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

Unicorn Skin Galaxy

Hey space turtles! Appropriately I have some space themed nail art to share today. This one is for the March 2023 Glam Nails Challenge on Instagram, You'll see here my index fingernail has got even shorter. There was a bit which was damaged from the previous break and didn't last, it's still above the nail line though so could have been worse! I do wish I could shape it as it looks very blunt next to the others. I think I will file them down some more.

I started with two coats of dark green and then one coat of 'unicorn skin' topper to add the sparkly flaky effect. I love it so much! Next I added images in white stamping polish from Mo You London's Sci-Fi 10 stamping plate. For the planets and moon/star image I added other colours over the top, either with the layering image or just the same image over the top. The white helps the colours stand out against the dark background. I finished the look with a glossy top coat.

I really like how these turned out - it's a shame about my index finger but I love the images and the base colours and the theme!

Colours used: Watermelon - Barry M, Solar Unicorn Skin - Holo Taco, Essential White - Uber Chic, Burnt Orange - Not Specified, Cobalt - Barry M, Seymour Walk - Nails Inc 

Ho Ho How About Some Nail Art

Hi Space turtles! My first proper Christmas nail art of the year is here! I decided I'd try and combine the first two Glam Nails Challenge (Instagram nail art challenge) prompts for this look. The prompts were Santa and Christmas Plaid. 

For the Santa nails I made decals on my Uber mat using images from Mo You London's Noel 01 stamping plate. For the other nails I used Mo You London's Holy Shapes 19 stamping plate which has a range of different lines and patterned lines you can put together to create tartan looks. I went for a classic green and red colour scheme to feel Christmassy! I'm pleased with the look and think it's a good start to my Christmas looks for the year.

Colours used: British Racing Green - Butter London, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Dazzle - Orly, Cream Soda - Barry M, Cocoa - Barry M, Emerald - Barry M

Night Swimming Nails

Today's nail art is inspired by a night swim I did not too long ago. It was actually a Halloween one so I could have done a more spooky design, but I liked the idea of doing an overall night swim look as it's such a cool experience!

I started with two layers of deep aquatic green (could have probably got away with one) while the decal for my thumbnail was drying on my Uber Mat. I then added some spotty patterns from Mo You London's Atlantis 04 to my middle two nails and the hand, star and moon nails on my other fingernails. For the mermaid silhouette's I stamped one directly onto my nail and for the other I made a decal - this is so that I could turn the images the way I wanted and make them face each other. The silhouette's are from Uber Chic's Mermaid Life 02 stamping plate and I used a dotting tool to add some sparkle. Finally I added the mermaid decal to my thumbnail (also from Atlantis 04).

In conclusion I like these but I wish the mermaids had shown up better. I added the lilac pattern as I thought the mermaid silhouette's would show up against them but that didn't end up being the case. Shame really as I love the way the index and little finger came out so the mermaids being clearer would have taken it from a look I like to a look I love!

Colours used: Aquatic - Picture Polish, Foil Effect in Lilac - Barry M, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Charlotte Street - Nails Inc, Cocoa - Barry M, Underworld - Barry M, Good Vibes Only - Nails Inc

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

Springy Easter Bunnies

Heyy everybody! Some classic Easter nail art to share today and a new nail polish from Emily de Molly. I have a few of their shades but I ought to have more, almost every single one I've tried has blown my mind! This one is such a fun vibrant shade and the reflective sparkle is lovely. It's called Le 310 and I bought it from Rainbow Connection recently with a few other reflective glitters which I think will be perfect for Easter nail art.

I started with a peel off base coat followed by two layers of Le 310 and a 'glitter grabber' coat. I then used my Festive 58 Easter themed stamping plate from Mo You London to add the daisies and white part of the bunny images, followed by the black outlines. I then added some yellow pollen in the daisies with a dotting tool and decided on a whim to add some yellow spots too. While I did all of this I had a decal drying on my Uber Mat for my thumbnail. I adore the image with all the tiny round bunnies - they're so cute!

So as I said before, I LOVE this polish! It's a real treat and I love the way it makes my nails look. I think it suits me and I'm pleased with how neatly I painted it so it must have a good formula too! I'm not sure if I should have added the yellow dots, I think it would have been fine without, but overall really pleased with this look!

Colours used: LE 310 - Emily de Molly, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Acai Smoothie - Barry M, Key Lime - Barry M, Surfboard - Barry M

Accidentally Christmassy Nails

Hello and Merry Saturday! Today I have more Spring themed (in theory) nail art to share featuring another sheer polish from Picture Polish. Pine Bath is a gorgeous forest green sheer polish which is perfect for nail art. I decided to try it on it's own but with an accent nail. The plan was to pick a plant and make it a bit more Spring like, but it seems I've inadvertently chosen mistletoe!! I blame my post Covid brain... I'm not sure what I thought it was but I added peach coloured berries so I guess it's not quite mistletoe!

I started with a base of sheer nude polish (colours listed below pictures) and then three coats of green on all nails except the accent nail. On the accent nail I added a layer of pale pink and created a decal using my Uber Mat for the image. I chose this mistletoe (oops) from Mo You London's Botanical 13 stamping plate and used the same green polish for the leaves for a consistent look.

I did actually really like this despite accidentally doing Christmas nails! I love the shine on the green jelly polish and enjoyed the accent nail too.

Colours used: Soft Focus - Polished For Days, Pine Bath - Picture Polish, Strawberry Ice Cream - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Papaya - Barry M

Distinguished Fancy Pants Nails (Moustache Edition)

Hey hey! Or should I say how do you do? Fancied wearing Holo Taco's Mint Money again as it's my favourite from the metallic collection and I felt it needed some appreciation! I decided to pair it with some moustaches from a stamping plate I have had in my untried pile for absolutely ages. I went for a variety of moustaches but stuck with fairly classic styles to make sure it was clear what they were. Looking at it now I'm thinking I should have added some eyes!

Not much to say on how I created it as it was a pretty simple one! I started with two coats of Mint Money and once dry used Mo You London's Rebel 01 to add the moustaches with a squishy stamper. I finished the look with a quick dry top coat. I'm glad I finally used this stamping plate and am thinking of other ideas I could use it for - little googly eyes would be a good addition and I like the idea of adding moustaches to other images like little animals or a cactus. Had these on for my Dad's Birthday gin tasting tour so they have fond memories attached :)

Colours used: Mint Money - Holo Taco, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Northern Polar Bear Lights!

Hi there! Another Glam Nails Challenge prompt today, this time it's polar bears. This cute little polar bear in a jumper image sprung to mind and I thought that would work well with a Northern Lights look. I was super excited to try out Cirque Colors Mood Ring for this look and I absolutely LOVE it! The shimmer and shift especially under bright lights is incredible! I didn't get quite as clean lines as I intended but I think it still works well.

I started with a layer of magnetic polish, followed by another which I used the magnet on to get the shifty effect. I then created a little polar bear decal on my Uber Mat, you can see how here. Whilst this dried I used star and moon images from Mo You London's Noel 06 stamping plate to create a night sky look. The polar bear is from their Noel 03 stamping plate. I finished the look with a glossy quick dry top coat.

So I love this one! I adore the base polish, and I think the simplicity of the look works well. It has depth from the magnetic polish and the little polar bear and stars make it a whole scene. I love Northern Lights things and cute things and wintery things - so this is a winner for me!

Colours used: Mood Ring - Cirque Colors, Foil Effects in Silver - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Acai Smoothie - Barry M, Cream Soda - Barry M, Bronze Bae - Barry M

Woodland Wonderland

Hey nail people! Going to keep this one short and sweet as I'm a little behind and also so ready for an early night! I did this for Glam Nails Challenge's 'Lanscape' prompt. I had quite a few ideas for this and could have done something rather more adventurous, but I didn't have loads of time. I was going to stamp the images over a gradient but then remembered I had some thermal polishes that should work just as well!

I started with three coats of thermal polish (colours listed below the pictures). I've had this thermal shade a few years so although it does have a colour change still it's not a strong one. It wasn't the most stark difference anyway, changing from a pearlescent green to blue. The pictures are closer to the warm shade which is pale green. Sometimes my nail tips have had a darker blue-ish tint to them. The images I added are from Maniology's Clairestelle8 stamping plate.

In conclusion, I'm enjoying the shape of my nails though they feel weirdly short after filing them down a bit (I know they're not really - just an adjustment!). I'm not 100% sure on this look though. The images are gorgeous but it feels a bit to simplistic, which may be purely because I knew it was less effort to create than other nail looks I do!

Colours used: Jasmine - Femme Fatale Cosmetics, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Lime after lime!

Hey everyone! Going to keep this one short and sweet as I'm multi-tasking (taking part in a quiz)! This nail art is for Sunday's Glam Nails Challenge prompt which was limes. I've had a busy few days so didn't get round to doing them till yesterday and then taking the pictures and things today. I decided on the look a few days ago and was looking forward to trying out Cirque Colors Peridot again as it's from their Facets collection which is a favourite of mine.

I started with a few layers of  green glitter on three nails and white on the other two. I topped the white with a bit of iridescent shimmer to add something a little extra. I wasn't sure how well it would work but I'm glad I did it - it's quite subtle. On the white nails I used a couple of shades of green and some black stamping polish to layer up some lime images from my Maniology Fruit Deco stamping plate. I think it's meant to be a lemon image really but it works for both.

I was slightly hesitant to do this look as I wasn't sure if the middle ones would clash with the green glitter but it came out really well. Loving the way it glitters in the sunlight and the novelty of wearing green which I don't do that often!

Colours used: Peridot - Cirque Colors, Cream Soda - Barry M, Good Vibes - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Key Lime - Barry M, Spring Green - Barry M

Rocking Around the Christmas Tree (Rex)

Rawwwwr hello! Hope you're all doing OK. things aren't great here in the UK at the moment as I'm sure you will know. I'm distracting myself with nail polish as usual! (and soon Christmas presents!). When I saw the images on Mo You London's new Noel 10 plate I just had to have it, and I knew right away I would be trying out this Christmas dinosaur look this year! Today's Glam Nails Challenge prompt is Christmas Tree, so I thought I'd use this as my moment to try the tree-rex look!

I started with a base of green on my ring fingernail and ILNP's Christmas Cookie on my other nails, it's such a perfect base for Christmas nail art! I stamped the lettering in gold directly onto the green nail, I had to try a few times as I always struggle to get lettering to come out nicely with stamping plates. For the other nails I used my Uber Mat to create some dino decals, you can see how here. I pretty much followed the same pattern as the example on the MYL website as it goes well together, and added some lights on the thumb from the same stamping plate.

I'm so happy with how these came out! I am intending to change my nail art again on Christmas Eve as I always do, but it will be a challenge to let go of this one, Maybe I shall have to keep it! I've had a few successful 'can't take them off' Christmas nail looks this year!

Colours used: Spring Green - Barry M, Christmas Cookie - ILNP, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M, Madder - Cirque Colors, Misery - ILNP, Aria - ILNP, Yellow - Barry M