A Dandelion Silhouette

Hello again! More Glam Nails Challenge nail art to share today. I really had no idea what to do for this theme but I couldn't just miss the one prompt for the whole month! The prompt is dandelions, and I have no dandelion images on my many stamping plates, so had to give some freehand a go. Fortunately they are pretty simple, but I'm not well practised in freehand!

I started with a base of white on my middle two nails and pale purple on the others. I then used a small thin nail art brush to paint on the dandelion and stray seeds in black. I'm not well experienced at this so had to tidy the stem up a bit after, but I think it kind of works in a kind of 'meant to be messy' kind of way! I took inspiration from various looks I saw online and tried to keep it as simple as possible. I then added a layer of shimmery 'unicorn skin' topper over the purple nails, and finally added a matte top coat to finish off.

I quite like these, they're not my favourite I've done but I think they're quite cute and Spring like! There have been a couple of times though where for a split second out of the corner of my eye I've mistaken the dandelion for a spider - not ideal! :D

Colours used: Wardour Street - Nails Inc, Floral Street - Nails Inc, Lady In Black - OPI, Cosmic Unicorn Skin - Holo Taco

Abstract Florals with a Surprise Twist!

Hello everyone! I've been seeing abstract nail art designs everywhere for some time now, and decided to give it a go myself with some pretty purple and blues. I tried something similar when doing some One Nail To Rule Them All tutorials in the autumn but this time I stamped the images rather than drawing them myself which definitely makes them neater!

I started with a white base and then added a swipe of blue followed by purple (colours listed below images). I then used a dotting tool to add some black dots on each nail. To be honest I think this step maybe makes it a bit too busy - when I did it I'd forgotten I was also adding the stamping! Once I remembered what I was doing I used Mo You London's Fall In Love 10 plate to add the leaf prints in black. Finally, I used tweezers and gold leaf to apply little shiny bits of gold in empty white spaces on my nail before finishing with a glossy top coat.

The surprise - So the purple I used was a new one which was a gift from my lovely boyfriend. Once the nail art was all dry and I was in the shower I noticed that the purple I'd chosen had turned green! I momentarily forgot thermal polishes are a thing and was quite shocked! I had wondered why he chose a colour I already had but now I know! I think it really works well for this look, and shows up well in the pictures below. A great present!

Overall I'm pretty pleased with these - especially the colour changing element!

Colours used: Cream Soda - Barry  M, Mermaid Tail - Starrily, Laguna - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Stamping Sunday: Cats in the Garden

Hello world! I feel like I'm losing the plot today, it's only 10am and I'm so sleepy, planning to go for a run shortly too! Today's nail art is for glam nails challenge, and I'm thinking about bringing back stamping Sundays so thought I'd include it as that too. The theme for this prompt is cats. I feel like I have done quite a few cat nails already this year but I have a few cat stamping plates so I have no complaints!

I started with a base of white polish and then used black stamping polish to apply the cat images from Mo You London's Crazy Cat Lady 04 stamping plate. Once dry I applied a layer of quick dry top coat to protect the images for the next stage. I included a picture of how it looks in black and white as I do really like it and was tempted to leave it this way. Once the top coat was dry I mixed up some sharpie ink with nail polish remover to apply some colour with a small brush. I soon realised I wanted the colours to be brighter so used the sharpies directly into my nails. I initially did the ginger cat orange but it was way to bright so I added some brown which gave it a bit of a mottled effect. I finished the look with a matte top coat.

Overall I quite like these but am not so sure about the ring and little fingernail images. They are OK but I'm not sure they flow that well. I like the index and middle fingernails and think the contrast of the colours works well. Also love the thumb, I do have a habit of doing the thumb nail best, I think it's because there's more nail to work with!

Colours used: Floral Street - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Assorted Sharpies

April showers and April flowers!

Hey! Back again with another glam nails challenge prompt just in time before the end of the day. Today's prompt is April Showers. I decided to add flowers to make it an 'April showers bring May flowers' theme. I did end up with it a bit more flower heavy than planned but I think it works.

I started with a colour changing base as I think this works well for a weather themed look. This was very much a make it up as I go along look so I made a selection of decals on my Uber Mat using the advanced stamping technique. I then applied these to my nails, and they were a little bigger than I'd anticipated! I then used Uber Chic's Forecasting Glam stamping plate to add a raincloud on my thumb and some raindrops around the flowers on my other nails.

I'm happy with how they turned out, however as I said they are a bit more flower heavy than planned!

Colours used: Luna - Cirque Colors, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Cream Soda - Barry M, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Berry Ice Cream - Barry M

Twit-Twoo!

Tweet tweet! This nail art is for Sunday's glam nails challenge prompts, but I'm running quite behind as we spent a lot of time working in the garden at the weekend and I was finally able to go for a pub lunch with friends! The theme prompt was birds and I stumbled across the Uber Chic owl stamping plate in my collection and thought it would be perfect!

As a base I used a couple of speckled nail polishes as they fit the bird theme well. For the owls I used the advanced stamping technique, you can see how here. I used a mixture of creme and sparkly shades and I'm quite happy with the effect I ended up with. It was very much a make it up as I go along look!

Colours used: Hatch - Cirque Colors, Robin - Cirque Colors, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Cream Soda - Barry M, Tickled Taupe - Painted Polish, Taupe Temptation - Painted Polish

Floral Abstracts with Cirque Colors

Hi all! I have more nail art to share with you today - shocker! Again this look is for a Glam Nails prompt on Instagram - this one is 'flowers'. I haven't really gone with flowers so much as an abstract floral look - but I think it still counts! I decided to dig out some Cirque Colors shades from a few years ago, most of which I believe are from their Desert Bloom collection and I'm so glad I did. They really are such beautiful classy shades, I keep flipping between whether Wildflowers or Velvetine is my favourite but I love them all!

I started of with one colour on each nail, shades used are listed below the pictures. I then used Mo You London's Floral 23 stamping plate to add the images somewhat at random. I chose the images as I went along to see what would work, and at first I wasn't sure sure but now I've added the top coat and have had a bit of time to appreciate it I really like it! I think it's quite a classy look (if I do say so!) and definitely want to wear these colours some more! 

Colours used: Velvetine - Cirque Colors, Wildflowers - Cirque Colors, Taos - Cirque Colors, Earthen - Cirque Colors, Fata Morgana - Cirque Colors, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M

Spring Skittle Nails... Had to be Mini Eggs!

Hello and happy Sunday! I hope you're having a good weekend, it's nearly coming to an end for me but I know I have leftover lasagne for tea and I'm pretty excited about it! Today's nail art was created for today's Glam Nails Challenge prompt on Instagram, which is pastel skittle. In case you don't know a skittle mani is where the nails are all different colours. Given the time of year I thought mini egg nails would be perfect for this, I've also done this look once before and love it so much! It's so easy to do and perfect for Easter - I know Easter weekend has passed but I am still eating mini eggs so it feels appropriate. I've also found that eating mini eggs leaves my hands smelling of mini eggs which totally fits the theme so I must keep eating them!

I started with a base of five different pastel colours which mini eggs come in, I've listed the shades I used below the pictures. Once dry I used a fan brush and lightly applied some dark brown nail polish (black works too but if you have brown it has a more 'natural' look!) from the brush. I then used the fan brush to lightly apply specs of brown polish. That's pretty much it! I added a matte top coat to complete the look and unfortunately did smudge the yellow one a little. There is a step you can do to add a light dusting of white, which I did last time I tried this, but to be honest I don't think it makes all that much difference and I was sleepy! 

As expected I really like these! It's such a fun look and so easy to do! I've done it before for myself and for a friend, and will most likely do it again! 

Colours used: Marylebone Road - Nails Inc, Berry Ice Cream - Barry M, Cream Soda - Barry M, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Strawberry Ice Cream - Barry M, Cocoa - Barry M

Flutterby's In The Spring

Hey! I'm back today with the second Glam Nails Challenge prompt for this month which is butterfly's. I have a butterfly stamping plate and a whole host of great butterfly wing colours so knew what to do with this one! The two Starrily base colours are new and were gifts from my partner so I couldn't wait to try them out. The colours used are listed below the pictures as usual.

After starting with my base colours and using the blue as an accent for the thumb and ring finger, I created decals on my Uber Mat, you can see how here. In the meantime I used black stamping polish to apply the butterfly and butterfly wing images to my thumb, ring finger and little fingernails (all images from Mo You London's Kitty 12 stamping plate). I love seeing the gorgeous Starrily colour shining through! For the decals I did have a slight issue with my middle finger in that I stuck it on the wrong way round! Having done this so many times I'm not sure how I managed that to be honest! It makes it harder to stick down and not look as neat. I'm hoping it's the kind of thing only I'd notice unless I mention it, though it's not like many people are seeing my nails at the moment anyway!

In conclusion - I adore these base colours, especially the blue accent, they are perfect for Spring, super shimmery and really pretty. I think they make a great base for butterfly nails. The look could have been a little neater if I hadn't messed up the middle finger but overall I'm pleased with it!

Colours used: Indigo Child - Starrily, Headless Horseman - Starrily, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Cosmic Girl - Danglefoot Polish

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I'm sharing this a little later in the day than planned but only because I spent so long making a nut roast for lunch and after that we went for a walk with some of my family. It was lovely to see them and a lovely sunny day too! I was excited to use this base colour (colours listed below images) as it's a gift from my boyfriend and it's such a perfect shade for Easter! It's also my first ever Starrily nail polish. I now have four and I've been enjoying trying them out.

I used a mixture of advanced stamping and layered stamping for this look. On my index and little fingernails I added the images from Mo You London's Festive 58 stamping plate in white, and then added brighter colours over the top. I did struggle to line the spots up but I think it looks OK. For my other three nails I used the advanced stamping technique (see how here) to create decals using my Uber Mat. I finished the look with my favourite glossy top coat, Nails Inc's Kensington Caviar.

I like the way these came out, they are very much Easter and Spring nails and I'm pleased with how crisp and bright the images are. The only not so good part is I did end up smudging the top of the thumb nail a little when lifting a heavy pan - so annoyed about that as it's my favourite nail! Still, it's only the top of it and you can still see all the little micro bunnies looking cute! Happy Easter!

Colours used: Mint To Be - Starrily, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Cyan - Barry M, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Indigo Child - Starrily, Cappuccino - Barry M, Papaya - Barry M, Key Lime - Barry M, White Horse Street - Nails Inc

A Unicorn Scale Mermaid Tail

Hello world! I'm feeling good today as I've been off work for a couple of days and have been enjoying the Spring weather and being able to go for walks with people again! The nail look I'm sharing today isn't particularly Easter themed but it's one I wanted to try with the new Holo Taco Unicorn Skins and I couldn't resist trying it straight away!

I saw a similar look by Nerdy Nail Art on Instagram (but with a black base) and loved it so had to give it a go. I started with a dark green base, and then used some of the Holo Taco sponges to add a little dab of all six Unicorn Skin polishes to each nail. These sponges were a bit less absorbent than I expected so I didn't get a particularly thick layer of flakies (the sponges I usually use give a more intense pop of flakies or colour). I could have added another layer here to get a more intense look but it already looked so pretty so I went straight in with the stamping! For the scale outline I used black stamping polish and the Bundle Monster Twi Star stamping plate. I finished the look with a glossy top coat. 

I do love the dark mermaid look. It wasn't exactly what I was going for but I like it anyway and would totally try something similar again. I loved seeing all the different coloured flakies catching the light. The Unicorn Skins never fail to amaze me!

Colours used: Watermelon - Barry M, Solar Unicorn Skin, Lunar Unicorn Skin, Aurora Unicorn Skin, Galactic Unicorn Skin, Cosmic Unicorn Skin, Sonic Unicorn Skin - all Holo Taco

Menchie The Cat & Friends

Following on from my last post I have a sort of twin look I created using Holo Taco's Menchie The Cat nail polish as my base. As with the last look I applied one layer, then sponged some on then applied another layer. The thumb nail is a little different as I ruined it and had to start again, for this I added Polished For Days' Soft Focus base coat which was a great base for the glitter and meant I needed to use less to get full coverage. Unfortunately my picture below has come out blurry but I did rather like the thumb nail on this one, it reminds me of the Aristocats films!

As with the Zyler nail art I used the advanced stamping technique to create this look, you can see how here. The stamping plates I used were Mo You London's Animal 15 and Crazy Cat Lady 02. I love how ridiculously sparkly this nail polish is. I find it's often the case with holographic glitters than the pale or silver ones are the most wildly glittery - this one certainly didn't disappoint! I don't think I have much else to say on this one so miaow for now!

Colours used: Menchie The Cat - Holo Taco, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Cappuccino - Barry M, Little Bo Peep - Rimmel, Cream Soda - Barry M