Friday 30 August 2013

Love Rose Water Decals

This post contains products which were sent to me for review :-)

Hello!

Water decals have to be up there as one of my favourite nail art products, so I was excited to be able to pick some out from KKcenterhk's huge selection for review! Today I have some romantic rose decals to show you. You may also have noticed I have a coupon code for you on the right hand side of the blog!

The sheet has a ton of roses (I counted about 45) in a range of sizes, all the way down to adorable rosebuds. Application was fantastic: I cut around the roses I wanted, placed them in water for about 30 seconds and easily slid them off the backing paper. They went onto my nails with no fuss, adhered perfectly and seamlessly - no wrinkles or tell-tale line around the decal.

For my base colour I painted on Sally Hansen's Crinoline, an extremely pale pink. The four largest decals were too big for my nails so I had an idea - I cut one so I could wear it across three nails and it worked really really well! I added two smaller roses to my pinky finger to complete the manicure:



This is my favourite kind of manicure ~ feminine and rosy! I am very happy I've been able to give a rave review of these water decals. I can very honestly say I would have bought them myself if I hadn't received them for review. You can get them here...


Hugs,

Lisa xx

Monday 26 August 2013

Boots 17 ~ Cameo Crush

Hello!

Yesterday I stopped by Boots to get some bits and bobs, and while I was there I decided to check to see if 17 had any new polishes. At either end of the display they were showing off some shimmering textures and I instantly fell in love with the turquoise! It's called Cameo Crush and I paid a sale price of £2.99 (a pound off). Here are two coats:


This polish gets a joyous 10/10 from me! Amidst the turquoise it has a silver-green mermaid shimmer which shows up beautifully in the flesh as you move your fingers, and the texture is like crushed gems. It's the ocean and mermaids captured in a nail polish with a touch of vintage style.

It makes me really happy to see a cheap UK drugstore brand take on the very hit-and-miss textured trend and get it so right. I'm proud of Boots!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

P.S. Here is a bonus photo of my cat who very kindly let me disturb her chillaxing while I found some light to photograph my nails ^_^

Friday 23 August 2013

Zoya ~ Vespa

Hello!

I was given Zoya Vespa for my birthday a couple of months ago; it's my one and only Zoya as the brand is expensive for UK buyers, but its beauty made it irresistible. It's a textured polish, a delicate green with sugary sparkle, very much like a gumdrop. I've worn it a few times now but have only just gotten round to taking a decent photo! Here are 2 coats:


As I've said before I am very hit-and-miss with textured polishes. Vespa is so unique and beautiful, it's a true treasure and is firmly on my "love" list!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Freak Out over a Blueberry Muffin!

Hello!

Well this manicure named itself! I'm wearing two Models Own polishes: the ultra cool glitter mix Freak Out! worn over the scented blue-purple Blueberry Muffin. So I've ended up with a gorgeous sparkly mani that still smells very lightly and pleasantly of muffins ^_^

For this manicure I used a technique by Nail Wish to get lots of glitter on my nail in one go using a cosmetics sponge. This technique is so useful for top coat glitters, check it out!


In Lisa-related news I just got back from the hospital where I had an ultrasound, and I have gallstones! I don't know what will happen yet as the ultrasound doctor needs to send a report to my GP, but it's nice to have an answer at least.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Monday 19 August 2013

Sparkly Pink Glitter Gradient

Hello!

Today I am wearing a super-sparkly gradient made with two pink glitters! Here are my steps:

1. I used Picture Polish Revolution as a base coat so that the glitter will be easy to remove.
2. I painted one coat of a sheer French shade, Graceful by MeMeMe.
3. I used a cosmetics sponge to dab Holly Place by Nails Inc - an ultra fine and dense glitter - onto the tips of my nails.
4. I topped Holly Place with a dabbing of Rose Quartz by Barry M; this is what gives the manicure its iridescence and larger glitter pieces.
5. One coat of Seche Vite was enough to smooth and top the mani!


I am so happy with this manicure! Everything was quick and easy to do. I'll be trying it again in the future with different glitters for sure.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Wednesday 14 August 2013

MoYou Pro 07 ~ Blossom Tree Manicure

Hello!

This is my third time using my new MoYou Pro 07 stamping plate (see the rest here). For this manicure I chose the blossom tree pattern and decided to go for a bright and modern look, stamping in silver over Models Own's neon Pukka Purple. Here it is!


This image stamped very well and clearly so I am happy! :-)

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Monday 12 August 2013

MoYou Pro 07 ~ Vintage Flower Manicure

Hello!

This is my second manicure using my new MoYou Pro 07 stamping plate (the first with a review is right here). The image I used today, an intricate pattern of vintage flowers, is actually the one which enticed me to buy the plate.

As I mentioned in my first review I'd done a test stamp and didn't get good results, so I had a bit more practise and this mani is as good as the image got. The base colour is Sally Hansen's Lavender Cloud, the accent nail is W7's Black and the stamping is Konad's Special Black.


And, for reference, here is the stamping plate on the MoYou site where you can see this image as it was advertised:

http://www.moyou.co.uk/index.php/image-plates/collections/pro-collection/moyou-nail-art-design-image-plate-nail-stencils-collection-kit-set-moyou-nails-pro-collection-07.html

I am disappointed that the image on the nail is not nearly as detailed and intricate as was shown on the site. I still like my manicure and think you can make out the pattern, but it would have been amazing if you could see all the detail!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Saturday 10 August 2013

MoYou Pro 07 ~ French Floral Manicure

Hello!

Today I have for you a review of MoYou's new Pro collection plate 07, which can be bought here.

We'll start with the teething problems ~ I ordered and paid £4.99 for the plate just under 3 weeks ago. This is a new collection and upon inquiry I was informed that there would be an initial delay in shipping; I eventually received my order yesterday. This would have been fine with me... but after talking to other customers I have found out that a few porkies were told about when our plates would be shipped.

So my plea to online sellers: please be honest! I'm happy to be patient and understanding when there are problems, but only if I am being given truthful customer service!

Onto the plate itself ~ the Pro 7 plate is made up with lovely floral designs. The image size is the same as on Konad plates which may be a little small for some, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the images covered my nails fully. I decided to go for a simple-but-chic French look and stamped in black over OPI's My Vampire Is Buff.

VoilĂ !


I will be back with more reviews of this plate; upon doing a test stamp I had troubles with my favourite design on the plate and am going to have another practise to see if I can get a better result. See you soon!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Thursday 8 August 2013

Butterfly Holo

Hello!

For this mani I was already wearing Layla's Emerald Divine to cheer me up as I went back to work, so I decided to freshen it up with some butterfly wing stamping!


This is done using Nailz Craze plate NC01. I also used my Barry M nail art pens to do quick little white dots and to fill in where my stamping wasn't perfect :-)

You'll also see that I'm trying out a watermark on my photo, under advisement from very helpful fellow polishers! I hope it's not too intrusive.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Back-to-Work Nails

Hello!

Yesterday I went back to work for the first time in 3 weeks. It went well! I made it through the shift feeling happy and well, though today I'm not feeling so good. I go back for another short shift tomorrow so fingers crossed!

For my back-to-work mani I wanted something lucky plus a beautiful linear holo to make me happy, so I chose Layla's Emerald Divine. Here it is, in natural light then with flash:



Holos are so cheering!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Saturday 3 August 2013

New Blog Design!

Hello!

I've made some changes to the blog to make it look a little neater and prettier ~ putting in a new background, header, a couple of colours. Credit for the rose pattern goes to Shizoo Design. I am very much an amateur blogger and this is reflected in the level of blog design, but if there's anything really off-putting you can see I would appreciate the feedback!

Thanks so much for reading,

Lisa xx

Friday 2 August 2013

Red & Blue Mani ~ Inspired by Fishing4Beauty

Hello!

Today I decided to make my short nails pop with an inspiring mani I've had on my Pinterest inspiration board for a while. It's by Fishing4Beauty (http://fishing4beauty.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/thank-you.html) and it's a really cute combination of blue glitter, bright red polish and white polka dots. Here is my homage:


It's such a cute idea and I'm so glad I stumbled upon Fishing4Beauty's mani ~ thank you!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Rainy Day Manicure

Hello!

The weather is being a little temperamental here in North-East England but I am hoping the heat is dying down a bit as we've had some rain and thunder in recent days! I was therefore inspired to do this "rainy day" manicure :-)


Don't my fingers look extra-chubby with short nails?! I am loving the change though.

The glitter polish is Opulence by Filthy Gorgeous (I seem to have monopolised Google Images with swatches of this polish of varying quality). The little umbrellas come from Cheeky's Home Sweet Home stamping plate.

Hugs,

Lisa xx