Easter Nail Art Tutorial - Cadbury's Mini Eggs!

This design was suggested to me by my best friend Sara - as soon as she said it, I knew it had to be done, if only as an expansion on the Cadbury's Chocolate Manicure! I worked tirelessly on a tutorial for it so you can all do it yourselves at home :D I know it's a bit early for Easter Manicures, but it's that time of year where Mini Eggs hit the shops an I love them! I don't know if you can get them in the US, but FIND THEM. THEY ARE LIKE EASTER-TIME CRACK.

This will also be part review for Boots 17 new nail polishes which I picked up last week. I chose 3 of them - Mellow Yellow, Glisten and Juicy. They're really fresh, bright spring/summer colours so I really couldn't resist. First up is Mellow Yellow, a gorgeous mid-tone yellow with gold micro-shimmer. It's beaaautiful.

The application of Mellow Yellow was lovely, this is two coats and there is no visible nail line (VNL). It's glossy and dries relatively quickly. From experience, 17 polishes go thick and unusable rather quickly so invest in a polish thinner like Seche Restore if you want to keep this bad boy for more than a few months.

The perfect yellow for a mini eggs packet, I hear you say? Yes, it is. Tutorial time!

1. Start with your yellow base and take a chocolate-brown polish like Barry M Mushroom. Draw large ovals in a sporadic pattern across the nail. This is the outline of the eggs!

                        
2. Take a selection of pastel coloured polishes. I chose American Apparel Office (green), Collection 2000 Candyfloss (pink), Natural Collection White and Collection 2000 Angel Wings (purple/grey). Paint over your brown ovals with the pastel shades, but leave a small brown outline.

3. Time to add some brown speckles to the eggs! Take a dotting tool (or a toothpick if you don't have one!) and take a small bead of your brown polish on the end. dab this gently onto your pastel eggs.

4. Take a purple polish or purple Nail Art Pen. This step is much easier to do when you have the control of a Nail Art Pen, but if you have a steady hand then go for it with a small brush. Write the words "Mini Eggs" in the Cadbury's font on your thumb. This is optional, you could always just draw more Mini Eggs!

5. Add a topcoat to protect your design from wear and tear and to make it super glossy. I used Seche Vite.

6. Stand back and admire your Cadbury's Mini Egg Easter Nail Art!

I added Claire's Matte Topcoat over the top to achieve that powdery look and feel that mini eggs have.

There you are! Cadbury's Mini Egg nails, perfect for Easter! If you've given up chocolate for lent then a) I don't know how you live b) You can enjoy chocolate in an alternative way!

As always, if you follow my tutorial I would love to see it so pleeease let me know!

I hope you have fabulous weekends!

Happy Halloween! Spooooky Nails

...I realise Halloween was two days ago now, but I hope you all had a good time! These were my spooky, themed nails for the occasion!

For the haunted house accent nail I started with a base of American Apparel African Violet, used a sponge to dab on Barry M Cobalt Blue over 3/4 of the nail, then sponged on Topshop Celestial onto the top 1/4 to create a gradient effect to act as a 'night sky'. I then freehanded in the pale, yellow moon with Rimmel Lemon Drop with Collection 2000 Angel Wings for detail. I freehanded in the 'hill' with Claire's Jade Green and a small brush before stamping the house image from BundleMonster image plate BM224 with Konad Black Special Polish. I added Barry M Mushroom brown paths and outlined the house with Claire's Silver Nail Art Pen. I stamped the bat image from BM213 and freehanded in the little ghosts with Claire's White Nail Art Pen. I smoothed it over with Seche Vite!
For the rest of the nails I started with a base of Natural Collection White, sponged on Rimmel Lemon Drop and Collection 2000 Angel Wings, sporadically, to make them look a bit old and crusty (yuummmm). I then stamped on the spiderweb and spider images from BM13 with Konad Black Special Polish before adding a coat of Seche Vite.

There is a lot of steps involved in this Manicure, but it didnt take too long!

I hope you all had a great halloween!

EOTD - 17 Funfair: Pretty In Pink!

As I said, I'm hoping to introduce a few more general beauty-based posts into the mix, one a week or so, as that was my intention when I first started this blog in February! Here is what I've been playing with recently, a sweet, everyday look using 17 Funfair (available at Boots), a pastel pink shadow flecked with gold microglitter. It's really pretty, and I paired it with 17 Gold Digger in the corners:

sunlight - eyelids are weird when you're that close to them! I look like an old woman! Damn you Macro setting!

 

Foundation: Collection 2000 Lasting Finish

Blusher: Benefit Coralista

Under-eye concealer: Benefit Erase Paste

Lid eyeshadow: 17 Funfair

Corner of eye eyeshadow: 17 Gold digger, lightly tapped on with finger

Liquid Liner: Topshop Felt Pen Liner in Jet

Lips: Rose Tinted Vaseline

I really like this eyeshadow - 17's eyeshadows in general are great, they're really pigmented, affordable and all your favourites come in Trios, with two other complimentary shades that would create dramatic looks. As I wear this look during the day, and it is a softer look, I didn't add a third (darker) shade to the crease of the lid, or any eyeliner to the water line as it would have made it too harsh, in my opinion. The slick of Liquid Liner is enough drama for this 'pretty in pink' look! :D

So there it is, the shadow I'm wearing practically every day at the moment! Let me know what you think everyone, have any of you UK ladies a favourite 17 eyeshadow? Any questions, let me know! :D

All products were purchased by myself!

Collection 2000 new shades - swatches and review

Hello everyone, I was kindly sent the new Collection 2000 "hot looks" summer pastel shades, for us to take a look at.*
Collection 2000 is a great drugstore brand, available at Boots and Superdrug, and produce affordable makeup and nail polish - I often associate them with bright colours, glitter and sweat-proof foundation!
The new pastel shades are in store now, and retail for £1.79 for 8ml - an absolute bargain if you ask me, you cant go wrong for a couple of squid!
Firstly, I was pleasantly surprised by these, as I wasn't expecting to get along with them AT ALL after THIS fiasco. My first experience of the Collection 2000 formula was abysmal, but I'm happy to say that this new collection has changed my mind, and convinced me that I had a duff bottle before.
All these swatches are 3 coats - no one-coaters here, I'm afraid. The first coat is streaky, with opacity achieved on the third coat. These dry VERY quickly, all three coats were touch dry in a couple of minutes - great! All photos are with no top-coat.

First up is Lemon Soda, a pastel yellow cream, very summery -


Natural light, no flash



For yellow, this was very opaque, but this is to be expected with a cream formula. I think you may have to be careful with an unflattering skin-tone here, with it suiting more Olive skins, and skins with richer, deeper tones. I love this shade, though, and will be wearing it a lot this summer, I'm sure.

Next, is Milkshake, a reddish brown nude - exactly like chocolate milkshake! It's a lot more sophisticated than the other shades

I found Milkshake to be slightly thinner than the others - this is 3 coats, but it is not as opaque as the others :( I still like it, but not sure why it's included as a "summer" shade - for me it's more a sophisticated shade for autumn - would be lovely for evenings out, though!

Next, Angel Wings. This is a grey-blue cream, and very cool-toned

I really like this shade. Although very cool, it's a great shade to have in your nail polish arsenal, especially for nail art - it really reminds me of a light denim jean colour.

Next, is Candy Floss - the perfect shade of bubblegum pink, in my opinion! I love how shiny this appeared, Barbie nails all round!

This one is an essential for your collection - a lovely, creamy, pastel pink.

Finally, is my favourite of the collection, Fruit Loop. It's a pinky-peachy cream, and I'm loving how it looks. This shade is on the shelves a lot at the moment, with Barry M's new Peach Melba, and Bloom's Flamingo Sands, to name a couple I've come across - a very popular colour for the summer. This Collection 2000 version, however, is by far the cheapest and holds its own quality wise.



So, the Pros?

• £1.79 for 8ml - bargain. The Hot Looks polishes have some great colours, and these new pastels are no exception.
• Candy Floss and Fruit loop especially, are what I would call an essential, every girl needs the perfect shade of pastel pink - I dare you to disagree!
• Easy to get hold of - no bloody Evilbay here, no tricky Internet buying, Paypal or waiting to collar the postman, you can just pop into the local beauty store (for us Brits!). Boots even offer a service where you can reserve polishes for pick up, online - easy peasy.
• They are amazingly fast drying, even with thick coats they didn't bubble, and you're less likely to smudge with this formula if you're a clumsy bugger, like me.
• They have restored my faith in Collection 2000 after the dreadful time I had with Spangle. Urgh. I hate thinking about it.
• The formula is, over-all, a winner.
• THE LOW PRICE, AGAIN. (Without compromising quality!)

The Cons?

• None of the shades are particularly unique, thought they do offer cheaper alternatives to colours that I have seen by other brands (as stated above, for Fruit Loop)
• Milkshake doesn't really strike me as a "summer" shade.
• Milkshake was rather thin, and I've had an unbearably thick bottle of Spangle. Inconsistant formulas, maybe?
• ALL the polishes are at least 3-coaters. You get a lot of bang for your buck with these, but with three coats every time, it may not last you as long as you think.

Right! Deep Breath! You can rest your little eyes now, it's been a long post, and crammed with info!

What do you think everyone? Do you have a favourite? Which are you dying to try, and which would you rather die than try? They're a hit with me, but I would love to know what you think, especially if you've tried them yourself!

*Polishes were provided for review by Collection 2000. I am in no way affiliated with the company, and all opinions are my own and uninfluenced by the providers. For more information please visit my Disclosure page.

Nuclear Waste

Goood Afternoon everyone! Firstly, my Tatty Devine inspired Manicure has been featured on the front page of their website! They've also written an article on me and my silly little blog which has made it a very exciting day! I rang my Mum and everything! Waaaah! Exclamation Mark!

On to today's nails - I did not get on with this polish AT ALL, it was a gloopy, horrible mess and painted on like a gross, blobby creature. It was so minging to the point where I actually think I have a defective bottle. I tweeted this at Collection 2000, and they suggested I buy a polish thinner. Cheers, Collection 2000, I will go out and spend money I don't have, on products I wouldn't need, if you quality controlled your stock properly....ya douchebags. Maybe I'll try and take it back to Superdrug, but I doubt I'll be successful.

Collection 2000's "Spangle" from the "Hot Looks" collection is a bright, lime green, and "fast drying". It turned into a stringy mess after about ten seconds, and left me with no option but to schloop it on in big, thick, gloopy layers (which, I might add, still didn't reduce the amount of coats I need to eliminate VNL). This resulted in HORRIFIC bubbling - to the point where it looked like Toxic Waste, which did inspire the Nail Art. Maybe I should be thanking Collection 2000? You can make up your own minds!

From the Giveaway feedback, a lot of you are asking to see some plain swatches, but I also know that a lot of you tune in for the Art, so I thought I'd balance it out by showing a swatch of the base colours that I use before launching into the Art Part.

Here is the bubbly mess that is Collection 2000 Spangle (a shame because I LOVE the colour):-

Bubbly Jubbly.

I also added a Claire's Shimmer Topcoat to my left hand, just to see if it made a passable dupe for Illamasqua's Radium:-

Hmmm. I'm not so sure, but if anyone asks me if I'm wearing Illamasqua, I have no problem lying shamelessly and saying "Yes. Yes I am, and it cost me £13.50."

As I mentioned, the ugly bubbliness inspired "Toxic Waste" Nail Art:-

Anyone recognise Blinky, the three-eyed nuclear fish from "The Simpsons?!"

I've got a Drum of Nuclear Waste on the ring finger, and Blinky the three-eyed mutant fish from The Simpsons on my thumb. HE IS THE CUTEST THING EVAAAR - I really didn't want to remove this manicure purely for that thumb haha.

urgh bubbly wubbly

I used Claire's black and white Nail Art Pens for the accents, as well as a toothpick for filling in the orange highlights and light grey highlights and yellow circle. The Neon Orange is Barbara Daley for Tesco in "Salsa", and the yellow is Miss Sporty "Taxi!". The dark and light grey are Barry M Grey and Sparkle and Fade Light Grey.

On a final note, this polish also stained pretty badly, despite two layers of base coat  - very unamused. It's such a shame as I love the colour, and now I feel like all I've done throughout this post is bitch and whine! Get it right, Collection 2000, and we won't have any beef! Has anyone else had this problem with any of their polishes?

BYE EVERYONE!

Don't forget to enter the Giveaway!

Coral Crush - and 50 followers!! XD

I can’t believe with the amount of time I spend on this blog, and the amount of hours I fritter away reading other people’s wonderful blogs, and I missed the rollover!

50 followers! This is amazing, thank you to each and every one of you!  I never started with the intention of racking up followers, this blog is about my discovery of the wide versatility of Nail Polish and creating something pretty. It means a lot that ONE person would want to read it, never mind over 50 J

STAY TUNED FOR A CELEBRATORY GIVEAWAAAAAY! What better excuse to go shopping?! I'm so excited to pick out my favourites and give them away to you! Giving is definitely better than receiving! :D

I bought one of my first PROPER Lipsticks the other day. I usually stick to balms or glosses (even though I cannot stand the sticky feeling on my lips of some glosses) and make the most of my eyes – seen as eye makeup was my first love! I thought I’d broaden my horizons, however, and I didn’t start small...I went for a bright Coral.

I love the coral colour, and I cant wait until summer so I can rock this baby literally everyday!

This lipstick is from the Accessorize range and there's not a thing about it that I don’t LOVE. From the packaging to the formula to the price (£4.00). In fact, i love the whole Accessorize range so far, the nail polish range looks so great - can't wait to pick a few (or all of them) up.

First things first – this lippy smells LUSH! It’s a lovely sweet vanillary scent and its gorge. It's a really smooth application with a reasonable shine – I wouldn’t apply a gloss over the top. It also looks beautiful if you mix a touch of it with a Balm to give the lips a flush of colour while you moisturise. My favourite to use with this is Vaseline Cocoa butter (the smells compliment each other too! Yummers!)

Here are some pics of the lippy itself:

The lid has a big sparkly (faux) diamond top! LOVE IT.

And these are my luscious corally lips:

It's a wee bit oranger IRL and definitely brighter - at least it feels it to me! I'm definitely not used to bright attention grabbing lips.

And here is my whole FOTD. I tried (and possibly failed) not to make these too "myspace-y" ahah, but theres only so much you can do when you're taking a picture of your own face! The foundation base is Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection. The bottle says it lasts 16 hours which I think is both a bold and ridiculous claim, but it does stay put rather well, even if I do get a bad case of the shinies after a while. This isn't my everyday foundation as it's a bit heavier and not massively natural looking - i wear it for nights out :) Blusher is Benefit Coralista (coral overload? NEVAAAAR!), and my eyes I left simple, lining the top, water line and a bit underneath with an H&M pencil liner in Brown. I only used a couple of strokes of Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara in Brown/Black.

After spending hours taking over 100 photos...this is the first one I took. c'est la vie.



So you can see the pencil liner detail.



And because I love you all SO much, a big, wet, corally kiss from me to say thank you!!! Here is my most ridiculous face :D

also, astounded that the combination of the pout and my recent weight loss has given me cheekbones...GET IN!

Until tomorrow my lovely readers, let me know what you think on the comments! xxx