The First MeeBox! **Nail Art and Review**

Hi guys!

I was so excited to have received the first ever MeeBox this week, and couldn't wait to open it and try out my new goodies! If you haven't already heard, MeeBox is a brand new nail specific subscription box that has launched in the UK. Although there are various other subscription boxes available, MeeBox caught my eye due to their fun Instagram page and I just got caught up in all of the excitement! So, without further ado, here is what is in the August 2015 MeeBox (nail art at the end of the post!):

Aside from the gorgeous packaging (which was super sturdy to make sure of no damage to the contents), I was pleased to find three polishes that I don't have in my collection - all from great brands, too! Although the polishes aren't from new/recent collections, they are all bang on trend and worthy of representing the first MeeBox theme - California Dreamin'! 

This month I received: 

• Models Own - Turquoise Gloss
• Color Club - Disco Dress
• China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy
• Whats Up Nails - 30 palm tree vinyls
• CND Solar Oil (3.7ml)

MeeBox are selling these boxes for £20 on a month-by-month basis, or you can buy three months for £54. A quick search on all of my regular nail polish-buying sites (Amazon, FragranceDirect, brands own store) tells me that the contents of this box alone are worth £23.50 - and that is without shipping on top! I think it's a bargain!

Nail vinyls and cuticle oil were a huge bonus for me in this box, as they are both products that I am always wanting to buy! The CND Solar Oil is lovely and has a strong almond scent to it (which may put some people off, but I think it's nice!) It rubs in easily and doesn't leave your hands too greasy. I've only been using it for a day so can't comment on the long-term results, but my first impressions are very good! As for the nail vinyls, I have heard amazing things about the vinyls from Whats Up Nails and couldn't wait to try them out. Plus, a large pack of 30 vinyls will last me a while!

Models Own - Turquoise Gloss

Color Club - Disco Dress

China Glaze - Flip Flop Fantasy

CND Essentials - Solar Oil

Whats Up Nail Vinyls

Whats Up Palm Tree Nail Vinyls

 One thing that I love about this is MeeBox have made sure to include popular shades that have been mentioned in more than one 'summer must-haves' polish list! All of the shades are gorgeous together in any combo, or worn alone as block colours. I think this box has managed to capture a great 'holiday' vibe and I can totally see myself packing these three polishes in my suitcase when I go away!

Of course I created an appropriate design to fit the theme. I used all of the colours in my MeeBox to create multiple gradients, and added white accents/detail using Essence 'Wild White Ways'. I also recycled my palm tree from the centre of my vinyl and stuck it to my thumb - sealing it in with two coats of topcoat.

Overall I am really impressed with the whole MeeBox experience, from the ordering and delivery (which is tracked using Hermes postal service), to the cute, thoughtful and extremely protective packaging (gotta keep those polish bottles safe!). Personally, as someone who spends well over £20 per month on nail products this is a great product as it restricts my impulse buys and it's almost like receiving a gift from a friend who knows exactly what I need in my life every single month! Ways to improve? I can't really think of any, but if MeeBox decide to include a holo or two in the upcoming boxes I know I'll be a happy lady.

You find out more about MeeBox on their website, and follow them on Instagram for regular updates and mani pics :)

I can't wait to see what's in my MeeBox next month!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Claire's Liquid Metal - Rose Gold **Swatch**

Hi guys!

I've had a busy week of visiting family and celebrating my boyfriend's birthday, so I've not had time to post any new nail art. However today I have a swatch of Claire's 'Rose Gold' from their Liquid Metal range, I love the look of chrome polishes but often find the application quite streaky so it puts me off wearing them. Claire's have done a pretty good job with their Liquid Metal products, and I found the application is similar to that of Model's Own 'Chrome' collection.

As you can see this is a lovely dusty-pink rose gold. The colour was incredibly difficult to capture on camera, but I got it as close as possible to real life! This is why my skin tone looks a little 'off' in these photos, so please excuse that!

On my ring finger I am wearing two coats of Maybelline 'Knitted Gold' which is a gorgeous rose-gold glitter and compliments this chrome polish perfectly!

Claire's currently have their Liquid Metal polishes (and others) on sale for only £2 - what a bargain! I picked up this one plus a gorgeous teal chrome that I can't wait to swatch. I have also tried using this polish to stamp with and it works well (see my lace stamped nails for pics).

Overall these polishes are fantastic value at £2 a pop, and I have no complaints. Although the application is somewhat difficult and a little streaky, this is an issue with most chrome polishes that I have tried so I expected it. I'm wearing two coats without topcoat on the pics above - I think an addition of topcoat would smooth out the imperfections and make it almost perfect!

Helen x

Rimmel - Midnight Kiss **Swatch**

Hey guys!

Today I have a swatch of Rimmel 'Midnight Kiss' to show you. Midnight Kiss is a matte polish in a rich navy shade that is part of their 'Velvet Matte' collection.

I found the application quite difficult to work with in terms of the consistency of the polish - it went on thick and I was doubtful that it would level out. However, to my surprise it started spreading across the nail and the results weren't half bad! You can see in the photo below how smooth the finish is.

The polish appears much lighter in the bottle than it does on the nail. I found one coat to be too streaky so I applied two, but it definitely darkened the overall look quite a bit,

To add a little French twist to this manicure, I coated my tips in Rimmel 'Clear' polish to add a glossy finish. I love this look - simple and sophisticated (not my usual style!), plus it protects your manicure from chipping and tip wear. Win-win!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Denim Nails

Hey guys!

I have been trying out a lot of my new (unused) polishes recently, and stumbled upon an Essence polish that I bought on a whim a few months ago - 'Blue Jeaned'. This polish is titled 'denim sugar', which I think describes it well! Blue Jeaned dries to a very fine texture somewhere between matte and glossy, and I don't have anything like it in my collection.

Obviously I wanted to create a denim-style manicure, so I teamed this with Barry M 'Mustard' and Color Club 'French Tip' and added a few stitches :)

On my middle finger I used a polish from Poundland's Make Up Gallery collection - 'Pink Sherbet', and added a little amber gem.

I really like the finish on this polish but I didn't want to risk going to work without topcoat on my nails so I added a matte topcoat after I took these photos. Obviously it smoothed out the nails texture-wise and I think I actually prefer it matte, although the denim effect is much more subtle. Naturally I didn't get any photos of it with a matte topcoat. Typical!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Hello Kitty - 'Respect' **Swatch**

Hi!

I've got a swatch of 'Respect' by Hello Kitty to show you today. I'm a huge fan of blue polishes and have quite a few in my collection, but 'Respect' is probably my favourite blue that I own. It is just absolutely beautiful in colour, application, and finish. Let's take a look:

I picked up this beauty from Poundland here in the UK and because of this I didn't have high hopes for the polish. How wrong I was! The application is perfect and it self-levels very well. Not only that but it is opaque in one generous coat. Shown here is two coats plus Poshe topcoat.

The depth of this colour is beautiful, it is such a rich navy blue that has an extremely glossy finish. Even without topcoat this polish is stunning!

BornPrettyStore Cute Cat Ear Ring

Hello Kitty bottle! <3

If you are near a Poundland store, definitely have a hunt for this little gem!

Thanks for reading,

Helen x

** Get 10% off your BornPrettyStore.com order with my code CESH10! Stuck for inspiration? Have a look at these owl decals, this thermal polish, or my cute cat ears ring that I am wearing in the picture above!

Lace Stamped Nails

Hi guys!

Wow, two blog posts in one day! I'm on a roll :)

Today's manicure is one that I've been waiting to try out for a long time - lace nails! I finally ordered myself a lace design stamping plate from BornPrettyStore.com, and couldn't wait to use it in some nail art!

For this manicure I used a new Barry M Speedy Quick-Dry polish from their summer release - 'Lap Of Honour'. I painted my thumb, index and middle finger with this then stamped over it using Color Club 'French Tip' polish. On my ring finger I added a base of OPI 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls', then stamped with Claire's 'Liquid Metal Rose Gold'. Finally, I covered my pinkie with a gorgeous glitter polish from Maybelline called 'Gilded Rose'.

I couldn't resist sticking a few gems onto the nail as a finishing touch!

This manicure is way more delicate than I would normally wear, but I got a lot of compliments on it and love the detail in the stamp. I hadn't tried out any of the Born Pretty Store stamping plates before, but I must say I am impressed with the quality. The lines are well defined and create a clear image on the stamp and on the nail. For only £2.50 you really can't complain. Free shipping too! Enter my code CESH10 for 10% off your order at BornPrettyStore.com :)

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

**Review** Colourful Loose Glitter - BornPrettyStore

Hi guys!

Today I have a super sparkly review for you that makes me happy inside! BornPrettyStore very kindly sent me some of this mixed loose glitter* to play around with, so of course I covered my nails with it! I don't do subtle.

ALL OF THIS FOR ONLY $0.99!

This is a rainbow filled pot of glittery goodness! The diamond shaped glitter comes in a pot full of green, blue, silver, gold, pink/purple, white, black, clear and bronze pieces. Phew!

I wanted to create a similar effect to my glitter framed nails from a little while ago, so I started with a base of Rimmel 'Black Out'. Then by applying a coat of Rimmel 'Clear' polish, I began placing the loose glitter onto my nail using a small dotting tool to position the pieces. The glitter lay flat on the nail and was easy to trim with cuticle clippers in order to get a close fit. Another thing I liked about this particular glitter is that there weren't any clumps of uncut diamonds, which is an issue I've had with other glitters. Plus, after two heavy coats of topcoat the glitter was just as shiny as when I started and almost smooth! It's a big bonus for me that the glitter pieces didn't dull after a topcoat was applied, again as this is a problem I have had in the past with other glitters.

 

Because there is simply no such thing as too much glitter, I decided to add a coat of China Glaze 'Fairy Dust'.

I'll just leave a few pics here to show you the mini disco ball from a few angles :)

I couldn't stop admiring my nails when I wore this

I even managed to do my left (dominant) hand!

A bit blurry but still pretty :)

The finished look

Get lost in the sparkles...

Born Pretty Loose Glitter and China Glaze = ALL OF THE SPARKLE!

I hope you like this as much as I do. And *PLEASE* go to BornPrettyStore.com, pop a few (amazingly priced) items into your cart, enter my exclusive code CESH10 to receive 10% discount, enjoy the totally free international shipping, and enjoy playing with your goodies when they arrive. I promise you'll be back for more!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

*Items provided by BornPrettyStore for my impartial review

**Review** Knitted Nail Stickers - BornPrettyStore

Hello!

Today I have another review for you from my items sent to me by Born Pretty Store. If you haven't already seen it, check out my other post here where I reviewed some gorgeous water nail decals.

Anyway, on to today's review! I chose these cute *'knit' effect nail stickers that you can purchase from this page for $1.99. Even though you only get one sheet of stickers, there are more than enough to span all ten fingers and maybe even a couple of toes, too!

Taking a closer look, you can see that the stickers have 3D patterns on them in a knitted style - very kawaii! The colours are soft and pastel, and I can imagine these looking lovely around autumn time with a chunky knit over your shoulders.

Now, although I have studied Japanese before, I am in no way proficient enough to be able to read the instructions on the packet (see below). Luckily, Born Pretty have realised this and have instructions on the product page of their site:







How to Use:
1. Clean the surface where the design is to be placed. 
2. Select a design and peel off by your nail. (Don't touch the glue) 
3. Place the design in nail/tip and rub it gently several times. 
4. Apply top coat for best result.

I began by removing all of my old polish and wiping my nails with acetone to remove any oils and fluff, I lined up each nail with a sticker that I thought would best fit. This was my first problem - they were a little too small! I don't have particularly wide fingernails, however I really struggled to find a good fit with these. 

After placing a full sticker onto my thumb, middle and pinkie finger, I decided to experiment with my index and ring fingers by cutting the long stickers into two pieces and placing them horizontally onto my nail. Although this did solve the wideness issue, it created a new problem of overlapping. This created quite an obvious divide which I have highlighted the divide in the picture to the right -->





Also, I found it incredibly difficult to make the edges look smooth and natural. Even after spending a lot of time trimming them with cuticle cutters and small scissors, I still couldn't get it to look right. However, I do believe that this is at least in part an issue with me, and not just the product!

The tips of the stickers weren't quite as difficult to trim, but they started to unfold while I was taking photos. At this point I added topcoat (and a matte topcoat to my ring finger - blue), but it didn't help much.

 I really wanted to love this item but I just couldn't get it to work for me. I got really frustrated with how imperfect they looked on my nails, although the idea behind this sort of nail sticker is very appealing. However, I think this would be perfect an older child/young teen as the application is quick and easy, and the glue on the stickers is strong enough to adhere to the nail plate but not too strong so that they can't be repositioned. I think that I would have loved these when I was younger. Plus, youngsters have smaller nails too! 

Don't forget to grab yourself a 10% discount at Born Pretty Store with my exclusive discount code CESH10.

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

*Items provided by BornPrettyStore for my impartial review