China Glaze Sunsational Collection and my new favourite site!

Although I haven't been blogging much recently, its not that I haven't wanted to I just havent had the time! But I plan on making time as I have had so many things flying around in my head that I want to share with you all!!

To begin with, I want to tell you about an awesome website I have found recently. It sells nail polish, in the hundreds!! I have always wanted to try all the big named brands in nail polish but can never decide on what shades to pick and where to buy from, well now that has all changed.  The website I am talking about is www.nailpolishdirect.co.uk and is a great source for China Glaze, OPI, Barry M, Essie, Jessica, Leighton Denny, Models Own and many other brands all at very reasonable prices. On top of the large collection of polishes they hold, they also offer free delivery on order over £10 which I think is great and very rare to find here in the UK, and they ship to Europe too.

So after finding this amazing website, it took me a few days searching through their collections to finally decide on what colours to pick. It was a tough job as there are so many amazing colours to choose from, but finally I placed my order and it has arrived today!!!

I decided to give the China Glaze On The Shore Sunsational Collection a try as they have some lovely bright colours for the summer.  There are 12 shades to choose from and they have a mixture of cream and 'Jelly' shades.

Here are the colours available in the collection. Image from www.nailpolishdirect.co.uk

From what I can tell from the other reviews I have read on other blogs have said that they 'Jelly' shades are very thin and 'jelly-like' which doesn't sound like an easy formula to work with. As I am still a bit of a beginner when it comes to nails, I like to keep it quite simple, so I decided on three of the creme shades in Too Yacht to Handle, Thats Shore Bright and Bottoms Up.

From left to right, Too Yacht to Handle, Thats Shore Bright and Bottoms Up

Too Yacht to Handle

Thats Shore Bright

Bottoms Up

I absolutely love these colours, they are so bright and fresh and just the thing you need during the current heat wave we're having here in the UK.  These three shades are from the cream part of the collection, they apply smooth but can be quite streaky so you need to take care when applying.  With a steady hand you can get away with one coat, but two coats will be plenty for a good coverage.

Once dry, the cream formula leaves an almost matte-like finish that is soft and smooth to the touch.  The only down side to these polishes is that they do chip easily and quickly, I found that within 24 hours chips would start to show around the tips of the nails so make sure you apply a top coat to help them last for as long as possible.

Have you tried any of the other shades from the China Glaze Collection?

Product Rave: Archie's Girls Nail Lacquer

I want to give a shout out to my new favourite nail colour, MAC's Pep Pep Pep from new Archie's Girls collection.

I love this colour, it's a lovely, peachy nude nail colour and is great for an every day nail.

With two coats, this nail polish leaves a strong, bold coverage that looks feminine and beautiful. 

Have you tried any of the Archie's Girls products?

MUA Fur Effect Nails Taster

Hello lovely people,

I went shopping the other day and managed to pick up some of the Fur Effect Nail pots from MUA: Make up Academy and wanted to sure with you my first attempt photos!

This was very exciting to try out although I think it takes a few try's to get the hang of completely!

Here are my first images, I will be trying then out again and will follow up with a review!

Model Own Beetlejuice Collection in Pinky Brown

Hey beauties,

I just had to share with you my new favourite nail varnish colour, this is part of the Models Own Beetlejuice Collection and is the colour Pinky Brown. 

I love this colour, it is dark enough to be great for the winter months but has a splash of colour which makes it fun and playful.

The polish has a mainly red colour to it but has splashes of pink, brown, gold and purple. Here I have applied two coats and it gives a really good coverage. 

I just love Models Own nail varnishes and I love this colour and the Beetlejuice Collection.

Models Own All That Glitters

Hello you lovely people and thanks for stopping by.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a big hello and welcome to my new followers!

I am currently in love with the Models Own range, having heard such great things about it I found it is sold in Boots and so I had to go and check it out.

Along with a couple of colours (which I will show at another time) I picked up a lovely little set of mini glitters.

As part of this set you get three little glitter nail varnishes that are a great size and you get three pots for £8 instead of £5 for one full sized pot which I think is a great bargain.

The first pot is called Blizzard and is a mixture of silver holographic shapes that work to reflect the light creating a variety of shades of colour. The formula is quite sparse so it takes a few coats to build a good coverage but I found it looks good over a bold colour like I tried here,

Here I paired the Blizzard glitter with a bold pink from Models Own called Sophie's Pink.

The next varnish is called Pink Fizz, this is a collection of light pink glitter that is strong in colour and coverage.

As this is a thicker formula, I have used it here on a plain undercoat. It is great for a quick coat if you don't have much time as it will cover your nails with only one coat, but you may need two if you want a complete layer.

The final polish is called Southern Lights and is my favourite out of all three in the set.  This is a bold and bright mixture of holographic glitter that has a great coverage and really sparkles.

Here I have used this glitter again on a plain undercoat and only needed a thick first coat to get full coverage which was great as it was quick and easy. 

The final results were great on all three glitter polishes and they are a great addition to my collection.  Personally, I prefer the thicker glitters as you have the option of wearing them on their own or with colours and that's great if you just want to do a quick coat on your nails.  They are also quite long lasting, although I do find most glitter polishes last longer than colour polishes but the down side is they are harder to get off.

Love Hundreds and Thousands? Then you'll love MUA's Nail Constellations!

Hello my Sweets!

If any of you love sprinkles, Hundreds & Thousands or anything cute and sweet then you are going to love MUA: Makeup Academy's Nail Constellations!  They are bottles of little beads in an array of cool colours that allow you to add that 3-dimensional feel to your nails!

The Constellations come in 5 colours Scorpio, Pisces, Leo, Gemini and Libra so you can pick a shade to suit your mood.  The packaging is very simple and practical as the pointed funnel top allows precision application and the clear bottle lets you see the different colours easily.

From www.muastore.co.uk

Here, I have the Gemini shade and it is made up of lovely, light pink, peach, gold and green beads that work together to create a fun look. Because I am not very skilled when it comes to detailed nail designs I decided to use the constellations on just one nail and I think it worked very well.

To apply these nail beads, it is best to apply the nail colour you want underneath then apply another thick coat of that same colour or a clear varnish.  Then apply the beads using the pointed tip to the nail or area you require. Make sure you do this while the varnish is still wet as this will be what holds the beads into place.  

Once you have all your beads in place, apply a clear coat of nail varnish over the top to keep them in place.  I found this step does dull the colour slightly, but it helps it last longer.  

I really like these Nail Constellations, in one quick and simple application you can jazz up your nails and give them that 3D look. I wouldn't say they are great for an every day nail as the beads can catch on your clothes etc but they are great for a weekend look. The colour combinations that are available are great and I cannot wait to collect them all (although they're sold out everywhere I look!)

You can have so much fun with these that it feels like you're topping your nails with sprinkles!

Dani xxx

UPDATE: I'm sorry guys, I didn't realise until afterwards that I didn't tell you about the price etc. The Nail Constellations cost £3 each and I got mine from Superdrug.  You can also order them from the MUA website where I believe they offer International delivery if you are not based in the UK.  For me, you can't go wrong for £3!

Add a splash of colour to your summer, with nail varnish!!

At the moment, I am loving all the bright nail colours that are out there and the elaborate designs!

But if you fancy spicing things up a bit with your nails, but don't have a steady hand (like me!) to try all the different nail art designs that are out there then try this!

Try painting your ring finger a different colour to the rest of your nails!

I love this idea and have been trying it alot recently with all different colours!

Give it a go! You can even mix it up with glitters!

What do you think of this look? Let me know in the comments below

Summer Nails

I couldn't decide on what colour to paint my nails this weekend, so I decided to paint them all the pastel colours I have all at once!  They ended up looking very summery and fresh.

What do you think of my look?

Minty Green with Barry M.... Loving the Summer!

This summer I am loving Barry M Nail paints! 

I wanted to share this with you, here I am wearing number 304 - Mint Green.

These are great paints, and the collection has some great pastel colours for this summer to keep on trend.

To check out more of the colours, visit the website here

What are your favourite colours this summer?

Product Review: Ciate Nail Enamel

Hello, my wonderful readers, I am sorry it has taken me so long to write up some of my reviews, but work has been manic and I have lots of positive news for a change!

Now, about this nail polish/varnish/enamel, whatever you want to call it!? I love it!

It arrived in my July GlossyBox, and I was pleased with the colour.  The colours that were available were Skinny Jeans, Beach Melba, Kitten Heels, Big Yellow Taxi, Speed Dial, Mojito and Caberet.  As always with GlossyBox, you can’t choose what they send you so I know that some subscribers weren’t very happy with a Shrek Green (Mojito) colour, but I was one of the luck ones and received a lovely bright orange colour which is Speed Dial.

These nail enamels sell at £9 for a 13.5ml bottle.  Personally, I usually go for a cheaper range of nail colours from Barry M or Rimmel, but once I tried this product, my view changed!

When you apply this nail varnish, it doesn’t go on very thick, so for good coverage you will need to apply 2 coats, in addition to this I found that it felt quit gloopy coming out of the bottle, so care is needed for application.  But it lasts!!  I definitely found this product lasted a lot longer before chipping than most of my other nail polishes.  I do have a couple of more luxurious polishes, but Ciate’s product outlasted Ruby&Millie and MAC’s.

Also, the handle on the brush is nice a long, which allows you to get a better grip and it sits nicely in your hand for a smoother application.

I would definitely recommend this product to anyone that loves a nice bright colour on their nails.  Ciates products are also formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate and toluene free. Plus they have a very cute and ultra-feminine little bow on the bottle which makes them stand out.

You can find these nail enamels at http://www.ciate.co.uk/