A Floral Tribute

Hey space turtles! Having been struggling to find time for blogging lately but glad to finally have some time to be sharing these with you. Hoping for some time to do some more nail art today too. It was a strange week when I did these. The death of the Queen was announced while I was on holiday and once back there was a period of mourning leading up to the funeral. I used a newspaper article on the topic for the background print here and added flowers over the top using the advanced stamping technique.

I hadn't used the newspaper technique for a while but it was easier than I remembered. The print hasn't come out very clearly but I don't think it would take much practise to perfect it. I used my Uber Mat to make flower decals with Mo You London's Botanical 13 stamping plate and placed them over the top. The pictures below show the look shiny and matte but I think I like it matte best.

Colours used: Vintage Tee - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Cream Soda - Barry Mm, Acai Smoothie - Barry M, Wardour Street - Nails Inc

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

Floral Reflections

Hey everyone! I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself today. More plans being scuppered with Covid and still not feeling back to normal yet though I'm testing negative. I have decided to try and take part in the Glam Nails Challenge on Instagram this month as I haven't done for a little while and I miss it! Today's prompt is flowers. In my recent nail polish order I finally got hold of the gorgeous Tapped Out from KB Shimmer (along with another of their reflective polishes) which I've wanted for a while. It does not disappoint! 

I started with a base of two coats of white polish on my middle fingernails and two coats of Tapped Out on the others. I could have just about got away with one but decided to pad it out a bit as I love that formula! In the meantime I created decals on my Uber Mat from the Flower Power 27 stamping plate from Mo You London. You can see how here.

As you'll see below I've included pictures with and without flash and also with two different nail polish bottles. I adore Tapped Out, it's such a gorgeous shade and so sparkly and reflective. I padded it out with a glitter grabber layer and top coat but it's gorgeous with it's textured finish too. I like how the simplicity of this look allows Tapped Out to shine!

Colours used: Tapped Out - KB Shimmer, A Mantis Shrimps Favourite Colour - Bees Knees Lacquer, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend 

April showers and April flowers!

Hey! Back again with another glam nails challenge prompt just in time before the end of the day. Today's prompt is April Showers. I decided to add flowers to make it an 'April showers bring May flowers' theme. I did end up with it a bit more flower heavy than planned but I think it works.

I started with a colour changing base as I think this works well for a weather themed look. This was very much a make it up as I go along look so I made a selection of decals on my Uber Mat using the advanced stamping technique. I then applied these to my nails, and they were a little bigger than I'd anticipated! I then used Uber Chic's Forecasting Glam stamping plate to add a raincloud on my thumb and some raindrops around the flowers on my other nails.

I'm happy with how they turned out, however as I said they are a bit more flower heavy than planned!

Colours used: Luna - Cirque Colors, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Cream Soda - Barry M, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Berry Ice Cream - Barry M

Floral Abstracts with Cirque Colors

Hi all! I have more nail art to share with you today - shocker! Again this look is for a Glam Nails prompt on Instagram - this one is 'flowers'. I haven't really gone with flowers so much as an abstract floral look - but I think it still counts! I decided to dig out some Cirque Colors shades from a few years ago, most of which I believe are from their Desert Bloom collection and I'm so glad I did. They really are such beautiful classy shades, I keep flipping between whether Wildflowers or Velvetine is my favourite but I love them all!

I started of with one colour on each nail, shades used are listed below the pictures. I then used Mo You London's Floral 23 stamping plate to add the images somewhat at random. I chose the images as I went along to see what would work, and at first I wasn't sure sure but now I've added the top coat and have had a bit of time to appreciate it I really like it! I think it's quite a classy look (if I do say so!) and definitely want to wear these colours some more! 

Colours used: Velvetine - Cirque Colors, Wildflowers - Cirque Colors, Taos - Cirque Colors, Earthen - Cirque Colors, Fata Morgana - Cirque Colors, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M

Delightful Daffodil Nails

Hello all! Am I being arrogant calling my own nail art delightful? I'm not sure but I like them so I'm going for it! I did these while on holiday so although there was one small thing I forgot they bring back fond memories (I was going to use two different shades of yellow for the flowers but only remembered to bring one).

For this look I started with a base of blue on three nails, and white on the middle two. I then created decals using the Flower Power 26 stamping plate from Mo You London, you can see how here. Although I only had the one shade of yellow, and the look is simple (in terms of repeating the same image and not using a variety of techniques) I really like them. Sometimes simple looks can be the most striking. They are kind of Spring like I think but work for Summer too. I finished the look with a matte top coat to make the colours pop. The blue is an old Nails Inc one I love! Not much else to say on these really but hope you like them :)
Colours used: Bruton Place - Nails Inc, Floral Street - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Seven Dials - Nails Inc

Nails Inc Freshly Juiced Duo

Hello all! I am writing from the uncharacteristically warm south of England today, so this summery nail art seems quite fitting! I bought the Freshly Squeezed nail polish duo from Nails Inc when I was ordering some more face masks from them and I'm so glad I did, they're gorgeous! I absolutely love getting new Nails Inc polishes, the formulas are so good and the brush size is perfect so they're super satisfying to apply. The duo's are a good price too (£15 for the pair). This particular set is also scented, and after how much I loved their peach scented nail polishes that was another selling point for me.

For this look I alternated the orange and pink polishes across may nails, and used the advanced stamping technique to create decals for the flowers on my middle two finger nails and thumb nails. The image is from Mo You London's Flower Power 03 stamping plate. The look was finished off with a glossy top coat (also Nails Inc) which I must admit dampened the smell a little bit but it finished the look nicely. It's the first time I've worn matching nail art on both hands for a while, and I have enjoyed the simplicity of the design and the brightness. I love the packaging for this set to, it's a winner all round!
Colours used: Not From Concentrate - Nails Inc,  Looking Super Juicy - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Seven Dials - Nails Inc, Cream Soda - Barry M

Tropical Pink Nails

Hello all! Hope all is well and you're enjoying some sunshine, it's not been that sunny here but it's set to be warmer the next few days so I am bracing myself! :D If it does I do have some appropriate nail art! Today's Glam Nails Challenge July prompt is Tropical, one of many prompts which works well with the new Just Beachy stamping plate from Uber Chic. I have a neon pink polish I haven't used for a while and have been eyeing up as well for summer nail art, so this seemed like the perfect time to use that too. The colours I used are listed below the pictures as usual.

For this look I started with a bright white base on all of my nails so the neon would really stand out. I then used neon pink on my index, little finger and thumb nails. On my middle two finger nails I stamped this negative space floral image onto the white polish in black, I considered making decals for these but decided to try a slightly more freehand approach as the flowers are not too fiddly. I used a small nail art brush to fill in the flowers and leaves in pink, green and orange. I forgot how much I love that neon orange too, need to find a use for that this summer as well! I feel like it maybe didn't even need the white base.

Although I'm not usually much of a pink person I do think neon pink is a great summer shade and I'm enjoying rocking the tropical flowers. Pleased with this look and also pleased I filed my nails down a bit!
Colours used: Neon Activator - Nails Inc, Claridge Gardens - Nails Inc, Audacious Green - Accessorize, Beach Hut - Models Own, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

A Floral Attempt at Layered Stamping

Hi everyone. hope you are staying well! This week I have managed to squeeze in some extra nail art besides the Holo Taco challenge entries I'm doing each week. I was pleased to do this as the pink base and grey/mauve are polishes I hadn't tried yet so was keen to give them a go (colours listed below the pictures). So for this look I used the Botanical 10 stamping plate from Mo You London. This was also an untried stamping plate, and features a lot of layering images which is something a little different for me.

I have used layered stamping before but it's not something I've done often, I usually use the advanced stamping technique and create decals. I found the leaf images really satisfying to do, the colours came out well and it was so easy to get am image that looks like it was more cleverly done! With the rose and buddleia flowers I was a little unsure where to start and which shades to use for which layer of the image. I think the buddleia flowers worked well, but the rose as you can see was very faint! I should have used darker colours obviously, and possibly layered them differently, so that I know for next time! Unfortunately you can no longer see plates that have sold out on MYL's website, which is a shame as I think they used to have something with this one that showed how to layer them. Still, practise makes perfect I suppose!

I finished with a shiny top coat over the accent nails, and a matte top coat over the plant nails to make the colours stand out. I've enjoyed these, they are delicate and Spring appropriate and work friendly too (not that it matters right now!). I'll be rocking these till probably Sunday when I hope to take part in the next Holo Taco challenge.
Colours used: Vintage Tee - Nails Inc, Bust A Mauve - Painted Polish, Key Lime - Barry M, Spring Green - Barry M, Cocoa - Barry M, Seymour Walk - Nails Inc, Wardour Street - Nails Inc, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Oasis - Barry M, Surfboard - Barry M, Acai Smoothie - Barry M

Subtle Floral Nail Art With Maud In Mind

Hey everyone - long time no speak! I haven't found the time to do a lot of nail art recently but I have this one and one more lined up to share with you. Today's nail art is a good work friendly look, or one for adding something extra to a dark wintery colour. I actually wore this to the funeral of my Great Aunt Maud as she liked the colour purple, though it did come out a bit darker than I anticipated. I think she preferred lighter shades. Auntie Maud was the most positive person I have ever known, always smiling and always grateful for what she had. I hope I can inherit those traits from her and will sorely miss going to visit her and having a good giggle!

I could go on but as this is my nail blog I'm going to say a little about how I achieved this look. I used the purple polish on most nails and silver for an accent nail on each hand (colours listed below images). For the design on the accent nail I used the Flower Power 23 stamping plate from Mo You London, and the advanced stamping technique using my Uber Mat. You can see how here. I chose black and white to keep it simple and am glad I did as I think it works well with the silver.
Colours used: Vintage Violet - Barry M,  Silver Lining - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Floral Street - Nails Inc