Monday 30 December 2013

A Few Christmas Manicures

Hi all.

I've been lagging in posting all of the Christmas-type manicures I've been doing recently so I thought I'd throw three in one post!
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Essie - Muchi Muchi
Stamping Colour: Konad White
Image Plate: Bundle Monster BMH02
Top coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails
 

The next manicure is one that I wore for a week solid with only minimal tip wear (see pic) I loved wearing these. I honestly Just adore My Cherry Amour so much, iPhone pics do not do it justice at all!
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Stamping Colour: Barry M - Gold Foil
Image Plate: Bundle Monster BMH03
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails
This purple manicure only stayed on for a couple of days as it just bored me to high heaven!
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Sinful Colors - Amethyst ( I think!)
Stamping Colour: NYC - Niagara Foils
Image Plate: Bundle Monster BMH03
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails
My favourite has to be the first snowflake manicure. It reminds me of some nails I did back in 2011. I was going to link to them but man I used to keep my nails so long back then I'd rather not!

So do you have a favourite from these three?

**Nicole by OPI Gumdrop polishes mentioned were sent to me for consideration of review**

Friday 20 December 2013

Christmas Pick & Mix

Hi all, happy Friday!

This week has been a loooooong week, but I'm hoping that this weekend will help me recover further from my cold/cough and a night out with the bestie will get me into the festive mood further!

I've been sporting these nail since Sunday, and while they are currently chipped on a few corners, they're holding up quite well!

The white base on most of the nails is Rimmel - French White, and the glitter on those nails is Nails Inc - Electric Lane. Not sure why I love white with glitter like this, but I do! I really still need to buy a new white as this one has been thinned so much it smells more like thinner than polish!
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Coats: Rimmel - French White, NOPI - My Cherry Amour & W7 - Night Suede (pinky)
Image Plates: Bundle Monster BMH01 BMH03
Glitter: Ciaté - Sequin Mistletoe Magic (thank you Debbie-dumpling for this :D)
Stamping Colours: W7 - Suede, Konad White, Rimmel Black, Revlon - Emerald City
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails


 And for funsies here's the stamping without dotting or a top coat. Rudolph freaked me out so much at this point with his zombie eyes!

Hope you's like these :] I'm hoping to post more festive-themed nails soon when I do some more peoples nails!

Sunday 15 December 2013

Candy Coloured Splatter With Skull Stamping

Hi all.

How's everyone doing this murky Sunday? I'm particularly gloomy, and still feeling rough with this horrid cold, but I'm going to try and be productive and maybe even get some Christmas themed nails done later!

This mani is something I did back in August, and I loved these, quite a lot. I'm a little obsessed with the using the method of using the rough side of a sponge to "splatter" colours on for a base before stamping.

The base colours for this mani were all from the Nicole by OPI Selena Gomez range. I used Selena, Love Song and Pretty In Plum, and used Konad White and the Cheeky Viva Mexico Plate for stamping.
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Nicole by OPI - Selena
Splatter Colours: Nicole by OPI - Pretty In Plum, Love Song
Stamping Colour: Konad White
Image Plate: Cheeky Viva Mexico
Top coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails
 Here's the splatter mani:

And here's a picture of the pretty Selena

I think I'm gonna settle myself in bed with some nail supplies and a film and see what I come up with! Hope you've all had a good weekend.

Monday 9 December 2013

NOPI - Love Song & Barry M - Gold Foil Stamping

Hi all, happy Monday, can you believe there's only just over two weeks left until Christmas?!

I'm hoping I may get the chance to post some festive manicures before Christmas rolls around but I don't hold high hopes - so I may not even do any, and how crazy is that?!

Today I have a little post showing the lovely NOPI - Love Song with some stamping from the Viva Mexico Cheeky Plate using Barry M - Gold Foil.
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Nicole by OPI - Love Song (Selena Gomez collection)
Stamping Colour: Barry M - Gold Foil
Image Plate: Cheeky Viva Mexico
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

And here's a swatch shot of Love Song.  It's a really gorgeous Lilac shade, with very slight shimmer, which is mainly hidden on the nail but it definitely lightens up the whole thing.

Hope you've all had a good Monday so far.  I think by the time this posts I will be setting up the Christmas tree in the office :]

*This NOPI polish was sent to me for consideration of review*

Tuesday 3 December 2013

French Manicure

Hi all,

This is a crazy crazy week for me for free time, so I'm not sure how much I will be able to post, this is a lovely little french manicure I did for my bestie Dom's mum, and I'm doing her nails again tonight so will post those soon too.

Base Coat: CND - Sticky
Base Colour: Essie - Muchi Muchi
Tip Colour: Rimmel - French White
Stickers: Nailene
I'm hoping to be back some time soon with some christmasy nails. Hope you're having a good week so far!

Friday 29 November 2013

Pink & Orange Vertical Gradient with Stamping

Hi all, happy Friday.

Today I have some nails I did something like last July maybe?  This was the first vertical gradient I have done, which while close up you can't really tell, from a distance you can. I started with a base of 2True - Mila, which is one of their salon shine polishes, and sponged with a mixture of Mila, and Jacava - Raspberry Bavarois, then stamped with Konad White with Bundle Monster Image BM208.
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colours: 2true - Mila & Jacava Raspberry Bavarois
Stamping Colour: Konad White
Image Plate: Bundle Monster BM208
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails
 And here's the orange to pink gradient before stamping



And here's the base:

Hope you've all had a good week so far - I'm just happy I'm off today! Yay!

Sunday 24 November 2013

Nicole by OPI - Gumdrops Swatch & Review

Hi all!

Today I have some extremely pretty polishes to show you, Nicole by OPI - Gumdrops.  These polishes all have a lovely frosted sugar-like finish, however some are more frosted than others, some have holographic glitter & micro glitter. Basically there's definitely something for everyone in this collection.

First up A-Nise Treat:
A-Nise Treat
A-Nise Treat.
A-Nise Treat is a really gorgeous Warm Black with silver glitter. These pictures show the glitter quite well, but in the swatches on a nail wheel below is where you'll get a better judgement of the real colour.  This is the first of the polishes I decided to try, and I didn't really expect to love it so much, like, so much I kept twiddling my fingers at work to watch it sparkle!

Next up is Blue-Berry Sweet On You:
NOPI - Blue-Berry Sweet On You
NOPI - Blue-Berry Sweet On You
Now this is a colour I originally thought was a gunmetal type shade, but trying it on it really showed it's true blue shade.  This is one of the frostiest of the bunch, and with the frost and the hue of blue it really gives a pretty chrome like appearance, but with this textured finish. This is one of the polishes I feel has a sort of glow about it.  Two coats was perfect coverage, and the wear on Blue-Berry Sweet On You was also really great.
All so beautiful, but these do not do My Cherry Amour any favours!
In Shade: L-R Blue-Berry Sweet On You, A-Nise Treat, I Lilac Gumdrops, Cinna-man of My Dreams, My Cherry Amour, Candy is Dandy
In sunlight: L-R, Candy is Dandy, My Cherry Amour, Cinna-man of My Dreams, I Lilac Gumdrops, A-Nise Treat, Blue-Berry Sweet on You
And because I can't help myself here's a couple of shots of these with topcoat on:

 L-R Blue-Berry Sweet On You, A-Nise Treat, I Lilac Gumdrops, Cinna-man of My Dreams, My Cherry Amour, Candy is Dandy
L-R, Candy is Dandy, My Cherry Amour, Cinna-man of My Dreams, I Lilac Gumdrops, A-Nise Treat, Blue-Berry Sweet on You
So I feel as though some of the details in these polishes are really hard to capture when they're in their normal sugar-matte form although you can see them in real life. This flash photo above really shows how the holographic hex glitter in Candy is Dandy sparkles, and My Cherry Amour, which is my favourite from the bunch shows it's looovely holographic micro glitter.  But I will talk about these more when I wear them.

Next time I post about these beautiful polishes I promise I will use my camera instead of my phone for photos so you can see more of the beauty!

The Gumpdrops collection is available from Superdrug stores now, they retail at £8.00 but Superdrug are running 3 for 2 at the moment, so grab a bargain.

*These polishes were sent to me for consideration of review*

Thursday 21 November 2013

Grey Cheeky Viva Mexico Stamping

Hi all,

Quicky quick post today, though i'm making this Wednesday night, i'm shattered so early night is needed!

Today I have a really short post with some stamping. Now the laptop is back up and running and I'm editing photos I've realised I should stop relying on my iphone for taking photos!

Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Purple - Unknown Grey
Stamping Colour: W7 - Nightsuede
Image Plate: Cheeky Viva Mexico
Top coat: Rimmel - 60 seconds
Sorry again for the poop quality, here's a swatch of the polish - I can't remember the name of it though!

That's all from me for now, hope you've all had a good week so far :]

Monday 18 November 2013

Summer Splatter and Aztec Stamping with Cheeky Viva Mexico

Hi all, today I have some fun nails I did probably in the end of August? 

Now, some of you may be aware I have zero skills when It comes to doing splatter manicures, and for a couple years now I've opted to use the rough side of a kitchen sponge to create a similar effect.  I used the rough side of  a sponge again for this manicure, and I added a top coat before stamping.
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Colour Club - Blue-ming
Splatter Colours: Natural Collection - Antique Coral, Kiko - Cornflower Blue
Stamping Colour: BYS - Black Satin
Image Plate: Cheeky - Viva Mexico
Stamp Colour: BYS - Black Satin
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails
Sadly my trusty BYS - Black Satin had started to thicken and it was really really hot the day I did these so sadly the stamping isn't as clean as I would have liked.  

Here's the base:

Hope you're having a good Monday so far!

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Glitter Bomb Holo Birthday Nails

Hi all,

Still powering through photos of past nails ( I can't wait to get back to posting what is on my nails!) So today I have some nails to show you that I wore for my birthday - so exactly three months ago - eek!
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colours: Jade Holographic - Mystic Gold & Energy
Stamping Colour: Barry M - Gold Foil & Rimmel - Out Of The Blue
Image Plate: Cheeky CH46
Glitter
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails
 

Hope you're all having a good Wednesday!

Sunday 10 November 2013

Born Pretty Hex Glitter

Hi all, Happy Sunday.

Just a little post today as I'm not feeling too grand.

The Born Pretty store contacted me maybe some time back in July and sent me a few items to try out, the first I've shown was the flocking powder, here. I was kind of putting off using these glitters, because after obsessing over manicures that covered the nail entirely with different colours, I wanted to do something epic. But It came to 9pm one Sunday evening and I realised I had naked nails, and that would mean naked nails for work so I did something really quick.
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Zoya - Carey
Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails
This kind of thing is actually something I used to do way back in the day when I was about 13, I used to do glitter flowers on every nail, but the hex glitter was much smaller than this.
And here are the colours I used, Pink, Aqua, and a pretty pale gold.

If you're interested in anything from the Born Pretty Store, don't forget to use my coupon code DS5X31 for 10% off your order.

*These were sent to me for consideration of review*

Friday 8 November 2013

Nailtopia - Zombie Doll Nail Stickers

Hi all

Friday - Yeeeee!

Now, these are some of the photos I was bummed about "losing" from my laptop, but looking on another memory card I found them. I was mainly bummed cause I really wanted to post these prior to Halloween, as now you can't even buy them anymore.
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Essie - Navigate Her & Catrice - Shake it! Flake It!
Nail Stickers: Nailtopia - Zombie Doll
Top Coat: Nailtopia Top Coat
 And here's the sheet of nail stickers:


My other hand had different stickers on also, was really cute but I can't take photos of my right hand for shit!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Monday 4 November 2013

Teal to Pink Holographic Gradient and Stamping

Hi all,

So I've managed to recover some more photographs from one of my memory cards (laptop is still broken) So hopefully I will get them in the right order and start posting more frequently.

Today I have something I did, maybe even back in June! This mani is a holographic gradient using Kiko - Jewel Pink and Jade - Energy and then I stamped with  BYS - Black Satin using Bundle Monster BM319.
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Stamp Colour: BYS - Black Satin
Top Coat: Sally Hansen - Advanced Hard As Nails 

Well I will be back in the next couple of days to show you some really cute Halloween nail stickers I wore a couple of weeks back from Nailtopia.

Happy Monday!

Saturday 2 November 2013

Eyeballs, Bats & Zombie Costume

Hi all,

So I haven't posted for a few days now, and although I've had some photos ready I just haven't had the chance.  Part of that is because It's my favourite time of year - Halloweeeeeeeen! Although technically we've passed Halloween, and are on to Dia de los Muertos I like to take any chance I can in this week to dress up, and I will show you my costume later, but for now, I have some nails for you that I did a couple of weeks back now.
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colours: NOPI - Hit The Lights & W7 - Nightsuede
Stamp Colours: W7 - Nightsuede & Konad White
Image Plate: Bundle Monster Holiday Collection BMH06 & BMH08
Top Coat: Advanced Hard As Nails
Apologies for these almost murky photos, the lens on my phone was dirty and I hadn't realised.

And now on to my costume, this year after a lot of debate I settled on Alice In Wonderland//Zombieland as my bestie was going to be the white Rabbit, and I had no other sort of direction.

Here's my face:
And here's the before and after of the wig, to the full costume. Annoyingly I fell in love with this particular dress because of the collar, but I just couldn't stand the feel of it at all. So I cut that off.
For reference, here are the zombie costumes I have done since I started blogging: 2011, 2012. Last years costume makes me wish I'd done more with the prosthetic piece, but i'm happy with how it turned out. I mean, people didn't know it was me which is always a win :]

You guys do fancy dress this year?

Sunday 27 October 2013

Zebra OMG Nail Strips

Hi all.

I'm still plodding along on my family computer, and iPhone pics, but I'm not missing too many mani's so it's not that bad!

Today I'm reviewing some nail wraps from OMG Nail Strips, the ones I'm wearing here are called Psychedelic Zebra which are a really fun and bold design.

Now the previous nail wraps I have tried were quite difficult to trim (and you guys know I have slim-ish nails, and freaking tiny little finger nails), but with these strips it was really quite easy to trim, and really easy to file the excess off the nail too. All in all the application of these was really easy, positioning the wrap near the cuticle was easy enough to do even though the glue is really great, and these lasted perfectly for four days until I changed my nails up.
Top Coat: Sally Hansen - Advanced Hard As Nails

And these are the strips that OMG Nail Strips sent me to try out. I still haven't tried the checkerboard ones, I think I may save them for when I'm low on time but need a long lasting mani.

*These were sent to me for consideration of review*