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Glequins

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    Happy Fourth of July

    3rd July 2013
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    Being in the UK I don’t get to celebrate Independence Day but I’d still like to wish all my US friends a happy Fourth of July! The holiday looks like a helluva lot of fun to me (I may or may not be a closet pyro!). Here we have to wait until November 5th for bonfires and fireworks! However, geographical misfortunes won’t stop me when I spy the opportunity for some themed nail art! 

    I actually created this mani (plus a tutorial) for Divine Caroline where I’ll be doing a bit of writing here and there from now on. So if you want to see the tutorial for this look, jump on over to my post on DivineCaroline.com… Stars and Stripes Nail Art

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    Uncategorised

    Harlekwins

    5th March 2013
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    Sorry this ain’t no tutorial – as promised it is coming this week, just not today. I’ve had these little diamond glequins just as long as the hexagonal ones but at the time I saw so much potential in the hexes that these got swept under the rug and neglected until now. I know I say this too often but I love this manicure! Since the new year I’ve really done a u-turn and these days I can’t get enough pink. I blame the Avant Garden collection! The diamond glequins are available from Born Pretty Store here (#5) and I can see myself investing in a couple more colours very soon.
    I used China Glaze Pink-ie Promise as my base colour and applied the glequins, which are from Born Pretty Store (colour #5), in a harlequin pattern using this method. Finally I topped it off with one coat of Seche Vite.

     

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    What’s a Glequin?

    27th January 2013
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    ‘Glequin’ is a word that I use a lot on this blog, often forgetting that it’s a made up word. I’m sure some of you out there will be left wondering… ‘WTF is a Glequin?!’
    Well hopefully that question will be answered soon and I’ve answered a few other Glequin FAQs while I’m here.

    The word ‘Glequin’ was formed by mashing Glitter+Sequin together. Glequins are small pieces of plastic that resemble glitter but are kind of too big to be described that way – when most people hear ‘glitter’ they think of something powdery. But they’re also too small to fit in to the category of sequins, which are bigger and much easier to handle!

    Where can you buy them?
    I always buy them from Born Pretty Store because they have a huge selection of colours and shapes and they’re cheap as hell! Not forgetting the free worldwide shipping.
    I have the 12 Pack of little pots which is $6.45 and a few Individual Large Pots which are $2.38 each. I mostly have hexagonal shaped ones but you can also buy diamonds and circles.
    Sooo many people have asked me what stores you can buy them in and the truth is I’ve never seen these in UK shops. If you have, please let us all know in the comments. Same if you know of any US stores where you can buy them.
    Top row: 12 pack Red, Pink, Orange, Gold, Pistachio Green, Lime Green, Bright Green, Aqua Blue,
    Royal Blue, Purple,  Clear, Silver.
    Bottom row: Silver Holographic (#1) and Gold Holographic (#2)
    How big are they?
    Sizes do vary slightly but most of the ones I’ve used are somewhere around 1mm in diameter. It’s hard to tell exactly how big they are when you only see them in pictures of other peoples’ nails so for a bit of perspective I lined them all up next to a ruler, the lines each mark 1mm.
    You can see that most of the ones I own are just slightly over 1mm except the silver one (top row, far right) which is almost double the size of the others, and the silver and gold holographic ones (bottom row) which are smaller.
    How do you apply them?
    I use a toothpick dipped in clear nail polish (so it’s tacky at the end) to apply them whilst I have wet polish on my nails. I made a video of me doing this which you can watch here. I’m sure there are many other tools and methods you can use to stick them to your nails so if that method doesn’t work for you, try something else that you think will!
    You will need a steady hand but I don’t think patience is particularly important. With a bit of practice, you’ll be able to apply them really quickly. 

    Sally Hansen Green Tea

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    Freehand, Uncategorised

    Where’s Wally Nail Art

    23rd January 2013
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    Today’s nails are inspired by everyone’s favourite Hide and Seeker…Wally, of ‘Where’s Wally?’ fame! He may be known to some of you as Waldo and he’s well known for his iconic red and white stripy attire and bobbly hat. 
    After I painted these, One Nail to Rule Them All popped up in my timeline and her profile picture stuck out to me. Without even seeing her Where’s Wally design, I had created one almost identical. Great minds think alike, right? You should all go check out her blog, she’s a fellow UK blogger and perfectionist – her nail art is amazing!
    This is the first very intricate freehand design I’ve done in so long! I miss having the time (and inspiration) to create these manicures. I seem to be getting my spark back and I’m getting better at managing my free time so, painted fingers crossed, there’ll be more of them in store.

    I used Barry M Matt White as my base colour, then freehanded on the red stripes using Rimmel Heart on Fire and a nail art brush. I added the red glequins while the red polish was still wet.
    For the man himself, I used black acrylic paint with a nail brush to paint the outlines. I used Deborah Lippmann Fashion for his skin, Essie Glamour Purse for his hair and some more Rimmel Heart on Fire for the red details. Then I had to go over some of the outlines again. I had to concentrate so hard when I was doing his eyes not to make him look like a googly-eyed fish!
    Finally I topped it off with two coats of NYC In a New York Minute.

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    Glitter, Studs, Uncategorised

    Girly Pearly

    1st January 2013
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    What is it about one new nail polish that can totally change your style? This happens to me sometimes, I just get completely hung up on one nail polish and it dominates my manicures for a week or two until I move on to something else. Well at the moment it’s this light, girly pink… Sally Hansen Crinolin.
    As predicted, my New Years mani didn’t last until the New Year! These are the nails I was actually wearing come the stroke of midnight.
    My base colour is Sally Hansen Crinolin. The pearls are from Born Pretty Store and I used Rimmel Urban Princess as my base on that finger. The pink purple glequins are also from Born Pretty. The glitter on my middle finger is Sally Hansen Razzle Dazzler.
    The studs I used are from NPW* and they come in a little packet of 5 colours. I just want to give them a little shout out because they’re the cheapest caviar beads I know of that you can pick up on the UK high street at £2.50 for the pack. NPW products are available in Topshop, Accessorize and New Look stores.
    I didn’t add a topcoat to the studded nails before these pictures in case the colour ran but I did top coat them after the pictures were taken and the colour stayed stuck to the studs. With a top coat, they even survived a night of partying and lasted until I removed the manicure earlier today.

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