A Perfect Birthday manicure

For my birthday I wanted a special manicure so...What better polish to celebrate 38 with than Fu@% off and Dye?!  Hot pink shimmery matte perfection
I kept my ring finger shiny because my sparkly heart looked odd matteThis is 2 coats of FoaD (ManGlaze's usual fabulous formula)and if you must add shiny to coat this beautiful teal shimmer emerges (drool)Gorgeous any way you wear it!If you want to

Strawberries & Cream with Sprinkles on top!

Sounds yummy doesn't it!Well it's my manicure and it's actually Strawberry(A franken from Kae), ManGlaze Mayo,and Angel Flakies in Christine. (from Sarah)What I usedThis is with Orly Polisheild on topThe flakies have a pinkish base so it gave a slight pink hint to MayoLove it!Without Top coat (Angel Flakies dry matte)I could stare at this all dayI just love how the flakies are warmer, more orange

BK Matte Pureple

I have some great news guys! I was one of the winning 25 in the Bundle Monster competition. I want to thank every single one of you that voted for me, I really couldn't have done it without you. If, like me, you love yourself a bit of internet drama, there was some controversy on Bundle Monster's facebook page when one of the girls who didn't place in the top 25 got on her high horse and started complaining about the competition, even going as far as to single out another innocent girl's entry like a playground bully then continue to talk herself in to a deep hole. I must admit, I did put my two cents in because I just couldn't sit there and watch her going on like an intolerable toddler.

This polish is another of Born Pretty's new matte polishes called Pureple. No, that's not a typo, it really is pure-ple. 

Again, I'm super impressed with this polish. The colour is a pinky lavender soufflé with a lovely frosty finish that I haven't really seen in matte polishes before. And there's not a single brush stroke in sight. 

I didn't get a great picture of it with the top coat but I can assure you it looks absolutely gorgeous. 'Twinkly' is the word I would use to describe the way it looks with a glossy top coat - somewhere between a glitter and holographic. I just love it.

The design is from Konad Plate M64 stamped with Nails Inc. Victoria and finished with a top coat of NYC.

You can buy the polish here and as I mentioned before, postage is free worldwide so I really recommend you take a look at Born Pretty Store if you're in need of any nail supplies.

Previously: BK Smoky Grey Black

BK Matte Smoky Grey Black

Jessica from Born Pretty Store got in contact with me recently to tell me about some new polishes that she had in stock. They're Matte so I immediately jumped at the chance to review them. I have a long standing love affair with matte nails though I don't actually own many polishes that are matte, I always just use a matte top coat to get 'the look'. The name on the bottle is BK, which I've never heard of before. 

I was pleasantly surprised at the high quality and finish of this polish, especially since it's such a low price. The brush is narrow and flat which made it really easy to apply the polish neatly. It was opaque in two coats but, as I do with all dark colours, I added another for maximum colour intensity. I love that it's full of tiny silver flecks which give a great depth to the polish, as opposed to it being a flat old grey.

Manglaze Fuggen Ugly came to mind when I saw this polish on my nails. I don't own Fuggen Ugly myself but I looked at a few swatches and to my eyes it seems like a really close match.

I added the bluebell design from Konad M54 using GOSH Metallic Purple and finished it off with a top coat of NYC. I definitely prefer this polish matte. The silver speckle is really muted with a glossy top coat.

You can buy this shade from Born Pretty Store here. Shipping is free worldwide! How amazing is that? And all the products are so cheap. I actually just ordered a few of the Konad copies which are only $1.55 each at the moment because I really want to see how they compare to real Konad plates. 

I have to add one thing about Born Pretty which is that the website is kind of a nuisance to navigate and can be hard to understand in some places (example) but I think this is just down to some bad translation. For the prices of the stuff, I'm not really going to complain!

Zoya Mod Mattes Summer 2011- swatches & review

Zoya....have you been reading my mind?Bright, bold, sassy and matte!Phoebe & MitziPhoebe- Sky blue with a teal shimmer that makes this gorgeous glowy matte look like matte teal skyMitzi- Neon lime green matte that just feels like fun in a bottleI love these two and I love them even more togetherPhoebe applies so perfectly, not like most mattes, smooth and even.Mitzi applies like most mattes,

Barry M Dusky Mauve

Here are a few pictures of Barry M Dusky Mauve. This is rumoured to be a dupe for Chanel's Paradoxal. I can't give you a solid opinion on that claim but judging from swatches I've seen of the Chanel, I'd say it is pretty darn close!

I wore this on New Years Eve and lots of my friends commented on it. My bestie (who has never bought a polish in her life!) even said she's going to get some to wear at work because it looks so sophisticated.

I also have Models Own Purple Grey in my collection which you can see here. This polish is a good match for the colour of Dusky Mauve but doesn't have the shimmer - it's just a plain creme.

And of course - I had to put a Konad over it and matte it up.

Konad Plate: M57

Base Colour: Barry M - Dusky Mauve

Konad Colour: Collection 2000 - Moonlight Shine

Top Coat of Essie Matte About You

BYS from Bec

I won a great set of BYS from Bec at Bec's Beauty buzzShe sent me the set that I won is the BYS Crackle finish polish and being as awesome as she is she also sent me some of the BYS matte's.BYS Purple Matte is so just what I needed the other day!It's opaque and smooth in one coat, dries super fast and it has the best matte/satin finish.The Hot Guy loves this alsoI actually wore it for 2 days

The Hello Kitty Murders

If you have not figured it out yet....I adore hello kitty. Have you seen my shoes?Seriously I'm a 37 year old with Hello Kitty shoes and I need another pair just for a back up!=(^_^)=I was sent the set of 12 image stamping plates from Born Pretty Storea while ago and one just happens to have a Hello Kitty image. I have been pondering how many ways I can use that image (A LOT) and decided what is

Matte Metallics

Konad Plate: M54

Base Colour: BYS - Fuschia Flash
Konad Colour: Sally Hansen Chrome - Amber
Top Coat of Essie Matte About You

(I'm Definitely in a) Matte Mood

Sorry I have been lagging on posts recently. When I started this blog, I posted every single day and I'm finally running out of ideas so the weekly post count has gone way down. The thing is I have used pretty much every image I own (and like) in every colour combo I can think of, so I really need to get some new plates and polishes suitable for stamping. Hopefully Santa Claus will bring me some soon.

This week, all I've been wearing are blues and 'mattifying' them. I actually painted my nails thrice yesterday with all different blues, once with a stamp design but I didn't feel like it was up to scratch for posting.

Konad Plate: M57
Base Colour: BYS - Fools Paradise
Konad Colour: Collection 2000 Maxiflex - Moonlight Shine
Top Coat of E.L.F Matte Finisher

FairWind Vintage Petrol / Konad

Hallo ladies,

I hope your having a good night!

I have some new polishes for you FairWind finally came out with matte polishes in Vintage Petrol and Midnight Purple WOO-HOO!! Vintage Petrol is a beautiful dark teal and Midnight Purple. Midnight Purple pretty much says it all it's a dark plum color (Vampy)

I'm still getting use to having nubbies :( one good thing I can say about nubbies is it's easier to do a full konad mani with them :)







For this mani I used.

FairWind Vintage Petrol Matte 2 coats
Silver Konad polish
Stamping Plate: H19

I love Vintage Petrol it's a beautiful matte polish. I don't have many Matte polishes so I was happy when I came upon these matte babes :D

So what do you think?

November Debut

This mani is practically an exact duplicate of one I did a few months back just with different colours and a matte top coat.

I would have done something totally kick ass and original for my November debut mani, especially considering I haven't posted for a week now. But since I thought my camera was broken I obviously wasn't expecting to be able to post one but what the heck, here it is.

Check out my index finger! It's never been so long. They're normally so weak and I guess, because I use my index finger the most, the corners snap off every few days so normally I keep them quite short but I've been using OPI's Original Nail Envy for over a week and I think my nails are stronger for it.

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM18
Base Colour: Claire's Mood - Confident/Peaceful
Stamp Colour: Stargazer - White
NYC Glossies 243B for the line
Top Coat of Essie Matte About You

Revlon Fire Fox

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I've been neglecting you this week because I've been pretty uninspired as far as interesting manicures lately.  Then yesterday, I saw the display for the Revlon Matte Suedes, which I've seen before, but they appealed to me enough to pick them up yesterday, and I was eager to try Fire Fox out.

I used a ridge filling base coat, then three coats of Fire Fox.  Mine was quite thin, so it needed three to get opaque.  Once it dried, I absolutely hated it.  My vision was of a vivid, shimmery red that was matte, so it wouldn't really look real.  What I got was a moderately shiny, not too shimmery, rubbery feeling thing happening.  I took a picture anyhow so I could tell you about it.

Revlon Fire Fox Nail Polish, Three Coats

The other weird thing was that there were parts that would not dry at all.  I didn't feel like doing my nails again, so I figured I'd top coat it.  I used RBL Matte top coat to see if that would make it look like what I had in mind.

Revlon Fire Fox Nail Polish Finished with RBL Matte Top Coat

Now it's matte and the rubbery feeling is gone, but there's still no shimmer to speak of.  To be honest, if I have to add matte top coat to take the shine off of a matte nail polish, that's a kind of crappy polish.  So I'll likely return Fire Fox's friends that have not been opened because this was no fun at all.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

E.L.F Matte Finisher Review

Here are a few pictures of E.L.F.'s Matte Finisher which recently became available in the UK online store.

I haven't seen any matte top coats in stores here, but when I took place in a swap with another nail blogger in Canada, I got hold of Essie's Matte About You. 

So... when I saw that E.L.F.'s Matte Finisher was now available in the UK I had to buy it!

I have tested this out this a few times before now, so I can tell you guys my thoughts on day-to-day wear. But first, the pictures...

This colour is Barbara Daly Cardinal - a slightly metallic, fuchsia pink. I chose to swatch with this colour because the change from glossy to matte is nice and obvious.

And here it is with E.L.F's Matte Finisher.

Please note that I used Essie Matte About You on my thumb nail for comparison.

As you can see - the resulting matte finish is great.

Click here for a gif animation of the two pictures.

My Verdict

I think this is a great polish for the price - considering the prices of other similar top coats that are out there.

If you're wearing this for more than a day, you may need to add a fresh coat each day as it begins to go more glossy with wear. It's almost as if it gets buffed back to a shine.

The results are not always consistent - when I wore this finisher over E.L.F's Innocence last week, it did not 'mattify' every nail. You can see below that my forefinger is still sort of glossy.

AND, it has cracked on my little finger which has also happened again since. I think it's just because was a new bottle at the time because it seems to be working fine now.

So if you are looking for a Matte Top Coat on a budget - this is for you. 

It gives a good matte finish and compares well next to Essie Matte About You. Just be sure to shake the bottle well and give it a chance to warm up before you give up on it for cracking or not doing it's job properly!

Nailympics you say?

I'm moving out tomorrow... properly... for good! Well, for the year anyway. I have a birthday party to go to with Disney dress up tomorrow night and I'm going as one of the Dalmatians so I'm gonna go for spotty nails which I will post as soon as I can.

I think some of you might enjoy reading this. It's a story about the 'Nailympics' which were held here in the UK last weekend and has some piccys of amazing, you could call it novelty, nail art. Although it's admittedly not the kind I would try myself, it's still very good. I'm sure you could find more pictures somewhere else too.

Konad Plate: M60
Base Colour: Beauty UK Neon Blue
Konad Colour: Stargazer White
Top Coat of Essie Matte About You

OPI Go Goth and Big hugs for Kris

This was an all too kind gift from KrisInPhilly of My Lucid BubbleIn low light it is easy to under estimate this set of Gothic gorgeousness!
The packaging is adorable and the lace wristcuff...well you know I'll be wearing it!2 coats of Unripened in shade. Pretty but....In sunlight this deep blackened blue with duochrome shimmer is so beautiful!Nevermore in shades is sweet
In sunlight this hot

Monochrome

Konad Plate: M60
Base Colour: Rimmel Lycra Wear 10 - Black Satin
Konad Colour: Collection 2000 - Moonlight Shine
Top Coat of Essie Matte About You

Flower Power

You may notice that my post is a little later than normal today. I spent most of my day at the house I am renting this year and shopping for decor to go inside it!

I was a bit disappointed when I first moved my stuff in as it hadn't been cleaned properly and had a miserable feel to it, I think because it was empty and really seemed hollow. But now that me and the other girls are filling it with stuff and making it a bit more homely, I think it looks and feels much nicer. 

I also received some great news last night. I passed the exam I had to resit last month so I get to progress to the next year of my course! Phew! I'm sooo happy now!

Konad Plate: M64
Base Colour: La Femme - Mint Cream
Konad Colour: NYC Nail Glossies - 243B
For the flowers: BYS - Astro Gold
Top Coat of Essie Matte About You

Holy Mayo ManGlaze!

New Man Glaze color, YAY!Mayo is a pearly white matte and an awesome addition to the Man Glaze line.This is 3 caots of Mayo with Hot Mess at the very tip because it looks wicked like that!This is with top coat.
Did I mention that this will be picture heavy? It is! :o)
I just love the shimmer/pearl in this it is awesome!
Man Glaze always rocks the label art like nobody's business!
That's my Good

Pastels

Here are some not so summery nails, but I really like the pastelly palette of this one.

Plate: Fauxnad from eBay- M54
Base Colour: Barry M - Mushroom
Stamp Colour: Collection 2000 Hot Looks - Dynasty
Top Coat of Essie Matte About You