Lingerie Nails - Oo Er!

Hi Everyone,

Today I would like to share a bit of nail art I did a little while back, after my Holiday. I had been away for 10 days with no polish, and I was itching to get some practise!

I knew, what ever I ended up doing, I wanted it to be a bit vampy. Not blood sucking, dark and twisted vampy, more bombshell, Marilyn Monroe-esque vampy. Dare I say a mix between cute and sexy?

Anyway, the first polish I grabbed just happened to be a red... no surprises there! One of my favourite reds is the Mavala Elle Red - great colour and very easy to apply! So, this is what I went with!

My mini bottle of MAC Style Tip from my Dazzlesphere set was on my desk, so I started to play...

Here's what I came up with!

 

I started with a curved V at the tip of each nail, and whilst I really liked the colours together, I felt it needed a bit more. I wanted to give the effect of ribbon running through the outer edges of the curves. Whilst on close inspection, I didn't do a great job, from a respectable distance it looked pretty cool!  There are a few streaks where my top coat decided to bring the red along with it, but all in all, I was pretty happy. I was a bit out of practise after all...

As for the name, there was something about the curves of the V with the ribbon that reminded me of a bra! Odd, I know! But hey, surely you know me by now! 

One thing that I did learn from this is that I actually really like the design, and next time, I will pay more attention to getting my ribbons straight! And not allow my top coat to misbehave of course...

Love Charlotte x

MAC Dazzlesphere Collection

Hi Everyone!

Today I would like to share a few swatches from the MAC Dazzlesphere gift set, which my lovely Brother and Sister-in-Law bought for me for my birthday, back in March.

For some reason, I totally though that it was called a Sparkleglobe. I seem to be making things up in my head. At least I was close haha!!

 Anyway, first up is my personal favourite from this collection, Dark Angel. This is two coats of a fabulous vampy grape purple cream, despite being labelled as a frost on the bottle. It's very opulent and rich, and a perfect colour for those dark Wintery days and nights! Alas, out of all of the colours in this collection, I found this the hardest to apply. It's a bit streaky, and hard to control. But still, it's a gorgeous colour!

Next is a beautiful pink toned nude, called Style Tip. I have found this polish to be very versatile, and have used it a fair few times. I'm thinking I might need a full sized bottle, when I get a bit of spare cash... Or find myself near a MAC counter... This is much easier to apply, and again, I'm showing two coats for these swatches.

Now we have MAC Much Adored. I tried applying three coats of MA on it's own on my ring finger and pinky, but it was a bit too sheer for my liking. You can see my icky nails underneath! I'm not a fan of my own bare nails... I won't be using it on it's own - rather as I've shown on my index and middle finger, where I have one coat layered over Style Tip. It's a pearlescent finish, with a nice warm shimmer to it and very nice to apply.

 

Finally, last but certainly not least, is MAC Mistletoe. This is a frosty metallic green, tinged with what I would call an antique gold. It applies nicely, but dries with visible brush strokes. The finish and colour combination reminds me a lot of Chanel Peridot, the sought after colour for 2011, however this has less of the bronzey duochrome effect. Still, you can see how the colour changes between natural light and the flash. In it's own right, this polish is still fairly unique - I haven't seen many that are like this! When you get it, the green is beautiful and vibrant.

With regards to wear, I really can't comment as I haven't used any of these for a full mani - only for these swatches. However, they have made me more curious about what else MAC has to offer in the nail polish department!

Do you have any favourites from MAC? Let me know!

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:
 

One Coat Natural Light

 

One Coat Flash

 

Two Coats Flash

Two Coats Natural Light

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!!

Natural Light

Natural Light

Flash

Flash

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??!

Natural Light

Natural Light

Flash

Flash

 

 

 

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.

Natural Light

Flash

 

 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