Valentine's Day Nail Art!

Eeeeeevening!

This is a kind of improvised manicure - I wanted to do a "love letter" style design, with a cream and pink heart background and newspaper print over the top. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the STUUUPOIIDIDIDD newspaper to transfer with vodka, so I've ordered some surgical spirit to try instead! I was very frustrated. Bundlemonster to the rescue, I decided to use plate BM09 and stamp the "love" image repeatedly, so it looks almost like a love letter (or weird love graffiti).

I started out with a base of 3 coats of Bloom Nicole and then stamped the swirly heart image from Bundle Monster BM02 using Konad Special White Polish mixed with bright pink. I then used Rimmel Urban Princess to stamp three little love-hearts from BM03 in the gaps.

After a coat of Seche Vite, I used Konad Black Special Polish to stamp the Love image from BM09 repeatedly over the whole nail. This was tricky to get straight! The beauty of adding a coat of topcoat before stamping, is that if you make a mistake you can take it off with nail varnish remover without destroying your previous stamping.

Don't forget you can click to enlarge!! A little bit different from my Anti-Valentines Day manicure...but I can get into the spirit of things!

I hope everyone had a lovely V-Day, single or not! Let me know what you think on the comments :D

xxx

Bundle Monster Roses Nail Art!

Hi Everyone!

So sorry I've been absent for the last 3 weeks, I was in America visiting the 8th Wonder of the World - Disney World. I thought I would have more time to blog, but after rollercoaster-ing all day, and unfortunate breakages as a result of acting the like the epitomal "big kid", I didn't quite happen! I am sporting short nails at the moment (they KEEP breaking!) but decided to use my Bundle Monster plates and have some double stamping fun - I kind of think this looks more like a wallpaper design, haha -

The flash picture showed the subtle gold design better!

I started with 3 coats of Bloom Nicole, which is a gorgeous sheer cream colour. I often use two coats of this on the tips if I want a classic french - it looks so natural and elegant. It really compliments a tan, too! I then used Bloom Goldie to stamp the vine image from BM21, and finished it off with a rose, from BM14, in the corner of each nail. I used Konad Special Polish in Red, and Black for the accent nail.

I hope you like it - I'm loving being back! Haha!

Aloha! Tropical Sunset Manicure!

Y'all know how much I love my tropical manicures. I was stuck for ideas (hence the lack of posts this week), and decided to to a gradient manicure, and see if inspiration struck. Reminded of a tropical sunset, I added some palm trees and fimo cane fruit, and the Totally Tropical manicure 2.0 was born:

 

I started out with a base of Bloom Flamingo Sands, and used a piece of sponge to apply China Glaze Papaya Punch to about 3/4 of the way down the nail. once this was dry, I then repeated this on the tips using Miss Sporty Taxi. Because yellows are generally sheerer than most other coloured polishes, I sponged the yellow tips twice, for a brighter fade. This Sponging/Gradient technique works best when the colours are close in shade and tone, as it creates a neat, even fade.

I then added the black palm trees and "Aloha" using Konad Plate M29 and Konad Black Special Polish, and used MUA shade 2 to add a little, silouetted desert island at the base of each one. I used Claire's Black Nail Art Pen to freehand in the little birds.

I'm going to take this opportunity to review the Fimo Canes that I was recently sent by BundleMonster (well known for their affordable nail art supplies), because the fruity appliqués you can see on the ring finger came as part of a pack they sent me.

Fimo Cane is rubbish if you get it wrong, and great if you get it right - it can be a bit tricky to master. All Fimo Canes come as little sticks that have a picture all the way through the core (like seaside rock!), and you then slice it very thinly, with a craft knife, to be left with a little Fimo picture that can be stuck onto the nail with clear polish or nail glue.

If they are sliced thinly enough, you can use a couple of coats of Seche Vite and have the Fimo completely flat and smooth to the nail, but some prefer to slice it a bit thicker and simply "perch" them on. I really liked the Bundle Monster Fimo Canes, and are definitely of better quality than the ones I purchased off eBay. I find the designs are generally clearer, nicer and more usable than some of the very odd ones that come in the eBay packs! (evil, teddy bear Frankenstein anyone?...No, didn't think so.) All in all, I got on with these Fimo canes very well, and would definitely recommend them! :)

One of the packs offered by bundlemonster, which you can also buy from Amazon.com

I added slices of the Lemon, Watermelon and Kiwi to my Tropical Design! :)

Thanks guyyys, let me know what you think! I will also be announcing the winner of my Apothica Giftcard giveaway very soon :) Sorry for my absence, I'm back on the ball!

x

Totally Tropical

Hi everyone!
In the spirit of craving summer SO BADLY, I decided to try out my newest Konad plate M29, and stamp a design I had been wanting to try for a while. Unfortunately, I only managed a quick flash shot of this, as I headed down in the morning to do the washing up, and a) broke a nail on the light switch, and b) managed to chip it all - washing up is kryptonite for manicures!

photo with flash - sorry it's the only one!

I started with a base of Topshop Green Room, and Bloom Flamingo sands II (both my absolute favourite polishes for the summer). I bought a couple of other Topshop polishes, and they are quickly beginning to rival my, previously unfaltering, love for Barry M! The formula is great and the colour selection is so different - I hope to do a review this week!

I added yellow ovals to the nail in Miss Sporty Taxi! and stamped the pineapple image from Konad M29, very carefully, over the top of these using Konad Black Special Polish/Konad Green Special Polish (for the leaves).

For the accent nail, I sponged 17 Orange Soda and Miss Sporty Taxi! over the top of Flamingo Sands II, then stamped the hibiscus image three times using Konad Special Polish in White and Red, as well as mixing my own pastel blue from Barry M Cobalt Blue and Konad White Special Polish (to see how click here). I stamped the "Aloha!" image in Konad Black Special Polish. I then added a coat of Seche Vite after the stamping had ten minutes to dry properly, so as not to smear the image.

I absolutely love this design - especially how the accent nail and the rest of the fingers do not match each other AT ALL in colour - I'm loving the colour clash trend this summer haha! My favourite mani in a while - I only wish I could've kept it on longer! I'm eager to try some variations on the accent nail design, the sponging is really subtle, which gives a cool effect.

Let me know what you think!

xxx

Nauti-cool nails

...Yes, I'm just THAT pun-tastic. I don't know why I'm loving nautical this week, but here's another super-sailor manicure done with mostly Bloom Polishes - only managed one good picture:

Didn't come out terribly neat, I think I had a clog in my Claire's Black Nail Art Pen but I was too lazy to jog upstairs and poke a pin in it.
I didn't want a bright white, so did a base layer of Nails Inc Caramel, followed by two coats of Bloom's Nicole - looove this polish, it's a muted cream - goes on really nicely and dries shiny shiny. Good for both an opaque look or a frenchie.

 

 I then added some red stripes with a stiping brush, using Barry M Red, and added a coat of Seche Vite.

Ha horizontal stripes make you look fat. When it was completely dry, I taped off the nails diagonally, and added two coats of Bloom's The Cassette Society 1. My original plan was to stamp the anchor image from one of the Bundle Monster Image Plates, but my nails are too little at the moment and it was too large, so I resigned myself to free-handing them in using Bloom's Goldie and Barry M Mushroom.
I used Barry M mushroom and some yellow acrylic paint (which was a bit of a gloopy disaster) to make the rope, first as a stripe, then adding the detail with Claire's Black Nail Art Pen. LAVLY.

I hope you like it! Let me know what you think! Is it a look you would wear?

Also, I found an old sketch book today, and this little guy was cotching in it. I must've been fourteen when I drew this. I forgot I could draw, how weird is that?! I freakin' LOVE crayons. Like a lot. Too much.

oh heeeeeey

I can smell a frog Manicure. It smells of old leaves and awesomeness.

:D

Who doesn't LOVE Leopard print?!

I used two Bloom polishes today to create a kind of Spring inspired Leopard print look! I'm really happy with the way it came out, Blom polishes are just so easy to work with the formulas great - they're really pigmented and rich in colour.

I used "Flamingo Sands II" which, FYI, is my favourite polish for this spring, and will continue to be into the summer - it's a gorgeous corally pink and it looks so different depending on the light you're under. Sometimes I could swear its orange, sometimes I would swear its almost a neon pink! I painted two coats of this, added dots of "Kate" - a lovely sky blue, and outlined them with "C" shapes and dots using Claire's Black Nail Art Pen.

I found it hard to pick which photos to show you, heres a few of my faves:

 

Happy Orange loves getting in on the action.

I love a good leopard print Mani, and these are SO easy and quick to create, the whole thing only took 20 minutes, and that includes base colour drying time - instant fashion statement :D

I hope your Monday hasnt been too depressing my Darls, Let me know what you think! :)  xxx



Disclaimer: I do not endorse Bloom Cosmetics and all opinions are my own. Polishes are purchased by me, by my own funds and endeavour.

I'm Shamrocking this look

I lied to you, My St Patrick's Day Manicure is coming today!! Woooooooo. I'm sure you forgive me. I do not understand why there is not a pint of lager in my hand right now. Something is Topsy-Turvy about the world.

Another appearance from El Orange. I swear he's the only spherical object I own, being so abject to sports and all that. It will be a sad day when I get peckish.

The Green base is Barry M 290, two coats, probs should have done a third. I stamped the four-leaf clover from BM03 using Bloom Goldie. For the accent nail I did 2 coats of Barry M Black polish, used Rimmel Tip Whitener to do a Ruffian-style semi circle, and added some flicks with a cocktail stick in Nails Inc Caramel. I did the Guinness logo in Bloom Goldie and use the Claire's White Nail Art Pen to write "Guinness" - I swear my heart stopped for a minute while I did that bit! On the thumbnail I added one coat of Barry M Green Glitter. Topped it off with Barry M topcoat! All round a pretty Barry M themed Manicure!
My housemate was astounded by intricacy of this one, the letters on the accent nail really do look TINY in real life!

I've seen some fantastic Paddy's day manis out there today, well done everyone! now get drinking, that's a direct order.

Spring has Sprung!

I went to the shop and bought myself some daffodils (buying yourself flowers? I don't think I've ever looked so lonely...ha!) and the sun is shining through the window! I've done a celebratory Spring Manicure Inspired by the British countryside - flower boxes in the windows of kitsch little cottages and Apple trees on the meadows! I may also enter this into That's SO Fresh's Spring Mani contest, we'll see if I have the confidence haha!

There's that pesky orange again...

 I used so many polishes for this haha, here goes, pinky to thumb :-

• Lilac is American Apparel L'Espirit, flower stalks are Clarie's Matte Violet and MUA shade 16
• Blue Sky is Models Own Blooboo, grass is American Apprarel Office, Pale Sun is Rimmel Lemon Drop, Tree leaves is a blobby mix between Barry M 290 Green and Claire's Jade Green. tree trunk is Barry M Mushroom, and the Apples are Barry M Red 292.
• Pale yellow is Rimmel Lemon Drop, flower stalks are Miss Sporty Taxi! and Bloom Goldie
• Mint green is American Apparel Office, flower stalks are Barry M Green 290 and Claire's Jade Green
• Baby doll pink is American Apparely Coney Island, the flower stalks are MUA shade 3 and Bloom Flamingo Sands.
• All the little daisies were created using Claire's Nail Art Pen in White (thought you could just as easily use a dotting tool, cocktail stick, or even a straightened out bobby pin) and the centre of the daisies is Miss Sporty Taxi!.

PHEW!!!
I don't yet have any brushes or tools, so I used a bobby pin and cocktail stick to draw the details on the ring finger and daisy stalks, as well as the White Nail Art Pen for the picket fence! The contrast between the green grass and blue sky is more pronounced IRL, I wonder why it didn't translate in the photo hhhmm.
I also totally forgot it was St Patrick's Day today (dickhead) and thought it was tomorrow, so I will post pics up tomorrow! I'll give you a hint......Guinness. Haha! Happy Birthday to my Nanny too, sharing a birthday with a Saint's day is pretty apt fort his Wonderful Lady.

I hope you will all do the Irish proud and drink copious amounts of beer - We Brits know how to celebrate.

xxx

Back to Nature

After a couple of unfortunate breakages, I'm sporting the short nail look for a while! I really don't mind it, I'm used to short nails, and I think you can still get some great looks with them :)
I painted my Nails using Claire's dark green jade colour, and obviously I can never leave my manicure alone! so I added some Konad in a shimmery, metallic green. It makes me want to go and live in the forest haha!

Here is the Claire's dark green on her own:-

And here's the full manicure after I finished playing around with it!

This was quite difficult to photograph, as I was losing light, and the Konad is pretty subtle anyways, only showing when the light catches it in the right way. It's pretty IRL though!
A blurrier photo with no flash, but it captures the pattern better:-

So there we are! The polishes I used are:-

• Claire's Jade Green
• Barry M, shade 284, to stamp the swirly pattern from BM19
• Bloom Goldie to stamp the flower from BM03 onto the thumb and accent nail
• Barry M Topcoat

I hope you all had lovely weekends, I unfortunately have badly sprained ankle (more like a MANKle at the moment, all black&blue!), which is going to impact on my Fifty Fit challenge!! Hopefully I can be back at the gym in a couple of days! My best childhood friend, Emma, is coming over tonight and we're going to cook Thai food and talk about the good ol' days!!
xxxx

Inspired by....Paul Smith Rose!

I have a ridiculous habit of falling in love with limited edition perfumes. I think it's a sickness. I only started wearing perfume a couple of years ago, but ever since it's the Summer Edition scents that tend to make my nose happy - I think it's because I love really fresh, light, summery scents like lemon and apple and cherry blossom as opposed to heavier floral ones. Paul Smith Rose Summer Edition is what I've been wearing for nearly a year now and I still smile every time I spray it! It breaks my little heart that I can only get it on Ebay now, booo. The colours on the bottle inspired this manicure, since I was playing with my new Rimmel Fruities anyway...

Nice and Summery! I did this Manicure last week actually, another of my first Konading attempts. The base is three coats of Rimmel Fruities in Lemon Drop - it makes your nails smell like Lemons when its dry yaaaaaaaay! I then stamped from M73 using Bloom Flamingo Sands (one of my favie polishes atm!!)
WOO guys, it's Friday! I hope you all have lovely plans for the weekend, I, for one, have decided to join Laura in her "Fifty Fit" Challenge over at her great Blog Highlight your Beauty, Open your Heart. It's a great idea, you have 50 days to eat healthily and do at least a bit of exercise every day (with 5 days off for special occasions/mental breakdowns that require chocolate) and we can all support each other through the process! How lovely! Come and join us! I'm pretty sure that when you eat chocolate as often as I do, and then you go cold turkey, it can be dangerous. My body will go into shock. Expect weekly updates from me letting you know how it's going! That is, if I've not slipped into a coma from chocolate deficiency.
Thank you all for reading :) 25 followers now! Halfway to the first giveaway! Hurrah!

Roses, Butterflies and KILLER SHOES

It's the year of 21st Birthdays for me. All of my best friends are reaching that milestone (before me may I add- I'm a summer baby!), and you know what that means - plenty of fabulous parties to attend! This weekend was the turn of a close family friend, she had a great gathering at this kitsch little pub on the river, and my parents and brother came as well, which is always hilarious, as none of them can dance, but in their own unique, arm-flailing way!

One thing you should know about me is that I CANNOT cope in heeled shoes. This is not a choice. I would love nothing more than to be able to wear to-die-for heels - I'm a great admirer - but I just can't do it. I don't know if I have weak ankles or bad posture, but I look like Bambi on the ice rink! I can't walk, and I've lost count of the times I've left the house for a night out and returned twenty seconds later to change into flats because I can't even get down my road to the bus stop. 

For this reason, I bought my flat black pumps back from Uni with me to wear to the party, and my mother was utterly disgusted. She refused to let me "not make an effort" for one of our closest friend's birthday, and I had to explain that I would love to make the effort, but that I just can't find a pair of heels that I can walk ten metres in!! Being the brilliant woman that my Mum is, she forcibly dragged me to the shops and I tried on every pair of heels I could find until I found a shoe I could wear! I decided on a wedge strategy - more support for my stupid feet - and this way I could add them to my (very girly) dress with black tights and my leather jacket to make it more edgy.

I have to say it was a success, I lasted all night on the dancefloor until I had to walk half a mile back to the car - I made my brother piggyback me!! and I'm HEAVY - bless him! Here they are:-

eeeeee shoes I can walk in! From New Look :D

On to the Butterflies and Roses. I wanted a manicure to match my dress:

Dress from Miss Selfridge

I used the image on the left for inspiration, and, using my newly acquired BundleMonster plates BM06 and BM14, came up with this:-

I only had time for one quick picture before the party - I'm rubbish at getting ready on time!

As you can see, it's pretty shoddily stamped, as I was in a hurry, but I think you get the idea of what i was trying to do! I think considering it was my first times stamping, I did alright ha!

The polishes I used are:-

• Barry M basecoat and topcoat
• Bloom Flamingo Sands
• Stamped white roses with Rimmel French Manicure White
• Stamped dark coral roses in Barry M Coral
• Stamped purple roses in MUA 04
• Stamped butterfly in Barry M 293, Charcoal Grey.

I'll have to swatch Flamingo Sands by herself for you soon, its a gorgeous polish, but so hard to photograph as it can look completely different colours depending on the light!

RAAWWRRRRR!

There really is no better way to start the day than a hot cross bun and a good strong cuppa!

From my reading of other blogs I am completely aware that this is unoriginal and overdone, but to start off the Mani element of this blog, I'm opening with.....leopard print nails. This is one of my favourite designs as it's so attention grabbing! I get way more compliments on this Mani than any others, possibly because its quite rare over here in the English Kingdom to see outrageous nails!!

The polishes I used for this look are:

• Barry M all-in-one base coat, topcoat and hardener
• Bloom polish in Goldie
• Barry M Mushroom
• Claire's black nail art pen
• Claire's Matte topcoat

L-R = basecoat, Bloom Goldie, Barry M Mushroom, Claires black pen, Claires matte topcoat.

FIERCE! (please forgive me for the state of my cuticles and shoddy clean up - I'm still learning! :D)

I love this look because it looks impressive, yet its so simple to create. Although the leopard full nail  image on Konad M57 is great, I really don't think it's compulsory in creating this effect!

I painted my nails with one coat of base coat, followed by two coats of Bloom's Goldie (which is one of my favourite brands btw, the formula's great - chip resistant, fast drying, and nearly always opaque in two coats), I then added random "spots" of Mushroom. After it was dry, I outlined my leopard spots using semi circles and "C" shapes, adding dots and flicks here and there to fill in the gaps. I topped it all off with a matte topcoat. As I said, people are always fascinated by this design, and can't believe I do it myself when its so easy and really takes no time at all.

Although Konad is more accurate and neater in it's finish, i like the freehand effect - its not uniform! what leopard has perfectly symmetrical spots eh?!

What do you think, is my freehand attempt a fair compromise for the professional finish of the Konad design?

<3