If there's one thing a heatwave calls for, it's a holo. I decided to break out A-England's Tristam, which was a lovely surprise present a while back from Róisín, who is an absolute sweetheart and one of my favourite nail bloggers.
Tristam is part of The Mythicals collection. Sadly, A-England are no longer shipping internationally due to a huge amount of their packages being destroyed by Royal Mail during the huge nail polish debacle a while ago, but they are still available through international nail polish distributors like Llarowe, Ninja Polish, and Mei Mei's Signatures. You could also use Parcel Motel - I've asked them about nail polish and they confirmed that because most parcels are sent from mainland UK to NI via ferry or courier, nail polish should be okay to order using your Parcel Motel address. Good news!
Tristam is a dark denim blue with scattered holo microglitter, and it's the perfect polish to wear in direct sunlight. Even though the holo isn't apparent all the time, it's still quite sparkly but not overpowering. The third picture was taken with a flash to show you how holographic the glitter is. I used two coats of Tristam and one coat of Poshé topcoat.
I decided to get the striping tape out again and have a play around with different shapes and directions. I used Wet n Wild's I Need a Refresh-mint from their Megalast range. It's a gorgeous mint cream that I received last year in a swap with the lovely Jenna. It's a perfect polish to use for striping, because it's almost completely opaque in one coat. The brushes on this range are enormous, though, so you may need to do a little cleanup if you have small nails. Here's a comparison picture I posted before - a Megalast brush vs a Barry M brush.
On to the striping. I just placed the tape in random directions and did one at a time, removing the tape with tweezers to give a clean line.
I think my favourite is the little finger, but I'm going to keep trying to find new ways to use striping tape, I love the effect.
Cannot get the hang of taping myself! These looks are fab, loving the glitter blue <3
ReplyDeleteIt's so intimidating to start off with but there are a couple of little things that make a huge difference - a topcoat over your base colour, remove tape when top colour is still wet, and use tweezers. It took me ages to get the hang of it, bet you'll fly it in no time x
DeleteI'm definitely the same with getting the hang of striping tape - it seems impossible. However, your nails look amazing! Your little finger or your middle finger are probably my favourites. I was already impressed by the denim coloured polish, but the end result is so cool!
ReplyDeleteThank you Aoife! The tape is so fiddly but it's worth the practice x
DeleteAwh thanks for that missy xx I love this design. It is so simple but it looks amazing! I need a Re-freshmint is gorgeous. Did you cut your nails? They look great x
ReplyDeleteIt's a great polish, the brush is just so huge! I did indeed, the index one broke so I had to file them all to match - typing had them in bits anyway, they're easier to keep at this length xx
DeleteThe little finger is lovely! But I love it all. And the colour combo too, it's almost exactly like the colour combo I have for my nail post tomorrow! Except with glitter, mine has no glitter (oooh, the suspense!)
ReplyDeleteThank you Breige! Can't wait to see yours x
DeleteSuper pretty! Tristam is a stunner on its own but love what you've done with it!
ReplyDeleteThank you Emma x
DeleteA England is on my list of polishes I need to buy. Love this colour, and the design. Need to parcel motel myself a few colours!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, Rachel! I think they offer free UK shipping too so you'd only have to pay the Parcel Motel charge. I'm waiting for their next sale, sometimes they do great flash ones x
DeleteLove the striping effect over the glitter, your brill with the striping tape :) your turning into a pro xxx
ReplyDelete