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Christmas, Glitter, Stamping, Uncategorised

My Christmas Day Nails

26th December 2013

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I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and indulged in plenty of good food and family time! This week between Christmas and New Year is always a bit of a funny one. We’re all trying to get back in to the swing of things but there are still bank holidays and plans to be made. I’m going back to work on the 2nd so I’m just making the most of my time until then – I’ve mostly just been chilling out and sleeping!

These are the nails I wore for Christmas day! I originally painted some with an icy blue theme but ditched them for something more festive in gold and red. Make sure you click to continue reading to see both looks!

For this mani, the base colours are Essie Jag-U-Are and Barry M Majesty – a textured gold glitter.

For the fair isle pattern, I used Winstonia Plate W120 and BK Matt White.

I totally missed this plate before Christmas eve but it has to be one of the best Christmas stamping designs I own. Although I did have a nightmare transferring it on the stamper from the plate and then actually lining it up properly on my nail! I had to try 5 times before I got this one right!

I created the dots using a tiny dotting tool and Barry M White.

I topped off the red nails a coat of Glisten and Glow HK Girl.

I really liked these nails but just thought the colour was too ‘winter’ and not enough Christmas.

I used Maybelline Ceramic Blue as my base colour. The accent is 2 coats of a holographic glitter from Claire’s.

The swirly stamping design is from MoYou Fairytale 02 Plate using Barry M Silver Foil

The deer decal on my index finger is from She Sells Seashells.

Again, it’s all topped with Glisten and Glow HK Girl.

Glitter, Gradient, Stamping, Uncategorised

Pink and Purple Gradient with a Sprinkling of Fairy Dust

19th December 2013

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Last week I was crazy excited about my incoming bottle of China Glaze Fairy Dust and now that I have it, I know it was completely justified! It’s everything I dreamed of! I’ve worn it a few times over a plain colour mani but I really think it looks best over nail art. I was so excited to try it over a gradient and I really don’t think I could have picked a better colour combo. The two shades I used are really awful polishes on their own – bad brushes and a watery formula – but those are always the ones that are perfect for gradients.

Pink and Purple Gradient Nail Art with a Sprinkling of Fairy Dust

I used Revlon Cloud as my base colour and created the gradient using W7 Baby Pink. Tutorial for that here!

I topped the gradient with one coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust and added some stamping from Bundle Monster Plate BM423 using BK Matt White.

The little unicorn is from She Sells Seashells but seems to be out of stock at the moment.

Finally it’s all topped off with a two coats of Glisten and Glow HK Girl with a few extra coats on the unicorn to seal it in.

Freehand, Holographic, Stamping, Swatch, Uncategorised

A-England Dancing With Nureyev Swatch

15th December 2013

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Press Sample

A-England has just released their Ballerina Collection. As always the shades are inspired by, and named-for a little piece of history. This time, it’s ballet history. There are four shades in this collection, each one a soft silver holographic with a tint of colour. The shade I have here is Dancing With Nureyev which has a blue tint. I used two coats for this swatch and you’ll also notice it works for stamping, even over the very dark plum base!

My base colour is A-England Dancing With Nureyev and added the ruffian style accents with Barry M Plum.

For the accent nail, I switched up the two colours using Barry M Plum as the base with Dancing With Nureyev to stamp on a slice of the pattern from MoYou plate Suki 08.

It’s all topped with a coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top.

Glitter, Holographic, Stamping, Uncategorised

When Whimsy Collides

10th December 2013

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Today’s nail art is very simple. I mean VERY simple! I tried a few nail art possibilities with the purple holographic polish but in the end I decided to keep it as it was in all its mauve beauty.

This holographic glitter was first spotted on the blog last week and I’ve worn it almost every day since. I’m completely obsessed. I’ve never been someone that was distracted by sparkly shiny things but there’s something about a glitter that glistens like this that has me hooked. It really is like magic! In the same post, I mentioned my long standing desire to own China Glaze Fairy Dust and over the weekend I finally ordered a bottle. As if by fate, I had an email from Nail Polish Direct declaring a China Glaze sale and took it as a sign from the Fairy gods!

The blue base colour is piCture pOlish Whimsy and the purple holographic polish is China Glaze When Stars Collide.

I stamped on the wavy design from MoYou Sailor 05 using BK Matt White.

The glitter on my index finger is Claire’s Holographic Glitter.
It’s all topped off with a coat of Essence Better Than Gel Nails Top Sealer.

Christmas, Glitter, Stamping, Uncategorised

My First Christmas Nail Art of 2013

28th November 2013

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I know that today is Thanksgiving but I don’t have any thanksgiving themed nail art for you. Being that I don’t celebrate it here in the UK and I’m painfully jealous of everyone feasting on turkey dinners today, I thought I’d kick of some Christmas festivities to remind me that I have a delicious roast dinner coming to my dining table soon enough!

This year I really feel like everything’s been done when it comes to Christmas nail art but I’m determined to come up with something at least semi-original before the 25th. If you want to see the Christmas designs I’ve done in the past, you can flick through the archives here!

For starters I used Essie Jag-U-Are (which is the metallic red) and stamped on a fair isle design from Nailz Craze Plate NC03 using BK Matt White. The snowflakes on my thumb are from MoYou London Kitty Plate 09 and the crazy cute decal on my middle finger is from She Sells Seashells. It’s a deer but I think it can pass as a reindeer!

The milky white polish with the green and red glitter is Sonnetarium Peppermint Kiss over one coat of Barry M White. The green and gold mix on my pinkie is W7 Cosmic Green over one coat of Ulta3 Mermaid Green.

Finally, I topped it all off with two coats of KBShimmer Clearly on Top.

Freehand, Gradient, Stamping, Uncategorised

Hunger Games: Catching Fire Inspired Nail Art

26th November 2013

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I’m a huge Hunger Games fan so of course, going to see Catching Fire was on the top of my to-do list last weekend! The second book is my favourite from the trilogy and the film very nearly lives up to the magic of the book.

Throughout the film I kept getting distracted by the outfits that the tributes wear in the arena. The honeycomb pattern, that was most noticeable on the shoulders, with the gradient effect in all those different shades of grey was just calling to me and I kept thinking that it looked identical to one of the designs in the new Bundle Monster set. Before I even left the cinema, I knew exactly how I’d be paying tribute to the movie! This isn’t the most exciting Hunger Games nail art that I’ve created but it’s one of my favourites.

I started with a base of Barry M White. I covered my cuticles with Liquid Palisade to protect them from any mess and created a gradient using Rimmel Grey Matter. There’s a gradient tutorial here.

I added the honeycomb pattern using Rimmel Grey Matter with Bundle Monster Plate BM422.

It’s all topped off with two coats of KBShimmer Clearly on Top.

Previously:
May the Odds be Ever in Your Favour
Nails on Fire

Glitter, Stamping, Uncategorised

Pop Pop!

24th November 2013

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I’m still exploring all the possibilities of my MoYou plates and I came across some amazing pop art designs on Pro Collection – 10. Mix that with some pastels and brights and I found myself with a manicure that just screams, POP POP!

The base colours I used in this mani are NYC Lavender Cupcake, Rimmel Aqua Cool and Maybelline Ceramic Blue.

The neon glitter on my ring finger is Wicked Polish Fairy Blood Splatter.

I stamped the designs from MoYou London Plate Pro Collection 10 using an unnamed bright pink from Kriston and NYC Water Street Blue.

I topped it all with one coat of Cult Nails Get It On and then one of NYC Matte Me Crazy.

I’m going to take a leaf from Accio Lacquer’s book today and illustrate this post with a topical gif! Any Magnitude fans out there?