Gatsby Inspired Nail Art feat. Meebox Feb 2017*

Another month, another Meebox to play with! This month's box featured a Great Gatsby theme, complete with appropriate glittery gold, black and a lovely purple polish, as well as nail stencils and gold caviar beads. I was in two minds when I first opened my box because I LOVED the polishes that were included (Little Ondine Copper Spark, Maggie Anne Pearl and Color Club Midnight Mulberry) but I'd never tried nail stencils or caviar beads before (even though I've had a bottle of Models Own gold caviar beads languishing in my helmer for years).

I tried to think of designs that would incorporate all elements and let's just say things didn't go to plan...

As a newcomer to both nail stencils and caviar beads, I was keen to use them but the universe was against me (or more likely my own ineptness...)

I started off with a base of Little Ondine Copper Spark. I can confirm this polish lives up to the brand's peel-off guarantee. It's a gorgeous shade and the glitter distribution isn't too mad from the brush, so no need to get the sponge on. One thing I will say is that it does tend to clump a lot on the brush, making it a little tricky to apply because there's SO MUCH product on the brush. I think this is to do with the formulation which makes it peel off. It's not that bad but it takes some care to make sure you don't apply too much to the nail at once.

Here is my nail art featuring all three polishes from the box. Where are the caviar beads and nail stencils you cry? Well...I had MULTIPLE ideas for incorporating both elements. I was determined to use the glitter base with Maggie Anne Pearl on top with the nail stencils, to give that classic Gatsby vibe that so many other nail bloggers managed LOL I think I tried it three times in different configurations and I just could not get them to work for me. I followed the instructions, watched videos but for whatever reason, they just never looked tidy for me. I think my nails might be a little too curved to get that really clean effect from them (or I'll just keep telling myself that to make me feel better) 

My next idea was to stamp a graphic pattern using the black polish to give a similar effect. I was going to hand paint it but I thought I should stick with that clean effect of stamping or stencilling. I am not an accomplished stamper and I think this might be the first stamped manicure on my blog. I really love the diversity of imagery you get on stamping plates and how they can transform nails so quickly but I'm still a hand painting sort of gal so don't worry! I used a Moyou Hipster plate with a cube pattern. So I applied the black polish, scraped and tried to pick up on the stamper. It wouldn't pick up! Again, I tried again and again but no luck. I was starting to feel like this was NEVER going to happen.

I decided to try the purple shade just to test whether it was me being the worst nail artist or whether the polish isn't suited to stamping. Luckily for me, the gorgeous Color Club shade did pick up on the stamper. My application of the stamp is...varied to say the least. Like I said, I hardly ever stamp so I'm just pleased I managed a full hand that roughly resembles what was on the plate. To incorporate the black polish I just decided to do black tips since this is what I was planning with my original design but with the purple. At this point, I just wanted to be done so didn't even go near the caviar beads, knowing they'd probably spill all over my table.

Now, my nail art troubles aside, did I like the box? I liked all of the polishes. All three are shades I'd use again and it's always great to try new brands (Little Ondine and Maggie Anne are new to me in terms of usage, not *awareness*) For me, caviar beads are just a little too fussy for me to use. I use studs sometimes but not a lot so caviar beads are just a bit of a faff. The nail stencils were interesting to try and perhaps practice makes perfect but they just didn't work for me.

This copper 😍😍😍 I just opened this month's @meeboxuk live on here! Not sure I'll be doing it again any time soon, maybe something with a little more notice lol but swipe through to check out this month's offerings (who else is loving the new slideshow feature?)

A post shared by Rebecca (@flailsandnails) on Feb 23, 2017 at 11:32am PST

The RRPs of the items in the box are:

Little Ondine "Copper Spark" £11.00
Maggie Ann "Pearl" £10.50
Color Club  "Midnight Mulberry" £6.99
Nail Mail stencils £4.95
Sparkly Nails  Gold Beads - £1.99

For the polishes alone, the £20 price tag of a Meebox is worth it and I really liked the theme. With these sort of subscription boxes, you'll always have the chance of not getting on with something but I'm pleased with the majority of the box.

You can get yourself a Meebox monthly subscription for £20 or a three month subscription for £54 from here. Thank you to the lovely ladies from Meebox for sending me this month's goodies to try out, they are much appreciated!

What do you guys think of my nail art and my attempt at stamping? Make sure you follow me on all my social media channels, I post a lot more on Instagram and Twitter these days (I'll explain that soon) but for now, until next time!