A FESTIVE GLITTER POLISH

I think it's safe to say that as the Christmas and party season comes around, almost everyone loves a good glitter manicure, whether all over, an accent nail, tips, or a gradient effect, it's just something we all crave.

I found this one from Essence from the Special Effect Topper range for a couple of pounds in the shade Circus Confetti. You get a variety of small round glitter and slightly larger hex glitter in an array of colours, basically like rainbow glitter housed in a clear base. This looks amazing layered over coloured polish, as well as nude and white, and also on it's own layered up for a full on glitter nail (a few coats gets it almost opaque).

As it is quite a heavy glitter, the drying time is a little longer than usual, but a fast drying top coat will get you though it (I'm loving the Ciaté Speed Coat), and I can't get over how sparkly and festive it looks. It even managed to catch the eye of the science teacher whilst he was in the midst of talking as it was that sheeny and reflective!

Definitely one to try if you are looking for a budget rainbow glitter rather than splurging on the likes of OPI.

FAKING IT

After a recent nail break, I decided I needed immediate action and rather than having painted stubs, I decided to locate the fake nails section in Superdrug. I had a £5 Love to Shop voucher from a survey I did a while back, and decided that in an emergency I should use it and get something good for my money.

These are the Elegant Touch Totally Bare Nails in 001 Square and cost £4.65. I filed them down a little, made the the shape I wanted and then painted them in Nails Inc Porchester Square to make them look really chic and something that matches with any outfit so I can reuse these multiple times. They look really natural and with the filing they don't restrict me in any way.

You get 48 nails of 10 sizes in each pack, so you get around 2 uses from each, unless you file the edges down to make them fit a little better and you could squeeze for 3. But I really like the fit and you also get a decent sized glue that is rather strong and quick drying, that claims to last for 10 days if used properly.

I know Nailene have a 200 pack similar that I might be getting my hands on soon as I think as long as you take care of your natural nails before and after application, you can have some really effortless perfected manicures that don't cause any damage like acrylics might.

A £3.50 MANICURE

I'm not a regular false nail wearer, but after seeing a few people wearing the Primark P.S Love 'Fashion Nails' I thought I would give them a go. I am very anti-glue so instead of putting myself through that, I picked up some of the Elegant Touch Super Adhesive Tabs, and I am so impressed and I think this may be my favourite ever false nails mani.

The first huge plus is that the whole lot cost me £3.49, with the tabs being £2.49 and a pound was spent on the nails. I went for these tribal/Aztec print ones as I thought they were a design I would stggle doing on my natural nails rather than a block colour which I could recreate easily.

As for lasting power, the tabs are incredible. I got two wears out of the pack, and on my most recent wear, I applied them on a Wednesday night and I peeled them off on Sunday (which was quite hard to do), and I am certain that they would last another day or two, I just wanted a change.

Although you have to do the whole peel off, stick on nail, peel layer off, stick on false nail, press on process, it really is worth it as I am so impressed by the finish and how they looked on the nails (I did cut them down a bit because I had exams etc. and I didn't want to be restricted from doing everything haha), and is so much more affordable than Impress nails that don't last anywhere near as long on me as these.

Will you be trying this manicure combo?

PARTY SEASON GLITTER NAIL POLISH PICKS

It appears all I have been talking about this past week is nails, and the upcoming party season. I've put the two together, and have a mini edit lined up for you today. Glitter nails are the way to go when you want something a little jazzy to get you in the party spirit. 
I'll start with the standard clear base, sparkly glitter options, and them move on to the more exciting options afterwards. 

Starting with my personal favourite, this is Gosh Girls On Film which is chunky rosy-pinky toned glitter pieces and then smaller holographic glitter in it too. This is brilliant for an accent nail alongside any colour you own. 

Then we have the 'Light Top Coater' Option. Unfortunately, this is discontinued now, but it is Gosh Magic Star which is a iridescent shimmer/glitter topcoat, which once again, looks great on top of everything. This is one to catch an eye on the dancefloor.

Then, we have a really affordable option, of Rimmel Disco Ball which was actually gifted to me in a Secret Santa at school (it wasn't all that secret, I found out this boy had picked my name out the bag in a matter of days...), but it is a classic. There's some silvery, purple toned small glitter in there, alongside a shed load of holographic-ness. I do love this one, though I don't wear it very often at all. 

Moving onto the interesting ones. This is BYS Voo-Doo-Violet so will be super cheap if you can locate it. Basically, this is a purple jelly based polish, with chunky particles of silver, pale purple, and holographic glitters in a few different sizes, some of which sink to the bottom leaving it a little lumpy and bumpy, but the others stay at the top and it looks like you have put in some crazy effort for this mani. Not bad for a pound or two?

Finally, Gosh Holographic Hero or Gosh Holographic if you own that one too (like me, yay)! Strictly speaking, this isn't a glitter, but how can I not include a full on holographic polish in this post. This is full on rainbow effect, and people who don't know much about nails will be in awe of your digits. Beware of the early appearing tipwear, and some minor chipping in a few hours, but for your one party evening, get painting. 

I don't think any beauty junkie can go past festive and party nails without thinking one thing, glitter.

 

Spring NOTD | Pastel with Stripes

Hi everyone!

So, if you live in the UK, you may know that the weather is getting a little better now *touch wood*, so I was in the spring spirit the other day, when I painted my nails like this. It is really simple to do, and I only needed a few products; it literally took no time.

All I used was; Barry M Topcoat/Basecoat/Nail Hardener, Revlon Cloud (Which I am almost ran out off, because 6 months ago, I had an obsession with watermarbling, and it took about 7 tries for each nail. Note to self; dont use your favourite nail polish!), and A Rio Nail Art White Striper Polish.

The finished product

I am really pleased with how this turned out in the end, and I will be painting my nails like this a lot more with other pastel colours throughout spring. If you would like to see more posts and possibly picture tutorials on my blog, let me know in the comments!

What is your favourite nail art/colour trend for the moment? I would really like to know!

Don't forget to follow, and also go and ENTER MY GIVEAWAY HERE!

Bye! Lauren x