Friday 29 April 2011

A Royal Wedding - FleurDeForce Inspired Manicure

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Just like Fleur I am using an old favourite polish, Barry M's Navy 292 as the base colour. I also used a LeChat Nail art polish in white and OPI's Glove You So Much from their Holiday Wishes collection.

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Thursday 28 April 2011

A Royal Wedding- OPI Altar Ego. The colour of the Royal Wedding?

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So tomorrows the big day, and how will blushing bride to be Kate Middleton be preparing for her walk down the aisle? relaxing, having a mani pedi? and the bigger question is what will she be wearing? on her nails of course!

Rumour has it that Kate's favourite nail polish is OPI's Altar Ego, so will this be her shade of choice for the Royal Wedding?

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Altar Ego is a sheer pink toned nude, a perfect pick for a French manicure, very work appropriate. Sound a little boring? well it sure isn't thanks to a gorgeous purple/blue pearlescent flash. It is simply stunning and utterly unique in my collection.

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Ring from Accessorize


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Altar Ego was released with OPIs Softshades collection, and is currently sold out on most UK stockists websites.

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Monday 25 April 2011

MissJenFABULOUS's Spring Baby Chick Nails

This manicure was inspired by Jenny aka MissJenFABULOUS on YouTube

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The yellow is Barry M's np307 Lemon Ice Cream, and for the egg shell I used Barry M's Instant Nail Effects in White Frost. I don't really like the effect and wish I had used OPI Alpine Snow to give cleaner lines.

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What do you think?
Have you tried MissJenFabulous' Nail art?



Sunday 24 April 2011

Easter Manicures - Easter Egg Hunt


Happy Easter everyone!

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This Nail look was really easy to do and I think it is so cute!

For the base colour I used OPI's No Bees Please, which was released with their Garden Party Collection and is a pretty sheer baby pink nude with a flash of hot pink micro shimmer. This colour is perfect for French Manicures, almost a "my nails but better" colour. This is 3 coats.

Unfortunately No Bees Please has been discontinued by OPI :( but I'm sure if you google it you can find it. If not any soft pink or OPI softshades will do.

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For the design I used a mixture of different shades, but tried to stick mainly to OPI. Here's just some of the polishes I used to create this look ...

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Hot and Spicy, Who the Shrek are you? Jade is the new black, Dim Sum Plum, Fiercely Fiona, Whats with the Cattitude? Rumples Wiggin and Mod about you.

Don't they look cute all lined up? all of these shades are perfect for Spring/Summer, I know I'll be reaching for them all summer long.

What do you think to this nail art? will you try it?

I would love to see your Easter manicures! share them with me on Twitter :)

Saturday 23 April 2011

Happy St George's Day manicure

Many of you might not know that today is St George's Day!

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St George is the patron saint of England, and still to this day we use his emblem (a red cross on a white background) as out flag. Yet more people are likely to have heard of St Patrick than St George, and our patron saints day isn't even a public holiday in the UK so most of the time it goes by forgotten.

So to celebrate this year I urge you to wear a red rose for our patron saint and fly his flag with pride for being English!

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How will you be celebrating St George's Day?
Did you know it was today?

I'd love to see your St George's Day Inspired nails!!

Friday 22 April 2011

Easter Manicures - Cute Gingham Nails

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How cute is this manicure? Cute but unfortunately not practical :(

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For this look I used lengths of different coloured gingham ribbons (the brighter the better as the pastel shades tend to blend into the white), cut to the size and shape of my nail, and using Seche Vite fast drying top coat as an adhesive stick the ribbon to the nail.

I then used a second, generous coat of Seche Vite to seal the ribbon in and to give a high gloss effect. I think it would be useful to use an orange stick to press the ribbon down the sides of the nail, as mine started to lift after a days wear.

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Spring/Summer nails with Barry M

This month Barry M released 2 new nails paints and 3 new colours in their popular Instant Nail Effects line. I was so excited to try them and of course picked up all the new shades as soon as the became available :)



First on my shopping list were the Instant Nail Effects. Following on from their super popular 311 nail paint, renamed? "Black Magic" Barry M are adding 3 new shades to the collection - np314. Pink Fizz, np315. Blue Print and np316. White Frost.

Each of the Instant Nail Effects comes with a little card, explaining how to use the polish, which is pretty simple with just 2 easy steps...

"Easy to create Instant Nail Effects

1. Paint your nails with your chosen colour and let them dry

2. Apply a SINGLE COAT of Instant Nail Effects, don't overlap.

Watch the unique effect appear before your eyes!"

anyway heres the colours...


np315. Blue Print


np314. Pink Fizz


np316. White Frost

Typical of Barry M nail paints these are all highly pigmented, as you can see even White Frost covers the black in just one coat! Very Impressed with these, and for only £3.99 its a steal!!

Now onto Barry M's newest Nail Paint shades...

(apologises for the photo, not the best, but it does show the colours perfectly).


First up , this is np317. Blue Moon - a gorgeous pastel blue with a flash of electric blue.

The effect of this is very similar to Barry M's np313 Dusky Mauve (the Chanel Paradoxel dupe). A flash of colour that shows up beautifully in the bottle, but fails to show up as well on the nail. Still I love this colour, it will be fab for summer and still has a nice visible amount of shimmer on the nail.


and lastly np318. Peach Melba.
How gorgeous is this colour? it is exactly what it say it is, a fabulous peach shade. I would love to see how this one compares to Essie Haute as Hello or Van D'go. I can see this being a fav for summer, my hunt for the perfect peachy/coral might be over :)

Whats your favourite colour from this haul? have you tried any of the Barry M's? I'd love to hear from you!

Tuesday 12 April 2011

Monday 11 April 2011

NOTD - missglamorazzi's Cute Cupcake nail art.

Happy Monday people!

*WARNING* picture heavy*

In order to add a little happiness to my boring Monday morning I decided to try out this super cute manicure idea from Missglamorazzi on youtube...

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For the base colours I used the Barry M ice cream shades

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isn't that promo pic sooooo cute?!

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You can find missglamorazzi's cute cupcake tutorial here ...

Whacha think??

So whose gonna try this super cute manicure?? I would love to see your photos!

Sunday 10 April 2011

Aura by Swarovski Review

I'm sure it will come as no surprise to you that I love Swarovski, there is no other way to put it. and who wouldn't?

This month Swarovski launches their debut fragrance Aura by Swarovski. This is something I have been looking forward to since it was announced back in December, and today I finally got my hands on a bottle.

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The fragrance itself is quite unique, its fresh and feminine with fruity notes of lychee, floral white tuberose and pink pepper. Its not an overpowering scent and is perfectly balanced to have staying power on the skin. A perfect summer fragrance.


I can see this becoming part of my permanent perfume collection as up until now I have not found my "signature" summer scent. Aura will take pride of place along side my Armani Code, Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs Lola.


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The bottle design is gorgeous and everything you would come to expect from Swarovski, each one is topped with a Swarovski crystal making it feel very expensive and sumptuous. The perfume is a beautiful feminine rosie pink of set with the juxtaposition of its metal casing. It would look fabulous on a vanity or shelf, definitely a bottle to show off!


"I wanted to create an object that is timeless, something which could have been in a palace in Vienna at the beginning of the last century, or could be the focal point in a modern loft in New York, or could be featured in a futuristic movie. This creation had to represent these types of simplicity, of obviousness, as well as a strong character that is unique and immediately recognizable.

Gwenaël NICOLAS, Designer of the Aura by Swarovski bottle, Curiosity Agency, Japan"


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Aura by Swarovski and Make Up Jewels are available from Selfridges Boots and Debenhams in the UK and Prices Start from £44 for 30 ml - £71 for 75 ml and you can order a free sample card of the fragrance here


Will you be trying this fragrance? what scents would you recommend for summer?

Friday 8 April 2011

NOTD - Princess Polish!

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Deborah Lippmann <3 Glitter in the Air

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Gorgeousness in a bottle!

I have already worn this polish about 4 times since it arrived last Friday, and I'm in love! it is the perfect princess polish! and reminds me of Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant at Disneyland Paris, and this polish will defiantly be in my suitcase when we visit for the 20th Anniversary :)

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This is 2 coats over a clear base coat, it gives a sheer milky colour on its own, to get the colour it is in the bottle I find it helps to layer it over OPI's I Vant to be A-lone star (another new fav).

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Next I want to try it over OPI's Tickle my France-y as it looks fairly similar to Naked also from Deborah Lippmann's spring collection.

I can see myself wanting to collect more Deborah Lippmann polishes, what colours would you recommend??

xoxo