Models Own Fruit Pastels Swatches and Review

Today I'm back with the remainder of the polishes I picked up in the 6 for £20 Models Own online offer. Amongst the bright neons which you can see swatches of here, I toned it down slightly and added some pastel shades to the mix. I went for the Models Own Fruit Pastels collection and chose three shades that my ever growing nail varnish draw was missing or running low on.

I went for 'Apple Pie', 'Blueberry Muffin' and 'Coconut Cream'. As you can tell from the lid of the nail varnish bottles, this collection is scented and with coconut being one of my all time favourite smells, this jumped out to me as a must have. I have to say the scents are no way near as strong as I thought, which to be honest I'm quite glad about. I find strong scented polishes tend to give me a headache after a while, however these have a very subtle scent of coconut, apple and blueberry which almost reminds me of the scented gel pens I used to use when I was younger!

The formula of the polishes is perfect - not to thick and not to runny, making them a dream to apply evenly to the nail. I used two coats to achieve an opaque finish and applied a top coat just to even out the nail a tiny bit more and add more shine. The varnishes dry really quickly, meaning you don't have to sit there for ages blowing your nails dry before you can move.

So onto the swatches...

Blueberry Muffin is a baby blue shade with a tiny hint of lilac which doesn't really show up in the photo.

Apple Pie is a pale mint green.

Finally my favourite of the three is Coconut Cream, a slightly off white shade.

These polishes definitely make a great addition to my nail varnish collection and I can't wait to combine them into a nail art look soon! You can grab these online for just £5 each and they also have gorgeous lilac, grape, strawberry and banana pastel shades.

What are your favourite pastel shades? 

Sam xx

Models Own Polish For Tans Swatches and Review

So Models Own were offering 6 polishes for £20 online last week and I could help but pick up a few of their fairly new releases to try out. In my bundle of joy I picked up 3 of the 'Polish For Tans' shades. I have been dying to try these out after seeing them on many of my favourite nail blogs, so when I saw the amazing offer online I couldn't resist but add these to my basket.

I picked up the shades 'Beach Bag', 'Sun Hat' and 'Shades. All three polishes are super bright, making them perfect for enhancing your tan this summer. The formula of the polishes is quite thick, meaning they can apply quite streaky onto the nail, however fear not, if you begin by applying a thin coat of the polish and then a slightly thicker coat on top this will reduce the chance of the fearful streaks. They apply to a semi-matte formula so in the swatches below I decided to apply a top coat to each nail, as I love a super glossy look. I was really impressed by the drying time of the polishes too, making them perfect to splash onto the nail if you are just about to rush out the door.

So onto the swatches...

Beach Bag is a bright peachy orange shade.

Sun Hat is a neon pink and definitely my favourite of the three.

Finally Shades is a bright coral pink shade. This shade was quite hard to photograph and is slightly brighter in real life!

Neon shades are definitely my most reached for polishes in the summer so these make a great addition to my collection! If you want to get your hands on these you can pick them up online and also from one of the amazing Models Own Bottleshops, which seem to be popping up all over the place recently, for just £5! There are also a further 2 shades which make up the collection, a bright green and yellow, which I may just have to add to my collection very soon!

What do you think of these super bright summer shades? Are you also a lover of neon in the summer season?

Sam x

Graffiti Nails: Swatches and Review

You may not have heard of Graffiti nails as they are a relatively new nail varnish brand. Graffiti nails were set up with the help of the amazingly talented Alice from the nail art blog One Nail To Rule Them All. There are currently 13 shades in the collection, as well as a top and base coat. I was very kindly sent 3 of the shades to review - Mellow* (lemon yellow), Butterfly Pink* (coral pink) and Pistachio* (mint green).

I love the square shaped bottle and the lid can be pulled off to reveal a round lid, making it easier to apply the polish to the nails. I found all three nail varnishes super easy to apply neatly onto the nail and two coats was sufficient to create an opaque base. All three shades had a shine finish, however I did apply a top coat in order to add extra shine.

So onto the swatches....

Mellow:

Pistachio:

Butterfly Pink:

At just £3.99 per bottle you can't really go wrong and when you purchase 3 or more postage is free! The only negative thing I have to say about the polishes is the smell. They smell quite cheap which is a bit of a shame, however this is only a small thing and I can't wait to combine these shades into a nail art look very soon! You can check out the full range of Graffiti Nails here.

What do you think of these shades? Have you tired any of the Graffiti Nails?

Sam xx

Barry M Aquarium 'Mediterranean' Swatches

As soon as I saw the new Barry M 'Aquarium' range launch I wanted all of them! I never used to be a fan of duo chrome polishes, however recently I have been loving them and I think they make a great addition to any nail art look. The Aquarium range from Barry M see's four duo chrome nail paints, as well as two glitter top coats. After seeing lots of swatches on other nail blogs, I had to have the duo chrome shade in Mediterranean and when I made a trip to boots and all the make-up and nail varnish was on 3for2, I couldn't resist but make a purchase of this, along with the Barry M Gelly polish in Rose Hip which I swtached here.

Mediterranean is a gorgeous blend of pink and copper tones. The polish also has a shimmer finish, adding a magical mermaid feel to the polish, which I LOVE! The consistency is fairy runny and thin, however applying 3 thin layers gives a perfect wash of colour.

In a harsher/bright light the copper tones pick up more and the shimmer finish really sparkles, whereas in a lower light the pink tones really come through and the shimmer is muted.

What do you think of this polish? Do you love it as much as me? I cannot wait to use this in a nail art look, so I'm sure you will see one on here very soon!

Samantha xx

Removing Glitter Nail Varnish

Glitter nail varnish is always the most amazing thing to apply to your nails and add a sparkle detail to nail art, but when it comes to removing it it is always something I dread. There is nothing worse than taking a cotton pad and dragging it over and over your nail trying your best to get every grain of glitter off.

The only method I use to ensure I'm not there for hours removing glitter polish, is one you may have seen on other blogs. All you will need is 10 pieces of foil, ten semi-circle pieces of cotton wool and some nail varnish remover.

I begin by applying nail varnish remover to a semi-cirlcle piece of cotton wool. I then wrap this around my nail and cover in foil. I complete these steps on all nails, until I look like my nails are ready to jet off to space!

I leave these on my nails for around 5 minutes. When removing the foil and cotton wool from each nail gently twist from side to side, to pick up as much glitter as possible. After removing the foil and cotton wool from your fingers, take a full cotton wool pad covered in nail varnish remover and run this over each nail. You will find the glitter polish easily comes away from the nail and you are not left with a ripped, deformed piece of cotton wool like you would be if you tried to scrub off a glitter nail varnish straight away.

I hope this has helped! Let me know if you have any other methods of removing glitter polishes by commenting below.

Until next time, Samantha xx

Vintage Rose Nail Art

I thought it was about time I put my new nail art tools into good use so I thought I would do another nail art post! This time I tried a vintage flower look and as always I have put together a step-by-step picture tutorial so you can see exactly how I created this nail art. 

What will you need?

In order to create a nail art look similar to mine you will need a large and small dotting tool, a thin nail art brush, and nail varnish in the shades light pink, dark pink, sheer pink, lilac, coral, light green, dark green and white. You will also need a top coat.

The nail varnish shades I used are: Illamasqua Harem and Lament, Rimmel Ring a Ring O' Roses and Sea Green, Bourjois Rose Satin, Alessandro Elegant Rubin, Barry M Matt White and Collection Look at Me!

Step-by-Step Tutorial: 

Step 1: Paint all nails in 2 coats of the sheer pink shade. 

Step 2: Once the base coats are dry take your large dotting tool and create rose flower shapes randomly over the nails. I used the coral and dark pink shades for this. 

Step 3: Taking a lilac and light pink shade, go in with the thin nail art brush and create the detailing in the centre of the roses. 

Step 4: Again using the nail art brush create the leaves. I first went in with the light green shade and then placed the darker green lightly over the top. 

Step 5: Using the smaller dotting tool and the white nail varnish dot small polka dots in gaps on the nail.

Step 6: Finally once all nails are dry paint a top coat over each nail. This will add shine to nails and seal the nail art into place. 

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial! As always let me know if you have been creating any nail art yourselves as I love to see what everyone creates. For more nail art I create you can also follow me on Instagram @samantha_helen5 !

Happy nail art-ing!! Samantha xx

Bright Galaxy Nail Art

I'm back with another nail art for you and this time I have create my own take on the very popular galaxy nail art. I have seen lots of blue and purple themed galaxy nails so I have added some different bright colours to give them a bit of a twist. Keep reading for a step-by-step guide of exactly how I create this nail art ...

What will you need?

First of all you will need a selection of bright nail varnishes. I chose to use blue, purple, yellow, green and coral. You will also need a black nail varnish for the base, a white nail varnish for the galaxy print and a top coat. In order to create the nail art detail you will need a small make-up sponge and a dotting tool. 
The nail varnishes I used were Illamasqua Rare and Lament, Rimmel Green Grass and Purple Rain, No7 Minty Fresh, Miss Sporty Black, BarryM Matt White and Nails Supreme Top Coat. 

Step-by-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: Begin by painting all nails in a coat of black nail varnish. You only need one coat and don't worry too much about it being opaque as the majority of it will be covered by the coloured varnishes.

Step 2-6: Take each of the coloured nail varnishes onto the nail and sponge them randomly across the nails. See above for the order I sponged each of the colours onto the nails. 

Step 7: Take the white nail varnish onto a dotting tool and create dots and stars onto the nails. I found that when creating the stars, the less nail varnish on the dotting tool the more effective the star looked. 

Step 8: Once all nails are dry paint a top coat onto each nail. This will prevent any chipping, fix your nail art into place and give your nails a shine. 

I hope you like my take on the popular galaxy nails! Have you created a galaxy nail art yourself? I love hearing ideas for future nail art so comment below and tell me what you would like to see!

Until next time, Samantha x

Halloween Frankenstein Nail Art

With it being under a week until Halloween, I thought I would get myself in the spooky spirit and do a Halloween inspired nail art. I have seen lots of amazing Halloween nail art designs recently so I thought I would give the Frankenstein look a try. Its very easy to create, so if you want to find out how I created the look below, keep reading!

What will you need?

In order to create this look yourself you will need nail varnishes in green, white and black. You will also need a top coat and a nail art dotting tool. I used the following nail varnishes: Rimmel Green Grass, Barry M Matt White and Miss Sporty Black. 

Step-by-Step Guide:

Step 1: To begin I painted all my nails in the green nail varnish. I painted two coats in order to gain an opaque base for the nail art.

Step 2: Once the base coats were dry I took some black onto the dotting tool and created small triangles at the top of my nail as Frankenstein's hair. 

Step 3: Again using the dotting tool and black nail varnish I dotted on the eyes and eye brows.

Step 4: Using the black nail varnish and the dotting tool once again I created Frankenstein's mouth. I dotted on the horizontal line first and then place the vertical lines over the top.

Step 5: Now take the white nail varnish onto the dotting tool and place a tiny dot in the centre of the eyes.

Step 6: Finally once all the design is dry paint a top coat over the top. This will seal the design into place, add a small amount of shine to your nails and prevent any chipping. 

And there you have your Frankenstein Nail Art! I really hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. Have you created any Halloween nail art this year? If you're heading to a Halloween party this week I hope you have an amazing time! 

Until next time, Samantha xx

Colourful Stripe Nail Art

Hi Everyone! I'm back with another nail art tutorial! I have never tried a stripy nail art before because I never thought I would be able to do it neat enough, but I threw myself into the deep end and using my trusty nail art striping tape created the look below. So if you want to find out how I achieved this keep reading...

What will you need?

In order to create a look similar to mine, all you will need are nail varnishes in bright pink, neon yellow, peach, light blue, white and a top coat. You will also need some stripping tape (alternatively you could cut tape into small strips). See my previous post for more info on the striping tape I use. I didn't include a dotting tool in the photo, however I did use one as I found the brushes on the nail varnishes were too think to create small precise stripes. 

I used the following nail varnish shades: Illamasqua Rare, Illamasqua Purity, BarryM Matt White, No7 Minty Fresh and Nails Supreme Top Coat. I had my nails done in a Salon and they painted the pink base so im not 100% sure what the shade was (sorry!). 

Step-by-step guide:

As always I have put together a step-by-step guide of how I achieved the nail art and this time there is only 3 steps, so its not too complicated!

Step 1: After you have painted the base coat onto your nail and let it dry completely you can start to stick the stripping nail onto the nail. I cut the tape slightly longer than the width of my nail in order to make it easier to peel off. 

Step 2: The next step is to fill in the gaps in between the stripping tape using the different coloured nail varnishes. Let the stripes dry completely before taking the tape off in order to ensure that the nail varnish does not drag and smudge into the pink base.

Step 3: Once you have completed steps one and two on each nail you can paint a top coat over all nail. This will seal in the stripes and give your nails a shine. 

I hope you have enjoyed this nail art! It is quite time consuming but worth it in the end! If you have done any nail art or have any ideas of nail art I could do in the future please comment below and let me know! 

Until next time, Samantha x