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Hi!

I just can't get enough of Barry M's latest offerings! I would have them all if I could afford them, but alas I'm broke so unless anyone fancies generously donating to the Helly-doesn't-think-nearly-1000-polishes-is-enough fund I'll have to make do with a select few! Today I chose Mediterranean from the Aquarium collection, a rosy pink/gold duochrome that is so unlike anything else in my stash I don't even know which colour to put it with in the drawers (no mean feat!) I combined two smooth easy coats with 2True Tyra for a bit of glitter. I really think this is a great summer colour for everyone, and a perfect alternative to neons if you're not that brave!

I am loving a bit of Barry at the moment, they've hit everything spot on with their recent releases. Mr M, we salute you!

Hx

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33 Day Challenge day 19 - follow a tutorial!

Morning!

For today's challenge we had to follow a tutorial - something I'm not usually very good at! However, Sammy at The Nailasaurus recently made a tutorial for the new look she created called Nimbus Nail Art, so I gave it a go! You can see Sammy's tutorial here, and my attempt below. I added stamping because Sammy's stamping is so perfect and she's the one who introduced me to the delights of Bundle Monster! (And because I got a load of new plates and wanted to try them...)

My base colour was 2True Fast Dry Colour Quick Shade 14, a very pale lilac, and the halo's were done with Nails inc Belgrave Place, Color Club Pucci-Licious, and Barry M Prickly Pear. Stamping was BM410 in Konad White.

I liked it and it's definitely something I'll do again. It makes a great base for stamping! Sammy's of course looks way better than mine but I'll take it! And I'll bet I'm not the only 33dc'er to try this today!

Hx

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33DC Day 14 - Abstract!

Morning!

We're well into the 33 day challenge now, and I feel like I'm having more wins than losses...hopefully that will continue! I was pretty pleased with today's offering. Let's face it, "Abstract" gives you a pretty broad spectrum to work with, so I googled around a bit and came up with this.

Kind of based on this abstract pattern...

 I wanted more of an ombre effect so I used shades of the same colour on each nail, starting with the darkest. It perhaps would have worked better if I'd started with the lightest, but I wanted the triangle at the bottom to be dark like in the picture.

I used 15 different polishes for this design - a sure sign I have way too much! Mr NN saw the box full I was using and joked that I'd never be able to hold them all for the photos. Smartass.

Listed from dark to light:
Purple (Pinkie) - No7 Violetta, Sinful Colors Amethyst, OPI Parlez Vous OPI
Red (Ring) - Nails Inc Victoria, Tate, King Edward Street
Blue (Middle) - 2True Shade 10, Nails Inc Baker Street, Models Own Feeling Blue
Green (Index) - China Glaze Holly Day, Nails Inc Eden Grove, OPI Stranger Tides
Monochrome (Thumb) - Sinful Colors Black on Black, Beauty UK Slate, Beauty UK Soft Grey

A fairly easy design, although it took me a long time it was satisfying and simple to do (I just freehanded in layers, no tape here!)

Abstract enough?

Hx

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2True Giveaway Winner!

Morning!

Quick post to announce the winner of my giveaway! Congratulations to Jane T who wins two bottles of 2True polish. Jane has responded to my email and I'll be sending out her prize shortly!

Watch out for more giveaways shortly!

Hx

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33 Day Challenge Day 1 - Dots!

Well here we are, day 1 of the 33 day challenge! What am I getting myself in for...?

Day 1 calls for dots, so I recreated this design, but in more autumnal colours. I used 2True Crystal shade 9 as the base and then layered up my dots in China Glaze Bend Over Backwards, Models Own Nude Beige and Barry M Indigo.

Such an effective design, but so simple and virtually impossible to mess up! Perfect when you're a plonker like me!

Check out the rest of the lovelies taking part!

Hx

PS Don't forget my giveaway!

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2 good to be true? 2True review + Giveaway!

Hi loves!

I was contacted recently by budget brand 2true who asked if I'd like to share some of their products with you. Recently they've created a 'pro' range and made some additions to their usual line of nail polish and make up available in Superdrug. Nothing in their regular line costs more than £2, and you can usually get 3 products for £5, so it's well worth a gander! For such inexpensive products they really are great quality too, so you can't go wrong.

The products I was sent were 2 creams from their Fast Dry Colour Quick range, 2 shimmery foils from their Crystal range, 2 new beautiful glitters from their Pro Sequins range and some new loose nail glitter.

The ones I was most excited to try were the Sequins, and I was not disappointed. They're all named after supermodels and I was sent Naomi (purple) and Tyra (gold), and they are super pretty! They're a mix of different sized glitters, teeny tiny ones through to larger hexes and they aren't dissimilar to liquid sands and textured polishes without topcoat. Of course if you prefer things shiny, a good topcoat sorts that out but for those of us in the UK these are a great, easy to find (and affordable) liquid sand/fairy dust/sugar coat alternative. I paired Naomi with Shade 14 from the Fast Dry Colour Quick range, as it's a lovely, two coat uber pale lilac, that screamed at me to use them together for a glitter gradient! I used a topcoat on this one.

Next, I teamed Fast Dry Colour Quick shade 10 with Tyra. Shade 10 is a perfect navy creme - in fact, it was already my go-to dark blue. What you see here is one perfect coat, and no topcoat. The shine! If you have this, there is no need to have any other navy blue in your stash. Trust me. It does dry fast, is so glossy and doesn't stain when you take it off either (always use base coat though kids!) I used it as an accent with Tyra, and left it plain this time so you could see the textured effect. I couldn't stop looking at my nails, and couldn't resist adding a little anchor to the accent for a nautical twist.

Finally, the two polishes I was sent from the Crystal range. These are pretty, shimmer packed foil finish polishes and these two shades are perfect for autumn. Shade 8 has a purple base with flecks of blue, silver and red running through it and took 3 coats, while shade 9 has a copper base with gold and red flecks, opaque in two coats. Shade 9 is going to be my next pedi colour, I love it!

The Crystal and Fast Dry Colour Quick lines are just £1.99 each (their Glitterati line, squishy jellies packed with glitter are also worth checking out at this price), while the Sequins are from the Pro range and so cost a little more at £4, all from Superdrug. In the pro range they also have Metallica foil polishes (great for stamping apparently) and a Salon Shine line, giving a gel effect. Definitely worth checking out!

Since I already have two of the polishes I was sent in my stash, 2true kindly agreed I could give them away to one of my lovely readers! I'm afraid this giveaway is UK only due to postage restrictions. The polishes you will receive are brand new and unused, as I used my own polishes for this post. For your chance to win a bottle of Fast Dry Colour Quick shade 10 (navy), and Crystal shade 8 (purple), just fill out the Rafflecopter below before midnight on October 17th and good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The product featured was a PR sample provided to me for free for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own and 100% honest. Please see my disclaimer in the tab above for further details.

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Smarter than your average mermaid...

Hi guys!

Today, I have a victory to share with you! Today, I defeated two long-standing adversaries, and I did it with brain power! My conquests were French tip stamping, and my XL squishy stamper; they mock me no more! I rarely use the Frech tip stamping images in my collection, one because my nails have been short and two because I can never line them up properly. But since my nails are a little longer at the moment (thank you Duri-Rejuvacote!) I wanted to try a funky French on them. I thought, if I could line up the image and then press my nail into it, rather than pressing the stamp onto my nail or rolling it on, I'd stand a better chance of getting it straight, but the only problem with that is my nails are too curved and I'd inevitably miss the sides or blur the image. Enter squishy stamper - if I could get it to work, I could press my nail right into it and hopefully not mess up. But, my squishy hates me. I can usually get it to work for one or two goes, then it stops, or only partially picks up the image. So I babied it. I made sure it was totally clean by sitting it on an acetone-soaked cotton pad for a while, then was careful not to touch the surface when I put it back in the holder. In between stamps I cleaned the excess by pressing it against a lint roller and not using acetone, and pressed super lightly when picking up the image. I even cleaned my image plate every other stamp - unless it's a really stubborn image I can usually get away with only cleaning it between hands but I guess by pressing lightly it leaves more polish on the plate? Anyway, it worked and once I'd got the image on the stamper it was easy to line it up and get the tip image in the right place.

The resulting manicure? Well, actually I was less than enthused about it - I think the solid silver of the stamp isn't quite right with the jelly glitter of the base, but I hope you'll agree the stamping at least lines up! The base is one coat of 2True Crystal Shade 3 (super deep, glitter packed jelly) over one coat of Orly Shockwave. The stamping is done with Barry M Silver Foil and Bundle Monster 217, for a mermaid-y look.

I'm so pleased I worked out my squishy, and I'm hoping I can now line up my stamps better :) Now I just have to work out if I can line it up for double (and triple) stamping so I can get this image to cover my full nail...we shall see!

Have you had any successful stamping lately?

Hx

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New 31 day challenge - day 13, a cheer-yourself-up mani

Blue. Glitter. Leopard print. That is all.

Hx

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NOTD - Fade to blue...

Morning!

Today I have a pretty blue ombre mani to show you. This is my second ombre (I did a purple one here) and I really like the look of them. The polishes I used, pinky to thumb are 2True Shade 10, Barry M Cobalt, Models Own Feeling Blue, Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream and Accessorize Baby Blue.

Unfortunately, I woke up with sheet marks, so I added a coat of Finger Paints Motley.

Really loved it, but I find flakies take FOREVER to dry and I ended up ruining it. This is why I don't polish during the day when I have nappies to change, train tracks to build and noses to wipe!

Hx

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NOTD - Apple for the teacher

Morning!

Today I have to show you a mani I did absolutely AGES ago and that I really loved. I used a base of 2True Crystal shade 2, and stamped using Konad Special White polish. The big apple is from the Salon Express kit that my lovely friend Tracy got me, and the small apples are from QA18.

I loved this manicure. Maybe it's because in a past life (ie before I had my children) I was a teacher. Maybe it's because the base colour is so damn awesome, and only £1.99. Seriously pretty!

Hx

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NOTD Smurf Hands...

Hello, sorry I've not posted for a few days, I'm having trouble getting good pictures with this gloomy weather (and my lack of camera skillz). I have a couple of manicures to show you coming up :)

This is a manicure I wore for a few days in the week between Christmas and New Year (doesn't it seem like months ago now?) I used a navy blue creme from 2True on all fingers except my ring, which I used Barry M Lilac Foil and then stamped a flowery Bundle Monster pattern, reversing the colours. But where is this accent finger she speaks of, I hear you cry. Well, I went into Boots before I got to take any pictures, and going into Boots means that I test out nail polish and only two fingers stayed intact... Sorry about that!

Now look at the state of my fingers after I removed it! I've used this polish before and it wasn't too bad for staining which leads me to believe that non-acetone polish remover is pants. It's drying out my skin more than acetone remover does and it stinks to high heaven. It isn't hurting my booboo though, which is a good thing because just about everything else is.

I had to walk around for a DAY with blue hands, nothing would get it off until I went swimming on new years day with the kids! Just call me Smurfette. What do you do about staining? I usually scrub with an old toothbrush and polish remover but even that wouldn't shift it.

Off to pick Ollie up from pre-school now, in the rain. Fun times!

Hx

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October Favourites

Evenin'

I gave my nails a break and kept on my blue mani for an extra day, so today I have my October favourites for you. I didn't buy an awful lot this month, due to being penniless! So there are just a few bits that I've picked up or rediscovered that I'm loving.

Polish first, of course!

2true Fast Dry Colour Quick Shade 10, 17 Magnetised Green, China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Accessorize Baby Blue

My favourite mani this month (although I didn't like the formula of the base colour)

17 Fast Dry Fury, Stamped with 2True Fast Dry Colour Quick Shade 8, Maybelline Orange Couture and  BM04. Full post here.

Brunette eyebrow pencil by Vital Radiance, Beauty UK Pearl Eyeliner in Eclipse, Garnier BB Cream in Light, Rose and Co Apothecary Rose Petal Salve

I always used to use a matte eyeshadow to fill my eyebrows when I needed it - which wasn't very often - but I saw this eyebrow pencil in Poundland and thought I'd try it. Now I know what a difference it can make to "do" your eyebrows. It makes my whole face look more defined and really frames my eyes.I don't do it everyday, but when I'm doing my "full face" or a strong eye it completes the look.

I now have 5 of Beauty UK's pearl eyeliners and can't recommend them enough. I got Eclipse as an "extra" from a blog sale and love it. It's a very dark slate grey and is great for lining a smokey eye.

I wasn't sure about buying a BB cream from Garnier - at £9.99 it's a lot more than I'd usually pay for foundation or tinted moisturiser, so I sent off for a sample to try it. The first time I used it I used way too much and ended up super shiny and felt like my make-up was sliding around my face all day. The next time I made sure I used it over primer and didn't use as much and it was much better. Somewhere in between a foundation and tinted moisturiser is perfect coverage for me as I have good skin and barely ever get spots, but have a few uneven patches of colouration and freckles. I'm still not sure if I would buy this for a tenner, but it's on offer in Tesco at the moment for £8, or I might try 17's one for £5.99 next time I'm in Boots.

I got the Rose and Co Apothecary Rose Petal Salve in my October Boudoir Prive box and it is fast replacing my Lemony Flutter as my favourite cuticle treatment. It doesn't have the grainy texture of lemony flutter and turns into more of an oil on the skin. I even use this on my lips (I do this with Lemony Flutter too). I wasn't sure if the scent would put me off but it just reminds me of Turkish Delight. I'm not a great fan of Turkish Delight, but it's bearable! And makes my lips feel great. I want to try their Cherry Salve too, but I will wait until I've finished this one and the Lemony Flutter (which I feel is never gonna happen since it's HUGE!)

L'Occitiane Shea Hand Cream Hibiscus Flower, Original Shea, Desert Rose, Kleenex Facial Cleansing Wipes

Last month in Marie Claire they were giving away a L'Occitiane Shea Hand Cream in four different "flavours" (am I the only one who calls scents and varieties of beauty products "flavours"? You wouldn't eat it...). I picked up the original shea butter first, and when I used it almost all up within 2 weeks I picked up two more! Yes, I bought 3 copies of the same magazine...and still haven't read it! I can honestly say that it's the best hand cream I've ever used and my hands and nails have felt so much better, especially now the weather is getting cold - which is tough on my hands. If I don't get a huge bucket of this stuff under the Chrimbo tree I will be buying one in the new year!

I am a facial wipe fan, and these ones from Kleenex are really good. Apparently Kleenex as a company started as a way for women to remove make-up, so their new range is going back to their roots. These wipes are soft and quilted, so they're strong and don't make my skin feel dry and I don't feel like I have to scrub at my eyes to get my mascara off!

So, there are my faves of the month. I am on a self imposed spending ban so Novembers favourites will be things I'm rediscovering and digging out from the stash! The spending ban wont be too hard I think, there are only 2 polishes that I think I want (Barry M's Croc Effect crackle and the green/gold one from the Models Own Beetlejuice collection) but I can hold off on those since I don't have a place for them in my 31 day challenge! And then December will be all about Christmas, so maybe my faves for that month will come from Mr Claus!

What have you been loving this month? I tell you I'm not loving this cold weather! Am avoiding putting the heating on for as long as possible...it's chilly in here I tell you!

Hx

PS This post meant to go up last night, but it seems I neglected to hit "publish". Ooopsie! The 31 day challenge will resume this evening!

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NOTD - Autumn leaves

Hi!

I'm going to try to make this quick, since I was meant to be in bed half an hour ago!

I picked up one of Boots 17's new Autumn polishes in Fury, because I loved the colour. It's similar to Chanel Peridot but not a dupe. Anyway, for some reason the 17 Fast Finish polishes don't play nice with me and 2 coats were bubble city and looked awful. I took it off after a day and chucked Fury in my polish drawer in disgust. But I couldn't help thinking what a nice autumn colour it is, and then I looked through my stamping plates and thought this up. This time I used one coat of Fury and although it wasn't qite opaque it didn't bubble as badly. There were a few bubbles but it wasn't as bad as the first time. I used 2True Fast Dry shade 8 and Maybelline Orange Couture to stamp the leaf pattern from BM04. The 2true polish stamped really well, but the Maybelline wasn't as opaque, just giving a subtle effect.

I'm quite annoyed that Fury doesn't like me. It's a really pretty almost duochrome true gold that leans slightly coppery and greeny at times. Maybe I'll add some thinner to it and see if that helps.

Have you ever had a problem with 17 Fast Finish polishes? Peacock didn't play nice with me either. The Lasting Fix and Supreme Shine polishes are fine, but the Fast Finish polishes are much prettier colours. Any suggestions?

Hx

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NOTD - 2true Crystal nail polish

Hi de hi!

I showed you a new 2True polish topped with I Lily Love You here, but I also picked up two new Crystal polishes that they've bought out (any 3 items from 2True are just £4.99 from Superdrug). These aren't even on the 2true or Superdrug websites yet, and in 3 different Superdrugs I've looked in these were the only two colours each of them had, although there were spaces on the stand for more. So if you like glittery foil finishes keep an eye out!

The colours I've found are Shade 3 (greeny-blue) and Shade 4 (mauve). These pictures were two coats, no topcoat day 2 of wear. Impressive for a budget brand! On my left hand I used Shade 3 as accent nails, and 4 for the rest, and reversed it on my right hand, for a super quick I-wanna-go-to-bed-now-please mani.

I'll definitely keep my eye out for more of these polishes, I was very impressed.

As you can probably tell I've spectacularly broken the no-buy. I'm just waiting for one polish to arrive from ebeast and then there will be a haul post, as I've not done one of those in a while! I also have September favourites coming up, probably tomorrow.

I hope you're well! Have a nice weekend.

Hx

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NOTD - OPI I Lily Love You over 2true Shade 10 Navy Creme

Bonjour!

Today I'm showing you a really pretty combination that I wore for my sons 4th birthday over the weekend. I used 2 coats of one of 2true's new Colour Quick Fast Dry polishes in Shade 10 (Navy Creme - how hard is it to name a polish?). I wanted a navy creme and I saw this colour on Just Nice Things and knew I wanted it. I also knew it stained so I used 2 coats of base coat and minimised the damage. I then layered a coat of OPI I Lily Love You on top for maximum prettyfuls. Sealed with topcoat (NYC Expert Last in Classy Glassy as I couldn't get the fast dry. Still as good IMO, but I will be getting a new Seche in the near future).

These pics do not do it justice, everyone come over to my house and see for yourself. No, actually don't...

Wee bit o' tipwear showing, but considering I usually have chips and all sorts after a day of wear I can' handle it.

I can see this navy polish getting a lot of use this autumn/winter, and 2true products sell for the bargainous price of £1.99 or three for a fiver in Superdrug. I picked up two new foil polishes too. I'm glad to see new things from 2true, as it hopefully means Superdrug wont be discontinuing it anytime soon. They apply well, the brush is good and they're cheap and cheerful. What else could a girl want?

Have you tried 2true? What layering combos have you tried with ILLY? Show me!

Hx

PS If anyone knows where I can get Revlon Royal and Starry Pink in the UK please let me know! Thank you :*

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