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
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(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

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