Leighton Denny - Message In A Bottle

Hi Everyone,

Well, if there was a message in this bottle, it's 'Buy Me NOW!'.

It shouted to me from the M+S Beauty Hall. I seem to be there a lot lately. Foolish, but wonderful!

Anyway, this polish is almost identical to my beloved Accessorize Colorado - shown here! The grey is slightly paler, and the shimmer more noticeable. The formula is also better too! Granted, it's a lot more expensive... but... I couldn't help it.

This applied beautifully! I used two coats, but three would have been perfect, as a slight bit of VNL shows up under the flash. It was fine in normal daylight... but an extra coat for good luck never hurt anyone!

In comparison the the Accessorize version, this seems that little bit more refined. Softer, and a little bit cleaner. I love it.

What do you think? Leighton Denny, or Accessorize? Or Nails Inc of course?

Let me know,

Love Charlotte x

Accessorize Colorado - Covent Garden Ballet Dupe?

Hi Everyone,

Today's post is something of a victory for me. Well, kinda...

You see, my friend Beth - you know, my fairy glam-mother, has also become addicted to polish. Which is awesome! She now buys a LOT more polish, and has a tendency to buy more for me too! <3

Anyway, she text me one night, asking if I knew of any dupes for a Nails Inc polish, called Covent Garden Ballet. Oooh, I said. Haven't seen much of that one!

So off I googled for a swatch. It's a beautiful soft grey (I do love grey) with a pink shimmer running through it.  My heart sank as I realised I was falling in love lust with this polish. My heart sank further when I realised that this was only available as part of a set - the A-Listers Collection. I hate paying full price for one Nails Inc polish, so buying an extra three I don't want? Sacrilege!

I googled and I googled. I was very sad to report that I had not found a dupe. Very sad. As this particular polish was stuck in my brain now. STUCK!

Covent Garden Ballet

Let's fast forward to last Bank Holiday weekend, when Beth came to stay! Weeeeee!

A montage of words describing said weekend: Pimms, noms, shopping and lounging. Awesome.

On one of our various shopping trips, we stumbled into my local Debenhams store to peruse the beauty counters. It has had a bit of a face-lift, so everything was moved about. We finally found a Nails Inc counter and spent a few minutes checking out the range. There was a special little stand dedicated to the A-Listers Collection. So Beth grabbed the tester and gave it a swatch.

Very pretty. Looked like a good formula too, I'd say two coats for opacity. I cried a little inside.

Beth confessed, she had ordered the set on ASOS as they had it on offer with free delivery.

/Sigh.

We wandered around the shops, with me sighing and mumbling about how surely some other brands will bring something similar out soon. Or how I should just try experimenting with pale greys and sheer pink shimmers. You know, convincing myself NOT to order one too!

Into Superdrug we go, land of more bargainous beauty! We're about to go charging through the aisles, and I stop at the Accessorize stand. I quite like a few of their polishes, as you may remember if you read my blog regularly. The prices had changed slightly. The polishes were normally £4 each. Now a lot of them were just £2.95. (You can almost imagine me rubbing my hands together with glee, can't you?!) And, they had 3 for 2 on. There was definitely a squeal of approval.

There are a couple of colours I really like, but didn't buy as I already have similar shades. 3 for 2 cancelled out any sensible ideals I may have had, and Soft Jade went straight into the basket. As I was perusing, I spotted this. It looked familiar...

A soft grey - check. Pink shimmer - check.

I yelled for Beth, managed no further intelligent words and shoved one at her! Sorry Beth :)

We shared a look that said one thing. We found our Holy Grail. A dupe. A CHEAP dupe at £2.95. We both bought one.

Now for the important stuff. I hate to admit it, but the formula isn't particularly good on this one. It's ok, but the Nails Inc one looked better. My swatches showed three coats for opacity, with a top coat to finish and remove any streaks. The shimmer is there, but not as evident as the CGB. Despite all of this, I would still buy the Accessorize over the Nails Inc. I hate being forced to buy three polishes I don't want. I might have been convinced to fork out the £11 for one, but £25? Nah.

Take a look for yourself. And yes, I have some blurred photos - they caught the pink shimmer better!!

So what do you think? A worthy dupe, or will you be buying the Nails Inc version instead?

I think I'll be going back to Superdrug for a back-up!

Happy polishing,

Love Charlotte x

Comin' Up Daisies!

Hi Everyone,

After my foray into florals a few posts ago, I decided to do it again today, with a slight difference. Again, this is very simple to do, and so satisfying too.

I used the Nails Inc Bluebell polish that came free with In Style magazine - you may remember my review here. Its a very soft blue, which reminds me of hazy Summer days. I then used my trusty Claire's Accessories nail art pen in white for the petals.

The daisies were made by painting crosses on my nails, first an 'x', then a '+', and then filling in the gaps. As the annoying Meerkat says, simples!! Then I used a pastel yellow for the centre - I used Collection 2000's Lemon Soda. Very simples.

Finish with a top coat, and you're done! I am pretty pleased with this to be honest - granted I could have done a better job, but seeing as I did it before work and time was limited, I think its pretty good!

I hope you like it!!

Love Charlotte x

More Stamping!

Hi Everyone,

I did it again!! More stamping! And seeing as I had them out from my last post, I used the In Style Nails Inc polish - this time Bluebell, with LA Colors Pacific Blue for the stamp.

I used my Bundle Monster stamp number 201 for the zigzags! Here's what I came up with!

OK, so I have to admit, I am really pleased with this manicure. I love how it turned out! The subtle change in the blue colours reminds me of a subtle pinstripe in a suit. This is more of a modern take on it though, haha!

I also learnt a new trick! Like yesterday's manicure, there were a few parts that got missed during the actual stamping. Yesterday, I used the stamped polish and a toothpick to fill in the blanks. However, my photos proved that the difference in the colour when stamped on and when applied straight to the nail is quite different. This time, I made my corrections using a thin art brush, first dipped into a small amount of acetone, then dipped into the polish. This watered the colour down a bit, which matched the stamped effect much better! I'm sure you'll agree, it's much harder to spot the corrections this time around!

What do you think?

Thanks for reading,

Love Charlotte x

Stamping Manicures

Hi Everyone,

Today I am going to share a stamped manicure with you - something I haven't done for a long long time! I seem to go through phases of preferred nail art techniques, but after my friend Jo bought herself a stamping set, I got all nostalgic for my own stamping plates!

So, out they came! I have a Bundle Monster plate collection, which is awesome, but so much cheaper than the Konad versions. For around £20, I purchased a pack of 25 plates. A Konad plate normally costs about £5. For one.

I used a base coat of Nails Inc's Power Pink from In Style magazine -  see here for the original review. I used plate number 223 for the tiger print effect, and stamped it using LA Colors Fiji Purple - which worked relatively well.

Regrettably, there were a few patches where the stamp didn't quite reach on the nail - I think its because of how much my nails curves inwards personally. I tried to amend this using my stamping polish and a toothpick, but this is really noticeable in the photos. Sorry!

I am, however pleased with the overall effect, especially the combination of colours! I am also rather aware that this much animal print, coupled with bright pinks means that I'm a shoulder pad away from time-travelling back to the eighties! For the record, I am more a Hall and Oates girl than a Wham girl.There, I said it. Deal with it please!

For the rest of the day, I shall mostly be humming Private Eyes.

Have a great day,

Love Charlotte x

Nails Inc Polishes - Free with In Style Magazine

Hi Everyone,

Today I am going to share my swatches of the Nails Inc polishes I got free with this Month's In Style Magazine.

I have to say, I like the fact that Nails Inc give away full sized product like this, and I wish more nail companies did it - that way we can try their products and decide whether we are going to become addicted to their products, without making costly mistakes.
I have managed to pick up a fair few Nails Inc freebies over the past year, which is always nice. However, sadly none of them have inspired me to pay the full £11 price tag for one of their polishes. I don't know what it is, but given the choice I would rather take a sum like that to the OPI counter instead. I wait until I see them reduced, or on offer instead. TK Maxx often seem to have to Nails Inc packages for rather good prices!

Saying that, these two have made me re-think some of my previous negative thoughts about Nails Inc polishes. The formula on these seems much improved - a thicker, more pleasant formula. There was still a tiny bit of drag, but overall, a noted improvement. I just hate the feeling that I am gambling if I buy one of their polishes. I know that there are many people who adore Nails Inc polishes - I'm afraid I just haven't tried a polish from them that made me squeal with happiness. And yes, I do squeal with happiness when I find an awesome polish. For £11 - I want squeal-worthy polish!!

Anyway, enough of my chatter! The first swatch is of Bluebell, which is a gorgeous periwinkle blue colour:

I have to admit, I am somewhat fond of this colour. My biggest issue is that I don't think there is anything particularly unique about it. Truth be told, I wouldn't have paid full price for this, but I'm glad I have it. I'm a tough girl to please, I know! And full of contradictions too, if you don't mind.I used a top coat with this, and used it as a base for some stamping I did, and had almost two days wear with only minor tip wear. I only took it off through boredom and the desire to do some more stamping!

Next is Power Pink. I hate the name. It makes me think of flower power, and big garish pictures of multi-colour vomit inducing cartoonish flowers. The colour is rather nice, just a shame about the name. Power Pink? Seriously??

I do love a good pink, and this is a good pink! It's a blue-toned pink which I think is rather flattering. It is very girly, has great coverage with two coats and definitely worthy of a better name. It dries to a very glossy finish, but has a sort of plastic-y feel to it. It also chipped like mad, and looked as though it would have peeled off if I had been in the mood to try. As it dried relatively quickly, I didn't use my usual fast-dry top coat, but next time I will, to extend the wear time.

Another slight gripe is that the polishes didn't have the names printed on them. I had to peel the stickers off the tatty boxes they came in, and stick them to the bottom of the bottle. They were the perfect size for the bottle, so why bother with putting it on the box? Gah!

Both of these polishes would have been opaque in one thick coat, but I feel they both needed a second coat to cover the patchy bits left by the drag. Whilst wet, the polish looked like it had streak marks, but thankfully both dried to a smooth and glossy finish.

All in all, who doesn't love a free polish? And these are definitely worth the £3.80 for the cost of the magazine. Personally, considering the full retail price, I don't think these stand up to competition like OPI and Leighton Denny, or even China Glaze which are a bit cheaper! That being said, I'm still glad I have them!

Love Charlotte x

My First Pink Friday!

Hi Everyone!

I thought I would join in a tradition I have seen enjoyed by many bloggers, and figured that I would have a go myself. Ladies and gentlemen, the institution that is Pink Friday...!

Oxford Circus in natural light

This is Nails Inc's Oxford Circus, which came in a Feel Unique Beauty Box. Now, as much as I love the colour pink, it looked like a soft baby pink in the bottle. Not exactly a 'me' pink, if you know what I mean. But, I felt as though it would be OK for me to be a bit softer now and then, and so I gave it a go.

The colour on my nails was not what I expected at all! This little pot gave a stunning, vibrant bubblegum pink, the kind you fall in love with because it makes your pale winter hands look that little bit more tanned! LOVE!

Oxford Circus indoors with a flash

 I often find that I have a love/hate dislike relationship with Nails Inc polishes. So many beautiful colours, that are so often annoying to apply. Like some of my others, this took three coats to give an even finish. Even with two coats, it looked streaky and patchy, and had a little bit of drag too. This is such a shame for what I would class to be a relatively expensive brand - at £11 a bottle, I tend to find better application in many of my ELF £1.50 bottles. But, I digress. Despite the application woes, I find the finished effect to be rather pretty. Not as soft as I had thought, in fact, I've had a few narcissistic moments with this polish - the Hubby has had a few chuckles to himself about me staring lovingly into my own nails... I mean, who DOESN'T do that now and then...?

These nails are exactly what I would wear if I was Barbie. Alas, I do not resemble Barbie in any way, but a girl can dream, can't she?

I declare this polish to be a fun and flirty colour, with a slight edge to the softness - and it is definitely one I will be wearing again! Bring on the pink!

Oh how I wish I still had my Barbies. And yes, I am over the age of seven...

Enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a great weekend,

Charlotte x