SHARI: Let's Nail It Part 2

Welcome back to Part 2 of ‘Let’s Nail It’. Well, we know how to do a basic manicure, but what about the upkeep of your nails? Well, my tip comes two part. Base Coat AND a Top coat!

Why a base coat?
A base coat seems to some people, a product to miss. But I say no! Never skip the base coat. It protects your nails from discolouration AND gives the nail polish something to stick to. The base coat helps to smooth out any bumps in your nails so that when you apply your colour, it helps it to last that bit longer. For bumps in your nails creates weak points in the polish so that when you do something, it makes the nail polisht to chip easily or flake off easily. In my opinion, I get much better results with a base coat. In fact, it actually makes me cringe when I see people just use nail polish without a base coat. The madness!

Why a top coat?
Why not a top coat? It is one of the most crucial steps. I know me, I more likely not going to do my nails if I know I wont have the protection of a top coat. It protects your nails from the wear and tear of daily life and helps your nail colour to last that much longer. It also helps to give your nails that extra shine that we all love! Top coat is the one!

Good brands
I am a nail polish lover. I go into extensive research for each of my polishes, so the brands I recommend I have tried before or have heard great stuff about them. So here they are:
BarryM – just the colour selection alone is amazing. Very good for those who love their brights! The colour application is brilliant and it has a nice sized brush. The colour in the bottle also lasts long. Great buy for the price I say! But what people don’t know is that BarryM also does very good nudes. Their nudes are few and are only available on their website – but its still a good buy! Their shipping is only £1.95 www.barrym.com



China Glaze – wow! What a find! The colour selection is just as wide as BarryM but they aren’t permanent like BarryM. They come out with different collections that come with different colours and payoffs – from the glittery ones to the holographic ones. China Glaze is definitely for the nail polish junkie. It’s a lot of things. Can be found at Sally Beauty Supplies – click here. When typing in your town, ignore the US stores, just type in your main town and your country and they will tell you where your nearest store is.



OPI – expensive but it WORKS! Man, o man! Colour galore! There is a reason why it is one of the best nail polishes out there. Numerous votes say yes – but OPI is always for me. Found at Department stores.



Sally Hansen – found at major superdrug stores. We dont have much colour selection like they do over in the US, but man o man – when it comes nails Sally Hansen is the first person I will run to!

There are obviously more good brands out there, but these are just the ones that get my top votes!

Flow: Backstage at SCORE4AFRICA

Score4Africa is one of the biggest events of the year in the football calender, its an charity event that takes place annually to recognise the charitable efforts of football players. This year the award ceremony took place on Monday 30th at The Park Lane Hotel, London



Eryca Freemantle was the Chief Make up Artist at the event and I managed to get a personal backstage invitation from her. So for those of you that wonder what goes on in the powder room of a high calibre event such as this here goes;

When I arrived with Eryca her Make up Artists and Nail technicians were set up and ready to go. As we arrived Eryca was given a brief on the look by the Stylist for the event which was a “neutral” look for the hostess’ and Models.




For those who want to know what a Neutral look consists off I managed to steal some tips.
- matte black shadow on the lids and brown used to highlight
- minimal blush
- emphasize brows with dark brown shadow using a brow brush
- lips neutral brown (a shade darker than skin tone) no lip pencil & use brush!



the makeup artists also had the strong lighting in the banqueting hall to deal with

Nails were
- clean & clear (much to the shock of some of the models)



I also had a sneaky look at the brands the MUA’s used which consisted of MAC, SCREEN FACE & CHARLES FOX! But I found an affordable pallet which happened to be RIMMEL 001 SWEET SEDUCTION which you get for free when you spend 8 pounds on rimmel products!! So go get it guys!





The day started slow and steady but as the evening went on and models starting arriving late things got a little bit maniac, the MUA’s had to hurry and with Eryca assessing every face the pressure was on!

By 7.30 the event was ready to begin all was ready Eryca’s team did the last minute touch ups and managed to work on a few VIP guest and the Event planners.




Eryca slipped into her dress off to auction off her Make services for a lucky winner. I stayed around for a little while and did a bit of mingling and exited on the red carpet. For those who have asked yes premiership players do look better in real life that they do running around on the pitch on tv, I would give more info but it’s not suitable for a blog such as this =D





O and the big award winners at the event were Michael Essien, Diambars, the Senegalise academy set up by the former Arsenal player Patrick Veira, and Didier Drogba and the Cote D'Ivoire national team.
For MAU’s or aspiring Make up artists wanting to know how to get to work with Celebrity Make up artist Eryca Freemante check back as I will posting a blog on the topic in a few days I also managed to interview some of her team on working with her which will also be going up.

bye for now

Much love