Nailbox Review + Nail Art

Hey everyone! For a long time what the UK has been lacking is a nail polish subscription service, the US have quite a few but it's taken quite a while for the idea to reach us here. So when Nailbox got in contact with me and asked me to try out their subscription service I jumped at the chance. Each month you get three to four polishes and one or two extras. With this month's box I got four nail polishes and a cuticle pusher. All of them were from decent brands, so you're easily getting value for money. You can pay for a one-off box for £15 or an annual subscription for £13.50 per month, it's definitely worth it for what you get. If you want any more information you can check out their FAQ page here. I decided to create some nail art with some of the polishes I received, I wanted to do the dry brush technique that I tried for the first time last month but with different colours, and I really like how it turned out.

Review Week, Day 1: Nicole by OPI - Roughles Collection

Hey everyone! Apologies for the big gap in-between posting, it's been a busy week this week and I also just wanted to focus on myself a bit as I've been feeling quite stressed recently. I intended to do a week of reviews from Monday-Friday but unfortunately didn't have the chance so I'm going to do my best to do it Wednesday - Sunday instead but if not it might overrun into next week. It's been a while since I posted a review, and when I was sorting through my files on my laptop last week I realised I have a lot of unpublished reviews which I thought I had posted, like these pictures from the Nicole by OPI Summer 2014 Roughles collection! I definitely swore quite loudly when I came across the folder and realised I'd never posted them, so now is the time.

Review Week, Day 4: Nicole by OPI Summer 2014 Collection Swatches

Hey everyone! Day 2 of review week is going to be short but sweet as I'm going out tonight. Today I'm showing you the new Nicole by OPI summer releases. They're a bit of an odd mix but I actually really like how they look together! There are 3 cremes and one glitter and the glitter works well over any of them, but I'm just going to show you over 2. 

Etoile Pumpkin Bunting Washbag Inspired

Hey everyone! mybag.com sent me this gorgeous Etoile washbag* which is called 'Pumpkin Bunting' on their website, and I was instantly inspired to create some nail art from it. I was going to do all orange bunting but I decided to add a couple of accent nails in lime green to make it a bit more interesting and I really like how they turned out. I feel like I maybe should have used a darker lime green so it showed up on the white a bit more, but in person they weren't as contrasty so it wasn't an issue. 

Review Week, Day Five: Nicole by OPI Gumdrops Collection Swatches

Hey everyone! It's been a day full of swatching and editing for me, just so I could have the reviews done for this weekend before I came home, although with the weather I didn't really want to leave to come home in the first place, so it may have taken longer than usual as I delayed and delayed and delayed, and I didn't end up getting home until late. Anyway, for the fifth day of review week I have the gorgeous Nicole by OPI Gumdrops collection. I know for those of you outside the UK this is a relatively old collection, but in the UK these were only released in Superdrug in November and I was lucky enough to be sent them to review, and I thought this week would be the perfect chance to showcase them. These retail for £8 each and I'd definitely recommend picking some up! I've shown a couple with topcoat for you to see how they're transformed, I intended to show all with topcoat but I just couldn't get my camera to focus properly for most of the day and I gave up in the end, but hopefully you still enjoy!

Rio Original Nail Art Pens Review

Hey everyone! How are you all? I'm so excited to have a week off uni! Although, I have 2 essays to write, so maybe it's not so much a week off, but at least I get to see my family and friends for a bit. Anyway, today I have a review of the Original Rio Professional Nail Art Kit. The kit includes 8 colours: white, red, yellow, blue, black, dark green, silver and a metallic pink. It also comes with a bag of rhinestones, a pot of gold glitter, a full bodied brush, an instruction book, and a step-by-step DVD. As you can see the box is full to the brim with stuff, so you're definitely getting a lot for your money. I decided to just review the pens, but perhaps one day I'll use the rest too! I decided it would be better to review each pen separately and then I'll give my overall views at the end.

Black pen: Good consistency, opaque and comes out easily

Yellow pen: Much better consistency than I was expecting, nearly as opaque as the black and not too blobby when coming out

White pen: Opaque but a bit too free-flowing, meaning it blobs a bit. Although, this may just be my bottle, and if not, putting it in the fridge often helps

Green pen: Opaque, great consistency, easy application (as in, it doesn't come out quickly) same as the black

Pink: Much too free-flowing and as a result it was difficult to control. Also, not very opaque as it's a shimmer polish, this was probably my least favourite of the bunch

Red: Opaque, although less creme that the others, but free flowing like the white

Silver: Not as opaque as I was hoping for, free-flowing but manageable

Blue pen: Exactly the same as the green and black

The base for these nails was 2 coats of the gorgeous NYC - Raindrop (which seems to now be called Blue Sky), and Nicole by OPI - Spring Break, with a coat of Barry M - Crystal Glaze topcoat on the latter. The design is all topped off with a coat of Seche Vite

What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

If you're interested in buying this set you can find it on their website here although the pink seems to have become purple. You can also find them on Facebook here 

Alice

Nicole By OPI - Selena Gomez Collection Review and Swatches

Hey everyone! Today I have a review of half the Selena Gomez NOPI collection. These have recently become available in the UK in Superdrug, so this is my first time trying any NOPI polishes and I'm definitely impressed. As you can probably tell from the title of this collection, the shades are all inspired by Selena Gomez, and as a result they're very bright and girly, but that's not a bad thing. This is definitely a collection to brighten your autumn wardrobe up. The rest of the review will be after the jump!

Barry M Autumn/Winter 2013 Berry Cosmo and Crystal Glaze Topcoat Review and Swatches

Hey everyone! Today I'm back with the last of my Barry M Autumn/Winter 2013 reviews, this time with their new Berry Cosmo* polish, and the new Crystal Glaze topcoat*. These are now available in Superdrug, and will be available in Boots on the 2nd of October. The rest of the post will be after the jump!

Essie - Then and Now: Review, Nail Art +GIVEAWAY

Hey everyone! Today I have an exciting new colour by Essie to show you called 'Then and Now'*. I hope I didn't confuse you too much with the title, I know some of you were probably expecting one of my comparison posts between my old work and new work,  but alas, today is just some new work, which hopefully you shall enjoy just as much! Essie have teamed up with Then and Now to create this gorgeous grey/brown shade. You can buy it here on their website but I will also be giving away a bottle to one lucky reader, you can enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.

For these nails I started off with 2 extremely easy coats of Essie - Then and Now* and I used Nicole by OPI - Spring Break* and Nicole by OPI - Selena* for the roses, along with Rimmel - Misty Jade* for the leaves, all topped off with a coat of Seche Vite.

Giveaway image

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The rules of the giveaway are under the 'Terms and Conditions' part of the widget, please make sure to read all the rules before entering but for those who are reading for those all important words, it is open internationally.

What do you think? Do you like the colour/nail art? 

Let me know in the comments!

Alice

*some of the products in this post were provided to me for review but all opinions are entirely my own and were not influenced in any way