China Plate Skittle

Hey space turtles! Keeping this one short and sweet today as I have a bit of a back log. I fancied trying out my china plate stamping plate again and after some thought as to what would work best I decided to go for bright and colourful as Spring approaches. I started with a base coat and two layers of white polish (best nail polish name ever - colours listed below the pictures) and then added the images in a variety of colours using my Porcelain 02 stamping plate from Mo You London. I finished the look with a glossy top coat. I'm thinking I should have tried them out in matte too but too late now as I moved onto my next nail art today! Pleased with how these came out :)

Colours used: A mantis shrimps favourite colour - Bees Knees Lacquer, Watermelon - Barry M, Plum - Barry M, Indigo - Barry M, Pomegranate - Barry M

Arctic Portraits

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art was inspired by some notecards I saw in Paperchase. I can no longer find a picture of them and they don't look that similar but they sparked an idea. I started with a couple of layers of white nail polish with one of the best named nail polishes ever - A Mantis Shrimp's Favourite Colour. I then added images from Mo You London's Enchanted 05 stamping plate in black stamping polish. I used a large dotting tool to add spots around the edges in bold colours. I started with the blue and tweaked the technique a bit as I went along. I finished the look with a matte top coat.

I really love how this came out and am enjoying the matte look, it really makes the colours pop. Unfortunately I did have a nail disaster the morning after I did these! I'm so glad I took some pictures beforehand! When trying to wrestle a particularly tight bin bag off our bin I sadly broke a nail! It was above the nail line luckily but only just - so I lost part of the narwhal. It's been years since I broke a nail so a bit of a shock to the system! I've filed my nails down a bit but can see a crack in my thumb nail on the same hand so hoping I don't have a disaster there too!

Colours used: A Mantis Shrimps Favourite Colour - Bees Knees, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Indigo - Barry M, Dead Heat - Barry M, Watermelon - Barry M, Yellow - Barry M

Tile Inspired Aztec Nails

Hey space turtles! Some colourful nail art to share as the weather gets colder. These were inspired by lovely tiled houses we saw on holiday in Porto. I wanted to do some nail art based on some of the more colourful tiles but didn't really have any stamping plates with such patterns and didn't fancy trying to freehand them so I chose these Aztec style patterns instead!

I started with a beige background and created decals on my Uber Mat with the patterns. I used Mo You London's Explorer 33 and Explorer 04 stamping plates and black stamping polish, filling them in with some bright block colours and white. You can see how here. Once dried and applied I added a shiny top coat, and then tried a matter one a day or two later. The matte brings out the colours well but I do like this look shiny too. I think they're got late summer nails but can't believe it's nearly October and I've done no snuggly autumn nails yet! Will have to do some after Halloween.

Colours used: Soft Focus - Polished For Days, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Spring Green - Barry M, Baker Street - Nails Inc, Yellow - Barry M, Neon Activator - Nails Inc

90's Rave Skeleton's!

Hey everyone! Today's Glam Nails Challenge prompt is skeletons. There are many things I could have gone for here but for one reason or another a colourful 80's/90's pattern came to mind! I'm thinking of the kind of thing you'd see on Saved By The Bell but on a black background. The skeletons here look very still but I reckon they dance when I'm not looking! :D

I started with a base of black (polishes listed below the pictures) and then used the Halloween 13 stamping plate from Mo You London to add skeletons on each nail in silver. Once done I applied the same images again on each nail in white, over the top but slightly to the side of the silver skeletons to leave a sort of shallow. This didn't work as well as I'd hoped to be honest, so after the first one (the thumb) I aimed to get the white more over the top of the silver. Next I used a small nail art brush, a dotting tool and some bright Cirque Colors neons to add some shapes around the skeletons on each nail. I finished the look with a matte topcoat.

I like these, I think they're fun and a bit different, but I do think they could be a bit neater - my freehand is not the best! I've enjoyed them though and I'm glad I did them.

Colours used: Lady In Black - OPI, Foil Effects in Silver - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Electric Daisy - Cirque Colors, Vitamin D - Cirque Colors, Game Over - Cirqie Colors, High Roller - Cirque Colors, Miami-Dade - Cirque Colors

Watercolour Sea Creatures

Hi everyone! Tonight I am showing off some colourful holiday nails, which double up as my first ever Sharpie manicure. I wore this nail art while on a week away with my boyfriend and his family, so I associate it with fond memories!

This was my first manicure using sharpies, so I decided to experiment a bit. On one hand (top two pictures) I coloured relatively neatly within the lines, and on the other I went for a bit more of a splashed watercolour look.

I started with an off white base (colours listed below the pictures), and then stamped some images onto my nails from my Mo You London Animal 01 plate, and once dry applied a quick dry top coat. For the colours I scribbled a bit of each sharpie colour onto some foil, and mixed it with a little polish remover on a small nail art brush. I then dabbed it onto my nails within the images. I had to work quite fast as the sharpie ink dries quickly, even once mixed with polish remover. Once it was all dry I applied a matte top coat.

I think I like the neat hand best, but the messy one has a certain charm too, what do you think?
Colours used: Midnight Mischief - Painted Polish, Colour Burst Sharpies

Fun With Feathers!

Today I will be showing you how I got on with BHS' Colour Couture feather set, which was a gift from last Christmas' Secret Santa! I waited a while to try it out as it's such a spring/summery style. The set includes all the things you need, including nail scissors, three polish colours and a top coat for sticking the feathers down. I'm hoping that the feathers can be bought in a craft shop somewhere too, as I'd be keen to try it again with less pink!

First I painted my nails using the colours provided in the set and let them dry. I then added a top coat, and carefully applied the trimmed feather peices while it was still wet.

Once the feathers are on your nails they need to be trimmed down as closely as possible to the nail, and then filed for extra precision. The final step is to add a top coat again to seal the feathers in place. I'm in two minds about whether they actually looked better before the top coat, as I think the colours where a bit more vibrant when dry. I've included final pictures below, and above that what they looked like pre trim and top coat.