Mani Monday!

Hi hi hi (: 

Manicure Monday comes in the form of these little bargain buys from Primark Beauty. I actually got them quite a while back so these one's aren't readily available in stores right now, although if you search around on Ebay and Amazon you might find them. However, they are currently selling a pastel set and a lovely collection of blues so for £2, I think you should go and see for yourself. 

The set doesn't have a name, I'd say they were all jewelled colours. It includes a purpley blue, a blue/ pink/ purple glitter, a silver glitter which has various sequins in, and a glittered bronze. My favourite would be the silver polish, as it's really thick (gives the illusion of a gel nail) and it only requires 2 coats to get an even finish. 

They're all pretty different polishes in regards to consistency, texture and pigments which is quite odd but it is Primark and you get what you pay for. 

• Purpley Blue Polish- This is probably the one I wouldn't buy if it was sold seperately. It looks really rich in colour in the bottle but once it's on the nail it's almost invisible. It required 4 coats to get the colour in the photo, therefore took quite a while to dry. In fact, it took the best part of an hour to completely dry, this is no good if you're looking for a quick fix. 
• Blue/ Pink/ Purple Polish- I really like this varnish as it only took 2 coats to get an even finish and dried really quickly. It's a pretty standard glitter nail polish at the end of the day.
• Silver Glitter Polish- Not only is this my favourite of the set, but one of my favourite glitter varnishes in my collection. Like I said, it applies thickly so it looks like I've had it done professionally, but it also dried pretty quick. Bonus! 
• Bronze Glitter- I use this quite regularly because it's such an versatile shade to wear. It's easy to wear this from day to night and it doesn't chip that easily either. I wish they sold this individually!  

I'd definitely recommend getting yourself a set of these. Yeah okay, they're not the best quality but you get 4 pretty decent nail varnishes for a measly £2. 

£2!

XXX

Mani Monday & Jungle Fever!

Hello (: Jenn here! 

We're really sorry about our lack of posts lately, we've both been stupidly busy so you'll just have to forgive us for the time being. 

Got a double whammy for you today, with a nail polish review (it's Manicure Monday!) and a quick outfit post which I haven't done for ages because the weather is so messed up ): 

Today our manicure comes in the form of Sinful Colors, an American brand which Boots stores all over the UK have now claimed. I've never heard of this brand or of their collection before so after spotting this absolutely lovely shade, and after seeing they are only £1.99 each, I was quick to grab it. 

 The colour of this caught my eye immediately, I don't have many greens in my own collection but this looked very refreshing and fit for spring. This one is called Pistachio and is slightly more vibrant than these photos suggest. 

Pro's 

• It's £1.99 and the bottle is quite big so you're getting a lot for it. 
• Highly pigmented, needs 1-2 coats (2 is really pushing it though)
• Dries reasonably quick, give it about 5 minutes. 
• I've done loads today and it still hasn't chipped, yay! 

Con's 

• Quite a gloopy consistency, so you have to make extra effort to wipe off the excess before applying. 
• Leaves slight track marks but it's quite easy to fix so that's not a massive issue. 

I really, really like this nail polish and I like it even better because it's so cheap and it doesn't lack in quality which most expensive brands seem to. There are 70 shades in the Sinful collection and they all look beautiful. You can find them here or at your local Boots store. Go, run! 

I also mentioned at the beginning of this post that I have a look for you, but it's just a really quick one (: So, it's stopped snowing (finally!) and the sun is starting to come out, kinda, and I can now go out without wearing my biggest coat which makes me very happy. 

Leopard print batwing t shirt- Topshop 

Jeggings- Next

Brown leather boots- River Island

Brown leather jacket- New Look

Alright, so it's not warm enough to go out completely without cover but my favourite leather jacket does the job perfectly. (I also wore it in this post!)

You can find it here in brown and mink for only £39.99. 

Have a lovely day (: 

XXX

Mani Monday! Nails Inc 'St. James'

I've got quite a love/ hate relationship with Nail Inc, here's why. Their average bottle is about £11, right? That's pretty standard for a high-end nail varnish these days and I wouldn't mind paying this in the slightest if the quality matched up to price but I just find that it doesn't. I'm not a pampered princess, I don't (and can't) sit around the whole day doing absolutely nothing, so I'm quite hands on. I have found with every Nails Inc polish i've used that it chips at the most mundane of things, like washing up for example. This isn't good enough for varnish over a £10 (I personally don't even think that's good enough for anything over £5!) 

But anyway, I got St James free in a magazine quite a while ago and the colour is divine. This is where the love for this brand comes from, as all of their shades are beautiful. So, throwing my issues aside for the moment, I thought I'd give this a go.  

 Pro's

• Every girl should have this shade in their collection. It's just the perfect red, end of. 
• Glides on without any problems. I'm quite a messy one when it comes to applying nail varnish but this went on with 3 swipes of the brush, without any of it going on my fingers.
• Highly pigmented. I've only applied one coat on all of these photos, it doesn't need any more.
• Because of the above, you don't need to use a lot so you get a lot of the bottle. 
• The smell isn't overpowering. I hate walking back into the room where I've just painted my nails and being hit with a cloud of varnish toxins and this doesn't happen at all. 

Con's

• You know that rant I had at the beginning of this post? Well I was totally justified as, yet again, it chipped. Instantly. I let it dry completely and I even applied a top coat and the second I put my hands into the sink to wash up, it chips. 

 It's a shame because I love this colour, it's one of my favourites out of all my nail polishes, which I why I continue to use this. It also helps that this was free, and I didn't pay £11 for it. To say I have polishes that I payed £1 for that stay on for days before I see any sign of damage proves my point about the quality of Nails Inc. 

I would love to know if any of you have the same problem as I have! 

 

XXX

 

Mani Monday! Embellish 3D Manicure.

This week, Manicure Monday comes in the form of Embellish 3D Manicure exclusively for Primark beauty. There has been so many of these 'caviar' nail effects on the shelves lately since they were first seen done by Ciaté. However, for £18 I couldn't really justify it despite how much I wanted to. Working in Primark, I noticed these manicure packs before MUA bought out their version of it so I purchased this first and for £2.50, it was quite a bargain buy.

Currently, there are only 3 different sets (there was more during Christmas, which were featured in the black box, not white.) This one has a 10ml pearly nail varnish with 14g bottle matching beads. Other sets come in a raspberry coloured varnish with multi coloured beads and also a mix between the two (pearl nail varnish/multi beads.)

The set also comes with a convenient little funnel so you can put all the excess beads back into the bottle it came from, so you're not wasting it all.

Pearl Nail Varnish

Obviously, you need a starting point and this varnish is it. I really love the colour, it's highly pigmented and the photo above shows only one coat. The instructions on the back say to apply two coats but I really don't think it's needed at all. Other than the colour, there's nothing else positive about it. It's gloopy as can possibly be, which also meant that it took quite a while to dry and even when I was sat doing absolutely nothing, it had still managed to smudge. You could also see the brush tracks which I tried to even out as much as I could but ended up creating little mounds of it instead. Not a good look.

Pearl Beads

Whilst the varnish is still wet, you pour over the beads over your nails. I chose just an accent nail to try this on, as I was unsure how it would turn out. It was easier to apply then I imagined but just make sure you have a tray to collect all the beads that don't end up on your nails. The end result was a bit messy as the beads didn't cover the entirity of my nail and even when I pressed individual beads to fill in all the gaps, it still didn't look 'right'. I also applied a top coat over the beads just to ensure that they wouldn't fall off during the day but this also didn't work because only half an hour later I was missing half the beads off my nails and was finding them all around the house. 

I think you can see for yourself that it didn't quite work out as I hoped, i.e the lumpy nail varnish and messy accent nail! What I did like, however, was the funnel (simple pleasures) which was really needed after the cascade of micro beads. They went straight back into the bottle mess free which is exactly what I wanted instead of crawling around my floor picking it all back up again.

 

 

Overall, it's an alright little gift and despite the not so brilliant review, you might find it works a lot better for you. However, I am quite hands on so it's not really ideal for me to use everyday. I would try this again if it was for a one-off occasion or a night out but I would take it straight off the next morning. The main problem I had with it was definitely the nail varnish so if you're put off you could just use your own and buy this simply for the beads, or buy MUA's Star Constellations (which have been reduced to £2 here!) For £2.50 I can't complain too much, it just lacks a little finesse.

Pro's 

• The nail varnish is highly pigmented and a lovely, luxurious pearl colour. 
• Cute packaging.
• Highly needed funnel included.
• A good quantity for the price (but a case of quantity over quality maybe?) 

 Con's 

• Gloopy, slow drying, brush tracking nail varnish.
• The beads don't stick (maybe because of the formula of the varnish? something wasn't right nontheless!)

 

XXX

 

Mani Monday! Barry M Nail Effects- Gelly & Textured

Afternoon, Jenn here (:

I've seen many 'Manicure Monday' posts done by others, and we are definitely jumping on the wagon here because we've got so any polishes to review! Barry M is in the spotlight today with a couple of their effect nail varnishes, Gelly Hi Shine and Textured. 

I got these the other week from Superdrug, part of a 2 for £6 offer on these specific collections. 

Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint in Dragon Fruit

 This is my first experience with the Gelly range and I bought this after I'd heard many mixed reviews. Obviously everyone have their preferences but I just wanted to close the case for myself. 

First of all, this is my favourite ever shade of pink. It's a real candy floss shade and perfect for spring, it's also very pigmented and the above photos show only one coat. Bonus! Application wise, it was a bit tricky. I found it very runny and I frequently had to mop up the excess around my fingers, even when I was being extra careful to avoid it. Furthermore, it took absolutely ages to dry so if you're going to use this I would definitely do it in your down time so you can sit and wait for it.  

Overall, I am a fan. Barry M claim that this collection provides an 'extra glossy finish', and I do agree with this but I do think it's a bit of a novelty. When I first bought this I imagined it to be a thick, rubber-like quality due to the 'gelly' aspect but it's no thicker than an average polish, just more pigmented. Still quite impressive though!

There are 13 varnishes in this collection, all beautiful shades, which you can find here.

Pro's

• Highly pigmented.
• Perfect shade for spring/summer.
• Provides a high shine finish-equivalent to what I expect from a nail salon.
• No topcoat needed, just a base coat. 

Con's

• Takes quite a while to dry so take time out to apply.
• Too runny.
• Chips quite easily, which is a shame as you'd think the glossier it is, the harder it would be to come off. Obviously not! 

Textured Nail Effects in Atlantic Road 

 I actually had never heard of this collection up until I bought this (I know!) There are 4 shades, which are all named after London haunts of the young Barry Mero which I think is a lovely little story. Atlantic Road is definitely my favourite colour and, again, perfect for spring/summer.

I had no idea how it would work out on my nails because the polish in the bottle looks like any other. The only idea I had was from the design of the lid which is quite a grainy texture. It was much easier to apply than the Gelly polish, however I was a bit alarmed when it came out shiny and non textured. But have no fear, this develops as it begins to dry! I also recommened applying two-three coats as it comes out quite opaque (the top right photo shows two coats.)

I absolutely love the finish to this, it's very matte and feels gritty. I know this doesn't sound so pleasant but I literally haven't stopped stroking them since. I will definitely be purchasing the rest of this collection, the texture really gives an extra dimension to the normal and mundane. 

You can find the other shades here.

Pro's 

• All of the shades are perfect for spring/summer.
• Easy application.
• Provides an extra element with the grains without being too rough.
• Quite difficult to chip.
• Doesn't need a topcoat.

Con's 

• Requires 2-3 coats for the perfect finish.

UPDATE

Last post, I reviewed two Miss Sporty nail varnishes in It's Too Latte and Brown. Both were part of the lasting finish collection, Brown claimed to last up to 7 days (it's an older polish) and Latte to last up to 10. 

I applied them one week ago and I said i'd let you know how lasting they really were. 

 I'm not one to sit around doing absolutely nothing, I'm always restless and so i'm always doing things and I have been to work since I applied the varnishes so my hands have seen a lot of things this week. However, Brown chipped within 2 days so didn't live up to the 7 it claimed to be. Latte, I must admit, has lasted a lot longer and only chipped at the very tops of my nails but it certainly didn't last 10 days, more like 6/7. 

However, they were very cheap buys so I can't complain too much! Good for a few days. 

XXX