Black Cats - Halloween Approaches

Hey space turtles! This month I am going to have a try and do the Glam Nails Challenge prompts again. They are of course all Halloween themed and gone are the days when I just do 2 or 3 Halloween looks per year! Since it's still early October I didn't go all out spooky for the Black Cat theme and opted for a cute look instead.

I started with a peel off base coat and then added two layers of off-white on my middle nails and two coats of glitter on the other two. First time using this glitter and it's lovely and sparkly! I made a decal of the cat on the moon using Mo You London's Animal 15 stamping plate, and then added the multi-cat image from the same plat to the other cream nail.

I'm really pleased with these and was glad to finally try out this glitter. I did have a bit of a top coat/clean up issue in the pictures but the look itself i'm enjoying. It's good to be able to fit the theme without being too Halloween-y just yet!

Colours used: Jazzagal - Enchanted Polish, Cream Soda - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Gold Digger - Barry M

Zyler & Menchie on a Halloween Night!

Hello or should I say miaow! Got some Holoween cat nails to share today for Holo Taco's 'Holoween' competition. I had to get Zyler's lovely orange nail polish out for this one of course, and I'd forgotten how gorgeous it is. I love the different sizes of glitter and that lovely holo sparkle! This nail art was a bit of a make it up as I go along look but I love it!

I started with a base of pale pink on my middle two nails, black on my index and little fingernails and just base coat on my thumbnail (all with a peel off base underneath). I then added a few coats of Zyler the Cat holo glitter over the black nails and thumbnail. For the middle two nails I added one thick layer of thermal top coat over the top and then let it all dry. Next I used a star image from Mo You London's Noel 06 stamping plate in white over the black nails, and created a cat on the moon detail from their Animal 15 plate (you can see how here). I added the cat decal and another little kitty face image to the black/star nails - I love how much the kitty face disappeared among the stars!

I enjoyed the finished look and as ever enjoyed it even more once the colour change started to take effect - such fun! I'd say it's not a massively Halloween look but it kind of is, and I love it! Pictures are below of it in different temperature states and I'm hoping to get a decent video of it in action to add on my Instagram (Claws For Thought)..

Colours used: Lady In Black - OPI, Pink Lemonade - Barry M, Zyler - Holo Taco, Black Thermal Topcoat - Fancy Gloss, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Flakie Holo Taco - Holo Taco

Catstronauts!

Hey everyone! Back with another space themed Glam Nails Challenge prompt! The latest prompt was astronauts - I don't have a lot of astronaut images but thought these little cat ones would be perfect! 

I started with a base of Queen of Shade from Quixotic Polish. I wore this once before and wasn't that wowed by it and I can't think why - it's gorgeous! It's hard to do it justice in the pictures but it's a beautiful and unique polish, and the magnetic effect works so well. I used the Sci-Fi 10 plate from Mo You London for the cat images and the planets. For the stars on my ring and index fingernails I used the Kelli Marissa Bundle Monster plate.

This look was so easy to do and I absolutely love it! The base colour is so pretty and I love how it looks like the cats are playing with the planets. I particularly love the thumbnail though I struggled to get a non-blurry picture of it!

Colours used: Queen of Shade - Quixotic Polish, Foil Effects in Silver - Barry M

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

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

Zyler The Cat & Friends

Miaow! Kitty cat nail art to share today using Holo Taco's Zyler The Cat nail polish as a base. I recently ordered this and it's partner, Menchie The Cat when ordering the new unicorn skin polishes. I have really been enjoying orange glitters lately and I love the cat theme and the glitter too so it's an all round winner! 

I started with a peel off base and then added a layer of orange glitter. Once dry I sponged on more glitter, and added one final layer on top. It dried pretty textured so I added a couple of layers of 'glitter grabber' clear polish before adding the nail art. For the images I used Mo You London's Animal 15 and Crazy Cat Lady 02 stamping plates. I created decals for the three cats, you can see how here.

In conclusion, the orange glitter was a little more textured than I expected but did eventually smooth out well after all the nail art and top coats! I really like this look but I'm still not 100% sure if orange glitter suits me - it just looks so much fun in pictures! Definitely a good one for autumn and Halloween nails when the time comes.

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

Holo Taco: Kitties in the Rain

 Hi all! Some more Holo Taco polishes to share today though the polishes are somewhat hidden behind some cats! This look is for Holo Taco's latest nail art competition following the release of the Menchie and Zyler nail polishes (named after Cristine and Ben's cats). The theme is cats, and I just had to take part as not only is it a cute theme, but I had so much fun last time taking part in the nail art competitions during lock down.

For this look I started with a base of blue (colours listed below the pictures) and then added the three anniversary collection flakie polishes from Holo Taco in a random selection on my nails. They are so pretty and the glitter is a little smaller than I expected from the videos, which in my opinion is a good thing. I'm tempted to try a gradient with them. I applied my 'glitter grabber' nail polish next to smooth out the glitter and make stamping easier. On my thumb I used a raindrop image, and for all the other images I made decals which you can see how to do here. For the cats I used the Crazy Cat Lady 02 plate from Mo You London, and for the rain clouds I used Uber Chic's Forecasting Glam plate.

It feels strange having darker colours on again but I do like it! You haven't seen the end of my more summery nails yet though! I felt a bit mean putting these cats in the rain but they seem to like it so it's all good!

Colours used: My Car has Navygation - OPI, Blue Flakie Holo Taco - Holo Taco, Purple Flakie Holo Taco - Holo Taco, Gold Flakie Holo Taco - Holo Taco, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection,  Moonfish - Barry M, Cappuccino - Barry M, White Horse Street - Nails Inc

Cats and Glitter!

Hi everyone :) I'm back with another entry to the weekly Holo Taco nail art challenge. This weeks theme is animals, and this is the first of two animal themed looks I will share with you. For both I decided to try out untried stamping plates which have been sat unused for so long! This one as you may gather has a cat theme. There are five images with this particular style with a cats face and some flowers around it, so I decided to try these all together. There are some other lovely images on the plate as well (Crazy Cat Lady 04 from Mo You London) which I hope to try out eventually!

So for this look I started out with a sponged on base of bright green glitter (colours listed below the pictures). It was the first time I've tried this one and it's lovely and bright. For the cats I used the advanced stamping technique and my Uber Mat to create decals, you can see how here. I'm so pleased with how these came out, I love the little kitties and the sparkle shining through in the background is the cherry on the cake for me! I particularly love the thumb nail, so have included it at two different angles in the pictures. You can't fully see the  glitter in these pictures, but believe me they are sparkly!
Colours used: Drama - Fun Lacquer, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Cream Soda - Barry M, Cappuccino - Barry M, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Spring Green - Barry M, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Can't Find My Czechbook - OPI

Miaowing In The Moonlight Nails

Hey nail people! Got something quite autumnal (and with a subtle nod to Halloween) to share with you today. This was one of the first ideas I had after getting the latest installment of Cirque Colors Facets collection, and I have saved it until now due to the autumn colours. I used the Mo You London Animal 15 plate for the cat themed images. I particularly like the one of the cat on the moon, it's an image I've been meaning to use for aaaages!

On my thumb and middle finger nails I used black stamping polish directly over cream polish, and on the ring finger nails I used the advanced/reverse stamping technique on my Uber Mat. All in all this wasn't too fiddly or time consuming to achieve, and I really enjoyed wearing it. I particularly liked wearing Citrine from Cirque Colors as it's quite different to what I usually wear colour wise, and of course it's sparkly!
Colours used: Citrine - Cirque Colors, Cream Soda - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Valentines Cat Nails!

Finally got round to doing a blog post about my Valentines Day nails for this year!  I've been having a busy time at work with travel to various meetings and just collapsing on the sofa when I get home! Also have had a lot of issues transferring photos recently but I seem to be sorted now.

So this year for Valentines Day I decided I would celebrate cats on my nails, and use one of Fun Lacquers new Valentines shades as well. It was the perfect excuse to try out one of my untried stamping plates from Mo You London's crazy cat lady collection. I would not recommend ordering from them at the moment (see Facebook reviews) and have unfollowed all their social media to avoid temptation! However fortunately I have a few zillion plates from them already, including some untrieds, so that will keep me going!

I started by sponging on a couple of layers of Love Potion, a fine holographic glitter, densely packed in a clear base. For the images I created decals on by Uber Mat, you can see how here. All decals went over the pink polish so the glitter could show through, except on my ring finger where it went straight on over a base coat. I kept the cat colours quite neutral as my nails were already looking quite loud with all the pink glitter! I particularly liked the images on my index and little fingers.

For actual Valentines Day we made home made pizza's after work and watched the movie Valentines Day. We swapped cards and small sweets/chocolate based gifts and I was given a tiny crocheted lobster! <3
Colours used: Love Potion - Fun Lacquer, Midnight Mischief - Painted Polish, Cream Soda - Barry M, White Horse Street - Nails Inc, Grey - Barry M

Puurrmaids!

Hi everyone! Today I bring you... purrmaid nail art!! Some time just over a year ago when we'd not long moved into our flat, we stumbled across some 'purrmaid' bedding in Asda when doing our food shop. Not where I'd ussually buy bedding but they were so awesome and weird, we just had to! So it
was only right that I created some nail art to honour them!

I started out trying to freehand entire purrmaids, but it was a bit fiddly so I decided to do a more abstract design. I used a small nail art brush to freehand the cat faces on my pointer finger, and my Bundle Monster Twi Star stamping plate for the tails, shells and mermaid scales pattern. I was really pleasantly surprised with how well Fun Lacquers Northern Lights works as a mermaid tail shade! It was lovedly and colour shifty.

I enjoyed this design for it's quirkiness, though I think the cat faces could have been a little neater, and the tails where quite thick, as I had to use quite a few layers of Northern  Lights to get even coverage. You can see the bedding that inspired this nail art here.
Colours used: Blue Moon - Barry M, Central Station - ILNP, Blueberry - Barry M, Cobalt - Barry M, Northern Lights - Fun Lacquer, Foil Effects In Gold - Barry M, Lady In Black - OPI, Surfboard - Barry M

Glitter and Cats - How To Use Water Decals

Miaow everyone! Two of the greatest things on tonight's nails - glitter and cats. I recently reviewed two stunning nail polishes from Painted Polish (see the review here). It was a little painful to contemplate putting anything over the glitter explosion that is Painted Polishes 'Crunk On Copper', but I was keen to try out these cat decals and thought they would go well!

I haven't used water decals before so I watched a few video's on YouTube to get an idea of how to do it. There weren't any instructions with the actual decals so I just chose my favourite from what I saw on YouTube. I've included instructions below the pictures. Despite my reservations about covering glitter, I loved how these turned out! Just wish the pictures showed the holo up a bit better!
How to use water decals:

1) Cut around the shapes you will be applying to your nails.
2) Peel off the clear plastic layer.
3) Place each piece in warm water for about 20-30 seconds
4) Gently remove the decal with your finger (it should slide away easily) and place it on your nail.
5) Allow the decal to dry a little (so it stops sliding around!) and lightly add a top coat to keep it in place.