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

In a (neon) galaxy far far away...

Hi again! Catching up a bit so today's nail art is for yesterdays Glam Nails Challenge prompt, which was 'galaxy'. I haven't done a galaxy look in a while so I found a tutorial on YouTube which inspired me to give it a go with some neons (colours listed below the pictures). The base is a Nails Inc shade I've had for ages and enjoyed digging it out again. I've found I haven't bought much nail polish this year and while I'm sure that won't last it is quite good having the motivation to go back and enjoy older shades rather than just focusing on the newer ones.

Once the deep blue metallic base was dry I used a small piece of sponge held with tweezers to dab some white stamping polish across my nails in roughly diagonal lines. I then added patches of neon polish over the top, trying to keep it lightly applied. Once dry I added a sparkly top coat and then a few little start images from the Kelli Marissa Bundle Monster plate. These stars are perfect for adding to galaxy manicures as they're small and just the right shape, saves me having to attempt freehand!

Overall I'm quite pleased with these, it was something a bit different for me but easy to do and with a fun result!

Colours used: Chesham Place - Nails Inc, Down At The Deep End - Wikkid Polish, Joyful L'il Jellybean - Wikkid Polish, Hello Sailor - Wikkid Polish, Wardour Street - Nails Inc, Diamond Glitter - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Magnetic Galaxy

Happy leap year everybody! I hope you enjoy this mysterious extra day! I feel like the title of this blog post is perhaps a little too grand, but it kind of describes the look. Apologies if you were hoping for piles of glitter and fancy effects! The purple polish here is one I hadn't used before, Le 186 by Emily de Molly, and although it is a magnetic polish with streaks of gold you can't really see it in these pictures. To be honest you can't really see it that closely on my nails either, perhaps I didn't use it right but the effect wasn't that strong for me, but at this stage it might just be because I've had it on for a few days and I know the effect can fade a bit over time with magnetic polishes.

On the two nails on each hand I hadn't used the magnetic polish on, I started with a silver metallic polish, and then some linear holo over the top. I then used black stamping polish and images from the Negative Space: The Crack In Space plate from Maniology. I wanted to use one of the wider images with the big zig-zag through it, but my nails were just a tad too long.

Overall I quite like these but wasn't that inspired. My favourite is the ring finger in the top left picture. They did shine pretty nicely under bright light. The magnetic purple is pretty but I think I had super high expectations from Emily de Molly following some previous buys so I wasn't as wowed as I could have been!
Colours used: Le 186 - Emily de Molly, Silver Lining - Barry M,  Harp On It - Color Club, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Magnetic Galaxy

Good evening all! I'm going to make this a quick one as I'm sleepy from a hard weekend of eating! Tonight's nail art is the simplest way to get a galaxy themed manicure. This was my second attempt at using Fun Lacquers magnetic nail polish, after watching some videos about how to use it. I started of with one plain layer of the polish, and then another where I held the magnet diagonally in the middle for 25-30 seconds on each nail. I finished it off with another final coat with the magnet.

Holding the magnet over the nail polish for longer (last time I think I just did about ten seconds!) definitely gave a crisper more pronounced pattern which I really like. The pattern did spread a bit over time, even once the polish was dry, but it was still a good distribution of the colours. I finished off with as layer of holographic silver glitter. I made sure not to paint it on too thickly as I wanted the pattern underneath to remain visible.

This took minimal effort and I love the end result. I kept finding myself moving my nails around to look at the gorgeous colour shift, especially in bright light where the glitter would shift too!
Colours used: Incredible - Fun Lacquer, 24 Karat Diamond - Fun Lacquer

Into Space - Metallic Space Wonderland Nails

Hello nail world! Got some lovely and easy galaxy nails to show you today, with one of Fun Lacquers magnetic polishes. They have been out for a while but I was finally tempted to try a couple and they are really lovely. I bought the Fun Lacquer magnet to go with them and it is surprisingly powerful! For this nail art I used one layer of black and two layers of magnetic polish (Fun Lacquers Believe).

After applying my second layer of magnetic polish I held the magnet over it for a few seconds to move the colours around (one nail at a time!). This was a bit of a mistake as when I was later watching videos about these it turns out you're meant to hold the magnets over for 15-30 seconds, which makes a lot of sense as I wasn't getting the same effect as I was seeing in pictures (doh!). However I was getting some of that colour shifting magic (just with softer lines) so I do still like the result!

Once dry I used my Bundle Monster space themed Kelli Marissa collaboration plate. It's such a good plate for galaxy mani's, I love the scattered star images which I chose for this nail art. I stamped the images in metallic silver, and on my ring finger and thumb nails put some holographic silver over the top. The holo wasn't very obvious but was perhaps a little more shiny under bright lights. Overall I'm pleased with how this turned out and looking forward to playing with the magnetic polishes some more!
Colours used: Lady In Black - OPI, Believe - Fun Lacquer, Rain On Me - Barry M, Harp On It - Color Club

Happy New Year 2018!

Happy New Year! Today's nail art is of course my new years eve nail art for 2017-18. I wanted to go for something glittery and new year themed, but also Harry Potter themed as we went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child yesterday. They came out suitably new year themed and sparkly but not very Harry Potter. The deathly hallows symbol didn't quite turn out as planned. I think it all looks a bit Dr Who!

For the galaxy nails I used tiny pieces of sponge held by tweezers to sponge on some glitter and shimmer, and then a dotting tool for the white stars. For the middle finger I put a holo topper over black, and made a decal for the symbol. I painted clear polish onto my Uber Mat, painted the image over the top, added another clear layer, and then peeled of to stick on my nails once dry. I did the same for the 2018 nails. For the sparkly nails I used holo powder from Twinkled T. I tried glitter burnishing but wasn't entirely successful so dipped instead and was pleased with the result.

On the thumb I used an image from the Mo You London Festive 05 stamping plate, and then a small brush to fill the glasses. I would have gone for a champagne colour but I didn't think it would show up well against the silver glitter so I went for red wine instead.

2017 has been a great year for me, although maybe not so much for the world, so I hope 2018 is a much better one for the world, and the same for me! Last year I made a New Years blog resolution to improve my nail pictures, and I think I've finally done that towards the end of the year. Still some way to go though I think! This years will be to start doing a few videos, either to add to my blog or Instagram.
Colours used: Aruba Blue - Essie, Mega - ILNP, Holocopter (loose glitter) - Twinkled T, Lady In Black - OPI, White Knight - Mo You London, My Private Rainbow (S) - ILNP, Indigo Glow - Jessica Polish, Diamond Glitter - Barry M, Garnet - Cirque Colors

Kelli Marissa Bundle Monster Space Plate

Hi everyone! I have the next of my recent Bundle Monster blogger collaboration plate purchase on the blog today. You can see my first (unicorns) here. The next plate I used was Kelli Marissa's space themed stamping plate. I used this over Fun Lacquers Starry Night Of The Summer, which is a gorgeous deep metallic blue. In bright light it has some holographic flare too!

So I had some grand plans on advanced stamping and colouring planets, but once I started a few of the simpler images I liked them so much I thought I'd just stick with silver over blue. Rarely have I done an experimental 'use as many designs from the plate as I can' that I've liked this much! I really enjoyed using a mixture of smaller images on some nails, and found that I kept looking at my nails while wearing the design, which is generally a good sign! Picture below include some in brighter light, but I still couldn't quite capture the holo flare!
Colours used: Starry Night Of The Summer - Fun Lacquer, Silver Foil Effect - Barry M

Constellation Nails

Good evening everyone, perhaps it's not the evening where you are, but you can pretend it is by looking at my constellation nails! I wanted to do some nail art with one of ,my dark shimmer polishes and this seemed like the perfect option. Casablanca from Jessica nail polish is a black jelly polish with purple/green shimmer throughout. The shimmer gives it a super shiny effect, it reminds me of a beetles wing.

For the constellations I looked on Google images for some inspiration, but did make some up a little to simplify it! I used a dotting tool to map out the stars with Dazzle from Orly, which is super shiny and bright. I then used a small nail art brush to join the dots. Voila!
Colours used: Casablanca - Jessica, Dazzle - Orly

HPB Presents: Galaxy Nails

Hello internet! Today I'm taking part in another Hobby Polish Bloggers link up. I try to take part every month and really enjoy the team spirit of the group! This months theme is 'space'. I was going to try something unusual like aliens, but I couldn't resist the obvious opportunity for my first attempt at galaxy nails!

For this design I started with dark blue with a hint of glitter (colours listed below) to make sure my mani was cosmic throughout! I then used small pieces of sponge to sponge on the colours in a vague galaxy-ish pattern! I started with pale blue through the middle, with a bit of silver holo over the top. Then I splodged some glitter randomly across each nail. I am currently on holiday in Wales and forgot my nail art brush, so the stars were done with a tooth pick! I couldn't quite get my camera to pick up the sparkle properly.

Overall I like the sparkly cosmic look of this design, but think it could do with some tweaking to make it look more like a galaxy. I used one of nails inc's galaxy polishes just to complete the look! Just goes to show you can't go wrong with a bit of glitter! Check out the other designs at the bottom of this post.
Colours used: Mustang Eli's On A Roll - Colors By Llarowe, Blueberry - Barry M, Mega - ILNP, Catwalk Queen - Barry M, Westminster Bridge Road - Nails Inc

An InLinkz Link-up