Sunday 28 July 2013

Nails Inc Beaded Polish - Belgravia (White) and Chancery Lane (Blue)

Afternoon!













I bought these a few weeks back, not too sure what I was expecting really. I thought they would be similar to the Barry M Sequin polishes (which, were for me at least, a massive pain in the arse to use). I've only bought two so far and this is my second time testing them. The first time around they were a complete pain, were big and chunky and just horrific. This time, though, I've gone for thinner coats and the white at least seems to have come out a lot better. The blue is still very chunky. I'm not sure if I would wear these much though.

Application can be troublesome, they can bunch together and end up a hot mess. Thinner coats is definitely better if you do try these. That, or layering one or two thin coats over a cream polish.





Belgravia is a textured sheer white with medium white and holographic shimmer. I used three coats for the photos below.







Chancery Lane is a textured sheer cobalt blue with small and medium holographic glitter. Again I used three coats.




Saturday 27 July 2013

Superdrug's B Cosmetics Polishes - Piglet, Tutu and Peony


Today I have a few polishes from Superdrug's B line to show you! We have 068 Piglet, 076 Tutu and 101 Peony!

 





068 Piglet is a pale peach - maybe leaning the slightest little bit yellow toned. Couldn't be used for a french mani, unless you're going for a very fake looking mani. These pics are with three coats. I didn't have any issues with formula - the brush is very wide though, so those with smaller nails may struggle to apply these.
 






076 Tutu is a creamy pale warm pink. So pretty!






101 Peony is a medium dark, slightly purple tinted pink.






Has anyone tried anything from B yet?

Friday 26 July 2013

George (Asda) Gel Pro Polishes - 07 Nectarine and 08 Plum


I shop at Asda every week, and I always have to have a little walk down the cosmetics isle...it's habit... anyways, one thing I've noticed is that Asda's own George cosmetics range is really starting to look pretty decent - I still don't think they quite compete with other drug store brands, but they're getting there slowly! I recently picked up two of their new Gel Pro polishes - yeah, another one of those "gel effect" polishes. They are very shiny on their own, but I'd still top coat them. From memory I think these are £2.99.

One thing I noticed with both of these polishes is that there is some bubbling - I have worn the plum shade before and didn't have bubbling, so I'm not sure whether it's just down to the fact that it is seriously boiling hot here right now. Maybe. That's the only issue I've noticed though.




07 Nectarine is a creamy orange-leaning coral. I used two coats but noticed it was slightly sheer in places, so I perhaps should have gone for three.







08 Plum is a rich, red-purple. If you have very short nails this is probably a one-coater, it's very close to being that on me, but it's just the slightest bit sheer in the middle of the nail, so I'm going for two coats.








Yeah, the bubbling is pretty bad. Like I said though, I've worn the plum shade before and had no issues - so maybe it is down to the fact that is extremely hot and humid here right now. Speaking of which...IS IT WINTER YET?!

A little break from polishes - homemade tote bags!






A few months ago I started a new job, working in a haberdashery that also does alterations, dressmaking and general crafts. Before starting here I'd never used a sewing machine in my life and didn't know the first thing about sewing. It's something I'm starting to develop a serious passion for - it's very easy to get lost in creating something. The first thing I made (with the help of my boss) was a denim tote bag - I made a few mistakes with it, safe to say it didn't turn out brilliant, but I was so pleased with it! I've since made a few more bags, a purse, and have ordered some more fabric and I'm going to start looking into creating other things, different styles of bags, and hopefully will start to make clothes! For now, I just wanted to show two of the bags I have made. They aren't fantastic, there are still bits of thread hanging off them (I swear I cut it all off, but every day I keep finding more and more!) and I still have bits to learn and master, but for someone who four weeks ago had no idea how a sewing machine worked, I don't think they're too bad!


This is my favorite bag and the one I'm using at the minute. I just think it's soooo pretty. I also had a go at making a matching purse...I decided to put in a divider after I'd already sewn the bottom which was a very silly idea, and I should have unpicked the bottom, but one thing I have discovered is that I really hate unpicking. All part of the learning process I suppose!






This is the tote I made for my mum - hers is taller and narrower than mine.




Has anyone else dabbled in sewing?

Nails Inc Battersea Emerald Glitter Polish

3 in one day? Yeah, making up for months of nothing haha.




Battersea is a full coverage emerald green glitter - though it does have a blue undertone. For me, it's opaque in two coats and actually appears to look better without a top coat.

These pics are with one coat of Battersea over Queen Victoria Street




These pics are with two coats of Battersea on their own on my middle and ring fingers
 





Nails Inc Queen Victoria Street - Emerald Polish






Queen Victoria Street is a vibrant, rich medium green polish. It's opaque in two coats and flows over the nail beautifully. Cannot fault this at all - plus, emerald is the pantone colour of the year, yay!

Note: I have tried several different camera's with this, and the colour is still coming out the same. It's pulling towards teal in photos, but in person it is absolutely a vibrant rich green with no touch of teal in sight. Very frustrating!









Nails Inc Ladbroke Grove and Dalston Leather Effect Polishes

Aha'! I'm actually blogging again!


It's been SO long since I've actually done a blog post. I miss it so much, but life has been a little crazy the past few months. I screwed things up massively with my fella but hoping I get another chance, ended up in a very dark place and started a new job. All very mentally draining really. ANYWAY...






nails Inc released two new springy/summery leather effect shades - Ladbroke Grove and Dalston. I don't know if it's just me, but the leather effect doesn't seem so...leathery this time around. They're textured, but don't really mimic leather to me, unlike the other leather effect polishes we've seen from nails Inc (the black and red, especially). I've had a few issues with these - I wore them both a few weeks back and found that they were patchy and needed three coats. Re-swatching today and they seem less patchy and have only required two, but my nails are significantly shorter at the minute, so I'm putting it down to the length of my nails (I often find that I have more application issues with polishes in general when my nails are longer). Anyway, onto swatches!





Ladbroke Grove is a bright creamy coral.








Dalston is a light creamy blue.








Hopefully I'll be able to fully get back into blogging. I really do miss it, so let's see this time if I can keep it up!