Bad News :(

Yeah, title says it all; I lost my job yesterday. The coffee shop I was working at only opened six weeks ago and of course this is an unseasonal time for a business like that so the boss wasn't bringing in nearly enough money to keep me on. She only had two employees anyway and the other girl had a fair few years more experience than me so I was the one to get the boot :(

But let's be honest - it was a shit job anyway and I couldn't wear nail polish. I'm gutted at having to sign on for Jobseeker's Allowance again, I hoped that's something I'd never have to repeat. So anyway - in the meantime, until I can find a new job, I might not be posting quite so regularly especially since I can't afford ridiculous hauls like before! Haha. I won't be on a hiatus or anything though, I'll still be here. In fact I'm still doing my nails every evening so I'll post up a bunch of this weeks manis at the end of the week. :)

Hope you're all well! <3

Water marbling, take two

I don't even bother with spending bans, because I know I have NO willpower. I should do though, I accidentally took advantage of the Superdrug 3 for 2 thang at the weekend - but I showed remarkable restraint (for me at least) and only got six items, the best of which was probably the Sleek Sunset palette - first time I've been able to find the bugger since it came out! But of course I wasn't too worried as it's part of the permanent line - thank fawk I got my hands on Graphite when I did, hey?

I also picked up a GOSH Velvet Touch liner (just the black one) after my good friend Charlotte raved about them so much and I have real trouble finding liners that show up in my waterline - this is performing well so far and I may have to grab a few more colours before Superdrug stop their 3 for 2... Also from GOSH I picked up Wild Lilac nail polish 'cause I don't think I have enough purples ;P Theeen I got a Collection 2000 pressed powder and blush, because why not?! Last thing I grabbed wasn't intended - I was looking on the Maybelline stand for Dream Mousse Blush (brilliant Maybelline product IMO) but they didn't have any. What I did spot was an amazingly pretty polish.. it's called Flash Cosmic and is part of the Express Finish line. It's a very iridescent blue glitter suspended in clear polish so it's more or less a top coat, and what's so cool about it is that the glitter only shows up when the light catches it from certain angles and you see this awesome blue flash out the corner of your eye.. stunning. BUT, it was absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to photograph. When you photograph it, it looks like there's dirt stuck to your nails or something.. so weird.

ANYWAY! Yeah I got sidetracked again. This evening I thought I'd give water marbling another go after my disheartening and disastrous first attempt. I do think this was a significant improvement, but I've still got a long way to go! You nail bloggers make it look so easy D<



This time, I used a base colour (Collection 2000 Dynasty) which seems to have helped a LOT. I marbled with GOSH Wild Lilac and Color Club Alabaster. There's too much white going on with my index finger, and my ring finger just looks smudgy. I think the middle finger looks best. I'm gonna keep at this, I think - I'll try several different colour combinations throughout the week :) I've also found that room temperature to lukewarm water seems to work a lot better - I used cold water the first time I tried because I had no idea what temperature the water should be!

Oh, and I used China Glaze Wireless Holographic topcoat here. It doesn't give quite the result I'd hoped for (which would be to make any polish look like it had come straight out of the OMG collection) but it's still very pretty - it's more or less a really really fine holographic glitter.

And lastly, sorry for the lack of proper clean-up in the pics! Haha <3

Out of hibernation

So ever since I got my Konad, I've totally ignored the nail art pens I got from eBay months ago. Woops. But I prefer to think they've just been in hiberation rather than been neglected. Soo, over the last couple of days I've been making a special effort to include them in my polish play. So I present to you, four manis sans-Konad!



I LOVE this colour. It's Sportsgirl Nail It! in Apple, courtesy of the lovely Jacie. This is everything I wanted Barry M Mint Green to be! It applies like an absolute dream, too. Anyway yeah, raves on the colour, not so keen on my crappy half-assed little design, haha. A few swirls and dots with the white pen.. yup!



Base colour for this one is Barry M Cyan Blue, then using the edge of a foundation sponge I stippled in a bit of China Glaze Atlantis (thanks Brooke) in a roughly triangular shape from the left hand side. Then I lined the edges with the black pen, and added the dots with the dark blue pen. I would have preferred to use the black for the dots too, but the dotting part was all clogged up and the needle that's provided to unblock them just kept bending when I tried to unclog it.. *sad*



Started getting a wee bit more adventurous.. haha. Base colour is Glitter Gal dark brown holo (another one from Jacie), then using a sponge I stippled on the top left hand corner with the polish from a coppery coloured nail art pen. Theeen I used a tiny little artists brush to do pointed teardrop shapes in the same corner with China Glaze Passion, then to make those look a bit more like the flower petals they were supposed to be I outlined with the black pen again.



The others are definitely meh, but I actually really like this one! It appears that keeping is simple is definitely the most effective route. Base is another Jacie polish - BYS Pink Panic. GORGEOUS! Haven't got any pinks like it! Then the strokes/ribbon type things were done with the black pen except for one one each finger which was done with a metallic silver pen, then gone over with a glittery silver pen when that was dry. I'm actually quite proud of this.

So how do you like them? Be honest - I want to get better at this freehand malarkey so honest opinions and suggestions much appreciated girlies! :)

Swatchtravaganza Part III: Fyrinnae

Of my recent piggie haul, Fyrinnae is the only company which isn't technically mineral. It is all vegan, however, and incredibly unique!

I think the most truly brilliant thing about Fyrinnae's website is their swatches. And when I say swatches, I mean ACTUAL swatches, not inaccurate color pictures or the crappy splat-shapes of pixellated colour that Illamasqua used to have before their revamp. Take a look at this page for example - it's the swatches that persuaded me to choose this product. You really do know what you're getting here, which is fantastic.

I only ordered four shadows (got five though - you get one free!) and one other product, as their samples are a little more pricey than Sassy's - coming in at $1.75 (about £1.05) each - but SO worth it, these shadows are truly unique to a bigger and better extent than any others I've tried. The other product I picked up was their 'Pixie Epoxy' - here's what Fyrinnae have to say about it. I must say, I was completely intrigued and after seeing swatches with it I HAD to have it.

"Please note that this is not an eye shadow primer, or really a base. It is to keep sparkles on or to make shimmery shadows appear "glossy" / a foiled look without foiling.
Originally developed and formulated for a friend/pro artist, this unique "glue" is designed to hold the sparkliest, most shimmery eye shadows in place and minimize "fallout". Can also be used to retain a "wet" or "glossy" look to loose shadows. Don't worry, it's easily washed off, and while keeps shadows in a water-resistant state, the product itself is water-soluble (no silicones or oils)."

I've found for best results with Pixie Epoxy (or Pixipoxy as I like to call it), you only need the tinest amount spread over your eyelid - it comes in a tube with a doefoot applicator - and leave it to go a bit tacky before applying eyeshadows on top. It's very difficult to blend over but I'm working on it - if I find a good method I'll be sure to let you know! Anyway, we've GOT to see swatches now right?

Swatches from L-R are dry, wet on bare skin, dry over Pixipoxy.



Gorgeous colours, right? Boy Toy is I think part of their permanent line and was my free sample - I think I mentioned in my haul overview post that this free sample has a lot less in it than the bought samples but that's not a problem. Sleepy Hollow and Pumpkinfire are from the Halloween 2009 collection - Sleepy Hollow looks a bit more blue here than it really is, it's a bit more teal in the flesh.



These two are AMAZING. Jaw drop much? :D I think Dressed to Kill was one of the Halloween colours too, I can't quite remember. Love Potion is one of their 'Arcane Magic' shadows, which are supposed to be really multifaceted and all sorts of colours from different angles. I think the swatches of Dressed to Kill best illustrate the effect given by Pixie Epoxy - stunning, no?

I really, really want to order some more of the Arcane Magic line when I've got some spare money floating around (not for a while then.. hah). How about you - have you tried Fyrinnae? If not, do you want to now? XD

Look at this, ladies!

So I was surfing the interwebz for inspirational nail art pictures, and I came across THIS THREAD in the 'Ultimate Guitar' forums.

I'd just like to clarify that I find big ugly 3D acrylic nail art like the last two pictures in that first post fucking horrible - the person who started that thread chose some VERY ugly examples to illustrate her point. And I'd also like to clarify that I don't give a rat's ass about what men think - my Colin likes my nails and appreciates the effort I put into them, but the general concensus of the men on that website is that women who paint their nails are self-obsessed.

I will admit that as beauty bloggers, we DO have a certain amount of vanity but whatever, at least we take care of ourselves, right? If those guys wanna stereotype like that, we can just say 'all guitarists are filthy and unhygienic' - definitely not true of all boys who play guitar but it just kinda riled me that they think girl who paint their nails are a bunch of tarts. :( Can't they appreciate that for some of us, it's a hobby? It certainly is for me because I can't wear polish on a day to day basis because of my job - I come home and paint them for fun then take it all off again. It's a hobby in very much the same way as playing guitar is for them! Grr.