Easter Nails

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to post a pic of my Easter nails. Rather than do the pattern on every nail I wanted to use some coloured rhinestones and came up with this… Happy Easter!

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For this look I used: index finger - Barry M 318 Peach Melba, middle finger – 17 Sherbet Lemon, ring finger – Natural Collection White with Barry M 318 Peach Melba and Barry M 304 Mint Green pattern, little finger – Barry M 251 Blue. Also un-pictured but my thumb on this hand had Barry M 304 Mint Green with a green rhinestone.

New Nail Length & Vintage Mani

I decided to give my nails a chop this week and get them all to the same length and shape, I think it looks much better :)

I decided to give vintage “Cath Kidston” style nails a go. I wasn’t sure how I’d get on with the flowers so decided to go with stripes for the rest of my nails except my ring finger. I used Barry M 251 Blue as a base colour and then using a dotting tool and Essie Van D’Go and Models Own Vintage Pink I drew the flower and used OPI You Don’t Know Jacques for the leaves. I then did vertical white stripes on the other nails using a striping tool.

I love this look and definitely want to try again with different colour combos!

Hint of Irish

Looking back on these nails, I should have SO done these for St. Patricks day! Have to remember that for next year!

I wanted to try out of the tips on my Konad plate, so decided to go for OPI You Don’t Know Jacques with Konad White…

(Pre-clean up so excuse the mess!)

Konad Zebra Nails

I’ve been playing around with my Konad stamping set which I got a few weeks ago and wanted to share a few of the zebra designs I’ve tried.

First of all I wanted to test non Konad polishes and see how it works. A few I tried were just no-hopers but then I came across Barry M 320 Foil Gold which worked a gem. I put it over Models Own Purple Grey and think the final result was really subtle but pretty.

(Slight mess up on my middle finger!)

I also did my Mums nails using OPI Do You Think I’m Tex-y and Konad white
I really liked the pink and white contrast and definitely want to try this out on myself!

Nubar Polka Dots

I was intrigued when I came across this polish on another blog and had to give it a go! I decided to try it over a light colour for contrast so used OPI Fit For a Queensland…

Sorry the picture quality isn’t great! I found the Nubar Polka Dot polish very easy to work with, the above is with two top coats and a few extra blobs to try and get some of the bigger hex glitter to be more even!

I’d recommend this polish for a quick and quirky design – I got a lot of comments when wearing this and am looking forward to trying it over different colours. I also kind of want the white one now too!

What do you think of this polish? Any suggestions as to what it would look good over the top of?

First try with Konad stamping/plates

Well…my actual first try was an absolute fail so this was actually my second attempt once I had got used to it!

I used China Glaze Thataway as a base coat, I’m not really too sure about this colour. I picked it up when I was in the US a while back as I wanted to try out some CG polishes but it’s never really grown on me. However, I did really like it under this design and think it would look great on toes in the summer.

Now I’ve got the hang of using the Konad stamper I’m looking forward to trying some more designs and plates – any suggestions?

Tuxedo Nails

I finally got around to trying Tuxedo nails! I found a few designs around on the web but my favourite style was in this tutorial.
First of all I didn’t think I was going to have the patience to do all my nails like this, so I decided to go for one nail and painted the rest with GOSH Lambada 60
I ended up messing up the other hand so decided to try again and as I had time I gave it a try on all my nails!
I used Barry M Black 47 and Natural Collection White and used a striping tool to do the black triangles on each side and the bow tie then a dotting tool to do the buttons. I was really, really happy with the final result! I got lots of compliments when I was wearing these and wore them for as long as possible before re-doing them!
I’d definitely do these again, maybe might try a different colour combo next time, any suggestions?
I received a very exciting package this week…I can't wait to give this a try, I got the M57 plate and Konad white and Black Pearl polishes. I purchased the lot from this eBay seller and would recommend. I’ll get some pics up when I try these out!

Pink Split–OPI & Essie

I think I’ve gone from begin obsessed with drawing dots on my nails to drawing stripes across my nails! Here is yet another split mani!

I did two coats of OPI Do You Think I’m Tex-y and then used Rimmel Matte Finish Top Coat over this. I then did  a diagonal line and filled in the top part of my nail with Essie Masquerade Belle and finished off with a black line to separate the two colours. I quite liked the contrast in colours but I was disappointed with the matte top coat over this polish as I was hoping for a more dramatic effect with the matte and non matte polishes. I’ve seen some great manis using this effect though so am keen to try in with a few different colours, I think it seems to work better with darker polishes.

Strawberry nails

I stumbled across a picture of some strawberry nails last week and HAD to give them a go! There are a few different styles out there but I decided this was my favourite…

I used two coats Essie Silken Cord as a bottom coat and then drew the “leaves” on with OPI Jade is the New Black followed by white dots as “seeds”. I found the leaves quite difficult to do and had to adjust them a few times but was quite happy with the overall result!

108…and counting

I had a “clear out” and tidy up of my nail polish drawer the other day. I decided to have a count up after getting rid of a few unwanted/old polishes and I’m up to 108. I’ve also just placed an order for 3 of the Capitol Colors collection and a NuBar polka dot polish I fell in love with…oopsie!

I try to keep my polishes upright the drawer I use is not deep enough for China Glaze/OPI/other tall polishes to stand up right in. And it’s getting pretty full. Does anyone have any storage tips to share?

Sigh, how I wish all companies would put the polish name on the top of the polish!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve been unwell the past few days…which has given me lots of time sitting around on the sofa to do my nails! So lots of pics to come over the next week :)

Colour Club - Wish Upon A Rockstar

I have been swooning over OPI Rainbow Connection or so long that I decided to add this gem to my recent haul. It was the first one I went to when they all arrived and it did not disappoint! I began by putting a base coat and a coat of Barry M 47 Black, followed by 2 coats of Wish Upon A Rockstar.

 

 

Pictures do not really do the polish justice, the first is with flash and second is without. The polish consists of coloured glitter with light pink hex glitter.

The only downside is that it did begin to chip quite quickly and oh my goodness…the removal!! It took me a good half an hour to get it off!

 

 

 

However, I think I am willing to sacrifice this for this gorgeous polish and had lots of people swooning over them!

More new polishes pics coming soon :-)

OPI–Yucatán If U Want

I decided to try another version of the Scotch tape mani and kept it simple with one colour and a black stripe and I LOVE how it turned out. I also love this polish, its a gorgeous not-quite-red-not-quite-pink colour which applies like a dream and lasts well.

I have grown to really like doing manis with my plain nail showing underneath like this too, so have a few more ideas up my sleeve to try!

Peacock Nails

I saw this look on YouTube and fell in love. I decided to give it a go seeing as I loved the colours used and I love Peacocks!

I used Essie Going Incognito as the green base, then used a dotting tool and GOSH 554 Gold, Rimmel 825 Sky High and Models Own True Blue for the spots.

It’s not quite the same as the finished result in the video but I quite liked it! I think if I was going to do this look again I would make the dots bigger and more even.

I love doing animal print designs though and am always on the look out for new ideas, let me know if you have tried any and would recommend!

GOSH Lavender Love

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this polish! It’s such a pretty colour and I love wearing it on it’s own. I decided to mix it up a teeny bit by painting one finger on each hand another colour.

I used GOSH Lavender Love on all my other nails and GOSH Groovy Grey on my index finger.

I think GOSH polishes are awesome, these two were part of a special edition collection I purchased last year (I think…could have been 2010 though) and are still holding up well.

So a nice simple look but with a bit of a twist!

Models Own Freshen Up

I was quite excited to see the new Models Own collection …

“The NEW Spring collection from Models Own: FRESHEN UP! Five pretty sherbet pastels, each designed to give a gorgeous natural colour. Includes Edamame, a fresh shimmering green; Naked Shimmer, a glistening gold-tinted stark beige; Soda Pop Pink, a subtle pastel blush; Peaches & Cream, a light sherbet peach; and Bare Beauty, a pretty, barely-there nude.”

Looking forward to seeing some swatches of these but Edamame, Naked Shimmer and Bare Beauty are probably the ones I’d be most interested in!

Have you added any of these to your collection? Let me know your thoughts!!

Attempt at Marble Nails

Well I tried it! My first two attempts are below.

L: Essie Mint Candy Apple, Essie Van D’Go and Models Own True Blue
R: Models Own Turkish Delight, Models Own Peach Sherbet and Essie Mint Candy Apple

I think it is definitely something that you get better at over time! Took me a while to get used to what temperature the water needed to be and also timing to get a pattern before the polish dries! I’m not admitting defeat as I will be trying this again soon but it’s quite messy and time consuming so I’ll need patience when doing it haha.

Saying that, I did get some nice comments when I wore the above!

To be continued!

Haul

Inspired by Laura's post about Ebaying US polishes, I was suckered in and ordered some tonight. After much debating, I decided to go with…

OPI Jade is the New Black
I have lusted over this for a long, long time so am really excited to finally be adding this to my collection!






OPI Do You Think I’m Tex-y?
I don’t really own many pink polishes and I’m not really a pink person but I looked up some swatches and this looks like a really pretty colour so I’m looking forward to trying this out.





China Glaze Grape Pop
I have been on the lookout for a nice ‘proper’ purple polish for a while as I have so many variations of blue/purple, grey/purple, lilac/purple, pink/purple so now I shall finally have a real purple!




Colour Club Wish Upon A Rockstar
For now this is the closest I am going to get to OPI Rainbow Connection <3 it was a real bargain too so I’m not too worried if I don’t end up liking it!
Can’t wait for these to arrive, all together it cost just over £20 including postage, which 2 OPI polishes would have cost alone in the UK! Oh and if anyone’s wondering I got them from this eBay store.

Miss Minty

This NOTD originally was going to be something completely different, but I ran out of time (and patience) when doing it and as I was heading out I had to settle for something a little more simple! However I do plan on re-trying my original idea so will keep you posted on that.

I created this look with two coats of GOSH Miss Minty 597 and then drew some dots on with OPI Barefoot in Barcelona and another dot on top of that with Natural Collection White. Then finished off with a top coat.

Simple but still quite effective…and more fun than plain one colour nails, right?! I know…more dots! I don’t think this will last long as I’ve got plenty more things I want to try out!

I’ve been watching quite a few YouTube videos lately showing how to do marble effect nails and really want to give it a go. Have you ever tried it? Let me know if you have any tips or pics!

May the odds be ever in your…nails!

I cannot BEGIN to tell you how excited I am about the China Glaze Hunger Games collection! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the trilogy and read the whole series in a few weeks. The books are such a good read and keep you engrossed and you literally can’t put them down!

Anyway, enough book talk (just go read them!) as you may already know, Lionsgate are releasing a movie of the first book in March this year and China Glaze will be releasing a collection “Colours from the Capitol”

It has been suggested that each colour goes in hand with one of the 12 Districts of Panem, if you’re a HG fan this makes sense!

I am really excited about Luxe & Lush, Fast Track and Electrify especially! Although, the Capitol did place me in District 3, so maybe I should get Riveting too?!

Well,this was a rather geeky blog post :0)

Scotch Tape Mani

I’ve recently come across the concept of using Scotch tapes in manicures (am I ridiculously behind with the times?) and wasn’t sure if I’d like it…I’ve tried using manicure guides before and just end up getting annoyed when you get residue or it peels off your base polish. However, I decided to give it a go and found this video with cute design which I based my mani on.

First of all I used a Rimmel base coat and when this was dry I put a strip of Scotch tape across each of my nails and painted the top half with 2 coats of Models Own Turkish Delight. I waited a few minutes before peeling off the tape and was pleasantly surprised to find no residue or peeling! I let this dry and then painted on the white dots using a Natural Collection white polish (with the end of a hair grip as the dotting tool). Then I used Barry M 47 Black to draw a black line.

 

I’ve never actually done a mani leaving some of my un-painted nail showing but I kinda like it! I’ve had a lot of comments already and am excited to try different versions of this look. And yes…I am still obsessed with dots on my nails it seems!

Have you ever tried a Scotch tape mani? Would love to hear any other ideas – I’ve seen some checkerboard designs which look really cute too!