Chameleon Thermal Gel Polish

Hi everyone!

Last week whilst I was away visiting family I tested out one of my newer purchases - a thermal gel polish from a brand called Aimeili. I know that the quality of gel polishes can be awful if you don't buy the right ones, but I find a price tag of £15+ a little too expensive for most regular gel shades. So I turned to Amazon for inspiration, and along came this polish for £4.49 and free delivery! I chose the shade named 'Hot Pink to Glitter White' which is product number TC04, however there are loads to choose from and I'll definitely be ordering more.

I applied this gel alongside Red Carpet 'Structure' basecoat, Red Carpet 'Brilliance' topcoat and Le Mini Macaron LED lamp. I have read conflicting reviews about mixing brands of gel polishes, but so far I have had no issue with this combination. This is by far the best gel manicure I have had in terms of durability and staying power! 

This gel is a gorgeous creamy-translucent white when it is warm, turning into a deep hot pink when cold. As my nails are at quite a long length at the moment, I found that I had a cute French manicure type effect going on most of the time. On shorter nails I imagine this wouldn't be quite so obvious, and the 'resting' colour would be more in line with the picture below.The white shade is not opaque (even with three layers), however it is still beautiful!

I am incredibly pleased with my purchase here and can't wait to try out more. I wore this manicure for one whole week (which is unheard of for me!) and I had absolutely no issues with chipping, dulling or general wear-and-tear. All of these photos were taken just before I removed the polish, so you can see just how great this one lasted.

What do you guys think? Have you tried out any of Aimeli's polishes before? Let me know in the comments!

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

Classic Monochrome Nails

Hi!

Every now and then I get a hankering for a classic monochrome mani, so that is what I'm wearing on my nails today!

For this design I used Rimmel 'White Hot Love', Rimmel 'Black Out' and Binky London 'Gold Rush'. I stamped my design using my brand new super duper Fab UR Nails Fun17 plate, which I am in LOVE with! This design is so pretty and I just love that plate in general! <3

Hope you like it :)

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Pink and Grey Saran Wrap Nails

Hi!

I have been playing around with one of my favourite nail art techniques today - dry marbling/saran wrap nails. The smoky marbled effect is so beautiful and is incredibly easy to do. The basic idea is to blob a few colours on your nails and then press a plastic food bag or cling film into the colours to blend them together. Magic!

For this manicure I used Rimmel 'Punk Rock' (grey) from their Salon Pro collection. I love the polishes in the Salon Pro range and they apply like a dream. I don't own enough of them in my opinion, although my boyfriend will most likely disagree! The pink is Maybelline 'Pink Punk', and the glitter is Maybelline 'Silver Touch'. I am also really impressed with these two polishes, especially Silver Touch. Finally, I used Sinful Colors 'Mauve' as a base for, and within, the saran wrap nails to lighten the manicure up a bit.

Maybelline 'Silver Touch' - I love the larger silver hexes in this polish!

I like that the glitter is slightly purple/lavender leaning as I think it brings the whole design together nicely :)

Thanks for reading!

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

Geometric Gradient Nails

Hi!

Originally I wasn't going to write a full post for this design, but I ended up using so many polishes that I thought it would be best to write them all here! 

This is my geometric gradient design that I created for the Weekly Nail Art Challenge on Instagram.

WNAC - Geometric Gradient Nails

I started off with a base of OPI 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls' and let dry, then I applied striping tape in a criss-cross pattern with a piece of tape running up the centre of my nail. I created a gradient on each nail by sponging two different polishes of each colour (plus 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls') on each nail:

Blue = Barry M 'Damson' / Rimmel 'Mind The Gap, Victoria'
Yellow = Sally Hansen 'Butter-Fly Stroke' / Essence 'Love Is In The Air'
Green = Rimmel 'Sea Green' / Barry M 'Green Berry'
Pink = China Glaze 'Sexy Lady' / Barry M 'Strawberry Ice Cream'
Purple = Models Own 'Pukka Purple' / Barry M 'Prickly Pear'

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

As always, head over to Instagram to see all of the entries into the Weekly Nail Art Challenge - just search #wnac2015 :)

Polish Me Silly - Lilac Lover Thermal **Swatch**

Hi everyone!

Today I am wearing one of my favourite polishes. 'Lilac Lover' is a thermal crelly polish by indie brand Polish Me Silly and it is just gorgeous. The colour shifts from a creamy white when warm to a deep lilac when cold, and on longer nails the transition is beautiful :)

Polish Me Silly - Lilac Lover

You can buy this polish in the UK from Rainbow Connection for £9.80, and there are other colours available too! I'm totally going to be purchasing the whole collection at some point.

As you can see, this lacquer is jam-packed full of bright matte glitter in all shapes and sizes. In these swatches I am wearing three coats on each nail as I wanted it quite opaque, but it is also gorgeous with only one or two coats too.

Oooooohhhhhh <3

The application is great and you don't have to 'fish around' for pieces of glitter. I also didn't have to spread the glitter at all - this is how it applied first time! Love it!

Lilac Lover when cold (please ignore water droplets - I had to chill my hands somehow!

Lilac Lover when warm

On my pinkie I added a coat of Kandy Colors 'Hey Girl' which is a neon pink jelly polish. The cute bow is from a set I bought on Amazon.

I am so in love with this polish and this brand that I just can't contain my excitement! I've promised myself that I won't buy any new nail related items in July as I have about 40 polishes that I have bought and not yet used (oops!), but as soon as August comes around I am sure to be buying more Polish Me Silly goodies :)

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Nautical Nails

Hello!

I am very proud of the mani I am showing you today, and I actually think it might be the 'neatest' design that I have created so far! Except for when I added topcoat and smudged it all. Oh well! Here are the nails:

My base for this is Red Carpet Manicure white gel polish. I like to choose a gel base when I know I will be attempting a design that may need a few changes or nails that need completely redoing due to my mistakes. With gel you just wipe away the mistake with acetone-free polish remover and start over!

The red polish I used is OPI 'Cinnamon Sweet', and the blue is Rimmel 'Blue Eyed Girl'. I particularly like the red in this design as it's not a bright 'pillar-box' red or pink toned - I think it's perfectly nautical!

I freehanded the little anchor on my index finger with Models Own 'Gold Chrome' and topped it with Ciate 'Ladylike Luxe'.

I used mini gold discs that I bought in a gem wheel from Poundland to add accents to each nail.

I absolutely love these nails, and hope you do too!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Rainbow Tips!

Hi guys!

Today I have a fun French manicure with a twist to show you!

Rainbow French Manicure

This mani is super easy to create and didn't take very long at all. I started out with a coat of China Glaze 'Fairy Dust' then added a coat of Jess 'Fresh' iridescent glitter to give the finished look some flakie goodness. I then simply painted the French tips using a range of coloured polishes (see below for details) and finished with a quick-dry topcoat. Et voila!

Colours used are (left - right): China Glaze 'Sexy Lady'/ Nicole By OPI 'Teal Me Something New' / NYC 'Summer In NYC' / Barry M 'Damson' / NYC 'Lexington Yellow'

I added a 'splat' design to this manicure using MoYou London Princess plate #09 but I definitely prefer it without. What do you think?

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!