Sidewalkers and Skeletons

So I know I said I would be posting more but I have really become the worlds worst procrastinator over the past few months. I end up putting off taking pictures so much that the manicure is off before I can gather any evidence to show that I ever wore it.

However, this manicure I did manage to picture!

I started off with Barbara Daly's Goodbye Yellow base coat, followed by two coats of Sidewalkers by NYC and then Grand Central Station top coat, also by NYC. I then stamped using Shade 23 by MUA and Bundle Monster plates BM-225 and then BM-211 on my accent nails for a slight variation. I topped this off with Rimmel top coat.

I really liked the colours used in this mani, I think they matched the design pretty well and they were nice and unusual, not the kind of colours you usually see on peoples nails! The design was also nice and subtle, not standing out too much.

Thanks for reading!

Endless Possibilities // Ruby Ribbon

This post is packed with two lovely Revlon polishes and two nail art designs! I realised I haven't really been doing any actual nail art (apart from stamping) recently, so I decided to have a little play about with two of my new Revlon polishes.

For this design I applied Barbara Daly base coat and two coats of Endless Possibilities (a nude creme with a slight gold shimmer). I then applied a coat of Ruby Ribbon (a lovely wine red metallic with a 'matte suede' finish) on the top diagonal half of my nail. I then used Techic's gold striper to draw a line along where the two polishes meet. I finished off with a coat of NYC top coat.

I really loved this design and I received a lot of compliments for it, I think people at uni are starting to think of me as the 'Nail Girl'!

This design was something I played about with before I tried the design above. I again applied Barbara Daly base, two coats of Endless Possibilities and a coat of Ruby Ribbon along the top diagonal half. I then used a striping brush to paint little loops coming off of the Ruby Red section to create a kind of lace pattern. I then used dotting tools to make dots in Ruby Ribbon and Endless Possibilities on top of the opposite polish colour.

I decided not to do this design on all of my nails because I was in a bit of a rush and the loops were a little tricky (I hate to think how they would have looked on my right hand!).

Thanks for reading!

101 Violet Dalmatians

I have a little bit of stamping to show you today (messy stamping mind you!). I was in a bit of a rush when I did this manicure so please excuse the sloppy stamping, I had no time to go back and sort it, but que sera sera!

I first applied Barbara Daly base coat, two coats of Nails Inc's Bluebell and one coat of Avon's Very Violet (which is a beautiful lavender/pinky purple duochrome, sadly it was covered up by the stamping although it was more visible in real life than in the pictures). I then applied NYC top coat, stamped with Bundle Monster plate BM-211 in Pink Tease's Black and topped that off with Rimmel top coat.

You can see a little bit of the lovely duochrome hiding in the picture above but I'll definitely have to swatch it on it's own to show you properly at some point!

Quite a few people likened these nails to dalmatians (hence the name of this post) and some others seemed to think they looked like dinosaur eggs...

Thanks for reading!

First Franken!

I've finally attempted my first franken! I was so excited about this! For a long time I've wanted to try this as I have seen a lot of other bloggers making wonderful polishes and I thought it sounded like fun! So I finally decided to give it a go!

I created the polish with small blue and green hex glitters and a clear jelly base.

I applied Sally Hansen Maximum Growth base coat, two coats of Tiger's Shade 35, two coats of my glitter franken and NYC top coat. I really loved the look of my simple franken and I got a few compliments on it too. I think its alright for a first try really?! I can't wait to have a go and making other polishes now, I think I've caught the frankening bug!

Thanks for reading!

Fuschia Nets

I have a polish from Avon's new Color Trend collection and a spot of stamping today.

Avon's Fuschia is a matte finish metallic purple/pink full of silver flecks. On it's own with no top coat/stamping it looks amazing, I really wish I had taken a photo for you guys! I guess I'll just have to swatch it properly some time.

I applied Barbara Daly base coat, two coats of Fuschia and NYC Grand Central Station top coat. I then stamped with Pink Tease's Black with Bundle Monster plate BM-223 and finished off with Rimmel top coat.

I really like this fish net/damask design as it's one step prettier than your standard fish net look. It's a little fancier!

Thanks for reading!

Disco Inferno//Mirrorball

Wow it's been a while! But I got the new Models Own Mirrorball Collection! I'm so excited about these polishes! Absolutely wonderful, they are.

I decided to try the gold one, Disco Inferno, first. This glitter polish consists of bronze microglitter, slightly bigger round green glitter, bigger bronze hexagon glitter, small silver (holographic) square glitter and large gold (also holographic) shards of glitter in random shapes and sizes in a clear jelly base.

I applied Barbara Daly base coat, two coats of Golden Rose's Shade 41 ( gold metallic polish with tiny gold microglitter in it), one coat of Disco Inferno and NYC Grand Central Station top coat.

I love this polish, it looks amazing under spotlights! I can just imagine how beautiful this would look over a red at Christmas time... I can't wait to try out the others!

Black Holo

I have another Kleancolor Chunky Holo today! This time it's Chunky Holo Black.

I applied Barbara Daly base, two coats of Golden Rose's shade 53 (which is a lovely metallic royal blue), one coat of Chunky Holo Black and NYC's Grand Central Station top coat.

Chunky Holo Black is packed full of different sized opal holographic glitters in a black/orangey jelly base (sounds horrific but it is actually lovely). Due to the base colour it changed my royal blue into a blue/purple duochrome which was AWESOME! I didn't expect it to do that! And the opal glitters changed from pink to green to mauve depending on the light.

I can't wait to try this polish over black, I did a quick swatch and there was lots of orange holo-y goodness going on there, perfect for autumn/Halloween!

Thanks for reading!

Mermaids in a Starry Sky

Let me just start by telling you that I have never seen such a shiny silver polish in my life, it is truly amazing! It's the closest to a mirror I've ever seen in a polish, the pictures definitely don't do this polish justice!

 This is Barbara Daly base and two coats of Starry Sky by Avon. This polish dries really quick and has a lovely shiny finish. Application was good, the polish is thin but has great coverage.

I then applied Technic's Mermaid at the bases of my nails. Mermaid is a pretty blue glitter in a clear jelly base with large hexagon and small circle glitters. I love this polish, it really suits it's name, it looks like little fish scales on your nails! The only issue with this was drying time, it took ages to dry, probably because I was impatient and kept blobbing it on without waiting for the other coat to dry, but still, it was frustrating. I then applied NYC Grand Central Station top coat.

I love this mani, it looks kinda futuristic but at the same time pretty and ethereal. And I love the contrast of the names, Mermaid and Starry Sky, from totally opposite parts of the world!

Thanks for reading!

Ikat/Aztec Nails

In my last post I talked about using Jen's tutorials in the future. I never meant I would use them for my next manicure but I was watching her videos and I was inspired!

I decided to try her Ikat Print Nails Tutorial with a few changes to the colours used.

I do have all the colours she suggested but I decided to change the centre colour for a red (although it is quite a corally red).

First I applied a Rimmel base and two coats of  Golden Rose's shade 88, which is a lovely light blue jelly. I then followed her instructions with half diamond shapes using a white striper from Pink Tease. I then added a blob of red in the middle of the diamond shapes using OPI's Red Lights Ahead…Where? (which I am in LOVE with). I then used a black striper from Pink Tease for the outlines and blobs in the middle. I finished it off with NYC's Grand Central Station quick dry top coat.

I love this manicure. I can't stop staring at my nails and I keep being asked if I have nail stickers on. I'll take that as a compliment! 

I definitely recommend Jen's tutorials, they are a lot of fun and very simple, none of that complicated stuff that you KNOW will look like a two year old has done it when you attempt it (only me?).

Thanks for reading!
 

Aztec

I have a real treat for you today! When I was shopping a couple of weeks ago I bought this gem and it has just sat patiently in my untrieds box, waiting to be used. Well that day has come and let me tell you, I wish it had come sooner. Lots of pictures today to show you the beauty!

Aztec by Accessorize is like a beautiful oil slick on your nails. It is absolutely mesmerising and is equally beautiful indoors and out, although I have to say I think I like it better indoors and I didn't think I would ever be saying that!

Aztec is a multi-chrome full of micro-glitter in a blue-y green base. So basically it is heaven. The multi-chrome throws off green, purple, gold and a dark pink and is absolutely gorgeous.

I applied a  Rimmel base and three coats of Aztec. I then applied NYC in Grand Central Station quick dry topcoat. And man does that dry fast! Fantastic, now I know why everyone loves it.

I applied three coats of Aztec instead of my usual two as it is quite thin and after two coats there was still slight patchiness. This is the only possible draw back from this polish. But really? Three coats is no valid complaint.

Thanks for reading!