piCture pOlish Mad Magenta - Swatches and Nail Art

Press Sample

I'm really excited to have some beautiful piCture pOlish shades to share with you over the next few weeks! piCture pOlish is an Australian boutique brand that has become hugely popular and you've probably seen swatches and nail art featuring PP all over the blogging world!

The first shade I've got to show you is Mad Magenta, a purple/pink creme. This is my first creme from piCture pOlish and I'm suitably impressed by it, application was very smooth and I only needed two coats (plus a top coat). Very shiny too, as you can see!

I added a leopard print accent nail by painting the tip on freehand using Mad Magenta, then added the leopard print on my bare nail using a nail art pen and dotting tool.

One of the other things I love about PP is the square bottles and rubber-feel lids! 

piCture pOlish can be bought directly from picturepolish.com.au, or through their international network. In the UK, you can find them at Sally Magpies! 

Follow piCture pOlish on - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Press Sample

Nailtopia Nail Stickers - Rose Fantasy

Press Sample

I must admit, nail stickers have never been something that have really appealed to me, but having seen the big range to choose from on Nailtopia, I thought why not try some? This set is called Rose Fantasy and features cute little pink roses.

I used a base colour of Illamasqua Jo'Mina, and freehanded some polka dots using a Barry M nail art pen. I then placed the rose stickers using tweezers to take them off the backing and to place them. I added a top coat after to help them stay in place.

Cute aren't they? They really prettied up the polka dots and it took literally seconds to apply them! The stickers are flat and rubber-like which makes them very pliable and easy to stick down. I found removal pretty easy too, I just used nail polish remover and teased off any stubborn bits with the flat side of an orange stick. Are nail stickers something you use or would use? 

You can find the Rose Fantasy set here on Nailtopia for £2.99 a pack. 

Zoya Micky and Hazel - Swatches and Nail Art

Press Sample

It's a week of firsts for me, continuing with my first ever Zoya! I've been dying to get my hands on some Zoya for a long time now so I was really happy when Nail Care Club offered to send me some. 

Micky is from the Summer 2013 Stunning collection. It's a rose pink creme with hidden shimmer! I've said it before, I love me some hidden shimmer. It's not very evident unless you're in the sunshine, but I love it anyway! I used 3 coats and top coat. It was a little bit streaky to start with but the last coat sorted it out. It's so glossy!

Hazel is from the Summer 2013 Irresistible collection. It's a silvery blue foil with lots of gold flakes, which makes for a unique polish in my collection! I used 2 coats.

I love the combination of silver and pink, so I did some quick nail art using both polishes and some striping tape.

Pretty happy with my first Zoya! I love the bottles and the fact they all have girl's names, too. 

You can buy Zoya in the UK from Nail Care Club, which is the official UK distributor. They're a little bit of luxury at £10.50 a bottle, but it's reflected in the quality. Do you own any Zoya? I want to get my hands on the rest of these collections!

Press Sample

Kiko Gradient and Swatches

Here I have my first Kiko polishes. My lovely friend Hannah of Polly Polish was kind enough to pick me some up from her trip to Paris, and she chose very well! I've used Blue Spot and Pearly Peacock  (two limited edition colours) to make this gradient. I added some square studs from Born Pretty Store on my middle finger. I love how it turned out, it reminds me of the surface of the ocean!

Swatch of Pearly Peacock, an aqua-green foil which looks kind of glassy. I used 2 coats.

Swatch of Blue Spot, royal blue full of silver shimmer. Perfect in two coats. I adore the formula of both of these polishes!

Definitely been bitten by the Kiko bug!

Barry M Summer 2013 Limited Editions - Swatches

Have you seen the lovely new limited edition shades from Barry M? They're part of  a promotion in Superdrug where you get one free when you spend £6 on Barry M products! Swatches under the jump:

Dance Legend Prism - Android and Harbor

Here's the penultimate post in my Dance Legend series! Click the jump to see swatches of Android and Harbor from the beautiful Prism collection:

Tutorial: Colour Block Tips

Finally, I am delving into tutorials. I did do one ages ago but it's rubbish so I'm blanking it from my mind and starting again! Let me know what you think!

Click the jump for the tutorial:

Elegant Touch Envy Wraps Bling - Dotty Hot Pink

Press Sample

Well, here we have my first foray into nail wraps. I've always been rather scared of them due to the size and shape of my nails, but I was tempted by the Elegant Touch range because they all look so pretty! I'm sure most people are familiar with nail wraps, but if you're not, they're basically just thin, flexible strips you stick on your nails and file down to size. I decided to cut mine down to size first because none of them were anywhere near my nail shape.

These are the "Dotty Hot Pink" wraps from the Bling range. They have little clear rhinestones on them! I started by placing the wraps at my cuticles and doing my best to smooth them over my nail. I used the mini nail file (included in the pack) to file the excess from the tips. Bear in mind you do not use top coat with these!

As you can see, I did struggle a bit. I had difficulty trying to smooth them over my nails and you can see bumps in the wraps, although from a normal distance they aren't actually noticeable at all. 

They're not perfect, but not too bad. I think I struggled because my nails are crazily curved and quite an odd shape (long and thin) so perhaps not everyone would have the same problem. I think I managed to get them to an acceptable level though (just about!) 

Removal was pretty easy, I just used the flat side of a cuticle stick to tease the edges up and then they just peel off. You can remove the sticky residue easily with a bit of nail polish remover. I do like the idea of nail wraps, they're good if you're not into doing your own nail art, but I just don't think my nail shape lends anything to them! What's your opinion on nail wraps?

Elegant Touch wraps are available at their website plus a huge range of shops, click here to see a list of UK and US stockists!

Press Sample

Dance Legend Fruity Milk - Cream Brulee, Blueberry Mousse and Kiwi Smoothie

Press Sample

Today I have part 2 of my Dance Legend Fruity Milk swatches! 3 more colours after the jump!

Leopard Skittles

I love skittles (the sweets) and as soon as I'd finished this design, I had to go out and buy a packet. I didn't intend it to look like skittles but the colours just ended up matching, thus we have leopard skittles!

I started off with a white base using Essie Blanc. I then stamped a leopard print design from Konad plate m57, and when everything was completely dry (helped along with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) I taped off 1/4 of the nail and painted over the design with bright colours, before removing the tape and leaving the leopard tips. I filled in the leopard print with the matching colours using a tiny nail art brush.

The bright colours are Barry M Cyan Blue, Spring Green and Shocking Pink. The yellow is Rimmel Sunshine.

Definitely not the most subtle design I've ever done!