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Holographic

Freehand, Glitter, Holographic, Uncategorised

…On The Seashore

2nd December 2013

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Last weekend I came across She Sells Seashells which is an amazing online store that sells lots of little bits and pieces for nail art within the UK. They stock a great range of unique items at crazy low prices and judging by the sneaky Instagram previews there’s only more where that came from! What I really love is that everything they sell is miniature! My nails are teeny tiny so I always go for the smallest option when it comes to nail art decorations and there are so many tiny items on She Sells Seashells that I was spoilt for choice.

You already saw me using the little deer decal in my Christmas Nail Art and today is the debut of the seashells!

I started off with Sally Hansen Coral Reef and a shimmery purple from Primark as my base colours.

The seashell is hollow inside so I made a very small dot of clear nail polish where I wanted to place it and let that dry to a little lump so there was something 3D for the decal to ‘hold on to’! To stick it down, I applied a little more clear polish on the lump and pressed the seashell down on to my nail. I used a top coat to seal it in and it’s lasted 24 hours so far!

The fine, holographic glitter on my ring finger is from Claire’s. I was hoping it would be a good dupe for China Glaze Fairy Dust and just from looking at it, I’d be convinced. However, this isn’t a smooth holographic like Fairy Dust but a very very fine glitter and as gorgeous as it is, there’s no getting away from that fact. While Glitter and I are better friends than we used to be, we’re hardly BFFs and I still have Fairy dust on my to-buy list. I still absolutely love this Clarie’s polish though – it’s opaque in 3 coats and insanely sparkly!

For the purple ruffian/half frame details, I applied China Glaze When Stars Collide freehanded with a nail art brush.

It’s all topped off with two coats of Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

31 Day Challenge, Gradient, Holographic, Uncategorised

31DC2013 Day 10: Gradient

10th September 2013

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So today is the last of what you might call the ‘easy’ challenges. From here on out it’s hardcore nail art time! This is actually my 3rd gradient in the challenge to date. I’ve been pretty bad at planning, or even glancing, ahead so far! I must admit, this is my favourite of the bunch. It looks good enough to drink, like a sickly sweet cocktail. Mmmmm… cocktails!

The lighter colour that I used for the base is A-England Princess Tears and I created the gradient with A-England Rose Bower. There’s a gradient tutorial here with detailed instructions.

I used one coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly as my top coat.

Day 10: Gradient Nails 2012

Day 10: Gradient Nails 2011

See what’s coming next in the 31 Day Challenge 2013!

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Holographic, Swatch, Uncategorised

Cirque Bejeweled and Vesuvius Swatches

17th August 2013

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Press Sample

Cirque’s Arcus collection has been sitting on my desk for way too long waiting to be swatched but I’ve been a bad blogger and not given it the attention it deserves. I got a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of swatching a full collection of 12 polishes and kind of shied away from the whole thing which was silly. I’ve decided that it’s best to work my way through it at a reasonable pace so I want to show you guys my favourites over the next few weeks at my own sloth pace!

Today I’ll be showcasing the to holographic polishes in the collection – Bejeweled and Vesuvius. I’m a huge fan of holographic polishes and these two are both welcome additions to my collection. I don’t have anything else similar to these and the blue just makes me go weak at the knees. There’s not too much to say about these polishes except that they’re perfect. They apply like a dream and the colours are stunning but you guys can see that for yourselves!

This is two coats of Bejeweled with a top coat. I also couldn’t resist adding an accent of Queen Majesty!

I would describe Vesuvius as a dark salmon colour. It’s very romantic and dreamy. I don’t have many polishes of this shade in my collection but after wearing this one I think I need more.

These particular polishes retail for $15.00 but most of the other colours in the collection are $13.00.

Cirque nail polish is available on the Cirque Colors website if you’re in the US or Sally Magpies for UK buyers. There’s a full list of stockists on the Cirque website so be sure to check that out if you’re in the rest of the world!

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Holographic, Swatch, Uncategorised

Art Deco Accents

9th July 2013

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Press Sample

A-England are back with the Burnes-Jones Dream collection. A collection of holos named after some of the works of Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones. One of the things I love about getting a new A-England polish is learning a little slice of history along with it. The names are so intriguing that I have to Google them and I always end up spending hours on Wikipedia reading up on English legend!

This beauty is Rose Bower – a deep berry scattered holo. I used two coats here topped with No7 Top Coat. The polish peeking through on my accent fingers is A-England Excalibur from the Mythicals Collection. It’s a silver foil with fine gold flakes running through it – very shiny! Again, two coats was perfect.

You can purchase A-England polishes directly from th website, a-england.co.uk, if you’re in the UK. If you’re overseas click here to see stockists in your country.

For the deco nails I used a base coat of Excalibur then a coat of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat to make it dry. I followed that by placing on some striping tape in an art deco-esque pattern and painting over it in Rose Bower. There’s a striping tape tutorial here in case the explanation wasn’t too clear!

When it was all dry I topped it with two coats of No7 Top Coat.

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Gradient, Holographic, Uncategorised

Hologradient

15th May 2012

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I’m back to doing gradients again! In the tutorial I wrote, the sponge I’m using is a bathroom sponge and is quite porous. A lot of other bloggers have been using make-up sponges to create their gradients and many of you lovely lot suggested I try one myself to get a smoother fade and less ‘bumpy’ gradient. It definitely works – make up sponge > bath sponge for gradient nails!

I used A-England Princess Tears as a base and then added A-England Bridal Veil to create a gradient following this tutorial.

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Holographic, Uncategorised

Black and White Challenge Day 4: White base with Color

10th April 2012

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Netflix is pretty new to the UK and I’ve been signed up for a while now. As is to be expected, though, it’s seriously detrimental to my productivity! I’ve spent the past two days vegging out in front of the TV watching 90’s movies. Some of my favourites include The Parent Trap, Clueless and George of the Jungle! I think I’m going to start watching The IT Crowd this week because I keep seeing hilarious gifs of it on Tumblr!

Day 4 of the Black and White Challenge calls for a white base with come colour and I knew immediately that I wanted to use a holographic. And what better holographic than THE Holographic. I heard rumours a few weeks ago that GOSH were going to bring back the ‘VHTF’ (Very Hard To Find) polish but then they died down and I’ve heard nothing on the subject since.

Gosh Holographic and Bundle Monster BM223

Stamping Plate: Bundle Monster BM223
Base Colour: Barry M Matt White
Stamping Colour: GOSH Holographic
Top Coat of NYC

Don’t forget to pop over to the other ladies’ blogs to see what they created for Day 4!

Rie at Nails and Noms
Cris at Let Them Have Polish!
Esther at Fab Fingertips
Stephanie at Sincerely Stephanie
Emily at The Laquerologist

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Holographic, Swatch, Uncategorised

A-England The Legend: Saint George Swatch

1st March 2012

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As I mentioned on the weekend, I was saving my favourite pick from The Legend collection to show you last. This beauty is Saint George – a combination of turquoise, emerald and teal and ZOMG, it’s a holographic! I knew as soon as I saw previews of this collection that this colour would have a special place in my heart and it’s now one of my favourite polishes ever.

Two coats of A-England Saint George*
Top coat of NYC In A New York Minute
(Higher-Res pictures: Sunlight, Artificial Light)

The colour shifts from deep teal indoors to a sparkly turquoise when you see it in the sun thanks to all the sparkly holo particles that come out in the natural light. I truly can’t get over how exquisite this polish is. There’s no doubt that Adina, the womanpower behind A-England, is a polish goddess.

You can buy The Legends from a-england.co.uk with free worldwide shipping.

*Product was sent for consideration. For more information, see my disclaimer.

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