Dabbling in Nail Art

These are two designs I was absolutely dying to try out. Please excuse the messiness and the dry hands. Time wasn't on my side!

The first is zebra print, and I think I need some extra practise! It's pretty difficult doing it on your own nails as opposed to fake ones, so they're a bit rough and ready. To get this effect, I applied two coats of white for the base colour. I think the polish was from an old manicure set that I don't use any more, nothing spectacular but it does the job! Then I used a black nail art pen by Giles (from New Look) to paint on the stripes. I think this would have worked better if I had a picture of a zebra in front of me to work from. This could have made the manicure look a lot more realistic. As it was though, everyone loved them, ad I look forward to doing more animal print soon.

The next manicure is a little bit art-inspired. Monet-style impressionist roses and sparkly gold to go with a very pretty dress in a similar style. I love this manicure, but it took ages to do, and only on two nails! First, I applied a coat of Front Cover gold sparkle polish on each nail. Then I focused on the ring fingers. With a paint brush, I dabbed red polish on the nail to make a circle.. ish. It doesn't need to be exact, thank God. Then I highlighted using a white polish and that same brush when the first colour was dry. With the previous red paint still on it, it creates a little bit of pink that looks quite nice. Then, after cleaning the brush, I painted some light green on for the leaves, in a 'V' shape if I could. To finish off the manicure, I put some more of the sparkly gold coat on the tips of my other nails and used Gold by Giles nail art pen in gold to create a half moon.

What do you think?
Kyra

Birthday Haul

A couple of weeks ago it was my 22nd birthday, and I feel so spoilt! I had so many beautiful things, and so many beauty products, so I thought I'd share them with you and review them a little too!

This is it! Loads of candles, fragrances, makeup and a very pretty scarf. Something I won't mention in the rest of the post is the Soap and Glory Scent-sationalism gift set (I forgot to take a separate picture). They smell great! This is a combination of musk (Mist you Madly), floral (Glam-a-lot) and fruity (Girligo) scents, so perfect for any time and any occasion.

Body shop always do lovely smelling stuff, so I was really happy about this gift set in strawberry, which had shower gel, body polish, bar soap and a bath lilly in it. I also got the two body butters from other present givers, but I thought I'd chuck it in this one. The orange one smells divine.

Don't you just love the smell of Cath Kidston stuff? It smells so fresh, like you've just walked through a meadow. This manicure set is no different. The scent is literally 'blossom', and all the elements combine to give you some lovely smooth hands. It consists of cuticle cream, hand cream, hand scrub and a nail file.

Ahh candles. I love them, especially when they're fragranced, which of course all of these are. So I got this gorgeous set of cupcake candles (which smell of something, but I have no idea what) from my mum to go with my tea party theme. The french lavender tea lights to the left are Yankee candles, and came with the adorable floral holder. They smell great, and were perfect for when I needed a little bit of calm. Finally, the pink grapefruit candle from Lilly-flame and is, as it says on the tin, 'Zingtastic'.

 Ok, so I lied, I did have one more Body Shop item; this strawberry lip balm. As you would expect, it smells great. My sister knows how much I love these Mua Trio eye shadows, so she got me this merged one called Legendary. It's so pretty when you put it on! They have tiny pieces of sparkle in them that really set of your eyes, and the colours will look great on anyone. You can't really see too well in the picture, but they're a dark brown, a caramel type colour and white, all mixed with varying shades of brown.

Then come the nail stuff. Every birthday must have them, or they aren't for me. I love doing my nails a little too much! So I got Maybelline Colour Show polish in Bubblicious. This bright pink polish applies really well and gives you a great block colour. Two coats is better than one but if you need it quickly, one  coat works well. They must think pink is my colour, because the next one is a Maxfactor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish in Sunny Pink. This colour is really lovely. It is a light pink with a gold/yellow shimmer, perfect for lazy summer days. Finally my new best friend, the silver Barry M nail Art Pen. I thought this would be like all the other pens, as in, it would have a tiny nib and therefore be a little difficult to apply in a way that looks good if you're doing your own nails. But I was wrong, this pen comes with a felt tip-like nib for easy application. All you have to do is push it a few times to make the colour come out and then away you go. The only problem is that it isn't too thick, so you may need to layer up to get the right amount of colour.

Finally, my sister bought me this beautiful scarf. It's completely on trend thanks to the butterfly print and she knows how much I like lace. It is a perfect buy for me, so now all I have to do is find the perfect outfit to wear it with!

Any questions about these products? Please leave me a comment and I'll get back to you ASAP.
Thanks for reading,
Kyra

Barry M Nail Effects Magnetic- Neptune Sea

I know it's a little late for this kind of review, but I'm doing it anyway because I absolutely ADORE this nail polish.

At the moment I'm working as a waitress at a hotel and we're not supposed to wear nail polish, so today when I got back I just had to crack out the sparklyness. Green w7 here I come!

This however, was done a few weeks back.
Barry M has been a permanent fixture in my must have list for a while. I love the fun colours, the brightness, the glitter, and now the magnetics. And Oh my gosh they're gorgeous.

I really liked the older magnetics, with two contrasting colours and nifty patterns, but they've taken it one step further now. Glittery ones. With chevron magnets and the star magnet, which is what I have here.

So step up Instant Nail Effects Magnetic in Neptune Sea.
This is probably the most beautiful colour I own.. or perhaps tying in with Maxfactor's Mini nail effects Fantasy Fire.
It's just so gorgeous, it shimmers darker blue and the star shape glows silver. It even looks pretty without being magnetised, but I loved in magnetised.
I warn you, we're about to become picture-heavy.

So as you can see they shimmer all sorts of glorious colours and look absolutely gorgeous. Usually they look like the last picture, but when they catch the light they shine that lovely blue.

And a bonus!!

These are primark nail wraps, and they are flimsy as hell and come off far too easily. They would be fine if you do them when you're about to go out clubbing, but don't do what i did and put them on the night before because it won't turn out well. The application isn't over smooth either. I would suggest not being a cheapo on this account, and going for Nail Rock Nail Wraps. They last for ages, but are a little trickier to apply. But they're worth it.

Stacey

Maxfactor max Colour Effect Mini Nail Polish in Fantasy Fire.

I was very naughty yesterday. I bought another nail polish. This one is a little different to the others though. This one is Maxfactor's Max Colour Effects Mini Nail Polish in Fantasy Fire. And it looks like this:

But when you paint your nails with it, it comes out all sorts of different colours, as you can see by looking in google images. (For the more lazy of us, heres a LINK :) ).

What looks like it would come out purple, on top of a black base coat shines green and orange. This is the only combination I've tried out as of yet, and unfortunately my Rimmel Black Cab nail polish is ridiculously think and gloopy now, so I'm afraid the pictures won't be amazing, but here goes:

As you can see, clearly a beautiful emerald green and a red-orange (or copper), especially on my little finger here. It looks beautiful, and I can't wait to try it out on many different colours. I've put on two coats of it, over the equivalent of two coats of black, but to be honest it would work well with only one coat of Fantasy Fire.

I bought this from Superdrug for £2.99, as it's £1 off at the moment. In Boots you can get it in the three for two offer. It says it's chip resistant too, but we shall see about that. (no chips as of yet though).

I must say I was also very temped by Moon Dust and Ivory. I'd probably go on the Ivory side.

Stacey

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Another Bloggers Standpoint - and different colours.

Barry M Black Multi-Glitter Review

Nail Polish is a girls best friend.

It truly is. I don't know about you, but I almost constantly have my nails painted an unruly shade and/or pattern.
I also have an unruly amount of nail polishes. A whole box is dedicated to those little columns of colour, and it just grows and grows. In fact, the box is pretty much full.
If I get another nail polish then I might have to get another box.

They are also colour coded. All the purples and blues and pinks in one place, greens in another, various black and sparkly variations. And lots of metallics and glitter.

Today though, I would like to rave a little about Barry M's Black Multi-Glitter. For £2.99 from Boots or Superdrug this nail polish is a little firecracker.

You can't see it especially well in the picture, but my nails DO look like the nail polish bottle. For added 'Pow' I put some multicoloured glitter from Technic (From Amazon.co.uk) on my ring fingers. For a better picture of the actual nail polish, please see this other blog on it. It stays on for quite a while, especially when you put a top coat on.

Even in one coat the colour is good and the glitter stands out, and has a textured feel to it. However, the glitter isn't multicoloured, it's holographic. Which is fine by me as it does the same job really. It's relatively easy to take the polish off. Easier than polishes with bigger bits of glitter definitely.

I'd say that it's a perfect nail polish for everyday use and subtle evening wear.

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Also, I want to show you some NY taxi nails we did a while ago. Using MUA Love Hearts yellow nail polish from Superdrug (£1!) and a striping brush.

Barry M Magnetic Nail Polish

I've been increasingly curious about magnetic nail polish for an absolute age (ie; ever since they came into my peripherals). But the thing is, they're quite expensive compared with normal polish. Even crackles, glitters and foils are cheaper.

But this week I cracked. It kind of helps that I have a twin who is as much in love with nail polishes as I am. We made a deal to go halves and it was ours thirty seconds later.

As you may know already, I also love Barry M products, so it was the obvious choice for us. The quality of the polish is always good, and it's just the right consistancy to apply. Most of the time, one coat with a top coat on will look great, though I do tend to layer it on thickly. We got 'magnetic dark silver' with a horizontally striped magnet and gosh is it beautiful.

There are some handy instructions on the side of the polish for beginners, but really the process is very easy. You paint it on as normal and let it dry. You then paint another coat and immediately hover the magnet over it. The magent is fully detachable so there's no dripping from the brush! There's a little ridge on the cap that makes this really easy to do. You should see the magnet affecting the polish, if it doesn't either the polish is too dry or the magnet isn't close enough to the surface. And voila, wonderful nails.

The polish is a very wearable colour, and I love the way it has turned out. You may be surprised to know that the surface is perfectly smooth, even though the appearance is textured and 3D. I found the polish really easy to apply and after one nail I got the general idea, so there's not much wastage either. And if you buy lots, you can mix and match the lids!

A couple of heads up though:

• The magnet needs to be quite close to the nail in order to work properly. I managed to dip it in the polish a couple of times and had to redo nails, so I recommend keeping it at eye level to make sure.

• Depending on how much polish you brush on, you may not need two coats. I spread it nice and thick and one coat worked for me perfectly fine.

• If your nails are very rounded, the magnet may not be close enough to the edges to do the whole lot. You may need to twist it around the nail for full coverage. I don't know how well this will work with the other magnetised designs, so it may be trial and error for you.

My next impulse buy will probably be their Chameleon Nail Paint that changes colour when you apply a clear polish on top.


Barry M Magnetic Nail Paint can be found in most health and beauty shops at £4.99, or you can buy online at: www.barrym.com

Front Cover Nail Polish Review

I had a Front Cover nail polish set for Christmas (click here for more details), and I've only just got to trying out a couple of the colours. It is, quite frankly, unbelievable. But that's what the final year of Uni does to you I suppose.

The colours are stunning. I got the Finger Print metallic nail collection, which has the following colours in it: Gold glitter top coat, moonrock, sloe berry, palevioletred, cupric, beetroot and cadet blue. I tend to have favourites when it comes to collections of polishes, but here all the colours are so beautiful that I simply can't say which one is the best.

Anyway, the one I actually have on is Sloe Berry, and it is a royal purple colour with a slightly blue sheen. Unfortunately, the colour doesn't come up well on camera, hence the description. Strangely, it comes out much more blue than it really is, and I didn't even use the flash!

Here are a couple of examples of what it looks like:

The polishes are rather thin, so I needed 2 or 3 coats to get the colour up to the royal purple you see when you look at the bottle. They also chip easily, so I recommend a good top coat to keep it in check. Make sure to pull the top coat over the edge of the nail to seal, because it chips that easily. However, the colour is great. I've had a couple of comments from people saying they loved it. The only big problem is that the nail polish is very difficult to apply due to the packaging design; The lids are large and the brushes are small, meaning that you can see what you're doing... but only just.

The guide price is £14, which means that each polish is less than two pounds as there are also two file/buffers included. I think this is pretty reasonable given the quality of the product is not the best. However, many people have reviewed this item badly, so maybe it is a little overpriced.

I used a glittery top coat on my ring fingers and I have to say that it has lasted very well. And it looks really good. I think I will probably reapply to the chipped parts of my nails and then put the same glitter coat on all of them.
Here it is; just a simple £1.99 pot from Claire's Accessories:

Have you guys tried Front Cover polish? What do you think?

Nail Art - Getting Creative

As you all may have seen, recently I have been a little involved with the world of nails. I have been endlessly following blogs, looking for beautiful nail designs that don't look to difficult to do. In actuality, I have learnt that all it takes is a steady hand and a creative mind to make some really beautiful offerings to the nail art clan.

So without further ado, I want to show you all how my nail art is coming along, and what I hope to be achieving when I have more time on my hands. Any comments and feedback would be really appreciated, as I think I need all the help I can get!

This first one was simple because I've done manicures quite a few times. I also had the help of some very useful stick on guides. I was aiming for a simple and elegant look that was ideal for just about anything, so i went for a natural pink with a black tip. looks kind of classic, doesn't it? My friend liked this one so much that she got me to do it on her too!

For this next one, I wanted to create a look that went with my outfit. We weer dressing up as Moulin Rouge Ladies and my corset was a stunning red one, with an asymmetrical black bit and silver gems. Naturally I went for the asymmetrical part, but I wanted to fit all the colours in. The striper came to the rescue and gave me a clean(ish) line to separate the colours.

This one was a piece of pie, but I was so pleased with it, I took two photos! It was a simple pink coat with little star sequins stuck on. One word of warning, though; If the sequins are coloured don't try putting a top coat on or the colour will run off. The top coat stopped the stars from being pulled off my nails, though. Oh, and another word of warning; These are exceptionally difficult to get off. I advise lots of nail varnish remover, and possibly a crow bar.

So these are my attempts. And this is what I am aiming for:

I still think it's doable.. Do you?

The Remains of the Tin

You have approximately a half centimetre left of your favourite lipstick, and it has run out of stock in your local. What do you do while you wait patiently for them to restock? You rummage through your drawers for that perfect nail varnish shade only to find it has clogged, dried and gloopified. Now what?

Thank god there are a few quick fixes that can help when you need them most.

So for that tiny bit of lipstick, a solution is to heat it and mix with some vaseline (or vaseline-like substance). That way, you get to keep your shade and you've made a bit more of it. An added bonus is that it will also moisturise your lips!

Your nail varnish problem can easily be solved by putting a tiny amount of nail polish remover in the bottle and giving it a good shake. Be careful not to put too much in though, or you'll end up with polish that spreads thinly and takes ages to dry. Alternatively, you can put it in a bowl of hot water for five minutes before you start polishing and the heat should thin it. You can also put them in the fridge if they're just gloopy, but remember to put them back in again afterwards! Or, if you are intent of spending money, go for a nail polish thinner, like in the next image.

You are in a rush to get ready and don't time for new polish, right? Wrong. Put some polish on just before you're due to do dinner and include your top coat. Don't worry about neatness at all, be as quick as you can instead. Between then and eating, your nails should dry, especially if you keep near that warm oven! Now wash up, and as you do that, the polish on the skin around your nails should soften and fall off. Some parts may need to be rubbed off.

There's nothing worse than getting ready to go out and putting a finger right through your tights. If the hole is high up enough for no-one to notice, there is a trick to keep it from laddering. Simply put some clear nail polish around the edges of the hole.

And by the by, this woman is a genius. For more tips and thrifty ideas, PLEASE  have a look at this fantastic blog : http://www.athriftymrs.com/

Barry M Foil Effect Nail Polish Review

These little beauties were a Christmas present (see 'It's a Beautiful Christmas' for more), and I tried and tested both around New Years.

They are pretty thick, so ensure that when you paint on the colour you don't have too much on the brush. The colours are excellent, and they certainly do look like foil. The shine on them is brilliant, which is just as well, since you can't apply a top coat to it, as it ruins the foil effect. The only thing to worry about is that, as with most metallics, it creates tiny darker lines on the nail. To keep it neat, you need to keep the brush straight when you apply it and not brush in different directions.

Here's what they look like on:

And here are some nail art ideas:

Want some? You can get it at any good drug store, or from the Barry M website.
Colours come in Lilac Foil, Silver Foil and Gold Foil.

We Love Barry M

Ever since I remember, I have loved glittery, bright things. So when makeup came along, I was entranced by the hues that I could wear, and all the glittery things on offer to me. Something magical happened a few years back: I found Barry M Cosmetics. I was hooked. I couldn't get enough of the lustrous shades of dazzle dust, or the many bright nail paints that could adorn my fingers. Here are some of my absolute favourite products:

Dazzle Dusts - Silver Iridescent, Aqua Gold, Pearly Mauve

Nail Paint - Ice cream Collection
These pastel shades were introduced fairly recently and they're prefect for a spring nail. My favourite has to be the lilac shade in the middle (Berry Ice Cream).

Best Shade: Hologram Hexograms
This probably won't look great on its own, but if you pair it with a bright or a nude colour and splash some hexograms over the top, you'll create something quite wonderful, like below.

Liquid Eyeliner - In all shades, but particularly electric blue and mermaid green.
These eyeliners are great because they dry pretty quickly and are easy to apply. Liquid eyeliner isn't really something you use in a hurry, though, so I suggest you leave plenty of time and get in a lot of practice.

Barry M also make glitter and metallic liquid eyeliner, which look equally as brilliant.

I hope you will love them as much as I have.

By Jove, I Think I've Nailed It

This year, a lot of exciting nail products have become widespread and easily available. And these have opened my eyes to the many products that are already out there. Did you know that there are polishes with specifically tiny brushed to 'stripe' nails? I didn't until this year.
Here are a few wonderful products I own or have my eye on right now:

Barry M Crackle Nail Paint - £3.99
This is an amazing polish that creates a striking effect, and each nail is individual. Make sure you paint it on thickly, though, or the effect becomes so tiny you can barely see it.

The example below was made by putting three different colours underneath the crackle coat.

Barry M Croc Effect Nail Paint - £ 3.99
 I havn't personally tried this one out, but my sister has, and this one comes with a warning: Leave it to dry for as long as possible. The crackle effect dries so much quicker, so we wern't expecting it to literally wipe off after waiting for the effect to take shape. However, it is a great effect and I would love to have it on my nails.

OPI Muppets Nail Polish - Can be bought online
Divine Swine and Getting Miss Piggy With It
These two are excellent shades and are really in at the moment due to their sparkliness. Gettin Miss Piggy With It is will either need 3 coats to get an extremely glittery nail, or a red undercoat. It also goes well on top of a black undercoat. I also love the bright blue Gone Gonzo and Fresh Frog of Bel Air, whcih are also both glittery and from the same collection.

Nail Rock Nail Wraps - £6.65 online, but can be found cheaper in store.
I had one of these babies for christmas from a friend and I was thrilled. It's untested as of yet, but I can't wait to try it out!

Nail Stripers - Prices Vary
These have been around for absolutely ages, but recently I went into Superdrug and found one with glitter  attached to it. Just that littel bit of glitter completely revived my love for nail art.
Here are some great examples of what can be done with them:

Happy Polishing :)