Introducing Flatlays And Flowers

Although I haven’t been sharing posts on here as much as I would like to, I still love taking photos of my makeup collection. It’s taken a long time but I feel I am starting to really have my own style when it comes to creating my flatlays and I love sharing them when I do blog and over on my instagram page.

 

 

Blogging doesn’t come easily to me, the words are especially hard to find sometimes, which is the main reason I LOVE instagram. A picture says a thousand words after all!

I’ve been maintaining a sort of theme to my page for a while and a huge part of that is because of my love of makeup and now every other post is a flatlay I have created! In between flatlays I like sharing my love of vintage, photos of my whippets and anything else I like. I understand that those don’t appeal to a huge number of people though so I decided to create a hashtag for my flatlays so that anyone interested could see just those if they wanted to. Just search #FlatlaysandFlowers on instagram to see them all!

I am certainly no expert when it comes to creating the perfect content for social media but I definitely enjoy it and I hope that you like looking at it! Just head over to instagram to take a look!

Ra  ❤

I Heart Makeup: Chocolate and Peaches

The I Heart Makeup Chocolate & Peaches palette has been on my wish list since it was first released. When I ordered from the TAM Beauty website back in February it was out of stock so I bought the Golden Bar palette, which I reviewed on here a while ago. So this time around I made sure to order while it was still available. And I could not be happier!

 

Chocolate & Peaches has 16 shades, with a good mix of matte and shimmer. As with the other palettes this comes with a huge mirror in the lid, a sponge applicator and a plastic sheet with each shade name on.

Each shade blends really well and lasts a long time without creasing, about 6 hours for me, even on my oily lids. That is amazing considering I don’t use any primer either! And there’s not a shade in this palette that isn’t highly pigmented!

  

Warm toned eye makeup is everywhere right now and I love the look! This palette is full of the most wonderfully pigmented shades perfect for so many different spring/summer makeup. As I’ve said before, I am no expert at applying makeup, especially eyeshadow, but I find the I Heart Makeup palettes really easy to work with. And at only £7.99 this is such a bargain!

Ra  ❤

Recent Barry M Purchases: Swatches Included

It seems like forever since I last shared a nail post. My job has really taken its toll on my nails which is why I’ve moved towards more makeup and vintage posts. But seeing as my nails weren’t too bad last week I thought I would snap a few photos of my recent Barry M purchases.

The Gelly Paints are my absolute favourite polishes so I picked up Acai Smoothie which is from last year’s Spring/Summer release. This is a really gorgeous dusky mauve colour unlike anything in my collection. The formula applies perfectly, as with all the Gelly paints. This is two coats and no top coat.

 

I’ve been looking at swatches of the new Frosted Cupcakes collection since it was released and couldn’t resist grabbing one for myself. I chose Strawberries and Cream which is a soft blush pink. This is packed with crystal flakies but unfortunately getting them to show up was a little tricky. These photos definitely don’t do the sparkle any justice. I’m wearing two coats here with no top coat.

 

I’m constantly impressed with Barry M’s polishes and these two are no exception. Which of these is your favourite?

Ra ❤

Born Pretty Store: Fruit Nail Decals

I love decals because they’re so quick to use, especially with fast drying polishes and top coats. These gorgeous fruit designs from Born Pretty Store are just wonderful.

I love that these have a fun vintage/rockabilly vibe!

These are definitely the perfect way to jazz up any mani! First I had to try a candy pink with lots of decals.

 

For my second look I wanted to keep it simple but bold. I usually shy away from yellow polish but with a little pineapple decoration I love it!

 

As with all decals I’ve tried from Born Pretty Store these are really fantastic quality, easy to use and perfect for all nail lengths! These are a must have!

You can find this here: Fruit Nail Decals!

Born Pretty Store has everything you could need for gorgeous nail art. And you can use my discount code RARW10 for 10% off your Born Pretty Store order!

Ra ❤

*These decals were sent to me by Born Pretty Store for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed are honest and my own.

 

Sparkle Into The New Year

Today I’m sharing two of my favourite Barry M glitter polishes to inspire your next nail look!

Celebrating the New Year is the perfect time to wear all the glitter! So here are my two picks for nails that will sparkle the brightest.

First up is Amethyst which is densely packed with glitter. This can be worn without a base coat as it does completely cover the nail but I’m wearing it over Barry M Plum Gelly Paint, mainly to make removing it just a little easier!

Next is Fashion Icon from the Glitterati range. Possibly the prettiest purple ever!! The shimmer and glitter work beautifully together to create the most wonderful effect. Again, this is layered over the Plum Gelly Paint.

What are your favourite glitter polishes?

Ra ❤

Just A Little Sparkle

As I get older I’ve found my style changing a lot with nail art and colours. I never used to like the ‘nude’ nail look but recently I’ve been loving this understated and chic choice.

Make Up Gallery’s Simply Nude polish is a beautiful and natural shade that looks so lovely even on my super short nails! I am wearing two coats in these photos.

 

If you want to add a little sparkle then Pixi Dust Pink is the perfect addition. I love how this adds warmth and shine without being overpowering.

 

Do you like a simple nail colour like this? 

Ra ❤

 

 

Make Up Gallery: Nail Art Decoration

Although I have been loving wearing plain colour polish recently, I love finding things that make me want to get creative with nail art. Make Up Gallery’s decoration set is perfect for experimenting with fun designs.

This set includes a wheel packed full of brightly coloured shapes (circles, squares and stars), 3 cuticle sticks, tweezers and a nail file. Definitely a bargain for just £1!

To show you how cute these little studs are I’ve kept each nail art quite simple.

For my first look I used Winter White for the base. I then carefully placed the circle studs into a flower shape. I love how these create a fun 60s hippie vibe!

For my second design I used Midnight Black and the star shapes to create a neon sky!

This set is such a great addition to any nail art collection, especially if you are just starting out or have never used studs before! I doubt you would find such a good quality set anywhere else.

Keep up to date with everything from Make Up Gallery by following them on their social media!

Instagram – Twitter – Facebook – Products

Ra ❤

*This set was paid for by Make Up Gallery for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed are honest and my own.

 

Make Up Gallery: Matt Top Coat

Today I have a new and exclusive Make Up Gallery polish to share with you all! Their Matt Top Coat is the latest addition to their products and one that I am very excited about!

Let’s talk about the packaging first. As you can see, the bottle has a very stylish matt finish, which I think makes it look really lovely and much more expensive than it’s £1 price tag! The brush is a large flat style like the rest of Make Up Gallery’s polishes so application is quick and easy.

To show off this beautiful top coat I’ve gone for a nail art using three of my favourite things: purple, polka dots and flowers! I used the gorgeous Parma Violet as the base with Winter White for polka dots, which I did using Make Up Gallery’s marble dotting tool. After applying the top coat I added little flowers (not from Make Up Gallery) for a more interesting design.

The matt top coat applies smoothly and dries rather quickly. This turns matt before it is fully dry so be careful not to smudge your design!

Matt nails are always chic, especially as we go in to autumn, and what better than a good quality top coat at a such a low price! You can get this for yourself in Poundland very soon!

Keep up to date with everything from Make Up Gallery by following them on their social media!

Instagram – Twitter – Facebook – Products

Ra ❤

*This polish was sent to me by Make Up Gallery for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed are honest and my own.

 

Make Up Gallery: Marilyn in Black & White!

Stamping plates are one of the best ways to get intricate nail designs with very little effort. I’ve built quite a collection of plates now and through lots of practice have found that not all polishes are suitable for getting a crisp image.

After playing around with Make Up Gallery over the last few weeks I thought I would try them out with stamping. I picked out one of my favourite plates, a Born Pretty Store plate with a Marilyn Monroe picture. I decided to let the stamping speak for itself so chose a monochrome look.

I used Winter White as the base. This is a very sheer white so I did three coats of this. I then used Midnight Black to stamp on my image.

As you can see the design came out beautifully! I am very impressed with how well this polish picked up the design and transferred it to my nails. A much better result than I’ve had from more expensive brands!

Although some Make Up Gallery polishes won’t be suitable to stamp with, mostly the lighter shades, there are plenty that would be perfect and at just £1 it’s definitely a bargain!

Keep up to date with everything from Make Up Gallery by following them on their social media!

Instagram – Twitter – Facebook – Products

Ra ❤

*These polishes were paid for by Make Up Gallery for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed are honest and my own.

 

Pastel & Metallic Polka Dots

I’ve really been loving pastel nail colours recently, especially when paired with a touch of metallic! I think it’s a really fun way to break up lighter shades and add some depth to your look.

Polka dots are a super easy way to add metallic to your muted base. Make Up Gallery have this stylish dotting tool set to make getting the look super easy!

Each one has a dotting tool at both ends giving 8 sizes. Perfect for whatever nail art look you want to create. They also come in a very on trend marble pattern!

Make Up Gallery polish collection is fantastic with so many colours you can mix and match. I’ve picked two pairs of polishes to show how great wearing pastels and metallics can look.

First up I wanted a really light nail so I picked Pink Sherbet as the base with Vintage Pink dots.

 

I love how these colours look together!

Next is a slightly darker pastel look using Bambino Blue and Sapphire Blue.

 

For both of these I tried to keep my dots evenly spaced and in lines, as much as possible, but a more random dot placement is just as pretty and can be less time consuming.

I hope this helps to inspire your next nail art!

Keep up to date with everything from Make Up Gallery by following them on their social media!

Instagram – Twitter – Facebook – Products

Ra ❤

*These polishes were paid for by Make Up Gallery for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed are honest and my own.