Saturday Swatch: NEW Picture Polish

Ooooh, I was so excited to be able to order these new Picture Polish beauties from Rainbow Connection earlier this week and I have literally been watching the Hermes tracking website, refreshing it constantly, until they arrived today LOL... Addict much?!... I was not disappointed!

I chose Forget Me Not, Fool's Gold and Sizzle from the collaborations and Grace from the PP range. I may get Unicorn at some point as well, but these were definitely the must-haves for me.

First up is Grace - a muted pink base with a mix of delicate scatter holo particles and coloured flecks. Sooo pretty... it's just stunning!

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Next is Fool's Gold - a teal jelly with scatter holo and gold glitter particles, it's got such sparkly depth to it, beauuuuutiful!

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Now for Sizzle - a super hot pink with subtle scatter holo, I wish I'd had this shade on holiday because it would look amazing with a tan!

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Last but by no means least is Forget Me Not - a vibrant powder blue packed with scatter holo, it has a much brighter, almost purple tone to it compared to Freya's Cats.

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In summary, these are fantabulous! I used three thin coats with topcoat for each mani and the formulas were consistently good. They apply really smoothly and had a nice sheen to them which just came alive with topcoat. Drying time was good too :)

I can't pick a favourite between Grace and Fool's Gold, they are just too nice! What about you?

Rebecca x

Not Nail Related: Melado Hair Oil

As promised, today I have a very different sort of review for you... 

I was recently contacted by a lovely lady at Old Wives Tail with regards to reviewing one of their hair oil treatments. Old Wives Tail is a small hair care company selling handmade organic hair care products using absolutely no additives or chemicals. Their main goal is to eradicate animal testing in the beauty industry and they donate 10% of their profits to animal charities which I whole heartedly support! The contact couldn't have been timed better because my thick, dark, super-long hair was crying out for some love after a lot of harsh summer treatment!

I chose the Melado Hair Oil which is designed to give the kiss of life to the most dry and damaged hair. It's a mix of Olive Fruit Oil, Almond Oil, Argan Oil and Lavender Oil; it smells absolutely amazing! It's paraben free, sulfate free, gluten free and suitable for vegetarians and vegans. All of that on top of the no animal testing, made it PERFECT in my eyes.

So, this is my hair after a normal wash & condition, brush and being left to dry naturally... As you can see it's dry, frizzy and crazy long! It's so unmanageable that it spends most of the time being tightly wound in a bun, which only makes things worse! I also get a dry scalp in summer... Argggh hahaha!

This is my hair a couple of days later after a standard treatment... When it was next time to wash my hair I simply dampened it and massaged the oil into my scalp and throughout the lengths; a little goes a long way. I then wrapped it all up in a towel and left for an hour before rinsing thoroughly and washing as usual, being sure to only add conditioner to the very dry ends. Again I just brushed and left to dry naturally and this was the result! Shiny and sleek :)

I am soooo happy with this product, look at the difference!!! I've heard people rave about various hair oils in recent years but I never thought it would be this good! After just one standard weekly treatment too... You could also do an intensive treatment, using twice a week and leaving wrapped in a towel overnight rather than just the hour. The oil can also be used to tame those frizzy, flyaway's by rubbing just a drop in your palms and smoothing through the mid-lengths and ends :) all in one!

This oil is priced at £13.99 for 100ml and can be delivered worldwide for FREE! Very reasonable for this kind of result and considering the company's fantastic, enviromentally friendly values!

Shop here: Old Wives Tail 

Look out for further 'not nail related' posts soon!

Rebecca x

*This product was sent to me F.O.C for honest review*

BNB Colour Me Crazy: Black & White

Hope you all had a lovely bank holiday weekend!

This week's British Nail Bloggers theme is Black & White and as usual of late, I knew exactly what I was going to do! A super easy mani with whole nail stickers that I've been meaning to use for aaages. These leopard print, fishnet sparklies were a pressie from my mum, she often sends me random nail mail from Avon and I'm not about to complain! I previously tried a pink diamante set of theirs HERE which I was impressed with, so here goes...

The stickers themselves were clear so I started by painting two coats of white polish for the base and left to completely dry. I then chose the most appropriate sized sticker for each nail, peeling up and placing on the nail using tweezers. I rubbed down firmly with a cotton nail wipe and then trimmed and filed the excess at the free edge (tip). Took just five minutes to turn a plain white mani into this!

I wouldn't necessarily have chosen this sticker pattern myself, but I actually really like them, thanks ma lol! As I remembered, the stickers are super strong and perfectly sized and shaped, for me anyway ;) I also like the super high shine they give you, like a gel manicure.

 Models Own: Snow White, Avon: Nail Art Stickers

I have a super 'not nail related' review to share with you tomorrow, keep your eyes peeled!

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Fingerfood Theme Buffet: Inspired by Music

Ahhhh I've been waiting for a theme to do this mani for! I tried it a while back but failed miserably and needed the motivation to try again, this was it! My most favourite musician of all time (and only 'celeb' crush) is Damon Albarn, has been for twenty two years! Blur, Gorillaz, The Good The Bad and The Queen and everything in between; I love it all! His latest solo release, Everyday Robots is the best yet...

I took my inspiration from the cover, it still wasn't a total success but it's waaayy better than the first attempt lol...

I started with a base of two coats of grey. I then used two coats of Golden Serenity from Luv Polish on the index, middle and pinky nails. I used a black nail art pen to draw the silhouette of Damon from the album cover on the ring finger and write the text on the thumb. Finished up with topcoat.

I chose Golden Serenity because that's exactly what the album is to me :) it also happens to have a grey jelly base to match the cover colour. I love how this mani just came together, having a run of that at the moment!...

Nails Inc: Hyde Park Place, Luv Polish: Golden Serenity, Barry M: Nail Art Pen, Color Club: Topcoat

In fact, even the Nails Inc polish, Hyde Park Place has relevance because I will be seeing Damon just around the corner at the Royal Albert Hall in November! Woooo!

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Saturday Swatch: Glam Polish

Kaleidoscope Eyes... I bought this pre-loved Glam Polish crelly just before I went on holiday. It has a lovely, delicate pale blue base with a  mix of purple, hot pink, green, bright blue and deep blue hexes/dots AND pink glitter. Purrrties. I chose this one to swatch today because it kinda reflects how I'm feeling... I'm in a better head-space at the moment, I can see the colours and the light ahead of me, it's just not quite a clear picture yet; much like looking through a kaleidoscope!

I started with two thin coats of white for my base, followed up with just one coat of the Glam, it's jam packed with glittery goodness! I then decided to have a play with my new Sharpie pens for the artwork. Naturally I chose an eye (it does look like an eye doesn't it?! Lol!), a simple design drawn out in black and the iris coloured with the same shades as featured in the polish. 

 LOVE this polish, perfect colours for the awkward post-summer/pre-autumn season here in the UK. Unfortunately this polish has been discontinued in the store, but you may be lucky like me and find someone wishing to rehome one haha!... I now wish my eye was a little neater but hey-ho, I like the design.

Glam Polish: Kaleidoscope Eyes, Models Own: Snow White, Color Club: Topcoat, Sharpie's: 80's Glam Set

Have a lovely weekend all! Bank holiday one for us Brits, woohoo!

Rebecca x

BNB Colour Me Crazy: Purple

Hello lovelies, firstly a quick thanks for all the likes/comments/messages of support I received for Sunday's #fightforlightandlive post. Much appreciated. It's helped pick up my nailey mojo again after a long dip in motivation! One step at a time...

This week's British Nail Bloggers theme is purple, which worked out great as I had a mani in mind for a certain Dollish Polish I bought recently. The polish was inspired by Cartoon Network's 'Chowder', so I took inspiration from that for my accent nail art :)

This was three coats of Purple Nurples, a bright purple jelly with a mix of pink, blue and silver hexes and discs, and a good helping of iridescent glitter. Beautiful! Also used three coats of the China Glaze on the accent nail before drawing on Chowder's face with nail art pens. Finished up with topcoat.

This was a simple and fun mani to do, just what I needed. Really love this polish, it's glossy like syrup once topcoated, looks good enough to eat and is sooo nice to run your fingers over lol! It also dried super fast, like most jellies.

Dollish Polish - Purple Nurples, China Glaze - Lotus Begin, Barry M - Nail Art Pens, Color Club - Topcoat

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Depression Awareness Manicure

The sad news about Robin Williams shocked the world on Tuesday and sparked a lot of depression support and awareness campaigns; when I saw this image going around on Instagram in the week, I knew I had to take part...

...I won't bore you with the details of how and why, but depression is something that impacted my young life significantly through family members, and is something I have personally struggled with (in near silence) for many years now... I was never really ready or able to face the shadows following me and I figured once I reached a good place in my life, that they would just go away. They didn't. Twelve days ago they caught up with me and I broke down. I finally accepted that I couldn't do this alone anymore and somewhat poignantly, saw my GP the same day Robin's news broke. My doctor, partner, friends, family and colleagues have been so supportive.

I am grateful. I am still fighting for the light!

I wanted to go bold and bright with this manicure and the design just popped clearly into my head! I did two coats of the neon green and two of the neon pink. I then painted the speech bubble in a thick white polish, two coats to cover. Next I looked up a brain scan image and vaguely copied it out on to the pink accent nail using a nail art pen. Finally I added the text and outline to the speech bubble with the same pen, topcoating once dry.

To anyone struggling with endless feelings of hopelessness, anxiety and fear; you are not alone, you have nothing to be ashamed of and there are people that can help, want to help. You only need to ask for it. I know that's a really scary prospect, but it will change things for you so please speak up.

To anyone with someone close to them struggling with depression, I know it's hard to understand but you need only be there. Just be a listening ear when they want to talk and a silent strength when they don't.

 To everyone, be kind to each person you meet, you never know what battles they might be facing.

Models Own - Flip-Flop, Sun Hat, Barry M - Balck Nail Art Pen, Natural Collection - Nail Tip Whitener, Color Club - Topcoat

Let's all help shed the stigma and #fightforlightandlive.

Rebecca x

An InLinkz Link-up

Saturday Swatch: Gothic Gala Lacquers

 Today I want to show you a Gothic Gala Lacquers beauty that I fell instantly in love with... Vallis Sanguine! It's a stunning rich plum/fushia with delicate holo... This is one of the six I ordered from a nail sale whilst on holiday. It wasn't even pictured in the listings but when the lady contacted me about other purchases, she very kindly let me know she had this one too and I HAD to have it!

 This is two coats of the Vallis Sanguine with one coat of a gold fleck accent on the ring finger. Finished up with a nice thick topcoat.

 I can't even describe how stunning this polish is! It went on like a dream with the lovely big brush and creamy formula. The colour can range from a deep plum to a bright fushia depending on the light and the holo is always visable. It looks like a gel mani, the colour and shine is so deep! I'm in polish love! Can't wait to try the others out now...

Gothic Gala Lacquers - Vallis Sanguine, Avon - Gold Fleck, Color Club - Topcoat

Have a great weekend!

Rebecca x