Dotty Flowers

Hey everyone! It's the end of the weekend again, why does it always come so quick? I've had a really lovely weekend with friends and my boyfriend but I've got absolutely zero nail stuff done. Saturday is usually my nail day but I just didn't have a chance (and sometimes it's nice to have a day for me). So today I'm showing an older post that I'd not got around to posting because I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. I was sent the Winstonia - Berry Wine Brushes* to review and I've used them in most of my designs for the past couple of months but this design was the first time I played around with them. I liked the design more in person so I've debated whether or not to post them or not, but this blog should be a diary of all my designs, good and bad, so here you go. I'll do a full review on the brushes soon, but I want to get a bit better at using them first.

Paint All The Nails Presents Neon

Hey everyone! It's nearing the end of the month again, and that means it's time for another Paint All The Nails link up, and this month the theme is 'neon'. I wasn't actually going to join in this month because I don't own many neons at all and I didn't think I could create anything worthwhile. Just as I'd given up on the idea of participating, the new Models Own - Polish For Tans* collection dropped through my letterbox. I haven't received anything from Models Own for at least a year, if not two, so it was a nice surprise and also a strange coincidence. I felt like I had to create something using them for the prompt as it felt like fate, and so here I am! I used all 5 polishes from the collection for this nail art, and I'm still wearing them now. I'm not used to wearing something so bright so they keep catching me by surprise, but I ended up really liking them. 

Gelish A Very Nauti-cal Girl Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Happy hump day, only 2 more days until the weekend. I'm really looking forward to this weekend because I'm off to see Finding Dory, I have waited far too long for this film and I'm glad it's finally been released in the UK. I'm not sure why the gap between US and UK release dates was so huge. I also went to see the BFG last weekend (I seem to be spending a lot of time at the cinema recently!) and I would recommend it 100%, such a lovely version of a childhood classic. Now I just need them to do a new version of The Witches, the book (and the film) were always my favourite growing up and I loved to see a modern version. What's your favourite Roald Dahl book?

Anyway, today I have a review of the gorgeous Gelish - A Very Nauti-cal Girl Collection*. I was really excited when I saw sneak peaks of this collection because these kind of shades are right up my street. I've already used a couple of them for nail art, either on me or on others, and they're firm favourites in my collection. Gelish consistently impress me with their shades and colours, and I have friends coming back to me again and again to have their nails done with Gelish products. It's great to be able to use my friends as guinea pigs as I often can't wear polish for more than a few days (although my toes also get to be testers too!). There's been loads of amazing releases this year, and many more coming up, which I hope to be able to share with you too! You can see all my previous Gelish posts here.

White Poppies Inspired by @ane_li #sharingtheloveforaneli

Hey everyone! I recently heard the awful news that @ane_li passed away earlier this month. I was very shocked to hear that she is no longer with us, she was so talented and very much respected in the community. We all wanted to pay our respects to Ane Li, and a few nail artists have come together to recreate her designs today, the day of her funeral. I hope Ane Li's family take some small comfort in knowing that we all respected her very much and are sad to see her gone.

Multi-coloured Mermaid Scales

Hey everyone! I've had the busiest week ever, I've barely even see my boyfriend because I've been getting back home late every night, so it's nice to have had more of a relaxing Friday night (watching the original Ghostbusters - which I've never actually seen!). This has meant that finally I have time to write a blogpost without falling asleep midway through!  As I mentioned in my review of June's Meebox I created some nail art with the nail vinyls included in the box. I wanted to try them out with different colours so I used a number of colours from the Celestial Cosmetics - Pun-tastic Collection*, which I'm really loving using at the moment (as you saw in my last post). I also used the She Sells Sea Shells starfish studs from the Meebox to complete the design.

Celestial Cosmetics Galaxy Nail Art

Hey everyone! Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. I had a huge spring clean of our house yesterday and it's so nice for everything to be tidy and clean. It's so strange to me (and my mum I'm sure) that I actually enjoy cleaning and keeping my house tidy, as I was always one of those teenagers with a very messy room. But I've definitely become house-proud since we got our own place.  Anyway, before I started on my cleaning I wanted to get some nail art done with the new Celestial Cosmetics Pun-tastic collection (swatches coming soon), and I figured they'd work well for galaxy nail art. I massively underestimated how stunning holographic polishes are for galaxy nails, I can't stop staring at them! They're slightly wrecked after all my cleaning, but I'm still enjoying seeing the shift in different lighting.

OPI - Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! I'm so annoyed with myself because when I was getting ready to leave for work the other day I managed to cut my middle finger with my house keys. The cut is about an inch long and goes from my cuticle up my finger, which of course means it's going to be vet painful to use acetone for a while. It also means I'll likely have to photoshop it out as it's rather unsightly. I was halfway swatching a collection, but luckily it wasn't this one so I can at least post this for you today. 

OPI's Alice Through The Looking Glass collection* contains some really gorgeous shades. I must admit I really love how this collection looks together, I think the polishes work really well alongside each other. I also think they fit quite well with the film, although I'd have loved to see something a bit more unusual and bright in there to fit in with the Hatter's crazy style. I really liked the film itself, I actually think I preferred it to the first film, so if you haven't seen it yet I'd recommend it. From the collection my favourite is probably The I's Have It* (baby blue) although it should probably be my namesake: Fearlessly Alice*. My least favourite is A Mirror Escape*, but more on that after the jump. 

June Splash Meebox Review + Nail Art

Hey everyone! Today I've got another Meebox* to review for you. You can see my previous two reviews of the February and April boxes here. June's box is themed 'Splash' and is a mermaid-inspired box. It's a unique one, because it's entirely made up of indies. The 3 polishes, whilst usually a mix of different brands (both indie and regular), are this time all from A-England, the shades are: Whispering Waves, Gloriana, and The Blessed Damozel. The box also contains:

Mess No More liquid nail tape from Mini Mani Moo Nails

Fishscale nail stencils from Nail Mail

Starfish and Conch Shell studs from She Sells Sea Shells (which is apparently also a tongue twister when I try and spell it because I wrote that wrong 3 times!). 

There's also a couple of unique discount codes in the box too. For £20 a month you couldn't ask for more really, you're definitely getting value for money as the A-England polishes alone are worth £11 each, so that's £33 before you've even considered the rest. Mess No More is worth £10, the stencils £4 and the studs £3 so you're getting far beyond what you've paid for. Subscription boxes are nothing new, but to have a brand that consistently delivers value for money is rare, and in my experience of Meebox so far, and what I've seen on their Instagram for month's I've not reviewed, they consistently deliver. Of course I had to create some nail art with them. I didn't use the stencils (admittedly I completely forgot until it was too late) but I've used them in another design that you'll see soon.

Gelish - Botanical Awakenings Collection [partial] Swatches and Review

Hey everyone! I've had a super busy week. I got back from London on Sunday evening but I was back there again on Tuesday and as a result my week has been quite disjointed. I'm glad it's almost the weekend so I can get my mind back on track! Today I have a review of a couple of shades from the Gelish - Botanical Awakenings collection*: Primrose and Proper* and Don't Pansy Around*. Whilst there are actually 6 shades in the collection, I felt like these were the two colours that stood out to me, and I'm glad I chose them. Primrose and Proper* in particular is gorgeous, and I used it in this nail art recently. Gelish is definitely one of my favourite brands, and I'm really loving working with gel at the moment so it's great to see more lovely shades coming out, and these definitely didn't disappoint.

Jamberry Nail Wraps Review

Hey everyone! I've got something a little different to share with you today, in the shape of a review some of you may be sceptical of. Jamberry wraps have been on my radar for quite a long time, I was aware of them when they were mainly in the US, but recently they expanded to the UK and so they became a bit closer on my radar. I was approached by a number of reps to review the products, but I wasn't interested. I'm sure you've all heard the rumours, that their wraps ruin your nails, that they're not very good quality, and that their reps can be exceptionally pushy. Recently I was asked to host an event, and I was later told that this would be for Jamberry. I was left with a bit of dilemma, as I had been excited to host the event, but I'd also heard negative things about the brand. So I decided to bite the bullet and try the wraps for myself first. Why write them off before I'd even given them a chance? I decided that if I liked them, I'd do the event, and if I didn't, then I wouldn't, that way I wouldn't be supporting a brand that I didn't like or agree with.

I received a number of wraps* to try out, plus their mini heater*, application kit*, deluxe tool kit* and their cuticle oil pen*. I hadn't realised they did so many products, I thought it was just wraps and nothing else, but they've actually got some great tools too. For those who aren't aware, Jamberry wraps are heat activated. This works with a hair dryer, but their mini heater makes things that little bit easier, and I was definitely thankful for it in the end. (Full review after the jump)