Wednesday 18 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nails #8

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have number 8 in my Easy Christmas Nails series, I have to admit though I didn't actually come up with this design, I saw it on the Instagram account of China Glaze and thought it was different and also thought you might like it so I can't take the credit for the design of today's look.

As I have done throughout this series, I will include links for all the looks in this series at the end of this post.

Easy Christmas Nails Number 8 

What I used ~



L-R Orly Bonder Base Coat, Essie Blanc, Barry M Black, OPI All Sparkly & Gold, Orly Glosser Top Coat 

The Finished Look ~


How To Get The Look ~

First of all I applied a coat of my base coat, then 2 coats of the Essie Blanc polish allowing each coat to dry fully in-between coats. I then painted half the nail with All Sparkly And Gold again using 2 coats. Finally I used a dotting tool and the Barry M Black to place black dots down the centre of the nail and finished with my Orly glosser top coat. 

Products & Where To Buy ~ 

Orly Bonder & Glosser - I reviewed both of these products in part one of this series so won't bore you again now, if you haven't been following the series and haven't read that review, you can find it Here.

Essie Blanc ~ I love Essie polishes, they are my most owned brand of nail polish, I have been using Essie for many years and was so pleased when they launched in Boots and Superdrug. I have always loved the polishes but I really like the brush on the line in Boots and Superdrug it is much wider and I feel it is easier to use. Blanc is a really handy polish to have as it can be used for many things, I use it for french manicures mainly but I have used it in quite a few nail art looks too, some of which are coming up in this series as numbers 9 and 10, I also used it in my snowman tutorial. It applies well and after 2 coats is lovely and opaque, I definitely recommend it.

Barry M Nail Paint In Black ~ Again I have already reviewed this polish in this series so I won't repeat myself, but if you haven't yet read the review, you can find it Here.

OPI All Sparkly & Gold ~ I reviewed this in number 6 of this series, you can find that review Here if you haven't already read it. 

Dotting Tools ~ I buy my dotting tools from ebay.

I hope you enjoyed this look, it is different and looks lovely as an accent nail or on every nail. 

If you re create any of the looks in my series please tweet me a picture of your look or you can email me or tag me on Instagram or Facebook, all my social media links are at the top right hand side of my blog. And thank you so much to everyone who has already sent me or tweeted me photographs, I have really enjoyed seeing them all.

If you have missed any of the looks in this series you can find them all here, 


Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x





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Friday 13 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #7

Hello Lovelies,

Today's post is number 7 in my 'Easy Christmas Nail Ideas', and is Snowman Nail art. As I mentioned in a previous post in the series a couple of the looks will be uploaded to my You Tube Channel and this is the first look to be uploaded. 

The look isn't very difficult to do and as I have said previously throughout this series if I can do it, anyone can do it, I am not the best when it comes to nail art and have never filmed a nail art tutorial before so I was very nervous doing this and I really hope you like it. 

Christmas Nail Ideas Number 7 


If you would like to create this look yourself and follow the tutorial you will find the tutorial video Here I hope you like it and find it easy to follow. 

As always if you do recreate any of the nail looks from my 'Easy Christmas Nail Idea's' series please tweet me a picture or tag me on Instagram or Facebook, I've been loving getting your photographs and it's so lovely to see so many people re creating the looks I have posted here on my blog and now on my channel. 

If you haven't already checked out the other posts in the series you can find them here, 


Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x

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Thursday 12 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #6

Hello Lovelies

Today I have a very easy, easy Christmas nail ideas post. I recently bought the Mariah Carey 4 piece mini holiday collection containing 4 mini bottles of nail polish and when I swatched them on my plastic nail sticks I realised that they were all perfect colours for Christmas so this post should really be titled Extremely easy nail ideas number 6 because it is just polish pure and simple. But the polishes are so lovely I couldn't not show you.




First of all I have to apologise for this first photograph as it isn't mine, Cole threw my box away by accident before I had photographed it, so I have pinched this one from the John Lewis website. 


L-R (Above & Below) Visions Of Love, Warm Me Up, All Sparkly And Gold, Wonderous Star

All swatches are 3 coats

Visions Of Love ~ This is a beautiful deep burgundy red colour, really rich and creamy, I do have a couple of colours similar to this but this is so lovely, it applies well and looks really rich. It is described as a deep and majestic burgundy polish, and I have to agree, it is a lovely deep burgundy, a very classy colour too if you can have a classy nail polish. A gorgeous colour lovely for the Christmas season, and a perfect toe colour too. 

Warm Me Up ~ This was the surprise polish of the set for me because it was the polish I thought I would least like but when I swatched it, I loved it. It is described as a deep coffee brown which it is to a  point but it is more than that, it has a lovely subtle shimmer running through it and can look a deep charcoal grey in some lights too, it is a beautiful colour and really different to anything I own or have seen before. 

All Sparkly And Gold ~ This is a definite 'does exactly what it says on the tin' moment it is very sparkly and gold as the name suggests and is described as a timeless golden shimmer. It is beautiful, usually I don't go for golds and am more of a silver kind of girl but something drew me to this, it's lovely and could be worn alone as I have swatched it or over another polish, Cole currently has it over a black polish and it looks lovely. It would make a nice accent nail colour too or used for a gradient glitter look over the visions of love colour, it would also look lovely used as a tip in an alternative french manicure as shown in number 1 of this series. 

Wonderous Star ~ Out of all the polishes in the set this is my least favourite and only because the glitter doesn't apply evenly, I had to fiddle about to get the bigger specs of glitter spread evenly over the nail or plastic nail as is. I hate having to faff around trying to get glitter even on a nail and considering OPI's prices this isn't something I should have to do, after all a full size 15ml bottle of this polish is around £12-£13 and when I don't have to faff about with a £2.99 Barry M polish I shouldn't have to do it with an OPI polish either. But that said it is a lovely polish and if you take the faffing about out of the equation it looks lovely, this too would be lovely over visions of love or warm me up either over the full nail or a gradient look. 

Overall Thoughts ~ My overall thoughts on this set of mini polishes are great, I would definitely recommend buying it, all 4 polishes are beautiful and wearable, the only gripe I have is with having to faff about spreading the glitter polish evenly but I can get past that and for the sake of lovely festive nails it isn't too much of a problem at all. I love the look of all 4 polishes on my nails they are all lovely colours and perfect for this time of year, the only problem I have is choosing which one to wear! 

If you haven't yet read all the posts in my 'Easy Christmas Nails' series, you can find them here; 


If you do recreate any of the looks in my easy Christmas nails series, please tweet me a picture or tag me in one on Instagram or Facebook, I have loved seeing the looks my blog readers have recreated so far. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x 








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Saturday 7 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #5

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have number 5 for you in my easy Christmas nail ideas series, today's look is red with sparkle and diamonds and is the most tricky of the nail looks so far in this series but it wasn't very complicated to do, and as I always say, if I can do it, you can do it.

As always I shall show you the products used, the finished look, how I created the look and then a mini review of each product used with where to buy links. I won't be including the Orly Bonder Base Coat and Orly Glosser Top Coat in my review and where to buy section as it is the same base and top coat used in each post and as I reviewed them in number 1 of this series which will be linked below, I didn't want to repeat myself in each post by reviewing them in every post in this series.

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas Number 5 

Products Used ~

 L-R Orly Bonder Base Coat, Orly Haute Red, Barry M Red Glitter, Andrea Fulerton Gems, Orly Glosser Top Coat

 A close up of the gems I used

The Finished Look ~




How To Get The Look ~

First of all I applied 1 coat of my Orly bonder base coat to my nails, I then applied 2 coats of the Orly Haute Red polish allowing each coat to dry in-between, I could have used only 1 coat of this polish as 1 coat did give a nice finish but I preferred the look of 2 coats. I then took the Barry M red glitter and painted it down half of my ring finger, I decided to paint the outer half of the nail but you could do which ever suits you. I then applied a layer of Orly glosser top coat, and then placed the diamond type gems in a line down my nail, the gems I have came with a little rubber tipped stick that enables me to pick up the gems but you could use tweezers to do this as I have previously done, it works just as well. Once my gems were where I wanted them I finished the look off with another coat of my Orly glosser top coat to finish the look and also hold the gems in place. 

Products Used & Where To Buy  ~

Orly Haute Red ~ I love this polish, it is a recent addition to my collection but one I am so glad I bought, it is a beautiful true red with a creamy finish, I love it. I bought mine using a 20% discount code but I would happily pay full price for this or any Orly polish, they come in 18ml bottles which is slightly more than an average polish of 15ml and Orly polishes don't contain any nasties such as DBP, Toluene and Formaldehyde, most polishes free from these things usually sell for at least £14/£15 so Orly are cheaper than most "free from" polishes. Orly polishes apply beautifully and Haute Red is no exception it is lovely, 1 coat and I had beautiful opaque red nails, I did apply 2 coats as I preferred the look as it was more opaque and I liked it better than just 1 but if you were in a rush you could use just 1 coat. I highly recommend this polish, I have been on the look out for a true red polish for a while now and I'm so pleased I picked this up. 

Barry M Red Glitter ~ I love this polish it is amazing and especially at this time of year, it looks lovely over red polish or on its own as a sparkly red nail look. Barry M glitters are brilliant and they apply so well and the glitter distributes evenly on the nail which is something some glitter polished don't do, and there is nothing worse then applying a glitter polish and having a big blob of glitter on one part of the nail and none in another part. Glitter polishes can be expensive too but the price of Barry M polishes is brilliant, I recently re purchased the red glitter as my current bottle is almost empty but I have had it for around 2-3 years and it hasn't gone gloopy at all, it really is a lovely polish and one I highly recommend. 

Andrea Fulerton Nail Boutique Gorgeous Nails ~ I actually bought my little diamond 
 gems in a set from Superdrug, in the set were the gems, a clear topcoat and a little plastic stick with a rubberised tip for picking up the gems, I don't like the top coat that came with the set and never use it so I didn't see the point in photographing something I don't rate, it chips easily and doesn't hold the gems in place. The kit was around £7 when I bought it 3 years ago but it is now more expensive at £10 but you do get over 1000 gems, they are very sparkly and do look lovely, however I found my nail gems on ebay for £1.35 including postage and there are 3000 gems, so a much cheaper option than the Andrea Fulerton there is also a tool to pick up the gems and some glue included. I do like the gems I have and will use them up but next time I think I'll be heading to ebay before Superdrug! 

If you do re create any of the looks in this series please send me a picture, I'd love to see, you can email me at mammaful@gmail.com or feel free to tweet me @mammafulzo. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x




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Thursday 5 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #4

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have number 4 in my easy Christmas nail ideas series, a series of ideas for Christmas nail looks that won't take hours or be extremely complicated but will look great over the festive period.

Today's look is a french manicure with a difference, the nail is black and I will show you a couple of different choices for the tips however you can use whatever you have if you don't own the polishes shown.

As always I will show you the products used, how I achieved the look and a quick review of the products I used and where to buy them should you want to. I will also have the links for the other nail looks in the series linked below for you too.

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas Number 4

Products used ~


L-R Orly Bonder Base Coat, Barry M Nail Paint Black, Barry M Nail Paint Red Glitter, Orly Glosser Top Coat

The Finished Look ~

L - Using Essie Beyond Cozy ~ R - Using Barry M Red Glitter 

How to get the look ~

First of all I applied 1 coat of my Orly Bonder Base Coat then 2 coats of the Barry M nail paint in Black, letting each coat dry in-between, I then took the glitter polish and applied 2 coats to the tip of the nail, this is a lot easier than you'd imagine, I just put the brush where I wanted to start the colour from and applied it, and once the first coat was dry I then applied the second coat. Once the glitter was dry I applied a coat of my favourite top coat Orly Glosser Top Coat. 

Products Used ~ 

Orly Bonder Base Coat & Orly Glosser Top Coat - I have a full review of both the base and top coat in the first of this series so don't want to repeat myself in each part by explaining my love for these products, but they are my favourite top and base coat and I find they help my polish to last without chipping. You can find reviews and where to buy in part one of this series linked below. 

Barry M Nail Paint In Black - Barry M are a great brand for nail polish, they have so many colours and different effects to choose from and at a great price, they're not the most long lasting polish I own but I find with using my base and top coat I get around 3-5 days out of them, which is perfect for Christmas nails. 

Barry M Nail Paint In Red Glitter - This red glitter is gorgeous and distributes evenly on the nail, I hate glitters where you get a great big patch of glitter in one area and none in another, theres nothing worse, but I don't find that with the Barry M glitters, they distribute the glitter evenly on the nail, they are super glittery and look great and for a great price too, I highly recommend them. 

Essie Beyond Cozy - Although I totally forgot to include a photograph of this polish, bad blogger that I am, it is featured in number 1 in this series if you'd like to see a photograph of it, it is the colour on the left nail shown in the photograph. Beyond cozy was part of Essie's Christmas 2012 collection and is a lovely not too silver and not too gold colour that is perfect for the festive season, Essie is one of my favourite nail polish brands and I always find something I love in their collections, and this is no exception. It looks lovely with the black and was easy to apply, especially with the bigger flat brushes the Essie polishes have. 

If you haven't yet seen the other easy Christmas nail ideas in my series you can find them here -


I hope you liked number 4 in my series, if you do re create any of the ideas in my series please Tweet me a picture or email me your pictures at mammaful@gmail.com, I'd love to see them. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x









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Tuesday 3 December 2013

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas #3

Hello Lovelies,

Today I have number 3 in my easy Christmas nail ideas series, Gradient Glitter. Todays look shows how you can completely change a look by changing 1 polish, so I have 2 looks for you today. As always I will show you the products I used to create the look then tell you how I created it and then finally I will explain a little about each product used and show you a link to where you can buy the products if you wish.

Since I will be using the same base and top coat in each look I won't be reviewing them in each post otherwise it would be very repetitive, but if you would like to read my opinions on them you can find it in THIS POST. I will also have links for all the other looks in this series at the end of each blog post.

Easy Christmas Nail Ideas Number 3 

Products Used ~
 
L-R Orly Bonder Base Coat, Barry M Black, Barry M Silver Glitter, Barry M Amethyst Glitter, Orly Glosser Top Coat 

L-R Barry M Silver Glitter & Barry M Amethyst Glitter

The Finished Look ~



How To Get The Look ~

As always I apply 1 coat of my Orly Bonder Base Coat to my nails,  I then applied 2 coats of Barry M Black letting each coat dry in between, then I used the glitter polish and applied a thin layer from around two thirds of the way down my nail to the tip, I built the glitter up from the centre building it up more towards the tip of my nail, so it gave a gradient type look with the glitter. Once the glitter had dried, I applied 1 coat of my Orly Glosser Top Coat to finish the look. 

I used the silver glitter on every other nail and the amethyst glitter on every other nail to show you how to create different looks using glitter, I wouldn't go out with my nails like this but it shows you how you can achieve different looks using a different colour glitter polish. You could use any base colour and any glitter but I find black is a great base for any glitter as it shows it up well, red or gold glitter would also look amazing. 

Products Used, My Thoughts & Where To Buy ~

Barry M Nail Paint In Black - I love Barry M polishes for their range of colours and glitters and other effect type polishes too, there really is something for everyone, they aren't the longest lasting of all my polishes but I find if I use a base and top coat I can get around 3-5 days wear time out of a Barry M polish, and often things like a Christmas nail look can often be something you only need to last for a day/evening out or a few days so there is no point me spending £7.99 on an Essie polish when I can buy Barry M for £2.99. 

Barry M Nail Paint In Silver Glitter - This is a lovely quite fine silver glitter, I'm not a big fan of big chunky glitters or the glitters with those little stick type pieces in them so this is perfect for me, I find the Barry M glitters easy to remove too which is always a bonus. This is a lovely sparkly polish and looks great over the black, it does also look beautiful over a silver polish and applied all over the nail. 

Barry M Nail Paint In Amethyst Glitter - This is a beautiful colour, it has lots of different colours in it, greens, pinks, purples, gold, silver and more it is the perfect glitter to layer over black as it shows the colours in the glitter beautifully, it would also look lovely over lots of colour nail polishes. As I said I'm not too keen on chunky glitter but again this is perfect for me, and I think it looks lovely. It would also look lovely as an accent nail colour. As with the silver glitter this is easy to remove which is great as some glitter polishes can be a nightmare to remove. I would definitely recommend this glitter or any of the glitters in the Barry M range and for the price they are fantastic. 

I hope you enjoyed number 3 in my easy Christmas nail series, I also have some Christmas nail art coming up in the series too so keep an eye out for that as well as number 4 in the series. If you re create any of the looks from this series I'd love it if you sent me a picture, you can TWEET me or send it via INSTAGRAM or email me if you don't have access to twitter or instagram, my email address is mammaful@gmail.com. 

If you have missed the first 2 parts of this series you can find number 1 HERE and number 2 HERE

Thank you for reading, much love as always 

Zoe x 









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