Thursday's Talons - Barry M Teal NOTD

Currently listening to: Never Gonna Leave This Bed by Maroon 5

Good morning girls!

When I showed you the recent additions to my nail polish collection, a lot of you expressed an interested in seeing Barry M Denim and Barry M Teal.  Today I have swatches of Teal for you:

I have 10-15 bottles of Barry M polishes and have always been a fan of the application of the polishes, the ease of which I think the brand is well-known for.  However, this polish disappointed me as it seemed quite thick and runny so I had trouble applying the right amount of polish to the brush, ensuring polish didn't drip from the brush handle on to my work surface (which it did) and controlling how much polish I applied to my nail.  It wasn't a total disaster but the quality I expect from Barry M was missing.

As for the colour, I think these photos show it accurately.  At times I felt it was very green, and couldn't understand how I'd ended up with green nails, but I accept this is a teal shade which leans more towards green than blue.

What do you think girls?  Are you a fan of teal?  Will you be buying this polish?

Bye for now,

Laura

PS Don't forget to enter my giveaway, it ends on Sunday!

Monday's Manicure - Tony Moly Pink Glitter NOTD

Currently listening to: The Sun by Maroon 5

Good morning lovely ladies,

Today I'd like to show you a manicure featuring one of my new Tony Moly glitter polishes, this time the pink shade:

I decided to layer it over Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream so the photos show two or three coats of Barry M (application is awful now that the bottle has only 1/3 left) and one coat of pink glitter.

 Oh I love it.  The polish contains red, gold, pink and silver flecks of glitter and looks really pretty.

 What do you think girls?  Are you a fan?

Bye for now,

Laura

PS  There's only a week left until my giveaway closes!  Enter here!

Nail Mail and Haul!

Currently watching: Have I Got News For You

Hi girls!

In my previous post I told you it was my birthday and someone left me a comment saying they hoped I'd get some nice nail mail.  Well, I did.  My friend gave me Models Own Purple Blue, NYC Lights-Camera-Glitter and Barry M Indigo.  I haven't tried Models Own or NYC before so I'm happy to add these two brands to my collection :-)

 

Then when I was in town yesterday I went into Superdrug, who currently have a 3 for 2 offer on across cosmetic brands so I picked up these four Barry M polishes, Denim, Bright Purple, Teal and Fuchsia:

I also bought NYC Grand Central Station Quick Dry topcoat and Posh Polish Beauty UK Topaz.  I've heard good things about this NYC quick dry polish and at under 1/3 of the price of my regular China Glaze quick dry top coat, I thought it was worth trying.

What do you think of my new polishes girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

PS Don't forget to enter my second year blogiversary giveaway!

Birthday Nails - Dupe of a Dupe

Currently listening to: This Boy by James Morrison

Good morning girls!

Today is my birthday so I thought I'd try one of my new Tony Moly polishes for my birthday manicure :-)

 Out of the three colours I ordered (blue, pink and purple), this is probably the one I was most excited about because from the images I'd seen, it looked like a dupe of Revlon Whimsical, which is in turn a dupe for Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air but sadly not available in the UK.

I don't own either of those polishes so I can't tell you how this polish compares but that doesn't matter; I love this one.

 

The polish is sheer so I layered it over two coats of Barry M Blue Moon instead of experimenting to see how many coats would be required to make it opaque.

What do you think of this polish girls?  Do you think it is a good dupe?

Bye for now,

Laura

PS Don't forget to enter my second blogiversary giveaway!

Wordless Wednesday

Korean Nail Mail!

Monday's Manicure - Red Holo NOTD

Currently listening to: Foolish by Tyler James

Good evening ladies!

Today was my last day at work for a month :-)  Unfortunately the next month is going to be spent attending college and studying for exams but after my exams I'm going to Amsterdam for a few days so at least that gives me something to look forward to.  And for the time being I don't need to worry about work-appropriate manicures :-)  Too bad I'm going to cut my nails right down next weekend....

The manicure I'd like to show you today is a layering combination featuring Kleancolor Holo Pink and Essence Cherry Juice:

These pictures show two coats of Cherry Juice and one coat of Holo Pink.

 This was the first time I'd tried layering Holo Pink over a colour other than pink and I'm so happy with the results.  I loved having holo red nails :-)

 Of course when I took these photos the sun was hiding so I can't show you the true holographic effect of this manicure but what I like about this holo polish is the "gritty" look that appears in dull light.

 On the second day of this manicure I made an accent nail by adding three black flowers with a dotting tool but I think I preferred the manicure without the accent nail.  What do you think?

Bye for now,

Laura

Giveaway Time!

Hi girls!

As most of you know, it was recently my second year blogiversary and at the time I said I would soon be hosting a giveaway.  That time has now come so without further ado, let me present to you my first giveaway!

The prize:

 

No7 Twinkle, Natural Collection Twinkleberry

 

Miss Sporty 450, Max Factor Fantasy Fire, Accessorize Aztec

I tried to select polishes in a range of colours and finishes so hopefully there's something in there for everyone.

The rules:

This giveaway is open internationally (but please do not enter if you know there is a problem shipping nail polish to your country) to all GFC followers of my blog, new and old, and will close on 3rd June 2012 at 17.00 British Summer Time. 

To enter:

There is a maximum of 15 possible entries available to every reader.  Please read the following points carefully and then leave a comment in this post with the following information:

1.  Be a GFC follower of my blog and tell me your GFC name (2 entries)

2.  Leave me your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner

3.  Follow me (@LCH241) on Twitter and tell me your Twitter username (1 entry)

4. Tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link (1 entry)

5.  Add me to your blogroll and leave me the link (2 entries)

6.  Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link (2 entries)

7.  Leave me a comment telling me something about my blog eg what you like, what you would like to see more of (2 entries)
8.  For everyone who was a follower of my blog before 20th May 2012 and considers themselves someone who regularly comments on my posts, please add an extra 5 entries and add the words "active reader" to your comment :-)

That's all folks!  Please leave a comment below with all the information I need to work out the number of entries you are entitled to :-)

Bye for now,
Laura

Friday's Fingers

Currently listening to: Sunday Morning by Maroon 5
Good morning lovely ladies!

Today I'd like to show you a manicure featuring these two polishes:

Nails Inc Victoria and Barry M Gold Foil

 

I used two coats of Victoria to start with.  I really like this colour but trying to place the second coat of polish exactly over the first coat is too difficult for me.  One coat of this polish produces a blood red colour while two coats produces a much darker, almost brown shade.  My lack of polishing skills means I end up with red patches of polish towards my cuticles where I haven't been able to apply a second coat.

 I then stamped using Gold Foil and Born Pretty Store image plate m79, one of my favourites as I'm sure you know.

To finish, I then stamped a bow on my accent nails using BPS image plate m59.

What do you think girls?  Do you ever have trouble making the colour on your nails even?

Bye for now,

Laura

Layered NOTD

Currently listening to: The Sun by Maroon 5

Good morning girls!

Today I'd like to show you a simple layering manicure I did using these two polishes:

No5 by Saffron and Dusky Mauve by Barry M

 I started with two coats of Barry M one evening, applied my fast-drying China Glaze top coat and went to bed an hour later.  In the morning I woke up with duvet lines and smudges!  I can't believe my top coat let me down like that!

I didn't have time to repair the manicure so I had to rescue it with this glitter topcoat.  I had no other option, even though it was a work day and I would never normally consider wearing glitter to work.

 I also wasn't sure about the colour combination but in the end I really liked the way this turned out.

 What initially looks like a blue glitter topcoat is actually full of blue, pink, purple, gold and silver flecks of glitter.  I love it!  Can't wait to use this eBay find again :-)

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Nail Polish Tag

Currently watching: The Voice
 

 Hi girls!  Theodora from Red Hair and Black Nail Polish recently tagged me with the Nail Polish Tag so here I go!

 
Rules:

Answer the 10 Questions

Pass this tag to 5 other bloggers

Alert the bloggers you tagged about this

The Questions:

1.) How many polishes do you have?
About 150 I would say.

2.) What is your favorite brand of nail polish?
Essence! I discovered this brand on holiday and think it's such a shame it's not sold in Britain. The range, quality and price are fabulous.

3.) Do you like crackle polish, or do you hate it?
I like crackle polish.  I only have two but they're great for rescuing a ruined manicure.

4.) What was your first nail polish brand? 

Probably Boots 17, unless I had a Tinkerbell nail polish when I was a child.

5.) If you're gonna create a nail polish line, what are you gonna name it? 
I would love to create my own nail polish line but thinking of a good name is difficult.  Laura Loves could be a possibility, or Butterfly Dreams maybe.
6.) What nail polish color does not compliment you? 
Yellow, orange and white don't compliment me.  I don't think very pale colours suit me either but I still wear them ;-)
7.) And what color does compliment you? 
I'd like to think red, pink, purple and blue compliment me as I wear those colours a lot but honestly I don't know.  As long as I think my nails look good, I'm happy.
8.) Name 2 of your best Nail Art Friends!
I haven't met anyone from the blogosphere in real life (although if anyone in the Manchester area is interested, let me know!) but I am happy I've been given the chance to make friends through this blog and through following other girls' blogs.
9.) What was the best nail polish gift you have ever received? 
Any nail polish gift is a gift to be treasured!  But I think the best nail polish gift was from my boyfriend, who gave me a Dior and a Yves Saint Laurent polish one Christmas, because he chose them himself even though he's not interested in nails and thinks I have too many polishes.  Plus they were, and still are, my first designer polishes.
10.) Make a speech about thanking the blogger who gave you this tag!
Thank you, Theodora, for tagging me (and for being a huge supporter of my blog!).  You are truly a talented nail artist and an inspiration to us all.  You are definitely someone I consider a friend :-)

And that's all folks!  Thank you for reading and please consider yourselves tagged!  I'd love to read your responses to these questions so if you do end up doing this tag, please let me know!

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Candy Stripe NOTD

 Currently watching: The Big Bang Theory

Good morning girls!

In my previous post I hinted that I would soon be posting a giveaway in celebration of my two year blogiversary.  I hope to go shopping for the prize in the next week or so, meaning that my giveaway will probably be starting on May 21st.  I'm very excited about it :-)

Anyway, on to today's manicure.  I used the following polishes:

 

 

Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream and white and pink Technic stripers

 Barry M was my base and then I created candy stripes

 I then stamped using MUA black polish and Bundle Monster plate BM224

What do you think girls?  I really like stamping over stripes :-)

Bye for now,
Laura

2 Years!

Hi girls!

I just wanted to let you know that today is my two year blogiversary!  Thank you for all of your support, feedback and friendship over the past two years; it means so much to me.

Watch this space for a giveaway announcement!

Bye for now,

Laura

Girlie NOTD

Currently reading: A Spy's Life by Henry Porter

Good morning girls!

Today I'd like to show you a manicure I recently did featuring two of my favourite stamps:

For the white pattern I used BPS M79 and for the bows I used BPS m59.

My base colour is Kiko 338, my white is Konad Special Polish in White and my pink is Konad Special Polish in Pink.  

 This is the second time I've done this manicure (although with different colours) and I just love how easy it is to create because I never have any difficulties using the full size image.  My only problem comes when I try to place the bow exactly in the centre ;-)

I also wish that the bows were a stronger colour but I'm still really happy with how this turned out.

 

What do you think girls?  What are your favourite stamping images?

Bye for now,
Laura

Monday's Polka Dot Manicure

Currently listening to: Wild Horses by Natasha Bedingfield

Good morning girls!  I hope you all had a lovely weekend and, if you're in the UK, enjoying your extended weekend ;-)

Today I'd like to show you a very simple polka dot manicure I did featuring ELF Pearl and Easy Paris 90:

 

I think this is the first time I've worn the Easy Paris shade and although it's not a colour I would have chosen myself (it was a gift), I actually love it.  I would describe it as an orange-toned red packed full of shimmer.

Application was smooth.  What you see here is three coats.  Maybe some of you would only use two coats but I felt three were necessary to cover my nail line.

 

 I then used my dotting tool and Pearl to create a polka dot pattern.

The end result reminds me of Minnie Mouse :-)  What I really love about this manicure is that the finishes of the two polishes (one shimmer, the other pearlised) give my nails a satiny appearance.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,
Laura

Sunday's Snack - Pitta Pizza

Currently listening to: Ocean Drive by The Lighthouse Family

Good afternoon girls!

I just made this delicious snack for the first time and wanted to share it with you:

 

Pitta bread covered in red pepper hummus topped with sliced carrot and sausage cooked in the oven for five minutes.  Mmm.  Delicious and nutritious plus you can alter the toppings to accommodate whatever you have in your kitchen ;-)

Bye for now,
Laura

Nail Care Laughter

Currently listening to: Colourblind by Darius

Good afternoon lovely ladies!

I received something in the post today which made me laugh and I just had to share it with you:

These are mini bottles of OPI Nail Envy.  I knew exactly what I was getting when I ordered these but when I opened the package and saw how tiny these bottles actually are, I just laughed.

My Nail Tek Foundation has almost run out but instead of repurchasing, I decided to go with OPI Nail Envy again as I prefer it to Nail Tek.  I think I get better results using Nail Envy plus, unlike Nail Tek, it isn't matte therefore I can easily apply it on top of manicures.

 [Comparison to a normal sized bottle of nail polish]

What nail care products do you use girls?  And what's your smallest bottle of nail polish?!

Bye for now,
Laura