Nails Of The Day - OPI Coalmates - Holiday 2017

So my nails aren't any longer than they were just over a week but I've got another dark colour to show so in my opinion the length doesn't really matter.

Coalmates is another shade from OPI's 2017 Holiday Collection, Love OPI XOXO. and whilst at first glance the colour in the bottle might appear to be dark and un-festive, in reality it's anything but.

Again none of my photographs will ever do this polish justice so do yourself a favour and pick this one up before it's gone for good.

OPI Coalmates is a beautiful metallic, deep charcoal grey, with is crammed full of multi coloured sparkle, in certain lights it looks almost black, and in others it's almost a silver, pewter shade. It's looking a touch blue these pics but I think the camera is just picking up on all of that fabulous blue sparkle.

Application was a breeze, the first coat was a touch streaky but two coats was enough to achieve full on, glossy, sparkly, smooth perfection.The wear time was also excellent and I managed a good 4 days without a top coat, and because it's just sparkle and not glitter it was also pretty easy to remove.

I know dark polishes aren't for everyone but even if you don't like them, you definitely need a shade like Coalmates in your life. I honestly can't fault it, compared to Feel The Chemistree (read my review here) the application was easy peasy and the colour is truly beautiful. The dark metallic, charcoal, pewter shade, looks incredibly sophisticated on the nails, and the subtle multi coloured sparkle adds just hint of holiday magic. For me this polish is pretty unique I've been wracking my brains to see if I own anything similar and I can honestly say that I don't think I do. I do have a couple of previous charcoal, and black shades from previous OPI Holiday Collections but I don't think any of them have both the metallic and the multi coloured sparkles. I'm definitely going to have a root through my epic nail polish collection and see if I can come up with anything but I'd love to know if you've got a similar colour in your nail polish collection or if you've seen anything similar on the high street - Let me know if you have x

Operation Nail Growth 2 Week Review - Mavala

Sorry this is a little late I have had one of those days :( I took a few pics this morning of my nails 2 weeks into using some Mavala products. The pics aren't that conclusive but I have noticed a real difference (you can compare them to two weeks ago by clicking here )I've had a couple of breaks on my thumb and ring finger but otherwise there is definitely an improvement





My cuticles still aren't great but I have been trialling a few Jessica products and I'll be bringing in a bit of OPI too to see if that helps. I'll post some more pics in a fortnight to see if there is any difference and I'll do a full review of the Mavala products I've been using then and maybe a few Jessica reviews too xx

Operation Nail Growth One Month On

Well if you look at these pictures compared to the ones I did a month ago (click here)you can clearly see that nothing has really changed and if anything my nails look slight worse -especially my thumb nail which now has a chunk missing :(
I am not writing the months trial off entirely because after two weeks my nails did look remarkably better - they just seem to have gone downhill since then. Despite more applications of nail oil, cuticle butter and hand cream - my hands and cuticles are insanely dry and I think that's what has lead to the breakages - OPI Nail Envy certainly helps but maybe it's time for something new. Last month during my spending diet disaster I picked up a Pro Strong Nail Kit from QVC (and the OPI Alice Minis but that's another story ;)) I must admit I have used Pro Strong before with pretty decent results - the only reasons I stopped were that I find it a hard system when your wear nail polish and I felt I used the product up too quickly but never mind I am going to persevere with it for this months nail growth challenge.


I'll explain about the system in more detail in a future post but this is the basic kit I got with the fluoride and calcium treatments, two cuticle products and a hand cream - I also have a few other Pro Strong products at home including a top and base coat, some colours, and some BioFusion serum. So this is what I am going to be using in March I might use some Jessica nail oil and some other hand creams alongside it but this is going to be my basic nail care regime for the next month. Instead of doing a monthly round up I think I might do one in two weeks time particularly comparing my worst nail - my left thumb just to see if there is any change even in that short time - get on :) x If that treatment regime fails after a month my next stop is Mavala (some of which I bought and some of which I was sent), and then something I saw in a recent All That Glitters21 February Favourites video - there are so many nail care products out there it's a bit confusing. So wish me luck - it's going to be a tough month for my little fingers in and out of water but we'll see how I get on :) x

Operation Nail Growth

As you can see this month I have bought some fabby nail varnish but as yet you've seen no nails of the day posts, well at the moment my nails aren't worth painting. Illness, medication, and the cold weather has all meant my nails are awful, super dooper short, with dry cuticles and hangnails (the pics actually make them look better than they are)


So for the next month I have decided to try a little experiment - operation nail growth - I am going to have a good go at getting a proper nail routine together with proper nail and cuticle moisturising, and some nail strengthening products, using items by OPI, Jessica, Leighton Denny, Nails Inc, Lush and so on which I already own (see not buying anything new ;) )

So have a good luck at my before nails and hopefully in a months time I can show you something a bit nicer - wish me luck and if you have any nail, hand and cuticle care hints and recommendations let me know x

Goodies Of The Day

I love parcels me so I was pleased to get a couple of parcels of goodies this morning. I have been desperately hunting some gold flip flops and a gold handbag to go with my purple Wallis dress so I was pleased to find these pretty leather flip flops on the Dorothy Perkins website



I also picked up a fab pair of earrings also from DP's - these match my Primark and Top Shop necklaces perfectly - another purchase for operation earring love :)


I also got this Top Shop bag from ebay BNWT for 99p - as nice as I think it is though it doesn't match the gold of the shoes, its more a platinum, pewter shade, so I have ordered another bag from Barratts that will hopefully be a better match


I also got a parcel of Nails Inc goodies which I ordered a week or so ago. You got all these items for a special offer price of only £10. From left to right - 3 Phase Nail Oil For Damaged Nails, Nail Colour - Selfridges First Floor a metallic brown/burgundy, Fast Dry Spray, Nail Colour - Friendly Selfridges - a great metallic copper shade, Nail Colour - Extraordinary Selfridges - a gorgeous french pink, and finally Brixton Nail Hardener. I am really pleased with this as I have none of the colours and I love Nails Inc nail oil


I have also got some more parcels coming which I am really looking forward too:)

Pre Spending Diet Goodies

OK I've calmed down a bit now after that rant :) I ordered a few bits before my spending diet started up again and they have all came today :)

First of all there was the free nail polish from Nails Inc that I posted about just over a week ago. I got Motcomb Street which is a lovely dark navy blue as my free polish, and I also ordered one of the Vitamin E nail oil pens, Nails Inc were also kind enough to through a free mini polish, a gorgeous true red, St James's - I love red on my toes at the beach so that is another holiday must have for me especially in the little travel size :)

I also got my Avon delivery yesterday I have really got back into Avon in a big way lately. Some of their special offers are fab - I love their Perceive body spray which is normally £3.50 a can but they had an offer on so I managed to grab 3 for £4.50 :)
I also loved the look of the new Jillian Dempsey for Avon range so I got a blusher in Celestial


You can't really see it here but its pink with tan/peach veining

I also got one of the eyeshadows in Sunset Sky - I have to admit I got this purely because it looked pretty a bit like planet earth don't you think


Its a really pretty blue with a peachy vein

I also got my Eyeko VIP kit - I am so pleased with the value of this - it contained a lovely silver tote bag, some badges and postcards, a mascara, a touch and go highlighter, a touch and go concealer, a rosy pink lipgloss tin, a minty fat balm, a silver glitter eyeliner and nail polishes in Vamp (black)and Punk (neon pink)

I also got a free gift of several face off cleansing wipes

Don't forget it you place an order with Eyeko to use my Ambassador Code E4222 to get a fab free gift

More Pre Spending Ban Purchases

Sorry for the pretty bad photos as per usual but my necklaces came -sorry they aren't too clear, and my earrings but they seem to have sent me a coral orange pair instead of the creamy white I ordered. I wasn't sure about them initially but they are really growing on me, they look lovely and summery and coral is right on trend for this season a definite keeper :)


I also got my super metallic reddy, orange havaianas from Powder Rooms Havaianas are probably the comfiest flip flops known to humanity I have quite a few pairs (erm about 10 :) )in all sorts of different colours - they are really fab. I tend to buy mine from Powder Rooms, the owner Soraya has really good prices and really good selection of colours and styles, including children's. Her shop sells some really quirky fashion, home, and beauty goodies, including brands such as Lola Rose, Ciate (the pic also features a Ciate cuticle oil pen ;) ), Billy Bag and Kings and Queens. Everything is always beautifully wrapped in tissue, and you usually get some Powder Rooms candy rock sweeties. Highly recommended and well worth a look :)

I also made my first purchase of the month today - £2.00 on Red magazine in Tesco (£3.50 if bought anywhere else this month)It also came with a free cute Cowshead Make Up Bag (also pictured)which is available in black and also in white :) - Fab - only £28 left to spend this month -argh!!!!