Perfectly Iced: 12 Days of Blogmas 10.

If you've had enough of red talons, going all ice queen is a great alternative if you still crave a bit of festive sparkle. 

I'm a big fan of the Sinful Colors range as they're great for a cheap thrill without compromising on quality. 

I plumped for 101 Snow Me White & 923 Queen of Beauty. It's like glittering icicles on your fingernails! Neither colour are something I'd use often so £1.99 is perfectly priced for a whimsical polish. 

How are you painting your nails this Christmas? 

xx

Red Glitter NOTD: 12 Days of Blogmas 4.

It wouldn't be a proper 12 days of Blogmas without a good old NOTD. This combination of  OPI Bastille My Heart finished with a slick of Deborah Lipmann's Razzle Dazzle always puts me in the festive mood without going all out in the glitter stakes, I'll ramp it up just before Christmas but it's a good place to start. 

xx

The Nail Update: Summer.

3 for 2 knocked at the door, I bought three, plus one... 

I don't know if it's the burst of sunshine that the UK has been basking in, or the sudden desire to get a bit tropical in the nail department but brights are firmly back on my talons.

Essie Not Just a Pretty Face 

Yes, I know it's not a tropical explosion of colour but it's the pretty pink nude I've been craving for an age. After previous perilous experiences with the Essie nude family (I'm looking at you Sugar Daddy) I was slightly dubious about taking the plunge, but it really is a beaut. Three coats and your away. 

Barry M Gelly Polish in Papaya.

Even the name makes me want to swing in hammock on a tropical island with cocktail in hand. Consistancy wise the Gelly range is magic. Two coats and you've got the perfect shiny nails that far outshine their affordable price point. Bravo. The colour is the perfect bright peach, If you're not too keen on going all out this is the perfect gateway polish to brights. 

Bourjois 1 Seconde Nail Polish in Blue No Blues.

This polish strikes the perfect balance between a pastel mint and a bright turquoise. It's tropical party in a bottle. What makes this even more of a winner is the wide brush and foolproof application. For Lazy Susan's like me this is holy grail. 

Models Own Pink Punch.

The Ice Neon drew me in, the bottle promised wonders. It delivered a bit of a damp squib. I will concede that I've only tried it on a bare nail and maybe a white undercoat with pep this up. I'm hoping this will deliver the neon pop it promised once I've given it a proper whirl! 

What are you sporting this summer? 

xx

It's a Coral Thing.

It's no secret that Coral makes me happy. My love for it is strong and everlasting. But, when it comes to that love, I tend to hop around on the shade spectrum. What is a true Coral? Some people would immediately pop it in the peach camp, others firmly in the bright neon red end of things. Others would match it in the orange family. To be honest, I don't really spend too much time sweating over it, I just love me some Coral.

 

Out from the Archives comes an oldie but a goodie, Barry M 296 Coral. Yep, Barry has gone there and he's firmly planting his coral leanings in the orange/red camp. 

This is a bold bright coral that is (dare I say it) soo hot right now (Sorry) and It makes me happy every time I look down at my nails. Winner. 

Sidenote, a notoriously difficult colour to capture, as you may have noticed, my fancy camera has well and truly been sidetracked and the trusty iphone/instagram combo has come up trumps. If you're looking for a cheap and cheerful summer pick me up, look no further. It definitely has something of a Chanel Holiday about it...

xx

Barry M Ridley Road.

It's not my usual style, but I'm hooked. 

Barry M Ridley Road has well and truly dragged me out of my neutral rut. 

A perfect pale mint with a concrete effect twist. I never thought i'd see the day that I fell in love with minty pebbledash nails, but it's here. 

The only downside? I've already scuffed them with concealer and cannot get it off... 

At £3.99, it's well worth a whirl. 

xx

Triangle Nail Art.

Now I'm not known for my nail art prowess, usually just waiting for the polish to dry is enough effort for my liking. But occasionally I do like to get a bit snazzy with the odd triangle or two. I'm a nail art trigonometry trail blazer... 

All you need is a base colour - I went with Essie Sew Psyched - a contrasting colour - Essie Sand Tropez lent itself well to this task, and If you want to get a bit fancy (who doesn't) throw in some glitter for good measure, Models Own Pink Fizz works well against the grey tones. To create the shape, grab a roll of Sellotape and some scissors. Finish with a good top coat, I use Seche Vite. 

Step 1: Slap on a coat or two (depending on how opaque your base colour is) and go about your business until they're completely dry. 

Step 2: This is the semi tricky bit. Take some Sellotape and map out the triangle you want. You can do whatever you want. I just opted for an even shape but you can do stripes, half of the nail, slightly off to the left or right. Whatever you want! 

Step 3: Paint your contrasting colour over the area not covered by the tape. Leave it to dry fully then whip the Sellotape off. You should be left with a fairly presentable triangle shape! 

Step 4: When you're confident your accent triangles have dried. Pop a good coat of topcoat over the top to seal it all in. Voila, le nail art trés facile!

You really can do any combination, any colour, any shape. The results far outweigh the effort and you'll probably get asked how you created it. It's up to you whether you want to let the secret slip or not! 

Here's another version I did a while ago.

xx

Barry M Gelly Polish in Prickly Pear.

You may have seen in this recent post, I was definitely craving summer pastels. I got my greasy mitts on this lilac beauty by Barry M and It has certainly scratched an itch. It's a delicate shade of milky lilac that gives an opaque finish in two coats. My only previous gripe about Barry M polish is that it can take some serious coats to achieve an even opaque finish (I'm talking to you Peach Melba) but the Gelly Hi-Shine formula seems to have fixed the problem. 

Despite it being Hi-Shine, I popped on a coat of Seche Vite over the top, purely for longevity. 

Which pastel polish are you wearing this spring? 

xx

Essie Sew Psyched.

Yesterday, I was well and truly sucked into an ill advised Boots spree. Essie 'Sew Psyched' fell into my basket... 

This is the only way I'll ever wear green on my nails. It's a subtle khaki pewter mix that is a very slight departure from my usual muted tones but is a pretty alternative to my usual polish choices. Is it wild? No. Is it a new favourite? Oh Yeah. 

In certain lights this does just look full on grey, but I like that it's a subtle camo. It's the secret service of the khaki nail polish world. 

Before I launch into a full blown army related metaphor about this polish, I'll just advise you check it out. 

That's an order private!

xx

Gift Ideas: HJ Manicure Set.

We all know that Christmas is the ultimate excuse to crack out the glitter polish (in my case, everyday is an excuse to slap on the glitter, but we'll go with it anyway). I was sent this very sweet little manicure set from HJ Manicure showcasing some of their Christmas collection. 

I'm a big fan of showing support to smaller companies and Helen seems to be really passionate about what she's trying to achieve, and if you're creating cute polishes, all the better! 

Above we have: 

Tinsel: Purple Shimmer

Indigo: Purple/Pink Glitter

Ice: Silver

Now, I have to admit, I'm really not a purple or silver fan, it happens to rank amongst my least favourite colour to wear on my nails. But, the polishes went on smoothly and were opaque in two thin coats. The other baby pink and red glitters look far more up my street and would be worth a sneaky peek! I'm not hating the purple glitter either, it's growing on me.

Other than that I think they make a really sweet gift idea. Mix and match either small 5ml travel size (£4.50) or larger 15ml (£9.50). I don't think I've ever used up a large polish bottle before it's gone south, so travel sizes are a lovely idea. If you have a nail polish fanatic in the family, a custom set would be right up their street!

If you want to check it out, click here. 

Laura xx

*provided for consideration 

Cross Your Fingers, Hold Your Toes.

Just a very quick post to show you how i'm wearing my nails today. 

Simply apply two coats of Essie Sand Tropez and add a quick black eyeliner cross to whichever fingernail you like to add a simple accent. I chose the ring finger but it's really up to you. 

How are you wearing your nails today? 

Laura x

OPI Hawaiian Orchid.

I was craving a light pink that wasn't too pastel. OPI Hawaiian Orchid fit the bill. 

This delicate cool toned pink with a slight frost was the perfect antidote for my recent foray into obnoxious glitter nails. Sometimes it's nice to be a classy lady. 

Laura xxx 

Essie Splash of Grenadine.

The Essie Obsession Continues...

Splash of Grenadine is a delicious mix of mauve and pink, and has photographed far more blue toned than it appears in real life. 

I'm not as head over heels with it as I am with the likes of Sand Tropez and Cute As A Button, but it's still lovely. 

Pick it Up Here 

Over & Out xx

Essie Lapis of Luxury.

This week, it's all about Essie. 

Lapis of Luxury is a complete 180 from Sand Tropez, a bright cornflower blue that doesn't scream too loud. It's the only way to rock bright blue. 

£7.99 

Laura xx

Essie Sand Tropez.

Essie's Sand Tropez is my idea of heaven. A dove grey cream polish that fits every occasion, and I'm hooked. 

£7.99

xxx

Jade Stone.

Take Models Own Jade Stone, Add a lashing of Models Own Juicy Jules to your ring finger. 

Voila. 

Delicious Pastel Nails. 

Adore. 

Laura xxx

101 Dalmatians.

It is never a good idea to attempt any sort of nail art when you are suffering from the worlds worst coffee shakes...however, I'm not too unimpressed by the results. 

It kinda reminds me of Dalmatians and Mini Eggs... 

What I Used... 

Barry M Nail Paint 66 White

Illamasqua Precision Ink in Abyss (Literally any black liquid liner will do)

Seche Vite. 

Slap on the White, Paint the Dots, Seal with Seche Vite. 

Easy.

In other news, I attempted some outfit photos today and they were just too poor to post, but the main jist was to profess my love for this peach shirt. I first spotted this combo on Lily's blog and decided to hunt a similar version down, It's a shameless rip off of Lily's excellent style, but I love it and her equally! It's fast becoming my new favourite thing. I paired it with this H&M Jumper & Black Leigh Jeans on the bottom. 

What are your current nail/outfit obsessions. 

Laura xx

Art Deco Glitter Nails.

I never go to town on my nails to this extent, but I'm loving the results. I think the combination of taupe, pink and glitter with the angular design scream Art Deco...just me? 

I'd like to say I didn't muster this out of thin air, I'm pretty sure I saw it on pinterest, but cannot find the original...but props to the creator! 

How To: 

1. Paint a base coat of the first polish, I used Nails Inc Jermyn Street, but choose whichever colour you like...

2. Let the base colour dry. 

3. Using small strips of sellotape, map out your triangle, you can choose to go as big or as small as you like, I quite like it just halfway up the nail. 

4. Paint your glitter polish (Models Own Pink Fizz) in the exposed triangle area and let it partially dry, the quickly whip the sellotape off to reveal (hopefully!) a neat glitter triangle. 

5. Use a liquid eyeliner...Illamasqua precision ink for me, line the edges of the triangle, this is great for correcting a slightly wonky lines if you have any. 

6. LET IT DRY PROPERLY, I went in with the top coat far too quickly on the first nail I did and I had to do an emergency touch up with a cotton bud. 

7. Just slick some good topcoat over the top, I went with Seche Vite...It's the king of topcoats. 

It is fiddly, It was a bit of a pain, and I did get nail polish on my carpet. But I love the results and I rocked my nails with pride when I went out this weekend. 

Will you be giving this a go? 

Laura xx

Mavala Elle Polish.

I was perusing the ailses of Boots last week, and I decided to crouch down and investigate the rather unappealing Mavala stand, it was messy, disorganised and didn't look promising. But I hit upon a little bit of Gold. 

As all beauty 'enthusiasts' will know, we tend to keep a mental note of many of the products that tickle our fancy in almost encyclopaedic fashion, and I'd filed this little nail polish away nearly 2 years ago (!) when I noticed it on this post by Yinka. We have a scary ability for product recall... 

It was a complete impulse buy, and I didn't think it would be a particularly useful addition to my already overflowing 'sludge collection'. 

It goes on in 2 coats, it's a beautiful creamy mink colour with a purple undertone. It's not left my nails for about a week. 

This is my first encounter with Mavala, and so far it's a winner. 

Laura xx

Festive Nails: Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle & OPI Bastille My Heart

If you haven't noticed, I've been loving a bit of glitter on my nails. This OPI/Deborah Lippmann combination is the perfect festive treat. 

Just stick a coat of OPI's gorgeous red shimmer on as a base coat, then slick a coat or two of Razzle Dazzle on top...then sit back and marvel at your sparkly digits. 

You may recognise Razzle Dazzle as one of Glossybox's December Box treats, I love it! More importantly, I adore this month's Glossybox. It's my favourite yet. Even trumping the HD Brows Box, and you know how much I adore that palette! 

Expect mini reviews on most of the product in the next few days, there are some corkers in there! 

xxx