Gosh Rainbow

Sorry for the unplanned hiatus everyone, it's my last exam in a couple of days, so I'll be back on form after that! I realise this isn't Nail Art, but I went to a Superdrug in a small town the other week, and found a bottle of the very rare, discontinued GOSH Rainbow - just sat on the shelf! For a fiver! It would be rude not to! A bit annoyed seen as I had also just bought Nubar 2010, which is a perfect dupe, but oh well! Rainbow is an effect topcoat containing iridescent flakies in a clear base, and it works better over darker base colours, giving a more subtle effect over lighter ones. Here is one (thickish) coat over two coats of Claire's Black, in natural light:-

LOOK AT THE RAAAINBOOOW

You can see more of the green flash here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

double rainbow, all the way accross the...nails?

 

 

 

As you can see, the coverage really is brilliant in one coat, I can't think why they discontinued it, along with Holographic. Maybe they didn't sell well because they don't look very impressive in the bottle? Who knows. This actually looks really interesting with a Matte Topcoat, it doesn't translate brilliantly in the photographs, coming across a bit milky looking (ooer), but IRL it looks really cool.

Ring finger and Index mattified using Claire's mattifying topcoat.

Just for my amusement, I decided to compare it with Nubar 2010. Overall, you can get exactly the same effect, but you need two coats of Nubar 2010 to create the same coverage that Gosh Rainbow can achieve in just one. Considering GOSH Rainbow is now Hard To Find however, 2010 is a perfect alternative. Sorry the lighting isn't as good:

Thumb, middle and Pinky, one coat of GOSH. Index and Ring, 2 coats of Nubar 2010

So there you have it. Two iridescent Flakie Topcoats, and no nail art. The next post I have for you will make up for it, I promise...it's FIERCE.

aaaaaaaand back into the pit of revision despair I go!

GREAT #bblogger chat tonight as well! If you don't know what's going on, on Twitter, at 8pm on Sunday evenings (UK time, GMT +1), Beauty Bloggers get together for a chat (using the hashtag #bbloggers) and talk about a different topic every week. Today, it was the controversial subject of self promotion, and there are some interesting opinions out there. Would love to see even more people there next week, so get involved if you're on Twitter!

Also guys, I have an FOTD (make-up look) that I could post for you, but every time I have done this in the past, it hasn't gone down awfully well, as I know a lot of you tune in for the Nail Art. Is this something you would like to see? Not really arsed either way? Or should I stop trying to flog a dead horse? Hahaha!

Emily xxx

The girliest you will ever see me!

Don't worry, these are MY nails, not those of Katie Price or any of the cast of The Only Way is Essex. I would never call myself a girly-girl (she says with a blog centred entirely around nail polish art and makeup), preferring to do more colourful, eyecatching and badass designs. This manicure is, however, the most trashy-fabulous you will ever see my nails haha. All that's missing is a giant 3D acrylic bow.

I've got exams coming up (BOOOO), so wanted something on my nails that would tempt me away from removing it and doing something else, to maximise revision time. Anyone whose ever had a full glitter manicure on, will know what an utter ARSE they are to remove. I am hoping that the fear of removal will make me concentrate harder on revision, and resist using nail polish as a distraction!

I started with two coats of Catrice Be My Millionaire, a silver polish, then added 4 coats of Models Own Juicy Jules. Juicy Jules is AMAZING, it's a holographic glitter, and catches the light beautifully - perfect for sunny days. I could have got away with 3 coats, but I wanted maximum glitter coverage. I had a hard time photographing the sheer awesomeness of this glitter, and I'm sure that if I had got it perfect, your eyes would have exploded anyway. I resorted to using a lamp directly over the nails, and using the macro setting (as opposed to the SUPERmacro setting) on my camera to blur the image sliiiighttly so you can see more of the holographic-ness. *gets a bit pic heavy from this point onwards...*

Juicy Jules on its own:

blurred so you can see the holographic sparkle

a sharper picture that doesnt show the colours as much! also sorry for my STUPID index finger that broke, I know it looks ridiculous!

I added a coat of Seche Vite to smooth it out and create a base for Barry M's new pink crackle polish Pink Fizz. I find the best way to use the Barry M crackles is to apply them thickly, as they crack better, with larger spaces between the pink bits. I hate it when you use a crackle and it barely cracks, so you can only just make out the base colour (I'm looking at you Boots 17!).

I added another coat of Seche Vite to top off the whole thing, and because the Barry M Instant Nail Effects dry Matte.

under the lamp

under the lamp

natural light

I tried my best to capture it, but imagine all that holographic glitter shining through! BLINGTASTIC! Now, this was somewhat of an experiment, but I took a video on my camera to see if I can better show you the sparkle. The quality is pretty poor, but it does give you a good idea of the shine. (bloody nicked my cuticle right before though didn't I?!)

 

Hopefully you get an idea! I actually tweeted this manicure at Amy Childs from The Only Way is Essex (a trashy reality TV show over here in the UK - IT'S BRILLIANT), she is yet to reply though haha :P

Let me know what you think everyone, was it worth it to include a video? I really wasn't sure about it, but thought I would get some feedback from you :) I realise this isn't strictly Nail Art, but that's what I love about crackles, they add instant interest to a Manicure with minimal effort. I know they've been around a while now, but I've not seen this combo before :D

Em x

Lacey Manicure

Gooood afternoon everyone!

This manicure is actually from quite a while ago, I went for an overnight Spa stay with my Mum and our two wonderful friends to celebrate two of our 21st birthdays. April is midway between the two of us, so it was a very early present for me! I have always been one for spreading my birthday out for as long as possible...

We had HAMAZING massages, time to chillax, and, being the appreciative foody of sophisticated taste and palette (a fatty) that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed our, very posh, evening meal :D

These are the nails I had for the occasion! A faux-lace design using the flowers and fishnet images from Konad M57. I started with a base of Nails Inc Caramel (from the Diet Coke promo) and started by stamping the flowers, sporadically across the nude base:

As you can see, I used Konad Black Special Polish to stamp with. I then added the fishnet image over the top of this to create a lacey design, and topped it off with Seche Vite!

Now, I do love Seche Vite, but there are two drawbacks for me. One of these is the shrinkage it can cause, and the other is that I always find that it lifts/ starts to peel if you soak it in any kind of hot water, such as doing the dishes, or going to a Spa and relaxing in a jacuzzi....exactly. I ended up peeling this off on the evening of the first day because it was starting to lift off. Disappointing. I felt very sophisticated while it lasted though! It's hardly Mario or Godzilla, is it? I looked like a grown-up for once!

A very easy look to create, and great for any formal occasions, or when you want to look nice! What do you think everyone? Have you ever tried this yourself?

In other news, Steph over at Imperfectly Painted is on holiday, so I did a guest post for her yesterday, focusing on the "best of British" polish brands - did you spot it?! If not, you can check it out today, if you like! :D

Daisy, Daisy.

I picked up a couple of BeautyUK polishes this week, here is shade 41, Soft Lilac

It's a lovely, muted lilac cream, maybe a little pinker than this suggests, a bit patchy in the first two coats, but it evened out really nicely with the third coat. This photograph is without topcoat - it's SO SHINY. It applies really smoothly and dried very quickly. At £1.99 for 9ml, these are good quality and well worth it - I will definitely be buying more, the colour selection is excellent!

I freehanded in some little white and gold daisies using Claire's Nail Art Pens

Using the white pen, I made 5 small dots in a circle, then added a gold dot to the middle, to make the daisies.

A nice look for Spring! The other shade I bought was Soft Green. What do you think? Have you tried Beauty UK's nail polishes?