MiliManicure: February 2015

Spring time calls for nudes and this is one that I really love. It's actually from the 2014 Fall collection but I think it's a perfect shade for spring. It's called Magician's Assistant and it's a pink/mauve creme and in the bottle it appears to show a slight purple shimmer so when I applied it, I imagined that would translate on to the nail however it doesn't.
To be honest I prefer it this way because the shimmer would've taken away the beauty of the shade. I've used two coats here to get an opaque coverage.

After two coats.

Taken under room light in the evening so apologies for the bad lighting here.

Happy polishing until next time..

Whether you're a fan or not, it'll be pretty hard to miss the release of the much anticipated movie 50 Shades of Grey that hit the big screens this Valentines in the UK. During the lead up to the premiere, OPI partnered up with the movie to release a special limited collection consisting of 6 shades - 5 colours are (as you guessed) GREY and one is a red shade, representing passion or the red room of pain perhaps?

OPI Cement the Deal, My Silk Tie, Dark Side of the Moon, Romantically Involved, Embrace the Gray, and Shine for Me.

I'll be reviewing OPI Dark Side of The Moon. It's a stormy, dark, charcoal, creme shade with a slight blue undertone to it. There is a very subtle shimmer throughout which can only be seen under direct sunlight. I've always been a fan of grey polish and this one is a lot darker to previous greys in my collection, but I do love it, it's gorgeous!

Two thick, even coats. The consistency is fairly thin so if you wanted you could do 3 coats, however after two it still appears opaque.

You can see the slight blue undertone here.

OPI Nail Envy - Base Coat, OPI - Dark Side of the Moon, Sally Hansen - Top Coat.

Happy polishing until next time..

Back in Oct 2014 when Coloristiq was first introduced in the UK, I must admit I was rather skeptical and couldn't decide whether this was the next big thing or just a waste of money.

If you've read my previous blog posts then you'll notice that most of my collection consists of drugstore brands including those of Barry M, MaxFactor, Kiko etc, with the addition of a few salon brands such as OPI or Nails inc. This is purely because we have a limited range available here in the UK for some of the popular worldwide brands such as China Glaze or OPI, hence I've always opted for the next best thing. Plus why pay over £10 for a shade you can match for under £5.

Coloristiq to some extent solves this problem as they collaborate with brands such as Essie, Morgan Taylor and OPI. So now for just £14.49 a month you can try 3 brand new polishes. If you like to mix up your manis constantly like me then it's definitely worth it! You no longer have to worry about spending between £8-12 on a new salon-professional brand when there's no guarantee of being 100% satisfied with it, because let's admit it they don't always apply how they look in the bottle.

Another problem it solves is avoiding a stack of old, dried up polish that you've kept for years but maybe only used a few times. The nail trends are always evolving and when new collections appear on the market, you tend to forget about the old ones. With this service you can just send them straight back, and if you happen to fall in love with it then there's no penalty for keeping it over 30 days.

So how does it work?

All you have to do is fill in a quick and easy sign up form and create an account setting up a payment method.
It's £14.49 a month (first month FREE) and you get 3 polishes from your wish list sent to you through the post. (All P&P and Returns are included in the monthly price).
You get a total of 9 applications (3 per bottle) and you send the box back.
All polishes are closely examined for inspection and quality control before being sent out again so don't worry about any empty bottles being received.

So to answer my earlier confusion...it really is GENIUS!

To top it off, their service is pretty amazing too since I ordered on a Monday and I had received it by Wednesday morning! The great thing is the box fits through your letterbox so no need to worry about being home to answer the door. Their packaging is something they've really thought through well. The polishes are individually wrapped in a yellow fishnet to avoid breakage/damage in the post and it's in a cute little brown box of straw.

This is the first box that I received. The colours I got included OPI - Dark Side of the Moon, Morgan Taylor - Magician's Assistant and China Glaze - Towel Boy Toy. Watch out for the swatches in my future posts!

I've been nominated for the Liebster Award by The Chic Times Magazine - thank you so much! It's an award given to bloggers with under 200 followers and it's a great way to discover new bloggers. It involves answering a set of questions, nominating 11 other bloggers and setting them a new set of questions.

Here are the answers to the questions I was asked:

1. What inspired you to start your blog?

I've always loved painting my nails in my spare time and the obsession slowly started to grow as I got older, along with my collection. I started reading up on other nail enthusiasts and enjoyed watching youtube videos on how to create different nail art. I began to experiment with different brands and more nail design techniques for which people around me started complimenting me for and asking whether I do nails professionally. Then I decided that maybe I should find a way where I can show others my nail art designs and help inspire them to try new techniques as well, and this is where it all began.

2. What is your favourite blog post you've written and why?

I did a post last week on nails inspired by the BAFTAs and I think this is one of my favourites because it's different to all my other posts. I've never done an inspiration post based on fashion/clothing so this was fun to create.

3. Describe your dream vacation.

This ones hard as there's so many places in the world I have yet to see but anywhere with sea, sand, sun, cocktails and some adventure sounds perfect.

4. Tell us one random fact about yourself.

My accent nail on my right hand is now abnormal and grows wider than the rest of my finger nails due to a terrible incident on a night out 4 years ago :(

5. Who is your favourite blogger and why?

The first nail blog I came across through youtube videos before starting my own was Chalkboard Nails. I love all her work and the quality of her posts.

6. What is your favourite movie?

I can't say that I have a favourite because there's just too many to choose from but Titanic and Grease are two all time favourites.

7. What are your favourite type of blog posts to write?

All my posts are based on nails so this is hard to say but I like doing nail art posts as opposed to just swatches or reviews.

8. What is your ultimate 'pick me up' when you are feeling down?

Ice cream!! Aside from nails my other love is ice cream :)

9. Name 3 things on your bucket list?

Skydiving
Scuba diving
NYE in Times Square, New York

10. Describe your fashion?

I would say simple, classy and comfortable. I'm not the biggest fashionista so if I'm dressing for an occasion I'll make the extra effort to dress up and do my makeup without being too over the top but when I'm at home or doing nothing special I like to be in casual, comfortable clothes.

11. What is a beauty product you would repurchase again and again?

Maybelline Falsies Waterproof Mascara. Been using it for years and in my opinion it's the best mascara I've found.

If you choose to accept this nomination, here are the rules:

Thank the blogger that nominated you and link back to their blog.
Answer the questions you have been asked.
Nominate 11 bloggers with under 200 followers on twitter.
Ask them 11 questions of your own.
Notify them that they have been nominated.

The bloggers I nominate for the Liebster Award are:

http://awholelotofchittychat.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.hannahjanebeauty.com/home/

http://mymintnails.blogspot.co.uk/

http://nailsbykaybel.blogspot.co.uk/

http://zannaspencer.blogspot.co.uk/

http://devotedtopink.blogspot.co.uk/

http://lifeinafewnutshells.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.theworldaccordingtojess.co.uk/

http://essehearts.com/

http://www.peppermintandpandaeyes.co.uk/

http://nikkisnailfiles.blogspot.co.uk/

The questions I would like you to answer are:

1. Name 3 words that best describe your blog.

2. What is your dream career?

3. What is your favourite season of the year and why?

4. Who is your favourite blogger and why?

5. What do you value most in life?

6. If you could move to any part of the world, where would you go and why?

7. Name your favourite beauty product that you regularly repurchase.

8. If you had to pick one food to live on for the rest of your life, what would it be?

9. What is your best feature?

10. What do you love the most about the country you live in?

11. What is your inspiration for your blog posts?

Looking forward to reading all your answers :)

After the New Years, the one and only thing surrounding and taking over London stores right now is 14th Feb. Hearts, chocolates, gifts, perfumes, jewellery, cards, flowers, you name it! Sure spending this day with a loved one is romantic and you should definitely take advantage of the day to make some time to spoil someone since we're all victims of crazy work schedules, but the whole production that comes with it is a little too over the top for my liking.

So since I've seen plenty of valentine's nail art designs with cheesy, fancy hearts and kisses or lots of red and pink, I decided I would keep this one simple. It's a shade by Butter London called 'Dahling' and it's different to your everyday pink. It's one of my favourite shades (since you know I'm not a fan of pink in general) because it's one that isn't too bright or dark so you can get away with wearing it all year round.

It's a deep dusky-pink with a great creamy finish. Application leaves no streaks and although the consistency is quite thin, it's fully opaque after two coats. It comes in a sleek square bottle with a black cap which is removable for better control and ease of application.

The finished look (2 even coats with top coat).

Daytime shot.

Evening shot.

OPI Nail Envy - Base Coat, Butter London - Dahling and Sally Hansen - Top Coat.

Happy polishing until next time..

The BAFTAs were hosted in Covent Garden at the Royal Opera House in London last night (Sun 8) and although I admit I didn't watch the entire ceremony (since I usually haven't seen most of the nominated movies) the Red Carpet is always a spectacular watch. Anyone else just sat there admiring David Beckham in a tux?..yeah thought so!
This ceremony always promises a night of glitz, glamour, style and fun looks from some top A list celebrities. One of my favourite looks to recreate into nail art was by Felicity Jones, wearing a Dior haute couture dress. She opted for a very simple yet elegant style.

The finished Nail Art design.

A closer look at her stunning Dior dress.

I know her skirt is slightly more pink however it has a shimmer to it and this was the closest match I could find. It's called Chester Street by Nails inc.

I used a dotting tool to create some untidy, rough looking pink flowers. I used a striper brush to create the black stripes.

Taken under flash to capture the floral print better. (I apologise for the poor quality of these pictures, I captured them at night so room lighting doesn't even come close to the quality natural daylight gives).

OPI Nail Envy - Base coat, BeautyUk - Hope, BeautyUk - Love, Nails inc - Chester Street, LA Colors - Black Velvet and Sally Hansen - Top coat.

Happy polishing until next time..

February = Heart Month and no I'm not talking about Valentine's day. 6th Feb 2015 is the official day to 'Wear it. Beat it' by getting RED-dy, in association with the BHF. My fundraising event was my pop up stall at work to paint those fingertips red (in addition to already dressing up in red of course).

Here's the red manicure I wore for the day, what did you do?

The finished look with top coat.

Two coats of NYC Times Square.

Two coats of Barry M Matt White on accent nail.

Stamped using cheeky plate CH3.

OPI - Nail Envy, NYC - Times Square, Barry M - Matt White and Sally Hansen - Top coat.

It's not too late to donate, simply click here or text RED to 70060 to donate £3. Don't forget to also share your #RedLipstickSelfie to @TheBHF on twitter and instagram. Here's mine!

Happy polishing until next time..

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