Sephora "air" polish

I have a long weekend off work yey so as it's my moms birthday, I decided to paint my nails! 

Here I am wearing Sephora's Universe collection in "air" which is a clear polish with spectacles of aluminium-like peices. It's so simple but sparkly! Love it! 

Would work with a colour underneath for a sparkle of colour! 

Pro's:

• fast drying, approximately 90 seconds per layer

• soft thick brush so you don't need to do too many strokes especially if you have wide nails like me

• very sparkly with infusions of aluminum-like spectrums

• has not chipped yet! 

• love the bottle with the white squared lid and cardboard box

• affordable price of about $12US which is about £1 UK 

• thin texture

• consistency can be kept mixed with the use of 2 metal balls in the bottle for shaking 

Con's:

• limited edition

• 4 choices in this collections

• available from USA only

Have you ever tried this or any polishes from this collection?

XOX

Sephora + Pantone Universe Nail

Fire

Sephora + Pantone Universe invoke the primal wonders of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water to forecast a season of elemental thrall. Introducing a spectrum of rare umbers, ethereal lilacs, rapturous vermillions, and deep sea ceruleans—all harmonized to create the perfect storm of supernatural beauty. (from Sephora website )

In October I was over in the States, Utah, Salt Lake City. I went into Sephora and managed to pick up some of their latest collection of nail polishes, including Air, Earth & Fire. These are limited edition and retails at just $10 per bottle. 

Due to the nature of my job, I don't often paint my nails but when I do, I love making sure they stand out. I always paint my toe nails all year round, but they are mainly covered up. 

In this collection, it is designed to:

Unleash the force of the four elements and adorn your nails with these high-impact lacquers in four dimensional effects: earthly chrome, watery shimmer, airy sparkle, and fiery glitter. These unique colors and finishes can be combined to create unique nail designs. ( Sephora )

Pro's:

• gives a metallic pink finish, very unique and shiny
• fast drying
• applying 1-2 coats is enough
• thick soft brush, perfect to brush onto wide nails like mine
• lovely presentation bottle and box
• cheap for money

Con's:

• peels off the following day
• can chip off easily even with 2 layers therefore I would recommend a clear top coat
• limited edition

If you're a nail fanatic and love strange patterns/colours then try this!

Have fun!

XOX

My first Sephora haul

I have never ever been to a Sephora store before in my whole life! But seeing that I am in Utah right now, it was a must that I needed to go purchase a few essentials.

Sephora is one of America's beauty drug store, equipped from every beauty item from top brands to their own collections.

I have hear and seen many reviews on Sephora make up brushes, very popular in the U.S. with good results so I just had to get a few!

I love having a collection of bright coloured nail polishes! Even though I don't often paint my nails, I always paint my toe nails though. 

I managed to get hold of a Marc Jacobs nail polish which I instantly fell in love with the colour which is an orange! I also managed I get hold of Sephora's own collection of polishes in a pinky marble colour with 2 glitter specs.

Super excited to use my brushes as my old ones are literally falling apart! The brushes are soft and look very professional, not so sure how they will be when I start using them though! 

If anyone has any reviews on the brushes, feel free to leave it under my post so I can have a read!

XOX

Matte Nails

I just LOVE matte furnishing's on anything!! cars, tables, plates, books, nails!! I just think it's such a clever idea to have matte nails!!

It gives it that extra classy and sophisticated look and I love the feel on it on my nails! I can't stop looking at them! lol!

It's so simple to do and the results are amazing!!

You can use alsorts of colours and patterns and them making it matte afterwards simply by using a matte polish over the top of your nails.

I decided to use this hot pink colour as a base, perfect colour for the summer!!

34 - Mauva Flash

You can use any colour you wish, any brand, at any price. It doesn't need to be anything expensive but be aware that cheaper polishes can damage the nails and cause staining! Make sure you use a good polish remover too!

This polish was from a UK drugstore called Superdrug which can be found in every city or you can purchase online.

£1.99 from Superdrug ,t here are a choice of colours and a huge choice of brands.

This is the magic formula by China Glaze, it was a gift from one of my youtube friends Emily, she got me this when we did a swap a few years back!

I don't often paint my nails but my toe nails I do quite often but when I get the chance I do paint my nails.

Different brands do the matte polish in their collection, which allows you to have different effects, prices do vary but I would recommending getting a good branded polish because some may not be as effective as others, and drying time can take longer which means you are more prone to it smudging!

What I did was I ensured my nails were filed to the shape I wanted. My nails are naturally long and squared tip so I just tidied them up abit by using my manicure set.


I then applied the pink polish on top of my nails, using 2 coats on each nail, it gave my nails the look I wanted.














Once the nails are dried and not wet looking, I applied the magic matte clear polish over my nails, using just one coat on top of my nails and allowing it to dry would give me the perfect matte finish.

If you take a look at the index finger, the nail is matte and the rest are shiny. This is the matte effect.

beautiful matte finish

Here is the finished look!! The colour is still bright not but shiny!

Have fun guys

XOX

Chanel Nail Polish 455 Lotus Rouge Product Review

This is my first Chanel nail polish product I have ever owned. I love the shade variety there is and also the packaging is very simple but the logo really stands out, which attracts me to their products.


A few of my friends own the Chanel nail polishes and their other products but for me, I didn't know too much about the science of the products and what it would do for me.


Of course, the price isn't cheap for a luxurious brand, I wanted to know what the hype was all about! I wanted to know why the nail polishes were 'amazing' and why my friends own a whole handful of them!

First of all, it comes with this posh luxurious bag, ideal for a gift.

Simple, black and white.

There is also a Chanel ribbon attached which just makes the whole gift look luxurious!

I love things wrapped and ribboned, this just blew me away, I didn't care if the bag was empty or not LOL! The packaging itself looked so fancy I didn't want to open it.

I was actually looking for 'fire 159' red shade to match my current phone case but the lady at the counter said it had been discontinued so I decided to go for another shade of red which was 455 Lotus Rouge.
I personally am not a red lover, I don't own many nail polishes and I would never go out my way to buy red colour nail polish but I fancied a change and see what I could get out of it. I decided to try a Chanel nail polish and see if it would be impressive or not.

There were so many shades of red, it totally confused me and of coruse once it is applied to the nails, its not exactly the shade as the one from magazines or the bottle so I decided to go for a medium red.

The box is quick simple but with a lot of text. Black background, white text and gold at the bottom at the front and sides.




The box is just about the size of the bottle of polish, and the quality of the box is sturdy too.



The top of the box states the shade name and number.

I like how the lid can come off the top of the polish lid, I don't know what I would do with the empty lid to be honest but its very different to any other polishes I have ever tried.

For £18, there is 13ml of the product in the bottle. It sure is pricey but for a designer brand, that was to be expected right? I still can't believe I paid that much for it! but atleast I can say I did try it. 

Prices are more or less the same, there aren't any special prices as it would de-value the product but some places like online stores may increase the price, especially if the product is limited edition. I would advise people to look online at store prices.






I like the thickness of the brush as it means I don't need to do as many strokes of the polish and making the polish look so thick on my nails. The brush is very soft, which makes the product sit well on the brush.

I personally think there are drug store dupes that would be just as good such as ELF 'smokin hot', Barry M - 262 Bright Red/red wine, Rimmel 60 seconds - Rapid Ruby, Mac Factor gloss finish - Red Passion. Depends on your budget really.

So...... After the first coat of the polish of my nails, I personally thought it was too thin. The lotion consistency is not too thin and it isn't thick either. It glides on smoothly but I find that I need to go over my nails 3 times to cover the whole nail.

I had to apply 2 layers of the polish as only 1 coat was too thin and not make the nails look smoothly painted.


This is a picture of my nails after a week , as you can see there are a lot of dents, scratches and it doesn't stay as shiny. I used 2 coats of the polish and still I can see the polish is very thin on my nails. I decided to leave the nail polish without a layer of clear polish over to see how well it would last on my nails but this is the result. Was not totally what I had expected, especially for the price I paid and the hype on the market, the colour started to fade and didn't look pretty or glossy anymore. It disappointed me badly, but I still want to try the other colours to see how they would be on the nails.

Pro's:

• pretty packaging for the box and bottles
• pretty presentation bag and ribbon
• wide range of shades
• logo is neatly presented at the top of the lids

Con's:

• glossy look at first but it slowly fades
• scratches easily
• need more than 1 coat on the nails for the full effect of colour
• too expensive for what it's worth
•  bad quality
• too many shades available and they look similar, but when you paint them on your nails, they aren't exact the colour in the bottle therefore choosing the right shade is difficult
  
  
  XOX

Barry M Black and White Crackles Croc Nail Effect Product Review

Ever heard or seen the crackles effect on nails? It looks complicated but I can assure you it actually isn't!

I got to be honest here, I don't often paint my nails as I work in a hospital and due to infection control - we aren't allowed to.

I use to love decorating my nails and creating alsorts of patterns and making them look pretty, but now I can't! I can only paint my toe nails, which I hardly get to show them off to as I am in tights and shoes most of the year!

When I go paint my nails I like to make sure they are a statement piece for any outfit/looks.

I first discovered crackles from Barry M which is a UK company which specialises in alsorts of colours and popular for their dazzling colours and types of polishes! They also do lip liners, lipsticks, glosses and eye shadows!

You don't have to spend alot of money on the base colour, I got mine for less than £2, the croc effect polish was £3.99 and it will last you for atleast the use of 40 nails!

Here is an old video I did for the polish....

To achieve the nail crackles pattern, it is very simple.
Here is how to achieve the look:

• file the nails to square/round tip
• buffer and smooth the surface of your nails
• apply a decent coat of white polish and wait for it to dry
• carefully apply the black crackles polish over the white (tip: for bigger crackles, don't go over the same place more than once otherwise the crackles will be smaller)
• wait for the magic to happen as it dries
• apply a generous amount of clear polish over to secure the polish on your nails

It is that simple!!

Pro's:

• amazing effect and can feel the texture on the nails
• very detailed and all the patterns are different
• easy to achieve with just 1 coat on each nail
• don't stain the nails
• there are a few different colours available for the crackles
• different choice of patterns but limited in stores
• affordable price from drugstores such as Superdrug , Boots 

Con's:

• for those who have wide nails like me, I need to carefully use the side of the brush to apply on the side of my nails, which would sometimes end up on the skin and the nails have smaller crackles in some places (but still look pretty!!)
• defiantly need a top coat of clear polish otherwise the patterns would rip off after a few days

Perfect for a quick look and easy to do! Impress yourself and others around you by using the croc effect polish!

You can purchase the croc effects polish from big stores of Boots, or online at the Barry M site or trusted ebay sellers

XOX