MNY and Models Own | NOTD

So I'm pretty crap at doing my nails, despite having over 50 nail polishes, I either can't be arsed or it just turns out utterly shite and I take it off. I picked up these MNY Maybelline polishes from my local British Heart Foundation a while ago but I can't remember for the life of me how much they cost. I'm willing to bet it was about £1 though as that's usually how much I spend on nail polish. Hello Poundland! 

I started off with just these two MNY Maybelline colours, they don't have shade names though just numbers. The purple is 553 and the accent pink is 261. I love my accent nail but decided it was a bit too boring for once, enter Models Own Juicy Jules to spice it up! I am by no means as expert or even an intermediate at nails but I'm quite proud of this look and think it's fab!

In the bottle both the MNY shades have a blue glitter through them, on the actual nail I think it only comes across with the purple shade (553). My Juicy Jules might have to go in the bin soon too, it's gone all gloopy and horrible which is a shame as I love it! To glitter up the accent nail, I used some cosmetic sponges that I've had in my drawers for about two years now, doing absolutely nothing. After seeing lots of ombre and sponge art NOTDs, I figured I'd give it a go myself!

Maybe next time I do my nails, I'll remember to push back my cuticles and stick some hand cream on!

NOTD | Sinful Colors | Black on Black

On Wednesday after Louis and I's usual trip to the cinema (thanks Orange Wednesday!) I popped into Poundland to have a quick look. I had a whole £1 in my purse so I knew if I found more than one thing I wanted I'd be buggered!

Luckily this was the first thing I picked up and I fell in love! I'd seen Sinful Colours in a few make up collection videos but didn't know anything about them. The thing that drew me to it was it's black. I'm always on the hunt for a good black polish. Not had much luck in that department. I remember buying a Chanel black polish when I was a teenager and it was amazing! As much as I loved it though, it cost me £14. These days I can't quite justify spending that much on nail polish (yet).

This bad boy though, I'd happily buy it forever! This stuff is amazing. It does everything that I want a black nail polish to do. It goes on so well, it's a nice thick formula but not too thick that I'm painting tar on my nails and best of all, it is opaque after one coat. You heard me right, one coat and I'm ready to go!

 I'm slowly getting better at painting my nails, not without the help of my corrector pen though! I also want to try the tape and glue tips I've read so much about!

I'll definitely have to see if I can get some more of these before Poundland stop selling them, bloody wonder polish!

Have you tried Sinful Colors (colours)? What did you think?

NOTD | Barry M Limited Edition | Neon Green

Just a quick wee NOTD today. Remember all the prizes I won from Lydia in this post? Well this is me trying starting to try out all my goodies!

I'll be honest, I didn't think this polish would be the first thing I'd try but hey ho, I did!

I don't have much experience with Barry M as a brand, I'm pretty sure the only thing of theirs I have is a magnetic polish, I'll write a wee post on that soon.

So this is 4 coats of the polish although it was opaque at 3. I went to sleep and woke up with fingerprints and lines all over them so I added another before I took the picture. It's quite a thin polish, slightly watery but I prefer polishes like that. Means I can build them up gradually, not just slap on a thick layer and be done.

I don't really take the best care of my nails but I need to start. I'll get into a wee routine using hand cream, cuticle cream, base coats, strengtheners and top coats. No point spending time doing my nails if they aren't going to last!

What's the last colour you painted your nails?

Re-jazzing of my nails

Yesterday I headed through to Stirling to get my nails redone, they were badly needing a refill and when I got there I decided to change the colour. I loved the purple but fancied a wee change. Here is how they ended up

How fabby are these?! I've never tried matte black before but I'm in love with it! Don't get my wrong, I love nice shiny nails but there's something so appealing about the matte effect. I didn't just want to leave them plain so suggested to Marge, my naily godmother, that we could put white polka dots on it to jazz it up a bit. Jazz it up they did indeed!

When I got my nails done initially they were done with purple tips but I think it gives a nice two tone effect to these new black ones. What do you think?

To finish, this is the picture Marge put up on her page

You can check out her other nails here on the Pinkys Nail Bar page.

Progress treat

So after posting this morning about all my progress, I decided it was time to give myself a little treat. A well done Alana, love from Alana!

So I took myself through to Stirling (off peak train ticket with railcard = less than £4!!) and went to Pinky's Nail Bar (facebook). My friend Marge who I have known for many a moon now works there. Ever since I can remember, she's had great nails, always done and always looking good so when she told me she was branching off into it as a career, I wasn't surprised. That lass is gonna go far!

So onto her fabulous work! I decided to go for a purple glitter with an accent nail on each hand with other glitter on top (Marge and I called it mermaid glitter).

I'll get some more pictures tomorrow if I can get the lighting and webcam camera to play nice as that's all I have camera wise right now. But look at them!! I love them.

I feel so fabulous what with all my progress and these nails on top of that, I'm flying!

I'd definitely recommend checking out the Pinky's page I linked to above and giving them a wee visit if you're near Stirling (if you're not then get a train?). Next on my list from Pinky's might be getting my toes done, I've always hated them so maybe getting them done will make me like them a bit more!

How do you like your nails? Natural? Stick on? Acrylic?