Random Nail Spam!

Hi Everyone!

As you can see, I have the *most* imaginative title for this post...! So very creative... not!

Anyway, if you're still here (and have forgiven me for the terrible title), I'm just going to share some of my favourite mani's from the last couple of months!

Mavala Toulouse with Layla Mercury Twilight fade.

Max Factor Meteorite - a blue to swoon for!

ELF Dark Navy - I love the shimmer running through this!

ELF Dark Navy with Look Beauty Nail Pop in Sequin Effect - this pair was MADE for each other!

Sinful Colors Cha Cha Red with Maybelline Flash Cosmic - so simple and pretty!

H+M Lolita polish with China Glaze White on White - a mixed up gradient mani!

There are a few more pictures to sort through, so I'll be back soon with a few more. Then, I guess we'll see!

Thanks for reading,

Love Charlotte x

H+M Urban Spirit

Hi Everyone,

It seems that I keep on saying that I don't really wear blue polishes very often, but then completely contradict myself by buying yet another blue polish. With this one, I couldn't help myself. It wasn't just the crazy bottle that called to me, it was the sparkles.

In the shade, this is a beautiful steely, purplish blue. A beautiful modern and elegant colour.

 When it catches the light, it truly is stunning. It has a holographic shimmer. The particles are far too tiny to be considered glitter. This definitely shimmers.

Yes it's blurred - but I wanted to share the magic holo particles!

 Unfortunately, this was a bitch to apply.It was thick and gloopy and refused to dry, even with a trusty quick dry top coat. Bitch! I so wanted this to become a new favourite, but the formula sucks. I've had a few awesome polishes from H+M - this lets the side down. I don't know if this is just my bottle being a dud, or what. Bitch!!

Crazy bottle.

And yes, it has a crazy-funky bottle.

This polish gets a sigh from me. Sooooo much potential, its a beautiful colour and is very pretty on the nail, but it feels like a battle to get it on nicely.

/Sigh.

Have you had better luck with this polish? If so, let me know. At £2.50 a bottle, I would happily buy another one if only it would play nice with me!

Love Charlotte x

LA Colors - Swatches and Fun Part Two!

Hi Everyone,

As promised, here is part two of my LA Colors swatchathon. And look at me go, I'm making even more words up now! Oh well, I have to unleash my creative side somehow!

So...! Let's get to it!

From L-R: Pacific Blue, Wired, Fun In The Sun, Fiji Purple and Glistening Purple

Pacific Blue is not the kind of blue I would normally buy. And what a pity that would have been as this is gorgeous! This is a stunning sea-green blue frost, with a slight green shimmer. It only took two coats for full coverage, and applied really well. I love this blue.

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For some extra pretty, here it is with Sassy Sparkle over the top.

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Wired is your typical Royal Blue Jelly. Very similar to Nails Inc's Chando's Place, if I remember correctly. I apologise, I thought I had a swatch, but apparently not! My computer monster ate it.

Anyway, this is the thinnest LA Colors Polish from my collection.This took three coats to cover my nail to a suitable standard, but still left a bit of VNL. Still, a beautiful colour, and if you need a blue like this, get the LA Colors one instead of the Nails Inc version. It's 90% cheaper!

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Next is Fun In The Sun! A purple - woot! A glossy purple - also woot! This is another thin polish, but this time the hardest to apply as there was a bit of drag. This needed a third coat to cover the patchy bits. It did dry quite nicely though. A lovely sort of Cadbury's purple, which everyone needs in their collection. Or at least some Cadbury's chocolate stashed away!

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And with sparkles, courtesy of Glistening Purple:

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Finally, we have my favourite polish from the bunch. Predictable, I might be, for this is a stunning purple. Fiji Purple to be precise. I'm not sure how Fiji comes into this, but it's very welcome for this lovely shade! In fact, if anyone wants to send me on an expedition to Fiji in the name of research, I would be glad to oblige. All expenses paid, yes?

Ahhh, enough dreaming and back to the polish. This was in the middle of being thick and thin. Confused? Me too! It felt as though I wanted it to be a bit thicker, but wasn't the thinnest of the polishes. Alas, this bled into my nail beds a little bit too much, and as my photo's prove, I didn't clean up as well as I thought I had. Oh well...! A rich blend of fuchsia and plum, which I think is appropriate for Summer or Winter - I do love a multi-tasker!

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And last but not least. Fiji Purple with both Sassy Sparkle and Glistening Purple.

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There we have it, my new collection of LA Colors polish. I recommend these. They have a great colour selection, are fantastic value for money and mostly have awesome, quick drying formulas. They are also cruelty free.

Thank you again to Beth for buying these for me, and thanks to you for reading my epic swatchathon!

Love Charlotte x

LA Colors - Swatches and Fun Part One

Hi Everyone!

I have some more nail pictures to share with you today - all courtesy of my friend Beth. Again! (Fairy Glam-Mother, or what?)

We decided to send each other a parcel of lovely things - aka nail polish! Woot!

I sent her a few of my favourite bargains, including a Color Club set I'll tell you about soon. She sent me a BOX of LA Colors polishes. A BOX! I was somewhat excited by this. That is somewhat of an understatement, but you get the idea! She sent me so many, I'll have to do two posts. Woot!!

LA Colors are available from Beauty Base stores, and are only 99p each. And, they are pretty awesome as nail polishes go. A generous sized bottle - 13ml each, a great brush and a fantastic formula. Surprisingly (for me) I've had very little clean up when using these polishes. The formula is often thick, but in a pleasing way - one coat normally gives great coverage, two is enough for complete coverage - however, I did still have a bit of VNL with one or two polishes. A couple were a bit thinner, and need three coats - but that's not exactly a hardship!

I only have two gripes. One: The lids feel really thin, like I might break it if I'm too heavy handed.Two: The UK stores are all in London or Middlesex. The lids are not a major issue - If I can handle the annoyance of the tiny, iddy biddy lids on OPI minis, then these are fine. I just might cry if I actually break one. Travelling all the way down to London - not an easy task for me. I am a few years overdue a trip to the big city, so maybe I'll just have to save up and go! And get me some more polish when I do haha!

So, without further ado, we have part one of my new LA Colors polish collection! Ta Dahhhh!!

From L-R: Apricot, Magnetic Force, Lightning, Cactus and Sassy Sparkle

 Apricot. This is a gorgeous peachy orange, or maybe an orangey peach. It's a jellyish polish - hence the VNL, but has a nice thick consistency, and a beautiful subtle shimmer running through it.

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Here it is again with Sassy Sparkle over the top! Pretty!!

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Magnetic Force is a stunning bright coral colour, with a shimmery gold streak running through it. This is a Summer go-to polish if ever I saw one. Fingers, toes, whatever. It's a beauty! Application was lovely too.

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Lightning is another Summer bright - a more pink toned coral without the streak. This is more jelly-like in my opinion (more VNL) but this is only two coats. A third would have lessened the VNL, but wouldn't have been necessary with a nude base. Doh!

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Cactus is a bit more complex - it has an almost purplish black jelly base, with a ton of antique gold shimmer. The finished effect gives an olive toned gold. I used three coats for full coverage and fell in love with this polish. This will be my Autumn go-to, I am already planning ahead!

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So far, I fully recommend LA Colors polishes. I am loving the ones I have tried. Fantastic colours, great application and a brilliant price. They all seem to dry pretty quickly too, which is always good! I'm a busy girl, doncha know, I can't sit around watching paint dry! Even if it is pretty paint!  Anyway, go get some!! If you can, if not, I will be feeling your pain. /Sigh.

Part Two coming sooooooon!!

Love Charlotte x

Nails and Tales Recommends...!

Hi everyone!

I love mascara. Let's just get that out there. I have previously been described as a mascara whore, and quite frankly, it's true. I think I look ill without it.

My friend Beth (my fairy glam-mother) bought me the Clarins Wonder Perfect Mascara for my birthday last year, which I adore. Except for the fact that its over £20. Ouch. Amazing mascara, but ouch.

I have found a close second to my beloved mascara. A mascara I adore and can't stop talking about. A mascara which costs £3.50.

Not a typo!!

I picked up the George Lash Xtend in Intense Black mascara whilst doing my weekly shop in Asda. It has plastic bristles, which I find are great for separating my lashes. And it covers my holy grail of mascara necessities - it lengthens and thickens my lashes.

I have fairly long, but very thin and pale lashes, so a mascara that can show off the length and makes them look thick too??! LOVE!!

Ok, so bear with me. I have taken some pictures of just how good this mascara is. But to do that, I had to take pictures of myself. Eeek! And I didn't have any make up on. Double eeek. But at least you'll see how much this mascara rocks!!

No Makeup :(

One Coat. Just one. Awesome.

Two Coats! Yessss!

You can see the difference straight away. A mascara that does this for less than £20 is great. One that does it for less than a fiver? Run out and buy one now!! You can not go wrong with this! I can't see myself buying anything else now - unless I win the lottery, and then I can go back to the Clarins one. Or buy hundreds of different mascaras and play with them allllll!!

Got a teensy bit carried away there. But who wouldn't??!

As I'm not a millionaire, Asda have made me a happy bunny!

Why not give it a go too?

Love Charlotte x

Primark Polishes

Hi everyone,

I thought I would share with you a little collection from Primark - of all places. As someone who is perpetually skint (probably something to do with buying far too much polish...), should I need something new for my wardrobe, I tend to head there. And I tend to browse for a good while at the accessories and beauty bits. For my mega thick, waist long hair - Primark clips keep everything secure. For a necklace to go with an outfit that I might only wear once a year? Primark. Oh, and cheap sunglasses so I don't scratch my coveted Chanel ones? Primark!

I must confess, I was slightly upset and disturbed about the discontinuation of their beauty range. I've had a few things that I was really pleased with! And it's always great for picking up cheap nail files and eyelashes etc.So you can imagine how pleased I was to see this little set of polishes on their shelves!

£2? Excellent.

Unfortunately, I have no idea of how long they will last without chipping etc, as I have swatched them but not worn them. But, the pretties!! And for me, and many people, all we ask for is 1 day of no chipping. Polish gets changed daily, no?

Anyway! Chunky gold glitter! Metallics! Shimmery gold!

 I confess, it was the glitter that spoke to me. Had to have it. Deborah Lippman's Boom Boom Pow might have 24k gold dust in it, but it's about £20 a bottle. This is scary close, and it cost 50p. Well, £2, but with three free polishes? Whatever!

I must also add, I do have the lovely Golden Goddess gold glitter polish from ELF, but it does have holographic glitters in too, and a tendency to turn your mani a bit yellow.

Here is the Primark version, layered over MAC Style Tip:
 

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Oh the pretties! I can not tell you enough how much I love this polish and this manicure. It's just so pretty and elegant, glittery - but not juvenile! It's grown up glam!

Next up is the Bronze metallic polish - this is one I will be wearing a lot during the sun - it will look beautiful with a tan!!

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These metallics are a bit streaky, but they dry very fast. Application is relatively easy too, despite the fiddly lids. Personally, I can't complain. This bronze is really lovely, and has a slight pink rose-goldish tint to it. It's won a place in my summer favourites stash, and I haven't even tried it with a tan yet! Bring back the sun - I want to worship it some more ;)

The silver is probably my least favourite out of this set - I'm not sure why. The streaks are a bit more visible. *shrugs* I think that silver seems a bit more cold to me, whereas the bronze and gold colours scream sunshine to me, and who doesn't love summer??!

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If anything, I think that the silver might be good for stamping with - although it does dry pretty quickly!


Last but not least, there is our little gold sheer polish, which I find to be kind of sweet! For coverage, it does take a lot of coats, but I have layered it over a couple of different polishes.

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 From left to right (index to pinky): two coats over a black creme, one coat over the Primark Bronze, four coats on its own, and two coats over a white creme. Personally, I am loving the gold and white combination, but maybe just with one coat next time! Again, I know I keep harping on about it, but I think it will be a nice subtle summer look, a great change from all the neon and brights we're due to see!

Finally, whilst these might not be the absolute best polishes on the planet, I do think that they are a fantastic buy - especially as they cost so little. Each bottle is 6ml in size, so I can see myself using my little top coat pretty quickly - my only worry is that you guys will buy them all before I get a chance to get back and stock up on more!!

What do you think - would you rather pay full price for the Deborah Lippmann version, or will you be braving Primark for some nail bling? Let me know!

Thanks for reading,

Love Charlotte x