Review: OPI Infinite Shine Tenacious Spirit

Okay, so I know I said I would post more and I did mean to, but then something sort of got in the way- University. This September I started as a fresher at University hence why there has been a distinct lack of posts.
I have been a bit busy trying to settle in and live in a new place for the first time which is quite stressful and I have to be honest here, my nails have not been updated as regularly as I had hoped. Quite often I have had *gasp* bare nails!!!
But now it's the Christmas Holidays! And with Christmas music blasting from every cafe I am looking forward to going home and spending some quality time with my...nails?

But, since I've been gone I have discovered this nail polish by OPI. It's great because it lasts for a long time, and because of its nude tone even when it starts chipping you can get away with it for a while, which is great when your 'to do' list seems never ending and no matter how busy you are, you still get nothing done!!

When she was visiting my mum brought me this polish and I was sceptical at first as I usually prefer bright reds, blues etc. But whilst reading vogue I saw a page on the rise of nude colours this season so I thought I would give it a try. I loved it!
It's a subtle brown/camel colour which is very easy to apply as OPI have perfected their brushes to a nice triangle shape, which is a huge plus of OPI. The infinite shine element also helps this polish, its very thick when you put on the first coat and almost appears like a gel polish. After another coat and a top coat the shine is fabulous, and I was using OPI 'rapidry' top coat which means they are touch dry in about 15 minutes which is great when you need to rush of to see people or maybe do some work...

I think this is a great neutral colour for autumn/winter, and appears very slick due to the shine. However, on Christmas Day and New Years Eve I will be favouring a bright, sparkly, gold manicure.

This colour lasted for a while, and the shine lasted until I removed it!

Chipping: 3.5
Shine: 5!!
Richness of colour: 3
Classicness: (a camel is always a classic) 3
Overall: 3.95

Love,
Tash
x






(not my picture)

Return to blogging!! and *tutorial for UP design*

I'M BACK!! It's been a long time, six months precisely, and many things have happened resulting in the fact that I haven't been able to post since January! Not only have I done A levels, turned 18 and other important things in the last 6 months I also bought A LOT of nail polish so expect a spam of reviews and tutorials etc.
I was also thinking about expanding this blog beyond just nail polish and start reviewing makeup and other beauty products too, but all in good time.

As I sat down on my first day of full freedom I had time to stop and properly look at my nails, and they were in a state. The 'freebie' polish I had applied in a rush a week before was all chipped and they hadn't been properly manicured since early June!
So for the first time since January I was able to sit and spend two hours on my nails without feeling guilty for not revising, oh the joy of freedom from exams (this is a theme that will come up a lot in my posts, I'm just excited, sorry!!) I googled 'summer nail designs' and found this super cute design and one of those 'appears very confusing on the nail but is actually quite easy to do' designs.

It is based on the movie 'UP' with the ring and middle finger connecting with your thumb to make the little image- you can put these details on either hand depending on whether you're right or left handed. And on the other hand, little clouds and you can add loose balloons if you want!

What you will need:
-Sky blue colour (I used Essie 'Mint Candy Apple')
-Nail art Pens in Black
-Dotting tool, for colours which you don't have pens for
-Base coat
-Top coat
-Time! This design took me a while!!



Steps:

1. Cut, file, buff nails as needed
2. Paint base coat (I used OPI base coat)
3. Paint 2 coats of your sky blue colour on both hands and let dry
4. Either with dotting tool or nail art pen, draw little fluffy clouds on little finger and first finger on the hand you are doing the design on
5. With the white nail art pen (or dotting tool) draw little lines coming out of the right corner of the top of the middle finger in a wide triangle shape, and the same but out of the left corner of the top of the ring finger ending half way up the nail, you will add the little balloons to these lines later
6. On your thumb, draw a tiny house in the middle of the nail with the black nail art pen. Do this by drawing a square, and draw a line separating the top from the bottom, that will be the roof
7. Then add another section to the end of the square, with a triangular end, this will be the front of the house where the door is
8.Then draw little white lines coming out of the house to join with the bottom of the other white lines
9. Then colour in the house with any colours you like, bright is better!
10. Then on the middle and ring finger, start to put little dots at the top of the white lines with nail art pens or a dotting tool to make the balloons, do any colours you like
11. When you are happy with how many balloons you've done, place little white flecks on the balloons to make them look more realistic
12. Then on the other hand draw more little clouds and sky
13. If you want, you can draw more balloons that got loose!
14. Let it dry and then place top coat on, to avoid smudging your design!

and Voila! one 'UP' nail design, this is a super sweet summer design that will create major nail envy, but isn't too hard!!

I hope you enjoy this design!!

Love,

Tash x

Essie 'Buy me a Cameo' polish Review

On the day I broke up from school for my Christmas Holidays, I headed straight for the shops to purchase some Christmas Presents. When I found my self in the Boots make up section I could not help but pick out some things for myself- I mean, I'd worked hard this term, I deserved it!

Just plain

One of the polishes I bought was Essie's 'Buy me a Cameo', after perusing the Essie section for a while, I decided on this colour due to the metallic nature, but not a normal silver or bright gold but a slightly colder rose gold colour with silvery hues in it. It is not my normal colour to buy since I usually go for bright pinks or deep reds so I was excited to see the result of stepping outside my box!

I was very very pleased with the result! I cannot praise this colour enough! It was really easy to apply, and only needs one coat or two coats if you really want the metallic nature to come out. It goes great buy itself or with a sparkly top coat or if you're feeling brave, I put a bright pink layer of polish on top stopping in a half moon shape above the cuticle. 

If you are looking for an unusual but beautiful metallic colour, that is quite subtle on my paler winter skin tone but still catches people's attention this is the perfect polish. It also dries very quickly so you do not have to hang around for ages waiting for it to dry, although that would not matter so much on the long wintery days that we experience around Christmas time. 

I was reluctant to remove this polish after two weeks , and re applied it only a few days later because I loved the colour so much! It also hides chipping very well, as the colour itself is quite similar to my natural nail colour so you can get away with a few chips.

I used the OPI top coat as well, and this gives it a thick shiny feeling too. 

With Essie 'Watermelon' half moon design

With Barry M glitter , this lasted two weeks!

Here are my reviews for Essie's 'Buy me a Cameo':

Chipping: 4.5

Shine: 5

Richness of Colour: 4.5

Classic-ness: (surprisingly made for a classic Christmas manicure) 4.5

Overall: 4.95!!!

Love, 

Tash

x

Nail's Inc. Top Coats Snowflake; 'Whitechapel' and 'Kensington Church Street'

'Whitechapel'

It's New Years Eve! And whilst all I've seen on Instagram for the last few days is #nyenails (btw follow me on Instagram for more designs @hellotnails *shameless plug*) I want to bring you back to just a week ago when we were all decking the halls and dreaming of a Winter Wonderland, yes Christmas!
These two polishes were crucial to some of my most popular and admired Christmas Manicures and I will not let the end of the Christmas season deter me from using them as I think they can be used all year round! I am of course talking about the two polishes 'Snowflake', one with gold flecks in it ('Whitechapel') and one with pure white snowflakes ('Kensington Church Street).

This is 'Whitechapel' on Nails Inc's 'Chelsea Green'

I used these on all sorts of colours this year, such as Essie's Mint Candy Apple, plain white polish, dark reds and lighter reds and many more. I used them just to make a funky fourth finger design or on all the fingers. Or my favourite thing to do this year was have it either on the top of the nail as a messy french tip or in a half moon at the bottom of the nail, either all the nails with just top or bottom, or alternating between the two.
They are really easy to apply, just the usual with glitter polishes, get a load on the end of the brush and dapple it on the nail to get even glitter coverage. Or just apply as a normal polish but do a few extra coats to really make it shine.
As with most glitter polishes it is the removing that is the difficult part, and I will often have to just pick the glitter off after removing most of it with polish remover.

'Kensington Church Street'

But overall I love these two polishes as they add so much fun to a manicure and make it look as though you have just dipped your hands in snow and it has stuck on to the nail!

Here are my ratings for 'Whitechapel' and 'Kensington Church Street':


Chipping: 4.5
Shine: 5
Colour: 1
Classic-ness: 3.5
Overall: 4.5

Love,
Tash
x

Nails.Inc's 'Winter Wonderland' Special Effect Topcoats

The Christmas Holidays have arrived! But despite it being the most wonderful time of the year, I have been very busy with school and University Interviews up until the 17th December. However, now I have a lovely ten days of rest, relaxation, pressies and good food and will return to school in January ready for the beginning of the exam term and hopefully up to date with all my nail polish reviews.

Whilst in Leeds for an interview, I discovered that one of the biggest pulls to Leeds is the almost unimaginable amount of shops all crammed into such a small space. Of course it was impossible for me to walk past the Nails. Inc counter without having a look, and as a early christmas present my mum bought me these 5 special effect top coats, 3 of which in the 'Winter Wonderland' box and the other two the 'Snowflake' collection.


Nails Inc have merged with Alexa Chung for this season's polishes and one of the big 'things' this Christmas for them is cool shiny topcoats to put on top of normal polishes. Instead of reviewing each of them individually, I will review the box of three then the two snowflakes separately.

In the box of three was a brown and gold glitter, white glitter with lovely holographic shine, and red glitter. They go well on almost any polish, but the brown goes especially well on dark purple or dark red polishes, the red goes well on , well, red. And the white suits white polishes, duck egg blue polishes or anything with a lighter hue to it.
I especially like to use them just at the top of the nail or just at the bottom, as if the glitter has melted down the nail. This means you get a nice shine effect but it isn't too overwhelming. As with most glitter polishes they can be awkward to get on the nail as you have to make sure there is glitter on the brush and that it is going in the right place and can potentially take a while to perfect the 'imperfect' look.
I love these top coats as they add so much fun to your mani, and make it undeniably Christmassy, I think they, along with any of the new Alexa polishes, would make a great Christmas present. Hint Hint to any family members reading this stuck with what to get me ;).

Here are my ratings for the Nails.Inc 'Winter Wonderland' top coats;

Chipping: 3.5
Shine: 5
Colour: (doesn't really apply here) 1
Classic-ness: Makes for a classic Christmas Mani so 4
Overall; 4.75!

Love,
Tash
x

Despicable Me Minion Design!

Not a review, but this is a super easy design for a minion from the film Despicable Me! I love the minions and having them on my nails was great fun- hope you can enjoy it too!

1. Paint whole nail yellow
2. Paint black stripe 2/3rds up the nail
3. Use black nail art pen, or dotting tool to put little bits of hair above goggles
4. Use dotting tool to put silver dot in middle of black strip, or two depending on number of eyes
5. Use dotting tool to put smaller white dot on top of this
6. Use nail are pen to put smaller black dot on top of this
7. finish with top coat and voila! Your own little minions!

Toothpick can be used in place of the nail are tools, American Apparel 'Sunshine State' used for yellow polish.

Happy Painting!

Love,
Tash
x

Rococo Polish 'Smitten' Review

When it's a rococo polish review I think we know by now it's because my mum has treated me to a manicure at the lovely Margaret Dabbs salon. When I was in there the last time, one of the lovely nail ladies confidently told a customer that "getting your nails done is not a luxury, it is a necessity!" with a nod of agreement from all surrounding I sunk into my chair knowing that this must be what heaven is like.
Having been very busy with school after summer I haven't had a chance to post very much, but with a few free days due to being ill and off school there will be a tsunami of posts of all my summer polishes that have been waiting to be reviewed.




I am smitten (sorry!) with this lovely duck egg blue colour which is quite similiar to Essie's 'Mint Candy Apple', but if it's even possible, the pigment is even stronger and it has more of a blue hue rather than the green that Essie's polish has. Especially noticeable when it catches the light and a gorgeous blue colour explodes from your hand, so summery it makes you want to burst into song with a summer classic.
To complement the blue the nail technician used Rococo's gold leaf polish on my fourth finger to contrast the blue.
Rococo polishes are very thick, and I struggle to use them without making a mess. But with a steady hand you can make a great manicure that lasts a long time. With the manicure only needing about 1 1/2 coats. Due to the thickness it is not one for those in a rush as you really need about 4-5 hours to let it dry properly, time which I could happily have spent sitting in the salon with Sam Smith in the background, but soon I had to come back to reality and leave the salon- but I think we all know, I will be back.


Here are my ratings for 'Smitten' by Rococo Nail Apparel:
Chipping-3.75
Shine- 4.5
Richness of colour-4.5
Classic-ness-3.5

Overall- 4.75!!

Love,
The London Nail Blogger

'Daisy' design from WAH nails ft. Rimmel London 'Black Cab'; Natural Collection's 'Tips'; American Apparel's 'Sunshine State'

I came across this tutorial a few days before going back to school, and the WAH girls made it look so easy on the video I had to have a go. Much to my surprise it was actually easy and greatly impressed my friends at school! I love this design as it looks as though you have; A. spent AT LEAST four hours on your nails; B. you have used nail stickers; C. you can wow people when you tell them that 'no, they are not stickers!'


Here are my photos of the design. You can have it either with or without the yellow dots, the dots make it more summery and fun but the pure white flowers have a more sophisticated touch for an evening look. 





I used Rimmel London's 'Black Cab' for the black, which had become extremely gloopy and in need of a reboot but it just about did the job. I used the Natural Collection 'tips' polish for the white and American Apparel's 'Sunshine State' for the yellow. I have invested in nail art tools- for about £5- for the dots. But the same effect could easily be made with the end of a toothpick for a cheaper price.                                 
Since this isn't really a review I cannot give ratings, but I hope you too embark on this easy design! Since WAH have removed the tutorial video from youtube I can't post it, but here are the steps to do the design:

1. Paint nails with base coat and black polish
2. Put white polish on end of dotting tool and place five small dots in a small circle 
3. Repeat white dots across nail 
4. Put black polish on end of dotting tool and put a dot in the middle of the white dots and spread a little of the black polish into the centre of each of the white dot to create the petal effect.
5. For the more sophisticated evening look in the second picture stop here!
6. But, for the full daisy look, put yellow polish on the dotting tool and place a small dot in the middle of each of the flowers. 
7. Complete by placing a clear top coat on for extra shine 
8. Enjoy some major nail envy from your friends!!

Happy Painting!

Love, 
Tash 
 x

'Mint Candy Apple'

Essie 'Mint Candy Apple' Review- America Collection 2

This polish has been on my wish list for an extremely long time, and it wasn't until I travelled across the Atlantic that I organised myself to actually buy it. I was in CVS and couldn't help myself from the beautiful green/duck egg blue colour and I snapped it up for $8!
As it is almost my last day in the big US o' A I'm trying to get all my American polishes reviewed before I get back on English soil, so this is the second of my 'America collection' . This polish is fetted over by bloggers and nail artists everywhere so why all the hype?

Well firstly, the colour is a beautiful mix between green and blue which interchange depending on the angle you view it from and the light you are in. If you are going for a pastel nail look which is extremely popular at the moment then you can use it for this by putting a matte top coat on, but it can also serve as a shiny and glam polish if you put on a top coat. So it is an extremely versatile polish.
 For this mani I used Essie's 'good to go' top coat, which I didn't really love as it gets gloopy very quickly. Just to diverge to top coats and away from the polish, I find basic topcoats are the best. I use the Topshop 'base and top' for mine and this works perfectly well despite not having a flashy nail brand to it, the base coat is more important as it is this that can make or break a manicure and for this I use OPI.

But, back to the real star 'Mint Candy Apple'. It was extremely thick, which some people struggle with to apply as it can all gather in certain places of the nail and I am one of those people but (I will write about how to avoid this and put the link below) once you get past this hurdle it is a gorgeous polish and I would rather it be thick and glossy and have to apply less coats than having gaps in the polish (since some Essies are known for this issue of having to do about a million coats).
I only wore it for about two days and it didn't budge, but I cannot really fairly judge the chipping.

It is a very summery colour and though it may not be the flashiest it is great for everyday wear and I am so glad I finally managed to buy it, even if it did mean going across 'the pond' for two weeks!

Here are my ratings for 'Mint Candy Apple':

Chipping- 3
Shine- (works both with and without but with) 4
Richness of colour- (for a pastel colour) 3.5
Classic-ness- (doesn't really apply here) 3

Overall- 4
Love,
Tash
x

Links:
Review of first 'America Collection': http://hellotnails.blogspot.com/2014/07/essie-tart-deco-polish-review.html