Look Fantastic September 2019 Nails // Green & Gold Chevron Design

Oh it took me a hot minute to do these, but there is also a video *gasp*. This look was insanely easy and took me about 20 minutes, I've just been seriously procrastinating everything this month. But I'm hoping to get back on track for October and finally start doing stuff for my YouTube which has just been sitting there since I created it.

Anyway, this months LF box was amazing but it wasn't awful either. It was saved by the decent sized Caudalie eye cream and an eyebrow pencil that is actually good. But the two bath products are a miss because I never use the bath (#teamShower) and another cleanser. I have too many cleansers, it's insane. 

The box art is nowhere near as nice as the pastel watercolour design from last year ( I can't believe the blog is a year old already!) but the design is nice and easy to stick on your nails. I was tempted to watermarble this design, however I would have spectacularly messed it up so I used a stamping plate.

Here is the video and it's under 40 seconds! Watch in me in like a years time doing 1 hour live steams lol.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Ciaté // White Heat (white)
- Barry M Liquid Chrome // Bright Lights (gold)

- Maniology // Plantation Tea (green teal)
- Avon Gel Shine // Top Coat
- MoYou London Plates // Princess 05 & 12

Zig Zag Memories // Clairestelle8 September 2019

The mani for this prompt was inspired by some false nails I saw for sale in Superdrug and so instead of doing a black and white look I decided to spruce it up a bit with some holo and pink; can't go wrong with holo and pink. I also got to use Sweet Memories again; one of my favourite pink shades in my collection.

Those wonky edges may look like I free-handed the entire thing but there is a reason you can't see my thumb ('cause it's awful). I stamped on some thin zig zags then painted on top to make them thicker and more 'hand-drawn'. I think it turned out pretty well. Although trying to do free-hand designs with an A-England polish is super hard. It just turns gloopy and drags along. I was going to use on the accent nail as well but King's Road is just a tad to dark for what I was going for. It does match the OPI holo quite well though.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- OPI // Sweet Memories (pink)

- Ciaté // White Heat (white)
- OPI // Tinker, Thinker, Winker? (light silver holo)

- A-England // King's Road (dark silver holo)
- Avon Gel Shine // Top Coat
- MoYou London Plate // Tropical 34

Tea Party Trip // Neon Watermarble Design Clairestelle8 September 2019

So here is the finished result after I added the stamping from the last post. It's not awful but it's not exactly what I wanted either. I imagined this psychedelic look with melting clocks and teacups but I'm terrible at freehand and I didn't have any stamps that matched my ideas exactly and ended up with this.

It also doesn't help that all the black and white stamping polishes I have are starting to stamp really patchy. I don't know how others get super clean designs but I think I may need to 'prime' my stamping heads as it's getting really frustrating with constantly having to re-pickup designs.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Ciaté // White Heat (white)
- OPI // Dance Party Teal Dawn (teal)
- China Glaze // Flip Flop Fantasy V2 (pastel orange)

- Orly // Glowstick (fluorescent yellow)
- Artistic Colour Revolution // Love at first Skate (pink)
- Nicole Diary // Black Night (black)
- Essie // Platinum Grade Topcoat
- MoYou London Plate // Alice 02

Marba-dellic // Neon Watermarble Design

OK I needed to show you this before I kinda ruined it for the Clairestelle8 challenge (the prompt was tea party and well, my stamping did not go well...). I'm in awe of how beautiful this turned out as I've tried watermarbling with these shades before and they just wouldn't spread in the water but with some perseverance (and warmer water) I finally achieved this glorious look.

I used a white base to make the neons pop and of course used some liquid latex to help clean up. The problem with watermarbling is that there really is no fast or easy way to do it; you just need to keep practicing and know your polishes. You can watermarble with practically any polish but you've got to get it to drop from just the right height for the consistency or apply the right amount. I also dipped a clean up brush in acetone to 'free' the edges before peeling off the liquid latex; this really helped stop the edges from tearing up and for once I have beautiful curved edges.

It took me so long to decide on what photos to use as I took about a hundred. The colours just pop so nicely! These neons are also from the past few Mani & Lola boxes and I'm glad I managed to work them all together somehow as I abandoned my challenge of making at least 5 looks a month with them a while ago (there is just too many designs I want to do!). 

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Ciaté // White Heat (white)
- OPI // Dance Party Teal Dawn (teal)
- China Glaze // Flip Flop Fantasy V2 (pastel orange)

- Orly // Glowstick (fluorescent yellow)
- Artistic Colour Revolution // Love at first Skate (pink)
(The other two were used in the stamping process in the upcoming post)

Mani & Lola September 2019 // Nail Subscription Box

They kept spoilers for this months under lock and key with only Rubble being shown and when I eagerly opened the box I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed but the overall value is quite low this month. I'm really torn over whether or not I should continue as I wish there was a little more variety and theme to the box. But, lets talk about the polishes.

Paradise Found // Cuccio

13ml Full Size - RRP £4.95

Collection: Heatwave

Release Date: Summer 2019

Before we dive into the autumn months, Mani & Lola gave us one last swan song with this beautiful bright coral shade. I'm in love with this entire collection though and I only need 6 more now. I'm wearing two coats and it goes perfectly with my mustard jumpers.

Chita // Zoya

15ml Full Size - RRP £13

Collection: Pixiedust

Release Date: Fall 2013

Another shade that goes flawlessly with my mustard jumpers; even more than the last. Not only is this a perfect autumn shade, it's also a perfect christmas shade (I know...it's far too early to be thinking about that). I think this is my favourite shade in the box though. Like all the pixiedust's, it's a matte textured glitter and ready in one quick coat. I can't stop staring at my hand whilst this is on; I never want it to come off.

Ernie Your Stripes // China Glaze

14ml Full Size - RRP £5.95

Collection: You Do Hue x Sesame Street

Release Date: Spring 2019

If the last shade was from the Pixiedust collection, then this one is from the cheeto dust collection. All jokes aside, I do like the polish but it doesn't seem to match my skintone and it doesn't look great all by itself. I used some negative space leaf designs with it which looks nice; if you can find some negative pumpkin designs you'd get a really nice halloween mani. I think I may have to buy a few more from this collection though because damn it has some nice shades.

I'm wearing 3 coats in this swatch which helps build up the colour and sparkles but it could also be used as a glittery topper on just about anything.

Rubble // CND Vinylux

15ml Full Size - RRP £6.95

Collection: ??

Release Date: ??

I thought this would be a fantastic stamping polish due to how opaque it is but it's quite weak, that doesn't mean it isn't a lovely soft brown shade ready in two coats. I don't have many brown polishes so this is a welcome addition. Like most Vinylux though it does take an age to dry.

150/150 Nail File // Mani & Lola
RRP ??

M&L say this is retails at £4.95 however it isn't actually for sale anywhere so who knows. All I know is that I no longer use cardboard files anymore. This one is very sturdy and has a nice strong grit to it however cardboard files don't last long. Ever since I started using metal files, I haven't gone back. This one is also quite thick as well so it's difficult to really get in the corners if you like a rounder/almond look.

// Box Totals //

5 Items - All Full Size

Estimated Value - £30.85 (not including the nail file)

// Verdict

This box looks fantastic and is great for fall however it's getting to the point where I'm considering just buying myself 5 polishes each month for £22.95. It's not that I don't like this subscription but it feels like an awful lot of money for 4/5 polishes. I tend to buy collections now and focus more on decals/stamping so I may give this box up or start curating my own each month as a treat to myself.

Mani & Lola

Monthly - £20

3 Months - £62.85

6 Months - £113.70

12 Months - £203.40

£2.95 p&p every month

Prismaline // Opal & Tourmaline Design Clairestelle8 September 2019

I'm quite shocked with how these turned out as they were nothing like what I was going for. The birthstone for October is Tourmaline followed by Opal as a back-up. I never understood why you need a 'backup' for birthstones. Tourmaline though apparently comes in almost every colour so I thought I'd do some dark crystals with an opal-inspired background. 

Once I'd finished the look, I realised it looks strikingly similar to the design on the Ciaté Mini Mani Month 2018. I loved the design on that box and was wondering how I could re-create it, now I think I know how thanks to nail powders!

For this look I used some Born Pretty powders and did the 'ol trick of applying it to the stamper, then picking up the stamping design with a black polish. This allows you to get some beautiful duochrome designs going on with little effort. The matte top coat then brings it all together as flakies are the best when they're matte.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- H&M // Will-O'-The-Wisp (white duochrome)
- Essence Prismatic // Prisma Love (duochrome flaky)
- Nicole Diary // Black Knight (black)

- Barry M // Matte Top Coat
- Born Pretty Powders // Various shades (sorry, they have no markings!)
- Nicole Diary // 086 Plate

Camo Clouds // Clairestelle8 Challenge September 2019

My first camo look! And I did it without the use of stamping; it's pure hand drawn baby. I'm actually quite proud because it looks, well, good. I'm not the biggest camo fan so I decided to make it something I would like to wear by using basic colours. 

I started off with a white base and created gradients using the main three colours and then used the larger end of the dotting tool to make the camo design. It took me around 10 minutes to do the entire look. I was originally going to just do 1 nail with the camo on it and leave the ombres however, I keep forgetting that the french tip polish from Avon is trash and the look was patchy.

The colours make this for me though. Who needs actual camo when you can have basic camo?

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Avon True Colour // French Tip White
- Essence The Gel // Perfect Match (dusty pink)
- H&M // Wild Lilac (lilac), Huldra (blue)

- Barry M // Matte Top Coat
- Essence // Dotting Tool

Aloe You Succulents // Clairestelle8 September 2019 Challenge

I bought the new MoYou London Summer Lovin plates a while back now and I've been wanting to use them for something but keep getting sidetracked but now I've finally had the chance for this cute succulent prompt!

I wanted to do something other than just cacti and the hanging baskets on this plate are just adorable and super easy to use in reverse stamping as well. If only MoYou's stamping polishes were as easy to use as well...

I was also inspired to use the blue by this beautiful plant pot I got from Sainsbury's (it's like my new favourite place no lie. You know you're getting old when you go in the Sainsburys clothes section and actually like the clothes...) My friends got me an Aloe Vera plant as part of my leaving present and I think I've already killed it; it's only been 3 months. I can't be trusted with anything. I thought I was ready for the commitment of looking after a plant; clearly not.

I also love the background shade Pretty in Putty; I would wear that everyday if I wasn't so obsessed with doing my nails. It's such a perfect off-white cream shade that makes you look super tan. I tried to make the design look more cosy and autumnal as well seeing as how I should be putting away my palm trees and bright sunset shades....then again it's now summer in the southern hemisphere so sunset and beach mani's all year long!

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Ciaté // Pretty in Putty (cream), Part-Time Mermaid (blue shimmer)
- H&M // Huldra (light blue), Sail Away (dark blue), Cantaloupe (mustard)
- Nicole Diary // Black Night (black)

- MoYou London // Croco Spark (blue duochrome)
- MoYou London Plate // Summer Lovin' 05