A Small Nail Polish And Nail Art Haul

If you're a regular reader of my little place on the internet you'll know that I used post nails of the day posts quite regularly. Although I've never had the longest nails out there I love changing my polish and showcasing all of my different shades, brands and textures. Lately though my nails have been too rubbish to paint let alone photograph!

Never mind  though after a few months of short, split, and peeling nails I eventually have some little stubs to paint again. My secret? Dr Lewinns Renunail, lots of cuticle oil (including something new which I've been loving) and lots and lots of hand cream. So to celebrate my now all be it short, but neater nails I've been buying some new polishes and some nail art bits.

Every time I do a haul at the moment I seem to buy something from Poundland and this one is no different. I'm a huge, huge fan of nail art and I seem to spend a lot of time lately looking at Instagram and Pintrest to pick up some ideas for when my nails grow back, so I decided to get a few nail art bits from Poundland's own Allura range.

The first thing that I got were some Nail Art Tools, these are basically 4 double ended dotting tools. Each tool comes with a swirled, plastic handle, and every rounded metal tip is a different size so you can make different sized dots. You can also use these for picking up gems, decals and crystals.

I also got a pack of 7 Nail Art Brushes. You get a wide variety of brushes that you can use for striping, freehand and detail work. You also get a fan brush to create a fanned or feather effect. I've seen a single nail, fan brush priced at £2 so this kit is great value.

As well as the tool the Allura range also includes a variety of fake nails, nails stickers and gem wheels. I've already got a gem wheel and a few tubs and packets of crystals and sequins but I couldn't resist this fruit decal wheel.

I've already got a few fruit decals that I got from Nail Rock, but these ones are a bit thinner which I actually prefer. You get a wide variety of thin slice of plastic fruit including dragon fruit, kiwis, apples, limes and oranges. You also a miniature nail file and an orange stick to help with application.

Sticking with nail art I also bought some gold nail foil from Avon. Years and years ago I was obsessed with nail foils. QVC used to features a brand called Special FX, that sold all different sorts of nail art kits including lots and lots of foils. The idea is pretty simple you paint your nails as normal, then you paint you nails with the special glue and when it goes clear you press the foil sheets against your nails. You can either cover the whole nail or you can draw designs or just place random splodges of glue to create different looks, I recently picked up some more foils and glue from Essence but with this one from Avon you just apply it on top of wet polish. I'll let you know how I get one with it x I'm planning on just using it for maybe an accent nail or for a bit of freehand work.

As well as the foil I also got a few nail polishes including another one of the Stardust colours from the sale brochure.

I love these polishes, these have an almost demi matte finish and they're packed full of sparkle. This shade is Cherry Dazzler and it's a lovely red packed full of gold glitter. These shades really are for people who like sparkle with a twist.

These Stardust polishes do occasionally pop up in the sale catalogues and if I can I'll definitely be trying to pick up a few more shades. If you can't manage to get your hands on these though the new Avon Magic Effects Mineral Crush polishes are very similar -how do I know? Well I bought one and on the left of these pictures you can see Topaz, a pale, turquoise blue packed full of tonal and silver sparkle.

From the new range I also picked up one of the Magic Effects Fringe polishes in Jacquard Metal. These are basically topcoats that give a sort of feather effect. This one has a clear bases and is crammed full of thin strands of gold and teal blue glitter. I think that would look fab over a plain gold polish or even a paler blue or turquoise.

I have quite an addictive personality and I'm very addicted to buying nail polish, I just love looking at row upon row of pretty colours, and a month or so ago my dreams came true when Models Own opened their first North East bottle shop in the Metro Centre, near to where I live.

I love, love, love the look of these little nail polish bottle shaped stores, and I was like a child in a sweet shop when I popped into the shop on opening day. The polishes are organised by colour and you have the opportunity to swatch till your hearts content. Although I was tempted to buy everything I was good and only got two polishes.

On the left you can see one of their Scented Polishes in NP152 Grape Juice. This is a lovely pale, pastel lilac that has a subtle scent of grape bubblegum :) I also got one of their Colour Chrome Polishes in NP239 Chrome Silver. I'm a bit funny with foils and metallics and brush stokes, but when one of the lovely assistants swatched it, IT looked pretty good, so I thought I'd give it a go. Since it was their first day I also got a little branded, hand mirror as a gift with purchase x

The final polish that I've picked up lately was a magazine freebie. A month or so ago Cosmopolitan magazine had a free New CID Cosmetics I Polish on the cover. There was a couple to choose from but I went for a hot, summery pink perfect for toes, Pink Macaroon.

This issue isn't on sale any more but if your a fan of magazine freebies then you might want to check out the new issue of UK InStyle, which is on sale today and includes a free full sized Nails Inc polish. There are four shades to choose from and the shade names are all themed around 80's pop and rock anthems.

If you want to listen to my talking about this haul in more detail please have a little watch of my latest You Tube video, and if you subscribe don't forget your entitled to an extras entry in my NARS giveaway x



Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or any suggestions  as to what to do with my nail art bits, then please let me know x