Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Monthly Haul: June

Hi ladies! I'm still deep into my unmotivational stage where I just cannot even think about swatching/writing posts at the minute, and it's starting to bug me! I have multiple swatches in the vault that need editing and posting, but everytime I go to do it, I find something else more interesting to do. I'm in desperate need of some tips to get out of this rut I'm in, so if you have any tricks, let me know!
This is a little late since we're already 2 days into July, and I usually have these published at the end of every month, but hey. Better late than never right? I've been EXTREMELY good this month with my spending, like ridiculously so. I've actually shocked myself with how little I spent on Nail Polishes in June, granted, I have treated myself to 13 new IBD Just Gel polishes to kick start my Nail Tech kit, but those haven't arrived yet so they'll be included into July's haul.
As always, I'll start with the polishes I personally bought and then show the ones I was kindly sent for review at the end.


I started this months purchases at Harlow & Co. after they had a restock of some shades I'd been after for a while. Of course, I had to spend over $50 to get the free shipping, not doing so would have been silly, right?! I picked up 2 KBShimmer polishes in Pastel Me More and Squared Away, 2 Happy Hands polishes in Motherboy and Flowers On The Highway and because I'm wanting to expand my piCture pOlish collection and have been wanting this polish for a while, I snagged Blogger.


I then placed an order on Superdrug online for the two limited edition BarryM polishes whilst they had their free shipping promo. I also ordered NYC - Raindrops which I completely forgot to photograph, however on the bottle, it actually says Blue Sky, so I have no idea what went on there.


Whilst browsing the magazine isles in my Supermarket, I saw that Marie Claire have partnered with Ciate again and are offering 2 mini polishes with every purchase. Unfortunately there was one magazine left on the stand so I wasn't able to see which other choice there was! This is Cookies and Cream with Shooting Star caviar beads.


I'm sure you're all aware if you've seen my last few Haul posts, I'm a little obsessed with NYC at the moment. They're so cheap and amazing quality for the price and I just love their colours. When I heard they'd released a Foil range, I knew I wanted to get them to add to my 'stamping polish' collection so when I saw them in Superdrug on a 2 for £3 offer, I grabbed them all and a couple extra too (I ended up doubling up on one polish I bought so I gave it to a friend).

That concludes the purchases for this month, how good was I?! I'm thoroughly impressed with myself. Now let's get onto the polishes I have kindly been sent for review (which I'm slowly and surely getting around to doing, desperately fighting this lack of motivation I currently have).


I was contacted my Dazzle Dry in the UK to ask if I wanted some of their polishes to review. After seeing so many positive reviews about this brand, I jumped at the chance to try them out. Although I haven't swatched them properly yet, I have worn one of their polishes for a lengthy amount of time and I have to agree, they're amazing! I'll try and get the review of these up as soon as possible!


Jacava (for some reason I've always thought it was Javaca) contacted me at the beginning of the month asking if I'd like to review one of their polishes. After seeing them at Professional Beauty in February and hearing about them on Lucy's Stash, I was curious to see what they're like, so of course I accepted. I do have this polish swatched and will hopefully get around to posting it this weekend, so stay tuned for that!


A looong time ago, I signed up for Rainbow Honey's blogging community thing and had completely forgot I had even done so until I was contacted with a Press Release and that my goodies were in the mail! The best thing about this package? I received all 3 of the polishes I really wanted (with the exception of I Miss You)! As with Jacava, I have these swatched and will have the post published most likely on Thursday! Again, look out for that!

That concludes my Haul for June, again so sorry it's a bit late! Did we purchase any of the same polishes this month? Let me know in the comments! I'm already a little excited to show you July's purchases, I've been a liiiittle naughty. Until then.....

Monday, 1 July 2013

Guest Blogger: Lucy's Stash

Hi ladies! I'm honoured to have such a talented guest on my blog today! I'm sure you're all aware of Lucy's amazing Nail Art creations and if you aren't where have you been hiding?! I'm always in awe of her creativity and a little jealous of how long her nails are! Mine seem to chip/snap off once they get to a certain length :(. Anyway, without further ado, let's hand the reigns over to Lucy!

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Hi everyone,
I’m Lucy from Lucy’s Stash and I’m excited to be doing a guest post for Rachel! I’ve chosen to do a mix & match geometry nails so there’s a lot going on.
Firstly I’ve painted on two coats of A England Fated Prince and let it dry thoroughly. Then I could start painting the nails using Rio Beauty black and white nail art pens from one of their sets. They are the classic nail art pens with small metal tip and a thin brush under the cap.
If you read my blog you know I’m not a big talker so let’s check out the pictures ;)






I’ve done a tutorial for the Jonqal pattern on the thumb and also a tutorial for the pinkie Checked pattern. Hope you like it!


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I love, love, love the design Lucy used on her thumb! I may just have to give it a try using her tutorial. A HUGE thank you to Lucy for taking the time to guest blog for me! I know she's a super busy lady! As always, links to her social networking sites are listed above! Stay tuned to see who will be featured next!

Friday, 28 June 2013

Guest Blogger: Smashley Sparkles!

Hi ladies! Today we have the Queen of Water Marbling dropping by for a visit! Ever since I can remember, I have been in awe of Ashley's Water Marbelling skills, especially since I find them next to impossible! Straying slightly away from the typical Water Marble, Ash is showing us this awesome Spotted Water mani! So let's hand the reigns over to Ashley!

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Hi guys!  When Rachel asked me to do this guest post we talked about me doing a water marble since she said she loves when I do those.  I sort of veered off a bit from that though and came up with this.  This is my first attempt at the water spotting technique!


For my base I used one coat of OPI Funny Bunny, and then I randomly painted on Kiko 339, Illamasqua Jo'mina, and Nails Inc for InStyle Power Pink.  Once I had my splodged (as Debbie from The Crumpet would call it) base I used OPI Suzi Loves Cowboys in the cup of water and I sprayed some glasses lens cleaner in to make the spots.


This combo was inspired by a Design Seeds palette (Color Basket) that I saw with a photo of some pastel hued macarons in a brown basket.  I thought the contrast of the brown with the pastels was really interesting in the photo, but maybe it didn't end up translating as well as I had hoped on the nail.


Either way it was fun to practice the water spotting technique!  I hope you guys enjoyed this look, and thank you to Rachel for asking me to guest post!

If you want to follow me you can find me posting the most at the following places:

www.smashleysparkles.com
www.facebook.com/smashleysparkles
www.instagram.com/smashleysparkles
www.pinterest.com/smashsparkles

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If you haven't heard of Ashley or seen any of her amazing Water Marbles and Nail Art skills, then one; you've been living under a rock and two; go and follow her this instance! As always, all her information and social media links are listed above! Thanks again to Ashley for agreeing to be featured on my blog! Stay tuned to see who will be gracing us on Monday! Have a good weekend!