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!

Birthstone - Peridot - We Stamp On Sundays

Hi all.

I would say happy Monday but this means I will be back at work when this posts and that means I'll be melting as the aircon is broken, and i'm almost certain the heating is actually on.

This is my first time in a long while taking part in Adventures In Stamping We Stamp On Sundays, so although I didn't have any amazing ideas I wanted to give it a shot.

This challenge was for Birthstones, and mine is Peridot, so I reached for the first green I thought of and had a think of what I could do.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colour: Models Own - Golden Green

Flakies: Golden Rose Scale Effects - 04

Stamping Colour: Barry M - Gold Foil

Image Plate: Faunad M28 (Konad M33, and Bundle Monster BM318

Glitter

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Had As Nails

I'm a little bummed the gold kind of gets lost, and if you were to see these from a distance you probably wouldn't even think there was any nail art on!

Here's what I used:

The fauxnad plate M38 is actually the copy of Konad M33 so I'm not too certain why it's named differently. But a big thank you to Susana for sending this to me in one of our swaps! And here is the base before stamping:

Maria's Micro Paintings

Hi all, happy Thursday!

Hope you're all well. Today I have for you some looooovely Micro Paintings that came from the even lovelier Maria from Marias Nail Art and Polish Blog. Maria comes up with a load of beautiful designs, especially her lovely freehand floral nails, if for some reason you haven't seen her blog, check her out now :]

Maria got in contact with me back in November for a little bit of feedback, and she offered to send me my own set of Micro Painted nails as a little thank you I suppose. I received the set shortly after, all pretty and glued onto an acrylic backing with some holes so they're all ready to screw into the wall. I haven't found a place to put them yet, so they're currently resting against the wall on top of a set of drawers.

Check out how pretty these are, this is how they came:

If the sun ever shows it's face again I shall snap some sunlight photos of these beauties and edit them in :]

And here's a close up of my temporary favourite (as I can't settle on one for too long!)

I really love the mix of gliters on this one! To see more of these works of art, clicky click this link. Maria's now also selling these HERE and has a Facebook page for these too.

Thank you again to the lovely Maria for these pretties!

Have a nice Thursday ^-^

Using Metallic Polish - We Stamp On Sundays

Hi all, Happy Sunday!

This week's challenge over at Adventures In Stamping was to use Metallic polish. When I heard this I had an idea of what do to, but when I was rummaging through my polishes I was feeling a little bit blah, and couldn't really be bothered to distinguish between polish finishes; so I just grabbed (possibly) the only polish that's name included 'Metallic' and started painting lol.

So I started with W7 - Metallic Mars, and stamped with W7 - Gold Mirror using Dashica Big SpD-A.

Base Coat: La Femme

Base Colour: W7 - Metallic Mars

Stamp Colour: W7 - Gold Mirror

Image Plate: Dashica Big SpD-A

Top Coat: Rimmel 60 Seconds Clear

With flash to show the purple

Such a pretty base colour.

And here's what I used:

Hope everyone's had a good weekend!

Impala Disco - Sex Appeal & Black Stamping With BM 319

Hi all, happy Tuesday!

I'm actually surprised I even have a post for you guys today! I've been in some sort of reminiscing daydream state for the last two days or so, but I've already done more today than yesterday so that's good :]

Today I have some swatches, and some stamping. The stamping was actually a fail, so I stamped over it with another image, and didn't hate it too much, so you get to see :] Imapala Disco - Sex Appeal is such an amazing polish, stunning duochrome, that looks best over black as it intensifies the colour shift. Although it's very sheer on its own it has a really glow effect to it.

Base Coat: La Femme

Base Colour: Rimmel - Black Satin

Layering Colour:  Impala Disco - Sex Appeal

Stamp Colour: BYS - Black Satin

Image Plate: Bundle Monster BM 319

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

I think this was three coats

Below is one or two coats over black, the first picture is one, and the other two have two coats over Rimmel - Black Satin. So pretty!

What do you think about Sex Appeal then? I love the purple it shines from afar, or with flash.

Finaflor - Verde Choquei & FCUK - Purple Blue, Green & Purple Stamping

Hey all! Happy Monday! I hope everyone's doing good. I still feel weird from missing yesterdays stamping challenge, but I had a nice day of doing not a lot, which is good as I have a cold that is kicking my a**, and I struggle at the moment to muster the energy to move the laptop off my lap :P

Today we have some nails that were pretty bright and looked awesome in real life (despite the stamping flaws) but just didn't translate to camera. I also didn't get a sun shot of these, and the sun really made the purple pop.

Finaflor - Verde Choquei (I think that's the name of the polish :P) came to me in my swap with Susana. It's a super frosted duochrome. Lime green that looks darker green at the edges, with gold shimmer that stands out more with a top coat. I then stamped with FCUK - Purple Blue, which doesn't have a name but that's what I'm calling it.

Base Coat: La Femme

Base Colour: Finaflor - Verde Choquei

Stamp Colour: FCUK - Purple Blue

Image Plate: Bundle Monster BM320

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

 Above is three coats, no top coat, and below has a top coat over which helps bring out the shimmer in real life :]

I think I'll have to use this combo again soon as it just reminded me of the Joker. Short post today, sorry :]

A Few Swatches

Swatches today! So we have Barry M - Black Multi Glitter, Paris Memories - 228, and a nameless FCUK polish that I got a while back, which I really want to try with stamping as it's so opaque.

First up is the FCUK polish. It's a gorgeous deep purple with blue shimmer. It looks a tad bluer in these photos than in real life. Two coats; no top coat:

Next up is a single shot of Paris Memories - 228. It's such a runny polish I decided to layer it over black as it would never be opaque on its own. This is 2 coats of black, and one coat of Paris Memories on super-shorites! I love the effect this polish has.

And lastly, a polish that slightly disappointed. I thought Barry M - Black Multi Glitter was going to be amazeballs. Looking at the bottle, and the one swatch shot I found at the time of purchase I was expecting the micro glitter to be more visible on the nail. But I guess macro shots make glitter prettier. That being said, my swatches suck. But I have some better sparkle shots from my batman nails that i'll be posting soon :]

It had a slightly gritty texture before top coat, and the glitter didn't shine at all

This is two coats, no top coat, the other two pictures have a coat of China Glaze - No Chip Top Coat

My ring finger, you can see more of the colours.

Ah! Look at the party in the bottle, shame about it not being so much of a party on my nails. But it's still pretty, even though it's subtle.

Well there's today's swatches :] On Saturday you'll be graced with the presence of my friend Vicki's nails, or maybe tomorrow, depending how much concentration I have left in me :P

I hope you're all having a good Thursday ^-^

Green On Green Lizard Skin

Quick post today (Wednesday night as I write this, and I am 5 days behind in my blog list! ack!)

Another mani from a few weeks ago, and something I had wanted to try for a while now. I even tested out this combination when I first got my Beetle Juice polishes after Christmas. MUA - Shade 23 is such a beautiful pale creamy khaki green I really loved the formula on this too. Actually all the MUA polishes that I have tried I've liked, they're great coverage; not too thick, and dry quick. Over that I stamped on Models Own - Golden Green, with a scale effect image.

Such a subtle effect, but I loved these. Enjoy the two pics I managed to snap on a murky day! :]

Base Coat: La Femme
Base Colour: MUA - Shade 23
Stamping Colour Models Own - Golden Green
Image Plate: BM215
Top Coat: Models Own - 3 In1

Happy Thursday!

George - Lavender & Catrice - Genius In The Bottle

When I first got Catrice - Genius In The Bottle I was quite intrigued to try it out stamped over black, and I did a quick test on one nail and loved it, but I went rummaging for a polish I hadn't used in ages, or hadn't shown here yet, and I came across George - Lavender, and just thought 'why not?' So, it’s an odd combo that popped more in real life, but I liked wearing this anyways.

Base coat: La Femme
Base Colour: George - Lavender
Stamping Colour: Catrice - Genius In The Bottle
Image Plate: Born Pretty Store M71
Top Coat: Models Own - 3 In 1

This purple was one of those colours I bought before I got totally obsessed with the nail world. Where my mani's consisted of pressed on glitter, marker pen doodling’s, and tape mani's. It went unused for around three years because with first use it was sheer, and I thought it would take loads of coats to become opaque. Turns out it was my polish skills. When I tried it last week for this mani it was a perfect 2 coats, with a squishy shiny finish. :]

I wonder how many other polishes are getting neglected because of my previous experience with them. I hope everyone's having a good Thursday :] I'll be at work again when this is posted, probably hoping for it to be Friday evening =P

Collection 2000 - Bongo Beat, Flakies, Black Stamping In Matte

Quick post today of something I did a couple weeks back. Such a lovely combo! And I love loved these matte :D

I started with one coat of Collection 2000 - Bongo Beat, and added one coat of Golden Rose - Scale Effects 13, and stamped with two images from the second Bundle Monster set in BYS - Black Satin before adding a top coat, and then a matte top coat.

Base Coat: Nail RX - Stuck On You
Base Colour: Collection 2000 - Bongo Beat
Flakies: Golden Rose - Scale Effects 13
Stamping Colour: BYS - Black Satin
Image Plates: Bundle Monster BM201, BM211
Top Coat: Models Own - 3 In 1
Matte: Rimmel - Matte Finish

Artificial light.

 

And a picture of the base colour & flakie combo for good measure :]

 

What do you guys think of these? Hope everyone's having a good Tueday :]

Models Own - Pinky Brown & OPI Designer... De Better & Konad M85

This is a slight fail on my part, don't get me wrong, I like the colour combo, but the stamping combo is just a fail in my eyes. I hate stamping over dark fleck duo chromes like this as I think it generally kills off the beauty of the polish somewhat. But after painting on Pinky brown (which I love) I really had the urge to try and stamp, so I just went for it. I think it was a bad move to stamp in another foil. I chose to stamp with OPI - Designer...De Better, which is another polish I love, as I have nothing else like it, and probably never will. The copper flecks in this polish bring me joy!

That being said I still liked the outcome, not a bold or crazy design, but it made Pinky Brown extra sparkly, and I still got the full shift effect of it.

Base Coat: La Femme - Base Coat
Base Colour: Models Own - Pinky Brown
Stamp Colour: OPI - Designer...De Better
Image Plate: Konad M85
Top Coat: Models Own - 3 In 1

Apologies for how grainy these look in the photos, I think all the sparkly goodness made my camera a little loopy =P

So, how do you stamp over a duo chrome foil fleck polish like this?

ELF - Mint Cream & Models Own - Emerald Black Stamping

Quick post today, I was in a green mood, so I opted for some green on green stamping, and chose to use images I've never used before. On Bundle Monster BM11 there are two images that are the same, one is outline, and one is the solid image.

I started with ELF - Mint Cream, this was my first time using this polish, and I was so impressed with the formula. Easy peasy two quick drying coats. I don't have any swatches at the minute though sorry! I had to double stamp each nail too as the images are only small. I was only going to do an accent nail, but I didn't pay much attention while stamping, so index and middle finger have the outline image, and ring and pinky have the solid image.

Base Coat: Nail RX - Stuck On You
Base Colour: ELF - Mint Cream
Stamp Colour: Models Own - Emerald Black
Image Plate: Bundle Monster BM11
Top Coat: Models Own - 3 In 1

Please excuse the colour of my skin, it was a very, very cold day when I took these.

BeYu - 209 -Brilliant Shiraz Swatches

Today I have some gorgeous swatches of BeYu - Brilliant Shiraz (209) This is another polish I won from Ingie over at Fyeahilovenails this is meant to be a dupe for the infamous Clarins 230 aka Unicorn Pee, but I have no real way of telling as I don't own it.

The polish itself is a fuchsia jelly with lots of micro shimmer that shifts from red to yellow to green. Sadly I couldn't see any green shimmer on the nail when I'd applied it :( Maybe I need to find the secret layering combo; or maybe I got a bad bottle.

 

Above is three thin coats, I could've gotten away with 2 if my nails were shorter, these are without base coat, and without top coat, I think a top coat would've made this look all squishy and delicious! Last pic's a bit out of focus, but I'd say it's more colour accurate.

This Is one coat of Rimmel - Black Satin & One coat of BeYu I love it so much over black, especially in the picture below when it's all shining red. Nom!

And for good measure here's a picture of Pickle & Jazz, and a cat statue thingy.

Catrice - Genius In The Bottle

Quick swatch for you guys today! Catrice - Genius In The Bottle is a dupe-ish for Chanel - Peridot, I say dupe-ish because comparisons I've seen It's not totally spot on. That being said, it is totally close enough for me as It's a gorgeous polish. I won this from Ingie over at fyeahilovenails.

Genius In The Bottle is a golden green, which can flash blue at certain angles (not really pictured sorry :P) but this is a very, very pretty polish. This is three thin coats, no base coat, no top coat. :]

Catrice - Genius In The Bottle

Happy Thursday!

Max Factor - Fantasy Fire Swatches Galore!!!

So this polish is a little bit of a beauty! But I'm sure most of you know this, and have seen swatches on many blogs already. That being said.. I can't not post these!

Crazy green flash :D

Pretty bottle! Check out the turquoise on the side with the label! So pretty

Blurfest; but you can see how crazy shiny this is!

Such a pretty shift!

This is two coats over Rimmel - Black Satin, which is a typical black creme. I was surprised that this showed so gorgeously over black, but I guess I was wrong :P

Next up is two layers over Astor - Passion Flower. I picked this up a few weeks back for cheap cheap, thinking it would be awesome as a dusky base colour for some chrome stamping. Unfortunately it's much darker on the nail than in the bottle :( and kinda blah (see above). However with Fantasy Fire over it, it's much prettier ^-^

 

I dunno why my camera and this angle makes my nails look curved :/

Happy Friday everyone! :D Three days until mine and Scott's trip to Edinburgh ^_^ woop!