It’s nearly time to wave goodbye to 2016 and I know a lot of us will be happy to see it go. On the whole, it really does seem like 2016 was a pretty terrible year but perhaps that’s because I live in the same pop culture as everyone else on Twitter and I just got sucked into it all. Whatever your thoughts on the last 12 months, I hope everyone is rounding off the year with fun festivities and killer nails!
If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen a very coy sneak peek of these nails yesterday and since it’s my absolute favourite mani for a while I had to honour them with a blog post. I also wanted somewhere to put the video tutorial so you guys could see how I got the gradient effect in the stamp. So, hey if you’re back here from Instagram!
Every week, an email drops into my inbox with the sole intention to tempt me to buy the latest MoYou releases. Normally this is an exercise in restraint for me because face it, we all want ALL of the MoYou plates, but last week I just couldn’t help myself. As if the announcement of their new worktop mat wasn’t exciting enough, they also released a whole bunch of Emoji stamping plates. Needless to say, I was all over that shiz!
I’m jumping right back in to the 31 Day Challenge where I left off and Day 21 calls for nails Inspired by a Color. The themes are very open to interpretation from today onwards so for this particular prompt, I normally try to pull inspiration from the name of a nail polish.
The one that caught me is a new collaboration shade from piCture pOlish and A Lacquered Affair (read Lauretta’s inspiration post here). The shade is called Ornate and I thought it would be a great excuse to pull out my current favourite MoYou plate from the Fashionista collection. The plate is covered in fancy baroque designs – all undoubtedly very ornate!
I literally can’t remember the last time I did a skittle mani (a different design on every finger). I went through my skittle-mania phase in 2012 so it was likely all the way back then. I am particularly fond of this one as it has a few of my signature styles in – we have a spot of stamping (which is how this blog got started), my waterfall design and the classic gradient (the tutorial for which remains, to this day, my most popular post). So alongside being a rather breathtaking monochrome mani, it’s a quick trip down memory lane too!
Base Colour Barry M Coconut
Thumb MoYou Back to the 80s Plate 03 stamped with W7 Black
First Finger Waterfall design with W7 Black & Silver, Sally Hansen Dorian Grey & Black Platinum, Barry M White
Middle Finger Chevrons with W7 Black using Whats Up Nails Skinny Zig Zags
Ring Finger Gradient with Barry M Coconut, Sally Hansen Dorian Grey and W7 Black
Pinky Finger Dotting with W7 Black
When you want some fine lines in your nail art, there’s no beating a bit of stamping. This plate from MoYou (Sci-Fi 05) has a couple of designs featuring insanely thin lines but I went with this circuitboard pattern for a suitably technologic design.
My base colour is NYC Pier 17 and I stamped the design with GOSH Metallic Blue from MoYou Sc-Fi Plate 05
Please let me be the first to call myself out on the lack of blog posts coming from this direction over the last month or so. There is no big reason for my extended absence; for one reason or another I just haven’t been feeling it for a while.
I’m still thinking about blogging every single day, multiple times a day… okay basically just all the time. It’s in my bones now and I can’t escape it. The ideas keep on coming but I’m lagging a little on the execution side of things. I’m sure some of you know exactly where I’m coming from with this. Please tell me I’m not alone!
I’ve obviously been keeping myself busy with nail art and snapping pics the whole time though. We all know how much I love a gradient and what’s better than one gradient? Lots of them! I did neglect notekeeping duties on occasion but all the info under the images is correct to the best of my knowledge!
Barry M Coconut
Sally Hansen Blinding Blue
Sally Hansen Jungle Gem
NYC Statue of Liberty
Gradient Watercolour Tutorial Here
China Glaze Pink-ie Promise
Sally Hansen Dorien Gray
Simple Gradient Tutorial Here
Barry M Coconut
Kriston #35
NYC Sunny Manhattan
Uber Chic Beauty Stamping Plate 2-01
Gradient Stamping Tutorial Here
Revlon Minted
Barry M Coconut
1.2mm Silver Studs from Born Pretty Store