All That Glitters - Meebox November Review + Nail Art

Hey everyone! Everything is still super busy in my life, I'm moving house next Friday and I haven't even starting packing yet because I've barely stopped! And I've stupidly agreed to host people from work tomorrow evening at my house... why did I do that?! So as I'm sure you can imagine things are a bit hectic and blogging is having to take a bit of a backseat, but today I have a treat for you with this review of the gorgeous November Meebox, this month's theme is 'All That Glitters'* so of course it's absolutely chocka block full with glitter. This month's box contains:

Little Ondine - Rumba*: £11

A England - Crown of Thistles*: £11

Floss Gloss - Dime Piece*: £7.50

MeeBox Holo paper*: £2

Naio Nails Glitter pot*: £1.10

 

So it has a total value of £32.60 but it costs just £20, you can't really go wrong with that!

I was trying to debate what I could do to use all the products in the box, in the end I realised I would have to sacrifice at least one product and that had to be Little Ondine - Rumba, but I used the rest of the products in the box to create this fun glitter heart design.

Here's a quick shot of all the gorgeous products in the box!

To get your hands on next month's 'Wizard of Oz' themed Meebox, worth a staggering £60.. for just £20, you can visit their website, but be quick, it's going to go fast!

What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Alice

*some of the products in this post were provided to me for review but all opinions are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way

Essie Glitter Leaves

Hi All! Hope you're having a good December so far. I'm trying to get into the Christmas spirit, I'm feeling a lot better than I have been so I've even been able to sing along to a few Christmas songs. It's good to know that I haven't turned into a complete Scrooge! But whilst I might be getting into the Christmas spirit, it's still Autumn on my nails, with the gorgeous Essie Winter 2016 collection*. These were just a quick design I did to try and get myself back into the swing of things but I ended up wearing them for nearly 2 weeks, which wasn't exactly the plan! But it's a testament to how long-lasting these polishes are. 

Morgan Taylor Floral Crowns

Hey everyone! I did hope my last post would motivate me to start posting regularly again, but unfortunately since my last post things got a lot worse in my personal life and I had to take some time for myself. I'm still not sure I'm ready to come back completely, I really hate not posting and I miss posting multiple times a week but for the moment I need to concentrate on making myself a bit happier again. I'll try and get back to posting regularly in the next couple of weeks because I'm really excited to start doing Christmas nails and I hope I can find the motivation.

I wanted to get something out there though, I've had a few posts sat in my drafts but I've had writers block when it comes to actually typing them out. These nails were inspired by the wonderful lbebeauty on Instagram. She always does such gorgeous designs with Gelish, and when I was sent the Sweetheart Squadron collection by Morgan Taylor, which is a dupe of the Gelish - Sweetheart Squadron collection, I knew I had to recreate one of her designs.

All That Jazz - Homecoming Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! I'm baaaaackk. I know two weeks isn't a super long time, but for me it's been ages, this is probably the longest I've not posted. I've always said I'd never take an unannounced break but unfortunately sometimes life gets in the way, and it's got in the way big time recently. I've not even painted my nails for 3 weeks, nevermind had the energy to post. But as I've said before, my blog is my escape and I need to make time for it and make time for me, so here I am. It's taken me 2 days to write this blogpost but I'm forcing myself to type it now before I go to sleep, and hopefully now I'll be motivated to be posting again. 

Unfortunately due to my unscheduled break I am slightly behind with posts, so today I've got a review of the stunning All That Jazz - The Homecoming Collection*. The collection is one of five different wedding inspired collections created to celebrate Jazz (the namesake of the brand) getting married. Each collection is named after a part of the wedding process, so there's The Proposal, The Bridal Party, The Honeymoon, The Homecoming and Happily Ever After. All the shades in the collections are perfect dupes for Gelish shades in nail lacquer form. I've already reviewed The Proposal here, and you can also see some nail art with The Bridal Party here. The Homecoming* has some stunning shades which are absolutely perfect for autumn. Full review after the jump

Glitter Pumpkins

Happy Halloween everyone! I hope you've all had a fun day dressing up. My work dressed up on Friday instead as Monday is a super busy day and we wouldn't have had time to play any Halloween games, so I didn't actually dress up today. But on Friday I was Wednesday Addams, which makes a chance from my usual cat outfit that I do every year! I of course had to post some nails on Halloween, and whilst they are more autumnal than scary, I hope you still like them!

Barry M Rose Gold Geometric

Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a lovely weekend. I've had quite a busy weekend so far and we're off to Chester today to go the zoo and do a bit of shopping so another busy day ahead. Whilst I'm waiting for my boyfriend to be ready I thought I'd write a quick blog post as I haven't had much of a chance recently. I created these rose gold geometric nails a couple of weeks ago whilst I was playing around with the gorgeous autumn releases from Barry M. Their recent Molten Metals collection from a few months ago contained a copper shade which was close enough to rose gold that I thought that they wouldn't possibly create anything closer. Well I was wrong, their newest releases include Twinkle Twinkle*, a limited edition polish especially for Superdrug. You'll know how much I love creating nail art with rose gold if you've been followers of my blog for a while, so of course I had to do something with this. I wasn't really sure where I was heading when I started these nails, but I just went with the flow and I really liked the end result. 

Madam Glam Gel Polish Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a lovely week so far. I've still got a lot going on at the moment which is why it's been quiet from my end, but I've still got a few posts edited and waiting for me to write them up. I was recently sent a selection of Madam Glam gel polishes to try out. It's a brand I've heard a lot of but I hadn't got around to trying yet. So when they reached out and asked if I'd like to pick a selection of colours I jumped at the chance. I chose colours that I don't really own in gel shades as I wanted to add something different to my collection. I had high hopes based on the things I'd read, and they were proven to be correct. I really loved all of these shades, and I'm sure you'll be seeing them again.

Unlike other gels I have tried, I did not receive a lamp with my polishes from Madam Glam. This isn't a problem as I own a couple of curing lamps, but just as I agreed to review these Melody Susie contacting me asking me to review their new Pro48W lamp*, and I knew that the two reviews could go hand in hand.  I will do a more thorough review of the Melody Susie lamp at some point but I just wanted to say that I was really impressed. For the price ($109.99) you get a really high quality lamp. As it has three settings it meant that I could set it to the correct curing time for Madam Glam, which is 30s per coat. This is actually quite quick for gels, the majority take 45s or longer. The lamp also has a sensor so that it knows when you have inserted your hand, and how long to keep the light on for, which made the whole swatching process much easier.

Gelish Glow In The Dark Polish + Halloween Nail Art

Hey everyone! I'm so glad it's the weekend. I'll soon be on my way to Sheffield to go pretend I'm a student again for the weekend, and I can't wait! I haven't actually been back since my graduation, so it will be great to be there again. Today I'm showing you my first Halloween nail art of 2016. Each year I struggle to come up with new ideas for Halloween and Christmas. Most of the designs have been done 5 billion times so it's hard to come up with something original. So whilst this isn't a particularly new design idea... it is glow in the dark! Glow in the dark nails are one of my favourite things about Halloween, and so when I saw Gelish were bringing out a glow in the dark polish* this year I jumped at the chance to review it. 

I wasn't really sure what to expect from the polish, I didn't know whether it would be a standalone colour or a topcoat-type polish. It turns out it's more of a topcoat type polish. When applied it looks kind of cloudy, but once cured it goes more see-through. I put two coats over the whole design below, and as you can see in the glow in the dark images, it shows up a lot brighter on the white but it is also still visible on the dark blue. I always feel a bit childish in my love for glow in the dark things, I used to have glow in the dark stars on the ceiling in my bedroom and it always reminds me of that. So glow in the dark nails will always be a win for me, especially when they are gels. I was worried when I first applied it (before curing) as it didn't seem to glow, however curing activated the glow and it was bright enough that I could see them glowing even when not properly in the dark. 

Pink Glitter Roses

Hey everyone! Happy Monday. I'm starting the countdown again for trip away this weekend, which, as I mentioned in my last post, I spent last week counting down for as I thought it was last weekend... oops! At least I know it's definitely this weekend now. Anyway, on to the nails. I find that despite the fact that I have hundreds and hundreds of nail varnishes, I tend to only use the same colours or ones that I have to review, and as a result so many of my polishes don't get used and get forgotten about. It helps now that I have changed from a Helmer to Alex drawers from IKEA, because the drawers are much easier to use and don't feel like they are about to collapse as soon as you open them. Now I don't just keep a collection of polishes on my desk, and I try to use different colours in my drawers now and again, even though my priorities are products I have to review. Recently I saw on Pinterest that an old Barry M review of mine was quite popular, which included the shade Princess, and I remembered that I owned such a gorgeous shade, and I've been wanting to use it ever since. Then I stumbled upon this design on Pinterest and I knew it would be the perfect design to use the polish in. Unfortunately it's no longer available to buy, you could probably find it on eBay but for some reason they chose to stop making it, even though it's stunning! 

All That Jazz - Bridal Gradient

Hey everyone! Aren't you glad it's Friday? This week has seemed go really slow as I waited and waited for the weekend because I believed I was going away. Turns out, I got the dates wrong and it's actually next weekend- doh! Annoyingly my boyfriend has already made plans for the weekend believing me to be away, so I need to find some of my own entertainment this weekend. Some of which I'm sure will involve nails! 

Today's post involves a simple, but elegant, glitter gradient. Because sometimes simple is best and also because when I received the All That Jazz - The Bridal Party Collection* I knew I had to do something fitting of the collection's title with the polishes. A glitter gradient such as this would be perfect for a wedding day. Understated yet elegant, just what you need to accompany a dress. Also what I love about glitter gradients is that anybody can do them, all you need is a make up sponge and some nail polish, and because it's glitter it doesn't need to look neat. Yet despite the simplicity, it's the kind of design that receives multiple compliments, because it always catches your eye. 

Sharpie Watercolour Flowers

Hey everyone! I want to apologise for not being the best blogger at the moment, I have a lot of products building up and I'm definitely feeling the pressure but life has to come first. I've needed to prioritise my life off the internet for the past few weeks, and I still need to, but my blog has always been my escape and I want it to remain that way, so here I am escaping for a little while. I've been finding it hard to find the time to do my nails, let alone blog about them, but I managed to spend the entirety of Saturday doing nails and it feels nice to be able to have some new content to show you. 

Today's nails are kind of a fail, but as I've said before I want to document all my designs, fails or not. I've never tried watercolour nails before, mainly because I didn't think I had the necessary products (what is 'rubbing alcohol' when it's at home?). But then my lovely friend Very Emily informed me that all I need are some Sharpies and some nail cleanser, and I decided to buy a nice huge pack of Sharpies to give it a go (I'll always be a stationary hoarder at heart, so any excuse really). These were so simple to create, I was kind of just playing around and they turned into a design. It was so satisfying to see them turn into little bubbles rather than blobs of colour. And I really loved the design ... until my topcoat smeared it everywhere. I don't know if it's because I used a gel topcoat, or if I should have used nail polish for the centre of the flowers rather than black sharpie? If you've done watercolour nails before let me know where I went wrong. 

Pumpkin Spice - Meebox October Review + Nail Art

Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a good week so far, this is my first 5 day week at work in a few weeks so it's feeling like it's dragging a bit. Today I've got a review of the October Meebox* for you. This is my fourth review of the monthly subscription box, you can see all my previous reviews here. Each month comes with a new theme, and this months theme is Pumpkin Spice*, just in time for Halloween. Each months box costs £20 if you subscribe on a month to month basis, or you can subscribe for 3 months and it costs £18 a month. This might sound like a lot but you get so much value out of a box that it's well worth it. This months box includes:

- Crabtree & Evelyn - Clementine (RRP £6) 

- Lauren B - Nude 01 (RRP £11)

- Leighton Denny - Venus Desire (RRP £12)

- Bundle Monster Giant Stamper & Stamping plate (RRP £12)

With a total value of £41 you're definitely getting a lot for your money. I also like the surprise element of it, and also that there's always at least one nail art look to create out of the products you receive. And, even with an extensive collection such as mine I've only ever encountered one duplicate shade to one I own in a Meebox, which isn't too bad going. This month they were all pretty much new brands to me, except for Leighton Denny. I was also intrigued (and a little intimidated) by the giant stamper from Bundle Monster which I ended up loving once I got the hang of it. I know my stamping skills aren't the best and I don't claim for them to be, but I wanted to give the plate a try nonetheless.

Detailed Gelish Florals

Hey everyone! I'm still in denial that my holiday has come to an end and that it's officially Autumn, as much as I love cozy jumpers, and having an excuse to have the heating on (I'm always cold) I really wish we'd had more of a summer in the UK. But, my holiday isn't quite over until I've shown you my holiday nails, plus my 'nails on tour', so for today's post and tomorrow's post my holiday can live on. 

Whenever I go on holiday I use it as an excuse to wear gels. Because I have to (and like to) change my nails so often, whenever I review gels I usually do so with a peel off basecoat so that I can swatch a few at once without the lengthy removal process. So it's always nice to be able to wear a design for a bit longer, without the risk of them chipping or peeling after a few days. I spent ages choosing a design to do because I wanted them to be a design that I'd want to wear for a while but also look good in my 'nails on tour' pictures. In the end I settled on this design I found on Pinterest. I didn't stick with the colour scheme or the design 100% because I wanted to make it my own but I really loved how it turned out, and I still have them on my nails now, 2 weeks later (although I'm hating how much they have grown out I just haven't had time to take them off). 

Nails on Holiday: Majorca

Hey everyone! As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I have another nails on holiday post for you all today. For those of you who haven't seen my previous posts on this and don't know what I'm talking about, I basically take pictures of my nails in front of things on holiday, you can see all my previous nails on holiday posts here. I really love doing these as they are great for me to look back on as a kind of holiday diary, but they are also great as a way for you all to nosy into my holiday! I do sometimes get funny looks when I'm taking these pictures but it's worth it for the post at the end. If you want to know more about my nails see here for my post yesterday. This is quite a lengthy post so I won't blame you if you don't read it all, but for the nosy readers out there hopefully you'll enjoy it!

This year me and my boyfriend decided to go to Majorca. We decided quite late on that we were going to go on holiday because we thought originally that we couldn't\shouldn't afford it because we've just moved into our first house. However we decided to go anyway because we were both craving for some time away and we spent ages poring over holidays before we finally settled on a hotel in C'an Picafort, Majorca for September. By the 9th we were excited and prepared to fly that weekend, when we received a call that our hotel had overbooked and we would not longer be able to stay there (it turns out that all that time poring over hotels was pretty fruitless). However, they had decided to upgrade us to a hotel in Alcudia instead. We were upgraded from a 4* to a 5*, so we were pretty excited as 5* hotels are very much out of our budget. 

We weren't told much about our room or what to expect from the hotel so we went with pretty average expectations. However, when we arrived we were completely blown away. We were staying in the Viva Zafiro Alcudia and it was absolutely gorgeous. The hotel has recently been revamped so everything is bright, clean and sleek. It was 1am by the time we got to the hotel so we were both pretty tired, but we decided to just have a peek on our balcony to see the view. When we got out onto the balcony I was confused to see some steps leading up toward the roof so I decided to explore, only to find that we had our own rooftop balcony with a jacuzzi! I'm sure for some of you my excitement over that seems silly but I was so happy and to be honest we barely moved from our rooftop sunbeds the whole holiday. We went down to the beach a couple of times and lay by the main pool once or twice but we mainly stayed up there and chilled out which was amazing. This does mean that there isn't a great variety in pictures I'm afraid but hopefully you still enjoy reading. Unfortunately the hotel is a (thousand pounds) out of our price range so we probably won't be able to stay there again as much as we would like to, but if you have the money I would 100% recommend it!

Gelish Green Daisies

Hey everyone! I'm super excited today because I've just got the new iPhone 7. I've never had the up-to-date model, I've always been at least one model behind and I decided to treat myself this time around. I'm definitely an iPhone lover, no one could ever persuade me to change to another brand, and all my other products are Apple too, even if that does make me a sheep! And on the subject of nature (see that smooth movement of topics) today I have some floral nails using Gelish for you. I seem to create a lot of nail art with gels at the moment, but it's because it makes it so much easier to go wrong as you can just wipe off any mistakes! These were super simple to create and were more a result of me messing around that anything else. 

Pink Half Polka Dots

Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a lovely week so far. I've spent my evening baking cookies as we're having a bake off at work tomorrow. Luckily that means I can't eat them all, which I would usually as they are super yummy! Today's nails are some that I created ages ago, probably February time. They're simple but effective and I love this half and half polka dot look. 

Gelish Sweetheart Squadron Collection [Partial] Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! I've been getting used to being back at work after a nice relaxing week off work, so I'm feeling pretty exhausted today. Luckily I have a 4 day weekend coming up so I only have one more day of work before more relaxation! 

Today I have a couple of the shades from the new Gelish Sweetheart Squadron collection to show you. The whole collection is gorgeous but I have Looking For A Wingman* and Up In The Air-Heart*  reviewed for you today. It's such a great collection for autumn, and there's a shade for everyone in there. Full review after the jump.

It's Floral Time

Hey everyone! I'm currently burning myself on a sunbed so today's nails are some florals that I created ages ago, December last year to be precise. You will have actually seen a version of these as I went over them with Barry M - Nail Art Pens after this stage. Looking back I think I actually prefer them like this, but I chose to promote those and then I felt like I couldn't post these straight after, and they ended up forgotten in a folder. We might be approaching autumn but I'm still in Summer mode (what with being on a sunny holiday and all), so these are still in season in my head at least. Plus, you can't go wrong with some good old florals, and sometimes simple is best. 

Pink Gellac Starter Kit Review

Hey everyone! I've made no secret of the fact that I really love gels, I find them really interesting to work with after years of working with polish (that's not to say that I still don't love polish), and whenever I'm approached with the chance to use them I jump at it. So when Pink Gellac reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try their LED M Starter Kit* and their latest Uncovered collection*, I was super excited to receive them. This isn't my first experience with starter kits, I did a full comparison of a number of brands here when I first started using gels, but it was interesting to try it out now I know a bit more about gels. My full review is after the jump, I'm going to lay it out as I did my previous comparisons so that you can compare them against each other.

Burgundy Geometric Stripes Nail Art

Hey everyone! Whilst you're reading this I'm hopefully sunning myself or in a pool right now, so I'm sure you can understand why I'm not quite willing to accept that Summer is pretty much over and it's almost Autumn. So when I received the new OPI - Washington DC Collection for Autumn I couldn't face doing a full review just yet, not until after my holiday at least. Instead, I compromised and decided to create some nail art using the collection. I was inspired by these nails on Pinterest. I'm super into Pinterest at the moment, only about 3 years too late. I never really got into the initial hype, but recently I've been using it a lot for work and decided to give it a try again for my blog, and I've ended up finding loads of inspiration. If you want to check out my pins you can see them here.

Gelish Street Beat Collection [Partial] Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Hope you've all had a lovely week, I've been on the countdown to my holiday all week and it's finally here! I fly tonight and I can't wait to be sitting by the pool tomorrow not having to think about anything else. I feel like I haven't switched off in a while so I'm hoping I'll be able to unwind. I have of course prepared some posts for you whilst I'm away, I couldn't just leave you all hanging could I? You'll probably get more posts than usual actually because I've actually scheduled them. I feel like I should do this more often because often in the evenings I'm too tired after work to prepare a post and then I get really behind. Does anyone else schedule their posts a week ahead? Does it work?

Today I've got a review of the stunning Gelish - Street Beat Collection* for you. There are actually six polishes in the collection, and I have 3 of them to show you today. In addition to the three I have, there's also a yellow (Street Credible), a neon pink (B-Girl Style) and a fuchsia (Tag, You're It). It's such a fun and bright collection, and it was a perfect release as their summer collection. I couldn't resist choosing one of them for my toes for my holiday (read after the jump to see what colour I chose), as I absolutely love these shades. I was interested to try the yellow too, as it's quite an unusual shade for Gelish, but having read reviews of how sheer it is I think I got a good selection with these three. Full review is after the jump.

Models Own Dare To Bare Collection Skittle Nail Art

Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a lovely week so far, I'm in countdown mode for my holiday now so I can't wait for the week to finish. Although I go away on Sunday, I've not yet sorted anything, which is making me feel slightly stressed! It'll be so nice to get away and to not have to think about anything for a while, I haven't had more than a 4 day weekend since last June so I desperately need this time off, and apparently it's 32 degrees in Majorca at the moment so let's hope it stays that way. 

Anyway, today's nails are a skittle of the 5 new Models Own Hypergels from the Dare to Bare collection* . I thought that it was very handy (see what I did there, ba dum tss) that there were 5, as it meant that I could show you them all in one go. These are actually my first Hypergels from Models Own and I was definitely impressed with them as a first time user. I can really tell the difference between the regular polishes and these, largely due to the application as it's much easier. I always love a good nude design or shade, so 5 in one collection is the dream and they all work really well together, perfect for a skittle mani. Full details after the jump.

August Monthly Favourites

Hey everyone! It's been a very long time since I last did a monthly favourites post and I've been enjoying loads of great products recently so I thought it was about time I showed you them. (Can I also point out that it's actually the end of the month that I'm posting this and not midway through the following month as normal!) As always, some of the products I bought myself and some I was sent for review. These products wouldn't be in my favourites if I hadn't tried and tested, and loved, them so no matter how I got them, they are my favourites and my opinions will always stay true. I've got quite an odd mix of stuff this month, and whilst I normally only show 5, I couldn't choose so my favourites are:

- Sure Antibacterial Odour Protection Deodorant 

- Nars Sheer Glow foundation in 'Siberia' shade

- Winstonia Short striping brush from this set*

- Barry M It's a Brow Thing*

- Morgan Taylor React base coat*

- Gelish*

- Barry M - Copper Mine* 

- Lee Stafford Coco Loco Dry Shampoo*

Celestial Cosmetics Dracarys Flowers

Hey all! Just a super quick post today, but I wanted to show you these floral nails I did using Celestial Cosmetics - Dracarys* (see my review here). I did these a while ago but I wasn't 100% on how they came out so I've put off posting them for a while. I'm not sure what I was trying to go for with them but they definitely weren't as planned! However, I'm really behind with editing at the moment so this was one of my only edited posts. I need to get on top of stuff because I'm going on holiday soon and I want to make sure I have enough posts for whilst I'm away! 

Essie 1000th Shade - Aim To Misbehave Nail Art + Review

Hey everyone! Hope you've all had a lovely weekend, we had a bank holiday weekend in the UK and it was so great to have 3 days off. Less than two weeks now until my holiday where I'll have a whole 9 days off and not have to think about anything. This weekend I spent time with my friends, shopping for my holiday and of course doing tonnes of nails. In fact I feel like I've wasted my day off today in a way because I've been inside catching up on reviews all day instead of enjoying the sunshine - the sacrifices I make eh? Haha.

Anyway, today's nail art is something fun and bright to match the weather we had here today, even if I didn't get to enjoy it. Essie recently released their 1000th shade: Aim To Misbehave*, which is this gorgeous fun and shimmer golden yellow shade. It's such an honour to be able to show their 1000th shade on my blog. Whilst I don't have a tonne of Essie polishes, I love all the ones that I do have, and they were some of the first polishes I ever owned (thanks eBay!) so the brand holds a special place in my heart. Especially as they organised for me to have my photo done by Rankin!

Jamberry x One Nail To Rule Them All Video

Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a good week so far. I've spent my evening watching Great British Bake Off. I only started watching it a couple of years ago because I couldn't understand the hype at first but I'm well and truly hooked. Who knew cake could be so dramatic?

You may remember my review of Jamberry nail wraps from the beginning of last month, where I discussed that they had asked me to work with them on a new project, but I had been very sceptical without trying the products. As I mentioned then, I was well aware of the rep surrounding Jamberry and I didn't want to get involved with something 'dodgy'. However, once I tried the wraps and spoke to some of the consultants I realised for myself that the actions of a few have tarnished the brand for many. I would never endorse a brand that I wasn't comfortable working with (you should see the amount of emails I turn down), and it was important to me that I tried the products first to know if I wanted to work together. I know that their methods of selling may not to be to everyone's taste, but the products themselves are, in my opinion, worth raving about, and I decided to go ahead with the project.

Anyway, today I can finally tell you about that project: I was filming a video with Jamberry! They wanted me to talk through the process of applying the wraps, current trends and a few other bits too. The video is after the jump but you can also see it here. It's never very fun seeing yourself on camera and I must admit it doesn't really look like me (I am the palest person in the world and video-me looks a lot more tanned), but I'm happy with how it turned out. Jamberry made me feel very welcome whilst shooting, and it was a great experience. I'd also like to give a special shout out to the cameraman Tom Gates from Don't Shoot Yourself Media. He was the loveliest guy ever and made me feel completely at ease in something that I'd never really done and didn't feel 100% comfortable with. He didn't ask for me to mention him but I feel like I couldn't leave him out as he was so nice! And thankyou of course to Jamberry too for having me.

Flickanail Inspired Water Flowers

Hey everyone! I hope you've all had a lovely weekend, I can't believe once again that Monday has crept upon us. Two days is never enough, but luckily next weekend is a bank holiday so we get 3 whole days, and then 2 weeks later I'm going on holiday for a week I can't wait. I've done lots of gel designs this weekend, both on myself and on other people, but the nail art I'm showing you today is purely trusty old nail polish. 

For a long time I've been in awe of a number of Japanese nail artists. My twinsie nails with Very Emily were a homage to this, as we both have great respect for Japanese nail art, but I wanted to try my hand at something further. I was inspired by this design by Flickanail, but once again my need for everything to be neat meant that the design didn't turn out as I hoped, despite my best efforts to just go with the flow. When looking at the design alone I really love it, but in comparison it looks nothing alike. I think that I didn't add enough flowers because I was wary of going overboard.

However, I'm not going to give up, there are tonnes of Japanese designs that I want to try my hand at, and I have a feeling that for a lot of them I might be better off working in gel. I'm also tempted to sign up for Neiru tutorials. Have any of you tried these? Are they worth paying for? I really want to improve my skill and learn something new too, so let me know if they are worth doing.

Negative Space Stamping

Hey everyone! Can you believe it's already Wednesday? I've been to the cinema tonight to see Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, which by the way is hilarious but if you don't like inappropriate films it definitely wont be for you. They really don't hold back. But if you don't mind that kind of thing then I'd definitely recommend it because me and my friend were in stitches. I love a good cheesy comedies, and I'm a huge fan of Anna Kendrick so it was great for me. 

Today's nails are some that I created ages ago and I was so proud of them when I did them but before I took pictures I ruined the thumb bail and when I tried to fix it I didn't like how it came out second time around. Nevertheless, I still wanted to post the design, which I did when I was experimenting with stamping quite a lot. I seem to go through phases of experimenting with it and then going back to freehand and I'm in a freehand stage at the moment.

Blue Celestial Geometric

Hey everyone! How has another week gone already? August is absolutely flying by. I've had a really busy week, last night I went to see Wicked which was absolutely amazing. I've never seen it before but I went with a friend who has seen it 3 times now and I can see why she keeps going back. I'm going to try my hand at some Wicked nails this weekend so we'll see how those go.

Today's nail art is a result of me experimenting with these* brushes from Winstonia. I did these nails a couple of months ago when I first received the brushes and I completely forgot I did them. I've been practicing with them since and you will have seen them in many designs, but I was happy with how straight I managed to keep my lines here. I used the smallest brush for this design, and I was really impressed with it, although it took me a while to get used to as it contains harder bristles than I'm use to.

Twinsie Nails With Very Emily

Hey everyone! Today I've got a post that I've been super excited to share with you: Twinsie nails with my good friend Emily of Very Emily. Emily was one of my first blogging friends, if not the first, so it was about time we did something like this. We've been talking about doing it for a while, but as we've both had a lot on we only got around to finishing our designs last week. We decided to use marimekko flowers as inspiration for our design, specifically these nails. We found that it was really hard to coordinate on colours, as we seemed to have none of the same polishes, so we just went with what was closest to the original design. My shades are a bit lighter than Emily's but I like that it gives it an individual twist. Emily also created this gorgeous collage of our two designs together which I absolutely love. Don't you think the flowers down the side look great next to our designs? You can see Emily's design on her blog.

Copper Triangles

Hey everyone! Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. I was meant to have quite a busy one but I was far too ill yesterday to do anything so i just painted my nails and watched TV - a perfect day really, had it not been for me being ill! Luckily I'm feeling a bit better today and I managed to get some holiday shopping done. I found a skirt today that I think I'll be doing some nails inspired by, so keep an eye out for that! 

Today's nails are as a result of me just playing around a couple of weeks ago. I really wanted to try out Barry M - Copper Mine* from the Molten Metal Collection* as I'd seen a few people using it and it seemed like the perfect mix of copper and rose gold. And it is! I love it, but of course I couldn't just wear it plain. I decided to play around with some nail art pens that I'd not used in a while, and then I added some triangle studs from She Sells Sea Shells, which I bought absolutely ages ago but never got around to doing any designs with.

Barry M Lilac Roses Tutorial

Hey everyone! I'm so excited because today I managed to get my hands on tickets to go see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child! I was in the 'queue' for 5 hours and when I finally got to the end I panicked and ended up booking for ages away (next October) so that I could get hold of the tickets I wanted, but it will be worth the wait. I read the script in one day at the weekend and I loved it. I know there's been some negative opinion surrounding it but I really liked it. Have you read it yet? Let me know your thoughts on it! 

So today I have a tutorial of these rose nails for you. I actually created these ages and ages ago, but I completely forgot that I'd done them somehow! I loved this design when I did them and I'm glad I'm finally sharing them with you. The full tutorial will be after the jump. 

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.