Weekend Nails - Nails Inc Britten Street

Nails Inc Britten Street over Seche Simple But Significant

Long time no post, sorry! A few reasons for that - first of all I have a new job and I've been keeping my nails quite conservative in shape and colour most of the time so I don't have much to post about. And second, I have a big open water swim coming up and I've been doing quite a bit of swimming outside, in my wetsuit. Long nails, pointy nails and nails with square corners aren't wetsuit compatible, so another reason to keep my nails this shortish, rounded shape. Once the open water season is over I'll grow them and reshape them.....

But I like this mani I did last night so I did take some pictures! The base is Seche Simple But Significant, a pretty light beige. Nails Inc Britten Street itself is a pretty, easy to use blue glitter comprising light blue and white microglitter and squares in three shades of blue. All the glitters are matte, which is definitely my preference! I just used one coat, since I wanted to keep the effect quite sparse.

Nails Inc Britten Street over Seche Simple But Significant

 All products in this post are from my collection and purchased by me.

Models Own Sweet Shop Collection

Scented polishes that smell of old fashioned sweeties - what fun! I have three polishes from Models Own new Sweet Shop collection. First, here's Coca Cola Bottles - this is a pretty chocolately taupe with a gold shimmer and tiny pearly glitters. Really pretty and perfectly work appropriate, and it does smell of coca cola. Actually, the smell reminded me of a moment at last weekend's ultramarathon - flat, slightly warm coca cola is a staple drink given to runners at aid stations as its easy available sugar and being flat and warm easy to drink without making you burp or shocking your stomach. When I was filling my water bottle I caught sight of the marshall pouring huge bottles of cola into a big bowl in the sun to go flat and warm and it smelt quite strong! The colour of this also reminds me of those chocolate custards I like to slurp down when running too - I'm sure this polish will be popular with ultrarunners everywhere, lol. 

 I have to say I struggled a bit with the formula on this, I found it thick but sheer at the same time. I used two coats at first, but I thought it looked patchy, so I added a third to get a coverage I was happy with. But then my Seche Vite didn't play nicely with the polish and I got a bit of shrinkage at the tips. In spite of this, I like the colour and finish enough to want to wear the polish again. 

Models Own Sweet Shop - Coca Cola Bottles

 Next is Rhubarb and Custard, a yummy blue-toned red jelly with microglitter, presumably representing the sugar in the sweeties. Smells lovely, great colour, easy formula - this one is great. Top coat is essential to smooth out the glitter (but you'd expect this with any polish containing this much glitter).

Models Own Sweet Shop - Rhubarb and Custard

I used two coats for this mani.

Models Own Sweet Shop - Rhubarb and Custard

Bonus for me with this polish, it was a perfect match for the red bits in the complimentary buff I got from the race I was talking about earlier. I don't have a polish this colour in my collection, so it's sure to get worn again. I'm not sure why I have so few red polishes; I like red, and wear it often, but whenever I'm buying polish I always pass over the reds thinking 'Oh, they're just red, I've got red'. Then whenever I want a *specific* red for nail art or something, I don't have it. 

Here's the last, and my favourite. Gumball - a perfect bubblegum pink. Perfect colour, perfect formula. Two coats plus topcoat here. And it smells of bubblegum. In fact I've been wearing it for three days now, and it still smells of bubblegum, after two long swims and through my topcoat!

Models Own Sweet Shop - Gumball

Models Own Sweet Shop - Gumball

Models Own Sweet Shop collection is available now from Superdrug, Models Own website and Models Own Bottleshops. These products were sent for review.

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!

Pink Gradient with dots...

Essie Go Ginza and DJ Play That Song gradient with Barry M Lychee dots

A bit of jolly nail art for my newly rounded nails! I chose a couple of blue-leaning pinks for the gradient (Essie Go Ginza and DJ Play That Song), then added nude dots with Barry M Lychee. I put the dots on straight away, so no pictures of the gradient on its own, sorry! The gradient was done with my usual method of a fine, damp makeup sponge; I painted one coat of the lighter pink (Go Ginza) to give the gradient a base. DJ Play That Song is rather jellyish, but the formula blended well with the other Essie polish for the gradient and I love how the pale pink base of Go Ginza really makes the colour pop.

I really enjoyed this combination of colours, and I'm getting used to the new shape now - I was sad when I finally had to remove this mani the other day because there was too much growth around my cuticles.

Add caption

Essie Go Ginza and DJ Play That Song gradient with Barry M Lychee dots

All polishes in this post are from my personal collection. Barry M Lychee is one of my favourite nudes, especially for nail art - the formula is so rich and dense it works fabulously well for dots, striping and stamping.

R&R Lacquers Assemble II Collection

I have two fabulous shades from R&R Lacquers new collection to show you! These are shimmery neutrals; much as I love my creamy pastels and brights I appreciate a change sometimes!

First, let's check out Odinson, which is fine charcoal glitter in a clear base with some larger silver and red glitters... this one is named for the gorgeous god of Thunder - Rachel and Rebecca's tribute to Thor.

R&R Lacquers Odinson

Cazzy swatched this over a grey base, and it looks super (check out her post here) so I thought I'd try something different, and just use it on its own without undies. This is three coats, with two coats of topcoat (Seche Vite) to smooth it out. Formula on this is great - no fishing for the bigger glitters and the microglitter base spreads smoothly over the nail without any clumping. In real life, this was pretty much full coverage and I love how the bigger glitters peep out through the microglitter!

R&R Lacquers Odinson

Then we have Big Phil, which is a soft greenish grey with a strong gold shimmer... this one is a tribute to SHIELD agent Phil Coulson; the Avenger who never was an Avenger. 

R&R Lacquers Big Phil

At some angles, this has an almost duochrome touch, with a hit of soft slately blue grey around the edges. Not so visible in this front-on view, but it's still a lovely colour, very delicate and quite work appropriate.

R&R Lacquers Big Phil

The formula on this one was a little trickier than some polishes, it is quite thick, but so long as you get a good brushful it flows easily over the nail. I used three cots here - I could probably have got away with two though but three coats is a sort of habit! Big Phil dries without shine - not a problem for me since I always use Seche Vite topcoat.

R&R Lacquers Big Phil

Just look at that gold shimmer!

R&R Lacquers Big Phil

These polishes were provided for review, they are available now from R&R Lacquers Etsy shop. You can get more information on the brand and links to other reviews by following R&R Lacquers facebook page. 

Nails Inc Perfect Nudes

Nails Inc Perfect Nudes - Draycott Avenue & Eaton Terrace

I happened upon these quite by chance in Boots last week - I'd no idea that they'd been released and I hadn't seen anybody else's swatches. But I love neutral shades and I was very intrigued by the packaging (lame I know) - they look like little bottles of foundation or maybe concealer.

There are four shades in the collection, but Nails Inc is pretty high end, and I have lots of neutral shades, so I was selective and chose just two. Had it been a cheaper brand I would have bought the full collection. I chose the darkest one (Draycott Avenue) and the warmer, less pinky shade of the paler ones (Eaton Terrace).

Here's Draycott Terrace - it's a fab colour and reminds me of chocolate milk, chocolate ice-cream and Ambrosia chocolate custard. Ambrosia chocolate custard is one of my ultra-running superfoods, easy to eat and very tasty... and after 40 miles or so when I really, really fancy something chocolately it's just perfect. So I'm looking at my nails now and wanting to eat them, lol!

. 

Nails Inc Perfect Nude - Draycott Avenue 

I wasn't as impressed with the application of this as I'd expected - it was a bit thick and at two coats, even with topcoat, it looked a bit rough and streaky. I added a third coat and then another coat of Seche Vite and finally the finish was good!

Nails Inc Perfect Nude - Draycott Avenue 

This is my second pick - Eaton Terrace. Three coats and Seche Vite; formula on this was much more workable and fluid but I wouldn't expect a colour this light to be opaque at two coats, so I went straight onto the third. 

Nails Inc Perfect Nude -  Eaton Terrace

I think these are good, classic shades, very wearable and totally work appropriate. Of course, I couldn't resist putting them together somehow..... so first of all a sponge gradient. The pigments are fine and the formula seems just about perfect for gradients - this gradient was very easy to produce.

Nails Inc Perfect Nudes - Draycott Avenue & Eaton Terrace

I loved the gradient, and I wore it like this for a couple of days. Then I felt the need to fiddle, and started adding dots. I should have left it just with dots of the darker shade near my nail tips, but I kept on, and I think I spoilt it with too much fussing. But all good fun!

Nails Inc Perfect Nudes - Draycott Avenue & Eaton Terrace

I purchased Nails Inc Draycott Avenue and Eaton Terrace from my local Boots.