Halloween Mummies

Hi, quick post today because I'm really busy. I've literally just finished watching the latest episode of Downton Abbey, I can't believe it's the series finale next week? What will I do with my Sunday nights once it's gone?!

Today I'm showing you a Halloween mummy design I did a couple of days ago. I followed a tutorial by Kayla Shevonne, although hers turned out a lot more mummy-like than mine! I asked a few people what they thought the design was and no one got it right - my mum thought they were supposed to be gladiator sandals with eyes. WTF? Let's see what you think!

I started with a base of Barry M Matt White before sponging on OPI San Tan-tonio to make it look dirty. I then used my trusty Models Own black nail art pen for the bandages. The lines aren't as opaque as I'd like, but oh well.

What are you up to for Halloween this year? I'm having a few friends over - I'm baking Halloween-shaped sugar cookies in advance for my friends to decorate on the night. Because we're cool like that. I have an awesome costume idea that I'm really excited about, but I'll keep schtum about it until the actual day. :)

As Seen On... Swatch and Learn

Hola! If all has gone to plan I'm in Madrid now and hoping to pop into Sephora while I'm here. Obviously I'll visit some cultural places like the Prado too, but what's wrong with a little retain therapy?! Today's replicated manicure is from Swatch and Learn. Mary's blog was one of the first I started reading when I discovered the wonderful world of nail polish blogs. She posts gorgeous swatches and a lot of easy-to-follow nail art tutorials.

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I've been wanting to try the fishtail manicure for a while but thought it would be really difficult to do. In the end I decided to bite the bullet and just go for it using the Swatch and Learn tutorial. Turns out it's not that hard to do after all!

It took me ages to decide which colours to use for this. In the end I just stared at my stash and my eyes fell on my mini set of Essie polishes from last autumn. All four colours complement each other really well, but I picked the three that I thought would work best: Carry On, a deep plum; Power Clutch, a grey-tinged green; and Very Structured, a reddish brown. As you can see, I decided to do the fishtail as an accent on my ring finger and use Carry On for the rest.

I love how this turned out - I think the fishtail has a slight camoflage feel to it because of the colours I used. The only bummer is that I was impatient with my top coat and smudged it! Sad.

Essie Fest

Hi guys! In another attempt to break away from blues, here's Essie Very Structured with Essie As Gold As It Gets. VS is a dark terracotta colour, somewhere between red and brown. I bought it in the mini set last year but have only just got round to wearing it - for shaaaame! To jazz it up a bit I layered AGAIG, a gold flake top coat, and then used GOSH Matte Effect over it.

Barry M Dusky Mauve

I have what's thought of as an 'ugly pretty' colour for you today. Barry M Dusky Mauve is a near-perfect dupe of Chanel Paradoxal, which has a brown/taupe base with purple shimmer. It chucked it down the entire time I wore this so I couldn't take photos in the sun, which means the shimmer was a little shy. Still, you can, ummmm, kind of see it if you look very closely...

A million years ago (or thereabouts) my mum and I were in Selfridges and I painted one of her nails with a tester of Chanel Paradoxal. I was 'eh' about it but my mum downright hated it. She took it off as soon as we got home! Still, considering how cheap the Barry M version is, it would've been a crime not to buy it. XD

From the Vault

I have bit of a different post for you today. I have a lot of photos I haven't posted of manicures I did late last/earlier this year before I became more serious with my nail blogging. I'm actually cringeing a little at the thought of posting these because they're so amateurish. I know my manicures aren't as good as many other nail bloggers', but they're a helluva lot better than they were even just six months ago. (I'm really recommending this to you, aren't I?!) But I'm going to show these anyway, because if nothing else it shows how much I've improved! There are some swatches and some attempts at nail art. I stress the word 'attempt'.

Nails Inc Black Taxi with OPI Rainbow Connection on the ring finger. A weird combination. Also, a bizarre hand position. It reminds me of that moment in Toy Story when Buzz Lightyear asks the little alien toys who's in charge: "The claaaaw."

Illamasqua Kink. It's one of those rubber-finish polishes. Terrible photo, but I really like the polish. Also, my index fingernail appears to be freakily long in comparison to the others here.

OPI Warm & Fozzie. Love this polish. Barry M Copper, a new release, is supposedly very similar to this if anyone is looking for a cheaper alternative.

Nails Inc Old Bond Street. It's a dark grey with a pink/purple shimmer. It's completely gorgeous and I should really re-swatch it so you can see it better.

Essie Lady Like. It's hard to tell from the photo, but it's a greyish pink. It's very work-appropriate. I actually wore it to the interview for my internship a few months ago.

Essie Lady Like with Essie As Gold As It Gets. A random combination I tried out. Subtle, but I like it.

OPI Alpine Snow with Nubar Opulent Pearl. I wanted to see what Opulent Pearl, a flakie top coat, looked like over a white polish. Not much, apparently. I also seem to have decided that painting half my skin would be a good look.

Nails Inc Jermyn Street. I think this was the first nude polish I ever bought, and it's still my favourite. Its formula is unbeatable.

OPI Fly with OPI Save Me. Not a very original combination, but they go well together.

China Glaze For Audrey with Nubar White Polka Dots. LOBSTER HANDS!!! I used a Big Ruby nail tattoo on the ring finger.

a-england Galahad and a-england Tristam. I remember I was so chuffed with this manicure, but my Seche Vite was getting to the gloopy stage when I put it on and the whole thing just bubbled like a witches' cauldron! I was devastated.

Nails Inc Seven Dials with Barry M Silver Foil. I quite like this manicure, but it's a terrible photo. Although the foil looks gold, I actually used a silver polish but the green underneath changed its colour!

So there you have it, my crappy swatches out there for all the world to see. Am I the only one who cringes when looking at early photos of one's manicures? Does anyone else feel they've come a long way since they started nail blogging - whether a few months or a few years ago?

Models Own Beetlejuice Collection

Today I have the Models Own Beetlejuice Collection to show you. I'm a little late to the party with this one - it originally came out last year, but it was sold out for a while so I've only recently got my hands on it (in fact, I bought it as a present to myself when I started a new job last month). In case you don't know, Beetlejuice is a collection of five duochrome polishes. I wore each of these as a full manicure for a few days so I could see how well they last.

Aqua Violet. A blue/purple duochrome. The colour shift was stronger in real life than it appears in my photos. I didn't like the formula at all, it was quite runny and pooled on my cuticles, but it only needed two thickish coats for full opacity. I adore the colour - I'm a sucker for blues and purples! Wear time was rubbish. I took these photos the day after I put it on, and it's chipped already!

Emerald Black. This was the least duochrome of all of them. Despite the name, I wouldn't say there is actually any emerald apparent in it. It's more a blackened base with teal shimmer. However, I rather like it regardless as I think it's a great twist on the standard black polish. I had no trouble with the formula of this one, and it was opaque in two coats.

Golden Green. I'm going to admit something a little controversial here: I am not a fan of green nail polish. Or green in general, actually. I have brown hair and blue eyes; green is not a shade that suits me. I hated this polish when I first put it on, and I was tempted to remove it immediately. I'm glad I resisted, though, as it definitely grew on me. It's a green/yellow duochrome that some have likened to Chanel Peridot. It's actually really pretty. Formula wise, unfortunately it was identical to Aqua Violet and was rather runny...and lasted equally badly. It also showed the brushstrokes when it dried. Sad face.

Pinky Brown. This a pink/copper duochrome with itty bitty glitter in it. It was thicker than Aqua Violet and Golden Green, so I liked the formula much more as a result. It only needed two coats, and it lasted about three days before it chipped. I really like this one. Doesn't it look like autumn in a bottle?

Purple Blue. A pink/blue/purple multichrome. It has the same glitter and formula as Pinky Brown, which was good. This is hands down my favourite of the collection. The colour shift on this one is incredible, particularly in sunlight. I wore this polish at the Museum of London recently, and I spent almost as much time looking at my nails as I did the exhibits!

Overall, I'm really impressed with the Models Own Beetlejuice Collection. Despite the rubbish formula on a couple of these polishes, the colours are beautiful, interesting and - dare I say? - quite unique. I will definitely wear them all again (even Golden Green!).

I bought these polishes on the Models Own website. They retail for £5 each, or £20 for the set of five plus a 3-in-1 top coat. Very good value, oui?

Barry M Croc Effects

I was browsing the Barry M stand in Superdrug the other week when I stumbled upon something interesting. I'm afraid I am pretty much over the crackle trend of last year - let's face it, it's been done to death - but now Barry M has brought out something much more intriguing: croc-effect nail polish.

It works much the same way as crackle polish but with a few key differences, the most obvious being that instead of producing a random effect, it creates a more uniform pattern on the nails. Here are the instructions on the bottle (or you can watch Barry M's video tutorial here):

1. Apply a thin coat of your chosen nail varnish.
2. Wait 1 to 2 minutes until nails are touch dry. Do not apply to dry polish.
3. Apply a thin coat of Croc Nail Effects.
4. After 3 minutes the effect will start to appear.

Probably the main differences between this polish and crackle is that instead of applying to dry nails, you apply it when your nails are still tacky. (In case you're wondering what happens when you apply it to dry polish, the answer is nothing. Absolutely nothing happens. You've basically just painted your nails black. Congratulations.) Also unlike crackle, the effect doesn't begin to show instantly - it does take a good couple of minutes for the design to materialise completely. I decided to try the croc effect over OPI Chocolate Moose, a pink-toned brown creme.

I found the croc effects polish was thicker than normal crackle ones, but it didn't cause any problems. It also dries much shinier than your standard crackle, but I'd recommend a top coat regardless to make it last longer. The size of the pattern varies depending on how thick/thin a coat you apply; the thicker the coat, the larger the pattern.

Overall, I really like this nail polish. It's a bit different to the tired crackle trend, and I personally think it looks classier. I got a lot of compliments when I wore it out. It cost me £3.99, which I think is very reasonable, and while it's only available in black at the moment I imagine Barry M will bring it out in more colours if it's popular. I can't say it exactly looks like crococile skin, though - it reminds me more of cobbles or a limestone pavement (can you tell my A-Level in Geography is kicking in?!). Still, if you want to try animal skin nails but don't feel your nail art skills are up to leopard or zebra print, this is an easy alternative.