NOTD: OPI Rainbow Connection

Posted by Laura | Manicure Tips,NOTD,Nail polish | Friday 11 November 2011 8:00 am

Another NOTD post so you can tell I’ve had the week off work and time to paint my nails! My bottle of Rainbow Connection from OPI’s Muppet collection has finally arrived so I couldn’t wait to try it out. It’s very sparkly for this time of year but it was my little boy’s birthday so I think glitter is allowed!

Rainbow Connection is a mixture of three sizes of glitter bits in silver, gold, blue, green, pink and orange. I’ve seen a few other blogs compare this to Deborah Lippmann’s Happy Birthday polish and looking at swatches it does seem similar but about only half the price.

I’ve applied three coats here for a proper glittery finish however I’m sure just one coat of this would look lovely over a dark colour base. Application is easy though you do have to push the glitter around a little with the brush to ensure even application. Removing it was a pain as with all glitters but it looked so stunning on my nails that it was definitely worth it! I picked this bottle up from Amazon for £9.50 include packaging though I get the feeling this will be one of the first of the collection to sell out.

NOTD: OPI Warm&Fozzie

Posted by Laura | Manicure Tips,NOTD,Nail polish | Wednesday 2 November 2011 8:00 am

I’ve been wanting to try quite a few of the polishes from the OPI Muppet collection ever since i saw the promo images earlier in the year and especially after seeing a few swatches on other beauty blogs. I had been struggling to narrow down my choices until I saw this fab post from Helen at Just Nice Things which shows swatches of the whole collection. In the end I picked up Warm & Fozzie and Rainbow Connection. I’m still waiting for Rainbow Connection to arrive so for now here are my swatches of Warm & Fozzie.

In the bottle Warm & Fozzie looks like a bronze duo chrome in the bottle with a hint of a pinky sparkle. Application was easy though I did need three coats  to achieve an even finish. That said I find OPI polishes usually dry quite quickly so it’s not a problem applying an extra coat.

On the nails I think Warm & Fozzie is really stunning. It has a foil type finish and you can see shades of pink and gold. This isn’t as flash as the glittery numbers so can be worn as an everyday polish which makes me think I will be using this  lot in the coming wintry months! At the minute you can pick this polish up for £7.99 on Amazon and it for me it arrived in only a day.

Models Own Nail Art Pen & More Leopard Print Nails!

Posted by Laura | Manicure Tips,NOTD,Nail polish | Monday 17 October 2011 8:00 am

I picked this Models Own nail art pen up a couple of weeks ago in a Boots 3 for 2 offer and have finally got round to giving myself a nail art manicure to road test the pen. I’d been after one for a little while after discovering that a permanent marker or eyeliner just doesn’t do the same job.

The pen also has a very fine brush attached so can be used for a drawing strips as well as using it as a pen. The black plastic of the pen is quite flexible so I actually find this quite easy to use as you don’t require too much pressure to squeeze the polish out. This probably isn’t the most inventive of manicures ever but I thought I might as well stick to something I know I can do, leopard print nails! Next time I’ll try something different.

I think there are plenty of nail tutorials already out there so I won’t go into the details. I used a couple of coats of my gold MUA polish followed by a few dots with my Nails Inc Jermyn Street finished over with the black detail using the nail art pen. The manicure itself didn’t take too long and I even managed to get the same effect on my right hand.

The Models Own Nail Art Pen was £5.49 and is available from Boots or Models Own online. If a novice like me can use this pen then I think it’s definitely a good product!

NOTD: Purple 17 Magnetized Nail Polish

Posted by Laura | Manicure Tips,NOTD,Nail polish | Sunday 9 October 2011 1:59 pm

I kid you not this is in fact purple! I think it’s just my bad picture taking which makes this appear more of a murky black. I’ve seen a few NOTD pictures on other blogs of the new magnetized nail polishes so I  couldn’t resist picking up one to try in Boots the other day.

Application was really easy, all you need is one thick coat and a few seconds with the magnet. You need to do my finger at a time otherwise the polish will have dried before you can create any patterns. The magnet is located in the lid which comes off the top of the brush and you simple use the ridge on the edge of the magnet to balance it on your finger with the magnet hovering above your nails.

I’m not sure these pictures quite do the polish justice but then it can be hard to capture a polish with an almost 3D finish on camera. The light wavy patches give a holographic quality to the polish which means I just want to spend all day admiring my nails! The only downside is that without a topcoat tip wear appears after only a day though the bottle itself does recommend using a topcoat which isn’t really much of a chore when you’ve only had to apply one coat of polish to get this amazing finish. The Magnetized Nail Polishes from 17 currently have £1 off so can be picked up for the bargain price of £4.99.

http://www.boots.com/en/17-Magnetized-Nail-Polish_1236505/

Special K Nail Polish From Nails Inc

Posted by Laura | Manicure Tips,NOTD,Nail polish | Wednesday 5 October 2011 1:14 pm

I think we all love getting something for free so I couldn’t fail to mention the new offer from Special K and Nails Inc. Everyday for 12 weeks there are 100 of these vibrant nail polishes up for grabs. All you need is the promotional code from a pack of special K which you enter online for the chance of winning.

Now that autumn is most definitely here I love the rich, vibrant shades on offer. This is such a vibrant red polish that it can brighten up the darkest of wintery days! I must admit I do love the diamante on the bottle lid as it helps make it stand out amongst the rest of my nail polish collection.

I had a black tie do on Saturday night so I thought this was the perfect polish to go with my black and cream outfit. I think a polish this bright requires flawless application so I think I did pretty well. I did initially start of trying to do a couple of thin coats however this seemed to drag a little over my nails so instead I found one thick coat applied a lot smoother and gave a glossy finish.

This polish doesn’t claim to be a one coat polish however I found that one coat was all I needed to obtain an opaque finish. Perfect if your in a rush as I find most one coat ail polishes actually require at least two to get a finish I like. Tip wear wise I had this on my nails three days before the tips looked a little chipped which I think is quite good going for a polish which only needs one coat.

I have to admit my nails still have a little tinge of red even though I’ve scrubbed them clean but then any bright polish often tends to leave a little bit of staining. Consider this polish can be won for free when Nail Inc polishes usually cost around £11 I think it’s well worth the time to log on and enter!

*pr sample

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