Essie Gel Couture #essiexrankin

Hey everyone! This weekend in the UK was a bank holiday weekend, I know it was also Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. so I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Without sounding like I'm starting a pity party, I had the worst weekend. My car was smashed up with a hammer, I got food poisoning and my camera charger blew my electrics and set off my house alarm. They say bad things come in threes, that's a big enough three for me. Nevertheless, my nails have been a welcome distraction, and I've been writing up some blog posts to try and get ahead a bit.

Today's post is about my day at the #essiexrankin event a couple of weeks ago. I was kindly invited by Essie to join the event to promote their new Gel Couture range, and have my portrait done by the one and only Rankin. I'm still pinching myself that it actually happened, it was such an amazing opportunity, and one I definitely won't forget in a hurry. 

I was given the chance to pick out a shade from the Gel Couture range to highlight in my picture, this is the shade I chose, called Spiked With Style:

Celestial Cosmetics - The Valyrio Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Today I have a brand new (to my blog) brand to show you: Celestial Cosmetics! I was recently asked if I wanted to review for Celestial and I jumped at the chance, my new years resolution this year was to try more indies, so any chance to do so is great. And these certainly didn't disappoint. This is The Valyrio collection*, and it consists of three holo shades and three shimmery/glittery shades. Don't let the word 'shimmer' put you off because these really are stunning shades. The Valyrio collection was designed by my lovely friend Christine of Serenity Nails, based around Game of Thrones. I know this is shocking, but I've actually never seen Game of Thrones, so I don't understand the names. However, the names are actually based on the language of Valyria so I don't believe they're direct references to characters. I've also created some nail art with a few of the shades so keep an eye out for that over the coming weeks

Marble Flowers

Hey everyone! We're past the half way point in the week already, I feel like an old woman moaning about how fast time goes but I genuinely can't believe it sometimes. 'Hump day' needs some fun nails to brighten it up (although hump day is technically over in the UK). For these nails I was playing around further with the L'Oreal Color Riche L'Huille collection* (review here), and I decided to create some marble nails using this tutorial from The Nailasaurus. I wasn't 100% happy with the finished product, so I decided that adding flowers over the top would brighten things up a bit. I'm still undecided on whether these are a nail fail or not, but they've definitely grown on me so I wanted to post them nevertheless. 

Winstonia Henna Plates Review

Hey everyone! I've had such a lovely weekend, it's my boyfriend's birthday today and it was really nice to give him his presents, which I've been wanting to see his reaction to for weeks. Luckily he really liked them (or so he said!). I love giving presents, I'm sure my 10 year old self would be shocked to hear me say that but as I've got older I've really started to appreciate it more. I'm especially excited when I can't measure what their reaction will be! 

Anyway, today's post is a review of the new Winstonia Henna stamping plates*. I've recently been trying my hand at stamping a bit more, so when I was offered the chance to try this new plate duo by Winstonia I jumped at the chance. There are two plates in the collection, each containing intricate henna-inspired designs. When I first saw them I thought they would be out of my skill set but the Winstonia stamper picked the designs up with ease. I created 3 looks with the stamps to showcase them, but there are so many possibilities for great designs so I'm sure you'll see them again!

OPI New Orleans Collection Review + Swatches

This post has been a very long time coming. I've had my swatches done for ages, but then I couldn't find the time to edit them, and when I'd edited them I couldn't find the time to write the post on them. So here I am, finally sitting down and writing a post on them. Let me start by saying that I love this collection, with the exception of a couple of polishes that I haven't actually featured here I love every single polish (so a whole 10 colours, although I could only fit nine in my collage image), and so it's definitely not a reflection on the polishes that it's taken me so long to write this. Just ... sometimes life gets in the way. And it especially gets in the way of a super long review (which in my book is anything more than 6 polishes). 

The OPI New Orleans Collection* was released for Spring 2016 (it's still spring so technically I'm not even late) and is typical of their yearly collections named after a place, or even sometimes twice yearly (correct me if I'm wrong?). I know very little about New Orleans, but I do know I like these polishes, there are so many fun shades in here. Whilst they're not all 100% unique, they're great for summer and great for nail art. I have actually been using these in nail art for months so you will have seen them popping up here and there. 

Candy Coat Gel Polish Review + Nail Art

Hey everyone! Today I want to introduce you to a new gel polish brand called Candy Coat, who are offering the latest subscription box to the market, but with a twist: their boxes contain only their own gel products. I always love to discover new and exciting brands, especially ones that are being innovative, and so this really stood out to me as an interesting concept. Candy Coat offer two options:

Option 1: The colour box. This is not a subscription, so you can buy whenever you please for as little as just £35 a month (if you're in the UK) you get 10 colours and a topcoat and basecoat, which is crazy cheap. Full prices here. 

Option 2: The subscription box. This is (as the titles suggests) a subscription, but with this you get 3 Candy Coat colours and goodies including accessories, tools and candy (of course) for £18 a month.

I received neither of the above, instead I received 7 gel colours* and a topcoat* and basecoat*, plus some goodies. So I decided to pull a few of the colours together and create some nail art, plus some flat lays because who doesn't love a good flat lay? More after the jump.

L'Oreal Color Riche L'Huile Nail Polish Collection Review + Nail Art

Recently I was asked if I would like to review the L'Oreal Color Riche L'Huile collection*. I've never tried L'Oreal polishes properly so I of course said yes, but ashamedly I did no further research into the collection. Next thing I know this massive parcel turns up, and it's got drawers and it contains a mountain of beautiful polishes. As soon as they arrived I tested 5 different colours on my left hand (because I was already wearing a design on my right) and I was blown away with the consistency. They promise to be opaque in 1 coat but as I always use 2 coats I stuck with that for my testing, but application was a breeze. 

L'Oreal says that these polishes have been years in the making with testing done to ensure a drip-free brush with over 400 bristles for a precise and quick application. That does of course mean it has a wide brush, but I know many prefer a wider brush for easy application. The polishes also have an oil based formula which adds to the ease of applying them as they glide on to the nail. There's quite a unique feeling to the application of the polish, I'm guessing due to the oil, which is difficult to explain. I'm sure you'll be seeing these polishes a lot more around my blog but for now I wanted to introduce you to the collection and show you some nail art I did using some of the polishes.

Barry M Summer 2016 Superdrug Limited Edition Polishes Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Last week Barry M announced a number of new polishes, including the Lolly Gloss polishes I showed you here. The new polishes also include two limited edition Superdrug polishes and two limited edition Boots polishes. Today I'll be showing you the Superdrug polishes. This duo consists of a nude with a slight shimmer, and a pink with a gold shimmer, which makes them both unique to the Barry M collection. Both have great consistency, and I was really impressed with their shine. They are definitely worth picking up whilst you can. Full review after the jump

Daisy Dixon Rose Gold Floral Nail Art

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a lovely weekend, I spent mine exploring the Yorkshire Sculpture Park and eating ice-cream in the unusually warm weather. It was nice to have a whole day relaxing and not having to think about anything. Normally I spend Sundays doing all the washing (it's boring being an adult sometimes), but our washing machine is currently broken so I managed to escape that task for this week. In my review of Gelish - Last Call I mentioned that I wouldn't be able to resist using it again, and it seemed like the perfect colour to use for this nail art inspired by this Daisy Dixon watch*. Daisy Dixon recently contacted me and asked if I would like to pick out a watch from their collection, and of course I said yes. It took me a while to decide which I wanted as there are so many to choose from on their site, but I eventually decided on the Chloe White Floral Print watch*, mainly because I knew it would work so well for nail art. 

Barry M - Lolly Gloss Collection Nail Art + Review

Hey everyone! Today I have a review of the brand new Barry M - Lolly Gloss collection*, but rather than swatches of the collection I'll be reviewing in the form of nail art. The collection consists of four limited edition translucent shades, scented in Raspberry and Strawberry. I was quite sceptical about them being scented because normally the smell of nail varnish is just too overpowering in scented polish but these really do smell fruity, I could still smell it after topcoat and a couple of hours later too. They also dry very glossy as the name would suggest. The polishes can be worn alone or together, so I decided to put them together in this marble/red tortoise shell look.  Read more after the jump.

All That Jazz - The Proposal Collection Review + Swatches

Today I have a review of the All That Jazz -The Proposal Collection*. You will have seen me use their base coat throughout my manicures as it's one of my favourites, so although All That Jazz isn't that new to my blog, this is the first time I've done a full length review of the products. For those of you who aren't aware, All That Jazz is a sister company of the UK base of Gelish: Nail Harmony UK. It's named after Jazz Smedley, the daughter of Nail Harmony UK bosses Georgie and Jason Smedley, and her face often features on the promotional images for the products. All of these polishes are matches to actual Gelish colours, which is great for those untrained in gel/those who can't afford gel. Jazz is soon to be married, so I believe this collection is inspired by her engagement. The collection consists of two cremes, and two glitter toppers, each which match the respective creme. I love how this collection works so well together, and I was really impressed with the quality of them too. Read after the jump for my full review.

Hitched - April Meebox Review + Nail Art

Hey everyone! This weekend in the UK was the May bank holiday weekend, so we've had a nice three-day weekend. It's been great to have that extra time off but I'm actually more tired than I should be as I didn't get to sleep until 3 last night. Today I've genuinely spent the whole day re-watching Sherlock and not doing much else really because I was too tired to contemplate being productive. 

Today's review is of the April Meebox*. Meebox is a monthly subscription box (you can see my previous review of February's box here) I must stop you before you roll your eyes and say 'another subscription box?' because Meebox's stand out from the crowd in my opinion and are consistently great. I've been really impressed with both boxes I've received (and other boxes I've seen across social media that I haven't received). For just £20 a month you're getting value for money, this month's box would total almost £40. 

Each month the box has a theme, and this month's theme is 'Hitched', their first bridal theme. Each month you are emailed what the theme will be on the 1st of the month, and you can choose whether or not you would like to receive the box. There's no contract, you can opt in and out whenever you want, and I think that freedom makes them quite unique. I decided to create these simple heart stamped nails with some of the products from this month's box (read on after the jump to see the products).