**Review** - BornPrettyStore Hand Cream

Hello beautiful strangers!

I have been gone for sooooo long, but fear not, I am back! And today I have a new review for BornPrettyStore for you all.

I was sent this hand cream to give a whirl, and after using it for one week I am ready to share my thoughts on it. The thing that I love most about this product is actually the packaging. How cute is that little character?! Totally kawaii! Unfortunately you do not get to choose which design you will receive, however I don't think it really matters because they are both just as adorable as each other.

The reverse of the packaging shows (what I assume is) a list of ingredients, however it's not in English. If you are sensitive to any particular ingredients it would be worth contacting BPS prior to ordering to clear up any concerns, however the BPS site states that this hand cream is "made from pure ingredients".

The size of the tube is 50ml, which is ideal for keeping in your handbag or desk drawer. As it is a screw cap, there is no worry that the top will pop off and ruin things, which is always good.

Now, onto the application. The formula of this particular cream is quite watery, and not at all thick and creamy. Applied in a small amount it rubs in fairly quickly (about 30 seconds to be fully absorbed), however if you are more generous in your application then you may find you're waving your hands around for a few minutes to 'air dry'... I personally prefer a slightly thicker consistency for my hand creams, however this is great for a quick 'pick me up' on the move.

One thing that I LOVE about this is that the scent reminds me so much of the original Soap And Glory fragrance. It's light and kind of fruity, but doesn't linger. One thing that I find with a lot of hand creams is that although the fragrance is beautiful, it can ruin activities such as eating lunch as it's just too strong. This doesn't have that problem!

Although I probably wont repurchase this product due to the formula of the cream, I will definitely continue to keep it in my bag and use it all up!

If you want to get your hands on this product, search item #22618 at bornprettystore.com, and don't forget you can receive 10% off your order with my code CESH10

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

An Autumnal Gradient

Hi guys!

It's been so long since I posted here and I actually feel really guilty about it! I'm hoping to get into a regular posting pattern again soon as I have so many manis to share with you :)

Today I'm going to show you an autumn inspired gradient that I created recently:

This time last year I picked up the Barry M 2014 A/W collection, which I'm ashamed to say have not been put to any use until now. I really wanted a warm and cozy manicure and think that these colours give that effect perfectly! This is 'Cocoa', 'Paprika' and 'Mustard' used in a sponged gradient. They remind me of leather, especially with the addition of the little gold studs!

Leaf or feather? You decide!

My accent nail is what I'm going to call a 'feaf' - a leaf/feather hybrid! My boyfriend says it is obviously a feather, however Kelly from @purrfect_nails says it is obviously a leaf. If I'm honest I wasn't sure what I was creating at the time, so it's open to interpretation! 

Although this is nothing like my usual style I actually really like how it looks. I want to start moving away from my 'comfortable' colours (e.g. pink) and start using some of my less used shades (brown, anyone?!) Watch this space!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

31 Day Challenge - The Home Stretch!

Hi guys!

Here is my round-up of the final part of the 31 Day Challenge. I had such a good time doing this challenge, and now I'm worried that I won't be able to create any new designs without some sort of prompt haha!

Day 21- Inspired By A Colour - Seventeen 'Smoke Signal'

Day 22 - Inspired By A Song - Chance The Rapper 'Sunday Candy'

Day 23 - Inspired By A Movie - Big Hero 6

Day 24 - Inspired By A Book - PS I Love You

Day 25 - Inspired By Fashion - Vivienne Westwood

Day 27 - Inspired By A Pattern - Houndstooth

Day 28 - Inspired By Artwork - Mondrian

Day 29 - Inspired By A Flag - Pride Flag

Day 30 - Inspired By The Supernatural - Fairies

Day 31 - Honour Nails You <3 - @simplynailogical and @spejldame

31 Day Challenge - Days 17 - 20

My blog took a bit of a back seat over the last couple of weeks due to my illness, so I've decided to put all of my entries here in one blog post to catch up! If you follow me on Instagram, you will have already seen these posted each day, so this is just a nice little round-up of the second part of the challenge :)

Day 17 - Glitter

Day 18 - Half Moon

Day 19 - Galaxies

Day 20 - Watermarble

I'll be posting a round up of the final section of the challenge in a separate post.

If you'd like any details of polishes/techniques used, please get in touch!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

September 2015 MeeBox **Nail Art and Review**

Hi folks!

Sorry I've been so quiet over the last couple of weeks, I've unfortunately been quite unwell and although the doctors still don't know what is wrong with me, I am finally starting to feel better thanks to a cocktail of medication!





Today's post is a review of September's MeeBox. For those who don't know, MeeBox is a monthly nails only subscription box. This is super appealing to people like me who love nails but not necessarily 'beauty' products which are often found in other similar subscription boxes. MeeBox promise to provide hand selected products to fit the theme of the month, averaging, 4-5 products including polishes, nail tools, nail and hand care items and decorations. This month's theme is 'Hello Sailor', and I have to say that I am very happy with the products in this box!

September's MeeBox features a whole host of nautical themed goodies, including three polishes, nail vinyls, nail wraps, and cute little charms to dress up your mani!

First let's look at the polishes: blue, white and red - very nautical! But, these aren't your average polishes. The girls at MeeBox have really thought hard about which shades to put in this box. First we have Nails Inc. 'Old Burlington Street' which is a gorgeous navy blue creme. One coat of this polish over a white base gives a slightly brighter pop of colour, however it is a richer shade when applied as two coats on the nail. As always, Nails Inc. polishes are great quality, and this shade is no exception. 

Next we have Cassella 'Limitless' a bright white creme. I have never used any Cassella polishes before, as they are a fairly new UK indie lacquer brand (yes, MeeBox includes indies! OMG!), and I am impressed with the quality. I'm always on the hunt for a great one-coat white, and I think this polish ticks that box. Now, I am a bit of a scared-y cat when it comes to polishing my nails, and I prefer to err on the side of caution and go with multiple thinner coats instead of one thicker coat when applying. This white is perfect for either application method, and although I used two coats this was completely down to personal preference. It's a crisp white shade with a good amount of self-levelling on the nail, and even showed up nice an bright when used as accents over another colour. I'll definitely be purchasing this polish (and more!) from Cassella in the future.

Finally we have my favourite polish of the set! When I first looked at this one I did question why it was included in the box. I mean, it is a red polish, but it just didn't seem to fit. How wrong I was! Crabtree & Evelyn 'Tomato' is such a beautiful shade that I just know that I'll be wearing it all throughout the coming autumn and winter months. It's a gorgeous bright red creme with an insane amount of golden-bronze shimmer running throughout. Absolutely stunning! In terms of how well it fits with the other items in the MeeBox, I can totally see why it's been included. The golden shimmer is obvious enough to really highlight and accentuate any gold you may have included on your nails, but subtle enough to play the part of the 'red' polish in a nautical mani. This polish has the best formula of the three, applying perfectly in one coat. I added an extra coat for ultra-shimmer!

Alongside the lovely lacquers were some straight nail vinyls from nail-MAIL. I'm slowly becoming a convert to nail vinyls as they are super easy and efficient to use, and much less fiddly than striping tape! I found these vinyls to be of great quality, if just a little bit too sticky (nothing that a quick stick to the back of my hand won't sort out!) I used these in this manicure and as you can see the lines are clean and they didn't lift my base polish at all. I did have a bit of an issue with polish pooling under the vinyl, however this is totally my fault - don't forget to stick them down firmly at the sides of your nail, ladies!

Next up are some awesome NCLA Nautical Nail Wraps which I squealed at when I saw them! I have been wanting some NCLA wraps for-EVER, and these ones are just so cute! Perfect for a lazy mani day :) Although I haven't yet used these wraps, I wanted to include them in my mani somehow and so I chose to recreate a couple of the designs on my nails. I'll be sure to include a separate blog post when I get around to testing them out!

And finally, last but by no means least, are these absolutely adorable gold anchor charms from UK-based She Sells Seashells. I've placed orders with She Sells Seashells before and they have such a great selection of charms and tools to help out with your mani-making! I love how these charms aren't too big, so they fit nicely on the nail (including short ones like mine are currently!) MeeBox leave you wanting for nothing as they even included a little bottle of nail glue. Amazing!

Overall, for £20 I cannot complain about this box - three gorgeous shades, plus all of the extras make this great value. 

And here is the design I made using products from this month's box. I LOVE how it turned out, and definitely am entering it into the MeeBox Challenge over on Instagram (just tag your mani #meeboxchallenge)

I hope you like this nail art and enjoyed the review. If you would like any extra info, feel free to leave a comment down below!


Thanks for reading!

Helen

Check out MeeBox on their website and Instagram
Check out Cassella on their website and Instagram 
Check out Crabtree & Evelyn on their website and Instagram
Check out She Sells SeaShells on their website and Instagram
Check out NCLA on their website and Instagram 

31 Day Challenge - Day 16 - Geometric

Hey guys!

The prompt for day sixteen of the 31 Day Challenge is 'geometric', and I wanted to create some overlapping shapes on my nails. I started this mani with a base of Color Club 'Blue Heaven', an intense silver-blue linear holographic polish that I am in love with! I then grabbed a small detail brush and some black acrylic paint to carefully draw the shapes on the nail, making sure to create some overlap in them. Finally, using my detail brush I added colour with Kandy Colors 'Northern Lights' neon jelly collection (my fave jelly polishes to date!), and sealed it all in with Essence 'Better Than Gel Nails' topcoat. Et voila!

As you can see in that macro shot, the base colour is a holo finish and it is just beautiful when under the right light (i.e. not in my lightbox!). I tried to capture the colour shift as best as I could, but I'm not a photographer so these photos do not do it justice! Have a look at the photo below for a better idea of the holo goodness!

I was so pleased when I finished this mani as I can see a definite improvement in my freehand skills. Although the shapes aren't perfect, I am super happy with how this one came out, and it's given me more confidence to try freehand designs more often (even on my short nails) :D

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

31 Day Challenge - Day 15 - Delicate Print

Hi guys,

I had an unfortunate incident involving my nails and a car door the other day which has resulted in having to file them to a super short length. This makes me sad, but I'm determined to make the most of them being short! Being part of the nub club isn't that bad, is it?

Anyway, on to the design for today. The prompt for day 15 of the 31 Day Challenge is delicate print, and here is what I came up with:

I decided to stick to a very sheer polish as my base for this: Essie 'Sugar Daddy', which is barely noticable on the nail, even though I applied three coats here! I stamped the lace pattern (this plate from Born Pretty Store) onto my bare nail before adding Sugar Daddy. I then added a thin French tip with Claire's 'Rose Gold Liquid Metal'. On my ring finger I used two layers of Maybelline 'Gilded Rose', which is a gorgeous gold and pink glitter polish.

Finally I placed a small pearl at the base of my middle finger using Gilded Rose to hold it in place, and topped with WAH London 'Classy Glassy Glossy Topcoat'.

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

31 Day Challenge - Day 14 - Flowers

Hi guys!

I'm almost caught up on all of the prompts for the 31 Day Challenge now, which is good as the prompts are going to be getting tougher from here on out! Day 14 is flowers, so I did some freehand petals for this design:

I started with a base of my favourite nude - OPI 'My Vampire Is Buff' <3 I seriously cannot get enough of this polish. For the petals I used a small detail brush and Barry M 'Sugar Plum' and Barry M 'Kiss Me Quick' (pink flowers), and Seche 'Takes Chances' and Barry M 'Lap Of Honour' (purple flowers). I added leaves using Barry M 'Cardamom' and Nails Inc. 'Marylebone Road'.

I added a satin matte topcoat from Claire's to this design, which I think gives it more of a 'vintage' feel. What do you think?

With Matte Topcoat 

With Matte Topcoat

I really love this mani, and hope you do too!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x