Rio professional nail art pens review

hey guys!
Today I have a review of the professional Rio nail art set. I first heard of Rio nail art pens from Sophie's blog a few months ago and I desperately wanted to try them ever since! I was so delighted when Rio contacted me to ask if I wanted to do a review of both the nail art pens* and their magnetic nail polish*.

this is the original set and it comes with a blue, red, white, green, silver, yellow, metallic purple and black nail art pens, a dvd with tips, rhinestones, paintbrush, glitter and some instruction manuals and inspiration leaflets.

The colours in this set are all very practical for nail art designs (I would of preferred it to have a normal pink than a metallic purple though as it would be more useful but oh well) The nail polish itself is very pigmented and creamy so you only need to do one coat of it (except the yellow which is quite sheer but still looks really good on white!) 

I decided 10 fingers wasn't enough to test them out so I created a whole nail wheel of brand new designs! (most of which I got inspiration from on Sophie's newest post!)

these are (no exaggeration) 100000x easier than dotting tools are to create intricate designs! One thing I would say though is you have to make sure the colour below is completely dry before starting on he next colour as the nib is so fine it's quite easy to accidentally scratch of the colour below if it isn't dry!

I think the main reason they are better than dotting tools is you can don't have to keep stopping to dip your dotting tool in the nail polish as it just comes out of the nib and they feel much more natural to hold than a dotting tool does. I really like how they have both a striper and a nib as you don't need to keep dirtying brushes/tools which are annoying to clean half way through doing your nails.

I really like how they have thought of all the details when making these- they have included a tiny pin on the bottom of each one which is small enough to fit into the nib and unclog it if any polish dries in there. Also they have a sturdy base on the bottom which is very good for when you're using the striper and it means they don't leak out of the nib if they are laying down.

Overall these are amaaazing products and I'm definitely going to order myself another set! There's the 'professional' which is what I've got, 'metallics', 'neon', and 'pastels'. Apart from the original one the neon is my favorite and is the one I'm eyeing up to get next!

These retail for £24.99 for a whole set or you can purchase them for £4.95 each. I think this is a reasonable price as if you get a set it works out as just over £4 each and they are really amazing quality! This is cheaper than the Models own ones which are aroun £6 each and they have no where near the amount of colours as Rio do!
Click here to be take to the Rio website and to check out their products

if you want me to do a separate tutorial of any of these let me know below!

 

although I was sent the Rio magnetic polishes for review purposes for islaay.com this does not influence my review and is 100% honest as always

I did a guest post!

The other day Helen from 'beautifully superfluous' was asking for people to do guest posts on her blog and I said I would be more than happy to!
I decided to do an owl NOTD post- to read it click here!

and the winner is...

so my first ever giveaway is over, booo! But that does mean I have a winner- yay! I had 750 entries which is just amazing, as I'm writing this I genuinely don't know who the winner is!
If you were wondering this is what the prize is and here is the original post where I announced the giveaway!

okay, so I am right this second about to press the random button, drumroll please...
aaaaand the winner is entry #403, Helen! Yaaaaaay!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

thank you everyone so so much for entering and look out for more giveaways in the future here on islaay.com!
You can check out Helen's blog here if you would like! I'm doing a guest post for her this Friday which you should look out for! (it's a really cute nail of the day by the way, oooooh!)

HAUL! H&M, Primark and Monki

it's always so awkward to take photos of things for blog posts so I thought I would do a video on it instead! I hope you like it!

new camera!

so, erm I got a new camera. It was a present from my parents as a sort of well done for exam results and I am in LOVE with it. After a load of research I decided I really wanted the 'canon sx40'. My old camera was a canon too (canon ixus 105) and I loved it but after having it for almost two years I felt I had sort of 'grown out' of it! I was recommended it by my photography teacher and I got it for my birthday almost two years ago! It's been great and all the photos on my blog have been done on it!
I needed a new one which is good for bloggy things (it has a flip out screen which is perfect for OOTDs) and I needed lots of settings and stuff for my AS photography which I'm doing! (posts coming soon if you want?)
It is a bridge camera which basically has all the settings/quality/zoom of a DSLR but you don't have to buy a ton of expensive lenses for it.
The first time I actually went into a comet type shop to look at the different bridge cameras they had there I decided I really liked this one and it's the one I ended up getting! Hahaa
It's quite awkward for taking NOTD photos because it's quite heavy so I might use my old camera for them because the macro mode on my old one is really good!

But yeaah I thought I would just do this post to update you!
Here is a photo I took of my sister when I first got it, it makes me laugh! Haha

YOUTUBE?!

So I've been wanting to make youtube videos for literally years and well I just uploaded my first one- scary stuff! Let me know what you think!
I just did a what's in my makeup bag video to ease myself into it! My makeup was completely worn off by the way and I look gross in this video but ohh well!

Oh and sorry for all the random laughing near the end- oops!

Here's a link to my channel by the way if you want to subscribe! ;)

drip nail tutorial

When I posted a photo of my nail wheels on twitter a while ago I was asked by someone to do a tutorial to do the drip nails, so here it is!

You will need:

♥ two nail polishes (I chose OPI 'lucky lucky lavender' and Rimmel 'black cab')

♥ dotting tool (DIY here!)

♥  Paint your nail in the base colour of your choice (I needed two coats for it to be opaque) 

♥ Once it's dry dot the second colour which you have chosen onto a piece of card

♥ Draw a line across the top of the nail as if you were doing a french tip

♥ Do three dots at different heights near the middle of your nail

♥ With a dotting tool or paintbrush draw lines down from the dots to the french tip. 

♥ I chose to go over mine again once it was dry and I added an extra one at the side so I ended up with four dips down.

I think these would be perfect for Halloween as you could do red drips against a red or white background to look like blood!

as always please send me a photo if you recreate this! I love seeing them! (my twitter name is @islaay_x by the way!)

mini MAC giveaway!

I've always wanted to do a giveaway but somehow never actually got round to it! This is my first ever giveaway- eeek!

So, onto the prizes! (I have duplicates of both of these products so the swatches are of my products and obviously not of the ones you can win- the winner will recieve brand spanking new ones which haven't even been out the cardboard box!
You could win: MAC lipgloss in 'magnetique' and MAC eyeshadow in 'knight'

If you want to win there are a few things you can do in the rafflecopter widget below!
the giveaway is open until 25th September 2012 and the winner will be randomly selected and announced on here, on my twitter and via email. If I hear no reply within 7 days then a new winner will be randomly selected to make it fair!
Because of bad experiences in the past when posting to other countries- this giveaway is UK only, sorry!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
any questions tweet me! @islaay_x 
good luck everyone!

what's in my sixth form bag

I did a general 'what's in my bag' post a while ago but seeing as you all are nosey (don't pretend you're not! (I am superrrr nosey btw)) I thought I would do another one but instead this is a sixth form version! Ooooh.
I have literally just got home from sixth form and emptied the contents of my bag onto my bed by the way so this is what I have carried round on my poor shoulders all day!
I started sixth form on Thursday, we already have loads more freedom (we get to go off site if we don't have lessons which means McDonalds/Costa/Starbucks/anything I want for lunch- ohhh yeaaaah)

my bag is from Primark- I got it a few weeks ago when I was in London. It was really cheap so I'm not too bothered if it breaks but it's such a good size to fit folders into! I wanted the Zara bucket bag but after buying a bag from there a couple of months ago which broke within a week I didn't really fancy spending £70ish on another one for it to just break again!

To be honest there really isn't anything in the least bit exciting in it but I will give you a run down of what is in there in case you were wondering!

Tesco folders, wallets and paper/ Cath Kidston pencil case/ Cath Kidston pink polkadot pouch thingy/ Paperchase diary/ Cath Kidston makeup bag/ Nature Valley bar (left over from lunch)/ camera (case is from Cath Kidston)/ water/ eos lip balm/ spoon (from lunch...)/ padlock (I need to get a locker)/ Revlon lip butter/ calculator/ iPod/ hand sanitizer/ headphones/ phone/ keys/ Cath Kidston train pass holder

in case you were wondering, the subjects I take are:
♥ geography
♥ biology
♥ business studies
♥ photography

I already have sooooo much work to do (for biology especially, the last photo is of some of my notes. I swear it's chemistry- it's all about bonds and structures which I hate, hmm...) I haven't had a geography lesson yet but I have one tomorrow morning and then I have free periods for the rest of the day so I might just try and print off some photography stuff as I have a book for it now, and then go into town for a bit, yaaaaay. aaaaanyway I'm sure you don't really care what lessons I have tomorrow so byeee

multi coloured leopard nail tutorial

I got the idea to do this from this post on burkatron.com which is now one one of my new favourite blogs! Seriously if you like mine then you will LOVE her's! Anyway I wanted to recreate this look so I thought I would give it a go and share it with you!

♥ put a small blob of your first colour onto a piece of card

♥ get a sponge, dip it in and gently dot it onto your nail

♥ do the same with all your colours until your nail is full

♥ wait for it to dry completely and then put some white dots onto your nail. You could do them all over but I ♥ decided to just do them down one side. Make the dots different sizes and don't worry if they aren't perfect!

♥ once they are dry get a small dotting tool and paint curved lines around the dots to create the leopard print    effect

♥ when it's all dry add a top coat to make your design last longer!

you can obviously choose any colours which you like to do them so they will look good for any occasion!

as always please send me a photo if you recreate these (@islaay_x) because I love to see them! Oh and don't forget to check out Caroline's blog!

DIY dotting tool!

okay so if you've read my blog for a while or have ever checked out one of my nail posts before you'll of heard me nattering on about dotting tools. These little beauties are my a nail art adict's best friend. But did you know there was a really easy and practically free way to make your own one at home?! This is what I used to use before I bought my own set and it did me proud!

You will need:
♥ a pencil with a rubber on the end (mine's Cath Kidston of course...)
♥ a pin

okay now this couldn't be any easier, you simply push the pin into the rubber and voila!

For a smaller dotting tool I used to get a hair pin and open it out and the round ball bit on the end made the perfect circle shape! Also a cocktail stick works well for really tiny dots!

If you don't want to buy your own dotting tools then these are all great alternatives!
I got my dotting tools from eBay and they were around £2 with free delivery for five double ended ones! (just search for dotting tools in the search bar!)

*update* I was just sent a post by Jess on twitter which she has written with another great idea for a dotting tool! Check out her post here to see what her idea is!

let me know how you get on with doing this!

DIY: glitter keys!

We all need a bit of glitter in our lives, right? Well today I thought I would bring you another super easy DIY post! This is something which I saw on pinterest and I thought it was a good idea so I would give it a go and share it with you all!

It's so easy and there's literally no skill involved there's no excuses from you guys saying you can't do it! ;)
You will need:
♥ nail polish (I chose glitter ones but if you prefer you can obviously use plain colours)
♥ a key

I think you'll agree it's pretty self explanatory so I won't ramble on but just paint the top of your key in the colour of your choice! I did three coats on each side to make sure it was opaque.
The colours I used were:
Angelica 'pink glitter' (from Primark)
Barry M 'aqua glitter' swatches on my nails here
Models Own 'disco mix' swatches on my nails here

Let me know if you try this out, I'd love to take a look at them!

my August favourites

Garnier 7 day intensive body moisturiser: it's cheap, it's good and I reviewed it here if you want to know more
Models Own 'disco mix': super glittery, doesn't chip and such an amazing colour!
Benefit 'hello flawless' foundation: leaves a nice finish on the skin without being too shiny/matte. If you live near a benefit counter ask one of the ladies to apply it to you so you can see what you think!
Elizabeth Arden 'visible difference' moisturiser: I've been using this for a couple of months now. It's meant to show visible difference in your skin after a week or so and I agree with that! My skin is a lot smoother and softer and tends to look more glowing when I wake up!
eos lip balm: my dad brought this back from America a while ago. They're so cute, smell lovely and do a good job at moisturising my lips! I wish these were readily available in England!
Essie 'mint candy apple': this is a firm favourite in the beauty community. It's the perfect pastel green/blue shade. You can get it discounted here with free delivery on cheapsmells.com
Revlon just bitten lip stain in ' crush': after hearing so much about these I knew I had to pick one up and I'm glad to say I agree with the hype! I like to wear this deep berry colour in the winter because I think it goes well with my dark hair so I can't wait for it to get colder so I can wear it more! It lasts a very long time on my lips without drying them out like normal lip stains. Oh and they're £2 off at the moment in Boots!