Hey all :) It's been a little since I put up a blog and now I have this backlog of things I want to talk through and share with you all and don't seem to have the time to do it especially with it being Christmas soon. Anyway, lets not get distracted with the list of things to be done and instead get on to the topic at hand; Meebox. Now you all know how much I love my nail subscription boxes and I had been thinking about trying this one out for a little while. The one thing that was putting me off it was the price tag of £20 per month (inc P+P). To help you compare this to other sub boxes Nailbox is £15 (inc P+P) and Coloristiq is £15 + £2.80 P+P. Now you can argue with me that there isn't exactly a huge difference between them all price wise and I have to agree with you, but I still took some time before ordering. I can say though that I am really impressed with my package and I do believe it to be worth that £20 price tag. If you want to check them out you can find them here: Meebox Website
Just like other sub boxes, each month is based on a theme with this one being Ice Queen. They also sent you a Christmas card. Each box will always contain 3 polish and then some nail art items or nail treatments. The art items this month is a pack of water decal snowflakes, a pot containing bar glitters and a cute pocket sized nail file that has a chain for you to attach it where you want it. The nail art items have come from the website Sparkly Nails. You also got 3 swatch sticks for trying out the polishes.
First polish is It's Raining Men by Color Club. This is a tricky one to photograph as it's a deep blue/purple like a petrol effect. It was opaque is just one coat but I applied two to hide the imperfections in my nails.
I think this bottle shot shows you the colour effect perfectly. You can see depending how the light hits it the colour effect changes. This polish really is stunning and a clear favorite for me!
You can also see it has that amazing micro glitter shimmer in there too. I can see me wearing this polish very soon, its just too amazing not to!
I took this shot with the light directly shining at it to show you what I mean by its chameleon properties. It went this deep green-blue tone. If you don't own this polish I highly recommend it for your collection!
Polish two is a brand I hadn't heard of; Crabtree & Evelyn in the colour Mica. This is a pretty gunmetal silver. Application was good but you do have to be careful of brushstrokes showing through. I applied two coats to make it opaque.
It's a really nice shade that fits well into the ice queen theme for the month. I don't have one like this in my collection as its on the darker side and most silvers tend to be lighter.
I only used two coats of colour and no top coat for all the pictures. What do you think of this shade and have you used this brand before?
Last polish of the box is actually one I have called Lotus Begin by China Glaze. I was actually disappointed to see that the formula has been changed and it looks nothing like my original bottle! The one shown here is three thin coats of the new bottle which shows it as a softer lilac shade.
Now here they are side by side. The bottom pinky nail is the new bottle and the other shows you three coats of my older bottle. Clearly different shades! I do like both of the colours but it's a shame that the company didn't manage to keep the formula the same.
This is the best picture for comparison. The newer formula also seems more creamy a finish. The polish could do with being a little more pigmented so that you don't need to do three coats but it is still a lovely colour.
So what are my overall thoughts on my first Meebox? At first I was put off by the £20 price tag but after seeing everything I got I am actually very happy with it and I feel it is worth the price. When you consider that posting something like this will cost £2.80, you are paying £17.20 for the actual products which was 3 full size polish, 3 nail pops and 3 nail art items. All in all a good deal in my opinion! I look forward to seeing what next months box contains. This is only the 5th box created by this company and I forsee them going for many years to come. Have you tried out this subscription? What are your thoughts?
I shall have the unboxing video up in the next few days so be sure to keep an eye out for that. Until next time, Lyn
Hello readers! Today's blog is sharing with you my thoughts and pictures of some recent polishes I bought. It's actually been quite some time since I bought polish. Be warned now this is going to be picture heavy!
Let's just jump right in to the first polish. Here is OPI Comet In The Sky. In the bottle this looks amazing which is what drew me to it, but I have to say I was a little disappointed once I used it. On my pinky is two coats, ring finger I tried applying with a sponge (which caused the build up of glitter around the center of the nail), then over white and finally over black.
This is one coat over black and no top coat. You do get a good coverage of glitter if you do the kind of patting method while applying which is what I did here.
When applied over white you actually see rainbow coloured glitters appear which I think is a really cool effect. When done on a dark background this effect is lost. I can't quite decide how I feel about this one. The glitter lover in me says its amazing but something just doesn't feel quite "right" about it. Do you have this polish? Would love to know your thoughts on it.
OPI When Monkeys Fly! Okay so this polish was not good. I actually think this is the first polish I can say that I even go so far as to hate it. When I saw it I was drawn to the sparkle, it looks fantastic, but when I got home I suddenly remembered all the bad reviews it got. The pinky has the polish "patted" on to get the glitter out, the ring finger I tried to apply with a sponge (once again causing the horrible collection of glitter in the centre), then over white and finally over black.
You can see here how little glitter I was actually able to get out. Also that isn't top coat. I had to repeatedly keep dipping back into the bottle to try and catch the glitter on the brush which made the nail very wet with thick polish.
I had the same problem here with too much "liquid" and not enough glitter when trying to get a nice coverage. You can actually see the blob of excess at the tip.
I'm really disappointed with this polish. In theory it is beautiful to have the variation of glitters in a clear base but it just didn't work out.
Let's get on to a better note! Here is OPI Save Me. Going from the pinky up we have the polish on its own, over silver, over white and over black. It contains small silver glitters with blue bar glitters.
This is just one coat over white and no top coat. As you can see coverage is great. The bar glitters actually change colour with the light but I find that they predominantly come out blue.
You can actually even wear this as good coverage on its own. This is just two coats of colour. As you can see the tip is still visible but if you have shorter nails this won't be an issue for you.
I tried it over black and ended up hating this option! It certainly brought out the small silver glitters but it made them overpower the bar glitter. This is an interesting one to try over different backgrounds.
China Glaze - Break The Ice. How amazing is this, especially over black. It's tiny chopped up silver mylar pieces in a clear base.
You get good coverage in one coat but if you want it thicker you can pat the glitter on too. I need to use this look in a nail design!
This is the coverage of glitter you get with one coat.
Even over white the effect is still brilliant. What's your favourite look?
The second China Glaze polish is this gorgeous purple jelly glitter called Brand Spankin New Year. Of course I was drawn to this by the colour but I'm really impressed with the thickness of coverage with two coats. There was a little bit of unevenness after application but with top coat this would smooth out no problem.
Look at how beautiful this polish is! This is just two coats to achieve this thickness of glitter. I have not applied a top coat.
Moving back to OPI we have My Voice Is A Little Norse, a beautiful soft holo effect glitter. I tried applying it over black, silver and then just on its own.
Over black gives you this eye catching effect. This would be a perfect manicure for a party that is quick and easy to do.
Macro shot of two coats of polish. You can really appreciate the glitter packed into this bottle!
Last polish I promise! OPI - Can't Afjord Not To. Such a cute name! This polish is a nice peachy/orange cream. The only solid colour in this haul! I've done two coats with no top coat.
Congrats on making it this far if you did ;) I know it was a lot of pictures to get through. You can also find my haul vid on youtube showing these off. Thanks for reading and until next time, Lyn
Hello :) I wasn't kidding when I said I had a back log of products to get through! Moving on to the next I have Septembers Nailboxuk.
This months theme was creepy colours for Halloween coming up. When I heard the choosen theme for the month I was so sure they were going to include a glow in the dark type polish, such as China Glaze Ghoulish Glow. Though this was not the case I was still impressed with the items contained in the box.
Firstly you find a set of 6 nail brushes. These seem good quality and give you the basic tools needed for nail art; dotting tool, short striper, long striper, fan brush, small flat headed brush and a larger flat headed brush. You can see these in closer detail in my youtube video (Nala Nails on youtube).
Secondly there is a Toughflex Base Coat by Elegant touch. Nailbox works closely with this company and has provided a few other items from them so far in their monthly choices. The products I've used so far from Elegant Touch get my personal thumbs up.
First polish of the box is Taxi Cab by True Brit London. The first thing I can't help but notice is the weight of this polish bottle! It's very heavy for a 10ml bottle but you can see the thickness of the glass in it. I had never heard of this brand before so did a little research on it. I found out that they are a 6-free polish (never heard of one being 6 free before, only 5).
For first impressions on this brand - I'm truely impressed. Though the bottle is heavy it does give the polish a certain feel of elegance around it. You know that you are not just getting a cheap £1 low quality polish. All their polish retails at £12.50 and I have to say with the quality of it, the price tag is acceptable.
Secondly we have Nails Inc Queen Victoria Street. The thing that I am finding with all the other Nails Inc polishes I've tried to date, is that they are very good one-coaters. This one is no exception, though like always I did two coats for my pictures. It's a beautiful emerald green
The last polish is my favorite (cos it's purple!). This is Sinful Pro Shine in the colour Show Off. At first when I saw the name I thought it was a part of the brand Sinful Color but it's not. I googled it to find out its actually a brand in its own right.
You can see the shimmer in the polish with this macroshot. These polishes retail for £5.95. It was also a very good one-coater and application was nice and smooth. I did do a second coat though like I always do before top coat and picture taking. Sinful Polish
That's it for Septembers Nailboxuk. Once again I can't wait until next months box arrives. I am loving this product so much. It's a must for an other nail polish lover.
Hey everyone, with it being near the end of the month, that means it's time to open and chat about mani boxes! For September's theme Coloristiq went with "nails and the city", a very classy feel to it. The best thing about this month is the fact that the company choose to include an indie polish! I think it's great when you see brand companies working with smaller producers.
The one thing that Coloristiq does fantastically each month is the packaging they send your items in. From a cute polka dot box, a zebra print bag, to this adorable ribbon tied box, care and attention to such a small detail like this adds something special.
First up we have OPI A Great Opera-tunity. This is a mini polish and one of four possible to be send. This comes from the OPI Venice Collection where there is an overall total of 15 different colours. Although a mini bottle the brush is regular sized so application is not an issue.
Application on the first coat was a little streaky but perfectly evened out on the second. This is a beautiful shade of a peach-beige (that's my oh so technically descriptive;) ) Normally I stay away from shades like this as I am so naturally pale in skintone, but I did like this colour and can see me using it for nail art in the future.
Macroshot of Nails Inc The Mall. This is a navy shimmer polish with a definite infusion of purple in there too.
In a different position for this shot you can see a more purple tone to it. This was very good overage in just one coat and could have been left as such. I do like to use two coats to ensure 100% coverage though.
Essie Fifth Avenue. Now red is a colour I tend to dislike on myself and I can't actually give any reason for it. This shade however is beautiful. Its described as being an orange-red on Essie website so this is probably why I like it much more than your true reds.
I honestly never though I could love a shade of red as much as I do this one. It had good coverage in one coat but I've done two and top coat for the picture. This colour is certainly being used soon in a design!
Danglefoot Polish Bluedapest. This is a beautiful sea green creme with holo sparkles and gold flakes. Amazing coverage in just one coat but I've done two for this picture.
Danglefoot Polish is an indie brand from Norfolk in the UK. I LOVE that an indie polish has been included in a box with mainstream brands. This is actually my first ever indie polish I've owned and I am left wanting more! I did make a purchase from another indie brand just after I got this box, but that will be another post. If you'd like to find out more about this brand, check out Hayley's Etsy store page here:
Apparently a different indie brand is coming in Octobers mani box and I can't wait! As much as I love China Glaze, OPI, Essie, etc, I feel like supporting these smaller indie polish makers is very important. It's a bit like supporting small private owned stores instead of always shopping at your main stream, chain stores. Huge thumbs up to Coloristiq for taking the time to support indie polish makers! I actually feel tempted into finding out how to make my own nail polish now....
Hi all, I'm back again with another unboxing! If you've read my previous blogs you'll know that I found a company called Coloristiq who do a nail polish rental option or a monthly themed nail box. Since I loved the summer box I got from them in the sale I decided to go ahead and order the August Safari themed box.
I'd like to take a moment to share with you all the way these items come packaged to you as I think it is very impressive. Inside the cardboard box your package is securely surrounded by shredded paper. You find a leaflet with an introduction to your box and a listed on the back the items included for this month.
Last months collection came in a cute polka dot box and this month to go with the safari theme it came in a zebra print bag which inside had more shredded paper to ensure no breakages of your parcel!
So here we have what was inside the box. There is 4 polishes and a nail file. The brand on the file says TNBL (The Nail & Beauty Link) which I had never heard of before. I took a look at their website and was impressed at the prices of some of there items and they also stock brand names. The most interesting find for me was the pack of 100 nail tips to go on the plastic training hand. I have the one from Essential nails and it cost me £100 for the hand (TNBL have a version very similar for only £30) and they are only £4 for a pack of 100 replacement tips where I was paying £20 for the refill packs off of EN! I know where I'm buying my next refill pack from!
The first polish we have is Essie Snake It Up. This is a magnetic effect polish and as the name suggests, gives a snakeskin finish. It was very difficult to get a picture of this but I did do a live swatch of this polish on my review video. You can find the video here:
Here we have Wild Cactus by Color Club. This is the first nail polish I've owned by this brand (though I do use there black and white stripers for nail art). The application was nice and smooth, the colour was also quite opaque on just 1 application but I like to do two to ensure perfect coverage. For the picture this is two coats and top coat.
How pretty is this shade?! China Glaze Don't Desert Me. This is a beautiful pinky-purple shade with a very subtle shimmer undertone to it. This is two coats and top coat.
OPI In A Holidaze. You have got to hand it to OPI for their creative name choices for their polishes. This is a very deep red, the camera picture has lightened it slightly. I'm not actually a fan of red polish on myself, I don't think it suits my skin tone, but I got a lot of love for this picture on Instagram and I know red is a classic choice for many women. The application is flawless and as usual I applied two coats and top coat.
So that's it for this post. I'm looking forward to seeing what is coming in next months. The only information Coloristiq have released so far is to say that September is going to include an indie polish brand and I'm so excited to hear this! If you'd like to find out more about the company, please see the following link: Coloristiq Website
Just like other sub boxes, each month is based on a theme with this one being Ice Queen. They also sent you a Christmas card. Each box will always contain 3 polish and then some nail art items or nail treatments. The art items this month is a pack of water decal snowflakes, a pot containing bar glitters and a cute pocket sized nail file that has a chain for you to attach it where you want it. The nail art items have come from the website Sparkly Nails. You also got 3 swatch sticks for trying out the polishes.
First polish is It's Raining Men by Color Club. This is a tricky one to photograph as it's a deep blue/purple like a petrol effect. It was opaque is just one coat but I applied two to hide the imperfections in my nails.
I think this bottle shot shows you the colour effect perfectly. You can see depending how the light hits it the colour effect changes. This polish really is stunning and a clear favorite for me!
You can also see it has that amazing micro glitter shimmer in there too. I can see me wearing this polish very soon, its just too amazing not to!
I took this shot with the light directly shining at it to show you what I mean by its chameleon properties. It went this deep green-blue tone. If you don't own this polish I highly recommend it for your collection!
Polish two is a brand I hadn't heard of; Crabtree & Evelyn in the colour Mica. This is a pretty gunmetal silver. Application was good but you do have to be careful of brushstrokes showing through. I applied two coats to make it opaque.
It's a really nice shade that fits well into the ice queen theme for the month. I don't have one like this in my collection as its on the darker side and most silvers tend to be lighter.
Last polish of the box is actually one I have called Lotus Begin by China Glaze. I was actually disappointed to see that the formula has been changed and it looks nothing like my original bottle! The one shown here is three thin coats of the new bottle which shows it as a softer lilac shade.
Now here they are side by side. The bottom pinky nail is the new bottle and the other shows you three coats of my older bottle. Clearly different shades! I do like both of the colours but it's a shame that the company didn't manage to keep the formula the same.
