Neon Halloween // Neon Orange & Black Pumpkin Carving Design

A super quick halloween look! Not spooky in the slightest but perfect for nights out when you have about 20 minutes to do your nails.

This involved 2 coats of Paradise City followed by the designs stamped with Neither Noir with a matte top coat on top. And that's it!

Polishes/Tools Used:

Base:

- Cuccio Colour // Paradise City (orange)

Stamping:

- What's Up Nails // Neither Noir (black)

Top:

- MoYou London // Smudge Proof Top Coat

- Barry M // Matte Top Coat

Match That Mani // Strange Bird Cleanser

This look came about when I was in the shower one day and using my favourite cleanser. I've always loved the design on the bottle and have been wanting to do a matching look for a while.

I didn't want an all white base for this look and finally settled on Cuccio - Mystery in Milan however as I started painting I could smell the tell tale sign of formaldehyde. I managed to peel back the little on sticker on the bottom and yep, it's barely even 1 free. The shade isn't even that old. It's a shame as I like the shade and it doesn't have the black specks in it that all new Cuccio shades have but I hate the smell.

Anyway, this was a super quick look to do. Just 2 coats of Mystery in Milan followed by some lines in Cantaloupe first, then some more detailed stamps in Ghosted. I topped it off with a smudge proof top coat. 

I then added a matte top coat as I can never decide between matte or glossy. 

I'm glad I went with an off-white base though as I think the pure white would of slightly ruined the look. This way it also looks like a chic fall look as well.

Polishes & Tools:

Base:

- Cuccio // Mystery In Milan (off white)

Stamping:

- H&M // Cantaloupe (orange)

- Twinkled T // Smokey (dark grey)

- MoYou London // Artist 29 Plate

Top:

- MoYou London // Smudge Proof Top coat

- Barry M // Matte Top Coat

A Woman's Deer-ivative // Quick Nail Art Looks

 

A super quick nail art look today! This wintery/christmas feeling look came about whilst I was swatching some OPI shades and in my head I was like "this is the perfect background for the super detailed images on that Fall In Love plate I bought last year". Inspiration comes from anywhere.

I even decided to leave the horns on as I couldn't bring myself to remove them; it just looked cute if very impractical. I was going to do more stamps on each nail but I thought it would overwhelm it.

As I said, this one is super easy; just 3 coats of A Woman's Prague-ative, then I picked up the deer image with Lumberjack and filled in the image with Café au Lait. I applied a layer of quick dry top coat to the chosen nail, let it go tacky and then stamped away.

Polishes/Tools Used:

- OPI // A Woman's Prague-ative (orange shimmer)

- MoYou London // Lumberjack (brown), Café au Lait (cream)

- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Fall In Love 01

SWATCHES: OPI // Feeling Frisco, Sweet Carmel Sunday & A Woman's Prague-ative

In a previous OPI swatch post I mentioned wanting to get Feeling Frisco and Sweet Carmel Sunday as they were the last two I wanted out of the California Dreaming collection and shortly afterwards I managed to pick them up on eBay for £4 each. Meant to be (even if I am disappointed with them).

Feeling Frisco // Cream Bisque Creme

Collection: California Dreaming Infinite Shine

Release Date: 2017

Coats: 3

Beautiful shade, shame about the formula. This is a streaky, brush stroke filled mess and it's the infinite shine version. I don't even want to imagine what the regular one is like. I would use this as a base for a look because I'm not happy with how it looks by itself.

Sweet Carmel Sunday // Copper Shimmer

Collection: California Dreaming Infinite Shine

Release Date: 2017

Coats: 2

I was surprised by this because I was expecting a chrome finish with brush strokes but it actually has a very thin formula which allows you to build up the copper shimmer with no fear of dragging/streaking. I also wasn't expecting the subtle holo and I mean subtle. It really brings the shade alive in direct light/sun light though as otherwise it's quite dull looking.

A Woman's Prague-ative // Chunky Orange Shimmer

Collection: Euro Centrale

Release Date: 2013

Coats: 3

This is a wonderful burnt orange chunky shimmer suspended in a raspberry red jelly. The first coat is a bit thin but by the third coat your nails will look like expensive wrapping paper. I absolutely love this shade; it's my favourite out of the three and is perfect for autumn and winter.

SWATCHES: Ciaté // Mango Martini, Holiday Blues & Strictly Legal

One of my favourite things about buying nail polish from TK Maxx is that they're, more often than not, really old shades. I was attracted to these beautiful Ciaté shades for the brightness and shimmer and then stayed for the £1.99 price tag. When I got home and researched them a little I was shocked to find out how old they are!

Mango Martini // orange jelly
Release Date: July 2013
Collection: Suncatcher Collection

This is a true jelly shade which means it applies with no streaks, even though it's sheer. That means you can either wear one coat for that transparent glass effect or build up the coats for a glossy mani. I'm wearing 3 coats in the swatch and even though it looks like quite a bright orange in the bottle, it's actually more muted on the nails and isn't "in your face". The shade reminds me of cocktails and lying on the beach; clearly it captured the "Suncatcher" theme. It's been a long time since Ciaté have released a polish collection though apart from random shades every now and then! When researching this collection I was shocked to find I now only need 2 more shades to complete it! I'm missing Afterglow (a glow-in-the-dark white) and Palm Trees (lime green).

You can find out more about the collection in a post here: http://nailcandy101.com/launches-ciate-suncatcher-collection/

Holiday Blues // blue jelly
Release Date: Spring 2012
Collection: ???

This isn't my favourite blue; it's a bit too dark. It also has a warm undertone and I have a feeling this will stain your nails real bad if left on for more than a couple of hours. It's also a streaky jelly and needs at least three coats. By the time the coats have built up the colour changes slightly to an ocean blue. This is definitely a holiday shade though.

Strictly Legal // metallic grape purple
Release Date: 2009?
Collection: Metallics

This is going so far back in Ciaté's history that I can barely find any info on it. The early days of blogging! I had never seen the old Ciaté logo, it looks so weird! Unfortunately this is not an original from 2009 as it has the new logo but it's still pretty old as it has the old thin brush as well. It does apply pretty well but it's getting a little thick. This is a great shade for Autumn and Winter and I can see it with some gold designs on top for Christmas parties. It's also ready in one coat...although that could just be because it's gotten a bit thick.

Heatwave // Look Fantastic August 2019 Nails

Not the greatest box art I've ever done but still way better than last months Look Fantastic offering. I was completely inspired by the red sand/orange sunset combo and set about to recreate that. The sea foam on my middle and ring fingers are actually from the Nicole Diary marble plate and I placed it strategically to look like waves as I don't actually have a stamp like that...over 100 plates and only a few with waves on them. Looks like I need to buy more.

I was also very happy to finally do the ombre of H&M colours that I wanted to do when I first got them and mentioned here when I swatched them. They blend so beautifully together and the dark burnt orange stamps really well on light colours. I'll have to use that in a future design.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Cuccio // Flirt (white)
- H&M // Cantaloupe (mustard), The Heat is on (orange), Sun on Clay (burnt orange), 
- A-England // Camelot (black)
- Avon Gel Shine // Top Coat

- Harunouta //L080 Plate
- Nicole Diary // 076 Plate

SWATCHES: Primark Cosmic Chrome & Liquid Metal // Luna & Penny

I've been avoiding Primark polishes because a) they're all below £2 and b) it will do serious damage to my bank account. They have some beautiful shades but I know I'll just go insane and buy the entire shelf. Today is a good though because I managed to restrain myself and only buy these two new shades. But after seeing how these have performed I may just have to let my wallet take a hit because 

Luna // Rose Gold Glitter/Foil

Holy hell. This...THIS is the formula I want the H&M glitter/foil polishes to be. This is how you do a glitter foil. I am wearing just 1 coat! This stuff is insane! Plus it stamps, what even is this stuff and how is it only £1.50? They have this in gold, silver, blue and green but I'm a rose gold ho so this is my favourite. My only gripe is that it takes a while to dry and is hard to clean up but it's worth it. 

Penny // Orange Metallic/Foil

I have a couple of shades similar to this one in Artistic Revolution's "You're not glistening to me" and Orly "Valley of Fire". However, this one is set in a raspberry base and has a slight gold shift. In the bottle in kind of looks like it's on fire when the light hits it. If you got some fire vinyls, this would be perfect thanks to the gold shift. It doesn't stamp as well as Luna and also dries with some brush strokes if applied haphazardly but for the price I can't complain much.

// Verdict

Very impressed. And all Primark items are now cruelty free as well. I'm not wearing any top coat in these photos either; they're incredibly glossy and put some expensive brands to shame. Couldn't recommend them more.

Urban Beauty // Look Fantastic Beauty Box May 2019 Nails

I finally managed to get up this months Look Fantastic nails! I was wondering what to do for this month but then in the box magazine they had this skyscraper ombre thing going on and I thought city sunset mani! It didn't turn out perfectly because I don't have any skyscraper stamping plates so I freehanded it...that's right I'm entering the world of freehand. Acrylic paint just makes it so much easier.

I also really enjoyed the curation this month. The conditioner only lasted twice because I have butt length hair but it left it smelling fruity and fresh and the lip liner makes a beautiful nude lip shade. I mix it with lip balm for a nude lip. The other items I haven't used yet but I love the Polar night cream so I was super excited to receive another item from them. I was going to do a full review this month but I think I'll start next month with that stuff again. I'll just leave it at; this was a good month.

How I did it:

I started off with one coat of white polish; any will do, it's just so the ombre needs less coats. I used two and then topped it off with top coat. I used black acrylic paint to create the skyscrapers and Golden Hour for the highlights as the highlights on the box was rose gold this month.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Cutex Care + Color // Catch The Sunset (bright coral pink)
- Essence The Gel // Orange To Go (bright orange)

- Essenge The Gel // Pumpkin Spice (dark orange clay)
- Ciaté // Golden Hour (rose gold)
- Crafts 4 All Acrylic Paint // 753 Black (black)

- Barry M // Plumpy Hi Shine Top Coat

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).