September Stamping Challenge: Day 1 - National Symbols

So, I am taking part in the lovely Miss Tina's stamping challenge this September (Tina's September Challenge), as often as I can (sadly not daily). I don't have huge variety in my plates yet, and I pretty much live in flower and butterfly manicures, so can't stick to this fabulous guide Tina has come up with. So, I'll try and do some from Tina's list, and some of my own as time and my imagination allow.

So, today's manicure is a floral one, but the theme is one of Nationality (not mine, might I add) - in fact, it's Malaysian in origin. So, how did an Irish girl living in Scotland dream this one up?

Well, on Sunday night, I watched the Edinburgh End of Festival Fireworks and concert. The finale was played out to Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture (the Scottish Chamber Orchestra did an amazing job, as the the pyrotechnics team). I have listened to this piece of music countless times over the years, but never before had the hints of La Marseillaise, France's national anthem, stood out so well before, as the fireworks reflected the colour and formation of the French flag. So, while watching these fireworks with my friends from China, Malaysia, Indian and England, National Colours and symbols came to mind. When it came up that the national flower of Malaysia was the hibiscus, and the flag was mostly red and white (with some blue and gold too), my mind was made up!

Hibiscus Flower

Malaysian Flag

So, here's the list of ingredients that went in to my manicure (left to right):
-OPI Matte Nail Envy base coat
-Nails Inc Greenwich Market polish
-Konad White stamping polish
-HK Girl top coat
-Stamper and scraper kit from China (marshmallow)
-Moyou Pro XL 13 (top row, 4th image from left)

(I should say that, unless stated otherwise, all my manis on this blog use Nail Envy as a base, HK Girl as my topper, and this marshmallow stamper and plastic scraper as my tools).

So, here is the finished article. Sadly there wasn't great sunlight to catch the full beauty of it, and I'm still learning about placement, but I for one think it's pretty, as do my OH and several strangers so far!

Thanks for taking a look! Feel free to leave a comment so that I see your blog too :)

My Name is Debs, and I Am a Stampaholic...

... and PROUD!

I have been meaning to restart blogging for so long, but have finally found something that I enjoy enough to inspire me - nail stamping! The road has been rocky at times (wrong plates, wrong stamper, wrong polishes, you name it), but once I got over the beginners bumps, I fell totally in love. I'm going to try more of a little and often approach, but here's a few photos to get this thing started :)

This was the first stamping job I have done that I felt truly happy with, so was my break-through of sorts. The only things that displeased me was the green turning my crisp white to a yellow when top coated though - d'oh! This was achieved with my Chinese marshmallow stamper from Ebay, Moyou Pro Plate XL 12, Nails Inc Queen Victoria Street and Konad White. (All manis here are top coated with Seche Vite).

Below was done with Moyou Pro XL Plates 07 and 12, and polishes Nails Inc Morning Crescent, Zoya Snow White, and Konad White (stamping polish).

During September, I'm going to take part in a challenge with Miss Tina (albeit not every day - duty calls and all that)! The details are all here: Miss Tina's September Stamping Challenge So, I'll be taking different themes and inspirations, and coming up with stamping manis accordingly. I can't wait, as I already pick up so much inspiration when out and about and looking at people's handiwork online. The mani below I did last week, and was inspired by a long and boring trip to DFS to look at sofas!

Zoya Richelle, Konad White and Moyou Pro XL 12.

So, thanks for reading, and I hope you join me over the coming weeks to see what's new :) Feel free to direct me to your blogs too - I love a bit of inspiration! Clubbing together to do Twin Manicures (where we become copy cats of one another) is always fun too.

Blog Sale (March 2014) - Nail Polish, Cosmetics & Skin Care

Right guys, I am moving house soon so it's time to be strict with myself and start selling before I begin packing!

Please pay by Paypal or bank transfers only. P&P is not included unless otherwise stated, but is charged at Royal Mail 2nd class prices (£2.60 for packets). If you are buying more than 4 polishes, Royal Mail will not carry it, so items will be sent via courier instead (£4.20).

Offers are given for multiples - don't be afraid to ask! Happy shopping :)

Models Own Nail Polishes

Left to Right: Raspberry Crush (un-used), Haley's Comet (swatched), Gold Digger (fill line visible - about 3 manicures), Nude Beige (fill-line visible, about 5 manicures). Nude Beige is free to a good home, and £1 per polish otherwise. Will sell ALL four polishes INCLUDING P&P for £5.

Barry M Gelly (used for one manicure each)

SOLD! :)

Nails Inc - Cremes

SOLD :)

Nails Inc - Shimmers and Special Effects

Left to right: both reds now SOLD. St Mark's Square (new), Chancery Lane (fill-line visible, about 3 manis). Polishes are £3 each, or will sell all the remaining pink and blue INCLUDING P&P for £8.

OPI Bond Collection - Boxed Specials

Left to right (second photo to show MWTGG box not pristine as I had a nightmare opening it - can post without): OPI Man With the Golden Gun (used once) - £15 (retailing new at £25 and over). OPI Bond... James Bond fishnet magnetic (used once) - £5. Buy them both, and P&P is free (i.e. £20 total).

OPI and Essie

Left to right: Are We There Yet? (new), Vampsterdam (one mani), San Tan-Tonio (one mani), Essie Neo Whimsical (swatched). Polishes are £3 each, or will sell all four INCLUDING P&P for £13.

Mixed Make-up

Left to right and top down: Primark Glitter eye shadow (still sealed) - £1. MUA mascara Shade 3 (still sealed) - £1. MUA Heaven & Earth eye shadow palette (still sealed) - £2. MUA Flair eye lashes (still sealed) - £1. MUA loose eye shadow (still sealed) in Shade 4 - £1. Will sell the lot including P&P for £7.50.

MUA Make-up

MUA Artiste Palette - SOLD. Lipstick in Bare (Shade 14 - swatched with clean make-up brushes) - free to good home. Lip liner in pink (un-used) - £1.

Mixed Make-up

 

Sorry - can't work out how to rotate this in Blogger, and it's the right way one in my photograph folder! Anyway, MUA Brow Pencil and Brushes (still sealed) in Brunette - £1. MUA Probase in Ivory (still sealed) - £2. MUA Luxe Glitter Eye Shadows (green used once) - £2. Maybelline Fit Me Foundation (still sealed) in  Ivory (115) - £3. MUA Fashion Secret Gel Liner in blue (swatched) - £1. Stila Angel Light Whitening Foundation Powder (still sealed)  in Shade E - £1. Cosmetic Company Lashes - SOLD.  Allure nail art (bow jewels) - 50p. Whole lot including P&P: £10.

Skin Care

 The Body Shop Vitamin E Moisture Cream (50ml, unused) - £5. Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish (30ml - unused) - £5. Both delivered for £12.

Used Make-up: FREE (P&P only)

Maybelline Great Lash Waterproof Black Mascara (used a few times), Avon Mineral Loose Powder Foundation in Ivory (about 3/4 of contents still left), MUA Clear Mascara (used once) and AVON Supershock Mascara in Black (used a few times). Not happy to take money for used items, so they are free to a good home, otherwise I will be binning them. Ideal for any beauty bloggers out there who like to review items :)

MUA - The 50% Off Fiasco

On Monday morning, having reached 50,000 likes on Facebook over the weekend, MUA posted an offer of 50% off their products (make-up case excluded) and free P&P with the code MUA50. (This code is live until Thursday evening, so if you see this before then, go and treat yourself). With so much traffic, the website slowed, crashed, ran out of lots of stock despite assurances, and generally was far from ideal. However, the onslaught of Facebook going beyond an objective report of justified disappointment and into the rude or categories were unreal: lots of people seem to forget that it's real people reading their posts on the other end, not just a faceless company. People, that no doubt have been working earnestly and frantically to get things done, with little support at all were being subjected to hundreds of horrible comments. I never jumped on that bandwagon when there were issues in the 35% sale for 35K likes, and I certainly wasn't going to start this time. Besides, there's a time an a place: morning one of a four day deal is not the time to cry about the offer being impossible, when there was so much time to still make the most of it.

I have however, had a dream of a transaction with MUA. I got onto the site on Monday morning just as the offer had opened, ordered everything I wanted (it was all in stock), placed my order successfully, and had my confirmation email within 5 minutes. Not only that, but it later was revealed that the technicians had posted the wrong minimum spend that morning: rather than £30-worth of products  needed to qualify (so a £15 spend after discount), £15-worth was the maximum. So, my full-price £19.95 order seemed in many ways to be lucky, given that other people couldn't even log on!

The confirmation email had said it could take up to 5days to process and dispatch my order. The MUA50 promotion ends on Thursday, so I didn't expect my order to be dealth with until Friday when things had calmed down, and thought I'd be doing well if it arrived the following Monday (28th).

Much to my surprise, I tear open a parcel this morning, 48hrs after my 'shouldn't have worked' order, and this little package of beauties arrived!

For the measley sum of £9.97, I received the MUA Artiste palette, Glitterball palette, brow kit, Leo Nail Constellation, eyeliner brush E4 (with a lid, so it's handbag-friendly) and concealer brush F3. What a glorious haul, all delivered directly to my front door!  My only regret is now buying more, especially a couple more palettes, another brush, and a coloured mascara that I've now seen reviewed online. If I can get good enough photos, I'll even post a few looks using this lot!

MUA are professionals at re-stocking. With the exception of brand new products lines eg some brushes that won't arrive again until February, most items are being replaced daily. So please, go and treat yourself and don't believe all the bullsh*t about service - they are trying their best, and they are succeeding!  Thank you Mr MUA and all the busy bees at MUA Towers :D I'm off to have some fun...

UPDATE: the eyeliner brush is wonderful. Normally, I can't get any degree of accuracy with a gel liner unless I'm using an angled brush. MUA's is the first straight brush I've ever used where the accuracy is still wonderful, and I've never found flicks as easy to control or to get as symetrical between the two eyes! Plus, when you go out for the night or even to work, you don't have to live with worn off liner - the cap on this means it's portable, without ruining the bristles or making a mess of your bag. The cap's also wide enough to easily get over without pushing bristles in the wrong direction. I'm in love after my first try!

The only point I would make, and it's an avoidable downside, is the brush itself needs careful dipping in your liner - it can stab it like a rod, going too deep into the liner and overloading the brush. If you watch what you're doing as you dip it in and only cover the ends, it's wonderful though :)

(This is on my completely product-free skin: am having a 'free' week as I often do, so I'm not wearing a BB cream or foundation all the time). The waterline and inner corner are both fine lines, but thickening it out towards the outer corner and flicking were easy. Collection's Lasting Colour Gel Liner is a beautiful consistency for the job, as always! :)

Day 2, and I still love the eyeliner brush: I was even brave enough to try my first double flick, and it was so easy! This eye look was also created using the peach, pink and purple shades of the Glitterball pallette, with the pearly white as brown bone highlighter and the brow kit to darken my eyebrows. I used Fyrannae's epoxy to bring out the shimmer and give a foiled look. I really notice the difference in my brows using the kit, but will get around to doing a before and after comparison to show how good the colour is. (I do hate the brush though, but I always hate free brushes, and use my own). The palette colours are lovely and shimmery, blend beautifully and have good pigement; it's the fault of my camera that the purple in my crease and outer corner hasn't come out well, as it is both noticable and lovely in real life!

Achieved with shades 2 (coral), 7 (pink) & 12 (purple), running left-right, top then bottom row:

Shades 1-6:

Shades 7-12

Today I went back to one of my favourite sets of colours, greens, and made a lovely eye with the shimmering black (shade 1), forest green (shade 3) and spearmint shades (no. 5) from the Glitterball palette above. I also put the darkest of the brow kit shades, as the eye look was strong. With my landscape camera, it hasn't photographed as well as it looks, but it still looks fairly good here I reckon! I did use Fyrannae's epoxy for that extra shimmer. The only complaint I have is that highlighter in the brow kit - it just seems to add shine, whereas I prefer colour. I'll be sticking to pearly whites and nudes as appropriate, but I'm not complaining for the price! :)

 

Here's a before and after brow comparison, using the top left shade. The effect is stronger, darker and prettier in real life, but you get the idea with my sparse, pale brown brows:

Blog Sale: Nail Polishes & Cosmetics

***Now updated, with sold items removed/blocked from view for ease of browsing***

I have some nail polishes and cosmetics that I need to sell. I'm part of so many Sell & Swap groups on Facebook, that I thought I'd take a leaf out of other people's book and put them all here in one place to save me reposting the same photos and descriptions over and over again.

Anything that isn't sold here will go on Ebay: as there are so many associated fees on Ebay, I can give better prices here, and can negotiate deals (especially if buying multiple items). Payments will be taken via Paypal: if you're interested in anything, please just leave me a comment on this blog, tag me in a comment/PM via fb, or email me directly on miss_behavior_4ever@hotmail.com (sorry - I've had this email account since I was a teenager, so the name is awful)!

All prices given below EXCLUDE P&P unless otherwise stated as part of a multi-buy deal. Unless the product is narrow eg Miss Sport Eye Palette, Sachets etc, the P&P will be £2.20, 2nd class mail. P&P for the narrow products is £1. You only need to pay P&P once: it doesn't matter if there's one item or 6, it will still only be £2.20.

A few items have been swapped and lightly used (eg for a manicure) and state as such in their description with fill-lines pointed out; otherwise, the items are either totally new or only swatched on a nail art wheel in the case of some polishes.

Happy shopping! :D

Nails Inc

LEFT TO RIGHT, £4.00 each: 

Great George Street (navy),

Hampstead Gardens (honey mustard), 

Orchard Street (cherry red) £2.00 (as swapped item, but lightly used with fill line meeting the silver cap when up-right).

OPI

TOP TEN minis, available in two separately packed sets of five, or whole set together. These are still retailing at over £25, so grab a bargain - the sets of 5 are £8 each, OR buy all 10 for £15. The photo doesn't do them justice: there's lots of lovely colours to be had here: if I didn't have similar colours already, I'd be keeping these!

The top set, L-R:
Alpine Snow (white), 
 Bubble Bath (peachy pink – French Mani base), 
Tickle My Francey (nude beige). NB: This has been swatched on a nail art wheel (3 coats), so has a minor fill line just below the lid. 

Kiss Me On My Tulips (hot pink), 
Red Lights Ahead… Where? (pillar box red).

Bottom set, L-R: 
Big Apple Red (classic red), 
I'm Not Really a Waitress (shimmering berry red), 
You Don't Know Jacques! (grey-brown taupe), 
Vampsterdam (shimmering dark raisin), 
Lincoln Park After Dark (midnight plum).

High Street/Miscellaneous Polishes

LEFT TO RIGHT: These polishes are all £1 each, or I'll do a deal: all five for £5 INCLUDING P&P.

Sally Hansen Maximum Growth in Fair Fawn,
Rimmel 60 Seconds in 800 Blackout (used for one full manicure),
Rimmel 60 Seconds 610 Pompous (purple with silver flecks, used for one full manicure),
No 7 Stay Perfect in Pinky Pure 160 (baby pink, used for one manicure shown here:Cherry Blossom Nail Art, fill line visible),
Barry M in Chocolate 129 (used for 2 full manicures, fill line visible).

Cosmetics & Toiletries

LEFT TO RIGHT(ish):


Revlon Photoready Eye Primer & Brightener Shade 003, £4.
Miss Sporty eyeshadow duo in 206 Hawaii,  50p.
Miss Sporty Eye Pencil in Pale Blue, 50p.
Boots 17 Eye Pencil in Bronze (swatched once on hand only), 50p.
Barry M Gold Glitter Stick (swatched once on hand only), 50p.

Or, buy all the above for only £6 delivered!

LEFT TO RIGHT: Sanctuary Foaming Bath Soak, £3.
Sanctuary Body Butter, £5.
Sanctuary 24-hr Moisturisation, £4.
Sanctuary Shower Cap, £1. 
Shower Cap will be included for free if these products are bought together as a set: only £12 INCLUDING P&P.

Samples

NB: all prices given are for each set of samples e.g. £1 for a set of two identical samples, not £1 per sachet.

Top Row, L-R: Nivea Primer x 1 (25p), Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater Body Lotion (25p).

2nd Row down, L-R: L'Oreal Youth Code Luminize Super Serum x 3 (50p), Une Skin Glow Foundation in G08 x 1 (25p), Royal Ballet Performance & Elegance body conditioner (x2, 25p).

3rd Row, L-R: Rimmel BB Cream in Light x 1 (50p), Garnier Ultralift x 2 (25p).

4th Row: Beauty Fix Make-up Remover Wands (prefilled swabs in a travel-size tub, 50p), Belnatur Moisturiser x 1 (25p), duo of Britney Spears' Fantasy & Midnight Fantasy perfume samples duo x 1 (1.5ml each, £1).

Buy ALL Sachets photographed above for £4 including delivery.

Left to right: L'Oreal Dermagensis Cellular Nuturing Day Cream and Night Cream tubes; No7 Advanced Hydration Day Cream (15ml); No7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum (5ml); Olay Total Effects 7 in 1 Moisturiser (7ml). All £1 each. Will sell these and all the above sachets as a Sample Beauty Box for £8.

Review: Nails Inc Bakers Row (Sprinkles Collection)

I am an avid polish swapper, and managed to pick up this beautiful emerald black, sprinkled glitter polish from a friend last week. It's Nails Inc Bakers Row and was in the recent TSV on QVC, and isn't available from Nail Inc's website yet. So, here's what I make of it!

This polish is an emerald black base colour (not clear, like most glitter polishes), with large, round bright green glitter particles (hence the name 'Sprinkles'). I found it took two coats to get opaque coverage, but the polish went on easily. The only real issue I had was a loose particle sticking out over the top of the odd nails, but they were easily removed with my finger when wet. Otherwise, the polish was easy to put on, has good coverage and dried quickly between coats.

I was concerned at first at how rough the polish felt, but one coat of Nails Inc Kensington Caviar topcoat, and they're are smooth as can be expected for a textured polish (in no way feeling grainy or gravelly, but obviously not feeling completely flat). It certainly beats the feeling of most glitter-containg polishes I have!

So, while you'll have to excuse the handiwork (I wanted my nails sparkly before Strictly began, so was in a rush as I wanted them finish to stare at the telly with a glass of vino), the colour of this polish is beautiful - the large, bright green particles really catch the light, and contrast the midnight green base beautifully.

My only gripe? Longevity. After 4 days it was badly enough chipped on 4 fingers to look messy, with the first chip needing a repair less than 24hrs after application. I love Nails Inc and find most of their polishes last a long time, but just occasionally this seems to be sacrificed for colour in order to get the right mix - this seemed to be one of those.

I removed polish the old fashioned way to see what it was liked: it is as tough to take off as any other glitter, so would benefit from the foil method (you know, cutting your cotton pads into quarters, soaking in polish, and strapping to your nails with kitchen foil caps for 5mins to loosen it up).

Overall, this is a gorgeous glitter and has all the pros and cons that a glitter of any brand brings. I'm a bit disappointed with the wear, but have totally forgiven Nails Inc that as I adore the colour, and this is an 'occasion' polish to me.

Nail Art: Vintage Roses

So my nail wheel and nail art brushes finally arrived, so I finally got to do a design I'd been planning for ages - a vintage rose look, inspired by a love of Cath Kidston and a good floral print!

This look was achieved using my old faithful, Models Own Jade Stone (two coats), dotted roughly with Models Own Peach Puff, highlighted with No 7 Pillar Box and using Nails Inc Regents Park Road for the leaves (probably my single favourite nail varnish - the one I'd take to a desert island, but that'll be another blog entry later).

The tools for the job:

I didn't take photos during the process, but can recommend this video as a 'how to'. You don't need a dotting tool to apply the pink/peach dots though: they only need to be rough, so the brush that comes with the bottle is fine.

These have attracted lots of comment already, including from the security guard in my local supermarket - that's how eye-catching they are! I love this design, and once again Models Own Jade Stone proves itself to be a versatile base colour for doing nail art with. I really can't recommend it highly enough! (I do not recommend Boots topcoat however - it pulls polishes even when designs are dry, and can leave brush strokes despite being clear. I'll be switching to Nails Inc Kensington Caviar ASAP).

ETA: I didn't realise it at the time, but I've ended up matching my PJs. I don't think I've ever been so well accessorised in my life. Shame no one gets to see it! lol. (Excuse the photo quality, but it was taken on my phone).