixed it up a little with this swatch and added some random pearls... Serenity for me is found in the water, be it the bath or the sea, and sea = pearls... Today anyway :)

To get this polish completely opaque I did three thin coats and as usual for PP, the formula was just grand and it dried super fast... But I would have liked a few more blue bitty bits, they were a bit thin on the ground in my opinion... Because of this rather plain finish I reached for those pearls! I added a quick, thick topcoat and then randomly placed the two different sized pearls into it. 

It's the first time I've used pearls and I liked them. I was really impressed with how steadfast they were. Within the hour I was happily soaking away in the bath and washing my hair, and nothing budged, not a smidge! First time order from Born Pretty too! How slow am I?! I did think they were sent for review at first, but after checking my order, nope, I bought them LOL... Still waiting on reveiw items then... As for the polish, it's warmed me to green but I don't think it'll ever be one of my most used PP's.

Picture Polish - Serenity, Color Club - Topcoat, Born Pretty Nail Pearls Wheel

My readers can use the following discount code for 10% at Born Pretty - R2X31

Rebecca xxx

The Monday Meme

Hahaha... How true would this be fellow nail addicts?!

God forbid any of us got this call, but can you imagine how crazy, lightening fast we'd be getting to that nail room or polish stash of ours?!... And how relieved we'd be to find our babies safe and sound! The images this conjoured in my mind did make me lol... My polish and nail art collections are some of my most treasured possessions!... I'm sure I'm not alone on that one right?!

Rebecca xxx

Saturday Swatching: Different Dimension

Morning ladies!

Today's indie swatch is the most lovely 'Yours, Mine & Flowers' from Different Dimension. I received it in a nail mail this week that I had actually totally forgetten I ordered lol... it was about two weeks ago though... lol ;) Was a lovely surprise when off home sick with this 'head' bug! Back to the polish, it has a clear base bursting with glitters and a mix of satin hexes in pastel shades of pink, green, lilac, blue and white, topped off with little pink flowers. The accent nail relates to the name of this polish not only in the fact it's a flower, but because it was sent to me (among many bits) by my friend Heather... so it was yours, is now mine and is a flower, Heather! 

I started this mani with a couple of coats of a shimmery (delicate blue shimmer) lilac. I then did a couple of coats of this gorgeous indie on all but the ring finger. Once all were dry, I did a nice thick topcoat on all nails and placed my 3D flower into the wet polish; if I wanted to secure the piece more permanently I would have also dotted some nail glue on to the back of it before placing in the wet topcoat.

In short, I love it! The polish and the flower. Perfect for a sunny spring day which I am about to go and enjoy... Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Colorshow - Love Lilac, Different Dimension - Yours, Mine & Flowers, Color Club Topcoat, Gifted 3D Flower

Rebecca xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

FingerFood's Theme Buffet: Flowers

Late post again this evening, had a bit of a throat infection this week and now my ears and nose are blocked :( My poor head feels like it might explode lol!... Sooo it's taken me a while to get the energy for nails today!

But, I was determined to do this themed mani organised by the lovely Samantha at FingerFood Nails... In discovering her group recently, I found a nail neighbour (she lives in the same area) at last!! No one is ever nearby so I was super happy to find her and I've admired her nails for some time. Each week there is a different theme to take part in, and this week is flowers! I took a step away from the pastels today... and went NEON... but given the pearlescent finish and bright light, they look a bit... pastel! LOL :)

I started with two coats of white and then sponged on the green, yellow, pink and purple neons in what was going to be a random way; but my fuzzy head confused this with pink and green, and purple and yellow paired haha. I then stamped the floral print in a black and topcoated. I think the polishes have faded a little with age as well as the light and shine washing them out a little. Oh :(

They actually look much more neon in a more yellow artificial light but in daylight this is pretty true to the finish. Despite the slightly lacklustre luminous result, I did love the simple black floral over the sponged colours, will definitely do this again.

Natural Collection - Nail Tip Whitener, W7 - Pearlescent Neon Pink, Green, Yellow, Purple, Avon - Licorice, Color Club - Topcoat, MoYou London Pro 14

Rebecca xxx

An InLinkz Link-up