Review: Rio Professional Nail Art Pens; First look (Pic Heavy)

Hi ladies! I have something a little different for you today in the form of a product review! *cheers* 

I was contacted a couple days ago by a lady at Rio Beauty asking if I would like to review some of their Nail Art Pens and as you know, I've started to dip my toes in the Nail Art world recently, so I kindly accepted.

Before I get started with the review, I thought I would give you a little insight to who Rio Beauty are.

"Rio is fast becoming one of the most popular brands offering salon treatments, technology and techniques for everyone to use and enjoy in their home. Saving money and time is always helpful, choosing when it suits you may be equally important.

With many treatments we provide step by step instructional DVDs containing helpful tips and advice directly from our salon trained beauticians. All this helps ensure you get the best and most professional results every time. "

I've had a little fiddle around with these and I can tell you I am pretty impressed so far. The polish consistency is smooth and not gloopy, which I have found with some of the cheaper art pens you can get from eBay. The polish doesn't cling on to the striping brush, meaning you're able to get thinner, more precise lines and the detail pen nib doesn't bubble out after using it (a few of the pens I purchased from eBay tend to carry on pumping out polish even after use). I took a few photos of the products you get in each box and have added a little description of what each thing is, to see that click the jump link!

Swatch: OPI - Espresso Your Style

I need to kick myself in the butt and get back into swatching some of my polishes! As you may or may not know, I have put myself on a spending ban for Nail Polish until I have swatched and published at least a 3rd of my collection. So in order to treat myself, I need to work hard to get these done.

Today I have for you OPI - Espresso Your Style from the Deliciously Dark collection of 2006. Espresso Your Style is a deep, dark brown base with gold shimmer, giving the polish a bronzed look.

I don't really know what to make of this polish, I like it but I also have a bit of ill feeling towards it too. I do think it compliments my pale skin tone though, which is always a bonus!

The application was good, the swatch is 2 coats without a top coat, I think 3 may have been better, but never mind, eh!? 

Just a short post for you today, I'm a busy bee! What are your thoughts on Espresso Your Style? Do you own it? Do you love it or are you, like me, undecided? Let me know!

Polish Count: February

For those of you who are new to my blog, every month I do a Polish Count, where I total up the amount of polishes I've bought throughout that month.

It's basically a way for me to keep track of my addiction and to show you how obsessed I really am! 

This month I did get rid of a few polishes through my blog sale, so that has altered the complete total I would have had, however my current count for February is:

Polish Count (Feb 27th); 247

That's a total of 31 polishes this month. Which isn't too bad in my opinion! Next month will probably be a lot higher, as I have a few swap boxes coming my way! I think once I reach 300, it is time for me to invest in a Helmer, as I've already outgrown my current storage solution!

Swatch: BarryM - Silver Glitter (Limited Edition)

Hi guys! Yesterday I showed you BarryM Silver Foil and today I have a little layering post for you *ooooh* aren't you lucky! This polish has been sitting in my collection for a little while now, just waiting to be used and shown off to the world. It's a special Limited Edition polish that was only available in Boots stores in the UK, you could either pay £3.99 for just the polish or you could get it free when you spent £6 on any BarryM cosmetics. I was actually sent this by a lovely lady in my polish group called Eve as my Boots stores were completely out! Unfortunately she doesn't have a blog currently, so I can't send you guys over to her to show some love!

Oooh pretty!

Silver Glitter is just your basic Silver rectangular glitter in a Clear Base, you can wear this on it's own with a couple of coats, but as I already had Silver Foil on, I thought I would layer it over the top. I love the cuteness of the bottle too! It has a holographic lid!! *yay for holographicness*

I'm unsure if the offer is still available in Boots, I'm guessing not as it was over the Christmas period, but if you managed to snatch it up what do you think? It is just an average glitter, but it's BarryM and Limited Edition - so I had to get it, right?!

Swatch: BarryM - Silver Foil (Instant Nail Effects)

I realised something today, I've never actually swatched a BarryM polish on my blog (besides the Croc Effects post) which is completely shocking to me as BarryM is the reason why I fell (so hard) in love with Nail Polish! At the beginning of 2011, my now vastly growing nail polish collection only consisted of 14 BarryM polishes, yes 14! I was completely captivated by their wide range of bright, eye catching colours and their inexpensive price tag. For those of you that have been living on another planet, BarryM are a UK based cosmetics brand whose products are all cruelty free (which is amazing in my opinion) and offer high-end quality products for a fraction of the price.

BarryM Nail Paints are priced at £2.99 for their regular Nail Paints or £3.99 for their Instant Nail Effects which include their Foil and Crackle lines. You can purchase BarryM products from their website as well as any UK Boots or Superdrug stores and online, the best thing is THEY SHIP INTERNATIONALLY TOO. So all you non-UK polish lovers don't have to miss out!

Anyway, back to the polish at hand! Today I have for you one of BarryMs' Instant Nail Effects Nail Paint in Silver Foil, a Metallic Silver polish with subtle Silver shimmer. I absolutely love their Foil polishes, they apply like a dream and are opaque in one coat as well as having super quick drying time, which does seem to be a common trait in most Foil polishes. The only downside I can see to Silver Foil are the visible brush strokes, I actually like how they look and the 'messy depth' it brings, but I know this isn't every ones cup of tea. 

Tip: To minimise the visibility of the brush strokes, paint the side of the nails first and finish with a stroke down the centre of the nail.

What are your thoughts on BarryM Nail Paints? Or even their cosmetic range in general! What are your 'must have' BarryM polishes? Let me know!

Disclaimer: This polish was purchased by me. I am not affiliated with this company in any way. I just LOVE the brand!

52 Week Challenge: Corset Nails

Oh, what a surprise, I'm late AGAIN. But at least it is within the time allowance this time! Yay for me! This week challenges us to do a Corset Manicure, I had an amazing idea for this, but unfortunately it didn't translate too well onto the nail...Story of my life really.

To do these nails, I actually only used Striper Nail Art Pens, with the exception of BarryM Gold Foil. I do like how it turned out, even if it did look totally different in my minds eye.

What do you think?

300 Follower Giveaway WINNERS!!!

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway! I wish I could pick you all as winners, but that would just be impossible! So, without further ado the two winners of one of these beautiful prizes is.....

DRUM ROLL PLEASE

KATIE!!

&

ALEX!!

Congratulations to both of you! You have both been e-mailed and have 24 hours to reply to the e-mail with your information and the prize you would like most. If both winners want the same prize, it will go to the first person to be drawn.

Thank you again to everyone who participated! I will be having a 500 follower giveaway soon, so keep an eye out for that!

Updated Blog Sale

I'VE UPDATED MY BLOG SALE

CLICK THE PICTURE TO SEE

Nail Mail: Wednesday

I've got a little bit of Nail Mail for you today, which I have accumulated over the past couple of days. I'm still in my 'OPI' phase as you can see, but I think I'm slowly weening myself away from them and moving on to new and exciting things from other brands. But they're so pretty and I love their names/colours.

I got these from various places/people so to see what came from where, keep reading!

52 Week Challenge: Valentines Day Mani

Hello ladies, my name's Rachel and I'm an awful blogger. Yep, you guessed it, I COMPLETELY forgot about last weeks challenge. I've actually been really busy and haven't really had time to sit down and do nail art. So as it's now Sunday and I'm supposed to be doing a totally different mani, I thought I'd better get this up now.

I have posted this previously (as I said I haven't had time to do my nails) so please forgive me for not doing a new mani! I promise, this week I will actually get it done.

On a good note, I actually got a job offer today, which is exciting and the best part is that it will be in the evenings, so I still have time to get swatches done in natural light. Wooo. Also, I have been gathering information on Nail courses at college and am thinking of enrolling for a part time course, I may as well be doing something I love right?! So many exciting things are going on right now. Yay! Also, if you haven't noticed...I have re-done my blog (again) and I love it! I'm still fine tuning the HTML and tweaking it a bit so I can have it exactly how I want, but it's so pretty!

Swatch: Cult Nails - Mind Control

Okay, so first things first...please excuse my sorry ass job of a 'clean up'. Clearly my camera likes to pick up faults of mine for the world to see. I need to invest in one of those remover pens! They look like they work a dream. Also, apologies for my reflection! I tried to get out of the way, but then the image went all blurry and out of focus. GAH.

Anyway, back to the post. I have another Cult Nails polish for you today in the form of Mind Control. I actually really like the dimensions to this polish, Mind Contol is a deep, blackened purple base with magenta glitter. I did notice a slight colour change to the glitter when reflecting in different lights, the photo is 2 coats without a top coat. I really like the 'vampy' look to this polish and I think it suits my skintone well.

As I said before, Cult Nails are available from their website and are priced at $10 each. I believe this colour is still available to buy too. Be sure to check out their Facebook page too, as Maria is always announcing upcoming discounts/sales on the site.

Swatch: Cult Nails - Power Thief

Today I have a polish for you that is no longer with me! I've had this photo in my 'vault' for absolutely ages, but I never got around to posting it - Hello short, blue stained nails!

This is Power Thief from Cult Nails which was released in their Super Powers collection last year. I actually pre-ordered the whole collection just because 'Unicorn Puke' now known as 'Clairvoyant' was being re-released and with the hype around Unicorn Puke, I knew Clairvoyant wouldn't be around for long!

Power Thief  is a rich, chocolate brown packed full of silver and pink shimmer. The application was really good, as I've found with all my Cult Nails polishes and I only needed 2 coats for full opacity. Unfortunately, this colour just wasn't for me, I didn't like the way it looked on so I sold it in my blogsale. As a whole, Cult Nails polishes cannot be faulted in any way, shape or form. I love them! You can purchase Cult Nails polishes HERE for $10 each! The best thing is that shipping costs to the UK are really inexpensive too, it's even free after $75! Have you got any Cult Nails polishes in your stash? If not, what are your Cult Nails lemmings?

OPI - We'll Always Have Paris (Suede)

Today I have for you my first OPI suede polish in the form of We'll Always Have Paris.

We'll Always Have Paris is a gorgeous soft purple rose packed full of silvery shimmer, I don't have the original WAHP from their La Collection De France released in Fall 2008, but from the swatches I have seen of the polish - the suede version is completely different. I used two coats for the swatch, but one would have been enough. It also dries extremely quick, which I think is a common trait amongst Suedes/Mattes.

After having this polish on my nails, I have the need to get the rest of the Suede collection! I currently have Lincoln Park After Dark and Ink Suede coming to me, but I will have to look around for the rest of them!

I wanted to see what WAHP looked like with a top coat on top so I used China Glaze Patent Leather Top Coat and this is what I got! Oooh shiny! I actually think I prefer it without a top coat, although it looks gorgeous with one, without gives it a more unique look instead of just being a run of the mill polish.

What are your thoughts on Suede polishes? Do you prefer them to Matte?

Nail Mail: Thursday

I have for you some more exciting nail mail today! Being on a no buy is pretty cool if I'm getting Nail Mail every day of the week, ha. On a serious note, these were bought before the no buy came into practise, so they don't count ^.^

I found the China Glaze Prismatics collection on a UK e-tailers and definitely had to snatch a couple up. I mainly wanted to try them out, so instead of buying the whole collection, I thought I would only get 2 for now.

The colours I chose were 'Polarized' (the silver) and 'Prism' (the purple), one thing I love about China Glaze glitters are that 9 times out of 10 they are very, very glitter packed and only need 1 to 2 coats for maximum impact! I've only swatched these on my nail wheels, but I am pretty impressed with the outcome! I'll have swatches of these up for you ASAP, but for the meantime there are a lot of swatches of them all over the blogesphere that you could check out :)!

Also, my giveaway ends in 8 days! So if you haven't entered already, click the 'Giveaway' tab at the top of the page to be taken to it, or click the picture in the side bar ----> and that will take you there too!

OPI - Mad As A Hatter

Oh hai again ^.^ I wanted to start my swatching posts off asap, just because the quicker I get through them, the quicker I can buy polish again! YAY. No, this doesn't mean I'll be posting 50 million posts a day, I'll just stick to one (maybe two, or three, or four) no, just one.

What better way to start than with OPI - Mad As A Hatter! *pause momentarily to stare at the glittery goodness* If you haven't been living in a dark cave with no Internet, then you will have heard all about this beauty. Mad As A Hatter is one of 4 polishes from the Alice In Wonderland collection released in January 2010, and is one of the most sought after polishes of all time. I was lucky enough to find it on eBay for less than retail price! Needless to say I snatched it up right away as there were only 3 in stock.

The way I'd describe Mad As A Hatter, is a party on my nails. It's packed full of micro glitter in an array of colours, red, purple, green, gold, silver, the list is endless. Just to show the sheer beauty, I actually attempted to get a macro shot! Wanna see?

Oooh, pretty! Apologies for the unfocused macro, my camera cannot for the life of it take half decent shots, so I had to crop this from another photo of my nails..I NEED a new camera and fast! What do you think of this beauty? Do you own it or are you lusting after it?

Nail Mail: Wednesday

Yayy, I got some more Nail Mail today from the lovely Marnie @ Ambiance Shop. She posted a comment in the group I am in asking if anyone wanted to house her Deborah Lippmann - Bad Romance polish and without thinking twice I jumped at the opportunity. I don't have ANY Deborah Lippmann so this is amaze-balls. Bad Romance is gorgeous, I know it's a dupe for Revlon - Facets of Fuchsia, but I don't own that either so it's all good.
The other two polishes were a total surprise! Marnie, you naughty. This package is definitely a box of firsts as I don't own any Sally Hansen or Shades polishes either :D The Sally Hansen polish is in the shade 'Marine Scene' and the Shades polish is 'Freestyle'. The best thing about this is that it didn't take long at all to get here! I think it took a week? Which if you read some of my mail posts, a lot of times it takes almost a month to reach me from the States!

I have also made myself a little challenge...I am no longer going to buy any more polishes (except the ones that I already have coming from eBay/Swaps etc, so those don't count) until I have at least swatched and posted a 3rd of my collection on here. It's getting to the point where I have so many polishes, I just end up forgetting about them. Let me know if you have any requests of a certain polish you'd like to see from my Stash List and I will do my best to get those up for you! :)

Tuesday Nail Mail! :D

Today has been one of those awfully long and boring days, I left the house at 9am this morning and I've just gotten back, I know for a lot of you with normal jobs, this is everyday life, but I don't have a normal job and usually don't leave the house until midday!
Anyway, after coming home in a bad mood from dealing with idiotic people ALL day, I walked into the kitchen and saw that I had a package on the table. I could see it was from the states, but I didn't know what it was. I was hoping it was my FP flakies, but unfortunately it wasn't, but it was my two Color Club sets I ordered from eBay a couple weeks ago :D The sets I got were Untamed Luxury and Dance to the Musique collection.

I got the 'Indulgence' set from the Untamed Luxury collection, as they didn't have both! Which includes the shades (which are labelled completely different on the back of the box); Pretty In Platinum, Wild Orchid, Soft As Cashmere, Positively Posh, Nothing But Truffle, Jewel Of A Girl and Ready To Royal.

I also got the Dance to the Musique collection, which I'm not too psyched about in the flesh, I thought they were more sparkly than they are (my fault for not looking up swatches) but nevertheless, I still really like the shades, which include; Feel The Beat, Velvet Rope, Slow Jam, Electronica, Groove Thang and After Hours. It also includes a Nail Hardener & Strengthener base coat, which is always good.

I will eventually get around to posting swatches, I just haven't even had the time to do anything today, and I am absolutely drained from rushing around all day! So you'll have to forgive me for the shortness of this post too, I'm actually going for a nap because I feel so blergh!

Saturday Nail Mail!

 Okay, so I have been seriously slacking on the Nail Mail posts lately. But truth be told, I haven't really gotten much in the post, I'm still waiting on my eBay order of Color Clubs, so I'll be posting those when they finally arrive.
I'll start with the two polishes I got from Buyapowa when they were having an OPI co-buy. The polishes I got from them were both from the new Nicki Minaj collection and they were Metallic 4 Life and Save Me. I actually got both of these for £12 including postage and packaging, which is awesome. If you haven't heard of Buyapowa, I suggest you go check them out! They have some amazing deals on cosmetics and polishes. The next polish I received today in the mail and it is OPI - We'll Always Have Paris from their Suede collection, I got this from eBay for around £10 with postage and packaging from the US. I've been lusting after the Suede collection for a while now and I plan to get the rest of them in due course.

The next thing I received in the mail today are these Nail Tapes. I thought I'd invest in some of these for when I do Nail Art and want clean lines, I did try them out earlier and my god, they're so fiddly! Definitely need to get used to them. I also got these from eBay for just under £2 for 10, which I think is a pretty good deal. Keep an eye out for some posts using these!

OPI - Not Like The Movies

Today I have an absolutely amazing duo chrome polish for you in the form of OPI - Not Like The Movies from their Katy Perry collection.
I bought this polish from a blogsale on a whim, I hadn't actually seen any swatches of this polish when I bought it, I was just going off the look of the polish in the photos and I'm so glad I did!
This is probably one of the best duo chrome polishes I own, the shift is so apparent no matter what light you hold it in, there's always the presence of both the green and purple on the nail. As well as being a duo chrome, it also is packed with fine silver glitter, it reminds me of mermaids that you used to read about in fairy tales!


I then wanted to see what it looked like layered over black, so I took out Essie - Licorice and added two coats of Not Like The Movies on top. How beautiful is that?! Not Like The Movies is definitely my favourite duo chrome polish by far, as of this moment! What are your favourite duo chrome polishes? What would you recommend me giving a try, leave me a comment below!

Models Own - Dream Stream

I have a brand new Models Own polish for you today from their Spring/Summer collection. I haven't actually seen any swatches of this in the blogesphere yet, so I hope I can give you a good review!
I actually received this for free as it was sent wrong with my Models Own Group Order. I ordered Blue Lagoon but was sent this instead and when I contacted Models Own about this, they told me to keep this polish and they will send out the correct one. How awesome is that?
Dream Stream is a gorgeous Cyan Blue polish with Light Blue micro shimmer, it reminds me of the ocean (not the kind you see in Britain, that's for sure) or pool water. I actually don't have anything like this in my collection, so I'm over the moon that it was wrongly sent to me!
This isn't actually on the Models Own Website yet, but I know it's available from ASOS.com. The swatch was 3 coats, the nail line was still slightly visible so 4 is possibly preferred.

52 Week Challenge: Half Moon

Okay, so I'm 3 days late again posting this! But I ALWAYS forget or re-do the mani 6 different times before I even want to show anyone. This was one of the later times, I think this is attempt number 4? Even now I'm still not happy with it, but if I redid it, I'll never get around to posting this thing.
It's safe to say, half moon mani's are definitely not my cup of tea, there's just something about them that makes me dislike the look. For the 'half moon' I used Ciaté - My Fair Lady and used Essie - Licorice for the rest of the nail. I then used an Art Deco striper pen in white for the lines. I didn't really like how basic this looked, so I took some white pearls from one of my many wheels, and dotted those across the connecting line. I was happy to leave it there, but I wanted to attempt to draw on some roses (EPIC FAIL). For those I used OPI - 20 Candles On My Cake mixed with BarryM - Strawberry Ice Cream. I then used my white striper to draw on some 'definition' and topped it off with China Glaze - Starboard for the leaves.
Like I said, I wish this mani turned out a lot better than it did, but practise makes perfect, right!? Unless another challenge asks, I'll probably never attempt to do this mani again. What do you think? Like or Loathe?

Tattoo Tag!

I asked a couple of people if I should do a tattoo tag, as it is another one of my addictions, as well as nail polish...obviously. I haven't gotten tattooed in a long time, and I miss it. But I should be getting one of my pieces finished soonish, so I thought now would be a good a time as any to show you some of them! If you're not interested in tattoos, then you don't have to read this! Also, if you aren't a huge fan of tattoos, then again - this isn't the post for you. If you are interested and love tattoos then keep on reading!

Friday Nail Mail!

Afternoon folks! How are you all this cold, snowy day? I have a little Nail Mail post for you today, consisting of more OPI polishes. I tell you, I'm going completely OPI crazy lately! Talk about jumping on the bandwagon late...but like I've mentioned before, OPI are so expensive here so I only buy them when I spot good deals.
Today I have for you OPI - The One That Got Away & Last Friday Night from their Katy Perry collection. Besides the exception of China Glaze - Let It Snow (which has 4 minis), I don't actually own a full, full sized collection from any brand and with the Katy Perry collection being only 4 polishes big (5 with the shatter, but I don't really want that) I thought it's one of the easiest collections to complete, plus I do love a bit of Katy. So, I can now say I own a 'full' collection of polish! Yay!

Here they are in all their beauty! (From L-R) Not Like The Movies, The One That Got Away, Last Friday Night & Teenage Dream. So happy I was able to get them all :D
Do you own any full collections? If so what are they? Also, if anyone is interested in the Models Own order, I will probably be doing it tonight. As it stands at the moment, for 5 polishes shipped to the US is $33 - a lot cheaper than you'd ever get with the site itself! If you are interested, send me an email polishedcriminails@gmail.com with the polishes you'd like and I will reply with the total cost and how to go about payment! You must pay upfront, however, to avoid backing out at the last minute.

Models Own - Peacock Green & Announcement!

It's currently 3:15am and I'm not in the slightest bit tired, so I thought I would do a little swatch post.
This is Models Own - Peacock Green, I've actually had this polish for absolutely ages and it's just been sitting in my stash ever since I first wore it almost a year ago. I forgot how gorgeous it actually is! Peacock Green is a pearlescent Emerald Green with Teal shimmer, but in certain lights it looks more Teal with Emerald Green shimmer. I would have had more swatches for you of this colour, but almost every picture I took, once uploaded was blurry....annoyed wasn't the word. The picture is 3 coats, but you can get away with applying two.
I've definitely fallen back in love with this colour, and will probably be wearing it again soon. What's your favourite Models Own polish?
Also, for you International Ladies who find it hard to get your hands on Models Own; I'm currently putting together a big order for some of my International friends who want some polishes. The more people who want polishes, the cheaper your order will be! There's also a 10% off discount at the moment for the website. I'm able to ship them to you a lot cheaper than it would be if you ordered directly from the site, if you're interested send me an email at polishedcriminails@gmail.com with the polishes you'd like and where you're from and I will email you with a total cost for your order.

Alice In Wonderland Nail Art

I have a little Nail Art for you today, which I've actually only just finished! I was so excited to show you and I'm actually happy at how it turned out too!
Now, I absolutely love everything about Alice In Wonderland, so much so that I even have an Alice In Wonderland tattoo! I've been thinking of doing a tattoo tag/post, so if you're interested in seeing that let me know! 
I didn't come up with this design myself, as much as I'd have liked to...I actually copied 'IHaveACupcake's YouTube Video. This was never meant to be passed off as my design, I actually just wanted to see if I could re-create it, which I think I was able to do - no where near her calibre though!

Here are all the polishes I used! BarryM - Lime Green, China Glaze - Light As Air, OPI - Jade Is The New Black, Models Own - Snow White, Ciaté - Skinny Jeans, BarryM - Bright Purple & Nail Art Pens.

What do you guys think? I think I did it justice, right? :D

52 Week Challenge: Newspaper Mani

Okay, so I am a terrible blogger. This was meant to be up on Sunday, but I completely forgot about it until now. I actually was meant to re-do this as it went horribly wrong the first time, as you can see. For one, I didn't wait until my basecoat was completely dry, and then I don't think I waited long enough for the ink to dry, so when I applied my Top Coat all the lettering smudged >.<
I've come to terms with the fact that this is probably the best I can do and that I probably won't be re-doing it to get better photos...Sorry :(
For the base I used 3 coats of Color Club - Nomadic Nude, I originally wanted to use Ciaté - Sharp Tailoring but decided against it last minute. I didn't actually have any rubbing alcohol at hand, so I actually used Vodka to transfer the writing over, it gets the job done so I can't complain! I then topped it off with China Glaze - No Chip Top Coat :).
I definitely could have done better, if I'd only have been patient enough to wait for it to dry!

Check out the other girls mani's too!

Jenna @ I'm Still Thinking
Kevan @ The Dragon Lady
Lissa @ Lissa's Nail Blog
Charlotte @ Charlottes-Nails
Nicel @ Operation: Nail It!
Caitlin @ Addicted 2 Nails
Kirsten @ Darling Nails
Liz @ Nothing But Nail Polish
Cindy @ Square Polish
Gypsy @ Gypsy's Glitter
Kaki @ Glitter Obsession