Mavala Box Set

Currently going through a real Mavala phase. I just LOVE them!

I bought this box set quite a while ago on a bit of a whim but I'm so glad I did. It cost £30 for 7 polishes and a top coat (working out at a bargain £3.75 per pot). Most of the colours are more suitable for Autumn and Winter but there are stll a couple of lovely bright colours suitable for any time of year. I feel I'll keep coming back to the classic colours in this set for years to come.

The contents are:
Liberty (a beautiful nude peachy colour)
Tobago (fabulous deep red)
Mexico (gorgeous dark purple)
Los Angeles (an outrageous red with a hint of orange)
Amber (really unique bronze colour)
New York (lovely grey - see post here)
Sweety (a very sweet but not sickly pink)
Top Coat (I loved this while I used it and nearly finished the whole pot, but then moved on to my fabulous Seche - see post here)

I will no doubt continue to eventually review each of these colours in individual posts but I felt the gift set needed a mention of it's own as it's so bloody fabulous! xx

Nail Rock - Dotty Red

I've used Nail Rock a couple of times now and have always been impressed. This classic red and white spotted dot is a great style as it goes with absolutely everything. It could easily be done using nail varnish and a dotting tool, but it wouldn't be as neat and wouldn't last as long. This is probably quicker and easier to do as well!

One note I would say about the application of them is use a hairdryer to heat them before sticking them on your nail. Old packs used to always say to do this but I think they must have had to take it off for health and safety reasons - some people were probably burning their fingers and then trying to sue Nail Rock, blaming them.  Anyway; I find carefully heating the stickers up for 5-10 seconds before carefully pushing them on the nail really helps them last longer as it softens the vinyl and glue, making them more pliable and easier to shape to your nail. Please don't burn your fingers though - hair dryers do blow hot hair that can burn (obvs).

I have in the past also tried other (cheaper) nail sticker brands and was very much less impressed. I found they chipped within days whereas I can keep Nail Rock on for up to 10 days, without so much as a chip. I normally only have to take it off when my nails have grown so much that you can see the growth underneath, making it look untidy, or they have started to come away at the edge and catch on clothes or hair.

The range of designs Nail Rock does is really impressive and always growing. They're available absolutely everywhere now from Topshop to Asos to Boots and many other store. They have even created diffusion lines such as Lip Rock and Eye Rock. A very fun brand and one I would continue to purchase items from! x


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Nails - Mavala New York

As the weather this week has become more and more Autumnal and miserable I decided it was time for a more season-appropriate nail colour.

Mavala are one of my favourite nail brands - I find they always do the most beautiful colours and the cute little pots mean you can try even more different colours without feeling as guilty.  I would never have thought about buying a grey nail varnish before but I love it! You see a lot of silver about at the moment and although it looks good, I love that the grey is something a bit different and less space-age.

Of course it isn't all grey and dismal - sparkly ring fingers courtesy of a super old and almost dried up silver glitter I found called Mercury add a bit of fun to the look (the brand name has even rubbed off, I think it got it for a present about 7 years ago but it's lasted well on my nails!). And obviously the look was finished off with a layer of Seche!

Have a great weekend! x

Seche Vite Top Coat

It seems appropriate that I should do my first proper blog post on my favourite product EVER!  As you can see from the image above, it gets a lot of use from me. I really can't stress how much I love Seche Vite and it might sound sad but yes, it probably has changed my life.

Promised not to yellow, it is formed so that it penetrates nail lacquer right down to the base coat to form a single, solid coating over the nail. This prevents any chips occurring and nail colour can last much longer. They also don't test on animals which is nice!

Although I've heard from others that this can make their colour last over a week, I probably get an average of three-five days of perfect colour out of my polish when I use this. Having said that, I am one of those people that as soon as I get a chip I start peeling (an awful, disgusting habit) and then it all has to come off and be redone. 

For me, the fact that it makes nail varnish last longer is actually just an added bonus - my favourite things about the product are how quickly it dries and how much nicer it makes the polish look. I find some lacquers (especially if cheap and old) can look slightly uneven and streaky at first. Pop this over the top and you get a smooth, shiny professional looking finish. The shine also doesn't go down over time, which I find can sometimes happen with polish. As well as this (can it get any better?!) the drying time on this top coat is super fast. You can apply it over still damp polish and a minute later you can move about and touch things without the worry of ruining the polish you've just spent ages doing.

Seche Vite can be purchased from various places online for around £10ish. I've never seen it personally in a store but I'm sure beauty salons that promote its use would sell it.  I do also use a Seche base coat but I'll cover that in a post a different time.

Overall - my favourite top coat ever and a product I can't imagine ever not using! x