NOTD - Cracked Pottery Nails

Hello there lovely readers!

I have some new nail art to share but before then how's about a bit of a catch up before getting to that...

So...despite the year starting off in not the best of ways with bush fires, apocalyptic storms & of course being hit with a worldwide virus pandemic...I am still determined to try & achieve the goals I wanted to this year, especially after having such a rough 2019. This includes travel (though naturally one is holding fire for now...) better health (I finally bought a bicycle & will be attempting regular cycling when I can!) & one other thing that I have wanted to do for the longest time which is...POTTERY! 

The £1.30 Stila Glitter & Glow Eyeshadow Dupe!

Hey there lovely readers!

No your eyes are NOT deceiving you dear ones you read that title right...So yah, I'm pretty darn excited to share this post with you today but before I continue I must mention that 100% credit for this goes to the lovely blogger Gemma aka Gemmaetc, who first brought these to my attention! I was casually perusing her lovely blog (if you haven't checked her out already, rectify!) when I saw her post on this particular product pop up on her sidebar, so naturally rushed to click!

Festive NOTD - Christmas Wreath French Tips!

Hey there lovely readers!

I have seriously slacked with the Christmas nail art this year...bah humbug Aysh! But on account of being away in sunnier climates for part of the month (where, lets be honest, festive inspiration is harder to come by right?) I think I'll let myself off whilst at the same time pat myself on the back for managing to do any at all haha! But here we are with a fourth & final Festive mani for the year...Christmas Wreaths!

Armour Your Nails with All That Jazz Nail Filigree!

Hello there lovely readers!

I'm always on the lookout for intriguing & innovative new ways to jazz up my nails & today I have such a nifty nail art product to share with you that will help do just that in the most blingy beautiful way courtesy of All That Jazz Nail Filigrees*!

Nail filigrees are a fantastic option if nail art or nail wraps feel too complicated & time consuming. What I adore about these is not only how easy they are to use, but also the range of pretty designs that are available in a selection of gorgeous metallic finishes including white, silver, black, gold & rose gold.

I couldn't wait to try & decided to give the silver a whirl first, the design here is the cross pattern which reminds me of star constellations! The filigrees are quite fine so require a bit of delicate care when handling.

In each pack you get a sheet of 10 filigrees, one for each nail, however my favourite way to use these is by cutting each filigree & just covering part of the nail as I've done for this mani. Not only do I love the finished effect but it'll make the nail filigrees last longer too. WIN!

For my base shade I applied two coats of All That Jazz nail lacquer in Total Eclipse*, a lovely creamy grey. This is my first time trying All That Jazz polishes & I am mightily impressed, I can understand why they have such a large fan base. Quality formula, smooth & opaque in two coats, simply sublime! I decided to paint the pinkie in black to really bring out the silver filigree.

As mentioned, instead of using the entire filigree, what I've done is cut the filigree in half at an angle. It doesn't have to be neat, in fact the more random the cut the better it looks in my opinion!

You then have 2 pieces of filigree which can be then positioned on to each nail wherever you like, using tweezers to help place them. Important note – make sure that your polish base is completely dry! A good idea can be to simply apply the filigree the next day if you don't have a speed dry topcoat.

After applying my filigree pieces, as fab & blingtastic as they look I couldn't resist adding a bit of extra detail with some black dots around the edge of the nail which was done with a dotting tool & alternated with the grey on the pinkie.

Finish with topcoat to seal & you have your gorgeous filigree armored look nails ready to rock! I'm utterly digging these so much & cannot wait to incorporate more into my mani's, you can be sure I'll be stocking up on some rose gold ones!

You can find the All That Jazz Nail Filigree (RRP £1.79) & NailLacquers (RRP £9.98) online.

Thanks as always for reading!

Lotsa love to ya!

Disclaimer - * products featured were sent to me for my consideration. I am not affiliated with the brand nor paid for this post, this review has been as always my 100% honest opinion! :)

NOTD - Louboutin Inspired Gradient Nails

Hello there my lovely readers!

Aaaah Louboutins...a name I'm sure many are familiar with & whose iconic shoes are present on most gals wish lists! I'm still yet to be fortunate enough to call a pair my own but one day...it will be. The same goes for the beautiful Louboutin nail polish with its stunning bottle, I confess its mostly for the bottle that I want it...one day you WILL be mine!

In the mean time I guess I can still get my wee fix by using the infamous red & black colours to inspire my nail art which is what I've done today with these Louboutin inspired gradient nails...

I wasn't entirely happy with how these came out if I'm honest, I'm still practicing doing gradients with darker colours which I'm finding a tad more tricky so do forgive me! This was one of those manis that looked much better at distance haha! But practice makes perfect so I'll persevere for sure :)

For my Louboutin nails I of course required a nice red & black polish, here I've used W7 Black & Bad Apple Red Delicious.

To start first apply a coat of red polish as your base to do your gradient on top of, then wait for it to completely dry.

Then grab a piece of makeup sponge, I guess you can use any old sponge but I like using these. I pick up a bag from good old Poundworld.

The gradient will go from red to black so apply a stripe of each shade side by side onto your sponge, then dab onto the nail with up/down, side to side motions to create your faded gradient look.

Do this a few times, adding more polish to your sponge, to get a nice opaque finish or until your happy with the effect. To finish I also dabbed a bit of Ulta3 Outasight which is a black glitter, onto the tips for an added touch.

Go over with a nice thick coat of topcoat & you're done! Now gradients can be messy, I used ZAP!, a liquid latex nail art skin protector to help with the clean up part of this manicure,which I'll be reviewing in full for you in my next post so do keep posted for that!

FYI the ring bling is Hugo Sophia :) Thanks for reading lovelies!

Lotsa love to ya!

NOTD - Egyptian Jewel Inspired Nails!

Hello there lovely readers!

I've always been fascinated with Egyptian history. I adore watching films depicting the time of the Pharaohs & I hope to visit Egypt one day, being a huge Poirot fan also, a Nile cruise has been on the bucket list for a long time!

From a beauty addicts perspective, the Egyptian era is truly a feast for the eyes...the stunning hairpieces, the bold makeup, the eye catching jewels! Its the jewels in particular that inspired this particular mani I have for you today, using tones of black, turquoise & gold I came up with these Egyptian inspired jewelled stone nails.

To recreate these could not be easier. Start with applying a black base. Here I've used two coats of A England Lancelot, one of my favourite blacks, it has a divine Gothic red tint to it & a beautiful glossy formula.

Next apply your turquoise centre. To do this I used a fine nail art brush & Models Own Turquoise Gloss. Free hand a teardrop/diamond style shape in the centre of your nail, before filling in. Don't worry if they don't match, I actually think having each nail look slightly different is better!

You know I am a glitter FIEND so sparkle was definitely required. To bring out that turquoise I applied some of this gorgeous Jordana glitter in Celestial on top of the Models Own.

Then using a fine nail art brush & some gold polish or a gold nail art pen which I've done here & naturally forgot to photograph because...well...I'm a plonker, apply a gold border around the turquoise.

Finally grab that glitter again, this time some sparkly gold, I love my trusty Color Club & simply go over your gold border with the glitter using another fine brush.

Finish with a coat of topcoat & jazz up the hands with some hand jewellery if you like & your Egyptian inspired manicure is done!

This mani is actually from my archive from a few months back but I'm in mourning for how long my nails are here! Lately they've been breaking left, right & centre & its slowly driving me mad! *throws self down dramatically & wails in despair*

If anyone has any tips to share to help aid this wee problem I'd love to hear any recommendations! Thanks for reading!

Lotsa love to ya!

NOTD - Burgundy Beauty with Bourjois Rouge Diva!

Hey there lovely readers,

Burgundy is one of those shades that most definitely falls into the perfect tone category for the Autumn/Winter months & certainly gets a lot of love at this time of year especially! A warm & flattering shade which suits everyone, every girl needs at least one burgundy polish in her stash.

I wanted share with you one of my favourite Burgundy red polishes which I find myself reaching for time & again as it meets all my needs, everything from the colour to the formula is just perfection & is courtesy of good old high street brand Bourjois!

This little pretty goes by the name Rouge Diva & is from Bourjois So Laque Ultra Shine Range which retails for around £5.99.

I don't know why I don't own more of these babies in my collection as the formula is fantastic. Rouge Diva is a lovely rich marsala red & applies like a dream.

The formula is smooth & enriched with twice as much vinyl giving it that thick glossy almost gel like finish. It could even pass as a one coater but of course I always go for my obligatory two, creature of habit is me!

Rouge Diva is lovely enough all by its onesie but I couldn't resist jazzing it up a tad as is my way with the addition of these pretty blue/black rhinestones available from Born Pretty Store. You can use my code TRUW10 to get 10% off of your order ;) The midi rings are Topshop, I do love me some finger bling I do :)

Thanks for reading my lovelies, do you have any favourite burgundy polishes?

Lotsa love to ya!
 

Witchcraftery - Join The Coven With The Rogue & Wolf...

Hi there lovely readers!

With Halloween around the corner, I thought now would be perfect to share with you beauties a jewelry range that has captured my heart of late & brought me back in touch with my darker side! As much as I love colour, I do have days where I like to embrace the darkness & become that gothic gal I remember so well again, one who was obsessed with Practical Magic, owned 456172 Henna tattoo chokers that everyone & their cat bought in bulk from Claire's (which seem to have made an epic return of late) & watched Buffy the Vampire slayer so many times that each episode could be quoted word for word. Aaah...good times. Statement accessorization played a key role as much then as it does now & that's where The Rogue & Wolf have delivered perfectly with their gorgeously gothic range...

I first came across the brand via my beloved Twitter. Once I clicked on the website to view their wares I was in pure dark gothic HEAVEN! With a wide range of chokers, rings, midi rings & earrings in unique & enchanting styles/designs to capture one within their spell, they definitely succeeded in captivating moi as my wishlist is now growing to alarming proportions!

When it came to choosing my first Rogue & Wolf pieces I opted for 'The Betray' (index finger) & 'The Hunt' (middle finger) from the Fair/Feral Collection & 'The Rune' from The Witch's Hawk Collection which I'm wearing on my ring finger. Having quite thin fingers, buying rings can always be a bit of a palava hence why midi rings are my favourite accessory as often they can work as rings on me too! 

The rings are made from an interesting black polyamide plastic material, quite different from anything I've come across or own. The designs are simple yet so feminine, elegant & look stunning on, I've been asked quite a few times when wearing these eye catching beauties where I got them from.

These beautiful pieces have been getting some serious loving for sure & I am already eyeing up more to add to my collection! The Rogue & Wolf have recently released the Lunae collection which includes the most stunning pieces designed in bronze infused stainless steel with gorgeously coloured gemstones incorporated within. Just look at this amazing Draco ring that reminds me so much of the eye of Sauron...NEED! 

I also want to mention that the lovely folks at The Rogue & Wolf are absolutely dolls! Not only was delivery super quick but their customer service & interaction on social media is so nice, which is another touch that really draws me to a brand! So my fellow witches if you wish to join the coven & nab yourself some truly unique & stunning statement pieces as well, you can find the range online.

Thanks as always for reading!    

Lotsa love to ya!

NOTD - Rule Britannia by True Brit London

Hello there lovely readers!

Hope you're all having a not too blue Monday! After a few days in the capital city for my birthday, I found myself back in the office yesterday on a working Sunday (boo!) so remedied that with a much needed day off today as lets just say ones limbs may still be recovering haha! If you follow moi on social media you'll know that I visited Lady Dinahs Cat Emporium for high tea as part of the birthday celebrations & FYI cat lovers...definitely go! Such a cute gem of a place hidden away in Shoreditch, you will love it! Mumma bear is already begging I take her! :)

Now you can't go wrong with a perfect red polish can you? Like a lipstick, every girl should also have a signature red polish in her collection & the polish I have to show you today is True Brit London's offering in the form of the elegant Rule Britannia* from the Essentials Collection.

With a polish named thus, I couldn't resist glamming it up with some serious bling! But first things first lets start with that divooone shade. FYI dolls...photographing red tones is an absolute pain in the caboose! However I did my bestest to capture it. Rule Britannia is a lovely vintage vibrant red which veers more towards the orange toned red family.

This was two coats applied & as always with True Brit London polishes the formula was faultless, so smooth to apply & dries to a lovely glossy finish. I've found that a lot of the True Brit London polishes are easily one coaters which is fab! However I'm a creature of habit & always go for my two!

Once dry I decided to dab on some gold glitter starting from the cuticles using a gold glitter Color Club polish before dragging down slightly to create a subtle gradient effect.

Now on to that pretty nail jewellery, its a bobby dazzler huh?! This pretty nail charm twas purchased from my fav nail art supply store Charlie's Nail Art & seemed quite fitting & the perfect accessory for my Rule Britannia manicure. The great thing about these lovely nail charms is that they can be re-used again!

I applied the True Brit London Gloss topcoat to each nail as well as using it to help stick the nail charm on the nail, as its a lovely thick formula, the charm held strong for the whole duration I wore the mani.

Thanks as always for reading lovelies! True Brit London polishes retail for £12.50 & can be found online. Don't forget you can also get 10% off your order using my special code TRULY10.

Lotsa love to ya!

Disclaimer - * products featured were sent to me for my consideration. I am not affiliated with the brand nor paid for this post, this review has been as always my 100% honest opinion! :)

Pretty Bling from Cheap Frills!

Hello there my lovely readers!

I hope your weeks gotten off to a good start! Truly did not want to return to work after a blissful weekend spent with family on Saturday for Eid, followed by a divine day perusing my favourite place on Earth, Brighton! I got to meet up with the lovely Jayne whilst there also which was the cherry on top of an ace weekend :)

Just one of the many wonderful things I love about the world of Twitter (come find me @Aysh_tmb) is it often brings you into contact with many incredibly talented independent jewellery businesses that I wouldn't know existed otherwise.

I've already become addicted to a number of boutiques which produce some stunning pieces. One that I have a soft spot for in particular is Cheap Frills, which is run by the lovely Georgie, who actually resides in Brighton the lucky thing, not jelly at all, & has such a delightful selection of pretty vintage bling. I thought I'd share with you beauts a few bits & bobs I've picked up from this store which has become a firm fav of mine...

One of the first items I ever purchased after having a browse through all the delightful wares on offer was this adorable golden bee & amber stone necklace...isn't it so puuuurdy?

First things first though I absolutely adored how the necklace came packaged when it arrived. Each piece is parceled inside a cute paper bag & sealed with wax & a Cheap Frills stamp embossment which I thought to be so quaint & its little touches like this that really endear me to a product!

The necklace itself is exceptionally pretty with the delicate gold chain, intricately detailed solid bee pendant & the pretty amber heart stone to complete the whole piece. Now in reality bees actually scare the beejesus (pun totally intended...sorry) out of me. However in jewellery form...no such problems. Weird.

Another couple of pieces I couldn't resist hauling a little later on were these super cute silver arrow earrings & swallows nest necklace which came with it. These pretty items of bling have all gotten a lot of usage!

Lovely right?  I definitely urge you to check out Cheap Frills if you're looking for pretty cameo jewellery & accessories. I already have my eye on the Oxblood Vintage Cocktail Ring! Unfortunately I don't think the Bee & Amber necklace is available any more (I did get it a while back!) however Georgie is forever introducing new equally stunning pieces & FYI there's always some fab bling around Halloween time so defo worth keeping an eye out!

Thanks as always for reading lovelies! Till next time.

Lotsa love to ya!