A Spring Nail Wardrobe Update

Hello all! I think its fair to say my little ‘appreciating what I have’ period is over. I’m pretty impressed, I lasted from Dec-March which is not bad for someone who spends a lot of money on makeup and hardly any on clothes y’know! (Oh and food, lets not forget the food which is causing a double chin to appear, slowly but surely ._.). Thats not to say I DON’T appreciate what I have and honestly it was refreshing not having parcels coming in for a few months and just getting good use out of what I own... of course I will continue to do just that but I’m not going to be so strict on purchasing makeup either (if I can find some sort of way to justify it...I usually manage just fine ha).



Recently boots had a triple points event AND 3for2 across all makeup so how could I refuse to make a order? One of my best friends turned 20 so half the stuff was for her (see I told you I could justify it tehe) and as I have well and truly shopped my stash I’ve identified what I could do more of. One of those things? Spring nail polish shades! Now I wrote a post last year on my spring nail picks, which you can read here but truth be told I wanted some more of the Gelly shades from the Barry M range because the quality is much better than Ciate minis. I’ve learnt that the hard way after having to layer 3X with several of the polishes - not the quality I would expect at all. Anyways enough nattering on - here are the shades I picked:

Quick Dry: Pit Stop from their new range, a light grey colour
Gelly Polish: Almond a deeper grey/mauve shade which has a beautiful gloss to it as do all the the ‘gelly’ range
Gelly Polish: Lychee THE PERFECT NUDE POLISH FOR WARM SKINTONES I've seriously been looking for this shade for years, I need to buy back-ups, it’s gorgeous!
Gelly Polish: Rose hip an off-white pink shade, so pretty for the summer time especially ^_^

Although this is a spring nail polish haul, these shades are all neutral enough for use all year around and also very classy! In case you couldn't already tell, I am obsessed with Lychee, I have such issues with finding the perfect nude shade for my brown fingers and this is just wonderful, I was in awe of how lovely it looked!

Which is your favourite shade from the HUGE Barry M range?

Thank-you for reading ♥
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A Spring Nail Wardrobe Update

Hello all! I think its fair to say my little ‘appreciating what I have’ period is over. I’m pretty impressed, I lasted from Dec-March which is not bad for someone who spends a lot of money on makeup and hardly any on clothes y’know! (Oh and food, lets not forget the food which is causing a double chin to appear, slowly but surely ._.). Thats not to say I DON’T appreciate what I have and honestly it was refreshing not having parcels coming in for a few months and just getting good use out of what I own... of course I will continue to do just that but I’m not going to be so strict on purchasing makeup either (if I can find some sort of way to justify it...I usually manage just fine ha).

My Autumn Nail Picks

Hello ladies ^_^ today I want to share the polishes that will be in my autumn rotation. For this season I like royal blues, maroons, and antique(ish) shades.

From L-R: My Denim, Dangerous Affair, Aubrey*, Cappuccino, Posh Trash, Members Only

 

Rimmel Salon Pro | My Denim - This is the PERFECT royal blue shade, a opaque rich colour which only needed two coats. Furthermore the chunky brush size, which I thought could make it more tricky to apply, actually helped so much! In two swipes my nail was coated in an even layer, no fiddling about with filling in the odd spot that I had missed- you geniuses Rimmel! The formula is one of my favourites too, I could easily be mistaken for it being highend ^_^

Ciate Paint Pot (mini) | Dangerous Affair- This is a mini from one of the Ciate gift sets I purchased from fragrancedirect.com. It has a pretty poor formula to be honest, taking at least three coats to reach this level of opacity, but the colour itself is a gorgeous mix of burgundy and plum. I don’t know why the camera wouldn’t pick up on just how dark this shade really is, but its a very classy pick.

Zoya |Aubrey* is the first shade I tried from the brand and considering the price point, it has met my expectations. I own two O.P.I polishes and this is on par, if not better in terms of formula and the brush size too. The shade is little ME in a bottle, I adore purples on the nails, and this slightly warmer toned one looks stunning on my olive skin!

Barry M | Cappuccino - This was my first ever nail polish purchase! I wore this shade non-stop and still like to pull it out from time to time. I would describe it as a blend between purple and grey, and it again completes my skintone nicely. I always find that brighter and lighter shades look a little off on me, so the more purple/dark tones are generally me favourite (although royal blue is an exception!).

Rimmel Salon Pro | Posh Trash - A gorgeous bronzy gold which is quite understated so suitable for school and work. I’ve already talked about my love for the this range, and the opaqueness of this in one swipe is impressive. If not one every nail, this looks AMAZING with all darker shades, as the one on your ring finger.

Ciate Paint Pot | Members Only - Ok ladies I’m not 100% sure why I added this into my picks (painted the wheel a while back.) I mean sure its a nice sheer colour and could look pretty as the ring finger shade but honestly, but take it as a little heads up, not worth your precious monies.

All my Rimmel polishes and the Ciate minis I purchased from fragrance direct who are simply the BEST when it comes to your nails! The discounts are phenomenal ^_^

Do you have any favourite shades for this time of the year?

Thanks for reading!

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My Autumn Nail Picks

Hello ladies ^_^ today I want to share the polishes that will be in my autumn rotation. For this season I like royal blues, maroons, and antique(ish) shades.

NOTD | A Classy Ciate Duo

Hello ladies! I recently painted my nails in a completely different style to what I usually go for. OK..not COMPLETLY because yes that is glitter you see on my ring finger -  but hey I did try to refrain ._.

As soon as I opened up my fragrance direct package and saw how beautiful the shade Golden Sands was I needed to pop it on. Its a beautiful ‘dusty pink’ nude shade, but not just any old nude...a 90s nude, and we all know how classy that shade is! I’ve gotta admit, despite being someone who is not usually compelled to follow the trend, I am digging this whole 90s vibe ^_^

The colour ‘Antique Brooch’ which was a mini from one of the various gift sets from FD again, is SO beautiful! I wore this to my uncles wedding, three layers and I wish I had taken a clearer photo because those looks fabulous. To remove them was an experience I wouldn’t like to relive, so instead of layering it up, I just added one coat of Antique brooch onto my ring finger and voila! That little sparkle that I just can’t seem to get enough of was there!

I adore these two shades together, and I’m thinking of picking up the full size of Antique brooch which is gold glitter with flecks of pink. Ciate is a highend nail brand, with paint pots (full size) costing you £9 a bottle. However I only paid £2 for Golden Sands and although I adore the shade and the mini paint pots from previous gifts, I don’t understand why they charge double that of a highstreet polish. There was nothing special about the formula, after two and a half days (with a top coat on of course) the polish chipped....so I think its 100% worth the two quid, but I would hesitate to spent £9 on a basic bottle of the stuff when Barry M and Rimmel do just as good a job, if not better.

P.S The Gorgeous necklace is from the Instagram account: @LUSH_BOWTIQUE or find them on facebook here

Thanks for reading!

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NOTD | A Classy Ciate Duo

Eid Nail Art

The cute loom-band bracelets were made by my little cousins - thanks girls!

This Eid I thought I’d make a bit more effort with my nails, and as I had recently picked up some pretty gold/silver nail studs it seemed like the perfect occasion to try it!

I’ve found it pretty hard to take decent photos, my sister took a few out of focus ones but hopefully you’ll get the idea ^_^

The main nail colour is Barry M’s Berry Cosmo and on my ring fingers is Ciate’s Spending Spree 108 which coincidently matched my Eid clothes perfectly! Its a beautiful duo-chrome nail polish ^_^

The seller I bought my nail studs from doesn't seem to have them anymore, but THIS seller has the exact same! The studs lasted a decent few days and I didn’t need to use any special glue. I just applied a small blob of clear polish where I was going to add the studs, and 2 minutes later applied my normal clear coat on-top of all the nails.

On my left hand, this simple hand-chain is from H&M and I love how versatile it is. On my right hand the thick ring is from H&M as is the ‘V’ shaped midi-ring. The simple midi-ring on my index finger is from Topshop :)

I am just not great at taking photos of my chubby hands! My favourites were the little finger and the diamonds on the thumb ^_^

Thanks for reading!

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Eid Nail Art

The cute loom-band bracelets were made by my little cousins - thanks girls!

This Eid I thought I’d make a bit more effort with my nails, and as I had recently picked up some pretty gold/silver nail studs it seemed like the perfect occasion to try it!

New Nail Polish Storage!

Hey ladies!

I have had a very busy week, and probably won’t have much time over the next few weeks to post :( however I will do what I can when I have a spare moment, and today I was excited to show you my new nail polish storage!

If you follow me on instagram or have liked my page on facebook, you will know that I adore me some acrylic storage! I have been asked to do a makeup collection post, and that could be coming your way towards the end of May/June but for now meet my latest piece :)

This was bought from e-bay, for under a tenner and from a UK seller surprisingly! The reason why I was tempted to pick this up was because in the last two months my nail polish collection has grown drastically due to taking advantages of the Fragrance Direct Ciate gift set sales!

As you can see there are LOADS of reds, pretty much every shade you can imagine, as well as lots of other pretty ones. I thought they would look so pretty on display, and you can fit two into one slot :) Unfortunately ALL my nail polishes don’t fit on here, I could have done with an extra rack or two, but it just means I have to rotate them every now and again.

You could easily fit Essie bottles and I will check later if O.P.I bottles fit too. I love how pretty my growing Barry M collection looks on the top row! The link to buy this is here and it costs £7.49 with free delivery :) I love how you can clearly see all the shades clearly and how organised it looks next to my Muji storage too.

I hope you’re all well, and hanging in there if you’re going through the wonderful things that are exams ._.

Until next time…Thank-You for reading!

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New Nail Polish Storage!

Hey ladies!

Spring Picks | Nails

Hello! Since I’ve been switching up my makeup recently, as Spring has FINALLY sprung here in the UK, I thought I’d share what I’ll be using, and what I’m liking the look of for this spring!

So nails wise, I know pastels are ALWAYS in for spring time, and I love the look of milky colours, or ‘off-white colours’. Personally I don’t think many shades suit my own skintone…especially lighter shades, but here are a few that look perfect for spring and hopefully I’ll be a bit more brave with my choices, rather than sticking to my typical dark purple shades!

L-R : Ciate Amazing Gracie, MUA Lush Lilac, Barry M Blue Moon, Ciate Ferris Wheel, Ciate Sugar Plum, Topshop Easy Breezy

All of my Ciate polishes are their mini paint pots which I purchased at a discounted price from fragrance direct. I’m not sure if they are still available, but they’re worth checking out if you can get your hands on them because they’re the perfect way to try different shades from a high end nail brand, without splashing a lot of cash! Although they’re minis, the full size is available online too :)

So staring off with the more vibrant shades..

Topshop – Easy Breezy: I bought this polish YEARS ago (do polishes have an expiry date??) and because I didn’t like the way it look against my skintone I’ve hardly used the stuff which is a shame, because I was impressed to see that with one coat this was almost fully opaque! I will be braver and use easy breezy this spring because its a gorgeous light teal shade, which matches a few silver rings that I own.

Ciate Sugar Plum: A beautiful cross between a lilac and a purple, this is where my comfort zone is at. I’m not sure why but I am drawn to purples polishes – and this is no exception. I love how its slightly muted tone means it’s really spring appropriate (not too bright like summer shades seems to be)

Ciate Ferris Wheel: The bluest on the bunch! This is a clear baby blue shade and there isn’t much else to say about it really! It has no hint of green, yellow or any other funkiness and I love how fresh this shade is despite being a light blue.

Ciate Amazing Gracie: How beautiful is this pinkish white shade?! It reminds me of a well loved Essie shade that is similar, but I adore this nude/neutral colour that has a hint of girliness about it. I think white nails can look very classy, but sometimes a little TOO stark? This however is a beautiful mix of pink and white, and a full sized bottle will be replacing the mini once I’m all out!

MUA Lush Lilac: Another beautiful shade, a lot more muted than Sugar Plum, I really like the way this can look lilac in some lights and pink in others! For £1 MUA allow you to experiment with all sorts of colours (I know they’ve just released a new batch) and I have my eye on some more of these lighter shades because they have got the colour so right!

Barry M Blue Moon: I left Ciate’s swatch on there (far right) to show you that these could almost be mistaken for a dupe! However up close blue moon has a ever so slight undertone of green, making the shade a washed out blue, leaning on the teal spectrum of colours. That sounded a lot fancier than it was supposed too, but basically, though blue moon is not as true of a blue as Ferris Wheel, I love the more washed out colour it is, and will probably be pairing this with some silver jewellery!

Which shade is your favourite? ^_^

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Spring Picks | Nails

Hello! Since I’ve been switching up my makeup recently, as Spring has FINALLY sprung here in the UK, I thought I’d share what I’ll be using, and what I’m liking the look of for this spring!

Summer Nail Art– Roses

Hello ^_^

So a while back I purchased these nail art dotting tools from Amazon and I have to say they are pretty awesome, especially for that price!

I’ve created one or two different looks, but haven’t really had the time to spend ages over my nails. I’m certainly not the type of girl who’ll weekly use a nail file and buffer to make sure my nails are in tip-top condition and I’ve always wished I had slender, pretty hands but mine are the clumsy type – which nonetheless work perfectly fine so I can’t complain haha.

Occasionally I like to attempt being creative and so I thought I’d share this summery look.
 (Please excuse the messy pre-cleanup, I forgot to take some pictures after I’d gone around the nails with a handy cotton bud!)

The leaves aren’t actually that neat this close up, but it’s been zoomed in a lot. In real life they really do look like little leaves :)

Roses are my absolute favourite flower, and I adore this green colour by Essie!

Nail Polishes used:

From L-R: Barry M Basecoat, Topcoat and Nail Hardener, Elf in Nude, Topshop in Easy Breezy, Beauty UK in Golden Claret, Essie in Mojito Madness and Rimmel London in Pure Sin.

Do you enjoy experimenting with your nails from time to time or are you more of a one shade kinda person?

Iqra x

Summer Nail Art– Roses

Hello ^_^

So a while back I purchased these nail art dotting tools from Amazon and I have to say they are pretty awesome, especially for that price!

I’ve created one or two different looks, but haven’t really had the time to spend ages over my nails. I’m certainly not the type of girl who’ll weekly use a nail file and buffer to make sure my nails are in tip-top condition and I’ve always wished I had slender, pretty hands but mine are the clumsy type – which nonetheless work perfectly fine so I can’t complain haha.

Occasionally I like to attempt being creative and so I thought I’d share this summery look.