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

Ghosts of Unusual Proportions

Happy Halloween! The nail art I'm sharing today had many nail fails in the process which I suppose is fitting for Halloween! I do like the design itself though. I am still loving the nail art I've currently got on so decided for my final Glam Nails Challenge this month I'd use false nails. This is where the first issue came in... the theme was Graveyard but you may have noticed there is no graveyard here! I had planned to do a graveyard with glowing ghosts but couldn't find my glow in the dark top coat. In the process of deciding what to do I managed to forget it was a graveyard theme and think it was ghosts, so I did the ghost theme twice!

I decided to try some fluid nail art with a few different Spot It nail polishes, but after doing it I thought it probably wouldn't work for the design I wanted to add. This was the second nail fail. I used the remaining false nails for the final look but that meant I was left with quite miss-matching sizes which didn't really fit my nails.

I started (again) with a nude base and then two layers of purple flakie polish. I then used my Uber Mat to create some decals of ghosts and a castle, and added the cloud and moon images directly onto the nails (all images from Mo You London's Halloween 17 stamping plate). Once (nearly) dry I added the decals to the nails and applied a glossy top coat. This is where the next fail came in. The decals weren't entirely dry yet and as I manoeuvred one of the ghosts it folded and stuck together so I couldn't unfold it. I actually think it's not obvious, but on one nail you're not seeing the whole ghost!

Colours used: Atomic - Cupcake Polish, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Celestial Silver - Barry M, If You've Got It Haunt It - Uber Chic Beauty, Key Lime - Barry M

Pastel Ice Cream Nails

Hey everyone! Something Spring like today to share on this lovely sunny day!

For a while I've wanted to try some pastel fluid nail art with a Holo Taco topper, and for this I decided to use a few Barry M shades I've had for ages. The blue is nearly finished which is a shame but as I'm scraping it out of the bottle this sort of look is a good one to do where I'm not worried about running out part way through! I added blobs of each colour on my Uber Mat for five decals, finishing with the white Spot It polish. I tapped each one a couple of times with a stamper to make them merge together and get the bubbly effect. Once dry I added a clear topper and once that was dry I applied them to my nails and trimmed the edges.

I did spend some time trying to clean up the edges of these and didn't quite get the effect I wanted, especially on my little finger where there was a gap I probably should have tried to patch up. Still, overall I think these were fun and very Spring appropriate for this sunny weather we're having!

Colours used: Berry Ice Cream - Barry M, Strawberry Ice Cream - Barry M, Blue Moon - Barry M, Spot It White - Dance Legend, Flakie Holo Taco - Holo Taco

Flakies in Space

Hellooo! I hope you're having an enjoyable weekend. I was at a wedding yesterday and had a wonderful time! Today I am sleepy but still need to do some DIY this afternoon. Wish I had another day of weekend! I will share my wedding guest nails at some point but today I'm sharing some previous nail art which was inspired by Alina's Nail Place on Instagram. She made this gorgeous space flakies look and I was please to have the same stamping plate and Unicorn Skins so I could re-create the look!

I started with two coats of black nail polish (colours listed below pictures). I then chose four of Holo Taco's Unicorn Skin polishes and dabbed them onto each nail for the below effect. Really straightforward - no sponging required.  Once dry I used white stamping polish to add space themed images from Mo You London's Sci-Fi 10 stamping plate, finishing off the look with a glossy top coat.

Really pleased with these, I love how the different colours of flakies catch the light. I did mess up some of the stars a little but I don't think it's too obvious. The rocket image is may favorite.

Colours used: Lady In Black - OPI, Cosmic Unicorn Skin, Aurora Unicorn Skin, Galactic Unicorn Skin, Solar Unicorn Skin - All Holo Taco, White Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

A Smoosh of Blue

Hey everyone! Slightly messy nail art to share today and I'm noticing now that the pictures are a bit blurry but I don't really have the energy to do anything about that! I'm feeling quite run down and it's been a busy few days.

I decided to try two of my Spot It polishes together with some Unicorn Skin nail polish to create some fluid nail art. I started by applying some blobs of blue nail polish and flakie polish on my Uber Mat, followed by the two Spot It polishes. I then used a stamper, and in some cases a smaller mat to 'smoosh' the polish together. This involved tapping it reasonably fast and then watching the polishes swirl together. I let it dry and then added a layer of clear polish. Once that was dry I peeled them off the mat, stuck them to my nails and trimmed them with a metal tool & scissors. Finished off the look with a quick dry topcoat.

In conclusion, I like these, though I'm not sure the Spot It effect comes across as well as it could. I love having the flakie effect included though - really makes it glow!

Colours used: Spot It Blue - Dance Legend, Spot It White - Dance Legend, Blueberry - Barry M, Cosmic Unicorn Skin - Holo Taco

Birthday Fireworks and Aquatics!

Hey everyone! Hope you are doing well :) It's just been my Birthday and I've been enjoying a few days off. I wanted to create some Birthday nail art and try something super sparkly but also firework related. I find firework nails really hard to do well so didn't do just fireworks, but tried an abstract aquatic theme as I love ocean themed things! It was very much a make it up as I go along sort of look! Also tried the flakie version of Fun Lacquers reflective polish which was good fun!

I started with a peel off base coat, followed by three layers of silver reflective glitter and a couple of coats of glitter grabber top coat. I couldn't bring myself to file my nails down a bit and all these layers should help keep them strong! I then used black stamping polish and Mo You London's Aquatic 04 and Festive 05 stamping plates to add the images. I particularly love the way the thumb nails came out. Next I used a couple of sheer polishes in purple and blue and a small nail art brush to add some colour.

I quite often don't do that well with my Birthday nails but I'm really pleased with these! I'm really pleased with how the fireworks came out and they were so simple to do. I'm also loving the serious sparkle going on with the base polish! I've included loads of pictures below as I created this look over both hands. I'm looking forward to wearing them for the rest of my Birthday celebrations!

Keep scrolling for thumb nail pictures and polishes used underneath! Colours used: Flash Diamond Flake - Fun Lacquer, Royal Jelly, Lilac Jelly, Thistle Sheer, Cobalt Jelly, Indigo Jelly, French Blue Sheer - All Cirque Colors, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Ghosties!

HelloOOooOo! Spooky ghosts today for the latest Glam Nails Challenge prompt. I was keen to try out Black Rainbow by Fancy Gloss again and decided this would work pretty well for some pretty ghost nails. I've seen a few lovely ghost themed nail looks on Instagram with other things around the ghosts and a clear base, so I decided to try something similar but where the base will change from pale to dark.

I started with a peel off base coat and a couple of layers of Black Rainbow, before using various images from Mo You London's Halloween 09 stamping plate and some metallic polish to dot them around my nails. I also added some bats from their Halloween 13 plate. I then made some ghost, candle and potion bottle decals using the same two stamping plates, you can see how here. I stuck these over the top and then added a top coat. I had liked the way it looked pre top coat so added a matte top coat over the top to complete the look which I think was the right decision.

I really like these, they came out well and it's just the sort of look I was going for. Only bit that didn't work so well was the ghost on my thumbnail. Unfortunately I must have smudged the image when adding the white polish as when I peeled up the decal I saw it was smudged, sadly I did not have the time or patience to make another one!

Colours used: Black Rainbow - Fancy Gloss, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Floral Street - Nails Inc, Foil Effects in Gold, Silver & Lilac - Barry M, If You've Got It Haunt It - UberChic

Pinapular Delight

Hey everyone! I'm trying the Glam Nails Challenge on Instagram again this month. All the themes are fruit based which I think it pretty good fun, and some of them are more unusual ones to try too. I was a bit behind with the first one which is pineapples. Pineapple nail art is great and I've had an idea on my to do list for ages so thought I'd give that a go. Ever since I saw Belle of So Hot Right Nail do foil pineapples I knew I needed that super shiny pineapple look!

I started with a base of pale pink on my middle two nails and blue on the others. I added a layer of gold flakie polish over the top to add something extra! I then used the Tropical 07 stamping plate from Mo You London to add pineapples on the middle two nails in black. Once dry I added foil glue over the top of the pineapples, followed by the gold foil then the green foil once the glue was dry. I worked surprisingly well I think and the gaps around the leaves kind of looks like an outline. I used a thin nail art brush and black nail polish to add a bit of detail over the gold. 

So in conclusion I wasn't really expecting this to work but I'm pretty pleased with the outcome! It was never going to be quite as fabulous as the original but I think it went as well as it could! Also to explain the title of this blog post - my boyfriend and I use the word pinapular to describe something pineapple like - I can't think of any examples....

Colours used: My Car Has Navy-gation - OPI, Strawberry Ice Cream - Barry M, Lady In Black - OPI, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Three New Unicorns In Town

Hello world! Having been pretty good with my blogging for quite some time I seem to have got behind again, not sure how but never mind! I recently received a Holo Taco order which included their three new 'unicorn skin' toppers, and couldn't wait to try them out over a variety of colours. I've seen a few images or videos of them over black and white, and the blue and pink shades that were part of the collection. So I thought I'd give them a try over some other colours. Perhaps predictably they did look pretty similar over the colours I chose as they're all darker shades, but I still enjoyed seeing what they look like with different colours shining through.

I chose dark blue, purple and green as my base colours, and applied them alternately to my nails, with the one extra nail in black as I love how the unicorn skins look over black. I then applied each of the new Holo Taco shades over the blue/green/purple trio. On the black nail I used a sponge to attempt a gradient with all three unicorn skins. I say attempt as it really isn't a very well blended gradient! It did however give me a change to see just how intense the unicorn skins are when sponged on! I've included a picture of the thumbnail below.

From the second picture below the unicorn skins shown are Lunar, Sonic and then Galactic. Unfortunately I didn't realise how blurry the Lunar picture was until I'd edited and cropped them but I thought I'd keep it in anyway for consistency, you can see a clearer picture of the polish to the left. As expected I love these! The first unicorn skins wowed me and these three are just as spectacular!

Colours used: Watermelon - Barry M, Wigmore Street - Nails Inc, The Serpentine - Nails Inc, Lunar Unicorn Skin - Holo Taco, Sonic Unicorn Skin - Holo Taco, Galactiv Unicorn Skin - Holo Taco

Halloween Nails - Sugar Skulls & Passionfruit Tea

HelloOOooO everyone! More Halloween nails today of course! Todays prompt for the Glam Nails Challenge October is Sugar Skulls. I have done sugar skull nails a couple of times before, always freehand, and I've always liked the way they came out. The first time was a full set which reminds me of a holiday I went on in the run up to Halloween one year, you can see them here. The others I did last year, with the same base I used for these ones, and some autumn leaves too, you can see them here. I used a tutorial by Hannah Rox It nails for the shapes.

This time I did the Hannah Rox It skulls the other way up to last time, the same way as she does it in her tutorial. I think it looks better this way as it suits the shape of my nails better. I also missed the outline of the eyes with this one and I think they look better for it. While the first time I did multi coloured eyes, then chrome ones, this time I picked the pastel shades of my two new Cuticula polishes, and finished the look off with a matte top coat to bring out the details and colours. I enjoy the simplicity of it and I'm pleased with how the skulls came out, I definitely don't want to take them off!

Colours used: Passionfruit Tea - Cuticula, Sugary Sweet Death - Femme Fatale, Lady In Black - OPI, Honeydew Tea - Cuticula

Halloween Nails - There Are Ghosts In My Tea!

Hello all and happy Sunday! Sun is very much shining here today which is lovely, but definitely feeling very autumnal still. I am fully embracing it now! Today I'm back with another prompt for the Glam Nails Challenge October on Instagram. Today the theme is ghosts, and I was keen to use my new Cuticula nail polish as a base. This gave me the idea of making them tea themed as well, as it's from a tea themed Cuticula collection. I also recently purchased some autumn stamping plates with tea images, as well as some Halloween ones, so it seemed like a perfect combination.

As above I started with a base of Honeydew Tea from Cuticula. I then used the advanced stamping technique to make decals for the tea and book images, as well as the teapot, all images from the new Mo You London Fall In Love 08 stamping plate. On my ring finger I just used the top half of the pile of books image as I had less nail space. I then used white stamping polish and the Halloween 13 plate, also Mo You London, for the ghosts. I couldn't quite fit it on my thumb so it looks a bit more like steam than a ghost, but I still like it! I finished the look with a matte top coat as it makes the colours pop and I thought it worked well with the book images too.

In conclusion I really like these! The shade of green is unlike other polishes I have, and I love the images from the stamping plates. I had fun combining two different themes and I really like the way it looks. I also enjoy the Cuticula tea themed polishes too, I love a concept collection! There are six pictures today instead of my usual four, as I wanted to get a couple with my little ghost in a bottle, Boo-vier!

Colours used: Honeydew Tea - Cuticula, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Laguna - Barry M, Cobalt Blue - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Basil Street - Nails Inc