Makin' Waves // Glitter Mermaid Nail Art

What's this? Some nail art? I know it's been a while. I had a quite a big deadline for my dissertation the other day and I've been working on it non-stop. It's not the final hand in, but there's only two months left and I can't afford to fall behind. I've worked so hard these past three years, I can't fail now. However, since I've caught up on my work, I've scheduled in some 'me' time as I've not had much fun. Doing my nails last night for the first time weeks was so nice!

Clairestelle8 over on Instagram has a March challenge and whereas I won't be actively trying to complete it this month (I have to much work to do), I'll be dipping in and out fo the challenges. The prompt for the 9th was 'Mermaid'. I wanted more than anything to just to mermaid scales but I forced myself to something a little different. Plus I've been wanting to use this glitter since I bought it in January.

Look at it! It's so beautiful. Money well spent.

How I did it:-
I started off with 1 layer of Mint Chocolate Chip. The middle finger uses a design on Sailor 06 and a mixture of Dream Holiday and #284 ( I know it doesn't look like it, but there is a gradient there). The index finger uses Sailor 18 which has 3 different waves patterns on it. I used these with Deep Ocean, Surf's Up and #17 to create the waves. I did the top colour first, then the black tail fin, then the next two colours. To top it off I used some of the stars at the top of Sailor 18 with Stop, Shop & Roll. The glitter is then two sponged layers with two layers of top coat to get a nice smooth look.

Polishes/Tools Used:-
- Morgan Taylor // Wrapped In Riches (teal glitter)

- Morgan Taylor // Mint Chocolate Chip (pastel mint)
- Morgan Taylor // Stop, Shop & Roll (metallic teal)

- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Dream Holiday (sky blue)
- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Surf's Up (cerulean)
- MoYou London Stamping Polish // Deep Ocean (ocean blue)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #17 (blue)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #284 (pastel blue)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #3 (black)

- Avon Mark Gel Shine // Top Coat
- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Sailor 06 & Sailor 18

SWATCHES: H&M // Nefertiti, Barely Peach & Kalahari

OK, so I've been staring at h&m polishes for a while now because they're not overly expensive (£3.99 each) but they're too expensive for a clothing brand polish and an 8ml size. Their website is also very dodgy and makes every single polish look amazing. I was fooled by that website big time. 

Nefertiti // Gold Glitter

This was the polish that made me purchase in the first place. The photo makes it look like a stunning metallic gold foil type polish. Instead its a chunky dark gold glitter. It's not an awful gold shade as it's not too yellow but I'm severely disappointed that I paid even £3 for this. I was really hoping to do some stamping with this but it's just gold glitter suspended in a clear polish.

Barely Peach // Sheer Peach Shimmer Top Coat

This polish actually makes me angry. I'm seriously thinking of sending in a complaint to h&m about this one because it is nothing like how it is advertised.

This is it's listing and nowhere on this page does it state that this a SHEER shimmer top coat. That photo makes it look like a beautifully pigmented peach shimmer/foil, instead I got this weak-ass top coat. I even paid full price for this; I wouldn't pay 99p for what I got. In the bottle you can tell it's a clear polish with shimmer pieces, if I'd picked this up in the store I wouldn't have bought it....no wonder you can't buy their nail polish instore. It's a scam. I stopped at five coats of this stuff and sponging it instead is no different.

Kalahari // Dusky Pink Creme

Again, not what I was expecting. I thought this was a ballerina pink shimmer. Their photos are just the worst.

Instead it's a dusky pink creme. It's not a terrible creme though so I'll actually let this one off as I can see myself using this one. I tried putting Barely Peach on top and it looks ok, but I wouldn't have bought Barely Peach for soley that reason. This one applies well though which gives me hope that their cremes are actually quite good. I think it's also the perfect nude for my skin tone so it gets another plus there. But I can't quite get over how drastically different the shade is to whats advertised.

//Verdict

Stay away from h&m polishes. If you can find these in store somehow, please go look at them first because they are nothing like the photos online. Even Born Pretty does a better job at representing their polishes than this.

All I can say is that I like their bottles; they're clean and classy but my god am I annoyed at spending £10 on three polishes that were nothing like they were advertised. I just bought seven for £9 from Born Pretty and they're better than these three. 

The only time I'll ever be buying h&m polishes again are if they're on sale for £1; even then it might not be worth it.

H&M Nail Polish

Nefertiti | Barely Peach | Kalahari

SWATCHES: Born Pretty // Warm Tea Series

So, I accidentally added this entire series to my shopping cart on Born Pretty....don't look at me like that. I couldn't help myself...plus they were only £1.20 each. That's a good deal man. The review photos also tipped me over the edge, one person literally said "just get all of them". So I did.

I ordered on the 12th of Feb '19 and paid £2.75 for tracked shipping and they arrived on the 23rd. I swear Born Pretty has invented teleportation or something, I once had a package arrive from them in 6 days but yet 5 weeks later I'm still sat here waiting for my shipment from MoYou London....you're  a 4 hour drive away MoYou, four hours.

Anywho, lets get straight into the swatches! As these are stamping polishes, I've tested them out on both a black and white base and tried to keep everything consistent so results wouldn't vary wildly (3 days after writing this, I cut my nails short...so the summer mints swatch is on my old nails; ffs). 

Also, here is a list of the ingredients found on the box. Born Pretty are quite mysterious about their polish contents and every box in this series has the same information so I'm not sure how accurate it is considering they haven't listed individual colourings. However, if these ingredients are anything to go by it would appear they are at least 3 Free polishes.

Born Pretty Warm Tea Series Ingredients:
-Butyle Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Dibutyl Acetate, Tin Oxide, Isopropyl Alcohol, Acrylates Copolymer, Titanium, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Mica, Dioxide, Silica

May Contain:
- Aqua, Acrylates Copolymer, Peg12 Dimethicone, Parfum, Propylene Glycol, Alumina, Stearyl Alcohol, Iron Oxide, Polyvinyl Acetate Emulsion, Polyester Glitter

Swatch Conditions:
- Black Base // Essie - Licorice
- White Base // Essie - Blanc
- Stamping Plate // MoYou London - Tropical 14
- Stamping Tool // MoYou London - Crystal Clear Rectangular Stamper
- No Top Coat
- Indoors at night with spotlight & two daylight toned softboxes

WT01 Melody of Music Box // Olive Green

I love this shade, I really do. I can understand why some would hate it as it's that strange olive/mustard green colour but I love nearly all shades of green so it does it for me. There is actually a h&m shade called Olive Twist that I've seen a lot in nail art but it's been sold out for a while now and this is practically identical so I'm really happy to have this. Also, I just bought my first h&m shades and now I think I'm glad I don't have it....you'll see.

WT02 Blueberry Macaron // Sky Blue

This one is super easy to apply and works well on both dark and light colours. I'd say this is probably the best performing one in the set.

WT03 The Noon Sunshine // Lemon

Apart from being almost neon, this is the worst performing shade. It's extremely thick, streaky and dries ultra fast making it very hard to apply. It is nice and bright though and works very well with dark colours.

WT04 Summer Mints // Pool Blue

This one is a little bit weak on top of darker colours but has good all round performance. Not only is it easy to apply the smell on this one is quite weak compared to the others.

WT05 Crimson Cheeks // Rosy Red

This one is extremely pigmented and you can almost get a away with 1 coat if you're using it as a polish. It's not as vivid on dark colours and I'd say this is more red than crimson but it looks great on white.

WT06 Cherry Blossoms // Cherry Blossom Pink is accurate

This is a very nice soft pink that stamps well on top of lighter colours; it is a little wishy-washy on darker shades though. This one has the thinnest formula so it's done quite well considering. I'd say this one is my second favourite out of the lot. It's also very glossy by itself whereas the others have somewhat of a dull finish.

WT07 Coral Grapefruit // Coral

And last but not least is the reason I bought this set in the first place. I don't have many peach/coral shades and wanted a stamping shade specifically. I like how this looks stamped, not so much as a block colour by itself but it is easy to apply. 

// Verdict

I have quite a few of their small square stamping polishes and compared to those, these are no where near as pigmented but I have a feeling their supposed to be used for both stamping and as a regular polish. As a cross between the two I think Born Pretty did a really good job with the formula; especially since they're only £1.20 each. I consider this to be an absolute bargain. The greens and blues will definitely get used now we're heading into spring. A solid little set here from Born Pretty, I highly recommend!

Also, if you do want to buy them all, make sure you add them to your basket individually instead of the option that says "add all 7 colours" as it will actually cost £11.02 instead of £8.40. 

Born Pretty Warm Tea Series

Valentines Schmalentines // Nail Fails #2

So there were four other designs last month that I just couldn't bring myself round to post as I wasn't proud of them in the slightest. However, it's nice to see people fail sometimes; it's a good reminder that we're only human after all and you can become skilled anything with enough time and practice. I clearly still need more time and practice lol.

So, here are the designs I didn't want to show off this past February:

Fail #1 // Wedding

So this was the design I did for the Clairestelle8 Wedding prompt and it was based off a popular pin on Pinterest. That look used rose gold and pink and to be different I used blue and gold. I don't think it's terrible. I'm surprised how neat the detail looks considering I had to *shudder* free-hand it. I'm terrible at free-hand, I'm no artist and never will be however the french tip decals I had were too strong and kept ripping up the polish. Don't buy nail tips from Avon everyone.

Fail #2 // Hearts

I literally have no idea what this is supposed to be. I was swatching a colour because there was nothing on my thumb (a sign that I was swatching) but I can't remember what it was now. Regardless, I clearly decided to stick a glitter top coat on, then add some stamps for no reason. This is just a jumble of stuff with clearly no thought put into it. I give it 2/10. Next 👏 Nails 👏. 

Fail #3 // Roses 

WHAT WAS I THINKING?? I am disgusted by this mani on so many levels I think I triggered myself. Excuse me whilst I hold an #ifndef_nails_h_ is over party. This actually started out with a black base coat and I was attempting to do a stained glass look with roses....it did not go well so I just thought "fuck it, I'll smoosh it." And smoosh it I did....this was my first attempt at smooshing, it kind of looks like sewage water in some places and nothing says romance quite like sewage water....My thumb is the part I can't get over the most; just ew to this whole thing.

Fail #4 // Roses II - The Rosening

Ok, so this actually isn't that bad. I had just received some new Born Pretty polishes and really like the coral colour. I think this would be ok without the roses but I had to incorporate roses into it in someway otherwise it wouldn't fit the prompt. I don't think this had been executed badly, nor does it look bad; it just makes no sense to me.

And that's it for this compilation. Don't worry, this won't be the last one. There are plenty more fails instore. Here's the first fail post if you'd like some more:

- Nail Fails #1

SWATCHES: Cuccio Colour // 2018 Wanderlust Collection

Well I finally got round to swatching the Cuccio Wanderlust collection. I bought these back in the NPD black friday deal at the end of November for £25. I will say I was little disappointed when I first opened the box because they look nothing like the photos on NPD.

How is that photo representative of the shades? To me it looks like there's a mint shade, a dark green, a rose gold metallic and a dark purple creme, however I've grown to love them anyway as it's a beautiful set of Scandi inspired greys and golds.

Blissed Out // Chunky Gold & Silver Glitter

Due to Nail Polish Direct's off photos I though this was a pale sage green glitter, meaning I was a little annoyed when I discovered it was gold. However, thanks to the silver, this is a beautiful gold glitter that doesn't have an overly yellow tone to it. In the swatch I'm wearing 4 coats applied normally but my little finger is 3 sponged coats. I like both effects, especially when it's just applied normally as it kind of has this foil look to it. It's also super shiny and already looks like I'm wearing top coat. 

Wind In My Hair // Light Grey Shimmer

Ready in 3 coats I was a little disheartened at first when I found out this was a shimmer. The shimmer is extremely subtle when applied though and so I'm not really all that fussed now. I wish the formula was a little thicker though as this would've made a nice stamping shade but it is quite sheer and needs several good coats. 

I Wonder Where // Light Grey Creme

On a glance, this and Wind In My Hair look almost the same however, I definitely prefer this out of the two and I've already used it in several looks; this is my go to grey creme. These two are so similar in fact, that I originally deleted the photos of this one because I thought I already had them....That's also the reason why my index finger is shorter than the rest of the nails; I suffered a breakage *cries in nail polish*. This shade though almost has this warm undertone sending it into the mauve category and it goes with just about anything. I tend to do no more than 2 coats when using this.

Explorateur // Speckled Grey Shimmer

This beautiful shade kind of reminds me of grey denim thanks to the darker grey bits scattered in the polish. It looks like it would be textured but it dries smooth which I love even more as textured polishes aren't really my thing. I'm wearing two coats and it's super shiny by itself. I especially like the subtle red and blue shimmer that appears in the right light. If you're after a blinding mani though try this with Blissed Out on top; the shine is insane.

True North // Muted Mauve Brown Shimmer

This is almost identical to OPIs Berlin There Done That but it has soft shimmer finish instead. Generally I really like these nude shades and prefer them over reds or brights. It's ready in two coats but it's so similar to other shades, if you already have the OPI one then I'd say don't bother.

Transformation // Dusty Pink Shimmer

I kinda wish that this was a creme instead of a shimmer as I have so many pink shimmers now but this is an ok shade. The brush strokes are quite visible with this one though but from far away, it looks nice. The shimmer on this is also more on the silver side and can make it look a bit 'icy'. It does suit my skin-tone though which is nice for once. I will say it goes nicely with Dreamville. I'm wearing two coats in the swatch.

Dreamville // Gold Foil Glitter

I think this one might be my favourite out of the bunch. It has this gold foil finish but has this pink tinge to it to stop it from being too yellow. I also love the holo glitter chunks; I'd wear this all day everyday. It's sort of like Merry Whatever from China Glaze but I definitely prefer this one. I'm wearing two coats, but if applied slowly, you could probably get away with one as it's super pigmented.

Road Less Traveled // Violet Chrome

And last is a not quite chrome but not quite metallic polish. Ready in one coat this shade also contains some blue and red shimmer. I love this one as I don't really have anything else like it and the shade is really something. I like how they didn't just go for a silver or grey chrome.

//Verdict

If you have a spare £29.95 lying around and want to buy some quality nail polish; buy this set. I've not come across a truly terrible Cuccio polish and I now want to try and own every Cuccio polish as I love the bottles as well; they truly have become one of my favourite polish brands. The brush isn't the best; I feel it's a little to flimsy but at £4.95 a pop I can't complain that much. They appear to have a new set coming out soon (although it's all 'out of stock' at the moment) full of muted pastels and I'm severely tempted to buy the lot.

Cuccio Wanderlust Collection