Loving crackle nail varnish a bit too much!

Hello again! As you can probably tell from the title thingy I am going to be posting about crackle nail varnish again... It's just such a simple nail varnish that adds a lot to your set of nails and it's really really easy anyone can do it. The brands I have chosen to show you my new combination is:

OPI in the colour Shatter the Scales and Rimmel Pro in the colour Jade Green which is more green than the picture shows (it comes up very turquoise in this photograph.) The OPI colour was purchased first, none of the colours I had really matched it. Then this colour caught my eye and you just know it'll match underneath the crackle. So here's the first coat.



Goodish coverage bearing in mind it's only one coat so to make the nails look really professional another coat was added...

This colour looks brilliant by itself (at this point I was tempted to leave it but I wanted the crackle also, so I carried on.) It's really deep green colour as the name suggested, a great colour also for this time of year as it's cold but not cold enough yet for me personally to go for the browns and navys. It brightens up your feeling in comparison to the bleak weather.
Fun bit now!! Adding the crackle!!

There you go - instant effect on your nails, I'd have to say that this was brilliant to put on as you could get different range of effects depending on the thickness which you applied. Tip - don't put too much on or it doesn't crackle and you get a big blob on top of the lovely painted nails. Definitely recommend this nail crackle as it was effortless to apply. Finally adding the top coat.



They came out so well, sun came out to show them off to you guys! I'd give a thumbs up to these nail varnish as they were great to put on as they weren't gloopy as well as the nail brushes were practical shapes and also dried very quickly (good for me as I am very clumsy with wet nails...) The crackle is great with other colour combinations as I found out trying with other nail colours after this success.

A new colour for today's nails!

Trying a new nail polish for today so I thought I'd review it as it was going onto my nails! The nail polish is Navy Glint by Seventeen which as a brand I haven't accumulated that many of. (It's a surprise that I haven't squirrelled away the whole collection.) Therefore I haven't really decided if I love them or hate them yet... meaning completely unbiased writer.

Here goes... Putting the nail polish on is really easy, nice flat and curved brush making it way easier to create a neat nail polish line. Only thing I'd say at this point it definitely needs another coat as the coverage isn't that great but I am sure it will be with another coat on top. This shows how professional I am, I just managed to knock the lid out of the pot meaning nail polish is all over my desk now.

Here's the nails after one lovely coat, it doesn't look all that great so I am adding another layer so that it'll look nice with better coverage.

That is much better! I think all it needs now is a top coat then all the great shimmer effect in the nail polish will come out for everyone to see!

Tad da! Looking brilliant with the shimmer in as it sparkles in the light. That has made me all smiley as it came out really well. The colour of the nail polish is a great dark navy in real life, the photograph makes it seem a little lighter than it is. That's the review done and I'll get back to you on how long it lasts and how easily it comes of, but so far today it's got a thumbs up!

Buying Nail Polishes: £1 shop thrift!

Whilst sat staring at my nail polish collection wondering what on earth I was going to post about, I thought that I'd give the guys and girls who live in the UK a few tips on buying cheaper yet equally as good nail polishes from the £1 shops. (or near to me is the 99p stores) You may be thinking at this point that I am going to post about less know brands that aren't in high-street drugstores, well your going to be proved incorrect as I show you some of the brands I have searched and found in these inexpensive stores...

As you can see from the photograph, these aren't all cheap nail varnishes. Would you like the tips and tricks to how to get them? Hopefully you said yes because I am telling you anyway...

• To get the best bargains within these stores don't be afraid of going through all the different racks on the shelf as the goodies most probably are hiding at the back as the ones at the front have gone then been replaced with something else at the front.
• The brand names aren't going to stand out as they are normally placed in a clear bag so that the bottle can be seen without having to pay for a new label. So you should look for the rack with nail polishes in the clear bags as these are the brands bought by the shop at a reduced price.
• As shown by the MNY Maybelline polishes in the picture, don't be put of by the fact it's aimed at young teens because it's a brilliant brand Maybelline, in my experience they are as good just in colours that weren't popular with young girls. The colours I collected was lovely silver and shimmery black.
• Get to know your brands! Then it is waaaaaaaaaay easier to spot a good brand a mile off. Local to me is a lot of china glaze nail polishes in the 99p store but people around me don't know the brand so therefore aren't buying it. More for me!
• Finally, don't be put off if a lovely nail polish is has either settled a little or split as you can just shake it for a while but the high end nail polishes can't do that for a whole batch so they sell it on. Just don't buy it if it's not in a brilliant condition. (Always check this!) 

That's it, I believe. The main thing is don't be put off by the fact it's a £1 shop because there are always some bargains in them, you just have to look for them!

A like and a dislike...

A realisation came this morning that so far on my nail polish blog I have only posted about nail polishes which I either like or love. This seems awfully positive for a person that has had loads of polishes which I have disliked. So to be truthful to you many hundreds of followers (just kidding) I decided I'd post about a nail polish which I have not liked (I am surprised as you are about the brand) and also a nail polish I have liked (another brand shocker!) Here we go!

The Good. This is it, I was unsure of this brand at first seeing as I have bought from them previously (a few decades ago...) and it didn't turn out too well seeing as the coverage wasn't great. Leading to being put off and also believing the fabulous new colours looked great in the mini bottle but probably not on the nails.
However a brain change came when seeing some rather positive reviews from other lovely bloggers. I took the plunge, buying two at once seeing as they were on offer. Everyone loves a good bargain now and then. Pink Bikini is very pink and very bright (an understatement) also brilliant to wear with a bikini when the lovely weather returns next year. Additionally Orange Attack was purchased which is similarly as brilliant. From the limited experience gained with this range recently it's definitely one to pick if you want stand-out bright nails as the name suggests. A real colour show...

The Bad. Begrudgingly a Barry M nail polish is the dislike in this post. As can be seen from other posts, this brand is popular as a whole especially the lovely colours within the range. However I cannot bring myself to appreciate this effect nail polish which promised loads of sprinkles and coverage as your top coat. Reason for the dislike is due to my belief that the coverage of the little pink and white sprinkles doesn't come out the way on the stand appeared (which was the desired effect) even with a few coats. Another con to this particular nail effect is that it does seem to take forever to come off which when I am out partying to the late hours up late, I don't want to be up even later trying to get this off for work the next day. So sorry Barry M makers it's not a hit for me, others may disagree though - which my friends do. One last attempt to like this nail polish was tried in the making of this blog but sadly it didn't work...

After writing a not so positive review about a nail polish I don't feel great anymore. I'll have to write another positive one to balance out the evil tomorrow. Here's the combination of the like and the dislike to end the blog...

Favourites for a long time: Barry M 284 and 350

This nail colour and effect have been favourites of mine ever since I got into nail varnishes as 284 is such an emerald green which just stands out and matches most of the clothes I own. As well as this 350 as an effect goes with every colour I've ever tried (which is a lot of colours believe me!) and is just ever so sparkly which is always a plus.

 As you can probably see from this lovely photograph, I have been using this colour a lot! I painted my nails like this today and sadly I can no longer get any sparkle out of 350 (reasoning for this post) meaning I am probably going to replace it at some point as it's such a regular. If I were to recommend out of the two, I'd say go for 350 seeing as it stands out so much and it goes with any colour you have in your collection, whereas gold glitter tends really only go with gold, red and black...

Here's 284 and 350 in action on my very short nails! Give these Barry M nail polishes a chance or any other Barry M nail polishes seeing as 99% of them are amazing. (I have probably got 99% of Barry M's nail polishes.) :)