Hello lovelies,

 

August has passed very fast for me and it's time for the monthly nail art challenge from Paint All The Nails. I completely forgot (thanks to my 2-week holiday) and I didn't have time to do any special colour block design. Luckily I've had an older manicure that I've done and that I can use. I still have my square shaped nails there but I'm sure you won't mind ;)

 

Today's manicure is very colourful and summery and I can show you a step by step tutorial of the design too! I've done it using Leighton Denny polishes and a Color Club French Tip white polish as a base. Yes guys, this is so far my favourite white nail polish. Here's the final look and list of all the polishes I've used:

 

Paint All The Nails Presents Colour Block Nail Art + TUTORIAL
Paint All The Nails Presents Colour Block Nail Art + TUTORIAL
Paint All The Nails Presents Colour Block Nail Art + TUTORIAL

 

These nails might look difficult to do but I've broken the design into small steps for you and in the end it's just painting lines. A great design to practice your line work ;)

 

 

How to:

 

Step 1 - Apply a base coat to clean and dry nails. Then paint them with one or two coats of white nail polish. I've used Colour Club French Tip which is very opaque so I got away with just one coat.

Paint All The Nails Presents Colour Block Nail Art + TUTORIAL

 

Step 2 - Paint the top of each nail with a different colour. I chose colours that will be somewhat dominant on the nail.

Paint All The Nails Presents Colour Block Nail Art + TUTORIAL

 

Step 3 - Add thin and thick stripes of the same colour to the nails

Paint All The Nails Presents Colour Block Nail Art + TUTORIAL

 

Step 4 - Start adding more stripes of different colours. Try to stick to similar colour families with the odd stripe in colour of the next nail to tie the nails visually together

Paint All The Nails Presents Colour Block Nail Art + TUTORIAL

 

Step 5 - Continue with adding more stripes and colours to the rest of the nails. Different widths of stripes make a really interesting effect

Paint All The Nails Presents Colour Block Nail Art + TUTORIAL
Paint All The Nails Presents Colour Block Nail Art + TUTORIAL

 

Step 6 - Finish up with a coat of Leighton Denny One For All (as a top coat) and admire your new beautiful nails ;)

Paint All The Nails Presents Colour Block Nail Art + TUTORIAL

 

My line work is far from perfect but all in all I quite liked this look. And practice makes perfect so imperfection isn't a fail at all, just another lesson on the path to perfection!

 

What do you think of this look? Would you wear it?

 

I'm so glad I was able to participate in this month's Paint All The Nails Challenge again and if you'd like to see what my fellow nail bloggers came up with, check out #paintallthenailscolorblock and the link up below!

 

Have a lovely day! Lucie x

 

 

 

Hello lovelies,

Have you tried anything and everything to make your nail polish last more than 2 or 3 days? Well, maybe I have a solution for you! I have been testing the new Morgan Taylor REACT duo (base and top coat) promising prolonging the wear of your polish by 50% in the past few weeks and today I can finally reveal the results. Let's have a look at the products first...

 

Review: Morgan Taylor REACT No Light Extended Wear Base & Top Coat
Review: Morgan Taylor REACT No Light Extended Wear Base & Top Coat

 

"The innovative REACT range consists of two varnishes; the Morgan Taylor REACT No Light Extended Wear Top Coat and the Morgan Taylor REACT No Light Extended Wear Base Coat, both of which work with any polish colour and brand transforming it into an extended nail polish.

 

Once applied, manicures last up to 50% longer than average, and with no need to use an LED lamp or to soak for removal either, this ten day long wear range makes a great investment to any at-home nail kit."

 

  • With REACT your manicure can last up to 50% longer
  • Works with any lacquer system
  • No LED light needed
  • Up to 10 days of wear and soak–free removal
  • Gelish infused technology with base radical colour adhesion

 

These claims left me very curious and I wanted to test this new 'system' myself. Since the Morgan Taylor REACT duo can be used with any brand of nail polish, I've painted my nails with A England Polovetsian Dances and Morgan Taylor Berry Contrary to test it.

 

I've started with one coat of Morgan Taylor REACT Base Coat on clean and dry nails - I like to wipe nails with isopropyl alcohol and no lint wipe before painting. Then I've applied two coats of the A England and Morgan Taylor polishes and sealed them with one coat of the REACT Top Coat.

 

Review: Morgan Taylor REACT No Light Extended Wear Base & Top Coat

 

Morgan Taylor REACT Base Coat has a thicker consistency than regular base coats - not watery/runny but little bit thicker. It was still nice to apply and it had bit of a ridge-filling effect.

 

Morgan Taylor REACT Top Coat is a bit different to other top coats too. It's thicker and it also smells differently. Almost like it's made to smell flowery but with a mixed chemical taste. When I was applying the top coat I was very sceptical of the whole system because it was smearing polish underneath a little and I had to use thicker coats to avoid patching. I literally had three good strokes to finish the nail otherwise it would drag the already drying layers. So advice - work fast and have enough product on the brush! On the other hand the top coat dried fast and glossy. In 15 minutes the coat hardened quite well and I could do light work like typing on a laptop.

 

Each bottle holds 15ml of product and has a wide flat brush with clear bristles. This is how my nails looked 5 days in:

 

Review: Morgan Taylor REACT No Light Extended Wear Base & Top Coat

 

I've had only minor tipwear and some scratched surface after 5 days which I think was quite good result so far. Next up is the photo of a 10 days wear:

 

Review: Morgan Taylor REACT No Light Extended Wear Base & Top Coat

 

As you can see, the polish doesn't look that great anymore but it still held up quite good. My long nails are quite flexible so I've had my nails bent few times which caused the cracking in the polish. The tipwear was still quite minor (I accidentally dipped the tip of my index finger into acetone which caused the lack of polish on the tip).

 

So does this system really extend the wear of polish by 50%? I think it does! I've deliberately used two different brands since the system is supposed to work with ANY brand and it passed the test. So now you know the result and it's up to you to try this duo. 

 

Morgan Taylor React duo is available from Sally UK stores nationwide and www.sallyexpress.com for £12.95 per bottle. For US and other countries - these should be available where Morgan Taylor products are sold.

 

So what do you think? Will you be trying this new duo and test the longevity for yourself?

 

Have a lovely day! Lucie x

 

*PR samples