Cracked out

Ok, so I'm pretty tardy to the Barry M Instant Nail Effects party, mainly because it was sold out everywhere I looked before Xmas. BUT, I have a small pearl of wisdom to impart which makes what must be the millionth blog post on this clever-if-not-slightly-gimmicky product worthwhile:
The thinner the stroke, the more it splits.
See my thumb - this was a relatively thin coat. The ring finger was a much thicker layer. So there you have it.
The basecoat above is Nails Inc Cadogan Square, a lovely creamy camel that matches my skin colour perfectly in natural light, meaning it can look a little like I'm wearing no polish at all. It's pretty damn chic. Application was a little patchy so you'll need a steady hand, two good coats and some Seche Vite.

Not quite spot on

With a gloomy Saturday afternoon to fill, a friend and I decided to give the leopard nail trend a whirl, and I learned a few lessons along the way!

Nails Inc Satin base (two coats)// Essie Splash of Grenadine spots// Pilot fineline permanent marker highlights// Seche Vite topcoat.

• This took me an hour and a half. I'm sure the more you do it the quicker you get, but attempt number one took me forever
• Using a permanent fineliner wasn't the great idea I thought it would be. It didn't like writing on the Nails Inc polish, so I had to do a coat of Seche Vite on top of the spots, then the fineliner highlights, then another coat of Seche Vite to seal... but...
• It turns out, Seche Vite shrinks the polish slightly as it dries, so after 24 hours the polish started coming off an entire nail at a time. I have whole nail-shaped sheets of leopard polish to prove it! 

So, lessons learned - buy a black nail pen (or use the black liquid eyeliner trick) and never use two coats of Seche Vite! 

Despite the fact that two hours of painting my nails didn't even last two days, I really loved the effect and would do it again, without repeating my rookie mistakes!

Sparkle motion

Thursday 20 June was an exciting day for the UK high street - H&M Fashion for Aids line and Kate Moss's biggest collection yet both hit the shelves, to much elbowing and catfighting on Oxford Street, I can tell you.

Managed to picked up a couple of beauties on a whistlestop tour after work - more about them over the weekend - but one particular find has made this beautiful day even more sunny.

It must have been the return of summer that made me want to take something about my outfit to the next level today... but after over-experimenting with neon clothing in my uni days, I decided to limit my crazy brights to the fingers... so embarked on a glittery journey.

Now, let me preface this by saying I thought my glitter nail days were over long ago (except perhaps at Christmas), until the little gem above caught my eye in ToShoOxo lat night - Barry M nail polish in number 228 - oh the possibilities to add a subtle shimmer to any shade!

With nails already slicked in Nails Inc Satin (my personal fave of the turquoise family), I added a quick layer of this sparkly beauty and the little fellas were transformed from a basic look to something with another dimension. The silver sparkle makes the polish seem shimmery metallic, rather than like something from Claire's Accessories, and instantly more expensive!

It's the closest to Minx I've had at home.

Another bonus of this perfect polish is it sweeps on smooth, rather than scratchy or raised like some glittery polishes, which means less chance of chipping... everyone's a winner!

(Sadly this effect didn't quite translate in the images above - first shot is a before, second is the after - obv.)