Models Own!

Just like this time last year, Models Own are running a promotion, and if they get to 100,000 likes on Facebook, they'll hold a 50% off sale! Models Own polishes are great; they apply beautifully, are long lasting and an absolute bargain at a mere £5 each (Just £2.50 in the sale if they reach 100,000 likes - even better!) They also have a massive range of colours. I own about 20 Models Own polishes at the moment, and I have probably another 20 on my wishlist, so I'm really hoping they reach their goal of 100,000 on Facebook.

If you want to help Models Own reach their target, you can do so by clicking here and liking their page.

Apologies for not posting recently. Life has, once again, taken over and I've not had time. I do have a couple of polishes coming in the mail that I'm really quite excited about, so once they've arrived I shall post about them. I also managed to get my hands on a Spectraflair topcoat which is just amazing. I'm wearing Zoya Tao with the Spectraflair topcoat over it at the moment, and it looks amazing. I'll try and remember to get a photo tomorrow and pop it up here. You can expect a lot of holographic manicures now ;)

Hope all is good with you all, my lovely readers. I hope to get back into the swing of blogging soon!

xox Kat

Just a heads up!

Hello!

Just a quick heads up to say that you can get 6 polishes for a bargainous £15 at Nails Inc over the Jubilee weekend. It's a lucky dip, meaning you don't choose your colours, but when you get the package it's like Christmas because you don't know what's inside!

While on my travels, I also noticed that Marie Claire is giving away free Ciaté polishes with the current issue, and you can get free Leighton Denny polishes with Harpers Bazaar this month too. Oh, and in non-polish-but-still-kinda-relevant-freebies, Glamour are giving away mini Benefit goodies this month too. I believe they're Bad Gal Lash, The Porefessional and That Gal Primer. I'm still on the hunt for a copy with That Gal. They used it on me in the Benefit shop in Aylesbury once and I loved it.

Anyhow, sorry for being quiet yet again. I've moved and settled into my new place and will hopefully get back into the swing of posting again soon :)

xox Kat

Polish Storage

Hello everyone!

I am officially a rubbish blogger, sorry! I'm in the process of moving from a 2 bedroom flat to a room in a shared house, so most of my free time recently has been spent packing, cleaning and sorting my flat, and caring for a poorly chinchilla who's needed hand feeding every day for the last week and a half. He's looking a bit perkier now so fingers crossed he'll be okay!

Anyway. I thought I would do a quick (lol, 7 minute) video to show you guys how I store my polish. It's nothing fancy but it does the job. Kind of. In an ideal world I'd have a Helmer (and enough polish to fill it!) but for now, my £5 drawers from Morrisons will have to do. Do enjoy the Frank Turner in the background, too ;)

Let me know if you want to see anything from the video in more detail.

I am still planning to do the 31 day challenge, but that might have to wait now until after I've moved. Or I might start it on May 1st to do the 31 days in a 31 day month. It will be done soon though, I promise! ;)

Hope you guys are all well!

xox Kat

31 Day Challenge

Hello lovelies!

I've decided I'm going to attempt the 31 Day Challenge that's done the rounds on the blogging scene for a while! I tried it on my old blog, but didn't get very far. I don't think I'll do it in 31 days, but 31 posts. I'm hoping it'll encourage me to post more often, and as it gets lighter in the evening, I think I will (because I'll then be able to take photos in daylight after work, rather than being limited to only taking photos at the weekend! I need a light box/daylight bulb/something else)

The challenge is below - does anyone want to join me in doing this?

I'm currently visiting my parents but I will get a proper post up when I am home!

Cracked Mirrors

Hello lovelies!

I actually love what I am currently wearing on my nails. I'm fairly new to stamping; I purchased my first set of plates/stamper/scraper just after Christmas, but I'm quite pleased with how these turned out.

Half Moon Street is a beautiful, highly pigmented, shimmery cerise, which was pretty much flawless in one coat. It does stain though, just look at my cuticle on my ring finger! (I think I need to get some pure acetone for clean up/cleaning my plates) As you can see, Bond Street Lights is a perfect stamping polish, too.

The image is from BM-208 and kind of reminds me of a cracked mirror or something. I like it!

Holographic Zebra

Hello!

Today's mani is one that I did for a group I'm part of on Facebook, Adventures in Stamping. This week's challenge was to do a mani using a plate ending in the number 3. I only had three plates to choose from because I'm fairly new to stamping, and only have the second Bundle Monster set, but I had a look through them and couldn't resist using this one:

The polishes I used were M&S Rainbow for the base, GOSH's Black Passion for the image and China Glaze's Fairy Dust over the top. The image is from Bundle Monster's BM-223 plate. Annoyingly, my thumb nail was a smidge too long for the image, but it's not too noticeable in person!

In all honesty, most of the time this looks like zebra print over silver polish, with some fine holo glitter over the top; it's only when in direct sunlight that you can really see the holo from Rainbow coming through. I still think it's pretty though, and I think I'll be re-creating this mani again at some point. Can't go wrong with a bit of zebra print! ;)

I'll do graffiti if you sing to me in French

Today I wanted to show you another Max Factor polish I picked up when I got my first bottle of Fantasy Fire - Graffiti.

Graffiti is a beautiful sparkly green/teal colour. The photos show two coats of Graffiti over Nails Inc's A&E Protein Treatment base coat. No top coat, cos I forgot! Bad Kat.

 

I'm not really sure where the pink flashes came from in the photos, because there isn't even a tiny smidge of pink in this polish! I'm guessing it might've been the reflection from my hair, or my bath robe or something!

I found the brush a little difficult to work with because it's so tiddly, but it wasn't too problematic overall. Application was okay, the polish is a little sheer and the first coat went on a bit streaky, but with a second coat of polish over the top, it evened out and looks lovely! I think I might layer this over GOSH Ocean next time I use it. Ocean is lighter but I think it might look quite pretty!

Did you all have a good weekend? I ventured into London yesterday to see Brand New, who are one of my favourite bands in the world ever. It was the third time I'd seen them, and they never fail to impress. I got home around 00:50, and my alarm went off at 05:45 this morning. Needless to say, I am a tired bean so even though it is only 8:30, I am going to bed now, cos I've been wanting to go to bed since I got in at 5!

Cosmic Purple

Hello lovelies!

Today I wanted to show you a polish I was given for Christmas; W7 Cosmic Purple.

Cosmic Purple is a gorgeous glittery polish, consisting of pink, silver and blue glitter in a sheer purple base. Lovely! Almost full opacity was achieved in just two coats of polish (though upon seeing some of these pictures, I realise I probably should've done added another one) the finish was a little gritty, but that was nothing that a couple of coats of top coat couldn't sort out!

Anyway, onto the pics... These are two coats of Cosmic Purple over Nails Inc A&E Protein Treatment base coat, with Nails Inc Albert Bridge top coat.

As you can see, on my index finger in particular, I could've done with another coat as there's a bit of a bald patch and visible nail line, but it's not that noticeable in person, promise! And I apologise for the chinchilla hair on my ring finger! Those hairs get everywhere....

After a day or two, I decided I wanted to see how this looked matte, because I really like the look of how glitters/flakies/shimmers/etc look when they have a matte top coat on them. So, I added a coat of Essie's 'Matte About You'

I really like how this polish looks, both shiny and matte. Which do you prefer?

I'd never actually used a W7 polish before I put this on my nails on Friday, but I think I'll be keeping an eye out for more.. I am impressed. On Amazon, prices for W7 polishes start at under £2, so they won't break the bank.

Have you all had good weekends? Mine has mostly consisted of watching rugby, drinking tea, cuddling chinchillas and watching the snow :)

Max Factor Fantasy Fire

I don't have a lot to say about this manicure, it is just beautiful! Fantasy Fire is a multi-chrome polish, with flashes of green, gold, and red. I actually cannot stop staring at my nails!

I found Fantasy Fire a bit tricky to photograph, which is probably partly due to the awful, grey days we've been having in England this week! Nevertheless, I have a few pictures to show you which give you an idea of the awesomeness of this polish! All pictures are one coat of Fantasy Fire over Models Own True Blue.

 

The first and last pictures kind of remind me of galaxies! Super pretty.

I'm keeping an eye out for a second bottle of Fantasy Fire, as it is a really small bottle and I would love a back-up. I was lucky enough to get the last bottle in my local Superdrug (and it was on 2-for-£5.99! Bargain!) but haven't seen it in either Boots store I've looked in (they didn't even have a label for it on the Max Factor nail polish display) and it appears to be sold out on Boots online. Sadface!

Will you be getting yourself a bottle of Fantasy Fire?

M&S Rainbow... and welcome!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to Always Perfectly Polished - my little corner of the internet where I can be totally open about my obsession: nail polish! At last count, my nail polish stash currently contains 115 bottles, but that does not include any duplicates I have.

I thought I would feature my newest polish in my first post on here: Marks & Spencer Long Wear Lacquer in Rainbow. I have been lusting after Rainbow for MONTHS, after seeing it mentioned as a dupe for Gosh Holographic, and have scoured the nail polish stand in my local Marks & Sparks every time I'm in town. I finally managed to get my hands on a bottle yesterday and I Am In Love with this lovely holographic, high shine polish!

 

(I apologise for the state of my cuticles, the cold weather is playing havoc with my skin)

Rainbow is quite difficult to capture in photos, you have to look quite hard to see the holographic effect! In bright lights it is more obvious, so I did do a little video to show it off a bit better!

After looking at some more swatches of Gosh Holographic, I don't think Rainbow is a dupe. Sadly, I don't have a bottle of Holographic to compare, and considering there are bottles going for as much as £50 on eBay, I don't think I ever will! From the swatches I've seen, Rainbow has a much more subtle effect than Holographic, but it is still gorgeous. I really love the high shine finish, and I think I'll be tempted to try out some more of the Long Wear Lacquer range!

Rainbow costs a mere £7.50 in M&S! Bargain.