A fast polish drying spray that actually works!

Happy Friday everyone.

Notice anything different about my nails? Yes, I've taken off my acrylic extensions...and my nails are still strong, don't worry :) When they are a bit longer I'll file them into an almond shape.

Today's post is two-fold; I want to show you a new polish of mine, but I also want to show you a product that was recently sent to me. I was contacted by Angela at Beauty Narcotix who dared me to try 'The Ultimate Fix' - a polish drying spray.

£17 for the 200ml bottle.

This is the polish I decided to experiment with:  XOXO Nail's Angel Spell - (two coats of )a clear jelly with matte white hexagons and shapes.

After my base coat, I sprayed a shot of The Ultimate Fix on my nails and continued to do so after each coat of Angel Spell and 'normal' top coat. Would you believe it, the spray wasn't oily at all. In fact it absorbed into my nails and skin pretty quickly. It did have a smell that reminded me of a perfumed body spray, but it was quite pleasant and not too over powering.

Did it dry the polish quickly? I am pleased to say that the polish did dry a lot faster than other sprays that I have tried (and subsequently thrown in the bin) over the years. I did give it about 10 minutes before starting to tidy things away, but my nails were definitely dry by that point. The Ultimate Fix is also supposed to prolong the longevity of your polish and guard against chips. I can't personally comment on this however, because I don't like to wear the same polish for too long.

Would I buy this? Based on the speed with which the spray works, I can see the benefit of paying £17 for a product that is guaranteed to work effectively. I can also see this being quite handy on the set of a photo shoot, when there's a demand to create manicures that don't smudge when a stylist decides to swap outfits on a model at the last minute! I think I'd probably use this in conjunction with the fast dry polishes I currently use - for extra speed.

What do you think about the idea of polish drying sprays? Would you use them?

Whilst you are thinking, have another look at this beautiful polish and have a great weekend!

To gloss or not to gloss? That is the question.

Hello there!

Tonight, I want to share one of my Poundland bargains. I have at least 15 Revlon polishes - only one of which was bought for the full price (£6-7). This one was bought for £1...

Revlon's 'Red Ribbon'. Yes, it's a matte polish and yes, it did look like suede...but when adhering the rhinestones, the polish became glossy in some areas. To fix it, I covered it with a glossy top coat.

Admittedly, I do love glossy polishes. I'd rather turn a glossy finish into a matte by using a matte top coat, because that eliminates streaks (for me, anyway).

This is what happens when you use cheap rhinestones! As soon as I embedded these rhinestones in the top coat, their backs started to wrinkle. Any integral shine they had diminished immediately. I ended up smothering them in top coat in the end. Now they don't even look like rhinestones!

So, how do YOU feel about matte polishes? Are you a sucker for gloss, like me or is matte the way forward for you? Let me know in the comments box.

Take care!
xx

Kiss Meh Nude!

Happy Monday folks.

Today's manicure is inspired by a lot of talk on Twitter about red lipstick and also a pair of leggings I saw on  last night's episode of Dancing On Ice. Inspiration comes to me from the strangest of places, I have to admit.

Black nail polish, red acrylic paint lips and dots.

Please ignore how dry my cuticles are. I could do with a paraffin wax manicure because my hands are obscenely rough.

Here is another manicure that I was wearing the other day. The Mannequin Manicure was created by Sophy Robson and I remember seeing it in a magazine some time ago. I'm really not found of nude colours on myself, but it seemed like a great concept so I thought I'd try it out.

Nails Inc's 'Balmoral', topped with Rimmel's Matte top coat.

Bleh. This colour washes me out terribly and the lighting was horrible too.

I have come to the realisation that I cannot be happy with a manicure if it not enhanced or adulterated with 'stuff'. Ah well, what are ya gonna do eh?

xx

Flakes on a Friday...on Saturday

Oh wow. I cannot believe my GFC follower count. I am seriously overwhelmed right now. 701 Google Friends...and that doesn't include those of you who subscribe to my blog in other ways. Thank you all so much for your support. I've had a really hard week (emotionally) and this is just one of the things that's really put a smile on my face.

I have some news. I've enrolled on a manicure and pedicure introduction course and I start next Wednesday. The course is six weeks long and I'll be attending college on Wednesday nights. The same week this finishes, I will start my NVQ level 2 VCTC (vocational course) in Nail Technology. Yep, I'm going to train to be a qualified nail technician! I'm really excited and, if all goes well, I intend to share my knowledge with you along the way.

Here is what I did yesterday. Pure laziness, I'm afraid. Flakies and water decals.

China Glaze's 'Fifth Avenue'.

Slicked with a generous layer of Nubar's '2010', which reminds me, I need do a Nubar and Nfu-Oh haul at some point this year. Maybe as a treat after I graduate from 'nail school'.

Hmm. So I'm posing with the Nubar, but actually have a layer of Rimmel's Matte top-coat on.

Water decals from Viva La Nails (purchased by moi), again with the matte top-coat.

I hated the matte look for a good while, until very recently so I think I need to give mattificationism (it's not a real word but I don't care)  the credit it deserves.

Happy weekend lovelies.

xx

China Glaze - Flying Dragon (Neon)

Hey, hey friends!

I've had a rubbish few days. My eldest daughter, Little 'un, has been sick after catching a bug at school. We were at one of her little friend's birthday parties (at one of those wacky warehouse places) and she was not her usually chatty self. She was too quiet and was burning up. One of the mothers casually mentioned that 'everyone' at her school had caught this bug. Marvellous.  Not only was Little 'un now sick and threatening to decorate the back seat of my car with partially digested burger, chips and birthday cake, but I also had Dribbles, the little bubba with me AND I'm immuno-compromised because of some medication I take. Three days later, the poor Little 'un is desperate to go to school for her Christmas party and still has burst blood vessels around her eyes from where she has been coughing so hard. Dribbles is fine and thankfully so am I.  Mama can't afford to be out of service!  I really hope the Little 'un is better tomorrow; she's already missed out on a pantomime because of this bug.

Okay, so on to the polish. Recently I went to Sally's to see if I could find some China Glaze lacquers.  Now as you may already know, I'd been saying that I had wanted to try out this brand, so when I saw the deal that they had going (buy two, get one free) my opportunity was right there.  Alongside being able to get a few CG polishes, I was also able to pick up my first OPI for £2.10 from the bargain bucket that was by the cash register!! The sales assistant was even kind enough to check the contents of another bucket behind her and find another two which were on the cheap...but I didn't like the colours.

As I was so happy with my purchases, I immediately swatched half of them.  I got to the third and couldn't bear to take it off because I liked it so much. I felt like I was wasting polish. So now I'm going to post the individually. First up is:

 China Glaze - Flying Dragon (Neon).  I nearly cried after the first coat dried. It was matte!! :-( I'm really sorry, but matte is not one of my favourite finishes.  I put another two coats on and still, I was mortified. The blue, glittery goodness was totally lost to me.

 I was expecting what was in the bottle, not that ^^^

 So then I tried putting a proper matte top coat on the thumb, middle and pinkie, whilst putting a shiny top coat on the other nails, just to see what it looked like.

 I think I'm going to have to wear this with the glossiest top coat I can find.  I do NOT like this as a matte at all. Don't worry though, this dragon isn't flying anywhere fast. She shall be making an appearance again...as a GLOSSY FINISH!