Models Own - Polish for Tans - Sun Hat

Another Polish for Tans shade today, this time the bright Barbie pink of Sun Hat on shorter nails.

 

 

These pictures are two coats which gives a nice bright opaque coverage.  The finish of the Polish for Tans is slightly rubbery and matte without a top coat but I like to add a layer of quick dry top coat to give them the super shiny look.

 

I wouldn't really class this polish as a neon, I suppose at a push you could call it a pastel neon but to me it really just looks like a bright, sugar sweet Barbie pink sort of shade.  It is lovely for summer though so although it's not a typical neon I do think it's a good pick for this time of year and will probably look great with a tan.

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Flip Flop

Flip Flop is the green from the Polish for Tans collection, it's a very yellowy green not quite as bright as some neon greens I've seen but still a bold choice for summer.

 

 

The polish can be slightly streaky to apply, these pictures are 2 coats with top coat and in some places I think a third coat might have been beneficial to fully smooth out all of the imperfections.

 

The polish dries very fast which can also make application slightly tricky, the finish is a sort of semi-matte, rubberised effect.  Although it's an interesting finish I refer to top mine with some top coat for a super shiny look.

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Shades

Shades is a gorgeous neon coral pink, really bright and zingy and perfect for summer.  Although the polishes in this range are meant to look best with a tan I think they also go rather well with my very pale skin tone and still pop beautifully.

 

These pictures are two coats with top coat, the polish dries to a sort of rubbery, semi-matte finish but I prefer how it looks with an added coat of top coat to make it super shiny.

 

The polish can be a little streaky to apply but it dries super fast and can generally be smoothed out over two or three layers and top coat.

Easter Mini Eggs

I used a mixture of Models Own and Yes Love polishes to create this Easter themed Mini Egg manicure.  I'm pleased with how it turned out but seeing the two brands side by side has made me think I might need to add more Models Own Speckled Eggs to my collection.

 

 

The hex pieces in the Yes Love polish are much more sparse and I think I like the busier look of the Models Own versions.

 

Overall I did like this manicure though and I thought it was suitable themed for the Easter weekend, which is when I wore it.

Nivea Lip Butters

 

These are my current lip obsession, creamy smooth lip butters in three lovely flavours.  I can't decide if the Raspberry Rose, a soft fruity scent, or the Caramel Cream, a warm biscuity scent, is my favourite.  The Vanilla and Macadamia is also lovely although a little plainer than the other two, in my opinion, I don't want to eat it quite as much as the other two.  ;)

 

As well as smelling utterly delicious these apply nicely and keep my lips really well moisturised, I've been keeping one on my dressing table, one in my handbag and the third on my desk so I can apply a little whenever I need it.

 

The lip butters are £2.25 or 2 for £3 in Superdrug at the moment.

Rainbow Ripple Blanket - Complete!

Finally, I have another update on my Rainbow Ripple and this time it's the final one!  It's finished!

 

Technically it's not quite finished in these pictures, the ends were still to be sew in but I wanted to get a picture while the light was good, the ends are all sewn in now.

 

I'm very proud of how it turned out, despite the battle I had trying to straighten the ripple edges, at the time I swore I was never going to do it again but seeing the finished product makes me think it was almost worth it!

 

 

It was a rather long process but I love the finished product, although I think if I was doing it again I would go back to a more random ripple colour pattern, like this one, or maybe use fewer colours.

 

Overall I am delighted with it though and looking forward to my next project.

 

Kiko Cupcake - 651 - Strawberry

 

Another Cupcake polish today, this time the pink from the collection 651, Strawberry.

 

651 reminds me of a strawberry milkshake, it's exactly the right creamy pink colour speckled through with red and blue textured pieces - hopefully you don't get them in your next milkshake!

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Swatches

I've got some quick swatches of the new Models Own Polish for Tans collection today.

 

 

They're lovely bright pastel neons, the application isn't great, these swatches are 3 coats which is what it took to get them looking opaque and fairly even but once they're on they are lovely spring / summer colours.  I'm going to try them over a white base coat and see if that makes application any smoother with less coats.

 

In natural light they definitely look quite neon but in artificial indoor light they are less neon and more just like very bright pastels, like in the picture below.

 

 

Kiko Cupcake - 654

Another of the Cupcake polishes today, this time 654, Anise.

 

 

Similar finish and application to the others I have posted about recently but this time a pale blue base with darker blue sprinkles through it.

 

I really love the colour; it's a very bright, icy blue shade. 

 

 



Models Own - Polish for Tans & Speckled Eggs

A little parcel arrived to cheer up my Thursday!  A Models Own order I placed yesterday, super fast delivery which is always pleasing, I was expecting to have to wait until after the weekend for these!

 

 

First up I ordered the Polish for Tans Collection which are apparently "the first-ever collection designed to enhance and compliment a natural tan. Five essential summer shades chosen to highlight golden skin from sunrise to sunset. These tan-enhancing neon-pastel shades are the perfect combination of muted brights - the ultimate collection for beach babes!"

 

I couldn't resist the bright neons and had to get the whole collection:

Sun Hat, Shades, Beach Bag Bikini & Flip Flop

 

Next up a couple from the Speckled Eggs Collection, I already have a few Yes Love Speckled polishes which are very similar so it seemed silly to double up, which is why I only bought two; Magpie (minty green) and Goose (yellow).

 

As you can see from the first picture I also sneaked in a bottle of Utopia from the main collection to make the order up to £30 so I got free P&P; a great way to convince myself I am saving money by buying more polish.  Stand by for swatches over the next few day.

Kiko Cupcake 647

 

647, or Jasmine as it's called on the UK Kiko site, is a white base with orange and blue speckles and strands through it's textured base.

 

These pictures are two coats and as you can see it's nicely opaque at that.  The polish dries reasonably fast but not quite as fast as the Sugar Mats, possibly due to the different textures and make up of the additional colour particles.

 

What really impressed me about this polish is how well it lasted, even without a top coat, it managed 4 days with minimal tip wear and no chips which is pretty good going for a textured polish.

Kiko Cupcake Nail Lacquer

 

I have polishes from a new collection from by Kiko to show you today, Cupcake Nail Lacquer, the release of them coincided nicely with a friend from work visiting Spain so she offered to bring me a few back, here are the four I chose;

 

648 Pineapple, 652 Lilac, 653 Wisteria and 655 Mint.

 

 

It pains me slightly not to buy the whole collection but I figured it was best to try a few out before getting carried away, as I wasn't sure I would love these quite as much as Kiko's other textured polishes the Sugar Mat Collection.

 

The Cupcake collection are similar to the Sugar Mats, but not the same; the formula is a bit chunkier as the Cupcakes have more multi-coloured pieces in them rather than just fine shimmer.  Despite this they apply in a similar fashion and dry nice and fast (although not quite as fast as the Sugar Mat).  They definitely have a slightly more chunky, textured look to them too.

 

 

The colours are lovely, soft pastels, perfect for spring.

 

The pale base colours are shot through with slightly darker colours in complimenting shades.

 

They reminded me of mini eggs when I first saw them on my nails, perfect for Easter, but actually they look less like mini eggs when you see them right beside mini eggs as my foray into using chocolates as props shows...

 

I still think they're pretty sweet though. :)

 

While I don't love them quite as much as the Sugar Mats on first try I do really like these so I think I might be adding a few more to my collection at some point.

 

 

 

 



Nailtiques Nail Protein

My nails are not in the best state at the moment, as well as being constantly stained they are also soft and peeling which is something I've never, ever had an issue with in the past.  Generally I can grow my nails to a pretty decent length without having to think about it or do anything special but recently that's not been the case so I decided to take action!

 

My action came in the form of Nailtiques:

 

Nailtiques Nail Protein
Formula 2 - Treatment for Soft, Peeling, Bitten, Weak or Thin Nails Nailtiques Nail Protein formulas were created to treat different nail conditions. The salon-tested formulations offer special combinations of ingredients, including hydrolyzed keratin and protein in combination with gelatin and calcium to build a healthy nail foundation. The protein formulas bond the nail layers together building a strong nail foundation resistant to peeling, chipping and splitting.

 

So hopefully this should sort them out!  Application wise the instructions say to apply daily to begin with and say you can use coloured polish at the same time, but they also say to keep adding a layer each day and then remove at the end of the week so I was unsure how the formula would get through the colour and work properly, hence my naked nails.

 

I've been applying a coat a day for the last few days so I'm hoping that it's seeping in and making my nails nice and strong.

 

It would probably be a good idea to keep my nails bare and just use the treatment for a good few weeks but I have some new polish I am really keen to try out so I don't think I will last too much longer without trying them on, maybe after that I'll go back to bare for another week...

 

I'll post an update once I have been using the product longer and let you all know how (or if) it changes the current condition of my nails, fingers crossed!

 

 

Maybelline Colorshow Crystalize Nail Polish - Nearly Black

Another textured polish today, this time from Maybelline.

 

 

Nearly black is, as the name suggests, a black base with lots of multicoloured shimmery glitter particles through it, it reminds me of the night sky or maybe of fireworks or some sort of gem stone.

 

As with all of the textured polishes it dries fairly quickly to a matte finish.