Boots 17 Juicy - Fruity Nail Art!

I have another of the Boots 17 spring polishes to show you today! It is a bright, lime green with micro-shimmer. I was tempted to do some floral nail art, but thought I would honour the name of the polish and do something Juicy!

This is 3 coats of Boots 17 Juicy - it goes on a bit sheer but the colour builds nicely and the shimmer looks lush, I don't usually like shimmer! I added some apples using Barry M red, Barry M Mushroom and Barry M Spring Green

You can click to enlarge the photos and see the shimmer!

I used a dotting tool to create the details and Claire's White Nail Art Pen to add the shine! I topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite.

What are you tinking to the 17 Spring Collection so far? Is this BRIGHT green something you would wear? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Don't forget you can follow me on twitter for instant updates on blog post and my silly, old life.

Pin this post to your pinterest board!! :D

Easter Nail Art Tutorial - Cadbury's Mini Eggs!

This design was suggested to me by my best friend Sara - as soon as she said it, I knew it had to be done, if only as an expansion on the Cadbury's Chocolate Manicure! I worked tirelessly on a tutorial for it so you can all do it yourselves at home :D I know it's a bit early for Easter Manicures, but it's that time of year where Mini Eggs hit the shops an I love them! I don't know if you can get them in the US, but FIND THEM. THEY ARE LIKE EASTER-TIME CRACK.

This will also be part review for Boots 17 new nail polishes which I picked up last week. I chose 3 of them - Mellow Yellow, Glisten and Juicy. They're really fresh, bright spring/summer colours so I really couldn't resist. First up is Mellow Yellow, a gorgeous mid-tone yellow with gold micro-shimmer. It's beaaautiful.

The application of Mellow Yellow was lovely, this is two coats and there is no visible nail line (VNL). It's glossy and dries relatively quickly. From experience, 17 polishes go thick and unusable rather quickly so invest in a polish thinner like Seche Restore if you want to keep this bad boy for more than a few months.

The perfect yellow for a mini eggs packet, I hear you say? Yes, it is. Tutorial time!

1. Start with your yellow base and take a chocolate-brown polish like Barry M Mushroom. Draw large ovals in a sporadic pattern across the nail. This is the outline of the eggs!

                        
2. Take a selection of pastel coloured polishes. I chose American Apparel Office (green), Collection 2000 Candyfloss (pink), Natural Collection White and Collection 2000 Angel Wings (purple/grey). Paint over your brown ovals with the pastel shades, but leave a small brown outline.

3. Time to add some brown speckles to the eggs! Take a dotting tool (or a toothpick if you don't have one!) and take a small bead of your brown polish on the end. dab this gently onto your pastel eggs.

4. Take a purple polish or purple Nail Art Pen. This step is much easier to do when you have the control of a Nail Art Pen, but if you have a steady hand then go for it with a small brush. Write the words "Mini Eggs" in the Cadbury's font on your thumb. This is optional, you could always just draw more Mini Eggs!

5. Add a topcoat to protect your design from wear and tear and to make it super glossy. I used Seche Vite.

6. Stand back and admire your Cadbury's Mini Egg Easter Nail Art!

I added Claire's Matte Topcoat over the top to achieve that powdery look and feel that mini eggs have.

There you are! Cadbury's Mini Egg nails, perfect for Easter! If you've given up chocolate for lent then a) I don't know how you live b) You can enjoy chocolate in an alternative way!

As always, if you follow my tutorial I would love to see it so pleeease let me know!

I hope you have fabulous weekends!

Motel Rocks Feather Print - Nail Art Tutorial

It's that time of the week where I show you a manicure tutorial inspired by a Motel Rocks print! As you may know, I am the resident Nail Artist at Motel Rocks Blog and will be creating nail art tutorial for all of you lovely people based on their stunning prints! Their clothes are amaaaaaze, what's more is they've opened a US online shop and store in LA! International Hotness!

This tutorial is for Motel's Feather Print, which looks so chic on the nail! It's also really easy to do at home with only a few simple tools - if you have a go I'd love to see it! Tweet at me y'all! Or spread the love on Pinterest!

remember you can click to enlarge! :D

Click HERE for the full tutorial for these feathery nails! Thanks to Motel Rocks for hosting the tutorial!

Let me know what you think on the comments!

I'M BACK...

...did you miss me?! I have definitely missed my little corner of the internet and I feel absolutely AWFUL that I've neglected it :( I have started a new job and I work very long, miserable hours - not a lot of free time or daylight. Enough wining, I'm so happy to be back and really sorry for being away so long! Today's Nail Art is a super-intricate freehand manicure to make up for it! Admittedly it's Christmas themed, and I've kind of missed the boat on that, but here it is anyway :D

Santa through a dawn sky on Christmas Morning!

I started with a gradient base (American Apparel African Violet with Barry M Cobalt Blue and Topshop Celestial sponged over the top) and freehanded in the reindeer with a brush and Barry M Mushroom. I then drew in Santa Claus with various Nail Art Pens and added the snow on the rooftops and sky by dotting a White Nail Art Pen. I topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite and I was so pleased with how it came out!

I know it's not Christmas anymore, but I'm finding it hard to let the festivities go haha! Let me know what you think on the comments (and also how your lives have been, I feel so out of touch!)

xxx

Movember Nails! (Part 2)

Here is the second installation to my Movember Manicure Madness - It's by no means an original idea, as similar designs have been floating around the Internet from no particular source, but I thought it was fun and definitely worth doing! I started with a base of American Apparel L'espirit, a lilac creme. I adore American Apparel polishes, they have the best formula of any polish company I've ever used, and their colours are unique and excellent quality - and this is from a fashion company. Great stuff. I added the little moustaches with a Black Nail Art Pen.

 

This is very wearable Movember Manicure, I hope you enjoyed the moustachey themed past couple of days!

Let me know what you think! xxxxxxxx 

Movember Nails! (Part One)

Who says girls can't have a little fun for Movember?! Just because we are challenged in the facial foliage department doesn't mean we can't join in and help raise awareness, while making fun of our nearest and dearests' feeble attempts to pull off  "The Magnum P.I", of course. I'm wearing moustaches on my nails, with a different 'classic' 'tache on each one. The idea behind it is that you can hold a different nail to your top lip, in a hilarious fashion, to mimic some face-fuzz of your very own, whether you're in the mood for...

1. The Cowboy (Index finger)
2. The Mario (Middle finger)
3. The Fancy French (Ring Finger)
4. The Charlie Chaplin (or The Hitler, depending on how politically sensitive we're all feeling today) (Pinky Finger)

I have freehanded the blue Male-Cancer ribbon onto my thumb with Nail Art Pens from eBay, and painted the 'taches onto a base of American Apparel Palm Springs (which is the best polish that I own to match my skintone)

and here is my ridiculous face, demonstrating the concept!

It's-a meeeeee Marioooo!

Je m'appelle Moustache.

Howdy Partner

Felt like an absolute idiot taking these photos in front of the window, but I think that's almost the whole point of Movember, doing something fun to raise awareness! I also did some other moustache-y nails this week, so I'm making this post a two-parter (you lucky things), so expect some more Movember Madness tomorrow!

I had fun doing these, and actually did an astounding amount of research into facial hair. I never thought I'd find myself googling "famous moustaches", but life is full of surprises. Just a bit of mid-week fun for everyone, let me know what you think, would you ever wear these out? It's a conversation starter at least!

Please don't forget that you have until Friday to vote for me in the GlossyBox Nail Art contest HERE on their Facebook! If you love this manicure:

 

you can click "like" and make me one happy bunny! I would really appreciate it :D

Thanks everyone!

Happy Halloween! Spooooky Nails

...I realise Halloween was two days ago now, but I hope you all had a good time! These were my spooky, themed nails for the occasion!

For the haunted house accent nail I started with a base of American Apparel African Violet, used a sponge to dab on Barry M Cobalt Blue over 3/4 of the nail, then sponged on Topshop Celestial onto the top 1/4 to create a gradient effect to act as a 'night sky'. I then freehanded in the pale, yellow moon with Rimmel Lemon Drop with Collection 2000 Angel Wings for detail. I freehanded in the 'hill' with Claire's Jade Green and a small brush before stamping the house image from BundleMonster image plate BM224 with Konad Black Special Polish. I added Barry M Mushroom brown paths and outlined the house with Claire's Silver Nail Art Pen. I stamped the bat image from BM213 and freehanded in the little ghosts with Claire's White Nail Art Pen. I smoothed it over with Seche Vite!
For the rest of the nails I started with a base of Natural Collection White, sponged on Rimmel Lemon Drop and Collection 2000 Angel Wings, sporadically, to make them look a bit old and crusty (yuummmm). I then stamped on the spiderweb and spider images from BM13 with Konad Black Special Polish before adding a coat of Seche Vite.

There is a lot of steps involved in this Manicure, but it didnt take too long!

I hope you all had a great halloween!

Leighton Denny Sweetheart Nail Art - Win Your Own GlossyBox !

 This month's Glossy Box is here! If you're unfamiliar with the concept of Glossy Box, once subscribed, you receive 5 (6 this month though, due to it being an anniversary special) high end, luxury samples, with one of them being a full size product. This is for £10 a month, plus shipping, and there are other similar companies out there like Boudoir Prive, Carmine and Birchbox in the USA. This month's box contained a Leighton Denny polish, and mine was a pink, cream one called Babydoll. I'm glad of this, as the other two options were pearlescent, and you know how much I love cream finishes! I'll let you know at the end how you can WIN AN OCTOBER BOX FOR YOURSELF!

*EDIT - COMPETITION NOW CLOSED!*

I'm not sure if there's a name for this type of manicure, so I'm giving it one - the Sweetheart V-gap. A variation on V-gap pioneer Sophy Robson's original design, I made this to look like a pink heart, and added some rhinestones because - well, blue, sparkly heats just make everything a little more fabulous, don't they? I started with a white base of Natural Collection White, then freehanded in the sweetheart shape with the (very pliable) Leighton Denny brush. I then added some BundleMonster Blue, Rhinestone Hearts, and a coat of Seche Vite:

This has become my favourite pastel pink, it's beautiful in two coats, high-gloss and a really rich shade of pastel pink/rose. Here's a comparison with a few other pastel pink shades that I own:

Remember, you can click to enlarge!

As you can see, Babydoll is slightly more red-toned and deeper than the others I won. It's lovely! Also, ten points to whoever can guess which of my nails is a falsie hahaha - damn these breakages!

This is what also arrived in this month's Glossy Box. They usually have a variety of different products and it's a lucky dip which ones you get, but this month all boxes are virtually the same as it's a celebratory box for their 6 month anniversary:

• Dermalogica Age Smart Multi-vitamin Thermofoliant
• Dermalogica Age Smart Multi-vitamin Power Recover Masque
• Leighton Denny Expert Nails Colour and Care
• Stila Smudge Stick Eyeliner in Moray 
• 3 Robert Piguet perfume samples
• Dermalogica Age Smart Lip renewal Complex
• Dermalogica Beauty Bag

All in all, it's a very good box for me. I don't feel put off by the anti-aging products because I don't 'need' them, as an intense moisturiser is always good in my books! The lip gel is very small, but absolutely lush, it smells really nice and I'll definitely be using this at night time, while the winter cold creeps in on us Brits. The Stila Eyeliner deserves a post of it's own as it is really lovely and I have a lot of positive things to say - so I'll do a makeup look with it next week! Yay! I tried the Face Mask today and it really is lovely. It is a cream and doesn't dry tight on the face, leaving it soft and smooth! I have yet to try the exfoliator, but I reckon it will be just as good.

The only downside to this box is that I HATE perfume samples. I never, ever, like how they smell (even though I know it's just me being very scent-fussy). These parfums are really floral, and not up my street at all. You can't even re-use them as stocking fillers, because that would be naff - who wants tiny vials of flowery old lady perfume from Santa? Exactly. Not me. Nor from Glossy Box. I'm sure plenty of people out there would love them though.

NOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO WIN THIS MONTH'S BOX?!?!

YOU DO?!

THEN IT'S YOUR LUCKY DAY! (If you live in the UK - I can't accept international entries this time, ladies, I'm so sorry!)

*EDIT - COMPETITION NOW CLOSED!*

Glossy Box have kindly provided me with an extra box, and being the wonderful, loving, giving person that I am, I'm giving it away to one UK-based winner! All you have to do IS:

•  Make sure you live in the UK
• Make sure you are a follower on GFC or Bloglovin'
• Leave a comment below with your email address - feel free to write it in some sort of MI5 code so the spam-bots don't get it, just make sure I can understand e.g JaneDoe(at)gmail(dot com)

I will leave the competition open for 1 week, ending on the 26th OF OCTOBER - That is next Wednesday! I will pick the winner via a random number generator. Good Luck Glossy Girls!

*EDIT - COMPETITION NOW CLOSED!*
xxxx

Models Own Purple Ash with Freehand Flower Nail Art!

I had forgotten in the haze of spring pastels and summer brights just how much I really love Autumn shades! Models Own Purple Ash is a lovely deep maroony purple, but I wanted to brighten it up a little with some floral details. I added a stripe of Claire's Blue Glitter, then added a few flowers from Konad image plate M57. Using a pearlescent green Nail Art Pen from eBay, I added some vine and leaf details:

 

This was quite hard to capture, as the glitter and the pearlescence of the green caught the light differently at different angles, but I think you get the right idea of the detail! Models Own Purple Ash is a great polish to apply, and it's perfect in 2 coats. The Nail Star Nail Art Pens from eBay get a lot of stick from around the blogisphere, but I actually get on well with them - except for the horrendous stinkiness of them.

I hope you like it! Overall, I'm finding the transition into Autumn trends rather easy - I 'd forgotten how lovely some of the deep, muted shades are! 

Don't forget that you can still vote for me in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards in the Best New Beauty Blog section! Just click on the pink button on the top right side of the page!!! :D

 xxx

Batman Nails!

NaNaNaNaNaNaNa.....Nail Aaaaart
Yonks ago, Zoe over at one of my favie blogs London Lipgloss asked if I would do a Batman manicure, and being the people pleasing, lovely (if late) blogger that I am, I decided to indulge! As I consider myself to  lean slightly more towards comic book geek than most normal people, I was very excited. I just love Superheroes.

Thumb: Batman symbol

Index: Bat Symbol above Gotham City

Middle: The Joker

Ring: Batman

Pinkie: Comic Book "pow"

If you have any questions about what Colours or Polishes I have used, just pop it into the comments and I'll let you know! I hope you like it, let me know what you think!

Don't forget you can still vote for me in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards if you like! I'm under the Best New Beauty Blog category! :D

Thanks Everyone! Have a great weekend!

xxx