Sometimes I wonder why I bother? This post should have gone live at Christmas, but we all know what happened there, then I promised you it way back in March but again life got in the way again, and do you know what it just keeps getting in the way again, and again. I've got a little update post coming later this week but in the meantime here's a little nails of the day that I shot way back in December.
Over the last couple of years my nails have pretty much gone to hell, accurate reflections of my health I guess, but after scouring social media for nail growth tips I decided to give the whole BIAB, builder gel in a bottle thing a try. Basically builder gel is a thicker form of gel polish that can help support the growth of natural nails. I bought the stuff and started using it as both a sort of second base layer, and as a polish in it's own right, and gradually my nails started to grow.
Not super long by any stretch of the imagination but long enough to showcase a bit of colour and a tiny bit of easy nail art. My plan was to wear two different gel shades in December, a fabulous emerald green glitter for the big day itself, and this fabulous Sensationail Color Gel Polish in the shade of Disco Fever for the start of the month.
Disco Fever is a fabulous metallic silver with an almost holographic sparkle. These pictures really don't do it justice.
I must admit the coverage wasn't the best. It took 3 coats on top of a layer of base coat and a layer of builder gel, and it still looks slightly sheer in some of these pictures.
It's such a pretty shade though it's much of a neutral silver, rather than a bright, metallic silver if you know what I mean and of course I love anything with sparkle and holographic nail polishes really are my thing!
I think this final picture probably shows it off at it's best (excuse the dry cuticles!) the smoothness, and gloss of the polish, and of course the fabulous sparkle.
This polish certainly did it's thing for the for the first week or so of December, but for my festive cinema trip with one of my besties I thought they need a little bit of extra sparkle.
I do love me a nail sticker, and these silver snowflakes, added a festive twist to a my super sparkly mani and they also helped to detract from a weeks visible nail growth! Being silver on silver the effect was quite subtle (less so in real life though) but I still think it looked super pretty.
Being a gel polish the wear time was pretty good, I did add an extra coat of top coat when I added the nail stickers but after two weeks there were only a few tiny tiny chips, and a tiny bit of tip wear. The plan as I said earlier was to remove them on Christmas Eve and to do a new set in a gorgeous emerald sparkly green ahead of the big day but like so many plans I've made over the years it went quickly down the drain.
Instead I ended up with a horrible flu bug, and a hacking cough, being upright was hard enough let alone inhaling a load of chemicals so I left then be, with vague plan to remove them when I felt well enough. December ended and January began and still the lurgy continued, my nails just weren't a priority. They were grown out, chipped, a few had already peeled off and I bet you can guess what happened next? I did the worst thing I could possibly do and I picked and peeled the rest off.
Predictably my nails were shot- lifting, splinter hemmorhages, breaking and ultimately peeling off - the photos below show my nails on the 15th February this year, and even though I took these pictures when the bleeding and worst of the redness had subsided they weren't a pretty sight!
My immediate priority was to baby them, and give them some love so I bought some tea tree nail oil, and started to take care of them, with love, oil, and moisture. It's been a long journey, I'm talking one step forward, two steps back territory.
I've tried lots of different products, and whilst I still have a long to go to achieve the length that you can see in this Tik Tok (follow me on Tik Tok if you haven't already) they are much healthier, and I'm starting to see some growth in fact I even painted them for my birthday, with my old favourite Milani 3D Holographic Nail Lacquer in 512 Cyberspace.
As I say still a long way to go length wise but at least I have something to work with - I've been taking pictures for months now monitoring my progress so when they've reached a level I'm happy with I'll be sharing an update post, showing time lapses and giving more info on some of the products that I've used and that I would recommend x In the meantime though I have definitely learned my lesson don't pick off your gel polish, take it off properly and respect those nails. Honestly this is nothing against the polish just my 'method' of removal, Disco Fever like a lot of Sensationail polish is quite hard to find now but there are a few available on eBay if you fancy giving it a try. If you have any questions or any nail growth tips please leave me a comment below x Thanks as per usual for sticking with me and I'll see you soon with an update and life lately post x
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Hi Guys x I hope you’ve all had a lovely long weekend, and if you’ve been celebrating Easter I hope you haven’t eaten too much chocolate ;) I definitely have and it’s been much needed! The last month or so has being pretty rubbish in LouLouLand. Almost exactly a month ago I woke up and the left side of my face was completely swollen, I looked as though my face and lips had been pumped up with filler, leaving my eye just a slit! A call to 111 lead to an out of hours dental appointment and as it turned out two courses of antibiotics which were to put it mildly horrible. Thankfully the gum swelling went down and I’m currently like so many people in the UK trying to find a NHS dentist after without my knowledge my own dentist removed me from their list after I had (justifiably) to cancel two appointments in a row #fuming. Anyways my mum has been too well either and another one of my relatives is now seriously ill - it’s safe to say that 2024 has been a pretty horrid year so far and it’s showing no signs that it’s going to get any better :(
I’m still not feeling 100% but I thought I’d try and cheer myself up by sharing a little nails of the day with you. My nails have been pretty awful for a long while but I’ve recently been trying out a product that seems to be making a difference.
To celebrate the official start of summer time, and the little bit of spring sunshine that we’ve had over the weekend (although it seems to have disappeared today for some reason!) I decided to go for a lovely pastel, creamy lilac shade, the Sensationail Colour Gel Polish in Heirloom Lilac.
Since I actually started using my gel polishes and my Sensationail kit, I keep asking myself why I didn’t start using it sooner, I find it takes about the same time as normal manicure minus the dry time. It lasts longer and it’s much more hard wearing than normal nail polish. The only down side is the removal but I can live with that
The coverage is also superb, this is just two coats and whilst my application isn’t exactly of a professional standard, it’s so easy to apply and it looks decent.
As nice as it is on its own though I couldn’t resist giving this polish a bit of an Easter twist with some Shein nail stickers.
Nail stickers are great for livening up a tired or less than perfect manicure, and you can be as subtle or as over the top as you like.
With flowers, bunnies, carrots and sheep, it’s like Easter threw up on these nails and I love them, a touch childish maybe but so fun. I just cleanse the polished nail and the stick the sticker before applying a coat of top coat and sealing it under the lamp. You do need to apply another top coat layer every other day to keep it sealed in and to keep your mani looking fresh but it’s worth it.
As I say I got these particular stickers from Shein, who have an amazing selection of nail art bits but you can find nail stickers at various online retailers including eBay and Amazon. Sensationail polishes are getting harder to find now but there are a few bottles of Heirloom Lilac to be found on eBay.
Are you a fan of more subtle nail art or do you subscribe to my philosophy of more is more? Let me know in the comments and I’ll hopefully see you soon with another post xx
Hey Everyone - Happy Thursday! I hope you're all having another good week. As I said in my last post I seem to lurch from mini crisis to minis crisis, and this week has been no different! Being 'clinically vulnerable' I had both of my booster jabs on Tuesday and as a result I've felt pretty bleugh, and then my Internet went down for two days, which resulted in an Open Reach visit! Great fun I'm sure you'll agree but I'm back now with a little nails of the day post.
I haven't posted many pictures of my nails for what seems like an age now but that doesn't mean that I haven't been wearing polish. My nails haven't been great for a long time, so I didn't really feel like sharing but rightly or wrongly lately I've predominantly been using gel polish.
I got the Sensationail Deluxe Gel Starter Kit a few Christmas's ago now and I've added a few of their polishes, and a few from other brands to my collection, and I have to say I'm a bit of a convert.
Yes, it's a bit of a pain to remove (I would recommend this stuff though) and my nails are in slightly drier and flakier than they were, but they're growing, and gel polish last way longer on my nails then just every other normal polish and top coat that I've tried.
This shade Macchiato was one of the two shades that came in my starter kit. It's a real basic colour, and one that every person should have in their nail polish collection. It's just that perfect neutral, nude beige mannequin hands colour.
Like most of the gel polishes that I've used the coverage was fantastic. After my primer and dehydrator, I just applied one thin coat of base coat, then two thin coats of polish, followed by a thin coat of top coat and voila super shiny nails.
My nails aren't that amazing by hand model standards, my cuticles are a bit dry and flakey, and I do have a habit of of applying a bit too much polish, and flooding my cuticles, but I hope you can see just what a real staple a colour like this is. You can wear it to the office, on a night out or on the school run and your nails will just look perfect and polished. As nice as it is though, dare I say some people might argue that it's just a touch boring! The good thing about shades like this though are that they make great base colours for a bit of nail art.
Although I am practising, I'm not that arty so a lot of my nail art attempts leave a bit to be desired, something that takes very little practise or skill to use though are nail stickers. Just peel them carefully off the sheet, apply them to dry, or 'cured' nails, gently press them down, apply a top coat and you're done.
These Autumnal themed sticker are from Shein, and whilst I think i could have played with the placement and the application, and obviously the base colour, these nails took minutes to do, and I think they've really added an extra dimension to an all be it quite basic, and simple polish.
They may not be perfect but I love playing with nail bits, and that's what it should be all about having fun with nails and make up, and I am pretty pleased with how they turned out. There are definitely a few application flaws out there, and if you look carefully you may spot the odd cat hair or three, because this little one decided that he wanted to get in on the action - cats who would have them?
This particular bottle of Macchiato is the mini size that came in my starter kit bu the full 7.39ml size is available from both eBay and Nail Polish Direct for around £10. If you want to try the Sensationail system for yourself then there are various starter kits on the market, which contain an LED lamp, and all the things that you need to do your own at home gel manicure. The starter kits are available in several configurations at several different price points from various retailers including eBay and Amazon, and as I say my nail stickers are from Shein, where they were around £1 for 2 sheets. You can also get a wide range of similar fall / Autumn themed nail stickers from eBay.
Are you a fan of nail art or gel nail polishes? If you are then I would love your recommendations for gel nails polish brands, particularly if you can recommend a top and base coat, so please leave me a comment and let me know you favourites.
*This Post Contains Automatic Affiliate, Added Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links
Do you ever feel as though life is passing you by? This year seems to be going by so fast at the moment that the days seem to be blurring into one! I can only apologise that it's taken so long to get this post up but as I say I don't know where the time seems to be going at the moment.
Primark trips like a lot of things seem to have been a little thin on the ground this year, and to be honest another trip is well overdue at the minute. I haven't been to Primark since May and since we are nearly in July now I thought it was about time that I shared my May haul with you. It was a bit of a rushed trip, and I didn't really have too long to look around but I hope that the majority of these bits are still available but even if they aren't, you can always find something worth buying in Primark.
I seem to have inherited a lot of things from my mum, including her sense of humour, her openness, her eye colour, and weirdly enough her obsession with cardigans. We both love a cardigan, and if you're any sort of person then you'll know why. They are just so versatile and so easy to wear, a nice sloppy cardigan can look super cosy and casual, where as a shorter, more fitted garment, can add a bit of stylish, glamour with the right outfit and the right accessories.
Given the weather that we've had over the last week or so, this purchase does seem a little unnecessary but hey this is the UK, warm weather certainly isn't the norm even in the summer months, and even when the days are warm the nights can still be cold. Throw in the fact that Primark's one of those shops where you need to buy things when you see them and then you can understand why I honed in on this long line cardigan.
Okay I probably won't get too much wear out this cardi, till hopefully the autumn but the colour and the style just fit me to a T. With a slight balloon sleeve and no fastenings, this cardigan is in the over sized, long line boyfriend style; The ribbed detail gives it a bit more of a stylish edge, and I love the taupe, stone, mocha, almost deep oatmeal marl esq colour. It's perfect for just throwing on over a vest or a t-shirt, and a pair of leggings or skinny jeans and it's something that I'll eventually get a lot of wear out of. This was originally tagged at £13, and I would have happily paid that but I didn't realise until I got to the till that it was reduced to just £5 - Bargain!
Long line t-shirts and vests are real wardrobe staples for me, Although my body is quite short in comparison to my legs, I'm still pretty long in the back, and being a little curvier around the middle than I would like to be, I do love, no I need! a bit of length in my tops. When it comes to length Primark tops and shirts can be a little bit inconsistent but lately I've found some gems, look for the long line tag and that's exactly what you'll get. I've bought a lot of vests and t-shirts from Primark recently, and this long line charcoal grey, t-shirt was a welcome addition to my wardrobe.
The neutral tone, means that it pretty much goes with anything, and the fit is perfect for my shape. It's long enough to cover my hips and my tummy, and it has plenty of stretch so it clings to and emphasises my curves. You could size up I guess, but if you like a baggy, less form fitting t-shirt then maybe this style isn't for you personally though I love it and at just £3.50, next time I'm in, I'm definitely going to have a look and see if they have any colours other than the ones I already have.
Although I saw quite a few other clothing items that I quite liked (striped trousers I'm talking to you) as I say it was a bit of a rushed trip and I didn't really have a chance to try anything on, so that was it for clothing, but as I've said on numerous occasions, sometimes I really need to shop my own wardrobe and wear more of what I already own, and one way to do that it is to pimp up old items with new accessories.
I love scarves, I always have done, yes you can wear them to keep you warm, and you can even wear them to keep the sun off you and to keep you cool, but as well as the practical element they also have a serious fashion vibe and they can really finish off an outfit. As much as I love jewellery and chunky necklaces, sometimes, a simple scarf just tied loosely around your neck can take your outfit from meh to miaow ! Did I even say that - cheesy! lol, you know what I mean though, depending on the scarf and how you tie it you can add a touch of class to even the most boring jeans and t-shirt combo.
This scarf combines two of the key trends of Spring / Summer 2018, stripes and florals. A little bit more expensive than Primark's usual neck wear options at £6, this scarf comes in a slightly textured fabric, I think the term they use is Swiss dot, and it features almost a self coloured, raised polka dot design, throw in an on trend pom pom trim, and thanks to it's long length, this scarf will take you from beach, to bazaar to bar.
Accessories are great way to update an outfit but some of them also have a practical purpose, and since the plastic bag tax was introduced in the UK, I always now have at least one reusable bag in my bag no matter how big or small that it is. Some of them are a bit mehhhh, who really wants a bag with a shop logo on? I want something a bit funkier, hence I have a few of the Poundland Disney bags, and I've now added this House Of Holland shopper to my plastic free bag repertoire.
Yes, you heard me House Of Holland, it's been a long time coming but eventually Primark seems to have jumped on the high street store / designer collaboration bandwagon. Unlike a lot of stores though Primark's collaboration with designer Henry Holland isn't about selling a name it's all about selling a dream.
Holland has designed several different shopper bags to raise funds for London Graduate Fashion Week and to help the next generation of fashion designers to achieve their dreams. The bags retail at £3 and Primark will donate £1.32 of that from ever bag sold to Graduate Fashion Week. Made from sustainable cotton there are several designs to choose from, but the one I went for with it's vibrant slogan, just screams classic House Of Holland.
I guess if I was going to give this post an alternative title I could have called it a haul contains things that Louise is obsessed with - scarves, bags, long line tees, cardigans, and now cushions! According to my mam I have an unhealthy obsession with cushions, they're just so cosy and comforting and despite having way too many for just one bed, I can't seem to stop buying them! I initially went into Primark's home section to hunt down an ice cream cone shaped cushion that I'd seen on Instagram, alas I couldn't find it but this one made me equally happy.
I know I'm an adult but there is something about cartoon cats and cats in general that I just love, I love Hello Kitty, Simon's Cat is my latest love and there is something about Pusheen that brightens my soul. In fairness, this super soft furry, velour feel cushion which was £6, resembles a cuddly toy more than a cushion but either way I couldn't resist it. It's cute, it feels lovely and like all cuddly toys and cushions it's comforting.
From home to beauty, and something else that I love, the Primark PS Cuticle Oil, I've talked about this stuff, quite a few times lately, and I'll be talking about it again in my next empties post so at the risk of boring you I'll keep this brief, it's only £1 for a 10ml bottle and it fabby, nuff said!
At the moment my nails are pretty rubbish but if you follow me on Instagram (please follow me if you aren't already I'm @LouLou699), I've recently been posting a quite a few nail art hauls. When my mam was in hospital sleep didn't always come that easily so I spent a lot of the nights trying to while away the hours until daylight came and it was easier to sleep. On more than one occasion I fell into a You Tube wormhole and started watching videos on everything from the sexiest actors without shirts, to pimple popping, vegan recipes, and hours upon hours of nail art! I used to love nail art, and thankfully I've still got a lot of my old stuff including nail foils, and stamping plates, so when I get some nails back again hopefully with lots of new inspiration I can pick up where I left off and get creative.
I saw this nail art set and I thought that it would make a nice addition to the tools that I already have, it was reduced from £5 to £2, and as well as containing a nice glittery nail file, it also contains 3 silver tone, nail art tools with fabulous purple / fuchsia crystal detailing. The kit contained 2 brushes in two different thickness, which are perfect for striping, painting and detail work, and one fabulous double ended rubber / silicone tool. I'm not going to lie this tool is probably the main reason that I bought this kit, I've seen a few people use this type of tool to smooth out nail foils, and stickers, and also being used to apply things like holographic and pearl powders. I can't wait to start having a play around with these tools, the nail art bits that I already have and some new additions and to see what I come up with x
I've lost count of the times that I've raved about Primark make up brushes but in my experience the majority of them really are that good, even more so when they are only 50p.
When I was last in Intu Metrocentre Primark, they had a whole rack of these PS Foundation & Concealer Brushes reduced from £1.50 to just 50p each.
This double ended brush with rose gold tone ferrules, features a classic, flat rounded foundation brush, and a substantial rounded concealer brush. The hairs are nice and soft, but they're dense enough to do the job - I didn't really need any more make up brushes but this was too good a bargain to turn down - a nice dual purpose brush at an even better price.
Ah Primark, your make up collection just keeps getting better and better, I definitely have my eye on their new highlighters but in the meantime on my last visit I picked up two lip products. The first one comes from their newish bridal inspired range, and this is one of their PS Bride Tribe First Kiss Lipsticks.
Packaged in an on trend, rose gold tone, Tilbury, Lauder, Arden esq ridged tube, these lipsticks have a quirky, push button, pop out design, that adds a bit of quirk and a bit of extra style.
There were a few shades to choose from them in the range but I went for the shade Bachelorette, a really pretty and wearable nude.
Alas I didn't manage any shots of it on the lips but this is a really nice colour and a pretty decent formulation. It has a pretty strong coconut, vanilla scent but it's really moisturising and it leaves a lovely glossy finish. I probably have a kazillion similar shades but for just £3 I'm happy to have this one in my collection.
From something I love to something well that I don't! If you watch the accompanying haul video below, then you'll see that my first impressions of this product were pretty good but when I started using it my opinion rapidly changed!
From their range of K-POP and Kawaii inspired make up products, I picked up the K-POP Pillow Talk Matte Lip Cushion in the shade Cuddle which was £2.
Packaged in pink and white tube, this lip colour features a screw cap, and a velour tip. Simply squeeze the tube, and out comes the product, all fresh and ready to apply to the lips.
So far so good? it looks cute, the packaging works, and I love the fruity taste and scent, but that's pretty much wear the positives end for me. First of all it was nearly impossible to apply evenly, the sponge tipped applicator wiped the product off almost as fast it put it on, throw in a streaky as hell formula, and a matte and dry finish and the whole thing was a just a nightmare. The paler than pale pink colour didn't help either, rather than giving me the Bardot esq lips that I'd hoped for it just seemed to emphasise every flaw, and make me look dead. On the lips this is a big no no for me but since I hate waste I'm going to try and maybe use this as a matte, liquid cheek colour, I haven't tried it yet but fingers crossed it works better on my face than it does on my lips.
You can't win them all I guess and I was pretty happy with the rest of my Primark bargains so I guess I can't really complain. I've made a video to accompany this haul so if you want to hear my first impressions on some of these items, more my decent into a You Tube wormhole and my opinions on Henry Holland original slogan tees than have a watch via this link or below, and of course don't forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel.
I think another Primark trip is well overdue in LouLouLand, so if you've picked up any Primark bargains recently don't forget to share your links and your finds with me in the comments and of course if you have questions then leave me those as well x
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