Charlies Nail Art Haul

A parcel arrived at my door, and it contained a lot of nail art stuff that I am excited to show you.

 I wanted to try a new company and decided to order from Charlies Nail Art. 
Some people call this the UK's version of BornPrettyStore, and since I have worked with BornPrettyStore before I thought I would look into this company. The plus obviously being that they are local and you don't have to wait for 4+ weeks before getting your stuff. 

When you are a blogger and wants to stay on trend those 4 weeks can mean a lot of difference. 

While the stock is not the same as BornPrettyStore some of the individual items and brands seems to be. 

Contained:

1 Wrap

1 French Guides

2 pk. Stickers

1 pk. Studs

6 Rhinestones 

1 pk. Holo Shreddies

 Several pairs of Nail Art Charms

1 bag of assorted Fimo slices

3 Foils

3 pk. of Glitter

1 pk. Flocking Powder

Charlies Nail Art does world wide shipping, for UK residents orders under £20 postage is £1.75 in postage, with orders over £20 with no postage charge.

I had my parcel in 2 days from ordering, so I am very happy with the response time. 

It will do good to note that all the foils on Charlies Nail Art are intended to be no-foil-glue-needed foils, but I have heard that for the best result, one should still use foil glue. Charlies Nail Art does not sell foil glue, so I think the best place to get that is still Dollarnailart, which is where I have been buying my foils and glue for years.

That being said, I think it was a lot of fun opening this Loot Bag. For £6.99 the content of the bag is totally worth it. It also gives a good idea of what sort of products you can get from the company without spending hours on putting together an order. 

Is there any particular product you would like to see me using for my next nail art?

My Online Shop - MJ JR31 - Stamping Plate

Today we are going to have a closer look at the My Online Shop - MJ JR31 Stamping Plate that I purchased earlier his year from Nail Artisan UK.

The plate can also be purchased from StoreEnvy for those of you not in the UK. 
I can personally vouch for Nail Artisan UK, as that is where I purchased this plate, and Alex who run the shop is a great lady. I have never purchased from StoreEnvy before.

If you love UK shows like Dr.Who, Sherlock Holmes, or even Harry Potter this is the plate for you.
In the video below I am pointing out some interesting images from this plate, and giving you some suggestions on how to use this plate for your next mani.

Overall I think it was a bit random that there was one image from Firefly on this plate among all the more British shows, that being said I absolutely LOVE Firefly and even though there is only one image here I am very happy with having it. I have been informed that there is also some Percy Jackson related images on this plate... but I have no idea which image that could be.

If you know, please give me a nudge.


Adding this plate to my collection meant that my plate holder that I purchased not that long ago to hold my overflow of stamping plates is full, and I will have to start looking for another one.

My Online Shop JR plates are the same size as my Moyou London, Bundlemonster, Petla and BPS XL plates. I am getting quite a selection of plates now, and looking forward to get cranking on more stamping plate reviews like this. 

What is your favourite stamping plate?

Petla - Ceres - Stamping plate

I totally love all things crop circles, and back when I was still in school, I wrote about crop circles and the history behind it as a school assignment.

One can not mention the stamping plates - Ceres - by Petla without mentioning crop circles. This is because the stamping plate is of crop circles (!) how cool is that?!

Ceres is the Roman Goddess of Agriculture

Cereologists (from cereology) or "croppies" is what crop circle enthusiasts calls themselves. 

X - Files own Fox Mulder believed they were made by extraterrestrials 

At first when I heard the name of this plate, I was thinking about Ceres the Dwarf planet, but as soon as I looked at the stamping plate, I knew that it wasn't, though that being said the Dwarf planet Ceres is named after the same Roman Goddess, Ceres. Guiseppe Piazzi named it Cerere Ferdinandea, and the planet was given the astronomical sign of a sickle.

A tool it was first thought that people used when making crop circles, but it was discovered that the wheat was not broken when the circles where made.

Petla - Ceres

Closeup on Petla - Ceres

Closeup on Petla - Ceres

In the video above I am going a bit deeper in on the different images, and what some of them symbolizes. From Mayan Circles to Lunar Circles this plate got you covered.

I will be back later with another nail art using this plate.

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

Devil's Goldan excellent definition for oil considering the problems it is causing
We are living in a fools paradise if we think we can rely on the Devil's Gold forever.

 

Opulent Essences - Devil's Gold while the name might make you think about oil, this not an oil-spill / oil-slick sort of polish, it is a semi sheer black jelly base with golden flakes and smooth glitter. that shifts in green, gold and blurple, a blueish purple.


Opulent Essences is a Vegan Friendly Nail Polish Maker from the UK. Behind the brand is the duo Sharon and Zoe, if you ever have any questions, the girls are lovely to chat with.

Etsy Store
Instagram

Devils Gold 10 ml - 6 £

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

Today has been super busy with house-hunting, and I found this gorgeous little terrace house close by a park, that I have filled out the paperwork for and applied for.

If I get this place I will get a larger nail polish room, and it does not have to function as a Nail Cave / Spare Bedroom, it will ONLY be for my nail polishes. 

Fingers crossed.

For the picture swatches on the blog here, you can see one coat of Opulent Essences - Devils Gold over Wet n Wild - Black Creme. On the Live Swatch in the video over here, you can see what Opulent Essences - Devils Gold looks like layered over Barry M - Blue Grape, a cobalt blue polish (dupe for YSL - Bleu Majorelle)

More color combos for Opulent Essences - Devils Gold

For the nail art today I opted for a simple accent stamping using Moyra - Ornaments plate 03.
I used Sinful Color - Snow Me White for this.

Opulent Essences - Devils Gold layered over Wet n Wild - Black Creme with accent Barry M - Blue Grape, Opulent Essences - Devils Gold over and stamped using Sinful Color - Snow Me White and Moyra - Ornaments - 03

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

Opulent Essences - Gravity

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

If you are a regular to my blog you know that my current obsession is with Opulent Essences polishes. They have so many gorgeous polishes, and keeps coming out with new ones. Recently they launched a Game Of Thrones inspired one, and since I live "just around the corner" from where the series is being filmed, I am a fan.

Since I have to move very soon I have put myself on a No-Buy until the living-situation is sorted, and I know that I have an address where I will be able to receive my parcels.

Opulent Essences is a Vegan Friendly Nail Polish Maker from the UK. Behind the brand is the duo Sharon and Zoe, if you ever have any questions, the girls are lovely to chat with.

Etsy Store
Instagram

Gravity 10 ml - 6 £
Gravity  5 ml - 3 £

Opulent Essences - Gravity is s semi-sheer smooth glassfleck polish that shifts between blue and a rich jeweltoned purple. 

Opulent Essences - Gravity

In the swatch above you can see it applied in two coats over Wet n Wild - Black Creme on the index , ring and little finger and on the long finger it is applied over Barry M - Gelly - Blue Grape. 

It also looks good over grey and purple. 

Opulent Essences - Gravity with Bundlemonster Waterdecals.

I decided to use some waterdecals that I have received in a Surprise Bundle from Bundlemonster, and added some dotticures using my dotting tool to complete the look. I am not sure if it is possible to buy these waterdecals separately, but they are called GID-033.  

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine, nothing else to disclaim.

Opulent Essences - Fools Gold

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine,  nothing else to disclaim.

You might have noticed my slight obsession with Opulent Essences lately, and today I am showing you another Opulent Essence polish that landed on my doorstep last week.

As a member of Fantasmic Flakies on Facebook, I thought I would start with a flakie polish.
Opulent Essences - Fools Gold
This is a baby blue polish with a pearl shimmer and golden flakies, in some lights this polish leans a bit teal. This is specially evidently when pairing with black.

Opulent Essences - Fools Gold

Opulent Essences is a Vegan Friendly Nail Polish Maker from the UK. Behind the brand is the duo Sharon and Zoe, if you ever have any questions the girls are lovely to chat with, and as far as I know, don't bite. Hehe.

Etsy Store
Instagram

Fools Gold 10 ml - 6 £
Fools Gold 5 ml - 3 £

Opulent Essences - Fools Gold

In the swatches above you see the polish when applied in 3 coats. I did not encounter any problems with this polish, it applied nicely, and the pearl shimmer looks fantastic with the gold flakies.

I also think this polish looks great on me. The shade is just the right kind of blue for my skin at the moment. 

On my Youtube channel I also show how this looks applied over black and cobalt blue polish, if you are feeling adventurous and want to layer it over something else. 

The black polish as an undie makes this lean more teal, which I thought was very interesting. 

I could not leave this polish alone and felt the need to try some nail art using this as a base. 

I pulled out Bundlemonster BMXL204 and Moyra - 05 - Vintage. For the stamping I used Barry M - Gelly - Blue Grape and KIKO - Magnetic - 707.

The Lonely Fisherman Nail Art. Using Opulent Essences - Fools Gold, Bundlemonster BMXL204, Moyra - 05 - Vintage, Barry M - Gelly - Blue Grape and KIKO - 707

Polish was sent for swatching purposes, but the opinions expressed are solely mine,  nothing else to disclaim.

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Live Swatch and Review

I recently purchased the Taste The Rainbow Collection from Opulent Essences (link to their Etsy Store). I was super excited about this collection, first of all since it is a neon collection, and secondly because the pictures I had seen showed them as super super glossy neons.

I was not disappointed at all. In order to snap some pictures of them properly, and be able to see what I was working on in the ViewFinder on my Camera, I needed to have my Sunglasses on. That.  Says it all.

My Lunch and some of the Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection. Wondering where to start.

I started out with one coat of UNT peel-off basecoat, then a coat of Sinful Color - Snow Me White, followed with one to two coats of the various Opulent Essences - Taste the Rainbow Collection.

I hope you liked the video I have created. This, and the next couple of weeks I will post nail art looks using this collection, to give you some ideas on how they preform.

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection.

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Lime
Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Orange

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Lemon

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Grape

Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Strawberry
Opulent Essences - Taste The Rainbow Collection - Blueberry

Ard As Nails - White Cliff Bay

Today I have for you another polish from the Bookouture Girls Collection that was recently launched over at Soap Dodger. Ard As Nails - White Cliff Bay.

Ard As Nails is a 5-free, cruelty free, EU Approved Indie nail polish brand here in the UK.

For this look I first applied 2 coats of Ard As Nails - White Cliff Bay, before grabbing my stamping plate Pet'la - Ceres and Peripera - PO19. I also used, as you can see in the video my Clear Jelly Stamper that I purchased last month from Nail-Artisan UK. 

Ard As Nails - White Cliff Bay

Pet'la - Ceres is filled with stamping images from Crop Circles, and while you may not be a huge fan of the phenomena itself, this is a very pretty stamping plate with a lot of circular images. I think they translate very well to nail art.
The rhinestones that I used for this look was from a bag I had gotten at a Poundland couple of years ago. They are not meant for nail art, but it's not like that stops me from using them for that.
Last time I checked you can still get them from their arts and crafts section.

Ard As Nails - White Cliff Bay Nail Art

Which version did you like the most? With of without rhinestones, let me know in the comments below.
There is only one polish left in the Bookouture Girls Collection from Ard As Nails. I should have the post ready for you all on Friday, so be on the lookout for that.

Ard As Nails - Blissful Bookworm

Today I wanted us to have a closer look at Ard As Nails - Blissful Bookworm. This gorgeous purple holographic polish is sure to win its way to your heart and Helmers.

As promised from my last post about  My Online Shop - MJ JR2 - Stamping plate, today I have for you another look using the same plate, and another polish from the Bookouture Girls Collection that was recently launched over at Soap Dodger.

Ard As Nails is a 5-free, cruelty free, EU Approved Indie nail polish brand here in the UK.

I grabbed my MJ JV-2 stamping plate, and my Clear Jelly Stamper that I recently purchased from Nail Artisan UK. The clear holder and the softness to the stamping head was perfect for what I wanted to do. Doublestamping.

Firstly allowing two coats of Ard As Nails - Blissful Bookworm dry on my nails before proceeding to stamping. 

Ard As Nails - Blissful Bookworm

For this look I used Beauty UK - Smoke Signal, and Barry M - Quick Dry - Pit Stop.
I really disliked Barry M - Quick Dry - Pit Stop for a mani and it gets very gummy when applying, but for stamping it works perfectly.

Ard As Nails - Blissful Bookworm enjoying books.

I still have a couple of more looks using The Bookouture Girls Collection from Ard As Nails. I am swapping the My Online Shop - MJ JR-2 stamping plate with a Pet'la stamping plate.

My Online Shop - MJ JR2 - Stamping plate

The last two nail art looks that I have done has been from the same stamping plate. One that I purchased from Nail Artisan UK. My Online Shop - MJ JR-2.

You have seen me do a 50 Shades of Grey look using Ard As Nails - Kitty's Secret, and Hunger Games, Mockingjay look using Ard As Nails - Dark Knight.
Since many people have been asking me about this plate, I sat down and made a short review and walk-through of the images offered on this plate. Maybe this is a plate for you as well.

My Online Shop . MJ JR2

My Online Shop . MJ JR2

With this stamping plate you get; Harry Potter, 50 Shades of Grey, Macbeth, Hunger Games, Game Of Thrones and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, stamping images of books and a bookworm.

If you are keen on the Harry Potter images on this plate, I can reveal that I have another review coming up later this week with a stamping plate with more Harry Potter images. So be on the lookout for that.




I have one more nail art look using this plate coming up, so if you feel like you need just one more idea before going shopping, keep an eye out for that one.

Ard As Nails - Kitty's Secret

Ard As Nails - The Bookouture Girls - Kitty's Secret

Today we are talking about Ard As Nails - Kitty's Secret from the Bookouture Girls Collection that was recently launched over at Soap Dodger. 

Ard As Nails is a 5-free, cruelty free, EU Approved Indie nail polish brand here in the UK.

I decided to put up the Extended Version of the live swatch up on Youtube. It seems as if Kitty's Secret was a favorite among many, so I decided to do a nail art look using this polish.

After a lot of thinking, going back 'n' forth on my stamping plates, I decided to use my MJ JV-2 stamping plate. Since the polish comes from a Book inspired collection and the name of the polish was Kitty's Secret I wanted to come up with something that played on that. This stamping plate had the perfect image.

Kitty's Secret is that her Guilty Pleasure is reading 50 Shades of Grey...

Ard As Nails - The Bookouture Girls - Kitty's Secret - MJ JV-2 stamping plate using Barry M - Chai

Ard As Nails - The Bookouture Girls - Kitty's Secret - MJ JV-2 stamping plate using Barry M - Chai

What is your Guilty Pleasure?

'Ard As Nails - The Bookouture Girls Collection Live Swatches

I just did a Live Swatch video on my Youtube Channel with the entire 'Ard As Nails - The Bookouture Girls Collection, you can check it out down below. The next couple of days I will show you different nail art looks using these polishes together with some of my stamping plates.

You can find the different nail art looks by clicking on this link here, it will take you to all the blogposts I have using Ard As Nails polishes. 

Swatches of the Bookouture Girls Collection from Ard As Nails

Moyou London - Cookbook Collection 3&4

I have done a little video with a comparison of the Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection 03 and Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection 04. They are a little different in terms of setup and size of the different images.

If you rock nubbins all year around, and like the smaller images, having only Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection 04 is probably the best, but if you have a bit longer nails than that, I would suggest having a look at both of the plates and see which one would fit you the most.

Size:
Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection 03 H2 cm W1.5cm
Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection 04 H1.5cm W1.2cm

If you are anything like me, who loves coffee and coffee related nails, it is worth it to have both plates.



Nail Art Ideas

Smoosh base coffee nails

Glitter base coffee nails

Shimmery base coffee nails

If you are looking to buy some plates from Moyou London, I have put together this little short promo with the nail arts that I have done using various Moyou London stamping plates

Coffee -nails

A product in this post was gifted to me, nothing else to disclose.

If there is not a tea cup next to me, there is a coffee cup. I love coffee, be it coffee scented candles (my favorite at the moment is Reindeer Brew - Peruvian Coffee Beans -03), a lazy latte or an americano in the morning.

I was organizing my stamping plates recently and found some stamping plates that I have not used for a while. The Cookbook Collection from Moyou London was one of these plates.

I filmed the whole process of this nail art, so if you want to have a look at that, hit that play button below. I made an intro for my videos and very excited about that. Hope you like it.




I started out with one coat of Barry M - Matte - Mocha on all nails, on top of that I added a thin layer of Ard As Nails - Vicky, to add a gorgeous shift, and transforms the look from a basic coffee -nails to something a little bit more glam.
When that was all dry I used Essie - Little Brown Dress, my favorite brown polish for stamping. Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection - 03 as an accent, and Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection - 04 for the rest of the nails.

I used my Magic Mask Liquid Latex that I purchased from Nail-Artisan UK. You can see me use it in the video above.

Coffee -nails using Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection 03 and 04 with Barry M - Matte - Mocha, Ard As Nails - Vicky and Essie - Little Brown Dress.

This is not the first time that I have done coffee nails using the Moyou London - The Cookbook Collection, in fact, last year I did these.

Secretary's Nail Art does Coffee -Nails 2015

If you want to read the whole post about last years coffee nails with a smooch base, follow this link.

She Sells Seashells Haul

Valentine's Box that I purchased from @shesellsseashellsuk not sure where to start (!) Vinyls, Stickers or Waterdecals Oh My! #shesellsseashells #nailartaddict #nailartoohlala #nailart

A photo posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on Feb 13, 2016 at 12:27pm PST

I recently did a haul from She Sells Seashells, since they sell Uber Chic Beauty products and it means I won't have to wait for the parcels to make their way all the way from the States to here in the UK, and having to pay taxes on top of it, instead I get to order it from a shop in the UK.

I wanted to see what the shipping time was like as well as checking out some other products from the store. These are the items I ended up getting.


Mystery Valentines Bag
Stamping Plate Storage Holder

Chevron vinyls

I have tested out some of the products already and I am very happy with what I got here.

Have you purchased from She Sells Seashells before?

Love is Kind

I recently did a haul from Nail Artisan UK, one of the items I purchased was the Pet'la Stamping Plate - Textytext. I really loved two of the saying on the plate and decided to do my nails with this.

You might have seen them on my Instagram recently.

#petlas #nailstamping #nailstagram #nailart #secretarysnailart @nail_artisan_by_alex #nailartisanuk #nail_artisan_uk #nailartisanbyalex @petlaplate #nail_artisan_by_alex

A photo posted by Dina Ramse (@secretarysnailart) on Feb 6, 2016 at 10:55am PST

I didn't actually know that this was a quote from the Bible when I did my nails, but my friend Sam that you all know from GuestNails , informed me.

For this look I started out with two coats of Barry M - Pink Lemonade, and did the stamping using Barry M - Acai Smoothie and Pet'la Stamping plate - Textytext.
I really like the end result here, and think it would be perfect for Valentine's.

What are you going to wear for Valentine's this year?

Work -appropriate nail art

A nail polish in this post was gifted to me, nothing else to disclose.

Today I have for you another work - appropriate polish, that packs a touch of holo.
It is from Ard As Nails, (link to my other posts from this brand), and I have had so much fun checking out that company. UK might not have loads of indie companies on the market, but the ones we have are really good.

Ard As Nails is an Indie (Handmade) Nail Varnish range created by the makers of Soap-Dodger. Their nail polishes are all 5 free, cruelty free and Vegan friendly.
If you want to find out more about 'Ard As Nails, you can head over to Ard As Nails Facebook Page, or their shop Soap Dodger .

I started out with two coats of polish on my nails, this polish seems to have less holo packed in it than the previous polish that I showed on this blog. 

Ard As Nails

I recently did a review over at my Youtube Channel for the BornPrettyStore - Jumbo Stamper. 

Using Uber Chic 3 -03 and L'oreal - Sweet Amethyst, this is the look that I came up with.

Ard As Nails stamped with Uber chic 3 -03 in L'oreal - Sweet Amethyst

I am very satisfied with the look today, and the stamper did not let me down. 

I think my nail-buddy is going to be very happy with this. 

A nail polish in this post was gifted to me, nothing else to disclose.

Vivid Lacquer - VL016

Today I am showing you the VL016 stamping plate. It was released back in November 2013, but I was in the mood for another Christmas plate.
It didn't arrive in time for Christmas, but at least I have it for the next one.

 

Vivid Lacquer 2013

The Vivid Lacquer shop on Etsy is currently on a break, due to some issues with the manufacturer of the stamping plates. You can still see images of her plates over at Vivid Lacquer Facebook Page.
Stamping test preformed using Savina - Coral and my Creative Stamper that I got from Rainbow Connection.  In case you were wondering.

I made a YouTube video about this stamping plate, so that we all look at how I failed doing this stamping test, by using the wrong stamper head. It's all a learning curve, and sometimes you take a step back.

The correct stamper to use with this plate would be a sticky stamper.

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube Channel for upcoming videos and follow the blog for more nail art looks.

Vivid Lacquer - VL042

I wanted some new stamping plates and around Black Friday there was so many great sales around, so I took a chance on getting some Vivid Lacquer plates. Today I am showing you the VL042 stamping plate. It was released back in 2014, but that doesn't make it less relevant.

The Vivid Lacquer shop on Etsy is currently on a break, due to some issues with the manufacturer of the stamping plates. You can still see images of her plates over at Vivid Lacquer Facebook Page.
Stamping test preformed using Savina - Coral and my Bundlemonster Semi Squishy Silicone Mega Stamper. In case you were wondering.

Stamping test of Vivid Lacquer - VL042 using Savina - Coral

I made a YouTube video about this stamping plate, check it out here.
Be sure to subscribe to my channel for upcoming videos.

Haul Videos

Do you like haul videos?
Sometimes love haul videos, specially if I know that the person spent their own hard-earned money on the items we see in the video. If the video is filled with Press Samples and Gifts... well I wouldn't call that a Haul video, I'd call that a "What's in my PO box" (for example) video, but that's just me.

I got a new camera for Christmas and I wanted to try it out, and decided to do a haul video. One turned into two, so here they are...
Currently working on review videos on some of the items that where in the haul videos, so if there is something specific that you are interested in, give me a shout.

First out is my first Vivid Lacquer Haul. I have never ordered stamping plates from Etsy before so that was a first. Curious to find out which plates I got?

A note however. If you are planning on buying plates from Vivid Lacquer, she has currently closed the shop in order to sort out some problems with a bad batch of plates. I know she is swamped in work at the moment so give her some time to sort everything out.

My second haul was from BornPrettyStore. I wanted to get one of those Jelly Stampers to see what the fuss was all about, but didn't want to get the real thing, in case I destroyed it. I also picked up a couple of other things from them as well.