i think i'm in love...

Models Own Polish For Tans Range

It didn't take me long to jump on this bandwagon. This might make me a complete crazed saddo, but I actually had the release date of these saved as a reminder on my phone, I wanted them that much.

It's no secret that I'm a big friend of fake tan. I never quite feel glam enough without a bit of bronze. And I think we all know how I feel about polishes. My massive cravings for them are only getting worse. So it only made sense that I got my hands on these pronto!

The swatches really do a lot of the talking here, but I'll give a little bit of my thoughts on them too. In terms of colour, they really are bright, the photos cannot do justice to how much these glow. But I also find them really wearable compared to other brights such as Models Own Iced Neon range, mainly because they are muted, neon pastels (I still don't quite understand that), and so they don't look out of place if you're not on the beach sunning yourself. Because they are slightly pastel-y, you might want three coats for a full coverage, but I've found that two works just fine if I'm not being picky. I've also found Beach Bag and Flip Flop to be quite gloopy, but I don't know if this is just my luck or a formula issue. They aren't too gloopy to use though, just not the thin one-swipe formula that I've come to expect. It's a little more time consuming, but so worth it. They dry to a semi-matte finish, so a top coat might be needed if you don't dig the matte look. As with all Models Own polishes, they wear really good too, three days and no chips to be seen so far!

I can't wait to see how these look when I do have a bit of a summer glow, I can only imagine they will be ever more stunning. Okay, enough gushing now, I think I've made my point. I LOVE these. LOVE them I tell you. 

Models Own Polish For Tans are £5 each or currently on offer on modelsownit.co.uk at 6 for £20 mix and match, so you can pick up other goodies too ( I recommend their lip-stix if you're stuck). Ps. Have a fab weekend...

Love Charlotte

xxx

giving essie a second chance...

(Russian Roulette, Mint Candy Apple, Master Plan)

 I'm not one to dabble in high-end nail polishes if I'm honest. Sure, I love my OPI's and have the occasional Nails Inc free gift splurge (we all know how I feel about their Gel Effects), but when it comes to my fingers and toes I'm easily satisfied with a good ol' Barry M or Models Own offering. At £7.99 Essie isn't a high-end brand, but not a budget one either in the scale of nail prices. I don't know about you but I don't just pop one in my basket as I'm walking by as I do a Rimmel 60 seconds. However, I did do a little dabble in a few Essie's from Fragrance Direct a while back as they were going for £1.99, but I just wasn't impressed. Sure they were nice, but they didn't have pigmentation to rival any budget brand at all, and so although worn every once in a while, they didn't spark an Essie love in me. When I saw Boots had a 3for2 offer on the other week though, I decided it was time to give Essie another chance, picking up Master Plan, one I've been coverting for a while now, Mint Candy Apple, a cult favourite, and Russian Roulette, as I needed another and you can never have too much red in my opinion. On first impressions, I wasn't all that impressed again, I'm afraid to say. Yes the colours are nice, but nothing out of the ordinary (expect for maybe Master Plan but I prefer Nails Inc Porchester Square personally). You easily need two coats, maybe three, to get a full coverage (and I'm all about the one swipe and go). 

However, they did impress me on staying power this time. I rocked Master Plan for a whole 6 days without chipping. Now that's something. 

If you're looking for classic colours with staying power, you want to do your nails once a week and don't mind waiting them extra minutes for another coat to dry, then Essie is for you. But if you're all about the chopping and changing and having a collection with every colour under the rainbow, these probably aren't. If they were to bring out some stellar new shades in summer I might consider, but for the price and the average quality, I won't be getting my pennies out again for this brand anytime soon. Sorry Essie!

Maybe third time lucky?

Lots of love,

Charlotte

models own haul!

Red Lustre, Cerise Shine, Naked Glow, White Lights, Apple Pie

Now before you jump to conclusions, nope, I haven't fallen off the no nails february wagon, I actually ordered these in the Models Own sale last week while it was still January. Everything was half price which was amaaazing so I couldn't help having a little splurge. The swatches really speak for themselves, but here's a little run down of what I got and my thoughts. 

First I picked up four of the new HyperGel range (if you're a regular reader you'll know I'm a sucker for gel polish) and I have to say I absolutely love them. They're much better than Barry M Gelly's and for £5 full price they're equally as bargainous. Plus the colour range is gorgeous, and a little different from your regular lines, in true Models Own Style. The swatches above were achieved with just one coat and no top coat, and are so so glossy with just that. I'm especially impressed with the white as it's so opaque, I recommend it even if you aren't looking for a glossy nail in particular but just a good white. Once February is over I can see myself expanding my HyperGel collection to all ten pretty quickly!

Next I picked up one of the Fruit Pastel range which smell on your nails! I'm not a huge pastel fan however I do love mint green so this was right up my street and really does smell delicious like apple sweets or appleade. Although I must say that the smell only lasts on the nail for a couple of hours, but hey ho, I didn't really buy it for the scent anyway. This one took two coats, but after all it is a pastel, which are notorious for this!

I also picked up a fast dry ointment thingy to make my nails dry super fast but I haven't had a proper test of this yet.

As with all Models Own these polishes are super lovely to apply and really long lasting, the gel ones even more so than usual. I really can't get over how glossy they are either, its amazing. 

The sale is now over but at £5 I still think these are fab purchases and well worth trying out!

Lots of love,

Charlotte

xxx

new nails inc gel effect swatches...

#TheWinterProject Week One: Winter Nails!

Weekly Tuesday posts are back! This time around its Kellie's #TheWinterProject which is set to get us all excited about Christmas! Same routine as #thesoproject, 6pm, every tuesday, be there or be square, but this time the topics will be all about our different winter faves! This week it's nail polishes. Now I've already done posts or nodded to some of my autumn/winter favourites and I didn't want to be a broken record on y'all, so I've picked some more. Which was still tricky to decide on...

For no deliberate reason these babies are all from the fabulous Topshop make-up range. I just picked some gorgeous shades which I think are perfect for Christmas time and they all turned out to be from one brand!

I went for two pearly greens for two reasons : I wear red all year round so I don't see it as Christmassy as green, and also they have a gorgeous pearly sheen which I don't think you can rock so well in the sunnier months!

Next of course it had to be sparkle, and for me the best place to get sparkle is the Topshop counter. I have pretty much every single glitter, but these are my two most loved and can create two different looks. I loved them just over a white polish or over the green ones also shown best, but they can go over pretty much anything and look amazing!

 (L-R) Hidden Treasure- golden pearly green, Poison Ivy- dark less pearly forest green, Brazil- very colourful glitter very similar to Models Own Hedkandi (another love), and finally Unknown but still on the shelves - a gorgeous white shimmer with big glitter chunks.

These beauties are between £5-6 depending on which colour you pick up and while that's on the pricier side of drugstore I think they are well worth it as you'll wear them right through the party season!

I hope you liked the first #thewinterproject post, please leave comments, questions and links to your favourite winter nails below.....

Lot of love,

Nail Inc New Gel Effect Nails!

(Left- One Coat, Right- Two Coats, No top coat on either!)

Last week I was browsing the nails inc stand (again!) at debenhams when the lovely assistant asked if I would like to try one of the new Gel Effect nail polishes. Of course I said yes, and was very pleasantly surprised when she painted all of my nails for me (this usually costs around £17 I think!). I first chose the Porchester Square shade, which is a lovely grey-ish nude and a cult classic in its natural form, but was eyeing up lots of shades while I was sat there and ended up with this gorgeous wine shade (called Kensington High Street) on my ring fingers as an accent. I've got to say I don't often purchase Nails Inc because I find them so easy to chip for the price, but I still buy one once in a while because I love the colours and effects, especially if they are on offer. Plus, I rarely wear the same nail colour for more than two days so chipping isn't a major problem. However, I haven't had this problem with these Gel Effects. I kept my newly painted nails the same colour for five days with these and saw no difference in the quality, before I gave in to temptation and went for a new shade. 

Onto to colour- you can see how pigmented this one is the photo's above, even after one coat it's wearable but you don't quite get the full deep colour and shiny finish. I must stress that I DID NOT use a topcoat in these pictures- that's just how glossy they are and I love it! It doesn't come across on camera as well but I found that these really did look like a gel manicure, and to add proof a couple of people at work thought I had had shellac nails on! As much as I love Barry M Gelly Nail Polishes, you can't beat Nails Inc at nail effects and these do put the Barry M offerings to shame slightly (that doesn't mean I don't still love you though Barry). 

At £14, they aren't cheap, so I only picked the wine shade as I have lots of nudes and vowed not to buy another berry colour this autumn (pfft that might happen). I'm really lusting after Porchester Square now but I'm sure I have it somewhere in its regular finish. However, they do sell these on a range of websites, so shop around and look out for offers, especially Beauty Bay which is fab for Nails Inc offers!

If you're a fan of the gel manicure but can't keep forking out for one, these could be your answer, especially if you're a one shade kinda girl!

Lots of Love Beauties,

Free Nails Inc Polished with Colgate Max White One!

I've been wanting to review these nail polishes since they were released as a free gift with Colgate Max White One but I couldn't get my hand on them for ages! Eventually I found both this week in a quieter Boots, there was stacks and stacks of them left, I had to stop myself and tell myself I only needed one of each! The toothpaste was only £3.99, so what a bargain (Nails Inc retail at £11 each for this size and formula bottle), and these are full size which is amazing for a free gift! Plus, these aren't those pesky free gift nail polishes where you just end up with shades that noone else wanted, they are exclusive shades and really nice too (the shimmery one will be perfect for Christmas). If I had one niggle, if would only be that they don't have funky names like the normal Nails Inc offerings, but that's just me being picky!

They have the regular Nail Inc formula which I like, very strongly pigmented so two coats is easily enough, although with the shimmery shade one would do too! I do have to say I find Nails Inc polishes quite chippy for a high-end brand, but not overly chippy, they just aren't massively long lasting. I change my nails all the time though, so for me it isn't a problem, although it does put me off paying full price! Saying this, at £3.99 each these are a much better quality than you would find for the same price on the highstreet so even if you don't need toothpaste (I didn't but I'm testing it) it's worth it!

I'll let the swatches do the talking from here on...

 (Apologies for the green in these photos, I'm waiting on new nail wheels from Hong Kong! The difference between the gloss and shimmer was really hard to capture on camera, but you can see that swatch on the right is slightly darker and more shiny, in real life it also has a very metallic finish)

(Left- Luminous Red Gloss, Right- Luminous Red Metallic)

If you're a polish fan hot-foot it to Boots right away or make an online order (they keep selling out but coming back in stock) to grab this great bargain! And more on whether the toothpaste really does give you white teeth in a week!)

Lots of love,

#supergorgeoussept day 16 : nail art

I forgot to post it again! I seem to be making a habit of posting my instagram pics to the blog in the morning after, so I'm thinking of doing this from now on. I always meant to post then find something more interesting to blog about, do that, and forget about my poor picture waiting to be discussed!

This one's nail art, and again I won't say too much as this was created using nail decals I purchased from diy nails, a site I LOVE LOVE LOVE, but already did a post about which you can read here!

I used candy shades for this look too, a lavender purple, a mint green, a pastel-y coral and a pastel purple. The specific shades aren't too important as the nail art is the focus, plus you can create this look with colours you already have. 

Have a lovely day beauties, and see you at 6 o'clock for The Starting Off Project Week 4!...

Models Own Artstix!

 Whilst browsing Boots (for a change) a couple of weeks ago I picked up this Models Own Artstix in Snow Drops, as the nail polishes were on a 2 for £8 offer and these are £6 on their own, bargain! What really attracted me to the product was how portable it looked (it's about the size of a fat pen, if that makes any sense) and holds two colours. There are loads of couplings to choose from, including best-selling shades and others exclusive to the Artstix range, but it was the glitter that drew me to this one. Little did I realise until I got home, the reason I loved this glitter so much is because I already have two bottles of the stuff - it is no other than Hedkandi Ibiza Mix, one of my all time favourite glitters. Oops! You can never go wrong with a portable glitter though, right? I also liked that it came with a white as at the time I was on the hunt for a new opaque white colour.

Apologies for the quality of this last photo, for some reason blogger keeps randomly choosing to rotate some of my pictures, and this was one of them, so I had to faff around with it on Paint to get it right. But you can still see the effect. Left is the white on its own, and this was just one coat! This is a nail wheel though, so you'd need two on a real nail if you was to wear it on its own. On the right is the Ibiza Mix Glitter on its own, also one coat, and in the middle is one coat of each, which I think looks pretty fab. Something about them being together in a pen makes it a super easy look to nail (get it?) although if you have a white you could just as easily pick up the original full bottle of Ibiza Mix. Oh and the white is called Snow White for all those asking (I had to dull the white in the picture so you could read the writing). I'm super impressed with these as I am most Models Own polishes, their colours and formulas are hard to beat! I want the whole range now so if an offer crops up on them again I'll be straight to Boots, but you can find some of them in the ASOS Sale here for just £3.50! You need this in your life, trust me!!

Lots of love, 

#supergorgeoussept day 12: favourite nail polish

So this is yesterday's #supergorgeousept post (oopsy), I did instagram it yesterday so I'm still on track, but was just super busy with work and didn't have time to blog about it. Yesterday's theme was favourite nail polish, and while it's impossible for me to decide on an all time favourite - that would just be ridiculous and take forever- I chose this after a long, long think. If I had to pick a favourite or ten it would be up there for sure. Bourjois 1 Seconde Gel nail polishes are no doubt one of my favourite nail formulas. Pigmented so really only need for one well applied coat, a huaaage brush so one swipe only, and super fast drying which for a lazy nail painter like me who can't wait more than a few minutes this is perfect. Plus the colour I've chosen, Turquoise Block is just gorgeous (and one you've probably heard me rave about before). A minty sort of turquoise, it's really bright but not without being wearable, and makes you look really really tanned (bonus!). I've worn this tonnes this summer and I'll definitely be stretching it into autumn winter for as long as I can. Perfecto!

Happy Friday Ladies...

Review: OPI Matte Top Coat

 

I absolutely love a matte nail polish! Black was my first purchase (only a cheapy from ebay actually) and I fell in love with the matte effect instantly. Since then I've been buying matte finish nail polishes quite often, but they're not massive in the gel-mad market -don't get me wrong I love a good shiny finish too- and there was a lot of colours in my collection that I wanted to try in matte finishes.

That's when I stumbled across OPI Matte Top Coat. There are cheaper alternatives out there, but as a lover of the Matte 'Nail Envy' polish I knew this wouldn't disappoint. Plus I picked this up from my local Sally's for just £6! Who can say no to that?

Here it is featured over a Barry M Gelly polish in 'Passionfruit'. The middle swatch is the original, which is pretty glossy itself, so you can really see how much a difference the top coat makes. The left is with a regular shine topcoat, and the right obviously with the OPI Matte one over the top. It's difficult to capture the effect properly on camera, but I think I did an alright job - you can see the sort of effect you get. I love this look!

It's a nice twist on classic nails, and looks super chic on neutral tones - think greys, browns and blacks especially. And with winter on the horizon I think this will be a perfect look! You can also make subtle nail art designs  by using a nail art brush to paint matte patterns onto glossy nails (check out pinterest to see what I mean) and you get more bang for your buck too if you buy no more matte polishes- just buy a gloss and have two for the price of one!

What do you think of a Matte finish nail? Do you have any particular favourite matte looks?
Lots of Love,

#supergorgeoussept day 8: nail polish collection

                

So today's theme was nail polish collection. I have another box for glitters, nail art and all other nail effects, plus a tray on my desk with about 20 of my current favourites. But really I think the picture speaks for itself, there's more than a few nail polishes in my household. Anyone need a manicure? 

                                       

Minnie Minis!

Just a quick post today folks before I head off to work. I recently picked up this OPI Couture de Minnie Mini Collection in my local Sallys and I've fallen a little bit in love with it. The lesser known Minnie Mouse collection but by far my favourite, the set comes with 4 x 3.75ml shades, which sounds small but when you're a nail polish junkie like me and have 1 million shades to try, the mini's are a nice way to get more colours without breaking the bank. This set includes a lovely poppy bright pink, a similar colour but in the sand effect which I just LOVE!, a lighter pink which is a lovely neutral wearable shade and a deep pearly red similar to that that appeared in The Muppets mini collection which I also have. You can get them online here or have a look out for them in salons and other Opi retailers. 

(L-R) A Definite Moust Have, Magazine Mouse Cover,Chic From Ears To Tail, Innie Minnie Mighty Bow.

The names are so cute!! I think I'm going to have to buy the two shades on the left when I next get paid, I just can't resist, and you can never have too many picks right? I also spotted the first Minnie Mouse for OPI colours on fragrance direct recently for £3.99! Get buying ladies!

Lots of Love,

Bank Holiday Nails!

Happy bank holiday sunday my beauty blogging lovelies! I'm currently getting ready for a BBQ in this scorching heat, waiting for my nails to dry, and I thought I'd share with you the two nail art looks I've been rocking this week, and show you my new nail art buys! Nail art has been a massive trend over the last couple of years and I'm definitely a huge fan. I'm also the kind of person that rarely wears the same nail colour for more than a day or two, there's just too many colours and not enough time! Last week I ordered these amazing decals from diy nails which I love love love! I haven't tried the single decals on the left yet, but the leopard transfers on the right have seriously revolutionised my nail art routine! As a big lover of animal print, I've spent a lot a lot of hours carefully painting leopard print onto my nails using nail art pens, but these babies are clear decals meaning you can add them on top of any nail colour to create a super quick and super neat leopard look. In the picture below I've only added them to my ring finger as an accent nail but I think once I get onto my toes I'm going to layer them on top of a bright bright coral (Models Own Headkandi Hedonist maybe?).

The leopard decals cost £5, the single ones £6 and the little bits in the middle were a 'pic'n'mix' at £2.50. Also, if you spend £12 or over its free delivery and I got some freebies (the ones at the top). I would really suggest checking this site out -while I'm a big lover of ebay nail art supplies this site has really original, cant-find-anywhere-else designs. I thought I'd also add this picture of a look I've been loving earlier this week, but these chevrons were created using a simple Models Own nail art pen (currently on 2 for £8 here). The nail colour I'm using in both look is Bourjouis 1 seconde nail enamel in 'Blue No Blues'.

So overall I'm absolutely loving diy nails at the moment and will be ordering some more nail accessories once payday finally arrives! I'd love to try some more clear nail decals and the pre-painted false nails look really nice too (as you can tell I'm terrible at growing or keeping grown nails). Hope you've enjoyed this post, leave me comments, I'd love to hear from you, and have a fabulous bank holiday ladies!

Lots of Love