DIY Gel Polish Haul and NOTD

For the back ground reading on why I ended up giving this a go see yesterdays post.

I did a bit of research and hit up Amazon!

The first thing i sourced was my UV lamp. After a bit of research I opted for the 36 watt with timer option, it was roughly about £17 + postage which i found to be reasonable enough.

It was the polishes I was worried about, Amazon does sell CND shellac polishes but at £15 quid a pop for something i might use once and then never again, I wasn't to sure....

While i was googling swatches of their colours though another brand kept popping up, Bluesky.

Now I'm a documented lover of a good dupe, and although i obviously bought a few, something makes me a little uneasy about these polishes. I mean its one thing to have similar colours to a high end brand but these have the same colours, the same bottles(different label) and even the same names for the colours. Its really pushing the line between 'dupe' and all out 'copy' but at around £6 a piece it's much more affordable for an at home enthusiast like myself. I'd be checking the bottles at any salons though.....

From Left to Right we have- Asphalt, Purple Purple, Hollywood, Tutti Frutti, Strawberry Smoothie, Moonlight and Roses, Silver VIP and the Base and Top coat. The colours of the bottles aren't really a good guide to the shades as, rather than the bottles being transparent, they have a similar colour overlay instead.

During my google swatch hunting travels i decided to try a nice layering effect I'd seen, Asphalt with a overcoat of Moonlight and Roses.

A quick YouTube tutorial watched, I was ready to get going.

1. I ran some Acetone over my bare nails to make sure my nails were perfectly clean.
2. 1 thin coat of basecoat cured under the lamp for 10 seconds.
3. 2 coats of asphalt, both cured under the lamp for 2 minutes each.
4. 1 coat of M&R again cured for 2 mins
5. A layer of top coat again cured for 2 minutes

Now i'm no expert so follow those instructions at your own risk but since doing this on Friday I've had people commenting on how nice my nails look, and I've not had any tip wear or even the slightest hint of a chip and my nails are horrific for chipping i can usually only manage about a day, if i'm not working, and sitting perfectly still!

The polishes are quite thick and can be a little troublesome but as long as your reasonably careful and do a clean up before you cure each layer it is fairly straight forward, if a little time consuming.

Have you ever given this a go? Any tips on technique or what colours to check out?

Leave a comment below or give me a tweet x

Friday Favourite #7 My bedroom (and a big old philosophical ramble)

I mentioned in yesterdays post that i'd done a little bit of re-jigging in my flat.

I really love it all, it feels very me but the bit i'm loving most is definitely my bedroom.

You see I have a thing about the colour white, and before anyone says i know white is not really a colour. My entire place is painted white, i like it like that A: because it goes with everything B: because it makes my small flat feel airy and C: because i hate painting, this way if i fancy a change i can just change a few soft furnishings to get a completely different look.

My bedroom has always been a bit of an after thought on my home decorating crusade as well, its not really a room a parade of people get to see. So it was plain as could be, white walls, cream carpet, white bedding and dark wood furniture......boring.

But i can feel spring in the air! (though in Scotland at the moment spring seems to consist of rain and snow!)

And i wanted a fresh start, After all 'a change is as good as a holiday' and all that.

In my search for inspiration i was browsing the H&M website when i came across the cute Pink Flamingo Bedsheets and i instantly knew they were for me. The flamingos are quite the departure from plain white, but i find them fun and quite girly. They look exactly like something you might find in a Miami motel so i feel almost liek im on a nice summer holiday whenever i look at them.

The canvases on the wall are also new, well the canvases aren't, but the wording is. They may not look perfect but that's because i'm no artist.

If your wondering what they are all about it let me explain.

In the book Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy 42 is put forward as the answer to THE question of life universe and everything, no one is terribly sure what THE question is but hey ho! Its a bit of an odd idea but a long time ago i became a bit obsessed with it, i love the idea of the randomness of it and i think that is the answer to THE question: randomness.

Life-Random. Universe-Random. Everything -Random.

And that's why i wanted a constant reminder of that on my bedroom wall.

Offt I've gone all philosophical there....... but if you still with me, don't you think the flamingos are cute?

Does the change in seasons spur you on for a change?

Let me know in the comments,x

L'oreal Preference Wild Ombré

Finally a beauty post, hurrah!

At the weekend I had a day off (shock horror) so I went for a little wander around boots.

Like everyone else I've seen a million adverts for this new kit from l'oreal. And I've heard quite a lot of varying reports about how well it works and whether it's worth the money. And if it wasn't for the fact I had some points to spend I probably would've left it on the shelf.....

I'm glad I didn't.

I will say I don't think this kit is for everyone, the brush can be fiddley and you really need to set aside a good chunk of time and think be quite patient. Maybe not best for novice hair colour users. Also the colour your going to get will vary A LOT depending on what your working over.

My hair was already covered with dark brown dye, but I'd previously bleached it in September (so I could have my hair purple for my birthday) so I wasn't dealing with too much dye build up but I still expected a ginger hue rather than golden blonde.

Some people have reported the smell of this stuff to be hideous, and while I won't say it's nice it just smells like hair dye to me..

I fully expected this stuff to not do all that much, and for the first ten minutes it didn't. I was a bit disappointed but I persevered. Now in the application instructions it does say to start at the tips and work up thought the lengths. In a few reviews I've read I've seen pics of folk left with a harsh line between their base colour and the lightened ends. This is my advice,

WORK SLOWLY and if you think your going slow GO SLOWER!!!

I put the stuff on the very ends of my hair maybe an inch at the most. And left it a good ten minutes before coming back to do the next inch, and I repeated this until I got to my desired level and I left last 'layer' on for only about 5 mins before I washed it out.

Here is my after, please excuse the no makeup and horrible artificial lighting but the sun doesn't shine at 3am...

I'm actually really quite pleased with how it came out, it's slightly less ginger in real life but I think the gradual-ness of the colour change worked out pretty well. Well, as well as a non professional using an 'at home' box kit can expect.

I would've taken a daytime shot but lets just say I didn't stop here ;-)

Do follow (links in the sidebar) to see what happened next!

If you have any questions please do feel free to ask either on here or twitter.

Have you tried this product? What did you think?

Or is the ombré hair thing just a bit too cliche? :-)

 

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