99p Ebay nail dotting tools

Price: 99p

Availability: Look out for them on Ebay!

Can you believe I got 5 different sized dotting tools for 99p? I can't! It's not even as if they feel cheap and flimsy either, they feel like decent quality! If you're big in to nail videos on Youtube you will see these floating around alot. Most Youtubers claim you can make your own home made versions of these with a tooth pick! Let me tell you, I've tried and to be honest, it just doesn't work the same as these do.

I had a super quick play around with these and they're easy to use, but I think it will take  practise and a steady hand to keep your little designs neat. They're absolutely PERFECT for polka dot nails though! My mustaches were sort of a fail, but my polka dots turned out lovely!

I can't wait to try out more designs with these!

Holly x 

Orly Passion Fruit

Price: £6.25

Availability: Cheap Smells

I would describe Passion Fruit as an insanely bright neon pink, unfortunately this does not show on the photos! I'm not a major fan of the colour pink (love makeup but not a girly girl AT ALL.) but I thought it would be the perfect summer colour, and I wanted something really, really bright.

It applies pretty well but would advise two coats, the downside is I don't think it suits me! Maybe just because I really don't like pink that much, but I just don't think it suited my pale skintone. Orly are generally good quality nail varnishes and I love the rubber lid! I have a habit of letting nail polish lids slip between my fingers, and I usually make a mess.

 So if you're looking for a hot pink summer nail polish, I'd say go for Orly's Passion Fruit! However I would advise googling this colour as my pictures don't show the colour well.

Holly x

Nail art #1

Okay, So I wouldn't say this is the most creative nail art in the world, but I think I'm just going to post random nail pictures that aren't just 1 coat of polish under "Nail art". So yeah, this is what I had on my nails the other day! Think I'm going to try to do some different things with my nails in upcoming posts so stay tuned!

The polish featured in this post from left to right: Rimmel nail rescue, Something sweet, White on white, Do you lilac it?, Steady as she rose, Refreshmint.

Hol x

China Glaze Something Sweet

China Glaze in Something Sweet

A very light pink colour, Something Sweet dries a little more vibrant in colour than it looks in the bottle. The first application of this was pretty poor, it was quite streaky. After the second coat however, it's perfectly opaque!

There's nothing too amazing about this polish, a very nice pastel pink for spring/summer but there are many others around like this. I just think the quality of China Glaze is a little better than alot of other brands, the drying time isn't quite as good as OPI but it's much better than Barry M.

I do however have a polish coming up that is a new love of mine! It's also PERFECT for summer! I'll be sharing with you all soon.

Holly x

China Glaze - The Hunger Games

Top to bottom - Luxe & Lush, Dress me up, Smoke & ashes

Luxe & Lush - An incredibly beautiful polish! A clear, almost jelly like base packed with flakes that shine blue, purple gold, depending on what light you're in. Gorgeous over other colours. I may love this as much as Rainbow connection!

Dress me up - A beautiful creamy brown. Browns are my absolute favourite when it comes to polishes. Will sit nicely with all my other similar colours!

Smoke & Ashes -  I can't make up my mind wether this polish is an incredibly dark green, or black. Whichever it is, I can't take my eyes off this. It sparkles from a range of green, blue and purple. It is just the most deepest, gorgeous colour I've ever seen!

I picked up these 3 polishes over at BeautyJoint. Had to have these as I am a major fan of The Hunger Games. They have some really beautiful polishes in this collection so you should definetely check these out. I've been waiting 2 weeks for these to come so I'm so excited they're finally here!

Holly x

Ebay nail polish rack

 So today I bring you my new acrylic nail polish stand! I've been dying for some sort of nail stand/rack but everyone I came across seemed ridiculously priced. This is from Ebay and cost me £10.99 including P+P, you can buy it here. I currently have 31 nail polishes sitting on this, a decent amount! I think I'll probably buy another along the way at some point, can't beat a nice polish display in your room! I must say I have gone off Barry M nail varnishes so much now. I hate how they're still not properly dry and easily smudged after an hours wear, whereas OPI dries in like, 10 minutes! A bit of a pain really when they're so affordable and with such a wide range of colours! Where do you keep your nail polish? Holly x

OPI Pirates of the Caribbean - Steady as she rose

 Lately I've been obsessed with any polish that may fall in to the "nudes" category and this one to me does! I have no idea where they got Rose from, I see no Rose colours in this varnish at all! To be honest, I can't quite put my finger on what colour this actually is. I would say a very light lilacy grey colour? Hmm. None the less, it's absolutely gorgeous and right up my street! On the first application I found it to be a little streaky, not a major problem, as after the second coat it's pretty much a nice smooth coat. As usual with OPI polishes, this drys incredibly fast! Which to me is great. I'm becoming more and more intolerable towards Barry M's polishes which can still be dented I find even after an hour of being on your nail!  I always hate paying £10 for any nail polish but I love OPI so much. If you have a look on the internet you can usually get them 1 or 2 pounds cheaper from places like Ebay. Just make sure it's a trusted seller as the fakes on Ebay are ridiculous. Holly x

Galaxy nails without the effort!

I always get so jealous when I see people uploading pictures of their nail art, where they have beautiful, long, healthy nails, and always have great designs like the famous "galaxy nails" design, newspaper nails, etc. I've tried these galaxy nails before and not only do they require a sh*t ton of effort, mine just never seem to turn out right either. I've had this nail varnish since Christmas now, and I've never noticed this until recently, but how much does the nail varnish in the bottle look all galaxy/starry sky like? Perfect for a quick coat and there you have it - galaxy nails without all the effort. This varnish is called Gypsy night, and you can buy it from Topshop here for £6. It's a really beautiful nail varnish anyway, and is good to go after 2 coats. 1 coat is a bit too sheer but it's easily buildable and gives a beautiful finish. I'm sorry it doesn't show up so well on my nails, but I promise it's beautiful in real life.

Holly x

Tips & tricks: Drying nail polish faster

Waiting for nail polish to dry is really one of the things I hate more in life. I saw this simple trick on Snog, Marry, Avoid, and thought I would give it ago. It doesn't dry your nail polish completely, but it gets it past the annoying "bump in to anything and it'll smudge" phase. All you have to do is fill your sink up with cold water, plunge your nails in for a minute or 2, and you will see a difference straight away. I kept going back and doing it for a couple more minutes each time and it definetely helps. Just an alternative for you if you don't have any of that spray that drys your nails for you!




Oh, and a quick update on Rimmel nail rescue that I've been using. I've used this for about 3 weeks now. It's pretty much been my absolute go to base coat when I don't have nail polish on, which I have probably worn maybe 3 days out of 21 days? I've been trying to just focus on wearing the nail rescue to sort my nails out. It has made a definite improvement, as you can see  from the pictures above my nails have grown quite a bit, have had the unfortunate one or two snap though which was a bit dissapointing. I wouldn't say it's a miracle worker, but because I freak out when my nails have nothing on them as they snap so easily, I'll reach for nail rescue because I know it may allow them to survive a little longer! If you don't have a problem with soft/brittle nails, I don't really see why you would need this, but for someone like me if I want to keep my longer nails I'll probably have to wear it all the time. :( Holly x

Nail rescue

Nails are always something I've struggled with, for the majority of my life I've bitten, chewed, and basically just neglected my nails! I've gone through phases where I won't bite them for 10 month and for maybe a week or two, I'll have nice long nails! Then one by one they'll all start to snap off because they're so weak. When my nails are long, I literally panic when I have no nail varnish or even a top coat on them, as I've been lucky for them to reach this length without them snapping, and it's usually just the layers and layers of top coat holding them together! I don't know if its the years of biting them that's made them so weak, but I know my mam struggles with brittle nails aswell, even though she doesn't bite them!

I've tried a few things out, one of them being that Sally Hanson diamond strength stuff, it made my nails feel a little less soft, but it peeled off really easily and underneath my nails were just as bad, plus, I think it was like £7 or something, and I'd much rather buy a nice expensive polish than nail care! I came across this Rimmel 14 day nail treatment the other day in the Chemist. It was under £5 and claims to give you "Longer, stronger, harder, and more resilient nails in 2 weeks", whilst also reducing chipping and splitting. I like how it gives you 14 days to see a difference, I don't like how some products promise you something and you never know when you're supposed to start seeing changes.

I'm on day 3 of using Rimmel nail rescue now, and I think it will be quite nice to keep you updated on how it helps my nails If like me, you struggle with everything I've mentioned! I don't think my nails will ever be the strongest in the world, but I think it will be good for them to receive some sort of treatment, instead of me just being fed up with them and neglecting them.

Holly x

What the Postman brought me today...

I've been eagerly waiting for the postman to drop off some goodies I ordered before the weekend, the most exciting thing for me being my Crest whitening strips. My only resolution this year is to have whiter than white teeth! If anybody can point me in the direction of any good products they know that would be wonderful! I've been using Blanx toothpaste aswell. Also my Models Own polishes, which I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to now!





I got 'Emerald City' and 'Pink Fizz', which I should've owned a long time ago but they seemed to always be out of stock when I went to buy them! I didn't bother swatching them because I know they will be somethings you have seen swatched hundreds of times before.





As for the whitening strips, I'll probably post about these after I've completed the set, It's 14 days worth of strips that you leave on for half an hour, I did the first ones today but didn't see that much of a difference, not really going to comment until I've used them all though! I bought them off Ebay for around £25ish. I'm a bit of a panicker when it comes to things like this, had it in my head that they were going to melt my teeth or something haha, time will tell!

Hope you're having a lovely day!

Love, Hol xxx

Models Own Autumn/Winter nail polish box set

L-R: Nude beige, Becca's Brown, Purple ash, Purple grey, Grace green, Mushroom. 

At the moment, these sets of 6 Models own polishes are £20 a pop! Now if you do your maths correctly you'll realise you're going to save £10 by buying these sets since the polishes are £5 a go! I suppose the only down side is you'll have to hope the sets come in colours you like and will want to wear.

Luckily, this Autumn/Winter collection is perfect for me. For some reason I've always found myself attracted to the "ugly" nail polishes as I call them! Muddy browns, greys etc. So I jumped at the chance to ask for this as an Xmas present. I hadnt tried Models Own polishes up until last week, when I borrowed 'Pink Fizz' off a friend of mine. I had only ever heard Amy from flawsandall raving about them, So I've always been very keen to try!

Let me tell you they do not disappoint! I always think the formulas of darker nail polishes ( especially browns for some reason ) are generally better than lighter ones anyway, but all of these are really great. They applied really well and were beautiful and shiny after just 2 quick coats. Personally I think they dry incredibly fast compared to some polishes I own, and they resisted chipping alot more than Barry M, but unfortunately don't last for a lengthy amount of time.

I know that I personally always love to see swatches of things before I buy, So I took the time to photograph all 6 of these colours on my nails. Unfortunately the pictures aren't so great but you can definetely see what the colours are like from them. The swatches are in the same order as they're shown in the first picture of them all together.


















Overall I think these polishes are great and in my opinion I think they have much better colours to choose from than Barry M. The only thing that dissapointed me about these sets is that the glitter set doesn't actually include Pink fizz, and if you ask some people they would definetely tell you that it's one of the best glitter polishes they've ever used. I certainly thought that!

Love, Hol xxx

Ebay and their Minx/Nail stickers..

So not too long ago I found myself searching Ebay for some Minx nail foils to have a play about with at home. I found some lovely Minx foils called "gold lightening cheetah" so I added those to my basket, and came across a few Ebay shops selling various other nail wraps. If I remember correctly, it was 4 nail wrap sheets for 10 pounds so I picked a couple I liked the look of and wondered how different they would be to the actual Minx brand!

I eagerly awaited my new nail goodies in the post to be over the moon with my Minx foils but sorely dissapointed by my Ebay bargain. I instantly minxed my toe nails following a youtube tutorial I had searched and didn't make too much of a shabby job of them either! It was time consuming and probably just worth it to get them done in the salon but I do like to have a go at things myself.






After being overjoyed at managing to Minx my own toe nails I thought some of the cheaper sheets I bought would make lovely accent nails. For one thing, I felt that I would've been completely incapable of doing them on my right hand at all (Since I seem to have trouble even painting my right hand fingernails!) And I can't stick to one nail varnish for longer than 2 days, so it would'nt of been such a waste if I ripped off one tiny little nail wrap from one nail insted of all ten of them.

So! I proceeded to have a little go at a nice accent nail. For some reason I found it extremely difficult to 1. Shape the nail wrap to the nail! 2. Get it to stick! and 3. Not have them peeping over the tops of my nails even after a lot of trying to file and cut them down! Meh, maybe I was just incapable of doing my hands compared to my feet because I have both hands free to do my feet with!

Anyway, the reason I decided to post this rant today after a long time of having these nail wraps lying in a draw somewhere was after I saw them on blogs in peoples glossybox's ( I think the beauty boxes! One of them did!) And the blogger who's blog I happened to be reading usually had put them on their own nails for a picture. Unless they had taken them at a good angle or if they just looked better in the pictures I don't know! But I can't help but feel a little disheartened that I struggled so much to get them on my own nails.

Honestly all in all, these Ebay wraps are very poor, these ones are definetely just glorified nail stickers so I may try again in the future with something a little but more expensive! If you've managed to stick through this rant about my nail wrap problems I'll be shocked!

Oh and my friend Laura has started her own blog which you should definetely pay a visit to here. She's already posted loads and is even doing youtube videos! So definetely worth a visit and a follow if you like it.

Love, Hol xxx

Nail polish picks for a cold and frosty winter :)

I dont know about you but i love my winter nail polishes glittery, metallic, and with a lot of baby pinks and blues, think of when you look at snow and how much it sparkles when the sun shines on it! Of course you have your more tradiotional berry tones and deep greens but i think i might restrict those for xmas day, and in all honesty, i always get sick of seeing any shade of red nail varnish, and i'm not a fan of green nail varnish, except from Barry M's minty green colour!

Now, i know two of these nail varnishes have been blogged about in a previous post but they're two of my favourite, especially for winter, so i had to include them again!



Firstly, Mac's 'uncondtionally fabulous', A perfect winter glitter nail varnish which when looked closely at has circles of glitter which shine a mixture of blues, greens, and very light pinks. Next, Barry M's 'Blue moon', a lovely icy blue colour.



One the left another Barry M varnish, 'Pink iridescent', the glitter in this polish shines very similar to the mac one, making it another sparkly winter polish! Lastly, a Topshop varnish, I really like the forumaly of this, it can be a tiny bit streaky, but personally, it is one of my favourites! You cant go wrong with a silver metalic polish at christmas time!

What are your favourite colours to wear throughout winter?
Love, Hol xxx

Simple icey blue winter nails :)

Instead of going for the more traditionally festive colours like plums, reds, deep greens etc. I opted for more of an icey blue colour, "blue moon" by Barry M to be precise. Since i never want to give removing glitter polish the time of day i simply added a few coats of Macs "unconditionally fabulous" to my ring finger to give it a little something extra. Unfortunatly i think this combo would seem more wintery if it had snowed (which it had this time last year!) as i think of snow and ice when i look at my nails with these varnishes on. Mabey if we all painted out nails snowy themed someone up there would hear us and give us the snow we want! I know it can be a nuisance sometimes but sledging and playing in it for an hour or two until you freeze is fun! :)




If you're thinking about buying this Barry M polish, be prepared to pile on quite a few coats, the first coat is pointless and terrible, the second is better but you can still see parts of your nail, the third coat onwards is much better. The Mac polish is just what you would expect from a glitter based varnish!

What are your favourite holiday looks? :)
Love, Hol xxx

November faves!

Well i know its about 2 or 3 days too early to be posting this but i thought what the hell, a couple of days isn't going to change products i've been using for 28 or so days now! Plus i'm going to be incredibly busy with cakes over the next week or two! So expect to be seeing a few cakes being uploaded by next week, I can't wait to share with you all. Without further chit chat, here are a few of this months favourites! Oh, and for any product i've ever swatched/posted about on my blog before, I've linked it next to the item description :).





St. Moriz instant tan mousse: The infamous alternative to St. Tropez! Being a total whitey all year round even in summer, having a tan in winter benefits me more because my freinds are less likely to have their lovely natural tans..and no im not jealous at all. Mabey a little.

Mac Bronzing powder in Solar Riche: The next best product which helps to acheive a healthy glow. Goes on lightly to begin with unlike some bronzers which leave a horrible orange streak, easily blended and buildable. One of my favourite bronzers. Link.

Barry M nail paint in Mushroom: My go to shade when i don't know what else to wear! Without a doubt one of the best polishes i have ever bought. I don't know why but i tend to be attracted to these ugly colours haha. I think its also perfect for this time of year!

Mac Lipstick in Hue: A gorgeous sheer pink nude. One of Macs most loved i think! Wearable for a pretty day time look, or pair with dramatic eyes. Link.

Nars Copacabana illuminator: One of the best highlighters/illuminators i've ever bought! I usually go for more gold based highlighters, but this is a really really light pink colour, which unfortunately doesn't show well on my camera, I think i need to collect all three of these from Nars! I'm going to do a separate post on this product.

Elf studio tickled pink blush: A lovely sheer pink blush. A must have if you want a suttle rosy glow. Link.

These were just a few products i've been using this month that i picked out to show you. Hope you have all had a lovely November and i guess my next favourites post will be in the new year! Extremely scary to think that.
Love, Hol xxx

Rainbow connection accent nail

I've been looking for any excuse to wear Rainbow Connection ever since i got it the other week, and just today as i was admiring my Nails Inc. Bastil street varnish when i thought i could maybe just do an accent nail on my ring finger! Partly because I'm getting my nails done on thursday and removing a lot of glitter polish is a pain (Even though i have a simple but sort of time consuming way to do it, which i might be posting about soon!) and because i always regret putting way too much glitter and way too many gems on my nails when i already have on a polish i really like in the first place! I wasn't so sure that Basil street would look so good with Rainbow Connection but I'm quite pleased with how it turned out! Simple but with a little something something!






The great thing about this glitter polish is it doesn't feel gritty at all on my nails, and when you look at your nail from the side its completely smooth, no lumps and bumps, i did put over a Barry M top coat that i have just to protect it and to try and even it out, but you wouldnt even think you had glitter on your nails if you ran your finger over it! I'm such a fan of glitzy sparkly nails but i cannot for the life of me stand taking off glitter polish so i avoid it most of the time!
Love, Hol xxx