Late Summer Sparkle

Today I am making the last of the sunny weather before it turns truly into autumn weather.  This is design I did quickly, and I think that it is a perfect combination that can be worn on these last days of sun before the grey clouds begin to roll in.  

This design is using colours that I have previously mentioned on this blog a few times, but I think they are so versatile and simple to bung on your nails and they still look really pretty and put together.  The purple and the green combination is girly and feminine whilst also not being a pale baby pink, which I prefer to wear.

I have used this combination a lot over the summer and loved the pastel shades of lilac and mint together.  The 2 colours I have used are Ciate Purple Sherbet which I have done a separate review on so if you want to find out more you can do see HERE, but if you were just wondering what the polish is like, it is a light lilac shade which is incredibly creamy, lasts a lifetime on your nails and is just generally a pleasure to apply.  

Unfortunately I got this product in a Marie Claire a few months ago so I am not sure if you can still buy it, but if you happen to see this then I would definitely recommend giving it a try as it is a new firm favourite of mine.  Also keep an eye out in Marie Claire as I recently picked up another Ciate polish that came with their magazine (review coming soon) so if you are interested in trying out a Ciate polish maybe check out Marie Claire incase they are giving away any in the near future!

For the minty green colour I have used Barry M's Mint Green which is number 304 and again a gorgeous shade which is a new firm spring/summer favourite of mine.  You can pick this up more easily in Boots, Superdrug or on the Barry M website for £2.99.  

I havent done a full review of this polish on here, but if you wanted me to do one then leave a comment below letting me know.  I can even do a comparison with another minty colour that I have used on HERE which is by NYC if you would be interested, but let me know.

This is a gorgeous colour and is a very wearable minty green colour, I say this because sometimes people ask how to wear minty colours and if they are hard to wear.  This is bright enough to be a pretty colour that is eye catching but not too over the top that you wouldn't feel comfortable wearing it!

I have added 2 coats of Models Own Ibiza Mix on top of these colours to give it a little bit of sparkle and this is perfect if you are heading to any late summer parties or even if there is a little bit of late summer sun, this polish can brighten up your day.  Again this is another favourite polishes that I have worn over the summer and I have done a review of this which if you want to know anything more about the colour and polish itself you can click HERE.  You can pick up Models Own from Boots and it retails for £5 but it is well worth the investment as the polish is gorgeous and you get so much for your money.

I hope you don't mind this summery post, I am well aware that it is the first day of September today but the late summer sun today has inspired me to go out wearing this combination.

Whats your favourite combination for this late summer sun?  Or what colour are you wearing this weekend?  Leave your answer in the comments below I would love to know.

Summer Nail Challenge - Day 10

I'm back after a few technical glitches and today is Day 10 of Makeup Savvy's Nail Challenge and todays theme is gradient nails, if you don't know what I am talking about then you can see more info on, or if you want to get involved yourself you can find all the information HERE.  I also did the challenge on day 6 and 7 so if you want to see my glitter nail post then you can HERE or if you want to see my neon nails you can HERE.

This was quite a tricky theme for me because I did not want to do a design using glitter because I recently did a summery glitter design, and I am not to good with the gradual change of colour from dark to light on a single nail.  But at the same time I wanted to challenge myself and not just stick to a plain colour on a nail.  So whilst reading through some blogs last night I found this gorgeous design that Lacqueerisa created, it added some texture to her nails and the design was very eye catching, so I decided that I would have a go myself but using a light colour underneath a brighter shade, and when the design was completed I hoped it would give a different sort of gradient of colour.

10 nail polishes later this is the design I created and whilst it did not go quite to plan I think that it is a different technique that after a few goes will probably be a lot better, but in the mean time this has challenged me to try a new design I probably otherwise wouldn't have done, so its a learning curve.  If you want to see what inspired me to do this design, and how the design should look then you can see the lovely Lacqueerisa's design HERE.



So instead of giving you little reviews of the colours I have used for each nail I'm just going to explain how I did this design, as otherwise this would be a very long post.  Although, I have already done reviews for some of the polishes which I will link, but if you want to know anything about the colours I used then leave a comment below and I can always do some reviews if requested.

Okay so here we go... First of all I chose the base colours for my design which I wanted to be slightly lighter shades so that I could create the gradient effect that todays theme required.  I also tried to do a a gradient effect going along the nails starting with yellow and white right down to blues on my little finger.  To start with I painted my thumb a white colour to then be topped with yellow as I didn't have 2 shades of yellow, but actually in the end I quite liked the colour difference between the yellow and white.  This white was a basic white colour that I got in a Primark manicure set a couple of years ago.  



On my index finger I then used in colour 452 which is a peachy orange colour by Miss Sporty which is very pretty and summery colour that I have been wearing a lot this summer.  On my middle finger I have used this baby pink colour by 17 which is called Cupcake which I think is the perfect name for this extremely girly colour.  On my ring finger I have used this gorgeous light purple colour called Purple Sherbet from Ciaté which I have done a full review on which you can see HERE if you wish.  Finally on my little finger I have used this light blue colour from Barry M called Blueberry Ice Cream number 306.

After letting these colours dry I then chose colours that were similar but a shade or two darker so this would create the gradient effect that was required for todays theme.  For my thumb I chose this bright yellow colour by Miss Sporty number 453 which I also used in my neon nail challenge on day 6 and a few other reviews and designs.  On my index finger I used this bright neon orange from Miss Sporty number 303 which I also used on my neon themed nails on day 6.  On my middle finger I used this bright pink colour from 17 which again I used in my neon nails so if you want to know anything else about these 3 polishes you can see more on my Neon Nails post HERE.  




On my ring finger I used this bright purple colour from Barry M, suitably called Bright Purple number 303.  And finally on my little finger I have used another Miss Sporty polish in the colour 060 which is such a beautiful colour and has been a firm favourite of mine both last year and this year for summer, so I may be doing a review of this soon, so keep your eyes peeled.




Once I had painted my nails I waited for a few seconds so the polish begun to set on my nails before using a cocktail stick to create the textured pattern on the nails.  I ran the cocktail stick across my nails scratching some of the product away revealing the colour underneath.  This may have not worked perfectly on all the nails but I think that you can see some of the lighter colours coming through from underneath and so I think it does qualify as gradient I just wish it had worked as well as I thought it would.

Overall I am pleased that I have tried this design out and it is something that after a bit of practice will be something to do, that will be extremely eye catching and that people will ask how you have created the design so look out for some more designs from me using this technique as I love it!

If you have entered todays challenge feel free to leave a link to your blog in the comments section below, or feel free to email or tweet your photos to me, all information on how to contact me can be found on the right side of my blog.  If you haven't entered today feel free to head on over to Makeup Savvy's page to see tomorrows category HERE and see if you are up for the challenge on Day 11.

Pastel Perfect - Lilac and Green

So for a bit of a change today I decided to paint my nails using 2 colours instead of one, to create a bit more of an unusual design.  If you have seen many blogs recently you may have seen a few designs using accent nails and 2 colours in one nail combination, and I thought I would share my new combination with you.

I often find that when the weather is a bit dull, as it has been over the past few weeks, its often hard to wear brighter colours even though it is technically summer, I can't face wearing garish colours on my nails sometimes but fear not...I have a solution for you.

For my pastel combination I have chosen to wear a green colour as the basis for my nails but feeling as though I couldn't pull this off in the not so summery weather I combined this with a lilac purple colour which has created a nice duo in my opinion.

For my Green colour I have used NYC Expert Last Nail Polish number 253 and in colour Mint Macaroon, which I think is such a amazing name.  It is a slightly duller mint green colour which is perfect for the days where the sun is not shining so brightly where you are, and I also think this will be a lovely colour for the late summer/autumn time of year because you can still be wearing a bright colour even though if it is not quite the time for a neon green.


In terms of application it was pretty good, with a creamy consistency which applied very nicely and was almost completely opaque after 2 coats.  Also the polish claims to last for up 7 days which would be perfect if it did but as I have just applied this I can not tell you if that is true, but so far it has lasted pretty well and shows no sign of chipping after the first day, but I will try to update this throughout the week to see how this polish lasts.



NYC is a brand that I previously had not explored or heard of all that much but honestly I can not say much bad about it.  Their products are really cheap for their quality and can easily be picked up in Superdrug without breaking the bank, so definitely check them out the next time you are in your local Superdrug store.

For the other colour I used Ciaté paint pot in the colour Purple Sherbet which I got in Marie Claire last month.  I have already done a whole review based on this polish which you can see HERE but basically I love Ciaté polishes.  I previously had not seen or tried Ciaté because they are on the pricier end of the spectrum but I can totally see why they are more expensive and I am now a convert and I will definitely be picked some more to add to my collection in the future.

I think that this combination is really pretty and something that anyone can pull off and put together no matter how big your collection is, or what colours you have.  Another idea that I had is to combine different tones of polish into one design and also using a vivid colour for the summer as the accent colour.  I will probably be trying these designs out in the future, so watch this space!

Have you tried any accent nail designs?  What is your favourite colour combination?

Ciaté Purple Sherbet Update

As I said in my previous post which can be seen HERE I have decided to include an update on how this polish has worn, to test how long lasting it is, because sometimes what appears to be an amazing polish can often fall down on how long it lasts on the nails before chipping.

1-3 days after applying the polish there was relatively little wear on the nail varnish which I found amazing because normally without a top coat you can begin to see slight chipping and just overall wear on the nails in this time frame.

4 days after applying the polish I developed a small amount of chipping on corners of the nails, but this was not extremely noticeable to anyone else apart from me, and it was not bad enough to have to reapply the whole nail varnish layer on your nails.  But in the same respect, if you were particularly bothered by this small amount of chipping you can easily reapply 1 or 2 coats of nail polish on top to hide this, but personally it was not bad enough for me to do this yet.

So far I have been particularly amazed by the long lasting finish of this polish especially without applying a top coat, suggesting that if you did it would last for much much longer than without.  I will continue to update this throughout the remainder of the week to see how this continues to progress, but so far I have been extremely impressed.

Ciaté Paint Pot - "Purple Sherbet"

I have to admit that I am in fact a Ciaté newbie and prior to this purchase I had never tried a Ciaté polish before.  They are not the easiest polish to get your hands on in the UK and so I had never really picked one up, even though I had heard rave reviews about their products.

So when I heard that Marie Claire were giving away Ciaté polishes as a freebee with their magazine this month, I decided that this was an offer to good to resist.  Marie Claire are currently offering a choice of 3 Ciaté polishes in pretty summer shades called; Bon Bon (a taupe/nude colour), Jelly Bean (a bright pink shade) and Purple Sherbet (a pastel lilac/purple).  I have currently only picked up Purple Sherbet but after this purchase I am tempted to pick up the others too!

Normally Ciaté Paint Pots are around the £9 mark here in the UK but with the magazine you can pick these ones up for a fraction of the price at £3.70 each.  This means for all you Ciaté addicts I am sure you agree with me that this is an offer too good to resist as you can collect all 3 polishes for £11.10 which if you bought them normally would come to £27!  Also for all you Ciaté newbies like me it is a great way to try out the brand before committing to the full priced bottles.

Now onto what I though about the product, overall I was very pleased with the product, the consistency was very creamy and the coverage was excellent and I can easily see why they are normally priced at £9. I am yet to see how long this lasts on my nails but I will update this later in the week to let you know how this polish wears throughout the week.  But at the moment I find it very hard to criticise anything about this polish and I am I defintiely considering buying some more Ciaté polishes in the near future.

Another thing that I was also very impressed about was the bottle of this polish.  It has a very unique shape as it is a curved bottle, which instantly caught my eye when I took it out the packaging, and now stands out in my collection.  I thought this was a nice little addition to the whole Ciaté brand as it makes a difference to the bog standard nail varnish bottle shape.  Also the lid is slightly longer than the typical nail varnish lid which made applying the polish very easy.  As well as this, application was made easy by the large brush which meant you didn't have to make too many brush strokes to cover the nail which just made the whole application process easy and simple.

Overall I am incredibly impressed by my Ciaté Paint Pot and I am now a convert that is more than prepared to pay the £9 price tag for this polish.  You get 13.5ml in a bottle which is a good amount and the quality is superb so definitely check out the Marie Claire this month if you are yet to try Ciaté, and maybe collect all 3 colours...I am very tempted after this first Ciaté addition to my collection!