Wednesday 30 September 2015

Dance Legend - Anna Gorelova - 'Morocco' with Reverse Stamping

Hello!

Today I've got 'Morocco' by Anna Gorelova for Dance Legend to show you. Dance Legend is a Russian brand and Anna Gorelova is a Russian Blogger who collaborates with Dance legend to create beautiful polishes every summer and winter. This polish is from her Summer 2015 Collection. Anna also has some of the most beautiful photography in the nail blogosphere so have a look at her blog if you get a chance.
Natural daylight
'Morocco' is a deep but bright raspberry pink polish with holographic sparkles. It is so pretty and when the sun catches it, it really sparkles. It kind of has a metal-like finish which I really love. The formula was so smooth, this was three easy coats.
Lacquer Lust Cottontail - Natural Light
My accent nail is Lacquer Lust 'Cottontail'. I love this polish, especially when I'm looking for a shimmery white base for some nail art. Again three easy coats.
Indoor Lighting
This was my first reverse stamping technique attempt. Reverse stamping is where you pick up your stamping plate image, leave it to dry on the stamper and then 'colour it in' before peeling it off and laying it on your nails. It's like creating your own nail decals. The method I used was to stamp the image onto my Uber mat and then colour it in. The full technique I followed was from the lovely Helen at Cinderhellie nails. Check out her blog if your looking for a full tutorial on the method. I'm hoping to do a full post on the Uber mat once I've used it a bit more, but so far I'm loving it!
Indoor Lighting
I used the butterfly design on my Uber Chic Stamping plate 1-02 and my Creative shop stamper. I used Konad special black stamping polish and used HK Girl top coat for my decal and top coat.
Indoor Lighting close up
Natural Daylight - Shade

All the Anna Gorelova Dance legend polishes come in this beautiful bottle. The owl is such a cute touch!
Natural Daylight - Direct Sunlight
You can purchase the Uber Mat and Uber Chic stamping plates from Uberchic. They have such a great range of stamping plates and tools.

'Morocco' was from the wonderful Rainbow Connection UK who stock lots of Dance Legend polishes and everything else a nail addict needs!
Natural Daylight
I'm so pleased with how these turned out! Hopefully soon I can do a full mani of reverse stamping!

Have you tried reverse stamping? Any tricks and tips? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for visiting,

Have a lovely day,

Helen xx

Monday 28 September 2015

Femme Fatale Cosmetics - Glass Coffin

Hello!

I'm back today with a review of Femme Fatale Cosmetics 'Glass Coffin'. I've been trying to get this polish for ages and last week I finally nabbed it and it fell through my post box and into my Helmer.

Bottle shot - Purple cold phase, Nails - Pale Blue warm phase
Femme Fatale Cosmetics is an Australian brand and is known for their super unique polish creations, as well as being a great indie polish and make-up stockist AND having their own make-up range!

'Glass Coffin' is from their Snow White collection and is a thermal polish. This means it reacts to hot and cold and changes colour accordingly. I love it! I paired it with 'Mirror Mirror on the wall' on my ring finger, also from the Snow White collection. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!!

Cold phase - Indoor Lighting

Transition phase - Indoor Lighting

Warm Phase - Indoor Lighting
The polish dries down to a matte finish which is super pretty but all my pictures here are with HK Girl top coat. This was three easy coats and because the polish is matte it dries down super quick. For my accent nail I used two coats of 'Glass coffin' and one coat of 'Mirror Mirror on the wall'.

Daylight
'Glass Coffin' has definitely shot up there with my favourite polishes. I love all the colour transitions and the shimmer is beautiful. I keep finding myself staring at them and the thermal aspect is very fun to play around with. (Who said you could only play with water if your a small child!?)

Thanks for visiting,

Have a lovely day,

Helen xx


Sunday 20 September 2015

Creative Shop Stamper Bling

Hello!

Just a quick post today about a little project I did this morning. I love my Creative Shop Stamper but sometimes I was finding it a bit slippy to hold due to the metal holder. An idea from the nail blogosphere has been to use textured polish to create a bit more grip on the stamper.

I used my Avon stardust textured polish in Jewel Blue and I love how it turned out.

Natural Light
It was so easy and took no time at all. I just did two coats of the polish and touched up any bits that looked like I'd missed them and job done! I'll do some stamping on my next mani to try it out properly :) It's so sparkly now!

Indoor lighting
I got my Creative Stamper from the wonderful Rainbow Connection UK!

Have you tried this? What colour/effect did you go for? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for visiting,

Have a lovely day,

Helen xx

My Nail Care Routine


Hello!

I'm back from my hols! I've got a post today about my nail care routine. After my hols with the same mani on with NO maintenance for nearly 2 weeks!!! I was eager to get home and give my nails some TLC! I enjoyed Cyprus but I was having nail painting withdrawal symptoms :) and I didn't want to risk my polishes on the plane! As I was cutting my talons down I thought I'd compile a post for you guys to give you an insight into my nail care routine. I think nail care is a very personal thing so this is just what I do that works for me. Hopefully it may help someone at least! :) Due to a daily dip in the pool and sea my nails were a bit worse for wear so I decided to cut them all down to regrow all new and shiny! Here's my process...
'Removal of previous mani' tools
So first of all removal. I use a Sally Hansen Moisturising nail polish remover. Back in the day before I was Nail cray cray my nails were quite prone to peeling and breaking so I try to use lots of 'kind to my nails' products; especially working in a lab with nasty solvents all day. Once I've got the most of my previous mani off with a cotton pad and nail polish remover I dip my clean up brush in some pure acetone just to get rid of the last few bits around the side. My clean up brush is a Models Own brush out of their nail art brush set. It's the one I'm most comfortable with but there's loads out there so find one that's right for you :) I tend to wash my hands at this point to get off any remaining solvent so any damage to my nails is reduced.
Nail tidying tools
Due to the fact I was shortening my nails I used my nail clippers to take off most of the length. Some people don't like using clippers on their nails and I do tend to file them most of the time but when I'm giving them quite a big cut down I find it's easier to do most of it with the clippers. My nail file is from Cirque Colors and I've had it for a couple of years now and I love it! Glass nail files are really good for your nails as they leave a smoother edge and are just fab! I do admit that I'm not great at the whole 'file one way' thing until right at the end of my filing; I've never had a problem due to it. For my nail shape I tend to file the top down to a straight edge and then round the sides and then create an overall rounded curve with the one way filing. I don't tend to file my nails every time I do a manicure, mainly it's just when I'm cutting them down or I've broken/caught one. (THE HORROR!!). I wash my hands after this and just check that all the nail that I've filed has come off. If not I'll use the file again just to gently take the last bits off.
Cuticle care tools
Now comes the hard bit...Cuticles. I'm quite new to cuticle care and am still in the process of learning the dos and don'ts. Though the process I use at the moment seems to be working for me. I first of all use my Color 4 Nails 'Cuticle Away'. It comes in a tube with a brush and you twist the end to dispense the amount you want into the brush. I then sweep the brush around my cuticles and leave it to soak for a couple of minutes. This softens the cuticles up and makes them easier to push down. It's a really great product and smells a little of oranges! Yum! I then go around my cuticle with my pink rubber cuticle pusher and gently push down the cuticles. Then I do the same with my metal cuticle pusher. Once I've done that I use the tool in the bottom right. (I don't know what it's called) to go around my cuticle line and just scrape off any dead skin still stuck to the nail to create a nice clean line. It's got a little blade in between the two side metal bits that takes the stray bits off the nail bed. After this I go around once more with my rubber cuticle pusher. Then another hand wash and I use a little brush just to scrub any excess cuticle off that's hanging on. I do tend to do my cuticles every time I do a manicure. It sounds like a lot of steps but once your doing it regularly there's not a lot to tidy up each time.
This is the cute little manicure set case I have for all my tools!
Buffing
My next step is buffing. I tend to use my Avon Nail Buffer (Top) or my Models Own 4 Way Buffer (Bottom). I don't Buff very much, just enough to take a fine dusting of nail off to leave a nice smooth surface. I then use the smooth and shine or step 2 & 3 to make my nails all shiny :)
Cuticle Oil
As I mentioned previously, moisture is important for my nails. I use this amazing cuticle oil from Color 4 Nails to rehydrate my cuticles and nails after all the above steps. It smells amazing (coconut and kiwi) and they do loads of other scents that I'm looking forward to trying. Again the oil is in a tube with a brush with the twisting end to dispense the amount you require. I brush the oil around my nails and leave it to soak for about 5 to 10 minutes. This cuticle oil doesn't leave my hands feeling greasy or oily and it soaks in really fast. The brush applicator also makes it really easy to apply and stops it ending up everywhere.
Hand Cream and Base Coat
Last but not least I also use my trusty Avon Care Glycerine Hand and Nail Hand cream. This has been a miracle cure for my hands and nails in terms of moisturising them and making them look healthy and feel so much nicer. I tend to leave this to work it's magic and then just use a little bit of tissue to wipe any excess off my nails before I start my mani. My last step is a coat of OPI 'Original Nail Envy'. This has also worked miracles for my peeling that I mentioned earlier and my nails are now super strong after using it for about a year. I also use this as my base coat.
My nails before I put on my base coat
So that's it! It seems like a lot now it's all in writing but the whole process normally takes me about half an hour when I'm not doing a major cut down on my nails. I hope you've found this interesting and hopefully also maybe a little bit helpful :). Let me know in the comments if you've got any questions. Are there any nail care tips, tricks or products that you swear by in your routine?

Thanks for visiting,

Have a lovely day,

Helen xx

Wednesday 2 September 2015

Picture Polish 'Autumn' and ILNP 'Money Bin'

Hello!

Just a quick post today. This is Picture Polish 'Autumn'; from their most recent release of blogger collaboration polishes, with an accent nail of ILNP 'Money Bin'.
Daylight
Both polishes were three coats and applied beautifully. I love the ILNP Ultra-chrome flakies polishes and the new holo-silver flakie hybrid Barbara has come up with is beautiful. I've loved every one released so far! Look out for the swatches of the new ILNP Fall collection. It's Amazing!! Hopefully I'll have some to show you next month.
Indoor Lighting
 'Autumn' was designed by 'The Polishing Life' Check out her blog to read more about it. It has a really lovely consistency. A bit jelly like with the addition of the Picture Polish scattered holo effect. I love love love the colour! Totally ready for the autumnal weather (which is good seeing as it's rained all week so far in the UK!!), clothing and nights in with blankets, tea and telly! One of the many things I love about Picture Polish is their blogger collaborations, it brings such unique creations to their brand. This was all topped off with my trusty HK Girl.
Outdoors
Are there any autumn releases you're especially looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for visiting,

Have a lovely day,

Helen xx