DIY Speckled Nails with tutorial (DIY version of Illamasqua Speckled nail varnish)

Hello lovelies,

I had an idea of how to do DIY Speckled Nails in case you don't want to buy Illamasqua Speckled nail varnish or you just want different colours than they offer. You can create this look with any nail polish but I would recommend you to choose less pigmented ones.

For this look I have used Models Own Fruit Pastel Collection shades (all five), Nubar Black Polka Dot and Seche Vite topcat.

If you recreate this manicure please credit back to me. Thank you lovelies!

This is the original Illamasqua Speckled nail varnish in Mottle, picture is by AllYouDesire. I am showing it to you so you can compare the final finish because I don't own any Illamasqua Speckled polish yet. If you want the black glitter less visible as it is in the Illamasqua polish you can just add more nail polish over the glitter.

I've prepared a video tutorial for you as well, hope you like it!

Models Own Fruit Pastel Collection Skittles and layering with Nubar Black Polka Dot

Hello lovelies,

I'm excited to show you a preview of the new Models Own Fruit Pastel Collection! I've pre-ordered it and it came extra fast. I've paid £20 in total because I've bought the whole set.

I didn't have time to do full swatches so I'll show you at least skittles as who knows when I'll be able to swatch them...





They are all pastel shades which resemble the last year's Ice cream collection quite a lot but shades differ a bit. What's new though is that each polish is scented. These are the shades and their scents:
Blue - Blueberry Muffin
Purple - Grape Juice
Pink - Strawberry Tart
Yellow - Banana Split
Green - Apple Pie

I couldn't smell the scents while painting but they didn't stink much. After the nail polish dried properly the polish started to smell very nice, almost no chemical smell. They also got a cute stickers at their caps and when you scratch the cap it smells as well. The smell of the cap is stronger than how the nail polish smells in the end.

The formula of these was good application-wise. I needed two thicker coats for the coverage in the pictures. If you are used to applying thin coats then you'll need three.

 

I couldn't resist to doing something with the skittles so I have applied one layer of Nubar Black Polka Dot glitter....further nail art and tutorial coming soon ;)

KBShimmer polishes - Review of Clearly on Top topcoat, Iris My Case, Get Clover It and Pastel Me More

Hello lovelies,

As you might know, Christy Rose, the creator behind KBShimmer brand has released new Spring line of polishes. I am over the moon that I was given a chance to review three shades and the KBShimmer topcoat!

From press release: "Christy Rose says "With Easter, warmer weather, and Spring Break fast approaching February is the ideal time to introduce softer pastels to our lineup, but also to add a splash of bold color." The spring lineup includes three glitter top coats, two bold jellies, and four creamy pastels, one of which is scented."

Pastel Me More - mix of pastel-coloured glitters. The colour combo is quite unusual and very Spring themed. It includes yellow, blue, green, pink and oragnce glitter in clear base. I have applied one coat of Pastel Me More over OPI Vant To Bite My Neck? There is a very good amount of glitter in the bottle so I didn't have to 'fish out' the glitter. It is great for layering and it dried fast.

Get Clover It - emerald jelly with fine silver particles, round gold, turquoise and green glitter. Oh how I adore this shade! I love the 'squishiness' of the green jelly and the round glitter looks like coins dropped into it. It's a great polish for St. Patrick's Day, isn't it?

The formula is on the sheerer side so I would recommend to layer it over green polish. I'm wearing three thick coats which produced awesome jelly effect but to be honest it takes a while to dry because of the amount of polish. It applied easily and there's plenty of glitter in the bottle.

Iris My Case - lavender crème base with purple, blue, fuchsia, rose, silver and turquoise glitter. I don't want to repeat myself but this another absolutely gorgeous creation. It applied very easily and I'm wearing two thicker coats. Polish dried fast even though I have used thicker coats but it wasn't completely smooth so I needed a layer of KBShimmer topcoat.

Clearly on Top - KBShimmer own topcoat that reminds me a lot of Seche Vite formula. It is on the thicker side but not as thick as SV which I like because then I can 'roll it on' the nail without touching the nail with the brush which prevents any smudging. It dries fast and shiny and I think it's a good topcoat. It was very hard within an hour. I am curious though whether it will get even thicker in time like SV. But it shouldn't get any thicker than this.

This is the travel size 7ml bottle.

Overall, I would be very happy to spend my money on these polishes as they are great quality and pretty colour combinations.  I'm already eyeing other shades so hopefully there'll be some good offer soon :)

I haven't found any major flaw with them except next time I'll layer Get Clover It over green polish so I don't waste such gorgeous polish.

KBShimmer polishes are available at Harlow & Co. for worldwide delivery and at KBShimmer website and Etsy store for sales within United States. 

*These were provided for an honest review

Nicole by OPI Modern Family collection - Review and swatches (Pic heavy)

Hello lovelies,

Nicole by OPI came up with another gorgeous collection celebrating TV show Modern Family. I must admit I haven't heard of this show until I first saw a press release for this collection...but then again I'm not American so I hope I can be excused :) Anyway let's get back to the polish beauties...

Collection consists of 14 shades of different shades and finishes, all having names tied to the Modern Family characters.

'Dripping Nails' with Zoya Lovely collection polishes

Hello lovelies,

I've finally done another dripping nails, this time with Zoya Lovely polishes (reviewed here). I have done dripping nails back at the beginning of my blog in 2010 and they were just horrible so I won't even link to them :D 

I have used following Zoya shades: Piaf, Gie Gie, Julie, Blu and Neely.

Firstly I painted my nails with two coats of Piaf. Then using large dotting tool I've created the 'drips'. Then I've used black acrylic paint and thin brush to outline the shapes and added white highlight.  All sealed with topcoat.

What do you think? Would you wear nail art like this?

*The Zoya polishes were provided for review

BK Born Pretty Store nail polish - review and swatches

Hello lovelies,

Hope you're all doing well! We are currently experiencing another very cold wave here in UK so I feel like icicle! But I keep going..slower but going :D Today I will show you two nail polishes from the Born Pretty Store which surprised me a bit so they are worth blogging about.

The nail polishes are in a small square bottle like Max Factor polishes. Each bottle contains 8ml of polish and costs $2.95 before discount (use code LHJ61 for 10% OFF anything). There is 42 shades available, you can check them out and purchase at the Born Pretty Store.

BK #28 - pastel blue creme shade. My expectations were pretty low so I was very surprised that it applied very smoothly and two thicker coats gave me this perfect coverage. The polish also dried quite fast and removal was easy.

BK #33 - pale green creme shade. This one was slightly different story. It also applied easily but the pigmentation was lower and I needed three coats for full coverage. It dries fast and removal is easy. I'd like to mention that it smells quite strongly.

 *These were provided for a review

Zoya Lovely Spring 2013 Collection - Review and swatches

Hello lovelies,

I can't wait for spring so at least this new Zoya collection brings it little closer to me. The Zoya Lovely collection consists of six shades - three pastel cremes and three shimmers.

Blu - pale pastel blue creme. It's a lovely blue shade which totally doesn't go with my skintone :D The formula is just excellent! It applied very easily and the pigmentation is great. It is almost one coater but I did applied two in the end. If you have short nails you could easily get away with one thicker coat. It dried fast and removal was easy.

Jacqueline -  magnolia creme with very subtle shimmer. I'm not sure how I feel about the shade as it makes my hands look a bit pale. Formula-wise it's great. It applied so nicely and pigmentation is great. Two coats provided perfect coverage and they dried fast.

Neely - pale pastel green creme. It's a lovely spring shade that should suit many. The formula is excellent as with the two previous shades. It applies easily like butter and the polish levels itself out nicely. I'm wearing two coats and no topcoat.

Piaf - medium yellow with silver shimmer particles. Ehm this is my least favourite shade from the collection as it just doesn't look right on me. I truly hope you'll feel differently as it's a pretty colour, I just didn't feel right in it. It applied well so no problem there. The pigmentation is lower - I've applied two thick coats but three regular coats would be better. Removal was easy but some silver shimmer stuck onto my skin.

GeiGei - cherry blossom pink with silver shimmer. Very pretty candy cotton pink that will be just great for Valentine's Day. The formula was tricky - it was thicker and slightly streaky. Polish dried fast and removal was quite ok. The pigmentation is lower as I've had to use two thick coats for the coverage you can see in the pictures.

Julie - pale wisteria purple with silver shimmer. Gorgeous lavender purple that has much better formula than the other two shimmer shades. It applied very well and dried fast. The pigmentation is also good as I've used two regular coats for full coverage.

Overall it's a nice collection, I can't get enough of pastel spring shades. Unfortunately the two shimmer shades (GeiGei and Piaf) don't have the pigmentation and great formula as I'm used to with Zoya. On the other hand the three creme shades are just excellent. If you like the colours, you'll love the formula.


As always, nail lacquers by Zoya are BIG5FREE - all formulas are completely free of harmful industrial chemicals such as toluene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin and dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that are known to cause cancer and birth defects.

Zoya Lovely collection can be purchase at Zoya.com or at selected retailers.

*These were sent for a review