Just The Way You Are // Birchbox January 2020 Nails

Yes, it is mid-February and I'm finally posting January's Birchbox nails. This was my second attempt and to be honest it just seemed hopeless but I finally ended up with something that I like. I also seemed to have found a way to do perfect quartz nails without sharpies or gel or layering a ridiculous amount of polishes. 

I attempted to free-hand this look the first time round and it was an awful, lumpy mess with bad colour matching. The smoosh peach and white just kind of ruined it due to the peach being too strong. 

This time around I decided to use a sheer peach polish for the marble and I ended up discovering the way to do quartz with one easy stamp. When you smoosh a sheer polish into a thicker one, the polish kind of disperses and becomes proper see-through creating that layered look that quartz does so well.

February's box may be just as late as well now seeing as how Hermes decided to deliver it to my old address instead of work. I've sent some postage money off to my dad and he's redelivering it for me. I'm seriously thinking of cutting this subscription, especially since I really don't need anymore products. 

Polishes/Tools used:-

- Cuccio // Verona Lace (off-white)

- H&M // Peach and Quiet (sheer peach)

- MoYou London // One and Only (light pink/peach)

- Twinkled T // Liquid Gold (metallic gold)

- Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy // Diamond Top Coat

- MoYou London Stamping Plates // Crystal 07

Serenity Crystals // Blue & Pink Crystal Nail Art

Some nail art that isn't terrible! I probably should've scheduled this until April (as I have a whole host of scheduled posts between now and then) but I'm not entirely happy with all the upcoming posts, they're just kind of meh. This look was also for the Clairestelle8 March prompt "Crystals" on the 16th so I'm posting it. 

I saw a look similar to this on pinterest but they had a sort of space pattern going on in the crystal bits but I'm basic therefore I had to do Rose Quartz & Serenity. I also love the Crystal plates from MoYou, I bought two of them before they sold out but I wish I'd bought them all now.

I started off with 2 layers of Blanc then applied a top coat. I stamped on all the designs I wanted to colour in using Pink Planet and then mixed Dream Holiday, Teenage Blush and August Plum with acetone to acheive that nice watercolour look. I could've done something like this on the stamper but I actually prefer colouring stamps in now on the nail and then stamping it back on top again as I find I'm not as shaky.

I adore this look though. I think it's one of my favourites; I want to do a dreamcatcher/feather look using these colours. I also love how my nails are back to normal; I'm definitely a short nail girl, no more experimenting with long nails for me.

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

- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // Pink Planet (gold to pink metallic shift)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #4 (white)

- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Dream Holiday (sky blue)
- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Teenage Blush (coral pink)
- MoYou London Stamping Polish // August Plum (grape purple)

- China Glaze // No Chip Top Coat
- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Crystal 01

Crystal Healing // Pink Gradient with Purple Crystals

Look 2 of my self-imposed Mani & Lola challenge to do at least 5 looks using that months polish. On my little sheet, I simply scribbled down "Jessica & Razzle Dazzle Chrome". I was thinking chevrons but then when I was rooting through my plates I saw the Crystal plate and was like "oh yes." 

This didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to however I did manage to paint inside the lines for the most part when reverse stamping which is a first for me; I did really take my time though. The gradient turned out quite well and I was really shocked by the pigmentation of the Essence polishes. They only cost £1.69 each but every time I use them they surprise me; I'm definitely going to have to go get some more. 

How I did it:-

I started off with a base coat of Cheeky and then sponged on 2 layers of Cheeky, Rosewood Forest and Perfect Match. After a quick dry top coat I picked up the crystal designs with Razzle Dazzle and then filled them in with Fly Away whilst they were still on the stamper. As this takes a while, I applied a layer of top coat, waited about 40 seconds and then stamped them on. I double stamped the writing and then just used another design from the Crystal plate on my middle finger.

Polishes/Tools Used:-
- Jessica // Cheeky (pale pink)

- Essence The Gel Polish // Rosewood Forest (pink mauve)

- Essence The Gel Polish // Perfect Match (salmon pink)
- Barry M Liquid Chrome // Razzle Dazzle (metallic ice pink)
- Ciaté // Fly Away (purple)

- Revlon // Quick Dry Top Coat
- Revlon // Colorstay Gel Envy Diamond Top Coat
- Barry M // Matte Top Coat

- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Crystal 01