Summer Nail Challenge - Day 11

Today is Day 11 of Makeup Savvy's Nail Challenge and todays theme is metallic 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, 7 and 10 so if you want to see my glitter nail post then you can HERE, if you want to see my neon nails you can HERE or if you want to see my gradient nails you can HERE.


So as the olympics is drawing to a close for another 4 years I have decided to base my nails on an olympic type theme as I have selected to use bronze, silver and gold colours reflecting the medals.  I have had all these colours for quite a while now but haven't really found myself drawn towards wearing these colours during the summer as its the one time of year I think you can go crazy with colours and patterns, but surprisingly I found I loved this combination more than I initially thought I would, and I think this would be a perfect combination to wear if you are perhaps not such a fan of bright colours this summer.

For my thumb and little finger I used this gorgeous gold colour by Nails Inc called Lanesborough Place.  Personally I prefer this kind of gold that isn't too shiny or over the top, I think that this is the perfect gold if you want to be more subtle.  Another thing I like about it is that it doesn't have heaps of glitter in which a lot of gold polishes do, and although I am a fan of glitter I think sometimes with golds it can be a little too much.  Also you can always add a glitter polish over the top if you want to.  In terms of application this was a dream to apply, in 1 coat the polish was basically opaque and dried really quickly.  This is a polish I had bought but not used a lot since I bought it, but now I have rediscovered it and will definitely be using this again in the near future, through summer and autumn.





On my index and ring fingers I have gone for this glittery bronze coloured polish by Rimmel London in the 60 Seconds Collection called Star Dust number 530.  This is a gorgeous bronze colour which I tend to use more in the autumn than the summer just because it is the perfect autumnal colour, in my eyes anyway, as it is not too dark and not to bright.  Going against everything I said about gold and glitter, this polish has a subtle glitter which is finely milled to just add something extra to the polish with being a glitter polish itself.  I love this colour and in terms of application 2 coats gave plenty of coverage, this is definitely another polish that I have rediscovered my love for.  I also think that the gold and bronze combination could also be another combination if you wanted to stay clearer of the silver tones.



On my middle finger I have used this silvery grey polish again from Nails Inc called Augustus Street.  I picked this product up last year in TK Maxx in a pack of 4 for £10 which was a bargain, but after checking on the Nails Inc website they no longer stock this product so I'm not sure where you would be able to currently find this.  Anyway, the product is a silver polish with finely milled dark grey glitter which I think is an unusual combination, and what makes this product so unique.  But there is a definite downside to this product in my eyes.  It dries completely matt which would be fine on its own if you like matt nail varnishes, but when contrasted against the other two colours this looked out of place.  Due to the matt finish the product as dries a lot darker than the other two, which is something to bear in mind, so although this product is a gorgeous product the thing that puts be off is the matt finish as even with a top coat, it has a completely different finish to the rest of the nails.  


Overall I think this is an nice combination especially for the olympic games, so if you are off to any parties for the closing ceremony maybe you can try out this look that is not too over the top, but is very topical for this time of the year.

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 12.

Jubilee Nails - Diamond Crackle

To celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee here is another nail idea that you can try out over this bank holiday weekend.  I started with the same base colours as I did in the first nail design, so if you haven't seen that post yet you can look at it by clicking HERE.


After creating the base for my design using an alternating red and blue design I decided that I wanted to create a different design on the nails to the other designs where I did full block nail colours.  You can use any crackle polish for this design and nearly every brand of nail varnish has their own version with a variety of colours, as well as matt and glitter ones.


I have chosen to use MUA's Nail Quake in a grey/silver colour called "Shattered Ice" which I think is a very interesting combination.  I chose this silver tone to link back to the Diamond Jubilee, but you could also use a white crackle so that your nails have the red, white and blue theme of the union jack.  


I applied this polish relatively thickly to create an overall silver appearance so that the blue and red only peek through the gaps in the polish, so this idea might be better for you if you wanted a more subtle nail design rather than the brighter blue and red designs that you can see HERE and HERE.


The application of the polish was very easy and creates a very unusual effect that no matter how many times you use this polish you can never not be amazed by this type of nail varnish as it magically disappears from your nails.  If you haven't tried this kind of crackling polish then you can pick this MUA one up at superdrug, on the superdrug website or on the MUA website for £2.99.