Kardashian Kolors by OPI

Kardashian Kolors OPI: Kendall On The Katwalk & Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam

My boyfriend clearly knows me so well! Amongst all the gorgeous gifts he got me this christmas, he surprised me with an array of the OPI Kardashian Kolors! I've wanted 'Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam' since they released the range, but always avoided it due to expensive shipping rates from the US, but clearly Jack had a little plan up his sleeve and managed to pick me some gorgeous shades!

I can't describe how in love I am with 'Kendall On The Katwalk'! This has probably got to be the most gorgeous glitter nail varnish I have ever owned. The glitter is so full on, consisting of a beautiful combination of purples and blues. I literally stare at my nails all the time now!

'Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam' is a gorgeous, ultra shiney deep evergreen/teal shade which I think complements the tones in the glitter varnish nicely. I love how easy it went on and only took a couple of coats to achieve such a bold colour. I've never used OPI before, but am seriously impressed with the quality and staying power of these varnishes! 

Has anyone else tried any of the Kardashian Kolors range? Or is there an OPI shade you recommend? Hope you all had a lovey Christmas! :)

Croc Nails

Barry M Nail Paint Croc Nail Effects: Boots

You may have seen me post this on my instagram (marieelton) yesterday, but I felt the need to also blog about it and share it with the rest of you lovelies! I grabbed this polish the other day when I noticed Barry M had a buy 2 save £1 on their nail varnish range. Being a sucker for all thing nail art, of course I grabbed it.

Now you may think its just a rebranded version of the crackle polishes that we all raved about this time two years ago, and I was admittedly dubious myself when I initially picked it up. However, this polish definitely gives you a much more slick, well defined and expensive look than your standard crackle polishes.

Application is simple, paint on a thin base coat of your choice (I went with Barry M's Bright Pink) and as soon as you've finished both hands whip out the Croc Effects straight away. Your nails much still be tacky when applying this effect, instead of bone dry.

When applying the Croc Nail Effects I found that applying slightly thicker coats created deeper, wider crocodile effects, whilst applying a thin coat (as instructed on the bottle) creates a finer, more detailed effect. I ended up with a mixture of the two, not really being sure how to gauge how much was appropriate for a thin coat. 

Redgardless of this, I was extremely impressed with how it came out, they look almost like I've applied nail stickers or foils. I absolutely adore it and am looking forward to trying it out with different colour base coats! Has anyone else tried the Croc Nail Effects yet?

Booooom, Blast & Ruin

NYC New York Color Expert LastLong Wearing Nail Polish in Lavender Cupcake and Mint Macaroon (c/o)

I love my nail art I do! But I wanted to show you guys its not all about nail pens and having a steady hand! You don't need to splash out on a set of nail brushes or buy thin tip brush nail polishes. All you need, is two of your favourite colours and some sellotape!!

I suppose you can gather from the pictures where I placed the sellotape to create these patterns. When it comes to the diagonal stripes, cut the tape into thin, even sections to get an even thickness between the lines and angle carefully on the nails. 

Make sure your base colour is completely dry before you start applying the sellotape. To ensure the tape doesn't take off any of the original varnish, stick the piece to your skin and peel it off to lose some of its tackiness then apply to your nail. I'd advise position all the pieces of tape to every nail before you begin applying your second nail varnish. Then remove the tape whilst the nail varnish is still wet by slowly peeling off.

When completely dry you can add a top coat, but these NYC polishes are meant to be long wearing, so I'm putting them to the test and not applying a top coat! I love these colours, so wanted to make the most of them before autumn takes over and our polishes all get a little darker and vampier! Plus how cute are the names? Mint Macaroon!! Love it :)

Hello, Kitty!

Base: Saffron London in White, Nail Stickers: Bows and Hello Kitty.

Hands up! Yes, I am sporting the nails of a 12 year old girl at the moment, but I don't care! Although these might be the tackiest, most childish nail design I've thrown together, I'm still quite enjoying it. I had an obsession with Hello Kitty for years so I'm pretty much a sucker for anything that comes with that little cutie on it!

These stickers are great application wise, very easy to position and stick down well. The Saffron white polish I'm not overly keen on, but use it because its the only white polish I have! Its really thick and smells like wall paint, however on the plus side does have good colour pay off - none of that wishy washy sheer stuff and has a matte finish.

These nails were originally meant to be the base of my Batman nails which I was very excited to do, but turns out the decals were rubbish and I gave up after the first two nails and went for my faithful Kitty instead!

What do you make of my 12 year old nails? Would you go for it?

Ban The Bomb

I think this has got to be one of my favourite nail art designs so far! I'm so obsessed with peace signs, crosses and skulls on everything recently, so when I found these Peace Sign Nail Decals on ebay, I HAD to buy them.

Anyone who has used nail decals before will know how simple they are to apply, I was actually shocked at how easy it was! I started off by painting my nails with generous coats of Collection 2000's Hot Looks in Electric Dreams. After that had dried completely, I cut out circular shapes around the peace signs and dropped them in a small tub of water just before applying each one. After the decal had been sitting in the water for about 30 secs or so I picked them out of the water and the decal slid straight off the paper back. 

Th positioning is easy as once you've placed them onto your nails they are easy to move and slide about until they're in the right position. For this reason I prefer them to nail stickers, as once you place them on the nail its usually almost impossible to move them again. Then I allowed them to completely dry and painted over with clear nail varnish to secure. 

What do you think of my ban the bomb nails? Have you used nail decals before?

Lace Nails

Knowing I'm a big nail art lover, Born Pretty sent me some lovely nail stickers to try out, and these lace effect ones were by far my favourite!

From previous experience with nail stickers, I chose to go with a neutral, nude shade for my nails to begin with, as brighter, bolder colours can make the outline of the actual sticker look very apparent. I used my latest favourite polish from MUA's Love Heart collection - I <3 U, a beautiful nude shade, that requires a few coats to get solid colour.

After my nails were completely dry, I then picked out which lace pattern I wanted to go for and carefully peeled it off the sheet with a pair of tweezers. You are really better off using tweezers as the stickers are very sticky and can easily get stuck to your fingers and rip. I then carefully positioned the strip and pressed down, then cut off the excess and moved onto the next nail. As you can tell, a really simple but effective process. Finishing it off with a clear top coat will ensure the stickers stay in place for longer, so is really a necessity. 

I really like these lace effect stickers, I think they give a real vintage look to your nails and its definitely a bit different from my usual nail art. My main concern with them is just how sticky they are and so how easily they tear once you try to move them if they've been positioned incorrectly, so I would recommend being very wary when applying. 

If you'd like to try them, you can now get 5% off using this code: MA5J61.

Meow!

These have to be the cutest nails I have ever had. I cannot stop looking at them, I just can't get over them! And they were literally one of the easiest nail art looks I have ever done!

I ordered these nails off ebay through a seller call Janchristie, who sell numerous animal related nail stickers at amazing prices. My kitty ones were only £2.20, and I got 24 stickers! They also can make you your own nail stickers if you send them a photo, which I think is amazing. I'm so tempted to get Mimi nail stickers! Haha!

So, basically, they recommend you paint your nails with a pale colour, so the sticker doesn't show up on your nail. So I used one of my recent favourites - Collection 2000 Hot Looks in Candy Floss. I applied three coats for an opaque look, then waited for the polish to completely dry. I then cut up my nail stickers around the cat images, cutting as close as I possibly could but still leaving a reasonable gap around the edge. You then peel off the stickers very gently and place them on your nails - I used tweezers to peel them away and position them, then pressed them on with my fingers to make sure they were nice and stuck down! Once all the stickers were applied, I painted over with a clear varnish to seal the sticker. 

You get such instant satisfaction from these nail stickers, they're just so pretty and, well cool! I'm definitely going to be ordering again, I really want some to wear for my cousin's wedding! Plus, the envelope they came in was the cutest ever, with loads of useful instructions and ever a selection of sample stickers!

They now have their own website too! Janchristie.com! Let me know if you've tried out any of their products out or any other nail stickers! Would love to see how your nails turned out! (Now, back to work Marie!! Wah!)

Cross my Nails, and Hope to Die

When I thought this look up, I just thought it was perfect - because it's so simple, but so on trend right now. I'm really into my crosses, you may have seen my favourite double finger cross ring in a lot of my posts! I thought the black and white was a brilliant classic combo, but if you wanted to make it more Spring, you could easity swap the base colour from black to a lilac, mint green, lemon...

So basically, I applied one coat of black nail varnish, I used my cheap Wilkinson's £1 nail varnish - which dries super fast but chips off even quicker :/ I then took my favie, Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen in white and drew a thick line down the centre of the nail, making sure I was going over evenly so the line was really bold. I then did the same with the horizontal line to create the cross. Then, repeated on each nail.

I learnt something about the Sally Hansen pen this time round. I have often found in the past that if you do not use a top coat with these pens, your design will basically wash a way as soon as you rinse you hands. However, I now realise why! This is for the purpose of trial and error. So, if you make a mistake, you can just dab it away with a small amount of nail varnish remover on tissue/cotton pad and redo with out having to take the whole nail off and start again! Amazing!!

But when you do apply your top coat, remember to wait until the nail pen is thoroughly dry - because the clear polish can just as easily smear the design away as well!!

Btw, I've uploaded a new youtube video on how I contour and highlight! Hope it's useful!

Pastel Polka Dots

Here's a look I threw together last night. I tried two other designs last night, that went poo :( So, I thought I'd go for my old favourite - polka dots!

I love the Barry M nail paints, they're really hard wearing and take a little while to start chipping which I like a lot. I used my two favourite Barry M shades - Bright Pink and Mint Green, and alternated them between the nails. I then carefully drew on my polka dots with my favourite, the Sally Hanson Nail Art Pen in white! Such a useful and easy to use pen, I really love it!

Then I just added a top coat to secure my handy work - and there you go! What do you make of polka dot nail art? Are you a fan?

P.S. I've put a few bits on ebay if you're interested! Go here

Pastel Candyfloss

So, this actually was very simple, but kind of an accidental discovery...kind of. I used these rounded manicure guides from ebay (no. 3), as I was intending on painting half moon shapes on the base of each of the nails alternating colours. However, the tape just ripped off the nail varnish -_- GRR!

So, I started again. I applied the rounded nail guides at the base of each nail, trying to maintain a similar size oval on each nail. I then I painted my nails, leaving the beds of the nails beneath of the stickers bare. I alternated with my two newest editions to my nail polish collection: Collection 2000 Hot Looks in Candy Floss and Button Moon. I love these both SO much, they're are just the epitome of pastels, so perfect for Spring! 

I painted a couple of coats, then waited for the nails to dry and peeled off the stickers. And that's it! Very simple, and created a beautiful clean and pretty look for Spring now that the sunshine is out! Ahhh :)

Broken Arrows

Here's a quick nail art I put together earlier, well actually not so quick, but with a little trial and error and a little swearing (whoops) I got it down in the end!

I was inspired by Fee at Make Up Savvy, and wanted to create a manicure for Spring with a twist! As you can see I created an arrow, V shape effect on my tips using 17's Tropical Island. I began by painting my nails with my newest favourite shade, Mint Green by Barry M. I then applied sellotape when the nails were completely dry at an angle across the tips of the nails. PLEASE make sure your base colour is completely dry. I made the mistake of applying the tape too soon and ripped half the green polish off - insanely frustrating!!

When applying the tape or manicure strips, apply them at an angle which reaches just off centre. The more prominent you want the V shape to be, the more steep an angle you apply the tape. Then use this as a stencil to paint on the tip colour of your choice. Wait til the nails are thoroughly dry before peeling away and reapplying on the opposite side, using the same process to create the arrow shape.

I did figure out that I could create the V shape free hand after messing one of my nails up repeatedly. So, if you don't have the patience to wait for the polish to dry again and again, and if you have a steady hand, I recommend having a go at creating the look free hand without tape or manicure strips!  

Easter Themed Nails

Happy Sunday everyone! So disappointed it's the end of the week already, but at least we've got some sunshine! Am meant to be writing my English essay right now, but was just far too tempted to post my Easter themed nail art!

As you can see, with my thumb, index and pinky finger I've gone for the standard polka dots and stripes, trying to replicate the traditional Easter egg patterns. The thumb and index finger were done with my Sally Hanson pens, and the little fingers with a very steady hand!

I created a little chick, hatching out of it's shell on the middle nail. I simply painted the nail with the yellow, then drew on the cracked egg shell on the top and bottom with my white nail art pen, then drew on the eyes. Then with an orangey shade, blobbed on a beak! To create the bunny on the ring finger, I painted the nail with this yellowy cream shade, then drew on a bunny ear shaped silhouette and it's eyes with my navy nail art pen, and blobbed on the nose on the edge of the nail with a bright pink.

Be sure to seal your cute creation with clear nail varnish! I actually forgot this time, and all the polish from the nail art pens are already wearing off :/ major boo. All the varnishes I used are pictured above, but you've could make this work easily with any similar nail polishes.  

Would love to see or hear about any of your nail art creations!

Nail Art Love

This morning I woke up and decided I wanted to do my nails, so I did. My boyfriend and I are celebrating a belated Valentines day tomorrow, so in light of that I thought I'd go for a little bit of a love heart theme. I also wanted to have a little play with my new Sally Hanson nail art pen so I just had a mess about and here's what I came out with!

I kept the Technic glitter on my pinky fingers, with 17's Parma Violet on from the last time I did my nails, which you can see here. I then painted both my thumb nails with the Parma Violet again, as it's just such a cute pastel shade. I then did both my index and ring fingers on both hands with Avon's Nailwear Pro in the shade Fuchsia Fun, which I received a little while ago from the beautiful Leigh at Love Leigh Leigh! I then followed this by painting both middle fingers with Rimmel's Lasting Finish Fruities in the shade Lemon Drop. This polish took a few coats to achieve an opaque look, I think this may be down to it's light colour and thickened consistency. 

I then went in with my Sally Hanson nail art pen in white on both my thumb nails. I went for a striped look on my left hand and polka dots on my right. I then followed this with the pen in navy blue on my index and ring fingers. On the left hand I carefully drew two diagonal lines on the index finger and some little polka dots on the ring finger. On the right I went with a thick filled in corner on the index finger and some mini hearts on the ring finger. The hearts are very easy to achieve, simply drawing a thick V shape will create the look of a heart, so it really doesn't take much attention to detail. It's especially easy with the Sally Hanson pens, you don't need to put any effort into application, the polish comes out the pen with just a touch on the nail so you don't need to be overly controlled when using it.

Finally, I used a nail art brush from a cheap kit I picked up on ebay to paint on the heart on my middle finger. I dipped it into the Avon Fuchsia Fun and dabbed onto the nail, using the same V shape technique I explained before. I found that some polish blobbed onto the nail, so I wiped off the excess polish on the brush and used it to evenly spread the blob of polish around the heart shape to fill it in and round the edges of the heart to make it a little softer. I did this on both hands.

Then I very patiently waited for my nails to dry and sealed it with a clear nail polish! I'm really happy with how they turned out! Let me know if you've tried anything similar recently, would love to see your home made nail art!

Glitter Tips

This was a quick idea I had last night. I was in desperate need to re-do my nails, they were so chipped and nasty! I was just going to paint them and leave it at that, but I couldn't just leave it - that was too boring for me! So after painting with another of Primark's UV varnishes (haha), I took some Wilkinson's double sided tape that we got with a Christmas puppet kit! I used this tape because it was a thin role and it seemed like it wouldn't be that sticky as it came with a children's craft kit. I lined them up over each nail tip, like you would do if you were doing a French manicure and just painted away with my Barry M Limited Edition Glitter Nail Paint. I did a couple coats on the tips so the glitter stood out. When removing the tape it did pull some of my nail varnish off, so it probably wasn't the best thing to use! But I was improvising so was good enough for me! I pretty pleased with how it came out, I think it's a bit different.

Hologram Hexograms

I love doing my nails, I really do. Here I used Barry M's 'Hologram Hexograms' which was a bargain £2.99! I really didn't get on with this glitter varnish very well at all when I first brought it. It's tough to get an even spread of glitter and it comes off the brush quite sparsely onto your nails. I think my disappointment was in the fact that it just didn't turn out on my nails how I imagined it would. Really, this is a great glitter polish; you just need to know how to use it right. 

The key is, you've got to blob it! That sounds a bit ambiguous I imagine, but it's really simple. Wipe the brush off on the edge of the pot so there's not too much product on the brush, then just dot the glitter about until you feel you have enough of your nail. Doing it this way does mean you get a lot of clear varnish glooped onto your nails which does dry a little uneven, but tried and tested it does feel like the only way to use this glitter! Having lots of clear top coat on isn't necessarily a bad thing anyway; it will protect your nails from chipping for a little longer!

Underneath is just a cheap Primark nail varnish I picked up that was on sale before Christmas. It looked like a burgundy shade to me in the bottle, but in different lights it goes between a deep red and purple. Either way, I really like it, it has a lovely warm depth to it. It is a 'UV' nail polish, which I find quite funny. Reminds me of going to gigs when I was 15 years old and being so excited at how all the white bits on your clothes would illuminate under the UV lights!

Favourite Products of 2011

So, as another year comes to an end, I thought what better way to sum it up than my favourite products of 2011. These are the products that I have been reaching for endlessly for the best part of the year and have never let me down. You may have read me mention some of these before, but it's just because they are products I know and trust and 100% recommend. Excuse some of the photos, these products are worked to the bone so some of them are not in the finest of condition. Hope you enjoy, and happy new year everyone.

I'm a picky one when it comes to what products I put on my skin. I have the strangest skin type, which can never really make its mind up, and through the winter it is simply a pain in the ass! But there are some tried and tested products that have made a regular appearance in my make up routine this year. My two favourite pressed powders are Collection 2000's Pressed Powder in Candlelight and MUA's Pressed Powder in Shade 1. I like to use two powders to set my foundation and build up the coverage, and I have discovered this combination works fantastically for me. However, I could rave about MUA's powder all day; it's the best value powder I have ever brought. So thick, with so much colour in it and it lasts all day, and all for £1. Definitely my find of the year.

Collection 2000's Perfect Finish Foundation in Ivory has been my favourite foundation of '11. I'm a creature of habit, and when I change foundation (and I like it) I tend to stick to it for quite a while. This has been my go to all year. It has a good medium coverage, which can be built up easily and a pleasing price tag. Its constancy is creamy and thick-ish, but not heavy in any such way, so very easy to apply to your skin and not drying at all.

When doing my cheeks, I like to build up the look, normally starting with a bronzer and then applying a blush over the top on the apples of my cheeks. MUA's Blush is Shade 4 is a fantastic deep pinky red. It is very pigmented so you only need a little colour on your brush. I love this colour for both day and evening as I feel it suits my skin tone well, but MUA offer a lovely range of shades all for £1 each so it's easy to test out and discover which shade suits you best. 

I've recently got into filling my eye brows in. It was never something I'd do before as I have quite dark brows, but I like the defined look as I think it really finishes your make up off. I simply colour in the inner corners of my brows with 17's Eyebrow Shaper until they look fuller and more shapely, then use the brush to soften and spread into the middle of my brow.

My favourite concealer of the year is 17's Hide and Chic in the shade light beige. It has a creamy consistency and it feels like you get a lot of product in the tube. Its brush tip is useful for application, although I like to blend it in with my finger afterwards. It has reasonable coverage, but I especially like it for evening out my skin tone underneath my eyes after apply my foundation.

My lips are a tough mistress to please, they don't get a long with many products in all honesty. I'm getting there though, it just takes patience to find what works. Nivea's Essential Care has been a real life saver for me. For years I have been a salve to good old vaseline, but to be honest, I don't think it actually does anything for my lips. I just kept apply religiously and getting no where. However, Nivea really seems to smooth and soothe my lips, and now I really swear by it. My favourite lipstick of the year is by far Maybelline's Colour Sensational in the shade Wined and Dined. I wrote a full review on it a couple weeks a go. I just love the colour so so much and think it's an amazing product.

 

Eye make up, the best part of doing your make up in my opinion! This year, I discovered the MUA Eye Make Up Palettes, and I think I must of mentioned them a thousand times by now. Read my reviews here and here. They're great value for money palettes and I really enjoy creating looks with them. My favourite mascara continues to be The Body Shop's Big and Curvy, mentioned in my All Time Favourites Post. Love its thin brush, making it so much easier to reach and cover all my lashes as well as its thick, waxy, black constancy. I just can't find anything that beats this mascara, it's the best one I ever discovered.

Collection 2000's Glam Crystals is a lot of fun. I have it in two shades, Funk (gold) and Glitz (silver) and both gel eye liners offer a lot of colour in just one stroke. It looks great when you've built the colour up by allowing it to dry then going back over. It really is so dazzling and eye catching, especially when you line it right the way round your eye. Just be careful not to go too close to your actual eye ball, as my eyes have streamed glittery tears quite a few times, and its painful!

The knackered old eye shadow above is Collection 2000's Intense Solo Eye Shadow in the shade Frosting. I go on about this shadow a lot, and believe me I use it every time I create any eye shadow look. Teamed with a bit of eye primer, this colour used around the inner corners of your eyes really sets your make up off and gives your eyes such a wide eyed look. I love the colour and it starts off any smokey eye perfectly. 

I haven't changed my favourite eye liner since I was about 16. It's always been Collection 2000's Kohl Pencil in black. The above is the current one I am using called Intense Colour. Collection 2000's Kohl pencil's are the best, I always get compliments on my eye liner and it's all down to this little baby. I rarely use liquid eye liner, as I find the definition I get from this pencil unbeatable. My secret is to simply keep it nice and sharp when drawing a winged line. 

 

I go through a million different nail varnishes a year, but this year I think its fair to say everyone's been obsessing over glitter varnishes, and I am no exception. Enter Barry M's Limited Edition Nail Paint. You get SO much glitter in this top coat varnish, and its so strong so your nails rarely chip when you have a couple of coats on. I just love it, its the best glitter nail varnish I've had and makes it so easy to make any old varnish glitzy! 

I was so happy when I discovered Sally Hansen's Nail Art Pen. This pen is so much fun and really just a fantastic product. I can't fault it, it does exactly what it says on the tin! I have a full review of the pen here.

2011 has been quite a year for me, full of my usual highs and lows. I'll keep powering through as I always do! I really appreciate the really supportive feedback I've been receiving from my friends and peers as well as my followers. Looking forward to blogging in 2012, I've got lots of ideas planned to share with my readers, so here's to hoping things will only get better!

Happy New Year, wishing you a prosperous 2012.

Sally Hansen Nail Art Pen

Here's a look a created on my nails with the help of Sally Hansen's Nail Art Pen in White! I ordered this pen after trying out an ordinary dotting tool but really struggling to get to grips with it! I don't know how others do it! I love doing my nails different, and being inventive with my nail style, so in an effort to make things a lot easier for myself, I brought the Sally Hansen pen.

This pen is absolutely amazing! You get so much colour from one dab of it on your nail, making it so easy and quick to use. As you can see above, I used the pen to do polka dots on my nails - one of my favourite things to do on my nails! Usually, I just dab the nail varnish brush on my nails very carefully with little polish on the actual brush to achieve the dotted effect, but with this pen you can create the look in seconds and get a much more clean finish.

I've already ordered another pen in blue, and am looking forward to having a play around with the two of them and creating some more exciting styles! Unfortunately, I couldn't find it in black, which is a shame! If anyone happens to come across one, please let me know! 

On my ring finger, I used Collection 2000's Shimmy Shake with Barry M's Nail Paint Glitter top coat, which I think turned out gorgeous, so just had to give it a mention! I think it would be a fantastic combination on all your nails over the Christmas period! 

Throw Some Glitter On It

So, the french nails came off, at the cost of much of my time and pain. Think I'll have a little break before I put another set on...

I brought these glitter chip resistant nail varnishes from Clarie's Accessories this weekend. Now, I don't usually make a habit of shopping in Claire's these days, but I bumped into a friend who had the most amazing bright blue glittery nails, and I had to know how she did it! 

So, off to Claire's Accessories I trotted, like an excited 14 year old. They had quite a few shades there, I was really tempted by the green for Christmas (I might have to go back), but I went with purple and silver. As far as I can see, there is no names on the bottles as to what the colours are actually called, so purple and silver it is!

Now, my nails turned out pretty glittery and I was happy with them. But I don't think they're as glittery as my friend's blue nails, which is disappointing. I don't know whether this is down to me picking up the wrong varnishes or just whether some of the colours hold the glitter better than others. The silver is more heavily glittered than the purple. After I brought them I did realise that the purple was £2.25 and the silver £2.50, so I don't know if they're actually different nail polishes all together. But as far as the packaging explains, they seemed to be part of the same range.

Anyway, with only two coats my nails turned out like this (above). I did a different colour on each hand, with coordinating accent nails. It gives lovely, thick coverage, but I am yet to see whether it lives up to it's chip resistant title!

Love this glittery varnish, and looking forward to picking up some more. Just wondering whether it can stand up to the Model's Own varnishes I've been seeing online a lot lately. 

Ohh La La Primark French Nails

Here are my French Nails I picked up from Primark about a week or so a go. I saw them on LLYMRS blog and not being one for fake nails normally, I thought I'd give these a go. At £1, you can't really go wrong.

As they were so cheap, I was worried that the nails would look plasticy and overly fake, however, as you can see in the photo above they look very natural and really pretty in my opinion.

I did struggle to find nails out of the 24 provided that fit my nails beds comfortably as I think I have quite small fingers. Nevertheless, I picked out the nails that sat most neatly over my nail and went a head with it. The glue that comes with the nails is pretty useless, and you'll often find in such cheap products. So I used the vastly popular, Nailene Glue. Apparently the number one selling glue in the world, I'm not surprised as to why. This is the strongest glue I have ever come across and it doesn't lie, it seriously dries in three seconds, and I learnt the hard way. If you follow me on twitter you'll of seen my photo of my fake nail fatality. Holding down my index finger nail with my thumb, I accidently glued the two together, and upon immediately pulling my thumb away I ripped some skin off of my finger. OUCH!

Other than that little (?) slip up, I continued with my nails and was really pleased with the outcome. I received a lot of compliments on the nails. They feel strong and the glue is really doing a sturdy job.

One issue is that my finger tips ached a little the morning after I applied them. I would put this down to the size of the nails in comparison to my natural nail beds. But I waited it out and the ache subsided.

I've had the nails on for a couple days now and they're still going strong. Overall, a great product if used with the right glue (just be careful!)

Newspaper Nails

Here is my attempt at one of the latest nail art trends, newspaper nails! As a student journalist, this seemed a more than fitting choice when pondering what to do next with my nails.
I’ll quickly walk you though the steps to achieve this look:

• Firstly, you need to choose a pale nail varnish shade that your newspaper print will sit boldly upon.  
• Now, paint your first nail with your chosen varnish and allow to dry. 
• Once dry, immerse the entire nail into an alcoholic spirit - I used vodka. 
• Taking a torn square of newspaper, press the print firmly against your nail and do not move for a good 20 to 30 seconds. This should ensure the print transfers quite boldly onto your nail.
• Finally, peel the paper away and paint with a clear top coat varnish, then move onto your next nail.

You may have seen this nail art on other blogs, telling you to paint all your nails initially and then apply the newspaper. However, I found my one by one method more effective after having to start over on a few of my nails where the print had not transferred too vibrantly. It seems if you press the newspaper onto the nail just as the varnish has set then the print transfers better.
Have a go yourselves, I’d love to see how they turn out!