Nails - Minty Greens

L-R
Turquoise Gloss, Greenberry, Mint Candy Apple, Pool Party, Blossom Dandy

I know the seasons are changing and we are moving into Autumn but I still love minty greens, especially for on my toes - it's nice to have a pop of colour hidden away under socks. I've probably done a post similar to this before but I've had a few new additions over the last few months so I thought I would do an update.

Whenever I'm looking for a polish that will last I always reach for the Models Own Hypergel in Turquoise Gloss as I know it will still look good after a few days. Turquoise Gloss is definitely a very blue toned minty green but it looks really nice against my skin tone. For high shine I like to reach for Barry M Gelly in Greenberry which is more on the green end of the scale of minty-ness, a lovely fresh colour. 

For a pale green I tend to reach for Essie Mint Candy Apple, it's a cult favourite amoung bloggers but it isn't my favourite. it's a nice polish with a good finish but not one that I would rave about. Moving down to the most green toned end of the scale I've got a Topshop polish in Pool Party which is a really bright turquoisey/green - I love this for really sunny days although the finish isn't as long lasting as some of the other polishes.  

Finally we have my favourite of all the these - Essie Blossom Dandy. I picked this up when I thought I had lost my Mint Candy Apple and needed a replacement but couldn't find MCA in Boots or Superdrug. Blossom Dandy is the warmer cousin of  MCA. It is so much easier to wear then MCA, plus I could wear it all the time! 

Just a few of my favourites at the moment - I think it might be time for me to put these away and dig out my autumnal shades but for now I'm loving minty greens - what greens are you still loving? xx

NOTD - Essie Winter Collection 2014 Mini Set

I've not painted my nails in ages, more out of laziness than anything else, but it’s time to sort this out and whack on some nail colour.

I picked up the Essie Winter Collection 2014 Mini Set in Boots just after Christmas because I wanted to try some of the colours without committing to the full size versions. The three colours in the mini set are Jump in my Jumpsuit; Tuck in my Tux and Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Lo. There are 3 other colours in the full collection but they are 3 similar pink shades that don't interest me.

Jump in my Jumpsuit is a raspberry red, its showing up bluer toned here but it really is a darker raspberry. One coat and this was fully opaque which is great and it leaves a lovely crème finish. Tuck in my Tux is a soft pinky/white colour that would look great under sparkles or other colours. This needed 3 layers to be nearly opaque but you can still see the nail line underneath - maybe worth using as a white for an at home French manicure. Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Lo is a foil finish gold/silver blend which is a nice transition from the full glitter of Christmas to something more winter appropriate. This needed 2 coats as it was flawless, the only mistake I made with it was thanks to Ted knocking me but it’s quick and easy to apply.

All three dry really quickly and are stroke free. I can see myself wearing Jump in my Jumpsuit most, especially on my toes, maybe with Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Lo as a take on the classic French. You can pick the set up in Boots for £12.99 which is perfect as you get a little of the more interesting shades of the collection.

What do you think of the Essie Winter 2014 collection? 

Sarah Xx

Winterize your Nails with Julep

Winter is always the worst time for nails, I find that the cold weather, glitter nail polish and central heating all have a nasty habit of leaving me with dry, flaky nails that break easily and simply need cutting off and starting again.

With that in mind, I've been treating my hands a lot more recently, trying to get my nails back to their normal strength, trying out a few new shapes and lengths as well as giving myself at home manicures to look after then this winter.

I've been following this litter Step-by-step from American brand Julep. I've used Julep nail polish before and it's quite a nice brand to use, their colour range is great, the only down side is it's nearly impossible to get hold of in the UK, I picked it up when I was in Paris in the summer.

This winter I've been picking a real range of dark colours, I love this time of year for nails as its when I can rock black and not get questioned - I would wear black all year round!

I might do a post on my at home manicure at some point if that's something you lovely lot would like to read, let me know!

How do you look after your nails? What colours are you rocking this time of year? xx

Review - Elegant Touch Rapid Dry Spray

We all know I'm a nail addict, I change my polish at least twice a week, if not more! I don't away get the time to change it and let it dry properly, instead resorting to throwing on paint and hoping not to smudge it too much before bed!

Well, I've now found the secret to perfect nails, quickly! I've seen the rapid dry topcoats, but how about a spray version?

Elegant Touch Rapid Dry Spray claims to give you touch dry nails in 60 seconds. just paint your nails, hold the can 10cm away and spray onto the nails. I don't know what or how it works, but you are left with dry nails very quickly.

It doesn't smell, doesn't damage you skin, you don't need to wash it off after, plus it's only £3.05 from Boots, why the 5p, I don't know! I received this one in a Glossybox, however I have since stocked up as it was on offer on 3 for 2!

For someone like me who is short on time, or is impatient when applying nail polish then this is a great litter product, and one I can't rave enough about!

What so you think? Do you leave enough time between layers or not? Any other products I should try? Xx

Advent Door 15 - NOTD Maybelline Colour Show Brocades Woven Skyline

  

  

A bit late with today's post, oh well - I've been run off my feet this week with doing and marking assessments for school, nearly all done now! 

Last weekend I picked up some bits & pieces when I was in Boots, and the sparkles of the Maybelline Colour Show Brocades caught my eye. I picked up Woven Skyline, I prefer darker sparkles to gold, plus the grey colour is gorgeous.

I think these are designed to be built up, or worn over the top of a similar colour as a topper; I used it in layers to build up one full colour. It’s packed with loads of gun grey glitter pieces, as well as some blue and silver sparkles in different sizes. I love the finish this gives, its sparkly without being over the top. 

It lasted a couple of days before it started to flake, and when it flaked it went in huge chunks :( So I think this would be better for a night out, or maybe Christmas day nails. For only £3.99, these are a good way to add some sparkle; I wouldn't mind checking out some of the others of these! 

What do you think? Have you tried any of the other colours? Xx

Half Term Haul

So half term has now whizzed by too quickly (booo!) Back to school on Monday. No half term wouldn't be complete without a little shopping trip with my mum. We headed to Springfields Shopping  Outlet at Spalding, a medium sized outlet store of lower end shops, like the poorer brother to Bicester Village but still good nonetheless.

I knew I wanted to head to the Beauty Outlet store as a must, but we also stopped off in Marks & Spencers and Hallmark Outlet. 


I didn't expect to find anything in M&S, as far as I was concerned its not a shop I normally go into, but I was surprised to pick up two pairs of jeggings, one dotty and one berry coloured, for under £30! My mum also bought me the highlighter pink jumper, it was down from £39 to £8.99, it's so comfy and snuggly. I'm really impressed with how the jumper and jeggings fit, I can see me getting a lot of wear out of them!

Next stop was Beauty Outlet Store. Think poor mans CCO, there were lots of beauty items, but the first stand I headed to was OPI. I picked up two bottles as they were  £6.99 each, 'I Brake for Manicures' and 'French Quartet for your thoughts' both from the Touring America collection back in 2011. I also picked up a W7 Dotting Tool Nail Art set for £2.99, my favourite Sally Hansen Gel Cuticle Remover for £2.99 and a bottle of Korres Conditioner for £1.99 - thought I would give it a try!



Finally I spent ages smelling all the Yankee Candles in the Hallmark Outlet store. For 90p each I thought the samplers were a bargain so picked up 3! Autumn Blooms and Warm Spice smell amazing, all warming and cosy - can't wait to burn these!

Not pictured is a baby grow from Babygap for my friend, Gap had 30% off most of their items, so a fleecy babygrow for under £10 was something I couldn't resist!

So there we have it, the last haul of November - I'm hoping this will tide me over until December - if not then I think I need a sponsor! 

What have you been buying recently? What other Yankee Candles do I need? xx

LOreal Colour Nail Topcoat in Confetti - Review

If there ever was a polish that was hard to find then this up there with the best of them. L'Oreal Topcoat in Confetti is one that is doing the rounds on the beauty circuit and for good reason!

Made up of large hexagonal black & white pieces of glitter as well as smaller white & black, its the perfect way to get the speckled nails, inspired by the Illamasqua polishes from their I'mperfection collection for a fraction of the price!

Easy to apply over any colour, the pieces are suspended in a clear polish and the glitter can be easily places, as well as building it up to create a gradient effect.I love the little bottle as well as the shape of the brush

for only £4.99, this really is a must if you can grab it! 

What do you think of it - have you found it? What do you think of the speckled nail trends?

Barry M Textured Nail Effects - Ridley Road Review

I appear to have jumped whole heatedly onto the nail polish trend bandwagon at the moment - with lots of different brands bringing out some awesome collections, and another trend for SS'13 is textured nail effects - but I didn't want to shell out for the Nails Inc Leather or Concrete effects so opted for the Barry M.

I picked up Ridley Road which is a gorgeous greeny blue colour in the bottle - very much a pastel colour that's on trend for our spring (if it ever arrives!) 

The polish itself I found to be quite a thin polish that was a tad sheer from one coat but two or three builds it up to a thick, opaque colour and you really get the full effect of the texture on your nails. The actual effect is a really strange, sort of a sandy feeling on the nails - not unpleasant but a tad odd. I didn't love it, but I also didn't hate it so left it on my nails.

It wore really well on my nails, only got growth wear at the bottom after 5 days. One thing with the wear that I really disliked was that after a couple of days the colour started to get really grubby and show up dirt around the texture - even a shower didn't get rid of this! 

It was a bit of a mare to remove but I wouldn't say any harder then a thin glitter.

For £3.99 these are a good way to get on trend nails, and I might pick the other 3 colours up, especially as their on 3 for 2 in Boots

Have you picked up any of the textures nail polishes? How do they compare to the more expensive Nails Inc Range?

Sally Hansen Gel Cuticle Remover

Considering how much I adore nail polish and doing my nails, I'm terrible when it comes to taking care of them - bad Sarah. So in a bid to improve the quality of my nails, I searched out some new bits. One product I picked up is the Sally Hansen Gel Cuticle Remover.

The gel works to break down the cuticle, softening it and making it easier to gently push back the skin and keeping the nail bed healthy.

I try and use this once a week to keep my nails strong, and most of the time I only have to push the cuticle back, occasionally needing to cut off the skin that does not come off - please be very careful doing this - you need to know that you are cutting the right bit.

I think this is awesome, especially for £6.45, plus I've used it loads and still it has over half left. With a lot of focus being on the nails for SS13, they need to be looking their best. You can pick it up from Boots - its currently on offer for buy one get a second half price - bargain!!

How do you look after your nails? Any other products I need to try out?

Advent Door 2 - OPI Nail Envy - Review

Afternoon lovelies,

With the Xmas party season now upon us, its time to crack out the festive nail polish - but if your like me then you change it quite often over the next 4 weeks! The can lead to dry, damaged nails which no one wants!

To counter this, I thought I would show you how I keep my natural nails strong, even if I'm changing them lots! 

The whole blogasphere is crazy about OPI Nail Envy, but this is one product that I've been using much longer then I've been reading blogs, or even knew about blogs!

Nail Envy is a strengthening treatment which can be used either as a base coat to protect and strengthen the nails or as a treatment, applied everyday and then removed after a week. I find for my nails that I only need to use this as a base but if your nails are weak then apply it regularly to strengthen them

Now a bottle of this is quite expensive, it retails at £18.95 - but I use mine twice a week and its lasted me a good 4 months already - but if you can't justify the cost then add it to your letter to Santa!

You can pick this up from Boots or Lena White where you can buy Nail Envy and receive a free bangle with it! 

I think its important to keep you nails strong, how do you keep yours strong? xx