Nails Inc Spray-on Nail Polish: reviewed (and how to do it)

beauty
Spray Can Nail Polish from Nails Inc: is it the future? Probably not. It's a faff... but GOSH it's fun. And it's fast. The spray can coats the nails evenly in just seconds – and once you're over the faff factor, it's actually a lot quicker and easier than it looks.
Messy with your manicure? Then this is perfect for you. There's no need to paint inside the lines when the whole point is to spray the polish all over the place. When you're done you just wash the excess off your skin.
But don't take my word for it, I gave the silvery 'Shoreditch Lane' Spray Can Nail Polish a whirl so you can see how it works...

Nails Inc Spray-On Nail Polish reviewed

1. Apply a base coat (we used the Nails inc 2 in 1 Base and Top coat) and allow to dry.

Nails Inc Spray-On Nail Polish reviewed

2. Put some paper under your hands to protect the surface, and then spray The Paint Can all over from a distance of 10-15cm. Don't worry about getting on your skin, but make sure each nail is completely covered.

Nails Inc Spray-On Nail Polish reviewed

3. Apply a top coat and allow to dry.

Nails Inc Spray-On Nail Polish reviewed

4. Wash your hands with warm soapy water to wash away the excess polish from your skin.

Nails Inc Spray-On Nail Polish reviewed

5. Voila! The polish dries in seconds and you're ready to go.

My Verdict: Fast and fun
There's no disputing the fact that this mani is quick. I reckon it'd be perfect for whipping out during pre-drinks on a Saturday night for a quick polish. (And it'll impress your mates so much you might have to wrestle it off them.). 
Nails Inc. Shoreditch Lane Paint Can, £10

Hair Hangover Cure: Catwalk Oatmeal & Honey Intense Nourishing Mask

beauty
P1052052
Catwalk by TIGI Oatmeal & Honey Intense Nourishing Mask* @ The Salon Look

I have bleached and bleached my hair. To keep those brassy tones at bay I also use the Silver Tone blue shampoo with nearly every wash. All those chemicals leave my hair dry so I follow up with an intensive treatment conditioner with every wash. I usually use Aussie 3 Minute Miracle or L'Oreal Elvive Masque Pot. Both products cost under £6 and stop my hair from drying out and snapping off.
So when I received this Catwalk hair mask I thought, it can't be THAT good. A conditioner's a conditioner, right? Surely it can't be worth its hefty £15.95 price tag? Well, I was wrong. The Oatmeal & Honey is deliciously sweet without being overly synthetic. I leave it on for five minutes in the shower and afterwards my hair feels buttery soft. Also a subtle fragrance stays all day. Yum! The only problem is I've already used half the pot... this could become an expensive habit!

Redken Fashion Waves 07 Texturizing Sea Spray Review

beauty
Redken Fashion Waves 07 Texturizing Sea Spray
Redken Fashion Waves 07 Texturizing Sea Spray* @ The Salon Look

I have a natural wave in my hair so I'm always on the lookout for products that promise to tease out that shape while adding texture. I've tried sea sprays before that promise to add texture with varying levels of success but there's always been a huge downfall with these types of products... stickiness. If there's one thing I can't stand in my hair it's icky stickiness. No matter how good my hair looks I still want it to be soft and touchable.
So I was a little dubious when I started shaking up this bottle ready to spray on my freshly washed and blow-dried hair. Would it leave my hair feeling icky and sticky until I could wash it again? Thankfully not. This spray adds a dry texture that you can scrunch and rub through your locks to add that lovely bed-head-style grit to your hair without leaving it sticky. I didn't even need to wash my hands after using it. It was that un-sticky. It also smells really really good.
I used the spray on freshly washed and blow-dried hair and it added a nice bit of texture and movement. It doesn't make your hair quite as wavy as other products I've tried, but I just love the texture and feel of the dry spray. It would also be great for prepping the hair to give it a bit of grip before attempting an up-do or messy topknot. All in all a great product that I'll certainly be adding to my regular hair arsenal!

Hair care specialists, The Salon Look are currently running a Moroccan Oil Competition. All you need to do is create a new account with them and you'll be entered straight into a free prize draw to win a 5-night stay in Marrakech. Click here to enter.

Beauty Review: Perrie's Blush It! Little Mix by Collection

beauty
PA271820
Perrie's Blush It! by Collection*, £2.99 @ Superdrug & Boots

I may not be the perfect target market for the new Little Mix by Collection make up range. I know Perrie from Little Mix has lilac locks, sometimes wears something cute in tartan and she's engaged to Zayn from One Direction, but that's probably about as far as my knowledge on the pop icon goes. Screaming tween fan I am not.
Nevertheless,  I certainly am always in the market for a new hidden make up bargain and I won't let a little bit of cheesy pop-collab get in my way. So lets give this moderately-priced blush a go...

PA271821

The packaging is what you'd expect in this price bracket - nothing special - but it is functional and snaps shut well. When applied to the cheeks, the finished result is a lovely soft pink that is close to my usual MAC shade. What's more, it stayed all day without going blotchy or patchy.
So whether you're a Little Mix fan or not I'd definitely recommend this as a bargain drugstore blusher. Best of all it's great for carrying around in my makeup bag as there'll be no tears if it cracks or crumbles!

Debenhams Beauty Press Day

beauty
I popped along to the Debenhams Beauty Press Day tonight with my friend Jemma. We were greeted by a lovely bright pink and white room jam packed with the latest beauty goodies on offer at Debenhams.
After a quick whizz around the room with a PR we were left to our own devices to spritz, sniff and have a good old nose at everything on offer. 
One of my favourite things we saw were these adorable Nails Inc crackers, each containing a different nail polish. I'd much prefer to crack one of those over my turkey then end up with any more golf tees and mini sewing kits!
Continuing with the beauty/Christmas mash up theme was this AMAZING Benefit advent calendar (£50, available at Debenhams from 27th October). Miniature versions of Benefit champion products are ready and waiting behind those tempting little doors.
The other collection I'm dying to get my hands on is the latest colours from CK One. I've already tried their mascara and lipstick and I love love their innovative take on packaging and wearable colours. This sparkly eyeshadow palette looks perfect for the festive season!
When I got home I couldn't wait to pour the goody bag out on my bed and see what treasures I have to try! As you can see there are plenty of cult beauty products and jazzy new bits and bobs for me to sink my teeth into. Expect reviews up on the blog very soon...

Pastel glitter tip nails

beauty

Superdry Palest Purple Nail Paint, W7 Multi Dazzle Nail Polish

To create this look I painted two layers of the base colour. I then gradually built up the glitter tips and finished with a top coat.
Probably the easiest nail art I've ever done. I can't wait to try it with some other colour combinations!

Recent Purchases...

american apparel

American Apparel Nail Lacquer (Hunter)
American Apparel Beanie (Black)

I've been meaning to buy this hat for a while but hadn't popped into American Apparel for AGES and they've now sold out online. I forgot all about their free Nail Lacquer with any purchase thing so this was a nice little extra at the till. I chose the Hunter shade because I think it'll look all festive with a glitter topcoat.


Motel Deluxe Wild One Sequin Bustier Dress in Black
Motel Tinsel Sequin and Mesh Dress in Iridescent Green

Last week I bought a couple of sequin dresses from Motel with Christmas week and #NYE in mind. I LOVE SEQUINS and Motel are like my go to for party dresses.


The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann

Also I decided to get some morbid reading ready for when I get bored of TV at Christmas. (It does happen.) I'm reading American Psycho at the moment so I decided to go for some more cult classics.

Thursday Goth

beauty


Jumper: H&M
Necklace: Primark
Rings: Ibiza jewellery markets
Nail Polish: Toma, Wicked Witch

I've been wearing Christmas jumpers, jeans and glittery nails pretty consistently for the last week so I thought I'd take a day off from the festive cheer and go back to goth today. I painted my nails with this so-dark-it's-nearly-black berry shade from Toma and put together a suitably gothic outfit of all black with silver accessories. Tomorrow I'll probably be back to snowflakes and glitz. People at work must think I have a split personality. 

Early December Drug Store Empties

beauty

I'm a bit of a beauty product junkie, so if I actually make it to the end of a product and I'm shaking it try and get the last bits out rather than losing interest half way through - it generally means I think it's quite good. Hell, if it's serious I might even repurchase the SAME thing. (This almost never happens.)
But in this month's empties there are at least TWO things I will definitely be going back for more of.

1. L'Oreal Elnett Satin Very Volume
There are a ridiculous amount of different varieties of strengths/volume levels within the L'Oreal Elnett hairspray range. I picked this one because it's pink and it says 'Supreme Hold' on the can. Clearly not an informed decision. But this is one of my favourite hairsprays I've bought in a long time. When sprayed into the roots it does actually give some lasting volume without making my hair crunchy. It also brushes out really easily - which is great when you want to avoid washing your hair for as long as possible. Which brings me on nicely to my next empty bottle...

2. VO5 Plump Me Up Dry Shampoo
Now VO5 might currently have the most irritating beauty advertising campaign conceived in recent history. "Just living in my retro world..." VOM.
But nevertheless, they've come up with a decent dry shampoo. I don't always get on well with dry shampoos because they leave tell-tale white marks in my hair which is not the desired look. (Unless it's Halloween, when the dusty Batiste dry shampoo perfected my zombie hair.) But this VO5 stuff smells AMAZING and it actually goes on clear. 'Nuff said.

3. Max Factor Eye Brightening Mascara For Brown Eyes
This mascara is supposed to illuminate your eyes with tiny reflective coloured particles that compliment your natural eye colour. Or some shizz. I don't know about that but I've used this WHOLE THING of mascara. Mainly because I like the fuss-free plastic wand that gives my eyes a wide-open look. Also it's a good go-to day mascara because it doesn't ever look overdone, but if you look real close you can see those teeny tiny pieces of light reflecting glitter stuff. Nice.

4. L'Oreal Lumi Magique Touch Of Light - Highlighting Pen
I never get enough sleep. Mainly because I need at least 12 hours to feel properly rested. You know? So in the morning I usually dab a bit of MAC Select Cover-Up under my eyes first to get rid of the worst of my dark circles situ. But this can be a bit heavy. So I sweep some of this highlighting pen over the top. It reflects the light well and makes me look a LOT more awake at 8.45am than I ever could without it.

So there it is. I will be repurchasing the VO5 dry shampoo and Max Factor mascara for sure. I'll probably try different hairsprays and highlighting pens because I'm fickle like that.

Mermaid Nails

beauty

Bourjois 1 seconde - Bleu Moonlight
Models Own Mirrorball - Dancing Queen


It's finally late enough in the year to get away with wearing Christmas jumpers, faux fur and GLITTERY nails. I love the new Models Own Mirrorball glitters - they come in some great colours. This blue / green / gold glitter of the Dancing Queen shade reminds me of the sea and mermaids. It goes on a little bumpy, but using a top coat smoothes most of this over and seals in the glitter so it lasts for days.
The Bourjois 1 Seconde polish has a really thick brush that means you get a neat coat of colour in one sweep. C'est Magnifique!

Day at the beach

beauty
Swimsuit: M&S
Shorts: Vintage Levis
Sunglasses: Monki
Lips: Rimmel London Oxford St. Fuchsia
Nails: Red Carpet Manicure

I decided to embrace the 80s for my trip to Southerndown beach in South Wales last weekend. I matched my bright purple and pink swimsuit with the new Oxford St Fuchsia lipstick shade from Rimmel London. You can read my review of the new Rimmel lipstick shades on Sugarscape here.
I had my nails done by Red Carpet Manicure last week. I chose bright red, but it just ends up clashing with most of my outfits. It's supposed to last up to three weeks but I already have a few chips after four days, so it's not looking too good for my review so far!

Invites for London Fashion Week started coming in at work today. After years of following the whole thing online and through Twitter, it'll be great to actually be there and see some shows. Now I'll just have to work out what to wear...






Olympics nails take 100

beauty
I've been wearing a lot of different patriotic style nails in honour of the Olympics being in London.
Here's my latest version using Maybelline nail polish in Dark Denim and Union Jack nail wraps from
Rebelnails.co.uk

pastel pink shimmer nails

beauty

17 Dazzle The Night (£2.99 available at Boots from November), LAQA & CO Nail Polish Pen in Birthday Suit and Topcoat (£11 each from Asos), W7 Stronger & Longer Nail Treatment (£1.99 available from Fragrance Direct).



I started out this nail look because I wanted to try out the new LAQA & CO nail polish pens. But after two coats I was disappointed with how difficult the pen was to use and the finish was streaky and uneven. The packaging and design of the product is flawless, but the nail polish itself isn't worth the £11 price tag.
I was about to take it all off and try another colour when I remembered I had my 17 Dazzle the Night nail polish to try from the Boots Christmas press day a couple of weeks ago. 
I just used one coat of the gold shimmery glitter and it completely transformed my nails. The streaks in the colour were covered and I was left with this lovely pastel pink shimmer nail look.
I finished my nails with the LAQA & CO topcoat nail polish pen to seal the colour.
Now I can't wait to try out the Dazzle the Night colour with my other nail colours. It adds a touch of sparkle to transform the colour. It goes to show paying more for beauty products doesn't always pay off. This £2.99 bargain will be perfect for Christmas!
What do you think of the nail look?