Leighton Denny Sweetheart Nail Art - Win Your Own GlossyBox !

 This month's Glossy Box is here! If you're unfamiliar with the concept of Glossy Box, once subscribed, you receive 5 (6 this month though, due to it being an anniversary special) high end, luxury samples, with one of them being a full size product. This is for £10 a month, plus shipping, and there are other similar companies out there like Boudoir Prive, Carmine and Birchbox in the USA. This month's box contained a Leighton Denny polish, and mine was a pink, cream one called Babydoll. I'm glad of this, as the other two options were pearlescent, and you know how much I love cream finishes! I'll let you know at the end how you can WIN AN OCTOBER BOX FOR YOURSELF!

*EDIT - COMPETITION NOW CLOSED!*

I'm not sure if there's a name for this type of manicure, so I'm giving it one - the Sweetheart V-gap. A variation on V-gap pioneer Sophy Robson's original design, I made this to look like a pink heart, and added some rhinestones because - well, blue, sparkly heats just make everything a little more fabulous, don't they? I started with a white base of Natural Collection White, then freehanded in the sweetheart shape with the (very pliable) Leighton Denny brush. I then added some BundleMonster Blue, Rhinestone Hearts, and a coat of Seche Vite:

This has become my favourite pastel pink, it's beautiful in two coats, high-gloss and a really rich shade of pastel pink/rose. Here's a comparison with a few other pastel pink shades that I own:

Remember, you can click to enlarge!

As you can see, Babydoll is slightly more red-toned and deeper than the others I won. It's lovely! Also, ten points to whoever can guess which of my nails is a falsie hahaha - damn these breakages!

This is what also arrived in this month's Glossy Box. They usually have a variety of different products and it's a lucky dip which ones you get, but this month all boxes are virtually the same as it's a celebratory box for their 6 month anniversary:

• Dermalogica Age Smart Multi-vitamin Thermofoliant
• Dermalogica Age Smart Multi-vitamin Power Recover Masque
• Leighton Denny Expert Nails Colour and Care
• Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner in Moray 
• 3 Robert Piguet perfume samples
• Dermalogica Age Smart Lip renewal Complex
• Dermalogica Beauty Bag

All in all, it's a very good box for me. I don't feel put off by the anti-aging products because I don't 'need' them, as an intense moisturiser is always good in my books! The lip gel is very small, but absolutely lush, it smells really nice and I'll definitely be using this at night time, while the winter cold creeps in on us Brits. The Stila Eyeliner deserves a post of it's own as it is really lovely and I have a lot of positive things to say - so I'll do a makeup look with it next week! Yay! I tried the Face Mask today and it really is lovely. It is a cream and doesn't dry tight on the face, leaving it soft and smooth! I have yet to try the exfoliator, but I reckon it will be just as good.

The only downside to this box is that I HATE perfume samples. I never, ever, like how they smell (even though I know it's just me being very scent-fussy). These parfums are really floral, and not up my street at all. You can't even re-use them as stocking fillers, because that would be naff - who wants tiny vials of flowery old lady perfume from Santa? Exactly. Not me. Nor from Glossy Box. I'm sure plenty of people out there would love them though.

NOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO WIN THIS MONTH'S BOX?!?!

YOU DO?!

THEN IT'S YOUR LUCKY DAY! (If you live in the UK - I can't accept international entries this time, ladies, I'm so sorry!)

*EDIT - COMPETITION NOW CLOSED!*

Glossy Box have kindly provided me with an extra box, and being the wonderful, loving, giving person that I am, I'm giving it away to one UK-based winner! All you have to do IS:

•  Make sure you live in the UK
• Make sure you are a follower on GFC or Bloglovin'
• Leave a comment below with your email address - feel free to write it in some sort of MI5 code so the spam-bots don't get it, just make sure I can understand e.g JaneDoe(at)gmail(dot com)

I will leave the competition open for 1 week, ending on the 26th OF OCTOBER - That is next Wednesday! I will pick the winner via a random number generator. Good Luck Glossy Girls!

*EDIT - COMPETITION NOW CLOSED!*
xxxx

They're Not Teardrops...They're FLOWERS NOW!!!!

Many of you who follow my blog (and probably some who don't!) will know that the designs I showcase are a mixture of both freehand and "stamped" nail art, with the image plates I use for the latter coming from Bundlemonster (and the occasional Konad!). WELL. Bundlemonster don't just do image plates, no Sir, they kindly sent me an array of other Nail Art bits and bobs that I wasn't even aware they produced! These included little wheels of rhinestones of carious shapes and colours, sequins, little starts, little flowers, and even teeny tiny coloured balls.
Many of the rhinestones are in a teardrop shape, and they came in such pretty colours that I really wanted to use them. Call me Little Miss Sunshine, but I didn't fancy using them as teardrops, and so decided to utilize their shape and create little diamonté flowers! Each petal on the flower is a separate Bundlemonster, tear-drop rhinestone - and they're great, really easy to work with:-

My short nails are really starting t bug me now, they just KEEP breaking! I don't want to have to resort to fakies!

I started with a base of Barry M Spring Green, and added the leafy design using Konad Special Polish in Green, from Bundlemonster image plate BM19. After a couple of heavy lashings of Seche Vite, these babies stayed put for a couple of days!

Overall, these little Nail Art additions are really good, and can add an entirely different dimension to a manicure, not to mention some bling! They're really not all that expensive from their website, about £10 for a set of 5 wheels, each containing 12 segments with a different accessory in it. They are also a fantastic company, who take customer satisfaction very seriously, always looking to improve their products on OUR suggestion.

I hope you liked this design! Let me know :D

Don't forget you can still vote for me in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards! You can find me under Best New Beauty Blog of 2011! Click on the picture to cast a vote - it's quick and easy! :)

*Product was provided by Bundlemonster, but all opinions and reviews are 100% honest, and completely my own. For more info, please visit my disclosure page!*

Marie Claire Ciaté Freebie

I can't resist a good freebie, and when it's a £9.00 Ciaté polish, I can't resist just that little bit more. This months Marie Claire magazine (£3.60) is giving away a choice of two Ciaté Paint Pots.This polish is called My Fair Lady, and I am in love with it. She's a glossy, pink-beige nude, it's gorgeous - and I'm a self-confessed 'brights' addict. The formula is the best I've used in a while, and the ergonomically designed handle makes application a breeze - it dries fairly quickly, this is 4 coats (more than I'd usually like, but I like that the colour is buildable, so you can use it as a perfect base for french manicures too):

 

I applied enough coats to hid the nail-line, but one or two coats also looks lovely, if you're into your sheer polishes. Love that little bow on bottle too! This is how I imagine Deborah Lippman Naked would look, so I can clutch my little Ciaté and pretend that I have a DL in my stash...wishful thinking.

I added some nail art, because I can't seem to leave anything alone, in the form of the swirly image from the new Bundle Monster Image Plate Set, BM-214. I used Konad White Special Polish to stamp with, as it's brilliantly opaque. It looked lovely beforehand, but I blinged it up with some Kiss rhinestones to the centre of the pattern, stuck with nail glue (which I'm now regretting because I CAN'T GET THEM OFF.) After a coat of Seche Vite, it was all ready to go:

Very girly! These would be perfect wedding nails, not that I'm making plans. 

Did anyone else pick up the free Ciaté polishes? I think they're great, and will be showing you the other Marie Claire freebie option Wait Until Dark, soon! Let me know what you think!

Don't forget, if you haven't already, you can still enter my Apothica $25 Giftcard Giveaway!!! 

You can also still submit nominations for the Cosmo Blog awards! :)

Stars, Skulls, Swirls, Sponging and Stamping. (Giveaway Winner, too)

God, I love it when an alliterative post title comes together.

The whole shabang for you today, I went a little stamp crazy...

All photos in natural light

Please ignore the smudge-tasic index finger! After all that work, there was no way I was re-doing it haha!

I'd been wanting to use the Skull image from the new Bundle Monster Image Plate set for a while, but was in danger of utilizing it to create some kind of gross emo-dream/Pirates of the Caribbean tribute! I decided, in the end, to keep the colours light, and add some swirly pattern and some stars :D

I started with a base of Barry M Turquoise, and sponged on Models Own Blooboo in differing places on the nail. I then repeated this with Silver, from Claire's Silver Nail Art Pen. Now, I've mentioned this before, but however wonderful this silver is (and it is), it gives you the WORST glitter herpes ever. You can scrub and scrub at your silver-stained cuticles but it Just. Won't. Go. Away. So, I apologise for the sparkly cuticles haha! I also added a little bit of Rimmel Sky High to the sponged base too :)

After adding a coat of Seche Vite to smooth it out, I stamped the swirly, planty image from BM225 using Konad White Special Polish onto different parts of each nail. Then, using THIS method, I mixed my own pastel Special Stamping Polishes and stamped some pink, green and purple Skulls from plate BM211. I then did the same with the Star image from BM206, adding them sporadically to make a pattern. I added some coloured rhinestones to the Skull eyes (a later addition - I liked it without, too) that you can get from Nail Art online store Born Pretty.

If people like this look, I may do a sponging/stamping tutorial, because it looks rather busy and difficult, but it's really very simple, when you know how!

Also, I'm going to quickly announce the Giveaway winner (I know it's been a long time coming, soorrryryyyy).
I have contacted her and she's accepted, the winner is...

Lily over at Beauty's Bad Habit!

Congratulations! I'll be posting your goodies after my exams (next week :D)

I used Random.org to select a random number, then simply found that numbered entry in my spreadsheet!

(Didn't want to include your email, Lily!)

So, there we are! My first Giveaway, over and done with! As you can see I had a colossal amount of entries, so they took a while to verify - thank you for your patience, and for entering in the first place!

I hope you enjoy your prize Lily, check out her blog Beauty's Bad Habit!

I also got some great feedback from the giveaway question "What would you like to see from me in the future", so I'll be sharing some of the suggestions with you soon! 

Thanks Everyone!

She's My Cherry Pie

If you haven't been over to www.bornprettystore.com, seriously, check it out! I get a lot of my nail art supplies from there (my brushes, rhinestones, fimo canes etc), because they are so affordable, and it's free international shipping - always a bonus! They often run little contests and give away freebies too, which is great - they're a really customer-friendly company with a wide range of supplies.

I was sent some of their heart-shaped rhinestones to try out,* and was struggling to think of a design to incorporate them into. I've wanted to do a Manicure along these lines for a while, using cherries, and thought I may as well use some of the red heart rhinestones :D

I started with a base of American Apparel Palm Springs, a lovely peach nude, and used a dotting tool to add some red dots in Boots 17 Knockout Red. I added some highlights and shading with Nails Inc Shoreditch High Street and Claire's White Nail Art Pen, and some stalks using Claire's Jade Green and Barry M Spring Green. On the accent nail, I used Born Pretty Store's heart-shaped rhinestones as the cherry fruit, rather than painting them :D

With Flash!

And there we are! Because it's a nude base, it reminded me of cherry pie :D

Here is the wheel of Heart Shaped Rhinestones, they come in 12 different colours, and you get around 30 of each colour, I'd say:

my own photo

my own picture - much less in there!

Here is the picture they use on the website:

stock picture

As you can see, the stock picture is rather misleading regarding the amount of rhinestones you actually receive. where the stock picture is jam-packed, the reality is you probably only get half that amount - if that. Nowhere in the item description does it specify how many rhinestones you will receive. This is really the only criticism I have here, as they really are a great product, some people may be disappointed, however.

The packaging is a good idea, the top of the wheel rotates round to reveal each segment at a time, however the rhinestones do become statically charged, and stick to the top, which leads to the colours getting all mixed up. It doesn't really bother me, as I still think it's a better method of storing them than having them stuck to a sheet of acetate, like the Kiss ones I bought from Superdrug. 

The hearts really are sweet, and are a great alternative to regular circular rhinestones - I love them! They're the perfect size, around 2mm, and the range of colours mean you can literally incorporate them into any design.

The wheel costs $3.33 (£2.06), with free shipping, which is fantastically cheap considering the quality and amount you get (even if you are misled in the stock picture!). They also get cheaper the more wheels you buy, for example, if you buy ten wheels, you get a 10% discount.

These took around 2 weeks to reach me in the UK, I'm not sure how long it would be for anywhere else in the world, but the website says to allow up to 4 weeks. The service is great, though, and there's always someone on the email who is quick to reply to enquiries you might have.

To pick up your own set, or check out some more cheap nail art supplies, you can click on the banner at the side of this page :D

Let me know what you think of the nail art, guys! xxxx

*This product was provided by the retailer for review. I am in no way influenced by any affiliation with the company. All opinions are my own, and honest. For full details please read my disclosure policy page