Boots 17 Glisten Nail Art with Fimo Cane Butterflies.

This is the final polish that I bought from the new Boots 17 Spring collection and it's a pinky orangey shimmer called Glisten. I think I prefer how it looks in the bottle more than on my fingers, but it is really pretty in the light. Pink at some angles and shimmery peach at others, it has a really soft and feminine look to it!

I hadn't cracked out the fimo cane in, literally, months so I thought I'd give them a go! I added some yellow fimo cane butterflies from BornPretty.com to the corner of each nail - very simple nail art today! Simply cut a very thin slice of fimo cane with a craft knife and use nail glue to keep it in place! Very spring inspired!

Thanks everyone! Let me know what you think on the comments! Out of Mellow Yellow, Juicy and Glisten, which has been your favourite?

Also did anyone pick up this month's Glamour magazine with the free Percy and Reed haircare?! My hair feels INCREDIBLE! I'd definitely recommend!

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

Cherry Blossom Freehand

Hi everyone! Today is a new day, and you can vote for my Bundle Monster Contest Entry! You can vote once per day, I would LOVE it if you could give me a cheeky thumbs up! Cheers m'dears!

Todays Manicure was actually very quick and easy, although freehand. No tiny shapes and intricate parts to consume time, you can do the whole thing in 4 steps (I should really do a tutorial for this). It was inspired by Sakura, Japanese Cherry Blossom Trees - They're beautiful and are my favourite flower (is a blossom a flower? It is now.)

Obtained through Google Images.

I painted American Apparel L'Espirit over my base coat, a beautifully smooth Lilac Creme, opaque in ONE COAT (although did two anyway). Using Barry M Mushroom, I then used a small paint brush to paint jagged tree branches in straight-ish, horizontal lines across the nail. Once this was dry, I used a small dotting tool to dab in spots of American Apparel Coney Island at the end of the banches, and then repeated with Superdrug MUA Medium Pink. Here are the results:-

all pictures in natural light - no sun!

my camera HATES purples - this is slightly more lilacy IRL, and less cornflower blue.

flutter by!

As you can see, I added some Fimo Cane butterflies, purchased from eBay. For those of you who don't know, Fimo canes are a nail art applique made from polymer clay that come in a long cane, with a design through the middle - see THIS post for more info. You can then slice them very thinly, with a craft knife, and stick the resulting piece onto the nail design. I was awful at slicing to begin with, but, like everything else, practice makes perfect, and I managed to slice these thinly enough that, with two coats of Seche Vite Topcoat, they were smooth to the nail and incorporated flat into the design. I prefer it this way because then I don't catch them on things, or pick at them, but you could cut them thicker and "perch" them on, to look like "real" butterflies - it's up to you!

It's a very Springy look, and I like the way it came out, but if I could change one thing it would be that it's maybe a little crowded - a few less branches next time :)

I BUM American Apparel polishes - the formula is perfect and their shades are great. the types of creme polishes are right up my street aswell - I love matte block colour, can't be doing with these shimmery polishes I'm afraid! They've bought out some new shades too, check it ooowwwwt. As I mentioned, L'Espirit is more lilacy and less blue, but my camera has a little cry when it sees purple - I have NO idea how to adjust the colour in any kind of editing program, either, so you will have to use your....

 Imaginaaaaaaation.

Hmm. Too obscure?


x

Nails Inc Lucky Dip Haul

Evening All! Sorry for the lack of post yesterday, I moved back to Nottingham from my my Uni house in Birmingham. Our postman in Birmingham must be some kind of crazy person, shoving all kinds of mail into our letterbox, just for funsies, as we very rarely receive the mail we are after in Brum. Because of this, I always get internet shopping sent to my Nottingham home - this means that I had a pretty good stash built up for me to open today! Yay! It was like my freaking birthday! Plus, you always get loads of bubble-wrap, which is half the reason I was excited - pop, pop, popppopopppp
My Nails Inc Lucky Dip Package was one of them, here are the polishes I received:-

From left to right we have:

• UV Topcoat and Basecoat - This was the only 'guaranteed' polish you received in the offer, and claims to lighten and brighten the nails, and protect from staining - can't wait to try out and review this one, as it's a bold claim!
• "Shoreditch High Street" - This is a deep raspberry colour, and I'm actually curious to see how it compares, colour-wise, with Barry M Raspberry, as they look very similar in the bottle.
• "Augustus Street" - This is a medium grey with a lovely, pearly silver shimmer and really shocked me when I tried it and it was Suede!  I don't mind the matte finish, but I wasn't expecting it. It was the first one I tried, and although a fan of matte polishes, I added a topcoat to restore the shimmer.
• "Upper Street" - a muted Turquoise cream, excited to try this one, especially as a base for some nail art - under the sea, anyone?!
• "Hans Road" - I really can't decide if its Red, Orange or Pink. It's got a fierce shimmer to it - not really my favourite type of polish, but it's definitely the most interesting one I received.
• I also had an eBay-purchased bottle of Seche Vite waiting for me - there really isn't enough good things to be said about the Holy Grail of all topcoats, it's haaamazing. SV dries so incredibly fast, protects against chipping like an absolute trooper, and has the most perfect glass-like, high-shine finish. GET YOURSELF ONE (if you don't already!)
• Sally Hansen "No More Breaks" - in an attempt to strengthen my weak, peely nails :( Anyone tried this? Is it any good?
• Came across a cheap Konad Special Polish on eBay and, as it's a staple polish for anyone into stamping, snapped it up - I've been struggling to find a regular high street white polish that is opaque enough to stamp with, for my liking.

So there we go! I have only tried Augustus Street and Seche Vite so far, but I'll be swatching them for you over the course of the week. All in all, I was pleased with the polishes I got in the lucky dip, would've been nice to see some paler colours, nudes or pastels, but I suppose that's why they call it a Lucky Dip! You can't choose! For the bargain that they were (£10 for the lot), I am not turning my nose up at them.
I also got a pack of 15 Nail Art brushes from eBay, they look great, ranging from fan brushes right down to the tiniest paintbrush and dotting tool you've ever seen! So long, toothpick, I'm a profesh now!

 As I previously mentioned, I tried Augustus street - sorry I didn't swatch it while it was still suede, I was too eager to get stamping and try out Seche Vite!

Sorry for the rubbish photography, I've not worked out the best place, with the light, is in my Notts house!

I stamped from BM21 using Claire's Black Nail Art Pen (Striper) and free-handed in the black tips with the same. Topped off with Seche Vite, the effect is smooth, hard and SO shiny! Love!

I got some Fimo Canes too, I'm a bit skeptical, but will definitely give them a try: -

Just a selection of the 100 I ordered - like the look of the fruities!

Which of the Nails Inc would you like to see next? Will you be partaking in the Lucky Dip offer next time it rolls around?