Nailpad

I think you could say that we all love to paint our nails, not just to look pretty, but also to protect them from all the chores that we do. As we’re always in a rush, invariably it’s a bit of a balancing act with painting our nails on the go. You know the story, grab a magazine, hand down, open nail polish and then it slides …whoops it’s a full-on nail polish spillage alert!  That’s where the clever handbag-friendly Nailpad comes into play as it ideal with those awkward speedy manicure moments. And we at The Amazing Blog are always suckers for a new gadget!

The Nailpad concept was created by two time-poor twins Tori and Carrie, who both saw a niche in the market for a stable, portable, foldaway manicure base with a nifty holder for nail polish. The purpose of Nailpad is to make home manicures (or pedicures) easier, steadier and less stressful. Not only this but it can also be adapted for placing on knees, whether on the sofa or bed, on the floor (for toes) or flat on a table. We were pleasantly surprised by how light and comfortable the Nailpad was to use. It's also small and neat just perfect for your handbag, and yes we’ve even tested it out on the tube to work!

What we particularly like is the ease of using the Nailpad on the go. The Nailpad comes in two colours, bright pink (easy to find in a handbag) and shiny black (less obvious when on the go). You too can discover the NailPad for £12.95 each on the website here.

Friday Favourites - Nails for Spring

At The Amazing Blog, we can never have enough nail polishes to share in the office! Whether it’s to coordinate with our latest outfits or to pack into our travel bags for a holidays, we cannot resist adding yet another polish to our collection. So today we thought we would share some of our favourite colours and brands for this season.

Starting with Only Fingers and Toes ‘Understated Chic’ Trilogy Set. When these arrived,  we instantly fell in love with the elegantly embossed recyclable packaging that sets off the nail polishes, giving a very luxurious feel. Inside there are three gorgeous shades that are on-trend but also versatile enough to be worn all year round. The polishes are all DBP, Toluene, formaldehyde and formaldehyde resin, camphor and ophthalmic acid free;  and what we particularly like is the Only Fingers and Toes supports charity ventures like Dollis Hill Dolls Nail Bar (London) Polished Girlz (US) and Shine Nail Bar (Leeds).

‘Sweet like Candy’ a pale pink shade which made the nails look glossy, perfect for daytime wear. ‘Manganese’ a khaki colour, perfect for the up and coming military trend. Our favourite of the collection was ‘Ciao’ is a pastel purple shade gorgeous for the upcoming spring season. If you want to have gorgeous and chic nails grab your Trilogy Set here for £42.

One nail polish brand you cannot go wrong with the fashion-led FNUG and we were so excited to get our hands on these.  FNUG uses the holographic nail lacquer to get your nails looking sparkly as ever. Starting off with a Aqua fix base coat, apply one layer and let it dry to enhance the holographic effect. We were sent 'Fnuglista', a pink shade that sparkles, great for a girly night out and for our futuristic fashionistas, 'Futurista' a blue sparkly shade, whilst moving ours fingers it gave a prism effect of light reflecting peacock shades. Both delicious shades for that Balmain style. Get all 'Psychedelic' with their silver holographic nail polish, giving the wearer a playful and ice cool style. These cool and vibrant trio of nail polishes are great for creating a dramatic effect. We rocked the 'Futurista' blue polish - our favourite, which worked well with both denim and our little black dresses.  

If the holographic nails aren’t your thing, then FNUG also has a coral ‘A Lister' and deep purple ‘After Party’ in regular nail polish, letting you create a more subtle look for the upcoming spring season. Get the nail polishes individually here for £12.00 each.

We couldn’t contain our excitement when Kiss sent us some of their 'Everlasting Range' which included an LED Gel Lamp, French Manicure Everlasting Gel; plus three great shades of gel polish.  'Sweet', a sea green colour which is lovely for the spring months ahead, 'Smoky', a dark grey shade which complements your smokey eye look for nights on the town and 'Lush', a bright shade of pink which is bursting full of vibrant colour.

The 'French Manicure Everlasting Gel Polish' includes french wraps, brush-on gel glue, colour gel 'Petal', base gel, top gel, gel cleanser, lint-free wipes, a buff block, manicure stick , a mini file and an instruction sheet to help you along the way. This kit provides you with everything you need for a really professional looking French Manicure.

Accompanying both kits, is the LED Gel Lamp to cure the gel evenly for chip free nails with a high gloss effect. Only 30 second drying time so perfect for when we are in a rush. When we tested out the 'Everlasting Gel Polish' we were pleasantly surprised by the simplicity of the application.  For everlasting and beautiful nails get your kit here ranging from £14.99 to £38.99.

Deborah Lippman is a celebrity and fashion manicurist who has designed opulent nail polishes for top celebs like Lady GaGa, Scarlett Johansson, Kim Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow, Just to name a few, and we were pleased to find out that Deborah has now graced us with her new limited edition spring collection of 8ml mini bottles, ‘Sweets for My Sweets’ which include six pastel shades from soft yellow to baby pink and we just couldn't wait to give them all a try.

Our favourite nail polish was ‘Sugar Sugar’ a pastel baby pink, an effortlessly chic shade which matches any outfit of your choice. The formula of the polish allows you to apply thinly onto your nail for a long lasting colour effect topped with a high gloss finish, completely gloop free. Like the above two brands FNUG and Only Fingers and Toes, Deborah Lippman is a 'five free' polish and is also not tested on animals.

Presented in a colourful gift box, these sets of polishes will make the perfect treat for you or your nail enthuastic pals. Add a splash of pastel to your hands with Deborah Lippman’s must-have shades for the spring here for only £27.

Soigne Nails - Barbe A Papa Range

Bright colours are perfect for this time of year. Whether you’re on the beach, or strutting around the city, we’re firm believers in making a statement with our bold beauty choices. The girls at The Amazing Blog are big fans of Soigne polishes, and their Barbe a Papa range of summer colours are perfectly in keeping with our bold and beautiful ethos.

With a large range of luxurious colours in their core collection, the French brand has introduced three new shades for summer 2015. Of the trio, we were excited to try the Framboise Bleue shade. A tropical greeny blue, the hue would look wonderful on an island getaway – what better to coordinate with than the crystal ocean waters? As we’re not currently on a tropical island escape, we’ve had to settle for jazzing up our typing hands in the office. Still, the shade adds a wonderful pop of colour, and looks fabulous with the light, cream clothes that we often sport at work.

Paired with their Oxygen Base Coat and Gel Effect Top Coat, we were left with fabulously glossy nails that looked professional even after our shoddy paint job. Housed in the ultimate opulent packaging, the indulgent polishes are free from carcinogens, as well as containing 85% plant-sourced raw ingredients.  Chic and environmentally friendly, we can’t think of anything more we’d want from a manicure.

Add some Parisian sophistication to your manicure with the Soigne summer collection. Pick up the beautiful Framboise Bleue shade here for £11, as well as the Oxygen Base and Gel Effect Top Coat here for £13 each. 

Nazila Love Glamour

As every girl will tell you, we don't need an excuse to accessorise, and our nails are definitely not an exception to this. With the varying brands of nail polishes and different sorts of treatments you can get, it can make doing your nails pretty complicated. So The Amazing Blog brings you Nazila Love Glamour's Nail Glitz semi-permanent nail sets. These bedazzled nail sets have been seen on celebrities and in most of the magazines you pick up weekly, so you know that you're spot-on trend with a Nail Glitz manicure. And with the Diamond Jubilee fast approaching, a Nail Glitz manicure will be sure to make you stand out this weekend.This Nail Glitz set in GB Rocks is a must-have for this weekend. If you're a working girl, or are just always on your phone like us, we recommend doing one or two accent nails - you can show off your patriotism and stretch your set out to last longer. All you Made In Chelsea fans will recognise Binky Felstead, wearing and posing with the GB Rocks set (above). Priced at £29.99 all Nail Glitz sets come with 24 pieces that you can use up to 4 times.If you still want to show your spirit but in a more subtle way, the Bejewelled Nail Glitz from Nazila Love Glamour is perfect for you. As seen on celebrity judge Amanda Holden during the recent finals of Britain's Got Talent, the Bejewelled Nail Glitz will add sparkle to any outfit. Available for £29.99 online.

And the final Nail Glitz we have for you is this amazing Your Royal Highness set. Complete with faux diamonds, and plenty of sparkly pretty things, these 3D nails are sure to make an impression wherever you rock them. Whether you wear the full set or just a couple of accent nails, this manicure is sure to make you feel like a princess. Available for £29.99 online.

With over 20 different sets on the Nazila Love Glamour website, you can custom make your own manicure, and have all your friends wondering where you got your nails done!

Nail It!

Gone are the days when a French manicure was the height of sophistication and pillar-box red nails were considered daring; these days with snake skin manicures, nail wraps galore and new nail trends every season, having the latest ‘must have’ nails has become as important as carrying the latest designer handbag (not to mention a LOT more affordable). Nailgirls London was founded by former fashion editor Lynda-Louise Burrell and her sister Jo as a reaction to the nasty, toxic, nail wrecking polishes and salons that were saturating the beauty market. On her return from New York where weekly manicures were a must, Lynda and her sister noticed that London was seriously falling short on clean, affordable and friendly walk-in nail salons so set about creating the Nailgirls Spa to fill the void. The sisters also wanted to offer their own collection of nail polishes incorporating the very latest fashion colours hot off the catwalk as well as the classic hues that we all know and love. Nailgirls launch a new limited edition range to match the fashion catwalk collections each season; their unique shades were seen on the nails of a host of London Fashion Week shows last season including Erdem, Pringle and Hannah Marshall. What’s more all of the colours are free from any harmful chemicals (so no nasty odours), are not tested on animals are suitable for vegans and the packaging is recyclable. Talk about saintly!

Visit the website to see the full collection or pop into the Nailgirls Spa for a New Year's treat.