how to: Paisley nails

After seeing paisley print dresses and dungarees all over the place, I decided to have a go at recreating it on my nails.

I used essie's Bikini So Teeny as my base colour and a white nail art pen for the design. If you don't have a nail art pen, you can use a thin brush.

Here’s how I did it:

  

Once you have allowed the white varnish to dry, apply a clear top coat to blend it all together and help prevent chips

Get creative with base and pattern colours!

are you a fan of paisley? will you be giving this a go?

 follow me on bloglovin/GFC/twitter and leave a comment!

Gelly Hi Shine Nail Paint by Barry M

I'm a big fan of the super shine nails I've been seeing around recently, and when I saw that Barry M were launching these 'Hi Shine' nail paints I had to give them a go.

The application was very easy as the varnishes have a consistency that is easy to work with, and are not gloopy at all. It took 2 or 3 coats before it was fully opaque and dried a lot faster than other polishes I've used.

I chose Greenberry and Papaya, both of which are very bold, bright colours that definitely get noticed. 

Do Barry M fulfil their claim of high shine? Yes! I got many compliments on how shiny my nails were! They began to chip after 3 days, so now when I use them I add a chip resistant top coat to preserve them for a little longer. I definitely prefer the Gelly polishes to the regular Barry M polishes I've tried in the past.

Gelly Hi Shine nail paints are available in Boots and Superdrug for £3.99. (Superdrug are currently running a 3 for 2 offer!)

 have you tried a Gelly polish yet? did it live up to your expectations? what's your favourite shade?

Remember to follow me on Google Friend Connect / twitter / instagram and leave a comment!

MUA: Undress Me Too Palette

I've wanted the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette for a while now, but never seem to have the spare £36 for it. When I saw that MUA had created a dupe of it for only £4 I had to give it a shot.

The palette comes with a double ended eye shadow sponge brush, which is good enough to use, but I prefer to use this eye shadow brush also from MUA.

The palette has 12 shades, each with their individual names which is a nice touch.

(L-R) Naked, Devotion, Shy, Fiery, Lavish, Dreamy, Tranquil, Exposed, Reveal, Wink, Obsessed, Corrupt

The shades are neutral, earthy tones which are perfect for achieving both day to day looks as well as more dramatic night time looks. Some of the shades are matte, whilst others have a shimmery metallic appearance, meaning you have a shade and finish to fulfil all of your neutral eye shadow based desires. All of the shades have great pigmentation and have lasted up to 8 hours when I've used it, even without using a primer or base beforehand.

I would definitely recommend you buy this palette, whether it's to be used everyday or as a back up for your Naked 2 palette. For such a small fraction of the price of the Naked 2 palette, it is an excellent dupe and has taken pride of place in my make up bag.

You can find MUA products in their online store here, or in Superdrug who are running a 3 for 2 offer, so take advantage!

have you used MUA's products before? what did you think of them? are you a fan of the Undress Me Too palette?

don't forget to follow me on GFC (can find it on the left side of my blog)