LA Colors

Hey everyone!

A few weeks ago I went back to London and had a little shop around the new Westfield Stratford City, and after reading Leanne's post on a shop called Beauty Base I had to pick up some nail polishes for myself!

I got 5 I think and these are my favourite

Mauve Glaze, Sparkling Diamonds and Jewel Tone 

It takes a few coats to get Mauve Glaze completely opaque but I love love love these polishes, and they're only 99p each!

What are you wearing on your nails?

Sophie xx

Facets of Fuchsia

As much as I love love love this nail varnish in all it's sparkly glory, it is IMPOSSIBLE TO REMOVE

Not even the tin foil method will remove it!

I think this one will have to stick to accent nails ONLY and special occasions from now on, 2 hours later and it is still not fully removed, grr

Are there any nail varnishes you really love but just can't wear??

love Sophie xx

It's a Cracker!

Well that wasn't a naff title. .

So I'm stuck a home with the nastiest cold (it's not fair!) so of course I got browsing and somehow ended up on Barry M's website.

Look at this! I'm so excited for this product, but I know it will be a bazillion years before my local Boots/Superdrug has it in stock

Barry M Instant Nail Effects Nail Paint - £3.95

And the video makes it look pretty easy too

Will you be picking this up?

Sophie xx

PS Let me know what you think of the new header?

Loves And Hates Of August

Wowee I can't believe I've been blogging for over 3 months! Anyways, on to my loves and hates

Loves

Models Own Nail Polish in Purple Grey - £5

I bought this in the Models Own Sale they had last week, and I love it. I love the colour (it's apparently a dupe for Paradoxal, not quite but not far off) Quite a bit of tip wear, that's after one day, but they did endure a long day at work. I wouldn't pay the full £5 as the fact they can sell them for £2.50 in the sale shows that they're not worth that much

Rimmel Pro Matte Top Coat - £4.49

I bought this with my advantage points so it was essentially free. AMAZING product, goes on shiny and dries super fast to a beautiful matte finish. And so smooth to touch!

St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mousse - £2.49

So totally deserving of the hype, this product is so so good. It's a greeny browny mousse that looks like chocolate and gives an instant brown tinge. After an application (well, my idea of an application is do it, let it dry, do it again, sleep and hope for the best in the morning) this is what it looks like compared to my natural skin colour (my legs the pale one), NO ORANGE IN SIGHT!

L'oreal and Prestige Lip Pencils - between £3 - £4

I love love love these. Nude lip pencils are so much easier to come by than a good nude lipstick, as there are much more pinker tones which suit me more. Also I have a slight loss of pigmentation around my lips so these are great to fill that in

Hates

Garnier Pure A Intensive Night Gel - £4.49

Ah! I thought I would persist with this, but it has made NO difference whatsoever despite all the rave reviews on Ciao. I bet Garnier uploaded them. . 

St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mist - £2.49

I couldn't get on with this. I had to use it in the shower and I felt like Ross in Friends with the spray going everywhere (love that episode!) And it didn't rub in. In fact I was so scared of it drying streaky I washed it off. The mousse is a billion times better.

Benefit The Porefessional - £23.50

 I won't go on too much about this, as I've already done a post. All I'll say is that's £23.50 I'll never see again

Let me know if you've got any loves or hates, and if you love or hate anything I do!

Love Sophie xx

Oh Hot Looks, You Can Be Beautiful!

Hello gorgeous ladies!

Now we all know, Collection 2000 Hot Looks Nail Varnishes can be really downright rubbish at times. Streaky, bubbly and that's just Button Moon!

However whilst perusing my collection with a dark colour in mind (after all the sun isn't coming out any time soon so neither are my summer colours!) I came across this little unopened beauty

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Nail Polish in Parma Violet - £1.79

This is Hot Looks at it's best. Opaque in one coat, a beautiful bluey purpley colour and a shine that is well, as they say exceptional!

Hmm, I probably should've cleaned up before taking a photo. .

Have you tried Hot Looks? Good experiences or bad? Let me know!

Sophie x

Review: Viva La Nails

Hey lovely ladies!

In the post this morning was a parcel just for me full of lovely goodies sent to me from Viva La Nails and wowee they were very generous. This is everything they sent me;

 I would have to recommend the Water Decals, which are in the bottom two rows, as they're such an amazing idea but I would watch their video on the website first which shows you how to use them. I spent ages thinking they were stickers! I'm really impressed with the gems as well, not so sure about the red feather so I'll have to have a think as to how I can use it. Any ideas?

And of course barely 5 minutes had passed before I decided I had to try out some of the nail art for myself, it looks like it took forever but with the Water Decals it took a matter of minutes. I used Nails Inc London as a base coat and sealed them with a 17 topcoat

Mum reckons I put them on upside down but I think they look beautiful, such intricate detailing.

I can only recommend this company, really speedy delivery, excellent prices (their Konad kits are really reasonable) and they have some really interesting unique pieces. Not to mention their step by step guides and video tutorials.

 Have a look here and tell me what you're lusting after!
Love Sophie xx

Disclaimer: These products were sent to me to review and I have given my honest opinions

Sophie's Quest For Perfect Nails

Okay okay, my nails have not been shown that much love in recent weeks.Always changing my nail varnish, lets not mention the half an hour soaking in acetone to get my fakes off. 

So I'm on a quest for lovely, strong, healthy nails, and to help me do that I've enlisted the help of Boots Ultra Strength Nail Hardener (I spent the whole of yesterday going round the house saying that in the deepest Arnie Schwarzenegger voice much to the annoyance of my parents!)

Boots Expert Ultra Strength Nail Hardener - £3

It was the cheapest there and I'm quite a fan of the expert range. The bottle is very similar to that of a Nails Inc one, yet at less than a third of the price I'm smiling! It goes on clear so it immediately makes your nails look healthier. You're supposed to use it twice a week on clean, dry nails. I'm not sure if you've got to take off the first coat when you do it the second time? But we'll see.

So here are my nails before:

Generally quite weak, splitting, bit of discolouration, short because I had to cut off the stained disgusting tips. Not nice. You should see the nails on my other hand.

I'll be doing updates every now and again to let you know how they're doing.

Love Sophie xx

First Proper Experience With False Nails

Hey lovely ladies,

Now I say proper because when I have previously used false nails it was a Superdrug impulse buy I wanna do something crazy let me buy the cheapest I can find but this time I settled down to the false nail stand in Boots and picked up these

Broadway Nails Fast French Modern Square - £5.99

I was tempted to buy Nailene but they were a bit too pricey. However I think the super long french manicure was a bit too much for me. I mean look at those bands I keep on my arm, the two don't really go together.

I then decided to paint them Nails Inc London which suits me so much more I reckon, the length really sets the colour off

Then I thought, I know I'll add Essie Mink Muffs! I like this but I do prefer them with London on, hey I'm a London Girl!

I reallly like these nails painted, I havent had much trouble with them falling off, my first one fell off last night, into the Indian takeaway bag, my mum almost had a heart attack, she thought they were my real nails. The glue dries pink apparently, didn't really notice but it's strong stuff. Smells like a nail parlour but its good enough.

May I take this opportunity now to add that I think false toenails is a step too far? What do you think? And are you a false nail fan?

Love Sophie xxx

If you buy one thing. .

Hey ladies!
Sorry it's been a while, just been feeling a bit sad lately but that doesn't matter, on to what I think you NEED in your life right now. .

Boots Four Way Nail Buffer - £2.00

Yep, it's only £2. Now I'm sure you can probably get these cheaper online or whatever but I think this is by far one of the best (hey it's about time I did a positive review right?)

Let me take you through the four sides and how to use them;

• File Nail Edge: Pretty much files your nail edge ;) Use in a sweeping movement in one direction don't use it like a saw it can damage your nails!

 

• Remove Ridges: You do this over the whole nail and it removes those ridges you get. This is good to do before applying nail varnish as it gives you a really even base to paint over. Also if you do this step over the top of a shiny nail varnish it will remove the shine and give you matte nails. I love doing this especially with black nail varnish (although make sure you let it dry first, as you can see from the black marks I'm quite impatient when it comes to doing this)

• Smooth Nail. Again this does exactly what it says. By this step your nails will be completely transformed. I know you wouldn't expect it but it's actually so great :)

• And lastly Shine Nail. This WORKS. I'm not even joking this shine that it gives rivals a clear nail varnish, with the advantage of being completely natural. By doing this, I've had so many compliments on how strong my nails look and how pretty they are and are they real?

Seriously guys BUY THIS. Even if you have to use your Ad Card points just do it! You won't regret it and you'll find your nail varnish goes on much nicer and it takes less than 5 mins to do :)

Thanks for reading drop me a comment 

Sophie xx