Oh no... not another matte mani?

Correct - it isn't. It's back to shiny today :D

I actually did a mani almost identical to this, just with slightly different polishes, just after I started this blog. You can see it here. Look how much my nails have changed!!

Konad Plate: M64

Base Colour: Nails Inc - Victoria

Konad Colour: Miss Sporty - Zodiac

Top Coat of NYC

MAC Jade Dragon

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I haven't had a chance to swatch the rest of Color Club Untamed Luxury yet, but as soon as I do, you'll know. In the meantime, I just changed my nail polish to MAC Jade Dragon, so I have that to show you today.

I'd worn Color Club Resort to Red for five days, and it held up really well, with no chips or tip wear.  It was starting to look a little grown out, but otherwise I could have waited longer to change.  I just received my MAC Jin Soon nail polishes yesterday, so I wanted to try one of them.  The last time around, I passed on all of the MAC Jin Soon polishes, but there were a few I decided to spring for this time.  One of them is Jade Dragon, a deep green shimmer.  I used two very, very thin coats, one medium would probably be enough.  I finished it with top coat, and here it is.

MAC Jade Dragon Nail Polish, Two Coats

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

My First Tutorial: Water Decals

Today I used some Water Decals from Viva La Nails. Since I have never used these before, I checked the website to see if there were instructions. Luckily, there is a video at the bottom of the page with details of how to apply the decals. I'm sure I could have guessed but I wanted to make sure I got it right. Here is how I applied my decals...

1. 

Paint on your base colour and allow to dry thoroughly. I used Barry M Cyan Blue.

2. 

Prepare everything you need:

Cut out the decals you are going to use.

Have a nail stick nearby, or any tool you prefer like tweezers.

A cup or bowl of water, the website specifies warm. You can use cold but it takes much longer for the decals to come away from the paper.

3. 

Hold the decal between your thumb and first finger and plunge it in to the water.

Leave it there for about 5 seconds, or longer if the water's cold.

You will feel the decal starting to slide around on the paper.

4. 
Remove the decal from the water and slide it away from the paper by gently rubbing your two fingers together.
It should come off easily. If it doesn't, put it back into the water for another few seconds.

5. 
The decals are fairly sturdy so you don't need to be too careful when handling them, they can take a bit of rough and tumble.
Get the decal onto your tool and prepare to transfer it to the nail.
Fingers work just as well as any tool when using these decals.

6. 

Once it's on the nail, you can move the decal around as it takes a while to dry. 

If it dries and you don't like the position you can dab some water on it to loosen it up and move it around again.

7. 

Once the decals are dry and you're happy with them, just add a top coat.

The Verdict

I really like these decals. Application was easier than I expected and the finish is brilliant. Unlike with stickers, the edges of the decals are undetectable once the top coat is on so there is no temptation to pick at them as well as the fact that it looks really professional.

The only downside is that they take a while to dry, I would say close to ten minutes, so you have to be very careful until they do because they will slide around.

Pastels

Here are some not so summery nails, but I really like the pastelly palette of this one.

Plate: Fauxnad from eBay- M54
Base Colour: Barry M - Mushroom
Stamp Colour: Collection 2000 Hot Looks - Dynasty
Top Coat of Essie Matte About You

Ink

I love how shiny this is! The Barbara Daly polishes are great for shine and the great thing is you can just pick one up when you're shopping for your groceries so it doesn't seem like such a chore!

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM18
Base Colour: Barbara Daly @ Tesco - Tattoo
Stamp Colour: Collection 2000 - Moonlight Shine
Top Coat of NYC

More Matte

I've finally got these tip stamps down! For ages, whenever I tried, they would end up trailing down my nail and I would get really frustrated.

I used some little flakies from Viva La Nails. They look pink in the packet but are kind of transparent pink so they just look a bit iridescent on the nail.

Konad Plate: M56
Base Colour: L'Oreal Jet-Set - 225 (No Name)
Konad Colour: Collection 2000 - Moonlight Shine
Sparklies stuck on with Miss Sporty top coat
Top Coat of Essie Matte About You

Back To My Roots

It's been a few days since I did any stamping since I've had all the Viva La Nails goodies to play around with. I've also been in a but of a plain nails mood recently which has contributed to my lack of Konadding. So here are some stamped nails that I really like. I love the combination of blue and gold anyway, so I used some of the 'Pearls' from my sample package.

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM10 

Base Colour: BYS - Fools Paradise

Stamp Colour: NYC Glossies - 243B

Gold Pearls from Viva La Nails

Top Coat of NYC

To stick the pearls on, I just used a clear nail polish applied in dots with the flat end of a nail stick and I used the sharp end to pick up and position the pearls.

These pearls are really fiddly things which roll and bounce around all over the place. So I poured some out into a creased post-it note. This also makes it much easier to get the unused ones back into the packet because you can just pour them along the crease.

Color Club Untamed Luxury Diamond Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Color Club sent me samples of their Fall 2010 Untamed Luxury Collection, which consists of two sets of seven shades, and I have swatches of the Untamed Luxury Diamond Collection for you today.

I found the application of these was very good, and that the colors are well pigmented.  For the one I'm wearing, the dry time was about average.  I'll tell you specifics of each color as we go through the pictures.

Ms. Haute is a grey taupe shimmer with lots of very fine glitter.  The picture is without top coat, and I think one coat of top coat would smooth is out nicely.  I used two coats of Ms. Haute.

Color Club Ms. Haute Nail Polish, Two Coats

Snakeskin is a kind of muted olive shimmer with gold microglitter, also a two-coater.

Color Club Snakeskin Nail Polish, Two Coats

De-luxe-cious, despite the name, is a great color.  It's a slightly bluish grey shimmer with fine multi-colored glitter.  I used two coats.

Color Club De-luxe-cious Nail Polish, Two Coats

Red Velvet is a whole lot of fine red glitter in a black base.  There are lots of variations on this combination, and this is a good one - the black is very black, but the red glitter shows up well and is quite dense.  I think Red Velvet is probably most similar to Eyeko Vampira.  Again, Red Velvet was a two-coater.

Color Club Red Velvet Nail Polish, Two Coats

Covered in Diamonds is called a "luxury top coat" by Color Club.  It's a clear base with large irregular flaky glitter.  Here, I used one coat over black.

Color Club Covered in Diamonds Nail Polish, One Coat over Black

Untamed Luxury, the namesake of the collection, is a bright teal glitter in a teal jelly base.  I used two coats, I probably could have afforded to use a third.

Color Club Untamed Luxury Nail Polish, Two Coats

That brings us to the last one, Resort to Red.  Resort to Red is a cranberry red shimmer, and the shimmer is really fine, almost metallic.  This one was good in two coats.

Color Club Resort to Red Nail Polish, Two Coats 

That, Dear Reader, is Color Club's Untamed Luxury Diamond Collection.  I'll have the Indulgence Collection, the other seven shades, swatched for you soon.  Until then, love and nail polish to you!  

Mood Swings - Some Strange Goings On

When I first got these mood Polishes in my swap with Emily, I posted a quick swatch of them. Click here to see it. At that time, they weren't changing with temperature, but when I tried them on after a few days, the difference between hot and cold was obvious. It's very strange, but it's like they were broken and now they're fixed!

This is Flirty/Shy. The lighter blue on the nail is warm and the dark colour towards the tips is cold. I used a butterfly from my Fimo cane and some sequins on my ring finger, both from Viva La Nails.

Viva La Nails Rhinestone Sticker Review

These are some of the nail stickers I received from Viva La Nails to review. 

These stickers are really cute and dainty. I've used nails stickers before and have not always been very pleased with them. They often peel off or look too chunky and a bit tacky but these ones are great.

These are really sleek and stick to the nail really well without obvious edges. 

There a tiny bit of peeling on the thumb where you can see part of the flower is missing, it was there went I went to bed but disappeared over night. The peeling only happened when I put a topcoat over the stickers and I suppose you could just leave the top coat.

Viva La Nails Rhinestone Stickers over Rimmel I ♥ Lasting Finish in Funky Diva

It was strange trying these as I'm so used to my Konad/Fauxnads but I think they're great. They're so much quicker and easier than stamping so great if you're in a rush, but I'm still a dedicated Konad fangirl!

My Viva La Nails Package... Have you got yours?

In case any of you nail bloggers haven't heard about the amazing offer at Viva La Nails, you can get a free sample pack of their products worth £20 provided that you review the products on your site. Just click here.

I ordered mine on Friday 13th and it arrived the next Saturday, since it was posted from Latvia. I had to pay £2.95 shipping so I added a Fimo cane to my order too.

Here is the stuff that was in my sample pack

From what I can tell, since there are no clues on the packaging, 3 of the sticker packs (back) are stickers and the other 3 are water decals.

At the front is a selection of 10 packs of sequins, gems and other cool stuff to stick on your nails. There are some close ups just below.

The Fimo stick is fun! I've seen these before but was always a bit unsure about them because they look really tricky.

I didn't buy the special cutting blade because I figured a craft or stanley knife would work fine, which it did. I actually picked up a two pack of stanley knives with spare blades for £1 in a 'What! Shop' just for this purpose and they're more than sharp enough. 

I was a bit shocked when I saw how small the stick was! I don't know what I was expecting but it looked so teeny! 

I've cut almost a half of the stick into slices of varying thickness. I was trying to get them as thin as possible but it's a fiddly job. You can see below the bits of waste I got from some bad cuts, but the it's minimal compared to the amount of resulting good slices I got.

I actually found it pretty fun and kind of calming to just sit there and slice this little stick as small as I could, haha. Is that weird?!

The only thing I found disappointing about the company was that they printed my phone number on to the front of the package under my address. Surely that's against the Data Protection Act? So if you don't want everyone from Latvia to your house seeing your personal phone number, don't give it. I normally wouldn't but this time I did for some reason :s

If you are interested in any of these products, keep reading for reviews and if you have your own sample package, please link me to some of your own reviews so I can see the other products the site has to offer. I'm really looking forward to trying the water decals. Hopefully they won't be too tricky!

OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I apologize for neglecting you (and my nails!) lately, but I've had quite a bit going.  I've been wearing Unripened for five days, and it really didn't hold up to five days - I noticed the chips and tip wear yesterday.  

I finally got a chance to do my nails today, and I chose OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous.  I love the polish, I really dislike the name.  I know OPI often goes for the really silly names, but this one is such a stretch that it seems more forced than cute to me.  However, it's a really good color, a shimmery microglittery gun metal grey. It's similar to Brand New Skates, but if I recall correctly, Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous is a bit darker, and it's also all one color (no contrasting bits of shimmer as in BNS).  I used three coats to make it totally opaque and even.  I wanted to be finished in two coats, but I could still see through it just a bit, and I decided that would drive me crazy if I keep this manicure for a few days and went for a third coat.  Here it is in the sun finished with top coat.

OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous Nail Polish, Three Coats

That's the update for now, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

La Di Da

Here is one of the new BYS's I bought on Friday, La Di Da.
And it's also the first time I'm using this plate, BM06, so I got to pull of the plastic cover :D I haven't done that in so long!

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM06
Base Colour: BYS - La Di Da
Stamp Colour: Stargazer - White
Purple flower shaped sequins in the centre of the stamp
Top Coat of NYC

Candy Matte

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM20
Base Colour: NYC - Prince Street
Stamp Colour: Collection 2000 - Moonlight Shine

And after a coat of Essie Matte About You...

I love it with the matte. It looks tasty :)

My Entry to PHD's 'Just Tips' Challenge

Wow, there have been a lot of posts this week! I am slowly running out of subjects so the rate of posting may slow down considerably in the next few weeks since I'm also going to be moving out again and back to University.

I want to share with you my entry to PHD's challenge last week - Just Tips - and let you know how I did this look. I did post a link to the challenge gallery a few days ago, but if you didn't see the rest of the amazing entries, go here.

I used E.L.F. Nude as a base to cover the yellow staining on my nails and Miss Sporty Top Coat for sticking on all of the sequins, which are from Poundland.

I was Tagged for 3 Awards

I was tagged for the Happy 101 award by Olivia
Rules:
- Post who gave you this award
- State ten things you like
- Give this award to 10 other bloggers and notify them with a comment

10 Things
Photography
My camera
The sea
Piercings
Lie ins
The cinema
Red bull
Driving with my music really loud
Bargain hunting
Living with my friends

Please read more to see the other awards and find out '4 things I bet you didn't know about me' :)

I was tagged for the I Love Your Blog award by Alice

Rules:

- Post the award on your blog

- Link to the person that gave you the award

- Pass the award on to 15 other blogs you've discovered

- Remember to contact the bloggers you've nominated

I was tagged for the 4 Things award by Emily

Rules:

- Once tagged you must link to the person who tagged you

- Tag 4 others and notify them with a comment

- Give four answers to each question

4 Things in my bag

- Moisturiser

- Lighters

- Phone

- Mp3 Player

(See my post on Sammy's Lips for pictures and a longer list)

4 Favourite things in my Room

- My bed

- Nail polish collection

- Shoe collection

- The pictures all over the walls

4 Things I have always wanted to do

- Build my own House

- Buy a Mercedes

- Sleep under the stars

- Live in Manhattan

4 Things I am currently into

- Trying new make up looks

- Blogging

- Buying little things on eBay that I don't really need

- Road trips

4 Things I bet you didn't know about me

- I've been pierced 13 times (and lost 4 of them)

- I can play flute, guitar and piano (but none of them really well)

- I want to be an Accountant

- I own over 30 scarves

4 Songs I can't get out of my head

- Smells Like Rockin' Robin (Jackson 5 and Nirvana) by Go Home Productions

- XXXO by M.I.A.

- Sigh No More by Mumford and Sons

- Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford

Thank you Olivia, Alice and Emily.

I tag everyone who's reading this. You can do one or all of them!

I know that's kind of lazy but I've just realised I don't follow many blogs at all. If you think I will be interested in your blog, please leave a link in the comments and I will check you out!

A Matte I Don't Like (and new BYS's ♥)

What do you think of this colour mattified? I'm not a fan myself, even though this is my absolute favourite colour!

Plate: Bundle Monster - BM11
Base Colour: Glo Baby Glo from Primark - Yes Cyan!
Stamp Colour: Sally Hansen Chrome - Amber
Top Coat of Essie Matte About You

My New BYS's

In case you didn't know, BYS is my favourite brand for Nail Polish. It's Australian, but a store called QS (I think the name's changing to Store Twenty One) stocks the range here in the UK.

I got these two today along with a bottle of Astro Gold for my Mum. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Tinkerbell, which I really wanted to add to my next giveaway, but I did get a polish to join the giveaway goodies I'm stashing.

La Di Da is more purple than it looks in the photo, kind of a dusty purple on the nail.

Fools Paradise is exactly the Turquoise I've been looking for. Slightly more green than blue.

New Base Coat (and Naked Nails)

Sorry there haven't been many Konadicures lately. Hopefully I'm keeping you all entertained with all the other stuff!

I bought a new base coat a few days ago from TJ Hughes. It's Sally Hansen Diamond Strength, probably from a few seasons ago, but it was just £2.99.

I normally wouldn't pay that much, but my nails are in great need of some strengthening! I've been growing them for a while and most of them are going strong but I have a lot of trouble with peeling on my thumbs and index fingers :( so hopefully this will help me get them all to the same length.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Coincidentally, within an hour of buying this, my middle nail broke in the corner and I couldn't resist pulling it off so I now have a bit of an odd looking nail there. I've filed the corner rather than the whole nail and will just file out the missing corner as the nail grows.

Here are my naked nails. I kind of gave up on trying to whiten them, but the NYC Base Coat I was using before I bought this one seemed to be doing a very good job at protecting them from further yellowing.

Brown Comparison - E.L.F Smoky Brown vs. Barry M Mushroom

When I got home with my haul a few days ago which included Barry M Mushroom, I realised that it's really similar to E.L.F. Smoky Brown Which I already have! Darn it, I could have bought Blueberry Ice Cream which I've been drooling over for aaages!

So here is my first comparison post! There's not much to compare though, since the two are practically exactly the same, the Barry M is just slightly more creamy coloured.

They are great dupes for each other so if you are looking for a shade like this, I suppose it just depends which brand you prefer.

I personally prefer the E.L.F because the brush is wider and flatter, making application easier in my opinion. But if you like your brushes round and slim, go for the Barry M.

OPI Unripened

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I got a bottle of OPI's 2010 Halloween release, Unripened, and have a swatch for you today.  Actually, I used it for a full manicure, so it has top coat in the picture.

As you can see, in the bottle Unripened looks blue/purple duochrome-y, but that doesn't really show up on the nail.  I used two coats of Unripened and found it has a better than average dry time, but it really just looked like a blackened base with blue shimmer.  The picture was taken in sunlight, but it looks pretty much the same indoors.

OPI Unripened Nail Polish for Halloween 2010, Two Coats

Between the appearance in the bottle and on the nail, there's a whole lot of disappointment going on.  It's not a bad polish, but it's just so impressive in the bottle that I'm a little bummed about how it translates to the nail.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

I'm Mad About Matte About You

I finally got my swap package yesterday and after trying on the mood polishes, I tried out the Essie Matte About You over BYS Glittering Purple and decided to wear it all day. I love the effect, it was totally worth the wait!! Thanks, Emily.

Blackberry Beauty

This is another polish from yesterday's haul. You can't see in this picture but it has tiny sparkles in it so it looks amazing on its own too.

Konad Plate: M64
Base Colour: No7 - Blackberry
Konad Colour: Miss Sporty - Zodiac
Top Coat of NYC and a little pearly sticker on my ring finger :)

Exciting News

My Swap package arrived from Canada thanks to the lovely Emily over at Nail Junkie. It was sooo exciting. I've been waiting over two weeks for it to arrive so it was great fun finally getting to open it!!

Left to Right

Claire's Mood - Peaceful/Confident

Essie - Matte About You

Claire's Mood - Flirty/Shy

Here are the mood colours on the nail. Peaceful/Confident is good match for the Rimmel Sky High that I mentioned I saw and wanted yesterday.

(No Top Coat)

 

Thanks Emily!