52 Week Challenge: Week 13 - NYE

New Years Eve 2011 Nails, perfect for the challenge

Base: ELF - Navy

Glitter: Kleancolor - Afternoon Picnic 194

Nails: Stars and Arrows

Base Polish: Stargazer - 157

Stamping Polish: Special White Stamping Polish

Stamping Plate: BM 20

Swatch: Rimmel - Hard Edged

Hard Edged is a shimmer polish verging on duo chrome. It flits between a warm dark brown, and a cherry mocha shade. 

Lasting Power: Average

Opacity: Two coats for ultimate colour depth

Brush Type: Flat and wide

52 Week Challenge: Week 12 - Christmas

Theme this week was Christmas. I'd been wanting to try out the gingerbread man design.

I should have stamped it in gold though for better authenticity

Base Polish: NYC - West Village 205b

Stamping Polish: Stargazer - Silver Chrome

Stamping Plate: BM222

Swatch: Revlon - Facets of Fuchsia / Scandalous

I wore this polish for my wedding. Exceptionally similar to Lippmann's Bad Romance, it has since been become part of the permanent polish line called Scandalous rather than Facets of Fuchsia.

Revlon - Facets of Fuchsia 

Review: ELF - Nail Polishes

I have reviewed these before, but I think its time I did a proper review. I have quite an extensive collection of eyes lips face nail polish

 

Chocolate                                        Metal Madness

I have tried 41 of the polishes out of the current 78

 

Smoky Brown                                                         Pearl

The polish are of a good enough quality to be worn without a top coat, however the glitters do need one to help smooth out the finish, which is typical of a glitter finish

  

Blush                                                       Navy

Around 80% of the polishes have lasted 2-3 days or more. Dark Navy in particular is the polish which chips so quickly, use a top coat though and that solves the problem

 

Red Velvet                                                                      Rosy Raisin

Sometimes it seems as if the manufactures of ELF products don't have any quality control, because you occasionally get a polish brush which is splayed and wonky. The UK ELF team do have great customer service though and will give you a replacement or a refund

Purple Pleaser

Polish dries at a pretty standard rate and the black is okay for stamping!

 

Mint Cream                                                                         Purple Dream

The formula which they use is the big three free.

No toluene

No formaldehyde

No dibutyl phthalate

10ml of product for £1.50

52 Week Challenge: Week 11 - Violet

The challenge of this week was violet nails

Base Polish: China Glaze - Grape Pop

Stamping Polish: Barry M - Indigo

Stamping Plate: M64

Nails: Snowflakes

I wanted to try out my stamp for a snowflake, the hex glitter really adds a twinkle.

Base Polish: George - Witchcraft

Glitter Polish: Barry M - Hex

Stamping Plate: BM 14

Stamping Polish: ELF - Black

Nails: Snowman

Nails: Aztec

Base Polish: Rimmel - Hard Edged

Stamping Plate: BM 221

Stamping Polish: Special Stamping Polish in white

Swatch: 17 - Xtras Black Glitter Crackle Top Coat

Lasting Power: Better than average 

Formula: Thick

Opacity: Single coat will do

Topcoat: Is needed, without a doubt

Brush Type: Wide and flat

Basically this nail polish was a complete fail, very difficult to work with and it does not shatter or crackle which totally defeats the object of a crackle top coat. I used a purple polish as the base which you cannot see at all.

£3.99 - 10ml

Boots

52 Week Challenge: Week 10 - Christmas

Challenge of the week was Christmas nails

Base Polish: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails - White

Glitter Polish: ELF - Glitter Glam

Stamping Plate: BM 205

Stamping Polishes: 

Miss Sporty - Red Tango

Nails Inc - Electric Teal 121

Nails: Crimbo Pud

Review: French Nail Tips

The perfect French manicure is something which looks good but is something a little more difficult to do. Especially free handed!

For people who really want to achieve the perfect French nail manicure then I do recommend these to you, they give a great curved line and a nice bright white tip. If you were to purchase these then you would need to get some nail glue and a top coat. 

Wiped them with acetone to make sure there was no residue

I chose the right sized tips for each nail

Using some brush on nail glue painted the back of the tips

One by one I stuck them to my nails

Then took off the butterfly tabs

Filed down the tips

I wasn't happy with the finished look and the tips was catching off everything

So I applied two thick-ish coats of clear top coat on top, which really smoothed everything out and made for a much better manicure

I still wasn't 100% happy with this though and so ended up filing down the squared off corners

They are fiddly to use but this was my first attempt and it went okay I think. A good couple of manicures worth for £4.90.

Stamping Plate: M59

This is quite a festive stamping nail art plate. Perfect for winter and valentines day.

Design 3) Doesn't print wonderfully

Design 6) I can't make the word 'love' print properly but I do think its possible!

You can see all of the nail art designs I have done using this plate HERE

$2.99 - Born Pretty Store

Swatch: Kleancolor - Afternoon Picnic

Multi-coloured, different size hex glitter. In a clear base, so perfect for layering. I have layered two coats over  ELF's black polish. Very colourful, perfect for the festive season.

Possibly a dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday?

Swatch: OPI - Honk if you Love OPI

A quick swatch for you today of the 'fall' 2011 OPI touring America collection.