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 :]

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!

Accent Nail - We Stamp On Sunday

Hi hi everyone :]

This week's challenge over at Adventures In Stamping was to create a mani with an accent nail. As I'm still working through some polishes that I haven't used yet I picked two Sally Hansen Insta-dri polishes painting my nails with Tealy Fast, using Grape Escape for an accent on my ring finger.

As I've just recently got some new Konad stamping polishes I thought I'd give Psyche Pink a shot. Unfortunately I'm a little disappointed by how bright this actually is, or how dull it is I suppose, as I was hoping for it to pop more. That being said, it is a shimmer stamping polish, and I did stamp over shimmer base colours so there isn't much of a contrast between the finish of them.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey

Base Colours: Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Tealy Fast & Grape Escape

Stamping Colour: Konad Special Polish - Psyche Pink

Image Plate: Cheeky CH53

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails

And here's what I used:

Gosh - Golden Dragon Swatches & Dashica Big SpD-A Stamping

Ah! Today we have a polish I thought was pretty, but couldn't get enough of it when I was wearing it. I love polishes like this.

First up though is the stamping first glossy, and then matte. I say glossy, but the top coat was seriously thinned out and lost most of its shine :(

Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Gosh Golden Dragon
Stamp Colour: Konad Special White
Image Plate: Dashica Big SpD-A
Top Coat: Models Own - 3 In 1 (that had been thinned)

Then with a coat of Rimmel Matte Finish. Glowing velvety flecks of gold. nomnom!

I loved it matte, you might not see much of a difference, but it was there for sure.

Swatches:

This is probably the photo (above) that shows the polish at it's best. Maybe I should start to include shots that are closer up for stunners like this.

I was really impressed with this polish, dry time was really good, and I love Gosh brushes as they're easy to work with. I got this in a sale display for £2.

Pre-Valentines Day Mani

Pretty quick mani tonight, as I'm wearing my mani for tomorrow's Stamping Challenge. And I'm chlling with some beers. So this was from a few days before Valentines day. It's pretty cutesy, and I hadn't used China Glaze - Awakening in an age. :]

Base Coat: Nail RX - Stuck On You
Base Colour: China Glaze - Awakening
Stamping Colour: Konad Special White
Image Plate: Bundle Monster BM209
Top Coat: China Glaze - No Chip Top Coat

Carrying on my obsession for Konad White. I am seriously still making up for all those times I did a design stamped with white, and it wasn't thick enough, and all those times I decided to use black instead and wish I had a decent enough white xD

Hope everyone's having a good Saturday  :]

Valentines Nails - We Stamp On Sundays

This weeks challenge over at Adventures In Stamping was Valentines nails, I had other ideas for this challenge but these just happened hahaha.

Base Coat: Models Own - 3 In 1
Base Colour: La Femme - Pink Creme
Shimmer: Max Factor - Fantasy Fire
Stamping Colours: Konad White, & Konad Wine Red (Possibly!)
Image Plate: Konad M56
Top Coat: Models Own - 3 In

 

I really didn't feel like posting these. It's one of those mani's that you just hate as soon as you see the photos you're meant to be posting :P I guess this is what happened when I try to do my nails hungover! The only reason I did this post in the end is because I only missed the first challenge, and I don't want to feel like i'm letting myself down by not posting.

So far (excluding this week) I've had a lot of fun doing these challenges. It's nice to have a certain aim to think of when pulling out polishes, rather than just slapping something together xD

My brain really is not working yet, and I still have to do my nails for what will be the rest of the week, and pack for leaving tomorrow. So it's not going to be an overly fun night as I have no idea where to start! 

Hope everyone's had a good weekend!

Steph's Vegas Inspired Nails

I did these a few weeks ago, inspired by a photo I seen on google while I was looking for vegas themed nails and stuff, but now I can't find the image ;(

I'm still not really gettting any better and taking photos of other peoples nails, but I think I have some ideas for the next time I do her nails.

Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Sally Hansen - White On
I then placed small strips of tape, and painted over them with BYS - Black Satin
For rounding off corners and lettering I used Red & Black acyrilic paint
The little red gem was from a Broadway pack of gems my friend Vicki got me :]
Top Coat: China Glaze - No Chip Top Coat

Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: BYS - Black Satin
Nail Studs: 2mm Silver Nail Heads
Top Coat: China Glaze - No Chip Top Coat

I apparently can't draw clubs for the life of me :P Happy Bonfire/Guy Fawkes Night!

Jammie Dodger Nails

As soon as I seen this plate when my new Bundle Monster arrived I instantly thought Jammie Dodgers. I'm really not sure why. But I've been wanting to try it ever since. Originally I saw the old school Jammie Dodgers, without the heart centres. However hearts are cute ^_^

I'm not convinced they look like Jammie Dodgers still, but it was a nice mani to wear :]

Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Base Colour: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White On
Stamp Colour: Rimmel - Milk Chocolate
Plate: BM203
Hearts: Red Acrylic Paint
Top Coat: China Glaze - No Chip Top Coat