Subscriptions are the future! For me, a stereotypical millennial, it all started with Netflix and now I’m at the point where my razor blades are delivered through my postbox on a regular basis.
I think subscription boxes are so popular thanks to their Treat Yo’ Self factor and the simple truth that everyone loves surprise mail! There are subscriptions for everything these days and one that might be too tasty for any nail addict to turn down is one to a monthly box of nail goodies.
OPI’s Spring/Summer 2016 offering, the New Orleans Collection, has been on shelves for a little while now and the polishes have been sat in a box at home for a while waiting for me to swatch them. I fixed my ring light this weekend which really put me in the mood to film something, so I figured I’d try something I’ve never done before – a swatch video to show the colours in action. There’s no talking, no messing around, just 2 straight minutes of pretty colours and super-satisfying nail painting up close! I have also ‘properly’ swatched and photographed my favourites but I’m saving them to put up on Instagram (@thesammersaurus.)
Finding a good white polish is a journey for any nail art lover. And at some point during that journey, you’ll come to realise that one white polish probably isn’t enough when it turns out your favourite white base is pretty much invisible when you try to stamp it over plum, or the one you found that so perfectly stamps over dark black just looks like a hot, streaky mess when you try to wear it alone. I’ve been there too, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
To an outsider, it may seem excessive to name 4 ‘must have’ white polishes – it’s just white nail polish, right?! But think of it in real-life terms – you wouldn’t paint the radiators with the same paint you use on the walls. Just like you don’t paint the shed with the same paint that’s on your car. Each of them has different characteristics and yields different results so really, 4 white nail polishes is quite prudent!
When I posted a posted a shot of my Hello Kitty mani on Instagram last week, you guys got pretty excited. Seems Kitty White has a lot of fans out there!
So in case you didn’t know, OPI have teamed up with Hello Kitty for a range of nail polishes which was obviously met with a hot dose of buzz and anticipation. There are a total of 12 polishes in this collection, but 6 are salon exclusive shades. The 6 that I have are the ones that will be hitting shelves in stores: 5 Apples Tall, Let’s Be Friends, Look at my Bow!, Spoken From The Heart, Super Cute in Pink and Charmmy & Sugar. They’re all in the purple / pink / red range – so all quite, what I would call, girly shades.
A-England’s latest collection is dedicated to Emily Brontë, author of the world famous novel, Wuthering Heights. I’ve never read the book but have been picking up on references to Cathy and Heathcliff since I was little thanks to the Kate Bush song of the same name. We used to watch a lot of Top of the Pops 2 in my house!
I have swatches of the whole collection today and you will have already seen some of the shades popping up in my nail art recently. Of the five polishes, we have 2 bold holos (Let Me In and Spirit of the Moors), 2 creamy holos (Cathy and Wuthering Heights) and a multi-glitter in jelly (Heathcliff). All of them apply like a dream and are such regal colours which exactly what I’ve come to expect from A-England.
A-England have kindly donated the whole collection for one lucky to reader to win. Make sure to fill out the form at the end of this post to enter!
A-England are back with another jaw-dropping collection of inspired shades in the Rossetti’s Goddess collection. I have two polishes from the collection to share with you today: Proserpine and Incense Burner.
Two Coats + Top Coat
Proserpine is a rich, turquoise-y teal holographic polish. A-England really have a knack for taking deep shades like this and turning them in to perfect holographics. If you like this one, you also need to check out Saint George from ‘The Legend’ collection (see my swatch here)
Shop // Proserpine £9.00 rrp
Two Coats + Top Coat
Incense Burner is a shifter. In the shade, it looks like a scattered plum holo, but catch it under the right light and you’ll see hints of bronze and green. This is the kind of effect I’d expect to see with a flakie or duochrome topper (applied over a creme) but with Incense Burner, you get the same effect in just two coats.
Shop // Incense Burner £9.00 rrp
