Soft Scoop - Meebox April '17 Nail Art + Review

Hey everyone! Here's the second of the two Meebox reviews I promised you. This one is slightly more delayed than the last, especially as this was actually technically April's box, but nevertheless it still had some gorgeous polishes in that I wanted to showcase for you, albeit slightly later than I would have liked. April's Soft Scoop Box* included £42.98 worth of products, which is a bargain when the box is only £20 (or even less if you sign up for a few months). What I love about Meebox is that it pushes me to try out brands I wouldn't usually, or who I've never even heard of. This time it contained:

IZ Beauty - Baby Blue

Trust Fund - Do you Know Who Your Father Is 

Model's Own - Banana Split

Zoya - Matte Top Coat

Whats Up Nails Decals 

Whats Up Nails Confetti

I like to set myself the challenge of trying to use all the products from the box, but unfortunately I couldn't decide on a design that showcased the confetti, but otherwise all the products are included in the nail art. 

No Place Like Home - Meebox December Review + Nail Art

Hey everyone! I'm back with another Meebox review, this month's (well, last month's) box was themed 'No Place Like Home'*, and is of course based on the Wizard of Oz. It includes an amazing £63 worth of products for just £20, which include:

Kure Bazaar – Pigalle (RRP £14)
Zoya Goldie (RRP £11.50)
Leighton Denny – Jailbird (RRP £12)
MoYou Fairy Tale Stamping Plate (which is Wizard of Oz themed) – (RRP £5.99)
MoYou Stamper- (RRP £2.99)
NCLA Gingham nail wraps (RRP £13)
Ard as Nails – cuticle oil (RRP £5)

I love that there's always a theme to each box, but I think this might be my favourite theme so far. And of course there was no option but for me to create some Wizard of Oz nails with the polishes, I used all the products for this nail art, they all went so well together I couldn't resist.  

Review Week, Day 2: Zoya Tickled Collection Summer 2014 - Swatches

Hey everyone! Today I have a post with my first ever Zoyas! Up until recently I didn't even know that they were available in the UK, and I always thought that they were a little out of my price range. But I know that after experiencing the quality of these two polishes I'll definitely be buying more! I got Ling*, and Rocha* from the Tickled Collection and at first I was a bit disappointed with the colour choices, but I ended up really loving them both. Orange is fast becoming my new favourite colour this year, and I've always been a lover of blue, so what could be better?

Monthly Favourites: July

Hey everyone! Second post from me tonight, I'm trying to get all my posts scheduled and written as I'm going on holiday in 6 hours (so excited but very tired). I really can't believe how fast this month has gone! Seems only a few days ago when I was writing my monthly favourites for June, and now we're here again, with a bunch of new products that I cant wait to show you. Again, I have five products, not necessarily all nail related, and not necessarily all review samples, these are products that I genuinely have loved this month. In no particular order the products are:

1. Real Techniques Core Collection Kit

2. Models Own - Pear Drops*

3. Body Shop Fijan Water Lotus Body Lotion and Eau de Toilette*

4. Me Me Me Cosmetics Coral Blush Me and Divine Mascara*

5. Zoya - Rocha*

Which is best? Comparing Base Coats

Hey everyone! Today I'm back with another 'which is best?' post, this time on base coats. I will be comparing Orly - Bonder, Zoya - Get Even*, Barbara Daly - Goodbye Yellow, OPI - Matte Nail Envy, and Dior - Long Lasting Base Coat. I've had a few comments asking why I chose the things I chose to compare, it was either because they were there, because they were provided for review or because they're what I love to use. Before I start I just want to say that I only use one coat of base coat, and this is what these comparisons are based off, I read somewhere the other day that sometimes people use up to 4 coats and I don't know what is the usual amount but I always just use the one. 

Comparison No. 1 - Smoothness: 

1. OPI - 10/10, may just be because it's matte but definitely feels smoothest
2. Dior - 9/10, smooth and shiny 
3. Orly - 8/10, feels quite sticky (in order to bond). but definitely dry and smooth
4. Barbara Daly - 8/10, smooth but picks up any bumps in the nail (although 2 coats of it sorts this out)
5. Zoya - 3/10 doesn't really do what it claims to do, feels very sandy. My little finger was the least smooth nail and continued to feel that way

Comparison No. 2 - Drying Speed:

They all dried at pretty much the exact same speed so there's not much comparison there

Comparison No. 3 - Does it do what it says?

1. OPI - 10/10 yep definitely, my nails were very brittle from years of biting and this did wonders for my nails, they're now really strong
2. Orly - 10/10, definitely good at 'bonding', it's impossible to peel designs off when using this (something I have a bad habit of doing) and it definitely doesn't chip, I love this base coat just as much as OPI - Nail Envy, which is saying something
3. Dior - 9/10, just claims to be a base coat so it definitely is that, it's also long-lasting which it claims to be, although not as much as the Orly
4. Barbara Daly - 8/10 - i've never used it for a prolonged period of time so I don't know if it does end up whitening the nail, but it does give the immediate appearance of white nails when it's on, so as a base coat it would be good for negative space nails if you usually have quite white nails
5. Zoya - 2/10 nope, doesn't even out, in fact makes it more bumpy if anything (quite a rough texture)

Comparison No. 4 - Overall thoughts:

1. OPI - 10/10 lasts forever, I've been using this for over a year about 60% of the time and it's barely made a dint in it as you can see. It's also a brilliant base coat and does what it says
2. Orly - 10/10 great base coat, does what it says, dries quickly and is very smooth, also seems to last forever, it may look unused but i've used this a good 20-30 times
3. Barbara Daly - 8/10, never had any problems with it but haven't used it for long enough to determine whether it permanently makes the nails white, definitely does a good job at making them appear so
4. Dior - 9/10 does what it says and dries quick and very smooth, if it wasn't for the price I'm sure this would be an incredibly popular base coat 
5. Zoya - 2/10 dries white so wouldn't be good for a base for negative space nails, dries quick, but aside from that isn't really that great, doesn't do what it says and is quite annoying to use (pretty thick)