Binky London Crystal Pink and Enchanted Green - swatch and review

I have two new shades from Binky London; this brand launched at the end of last year with some great classic shades I reviewed here, here and here. I was really impressed with the formula of the first polishes, and the shape of the brush, which makes application super-easy, so I was excited to receive new colours from the brand to try out.

Let's start with Pink Crystal. This is a rose pink texture glitter, easy to apply and super pretty.

Binky London Crystal Pink

I used just two coats for this mani, no basecoat (and no topcoat, but I don't need to say that!) so really quick to do. Although it's textured, the polish isn't too thick, so it's quite easy to handle, and the big, round ended brush makes it easy to get a neat edge. I didn't do any kind of clean up for this mani! I would say that some people might find the big brush a bit unusual at first, especially with the textured polish, but do persevere because the results are well worth it once you get used to it.

The polish also makes a great base for stamping! Here's a preview of a new stamping polish I've been trying, with Binky Crystal Pink as the base:

Binky London Crystal Pink with stamping

More info on the MoYou stamping polish in my next post!

The other Binky polish I was sent to review is a fabulous bright emerald creme, Enchanted Green. My pictures just don't capture how stunning this colour is, but I absolutely loved wearing this. The formula surprised me though - based on the Binky polishes I've reviewed already I was expecting this to be smooth and easy to apply, but it wasn't. It was thick and a bit sticky, and made worse by the big brush, which seemed make it go on rather streaky. At two coats it looked lumpy, but trusty Seche Vite topcoat smoothed it out a treat and I like the colour so much I can forgive a slightly tricky application. It was a hot day when I used this polish; that might have affected the consistency too. 

Binky London Enchanted Green

 This is two coats with Seche Vite Quick Dry topcooat.

Binky London Enchanted Green

Products in this post were provided for review. Binky London polishes are available from Retail Beauty.

Nails Inc Seven Dials... with some dots

Nails Inc Seven Dials (dots with Megan Miller Latte)

I'm on something of a roll with the dots - they're so fun and summery. I think dots, especially big ones, are my favourite nail art style. The base for this mani is Nails Inc Seven Dials, a soft emerald green and I did the dots with Megan Miller Latte. The colour of the dots surprised me a bit, as Megan Miller Latte is a soft coffee shade... but its rather sheer, so over the green became this interesting mustard. Not quite what I'd planned, but I like it all the same!

Nails Inc Seven Dials (dots with Megan Miller Latte)

Since people keep asking about the big dots, I use one of my silversmiths doming punches to do these. I have a bag of them in different sizes, and I usually just pull one out at random. The very biggest ones don't dot well (the dots become more like streaks) - I get the best results from tools that are about 5mm diameter. To be honest, any hard spherical object will make good dots, it just needs to be easy to handle - so these tools are great because they come with a handle. Before I thought about using these I made dots with various household objects - brush handles, bits of jewellery etc.

Nails Inc Seven Dials (dots with Megan Miller Latte)

Both the polishes in this post are from my collection and were purchased by me. I bought Megan Miller Latte recently from CutECOsmetics; I've not worn it on its own yet but I will make a post about it when I get around to doing so!

Laqa&Co TUXEDO and Models Own Nail Art Tool Kit - swatch and review

Laqa&Co Tuxedo

I've got some nail art staples to share today - black polishes and a nail art tool kit including brushes, striping tape and  dotting tools! 

Let's start at the beginning with the polishes. This is a polish duo from Laqa&Co - 'Tuxedo' is a glossy and matte pair. They come in the double ended bottle like the Laqa&Co Gold Fleck Manicure range - I have to say I'm not keen on the bottle format, it makes the brush harder to control because of the weight of the bottle in your hand and it leaves the tiny bottle you are painting from rather unstable. The polishes inside the bottles are great though!

Here are the black polishes on their own to start with - this is one coat of each , no topcoat. I'm impressed with both of them; the matte is a bit streaky but I think that is more down to me not being able to hold the brush steady because the 'handle' is a bottle of polish and is too long and heavy!

My first trial was to use the black polishes over my existing mani (Laqa&Co Bobby Dazzler) to create some nail art skittles using the Models Own Nail Art Tool Kit. The kit includes a flat wide brush (which I've been using as a clean-up brush for the edges of my nails; this is a perfect brush for this), a fine brush for detailing, a striping brush, a fan brush, two double-ended dotting tools (small and large) and a roll of striping tape. Just about everything you need to get started! I used the small dotting tool and the fine brush for my index finger, the striping brush for my middle finger and the fan brush for my ring finger; for all these fingers I used the glossy black from the Tuxedo duo. For my little finger I created a 'ladybird' nail - first I used the striping tape to make a neat edge for the french tip, then applied the matte black. Then I added the matte black dots with the biggest dotting tool.

Nail Art with Laqa&Co Tuxedo and Bobby Dazzler

My next test was a Tuxedo mani - but I liked the ladybird nail too much to remove it so it stays as my accent nail! I used the striping tape again to create the neat edges on the black nails.

And then I added black dots to match the ladybird nail on my other nails - glossy dots on the matte nail, matte dots on the glossy nails. I love how this worked out!

Nail Art with Laqa&Co Tuxedo and Bobby Dazzler

I wanted to wear this for a few days to see how long the matte stayed matte, so when I got bored with the ladybird nail I changed the accent for this green holo (Enchanted March 2014).

Nail Art with Laqa&Co Tuxedo and Enchanted March 2014

I'm pleased to report that the matte stayed matte until I removed the mani after three days. Sometimes matte polishes start out looking fabulous but go shiny almost overnight - this one did stand the test of time. And finally, here is a rare shot of my right hand - I reversed the pattern so I get more of that green holo goodness here. You can see the matte black is streaky here... definitely harder to apply and get a good finish with my left hand using that bottle!

My verdict on the Laqa&Co Tuxedo duo is that the polishes themselves are great, but I'm not keen on the packaging. I'd be all over these if they were sold in separate, full size bottles though. The Models Own Nail Art Toolkit is great, it contains a good range of brushes and dotting tools to cover most needs, the brushes are good quality and easy to handle. They seem to withstand cleaning in acetone pretty well. The striping tape is good and sticky (some versions are not) and a good addition to the kit - I like to use it for making neat edges as well as the more obvious 'stripey' manis!

Laqa&Co Tuxedo and the Models Own Nail Art Tool Kit were sent for review. Laqa&Co Tuxedo is available from  Retail Beauty in the UK. The duo is £14.95, which I think is quite pricey for such small bottles. The Models Own Nail Art Tool Kit is available from Models Own for a very reasonable £8. I purchased Enchanted March 2014 from a friend (the Enchanted monthly polishes are an unseen pre-order - my friend doesn't like green!).

Barry M - new gelly shade OLIVE with a bit of stamping.....

Barry M Olive with Essie Sew Psyched

The finished mani... Barry M Olive stamped with Essie Sew Psyched using MoYou Pro XL plate 05. I was really pleased with how this turned out!

The new Barry M Gelly Nail Paint shades include three pale neutrals, which are in that range of colours that I can't seem to resist - so when I realised these were a three-for-two offer at Superdrug I couldn't help myself. I bought Olive, Coconut (off white) and Almond (pale taupe).

Here's Olive:

Barry M Olive

I think the colour is fab and I'd say the formula is OK but not amazing, I used three coats here because it still looked a bit streaky after two. I like the colour enough for it to be worth the bit of extra effort with the application. It's quite a unique colour - I'm not sure I've got anything quite like it in my stash!

And here are some more pictures of the stamping. I've not tried Essie Sew Psyched for stamping before but it works brilliantly - and it's a lovely colour match for Barry M Olive! Some of my pictures are taken in bright sunlight and this really makes the green in Sew Psyched stand out!

Barry M Olive with Essie Sew Psyched

I purchased Barry M Olive from Superdrug last week - Essie Sew Psyched has been around in my collection for years but I think it's still a current shade.

Pretty Quirky Summer Collection - Village Idiot

Pretty Quirky Village Idiot

The last in my series of reviews of Pretty Quirky's Summer Collection! This is Village Idiot, a sheer light green crelly full of bright neon glitters.

Pretty Quirky Village Idiot

Pretty Quirky Village Idiot

I love this combination of colours! I layered mine over a very light apple green base - 'Mint' from M&S Limited Collection. Not sure why it's called Mint, as it's not a minty green at all. This is one I spotted last summer in M&S and I think it's a real treasure - totally unique in my collection and the perfect partner for Pretty Quirky Village Idiot.

Pretty Quirky Village Idiot

Application of Village Idiot is pretty much perfect. I used two coats for this mani, plus two coats of Seche Vite to smooth it out. The base of Village Idiot is very sheer, I'm sure this could be layered successfully over colours other than green. I really like the polish, so I'll try it over an alternative base myself soon!

Pretty Quirky Village Idiot

Pretty Quirky Village Idiot was a sample sent for my review; I've also reviewed Shapes In The Clouds,  I Stole The Bouquet and Deva from this collection. The collection goes on sale this Friday (16th May) in the Pretty Quirky Etsy Shop. There are another four polishes in the collection - check out the Pretty Quirky blog and facebook page for more swatches and information those.