Rose Nail Art - Bundle Monster Stamping

Good Evening Everyone!

I have a top with this print on, and wondered if it would translate well onto the nail. I like how it came out and it also looks lovely in other colour combinations! I started with a base of Sparkle and Fade light grey and stamped the vine image from BM20 with Barry M Mushroom. I then added some raspberry "blobs" using Nails Inc Piccadilly before stamping the rose image from BM14 with MUA Medium Pink.

I topped it off with a slick of Seche Vite and voila! Sophisticated floral mani in muted tones! Let me know what you think!

Star Print French Manicure

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend :)

Here are the nails I was sporting at the Motel and Glossy Box Event (see last post!). It's a "Funky French" Mani, aside from the accent nail, and is inspired by the black and white star-print which is creeping into fashion lately. I started with a base of 3 coats of Miss Sporty French Pink and then taped my nails with Scotch Tape (once the were completely dry) so that just the tips were showing. I then painted over the nail with MUA Shade 2, an opaque black, and lifted the tape off while it was still wet so as to attain neat, crisp lines. Once this, too, was completely dry I re-taped the tips and stamped the Star image from BM14, horizontally across the nail, with Konad White Special Polish. I then went back with single, stamped stars to fill in any big gaps and make the print more complete. Once dry, I added a coat of Seche Vite. For the accent nail, I simply stamped the star image numerous times to create an all over nail design :)

Photography is getting really, really difficult now the days are so much shorter, it has been dark practically all the time, and sunlight is extremely rare! Forgive the darkness of my photos!

Voila! A relatively short post (I'd forgotten how quickly you can write a post when it isn't 11293943 words long!), but it's a pretty simple design that's easy to re-create at home! Even if you don't have the Bundle Monster Image Plates, you could still freehand in the white starts with a Nail Art Pen or even a toothpick :D

Let me know what you think, everyone! xxx

Cath Kidston Nails

I wouldn't describe myself as a girly-girl, but I really like Cath Kidston Prints! I would never paper the walls with it, but I love it on accessories. It will always remind me of my friend Alice as well, because she is obsessed! I'm not sure how internationally well-known Cath Kidston is, but she's a pretty well established High End brand over here in the UK. A British Fashion Designer, Cath Kidston is famous for her signature, nostalgic floral patterns and home furnishings. I decided to incorporate my favourite print of hers into a manicure:

Here is the original print I based the design on, and I think it's as intricate as I can get it, seen as nails are SO SMALL.

For the accent nail I switched up the base colour from blue to Leighton Denny Babydoll - my new favourite Pink from the October Glossy Box.

I created the design by painting a base of either Bootie Babe Blue Baboo (see below) or Leighton Denny  Babydoll, and painted the large white flower shapes and polka dots with Claire's White Nail Art Pen. I then added a blob of MUA pink in the centre of each one. Now, I reckon I'm quite well known for my freehand work, and although I seem to be able to do an alright job on Dinosaurs or Super Mario (like in my previous posts), I have never been able to get the hang of drawing roses - I just have no idea why! Because of this I enlisted a bit of help with this design from Bundlemonster Image plate BM04, stamping the rose image on top of the MUA Pink circle using American Apparel Coney Island. After transferring the image to the stamp, I dipped a cotton swab in varnish remover and cleaned off the edge of the image, leaving only the heart of the rose, because I needed the design to be so small. After I had stamped all of these, I added some green foliage with a dotting tool and American Apparel Office and Barry M Spring Green. After a coat of Seche Vite, I was good to go!

I'm popping in a review here too, as I've been waiting on these polishes for AGES from brand new polish company Bootie Babe. Their polishes are packaged in novelty "booty" bottles that look like little bums! It's a bit gimicky, but it's fun and I think that is important with cosmetics! I was sent Blue Baboo and noticed that it was the perfect shade of sky blue for my Cath Kidston idea. The polish formula is O.K...it drags a bit and is a little paint-like, but definitely workable. Now, as much as the bottle makes me laugh, and I think it's a fun idea, the handle is almost impossible to use. It is absolutely tiny, and tapered so it slips out of your fingers. I gave up after a couple of nails and used a different brush to apply it. All in all, I like the idea and the novelty, but the quality of the polish and the handle design could be improved. Here is Blue Baboo on its own, as well as some shots of the bottles!

See how small the bottle handle is compared to my fingers? Very fiddly. You get just over 9ml of polish in these bottles.

A lovely shade of blue and not quite like any other shade in my arsenal. I would definitely head over to their website and check them out, there's loads of other great shades to get hold of.

I hope you like this one guys! I realise I don't post as much as I used to, but I think the posts I put up these days have much more crammed in to them, and have A LOT more time spent on them! I have some great designs coming up for you all :D

In other news, the Winner of my Glossy Box contest from 2 weeks ago was Vicky at Manicured Maniac - Congratulations to her! She has been notified and her very own Glossy Box is on it's way to her! WOOP VICKKKYY!!!

Glossy Box are also hosting a Nail Art competition, and I urge you all to get involved to win the OPI Muppets Collection! Emily's Nail Files also has a mention as a place to go for inspiration! Well, you're already here so you're one step ahead of the game! I'd love to see some of you enter, I know you're all SO creative xxxx

It Doesn't Get Much Sparklier Than This! Scotch Tape Nail Art!

When I was in the USA recently, I popped into a local Claire's Accessories, expecting it to be much like the UK shops, Nail Polish wise. I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG. I picked up some really interesting stuff like the Claire's Mood Polishes, a Glow in the Dark topcoat, a Deborah Lippman dupey-looking Rainbow Glitter and THIS amazingly sparkly holographic Gold Glitter Topcoat. Topcoat? psssssht, Ill just whack it on on its own thanks!

I did start out with a base of Bloom Goldie, just to minimise the appearance of any bald patches that might occur. Formula is fine, I only needed 3 coats for full glitter coverage, then it was like a Unicorn expoded all over my hands:

natural sunlight

A blurry picture shows the holographic rainbow effect better!

It really is a sight to behold in the sunlight! I added some Scotch Tape Nail Art, cutting tiny strips of tape, and sticking them in a "starburst" pattern on the nail. I then painted over the entire nail in MUA Shade 2, a very opaque Black. I removed the tape strips while the black was still wet, then added a coat of Seche Vite to smooth it all over.

The Gold looks great, all the holographic yumminess just peeking through. Here's a video so you can see how it catches the light:

Look at it go in the bottle haha!!

I like the trashy, blinginess of Claire's Gold Glitter Topcoat by itself, but I think it looks much more sophisticated and subtle as a highlight on a black nail. What do you think everyone?


Don't Forget you can vote for me to win Cosmopolitan's Best New Beauty Blog of 2011! Click the pic to be taken to the really easy voting system!

Thank you so much :D

BundleMonster Contest Entry

If you haven't heard, BundleMonster (the creator and distributor of the Image Plates I use to create some of my designs) are having a Nail Art competition over at their Facebook Page. There are 25 sets of their NEW image plates up for grabs for those with the most "likes"! Voting opens on the 13th, and I would REALLY appeciate it if you could wander over, take a look at my entry (and the others of course) and see if I deserve a thumbs up! I implore you to enter yourself, too, what have you got to lose eh?

Here is my entry, you had to use Bundle Monster products and I wanted to submit something that showcased some skill, as opposed to just a simple painted base and stamped image, so I whipped the pan scrubbers out and did a pink to purple, sponged gradient base. I hope to do a sponging tutorial in the near future, as it definitely requires a "knack" and I think some people might benefit! I then stamped the flower image from BM16 in pastel blue.

I started with two coats of Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream, then painted a blob of MUA's Medium Pink Shade onto a small piece of sponge that I cut from a standard, kitchen pan scrubber. I then repeated this on the tips with Barry M Ltd ed. for Boots.

Now, I needed the stamped image to be very opaque, and I don't own Konad Special Stamping Polish in Pastel Blue, but I DO own the White - I'm going to quickly show you how I mixed my own Blue stamping polish:

I started with The Konad Special Polish and Barry M Cobalt Blue. I then popped a blob of each onto the image on BM16, next to each other (as opposed to on top of each other) so as not to gammy up the brushes:

I then used a paintbrush to swirl them together, you can create a cool gradient image if you only mix them up a  little bit.

Make sure you still do this mixing quickly, as if the polish begins to dry on the plate, it will be difficult to scape and stamp a complete image. Once you've scraped off the excess polish, and rolled your silicone stamp over it, you're ready to stamp the image in Pastel Blue:

BOOM! The stamping polish world is now your oyster -you can literally do this with any coloured polish to mix your own pastel Special Polish - this will save you splurging on all the different coloured Pastels that Konad offer, because you can still get a good quality, opaque image when using this technique. Cool!

I added clear Rhinestones to the accent nails with Nail Glue, silver dots to the centre of the flowers with Claire's Silver Nail Art Pen and then added 2 coats of Seche Vite - what do you think, was this good enough to be entered into the Bundle Monster comp? Some of the designs over there are really good, but my nails just aren't long enough to do something fancy-pants with lots of different stamps. I really like how a gradient Mani looks - I get asked if they're Minx all the time!

Don't forget I have Giveaway going on! Win yourself some sexy stuff!

PEACE OUT

Strawberry Picnic Nails

It was another lovely, bright sunny day yesterday, making me wish I was sat on the park having a picnic - this manicure would have to do instead!

ooooh I wish they had all come out as well as the index finger! The other two strawbs are looking a bit squished and deformed....Nails are SO tiny to draw on hahaha!

With Flash - Pesky Orange is very apt for this mani!

I made little picnic rug tips by taping them off and painting them white over a base of a shimmery Claire's polish. I then stamped with Barry M turquoise and MUA shade 16 from BundleMonster BM17. I stamped the shape of the strawberry (not the leaves) with Barry M Red off BM05. I tried stamping the Lemon image but was struggling to pick up a complete image (I think it was the Miss Sporty polish) so just freehanded them in the end, using Barry M Spring Green and Miss Sporty Taxi! I outlined using Claire's Black Nail Art Pen, and topped it off with Barry M 3-in-1 Topcoat.

I got some compliments on this, it was lovely to wear on a hot summery day! I cracked out the Raybans today and it felt sooooo good!

Let me know what you think, kids!

xxx

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

Champagne anyone? *pic heavy!*

Today's Manicure uses MUA's B6 (is it too much trouble to actually NAME your shades, Superdrug?!), which is a pearlescent champagne kind of colour. It is a lovely shade, butIi think it would look a lot better on a darker skin tone, it kind of washes me out a bit.

This colour was quite hard to capture, it's slightly more beige IRL, and not quite as silvery (except at certain angles, in the light). The brush for this polish is NOT my favourite, the bristles are really thick, making the brush a bit clumpy and hard to keep neat round the cuticles. This was especially a problem as the pearlescence of this polish shows up every brush stroke!! I had to work hard to make sure each stroke was straight to avoid wiggly lines. A topcoat did help with this after the fact, however.
I then added the leafy/spotty image from BM04 using Claire's Black. This is not my favourite Mani, I think it's a bit "old lady", I prefer using creams and nice fun, bright colours!

Today is the online release of the new Illamasqua "Toxic Nature" collection, which has some interesting pieces, including some brilliantly pigmented, multi functional creams. Head over to their website to check it out - look at these promo pictures! Make-up for your alter-ego indeed!

I love the makeup - but if someone did that to my fringe I'd punch them very hard.

outrageous, no? They've also bought out some great looking nail polishes, including one called "Bacterium":-

Bacterium on the left, Purity on the right.

Now, I'm not claiming that my little MUA B6 is a dupe, but have a look at these swatches from Leanne over at DoNotRefreeze - She's lucky enough to own Bacterium, and has swatched it for us:-

PHOTO BELONGS TO LEANNE AT DO NOT REFREEZE!!!!

Considering MUA is darker IRL, this could be considered a cheaper alternative seen as Bacterium is £13.50, and my tight arse paid £1.00 for B6. It may be a bit more silvery (and obviously not as good quality), but I think I can make do with that when considering the price difference! Y'all need to go and check out Leanne's blog Do Not Refreeze by the way, easily one of my absolute favourite blogs to read!

Have a lovely day everyone, let me know what you think!
xxx

Matte Gun-metal and mini-haul

As I promised you yesterday, here is what I picked up on my trip to town :

The offer in Claire's is 4 polishes for £7.50, and I just can't resist EVERY TIME! The challenge isn't staying away, its deciding which four to buy! Claire's polishes also don't have names so I'll describe them for your viewing pleasure.  From top left to bottom right, these are:

• MUA B6
• MUA 43
• Miss Sporty "Taxi!" - bright neon yellow with veeeery subtle shimmer
• Claire's Jade Green
• Claire's shimmery topcoat, very fine silver shimmer
• Claire's, this is a matte Bronze
• Claire's Matte Gun-metal Silver.
• The fabric it's sitting on is my new dress from forever 21! I'm wearing it out tonight, its very colourful :D

Here are some swatches of the Matte Silver. It actually looks gorgeous as it goes on, it's got a lovely shimmer to it, which seems a waste in a matte polish. Because of this its more of a suede finish, but I think I might try and play around with this one, see if I can put that shimmer back in!

I broke the corner of my index fingernail yesterday, and it's really bugging me! It's not that noticeable, but it keeps happening! If I remedy-file them anymore, I'll end up with an oval shape haha!
Stay tuned for more swatches of this haul, what do you think to this matte silver?