Illamasqua Paranormal Collection UV Nail Polish 'Omen'

Last Sunday, I attended Illamasqua's monthly Beauty School Drop-In, at Selfridges, Birmingham. More about that soon!

And of course, I couldn't walk away from the Illamasqua counter empty-handed...

Illamasqua have just launched their new Paranormal Collection and from seeing a sneak peak of the glittery UV polishes in last month's Company Magazine, I knew I had to have some!

I used my BlanX White Shock LED light to check out the UV effect, wow!

I'm not usually a fan of green nails, but Omen, the green, glittery polish from the Paranormal Collection, really stood out to me! It's a gorgeous colour. The other colours available are Ouija (pink), Séance (purple) and Geist (a clear UV topcoat). I already have many pink and purple polishes, but I would love to try these Paranormal polishes too!

I love the display!

The Polish:

Omen is a beautiful light green, glitterful polish.

It is UV, as are all the Paranormal polishes.

The shade reminds me of Ariel, The Little Mermaid's fin. And anything mermaid is a winner with me!

I'm in love with this polish!

This is my second Illamasqua nail polish, but I definitely plan to buy more soon! You can read my review of Scarce, the speckled polish from the I'mperfection Collection, here.

Illamasqua polishes are a little more expensive than the usual high-street/drugstore brands, such as Barry M and Models Own. Retailing at £15 each, the price is high but you definitely get what you pay for, great quality! The price is the only reason that I didn't buy all 4 of the Paranormal polishes.

Here's the polish...

and here it is, after 5 days! I rarely keep polishes on for more than 2 days but I love Omen so much, I kept it on the whole week!

It only started to chip on day 5, so impressed, great wear!
Only 2 coats were required for good coverage.

What do you think of the Paranormal Collection?

Do you like green nails?

xXx

Primark Mini OPI Minnie Mouse Dupes

Remember OPI's Minnie Mouse collection? How about dupes at just £2 for 4 polishes?!

During my 18 polish spree in Newcastle last month, I was rather excited to find these super-cute nail polish minis in Primark. I had to have them. I also got another set, which I am about to try out.

The set includes 4 polishes: a bright Barbie pink, a shimmery darker pink, a reddish pink and a light pink glitter filled with hearts.

Primark's mini sets are a bargain, at only £2 for 4 polishes, you can't really go wrong. I never imagined they would be so good though, very impressed!

I decided to use all 4 polishes and created a lovely, cute look:

I will say, the hearts were a 'mare to apply! They just would not stay on the brush, so were difficult to get out. That is my only issue with the set.

Quick drying, with a great finish and just 2 coats used!

This is my second set of Primark mini polishes and both have been really really surprising in how good the polishes are, especially at such a bargain price.

£2 for 4 mini (6ml) polishes

xXx

Revlon Girly Nail Polish

Yes, I've bought another nail polish.

On Saturday, I went to Birmingham with my work friend, Erika. I'll be honest, we made the 1 hour journey to Birmingham, mainly to admire Ryan Gosling in The Place Beyond The Pines! (which was great, btw) Birmingham was the nearest showing, shocking. We'd already been sad about missing Zac Efron in The Paperboy, due to there being NO showings anywhere near Shropshire...

So, we decided to make a day of it! We had a lush lunch at Revs on Broad Street, then watched the film, before heading to the Bullring for some shop browsing. I was very good and resisted breaking in to my savings to buy anything, only purchasing Revlon's Girly nail polish, as a little treat. I'd wanted it for a while and when I saw £2 off, I couldn't resist.

Girly is a gorgeous, well, girly, pink/lilac base with different shades and sizes of glitter.

I used 2 coats.

1 was a little too sheer, the base colour didn't really show.

A second coat added that extra colour and glitter.

This would be nice layered over a lilac or pale pink polish.

Removal was awful, as expected from such a glitter-filled polish. (A lot of effort when I'd only had it on my nails for just 24 hours! - I removed it to try out another recently purchased polish.)

This is my first Revlon polish but there are more that I have lusted after for a while, I just never buy from Revlon, not sure why...

Currently on offer, £2 off at Boots, priced at £4.49

Have you tried Revlon nail polish? What is your favourite?

xXx

Models Own Mirrorball 'Boogie Nights' Polish

Yesterday I reviewed Models Own Dancing Queen, from last year's Mirrorball collection, today I bring you Boogie Nights.

This is the last of my recent nail polish purchases (until I buy more polish, which no doubt will be very soon…).

If you read yesterday’s post, you will know that the Mirrorball polishes are amazing, sparkly wonders. However, I did have a problem with Dancing Queen being gloopy. Thankfully, I did not have the same problem with Boogie Nights, I was very easy to apply.

Boogie Nights is a gorgeous mix of purpley-pinks, gold and blue glitters in various shapes and sizes.

I used Boogie Nights over my faithful Barry M Black Nail Paint, love the finished look. These photos were taken a couple of weeks back, before I filed my nails in to claws. I used 2 coats, 3 on my thumb nail, to see how it looked with an extra coat. The last photo is just 1 coat.

There are still 2 polishes from the Mirrorball collection that I do not own, Disco Inferno (gold) and Hot Stuff (pink). These don't appeal to me as much as the other three but who knows, I may end up buying these soon, to add to my crazy, ever-growing polish collection!

Models Own polishes cost £5 each and are available from Boots and Models Own.

There are often offers on, so keep a look out for these.

I got mine on buy one, get one half price from Boots a few weeks ago!

Have you tried Models Own Mirrorball polishes?

xXx

Models Own Mirrorball 'Dancing Queen' Polish

Another nail review today. I've been going a bit nail polish crazy recently!

A few weeks ago, I made a last minute lone trip to Manchester. I had considered going, then on the day, my friend from Newcastle phoned to say that he was going to watch the Man United match, so I decided to have a day out and go catch up :)

Whilst he watched the match, I went to browse the shops of Manchester. Manchester is pretty good for shops and I particularly love Affleck's (formerly Affleck's Palace). If you are ever in Manchester, definitely go check it out. The Northern Quarter is a very cool place.

Me being me, 'browsing' always ends up with a naughty treat or 2...

So, whilst in Boots, I decided to pick up a nail polish as a little treat. I did actually go in for shower gel, so I got some Soap & Glory Clean Girls too.

I chose Models Own Mirrorball polish in Boogie Nights but I've always wanted Dancing Queen too, so I stood there, deciding which to get, before putting one down, then realising that there was an offer, buy 1 get one half price, PERFECT! I picked Boogie Nights back up and headed for the tills.

I'm a massive fan of glittery nails and the Mirrorball collection is really something else!

Each polish has a variety of different shades and shapes of glitter in a clear base polish.

I already have Freak Out!, which I bought when they first came out last year.
I will review Boogie Nights soon.

Dancing Queen:

I usually layer this type of polish on top of black, as I love black nails and it seems the most obvious choice of base colour but with Dancing Queen, I decided to switch it up and try it over a nude shade, Nails Inc Kate from the LE Royal Wedding polish collection. I love the end result.

This is Nails Inc Kate alone:

I must say, I found application of Dancing Queen rather tricky! I only used 1 coat, so the coverage was great. However, the polish was very gloopy and also took a long time to try. You can see on the photos that it doesn't quite look perfect, there are bubbles and hair strand marks across the polish. I'm guessing I have polish and glitter somewhere in my hair but I can't see any...

I didn't have this issue with Freak Out and Boogie Nights. Whilst they were not overly smooth to apply, they were nowhere near as troublesome as Dancing Queen. I did wonder whether it was down to the base of Nails Inc Kate polish but I could see how gloopy/sticky Dancing Queen was when opening the bottle.

Despite the application and the little imperfections, that are not visible without close inspection, this is a lovely polish. A colleague commented on them today, saying "GOOD NAILS!" and both my mum and sister complimented them last night. I think Dancing Queen and Nails Inc Kate go great together and look good with a clawed nail.

Models Own polishes are available in Boots and online at www.modelsownit.com

Have you tried Models Own Mirrorball nail polish?

Has anyone else had the gloop issue?

xXx

Festive Nails No.4 - Barry M LE Christmas Glitter

Barry M Cosmetics Limited Edition 'Christmas Glitter' Nail Paint

- free when you spend £6 or more on any other Barry M products in Superdrug! GO GETCHA SOME!

When I first heard about this polish, I was so excited and couldn't wait for it's release. Then, I couldn't find any, horror.

This Christmas, Barry M have brought out 4 Limited Edition nail paints - 2 in Superdrug and 2 in Boots. This one is available in Superdrug, along with 'Christmas Blue', while Boots have 'Christmas Pink' (which I have also picked up) and 'Christmas Gold'. All are available as freebies (1 per customer), when spending £6 or more on any other Barry M products. I picked up a lipstick for my friend and an eyeliner for my mum, both for Christmas, then got myself the nail polish FREE :) The eyeliner I got for mum is the Bold Waterproof Eyeliner in 'Black', as I swear by the stuff and mum is always asking "What eyeliner do you use?". It's great!

I love this polish, just 1 coat used over 17 'Garnet' (mentioned in my last Festive Nail post).

And I love the cute coloured metallic lids, because simple things...

I've now removed this nail polish, ready for my next nail look. I'm thinking I'll have a day off festive nails and do some cute fimo, even though it's getting late now. Shower time with Lush and Soap & Glory, then I may have some fimo fun and watch a DVD. What DVD though? Decisions.

Oh yeah, I'm currently listening to Kids in Glass Houses 'Secret Santa', for the 5th (maybe 6th or 7th...) time tonight - I'm cool.

If you haven't heard it yet, give it a listen. It's such an uplifting Christmas song and not the usually cringey bs. Watch the video too, it'll make you smile and feel all Christmassy ;-) Last night's Radio 1 Review Show was totally taken over on Twitter by KIGH fans tweeting like crazy for Secret Santa to be played, as Aled was on the show. So much love for this song and band. They don't get the recognition they deserve.

xXx

Festive Nails No.2 - Ice Queen

Barry M Limited Edition Lilac Foil Effect and Limited Edition Silver Glitter

I love the cap on the LE Silver Glitter. I know, I sound sad but it is soooo pretty! When I first saw the polish, I wondered whether to get it, as it was ‘just a silver glitter’ and I have a couple already but it was worth it. It’s a great glitter, just 1 coat and it provides amazing coverage and it is full of glitter. You know how some glitter polishes can be a pain to apply or actually get any glitter out of them (without about 4 coats!)? Well, Barry M glitters are the opposite, just brilliant.

Have you tried either of these?

Tonight I went to see Stone Sour in Wolverhampton with my sister. It was amazing. Corey Taylor is God. Incase you didn’t know, he’s the lead singer of Slipknot too (not many people realise this and are shocked when they find out!).
Such a great night.

Tomorrow (well, in 7 hours and 45 minutes from now!), my local Cineworld’s ‘Movie for Juniors’ is Disney Pixar’s Brave, so (if I wake up in time), I am totally there! I’ve wanted to see Brave for ages and it’s only 90p (with my Cineworld 10% discount). I always check on what the weekly Movies for Juniors is, since watching Beauty & The Beast there back in the summer.

I may take a trip to Birmingham or somewhere for a city day out. I don’t have money to spend but I have £10 on Red Spotted Hanky to use, which I won on a Twitter giveaway that I didn’t even do anything for. I just got a tweet, how cool is that? So I may use that towards a train trip somewhere.

I also hope to fit in some hill climbing/walking, after last weekend’s fun lone adventure.

I like to keep myself busy!

Have a lovely weekend :)

xXx

Balearic Cool in Disco Heaven

Nails: Models Own Hedkandi 'Balearic Cool', layered with 'Disco Heaven'

Today has been a dull day and I've spent it in my pyjamas...

I watched The Goonies for the first time, ever.

I then decided to read my entire September issue of Company Magazine, the Ibiza edit.

Oh, how I am desperate to go to Ibiza now :(

My younger sister is going on Saturday.

I haven't been since 1995 and haven't left the UK since 2000.

Sad times.

I don't even own a valid passport.

In the latest issue, Company said they love Models Own Hedkandi Disco Heaven, layered over Balearic Cool - a combination that I hadn't thought to try until now.

I like :)

As ever, the latest Company mag is brilliant, inspirational and a great read.

 If you haven't already picked up a copy of the latest Company mag, I recommend you do.

(Just be warned, you WILL be left with an urge to go to Ibiza!)

Hope you had a good weekend!

xXx

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @ameliasallsorts 

Metallic Mermaid Nails

What girl doesn't love glitzy nails and mermaids?

 

Believe it or not, these nail polishes are from Primark! Yes...Angelica Nail Colour at Primark....

Even better, they cost just £2.50 each.

and this is 1 coat of each colour!

Could they get any better?

Left: Spoilt Rotten 95  - Right: Altitude 98

Amazing colours and full of metallic shimmeryness, beautiful.

In the sun, shimmering.

In artificial lighting.

I bought these during my recent Liverpool mini-haul, along with another Angelica polish, which I will post about soon.

Whilst in awe at the massive collection of polishes that Angelica now offer, I spotted this one...

Look familiar?

Models Own Beetlejuice 'Indian Ocean' dupe, maybe?

Worth a try, for just £2.50! It looks the same in the bottle.

Have you tried Angelica polishes?

xXx