Nails | Red & Textured

So far this year I have had gel nails done professionally (for the first time!) but now I have started to paint my own nails again for a while. They may chip more easily and take more time for me to do but it is definitely a cheaper option and I have more of a colour range at home!

On the majority of my nails I am wearing Essie 'Jump In My Jump Suit' which I got in a Essie Winter Collection back in 2014. It is an ever so slightly deeper red and gives that classy look to your nails. 

As accent nails, I painted my ring fingers a different colour. For this I used the BarryM Nail Paint Textured Nail Effects in 'Countess' (which instantly makes me think of Lady Gaga in American Horror Story). The base of this nail colour is brown with hints of purple. There are also gold flecks in it which help make up the textured feel. It is hard to describe but the nail polish feels bumpy with grains. I like this because it adds something else to your manicure and looks pretty cool! Additionally it seems to make the nail polish last longer as they haven't chipped at all!

What are on your nails?

Nails | Rimmel Salon Pro with Lycra Rhythm & Blues

Hello!

I haven't worn nail varnish in about two months. I was doing job interviews and such so didn't want to paint my nails. Then when I eventually got a job I didn't want to paint my nails until I knew that they were okay with painted nails.


I went out the other night to celebrate getting into University(!!!) with friends, so I decided it was time to finally paint my nails again. I went for this dark navy that almost looks black from Rimmel. It also claims to be 10 day chip resistant.


I was originally going to wait until I had worn this nail polish for 10 days but after 3 days it has chipped so I didn't see the point in waiting any longer. Admittedly it took until 3 days to chip on 3 nails which is actually brilliant for me because nail polish usually chips quicker than that for me. Yet alas, it has not stuck to its claims. I'm not disappointed by that but I still have to take note of it. However, the nails have only chipped when I've been working so if I weren't working they would probably still be fine.


Overall I like the colour, and I like how it finishes as a semi-matte. The brush is a decent medium size and the polish dries really quickly which is certainly a positive for me. I am one of those people who get too impatient when waiting for their nails to dry and end up doing something just for the nails to get smudged! 


What are on your nails right now? Let me know!

Boots Mega Shine Colour Lock Top Coat

Hey!

As an avid nail painter I have had my fair share of nail polish top coats. This is the Boots Mega Shine Colour Lock Top, obviously sold in Boots, which I got as a present from a family member a while ago.

This top coat claims to have 'mega shine'. Can I agree? Yes. This is one of the best top coats I have used in terms of shine and you get a very shiney manicure out of it.

Other positives of this top coat include that the consistency is thin enough that it makes it extremely easy to apply, makes application smooth and doesn't leave any air bubbles. I've had it a long while now and it hasn't gone gloopy and hard to apply like some nail polishes do.

However, there is a major flaw that I have found in this top coat: Does it stick to it's claim of being a 'colour lock'? No. The major flaw in this top coat is that it actually makes your nail polish more likely to come off than by itself and it doesn't lock anything in place. No matter what nail polish I use it somehow makes it really easy to chip off! I then tried it as a base coat but it still had the same effect. I want my top coat's to make my nail colour last, not make them chip easy! 

Furthermore, I did a bit of an experiment for 3 days where I had just this top coat on bare nails on one hand and the Models Own Hypergel Top Coat on the other. I found that the majority of this top coat came off within 1 day whilst the Model's Own one lasted those 3 days. How rubbish!

So overall, this top coat works good at making your nails super shiny but makes your nail polish come off straight away. I can't find any way to make use of this as no matter what layer I use it as in my manicure it works to make the polish come off straight away. For that reason, I will not be using, recommending or buying this nail polish again.

What is your favourite top coat to use? Let me know!

Nails | Essie 'Jiggle Hi Jiggle Lo'

Hey!

I thought I would share with you guys what I have got on my nails right now. I wanted something simple and to use a product I knew had long lasting power so I would have less chips to spend time filling in. This is because I've got exams coming up so I don't want to have to spend time sorting out my nails when I need to revise.

So what did I think of for long lasting staying power and a limited amount of chipping? Essie of course! The world-famous, brilliant Essie.

I picked 'Jiggle Hi Jiggle Lo' which I got in a free Winter collection for Essie at Christmas. I love this shiny silver colour that catches the light and stands out. What I like is that because it reflects the light so much it gives the effect of glitter without the difficulty of removing it later.

What do you think? What's your favourite Essie nail polish? Let me know! 

Nails | BarryM Aquarium 'Pacific'

Hey guys!

Here are my current nails. I absolutely love the colour! It is from the Barry M Aquarium collection in Pacific and I got it as one of my birthday presents from my friends. 

The colour is a stunning petrol blue colour which is super shiny with a hint of seaweed green. Perfect for the theme!

I  particularly like the brush on the nail polish because it is thin so you can do your nails easily without getting any polish on the skin surrounding it. The packaging is also beautiful with a gold lid and scales on. It reminds me of a mermaid!                         

As for the polish, it has great wear time. I have had the polish on for 3 days so far and it hasn't even chipped! I love long lasting nail colour as it means I don't have to fill in the chips every night wasting time which I have to do with a lot of nail polish.

Overall I love this nail colour, the packaging and the wear. I couldn't ask for anything more and I will definitely consider the rest of the collection. You can get it for £3.99 which is an a fantastic price.

Have you used any of the Barry M Aquarium Collection? Let me know!

Nails | Max Factor Glossfinity 'Burgundy Crush'

Hey!

I haven't done a nail post in a while! Usually I enjoy doing nail art on my nails but this week I didn't have time so I thought I would use a nail polish that I haven't used yet. 

This is the Max Factor Glossfinity in shade 'Burgundy Crush' and it claims to be high gloss. I got it for Christmas in a set of make up for Max Factor and this was the first Max Factor nail polish I have ever tried.

Eh, I have mixed reviews on this one. To begin positively, it does exactly what it says on the bottle. It is the most high shine, glossy nail polish I have ever used to the point wear I can see my reflection on my nails! In addition I love the colour as it looks different in various lights. Sometimes it looks red, sometimes reddy brown and sometimes purple.

The downfall? It chips like no other nail polish I have ever tried. I applied it Sunday night with a top coat I always trust and it chipped a little bit that night. In just under 24 hours pretty much every single nail had chipped quite a lot and it looked like I had the nail polish on for a week! I filled in the chips on Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning the entirety of nail polish on my index finger was gone with chips on other nails and by night time they were all, once again, chipped to some extent.

I have never used a nail polish that chips so easily and quickly! I usually like to make my nail polish last two weeks before I take it off but I am not sure I can even make this last a week. I know it doesn't claim to be long lasting but it has got to have some sort of standard! Plus I guess it says 'glossy nails for up to 7 days' so it is sort of implying it is going to last a week. I am super disappointed as I really liked the colour and probably won't buy a Max Factor nail polish ever.

Have you had a similar problem with Max Factor nail polish? Let me know!

Halloween Nails: Spiderwebs

Hello!

Here is another Halloween nail art idea for you: Spiderwebs!
To check out my other Halloween nail art blog post (dripping blood), click here.

What you will need:

• A black striper/Toothpick with black nail varnish on/Black nail art pen. I used the Barry M black nail art pen.

1. Start in the corner of the top of your nail. You need to draw an inner shape first. This kind of looks like a circle but has three points to it, kind of like this: /-\ but with the '-' along the top and the same length as the other sides. Perhaps google images of cartoon spiderwebs for inspiration.

2. Draw another one slightly bigger above it with a slight width in between. Repeat this with an even bigger one above those two with the same width in between. Make sure the sharp points go above one another in the same line so you would be able to draw a straight line through them.

3. From the middle of the smallest /-\ draw a straight line that goes up through the middle of the web and out. 

4. Similarly, start a line from underneath the first /-\ but underneath one of the points. Draw a straight line that goes up through all of the points in line with the bottom one and out. Repeat this for the other point on the opposite side.

5. Optional: You could draw some spiders! Draw a straight line down one of your nails that finishes just before the midde of your nail. Then, make a black spot at the end of it for the spider's body.Add four small lines on either side for legs!

And that's it! It sounds really complicated when written down but if you have a look at my nails and perhaps some cartoon cobwebs you'll understand what I mean. I only used a base coat underneath the spiderwebs as I wanted them to show on my natural nail but you could do a white base coat first and then the black spider webs!

What is going to be on your nails for Halloween? Let me know!

Nails: 50 Shades of Blue

Hello!

Here are my current nails. I used;

*Barry M Gelly Nails 
*Models Own Hyper Gel
*Models Own Speckled Egg

Although my ring finger is a speckled green, I decided it was pretty similar to the two shades of blue on my other fingers. These colours worked so much better together than expected and I received a lot of compliments on them!


What are on your nails this week?




PS- Sorry this is a short post! I have been super busy trying to do a big essay for University stuff so I haven't had any free time. I was hoping to find someone or some people to do some guest posting for me so I could take a break to concentrate on my work but I have had no such luck. 

Models Own Nails!

Hello!

So if you saw my last post, you would've seen that I received some free nail polishes from Models Own from a giveaway that I won on Instagram. I was eager to try them out, so I used them all and did this:

Products: (All from Models Own)
-Hypergel Top Coat
-Peach Melba (Fruit scented)
-Coconut Cream (Fruit scented)
-Microdots
To see what these look out, check out the blog post previous to this one...

It is a basic look that doesn't require any 'nail art skills' so it can be easily done by anyone! I like how it looks and I will post reviews on all of the nail polishes used soon.

What do you think?

Butterfly Wings Nail Art!

Hello!

The YouTuber CutePolish inspired me to recreate her 'Butterfly Wings' nail art. Here is my recreation of it:

Rather than me trying to explain how I did it through written words, here is CutePolish's video:

Or alternatively, click this link to send you to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuT7cwpQq3w

What do you think? Let me know!