Home Manicure Hits and Misses

If your a regular reader of Give Me More you will be aware of how unmotivated I am with my nails. I have very short nails that don't grow as they are too thin and brittle which is a shame because my hands are so small that longer nails help elongate my hands and make them look more womanly! Also, I rarely spend time pruning my nails and painting them. But I have been trying more over this last month to get out of that habit as chipped nails isn't a good look for an adult. I think I could just about pull it off in my teenage years' but those days sadly are over. Sobs. I recently bought some gorgeous polishes which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago by Cynthia Rowley and have loved using them. But I have seen some bloggers rocking yellow tips lately and wanted to jump of that trend straight away! 

I saw this cheap bright yellow nail polish by Barry M called Lemon Ice Cream and thought why not? However, I should have never bothered. The formula is super milky and distributes unevenly leaving product to sit more heavily and more sheer in different spots across the nail. Because of its watery texture it spilled easily over the nail meaning there was much clean up afterwards. Something I loathe. After three coats I noticed they took a long time to dry and even when I thought they finally had I smudged a few. Something I didn't have time to fix before going out with the family. I didn't acknowledge the colour that much myself but once united with the family all commented on how horrible my nails looked! Not good. I got 'did you dip your nails in custard' off my Dad to 'They make you look like your ill' from my Granddad. You see the nail colour was somewhat of a mustardy shade. Not what it appeared to be in the bottle. I have concluded that for yellow tips to work you need to go light. A real pastoral, almost borderline cream yellow that needs no more than two coats. The thickness of the Barry M polish needed to get decent coverage made them look cakey instead of sleek and polished. So, the hunt for me is still very much on for the perfect yellow polish. Advice would be highly appreciated girls!

On a more uplifting note I do have some nice products to recommend. Ever heard of Soap&Co? They are those really annoying sales people that have an open store in somewhere like a shopping mall and lure you in with the phrase 'Free samples?' Which basically means, can I wash your hands for you whilst using this soap and try to get you to buy some products whilst I'm at it. Okay rant over. This was meant to be uplifting. Aside from the badgering sales technique they do actually have some nice stuff. How do I know? Well I was fortunate enough to be given a rather nice Nail Care Kit from Christmas for my Brother and his Girlfriend. Correction, it was for my Mum and I actually stole it from her. But really we share it... she just hasn't used it yet. Having a sneaky gander online I was shocked at the pricetag of £39.99 for this giftset which includes a Nail Buffer, Hand and Body Lotion ,Cuticle Oil and Nail File. I think you can normally get discounts on Soup&Co products though as another incentive to buy. So, that is worth baring in mind. Price aside, these a nice nail products to use. The nail buffer is great as it caters for everything your nails need to become smooth and shiny in a single handy product. Each side has a different level of roughness to gradually buff the nails into a healthier looking appearance. Ideal for days when you want to go polish free. The nail file is as good as a nail file gets - it does the job by effectively and quickly shaping and shortening your tips. The cuticle oil is a gentle product that brightens up the nail bed and helps diminish extending cuticles. Fially the hand and body lotion smells of passion fruit, one of my favourite scents. You need the smallest amount for your hands and it is great that it doubles up as a body lotion too. It soaks in fairly quickly and keep skin hydrated all day and has some rather lovely natural ingredients which is extra points to me. Overall, this best seller from Soup&Co is a fundamental staple whether your  a fabulous professional polisher or a novice nail doer like me.