SWATCHES: Nails Inc // Nail Spice Set

I saw this in TK Maxx for £12.99 and stayed strong however a few weeks later I was there again and caved because it's such a cute set! I'm also a sucker for ombre shades.

The Nail Spice set was released October 2021 with a retail price of £22.

Pudding Lane // Off-White Pink Taupe Creme

Coats: 2

Nails Inc have reused this name as it used to be a blue glitter polish from the early 2010's. I found this be on the streaky/runny side making it somewhat difficult to apply. I'm a big fan of off-white shades though so this will be going on my favourites shelf. 

2 coats can still be a bit streaky but it's not the end of the world.

Bread Street // Neutral Dusty Pink Creme

Coats: 2

I am in love with this polish. It's hard to imagine this looking bad on any skin tone. It's one of those perfect, autumn mauve dusty shades. Like Pudding Lane, it's quite runny with streaks making it slightly annoying to apply but all is forgiven on that second coat.

Honey Lane // Neutral Dusty Peach Creme

Coats: 2

This is an amazing shade that could be used for any time of the year. It pairs incredibly well with Bread Street. I can see all of these shades being used in a nude art deco look. This one is also a perfect match for my skin tone and would provide the best base for nude nails with neon decorations.

This one had the best formula so far, slightly thicker and less streaky.

Nutmeg Lane // Deep Terracotta Creme

Coats: 2

I like this shade however I wish it was more brown-ish and resembled actual gingerbread which has more of an orange tint to it. it was also the easiest to apply and you could get away with one coat but I did 2 just to smooth everything out. This is a proper cosy autumn shade and stamps really well. 

// Overall

This set is advertised as being "gingerbread scented" which is perfect for the autumn/winter seasons however there is no scent. To me it just smells like nail polish with a slight sweetener aroma somewhere. 

On the box it says you should fill in your thumb and pinkie with Pudding Lane, Bread Street to your index, Honey Lane on the middle and Nutmeg Lane on the ring finger for "on trend ombre look". So that's what I did:

I think the shades tonally match each other well and you can create some fantastic nail art however this set should have a 5th dark brown shade to complete it. 

Nails Inc // Nail Spice Set // £22

SWATCHES: Color Club // Pastel Neon Collection 2015

When I saw this 7 piece set in TK Maxx for £6.99 I practically threw it in my cart and then protected my cart at all costs...even though no one was around and if there were, they wouldn't know what Color Club is anyway unless they too were nail polish enthusiasts.

And this wasn't the only 7 piece Color Club set I got....oh no I got 2 sets for £14. I considers this a win-win scenario. Currently I can find this set on amazon for £35 and there are a few other sets which I'm considering as £5 a bottle isn't that bad but TK Maxx did me a solid.

After getting them home I did some research on them and found out this set is their full Pastel Neon collection released back in 2015.

https://colorclub.com/collections/pastel-neon

It's my two favourite finishes smooshed together to create the ultimate polish.

Meet Me At The Rink // Pale Pastel Baby Blue

Coats: 2

Even though I hate the thin brushes this was surprisingly easy to apply. The first coat was streaky, but it is a neon pastel so that's expected but the second coat covered everything. I'm surprised how glossy the polish is, usually neons are slightly satin but this reminds me of Barry M's Gelly Hi-Shine formula.

Diggin' The Dancing Queen // Pastel Lavender

Coats: 2

This is almost a one coat wonder, if you can control the polish. It's a bit on the runny side but not too difficult to apply. Again, this has a lovely glossy finish and reminds me of Ciate Spinning Teacups but brighter. These peony lavender shades are some of my favourites right now as they suit my skintone so well!

Feathered Hair Out To There // Pastel Pink

Coats: 2

This is almost a dupe for Deco Miami' Cake but both polishes are hard to get hold of in the UK so it doesn't really matter. This pink has a slight hint of peach but it's wonderfully bright and makes you look more tan. Without a doubt this is the shade I'm wearing to go watch Barbie in though.

Hot Hot Hot Pants // Pastel Peach

Coats: 2

I love this shade! It's a perfect peachy pink and these are the types of shades I'm partial to buying. Surprisingly though I couldn't find anything like it in my collection! This one is the least glossiest, with more of a satin finish. Due to this, it needs at least 3 coats. I'm wearing 2 in the photo and it doesn't look bad on photos but up close you can see the streaks.

Disco's Not Dead // Pastel Yellow

Coats: 2

This reminds me of one my favourite polish shades; Avon Lemon Sugar. It's difficult to do pastel neons and this is more on the streaky side but it does well.

Under The Blacklight // Pastel Green

Coats: 2

A bit of a seedy name for a polish but whatever. Neon pastel green is a notoriously hard shade to get right but Color Club have done a great job. It's not even that streaky. I'd say Hot Hot Hot Pants was the worst offender in the collection. This is a more affordable version of OPI's Pump up The Volume and doesn't need a white basecoat under it either. I'd say the cheapest UK alternative is Cuccio Dancing in the Dark but that has the black speck problem that releases from Cuccio in the past few years have and it's not a pastel finish.

I didn't have this on for long but I can see it proper staining your nails so get those basecoats on when wearing it.

'Til The Record Stops // Pastel Mint

Coats: 2

And last is this dupe of Essie's Chillato; also one of my favourite polish shades. It's still quite streaky though after 2 coats. I'd go with 3 but then you're looking at long dry times.

// Verdict

What a great collection. It's a shame it's so difficult to get hold of Color Club in the UK. You either have to rely on amazon or ebay as many specialist UK nail stores have stopped stocking them. 

If I had paid full price for them, I would've expected better self-levelling properties, but other than that I have nothing else to complain about.

Black Forest Gateaux-y // Purple Drag Marble Nails

So I've been obsessing over this video from the Russian nail artist extraordinaire; Sveta Sanders, and been wondering if I could possibly re-create it. She makes it look so easy; it's not fair.

This was my first time trying this though and for a first attempt I don't think it turned out all that shabby. In fact I really like it and I'll be trying it again. It was much easier than watermarbling or smooshing. The cleanup was quicker and I didn't need to use any liquid latex. I think with practice you could use this technique for instant space/geode nails.

I took 93 images of this look; that's how much I couldn't stop staring at my nails. The holo though...I forgot how much I love that Barry M holo topper. 

As you can see, the lines in my attempt are no where near as clean as Sveta's but the glittery shine from the A-England shades make this a straight up galaxy look.

The index finger was the one I did first and that's why it looks so...awful compared to the others. You also need a thick yet runny white polish to drop the other shades into. I stupidly used a quick dry one the first time. I need to buy some more 'throw-away' white polish as you can go through quite a bit doing a look like this.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Collection 7 Day Wear // White Out (white)
- A-England // Mustardseed A Fairy (strawberry holo), Maxim (purple holo), Camelot (black)
- Barry M // Diamond Glitter

- Avon Mark. // Gel Shine Top Coat

SWATCHES: China Glaze // Gone West Autumn 2019 Collection

Prairie Tale Ending // Beige Creme

I love this shade, it was one of the ones I wanted the most as these beige/clay cremes are so versatile. This one needs a minimum of 2 coats but applies well and has a super shiny finish even without top coat. 

Campfired Up! // Dark Red Creme

I've never been a big fan of red polish (or red lipstick) but I really love how this is more on the deep burgandy side of red. It's also ready in one coat and I think a watermarble design with this shade and Prairie Tale Ending would be a stunning autumn look.  Also, due to it's strong pigmentation, it works perfectly as a stamping polish.

Lawless & Flawless // Pink Jelly with Gold/Pink shimmer flakes

I kinda wish this was a little bit lighter but the tiny flecks of gold and pink really make this polish special. Each and every coat just adds more depth and it kind of reminds me of Picture Polish flaky/creme polishes. When I first bought this set I though this was a creme and was kind of upset when I realised it was a shimmer but once I got it on my nails and loved it.

Take The High Rodeo // Mauve Shimmer

I think this is my least favourite out of the collection, the flakes need to be a little bit more sparse like Lawless & Flawless. it's also more of a rose shade and rose doesn't look that good with my skin tone. A second coat makes this more wearable for me but it's not something that I would reach for to wear by itself.

Cattle Drive Me Crazy // Midnight Blue Metallic

This is so deep and so rich I didn't even realise it was a metallic polish. It has zero streaks or brush strokes that many metallics are plagued by. This reminds me heavily of Ciaté's Eclipse and looks beautiful with a holo polish and plenty of top coat. Only one coat is needed from this polish and stamps well.

Buffalo Bills, Bills, Bills // Mahogany with gold shimmer

This deep brown shade glimmers with golds shimmer in the light and if it hits it just right; you get a hint a green. This is a perfect fall shade that you could wear with one coat but I prefer two.

Gold Mine Your Business // Gold Holo Shimmer

I was surprised to find splecks of holo in this polish as at first it just looks like a regular gold shade. It needs around 3 coats but instead of being a yellow gold it's a little darker and has more of a 'rusty' feeling which is really in keeping with the Gone West theme. This would be a great shade for Christmas and New Year parties.

Cowboy, Bye // Deep Purple Holo Shimmer

And we finish with my favourite shade in the collection and the reason it caught my eye in the first place. This shade is more stunning in person than the photos let on. It reminds me of the night sky in an Arizona desert; it's just beautiful and the shade in the collection you need the most. Something new pops out at every angle. I'm considering buying another bottle just for display.

// Verdict

One of the first collections I've bought in full this year but I'm a sucker for anything Wild West related and the interesting mix of creams and shimmers have made this a fantastic autumn collection. I'm not a huge fan of the China Glaze brush and general formula however these were for the most part easy to apply and none of them had that awful matte finish. I highly recommend this collection, especially Prairie Tale Ending and Cowboy, Bye. I will say though, don't trust the promotional photos as they depict the shades much lighter than they are.

China Glaze - Gone West Collection

Letters // #Clairestelle8 Valentines Challenge

So with this prompt I was going to do the 'ye olde' parchment paper with script writing however, I've seen a lot of those so far for this prompt and wanted to do something a little different. Then a bunch a new plates arrived in the post including the adorable Scholar 6 plate from MoYou and I knew I had to do something with that. Also, my dissertation deadline is looming (and the little brats went back to school this week after half term) so I decided to do something school related.

Also, I've finally cut my nails. I tried growing them out long but I've never been a big fan of long nails and I just couldn't take it anymore. I didn't cut them as short as I normally go but I'm happy with the new style; I think squoval is the way forward for me. Plus, I don't have to worry about them breaking anymore and I can use the small stamping designs again! Wins all around.

Back to these nails though; I love them! I love that they're messy but it kind of works. It was nice not use pink so much as well. I think this is the second design this month which isn't all pink.

How I did it:-

I started off with 2 layers of White Out and then stamped on the line design using Explorateur. The blue lines are #333 using the Holy Shapes 20 plate and all the other designs are from Scholar 6 using Night Sail and #1787. I then topped everything off with a matte top coat.

Polishes/Tools Used:-
- Collection 7 Day Wear // White Out (white)

- Cuccio Colour // Explorateur (speckled grey)
- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Night Sail (dark grey)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #333 (light blue)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #1787 (light red)

- Barry M // Matte Top Coat
- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Scholar 6 & Holy Shapes 20