Angelica Brit Pop

I think I may just have found the ultimate budget glitter topper!

Glitter? Check. Multi Coloured? Check. Multi Sized? Check. Densely Packed? Check. Less than £3? Check. Easily Available? Check!

I think we've got ourselves a real gem on our hands!

So what is this gem I'm talking about? Well if you haven't read the title yet, this is Angelica Brit Pop.

And where did I get hold of such an awesome polish from? Primark! Yes, that high-street clothing store that has popped up everywhere! And they have a whole range of polishes available from neons right through to duochromes. And every single one is only £2.50 in store! (You can also purchase them directly via the Angelica website here for £2.75 each)

Anyway back to the polish:

Brit Pop is a mix of large and small hex glitter in a whole array of colours: Red, Gold, Green, Blue, Purple, Pink and Silver suspended in a clear base. Basically a rainbow party in a bottle!

But the thing that really won me over was that it was SO densely packed! A chunky glitter at that sort of price point is usually really sparse but this one definitely was not! And what you see in all of these pictures is ONE COAT!

I started with a base of Bourjois Rose Lounge, which is a neutral jelly/sheer polish. I did about 4 coats to achieve the opacity you see here. I then added one coat of Brit Pop. I didn't use any topcoat at any stage.

And since you probably all know that I love a matte glitter, I obviously had to try it out!

And I love it! Especially since the base was such a neutral colour, it made it look like it wasn't a polish at all. Instead, it looked like all that glitter was carefully placed on, or as if I had confetti on my nails!

Best of all was that the actual glitter didn't go matte, it still shone through and looked really cool against the neutral matte background.

JELLY SANDWICH TIME!! Haha, bit over-exited? Me? Never! ;)

I thought, since I had this polish on anyway, and the fact that the base colour was a jelly, I may as well try out a jelly sandwich! And it totally worked! I used two more coats of Bourjois Rose Lounge on top of the glitter and this is what I got:

(It looked good with just one extra coat but from a distance still didn't look like a proper jelly sandwich so that's why I used two)

So basically, for £2.50 this is one freaking awesome polish!

Mini Italian Polish Haul

A couple of weeks ago one of my best friends went to Italy and asked if I wanted anything....

Of course I said yes! I sent her a nice long list but told her only to get one or two of those things otherwise it would have cost her an arm and a leg and so here's what she got me:

Here's a quick swatch of each of them:

From left to right: Layla Bubbly Effect-Black Forest, Layla Ceramic Effect-30, Kiko Sun Pearl-River Green, Kiko Magnetic-704 Purple

She also got me a couple other bits and bobs that were on the list including some Kiko stuff and perfume from Duty Free (SO much cheaper than in the shops!).

So thank youuuu Aisha!! I love them! :D

Barry M Amethyst Glitter - Glitter Gradient

An old mani for you all today, but one I still love!

Back in September/October last year Barry m released a 'Jewel' collections, full of gorgeous glitter polishes. I didn't wait long before grabbing myself a couple and one of my favourites it Amethyst Glitter:

Instead of wearing it on its own, I tried it as a glitter gradient and I really do love it!

Amethyst Glitter is a beautiful mix of small and micro hex glitters in an array of jewel tones. There is a mix of turquoise, pink, gold, purple, black and red hex glitters and only turquoise micro glitter. It is so densely packed that one coat is almost opaque! 2-3 make it totally opaque and add lots of depth.

The formula was pretty good, slightly thick due to the amount of glitter but fast drying and smooth. It did dry to a slightly bumpy finish but a good thick layer of topcoat sorts that out nicely.

For this gradient I've layered it over Barry M Greenberry, a lovely turquoise one coater. The density of this polish made the whole process so much easier because there wasn't much base in ratio to the glitter so fading the glitter out was delightfully easy.

What do you think? Have you tried any of the Barry M Jewel collection?

31 Days of Nail Art Challenge - Day 30 - Inspired by a Tutorial

Tutorials.

I actually really like them, because they help make rather difficult things really quite easy.

So for this weeks theme I decided to use a tutorial for a style I've never tried before... Braided Nails! I used this tutorial by fellow Brit Blog - Lucy's Stash.

And it was amazingly SO easy! Because all it is really is stripes! And you don't need any special tools or equipment, just some one coat polishes!

Seriously, if you've ever wanted to try these but thought they would be too difficult, go have a try and tell me how they went, I bet you'll be surprised!

Nail Art Hauling

So you all probably know that I like nail art right? Well, its true I do. But I realised that all the nail art I do is generally painted or stamped! So I thought I should invest in some 'other' things to use for nail art and this is what I ended up with:

Some nail art glitter:

 Some nail art studs and gems:

Some nail art brushes:

And some more stamping plates:

And here's a quick look I created using some gold square studs:

I used Barry M Black Multi Glitter as a base, which in the bottle is a black creme with loads of scattered holo glitter, but on the nail it just looks like a black creme. I then just added a layer of topcoat and placed the studs on. Easy!

I bought all the NPW stuff from River Island/Topshop/New Look and the GALS stamping plates from Amazon.

31 Days of Nail Art Challenge - Day 20 - Water Marbled

Water Marble.

A technique I was scared of doing because of the mess involved.

But for the sake of the challenge I gave it a go. And after two failed attempts, this is what I ended up with:

I used all three foil Limited Edition Barry M Xmas polishes and no base or top coat.

Hmm, I actually really do like the finished look but knowing how much work was needed beforehand (and the clean-up!) makes me weary of doing this very often.

31 Days of Nail Art Challenge - Day 10 - Gradient

Gradients.

I looove the look of them.

But. I'm not so great at doing them. :( What I am good at though is glitter gradients!

So, thats what I did!

I used O.P.I Casino Royale, which is a lovely plumy creme for the base and O.P.I Goldeneye, which is a yellow gold glitter for the gradient. As you can probably see, the glitter would not budge from my cuticles so its a bit patchy there...

By the way, I know this was meant to be up last week but if you read my last post you'll know I've been having quite a few [technical] issues.

Also, what do you think of the new watermark?

Revlon Sequins

Hey, hope you all had a good new years!

This is the mani I was wearing on new years eve:

Its a base of Sally Hansen Crinoline, which I found in poundland! It was a bit too pink so I put a layer of Sally Hansen Sheer Me Now ontop which is basically a very sheer peach toned neutral,  that I also picked up in poundland! Im glad I did because it made the colour look nicer against my skin tone.

To jazz it up a bit I added one coat of Revlon Sequins, which is a gorgeous mix of gold hex glitter and gold micro glitter, that was free! It looked lovely as it was but if there's one thing I love more than glitter toppers, its matte glitter toppers!

So once it dried I added a matte topcoat and oh my, I loooove this!! Its so soft and delicate but the glitter still shines through!

I think this was so much more suitable than a full on blingy mani because theres only one thing I want from 2013 and that is for it to be more gentler than 2012 and yet still have some sparkly moments in it!

Diwali

Happy Diwali!!!

May you have a wonderful day and prosperous new year!

One thing I wish for every time is that it was a bigger deal then it actually is... I mean today for instance, only my friends actually knew it was Diwali. I don't mean to complain because I'm the first to admit I'm not religious but... Oh I dunno... It just seems like Christmas is the only thing properly celebrated in this country. Oh well...

Anyway, we didn't even do much at home this year..

But thats not to say we did nothing.

I did a rangoli and my mum did mehndi:

My Rangoli

My mum did my mehndi (henna)

And we lit candles everyday:

Floating candles

And of course, I did my nails :)

This is Barry M Gold Foil stamped over Bourjois 1Seconde shade 9. I did this in about 5 minutes so excuse the messiness.

So whatever you did today, I hope you had a fabulous time. x

31 Days of Nail Art Challenge - Day 2 - Orange

Orange.

A colour that I once used to avoid. Mainly because I was scared of looking like I had mendi nails. I don't know... I just don't like having henna on my nails.

Buuut... I'm so over that now! I've learned that you can successfully wear orange and actually enjoy it! Haha.

So here is Rimmel Tangy Tangerine with some flakies and stamping over it:

Hmm, I dunno... To be honest I'm not a fan of them. I didn't even plan anything, just sort of started and went with it.

That said, that picture does it no justice at all. The flakies are so much more glowy and sparkly in real life. In the photo they just look dull and grey. :(

This was the best photo I could get of them:

And don't forget to check out what Stephanie and Wendy have created this week!

31 Days of Nail Art Challenge - Day 1 - Red

Red.

A colour that i used to hate simply because it was the only colour that I used to wear on my nails. It was only because that was all my mum had, she wasn't big on cosmetics (still isn't), and I think it may be an Asian/Indian thing but red was the only 'suitable' nail colour.

Oh well, we have kissed and made up now and I've started appreciating it again.

Sooo... What have got on for red nails??

China Glaze Ruby Pumps!
Ah I love this polish!

And because today is Guy Fawkes Night I went for a themed mani.

Fireworks!

Although I think this looks more Christmassy to be honest...

These are the polishes i used:

And don't forget to check out what Stephanie and Wendy have created this week!

Color Club Sparkle and Soar

Quick post today, a polish I have already shown you as part of my Halloween nails.

This is Color Club Sparkle and Soar.

It is a warm tangerine jelly with gold glass flecks.
Say hello to my right hand! It's making its debut, and probably rare, appearance. <-- Only cos I had nail art on my left hand which you can see here.

It is sooo bold and bright! You could say it was neon but I think it's much nicer than the regular neon oranges out there.

This is 3 coats but it is still not totally opaque. I chose to leave it there simply because I was going to cover it with a shatter polish and this is where it evened itself out. If you wanted it totally opaque you could layer it over a creme orange base.

After 3 coats it begins looking like a foil! Sooo sparkly! The gold flecks are so densely packed that they begin to make a duochromey layer of their own (if that makes sense...?).

Ah, I love Color Club! Unfortunately they're not sold in the UK so the only place I know of to but them is TKMaxx, but I love TKMaxx so thats totally fine with me!