Ciate Flower Manicure Kit

Hello everyone! Today's Monday Manicure is one I have been swooning over for a while! As you have probably guessed by now, I am Ciate's number one fan, and absolutely love everything they bring out, especially when it comes to their 'wow kits'. They are just so perfectly on trend and ahead of the game when it comes to nail art. I have reviewed loads of their bits so do go and have a look at them all!

The next one I am showing you does not disappoint at all, and that is the flower manicure. Just the boxes and the visuals that go with the kits are a piece of art, and they are so well presented, plus very affordable so they make great gifts. This kit is £18.00, but the kits can be found at absolute bargain prices in places like TK Maxx and online.

The flower manicure box shows exactly the effect you can achieve, plus the fun sunglasses make is summery and fashionable. I need them.

Inside there is absolutely everything you need. You could be stranded on a desert island with this kit and still be able to achieve the look. It contains the base colour, the dried flowers, a fast drying top coat, tweezers for handling the flowers, and a nail file.

The beautiful base blue is called 'ferris wheel', and comes in a mini size. Usually Ciate put in a full size colour, so that was slightly disappointing, but then a good top coat is always handy, so you can't complain.

The method of this manicure is pretty self explanatory, but it comes with instructions if you need help. Working on one finger at a time, you use a layer of fast drying top coat, and then postition the flowers with the tweezers where you want on the nail. The purple longer flowers are slightly harder to stick down, but I just use my finger to lightly hold it in place until it is stuck.

 When it came to positioning, I found one flower looked good on each nail, with maybe one statement finger with the overlap of two. The purple ones have more of a 'firework' shape so you can use one of those per nail. The nail file is there for any bits of flower that overhang off the edge of the nail. The flowers are so delicate, they pretty much fall of at the first touch of the nail file. That being said, be careful with the tweezers as the flowers tear easily.

Once your happy, you just do another slick of top coat to seal it down, and your done! It's a really pretty manicure that attracts a lot of attention, and the pastel blue underneath really makes the flowers pop. I have had mine on for a couple of days, and some of the flowers do rip if you work with your hands a lot, you can see especially on my index finger. I don't think it looks bad at all, just slightly more distressed, plus you can add another flower on top to cover it if you wish. I would recommend this manicure to anyone and everyone, as it is so simple to create such a pretty look. Well done Ciate, you've done it again.

Jessica In Bloom Collection

It is that time once again when the new summer collections are emerging in the nail world, and I am here to show you what they have to offer.

Today is Jessica's new 'In Bloom' collection which is inspired from a rose garden.

The collection contains an equal balance of pretty florals and bright colours.

Enchanting

This is a pretty pale blue colour with a dusty grey tone to it. It is slightly similar to the 'True Blue' colour in the 'It's a Girl Thing' they did last Spring I reviewed before. Link here

Loving

This is a pastel pink with the similar dusty rose finish that runs through the collection in some colours. It's very pretty and would like nice in the evening with a nice dress.

Awakening

This is another lovely purple colour which again resembles the 'New Kid In Town' colour from the 'Its A Girl Thing' collection mentioned before. This is a colour that is cropping up a lot in summer collections.

Longing

This is my favourite colour if the collection. This may not surprise you as it is very similar to the cobalt blue colour from the mavala technicolour range I raved about a while ago.

Blazing

This is a really stunning red colour that I can't say I've seen anywhere else before. It has a neon pink glow about it as well. A really lovely colour for summer.

Whispering

Again, a pastel green is a popular summer colour. This is a minty green but similar to the colour 'surfer boys and berries' from Jessica.

The collection is very pretty for summer. I am not hugely excited by it as it has a lot of similar colours that Jessica has brought our before. But the new additions of the bright blue and red add more diversity for me.

Aveda NEW naturally straight

Aveda's latest addition to the 'smooth infusion' range is their heat activated, 'naturally straight' product. The product is worked into damp, towel dried hair, and allows the hair to naturally straighten when heat is used. A lot of people may argue that heat will always straighten the hair if that's what you intend it to do, however my thick coarse hair will NOT blow dry straight easily at all. Pictured below is my hair tied up after washing. This is the natural state of my hair, and as you can see it is frizzy and unruly.

My lovely friend Janine at Aveda demonstrated the product to me, as I was sceptical at first. She dampened my hair, and worked the product through in sections. With a round brush and hair dryer, she achieved the straight hair look pictured below with only a couple of runs down my hair. The great thing about this product is that it also progressively straightens the hair, so the more you use it the more manageable your hair will become. The plant fibres lock your style into place, and the Cassava root helps it deal with humidity.

This, as a result of a blow dry is a huge achievement in my eyes, as it saves a lot of time, plus a lot of damage to my hair when being styled with heat. I usually find my hair feels quite static after being blow dried, but this left my hair feeling naturally smooth and hydrated- not frazzled, and the product itself is not sticky or heavy. It leaves the hair feeling smooth, soft and bouncy, not slicked down like some high street straightening products can do.

I have used the Aveda 'smooth infusion' shampoo and conditioner before which I was impressed with, but I think adding this to my routine would speed up the styling process I have to undergo with my frizzy hair even more. This retails at £21.50, but you only need the tiniest amount in the lengths of your hair, so it would last you a long time. I think it is a great investment!

Brazil Nails

So the world cup is among us and us girls can either fight them or join them. I have done some world cup/ brazil nails VERY quickly this evening so excuse the quality. I used 'Radioactive' as my base, and then my nail art pens for details.

May Birchbox

My final 'Katy Perry' post is not actually to do with Katy Perry at all, it is however my May Birchbox review. It was a perfect weekend away box though, with everything you could possibly need!

So without further ado, here is the May Birchbox.

Beauty Protector Shampoo and Conditioner

It was a little luxury receiving 2 products as one in my birchbox! This shampoo and conditioner are both natural and are great for heat abused hair. The smell was really pretty and sweet and not the usual natural smell you get from products. It was really nice to use and I got a few uses out if them, not just for my weekend away.

Soigne Nail Polish

This is not usually the sort of colour I would go for when choosing a polish. I much prefer brighter colours, but this one is quite a pretty nude shade. I had not heard Soigne before this box, and it was a full size which was very generous. I hope to see a bit more from the brand.

Benefit 'They're Real' Mascara

I have used Benefit's 'they're real' on and off for a few years now. My aunty actually introduced it to me because she was so impressed with the effects it had. It is the number 1 mascara all over the world, and with its really durable, long thick lash effect. I like the effect this mascara has on my lashes but I have been using my Chanel volumizing mascara which I find has a better effect on my lashes.

Aromatherapy Associates Revive Morning Bath Oil

I have done a couple of posts on Aromatherapy Associates before, one being my review on their award winning Relax Deep  bath oil, which is like a huge sleeping pill. The revive morning which I received, is a bit like the counterpart to the relax deep, as the blend of exotic ingredients helps to revive you after the night before, which I certainly needed after a few drinks at Katy Perry. As I didn't have time for a bath, I just rubbed the oil onto dry skin and waited for it to absorb. I took in all the lovely smells then showered it off, leaving my skin feel much softer and my head less fuzzy. These bath oils are the highest percentage of essential oil on the market at 30%. The price has gone up since my last bath oil review, and these are now £40.00 at full size but are really powerful little oils.

Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser

I actually did a review of the Hot cloth cleanser not too long ago so I won't bore you with the same information again, I'll just leave you with the link. I will however say that this was the perfect cleanser for a weekend away as it removes makeup, and comes with the muslin cloth. This travel size lasts for ages too. Liz Earle bring out a limited edition of this every year, at the moment they have they're summer edition of Orange flower and Chamomile which would have been nice to try!

My original review is here.

Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser post

Katy Perry Prism Nail Art

This weekend I went to go and see Katy Perry in concert at the O2. I think my blog this week is going to be a little bit Katy Perry themed as I love her to bits and had such an amazing time. Plus I have some cool bits to show you. 

To kick things off, I will show you some KP inspired nail art. Initially, I was going to do some candy inspired nails, as that 'Teenage Dream' stage is what Katy Perry is best known for, but as she has a new album, I felt I should do something a bit more updated, so I looked to her newest album for inspiration.

The album is called Prism and the art work instantly inspired me to do some kind of rainbow kind of gradient to compliment the colour scheme of the album and the more hippy theme.

This picture really helped me choose an idea, I love the really pale pastel rainbow colours, and wanted to do a kind of water colour effect.

The definition of an actual 'prism' is "a transparent optical element with flat, polished surfaces that refract light."  I added the triangle to reflect the album, and as the source of refacted light to create the spectrum of colours.

I used a white base coat to make the colours really pop. Anytime you do a gradient manicure you should paint the base white to allow the colour blend to be prominent. I then chose these 4 really light Barry M polishes as I wanted the colours to be very pale.

Once my white base was dry, I just sponged over all four colours and transferred it onto the nail. As I wanted it to be quite pale, I didn't spend to long on it. Some of the paler colours like pale pink needed to be hand painted in a bit afterwards.

And here is the finished effect. I was a bit worried the colours would be too pale, but they are actually really subtle but still quite eye grabbing. I hadn't done any clean up around the nail in these pictures so I apologies for the sloppiness. I also found this blog really helpful and a good inspiration for my manicure. I like her added triangles and geometric patterns.

http://gormaynails.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/prism.html

Stay tuned for more Katy Perry themed posts this week! And also take a look at some other Katy Perry inspired nails I did a while back.