A 99p manicure! (Otherwise known as rainbow coloured, star spangled nails!)

A new retail complex opened last week, about a ten minutes walk away from my home. It was a nice day, so me and Mr Claw decided to talk baby Claw for a stroll up there. The retail park featured a new behemoth Tesco Extra, which I had hoped would have some unusual, Tesco exclusive nail varnishes. No such luck, as all the Tesco own brand nail varnishes were boring, predictable colours.

As we were leaving, I quickly nipped into the 99p store, in search of exotic foreign toiletries that aren't stocked in Boots or Superdrug. (Y'know the ones that kinda look familiar, but are either a different scent from your usual shower gel, or are in a completely different language, bar the brand name?) However, that is when I stumbled across this little kit:-

So, in this kit is a nail file, cuticle stick, some nail glue and six vials of little holographic stars. The pink tube has hearts, not stars. What I liked is that the stars are different shapes, as you will see in a second. I loved the colour of these, and in my mind, there was one particular varnish collection that I had to try these out on:

Left to Right: Apricot Punch, Peppermint, Show Off, Ultra Violet, Aqua Cool. (All varnishes are Rimmel London)



Last summer, Rimmel London brought out these four Lycra Pro Summer colours. These are bright, sherbet colours, and they instantly caught my eye last year, so I was glad for an opportunity to finally swatch them. I just needed another colour for my thumb, and picked the I <3 Lasting Finish Fruities in Apricot Punch, a colour which I felt co-ordinated well with the other four colours. Here is my creation:

Sooo pretty! Have a look at those holo stars!! Luckily, there was a corresponding star colur to each nail varnish! Here are close up shots of the nails with the bottles, so you can have a better look at the colours.

I <3 Lasting Finish Fruities in Apricot Punch. A lovely warm apricot creme. I love how holo the stars look here! The varnish applied well, this is three coats. When dry, the varnish smells faintly of apricots, not a horrible chemical smell, which a lot of perfumed nail varnises can (more of that in my next post!) The smell does eventually fade away, and is gone by the time top coat is applied. The brush on this varnish is fine, and and as I said, the varnish applies well, but definately needs the third coat to reach full opacity.

Lycra Pro in Spearmint. The Lycra Pro nail varnishes have a wide, flat brush that is super easy to use. The formula on these was superb! I have worn these in the past, and can confirm that they last for days. I seriously love these varnishes. On my nail is three coats. You can get away with two, but I did a third coat to act as an adhesive for the stars. I used this technique on all the subsequent nails. Spearmint is a lovely cool mint creme. Beautiful.

Lycra Pro in Ultra Violet. A lovely soft purple creme. I don't mind sharing with you that this was the varnish I was wearing at the time I went into labour! 41 hours laterand it was still perfect. My midwife even commented on how lovely it was....



Lycra Pro in Aqua Cool. A cool, aqua blue. Pretty much what it says on the tin.

Lycra Pro in Show Off. A medium bright pink creme. I don't normall fly for pink nail varnishes, but I LOVE this shade. It just complemets the other colours so well.

So what do you think of this manicure? Not nail art per se, but when it looks this good, why worry? I always believe you can create great nail looks using stickers, decals, rhinestones, sequins... the list is endless. Plus this manicure is great for the not so steady handed!

After this, I am mega tempted to try more Rimmel Lycra Pro nail varnishes. They really are easy to use, and from what I've seen, there's lots of different colours to pick from. I also can't wait to use the little holo hearts that came in my 99p pack. Can you think of any polish that would go well with these?