You Never Forget Your First... OPI

Hi Everyone!

Did you all think it was going to be that kind of post? Noooo, I am no where near drunk enough for those kinds of posts, as you can see from the lack of typos and written slurring.

I'm writing about my first ever OPI polish. And what a first.

Designer Series Coronation.

I received a mini bottle in a Glossybox - the first Glossybox if I remember correctly.

It's beautiful. It is silver shimmery micro-fine glitter, and is packed with very subtle holographic particles. It looks beautiful on. Just stunning.The holographic effect is scattered, rather than being in your face like my Layla polishes. It's elegant and ladylike. Beautiful.

I mean, look.

This polish is partly to blame for my serious addiction to polish. I've always liked it, but this is the one that made my inner polisholic scream 'MOAR'!!

The only thing that makes me sad is that it's £18 for a full-size bottle, and difficult to find in full size. I bought myself another mini bottle, just in case. I don't wear it often, as it is a bit special to me. I wish it dried a bit quicker, and that it didn't require four coats for opacity.

But still, it is pretty amazing.

For the sake of scientific curiosity, I did compare it to my other scattered holo polish - the Claire's Accessories one from here. My index and middle finger has the Claire's holo, and my ring finger and pinky have the OPI. Have a look for yourself...

You can see that the OPI is obviously a lot finer - whilst they both dry smooth, the Claire's looks gritty in comparison. You can see why the OPI is more expensive, it's far more luxurious a polish. Under the light, they both have a beautiful holo effect, but in normal light conditions, it's the OPI that steals the show.

So, what do you think? Would you hunt down a full size Coronation, or make do with the much cheaper and readily available Claire's Accessories polish?

This is a tough one if you ask me - but I know which my favourite is!

Love Charlotte x

Cherry Blossom Nails

Hi Everyone,

Today I'm going to share with you a mani that I have been dying to do for ages. You see, I have a slight obsession with cherry blossoms. I can't explain it, I have always loved seeing blossoms on trees. When I saw some of the fantastic art work surrounding Japanese Sakura, I became a bit more obsessed. Especially some of the tattoos, and of course nail art you can see floating about on the interwebs.

Now I don't consider myself to be a great nail-artist. I'm OK, I guess - I do it for the love of it more than anything. Trust me, some of the nails out there blow my mind. I always put off doing cherry blossoms because I always knew I would fuck it up and be completely depressed I couldn't do it properly.

Then, as I often do,  one day I woke up with a brain worm that I had to just try it. I had to get it out of my system before I started work at 8 am that morning. So you know, setting self up to fail, etc. God only knows what I had been dreaming about that night, but anyway - here is my first ever attempt.

As you can see, I have gone with some creative rotating for these pictures. I do not have crazy bendy hands and wrists, or extreme photography skills. Have you tried making these poses upside down and taking a picture? Haha!

I'll be honest, most of this got slapped together as I assumed I was going to hate my results and take it off. And of course, it had to be done quickly, as I have other things to do before work other than just paint my nails.

I used a basic white base, with a jelly-ish blue slapped on in a gradient-esque manner. I blended this using a quick dry top coat. Then, I used my Claire's black nail art pen to draw in the branches. I used the brush to create the uneven and random lines. I figured that branches are often uneven and random in nature, so why not on my nails?

I then mixed together splodges of China Glaze's Flip Flop Fantasy and Purple Panic to create a bright pink. I slapped this on using a toothpick, in what were supposed to be little dots, but I started to run out of time - hence the mess. I added a dot of white, some quick dry top coat, and ran out of the door!

You know what? I'm actually quite pleased with this. For my first go, I think it looks awesome. And I have gained a bit of confidence that I could do it better next time - especially if I give myself more time! And, one of my customers told me that she loved my nails. Inner squeal whilst at work!!

The moral of this story? Try it, you might just like it!!

Love Charlotte x

Jelly Sandwich Attempt #2

Hi Everyone,

A while ago I posted a picture of OPI's Be A Dahlia Won't You with some black glitter over the tips. Initially, I had intended to turn that mani into a jelly sandwich, and in true Charlotte style, I got side tracked and did something different instead! Typical haha!!

This time, I got out my Be A Dahlia and a Claire's Accessories multi-glitter, and followed through to the end of my mission! Woot me!

Here's what I came up with!

Natural Light

Flash

Flash

This looked at least twice as good in real life. Also typical. The glitter has large pale pink hexes, with medium purple hexes and blue glitter. On the nail, the larger hexes gave the mani a rather mirrored effect - they really did catch the light and shine!

This was two coats of Be A Dahlia Won't You, one coat of glitter, and then one coat of BADWY, one more coat of glitter and a final coat of BADWY. I love how the manicure turned out, I just wish the photo's could show what I saw!

One day, I will bring you a perfect jelly sandwich manicure - until then, I'll just keep playing with polish!

Love Charlotte x

Not-So-French Tips

Hi Everyone,

I thought I would share a more muted manicure with you today. Something a bit different for me.

Many years ago, when I had much expendable income, I was a huge fan of having acrylic nails and tips. I thought it looked elegant and stylish (until my nails started to grow and I needed a backfill...). Despite the fact I can't afford to maintain acrylics any more, I do still love the way a simple white tip looks - in fact I went for the typical french manicure on my wedding day.

Sometimes, it's nice to go back to an old classic, and give it a bit of an update. I wanted something a bit more subtle than a full mani, but not so simple as a french mani - so here are my purple tips!

I used Leighton Denny Tiffany's as a base - it's such a sheer pink you can hardly tell it's there. The tips are two of my favourite purples: OPI's Pamplona Purple and Planks A Lot, with some slight silver detailing from my Claire's Accessories nail art pen.

Thanks for reading,

Love Charlotte x

Nail Art? Nail Doodle Perhaps...

Hi Everyone,

Today I am going to share with you the result of another bout of boredom.

Maybe you have been here before - you want to paint your nails and do something other than just colour them. You want a bit of something to customise your digits. But, you can't be bothered to think up something clever, or even google for something to try yourself.

Perhaps, like me, you armed yourself with a nail art pen and just doodled.

I know, pathetic, aren't I?? Haha!

Well, here is my finished nail doodle! What do you think?

This is about two coats of a Primark polish from a while back called Urban. It came as part of a set, and is the main reason I bought the set. I'm a sucker for these turquoise-y shades.

My accent finger has a bit of a mock tudor type pattern going on - which I do actually kinda like. I have no idea what I was thinking with my other fingers. Random much? I should have just carried on with the same pattern all over, but whatever. I did this with my Claire's Accessories nail art pen in Silver.

As you can see from the length of my talons, this was before the great nail-break depression of 2012. If I can manage to get them to grow to a nice length again, I might just give it a try - I'm thinking hot pink and black next time round.

Do you ever just doodle on your nails, or do you stick to paper? Am I the only one mad enough??

Feel free to mock my mock tudor in the comments haha!

Love Charlotte x

Claire's Accessories Glitter Holographic

Hi Everyone,

We all know I have a weakness. Well, several actually! But holographic polish is my Kryptonite. I fall over myself for it. (That might just be because I am about as graceful as a house brick, but I'll blame the polish.) I can't pass a holo polish without going weak at the knees. It yells at me until I buy it. And I don't like being shouted at, so I do it and the voices stop...

Working in retail often means you are surrounded by other shops. And other shops mean other things to buy. You get the picture.

I went for a walk on my lunch break. Trying to get more exercise and all that. There is a handy Claire's Accessories about 5 minutes from where I work. That means I had a 10 minute walk. Going into Claire's Accessories was my reward for walking on my break, instead of just lounging around!

And this was my prize!!

Pretty, huh? This was a three coater. I think I could have done with one more, but I didn't notice that until I had left the house and my bottle behind. Doh!

Despite the dinky bottle, application was relatively easy, and the drying time was pretty quick too - which is always a bonus! It dried smooth too, which is always nice with a glitter polish.

The next day, I couldn't bear to take it off. So I got out my nail art pens and added some bling to change the mani instead of just replacing it!

Each nail gained three curved stripes and a black gemstone. Each ring finger got an extra couple of clear gems, but unfortunately it doesn't show so well in the pictures. This makes me think of a comet - the sparkles of the glitter being stars, the gems being the comet and the stripes being the comet's tail!

I hope you like them!

Love Charlotte x

Latte Macchiato Nails

Hi Everyone!

Whilst in work the other day, we were rooting through some carrier bags and found some scraps of material the factory had used to tie the bags together. One of the scraps was a nude colour, and the other was black. Myself and a couple of girls I work with (hi girls *waves*) were saying how nice the colours were when combined. I said that they would be awesome for a manicure, and the challenge was born.

I used a Claire's Accessories polish called Toffee, and Bourjois' So Laque in Noir de Chine, as well as my Claire's Black nail art pen.

This is what I came up with!!

I wasn't exactly sure of what I was going to come up with - I painted the base colours on, and then added the various stripes! I was pretty happy with my result, except for the fact that my topcoat nommed the top of the polish!

Jo - my coffee guru friend came up with the name Latte Macchiato for this one, and I think it suits it pretty damn well! Thanks Jo!!

What do you think - did I come up with a suitable mani for the challenge?

Now, where did I put my coffee...?!

Love Charlotte x