Night Swimming Nails

Today's nail art is inspired by a night swim I did not too long ago. It was actually a Halloween one so I could have done a more spooky design, but I liked the idea of doing an overall night swim look as it's such a cool experience!

I started with two layers of deep aquatic green (could have probably got away with one) while the decal for my thumbnail was drying on my Uber Mat. I then added some spotty patterns from Mo You London's Atlantis 04 to my middle two nails and the hand, star and moon nails on my other fingernails. For the mermaid silhouette's I stamped one directly onto my nail and for the other I made a decal - this is so that I could turn the images the way I wanted and make them face each other. The silhouette's are from Uber Chic's Mermaid Life 02 stamping plate and I used a dotting tool to add some sparkle. Finally I added the mermaid decal to my thumbnail (also from Atlantis 04).

In conclusion I like these but I wish the mermaids had shown up better. I added the lilac pattern as I thought the mermaid silhouette's would show up against them but that didn't end up being the case. Shame really as I love the way the index and little finger came out so the mermaids being clearer would have taken it from a look I like to a look I love!

Colours used: Aquatic - Picture Polish, Foil Effect in Lilac - Barry M, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Charlotte Street - Nails Inc, Cocoa - Barry M, Underworld - Barry M, Good Vibes Only - Nails Inc

A Nail Art Tribute to Scotland in the Autumn

Hi there space turtles! Today I'm sharing some nail art which actually isn't for an Instagram nail art challenge for once! This is just something I felt like doing after a recent family holiday in Scotland where we stayed in the country and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and autumn leaves. We saw many trees, leaves and fungi in different shades so I've tried to capture that here with a bit of sparkle,

I added three layers of sheer white and then added some white patterns to three of my nails followed my another layer of sheer white. On the other two I added another layer too and then stamped a grey pattern and a mountain scene over the top using Mo You London's Noel 16 (putting it sideways was a very last minute decision as I applied it!). In the meantime I had some decals drying on my Uber Mat which I created in advance using Uber Chic's Woodland Chic stamping plate. I applied the decals over the white patterns and then added a glossy top coat.

I'm pretty pleased with how these came out. They felt a bit ad-hoc while I did them but created a look that wasn't quite how I was expecting but was exactly as cosy and fun as I'd hoped! I really love the way the landscape on my thumbnail came out. It's to remind me of a lovely viewing spot near our holiday house of some hills with trees either side and birds of prey. It was hills rather than mountains but this image was close enough!

Colours used: Sheet Off-White - Undisclosed, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Grey - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Bronze Bae - Barry M, Copper Mine - Barry M, Gold Digger - Barry M

Apothecary Stamping

Heyy space turtles! Not sure I'm going to manage as much nail art this month as I have so many things going on, but will enjoy fitting it in where I can. I have the apothecary themed Halloween 18 stamping plate and have visions of fabulous designs I can do but can't quite seem to put it together. Hopefully the ideas will come to me! For now I decided I'd just add the images in silver and lilac metallic over a dark green flakie polish for a bit of magic.

I started with a peel of base coat and then added two coats of deep green flakie polish. I then added the snake, jar, mushroom and moth images in lilac and some stars in silver. Once dry I added a glossy top coat. Although I wanted to be more extravagant when using this stamping plate I do still like this look and think it is a good way to wind down from the Halloween nail art, It felt like fitting early November nail art.

Colours used: Nightshade - Quixotic Polish, Foil Effects in Lilac - Barry M, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M