Nail Art Shop!!!!

Ok, I made a shop on Etsy called DreamingInColours and I would love it if you had a look! Here are some pictures of the nails for sale right now :) 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/103023438/purple-blue-gradient-leopard-print-hand

Thank you !!! Anna xxxxxx

Summer Make up Haul!

 Woo! We are back from exams, and now there is less than 3 weeks till the holidays. We are going to get back into blogging, and will hopefully have a functioning shop by the end of the summer holidays, wish us luck! For now, here is a haul of make up things I have got over the past few weeks, enjoy!

Volume Million Lashes Mascara in 'Extra Black' - True Match Foundation in  'N1 Ivory' -  False Lash Telescopic Mascara 

 There was a 3 for 2 on L'oreal in Boots, quite a while back now, but I desperately needed a new foundation and was on the look out for a new mascara. I would say the foundation is a semi-matte finish and in my opinion, it is OK, but both mascaras are amazing.

Essie 'Good To Go' Top Coat £7.99 - Ciate 'Purple Sherbet' - Models Own 'Lemon Meringue' £5

 Major love for all three of these nail varnishes, although I would say the Essie top coat is my fave. It is really glossy and not only dries itself very quick, but dries the polish underneath. I got the Ciate polish free in Marie Claire magazine, and it's a lovely bright purple. It isn't very opaque but it dries fairly quickly so it is ok. The Models Own polish is much more pastel than it looks in this picture, and since I don't have very many pastel colours in my nail varnish collection, I thought I would get it. I really like Models Own at the moment and I am very keen to try more polishes.

Sleek 'Storm' Palette £7

 I know this picture is awful, but it captures the colours of the eyeshadows perfectly. I like this palette for it's value for money but I honestly don't use it that much since a lot of the colours are quite dark. Also, they give off a lot of fallout when you put them on your eye, so I would recommend doing foundation/concealer after doing your eyes.

Covergirl Simply Ageless Foundation in '255' - Covergirl Lipstain and balm in  '268'

 This is a bit random, but I though I may as well inclue it. We had a careers fair, and the company 'Proctor and Gamble' was at one of the stalls. They were giving out this free makeup, so obviously everyone was wildly grabbing it. I managed to get this foundation and lipstain. I hate the colour of the lipstain, however, the balm that comes with it smells really nice and is very moisturising. The foundation is way too dark, but I picked it up with the intention of using it as a cream bronzer. I have used it a couple of times and I actually really like the effect it is, so yes, fairly successful! :)

Mac Lustre Lipstick in 'Plink!' £13.50

Finally is this lovely Mac lipstick. This is my second Mac lipstick and unlike my other one, it is a lustre finish, so you should bear in mind it is very sheer. Although it is sheer, it gives a lovely pink wash with a slight silvery sheen, so is a very nice natural lipstick.

That is all. I hope you don't get too sick of hauls but there will be a fashion/jewellery haul up soon!

Also, I would be interested to know your recommendations for nude lipsticks for pale skin? Any ideas anyone?

Thank you!

Barry M's Mushroom + Croc effect nail varnishes

Just thought I would show the two latest additions to my Barry M nail varnish collection (A collection post is on its way).I bought these at Boots because I saw it was buy 2, get £1 off (not a massive discount, but it persuaded me).I have heard quite a lot about the Mushroom colour, and I have to agree that it looks like a lovely dark nude colour. However, I have only heard about the croc effect once, but I really liked the look it gave, so decided to get it (YOLO).

'Mushroom' has a really good coverage compared to normal Barry M colours, and it dries pretty quickly (I wonder if they have improved their formula?). I quite like the colour - it comes out like the underneath brownnesss of a mushroom but a little bit more greeny.

Unlike the crackle polish, the croc effect takes about 5  minutes to develop fully, and it is shiny once it is complete. Honestly, I was dissapointed at how little it 'crocced' on first application....

But then I looked at the instructions on the bottle, and it said that the nail varnish shouldn't be completely dry before you put the croc effect on. So I used Mushroom and put a fairly thin layer on a bare nail. I then blew it for 2 seconds, probably waited 5 seconds and then put a moderately thick layer of the croc effect on. This worked MUCH better....

Then I did the same on my thumb, but used a much thicker layer of the croc effect, and this is the result I got.

I didn't like it as much as my little finger, but I still thought it was cool.
So by the end, I did quite like the croc effect, and I think it will be good instead of a plain black nail.

Hope you enjoyed!

NOTD

I was going for a little gathering at my friend's house and I was finished getting ready so I thought I may as well do my nails, so I did a compilation of designs I have seen around the internet but haven't got round to trying. I hope you like them!

They are a little bit messy, but I just wanted to do something quick. And if you are wondering why the glittery hand is just glittery, and also why it is quite messy, it is because I can't do shit with my left hand ahaha so I usually just do something very simple.

 I used Models Own Utopia as a base, Barry M Black to draw the designs and Urban Outfitters Cosmic glitter polish to highlight the designs, and to completely glitterfy (weird word, but very appropriate) my left hand nails.I used these nail art brushes to do the designs with. I just recieved them on Monday, but they just made it so much easier to draw things compared to using a nail art pen. So for such a low price, I  highly recommend buying them :)

Lots of love,

NOTD

I did these a while ago but thought I may as well put a picture on...

I used 2 Barry M colours, a light purple and a light blue. Using an eyeshadow applicator thing, I kept applying the colours until they blended into each other gradually. I then used a clear top coat to blend even further.

See you later,

Nail Stickers

I got these nail stickers as a present last year, and have never got round to trying them out yet, so during the weeks holiday i thought i would give it a go. My nails at the moment are rather shorts and bitten so i used them on top of fake nails to get the full effect.

This is a bit of a rubbish photo as my proper camera is broken at the moment, sorry!

I did a bit of searching and found an image of the exact stickers i used on google, Nail Stickers by PrettyPerfect which are available in Boots and Superdrug but i have also found them on Amazon for incredibly cheap! They are a sort of metallicy hot pink and gold animal print design, not a pattern i would usually pick out myself but they did look good once applied, better for going out rather than a day-to-day accessory for me. The only downfall i found with these stickers is that they were quite difficult to apply, maybe its just my impatience but i found quite a few of the stickers didnt go on smoothly as you can sort of tell by the rubbish quality photo. Stickers like these come in all different colours, designs and brands so i will definitely be using these again, and recommend that you do too!

Have you tried this kind of nail art yet?x 

Nail art for shorter nails - Pastel Tie Dye

I did Ellie's nails the other day...

 The mess I make haha

They look messy, oh well 

I used a variety of pastel colours from Barry M (and a mint green from Nails Inc.) and put drops of the colour on the nails. Whilst the colours were still wet, I used a cocktail stick to swirl them together and  to blend them even further, put on a clear topcoat whilst the colours where still wet.
I let them dry and used a black nail art pen from Primark to draw various things on them.

Hope this is useful!

My Favourite Nail Varnishes (part 3)

Here are my final 3 favourites and I hope I haven't bored you too much!

7. Sephora by O.P.I in Opening Night - I think this was around $10, I can't really remember, but I bought it in Sephora when I went to America.


Good
It is so fucking opaque, it is actually unbelievable! Only 1 coat , and you get complete coverage. (sorry for the over-excited language but it is truly amazing ahaha)
The beautiful deep, sparkly, navy colour
AND it dries really fast
The packaging looks and feels really good quality

OK
On the odd occasion, when I unscrew the lid, the lid comes off but the plastic bit with the brush on stays in the pot (does that make sense?) and this can be a bit annoying

Bad
Nothing!


8. Barry M Nail Paint in Raspberry - £2.99 from Boots, Superdrug etc.


Good
I love the colour of this. It is just that perfect warm pinky red, and I just love it.
Super cheap price means plenty re-purchases!

OK
Needs about 2 coats for full coverage.
Drying time is normal.

Bad
Nothing!


9. Urban Outfitters Nail Polish in Peacock - £6 from Urban Outfitters


Good
I would use this as some sort of decoration if I could, I mean the bottle is beautiful and the colour appears to have 20 different shades of green and gold.
It dries quite quickly.

OK
 The colour when it is on isn't as multi-dimensional as it appears in the bottle, but it is still a really nice dark green shimmery colour, and in certain lights, there are purpley tones.
2-3 coats are required for full coverage, so not good, but not bad either.

Bad
Nothing!

So that is it! Thank you for reading/skimming/falling asleep to my favourite nail varnishes :) See you later xx

My Favourite Nail Varnishes (part 2)

Ok, so here are the next three nail varnishes in my favourite 9, enjoy!

4. Nails Inc. De Vere Gardens - I bought mine in a pack of 10 from TK Maxx for £30 but you can buy Nails Inc. from Boots, Debenhams, Ebay etc for around £10 (I think).

Good

• I like how unusual it is, it is a pinky browny dark nude colour which I think is very complimentary and versatile.
• The coverage of the formula is good - I find you only need 1 coat for full coverage

OK

• Drying time is average, not very fast but not very slow.

Bad

• I think the nail varnishes are very pricey if bought individually, hence, almost all of my Nails Inc. polishes were bought in a multi-pack.

5. Mac Nail Lacquer in Formidable - Bought from an American outlet store, and I don't think it is available anymore at Mac, but I paid around $10.

Good

• The colour of this nail varnish is beautiful. There are a lot of purple sparkles, with a few green sparkles, giving a very unusual finish.
• It dries so quick, probably one of my fastest drying polishes.
• I think the packaging is really sleek, and you get 10ml which is more than the average polish

OK

• To get a full coverage, you need a good 3 coats, but 1 coat looks nice over the top of a bright purple.

The price I paid for it was OK, but I know that Mac nail varnish prices in the UK are very high.

Bad

• NOTHING!!

6. Claire's Mood Colour Changing Nail Polish in Bored/Excited - I got mine off eBay for around £6 because I never saw them in Claire's in the UK.

Good 

• I get completely entranced by the way it changes colour, and if I happen to have long(ish) nails, then the heat from your fingers gives the polish a gradient effect.
• I really like both the colours it changes to 

OK

• It takes a short while to dry, but not too long

Bad

• The coverage of this is awful, and when I use it  I have to use about 4 coats, but I don't care because it changes colour! 

Thank you for reading, lots of love xxx

My Favourite Nail Varnishes (Part 1)

I have 9 favourite nail polishes, but I will split them up over the next three days because otherwise it would be a very long and boring post. So, in no particular order, here is part 1 of my favourite nail varnishes (of all time)!

1. Barry M Ice Cream Purple - £2.99 from Boots, Superdrug etc.

Good

•  The colour - it is the perfect mix between pastel and bright, making it very flattering on my pale skin tone.
•  The brilliant price of only £2.99 compensates for any downfalls.

OK

• The formula - I find that 3 coats gives a full coverage, and it takes a little while to dry, but I expect this with cheaper polishes.

Bad

• NOTHING!

2. Essie Matte About You - £10.95 from Boots. 

Good

• I absolutely love the look of a matte finish.
• It is very versatile because it goes over any nail polish .

OK

• Some people say that after a while, little bumps start to form in the polish but I haven't experienced that yet.
• The price is quite high, but it's versatility means it is worth it.
• I use 2 coats to get an ultra-matte finish, but 1 coat works just fine.

Bad

• When used, your nail varnish only last for a couple of days before it chips, but this happens with all matte nail varnishes.

3. Barry M Blue Moon - £2.99 from Boots, Superdrug etc.

Good

• I love the colour of it because it is bright and pastel at the same time.
• The very cheap price.

OK

• I use 3 coats to get a completely opaque colour.
• It takes a while to dry.

Bad

• NOTHING!

See you tomorrow for further favourites! (alliteration not intended haha)

Aztec and Cosmos

These are just some nails I painted last week to sell on ebay.

You can buy these cosmos ones here.

And the aztec ones here.

Which are your favourite?

Enjoy! xx

Aztec Nails

I wanted to brighten up my nails, so today I decided to do a red orange and pink aztec design.

I used Barry M's Peach Melba (318), Block Orange (301) and Raspberry (273) as the base colours. Each of these are £2.95 from Boots and Superdrug

To do the lines and designs, I used a black nail art pen from Primark which was only £1.50.

I only did the design on my left hand because if I attempted it on my right hand, it would be pretty shit. On my right hand I just painted my fingernails in the different Barry M colours.

Sorry for my dirty hands, but I always end up using my hand as a palette for the black detailing.I hope you like it and I will be back soon with more designs!