SWATCHES: Soulcal & Co // Heat Shimmer & Bikini

Alright everyone, let's hop on the nostalgia train back to 2008 when we all shopped at Republic and wore SoulCal & Co. Does anyone even remember Republic? We had a shop in Blackpool town centre but it shut down years ago. It had a Schuh store on the bottom floor and I would get my converse and DCs from there because I was an edgy emo/skater (who did no skating) who refused to grow up after leaving highschool (I can gladly say I have now grown up....somewhat...I may be into the whole 'basic' aesthetic right now but once an emo, always an emo. Pretty sure this entire section is the name of a Fall Out Boy song.....).

Funnily enough, whilst writing this post I went back and did a little research and it turns out SoulCal is an own brand of Republic! Republic was bought out by Sports Direct and merged with their USC brand. My apologies to anyone not from the UK reading this but I always thought SoulCal was an American brand. It's still going as well and looking very much like the Hollister line up back in 2010.

I was even more surprised to find out that you can still order this set from Boots online! I found this set in TK Maxx and thought it was some old stock that they had acquired (which it still might be) and for £5 I thought I'd give it a go as it's pink, rose gold and has palm trees on it. Like I said, I'm totally basic now.

Heat Shimmer // Rose Gold Foil

I bought the set for this shade because it doesn't get more Pinterest than this. It surprised me a little as it took a good 4 coats on the swatch wheel but only 2 on the nails. It also has a light duo-chrome finish as it appears to shine a little peach when the light hits it. I love how it looks in the bottle with the brown palm trees so I attempted to recreate that quickly and I really love the result. It does dry with a few streaks in it but unless your super up close you can't really see that. Pleasantly surprised.

Bikini // Bright Pink Foil

Well it doesn't get more sparkly princess than this. It's not a cheap pink though which is again; surprising. I feel like there was a shade from the OPI Christmas calendar just like this. Looking at the swatch wheel it looks very similar to Reykajavik Has All the Hotspots (which is a little darker). Colour-wise though it matches Princesses Rule (how fitting) but that has a shimmer finish. I'd say this is better than both of those though. It needs at least two coats as it's a bit sheer but I'm surprisingly happy with it.

// Verdict

Relatively shocked. I won't lie; I bought them just because I liked how they looked, I wasn't expecting them to perform but Heat Shimmer is really beautiful in the sun. I perhaps paid a little too much for them, I think they should've been £1 each really but I got a cute emery board in the shape of surfboard as well so all it's not all bad. If you like the look of them, they've got loads of them in TK Maxx right now.

....pssst. I used the MoYou London Tropical 31 plate for the design And Zoya 'Codie'.

SWATCHES: H&M // Sun on Clay, The Heat is On, Monoi & Huldra

Ok so, I caved and ordered some more H&M polishes even though I got catfished by them a couple of months ago. The creme formula was actually nice and they brought out these new bright summer shades and I just love the bottle shape so much; I couldn't help myself. In fact I was so impressed with these polishes that I bought the rest of the collection.....who needs to eat???

This new collection consists of 9 shades; mainly cremes with a few shimmers. However, I have learnt my lesson with H&M shimmer shades now and their photos are not to be trusted in the slightest. Therefore, this time I have bought the shimmers with the lowest of expectations.

Let's talk about the first four shades though because they're my favourite (and I'm still waiting for the others to arrive in the post...)

Sun On Clay // Burnt Orange Creme

Yes to this shade. Yes to this formula. This is a stunning one-coater and I love it. These burnt clay shades seem to be all the rage this season and I'm totally living for it. 

Will it stamp? Yes and it looks great. It's not fully opaque but it does well on light and bright colours.

The Heat Is On // Orange Creme

Now this is a shade missing from my collection. I'm going to be doing so many sunset mani's this summer thanks to all the beautiful orange shades. This is almost neon it's that bright but it's not a cheeto-esque shade. It's a little thinner than the last shade and needs at least 2 coats but it isn't streaky or washed out. This is a perfect poolside shade

Will it stamp? I'd say this one stamps the worst but the detail is still there. This would look much better on top of bright, light colours as it loses detail on darker shades.

Monoi // Citrus Green Creme

It's very tempting to call this a yellow and I've noticed a recurring joke with polish shades now; is it yellow or is it green? It's almost as divisive as the white and gold dress....I firmly believe this is on the green side but it does have some yellow/citrus tones. It's more like a very ripe lime. Whatever it is, I love it and it's my favourite of the bunch. I just adore these types of green shades and this one matches my skin tone wonderfully as well. It needs at least two coats to achieve full opacity but it's well worth £3.99.

Will it stamp? Yes but it's quite muted. I had high hopes for this shade and it looks nice but it creates more subtle looks.

Huldra // Muted Denim Blue Creme

Another shade that is nothing like any other blue in my collection; I think this has become one of my favourite blues as it's also ready in just one coat if applied carefully. Plus it's super glossy. In the online photo this almost looks like a shimmer; it just goes to show how off their images are. This is definitely one you need in your collection though.

Will it stamp? Yes and handles detail well but don't expect any amazing colour pay-off as it's quite see-through. This is great for designs where you need the stamp to be intentionally weak (as I often do these days...).

// Verdict

I'm shocked, especially after the disappointment of the last H&M polish haul. This batch has well and truly restored my opinion of h&m's beauty range. These polishes are well made, look beautiful and perform excellently. I can't wait for the other 5 shades to arrive (although I'm still skeptical about the shimmers). I really wish they'd given this collection a name though, like 'sunsets and no regrets'. The shades are just super bright but not neon and perfect for the summer months. Well done h&m!

...psst. All the stamping images used the MoYou London Explorer 30 plate (in case you were wondering).

MATCH THAT MANI // Gold Feather Wrapping Paper

Man, I've had this wrapping paper sat in my draw for ages. I bought it specifically to copy for a nail design lol. This was back when I just bought anything with an interesting design...now I take a photo of it because that kind of thinking was wreaking havoc on my bank account. 

I saw this wrapping paper in my favourite place for random shit; TK Maxx. It's cute paper but I don't think I'll ever use it because it's too nice and I don't think anyone deserves it 😂. 

Looking at the design now though I'm wondering if I should've gone for an off-white base. I feel it doesn't look that great or it could be the amazing hot weather we had this weekend. I loved it but it wreaked havoc on my poor nails and hands. It also doesn't help that I ran out of my favourite nail oil and the replacements I have are all rubbish. Back to Ard As Nails for some more of their amazing nail oil!

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

- MoYou London // Heaven Sent (light peach)
- Born Pretty Polish // #1 (gold)

- Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy // Diamond Top Coat
- Nicole Diary Plate // ND-011

SWATCHES: A-England // Mustardseed A Fairy, Crown of Thistles & Waltz of the Flowers

Urgh, my poor bank account this month. With the new releases from MoYou London and my inability to stop buying things from Born Pretty, I thought I would've sated my nail art desires this month. But no, A-England had to make their Gem of Month two STUNNING shades that I don't have. And who can resist A-England? Especially at £4 each? They also still have some polishes left in their outlet...so I bought 4 more sneaky polishes at £3.75 each......This post will contain April's gem of the month shades plus another one I bought and then I'll do a second post on the other A-England shades I have...I need to start doing more swatch posts.

Mustardseed A Fairy // holo coral pink shimmer

Oh jeez, oh man. This shade is just *italian hand gesture*. I knew this would be something special from the moment I saw it and now I have it on I never want it to come off. It's like holographic strawberry jam. And boy the holo is strong with this one. It's quite a chunky polish compared to some other A-England but that just makes it better. It also have a little bit of a iridescent shine to it so it's not boring when you can't see the holo. This one is a little bit sheerer than most AE shades and I'd say 2 coats and your good to go. It does take an age to dry though so it's good that 1 coat looks great by itself. I am mesmorised by this shade; I can't stop staring at it.

If there was a ever a holo polish to buy; it's this one.

Crown of Thistles // holo amethyst shimmer

This is an electric purple that makes me want to put on some epic rock music and go to the club lol. The holo isn't as strong in this one and it has a slight satin finish but it's still a great, fun shade. It feels like this is the type of holo finish the China Glaze OMG collection were going for as this shade and Mustardseed a Fairy are eerily similar to BFF and TTYL, however they did originally come out in 2008, so who's copying who? Either way, these are far superior.

This is a one coater (like most AE shades) but beware again of that drying time.

Waltz of the Flowers // holo light blue to purple multichrome with hints of lilac

You know, I have a few of these grey-ish bullet coloured chrome shades that shift between grey and pink but this is on another planet. The holo keeps this alive at all angles from a dark deep grey to a light lilac. The difference between the two though really gives an added depth to the shade.

I can tell this is an older shade as it has one of the older thinner brushes and it's quite a sheer formula. Not streaky but does require two coats for maximum effect. This was the last shade I added from the outlet as I had already chosen a grey shade and this one looked to be a little different. It's not another silver holo polish and definitely stands out on it's own.

A-England

Gem of the Month

The Outlet

MATCH THAT MANI // Twinkled T Pineapple Nail Wraps

Raise your hand if you love Twinkled T stuff but you're also really bad at applying nail wraps....all the hands up?? I saw these amazing pineapple nail wraps whilst window shopping on Twinkled T and I just knew that these are my kind of nails so I took a screenshot and saved it in my 'inspo' folder. Well, the time has finally come for the Clairestelle8 April challenge. The prompt for the 9th was 'black and white' and yeah, I'm a little late (thanks dissertation....) but I knew I had to do these nails.....and there is a slight amount of gold on them but still.

I just love how these turned out, who knew something so simple could look so effective? I was going to put a matte top coat on top but these look really good shiny. It's also a perfect look for short nails which is great because I just did my monthly chop; they were getting on my nerves so much. It's so hard to type fast when they get too long and as a programmer that's a bit of a problem lol.

So here are the nail wraps:

At £5 for just one set of nail wraps, that's an expensive mani to keep recreating every now and then. So, I tried to recreate it using products I already owned and lucky for me the very first plate I ever purchased had the perfect pineapple print on it. Surprisingly, (I have over 100 plates) I don't have a plate with the square lines...although thinking of it now I could've just used a square lined one and rotated it 45 degrees when stamping......FFS. I got a line design and then stamped in on twice...oh well it worked lol.

I didn't want to use a black polish for this either as I thought it would be too harsh so I used Night Sail by MoYou London which is a nice dark grey and then used a dotting tool to apply some gold dots. I would've like to use a mustard yellow colour but I don't have that shade...yet.

This was also a super fast mani, just two coats of Blanc, then the stamping took a minute, followed by 30 seconds for the gold dots, some quick dry top coat and bobs your uncle; done in 20 minutes. Which is exactly what I need when my dissertation is due in 10 days...

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

- MoYou London // Night Sail (dark grey)
- Born Pretty Polish // #1 (gold)

- Essie // Platinum Grade Finish Top Coat
- Born Pretty Plate // BP-L076, Valentines Day BP-L002

Mani & Lola April 2019 // Nail Subscription Box

I'm back with a Mani & Lola post! I've sat out on the last three boxes (really wish I hadn't for last month though) as I had too many subscriptions and something had to give. However, now I'm nearing the end of my degree (5 weeks left...eek!) I decided to start it back up again because I miss receiving my monthly surprise polishes. 

All this month they've been teasing nude shades over their insta and I'm happy to say we've got two beautiful nude cremes, a stunning dark pink creme and some nice shimmers. It's a great box to come back to; especially because all the products are full size. Let's get into some swatches!

Cuccio Colour // Take Your Breath Away

Collection: Coquette

Release year: 2019

I'm very happy to see this in the box as I was going to buy the collection anyway, but now I only need 7 instead of 8. This shade is from Cuccio's new 2019 Coquette collection so it's amazing to see a brand new shade in the box.

Take Your Breath Away is a soft lilac hue that needs a minimum of two coats. This is a perfect spring shade.

Will it Stamp? Yes, technically, but it is a sheer creme so it won't produce outstanding results. I would use this for when I need a design to be somewhat transparent.

Morgan Taylor // Up in the Air-Heart

Collection: Sweetheart Squadron

Release year: 2016

I LOVE Morgan Taylor polishes and this shade is just beautiful. This shade is a few years older than the last as it's from MT's Fall 2016 'Sweetheart Squadron' collection. Up in the Air-Heart is pastel coral shade that needs a minimum of two coats. I don't know why they originally released this at Autumn because this is perfect for Easter looks.

Will it Stamp? Yes, and the detail is good but this another sheer creme that is quite transparent. It doesn't do well on darker shades but makes a nice contrast against white.

OPI // Samurai Breaks a Nail

Collection: Tokyo

Release year: 2019

Another brand new shade! Hailing from OPI's latest 2019 Tokyo collection is this deep purple shimmer. At first I thought this was Berry Fairy Fun from their Nutcracker range and whereas the colour is similar Berry Fairy Fun is chunkier in glitter pieces and a little lighter. I think this is the strangest polish to include in a spring box, it feels more like a Christmas party shade to me.

This one turned out to be very sheer and needs at least three coats and in true OPI fashion doesn't apply all that great. It has lots of sparkles in it though with the majority being lavender shade and then chunkier bits of red and blue scattered about. I think this is my second to last least favourite out of this months selection, however it's really annoying because it looks like space nails straight out of the bottle in photos..it literally does not look like this is real life.

Will it Stamp? Yes and better than I thought it would. It is a little sheer but looks great against lighter colours. You also get that nice iridescent sheen to it 

ORLY // Seize The Clay

Collection: The New Neutral

Release year: 2018

Oh man do I love this shade. I loved it when I saw the spoilers and I love it even more now I have it. This shade is quite recent as it was part of the Fall 2018 collection, 'The New Neutral'. This dark pink shade only needs one coat but you can add another for a little more 'depth'. This is my favourite colour from this months box, I can already see the flower art I'm going to do with it. Thank you Mani & Lola for bringing this shade into my life.

Will it Stamp? Yes and it's quite strong on light backgrounds. It does struggle with intricate details though.

NailsInc // Mermaid Playsuit

Collection: I Believe in Unicorns

Release year: 2017

I believe this collection came out back in June 2017 as that's the earliest I can find any info on it. It appears to have started as one of those deal sets on QVC that eventually makes its way into mainstream. I know that year the Nails Inc Christmas collections were all about Unicorns cause I bought one. NPD are sneakily calling this a 2019 collection??

Anyway, this is a simple sheer blue to pink shimmer. It needs at least three coats and it's my least favourite of the bunch. It's a bit too icy and I'd prefore more blue pigmentation.

Will it Stamp? It does but you wouldn't want to use it as there is barely any pigment in the design. It adds that pearlescent glow to the design but that's it.

//Verdict

A solid month! It is a little strange that they included two Fall shades in the spring box but I guess they can't include brand new collections in every box. It would've been nice to see something from the new Jessica Tea Party collection, I'm drooling over that right now. But other than that I can't really complain this month, roll on the summer collections!!

Mani & Lola

You're a Gem // Birchbox April 2019 Nails

This months Birchbox was a stunning design, but these nails just don't do it justice. I'm definitely going to have to revisit this design once I become a better nail artist because they're ok but they don't really look like the box. I used nail polish mixed with acetone and I really couldn't get that watercolour look this time. I'm going to invest in some acrylic paint though and hopefully I'll be able to get that look without ruining the base coat (and it'll be less harsh on my nails...)

The contents of the box were nowhere near as interesting as the design though this month and I felt they were a little lacklustre. I don't mind receiving body lotion and conditioner but not in such tiny samples. One month we got a 20ml conditioner and I used it in one go (my hair is down to my butt though lol).

Anyway, here are the nails!

I'm not completely unhappy but I'm not super stoked either. I just feel like they could be so much better. To be honest I should've had some new polishes by now but Born Pretty took 2 weeks to dispatch for some reason. These polishes are designed specifially to create that dreamy watercolour/marble look and I got the pink and blue especially to do some basic bitch rose quartz and serenity nails (I will never get over that pairing, it was the best).

How I did it:-

I started off with 2 coats of Blanc and then 2 layers of top coat and let them dry for a good 20 minutes. I then placed small drops of the other colours into a palette and every time I went to use them I dipped my brush in acetone, then dipped it in the polish, then dipped it back in acetone again. I'm not the best at this yet and I really couldn't get that perfect bleed as it would start to remove the other colour. I then applied a layer of top coat and then brushed on some gold streaks before ending it with a matte top coat.

Polishes/Tools Used:- (forgot to take a photo sorry!)
- Essie // Blanc (white)

- NYC Expert Last // Fresh Blue (primary blue)

- OPI // Strawberry Margarita (hot pink)
- NYC In A New York Minute // Lincoln Square Lavender (dark dusty pink)
- Ciaté // Fly Away (lavender)
- Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine// Blueberry (pastel blue)
- OPI // Lavendare to find Courage (pastel pink)
- Born Pretty Polish // #1 (gold)

Raw Beauty // Look Fantastic April 2019

What's this? The Look Fantastic box up early??? Well I've got a lot of stuff on later this month so I thought I'd take a day out to get some posts scheduled. I was a bit unsure of what to do with the box initially (although it's one of my favourite designs to date; every box should be like this). Then I saw the magazine and knew I had to do a cute leaf print on paper look.

The box itself was a little lacklustre. I would've preferred a conditioner over shampoo but the lipstick shade is quite nice for once. I thought it was a bright red but it's this nice rusty/copper/rose shade. The serum, mask and moisturiser will get used straight away but the bath salts will go into my storage box for the special day that I finally can afford a place with a bathroom big enough for a bath lol.

Surprisingly I couldn't match the shade of the box as I only have 3 brown shades...for shame. Guess I need to buy more. I stuck a matte top coat on as well but I'm glad I took photos before that as it really ruined it.

How I did it:-
I started off with 2 layers of Loom Mates then stamped on the white squares. Well, they're actually rectangles that I painted over to make them blindingly white. I can't freehand for shit. I then used the silver and a line from Holy Shapes to outline the 'paper'. Then using a multi-tude of greens (and a purple) I stamped on the leaves using the Overprint and Tropical plates.

Polishes/Tools Used:-
- Cuccio Colour // Loom Mates (light brown)

- Avon Gel Finish// Créme Brulee (light nude)

- Born Pretty Polish // #4 (white), #2 (silver), #12 (green), #379 (pastel yellow), #3 (black)
- MoYou London Polish // Olive Tree (pastel olive), Orchid Chic (purple)
- Born Pretty Warm Tea Series // WT01 Melody of Music Box (mustard green)
- Revlon // Quick Dry Top Coat
- Born Pretty Plate // Overprint L002
- Nicole Diary Plate // ND-038
- MoYou London Plate // Tropical 35