Dark Wonder // Look Fantastic November 2018 Beauty Box Nails

This one is coming at ya a bit late this month but I got it done eventually. I mainly had a hard time visualising what I wanted to do; especially since last months was so lackluster...but then so was the box and colours so I didn't really have much to work with. This months was much better, although I wish the entire box was the same design as the bath bomb, but you can't have everything.

I have around 400 polishes now as well and I still had trouble matching the grape purple shade of the box....I have a feeling this problem will never go away. That said, after I stuck a matte top coat on the blue shade; perfect match,

The middle finger is actually a gradient of 4 shades based on the background of the little magazine that you get with the box. It looked a little boring by itself once I had done the leaves so I free handed *shudder* the LF and squiggles with a rose gold shade. As you can see it's not great....I've just ordered one of the typography plates from MoYou though (thank you Black Friday) and it contains lots of letters in a standard font that I can use going forward. Although the dry brushing effect kinda matches the style so it's not completely awful.

The other base coats are Knee Highs and Venom with a matte top coat. After that I used Tropical 36 and Summer Vibes 03 to create the layered leaves. On the blue nails I used a combination of Feeling Free and August Plum and then on the purple nail I used Knee Highs with The Antidote stamped on top (look at me using these Mani & Lola Shades!).

Even though the clean up is a little messy (I'd just pushed my cuticles back earlier that day so they're a little unruly looking; they look better after a day or two) I actually really love how this turned out. It's both moody and perfect for winter but glamorous thanks to the addition of Golden Hour. I originally had the toucan on the index finger coloured in as well, but I went outside the lines and messed up the beak so I took it off and started again. 

Polishes/Tools Used:

- Ciaté Gelology // Knee Highs (dark shimmery blue)

- Barry M Superdrug Limited Edition // Venom (purple shimmer with gold shift)

- Orly Breathable Treatment + Color // The Antidote (dark plum)

- Orly Breathable Treatment + Color // Feeling Free (dark lavender)

- NYC In a New York Minute Quick Dry // Lincoln Square Lavender (dark pink)

- MoYou London Nail Lacquer // August Plum (light plum/purple)

- Essie // Ruffles and Feathers (teal green)

- Zoya // Codie (very dark cool brown)

- Ciaté Gelology // Golden Hour (rose gold shimmer)

- Barry M // Matte Top Coat

- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Tropical 36

- MoYou London Stamping Plate // #SummerVibes 03

Scarves & Library Vibes // OPI & Zoya

Look #2 for using items from this months Mani & Lola nail sub box! I've been wanting to do a scarf look for so long; especially now we're in winter and these just fit the bill. They're not perfect; mainly because the original white stamping polish wouldn't stamp and then I smudged everything by using a different top coat than normal but I still like the finished result.

I started out with just one layer of Berlin There Done That for the base. The shade is surprisingly opaque and applies nice and shiny; however once it starts to dry it gets that dull plastic look that seems to be common with the Infinite Shine range. I then used Codie to stamp on some darker scarf patterns to start with and was surprised at how well it worked. Codie is quite a thin and runny polish so I wasn't expected the lines to be so clean. 

Afterwards I wanted to use a more off-white muted stamping polish but Snowflake from MoYou is just awful and would not pick up for anything. I'm going to have to start doing some posts on those stamping polishes as they are completely hit or miss. I ended up having to go back to my trusty white Born Pretty polish which was too bright for what I wanted but it doesn't look too bad.

I then stamped the deer and globe designs on from the Hipster plate in white first then used Codie again in the same designs to give it a double stamp effect. I really love how the deer one turned out but I messed up the globe a bit. Once it was finished, the look reminded me of those huge office/libraries you see in mansions where there's just wood paneling everywhere.

Polishes/Tools Used:
- OPI Infinite Shine // Berlin There Done That (muted mauve)
- Zoya // Codie (dark cool brown with green undertones)

- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #4 (white)
- Essie // Platinum Grade Top Coat
- MoYou London // Hipster Plate 04
- Harunouta // Stamping Plate L010

Now That's What I Call A Haul // China Glaze, Nails Inc, Orly & Ciaté

I finally managed to upload a nail polish haul!! I do a lot of polish hauls...probably more than I should admit...but, I rarely buy polish at their actual retail price. I scour TK Maxx, Poundland, B&M Bargains, Superdrug, Boots & others for deals and $$ off because this is an expensive habit.

Today's haul is courtesy of a few places but I didn't actually spend money this time as I got some vouchers from work for coming in on my day off to cover sickness (it was my birthday as well...that I'd specifically booked off, but who cares now cause money for nail polish!!)

Let's have a closer look shall we?

We'll start with the Orly shades cause hot damn; that orange. I actually saw these a few weeks ago at the till in Superdrug and they were on offer for £2.99 each but they were at the next till over and I'd already paid. I was in a rush to get back to my car so didn't buy them and forgot about the deal. Then the other day whilst in Superdrug, these two last shades were sat there; on their lonesome. They were the last two and this time I didn't hesitate. And I am so glad I didn't. The orange shimmer 'Valley of Fire' is absolutely perfect and the exact orange shimmer I've been looking for. 'Sands of Time' is also much nicer than what you see in the bottle. You could do some great fall looks with these two shades.

I then popped into TK Maxx where I picked up the rich brown Nails Inc shade; Espresso Martini. I'd seen this in the makeup section for a while but today it had been marked down to £3 (finally) so I snapped it up before someone else did. I also picked up the China Glaze products there as well. They were both £3.99 each and retail around £7 online. I haven't used them much but the cuticle oil smells like chocolate oranges (a good start) and isn't too greasy and the top coat is nice and glossy but I can't comment on how it lasts. I'll do a post on it eventually anyway.

Not satisfied with the offering in that TK Maxx though, I drove down to the one outside of town which often has better products because there isn't much traffic (it's just further from where I live). There I picked up the Nails Inc Vacay set for £8 and the Ciaté duo for £4.99.

The Nails Inc set I'd seen previously but I wasn't going to pay £10 for it so left it. £8 is acceptable though and I'm very happy because the light pink shade 'Old Park Lane' (the right end one on the swatch wheel) is such an amazing shade of pink. The little pots are also really adorable. 

The Ciaté duo was an impulse buy because I have no self-control. But damn it's a good thing because 'White Heat' is perhaps the best white polish I've come across so far; just one coat and wham bam thank you mam. This shade doesn't mess around. The glitter polish 'Love Letter' is also quite nice but I'll probably have to sponge it on as otherwise it looks a little naff to me but I love the orange tint with the pink. Unfortunately after some searching it appears that both these shades are no longer sold. But I did find an article from Cosmo in 2016 who shared a "Top Tip" from Khloe Kardashian. She said she used White Heat under all her mani's as it 'makes the colour pop more'. To quote KoKo "so easy and so smart".....

I think the funniest part of that 'article' though is that Khloe Kardashian thinks that we think she does her own nails...

And that's everything for this haul! I've taken pictures of other hauls but keep forgetting to put them up. I really need to start scheduling posts more instead of doing them last minute.

Anyway, here are some *links to products and look out for more in-depth reviews in the future!

- Orly // Valley of Fire (found online for £11, seems to be cheapest)

- Orly // Sand of Time (£2.99 online at Superdrug)

- Nails Inc // Martini Espresso (£8.50 on NailPolishDirect, Nails Inc want £11 for it)

- China Glaze // No Chip Top Coat (£5.91 on NailPolishDirect)

- China Glaze // Orange Cuticle Oil (£5.91 on NailPolishDirect)

- Ciaté // Love Letter (old product, doesn't appear to sold anywhere reputable now)

- Ciaté // White Heat (limited edition from their 2015 South Beach Socialite Collection)

- Nails Inc // Vaycay in Colour Set (£8 on Nails Inc go go go!)

*not affiliated, just found off google

Codie Meet Suki // Silver Geometric Illusions

So you may recognise this from my Mani & Lola November box post. Now that I have a nail sub box I'm going to try and do at least 5 looks each month using the polishes and hopefully that will stop me from buying anymore until I finish my degree (I've already ignored myself as you'll see on Sunday's haul post...).

This look came about after I stamped Heart of Chrome onto my Codie swatch stick just to see how well the Artistic polish stamped; as you can see it stamps really well. This is my new silver stamping polish, mainly because it doesn't leave glitter or shimmery bits all over your hands when cleaning up (unlike my born pretty one).

I got this plate in an eBay auction where I won 6 MoYou plates for £7. They were ones that normally I wouldn't of bought because the designs didn't interest me so I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed this mani. I even did it on my other hand a couple of days later using a new brown shade and an amazing Orly orange shimmer. I would've taken photos but it was my other hand and everything just looks terrible on that hand.

Polishes/Tools Used:
- Zoya // Codie (dark cool brown with green undertones)

- Artistic // Heart of Chrome (silver chrome effect)
- Revlon // ColorStay Diamond Top Coat
- MoYou London // Suki Plate 16

Road To Holo // Moon & Stars Ombre

Just one more shade to go and I'll have the entire holographic range in the Molten Metal series from Barry M. They're just beautiful shades and these two I had to do something with the minute I got them home. Holographic Moon was not what I was expecting and rivals A England's Katherine of Aragon on it's level of holo. 

I'm not the best at photographing holo just yet so I feel my photos don't quite do this mani justice. I started out by doing three sponged layers of Holo Moon and Holo Sunburst to get the ombre which is a look in its own right:

So shiny *drool*. I then stamped on some designs from the MoYou Scandi 10 plate with one of their polishes I picked up in the sale. I've got quite a few MoYou polishes now and they're a bit hit and miss. I spent a while trying to get a clean stamp with Snowflake, but like Night Sail eventually had to settle for bits missing because I would've been there all night otherwise.

That Scandi plate though is everything. I'm cooking up a look with the mountains and the road with a galaxy sky and some cacti... It will have to wait for the Christmas holidays though when I'll have a bit more time. 

Polishes/Tools Used:
- Barry M Molten Metal // Holographic Moon (champagne pink...not rose though)

- Barry M Molten Metal // Holographic Sunburst (holo pink)
- Revlon // Quick Dry Top Coat
- MoYou London // Snowflake (off white)
- Essie // Platinum Grade Top Coat
- MoYou London // Scandi Plate 10 

Mani & Lola November 2018 // Nail Subscription Box

I can't believe it's my second month of Mani & Lola already! This months got a little moodier with some beautiful nude cremes as well as teasing the upcoming party season with another amazing glitter shade from Cuccio. This months selection contains all full sizes again along with a luxury treatment for your nails. For £22.95 a month, let's see what we got this month:

OPI Infinite Shine // Berlin There Done That (15ml full size - £9.95)

Described as a "light mauve/concrete grey" this shade is perfect no matter what the weather is outside. I can't get enough of shades like this however I'm not a big fan of the Infinite Shine formula. I've tried a few from the Peru collection and they just looked dull and flat. However, this shade is inside the OPI advent calendar this year in the normal formula so I'll compare the two formulas later on next month.

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Cuccio // Chakra (13ml full size - £4.95)

Oh my lord. My heart skipped a beat when I saw this because it's stunning. I'm not a big fan of bright red polishes but I'll buy these glittery masterpieces any day. Just like the last Cuccio polish, this one is highly pigmented and with each layer the shimmer and glitter seems to gain more depth. It's perfect for Christmas and any time you need a royal/regal mani. I also love the bottle design from this company and I'm eyeing up an 8 piece set from Nail Polish Direct as the shades are just everything.

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Orly Breathable Treatment + Color // Feeling Free (18ml full size- £10.95)

Another Orly polish in the Breathable range which is said to contain argan oil, vitamins B5 and C. Orly says not to use a base coat with this range but I can't not use a base coat. I love the large bottles from Orly but the bright Violet shade kind of feels a little out of place. I feel it should've been darker or shimmery. Either way I don't have this kind of purple shade so it's a welcome addition to my collection.

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Artistic Colour Revolution // Heart of Chrome (15ml full size - £8.95)

I first saw this and was like ".....ok...". However, I then discovered just how insanely thick and pigmented this shade is and have discovered the perfect silver stamping polish. Most stamping polishes come in tiny sizes but this thing is huge. I'm shocked by just how well this polish performs. I don't think I'd wear it on it's own but definitely in designs. I loved the combo below so much I even went ahead and made it my mani that day. 

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Zoya // Codie (15ml full size - £9.95)

This glossy dark shade is supposed to be a rich chocolate brown but to me it just looks almost black and in some lights; murky green/brown. That said I still really like the shade. This is my second Zoya polish (received the first in last months box) and I'm loving the super thin brush that comes with them as it's so much easier to paint the sides. I'll be using this shade from now on though when I want a dark base that isn't pitch black as this was so much easier to clean up than standard black polishes. 

And here's a shot of the first mani using this months shades:

Such a great combo. I'm thinking of doing something with Berlin There Done That and Codie next with some more Heart of Chrome stamped on top. 

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Spongellé // Mani Pedi Treatment Set - Flower Market (Full size - £13.95)

Now this is what I signed up for with this box. As well as trying out new polishes I wanted to receive new and interesting treatments for your hands and nails and this fits the bill and more. Housed in an adorable little magnetic pouch (which I'm going to have to use for something else because it's so cute) are two exfoliating sponges. The green one works best for your feet and the white one with your hands. They both have a buffer side and are good for 7 uses each. I think this is a fantastic idea and I'm saving them for a day when I know I can spend a good couple of hours on my hands as right now I have deadlines everywhere...it's not fun.

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Price of Box - £22.95

Number of Items - 6 

Estimated Worth - £58.70

And that's everything! I'd say the only 'dud' for me this month was the Orly polish but that's only because I would've preferred a different shade that fit the others a little better; the formula is fantastic though. All in all, this was another fantastic box and two months in it's already introduced me to Cuccio; the brand that is fast becoming my favourite nail brand.

If you love subscription boxes and nail products; this is the box for you.

EDIT:

Looks I've done using this months shades:
- Codie Meet Suki

- Dark Wonder (Look Fantastic November 2018)

- Scarves & Library Vibes 

ALL THE ADVENT CALENDARS // OPI & Ciaté

So this year I've finally dove into the world of beauty advent calendars for the first time and bought not one, not two but four beauty advent calendars....In all fairness one is actually from 2013 and another is the Birchbox one, so technically I only have two nail polish advent calendars this year........that's the normal amount...right?

Anyway, onto the boxes. I may do a quick post on the Birchbox one at some point in December because it contains an OPI polish but for the most part I'll be focusing on the three nail polish ones.

This is just a quick summary post though for those wanting to know exactly what's in each box. I'll be doing swatches of everything in later posts this upcoming December.

Ciaté // Mini Mani Month 2013 (no longer available)

I'll start with this one as it's not available to purchase anymore..obvs. It's one of the ones from 2013 and as I believe this was one of three available that year. The others were red and green (in the same pattern) but they varied in the shades included. I found this one off eBay and got it for a grand total of £15. Yep. It was brand new but as you can see from the photos I opened it up straight away to see all the pretty colours. 

This one contains:

- 19 x  5ml      Mini polishes in the Paint Pot formula

-   1 x 13.5ml  Full Sized polish in the Paint Pot formula

-   2 x 10g       Glitter & Sequins pots

-   2 x  5g        Caviar pots

There are quite a few of the previous Mini Mani Months up for sale on eBay but after some research I went for this one as the other years tend to have the same shades as this years so I didn't want any duplicates. 

The packaging is nowhere near as nice as 2018 but the further back you go the more basic it gets (and not in a good way). Clearly they've been improving the packaging each year. 

Ciaté // Mini Mani Month 2018 (£50)

Oh man, look at this majestic beauty. It's just beautiful and I'm racking my brain about how to get the design onto my nails. This one is so much better looking than the earlier years and to think I didn't even know it existed until a couple of weeks ago. This one flew past my radar completely until one night at work I googled "nail polish advent calendars" and this one popped up in an Asos ad. It retails at £50 however, I had a £11 voucher at Asos and a 20% off discount code. I got this calendar for £29 with free postage. #winning

Seeing as how I have so many calendars this year, I've already opened the left side of this calendar just to see some of the shades and swatch them as most of the polishes are their new(ish) gelology range. I've only ever tried the paint pot formula but holy hell these ones are shiny. This calendar also contains some of the amazing shimmer shades Tempest, Purple Rain, Paradise Lost, Cyclone and Supernova. I first saw these on the Ciaté website several months ago and I've been wanting them so bad. 

This one contains:

- 20 x  5ml      Mini polishes - 8 Paint Pot, 12 Gelology

-   1 x 13.5ml  Full Sized polish in the Paint Pot formula

-   1 x  5ml      Gelology Top Coat Mini

-   1 x  5ml      Cuticle Oil

-   2 x              Nail & Cuticle Tattoos

I think with this one, I'll swatch them in weeks (like week 1 etc) and put them up in three posts at the beginning of December as I don't know if I'll be able to do a post a day on two calendars (I've got 3 assignments due by the 24th December).

OPI // The Nutcracker & The Four Realms Advent Calendar 2018 (£59.95)

And last but not least is the new OPI holiday collection. I follow OPI on Insta and last month I saw the shades Dreams Need Clara-fication and Tinker, Thinker, Winker and had to have them. Unfortuantely OPI shades are £13 a pop full size, fortunately this calendar had just been released. They'd sold out on the OPI website but Nail Polish Direct still had them in stock so my mum got it me for my birthday in October. It's now waiting patiently on my shelf. 

There are 15 shades in the Nutcracker range and the 3 amazing all glitter shades were left out of this calendar (which was very sneaky of them). So I now have to go out buy the full size set for £29 to complete the collection..their finance department sure knows what they're doing. The other 13 shades are OPI "favourites" but I'm not bothered as I haven't tried any of them and they're the normal formula, not the Infinite Shine which is kinda rubbish in my opinion. 

Compared to the Ciaté 2018 one, the packing is a little lacklustre but the artwork is still pretty. My only gripes are that OPI mini's don't have the shade name on them and they didn't include the other 3 polishes in the collection.

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And that's it! I'm trying my best not to buy any other advent calendars this year but Black Friday is soon approaching and I have my eye on this Elle Magazine one (it's amazing but £125 and makeup not nail polish). There apparently is an Essie one out there, somewhere...But Essie don't appear to have updated their actual website since 2017 and neither Boots or Superdrug (the main stockists in the UK) are supplying the calendar. 

Nails Inc also have one but it's only 12 days and £49 with only 4 full sized polishes; the rest are skincare and makeup items. So overall, not many nail polish calendars this year. Orly had one last year but I'd love to see a 25 day one from MoYou London or Born Pretty. One can dream....

*none of these links in this post are affiliated, just ones I found off Google.