It worked!

So my first attempt at using nail foils was a massive fail, I watched videos on how to apply them and the method is very simple, but when I tried I just could not get the foil to transfer properly. The foil just applied really patchy and I couldn't get it to transfer smoothly. That was about a month ago and I just decided that I was never going to get this right. Determined not to be defeated I fished my kit out today and wanted to have another go. I am thrilled to say this time round worked, really well! I am not sure what was different, I think my base polish was the difference which might be the reason.

I painted my nails with two coats of a gold polish by Orly (sent from my swap friend Nicole over at Noir Lacquer) then painted a thin coat of the nail glue on the bottom half of my nails and waited till the glue dried clear. I cut off a section of foil and placed the piece on the nail where the glue was (colour side up) and rubbed the piece on the nail with making sure there were no lumps and bumps. Carefully lifting the paper up I was thrilled the foil had transfered. I love the way this looks, so pretty.

This time round my faith has been restored in my ability to apply foils to look semi presentable. I think the key with foils is practice and patience! 

A transatlantic friend is made and a swap

I had made a post about Models Own nail polish and the lovely Nicole from Noir Lacquer commented about how she liked the colours but wasn't able to get hold of them varnish in the USA. With that in mind I contacted her to see if she was interested in doing a transatlantic swap. I was so excited when she said she was up for doing a swap, so we e-mailed each other with a wish list. I set about going shopping in Boots and Superdrug and picked up some varnishes for her which I posted her. (I won't say which ones I bought because I want her to have a nice surprise when she opens the package)

My parcel from Nicole came through really quickly and I was so excited to open it up. I have to say she was really generous and had managed to find lots of items from my wish list. I wanted to try these particular varnishes because they are not sold in the UK. Here is what she very kindly picked up for me:

Just look at this line up! So many gorgeous polishes, here is what each looks like...

Buffey the Violet Slayer from Wet n Wild - This is a deep shiny purple which has a lovely shimmer to it. it was good to go in two coats.

Also from Wet n Wild is SaGreena The Teenage Witch - A deep forest green polish with a subtle shimmer, great Christmas/Autumn colour

Party of Five Glitters from Wet n Wild - I was so excited to see this in the package, it is just packed full of five different coloured glitters red, silver, green, turquoise and blue. I just love the look of this. When I swatched it the glitter didn't come out too thickly, so you would need a few coats to get a generous coating of glitter. This would look great layered over other polishes.

Jaded from Ulta - This is a fantastic duochrome polish which in the bottle looks green, but when the light hits it in the right place it has purple and blue in it, also like a petrol stain. It was very sheer and took three coats to make it a block colour but is still lovely.

Next up are two colours from Essence colour & go - A creamy peach shade with subtle gold shimmer called What do u think? (no 22) and a darkish pastel purple called Break Through (No 26). Both of these where quite thick polishes and only need one coat.

Milani Neon in  504 Fresh Teal - This polish is perfect in one coat and came out a lovely deep vibrant green, but I wouldn't class it as a neon. Perhaps I will try it over the top of a white polish to see if it comes out brighter.

LASplash in Pretty jellyfish and Love Crush - Pretty jellyfish is a light lilac base with lots of deep lilac and silver glitter floating in it. This needed three coats to stop my nail line showing through, but a lovely polish. Love Crush is a pinkish jelly consistancy with multicoloured glitter and red hearts, really nice though I found it hard to pick up any hearts on the brush.

Orly - in a gold metallic - This is lovely, I love the smooth metallic shine this polish has, it was great in two coats.

Sinfulcolors - 927 Nail Junkie - This is a lovely dark green glittery polish which has green and silver glitter particles in it. It was fairly sheer so I needed three coats to get it even.

Bonita in a light sheer purple called Lucious and a deep shimmery blue called Bolting Blue. I really like these, they applied very well and only two coats were needed for a nice even finish.

Confetti in 21 Pink Confetti - This is a cute and girlie polish, the formula is thick but not very noticeable on the nails until the light catches and all the multicoloured glittery particles start flashing.

Finally I got two bottles of Claire's Mood polish - Colour changing varnish! How amazing! I don't think I have ever seen anything like this in the UK which is why I was so keen to try this out. There is a light green polish which changed from green to yellow depending on whether you are hot/cold (I ran my hands under hot and cold water to see an instant colour change) and a darker green which alternated between a turquoise and dark green.

Nicole was really generous and even included Too Faced Lash Injection mascara and a Make Out lipgloss as extras. Nicole and I e-mail regularly and I hope the package I sent her arrives soon and she likes what I bought as much as I like what she sent me.
This is the first swap I have done and Nicole and I hope to do more soon. Have you ever done a swap with someone?