Pink and Green NOPI with Dashica Stamping

Hi all,

Oh, it has been a while indeed!  I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas, and that the lead up to it wasn't too stressful like mine was.  I was still buying the odd gift on Christmas Eve (yes, I was one of those people this year!)

I was sent some Nicole by OPI polishes back in summer from the lovely PR ladies, and I wore a few of these religiously throughout July and August.  The polishes shown below are from the collection Seize the Summer.  I also stamped these using BYS Black Satin, and my Dashica Big SpD-A plate.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colours: Nicole by OPI - Leapink for Joy & Lay it on the Lime

Glitter: Nicole by OPI - Shaved Nice

Stamping Polish: BYS - Black Satin

Image Plate: Dashica Big Spd-A

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

And below is the base before stamping.  Two coats of Leapink for Joy, and Lay it on the Lime with one coat of Shaved Nice.

Not quite a great shot of the glitter, but as you can see it's quite an odd mix.  I however like the overall effect of how the pale white glitter brightens up the base colours.

That's all from me for now, I'm going to try and get my life more organised soon, so I'm hoping I can get back into the routine of doing my nails for fun, and not because my polish is more chips than anything, which is shocking I know!

NYK1 Secrets Glitter Review

Hi all,

Today I have a quick post on some glitters that I've been sent to review.  NYK1 Secrets contacted me to swatch some glitters.  So far I've only tried one glitter, so that's what I have to show you today.

Two coats of Essie - Navigate Her, and a sprinkling of the pale pink iridescent glitter from the glitters I was sent.

And here's a blurry shot to show how pretty this glitter is.

 

So I used a pale pink glitter that sparkled with a green shine, I sprinkled this over the wet second coat, and added a top coat before stamping.  There wasn't any problem with the colour in the glitter bleeding either.

A day later I did some stamping on top as It had been a wee while since I had done any stamping, and halloween was right around the corner (I joke, it was a few weeks away :P) so I decided to do some bat stamping using Bundle Monster BMH08.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Essie - Navigate Her

Glitter: NYK1 Secrets

Stamping Colour: BYS - Black Satin

Image Plate: Bundle Monster - BMH08

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

I think what I love most about this image is that from a distance it actually looks like tiger stripe nails.  Please excuse my nubby thumb, I ripped it right down :( and since have ripped it down again after it had grown.  Bad times.

That's all I have for today.  I should be back soon though as I have brought my laptop to my boyfriends for the week, so I should get some editing done; that is if I don't get too engrossed in my new love Gotham!

**These glitters were sent to me for review**

Models Own - Emerald Black & Pinky Brown Layering

Hi all,

Smallest of posts today with a quick pic of Models Own - Emerald Black (2 coats) and Pinky Brown (1 coat).

I wore these for about a week whilst I was busying myself trying to figure out how to decorate my room back in July.  I think I had forgotten how much I love Pinky brown's colour shift.

Models Own - Black Emerald & Pinky Brown

Hope you've all had a good weekend - I've had a proper lovely chilled one getting stuff ready for Halloween and lazing on the sofa with my boyfriend,  Love these cosy nights in!

HJ Manicure - Peach Blossom Swatch

Hi all,

Today I have a quick Swatch shot of a brand that is new to me, HJ Manicure.

Here's what they say about the shade I was sent:

"Peach Blossom is a beautiful soft pastel peach shade, perfect for everyday wear. This HJ Manicure polish is long lasting, 5 FREE, easy to apply and quick drying. Apply two coats and finish with HJ Manicure Dual top & base coat, for a professional shiny finish."

Peach Blossom is a perfect peachy for nude-nails occasions.  I've actually worn this a few times since (but wasn't near a camera!) for some bridal style nails after swatching these.

HJ Manicure - Peach Blossom 2 Coats

 

This polish was really hard wearing, and basically didn't chip.  I did have some tipwear, which is to b expected from the length of my nails at the time, my employment, and for the length of time I was wearing these.

You can get your hands on these polishes from www.HJManicure.com - I would check on Thunder Storm, a gorgeous lilac-grey!


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

Green Jelly and Hot Pink Chrome Stamping...

Hi guys, every time I post these days I feel like somewhere in the text is an apology!

I don't want to be one of those people who's full of false promises, or always saying I'm planning to do certain things by a certain time.  I'm doing my best. The truth is, my love for blogging and nail art just isn't the same.  Don't get me wrong, I still love sharing what I've done with my nails, and I've even bought some new stamping plates recently.  However, as life is a mushy haze of work, driving lessons, gym (no matter how short my visit :P) and people I love, the effort I put into my nails comes after that.

At the moment I'm actually letting my nails grow slightly, and they're oval/round rather than the mostly natural square they grow in.  I'm debating going for slightly more of an almond shape in a week or so too.

Anyhoo... onto the nails rather than the tiny rants.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Barry M - Watermelon#

Stamping Colour: NYC - Foil'er Up

Image Plate: Cheeky Jumbo Viva Mexico

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

So this was a little bit of an odd combination, and I'm not 100% how it came about as this was about two months back now.  I think it may have came from not owning many stamping polishes other than chromes that can stamp over dark colours.   Now, Barry M - Watermelon is not the darkest, but it is a very strong bold colour.  I think NYC - Foil'er Up sort of works.  Sort of.

Here's a swatch shot of Watermelon in case I haven't shown one before.  Lovely Deep Green that's almost muted.

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. Mine was another lazy one, snugged up in bed or the sofa watching TV. Bliss.

Sally Hansen Ionic Indigo Magnetic Polish With Stamping

Hi all.

I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted.  However, in this space I've done a lot of home improvement with three trips to IKEA (including my first ever trip there!), turned 25, gotten a new tattoo, went for many wonderful dinners, and I currently have family up as my brother's wedding was on Friday, so a lot has been happening!

Today I have some really simple, really boring nails from a few months back.  I'm really hoping I start getting back into nails as much as I used to be and find some creativity!

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Sally Hansen Magnetic - Ionic Indigo

Stamp Colour: Barry M - Silver Foil

Image Plate: Bundle Monster BM422

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

And here's a picture of the base colour.  I always have problems with magnetic polishes drying too quickly and only getting the pattern to show on one part of the nail, so for this I painted half the nail, and used the magnet, and did the same on the other half.  Worked out quite well I think.

And for good measure here's how amazing and cosy, and lovely and clean and tidy my new room is:

I went a little OTT but was so sick of my dark (and unfinished) room something had to change!

Hope you're all having a lovely weekend =]

Stamping over a nude base with flakies

Hi all.

There's already too much Monday feels going on and I'm writing this on Sunday night!

Simple mani from a few months back today. Not 100% what I stamped with, or the number of the flakies I used.

Base Coat: CND  Stickey

Base Colour: Barry M - Vanilla

Flakies: Golden Rose

Stamping Colour (probably!): Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Steal a Base

Image Plate: Dashica Big SpD - A

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

Be back soon.

Nicole by OPI - Roughles Swatches

Hi all,

I've recently been sent some Nicole by OPI polishes. And oh boy I'm in love.  Now it's no secret that I have a slight problem with textured nail polishes.  I love the look of them, I think they're a great change to the normal finishes, but, I can't stop touching them!  However I seem to be overcoming that problem every time I wear one of these Roughles polishes.

I'm Stucco on You is the first polish up, a lovely purple, which dries a little lighter on the nail.  It has navy and hot pink flecks in the mix. This is two coats:

Nicole by OPI - I'm Stucco on You

 

I think probably one of the things I like most about this collection is the sheen of the flat base peeking through from the rough particles, It gives so much dimension.

Next up is Rock the Look, a lovely pastel pink with darker pink and grey specks.

Nicole by OPI - Rock the Look

 

This is probably is my least favourite from the bunch, it's a lovely polish that reminds me of strawberry cheesecake, but it just doesn't do much for me.

The next beauty up is Sand in My Shoe.  I love this colour.  It's my favourite from the bunch of Roughles.  It's a bright pastel yellow with flecks of orange.  This polish totally reminds me of pollen, and it's such a lovely summery colour!

Nicole by OPI - Sand in My Shoe

 
The top picture is in sunlight, showing its full glory.  I probably could have done with dabbing some more polish in places to get an even fleck effect.

And last but not least, a gorgeous turquoise that's almost more of an aqua in my eyes, which has navy and grey specks.  Bright and fun and perfect for summer, this will be gracing my fingertips more than once this month at least.  This is On What Grounds?:

NOPI - On What Grounds?

And just for funsies I wanted to see how this polish would look with top coat:

These polishes, and some more I will be posting soon will be available in Superdrug stores nationwide on 30th July 2014.

Hope you've all had a good week so far.  I've got a couple extra days off as I was hoping to go camping, so I imagine lots of pampering will be occurring!

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

Summery Pastel Paisley

Hi all.

I can't quite believe it's Sunday already - especially as I wanted a chill weekend, and made no plans for Saturday. But I got quite a lot of little to-do items done :]

These nails are from a couple of months back now, after having a few really nice warm days I started just reaching for summery colours, especially pastels.

For this look I patted a purple, yellow, peach and blue over white, and then stamped, I feel like there may have even been a green crellie in there somewhere but I can't remember!

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colours: Rimmel - White, Models Own - Peach Sherbert, Blueberry Muffin & Banana Split, Spoiled - Amethyst

Stamping Colour: BYS Black Satin

Image Plate: Konad M64

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

Hope you've all had a nice weekend, I'm going to go and stuff my face with tasty food & probably go and watch the new Transformers movie :]

Orange & Purple Gradient with Black Stamping

Hi guys,

Two posts in the same week (sort of) what's going on?! I think I may have slightly gotten back into the swing of editing photos & posting, still not back into the swing of looking at other people blogs and feeling inspired, but it's a start.

Today I have an orange to purple gradient stamped with BYS - Black Satin and Bundle Monster BM404.  I really enjoy doing gradients like this with a creme and a fleck shimmer polish.

Base coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colours: 2true - Mila & Sally Hansen - Pink Force

Stamping Colour: BYS - Black Satin

Image Plate: Bundle Monster BM404

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

And here's a pic of the base with a flash:

Hope you're all having a good week so far, hopefully I'll have some more nails for you this coming weekend.

Nude & Navy

Hi all.

It's been quite some time now since I've last posted, been doing a lot a lot of stuff, and haven't had much time for chilling or blogging, nor the energy.  Some of the highlights from the last month of no-posting: I've started to take driving lessons, and I experienced my first ever festival, so no apologies from me!

Today we have some nails I did back in Easter.  These were done using the Holiday Plates from Bundle Monster, and these are actually Easter egg designs, but as my nails are small, and the images quite large it's pretty easy to just see these as a pattern.

I started with two coats of Barry M - Vanilla on the ring and thumb, and two of Barry M - Blackberry. From the few polishes I own from the Gelly line which Blackberry hails from I bloomin' love them, their opacity and formula are really great.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colours: Barry M - Vanilla & Blackberry

Stamping Colours: Barry M - Vanilla & Blackberry

Image Plate: Bundle Monster BMH10

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

The lighting at work really shows the true navy beauty that is Blackberry. Here's the base before stamping:

Hope you've all had a good weekend so far :]

Pink Roses Over Gold

Hi all,

It's been a while, since I've posted and I'm still undecided about keeping up the blog, so here's some more nails from the vault.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Liz Earle - Golden Celebration

Stamping Colour: Konad Psyche Pink

Image Plate: Bundle Monster BMH16

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

That's all from me for now.

Lovehearts

Hi guys,

I know it's been a while, but to tell you the truth I've been doing some thinking recently about maybe just posting things on my instagram account instead of keeping this blog.  I'm doing an exceptionally bad job of being part of the blogging community these days, which is very sad, but it seems to be just how it's happened.  I haven't fully decided, and I still have a huge backlog of photos, and i'm still continuing to do my nails, but these days I'm just not into it as much as I used to be.  I blame the fact I'm a lot more sociable than I used to be, but when I decide what I'm doing I'll post about it.

Today we have my nails I wore for Valentines Day.  I've never been one to really celebrate Valentines Day, always just using it as an excuse to definitely do something with the person I care about.  Last year was a solo one for me, and although this year I had a partner for it, it was considerably worse than being alone haha; but that's another story!

Less ranting, more photos:

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Liz Earle - Knockout

Stamping Colour: Konad Special White

Image Plate: Bundle Monster Holiday Collection BMH16

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

Matte: Rimmel - Matte Effect

This lovely polish was actually part of a present that I received at Christmas from one of the Psychologists that I work with, so thank you Dorothy =]

This was my first time trying any Liz Earle products, and was very pleasantly surprised at the formula on this very creamy polish, two coats and it was perfect coverage, which for some reds (and my nails) is hard to come by as I have a slight dip in my nails where the free edge begins, and reds tend to make that obvious for some reason.

I'll be posting more soon. Hope you all have a good weekend :]

OPI - The Muppets Most Wanted

Hi all.

Today I have swatches of two gorgeous polishes from the new collaboration from OPI & The Muppets.  To celebrate the release of the new movie Muppets Most Wanted.

Here's a little bit from what OPI had to say about the collection:

"The Muppets are a fun-loving, colorful cast of characters. These eight new nail lacquers were inspired by their latest adventures in Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted, which include a glamorous international stage tour – and lots of surprises"

I chose to review two polishes, Gaining Mole-Mentum, and Miss Piggy's Big Number. I am so happy with my selection as Miss Piggy's Big Number is a really gorgeous eye-catching blue, which does tend to streak a bit, but to the eye you don't notice.  Gaining Mole-Mentum is described as a chunky shredded glitter made of rose and gold, but I swear there's silver pieces in there also.  This polish, surprisingly dried quicker than Miss Piggy's Big Number.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: OPI - Miss Piggy's Big Number (3 coats)

Glitter: OPI - Gaining Mole-Mentum (2 coats)

Below is the swatch shots of Miss Piggy's Big Number.  This is three thin coats, and as it's one of those polishes that looks different in every light, there's a few pics!

This is probably the better picture of the polish, the mirror-like quality is coming through, and you even get hints of the super subtle duochrome effect too.

I will admit though, the next day I added another coat of Gaining Mole-Mentum and it looked so much better!

I was also going to include a clip, but there was an error sadly :(

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

Red & Gold Aztec Using Bundle Monster

Hi all,

I thought I was going to have a load of time this weekend to blog, but as it turns out, loads of plans occurred, and I've only just had time to do my nails/blog tonight (Monday).

These are some nails I did quite a while ago, as are most of my mani's so far this year.  These were some quickie nails midweek at some point back in January.  Orly - Naughty is a really lovely super dark red polish, it dried really well, but after stamping with Barry M - Gold Foil and adding a top coat, it pulled through some of the colour and made some of the stamping look pink-ish.  I had heard of this before, but never actually experienced it.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Orly - Naughty

Stamping Colour: Barry M - Gold Foil

Image Plate: Bundle Monster BM410

Top Coat: Sally Hansen - Advanced Hard As Nails

Interview Nails, Barry M Vanilla & White Stamping

Hi all,

Yay Wednesday. I say yay as It's a four day week for me, with a four day weekend, followed by another short week, and yet another long weekend! Thank eff for Bank Holidays!

I'm still working through a backlog of manicures I've done over the last four months, and today is the turn of the nails I wore for my interview at the end of January. Interviews are one of those lovely times I do a nude or peach base with subtle stamping. This isn't because I don't like the combo, but I'm such a fan of bold manis. Oddly enough as I already knew the people I was being interviewed by, and they both love nail art themselves (now!) I still chose to do a nude to go with my outfit.

On to the pics:

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Barry M - Vanilla

Glitter: Nails Inc - Electric Lane

Stamping Colour: Konad Special White

Image Plate: Bundle Monster BM419

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

Everytime I look at this particular stamp all I want to do is stamp it in a blue over white and have china nails!

Please excuse the dry hands, Winter was taking it's toll on me! Hope you've all had a good week so far :]