On Wednesdays We Wear Spooky Stuff // Halloween 2018 #3

Happy Halloween?? Ok so this isn't the spookiest nails ever done but I just wanted to wear pink man. I love pink so much and I just picked up the pale pink shade from TK Maxx the other day and I've been wanting to use it so bad. And since Halloween this year is a wednesday....

So yeah...here's some pink nails with Halloween images thrown on top...

If you really think about it though Mean Girls can be considered a horror film. A group of girls take over a high school to the point where even the teachers are scared of them and if you join them you'll lose all sense of who you used to be.........

Terrifying. Anyway, I also saw the Unicorns Dream Dust shade sat in my Nails Inc box and I haven't used it in forever and thought it would pair perfectly with Vintage Tee. I messed up the ghost stamp though when painting on the stamper so it was relegated to the little finger. I really need some better Halloween plates for next year because this one is an actual nightmare to try and use. The middle of the plate bends in slightly as well as there being a curve around the edges...I just can't get a straight scrape and it's very annoying.

But the pink saved it. I'm hoping by next year though my nail painting skills will be much better.

Polishes/Tools Used:
- Nails Inc Fashion Fix // Vintage Tee (pale baby pink)

- Nails Inc Unicorns  // Dream Dust (pink to gold shimmer)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #4 (white)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #3 (black)
- Revlon //  Quick Dry Top Coat
- Barry M // Matte Top Coat

- Born Pretty // Celebration BPX-L007 plate

Happy Halloween!

The Halloween Antidote // Halloween 2018 #2

Roll up, roll up for the scariest nails I've done thus far in my nail journey! I am so happy with how these turned out; even if there were a few hitches along the way. Like the last Halloween post, I had no idea where this was going; just that I wanted to use Orly The Antidote and Morgan Taylor Sweet Escape somehow.

I eventually ended up applying a base layer of Sweet Escape and then sponging on a gradient of The Antidote, Sweet Escape and Essie Roarrrange as it really is more red than orange. The Essie shade really gave it that orange pop it needed near the cuticle. I really love the sponged result, so much I stopped to take photos and you'll see that up soon as it's own post. I then added a little of The Antidote up near the cuticle and it kind of looks like blood stains dripping down; perfect.

I also like how the ghost on the pinkie looks like it's holding a walking stick and yelling "get off my lawn kids!"

The hardest part of the look was the stamping. That Born Pretty black polish can get messy but this time round my hands looked dirty from constantly having to clean the plate. The BP plate I used has some nice Halloween designs on it but near the edges the plate is slightly rounded and because of that I couldn't get a clean swipe across the design with the scraper and it took me around 20 minutes to get these images which aren't perfect but the best I could do. I think I may have to invest in some MoYou Halloween plates for next year.

But other than that I think this may be one of the best looks I've done yet. However, I'm wary about using The Antidote again. It's a beautiful shade but it stains the cuticles and skin something awful; my nails looked like they were bleeding and it took me a while and a lot of acetone to get it looking somewhat presentable. I'm hoping my new liquid latex which is on the way will help with cleanup though.

Polishes/Tools Used:

- Morgan Taylor // Sweet Escape (bright warm red)

- Essie // Roarrrange (bright orange)
- Orly Breathable Treatment + Color // The Antidote (deep plum)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #3 (black)
- Revlon //  Quick Dry Top Coat (used to set ombre)
- Revlon // Colorstay Diamond Top Coat (used to set stamping design)

- Born Pretty // Celebration BPX-L007 plate

Happy Halloween!

Fortune Teller Nails // Halloween 2018 #1

It's time for my very first attempt at Halloween themed nails! I was going to take part of @clairestelle8 Halloween challenge however I just don't feel I'm good enough yet to be taking part in challenges. Also, at the moment thanks to work and my degree I only have around 2 hours a week to spend doing my nails so I have to choose wisely what nails I do. I wanted to try and push myself though to use the polishes I received in the Mani & Lola box in some way, sort of my own challenge so I came up with this grey and black glitter look using the new MoYou Circus plate I received for my birthday.

This was one of those designs where I honestly had no clue where it was going, I just knew I wanted to incorporate some elements of the plate onto my nails with the cuccio polish. I also wanted to use one of the new Nails Inc polishes I picked up during a trip to TK Maxx. They are the best for Nails Inc, I always get them for £3 or less. This one is a "leather effect" one though and I honestly had no idea how that would turn out but I thought the colour was beautiful.

This applies in one coat but dries to a matte concrete-esque effect. I wouldn't call it leather; I was expecting a satin finish. Either way, I went to stamp the design on and nothing would stick to the surface so I ended up adding a glossy topcoat which just turned it into a normal grey polish.

I added in some silver stamping polish in places as well just to tie in the black and grey theme and ended up stamping some words in black over the designs on the index and little fingers as I just didn't like how they turned out.

In the end though I was pretty happy with the finished result; they turned out as more understated spooky nails but still spooky enough for Halloween. I also just can't get over how stunning the Cuccio shade is; I didn't even sponge it on; it just applies with 1000 glitter pieces in one go. It is a bugger to get off though so make sure you apply a peel off base coat.

For the next design I really want to use the Orly & Morgan Taylor shades but I'm just not sure how to incorporate them together.

Polishes/Tools Used:

- Nails Inc Leather // Old Compton Street (grey with matte concrete texture)

- Cuccio Color // Vegas Vixen (black with different sized silver glitter pieces)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #3 (black)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #2 (silver)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #4 (white)
- Revlon // Colorstay Diamond Top Coat

- MoYou London // Circus 07 Plate

Spotlight Sunday // Sally Hansen Moisture Rehab Review

Lets introduce a new segment to blog shall we! Welcome to Spotlight Sunday where each Sunday I'll be reviewing a product in depth whether it be a polish, some tools, hand cream or some other nail-related product. 

I found this in my local B&M bargains (sort of a pound or dollar store type place) and it there were a few boxes lying on the shelf in the makeup section with a £3.99 sticker on them. I decided to give one a go as I'm becoming a bit obsessed in my quest for the best cuticle oil and I think I may have found it.

I'm so impressed I went straight back a few days later and bought the rest of them. These things seem to retail online between £3.99 and £9.95 so I got a bargain...B&M's living up to it's name. That said, I found Amazon are now offering the same price with prime delivery so I may order a few more from on their; I don't have to go out in the cold then.

When I bought this I thought it was a "moisture infused" base coat as the instructions say to apply to the nail directly; not to the cuticle. But then it says to massage in, so I was a little confused. When I took it out to try it's actually a cooling gel consistency and sinks into the skin and nails faster than you can say "lives in a pineapple under the sea". This actually shocked me as all the other cuticle oils I have take a good 5 minutes to absorb and always leave everything I touch with greasy fingerprints.

This applies quite wet but after around 30 seconds has disappeared but the nail and cuticle feel intensely hydrated. I suffer from very dry cuticles that are always cracking and peeling, no matte what I do but after application my skin feels soft and the peeling has almost disappeared. 

The formula itself is said to be concentrated with Black Orchid, Acai & Algae extracts and I was expecting a nice sweet smell but it doesn't really have a scent. It also only comes in a 10ml size and you can go through this rapidly. After a week a quarter of the bottle had gone which is crazy when my 1.8ml nail oil pen from the Body Shop is still going after 6 months....but then again it doesn't leave my nails feeling the same as this does.

My favourite aspect about this product though is that it doesn't leave any greasy shine after application. After I've done my nails the cuticle always feels crusty thanks to the acetone used during clean-up, but when I apply my oils it makes my finger super shiny; not great for taking photos. Due to the absorption rate of this though, I'm assured my cuticles are moisturised and there is no shine to interfere with my photos.

I have a feeling though this is a product that may have been discontinued though for it to be turning up on the cheaper sites like Fragrance direct which is a shame because I love it. Sally Hansen do a pink one called Nail Rehab which I'm guessing is similar. I just wish they did big refill bottles of this stuff because I love it.

PLACES TO BUY*:

Fragrance Direct // £3.99

Boots // £9.95

Amazon UK (with prime delivery) // £3.99

Superdrug // £9.95

Feel Unique // £9.95

Wilkos // £8.45

*none of these links are affiliated, just ones I found off google.

Antique Arabesque // Gold & Burgundy Moroccan Style Print

As we're now firmly heading into winter (sigh), I'm trying my best to put the pastels down and pick up some more winter appropriate shades; but it's hard. I just love pastel too much. However, I recently picked up one of the new Barry M Molten Metal shades (I love that range so much) and I just had to pair it with some gold baroque prints for a mani to rival your Nan's fanciest curtains.

I then stuck a matte top coat on top because why not and the end result is one of my favourite mani's ever. Who knew a matte top coat could transform a design into something else completely? It's not completely shine-less, it's more of a silk effect but it's making me stick a matte top coat on everything now. 

I desperately need to pick up the XL version of the arabesque plate though as you can see these one didn't quite fit my nail. I did a bit of stamping trickery on my thumb to get an all over print but some of the designs can't be split.

Polishes/Tools Used:
- Barry M Molten Metal // Antique Gold (burgundy with gold flecks)

- Barry M // Matte Top Coat
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #1 (gold)

- MoYou London // Arabesque 05 Plate

No Prob-Llama // MoYou London Explorer 33 Plate

Thank Jesus for nail stamping plates because without them I never would've been able to do this. I'm a terrible artist and cannot draw for shit. But, I can colour in the lines....mostly. 

This design is from MoYou London's new Explorer 33 plate which features some adorable Llamas, cacti, geometric shapes and marble patterns. That's right, I can finally be the basic bitch I am on the inside. This plate is perhaps one of my favourites that I've bought so far and has a plethora of uses.

But the design itself is based of this amazing mug I just bought from New Look, unfortunately they're no longer stocking it on their website but it's in-stores so get down to one before it disappears. I originally wanted to do the same design on the mug but I only had an hour and the new MoYou silicone mat I bought is bloody awful and I couldn't stamp multiple llamas onto it to create a decal and then colour them all in at once so I had to do it on the stamper; one at a time.

I then added a nice thick coat of delicious matte top coat. I just picked up the Barry M Matte Top coat and it's so good that I just don't know if I can go back to glossy nails now...everything needs to be matte. 

I'm super happy with how this turned out and I'm a little sad it will only last a day because of my peel off base coat; but at least I get to keep it in my peelie tin!

Polishes/Tools Used:
- Essie // Blanc (white)

- Avon Mark Gel Shine // I Pink I Can (light candy pink)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #3 (black)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #4 (white)

- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #1 (gold)

- MoYou London Nail Lacquer  // August Plum (grape purple)
- MoYou London Nail Lacquer  // Dream Holiday (bright sea blue)
- MoYou London Nail Lacquer  // Night Sail (dark grey) (not pictured, used in the marble design)
- Barry M // Matte Top Coat
- MoYou London // Explorer 33 Plate

Mani & Lola October 2018 // Nail Subscription Box

I've been an avid beauty box addict for several years now and I heard of this box when it first came out a year ago thanks to WhichBeautyBoxUK, however for some strange reason I never subbed. Well that's all changed and I'm so happy I did because this box is life. It's my most expensive sub at £22.95 a month but so worth it; I'm just annoyed I didn't subscribe sooner.

Containing all full sizes (and occasionally some travel sizes, but no samples) this box is for nail lovers. And because of the price tag it feels way more luxurious than my other boxes. The drawer everything comes in is stunning and even has a black ribbon attached to pull out the drawer. I've been using my Look Fantastic boxes to store polish but they open from the top and it was getting tedious to get polishes when they were all stacked. Now I can have a nice neat pile of labelled drawers.

But anyway, onto what's inside:

Jessica // Nourish Therapeutic Cuticle Formula (7g Travel Size - £7.95)

I was very happy to see this as I'm currently experimenting with cuticle oils/creams to see what works best for my skin. Even though it's a small tub a little goes a long way as the formula is quite greasy. It does have a nice light therapeutic scent to it though.  

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Cuccio Colour // Vegas Vixen (13ml Full Size - £4.95)

Be still my beating heart. What. A. Shade. When I first saw this I immediately thought of Metallic 4 Life from the 2012 OPI Nicki Minaj Collection. I still have that bottle of polish but it's gone super thick and the glitter chunks were always a bit too large for my liking. This though is everything you could want from a black glitter polish. The above swatch was 3 coats (no sponging or black base coat) and it's perfect. It has plenty of different sized glitter pieces and is far superior to it's OPI counterpart. This was my first encounter with Cuccio as well and I'm not disappointed. 

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Zoya // Dannii (15ml Full Size - £9.95)

Another brand first; although I have heard of Zoya before. This beautiful shimmering purple was just what the doctor ordered as only a few weeks ago I was lamenting about my lack of purple polishes. If you look closely at the bottle you can see a blue streak running though it and I was excited that this was a duochrome polish but it's not; that doesn't stop it from being perfect for the upcoming Christmas season. The above swatch required 3 coats and it was a little streaky in places but I loved the thin brush as really allowed me to get into the corners of my nails without brushing the sides.

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Orly Breathable Treatment & Colour // The Antidote (18ml Full Size - £12)

Oh man, it just keeps getting better and better. I've seen Orly a lot but never bought anything but every time I see the name all I can think of is this:

Oh hello 2005. This is nail polish though, and not a sarcastic owl, and what a beautiful polish it is. This is said to be a nourishing polish for your nails containing argan oil and vitamins B5 and C; so literally the antidote for your nails. No base coat is needed however I can't deal with not applying a peel off base coat so that won't ever happen but it's nice to know that this works with your nails and not against it. It is quite a runny formula though and stains the cuticles easily. I found it quite hard to get a nice clean line using a clean up brush and acetone so you have to be really precise when using it.

The shade though is just everything and I'm already cooking up a Halloween post with this and the next polish.

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Morgan Taylor // Sweet Escape (15ml Full Size - £4.95)

I discovered Morgan Taylor in last months Latest In Beauty box and it appears this range features frequently in this box which I'm very happy about as it's amazing. This shade is kind of a blood orange colour.

For the October box I would've preferred a more orange shade but I'm not angry. This will be used though to add some depth to leaves when I do a autumnal leaf fall look. It also stamps beautifully which you can see down below.

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Icon Glitter Dust // Cosmic Fibres (12g Full Size - £6.95)

And last but not least is a pot of glitter. This is my least favourite item mainly due to how large the glitter pieces are. I'm not really sure how to use them so I'm going to have to go off and do some research. They are lovely and holo though and you get a good amount but I'm just inexperienced with this stuff.

Price of Box - £22.95

Number of Items - 6 

Estimated Worth - £46.75

And that's everything! Even though I just got this box I can't wait for the next one and see what brands are waiting to be discovered. As someone getting into nail art seriously this is a fantastic way to discover new brands and get the creativity flowing. I'm still trying to come up with a look that will incorporate all 4 polishes and it's challenges like this that will help me improve. If your looking for a subscription box, look no further!

EDIT:
Looks I've done using this months shades:
- Fortune Teller Nails (Halloween 2018)
- The Halloween Antidote (Halloween 2018)
- The Nutcracker & The Four Realms (Birchbox Nov 2018)
- Dark Wonder (Look Fantastic November 2018)