Gelish Forever Marilyn collection swatches + review

Happy Sunday! I've got an exciting new Gelish review for you today: the new Forever Marilyn collection*. A beautiful collection for Autumn, and there are a few shades you could wear all year round. Read on to hear my thoughts...

Gelish - Rocketman Collection review and swatches

Gelish Forever Fabulous Collection - Review + Swatches Part 2

Before I start, I just wanted to say that I am aware that this blogpost is very very delayed, but I do have a genuine reason. Just before Christmas I was in a car crash and I've had really bad whiplash ever since, which has meant that I can't paint my nails for more than an hour or two at a time before I'm in too much pain to carry on. So it's been a very slow process trying to get these swatched! Sorry if this is a bit too delayed, but I hope you like my swatches anyway. 

This is the second part of my review of the Gelish - Forever Fabulous collection*, the first part can be found here. The second half of the collection is full of colours that I would definitely associate with Marilyn Munroe, read on for all my thoughts. 

Abstract

Hey everyone! A quick design today using the OPI Nutcracker Collection*, I was having a play around with the collection and I wasn't really sure what I was aiming for but I'm pretty pleased with the result! 

Essie Winter 2017 Collection review + swatches

I feel like an idiot, this post has been sat fully written in my drafts for more than two months, and I was under the impression that I'd posted it! It's a bit delayed, but it's such a beautiful collection I wanted to post it anyway. So here's my review of the Essie Winter 2017 Collection*. 

Gelish - Little Miss Nutcracker Collection, Review + Swatches

After a busy weekend of doing absolutely nothing except painting nails and eating (what could be better?), it feels right to end it with a blog post. It's a super exciting week for me as I'm off to see Harry Potter and The Cursed Child next weekend, plus we're off to the Warner bros studios, I can't wait! I bought the tickets for the play more than a year ago, so it's been a long time coming. 

Anyway, on to the nails! It's been so long since I last did a Gelish review, in fact it's been pretty much exactly a year, and boy have I missed reviewing their gorgeous gels. So when I got the new Little Miss Nutcracker* collection to review, I wanted to show you them as soon as I could. I'm well and truly in the festive spirit this year already, I know it's super early but I think because I had such a miserable time last Christmas it just feels all the more exciting this time around, and I already can't wait to decorate my house! 

The collection features 6 gorgeous shades, plus a lovely glitter topper to complete the collection. They're all such wonderful Christmassy shades, but I think my favourite must be Plum-thing Magical*, because it really is (some)thing magical! This was also my first time trying to new Gelish bottles. When I first saw they'd changed I was a little sad, as I really loved the old design, but having seen them in person I really like them, and it's so much easier to see which colour you're picking out! 

Red Accent Tribal

Hey everyone! I don't want to make any excuses for why I haven't posted in a while, but I also don't want to leave you with no explanation. The basic rundown: I went travelling, some crappy thing happened, and then I've been super busy and demotivated. Luckily, I seem to have got my motivation back, and I've done 4 nail designs this week, all of which I'm pretty pleased with. It's nice to have my motivation and my inspiration back, and I want to throw myself back into blogging. I've got a new office which I love working in, so that's definitely helping. The shortened version: I'm sorry it's been a while but I'm back now and feeling inspired! 

Anyway, I tried my hand at some tribal nails because it felt like ages since I did a proper tribal design. They take me forever to do (is it just me?) but I always love how they turned out. However, rather than torture myself I just decided to do it as an accent nail. I don't know if it's just because I'm a little rusty, or because I was distracted by New Girl, but these took me two hours and that was just with two fingers, I couldn't face another 3 hours. 

Detailed Pink Roses

Hey everyone! Do you ever do a design and whilst you're painting it you just know you're gonna love it? That was how I felt about these nails. I pushed myself slightly out of my comfort zone painting the roses and I was so proud of how they turned out. They were inspired by these fabrics I found on Pinterest, and I decided to combine two of the designs to go hand in hand, but I kind of wish I'd just done the roses on all fingers.  I wore these for a week and I couldn't stop staring at my nails the whole time. I was especially pleased with them because I have so little time to paint my nails these days and I sometimes worry that I'm losing the skill, so it was nice to see that I haven't. It's definitely given me the bug to try out some more designs that are slightly out of my usual style once I'm back from travelling so watch this space. 

All That Jazz - Homecoming Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! I'm baaaaackk. I know two weeks isn't a super long time, but for me it's been ages, this is probably the longest I've not posted. I've always said I'd never take an unannounced break but unfortunately sometimes life gets in the way, and it's got in the way big time recently. I've not even painted my nails for 3 weeks, nevermind had the energy to post. But as I've said before, my blog is my escape and I need to make time for it and make time for me, so here I am. It's taken me 2 days to write this blogpost but I'm forcing myself to type it now before I go to sleep, and hopefully now I'll be motivated to be posting again. 

Unfortunately due to my unscheduled break I am slightly behind with posts, so today I've got a review of the stunning All That Jazz - The Homecoming Collection*. The collection is one of five different wedding inspired collections created to celebrate Jazz (the namesake of the brand) getting married. Each collection is named after a part of the wedding process, so there's The Proposal, The Bridal Party, The Honeymoon, The Homecoming and Happily Ever After. All the shades in the collections are perfect dupes for Gelish shades in nail lacquer form. I've already reviewed The Proposal here, and you can also see some nail art with The Bridal Party here. The Homecoming* has some stunning shades which are absolutely perfect for autumn. Full review after the jump

Celestial Cosmetics Dracarys Flowers

Hey all! Just a super quick post today, but I wanted to show you these floral nails I did using Celestial Cosmetics - Dracarys* (see my review here). I did these a while ago but I wasn't 100% on how they came out so I've put off posting them for a while. I'm not sure what I was trying to go for with them but they definitely weren't as planned! However, I'm really behind with editing at the moment so this was one of my only edited posts. I need to get on top of stuff because I'm going on holiday soon and I want to make sure I have enough posts for whilst I'm away! 

Twinsie Nails With Very Emily

Hey everyone! Today I've got a post that I've been super excited to share with you: Twinsie nails with my good friend Emily of Very Emily. Emily was one of my first blogging friends, if not the first, so it was about time we did something like this. We've been talking about doing it for a while, but as we've both had a lot on we only got around to finishing our designs last week. We decided to use marimekko flowers as inspiration for our design, specifically these nails. We found that it was really hard to coordinate on colours, as we seemed to have none of the same polishes, so we just went with what was closest to the original design. My shades are a bit lighter than Emily's but I like that it gives it an individual twist. Emily also created this gorgeous collage of our two designs together which I absolutely love. Don't you think the flowers down the side look great next to our designs? You can see Emily's design on her blog.

Gelish A Very Nauti-cal Girl Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Happy hump day, only 2 more days until the weekend. I'm really looking forward to this weekend because I'm off to see Finding Dory, I have waited far too long for this film and I'm glad it's finally been released in the UK. I'm not sure why the gap between US and UK release dates was so huge. I also went to see the BFG last weekend (I seem to be spending a lot of time at the cinema recently!) and I would recommend it 100%, such a lovely version of a childhood classic. Now I just need them to do a new version of The Witches, the book (and the film) were always my favourite growing up and I loved to see a modern version. What's your favourite Roald Dahl book?

Anyway, today I have a review of the gorgeous Gelish - A Very Nauti-cal Girl Collection*. I was really excited when I saw sneak peaks of this collection because these kind of shades are right up my street. I've already used a couple of them for nail art, either on me or on others, and they're firm favourites in my collection. Gelish consistently impress me with their shades and colours, and I have friends coming back to me again and again to have their nails done with Gelish products. It's great to be able to use my friends as guinea pigs as I often can't wear polish for more than a few days (although my toes also get to be testers too!). There's been loads of amazing releases this year, and many more coming up, which I hope to be able to share with you too! You can see all my previous Gelish posts here.

OPI - Alice Through The Looking Glass Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! I'm so annoyed with myself because when I was getting ready to leave for work the other day I managed to cut my middle finger with my house keys. The cut is about an inch long and goes from my cuticle up my finger, which of course means it's going to be vet painful to use acetone for a while. It also means I'll likely have to photoshop it out as it's rather unsightly. I was halfway swatching a collection, but luckily it wasn't this one so I can at least post this for you today. 

OPI's Alice Through The Looking Glass collection* contains some really gorgeous shades. I must admit I really love how this collection looks together, I think the polishes work really well alongside each other. I also think they fit quite well with the film, although I'd have loved to see something a bit more unusual and bright in there to fit in with the Hatter's crazy style. I really liked the film itself, I actually think I preferred it to the first film, so if you haven't seen it yet I'd recommend it. From the collection my favourite is probably The I's Have It* (baby blue) although it should probably be my namesake: Fearlessly Alice*. My least favourite is A Mirror Escape*, but more on that after the jump. 

Celestial Cosmetics - The Valyrio Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Today I have a brand new (to my blog) brand to show you: Celestial Cosmetics! I was recently asked if I wanted to review for Celestial and I jumped at the chance, my new years resolution this year was to try more indies, so any chance to do so is great. And these certainly didn't disappoint. This is The Valyrio collection*, and it consists of three holo shades and three shimmery/glittery shades. Don't let the word 'shimmer' put you off because these really are stunning shades. The Valyrio collection was designed by my lovely friend Christine of Serenity Nails, based around Game of Thrones. I know this is shocking, but I've actually never seen Game of Thrones, so I don't understand the names. However, the names are actually based on the language of Valyria so I don't believe they're direct references to characters. I've also created some nail art with a few of the shades so keep an eye out for that over the coming weeks

Barry M - Lolly Gloss Collection Nail Art + Review

Hey everyone! Today I have a review of the brand new Barry M - Lolly Gloss collection*, but rather than swatches of the collection I'll be reviewing in the form of nail art. The collection consists of four limited edition translucent shades, scented in Raspberry and Strawberry. I was quite sceptical about them being scented because normally the smell of nail varnish is just too overpowering in scented polish but these really do smell fruity, I could still smell it after topcoat and a couple of hours later too. They also dry very glossy as the name would suggest. The polishes can be worn alone or together, so I decided to put them together in this marble/red tortoise shell look.  Read more after the jump.

Meebox Review: Gold Glitter Roses

Hey everyone! Today I'm showcasing a 'new' subscription box: the Meebox*. I say 'new' because they've been around for a few months now but they're new to me, and my first experience was definitely a positive one. Each box contains "at least three top brand and indie nail polishes, essential tools, vital treatments and stunning nail art supplies". 

In this Meebox* I got Smith and Cult - Porn-a-thon (RRP £19), Leighton Denny - Feel The Burn (RRP £11), Nails Inc - Chelsea Embankment (RRP £14), Sparkly Nails Square Studs (RRP £1.50), plus three swatch sticks. Some lucky buyers also got a bottle of Chanel polish in their box, but unfortunately I wasn't one of them! Meebox is £20 for a rolling subscription, or £54 for 3 months. Each month has a new theme, this month's theme was 'Red Carpet.' 

I decided to create some nail art with the polishes I was received, I didn't use the studs because once I tried to add them to the design I decided they didn't really work, but the other polishes were all used. I wanted to experiment with a different kind of rose design, I'm still trying to perfect roses, I've done them very similarly for years but I never feel satisfied with them. I was really proud of how these turned out but there's still some work to do too.

Soigne Winter 2015 Collection Swatches and Review

Hey everyone! Day three of review week and I've reviewing the Soigne Winter Collection. These are unfortunately all sold out on their website, showing how popular they have been. Soigne were a brand I hadn't really heard of before this, but they are a French luxury brand who create 5-free polishes. So when I was contacted by Soigne asking me to review their winter collection, I jumped at the chance to try such a luxury brand.  I was really impressed with these as I reviewed them, although they do have a hefty price tag on them (£11 each), which may put some people off. Yet, the quality does show, so it's more of a matter of whether you can afford them rather than if they're worth it.

Barry M Autumn/Winter 2015 Speedy Quick Dry Swatches and Review

Hey everyone! Day two of my week of reviews, so far so good with posting but we'll see how it continues. Today is the Autumn/Winter Barry M Speedy Dry Collection*. Just like with yesterday's post I've actually had these sitting on my laptop since October but I've just had writers block when it comes to typing up the post. I've struggled to even start writing it tonight but I'm forcing myself. I think I just need to get over the hump I've created in my head for reviews and then I'll be fine. 

These four polishes were added to the Speedy Quick Dry collection, whilst they are indeed autumnal, I can see them being used into summer. Especially the red, Dead Heat*. They, like the rest of the collection, use a wider brush than Barry M's original designs did, which makes for easy application. As they do indeed dry quickly, this wide brush helps to prevent smears. I've been really impressed with the Speedy polishes so far and these are no exception. 

Barry M - Glitter Gelly Autumn/Winter 2015 Collection

Hey everyone! I've got so many reviews to show you, some of which I've had on my computer for months, but I just never get around to posting them. So this week I'm going to try and force myself to do a week of reviews. I used to regularly do 'review week' but I haven't done for well over a year, maybe even two. It may take me 2 weeks, it may take me a week and a half, but I really want to get these reviews out there. I've had these on my laptop since the 25th October, which is just ridiculous. I feel some kind of writers block when it comes to reviews recently and this is me forcing myself out of that rut.

So, day one is the Barry M Glitter Gellies* which were released in October last year, I went to the release for these and I was super excited to review them when I saw them. They very much lived up to my imaginations and I wish that my camera had captured more of their true beauty. These are the first glitters in the gelly range and I love that Barry M have done something a little different with them. It's worth noting that unlike the gelly collections before them, these bottles contain the new wide brush that many new Barry M colours seem to be sporting,

Matte Christmas Trees

Can you believe how close to Christmas it is? I've been swapping christmas presents with my friend this evening and I've spent all weekend wrapping, and making my own gift tags (those things are expensive to buy!), so I'm definitely in the Christmas spirit now. Just a few more days of work until 4 days of freedom. Soooo... time for some more Christmas nails. When swatching the Autumn/Winter Barry M Speedy Dry Polishes, I felt that Dead Heat*, this gorgeous red, would be perfect for some Christmas nails. I didn't really know where I was going with these nails, I started with just the white outline and I intended to leave them at that, so I took my pictures and went to remove them. But I just wanted to see what they looked like with a pop of colour, and I ended up loving them more.