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Nail Art

    Freehand, Uncategorised

    Fancy Pants

    7th October 2013
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    I thought that once the 31 Day Challenge was over, I’d have a huge list of ideas waiting to spill out of me on to my nails. But alas, I feel a bit creatively drained! Hopefully I’ll get my spark back soon. 
    Today I was looking for inspiration in the little things. I decided to work something around these cute moustache charms and the first thing that came to mind was a fancy suit. I kept it simple with some pinstripes and a tuxedo nail!

    I used Barry M White as a base except on my ring finger which is Sally Hansen Dorien Grey. Then I topped them all with a coat of Essence Better Than Gel Nails Fast Dry Top Sealer.

     For the pinstripes, I used striping tape to mark off the thin white lines and painted over it all in Sally Hansen Gray by Gray. I quickly peeled the tape off while Gray by Gray was still wet on my nails.

    The tuxedo nail is freehanded using a nail art brush with a dotting tool for the buttons and centre of the bow-tie. Again, I used Sally Hansen Dorien Grey, then Gray by Gray to outline the details.

    I attached the moustache charm using a dot of nail glue right in the middle.

    It’s all topped with a coat of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat.

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    Glitter, Gradient, Stamping, Uncategorised

    Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2013

    5th October 2013
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    As some of you will know, this year I was shortlisted in the Best Established Beauty Blog category at the Cosmpolitan Blog Awards. On Wednesday, after months of waiting and planning and getting all excited, the big event was held in London. I made my way to the big city, giant suitcase in tow, to meet up with Alice, Amelia, Lucy and Allie and we headed to the ceremony together! 
    I had such a great time at the awards and I really loved getting to meet up with the other lovely ladies in attendance. I didn’t win in my category but Alice from One Nail To Rule Them All was representing the nail blogs by taking home the title of Best New Beauty Blog! It was definitely a night to remember and I owe a huge thanks to all of you lovely people who nominated me and made it possible! I’ll try not to get too soppy but I really do well up when I think about you guys taking the time to nominate and vote for my blog. Thank you so so much!
    I spent most of the day before trying to decide on nail art to wear for the night and this is the design I settled on. I’ve also included a few snaps from the event after the jump!

    For the gradients nails I used NYC Raindrop as the base with China Glaze Sunday Funday and added some little black studs. There’s a gradient tutorial here. 
    The beautiful blue glitter on my pointer finger is Azature’s Blue Diamond Polish. I stamped on the chevron design from Bundle Monster Plate BM-201 using W7 Black over Barry M White.
    It’s all topped off with one coat of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat and one of Essence Better Than Gel Nails High Gloss Sealer for a super shiny finish. 

    And here are a few shots from the night, I even make a brief appearance in Cosmo’s video of the event at 1.10!
    Photos courtesy of Amelia


    Of course I had to squeeze in a cheeky selfie. Check out my favourite T-Rex Necklace!

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    31 Day Challenge, Gradient, Uncategorised

    31DC2013 Day 30: Inspired by a Tutorial

    30th September 2013
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    Today’s inspiration comes from Storm and Stars who created this nail look a while back for Blog Fest. Click here to see her post with the tutorial. I went through a phase where I was completely obsessed with chevrons so when I was searching for an inspiring tutorial for today’s nails, this look reignited that flame in me. I immediately pulled out my funky scissors and scotch tape and set to work!

    I chose a different colour scheme than you’ll see in the original and added a glitter accent nail because GLITTER! I’m really really in love with these nails, it’s a very simple technique for such a striking look and although it’s quite time consuming to do the whole hand, it would make an excellent accent nail in any mani.

    To see how this is done, hop over to Storm and Stars HERE for an amazing tutorial.
    The colours I used for the gradient are Barry M Guava, NYC Blue Sky and Essie Navigate Her. The glitter on my ring finger is H+M Jo Is In The House applied over Navigate Her.
    My top coat is No7 Stay Perfect.

    Day 30: Inspired by a Tutorial 2012
    Day 30: Inspired by a Tutorial 2011
    See what’s coming next in the 31 Day Challenge 2013!

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    31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Uncategorised

    31DC2013 Day 29: Inspired by the Supernatural

    29th September 2013
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    Inspired by The Supernatural has always seemed to me a very uninspiring prompt. As far as I’m aware, Supernatural refers to ghosts and the paranormal which isn’t a subject I have much interest in. So this year, I’ve deviated a little and let myself explore mythology and folklore to search for some inspiration. 
    The topic I chose for today’s nail art is Runes. There’s a huge history attached to Runes and their uses which I know very little of so I won’t pretend to be an expert but I do know that they appear in a lot of myths, legends and magical stories! I took these particular runes from The Mortal Instruments book (and now film) series, kind of a 180 from the old legends I’ve been harping on about but still Runes nonetheless!
    Check out the image on Cassandra Clare’s website HERE to find out what they all mean.

    I used Barry M Lychee as my base colour and painted on the runes using a nail art brush with black acrylic paint. I topped it with one coat of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat, then one coat of Rimmel Matte Finish for the umm… matte finish!

    Day 29: Inspired by The Supernatural 2012
    Day 29: Inspired by The Supernatural 2011
    See what’s coming next in the 31 Day Challenge 2013!

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    31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Uncategorised

    31DC2013 Day 28: Inspired by a Flag

    28th September 2013
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    I can’t believe we’re so close to the end of the challenge already! In 3 days it will all be over and I can move on with my life. I admit it will be nice not to have to worry every day about slotting in time for blogging but I’ll be a little bit sad when the challenge is over.
    For today’s prompt: Inspired by a Flag, I knew I wanted to choose a fictional flag so I decided on the flag of the Tenenbaum family as seen in The Royal Tenenbaums! You get a very clear shot of it a few minutes in to the movie and glimpses of it throughout.  Coincidentally, I bought a new pink polish today which turned out to be the perfect light pink for the subject!

    The colours I used were Barry M White, W7 Baby Pink and Sally Hansen Razzle Dazzler.

    For the ‘T’ I freehanded on the white circle using a nail art brush and then the T with black acrylic paint.

    For the ‘tails’ I started with a white base, then used scotch tape to mark off the triangles and painted over it in Baby Pink.

    It’s all finished with two coats of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat.

    Day 28: Inspired by a Flag 2012
    Day 28: Inspired by a Flag 2012 Bonus!
    Day 28: Inspired by a Flag 2011
    See what’s coming next in the 31 Day Challenge 2013!

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    31 Day Challenge, Stamping, Uncategorised

    31DC2013 Day 26: Inspired by a Pattern

    27th September 2013
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    As I mentioned yesterday, I got my days in a twist this week so although it’s technically Day 27 of the challenge, these are the nails for the prompt for Day 26: Inspired by a Pattern.
    While I was browsing Asos for inspiration for Day 25’s Fashion inspired nails I also found the inspiration for today – a grungy variation of the houndstooth pattern – on a t-shirt!

     Image source: Asos.com

    I started with a base of Rimmel Grey Matter and stamping on the houndstooth design from Bundle Monster Plate BM322 using BK Matte White.

    To get the frayed look around the edges, I took a nail art brush then using Barry M White and Rimmel Grey Matter, I added lines over the sharp lines in the pattern going in the direction of the houndstooth.

    Finally I topped it off with two coats of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat.

    Day 26: Inspired by a Pattern 2012
    Day 26: Inspired by a Pattern 2011
    See what’s coming next in the 31 Day Challenge 2013!

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    31 Day Challenge, Freehand, Uncategorised

    31DC2013 Day 27: Inspired by Artwork

    26th September 2013
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    I’ve made a huge mistake! Only as I was writing this post did I notice that today’s challenge is ‘Inspired by a Pattern’ but I got my days muddled up so I’m posting Day 27’s Artwork Inspired nails today. Look out for my patterned nails tomorrow!

    Day 27’s prompt is the one I normally struggle with. In previous years I’ve spent hours searching for inspiration but luckily for me, I came across some inspiration a few weeks ago and decided to save it for this challenge. The piece of art that inspired today’s nail art is by Alex Box, a very creative make-up artist and Illamasqua’s Creative Director. I kept seeing her name on blogs and other beauty sites so I thought I’d better see what all the fuss was about and I was blown away by her work. One of the looks that she created for her collaboration with Rankin particularly caught my eye and I knew I’d have to do some nail art inspired by it.


    Image credit: Rankin.co.uk

    I started with a base of Barry M White. Once that was dry, I freehanded on the details using a nail art brush with piCture pOlish Mad Magenta and Sally Hansen Water Color.
    It’s all topped off with two coats of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat.

    Here’s an image that’s good for pinning if you’re in to that kind of thing!

    Day 27: Inspired by Artwork 2012
    Day 27: Inspired by Artwork 2011
    See what’s coming next in the 31 Day Challenge 2013!

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