Gold Leaf Strikes Again!

Hey space turtles! Today I'm sharing some nail art inspired by a tutorial I saw by Claudia Hernandez on Instagram. It's been on my to do list for a while. I only realised after looking at the tutorial again more recently that I'd actually used the exact same nail polish (I thought I'd just used something similar). I started with a layer of sheer white then sheer green. I then used my fingers and some tweezers to pull apart some gold leaf which I carefully applied to my nails using my fingers. After a while I found that was actually easier then using tweezers. I added another layer of sheer green followed by another layer of gold leaf and then more sheer green. To finish off I added a few more pieces of gold leaf and then a clear top coat. I love how these came out! They don't have the visible nail line I was anticipating but I like them just as much. They remind me a bit of precious stones.

Colours used: Verdigris Jelly - Cirque Colors, Gold Leaf - Available in craft stores, Soft Focus (White) - Polished for Days

Dream Within A Galaxy

Hi everyone! Today's blog post will be a short one as it's a simple look I created for a Glam Nails Challenge prompt (galaxy). I was going to try classic galaxy nails but didn't really have time so decided to use magnetic polish and stamping for a galaxy effect instead. I started with one layer of magnetic polish and then another which I magnetised with a bar magnet. Once dry I added images from the Bundle Monster Kelli Marissa stamping plate in metallic silver. I finished the look with a glossy top coat. I like it - simple yet effective I think! The magnetic effect has spread out a bit over time but I like both the original and current versions.

Colours used: Dream Within A Dream - Cirque Colors, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M

Gems with Cirque Colors Facets Collection

Hey space turtles! Super excited to be using Cirque Colors' Facets Collection again as it remains my favourite collection of all time. I'd forgotten just how many polishes there are and chose a select few for this look. Initially I was planning just a sheer pink background but then remembered the collection has a sparkly pale pink so I added one layer of that before adding my decals.

I started with four layers of 'Mani Mask' sheer polish and then added one coat of pale sparkly pink. While this was drying I created decals on my Uber Mat (see how here) for the gems using Mo You London's Crystal 06 stamping plate. Using Cirque Colors' Facets collection for a gems look has been something I've meant to do for ages so was great to finally do it! I finished the look with a glossy top coat and then unfortunately wiped a bit of the design away at the bottom left of my thumb by mistake - a shame as that was my favourite one! I'm enjoying the way these sparkle in the sunlight - very authentic!

Colours used: Bashful - Barry M, Rose Quartz - Cirque Colors, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Emerald - Cirque Colors, Tourmaline - Cirque Colors, Zircon - Cirque Colors, Ruby - Cirque Colors, Citrine - Cirque Colors

Help From a Magnetic Seal

Hey space turtles. Tried something a bit different with this look. I've seen a lot of people on Instagram using magnets to create a stripy effect with magnetic nail polish and thought I'd give it a go. I chose my adoptive son Ray to help with this task (my parents adopted a lovely seal for me from the Cornish Seal Sanctuary for Christmas). I've included a picture of my Ray fridge magnet below - looking splendid!

I started with a layer of beige polish to add some opacity. Meanwhile I had some decals drying on my Uber Mat. I placed magnetic Ray under the mat and then painted nail polish over the top in three different shades (colours listed below the pictures). I then added a layer of clear polish over each decal. Once dry I applied the decals to my nails, trimmed them and tidied the edges with nail polish remover before applying a clear top coat.

As you can probably see from the pictures there is rather a lot of bubbling! It happened once I added the top coat but it was too late for me to do anything about it at that point. I found it quite hard to apply the decals flat as they were quite stiff and were not sticky side down. I probably should have applied a sticky top coat to help them adhere better. I think this was a fun look but I could definitely work on my technique!

Colours used: Paradox - Cirque Colors, Dream Within a Dream - Cirque Colors, Mood Ring - Cirque Colors

A dream within the forest

Good evening space turtles! The title of this blog post is a play on the name of the purple magnetic polish I've used for this look - Dream Within a Dream by Cirque Colors. I was inspired by mullemaus1281 on Instagram to create this look. It was pretty simple to do. I started with a layer of base coat and of purple magnetic polish, then added a further layer which I magnetised. The magnetic effect has spread out a bit as you can see below so I don't have as much of a crisp magnetic effect, but I like this effect in it's own right. I added images from Mo You London's Noel 06 stamping plate in white and then finished the look with a glossy top coat.

I like how these turned out. They may not be quite like the original but I like them in their own way. It was fun using a magnetic polish again too.

Colours used: Dream within a dream - Cirque Colors, Essential White - Uber Chic

Cosy at Home

Hey space turtles! So my last post was cosy in chrome and this one is cosy at home... I wanted to do something that captured my enjoyment of home in the colder weather and use the lovely Cosy At Home plate from Uber Chic Beauty.

I started with two layers of frosty blue polish which is actually a thermal although the thermal colour change effect isn't very strong now. I made decals for four of my nails on my Uber Mat and while these tried I added the welcome winter wording and a couple of hearts. I then added the decals to my nails and finished with a glossy top coat. I'm pleased with how they came out and am looking forward to getting into my Christmas nail art looks :)

Colours used: Glacier Blue - Cirque Colors, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Red Hot Rio - OPI, White Moonstone - Barry M, Taupe Temptation - Painted Polish, Yellow - Barry M

Rainbow Nails for Porto

Hi Space Turtles! I'm back after a week away in the beautiful city of Porto in Portugal. These where my holiday nails (along with the Aperol Spritz ones I shared before). I took inspiration from me.time.manis on Instagram who created a gorgeous rainbow look with the Bubbly Collection from Cirque Colors. I decided to attempt a recreation as a fun holiday look and I love it! It's a great collection and the colours are so fun together.

I started by unscrewing the gaps on the ones I wanted to use on the nail I was working on, then applied a line of colour of each polish gently, trying to blend or overlap them slightly without the brushes getting contaminated with other colours. I then held a magnet over the top for 30 seconds. Once all nails were dry I repeated the process with a second coat. I probably didn't need to magnetise the first coat in the end but thought it might help.

I wish I'd managed to blend the colours a little better and perhaps managed to get a better magnetic effect but I did know that would be tricky with the multiple colours as they dry so fast. Despite this I do love these. They are such a fun and bright colour combination and perfect for holiday nails!

Colours used: Aperol Spritz, Sparkling Yuzu, Soda Shoppe, La Dolce Vita, Helter Seltzer, Fizzing Lifting Drink - All Cirque Colors

Ode to Aperol Spritz

Hi everyone! Today I'm sharing some nail art which is not for an Instagram challenge for once! I've had the idea of doing some Aperol Spritz nails since I got Cirque Colors Bubbly Collection. It's my favourite drink - it's so yummy, a great colour and reminds me of holidays (we first tried it in Venice). I have also had a bit of a thing for orange nail polish for a year or so, so I'm really loving this polish!

I started with two coats of cream on my middle and thumb nails and Aperol Spritz on the other two. I used a bar magnet to get the magnetic effect and did this on both layers. I love the way the layers of holo shine through when I move them in the light. I stamped the multiple cocktail image directly onto my nails in black and created decals for the two glasses and the wording. The cocktail and glass images are from Uber Chic's Bottoms Up plate and the wording is letters put together from Mo You London's Typography 04 plate. I added oranges from the UC plate using Aperol Spritz which worked surprisingly well as a fun background image colour.

I'm pleased with how these came out, They are fairly simple to look at but the process was a little different for me in terms of adding images together to make decals etc and I like the simple colour scheme. Love the orange polish too - both the style and the name! I suppose this look isn't really an ode to Aperol Spritz as I think that would be a song or poem... but it's certainly a tribute!

Colours used: Aperol Spritz - Cirque Colors, Cream Soda - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Travelling Taco's

Hey space turtles! Who doesn't love a travelling taco? The perfect treat for hungry nails! I tried out Hatch from Cirque Colors again as they had a competition recently where to enter you had to swatch your first ever Cirque Colors polish. Was interested to look back and see that Hatch was my first, closely followed by the first installment of my beloved facets collection. Couldn't resist doing a few more Glam Nails Challenge prompts this month so added some Travel themed nail art over the top of Hatch. I went for a Mexican theme as I like the look of travelling to Mexico.

I added three images from Uber Chic's Let's Taco Bout It stamping plate in gold, followed by black slightly to the side so the gold would show through, On my remaining fingernails I used patterns from Mo You London's Explorer 33 stamping plate. I finished the look with a glossy top coat. Verdict - fun! These were pretty simple to do and I like the effect.

	Colours used: Hatch - Cirque Colors, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M

Cirque Colors Bubbly Collection

Hello from a very sunny England! Preparing for possible record breaking temperatures over the next few days! These nail pictures are from a weekend away we had in the Cotswolds last weekend which was delightful! I sat out in the garden and tried out Cirque Colors new Bubbly Collection while we were there. It's a six piece collection of linear holo magnetic polish in some gorgeous shades which are on the sheer side with a holo streak running through once magnets are applied.

I'm not going to talk through each shade here (though I've listed them below the pictures) but just give a bit of an overview of my thoughts in general. I adore the colour palette here. The colours are somehow perfect summery even though they're not bright or pastel, I think they made my nails look like coloured glass beads! I started with one coat of polish on all nails then added a second coat and only applied the magnets to that coat. I didn't get that much of a magnetic effect on most of them which I think was down to user error. I wonder if the effect would have been better magnetising both layers given the sheer element to the polish.

On one of my thumbnails I tried a gradient effect which I really like, would definitely like to do more gradients with these polishes. The magnetic effect definitely came out better on my thumbnails though I don't think the pictures do it justice. I would definitely recommend these! I think Aperol Spritz is my favourite. I have a bit of a thing for orange nail polish at the moment and it's my favourite drink too! (Aperol Spritz that is, not orange nail polish :D)

Colours used: La Dolce Vita, Helter Seltzer, Soda Shoppe, Sparkling Yuzu, Aperol Spritz, Fizzy Lifting Drink - All Cirque Colors

MerFail Nails

Hey everyone! Got a bit of a nail fail to share today but I'm sharing it anyway! This is some nail art from a few weeks ago now. I was inspired by some butterfly nail art I saw on Instagram where someone had layered up some white images over some metallic purple ones. I decided to try and replicate the look using mermaid themes from the Bundle Monster Twi Star stamping plate.

I started with a few layers of sheer purple (colours listed below pictures) and then added mermaid scale and water ripple images in metallic purple. Once dry I added more individual images over the top in white stamping polish. I think a combination of the polishes I used and the images meant that there wasn't really enough contrast between the colours and it made the images look a bit more blurry and harder to focus on. I wasn't all that happy with these and took them off after only a few days.

Colours used: Haze Jelly - Cirque Colors, Foil Effects in Lilac - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Daisy Daisy Daisy

Aloha! Some very Spring themed nail art to share today. This look has been on my nails for just over a week now. It's been a busy time and my blogging has been lagging behind a bit! There's even been less nail art but I'm looking forward to doing my nails again this weekend. 

This is a look I'd been meaning to try for a while, with a couple of Cirque Colors newish sheer polishes which I purchased recently. I started of three coats of sheer polish on each nail - using a different colour for each hand. Next I used white stamping Polish and Mo You London's Festive 58 stamping plate to add the daisies. It was a little time consuming as I was using the same image so many times but worth it I think! I then used a dotting tool to add the yellow pollen, and finished the look with a glossy topcoat.

I'm enjoying this look, it's very Spring/Summery and goes with a lot of things. I also wore it for my friends beautiful wedding in an orchard in Herefordshire. It was very fitting for the scenery and the lovely weather and will remind me of it when I look at the pictures :)

Colours used: Peach Jelly - Cirque Colors, Haze Jelly - Cirque Colors, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc