Hello Darling – Rockcandy nails

So the other week I mentioned my dilemma in trying to decide on which Rockcandy manicure to try. I ended up going with Millions and Billions because it reminded me of Fairy Bread and the pink nail polish that accompanied it was such a vibrant pink, I couldn't really go wrong.

When it arrived, in a matching bright pink bag, I busted it open to have a crack at the Rockcandy mani. I was a little nervous at first, fancy nail art is certainly not my forte, so I went to the Hello Darling blog where I discovered a handy Rockcandy tutorial (that was accidental but too awesome to change).

I'm actually really impressed with the Hello Darling nail polish. You know how you can just tell a great quality polish? Well, Hello Darling definitely falls into that category, I cannot wait to try more.

And then I tried a more modest version, so I wouldn't look too crazy in my new corporate office.

I loved how it turned out and I imagine you could easily do every nail for a special occasion to really stand out.

After about about five days of doing my nails, the polish is still perfectly in tact. The little beads, however, are a little worse for wear. They have almost all fallen off and left little coloured divets in my nail polish, I think it will take a bit more practice before I get them to stick better. And, if you are anything like me, you will keep finding them all around the house. But they are so much fun, they are definitely worth trying!

With my new discovery of the awsomeness of Hello Darling nail polishes, it was brought to my attention today that the newest Hello Darling Spring ranges are about to be released. They are called Not Your Nana's Nightie and Crazy in Love and they're about as different from each other as they sound and just PERFECT for my favourite season.

 

Not Your Nana's Nightie is a collection of gorgeous pastels (swoon) and Crazy In Love is the complete opposite – a range of neon brights (gorg!). I don't know about you, but I will be mixing up between the two different styles for Spring because I love them both!

Rockcandy is available from Hello Darling for $24.95 and the new collections are currently available in the presale for $18.95 (or 20% off if you buy the whole collection!)

Have you tried a Rockcandy mani yet? How did yours go? What do you think of the new summer colours?

 

Disclaimer: I bought Rockcandy with my own money and my opinions are my own. I was in no way compensated for this post, I just had to share my excitement over my new love of Hello Darling!

B Collection nail polish set by Bloom

Last month, I took place in a Christmas in July Beauty Swap organised by Samantha and received, among many wonderful things, the B Collection Nail Polish Set by Bloom from my swapping partner, Lauren.

These colours are gorgeous and screaming for the cold to end so that they can make an appearance on warm summer's days with cocktails and parties. I don't know what it is, that's just what the colours tell me! I love them and although wearing them in August is slightly premature, I am slowly remembering what balmy summer nights and going out without a jacket on feel like.

I've only tried one nail polish shade by Bloom (see here) and upon applying the B Collection, I'm reminded how much I love the formula and am shocked I haven't bought more!

The polishes go on so easily and smoothly in all three shades – St Tropez, Dubai, and Hollywood and even one coat gives excellent coverage.

I wasn't sure how to approach three shades on ten nails so I decided to go with completely random and added another coat and some spots and stripes, just to shake things up a bit!

The opacity of the colours is pretty impressive and I love the sherbert-y matte bright colours! I definitely need to remember how impressed I am with Bloom nail polishes and add a few more to my collection because they are pretty impressive AND Australian made. Five stars, in my opinion.

Bring on summer (well maybe just for a little while then bring back the cooler weather)! And if you're anything like the lovely Samantha and Lauren when it comes to summer tans, you should check out their Bronzed Ambition self tan project here and here.

Tackling a MBFWA Nail Trend

During Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia, there were almost too many hair and beauty trends to keep up with. It was like sensory overload! But, little by little, I have managed to catch up on it all and spot a few trends here and there that I want to work into my hair and beauty regime!

Starting with this one:

The Camilla show (as seen on Style Hunter) on Day 1 of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia featured the 'gypsy jetsetter' and incorporated the brand's take on seven different countries. The purple OPI nail with one pink nail was in the 'Asia-inspired' look and I knew I had to try it straight away. I already had the two colours (because who wouldn't own a purple and pink in those shades?) so it was a pretty easy colour trend to try.

I made the OPI look work with Ava by Bloom and Strawberry Fizz (also seen here) by Rimmel.

Can I just pause this for one second to talk about how much I love Bloom Cosmetics? I can't really say much because this nail polish is the first Bloom product I have actually tried, but I have intense love for the quality of this nail polish (plus at Myer you can buy two and get a $5 discount) and I always appreciate an Australian company, plus their packaging is adorable. That's enough reasons to say I love Bloom, right? All right, all right, I'll try some more of their products and then tell you.

All the same, I've had this mani on for nearly a week and it's still in pretty good condition (minus the chip where I hit one of my nails and broke it today). The colours are cute and really stand out against the grey Sydney sky we have been experiencing!

Apologies for my white knuckles, it must have been really cold the day I took these photos…

I know this trend is super easy and requires little talent (having said that I twice painted ALL my nails purple and had to remove the ring finger nail to remember to paint it pink…twice!) but it definitely cheered me up and made me feel slightly 'on trend'…whatever that means…

Have you tried anything from Fashion Week that you've seen floating around the interwebs?