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Tuesday 10 June 2014

Update

Hello! Just a very quick post from me - I'm still alive! Apologies that I haven't been around - I moved to London a couple of months ago for a new job (exciting!) but had been, in essence, couch surfing until Sunday. As in two days ago. So I haven't had any time for nail art/blogging and also I've been living off about five polishes for two months (the horror!) and don't yet have any of my brushes etc. etc. with me. However, now I'm more settled I should hopefully have a bit more time on my hands/be able to get all my possessions sent to me and I will get back to blogging soon if I possibly can! 

Sorry for the surfeit of exclamation marks.

And to those of you who are still reading, thanks. :)

Kirstie

Friday 7 March 2014

Morgan Taylor 'Little Misfit' Swatches & Review + Nail Art

* Product provided for review

Hello again! Today I'm reviewing the second polish I received from Morgan Taylor's Glam Rock collection, 'Little Misfit'*. If you missed 'Polished Up Punk', you can see it here, along with some information about the collection and the brand.

Before I start, I want to forewarn you that some of these photos are rather...unflattering. This polish was a rascal to photograph and I ended up contorting my hand into weird positions to try to capture it as best I could. 'Little Misfit' is described by Morgan Taylor as a 'Lavender and Aqua Duo-chrome' and it looks like this...


Monday 3 March 2014

Morgan Taylor 'Polished Up Punk' Swatches & Review + Nail Art



* Product provided for review


Hello! I know I sound like a record stuck on repeat, but apologies yet again for being so absent. I've been away from home so much over the past month it feels like I've hardly been here...but things have settled down now, so here I am!

I was delighted to be contacted by Morgan Taylor recently and asked to review a couple of polishes from their 'Glam Rock' collection (which I believe was for Winter 2014). The Glam Rock collection is described as 'A mixture of funky metallic shades and glitters to bring out the rebel in you!' and consists of six polishes:


Left to right, they are:
Better in Leather – Black silver glitter
Little Misfit – Lavender and aqua duo chrome
Polished Up Punk - Navy crème
Pretty Wild – Lavender greige crème 
Rebel With A Cause – Deep burgundy pearl
Studs and Stilettos – Gunmetal glitter

If you're not familiar with the Morgan Taylor brand, here's a little blurb from the company:

'Morgan Taylor has been created by Gelish founders Danny Haile and David Daniel. The specialist formula is made from raw ingredients enhances finish, coverage and wear ensuring that not only your nails will look gorgeous but they will stay that way too!RRP £10.99 each from Sallyexpress.com'

The polish I'm showing you today is the navy crème, 'Polished Up Punk'*.  I also received 'Little Misfit', the duochrome, so expect to see that one at some point in the near future!


'Polished Up Punk', two coats plus top coat

'Polished Up Punk' is a dark navy which appears blackened in some lights, but remains just on the right side of black - by which I mean that it is almost always discernibly blue and not black. I think its depth is more apparent in the nail art photos below. It's a very winter-appropriate colour and I always think these kinds of shades look especially foxy on short nails. I found the formula very nice: it was neither too runny nor too thick, spread smoothly and had great opacity - I used two coats plus top coat here, but you could conceivably get away with one if you were careful. I also really liked the shape of the brush, which is flat but not too wide (I know a lot of people can't stand super-wide brushes) and a sensible length. Please excuse the slight scuff marks in the above photos - my goopy top coat was responsible, not the polish itself! I didn't wear this manicure long enough to comment authoritatively on wear time, but I wouldn't expect any problems if worn with a good top coat.

Aaand I wouldn't feel like I was blogging properly if I didn't throw in some nail art, so...

Saturday 25 January 2014

Burns' Night Nail Art/BPS Striping Tape Review

Hi friends! Just a quick post from me tonight - some Scottish-y themed nail art for Burns' Night and a wee review of this striping tape from Born Pretty Store. (Discount code at the bottom of the post, too!)



Tuesday 14 January 2014

Baroque 'n' Roll | Nail Art

Bahahaha. Yes, that excruciating pun did just happen. I'm not even going to apologise for it.

Hello and Happy New Year! How I've missed my wee blog. November and December were really rather busy months for me and I ended up being away from home quite a bit, so sadly nail art had to take a back seat. I'd say it was a pretty productive time, though, and I'm looking forward to what 2014 will bring... I hope it will be a joyful, prosperous year for you all. :)

Nail art!




Friday 8 November 2013

Neutral Leopard, Popping Neon | BornPretty Fluorescent Studs Review & Nail Art

Hi friends! Apologies for the extended absence. I'm back with another review for BornPrettyStore.com, this time for these fluorescent studs. I'm sure I've mentioned before that I've always been impressed by BornPretty's value and service, so I won't rehash all that. You'll find a 10% discount code at the bottom of this post (and also in my sidebar).

On to the fun stuff! Here's the nail art/inspiration combo:



It's possible to draw inspiration from what is, in essence, an advert - who knew?! 

So, the studs. I like them a lot. There are are 2mm squares and circles in each of six colours. The first thing I have to point out is that they are waaay brighter than the above photo shows - my camera refuses to accept that neons (or at least pink ones) exist. My 'phone camera kind of likes them though, so you can enjoy this fuzzy delight:




I'd say that's relatively colour-accurate (if not quite perfect). The product page says there are 400-ish in the box; I'm not going to count them, but there seem to be plenty. In case you're interested, that would work out at approximately 67 per section if evenly divided. Do with that information what you will.

For me, 2mm is an ideal size for studs and so on - I generally don't like my decorations too big. The backs are hollow and I found them pretty easy to apply: plop a dot of top coat (or glue) on the nail where you want the stud to be (I use a toothpick), pick up stud with a moistened orange stick (or alternative), place it where you want it; you'll have a little time to get the placement perfect before your adhesive dries. I use a top coat over the entire nail to seal everything in and I had no problems with the colour on the studs running or anything like that. The sides of the studs do stick up a little and there's a gap before the colour starts (i.e. the sides of the studs are silver) but if you're used to wearing studs, I don't think you'll notice it at all; and if you're not, you'll soon acclimatise! 


Also a 'phone photo - sorry!

As to longevity, I think you can expect these studs to last a good few days, at least. I did lose a couple within the first day or so, but as they were both from the same finger, I'm pretty sure that was top-coat error on my part. After a few days, I seem to have scuffed some of the colour off the top of a few studs; I'm not sure what caused it, though (there's a chance I did it with a buffer) so that might be might fault, too. I think you might be able to reuse these if you're super careful when you remove them, but my (limited) experience is that it can be tricky to get all the polish off them without stripping the neon colour, too, so it probably isn't worth the hassle.




I appear to have run out of photos, so just a brief overview of the nail art itself. Base is three coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Crinoline (not a 'me' colour at all, but I love it); spots are Barry M Lychee Gelly with a teensy bit of Nails Inc Fenchurch Street mixed in; black is Orly's Liquid Vinyl. For the leopard print, I used a dabbing motion with a little brush. I used a dotting tool for the cross on my middle finger and there are some 1.5mm black rhinestones on there, too, which you can barely see.

I haven't worn leopard print in what feels like forever - I think I worry it might be perceived as 'boring' - but I kind of love it! I've seen so many great leopard colour combos lately, too. Also really digging the neon pop against the neutral background. My only qualm (with my nail art, not the studs) is that I occasionally feel I've created a leopard with chicken pox...

As always, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments and if there's anything else you'd like to know, feel free to ask. And finally:

DISCOUNT CODE

Saturday 12 October 2013

Blue & Black Splodges/Cow Print | Nail Art

Holaaa! Another winner of a post title... We're off to Spain for a week tomorrow (well, tonight) so I really should be doing something sensible, like packing. But here I am! I painted these nails last night and I like them a lot - they were really quick today and I have such a thing for blue & black at the moment. I think they look a bit like very funky cow print nails, though I didn't strictly go in with that in mind, haha.





The blue is Kiko 336 - basically a dupe of Nails Inc Baker Street (which I don't own) and all those like it. LOVE this kind of electric blue and I really hope it never goes out of fashion!


Must dash! Have a splendid week!