Halloween Leftovers

OK so I know said I wasn't going to do orange for a long time, but I just found these pictures on my memory card and realised I'd forgotten to post them over halloween so here they are!

For the base I used one of my favourite orange polishes, OPI Flit a Bit and for the detail I used OPI Black Onyx and Alpine Snow.

#OrangeOctober The Final Segment

#OrangeOctober Day 31.

Happy Halloween!!

Wow! 31 Orange manicures! I can safely say I will not be wearing orange on my nails any time soon. I am craving dark, vampy colours ready for winter :)

Todays post is double the trouble, in honour of Halloween I am going to share with you two of my favourite orange glitters, but these are no boring orange glitter.

China Glaze Fortune Teller was an US exclusive in 2009 that was extremely hard to find. I managed to find on ebay last year and paid a pretty penny for it. But I just had to have it after falling head over heels for it after seeing it on SayAnythingBrooke and Scrangie's blogs.

Fortune Teller is small and medium round orange glitter and larger hexagonal orange glitter in a black creme base.

The magic really happens when you add a matte top coat to this glitter. I used China Glaze Matte Magic.

Doesn't it look like molten lava?

The other Halloween themed polish is an all time favourite of mine, this is Ick-a-Bod-y. I have a particular fondness for this polish because of the name, I absoltulely LOVE the story of Ichabod Crane and the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow, so much so I named my pet cat after the main character, Ichabod or as I liked to call him Ichabody. So of corse I had to buy this polish when it was released.

Ick-A-Bod-Y is a fine orange glitter suspended in a black gelly base colour.

China Glaze NEVER disappoints with their Halloween collections.

What is your Halloween mani? Don't forget you can share photos and links to your blog posts on Facebook and Twitter

#OrangeOctober Flocking Orange

#OrangeOctober Day 30.

Welcome back for the penultimate #OrangeOctober blog post.

Flocking is the latest craze to come to nails since the caviar manicure, but how easy is it for an at home manicure?

I ordered my flocking powder from ebay and a couple of days later it arrived through my door. I can't say I was excited at the prospect of having furry nails, for some reason I imagined it would feel uncomfortable, like matte nails, but 100 times worse. I wasn't fond of the idea of mess or the removal process either. But me experience wasn't as bad as I had anticipated.

Here's what yo need for an at home flocked manicure...






Base coat,

Regular polish in a matching colour to your flocking powder,
Quick drying top coat,
Flocking powder,
A sieve,
Hoover to clean up ;)

Apply base coat, two coats of your base colour, I'm using a Kiko polish that I have somehow managed to leave out of #OrangeOctober *shock horror* This is Kiko

Apply your top coat, I am using Seche Vite, but any top coat will do the trick :)

Working quickly sieve your flocking powder onto your nails.

Gently press down on each nail to ensure the flocking has adhered to the nail.


Your all done!

Overall I actually like the effect, I couldn't wear it all day, or on a day to day basis, but it isn't uncomfortable at all on the nails.

It kinda reminds me of this guy...

Trick or Treat?! How to Remove Glitter Polish

Everyone should be able to enjoy wearing glitter nail polish at this festive time of year without being afraid of the removal process. Today I am going to show you a quick, easy and efficient removal method, using household items that everybody should have to hand.

You will need:
Nail Polish Remover
Cotton Wool
Kitchen Foil

and that's all you'll need!

Fist we will need to tear off 10 equal squares of kitchen foil, they need to be large enough to wrap around your finger nail and accommodate the cotton wool.

Next you will need to saturate your cotton wool in nail polish remover, I am using Cutex Moisture Guard with nail whitening formula. This is the one I like, any will do, but I find this one quick and easy to work with. I am also using balls of cotton wool instead of the pads as I find these soak up the polish remover better.

Lay the cotton wool in the middle of the foil, place your nail over the cotton wool and wrap around your finger, ensuring a tight as possible seal to prevent the nail varnish seeping out.

When you have wrapped all 10 fingers, relax ....

and do the robot!

Leave for about 2 minutes, then carefully, without tearing or ripping the foil, rub the cotton wool over your nails, if it moves with ease it is ready to be removed, if not leave for a further minute and try again.

Hey Presto! Glitter free nails!

I hope this was helpful to some of you! enjoy your festive glitter nails!

xoxo

#OrangeOctober Deutsch You Want Me Baby?

#OrangeOctober Day 28.

Whose getting excited for Halloween?

Today's polish is so incredible, its as if OPI have bottled up autumn and Halloween . It is so festive, a gorgeous, rich, rusty, burnt orange colour yet so vibrant with a velvet like finish. This polish is so festive and dark, it almost leans red and is oh so shimmery. I can't say enough good things about it, the photos simply don't do it justice.

This is Deutsch You Want Me Baby? from OPI's Autumn/Winter collection this year. It was a spur of the moment buy for me, I figured I would just sell it on ebay if I didn't like it, but I am so glad I picked it up! it was love at first application.

(oops I think I need to mow the lawn *embarrassing*)

The application wasn't what I come to expect from OPI, the formula was a little thin, but the colour was build able. This is three coats, but two would probably suffice.

I also have German-icure on order from the same collection. I hope it is just as beautiful as this one. You have big shoes to fill German-icure!

What colours did you buy from the German Collection? or which would you like to get in the future?
I still have a long list, but they will have to wait until after Christmas now, or maybe Santa will surprise me?!

xoxo

#OrangeOctober Glitter Nails

#OrangeOctober Day 27

Today I have for you something a little bit different for #OrangeOctober: A tutorial!

I have been wanting to try Gosh nail glitter for the longest time now, but never wanted to pay the nearly £5 price tag. So I finally broke down and hit ebay.co.uk were there are lots of sellers offering nail and body glitter for far less. I don't know just how safe they are, so I won't recommend any sellers to you just incase. If you are unsure I'd recommend paying the extra for the Gosh glitter, or a fine craft glitter I'm sure would be fine.

Heres what you will need to get orange glitter nails :)

A good quality base coat

Your favourite orange nail polish. I'm using Barry M Block Orange

Your orange glitter

A shiny top coat

A rubber cuticle pusher or an orange stick

Piece of paper or kitchen towel

I started by applying my base coat (OPI natural base coat) and one coat my orange polish...

Place your hand over your paper or kitchen towel and apply your second coat of your chosen orange polish,  wait 30 seconds for the polish to go a little tacky and pour over the glitter (this is where it gets a little messy).

Tap off any excess glitter, don't worry about any stray glitter pieces around your cuticles, we will tidy that up later. Pick up your paper by two opposite corners to make a funnel and pour the glitter back into its container and secure the lid.

Phew! thats the messy bit finished.

Allow the polish to dry, and using your cuticle pusher or orange stick tidy away any glitter on your cuticles. Apply 1 generous coat of top coat.

As you can see the glitter will still look gritty.

Wait a couple on minutes and apply a second layer of top coat. You can repeat this step as many times as you like/need to reduce the roughness of the glitter.

So there we have Orange Glitter Nails :)

xoxo

#OrangeOctober Tropical Sun

#OrangeOctober Day 26

The end of our little orange journey is in sight! thank heavens! I am starting to crave dark vampy purples, rich blues, and Bordeaux reds.

But were not there yet! Today's polish is one I have been wanting to try for so long; this is Models Own Tropical Sun from the Spring/Summer Beetlejuice collection. A collection dedicated solely to duo chrome gorgeousness. Thanks to the recent Models Own 50% off sale I finally gave in and ordered it. I mean who can resist a sale right?

Here's the swatches (sorry they are all taken using the flash, its getting cold and dark here in the UK - snow is on its way)!

This is four coats, the application wasn't good, but not the worst. The formula could do with being a little thicker, but as you apply more coats the colour builds up nicely.

The duochrome-ness isn't in your face in this polish. Its a subtle change from a golden orange to softer orange leaning on the coral side.

In case the duo chrome wasn't enough for you, this beautiful polish also has stunning silver micro glitter particles that almost appear holographic when they catch the light. This isn't just apparent in the bottle, it translates to the nail too! (oh how I wish I could say this for more polishes) - this polish is the perfect summer manicure colour!

#OrangeOctober Kiko vs Essie

#OrangeOctober Day 25

Todays post is a brand smack down!

In the left corner we have an Essie polish costing a whopping £7.99!

This is Essie Tart Deco ...

and in the right corner we have Italian nail polish brand, Kiko priced at just £1.50

This is Kiko 358 Peach Rose ...

In the bottles they look identical, will they be identical on the nail?

First lets look at the swatch of Peach Rose 358

(In natural light)

(With flash)

This is just two coats, these polishes are unbelievable good quality for just £1.50.  Not runny like Sinful Colors, not streaky like Essie - the formula is perfect and the price - excellent.

So how does it compare to Essie Tart Deco? lets see ...

This is three coats of Essie compared to just two of Kiko.

As you can see Kiko, Peach Rose is a little darker, and a little bit orange-er?

#OrangeOctober Serena and Chloe

#OrangeOctober Day 24

Heres another Poundland find! This is Sinful Colors, Serena and Chloe.

My only problem with these polishes is how liquid they are, I still haven't mastered the art of NOT flooding the cuticles. A steady hand is much needed to apply them. If anyone has any tips or tricks please let me know!

Serena and Chloe is a gorgeous, dark burnt orange polish with super sparkly, glass fleck, glitter particles

#OrangeOctober Hot and Spicy

#OrangeOctober Day 23

OPI Hot and Spicy.

Described by OPI as “a sizzling coral that’s a kung pow wow!” this polish was originally release as part of the Hong Kong Collection for Spring/Summer back in 2010.

Hot and Spicy is one of my all time favourite polishes for summer, a beautiful creme finish orange with a hint of coral. The formula (as with all OPIs) is perfect! but you have heard it all before from this OPI fan girl so I will shut up and let you look at the photos :)

xoxo

#OrangeOctober Take Me Tangerine

#OrangeOctober Day 22!!

Hennes & Mauritz: Take Me Tangerine.

I've heard a lot about H&M polishes - inexpensive, long lasting, chip resistant ... so I decided to see what all the fuss is about.

I didn't go for the standard £2.99 square bottle range, none of the colours jumped out at me as being unique, many of them were standard primary colours, nothing too special. But I did notice a little stubby round polish in the corner priced at just £1.50 that was a little different.

Take Me Tangerine is tangy coral - orange with very subtle shimmer. It applied well, just two coats for full coverage. I have a feeling this little bottle (8 ml) will last me a long time.Do you have a favourite H&M polish?

http://test.skimlinks.com   

#OrangeOctober Anom

#OrangeOctober Day 21!

Todays polish anonymous, It's from Claires and thats all I know. A quick google search suggests it might be Julius, a neon orange with holographic glitter, it fits the description! (If you have any other suggestions on what this polish is, please leave it in the comments as I'd love to know).

To get this level of coverage I had to apply 4-5 coats to each nail, the polish is very sheer and jelly like and the glitter is super gritty. So gritty not even a generous coat of Seche Vite helped :(

Overall I think this polish is good for a bit of fun, a day off work, a weekend getaway that kind of thing. It doesn't have much staying power, this mani chipped within half a day! I'm glad I only paid £1.92 its not worth a lot more.

What Claires polishes would you recommend?

xoxo

#OrangeOctober Tapping Nails

#OrangeOctober Day 20

Not long left now until Halloween!!

Todays polish was featured in my earlier post: Poundland Haul. This is Tapping Nails by Sinful Colors, a gorgeous dark burnt orange simmer. In the bottle this polish appears to have a bright yellow flash, unfortunately this doesn't show up on the nail, shame as this was the reason I picked up this polish :(

Heres the swatches ...

Where does that yellow vein disappear to?