Rococo Nail Apparel- Lab Nude 8.0

I've had this Rococo Nail Apparel* nail varnish for a little while now, but because it was sat inside the box it has managed to stay on my side table, surprisingly pretty much untouched. A couple of days ago, I decided to apply it and instantly falling for it, was super disappointed that I hadn't given it a go sooner. 

Rococo Lab Nude 8.0 is such a beautiful colour and I really can't believe that I haven't worn it before now, of course here I have teamed it up with a Glitter accent nail (Models Own Hed Kandi Disco Heaven*) but on it's own it sits as a beautiful Beige Nude shade with ever such the slightest hint of a dusky Pink tone which makes it a little warmer and super complimentary. 

It has the nicest consistency, applying thick to the nail with no real need for a second coat, although I do always like to apply one anyway. It dries very quickly and looks super shiny on your nails, which I love. 

I'm new to Rococo, although I have been known to drool over some of the shades in Space NK, mostly  the Gold Leaf Lacquer, which actually, thinking about it now may make its way onto my ever growing Christmas list.

Rococo nail polishes are beautifully boxed and cost £12, which for the shiny finish and the stunning colour, I feel is completely worth it.

Along with an array of so many beautiful shades, this Rococo Polish is available in Space NK.

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Models Own Clothes Show Live Show Stopper

Models Own Show Stopper* is a limited edition shade that has been created especially for the Clothes Show Live that is taking place in Birmingham NEC as of tomorrow 7th December until Tuesday 11th. 

It's the perfect addition to any nail polish collection, made up of fabulously cool Purple, Silver and Blue Glitter specks. With its base being clear, it's beautiful on top of lighter shades and makes a lovely icy finish for the Winter months and Christmas period. The shade itself has been inspired by the lovely Daisy Lowe, who is the Clothes Show Live ambassador this year.

With the Clothes Show Live teaming up this year with Britain & Irelands Next Top Model, it's looking to be bigger and better than ever and being such a big fan and a frequent visitor to both shows, I am certainly going to be popping up to visit sometime over the weekend.

If you fancy picking up one of these lovely Glitter shades, head over to the Models Own stand- PK116 where it will be available for just £5.

Are you going to be a show stopper at the Clothes Show Live this year? 

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Ciate Sequin Manicure- Tutu

 

I must admit, I've never really been one to fall for nail effect trends and Ciates previous effect, Caviar Nails wasn't really to my taste either, however when it comes to Glitter and sequins especially over Christmas time I couldn't fall any harder and I have become such a fan of this Ciate Sequin Manicure set*.

The set comes with a little Black brush, a clear sequin glitter grip and of course the pot of beautiful glitter and honestly, it couldn't be any easier to use.

Though you are meant to use it on a bare nail, I've only ever used it on top of a polished nail and to be honest it's always worked for me so I don't think it really matters.

 You quite simply paint one coat of the glitter grip, which is pretty much a clear varnish, then apply a second before dip rolling your nail into the pot of glitter, press the glitter into the nail and remove any excess with the brush, apply another coat of the glitter grip and then leave to dry for 15-20 minutes (although mine seem to dry a lot quicker!).

I think it's such a lovely effect and although I tend to only wear it on an accent nail, it gets so much attention and I have had numerous compliments on how nice it looks. The coverage is really good, making it stand out beautifully and I think it's perfect especially for over the Christmas period.

There is no doubt about it that this can be done in a more DIY fashion, I've done it in the past myself, but this set really is great and makes it so easy. 

This is in the shade Tutu, which is made up of Golds, Purples and Reds but I definitely want to pick up the Super Duper one, which is Silvers and Golds and looks divine.

Ciate Sequin Manicure Sets cost £14 and are available here in Selfridges.

Do you like nail effects? Would you like your nails to sparkle in glitter?

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Seche Colour Nail Lacquer- Smitten

For as long as I can remember, Red nails, be it light or dark have been my go-to nail shade. Whilst I was studying Beauty Therapy, doing Manicures were one of my favourite treatments and I was always taught that Red is the best shade for newly manicured nails as it shows the shape beautifully well. I've held on to that and the days where I put a little bit of loving into my nail routine, I always go for a Red colour.

Seche Nail Laqueur in Smitten* is the most beautiful bright toned Red shade. It's that perfect in between of the brightness of an Orange Red and a Deeper Red tone. Drying in less than a minute to a thick, shiny, gel-like texture, this nail varnish is such a pleasure to work with. Although the Seche colours are the perfect one coat polish, I do like to do two, just to ensure a thick smooth coverage of the nail.

Unlike with most other nail varnishes, I feel confident that I can get on with things just a few minutes after these drying without any smudging mishaps, they really do dry delightfully well into the perfect flawless finish.

After absolutely falling for this product, I definitely want to try some more Seche shades. I quite fancy trying the Mischievous Blacken Burgundy shade, which I feel will fall quite well into my vampy Autumn Winter make up collection.

These 14ml Seche Colour Nail Lacquers cost £9.95 and are available to buy in Liberty.

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Stylfile Mini Emergency File & Buffer

A nail file is pretty much a standard product that don't tend to really differ much from one another. Though some are slightly better quality, realistically, they all do the same job. One thing that does differ in them, is different styles and colours. I have never been a fan of the standard brown ones and try to use ones that are as pretty as possible. This S curved Stylfile Emergency File* is perfect for keeping on my keys for an "emergency". As much as I do like my nails to look neat, I've never really been an "omg I've broken a nail" kind of girl, though with this on hand, it's super easy to pull out on the go and give my nails a quick file or buff.

I really like that this comes in a spiral protective case, as nail files can lead to awful scratches and with my iPhone and camera always in my bag, the Pink springy case stops such occurrences.

This nail file is in fact the one that Tom Pellereau and Lord Sugar from The Apprentice invented and although when it appeared on the show I thought it was a little bit of a gimmick, I'm pleasantly impressed. 

The Stylfile is available in Mistrys Pharmacy where it costs just £2.75.


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Mavala Heavy Metals

Purple Sensation

Paradise Blue 

 Satin

If you're a fan of metallic nail shades, then look no further. Mavala have a new collection set for Autumn/Winter and it comes in the form of five shades that make up the Heavy Metal Collection.

Vibrant Pearl, Satin*, Platinum Marble, Paradise Blue* and Purple Sensation* are the shades that complete this metallic finish standout range.

They are each extremely pigmented nail varnishes and I didn't even find the need for a second coat to achieve a great shade and finish. They are pretty high shine and like I said, if you are a fan of metallic foil like finishes, then you need look no further.

They dry in around a minute, which is a must for me. I'm not the most patient person when it comes to waiting for my nails to dry, so these are a winner in my opinion.

Mavala is well known for its small 5ml bottles and at only £4.30 for such a good quality, they are very much worth it.

Though I don't think for me they are the most wearable shades, I do think they will be absolutely perfect for Autumn/Winter, especially over the Christmas period. 

They are available to buy in both John Lewis and wwww.debenhams.co.uk. 

Are you a fan of metallic nails? What do you think of these shades?

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Essie Then and Now

I was recently contacted by Then and Now who were very excited, as I would be, to have their very own Essie nail shade, named after and completely exclusive to their store.

The shade is named Then and Now* and is a really wearable Grey shade. It's very much a Mauve Clay toned Grey which I can see living on my nails, especially throughout the Autumn Winter period when my nail tones go a lot more to the dusty, darker, richer part of the colour spectrum.

To achieve the opaque colour I have on my nail wheel, I used three coats which each dried really quickly and smoothly. With one coat, the results are a lot lighter and more similar to how it looks in the bottle, though pretty sheer which isn't personally how I would wear it. I think it definitely needs at least two coats.

I really like this shade and so many other Essie products, but as I mentioned before, this one is exclusive to Then and Now and so is available here online for £10.50.

What do you think of Essie polishes? Is Then and Now a shade that you would wear on your nails?

 xx

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OPI Avoplex Nail & Cuticle Replenishing Oil

I purchased this on a little bit of a whim when searching through eBay for a new OPI Nail Envy.

I got it here and for like $5 or something, I thought why not. I'd seen the full size 15ml version about in Boots and John Lewis too costing £16.50, a substantial amount more, so was very excited for it to arrive.

I have been using this on and off for over a month month now and I really like it.

I'm not new to cuticle oil and have used one before, however I can't for the life of me remember the brand but it definitely wasn't anywhere as good as this.

Though my nails aren't in the best condition, my cuticles aren't terrible. I've always looked after them and find nipping them the most satisfying thing- weird! 

Like I said, my cuticle area isn't too dry or awful to look at, however after using a drop of this massaged into each nail they definitely do appear a lot better and feel super soft. 

I particularly like applying this before bed, as after leaving the oil to soak in properly throughout the night, in the morning they feel pretty amazing. In the directions of use, it does say for best results use twice a day, but to be honest I quite often forget and so once a day is a lot more reasonable for me. 

I use this both a while before nipping in order for them to be soft as well as in-between to keep the area moisturised. 

For those of you that have artificial nails, this can be used on them which is great, as if I remember correctly, when I used to wear them all of the time my cuticle area looked a little worse for wear.

I think cuticles make such a big difference to the look of your hands, especially with polished nails. 

Have you tried this product? Do you have any cuticle recommendations?

 xx

PS. I forgot to mention that this product smells amazing!

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Barry M Nail Paint- Nude

As you may know, I love Nude nails. In fact, in terms of fashion and beauty, I pretty much love anything Nude, so when I saw this featured with a 'New' sticker in Boots there was no doubt in my mind that I needed this nail varnish.

 I am really pleased with how it looks on my nails; nothing overbearing or too nude, just a clean, natural pretty nail colour which is absolutely perfect for me when I go to work or days when I just want a simple understated nail. 

It's really quite similar to my favourite nail colour- OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy, which I blogged about here. They both take a few coats to get my desired colour, I'm talking three or four! But in terms of drying time and application, I think Barry M actually wins! 

For the price of this, which is a lovely £2.99, you really can't go wrong and having applied this and only this since purchasing it, I think it's clear that it's going to live on my nails. 

What do you think of this shade? Is it too simple for you or do you like quite a simple nail too?

xx

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Essie Launch Celebrations

I'm sure you're aware of the current love surrounding the brand Essie, the to-go nail brand that is currently  on sat beautifully on the nails of many girls, including myself. 

To celebrate the launch of Essie in Boots and Superdrug and to coincide with the fabulous Diamond Jubilee celebrations in the central London area, Essie are sending six manicurists onto the streets for five whole days! What is brilliant is that they will be offering totally free manicures from a range of 12 pretty and on trend shades, you will be polished to perfection and then guided on to the nearest Boots or Superdrug store to see the full, very beautiful 70 shades which are quite frankly amazing!

The shades that will be available to choose from are Cute as a Button, Tart Deco, Mint Candy Apple, Lilacism, Fiji, Lapiz of Luxury, Ballet Slippers, Watermelon, Splay of Grenadine, Muchi Muchi, Flawless and Mademoiselle. Personally, I love Fiji, Ballet Slippers and Mint Candy Apple and think they would make a great choice!

The locations that the teams will be hanging out and many manicures taking place are Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, White City Shopping Centre, Kensington Palace Gardens, South Kensington near the V&A museum and the Royal Albert Hall.

More specifically, a few times and locations that I think will be particularly great are

Friday 1st June- 

St Martin's Diamond Jubilee Festival at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 4JJ 10:30 - 17:30pm

Boots London White City Shopping Centre, Ariel Way, W12 7GD - 10:30 - 17:30

Saturday 2nd June-

Jubilee Family Festival Hyde Park, Rangers Lodge, W2 2UH - 10.00am - 5.00pm

Diamond Jubilee Garden Party at Hampton Court Palace, Hampton Court, East Molesey, Surrey, KT8 9AU - 10.00am - 5.00pm

Sunday 3rd June-

Big Jubilee Lunch on Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, St. James's Street - 11.00pm - 6.00pm

Jubilee Family Festival Hyde Park, Rangers Lodge, W2 2UH - 10.00am - 5.00pm

Monday 4th June-

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations at The Golden Hinde, St Mary's Overie Dock, Cathedral Street, London, SE1 9DE & Free Street Party at London Eye, Riverside Building, County Hall, London, SE1 7PB- 11.00am - 2.00pm & 2pm - 6.00pm

BBC Concert at Buckingham Palace, Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1A 1AA - 10.00am - 5.00pm

Tuesday 5th June-

Boots London Hammersmith, 41 - 43 King Street, W6 9HW - 10:30 - 17:30

Diamond Jubilee Carriage Procession from Westminster / Whitehall / Trafalgar Square / Admiralty Arch The Mall / Buckingham Palace - 10:00 - 17:00

I'm going to try my up most hardest to get to one of these in between lots of jubilee cupcakes and celebrations, after all who doesn't want a free Essie manicure? 

*This is a sponsored post

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Models Own Hed Kandi- Beach Party & Disco Heaven

Models Own and Hed Kandi have collaborated and put together a collection of Nail Varnishes, inspired by the fabulous, hot, party island- Ibiza. 

When I think of Hed Kandi, I automatically think of summer holiday partying, and thats exactly what the five shades in the range are all about.

The two shades pictured above are Beach Party* and Disco Heaven*.

Beach Party is seriously the brightest Orange nail varnish I have ever come across, it's very much borderline neon but not completely over the top- kind of so wrong that it's right?

Though brights/neons aren't normally what I go for, Orange is and although it's clearly not a day to day shade for me, I do love it a little more than I thought I would. Theres no hiding that it is super bright, but I think it's very fitting for both Ibiza and Hed Kandi, and would not look at all out of place in either. I think as a holiday shade, with a full on tan this has a lot of potential. In fact, this probably would have been the perfect shade for me when I was at the Full Moon Party in Thailand.  

Disco Heaven is a Gold Glitter dream. I love a glitter so was thrilled to receive this. It's pretty similar to all of the Gold glitter nail varnishes that I already have, except this has a beautiful run of Blue and Turquoise glitter through it which is absolutely amazing and unlike any I have seen before. 

To be honest, I wouldn't have necessarily thought the Blue would work in it, but it really is so nice. Both in the bottle and on the nails it stands out beautifully and gives such a lovely effect.

Image from Models Own Press Release

The Hed Kandi collection consists of three of Models Owns brightest shades and two premium glitters. 

They cost £5 each and are available in both Boots and on the Models Own website here.

Although very much out of my comfort zone, I really like these shades- what's your favourite?

xx

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I can see a rainbow

After blogging about OPI Cotton Candy and with today being such a sunny day, I decided that it was time to ditch the dark tones and sort out my favourite Spring/Summer nail shades.

Starting from the first nude on the left here are twenty of the colours brand and shades that I picked out:

OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy, MUA Love Hearts 1 <3 U, Barry M Peach Melba, Mavala Blush Pink, Sue Moxley Famous Pink Candy, LA Colours Summertime, Barry M Bright Pink, Gosh 570, Gold by Giles Coral, Mavala Fresh Melon, M&S Neon Yellow, Models Own Lemon Meringue, MUA Love Hearts U Rok, Gosh 571, M&S, M&S, Models Own Beth's Blue, M&S, 17 Mint Choc Chip, M&S

I really love pretty summery shades, whats you're favourite?

xx

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