Accessorize 4D Nails in Stardom

So one day while I was browsing Instagram I spotted a picture of Accessorize's answer to the caviar/'fish egg' trend, so of course I rushed out and picked some up.

The display in Superdrug where I got these had already been plundered by the time I got down there so only these two 'shades' were left! They were on 3 for 2 so I picked up 'Idol' and two lots of 'Stardom', one of which I gave to my sis.

The instructions on the back of the packaging.

Here's the finished look. After all the kerfuffle when Ciate released their Caviar set I was a bit put off this trend (at that point theirs was the only 'set' available) but I received one of their sets from an old friend for my birthday and ended up adoring it. I love different textures in nail art and this definitely ticks that box!

At only £5 per set (against Ciate's £18) this is definitely the budget-friendly option, as well as being much more easily available to pick up from the high street. However the Ciate set was a better all-rounder in my opinion: firstly, the tray provided to catch the beads is much bigger - and I still manage to get a few beads outside the tray even using that one! The second benefit to the Ciate set is the useful little funnel you get. The bottles above for the Accessorize set have been designed with a funnel 'built in' to the bottle, so you can use it to dispense the beads with accuracy and to get any leftover beads back in the bottle. However, the funnel is way too small so the beads have a tendency to get stuck in the neck. In the end I settled for removing the funnel part altogether and this made application much easier. I then used the Ciate funnel to get the leftover beads back in the bottle!

As much as I love this look, sadly the beads had still pretty much all fallen off within a couple of hours and I am still searching for a way to get them to stay on longer... Watch this space!

Bling appliques and OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons

I picked these appliques up from Sallys for about £7 (I think...!), made by a company called Bling. Their range are like nails wraps but mainly seemed based around rhinestones of various types. These aren't actually rhinestones, they actually seem to be clear blobs of something... But they were very sparkly and pretty in real life and looked like them, anyhow! I put these over OPI Don't Pretzel My Buttons from the Germany collection. The application was okay, usual 'file over the edge' instruction which was a little difficult when the blobs were right on the edge of the nail. There was a little bit of wrinkling at the edges but it wasn't too noticeable in real life. I was left with probably just about enough wraps left over for another full application - the packet also suggests cutting them into smaller shapes which could be interesting.

I absolutely loved the look of these in real life, they looked so sparkly and pretty when they caught the light but sadly this didn't transfer to the pics! Trust me, these were gorge.

Chanel Blue Boy Swatch

Here's another Chanel that I got with my Boots points. I have so much trouble picking from their colours, particularly since I always feel like it should be the 'special' (ie. non-duped) ones that I get... does that make sense?!

This beauty is Blue Boy from the 'Les Jeans de Chanel' trio released earlier this year and retails for £18.00. This is dusty perfection!

OPI Just Spotted The Lizard and Bundlemonster BM-212

Chanel Peridot was a long term lemming* of mine despite myself; this is one of those polishes with a colour and finish that I know I wouldn't have liked in my nuggle days but I now find mesmerising. My mum came home with Jessica Iridescent Eye one day (also a dupe) and that only made the lemming worse. So when OPI brought out dupetastic Just Spotted the Lizard of course I snapped it up immediately!

I used BM-212's 'peacock' design with this but on reflection that would work much better with a pinky purple! Anyhow, the OPI is beautiful and has definitively killed my Peridot lemming (leaving me free to get one of my number of other Chanel lems instead!)

*A note on lemming... I HATE this word. But there's really no better way to put it is there? x)

China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise and Bundlemonster BM-322 houndstooth

China Glaze really nailed neons this year and Turned Up Turquoise and Pink Voltage were my polishes of the summer. I added black houndstooth on top using BM-322 which was definitely one of my favourite patterns from the new Bundlemonster plates. The stamping was a 'second day' addition so there was topcoat on top of the neon but none over the stamping.

Boots No 7 Cheeky Chops and polka dots

I love polka dots. Looove them. They are and always will be my go-to nail art when I want something cute but simple. This is Boots No 7 Cheeky Chops with China Glaze White on White polka dots. I got my dotting tools from eBay - the same seller doesn't have them listed any more but they're easy to find for a couple of quid. As usual, topped with Seche Vite! 

Ciaté Strawberry Milkshake, OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips and OPI Planks a Lot with zebra Konad stamping

In this NOTD from June I tried out a 3-colour gradient (The Nailasaurus and Kayla Shevonne have both written excellent tutorials on doing gradients). The gradient was a little shaky so of course I covered my shame with a bit of stamping! I used Konad plate M57 and Ciaté Strawberry Milkshake (light pink), OPI Kiss Me On My Tulips (bright pink) and OPI Planks a Lot (purple), all topped off with a coat of Seche Vite. For stamping I'm currently using a gloopy old bottle of Barry M black.