THROWBACK THURSDAY: Pastel Feathers // Look Fantastic September 2018 Box Nails

Alright, time for a throwback...from last month...LOL. So anyway, I've mentioned before I used to have a beauty blog but since I got into nails (and I entered the last year of my degree) I took it down as I was spending to much time on it and not spending enough time on my degree; so offline it went. I still have all the photos though and I really love some of the nail looks I did for boxes so I'm bringing them back in Throwback Thursdays. 

I adored last months LF box though and this months boring green thing pales in comparison. I think my version turned out a but to bright but I still love the result.

I started out with a white base coat and then brushed on each colour by mixing them with a bit of acetone. At some points it was almost like dry brushing as my brush ran out of colour however it kind of looks like pastel marble....perhaps I should try this technique with grey. I love me some basic marble.

I also love the white feathers. I originally wanted to do a birthday cake but I didn't have a cake stamps (yet) so I chose these feathers and now I want to use them in every pastel manicure I do.

Polishes/Tools Used:

- Avon Nailwear Pro // Orange Creamsicle
- Avon True Colour Nailwear Pro+ // Lemon Sugar
- NYColour In A New York Minute // Lincoln Square Lavender
- NYColour In A New York Minute // Raindrop
- Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine // Blueberry
- Barry M Speedy Quick Dry // Pole Position
- Ciate Paint Pots // Iced Frappe
- Essie // Blanc

Not Pictured:
- Revlon // Quick Dry Top Coat
- Born Pretty // Stamping Polish #4
- Born Pretty // Stamping Plate BP-75

Sweet Dreams // Pink Glitter & Mandalas

So I couldn't leave it alone. This is what I added to last look I did here. I really wanted to put some white mandala designs on the pink nails but I didn't want it to cover the entire nail, so I ended up sticking it at the bottom. But then the tips felt bare and I just can't stop staring at that glitter polish, so I dab dab dabbed it on.

This turned out way better than what I saw in my head. In fact, I was slightly annoyed I had applied a peel off base coat first as my favourite one is more for swatching and only lasts around 12 hours before peeling off. I think I've also gotten the hand of applying glitter on the tips now with that soft ombre. I use the small rectangle side of sponges and concentrate it at the tip, dabbing it further down when there's only a small amount let on the sponge.

Polishes used:

- OPI // Sweet Memories (light pink sheer cremé)

- Morgan Taylor // Sweetest Thing (rose gold holographic glitter)

- Revlon // Quick Dry Top Coat

- Revlon // Colorstay Diamond Top Coat

- Born Pretty // Stamping Polish #4 (white)

- Born Pretty // Liquid Latex

- Born Pretty // Stamping Plate BP L051

The Sweetest Memories // OPI & Morgan Taylor

I can't stop staring at this paring. I recently picked up Sweet Memories from TK Maxx. It was just lying there in the bargain bin with no price on and when I took it to the till they slapped a £2.99 price tag on it....bargain of the century. 

Sweet Memories is a beautiful light, sheer pink creme from OPI. Even with two coats it's still quite translucent but that's what I love about it as I'm getting into the whole "sheer" and "inverse" nail trends. They just look so classy and contemporary. Plus they're perfect for work.

I paired it with Morgan Taylor's Sweetest Thing which I reviewed in an earlier post. This has got to be one of my favourite glitter polishes to date; it goes with just about anything, but these two are a match made in polish heaven. 

Of course, being me I couldn't just leave this design be but I decided to take photos before I added anything else. I think I'm going to have to do this design again soon though because I was seriously upset when my peel off base coat took it off after a day :(

Polishes used:

- OPI // Sweet Memories (light pink sheer cremé)

- Morgan Taylor // Sweetest Thing (rose gold holographic glitter)

- Revlon // Quick Dry Top Coat

- Revlon // Colorstay Diamond Top Coat

I used the quick dry top coat just for Sweet Memories, but Sweetest Thing can lay a little bumpy so I used my thickest top coat which is the diamond one. Two coats of that and the glitter was perfectly smooth.

SWATCHES: Morgan Taylor // Sweetest Thing, Ella Of A Girl & No Way Rose

Look at those magnificent pink beauties. I'm currently subscribed to a beauty box called Latest In Beauty where you can choose 9 items a month for £18, and this month these 3 polishes were added to the selection and well I chose them faster than you can say "it's not a problem anymore". (I am thinking of cancelling this sub though for Mani & Lola which is a nail polish box instead of mixed beauty products).

I've never heard of this polish brand before, but they look fancy AF, I love pink and well, just LOOK at that rose gold sparkle:

Let's start with the most basic; Ella Of A Girl.

She's your basic pink. I was expecting this to be slightly more sheer and pastel-y than the solid Barbie pink colour it is. I think it'll make a great base colour for other pink sparkles however it's not really the kind of shade I would wear naked. It also takes about 17 years to dry, even with a quick dry polish.

Next up is No Way Rose:

This is a beautiful metallic rose gold shimmer. It dries with no streaks (unlike some other metallic polishes I've come across) and one coat is pretty good (but I like two anyway). I'm in love with this shade, it's more on the pink side of rose gold which is perfect as I have a few that are more gold/copper but this captures rose gold perfectly.

Then last is Sweetest Thing:

Look at that! JUST LOOK AT IT! Sorry for the caps but it's frankly a sight to behold. It strongly reminds me though of some pure cut glitter I have called Sweet Pink.

Similar right? Because this is in a polish though, I used the sponge technique to get that ultra sparkly, opaque look however it does come at a price as it isn't a smooth as burnishing pure glitter onto your nail. It's still a great polish though and out of all them this is design I didn't want to peel off. The accent nail using the other two polishes didn't quite turn out how I wanted as I forgot to apply a base coat, so the light pink is more of that "inverse" nail trend but they did blend together quite well. Oh, as a bonus, here's Sweetest Thing under some indoor lighting:

Look at that holo come to life. 

The actual Morgan Taylor website doesn't seem to have prices on it however I found all these polishes stocked on NailPolishDirect for £6.95 each, winning! I also found out that polishes are circa 2015; Ella of a Girl is from their Cinderella collab with Disney for the release of the film. These used to retail at £11, so go grab yourself a bargain.

Polishes:

- Ella of a Girl // Light Pink Creme (nailpolishdirect)

- No Way Rose // Metallic Copper Rose Shimmer (nailpolishdirect)

- Sweetest Thing // Pink Duochrome Glitter (nailpolishdirect)