Shimmer - Adrienne, Nicole, Stephanie, Tammy

Today I have for you another four Shimmer glitters. In my previous posts I layered Shimmer glitters over a coloured based but for the following four I wanted to test their coverage over plain nails. I'm pretty pleased as they're very wearable without a base. Let's have a look...

Adrienne is predominately a blue glitter with a subtle mix of gold. There is also a sprinkle of red glitter which serve as an accent. I wore this to my birthday meal at the beginning of the month and it looked super sparkly under the candlelit conditions of the restaurant. Very distracting.

Nicole is only glitter which I can think of a dupe for. With its blue, red and silver glitter this patriotic mix resembles Barry M's Jewel Britannia. Nicole, however, is much more complex with its large variety of different sized glitters. Here I have used two coats.

Stephanie is a densely packed blue glitter with hints of red and silver. Containing mainly smaller sized glitter 1 coat of this offers excellent coverage.

The gold in Tammy puts this glitter in the same family as Adrienne. The purple and black glitter makes this the darker sister. I love the use of bar glitter in this as it creates an extra dimension on the nail.

As you can see these glitters look fantastic without a coloured base. I would recommend using a few coats of top coat to really bring out the sparkle.

If you're interested in buying this polish or want to check out other Shimmer polishes you can visit Cindy's Etsy shop. Each bottle retails for $12 USD.

*These polishes was provided for my honest, unbiased review.

Olympia Beauty = Nail Heaven

***Warning Picture Heavy***

On Sunday I attended Olympia Beauty one of the biggest trade shows in a nail addicts calendar. I had read and seen pictures of last years event but nothing could prepare me for enormity of the whole thing. The place was just full of nail polish, beauty things, and oh, super crowded which I didn't like much. By mid afternoon to get any where you had to push through! Luckily I got there first thing and actually had a good half hour or so of wandering around without people getting in my way! Those who follow me on Instagram will have seen my attempt at providing a live feed of the event but an hour in my phone decided it had no 3G signal so I couldn't upload anything! Just in case you missed them here is what I snapped.

Misa were definitely bargain of the day. At £2 a bottle of polish some of my Instagram followers actively encouraged me to buy every colour lol! My friend and I spent a good while hogging the stand! Nubar had a pretty good stand too. 6 bottles for £20 if I remember correctly.

Color Club or should I say the distributors that were selling CC were a little disappointing. Sets which you can find in TK Maxx for £7.99 were being sold for £21. They had the new Ruby Wing polishes but £10 is a little much for one bottle so none came home with me despite being absolutely gorgeous *sigh*.

OPI had a massive stand. No surprise there!
Louella Belle Ltd were selling Seche products including the new colour line. I wish I got some now after seeing swatches :-(

 Paris Brand Peggy Sage annoyed me a little, they only accepted cash. By the time I reached their stand I had run out of the green stuff and didn't fancy paying the £1.75 charge to withdraw from the ATMs in the Hall. Shame because there was a gorgeous berry jelly with flakies and glitter that I really wanted, not to mention the holos!

China Glaze were £3.95 each I think for normal colours. The Bohemian Collection were just under £8 each. Needless to say I didn't get any.

The event also put on a number of talks, demos, presentations and one which I was eager to attend was by Nina Taylor. For those who are unfamiliar with her, she is a hand supermodel. She has been Kate Moss's hands in Rimmel ads as well as the hands/nails for many nail polish brands. Seeing her hands in real life I can confirm they are very beautiful. Thin, elegant fingers with absolutely perfect nails.

I didn't really get to see much of the nailympics but from what I could see it looked good!


And finally what you guys are probably more interested my haul... As the hours passed my bag weighed an absolute tonne and I was convinced I had spent and bought way too much, however, to my surprise after unpacking and calculating the damaged I had done to my credit card I was pleased to see I hadn't actually bought or spent that much!

I picked up a pump bottle for polish remover and a massive bottle of OPI Expert Touch. I use this for cuticle clean up as it's strong yet gentle and doesn't leave a white residue like pure acetone can. I decided to get a big bottle of Seche Restore because I use Seche TC which those who also use it will know thickens after a while.

Out the Door Top Coat had been on my to try list for a while. I read it didn't recede as badly as SV but after posting on Instagram I've heard it has other issues so we will see. Northern Light is a holographic top coat. I'm guessing it's like OTD but with the fine holo glitter.

I picked up Nail Tek Foundation I because my usual base coat is nearly finished. I had read good reviews so when I saw it I decided to give it a try. I got to say I'm absolute loving it. It dries to a matte finish which means I can wear it at work without anyone knowing and be safe in the knowledge I'm giving my nails that little extra protection from the million times I wash my hands during working hours (I don't have OCD, I work in a hospital). My nails are pretty thick and strong but this makes them even stronger. Whether it prevents staining is still to be known.

When I saw the OPI stand I was rather over whelmed. I did feel like a kid in a candy store and wanted to grab everything but with individual bottle still being over £5 I limited myself to 4 bottles. I picked up Alpine Snow as my fav white CG Snow is fast running out. I also killed my lemming for Pirouette my Whistle from the NY Ballet collection and Every Month is Oktoberfest from the Germany collection. From the Skyfall collection I picked up Live and Let Die.

At the Color Club stand I resisted buying any Ruby Wing because they were too expensive. I bought only one CC polish, a lovely duochrome called Port-folio from the Fashion Affair collection.

From the Misa stand I picked up (clockwise) Frozen in Time, Phazers on Stunning, Peachy Keen which may be a dupe for essence Toffee to Go and A Sunny Smile Make me go Wild a neon yellow.

At the China Glaze stand I bought Make a Spectacle from the Wicked Halloween collection, Liquid Leather, and from Summer Neons, Pink Plumeria and Ride the Waves.

From Nubar I bought just one bottle, Black Polka Dot.

See I told you I didn't get much! Overall I really enjoyed the event and will definitely be going again. If you go next year I recommend taking a packed lunch, a suitcase with wheel and plenty of cash lol!

Thanks for reading!

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest and a disco party

If you only buy one vampy polish this fall (autumn) make sure it's OPI Every Month is Okoberfest from the Germany collection. A gorgeous red-plumy shimmer with an inky blue base it's very sexy and classy.

The polish flows effortlessly onto the nail without flooding and if you're careful one coat is enough for full coverage. One negative is the brush. It's too wide and square but that's just my taste.

After swatching this I decided to try my hand at creating a honeycomb/disco ball effect on my nails with hex sequins from Olympia Beauty (a post to come about it).

I think the glitter pieces are a little big for my nail. They're also quite rigid so they didn't really bend to match the curve of my nail but I still like the effect and can see myself wearing this on a night out. What do you think? Thank for reading.

Winner!

Hi guys sorry it's taken me ages to announce the winner of my Nails Inc Sprinkles competition. I wanted to make sure it was all fair so I went through the entries with a fine tooth comb before selecting a winner. Before I announce who has won I want to thank everyone that took the time to enter and welcome new readers to my blog. When I started this blog I didn't think anyone would be interested in my waffling but I've definitely felt welcomed in the nail community over the past year or so and I hope to continue creating pretty manis and swatching polishes for you guys.

Ok so drumroll.........

Well done Zoe! I have already emailed her, however, if she doesn't reply I will be selecting another winner.

Colour-shifting snake skin - BM - 215

Just a quick post to show you my snake skin mani I created using BM plate 215. I got the 2011 plates for my birthday from my bestie Rachel. I absolutely love them so expect to see a lot more stamping.

Under Daylight bulbs

In direct sunlight

Base: Orly Le Chateau

Stamping: Hits Mari Moon - Dreamer 

Top coat: Seche Vite 

Plate: BM - 215 (2011 set)

Barbed Wire Mani for Halloween - BM-323

Continuing on the Halloween theme I wanted to share with you my take on a Sally Hansen Salon Effects Halloween design that came out last year. I remember seeing the limited edition strips and wanting them so badly. My friend kindly sent a couple of the designs, however, one design which I didn't get to try and has been stuck in my head since was 'Hot Wired', a ghoulish green with barbed wire. Do you guys remember them?

To recreate the design I used essence Lime Up! for the base and stamped the barbed wire image from BM-323.

I love how they turned out and actually prefer the overall design to the strips! I will definitely be recreating this using a glow in the dark polish at Halloween. What do you guys think?

Shimmer - Carmen

With the weather feeling decidedly autumnal today I thought I'd share with you Shimmer - Carmen, a burnt orangey glitter that reminds me of the beautiful hues we see during the fall (autumn) and Halloween. This is another dense glitter full of fine and larger hex pieces which if you decide to layer over a contrasting colour will need careful application. Remove excess glitter and use light strokes. I have to admit this polish didn't appeal to me at first but over black I LOVE it. It's a 'grown up' halloween mani :-)

If you're interested in buying this polish or want to check out other Shimmer polishes you can visit Cindy's Etsy shop. Each bottle retails for $12 USD.

*These polishes was provided for my honest, unbiased review.

Pale Green Pupa Holo + BM-306

Hey Hey

I love holos but I hate photographing them. My current lightning/equipment setup limits my ability to capture their true beauty and so I am always having to wait patiently for the sun which in the UK is a rare sight! This weekend though we were treated to some glorious weather so out came a holo, a pale green Pupa I picked up on my recent trip to Italy. At just under 5 euros for 5ml I wouldn't say it was my most frugal purchase but it's a holo so whatever.

The formula of this reminds me of the GOSH Holographic, a real pain. You have to be quite careful as this is prone to balding and dragging. I didn't use an aqua base this time round but I may do next time to see if it is easier to apply.

In terms of holo intensity I would say it's on par with the new GOSH Holographic Hero, it's holo but not blindingly holo. My camera flips out a little so these pics aren't the best representation.

After a couple of hours of staring at my nails I decided to stamp some flowers from BM plate - 306 in white. I like it but I don't love it.

Thoughts? Have you tried the Pupa Holo polishes?

Thanks for reading!

Recent additions to my stash

Hi guys I'm not sure about you but I love seeing hauls on other blogs. I don't usually post hauls because I don't really 'haul' but for the past few months I have added quite a few polishes to my ever growing stash so I thought I'd show you.

In August I went to Italy and could not resist picking up polishes left, right and centre to the dismay of my BF. I found some Pupa holos as well as OPI Spotted which I thought was a French exclusive! I also got myself quite a number of essence polishes from a department store called UPIM. They had loads of other polishes brands to offer too and were at a much cheaper than Douglas stores. I picked a few Kiko polishes including the holographic collection - Lavish Oriental, even though there are stores in London. At the airport I picked up a few Yes Love polishes (pic 3) which I'm not really sure about. They're sorbet-jelly-esque but smell funny and take forever to dry.

On home turf I got a few glitters in H&M and in Superdrug I bought the new GOSH Holographic Hero.
The following Brazilian polishes were a surprise from the lovely Barbara over at Barbvanth. I was totally gobsmacked when I got these and completely blown away by her pick of polishes and her incredible generosity. Thank you sweetie X

After work on Thursday I nipped to Westfield in Shepherds Bush for the Mirrorball collection. I've been looking forward to these since I saw them on the Models Own FB site. They're chunky glitters which may not me to everyone's liking. I've been toying with the idea of getting moo cards for a while but last week I finally took the plunge and ordered some. For 100 cards, holder and shipping it came to under £17. They're super cute and I'm thrilled with the quality. Not really sure who I'll be giving them to though haha!!

What have you bought recently? Thank for reading!! (I haven't forgotten about my giveaway. I'm still trawling through the entries and will pick a winner soon)

My first Jelly Sandwich (OPI Care to Danse + Shimmer Caroline)

Hey guys sorry for the lack of posts recently. I started my new job and unfortunately I can't wear nail polish :( At the moment I am only working weekdays but soon I'll be doing nights as well as weekends. While they're still free I'm hoping to use the weekends to swatch and create designs for scheduled posts so hopefully you won't miss me too much haha :-)

Today I want to show you my first attempt at creating a jelly sandwich. Using OPI Care to danse which I completely forgot I had I applied two coats as the base. This polish is very sheer with a lilac tint to it. It's very soft and feminine which was a look I wanted to keep so I used glitter which had smaller pieces, Shimmer Caroline. This glitter is jammed packed with a mix of glitter that belong to the purple family. As it is so dense I had to swipe the brush several times before applying a very fine layer over CTD. After that I then applied another two coats of CTD and a coat of Seche Vite.

Apologies for the rather orange looking fingers!

I'm a little in love with this look and can't stop looking at my nails. The glitter really helps to bring out the lilac of CTD, they're a perfect combo if a little safe. It reminds me of lavender. I'll definitely be rummaging in my helmer for more sheer/jelly polishes and finding combos to share with you.

Shimmer Caroline was provided for my honest, unbiased review. If you're interested in buying these polishes or want to check out other glitters available you can visit Cindy's Etsy shop. Each bottle retails for $12 USD.

Shimmer - Trisha and Vanessa

Hi everyone are you all having a good weekend? I'm a bit sad that it's Monday tomorrow which means work :(

Today I have another two Shimmer polishes to share with you created by the talented Cindy.

Vanessa contains a mix of black, silver, blue, green and red glitter of varying sizes which all blend together to create a charcoal grey/gunmetal finish. Coverage of this polish is fantastic since a lot of finer glitter has been used. This polish definitely appeals to my inner rock chick and one I'll be using a lot over the cooler month.

Here I have layer one coat over Barry M - Grey.

I showed this mani to my bf and asked him what it remined him of. His reply was a crime scene!

Trisha is a more subdued glitter compared to the likes of Jasmine and Alice. The mix of different coloured glitters instead of popping get a little lost within the dominant coppery red glitter. This may be a good or bad thing depending on personal preference. As the red hue is not really to my taste I decided to try this over a bright red base which is more me. I actually prefer it more layered like this as the colours really stand out and kind of remind me of New Year celebrations and fireworks.

What do you guys think of Shimmer polish so far? Have you treated yourself to any? If you're interested in buying these polishes or want to check out other glitters available you can visit Cindy's Etsy shop. Each bottle retails for $12 USD.

*These polishes was provided for my honest, unbiased review.