Breast Cancer Awareness Month - Pink Ribbon

Did you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month? If you didn't, you do now! Breast Cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the UK and it can affect both women and men. It is also the second most common cause of death by cancer, but in the last five years survival rates have significantly improved. This is largely down to research. And research involves funding. So because of that I have teamed up with Breast Cancer Campaign, in support of their Wear It Pink day. Click on the links to find out more.

Also, on a more personal note, breast cancer is something that has been all too common in my family and friends. Most of us (probably all of us really) within our lifetimes will unfortunately be hit with the news that either ourselves or someone we love has cancer and if there is anything that could better the situation, I'm more than willing to help.  

So in order to show my support I have created some simple nail art using O.P.I DS Reflection and a white nail art pen.

O.P.I DS Reflection is a stunning hot pinky coral with a gorgeous scattered holographic particles. Its also a one coater! Application was buttery smooth and it dried beautifully.

To create the ribbons I simple drew them on using a white nail art pen and on my ring finger I drew a large outline over the pink instead and filled the background in.

I decided to keep this one very simple so that it is easy to re-create, should anyone else wish to.

I hope I've inspired you to get involved in any way you can because it really is a great cause, and one that may unfortunately affect almost all of us in one way or another.

Here's a bit about Breast Cancer Campaign:

·          At Breast Cancer Campaign we are a unique community of scientists, supporters and people touched by breast cancer. Together we make Pink Science happen – our pioneering approach to breast cancer research that identifies and funds the research projects with the greatest potential to save and improve lives and, ultimately, to find a cure for breast cancer.

·          In its lifetime the charity has awarded over 360 grants with a total value of over £40 million to universities, medical schools and research institutes across the UK.

·          As of September 2013, the charity currently funds 105 projects worth £18.2 million in over 30 centers of excellence across the UK and Ireland.

·          Last year wear it pink raised a staggering £2.1million to help fund vital research and this year we hope to raise even more!

And here are some Stats and figures:

•       One woman in eight will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime

•       It is estimated that there are 550,000 people living today in the UK that have been diagnosed with breast cancer

•       Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in the UK

•       Every year around 12,000 women and 80 men die from breast cancer

•       Breast cancer is the second biggest cause of death from cancer in women

•       Five year survival rates for breast cancer have improved significantly over the last 20 years

•       Over 80 per cent of women diagnosed today will be alive in five years’ time

•       40 years ago, the five year survival rate for breast cancer was around 50 per cent

•       Research has shown that the earlier breast cancer is detected, the greater chance of survival

•       The Breast Cancer Campaign Tissue Bank, the UK’s first ever national breast cancer tissue bank is a unique collaboration with four leading research institutions to create a vital resource of breast cancer tissue for researchers across the UK and Ireland.

This will be the first in a series of posts in support of Breast Cancer Campaign and their Wear It Pink Day.

Stay Strong Sweetheart

Hey everyone, you may have noticed that I've been a bit M.I.A recently.

There's two reasons for that, the first is that I've just finished the main part of The Challenge (which I would seriously recommend to anyone if they ever get the chance to do it!) last week, and the second is that my  health isn't getting any better and I'm in quite a lot of pain right now. But that doesn't matter...

I really feel like I'm neglecting the blog, so here's a mani I did today, which has a bit of a story behind it...

The story relates back to both of the reasons why I've been a bit M.I.A.

While on The Challenge, I met some amazing people, people who I will stay friends with for a long time. And one of those people has now become one of my new best friends. And that really is something because "best friend" isn't a title I give out very easily. But the the thing is, she really is the first person I've ever met that I can relate to SO much! She's also probably the only person ever to find out so much about me in such a short space of time. And like I already said, I'm in a lot of pain right now, and for someone who one month ago didn't even know I existed, she has been so incredibly supportive, both then and now. I feel so lucky to have met her, and I doubt most people will understand why but I really do feel privileged.

You might be wondering how this remotely relates to butterfly nail art, well basically they were the reason I first really opened up to her and vice versa. So if you're reading this: Stay Strong Sweetheart <3

Oh and if you were wondering, the base polish is Claire's Speckled Nail Polish and I stamped the butterflies with Layla Ceramic Effect 30.

Hairspray Inspired Nails

So like I told you in this post here, the school play this year is Hairspray and so of course I had to do some nail art to match!

I didn't want to do anything fancy so I just recreated the original logo of the musical.

I tried to replicate the colours and letters as closely as I could. And it was actually really easy to create! All I did was paint the background colours, then using a nail art brush and polish, drew on the letters. Sealed it all in with a nice thick coat of Seche Vite and tah-dah!

Not too bad if I say so myself!

OPI SoftShades 2013 - Oz The Great And Powerful Collection

Here is O.P.I's annual SoftShades collection for 2013. It is inspired by the Disney movie, Oz The Great And Powerful and features 3 sheer neutrals, 3 glitters and 1 new Liquid Sand polish.

I've got the mini set which contains: Don't Burst My Bubble (milky creme), Glints of Glinda (milky creme), I Theodora You (milky creme) and What Wizardry is This? (new Liquid Sand).

All swatches are without topcoat.

Don't Burst My Bubble: An elegant pale pinky white polish. It's a very wearable colour that gives off a simple, elegant look. A nice clean look.

This is 4 coats, which is where I felt it was opaque enough, but I noticed 2 coats was good for just a sheer wash of colour. The first coat was a bit patchy but the second leveled it out. The formula was a tad thicker, but still easy to work with. Dry time was average, especially for that amount of coats and it dried to a high gloss finish.

Glints of Glinda: A soft neutral colour verging on tan/sandy toned. Again, like Don't Burst My Bubble, it is a very wearable colour and has a simple clean look about it.

I did 4 coats here but could probably have gotten away with just 3. Again, I noticed 2 coats was good for just a sheer wash of colour. Formula wise, it was pretty much the same as Don't Burst My Bubble. The first coat was a bit patchy but the second leveled it out. The formula was a tad thick, but still easy to work with. Dry time was average, especially for that amount of coats and it dried to a high gloss finish.

I Theodora You: A sweet baby pink polish that is elegant at the same time. Great if you want a subtle hint of pink but not full on candy coloured nails.

This one had the best formula of the 3 cremes, it was practically faultless. I did three thin coats but again, two would have been fine for a subtle wash of colour. The first coat was slightly patchy but hardly noticeable at all. Dried to a lovely high gloss finish.

What Wizardry is This?: A taupe brown shade with fine gold shimmer running through it. Features a dark olive base with flecks of gold bronze and brown. It reminds me of tarnished/antiqued gold, but truthfully I'm not too sure about the colour.

The formula was pretty good, not to thin and not too thick. At two coats I thought it was acceptable but I did three just to make it totally opaque. I'd say it requires at least 10 minutes drying time in between coats though because when I touched a nail after 5 minutes it smudged, so it definitely needs quite a long drying period. It dried to a VERY fine texture and actually a lot smoother than I was expecting. Also, it does take quite a while before it goes totally matte.

2 thickish coats of topcoat totally eliminates the texture and makes the gold shimmer really shine through. Removal was actually pretty easy, no severe scrubbing required!

Here's a quick shot of the polishes in this mini set:

Overall, I LOVE all three cremes in this collection! They are all totally wearable and just so beautiful! If I had to pick, my ultimate favourite would be Don't Burst My Bubble, because of the amazingly clean look it gives. 

31 Days of Nail Art Challenge - Day 27 - Inspired by Artwork

Artwork.

I like art and some may even say I'm good at it.

But I chose not to persue it any further than secondary school KS3 (year 9) and I admit I have looked back and wondered what if...

But anyway for this theme I chose to take inspiration from Mondrian, a Dutch painter.

I freehanded this all because I was being lazy and it seemed quicker than using striping tape. It came out better than I though it would!

To make it more like a 'painting' I mattified it:

This is the image I used as inspiration (called Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow):

Source Wikipedia

Barry M Sequin Nail Effect - White

I have a new product for you all!

You may have seen or heard about all the new Barry M releases coming out over the next few months (more Gelly polishes, new Sequin Effects and new Confetti Effects). Well I have one of the New Sequin Nail Effects Nail Paints to show you!

This is Sequin Nail Paint in White. (There is also a pink one with the same formula and a black and gold one too).

That is two coats of the polish over a white creme.

It is basically a sheer white base with small hex glitter suspended in it. The colours of the glitters are red, blue, green, gold and silver. I think there is also some sort of texture element to it because when the first coat dried there was visible opaque residue in the polish. Either that or I have a dodgy bottle.

The formula was easy to work with and applied smoothly, but the glitter did like to hide away on the first coat. On the second however, they spread out nicely and a good amount transfered onto the nail.

Okay, here's the truth. It is very sheer. As in so sheer it will NEED a base colour, otherwise it will take about 6/7 coats to get it remotely opaque. And if you actually do that many coat, the glitter will probably just fill your nails.

I decided to mattify it to see what it looks like and well... there wasn't much difference. The whole thing just went a bit cloudier and the base and glitter got duller, but apart from that nothing much else changed.

Removal was the same as any other chunky glitter. Thankfully no vicious scrubbing was required and eventually the glitter did slide off which is a major bonus!

So overall what do I think? Well it reminds me of sprinkles and I can see myself using this a lot for nail art, but I doubt I would wear it as a full mani very often. It was a tad bit 'primary school' if that makes sense to you and the formula was a bit annoying but I think it will quite popular since it's quite different.

You can purchase it from the majority of Superdrug and Boots stores and the Barry M website soon.

31 Days of Nail Art Challenge - Day 25 - Inspired by Fashion

Fashion.

For those of you that know me, you will know I'm very into fashion.

So much so that within my group of friends I am the girly/creative/fashion-y 'one'.

For this theme I decided to go simple and so this is inspired by my favourite vintage dress.

I used Avon Suede in blue Royale as a base and then a dotting tool and white polish to add the dots.

I love these! I think dotticures can look so simple yet stylish!

31 Days of Nail Art Challenge - Day 23 - Inspired by a Movie

Movies.

I love watching films but I can never find the time to watch them anymore :(

So for this theme I decided to base it on a film character from my childhood.

And that is... Minnie Mouse!

Instead of actually drawing her, I used bits of her 'look' (basically her dress and hairbow) to recreate.

For the base I started with Revlon Mon Cherry, which is one of their scented polishes. It smells pretty nice, but not of cherry unfortunately. Then I added the white dots using Models Own Snow White and a dotting tool. For the bow I added a coat of China Glaze Ruby Pumps before adding the dots, and then drew on the bow.

I love how it is such and iconic look that even people on the bus commented saying it looked like Minnie Mouse nails!

31 Days of Nail Art Challenge - Day 7 - Black and White

Black and White.

Two colours that I hardly ever wear.

No reason in particular, they just don't seem to look good plain on my nails...

So, for this week I used a different nail art technique on each on my nails. Well, I say technique but two of them are just special effect polishes.

Anyway this is what I created (excuse the messiness, I didn't have time to clean up) :

I used O.P.I My Boyfriend Scales Walls as a base and then I used (from left to right) China Glaze Black Mesh, Barry M Black, Barry M Croc Effects Black, W7 Cosmic Black.

Hmm, my favorite nail is probably the polka dot one...



P.S. I think I'm the only one still doing this challenge so I'll stop putting links to the other blogs from now on.

P.P.S. Since I am the only one, I'm going to post when I can, not every monday as was previously arranged.

Snowy Glitter Gradient

Like I said in my last post, I had a glitter gradient on my nails on Sunday.

This is a better picture of them.

I had MUA Shade 1 with a Color Club (don't know the name) glitter gradient over it and white snowflakes stamped on my accent nail.

I love love LOVE the gradient! It looks so magical!

Click on the photos for a MUCH better look.

The base is a lovely dark blue with bold blue glowy bits in it. They glowed so much when my nails caught the light and even showed through the glitter and stamping.

I'm DEFINITELY doing this mani again with other colours because it is truly gorgeous!