Swatched! Essie: Aruba Blue

Aruba blue is a much loved colour due to it's subtle metallic finish an it's navy base

After purple, blue is my second favourite colour, not just for nails but in general life too. I think because it's quite a calming colour (ever notice hospitals and it's staff are blue at some point?)

This is three coats with Seche Vite. 

My Birthday Nails! Feat. Essie and Models Own

It was my birthday fairly recently and although I wasn't doing much for it (I actually had another friends birthday party the same day lol), I wanted some glittery nails as a mini celebration. 

I had recently purchased the Models Own ASOS exclusive polish, Party Pieces which is a fantastic glitter polish so I thought I'd do a glitter gradient with Essie's Orange It's Obvious as a base. As lurid and loud as the mani was, I loved it! 

This was obviously a pain to remove and a pain to to wait to dry, even with Seche Vite on top. But it was worth it ;) 

Fragrance Direct Haul

Just a quick post as in super tired from travelling about all day - Perth to Glasgow to Edinburgh! 

Basically go to fragrancedirect.com and revel in all the cheap products they have, I got all this for £25 including the delivery! 

Did you ear about Van Gogh, are we there yet?, I have a herring problem, I don't give a rotterdam. 

Mojito madness, cascade cool. 

Classy, hazy. 

Wet cement. 

Nail Art Mish Mash and Fragrance Direct

Sorry for the lack of posts these days. I've been feeling so uninspired lately and pretty much only do things like polka dots and triangles just in different colour combos which can't be too inspiring for you guys tbh :/

I miss doing the WOW designs like the pokemon nails or the butterfly wings, but with my stuff being in two different places, it's a bit hard to get everything together T_T

Anyways, this is just a collage of what I have done, which is just a colour block design using standard sticky tape, gems and some polka dots with a holo polish. Pretty boring really :(

But one semi exciting thing Id like to mention is that if yous would like to buy some cheap OPI or China Glaze or Essie then head over to http://www.fragrancedirect.co.uk/ which sells high end AND drugstore products (hair, nails, make up, perfume etc) with a huge discount, even Revlon polishes were down to 99p :o I did a smaaaal purchase of 9 polishes which totalled to £22, which is really good considering it contains 4 OPI polishes! I think it's old season products they only sell, but definitely have a click on the link to see if theres anything you've been desiring!

Neutral Triangle Half Moons

Hope you guys are enjoying the summer sunshine wherever you are, Scotland's being generous and we've had more than one day of sun, must be all this global warming, right? ;) 

I was craving some nude colours and fancied using Utopia or Lychee, I also found some striping tape so I decided to do a triangle half moon jobbie. All I did was lay two pieces of tape in a cross shape on my nail and filled in one of the triangles with Lychee over the base of Utopia. IT looked a tad empty so I dotted some Lilacism within the lychee triangle. 

Matte Polka Dot

Hello folks! I've still been rather uninspired plus I've managed to misplace my nail art brushes so today's pot is ever simple in all honesty. 

For some reason I'd always done Polk dots in black or white on top of a coloured base, but I'd never thought to do the dots in a darker version of the base. Silly me! Then I thought it'd look nice with a slick of matte topcoat on top. 

For this post I used Essie Lilacism  and Sinful Colours Amethyst. 

I've noticed that the photos I've been posting are ridiculously blurry even though they look decent quality when on my phone. I'm not sure if it's because I used an app to add a watermark and the app messes with the quality or it it's the blogger app I'm using :/ is anyone else having this problem?! It looks normal quality when I'm writing the post though D: 

Swatched! Essie: Orange, It's Obvious

I'm using the (very basic) Blogger app for iPhone to post this so hopefully this post ends up okay. It'd be really helpful to have a decent iPhone app for blogger/blogspot!

Anyways, I've got an Essie polish today, in Orange, It's Obvious. As you may or may not know, I don't generally like a bright red polish, or bright red in general to be honest, but I am partial to a bright orange!
This goes for nails and lips as well. Not sure why, but orange doesn't seem as in your face than red to me, which is ironic since you'd expect orange to be the more offensive one lol.

Orange, It's Obvious is opaque in 2 coats but I used 3 as I could still see a wee bit if my nail line. I then used a coat of Seche Vite. It's quite a dark orange and leans towards the red side of things rather than yellow, which could be nice for those use to red but not orange. This one has Essie's new, wider brush which I'm still iffy about as its good for my larger nails but not so much for my ring an pinky nail, which require quite a bit of clean up afterwards.

The blogger app only lets you's post photos after text, an you can't integrate the 2 which I'm not sure if I like :(

Watercolour Nails

I've been sucha a bad blogger...again... I've been really busy with uni, as I have a project due and I had a week with like 9 labs (I usually have 1 or 2 at most) and it's all just been a but WAAHDAODHASIIDBISDIHU lately XD I also haven't done any of the swatch posts I'd said I'd do from my last Boots haul >_<

Things are semi-calming down right now, so I might be able to do swatch posts of my latest Boots hauls (got some of those Barry M textured polishes :D ) so hopefully I'll get something typed out, really sorry guys!

Anyways, on a rare night off from uni work/sobbing at labs, I dashed out some watercolour nails. I'd previously attempted it by using the cling film/sammich bag technique but mines ended up very splotchy and looked like a 2 year old tried to paint my nails lolol. So I got the acetone out and did it hte proper way, and LOVED how it turned out :)

I used a white Revon to as a base, then topped with 2 coats of Seche Vite to use as a barrier between the acetone and the white base. I then dabbed on patches of Essie Lilacism, Essie Lapiz Of Luxury and Essie Mint Candy Apple and used a brush dipped in acetone to smudge out the blobs. then another coat of seche vite was used and you're done!

Personally, it took me about 15 mins to do the whole thing (inc base) as I didn't want any harsh lines where the blobs has dried around the edge. I thing using pastels makes it's really pretty, but I might consider using  more bold colours and see how that turns out :)

Simple Valentines Design

Ehrmagadz, an actual nail post?! :o

It's been a while I know, but since it's Valentine's Day coming up, then I thought I should make an effort and post something. I'll be honest and say that Im not a huge fan of red, pink or hearts...hence why i used Essie's Lilacism for a base colour, just something a little different.

I intended on making the hearts dainty and delicate, but I've been down with the cold recently and a cough doesn't make nail art easy to do :p

I used the Models Own/WAH Nails white nail art pen. I initially started using acrylic paint, but the consistency of the paint was a bti thin and I had to do a lot of layers which made it thick and bulky...not sure if that;s the same with all acrylics or just the brand I have?

As always my cuticles are a riot, but it seems like such a chore to do, and a bit pointless since it's so cold anyways...I'm such a bad nail blogger lol.

I'll hopefully get another design done tonight, as I did this design last week and it's a bit grown out out now, can't be having grown out nails now can we?

Are you guys up to anything fun? Me and Mr L are going to one of our fave restaurants called Khublai Khans which is a mongolian buffet type place with exotic meats like zebra, and horse. We both actually laughed at how we'd had some horse meat just before the scandal broke out :p

It seems like a funky place to eat, but I definitely reccomend it, they have chicken, fish and beef for less adventurous folk ;)

Boots Hauls #4

Hello people, I have ntoher Botts haul for you! Now, Mr Ls job at Boots means once in a while he gets vouchers in the mail (2 x 200 points for £20 spend and £2 off Essie to be exact), and since he doesn't really buy much, I..."borrowed" them :p

I was plannign on spending only £48 ish (to get the 400 points and also the money off the Essie) HOWEVER I have now learnt that the stuff you shove in your basket doesn't actually look like it's worth as much as you think...I ended up spending just under double the amount I intended D: I have never had so much spender's guilt, EVER -_- 

Anyways, onto the actual haul :)

Of course I had to get some polishes ;) Bourjois were doing buy 1 get 1 half price, and I couldn't decide between the 2 Essie colours. And who doesn't have at least one Models Own polish? :p The colours I picked were (L-R): Feeling Blue, Lapiz Of Luxury, Lilacism, No 17 (I think...), Beige Glamour. Swatch posts soon!

This is a repurchase of the Boots Botanics Hot Cloth Cleansing Balm. Despite everyone saying they've changed their formula and this formulation not being as good as the old one, I don't mind this one so much and I actually really like it (I've never tried the old formula). It melts really nicely onto your skin and it's managed to even take off my waterproof mascara and revlon colourstay foundation off pretty well, so it works well for me. It does leave a slight film, however I tend to double cleanse so i don't mind too much. I have left the film on a few times, and it moisturises your skin quite well, and my skin is so soft in the morning. I dont tend to use this in the morning as there isn't as much needed to cleanse off my face.

I'll be honest and say that despite me having pitch black asian hair, I've tried to dye it a few times. First was a dark blue-black which obviously didn't turn out well (the hairdresser lied!) and then i went through the standard red phase. Not bleached and dyed red, just red straight over the black so it'd shine red in certain lights. I then got bored and went back to black, then....the ombre happened. I was attempting to get it light enough to go a pastal lilac (can you tell I have Tumblr?! XD ) but 2 hours had been and it was just a ombred gingery colour...so I got fed up of waiting and just left it like that. At first I was really annoyed it wasn't light enough (arguments with Mr L in the bathroom would prove that lol) but I've grown to like the colour. So anyways, bleaching the ends of my hair have left it tuggy, and generally horrific, and ti's a pain to brush. So I  decided to get this hair mask to try and sort it out. I;m not one for caring about the whole silicone controversy, as your hair is dead anyways, and it's mine to do what I want to :p I've tried this only once, but it works a treat, my hair was lovely and soft and even stayed soft after straightening it, a definite improvement!

I bowed to the pressue and bought the healthy mix foundation a while ago so thought I'd get the matching concealer. It comes in a lipgloss type applicator, y'know, the slanty tip with the hole in the centre? It's a nice consistency, and it does have a decent coverage, but I still prefer using the Collection Lasting Perfection conealer :/ I'll prob use this on days when I don't feel like being too covered up or I'm only going to go out for an hour or so.

Who doesn't need hand gel in the day and age of bacterial paranoia? :p This was on a BOGOF offer and I prefer scented hand gels so I thought why not. It's an odd consistency, as it makes a kind of white, sticky gell when you first rub it in, then makes your hand quite tacky then dries to completely non sticky finish...but it smells really nice!

This doesn't really need an explanation really...I prefer cutex to other brands for some reason though, not sure why. But the white one with the lilac lid smells SO nice compared to standard removers!

I bowed to the hype and bought some Seche Vite...and I must say, it is pretty good. I was a bit dubious on why I had to apply so much (the directions sayto smooth over a bead of polish) but it does leave your nails so shiny, and they fell fairly strong due to the thick layer.

I'm quite happy with all these purchases, with only the concealer being a bit meh, but I just think I need to try it more.

Simple Hime Gyaru nails

Hello people! Long time no post eh? :(

Uni's been a bit of a drag, and it's going to get even more saddening as I have at least 4 hand ins/deadlines/tests in March -_- 

So I haven't really been in the mood to do much nail art, but I have been doing a bit of shopping (Boots hauls coming soon!), so I will hopefully start doing swatch type posts soon too :)

So for this design, I used Essie's Lapiz Of Luxury, which I've been eyeing up for a while. It's a lovely dusty mid-blue, that's opaque in 2 coats (but I used my usual 3 coats), perfect for spring/summer. I know it's not that time of year yet, but I do love a bit of pastel ;)

I then got some 3D gems/pearls and randomly stuck on a few clusters in the corner of each nail, then topcoated with a good slather of Seche Vite. I finally succumbed to the hype and grabbed a bottle last time I was in Boots, and I have to say it's pretty darn good. It was dry by the time I (carefully) put away all my nail things, and everything's stayed on despite me getting my nails caught in my hair a good few times lol.

Sorry aboutt he state of my nails, the cold weather's been drying my cuticles and the complete riot of my room means I can't find my Lemony Flutter D:

Hopefully I'll get them back to good condition soon!

HELLO

Oh hey, remember me? Yeah I nearly forgotten I did nails too, it's been around 2 weeks according to how long it's been since I've uploaded to my (personal) facebook. Yikes D:

I guess I've just been trying to readjust to being back at uni, and dealing witht he workload again. I have a library project this term, which is kind of like a practice dissertation for next year, so I've been trying to get some research done for that. The essay and the poster presentation for the project is only worth 10% of ym grade, but I want to do well in it since I'm not too good at presentations, plus my average got pulled down by me barely passing a report that was worth 10% too.

 I haven't been feeling really inspired lately, hence why this design isn't as good as it could've been...I felt like doing something pastel and black but didn't really have any ideas, I wanted to try a super simple aztec design and made it vertical instead of horizontal since I suck at drawing horizontal stripes lol. I  kind of like it vertical, and might try a more detailed aztec design at some point.

Mint: Essie - Mint Candy Apple
Lilac: Collection 2000 - Sugared Almond

I used Mint Candy Apple and Sugared Almond as my bases. Both are lovely pastel colours (Mint candy apple definitely lives up to the hype, I think!), and are opaque in 2 to 3 coats. It may seem a lot of layers, but I've got a few polishes that take up to 4 coats, and 2 to 3 is a good average I'd say. I applied sally hensen's mega shine topcoat to provide a barrier between the base and the acrylic paint. It dries really quick and it is pretty shiney, but it streaks designs, so I tend to use it for plain colours rather than designs. I then used acrylic paint to  do (or in this case, slop on...) the design. I then used models own clear polish to topcoat it as  I've never had it streak on me, and I wasn't sure how acrylics react to topcoat since it's the first time using I used them.

Anyways, thast my kind of pretty bad attempt at a nail design..I really need to get more inspiration from somewhere. I may just start doing the 31 day/week challenge...hmm...

New Year Nails and Resolutions/Hopes

Hey guys, this is I guess what you could call my New Year mani, although it's not very interesting in comparison to the usual NY nails on google. I tried to do something firework themed, but that kind of went awry, so I decided on a metallic bronze and creme black marble with Essie Penny Talks and Barry M Black.

This was done with just a fan brush that I got in my nail brush set - it's pretty much the only reason I use the fan brush lol. Penny Talk is SO pigmented that I only needed the tiniest amount with tonnes of Barry M! Mr Lac. got Penny Talks off Extras.co.uk, where they sell the previous season's colour for a lot cheaper than instore, and they have a lot more beauty products too, so definitely check it out!


Anyways, onto the standard resolutions/hopes for 2013 chat!
2012 has personally been a bit of a standard year in comparison to my friends, with only a few minor, borderline un-important bumpiness along the way. But when I think back to how my childhood was, and to how things where merely a few years ago, I'm kind of glad that there's only been a few minor bumps now. All the big, dramatic events in my life have lead to where I am now. I wouldn't have met my new friends, my boyfriend, nor his lovely family. I genuinely cannot see my life without any of them, and I am so glad that these things have happened, because even though some say my life is boring, or that I'm boring, I'd rather be boring than be stuck where I was not that long ago. So if your job is horrifying, you're failing uni, in a really bad relationship with a guy/girl or your family, then yes, it's crap and it hurts. But you need to wait and ride it out and learn from those experiences. Because soon, everything will fit, and it will be okay. Sure, not everything is fine and dandy, but it's gotten better in comparison. You can't have that rainbow without the rain.

For once I'm actually going to make resolutions for 2013!

• drink less fizzy juice, and eat smaller portions/be aware of how full I am. I've went up a dress size this year and I want to try and lose some of it. I#m not sure about the gym, as I have bad joints and it's a busy year at uni for me, but we shall see!
• Do the 31 day nail challenge. As uni is getting a lost more important this year, I may change this to a 31 week challenge though, or maybe do it over the summer :)
• Have more date nights with the boyfriend. We tend to just stay in and have take aways (maybe that's why I went up a dress size hehe), but I like getting dressed up for dinner and going to nice wee restaurants :)

Thats all I can think of now, as anymore would probably lead to me not doing them. I also hope that I do well in uni this year, as it's the start of the Honours portion of my degree. I want to also try and see my friends more, whether or not that means going to some shitty nightclub for a night out (their choice not mines lolol), and hopefully read a few more books :)

I hope everyone has a lovely night, and keep safe!

Last Minute Pastel Ombre

After an afternoon/evening studying I felt like relaxing and doing my nails, and since the ombre for my last post worked out well, I thought I'd do another one but with pastels (still not accepting that autumn's here!)

I'm pretty tired after being at the computer for most of the day so this will be a pretty straight forward post methinks :p

Pale Blue: Maybelline - Ceramic Blue
Mint Green: Essie - Mint Candy Apple
Lilac: Barry M - Berry Ice Cream

Since these were sheer colours and I was sponging, (I usually just fade the colours together with a brush), I applied a base coat of white before starting the ombre/gradient. It did take a good few coats to get them this opaque though, however it still seemed quicker than doing a proper design...

Anyways, I better get off to sleep now, hopefully I dont end up with duvet marks. I know you can just topcoat over marks, but I have a 9am lecture so doubt I'll have time :p