Celestial Cosmetics Dracarys Flowers

Hey all! Just a super quick post today, but I wanted to show you these floral nails I did using Celestial Cosmetics - Dracarys* (see my review here). I did these a while ago but I wasn't 100% on how they came out so I've put off posting them for a while. I'm not sure what I was trying to go for with them but they definitely weren't as planned! However, I'm really behind with editing at the moment so this was one of my only edited posts. I need to get on top of stuff because I'm going on holiday soon and I want to make sure I have enough posts for whilst I'm away! 

Blue Celestial Geometric

Hey everyone! How has another week gone already? August is absolutely flying by. I've had a really busy week, last night I went to see Wicked which was absolutely amazing. I've never seen it before but I went with a friend who has seen it 3 times now and I can see why she keeps going back. I'm going to try my hand at some Wicked nails this weekend so we'll see how those go.

Today's nail art is a result of me experimenting with these* brushes from Winstonia. I did these nails a couple of months ago when I first received the brushes and I completely forgot I did them. I've been practicing with them since and you will have seen them in many designs, but I was happy with how straight I managed to keep my lines here. I used the smallest brush for this design, and I was really impressed with it, although it took me a while to get used to as it contains harder bristles than I'm use to.

Multi-coloured Mermaid Scales

Hey everyone! I've had the busiest week ever, I've barely even see my boyfriend because I've been getting back home late every night, so it's nice to have had more of a relaxing Friday night (watching the original Ghostbusters - which I've never actually seen!). This has meant that finally I have time to write a blogpost without falling asleep midway through!  As I mentioned in my review of June's Meebox I created some nail art with the nail vinyls included in the box. I wanted to try them out with different colours so I used a number of colours from the Celestial Cosmetics - Pun-tastic Collection*, which I'm really loving using at the moment (as you saw in my last post). I also used the She Sells Sea Shells starfish studs from the Meebox to complete the design.

Celestial Cosmetics Galaxy Nail Art

Hey everyone! Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. I had a huge spring clean of our house yesterday and it's so nice for everything to be tidy and clean. It's so strange to me (and my mum I'm sure) that I actually enjoy cleaning and keeping my house tidy, as I was always one of those teenagers with a very messy room. But I've definitely become house-proud since we got our own place.  Anyway, before I started on my cleaning I wanted to get some nail art done with the new Celestial Cosmetics Pun-tastic collection (swatches coming soon), and I figured they'd work well for galaxy nail art. I massively underestimated how stunning holographic polishes are for galaxy nails, I can't stop staring at them! They're slightly wrecked after all my cleaning, but I'm still enjoying seeing the shift in different lighting.

June Splash Meebox Review + Nail Art

Hey everyone! Today I've got another Meebox* to review for you. You can see my previous two reviews of the February and April boxes here. June's box is themed 'Splash' and is a mermaid-inspired box. It's a unique one, because it's entirely made up of indies. The 3 polishes, whilst usually a mix of different brands (both indie and regular), are this time all from A-England, the shades are: Whispering Waves, Gloriana, and The Blessed Damozel. The box also contains:

Mess No More liquid nail tape from Mini Mani Moo Nails

Fishscale nail stencils from Nail Mail

Starfish and Conch Shell studs from She Sells Sea Shells (which is apparently also a tongue twister when I try and spell it because I wrote that wrong 3 times!). 

There's also a couple of unique discount codes in the box too. For £20 a month you couldn't ask for more really, you're definitely getting value for money as the A-England polishes alone are worth £11 each, so that's £33 before you've even considered the rest. Mess No More is worth £10, the stencils £4 and the studs £3 so you're getting far beyond what you've paid for. Subscription boxes are nothing new, but to have a brand that consistently delivers value for money is rare, and in my experience of Meebox so far, and what I've seen on their Instagram for month's I've not reviewed, they consistently deliver. Of course I had to create some nail art with them. I didn't use the stencils (admittedly I completely forgot until it was too late) but I've used them in another design that you'll see soon.

A England Russian Soul Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! I hope you've all had a lovely weekend. This weekend was my younger sister's birthday and father's day so it's been quite a busy one for me, but it's been nice to spend some time with my family. Today I've got a review of the gorgeous new A-England Russian Soul collection*. The collection consists of 5 majestic holographic glitters ranging from silver to navy, which are described as being inspired by 'Russian music and dance', and all of which are absolutely stunning. I'm still quite new to A-England but the polishes absolutely blow me away every time. Full review after the jump 

Celestial Cosmetics - The Valyrio Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Today I have a brand new (to my blog) brand to show you: Celestial Cosmetics! I was recently asked if I wanted to review for Celestial and I jumped at the chance, my new years resolution this year was to try more indies, so any chance to do so is great. And these certainly didn't disappoint. This is The Valyrio collection*, and it consists of three holo shades and three shimmery/glittery shades. Don't let the word 'shimmer' put you off because these really are stunning shades. The Valyrio collection was designed by my lovely friend Christine of Serenity Nails, based around Game of Thrones. I know this is shocking, but I've actually never seen Game of Thrones, so I don't understand the names. However, the names are actually based on the language of Valyria so I don't believe they're direct references to characters. I've also created some nail art with a few of the shades so keep an eye out for that over the coming weeks

A England - Whispering Waves and Sparks Divine Duo Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Today I have the last couple of A-England polishes I mentioned in my last review to show you. I've got tonnes of great stuff to show you at the moment, both nail art and reviews, that it's hard to find the time to put it all out there and as a result I just panic and it gets delayed even more. I always have a tendency to get less done when I have more to do, does that make sense to anyone else? Anyway, these two gorgeous polishes are the latest additions to A-England's Heavenly Quotes collection. You will have seen Sparks Divine in my last post, and so I'm sure you've already seen what a stunning shade it is. As these, and the previous polishes I showed you, are my first A-England polishes, I don't own any of the other polishes in this collection so I cannot attest for their quality. However, these are definitely worth picking up, and if these are anything to go by I'm sure the rest of the collection are great too! Read on after the jump for my full review. As with my last A-England posts, I've done 'inside' shots with my lightbox as the full five-finger shots, and natural daylight shots for the other pictures to show the differences. 

A-England Stamping

Hey everyone! Although I've got tonnes of reviews to show you at the moment, I'm really missing posting nail art, so I thought I'd take a break from the reviews for tonight and post a design instead. I've been experimenting with stamping a lot recently, it's always been one of those things that I really couldn't master, and whilst I still wouldn't class myself as 'good' at stamping, I'm definitely starting to see improvements. I still make mistakes, and I'm sure I will for a long time, but it's great to see where I've been going wrong and try to improve on that. Whilst swatching some A-England polishes recently I decided to try stamping with them, and I think the final look really suits the 'rustic'/historic theme of A-England polishes. 

A England - To Emily Bronte Collection Swatches + Review

 Hey everyone! I feel so frustrated with myself, I had intended to post every day this week to catch up on reviews but I've come down with an infection and I just feel awful. It's also making me really emotional for some reason, like I've cried at my own nails at least twice, so I decided to have a few days break. I'm still not feeling great but I can't deal with the not-posting guilt so I wanted to post this gorgeous A-England collection.

A England is a brand that I've wanted to try for a very very long time, their polishes are always awe-inspiring and unique, and the collections always intrigue me. I was lucky enough to be approached by Adina to review for A-England recently, and I absolutely jumped at the chance. I was sent this collection, (the To Emily Bronte Collection*), and a duo that I'll be showing you in the next few days. All of the polishes are gorgeous, but I feel a special affinity to this collection because they're all inspired by Wuthering Heights which is such a brilliant book. I used to be such a bookworm before uni and work took over my life and Wuthering Heights was definitely one of my favourites. 

I felt a lot of pressure to get my review of these perfect, not just because I want to impress Adina and my readers, but also because I want to do these beautiful polishes justice. I decided to use my new camera for my 'other' shots and my usual lightbox camera for my five finger shots. Unfortunately I wasn't very happy with the five finger shots, I didn't think they did the polishes justice, but I don't have it in me to break tradition and not have five finger shots. And anyway, it gives a perception of what the polishes look like inside and outside, but it also definitely highlights how much I need to get a lightbox set up for my new camera because the quality is 100x better!

Tami Polish Scottish Showcase Collection Review and Swatches

Hey everyone! I've had such a hectic day today that I've barely had a chance to look at my phone and catch up with emails. I'm really getting stuck into my new job, which I'm loving so far, but there's a lot to do and I want to show I can do it! Somehow I've still managed to post 4 days in a row, I'm not going to pretend that my time management skills have suddenly become miraculously better, as it's actually half 11 and I need to go to sleep! But nonetheless I'm still happy with myself

Today's review is another new brand to me, this time in the form of Tami Polish. Tami are a new Scottish brand, and this, the Scottish Showcase Collection*, is their first release. I must admit it's so far so good for me, as these polishes are pretty much flawless as you'll see below. I can't wait to see more of what they're releasing. You can buy them individually for £9 or you can buy the whole collection for £21 here. I don't think they're too unfairly price for what you're getting and for 10ml bottles.

Give Me Space

Hey everyone! Today's nail art may well be one of my favourite designs I've created. Whilst they're relatively simple, I absolutely loved how they turned out, and OPI - Give Me Space* from the recent OPI Starlight collection made the perfect base for these. It's a gorgeous navy holographic and even the name alone suggests a perfect space manicure! I got the idea for these designs from this design by 'Glitter Fingersss' on Instagram. Lexa is an absolutely amazing artist and there was no way I could recreate her design with such skill, but I tried to make it my own. I was also incredibly rushed when creating these, I had around 20 minutes which just wasn't enough time so they're not as perfect as I would like. I would definitely have liked to perfect the alien a bit more. Nevertheless, for the time I created them in I'm really happy with the outcome. I've also included swatches of Give Me Space after the jump so you can see the full beauty of the polish.

Foil for Avon

Hey everyone! I hope those of you eligible to vote in the UK all voted today! I'm watching the live election updates now but I'm not sure how long I can stay awake watching not very much happening. Today I'm documenting my first attempt at using foil, it's not the best and I'm not afraid to admit that these were the most frustrating nails I've ever tried to create as it took me forever to work out how to use them. Unlike usual foils, Avon nail art foils* do not require an adhesive and it really confused me. Once I got the hang of it I did like the look but I'm not sure it's something I would wear as I think it looks too much like crackle nail polish, which I utterly hate! But that's just an issue with me and my application, not an issue with the product.

Tutorial Tuesday: Christmas Trees

Hey everyone! This post has been such a nightmare to get sorted. All my applications seemed to be crashing and I couldn't get anything sorted, and I almost gave up, but I wanted to get Tutorial Tuesday up on time and luckily I have! I'm going to be posting tutorials every Tuesday and Thursday before Christmas as I have quite a few to show you. I'm excited for you to see them all, and I also love to see what you do with the tutorials. Don't forget to tag me on Instagram or Twitter, or post on my Facebook, with any designs you do so I can see! The first one for this week is this sparkly christmas tree design on a base of Barry M - Crush from the Classic Matte collection. The rest of the post will be after the jump!

Digital Dozen Does Fashion: Day 3

Hey everyone! Another quick post so I can go to sleep tonight, but today's fashion inspiration isn't THAT closely related to the nails. I was loosely inspired, but hopefully you can still see where I was coming from.  I have quite a few photos so I'll put the rest after the jump

Holographic Geometric

Hey everyone! Today's post is my first ever holographic polish, and I absolutely love it. I intended to post these a week ago for Digital Dozen Does Tape Manis, which I completely forgot about and therefore missed. But I promised the lovely ladies that I would do a post, and so I did, I just put off writing it for a week. 

The holographic polish is Layla - Red Taboo*, from the wonderful Sally Magpie's, the blue is Barry M - Blueberry and the green is Barry M - Key Lime, all topped off with a coat of Seche Vite*

Here are some pictures of Red Taboo alone:

These lightbox pictures really don't do this polish justice. It's AMAZING, and I definitely feel I've been missing out on the holo front. 

What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

If you haven't already I'd love it if you could vote for me for 'best new beauty blog' in the Cosmopolitan blog awards 2013, you can do so here

Alice

*Some of the products in this post were provided to me for review but all opinions are entirely my own

Snow scene nails!

Hey everyone! I've decided it's officially time for christmas nails! We had our flat christmas meal tonight before some go home for christmas tomorrow, I'm not going until Saturday but I'm still feeling very christmassy! These nails were inspired by quite a few designs but I also wanted to use my Hexagon Glitter from Born Pretty Store and I suddenly had the idea that the perfect way to do so was by using them to make snow.

I'm pretty bummed that these photos really really dont show how glittery these nails are. The blue base is Barry M - Blue Glitter and you can barely see it, and you really cant see how wonderfully holographic the Hexagon Glitter is, so hopefully you can just guess because as much as I'm dreading the removal (I have no cotton pads or tinfoil in halls sadly) I can't stop staring at the sparkle!

I started off with a base of Barry M - Blue Glitter, and sponged Barry M - Matt White over that, then I painted on the snowflakes in acrylic paint, after which I painted on the snowy hills using the brush from the Barry M white but if I did these again I'd probably do that with a brush or dotting tool because they ended up way too thick. After that I painted on the snowmen, trees and house and outlined them and the house in black acrylic paint and sponged Barry M - Silver Glitter onto the snowy hills, followed last but not least by the Hexagon Glitter and Seche Vite top coat.

If you would like to buy the hexagon glitter (which I would recommend as it makes awesome snow) then you can get it at Born Pretty Store for $2.38 (around £1.50) with free shipping(!!!), and you can also use my code KHL91 to get 10% off!

Hope you like them! Let me know what you think in the comments!

Alice