Gold Quilted Amethyst With Jacava Marrakesh Nights

Today I have a British polish brand to show you - Jacava. I like that new brands enter the nail polish market every now and again. They always have something new to offer and it keeps the big boys on their toes.

What I really liked about this polish was the opacity (opaque in one coat) and the bottle shape (oval with a long gold cap). It looks very luxurious but not great if you store your polishes in a helmer.

The formula, although amazingly opaque, was quite thick but nothing a little thinner couldn't solve. The brush is a little too thin for my liking (I'm a fan of the OPI type brushes) but apparently the brush just touches the base of the bottle so you can reach the very last drop. That's actually great as I hate throwing away bottles that still have enough polish for about 2 manis in there.
Jacava is designed in London and made in the UK, its free of Formaldehyde, DBP, Camphor and Toluene.

I choose Marrakesh Nights which on the Jacava website is described as "The most sumptuous amethyst satin nail polish, laced with the finest crushed gold and diamond coloured powders." That just about the describes the colour accurately. The "coloured powders" don't actually show on camera but it still makes for a pretty autumn/winter colour.

I think this colour goes really well with gold so I stamped the accent nail with a criss-cross pattern (Cheeky CH11) and added some lose gold glitter. I really like this pattern, it looks quilted, so will probably try it as a whole mani although it would take me forever to place the glitters :(

Here is a swatch of Marrakesh Nights on it's own:

Thanks for reading and commenting :)

*The product(s) in this post was provided for review purposes

Make A Spectacle With Your Nails

Hi everyone! Hope you guys had a lovely Christmas! I had a wonderful time with friends and family, a bunch of amazing presents and yummy food. Let's see what the new year will bring!

Today I have a darker colour with a bit of added sparkle to show you. It's actually an old mani lost in one of my folders. Miss Sporty 'New Black', a dark grey creme with a rainbow of micro shimmer which unfortunately cannot be captured on camera. Topped with China Glaze 'Make A Spectacle' from the Halloween 2012 Wicked Collection.

Make A Spectacle is an iridescent glitter with large hex pieces as well as smaller pieces swimming around in a shimmery base. I did a few layering experiments on a nail wheel and it looks awesome over over any polish. I was surprised I only needed one coat to achieve this much glitter load on the nail. It really transforms a plain colour and it's my favourite from the collection.

Misa Indescribable & Reverse Silver Glitter Gradient

Christmas is almost upon us and although I haven't particularly worn any Christmas manis this year, I have been wearing plenty of glitters, greens, reds and colours that generally remind me of the holiday season.

For the last couple of days I have been wearing a mani that reminds me of ice/ snow, although it hasn't even snowed in London as of yet!

This is 3 coats of Misa Indescribable. It's an off white with hints of pink and sometimes even has a grey tinge too, depending on lighting. I'm really loving soft colours like this at the moment but this polish was somewhat of a pain to apply. It's very streaky and doesn't even out. Drying time was tedious too, I had to redo two nails because I kept nicking them expecting them to have dried to the touch.

I then added a reverse gradient of silver glitter with New York Summer Las Vegas. It wasn't exactly what I had in mind but the whole look does remind me somewhat of snow and glittery white garland.

It's not even that cold in the UK at the moment but I still can't leave the house with my trusty gloves. I love fingerless gloves. My husband thinks they are ridiculous but they show my mani whilst keeping the rest of my hand warm! Win-win! Lol!

Thanks for reading :)

Hunt Me If You Can...Stud

When I removed my nail polish today, ready for another mani, I really felt like wearing something edgy and dark. Luckily enough I had recently received some studs from the Born Pretty Store which were perfect for what I had in mind.

I used Essence Hunt Me If You Can from the Vampire's Love Collection and matted it with Essie Matte About You. I was really hoping the silver flecks in it would show up a lot more when matte but they didn't. I really like this polish, it's a chic black (all the more so because of the silver flecks) and I can see myself wearing it often. I added square silver and round gold studs to the accent nail, both these are from the Born Pretty Store and cost around $5 depending on what shape and size you want.

This mani made a perfect pairing with today's outfit of black leather skirt and biker boots. I also received these spike metal chain earrings in the post which I think completed the whole edgy look:

On a different note, have any of you tried travel nail polish remover pads? I had never used them before because I always thought they wouldn't actually remove the polish in it's entirety but a friend of mine swears by them. I wouldn't use them regularly because they aren't great for removing glitter polish or to clean up of course, but they are certainly a good choice to take with you on holiday. Compact and lightweight. These strawberry ones from Born Pretty Store smell divine.

If you want to purchase any of these or other items from the Born Pretty Store, you can use code VA7J61 for 10% discount.

  
*The product(s) in this post was provided for review purposes

Flakie Flamenco

Earlier this week I was going through my untrieds stash and noticed that I hadn't even swatched this beauty. This is one coat of Hits Speciallita Flamenco from the Mundo De Dancas collection, over a coat of red creme.

Flamenco is a bright red jelly base packed with gold, green and orange flakies. It reminds me of Nfu Oh 59 and Barielle Elle's Spell but brighter. I love flake polishes and don't think I could ever get tired of companies bringing out new flakies. I really enjoyed wearing this colour, it goes well with my skin tone and is also season appropriate. Thank you so much Bia for sending me this :)

Also, why do you think red manicures get the most compliments? I could be wearing the most intricate design and awesome polish on my nails and it doesn't get as many compliments as a basic red manicure!

Thanks for reading :)

Nude Polka Dots & Bows

So I posted this mani a few days ago on Instagram and although it's extremely simple and easy to do, I received quite a lot of positive feedback.

The base colour is Color Club Best Dressed List, a warm caramel toned nude. I've been wearing quite a lot of nude polish lately. I just love how elegant it looks. I stamped using Born Pretty plate m59 and white polish. If you would like to buy any Born Pretty products, you can use discount code VA7J61 for 10% off.

Sorry about my upside down watermark in that last picture. Just noticed I rotated it after watermarking! Lol!

Thanks for readings :)

I'm Still Here...With a Bunch of Swatches!

Hi guys! Yep, so I'm checking in to let you know I'm still around. Sorry I've been MIA lately and haven't been updating my blog often. Sometimes life just happens, I've been extremely busy lately and probably won't be able to post as often as I'd like to.

Although I haven't had a lot of time or patience for nail art, I have been painting my nails regularly (can't stand the sight of my naked nails, lol!) and I've been posting all those pictures on Instagram. My IG name is '@nailstories', if you have an account you can follow me there too :)

Here are some of the polishes I've been wearing for the past few weeks. Apologies about the quality of the pictures, I don't use Photoshop or crop pictures before posting on Instagram.

Butter London - The Black Knight

Jade Holographic - Rosa (sent to me by Bia)

Nails Inc - Baker Street & Essence Prince Charming

OPI - It's My Year

Tip Top Nails - Fairy Dust & Nubar Violet Sparkle

Homemade gold leaf top coat (sent to me by @bedizzle)

The Hungry Asian - Strawberry (sent to me by @nic_tchelly)

Essie - Brooch The Subject

Essie - Splash of Grenadine & OPI Crown Me Already

Color Club - Glitter Wonderland

Thanks for visiting
xxx

Rose and Gold Touches

Today I'm wearing a soft pink shade. Babydoll by Leighton Denny. It's one of my favourite pinks along with Jessica Samba Parade, although I say that about a lot of shades! The application on this one was quite streaky and it needed three coats to even everything out but nothing too bad for a pastel.

My latest attempts at nail art have been feeble to say the least so I kept it quite simple with a mish-mash of glitter and stamping.
The two gold glitters used on the accent finger are W7 Gold Dazzle and a coat of a Brazilian brand called Dote Preciosos - Cristais Dourados, sent to me by Bia. I stamped using BM14 and Barry M Golf and Silver Foil.

Born Pretty Ylin Colour Changing Polish and Travel Brush Review

Today I have two products from the Born Pretty Store to show you. A colour changing/ mood polish and a travel make up brush.

I had never tried a colour changing polish before simply because if I put a certain colour on my nails, I want that colour to stay on until I get fed up of that mani, but I thought I'd give it a try.
The consistency of this polish (brand name Ylin, shade 07) was really strange. It looked a lot like water paint and although the application was OK, the formula was terrible.

As you can see, it goes on purple and dries matte. As soon as I dipped my hands in warm water, it changed to a bright sky blue. However, it also started bubbling and lifting if I dipped my hand in the water more than once. When you let your hand cool down again, it goes back to purple. I'm not sure if I didn't use it properly or if I got a bad bottle but the polish lifted so much that chunks of it came right off even after an hour of drying time.

The second item I got was a travel brush. I love the gold casing and leopard print. The brush is an ideal medium size as I've got a couple of other travel brushes that are too small. The bristles are soft and so far durable.
I took it with me on holiday last week and it applies blush really well. I also managed to apply bronzer and pressed powder with it so it's definitely a good travel brush.

If you want to know more about these or any other Born Pretty Store products, check out their page HERE. Use discount code VA7J61 to get 10% off.

The Pinky And The Brain

I've been wearing such dark colours lately and the weather is so dreary at the moment that I just had to opt for something really bright and fun. This is Catrice The Pinky And The Brain, a hot, deep raspberry pink, with Milani Jewel FX in Silver. The Catrice photographed quite reddish on me for some reason but it's much more pink and bright irl.

I loved the formula (opaque in 2 even coats) but it was the first time I've used the new Catrice wide brush and I hated it. From what I gathered they were meant to introduce a new wide and flat brush but instead it's uneven and bushy.

butter LONDON - The Black Knight

From soft and girly colours, I went to the complete opposite side of the spectrum today.
I am off on holiday tomorrow and Butter London The Black Knight is what I chose as my vacation mani. Well, actually my husband chose it. I couldn't decide on a dark, wintry colour so I told him to go to my stash and pick out a polish for me to wear. I'd say he made a good choice!

The Black Knight is a black based polish completely packed with tons of pink, blue, red, purple, green, silver and gold glitters. I applied 2 coats over a coat of Barry M Black for complete coverage. I found the formula to be quite thick but still manageable to work with. It's quite gritty as well so you'll need a thick top coat to smooth everything out. It's like galaxy nails for lazy people, perfect for me then! I serious can't get over how much it sparkles in the sun!

Popular and Belle Kind Of Week

This week I've been in the mood for really soft, girly colours so here are a couple of polishes I wore.

Revlon Popular (a.k.a Starry Pink). Two coats over a coat of a baby pink creme polish as I didn't want any vnl. The silver micro and hex glitters add such a nice touch to the rose tinted milky base.

For the last couple of days, I've been wearing Belle by The Hungry Asian. Belle is a white jelly based polish with pink micro glitter and brown hex glitter. I thought the brown glitters were so different and unique. This is 3 coats over a coat of Nails Inc Elizabeth Street. I also placed some extra loose brown glitters to the accent.  You can find The Hungry Asian polishes on Etsy.

My Las Vegas Nails - What would you wear?

Earlier this year, I spent a week in Las Vegas. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, it was way better! It's one of those places that you need a holiday after holidaying there! There's always something super exciting to do and see and the days are just exciting as the nights!

Whilst we were there, we went to shows and events every night and I wanted to show you what I wore on a night out in Vegas. As you guys know, I'm more partial to simpler designs and nothing too cheesy so I stayed away from drawing the Ace of Spades or Casino chips on my nails and opted for something that would fit in with the glamour of Vegas and still matched all my evening dresses.

I wore Leighton Denny Sensual Glam with a rhinestone encrusted accent nail! Sensual Glam is an off white packed with silver glass flecks which gives it that extra sparkle. My bottle is already half empty, I love this shade so much.

 I used nail glue to stick down the rhinestones otherwise they would fall off all the time. A couple still fell off throughout the week but I took the little tube of glue and a few spare rhinestones with me so I replaced them straight away. I was surprised the whole look actually stayed put for about 6 days.

What do you guys think? What would be your nail polish/ nail art of choice for a night out in Vegas?

Autumnal Gradient

I wore this two-tone red Autumnal gradient a couple of weeks ago. The weather had just started to change then, and the colours seemed season appropriate.
Since following Sammy's gradient tutorial, I find them a little easier to manage but I still get annoyed at the amount of polish I get around my finger and the clean up afterwards. I guess it's something I have to endure since I really love gradients!

For this gradient I used two shades of red. Butter London Come To Bed Red and Nails Inc Victoria. I have to say that CTBR is not my favourite of reds. It has a jelly-like finish and although I don't mind some vnl, I hate vnl with red polish. It needs 3 coats for full opacity.

I always feel the need to complete my gradients with a glitter or some sort of topper so I added CND 24K Sparkle Effect. I reminds me of fallen golden leaves and it also gives it a rustic looks. I'm not sure what version I prefer though! You?

My Fall Polishes: A-England St.George

My autumn/ winter polish picks wouldn't be complete without an A-England beauty. This is St. George, my favourite from "The Legend" collection which has often been called "teal perfection"! The smallest scattered holographic particles are mesmerising and it's smooth, buttery formula make this polish a dream to work with.

The consistency is so perfect, I didn't even have to do any clean-up. It's pretty much a one-coater if applied carefully and thickly enough. I can easily run out of positive adjectives to describe this polish, those of you who have tried Adina's holos know what I'm talking about.

Once Upon A Time...

Today I thought I'd dig out an indie polish and voila...Once Upon A Time by Lush Lacquer. A light pink base with lots of different sized pink, purple and silver glitters.

I used one coat of Jessica Samba Parade as a base and two coats of Once Upon A Time. I loved this polish much more in the bottle than I did on my nails, so I decided to only use it on accent nails and mix it up with black. You can't really go wrong with black polish!

OPI - Live And Let Die (James Bond 007 Skyfall Collection 2012)

Today I have another one of my picks from the OPI Skyfall James Bond Collection to show you. This dark shade really captured my attention. It's a blackened green creme packed with gold flecks. It is very dark but the green tinges are still visible, even in dim lighting. A perfect winter colour in my opinion, I can see myself using this shade a lot in the coming months. I can't say a single bad thing about the formula either. It's buttery perfection in one coat.

I thought that adding a little extra gold wouldn't go amiss so inspired by one of my Instagram friends, Nic, I added chevrons to the accent nail and some loose gold glitter.