Gelish Editor's Picks Collection - Review and Swatches

Hey everyone! I'm so excited to show you the new Gelish Editor's Picks Collection*. It's a great introduction to Spring with a selection of pinks, nudes and purples. Which is your favourite shade?

Gelish Forever Marilyn collection swatches + review

Happy Sunday! I've got an exciting new Gelish review for you today: the new Forever Marilyn collection*. A beautiful collection for Autumn, and there are a few shades you could wear all year round. Read on to hear my thoughts...

Gelish - Rocketman Collection review and swatches

Gelish - The Colour of Petals Collection Review + Swatches

Today I've got a review of the Gelish - Colour of Petals Collection* for you all. It's a lovely collection of pinks and purples, perfect for spring, and for summer. Read on for further swatches and my thoughts on the shades...

Gelish - Make A Splash: Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! I had such a mare trying to get this post up. I managed to get my review done soon after I received them, and as I went to plug my memory card in, the whole thing wiped! I've no idea why. After a lot of panicking from me, and help from my boyfriend, I actually managed to receive the photos, hours before I was due to go on holiday. So I thought therefore I'd write the post on holiday, but then Blogger wouldn't work on my phone! 

We're finally here... so here is the gorgeous and fun Gelish Make A Splash Collection. I love how bright these gels are, the perfect summer shades! There's also a Cellophane Coat included with the collection, which is described as an 'iridescent overlay' and just adds a bit of shimmer, scroll down to have a look. 

Porridge Nails

Yeah you read that title right, these nails are inspired by something you would probably consider very uninspiring: porridge. Inspiration really can be found in the strangest of places!

 I have porridge every day for breakfast at work, and I've stared at the Moma* packets sitting on my desk for weeks without realising that my next inspiriation lay right in front of me... turns out it can strike when you least expect! So when Moma asked me to team up with them, I knew that it would work because not only are their packets are so bright and colourful, but it's also a product I enjoy and wouldn't mind sharing with you all. 

Swirls and Foils

Do you ever see something and just get hit by a burst of inspiration? That's what happened to me with these nails. I saw a design by Kara Nailed It and I knew instantly that I wanted to create my own version of them. I slightly adapted the colours, the use of gold foil and put them on all my nails, but otherwise my inspiration was her. I used the same technique she did, which was to blob all the colours together on my nail and then mix them together with a dotting tool (is there a name for that?).

I really loved how these turned out. They were so quick to do (except my middle finger which I kept having to redo because it wasn't behaving.. does that ever happen to you when it's always the same nail messing up?), I've never tried this method before but it's definitely something I'll do again. 

Gold Lilac Roses

Happy Sunday everyone! Although there's only an hour of Sunday left. I've had a busy but chilled weekend, and I managed to find time to do a few nail designs today. One of them was this floral design inspired by Follow That Way.  I wasn't sure whether I'd ever be able to recreate one of her amazing florals, the detail she puts into them is astonishing, but I decided to give it a go, and I'm really really happy with how these came out. 

One thing I couldn't decide on was my accent nails, I originally did them with some of the nail negative space and with gold foil down the side but I wasn't 100% on them and the pictures didn't come out very well, so I did these, and then I did gold glitter accents. Of the three, these came out best in photos and I think the fact that they're quite muted means that the flowers stand out a bit more. 

Barry M - Halloween Gradient Graveyards

I can't wait for halloween this year, I'm really looking forward to having the house decorated for our halloween party next week, and I'm already counting down. Last year I didn't really get the chance to celebrate halloween, so I'm planning on going all out this year, and that means getting my nails ready for the occasion. Luckily, Barry M asked me to create some halloween tutorials for them, so I've got quite a few designs to show you before the big day!

First up is this gradient gravestone look. I won't pretend it's not a design that hasn't been done a million times, but I like to think there's a reason it's done so often. It's such a typical halloween look, but I love it. 

Essie Abstract Neon

Hey everyone! Long time no see, I've been so busy with moving I just haven't had a chance to post, but I've really missed blogging. We moved in on Friday and have managed to get everything unpacked already, so I finally have the chance to sit down and write a blog post. 

I actually did these nails quite a few weeks ago, using the Essie 2017 Neon Collection*. (I can't seem to find these online anymore so I assume they were limited edition). I keep seeing abstract nails on Instagram, and I've wanted to have a go for a while. These were super easy, I just splodged some colours using the brushes from the bottles, and then dotted some white using the end of a striping brush. Super quick, but I really love the end effect, and I wore these for a week or so. 

All That Jazz - Homecoming Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! I'm baaaaackk. I know two weeks isn't a super long time, but for me it's been ages, this is probably the longest I've not posted. I've always said I'd never take an unannounced break but unfortunately sometimes life gets in the way, and it's got in the way big time recently. I've not even painted my nails for 3 weeks, nevermind had the energy to post. But as I've said before, my blog is my escape and I need to make time for it and make time for me, so here I am. It's taken me 2 days to write this blogpost but I'm forcing myself to type it now before I go to sleep, and hopefully now I'll be motivated to be posting again. 

Unfortunately due to my unscheduled break I am slightly behind with posts, so today I've got a review of the stunning All That Jazz - The Homecoming Collection*. The collection is one of five different wedding inspired collections created to celebrate Jazz (the namesake of the brand) getting married. Each collection is named after a part of the wedding process, so there's The Proposal, The Bridal Party, The Honeymoon, The Homecoming and Happily Ever After. All the shades in the collections are perfect dupes for Gelish shades in nail lacquer form. I've already reviewed The Proposal here, and you can also see some nail art with The Bridal Party here. The Homecoming* has some stunning shades which are absolutely perfect for autumn. Full review after the jump

Paint All The Nails Presents Neon

Hey everyone! It's nearing the end of the month again, and that means it's time for another Paint All The Nails link up, and this month the theme is 'neon'. I wasn't actually going to join in this month because I don't own many neons at all and I didn't think I could create anything worthwhile. Just as I'd given up on the idea of participating, the new Models Own - Polish For Tans* collection dropped through my letterbox. I haven't received anything from Models Own for at least a year, if not two, so it was a nice surprise and also a strange coincidence. I felt like I had to create something using them for the prompt as it felt like fate, and so here I am! I used all 5 polishes from the collection for this nail art, and I'm still wearing them now. I'm not used to wearing something so bright so they keep catching me by surprise, but I ended up really liking them. 

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 

Essie Spring 2016 Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a lovely weekend so far. The European Championships are on, which means I'm being roped into watching a lot of football with my boyfriend. Or alternatively, it means I have a lot more time to do nails because I don't want to sit and watch TV! I never watch football, but there's something about international football that's slightly more exciting, and I do end up getting sucked in even when I hate to. 

Today I'm reviewing the Essie Spring 2016 collection*, I wanted to include this with my post about the Rankin event but I thought it would make the post too long. I've already shown the collection in this nail art, but I wanted to show the colours individually too. This is the first full Essie collection I've reviewed, and I hope it's not the last, but I was very impressed. I don't own many Essie shades, I don't have the need to buy many new polishes (as you can imagine) so apart from my trusty bottle of Essie - Beyond Cozy which I bought ages ago, I only have one or two others. This collection consists of some 'typical' spring shades, but also some darker shades that make the collections lightly unusual. 

OPI New Orleans Collection Review + Swatches

This post has been a very long time coming. I've had my swatches done for ages, but then I couldn't find the time to edit them, and when I'd edited them I couldn't find the time to write the post on them. So here I am, finally sitting down and writing a post on them. Let me start by saying that I love this collection, with the exception of a couple of polishes that I haven't actually featured here I love every single polish (so a whole 10 colours, although I could only fit nine in my collage image), and so it's definitely not a reflection on the polishes that it's taken me so long to write this. Just ... sometimes life gets in the way. And it especially gets in the way of a super long review (which in my book is anything more than 6 polishes). 

The OPI New Orleans Collection* was released for Spring 2016 (it's still spring so technically I'm not even late) and is typical of their yearly collections named after a place, or even sometimes twice yearly (correct me if I'm wrong?). I know very little about New Orleans, but I do know I like these polishes, there are so many fun shades in here. Whilst they're not all 100% unique, they're great for summer and great for nail art. I have actually been using these in nail art for months so you will have seen them popping up here and there. 

Barry M - Lolly Gloss Collection Nail Art + Review

Hey everyone! Today I have a review of the brand new Barry M - Lolly Gloss collection*, but rather than swatches of the collection I'll be reviewing in the form of nail art. The collection consists of four limited edition translucent shades, scented in Raspberry and Strawberry. I was quite sceptical about them being scented because normally the smell of nail varnish is just too overpowering in scented polish but these really do smell fruity, I could still smell it after topcoat and a couple of hours later too. They also dry very glossy as the name would suggest. The polishes can be worn alone or together, so I decided to put them together in this marble/red tortoise shell look.  Read more after the jump.

Barry M Spring/Summer 2016 Speedy Quick Dry Collection Review and Swatches

Hey everyone! Today I've got a long-overdue review of the Barry M - Speedy Quick Dry collection* for Spring/Summer 2016. I actually swatched these within the first few days of their release but with the move I just haven't had a chance to sit down and edit the pictures, so today I made sure to make some time to edit, and these were first on my list. Pastels are always my favourite, so this collection of four light pastel shades was always going to have my heart, and they've got the usual great formula of Barry M polishes to match. Read more after the jump to see my full thoughts

Gelish Kung-Fu Panda 3 Collection Swatches and Review

Hey everyone! Today I have a review of half of the Gelish - Kung Fu Panda 3 Collection* to show you. There are actually 6 polishes in the collection altogether, but I was sent three, and if these 3 are anything to go by then the collection is definitely worth getting. You will have seen Kung Fu-chsia* yesterday in my one-stroke nail art, and it's probably my favourite from the collection.  I didn't expect to like these as much as I do, but they all had great consistency, and of course because they're Gelish they also are of fantastic quality too. For the first time ever I've attempted 'macros'. I say 'macros' because I don't actually have a macro lens so they're the best I can do, but I wanted to show you that there was quite a lot of depth to some of these.  I'd love to know your thoughts on the new images, and if they work! Full review after the jump. 

Nail Art Threesome, Brit Nails

Hey everyone! Myself, Allie of Brit Nails, and Hannah of Polly Polish have been talking on WhatsApp for what feels like my whole blogging life, but has really been around 2 years. I can't imagine blogging without them to be honest, and they've helped me through a lot, not just nails. So we decided that it was finally time to pay homage to each other by creating each others designs. This will consist of two different posts, one with Allie's design and one with Hannah's. 

Today I'm recreating one of Allie's designs. I chose this vibrant Valentine's design because it fits well with the time of year, and also because I owned the Picture Polish shade she used (baring it mind I only own 4). You can see her original post here, and you can see a picture below of her design to compare. Her nails are of course a lot longer than mine so it was never going to look as elegant, nor do I own any square studs apparently. I also don't own any stencils so I had to completely freehand the design. This meant that I didn't create the gradient with a sponge, but instead with a brush for the first time, and it isn't as fluid as it would be with a sponge. However, I was pretty happy with the final result, and I think it's very bright and fun, and I hope you can still see the similarities between the two designs! 

Barry M Spring/Summer 2016 Gelly Collection Swatches and Review + Comparison

Hey everyone! I'm super proud of myself for how productive I was on Saturday (for those of you who don't know it's my only nail day), I got tonnes done. Mainly all in the last couple of hours of the day but still. I'm quite a slow swatcher, so the most I've ever done in one day is around 12 polishes I think, although that's largely because I do nail art in between. However, this week I managed 3 nail art looks and I swatched both new Barry M collections in the space of a few hours. I didn't want to end up like I have previously and just leave my review sitting in my 'to edit' folder for months, so I've forced myself to get them edited tonight, and get the post out. 

This year's Barry M Spring Gelly collection* made me think that they hadn't been particularly imaginative. Both the nude shades seemed very similar to previous shades such as Lychee and Coconut. However, I was still excited to give them a try as they never disappoint, and I was right. In fact, I think Cream Soda* is actually a really unique off-white shade. I've done a comparison of the four nude/off-white polishes at the bottom of this post for you to see that there is actually quite a lot of difference in the shades. I think the collection work really well together, and they also fit well with the spring speedy dry polishes too. I think you'll definitely be seeing these in some nail art soon.