Nicole

Bloom is a brand that is sold in Superdrug here in the UK. I'd never seen or heard of it before until I came across this colour polish and it was the exact colour I had been looking for so I got it.

Nicole is an off white cream colour that is really sheer so if you want the full cream colour, you need to build up the layers. The consistency of this polish is good as it applies nicely and it dries quite quickly which is good when you want to apply multiple layers of the polish.

These photos show two coats of the polish and you can see that it does give my nails a slight cream colour but it's still very sheer but if you're looking for a milky cream sheer then I'd say this might be a good option. 

The brush is standard on this polish and doesn't make things messy when it comes to being applied. I don't know whether these polishes are sold in America or anywhere else apart from Superdrug but if you can find it, I'd say check it out as I had not seen this colour anywhere else before so you might be able to find something you like.

This photo shows three coats of the polish as I would probably not wear it with just two coats as I like opaque polishes. You can see that my nail line can still be seen through so maybe a forth coat would get rid of that but with nail art on top you can't see it. 

Half Pearl Florals

The other day I got a wheel of 3 sizes half pearls from the nail art shop Born Pretty Store to review, so I decided to do these floral polka dot nails. This wheel comes with half pearls that are 4mm, 3mm and 1.5mm in size and is only $4.14 or £2.72 which is amazing value for what you get. 

I used American Apparel Echo Park for the base colour with Barry M French Polish on top to lighten the grey. I then used the 1.5mm half pearls on all my nails except the ring finger. I applied these to the wet polish of the base colour and top coated. On my ring finger, I used Barry M Greenberry, Strawberry Ice Cream, Lemon Ice Cream and W7 Sheer Blue to make the flowers. I then used a 4mm half pearl in the centre of the green flower and 3mm half pearls in the centres of the other flowers, I then top coated as I normally would. I applied the pearls on my ring finger with nail glue just to be safe which you can get here in a set with the pearls if you want for $4.44 or £2.91.  

Here is the wheel that the pearls come in. There are four sections of each size pearl and plenty of each size as well so I don't think these would run out easily. As you can see, the colour of the pearls looks different for each size but when they're on the nail, they're all the same white colour which you can see in the first photo. This wheel is around 8cm in diameter which is around 3.5 inches. I like these sized wheels compared to the smaller ones that you tend to get with rhinestones and stuff so I was pleasently surprised when I opened the package up and found this. 

Here you can see all the pearls next to each other so you can compare the size. The 3mm and 1.5mm pearls don't look as though they have much of a size difference, especially compared to the 4mm pearl but when they're on the nail, you can notice a difference as I think everything looks a different size when it's actually on your nails.

I know from looking at the pearls that the sizes look a bit off for their measurements so I decided to measure them just to see and they are actually the size they say they are. If you're not familiar with 'mm', each of the small lines on the measuring tape is 1mm so you can see, the pearls are 4mm, 3mm and 1.5mm despite the 4mm looking much bigger than the 3mm.

I think the 4mm pearl does look a little big on my nail but it doesn't feel as though it's too big to handle, especially as I love 3D things on my nails. I think my favourite size to use is the 3mm pearls but as you can see, all sizes are very useful. I've never actually had half pearls before, so I'm so glad I have these as they are fantastic. I would seriously recommend getting these pearls if you're looking for some, plus you can use my discount code GZL91 to get 10% off so it's even cheaper and comes to $3.73 or £2.45.

Let me know how you guys feel about half pearls, I've always wanted some but never thought I'd be able to use them that often but I like the look of them more in person than I do in photos so I think I'll be good using them in the future. 

Glitter Gradient

I, as I'm sure every other person in the entire world is, am a fan of OPI Rainbow Connection however, it seems to be the most difficult nail polish to find. I was shopping the other day and came across this polish Nina Ultra Pro Glitterific and it reminded me of it instantly. It's probably not an exact dupe like I know others are but it was definitely good enough for me.

I love glitter polishes, especially multicoloured ones but I never use them as I can't ever think of a design that would incorporate glitter but I felt as though I owed it to myself to use this polish ASAP so I did this glitter gradient and I love it. I used a sheer W7 polish as the base colour for these just to give my nails a nice pink tone before creating the gradient. I love the colours in this glitter and even though it's simple, I love how it looks. It's kind of given me the incentive to do more glitter gradient nails which will also give me a change to use some of my other gorgeous glitters so you might be seeing more of these in the near future.

 

Mousse

American Apparel nail polishes are £9 but I got this and some others for £1 as they were 'damaged'. The bottles look fine but they do have that random streaking of odd colours throught the bottle which doesn't affect the colour of the polish at all. Does anyone know why some polishes do this, my Collection 2000 polishes do this as well, I don't get it. Anyway, I'd never tried American Apparel polishes before these but I thought for £1 I might as well go for it and I have to say, I LOVE them!!

I'm not one to rave about consistency of polishes because I don't know anything about what's meant to be good but I can honestly say that American Apparel polishes have the best consistency I've ever tried. It's a nice thick polish but itsn't gloopy at all and goes onto the nail perfectly. The brush is long and isn't too thick or thins but I find it so easy to get nice lines and edges on my nails. 

This is a nice shade of brown but as you know, I'm not mad on neutral colours so for me, it is what it is. It's really nice and opaque which means I can sometimes get away with one coat but these photos show two layers of the polish. 

I really wish I could get more of these polishes cheaper because I seriously seriously love them, maybe a bit more than Barry M but they just aren't as well priced which is why I don't have a huge amount of them. I've bought some more American Apparel polishes when they had 3 for £17 but as I don't live in a town with easy access to a store, I kind of have to hope that they have some offer on when I go to a shop. I would highly recommend any American Apparel polish to anyone but as the price is quite steep in England, I would maybe wait for an offer to come up or save the money for it. 

Abstract Triangles

I've seen various people using society 6 as inspiration for their nail art. I hadn't heard of it before but I was browsing and found this image and thought it would make nice nail art. If you take a look at the inspiration image, you'll see that the lines are abstract and fluid so it's not as if I tried to draw straight lines and failed, it's meant to look this way.

The main thing I was excited about when I went to do these nails was actually the colours. I used the new Barry M Gellies in Lychee and Greenberry which I actually got the weekend before they were meant to come out as the Superdrug by me clearly made a mistake and put them out early. I knew I wanted to get these two colours so when I saw them early, I got them instead of waiting for their actual release. I also used Barry M Pomegranate and Yellow and Rimmel Aqua Cool. 

I love love love this Greenberry colour and so want to use it more as I've been looking for this kind of colour for such a long time! 

Paint Spray

I did these nails using acrylic paint mixed with water in a spray bottle. I've seen this paint technique before but I haven't seen any technical details about it so I kind of had to wing the amount of paint and water I was using. 

The base colour I used is an Essie polish that I don't know the name of as all their white/cream/neutrals look the same to me. I used purple acrylic paint and mixted it with water in a random amount. I then sprayed this mixture onto my nails. I then used these 5mm jump rings and these 2mm gold studs.

When I bought the jump rings I knew I wanted to use them in a design like this but I couldn't think of anything so now I'm glad I can use these in multiple designs easily.

 

Pinky Caramel

Barry M Pinky Caramel is one of the many colours I have that I have no idea where it came from. Before I started getting into nail art, I always had a fair amount of nail polish but I don't remember where I got half of them. Sometimes I get some in Barry M goodie bags at events I go to but I honestly don't remember getting this one and I don't think they even sell it any more. 

Pinky Caramel is a neutral colour that I guess would be considered a nude for the right skin tone. This is a creme polish and in the bottle, you can see a really beautiful gold shimmer but it does not show up when on the nail. I don't mind this as I prefer plain creme colours and I only noticed this shimmer the other week whereas I have probably had this polish for years. 

I tend to use this as a skin colour for my nail art and I think it's a good shade for that, even though it's lighter than my own skin and I'm very pale. I'm glad I somehow got this colour as since starting nail art, I have used it a lot and as they don't sell it, as far as I know, I kind of want to savour it.

I know you may not be able to get a hold of this polish but if you can, then I would seriously recommend it. The consistency is really great and it's the same for application as every other Barry M which I think is great. You can click on the 'Pinky Caramel' tag to see what designs I've used this polish in if you want as well. 

Retro Floral

So I've got a lot of work to do so I wanted to keep these nails nice and simple. Also, my ring finger nail has been shorter than my others and wasn't growing as fast so I thought I'd cut down the rest of my nails to the same length which is easier for me as I'm doing a lot of computer work which hasn't been great on my nails. 

I love this fimo cane design and it's the cane itself is getting tiny as I've used it the most but it's great for me as I can't do roses so this is an easy out. The base colour I used is O.P.I My Boyfriend Scales Walls as I didn't want a straight up white because I wanted to give it that retro not so new and fresh look and the dots are Barry M Grey because I didn't want to go too dark with black.

These are just nice and simple nails which I'm glad of even though I know most people wouldn't consider fimo cane slices to be simple.

 

Aztec Floral

Here we are again with another pattern. This is apparently some type of floral but it looks more aztec to me.

I used Essie Sand Tropez as my base colour and Barry M Matt White, Bright Red and Black. The blue/purple is a mixture of Barry M Indigo and W7 Sheer Mauve and the 'leaves' are a mixture of Rimmel Sea Green and W7 Sheer Mint.

I do like the look of these nails but it makes me want to do more and more pattern nails!

 

My Boyfriend Scales Walls

I had heard about My Boyfriend Scales Walls quite a bit before I bought it and had seen in being used on a lot of nails however, I just thought it was a white. I saw it in Sally's reduced to under £4 and when I saw it in person it was a slight grey compared to a white. As I had been looking for an off white and normally OPI is around £12 I couldn't not get it. 

As I have said before, it is a grey off white, although I know in photo's and quite honestly in real life it does look white, when put next to an actual white, it definitely is a grey off white. As I think it is with all OPI polishes, the brush is nice and wide and when being applied to the nail, fans put even more to cover the nail really easily. 

This is a quite obvious creme polish as I think it would be seriously useless if it was a jelly. The polish is really opaque so gives a good coverage with one layer and as the brush applies nicely, it's great for a quick base colour. This photo has one layer, you can see my nail line on some nails but I think you get the idea of how well it covers. 

The one thing I really like about OPI brushes is that it makes it so much easier for me to get a nice neat line when painting my thumb as the brush covers most of my nail but I do have to be careful when doing my other nails. It does make it easier to cover the nail with polish but I have small nail beds so sometimes I find that if I want something to look neat, I have to pay extra attention even though on normal size nails it's an attribute that makes it a lot easier. And, I know, my nails look white in these photos but you just have to trust me that it is definitely a grey off white. 

Kaleidoscope

These nails were created as a guest post over on Base Coat Top Coat which was an opportunity I couldn't let pass. Make sure to go over and check Kelly out because she will blow your mind!

For these nails, I wanted to create a sort of kaleidoscope pattern but I knew I wouldn't be able to get all the symmetrical patterns easily but I decided to give it my best with a dotting tool. The base colour for these nails is Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream and all the other colours are Barry M Bright Purple, Models Own Tangerine Queen, American Apparel Neon Yellow and a mixture of Barry M Pure Turquoise and W7 Sheer Mint. All I used to create these nails was one dotting tool from this pack that has a small dotter on one end and a tiny point on the other.

I don't quite think these look like a kaleidoscope but I love the pattern that was created and nothing is too much for me when it comes to nail art.

Green Flocking Powder

I was so excited when Born Pretty Store contacted me asking if I wanted to review one of their products. I had bought from them for the first time not too long before so I was so happy when I received this green flocking powder from them.

As you can see, I got the flocking powder that comes in a set with tweezers and a brush which costs $7.99 which is only £5.06 which is amazing value for what your getting. They also sell just the flocking powder on its own if that's all you want but I can definitely say the tweezers and the brush are very handy.

To create these nails, you want to pick a nail polish colour to go underneath that matches well incase any powder doesn't stick or comes off over time. I used American Apparel Neon Green which was a near perfect match. I painted on two coats, simply to get the right shade and let them dry before starting the process. Make sure you have the bottle of flocking powder open as you need to save as much time as possible when putting it on the nail also, do this over a piece of paper as you will have excess flocking powder from the nail which you can pour back into the tub after you're finished.

With your first layer/layers of polish dry, apply another coat of the polish to the nail, make sure all of the nail is covered well with the polish so that the flocking powder definitely sticks to the nail. Grab some flocking powder with the tweezers and drop in onto the nail. You may need to do this a few times depending on how much powder you pick up. As the tweezers are flat, you can use these to pat the powder into the polish to make sure it stays on there. I then tap my finger with the tweezers to knock off the excess powder and then using the brush provided, brush over the nail to get rid of anything else that might still be on there.

I couldn't stop myself from doing a design with it and I thought it would look really nice with polka dots so that's what I did. I kept the flocking powder on from the nails before but took it off on my ring finger and put on Barry M Matt White. I then took my dotting tool and made big circles on the flocking powder with the same polish. I chose to put top coat on the white polka dots to even out the texture and make them look smooth. I then used the Neon Green to make the polka dots on my ring finger and then using the same method as before, applied the flocking powder to those circles.

I love how these turned out, especially the polka dots done in the flocking powder, it looks so clean and fun.

You get a lot of flocking powder in the tub it comes in and after doing these nails, you wouldn't be able to tell I'd used any of it as it lasts so well. As you don't top coat over the flocking powder, it does wear off starting at the tips normally but, if you choose a good colour polish to go underneath, you won't be able to notice it as much as it starts to bald. If you've never used flocking powder before and you're worried about maintaing your nails, don't worry, you don't have to do anything. You can still get your nails wet and do all the things you would normally do and it won't affect the integrity of the powder, you won't even know they got wet.

I would seriously seriously recommend this flocking powder. It's great value and you get everything you need in the pack. The picture on the Born Pretty Store website shows this colour as being a very pale mint green which it is definitely not so don't be fooled by what they show. It's certainly more of a bright green if not neon in my case so don't let their picture put you off buying it. As I have said, it's only $7.99/£5.06 or  $5.80/£3.68 if you only want the powder itself. Born Pretty Store have free delivery worldwide on everything which is amazing and if you use my discount code shown below, you can get 10% off what you order.

Born Pretty Store don't just sell nail art related items either, they sell jewellery, hair items and phone accessories which I have ordered some of earlier this week so if you're not looking for nail art things, still check out the other things they sell as you can find some really great stuff. 

Let me know what you think of flocking powder or if you've tried it yourself in the comments!