Half n Half with blue and gold

I did another scotch tape half and half manicure recently, I tend to sway towards this diagonal scotch tape mani more often than Konad at the moment.

Here I used Models Own in 25 Carat Gold and Bell Bottom Blues from Myface Cosmetics followed by dotting with Andrea Fulerton's Dot and Flick tool.

What is your fav go to manicure design?

A quick half n half with crackle

For the last couple of days I have been down in Exeter on a training course (local government) leaving the house at 07:15 each day and not getting home till late is taking its toll. Have learned lots though so it is all worth it. 

Since I haven't had much time to do my nails over the last few days I did this quick and simple manicure.

I used Accessorize in Electric Purple and Barry M in Block Orange followed by Andrea Fulerton's Mock Crock crackle polish. I didn't use my usual scotch tape but I figured since the crackle was going over the top it would hide any mistakes.

To finish I used China Glaze Fast Forward top coat.

My nails are quite short now after having trimmed them down, hopefully they will grow quickly, they seemed to last time.

I am contemplating getting a Shellac manicure. I love the idea of having a manicure which won't chip for a fortnight. What do you think? If you have had Shellac manicure what did you think, is it worth it?

Right Down The Middle

Starting off with two coats of Electric Purple by Accessorize and waiting for it to dry before applying scotch tape at a diagonal. Then using Models Own in Lemon Meringue on the tips (two coats) and waited for this to dry a bit before peeling the tape off.

Then dotting along the line where the purple and yellow meet with Andrea Fulerton's Dot and Flick tool. I was a bit too speedy and didn't allow enough time for the black dots to dry and I smudged them when applying a top coat. I hope this isn't too obvious.

I love the how the purple and yellow look together, what do you think? 

Block Orange with Matte Dots 2

Two coats of Block Orange from Barry M with diagonal dots using Andrea Fulerton's Dot and Flick pen finished with a matte topcoat by Rimmel.

I don't usually wear orange but this is one of the brightest ones I own and just fancied something a little different. I applied two coats, the nail line is still visible but because I knew I was dotting over the tips it didn't bother me too much.

Using Andrea Fulerton's Dot and Flick pen I dotted diagonally over the tips of every nail waited for it to dry then I applied one coat of Rimmel Pro matte finish. I found this did smudge the dots slightly but it isn't too obvious.

Some manicures just look better shiny and I think this is one of them.

It's My Turn with Black Crackle

Using my latest holographic polish, It's My Turn from the Kaleidoscope collection by China Glaze and Andrea Fullerton's Mock Croc shatter polish.

I do love this polish, but it is so sheer, it took three coats to build it up, but on its own it is stunning. 

Sorry, I didn't realise the second picture was so blurry until after I loaded it! As I mentioned in a previous post about this polish, some of the black text on the bottle has worn off, but I heard this is quite common for older CG polishes.

Such a wonderful polish on its own, but I wanted to see how it look under black crackle, here is Andrea Fullerton's Mock Croc without a top coat. 

Crackle tends to dry to a mat finish, but I prefer it shiny, so one coat of Seche Vite to complete the look.

I normally wear a bright colour as a base for black crackle (just so it doesn't look like just black nail polish that has chipped!) but I quite like the way the holographic gold shimmers underneath.

Jack Wills do nail polish

Before Christmas I went into Exeter shopping with one of my oldest friends, she persuaded me to go into the shop Jack Wills. Jack Wills, a university outfitters shop full of lounge tracksuits, hoodie and jumpers. They also do dresses and accessories. However, the shop is so flippin expensive. A body warmer in there was over £100. Their tracksuit bottoms are £40 or £50 depending on the style. Anyway I skipped the clothing and went on to the nail polish. 

Electric pink £6

This much brighter in real life I just don't know why I couldn't capture this.

Just to add something extra I applied some black crackle over the top, this one is by Andrea Fullerton.

I know crackle polishes have been done to death, but I quite like having a black crackle over a vibrant base. 

The polish itself applied well, this is two coats, I think I will pop a white base on underneath next time to make the colour pop more. I don't think I will ever see the fascination with Jack Wills clothing but for £6 the nail polishes are very nice. 

Piccadilly Circus meets Blue Lagoon

I wanted to use some more polishes in my stash which I haven't tried yet, here we have Models Own Blue Lagoon and Nails inc Piccadilly Circus. I used two coats of each, but Piccadilly Circus could quite easily have been a one coater but I painted two coats on out of habit. I then used my black Andrea Fullerton dot and flick tool to just apply dots on a diagonal across each nail.

Lagoon Blue has a slight shimmer to it which I don't think is visible in the pictures, but in real life it is there, but only very subtly. Piccadilly Circus was a pain to photograph! In some lights it looks more pink, other times it has a plum ish appearance and other times it looks more red. According to the Nails inc web site this is a cerise shade.

Ooooh actually, the shimmer in Blue Lagoon is showing up in the picture above quite nicely. 

I think maybe I should try and do more posts on polishes which have been sitting in my collection for a while which I haven't tried before!

Meteor Match - Leighton Denny

The second nail polish I was sent to try from Leighton Denny's Atmospheric collection is Meteor Match, a shimmery, very pale, sheer blue laced with a slight pinkish duochrome as well as silver glitter. I wasn't as keen on this polish, I definitely prefer Your Planet Or Mine. (My earlier review here)

This polish is still pretty, but it took four coats to achieve an opaque look, I found this polish very sheer. However, it is a good polish if you would like to paint your nails with a subtle colour, nothing too obvious, good for the office.

I found the duochrome subtle, it is barely noticeable on the nail at all, which is a shame, but I do like the soft twinkle the silver glitter particles give. The glitter within the polish felt slightly gritty once dry, but that wasn't really an issue as for this manicure I wanted to add some black crackle polish over the top anyway.

I used the black crackle polish from the Andrea Fulterton Mock Crock double ended duo, then I applied Seche Vite fast dry coat. I really like this combination, the light blue of Meteor Match with the glitter peaking through the black crackle. 

I still have some more LD polishes to try, so many polishes, so little time.