Ice Swimming Mermaids

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art is close to my heart as it's inspired by my cold water swimming which I've managed to keep up throughout this winter. I'm loving the swims and post fire chats so much that I almost feel like I don't want it to warm up! I usually swim in a lake near me and had the fortunate experience of trying an ice swim earlier in January (it's all organised with life guards etc). Last weekend I also swam in the sea with my sister who is into wild swimming too - great fun! So I wanted to do a tribute to that with some wintery mermaid nails.

I started with a peel of base coat and one coat of gorgeous reflective nail polish (colours listed below pictures). I created decals on my Uber Mat using white nail polish to stand out against the background.  While these were drying I added snowflake images to my outer nails using Mo You London's Noel 08 stamping plate. The mermaids are from their Atlantis 05 stamping plate. After placing the decals on my nails I added some smaller snowflakes around the mermaids and some little drops of snow using a dotting tool. I finished the look with a glossy top coat.

I'm undecided as to whether I should have done the outlines of the mermaids in black or white but I think white was probably the right decision. It's hard to know how well black would have shown up. Overall I'm pleased with these - the base colour is gorgeous and I love the theme! I particularly like how the mermaids are looking up at the snowflakes. I look forward to wearing these for my lake swim tomorrow!

Colours used: Tapped Out - KB Shimmer, Essential White - Uber Chic, Charlotte Street - Nails Inc, Cappuccino - Barry M, Purplicious - Mark

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

Shy Mermaid

Hey space turtles :) More ocean vibes on my nails today with a shy mermaid. This was for yesterdays Glam Nails Challenge prompt of mermaids and I had quite a few stamping plates to choose from! I settled on this rather shy looking mermaid peeking out of the water. I decided to use some Femme Fatale thermals again although sadly the pinky/lilac one seems to have lost it's thermal effect.

For the mermaids face I created a decal on my Uber Mat and for her tail there were layered images on the stamping plate I used (Uber Chic's Mermaid Life 02) so I could stamp it directly onto my nails. I added the images roughly where my nail line is so that the thermal effect would make it look like they were coming out of the ocean which I think worked pretty well. I added this gorgeous shell design over the other nails in silver.

I think these are a little scruffy in places (e.g. some smudges on the mermaids face) but love the theme and enjoying the polishes too. I do wish they were both still thermal!

Colours used: Hook - Femme Fatale Cosmetics, Bluebeard - Femme Fatale Cosmetics, Foil Effects in Purple - Barry M, Charlotte Street - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effects in Silver - Barry M

Mermaid Gradient - Mermaidient?

Hey space turtles (lets see if this sticks :D)! Some more sea themed nail art today after one of my last designs came out very dark so I decided to re-do them with something different. I have a trio of polishes from Native War Paints which are good for gradients and I haven't used for a few years so I thought it would be fun to get them out again. They're the only polishes I have from this brand (not sure if they still exist) as I had a bit of a nightmare getting them to the UK.

So I started with a base of magenta and then layered up a gradient with blue, purple and magenta. I did two layers of gradient on each nail and used a peel of barrier to protect my skin. I then cleaned up around my cuticles with a brush and some nail polish remover. I added mermaid images from Mo You London's lovely Atlantis 05 stamping plate in silver. I did these in the evening so didn't want to embark upon something like advanced/reverse stamping which would take longer.

I'm pleased with these and they look good with my space turtle nails (which I'm still wearing on the other hand). Glad I tried these polishes out again. They are still in good condition and do make a great gradient. Also as I've said many times, I love these Atlantis plates!!

Colours used: Officer Handsome -Native War Paints, Shot By Cupids Crossbow - Native War Paints, I'm Dating A Daredevil - Native War Paints, Foil Effects in Silver - Barry M

MerFail Nails

Hey everyone! Got a bit of a nail fail to share today but I'm sharing it anyway! This is some nail art from a few weeks ago now. I was inspired by some butterfly nail art I saw on Instagram where someone had layered up some white images over some metallic purple ones. I decided to try and replicate the look using mermaid themes from the Bundle Monster Twi Star stamping plate.

I started with a few layers of sheer purple (colours listed below pictures) and then added mermaid scale and water ripple images in metallic purple. Once dry I added more individual images over the top in white stamping polish. I think a combination of the polishes I used and the images meant that there wasn't really enough contrast between the colours and it made the images look a bit more blurry and harder to focus on. I wasn't all that happy with these and took them off after only a few days.

Colours used: Haze Jelly - Cirque Colors, Foil Effects in Lilac - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Mermaiding Around

Hey nail people! Aquatic nail art to share today - one of my favourite kinds to do! I recently purchased a few of Mo You London's Atlantis stamping plates and this is the first one I've used (Atlantis 05). It's got lots of lovely mermaid images along with some other ocean images. I love how happy and free the mermaids look, it is the perfect depiction of how I feel when wild swimming! I've been doing a lot of wild swimming this year (and am hoping to keep going over the winter) so am commemorating it with this nail art. I've made the mermaid look like me with long brown hair and pale skin.

To create this look I started with a base of pale blue on all of my nails. I created decals on my Uber Mat for the mermaid scales and the mermaid images. You can see how here. I love this stamping plate, the mermaid images are so fabulous - it was hard to choose which ones to use! This mermaid tail pattern is lovely too, something a little different from the standard. So in conclusion, as you can tell, I love these! Looking forward to using this plate some more!

Colours used: Mermaid Parade - Nails Inc, Ocean Ever After - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Bronze Bae - Barry M, Cobalt - Barry M, Bright Purple - Barry M, Angelfish - Barry M, Pinktail - Barry M

A Unicorn Scale Mermaid Tail

Hello world! I'm feeling good today as I've been off work for a couple of days and have been enjoying the Spring weather and being able to go for walks with people again! The nail look I'm sharing today isn't particularly Easter themed but it's one I wanted to try with the new Holo Taco Unicorn Skins and I couldn't resist trying it straight away!

I saw a similar look by Nerdy Nail Art on Instagram (but with a black base) and loved it so had to give it a go. I started with a dark green base, and then used some of the Holo Taco sponges to add a little dab of all six Unicorn Skin polishes to each nail. These sponges were a bit less absorbent than I expected so I didn't get a particularly thick layer of flakies (the sponges I usually use give a more intense pop of flakies or colour). I could have added another layer here to get a more intense look but it already looked so pretty so I went straight in with the stamping! For the scale outline I used black stamping polish and the Bundle Monster Twi Star stamping plate. I finished the look with a glossy top coat. 

I do love the dark mermaid look. It wasn't exactly what I was going for but I like it anyway and would totally try something similar again. I loved seeing all the different coloured flakies catching the light. The Unicorn Skins never fail to amaze me!

Colours used: Watermelon - Barry M, Solar Unicorn Skin, Lunar Unicorn Skin, Aurora Unicorn Skin, Galactic Unicorn Skin, Cosmic Unicorn Skin, Sonic Unicorn Skin - all Holo Taco

Barry M Rainbow Fish Disco

Hey everyone, long time no see! It's out busiest time of year at work so I'm struggling somewhat to fit nail polish and blogging in, This design is one from last week which I did keep on for just over a week, it lasted well but I persuaded myself to take it off in order to start swatching some new A England polishes.

For this design I started with a metallic silver base (colours listed below the pictures) followed by a silver holographic polish. The holo was stronger and more pigmented than I expected so I possibly didn't need the metallic layer. On my index finger I topped up the holo, and on the others I prepared fish/mermaid scale decals.

I used the Bundle Monster twi_star collaboration plate for the scale image. It's a really handy one which I have used for a few designs. You can do a lot with it, and it's quite long so works for my nails at any length! I created decals on my Uber Mat using Barry M's newest additions to their underwater collection. I like the newer ones better than the first lot as they're brighter colours. I left a few scales blank for the holographic polish to shine through. You can see how I created the decals here.

So overall I really liked these, can't go wrong with fish/mermaid scales! The colours make me think of birthday parties.

Colours used: Silver Lining - Barry M, Harp On It - Color Club, Midnight Mischief - Painted Polish, Moonfish - Barry M, Seahorse - Barry M, Pacific Flame - Barry M, Electric Eel - Barry M

Stamping Sunday: A Mermaid Mix Up

Hello world! I am very wide awake so am putting off going to sleep to share with you some mermaid themed nail art on thermal polish. I wasn't overjoyed with how these turned out, but sharing them anyway, gives some variety I guess as I usually say I like them!

I started off with a colour changing polish. This one is Ursula from Femme Fatale Cosmetics, I thought given the name mermaid nails were appropriate. I stamped some images in silver from my Bundle Monster mermaid plate. I think this is where it went wrong as the silver didn't show up very well over the base colour. It only really worked on the mermaid scale nails.

For the mermaid and castle nails I used the advanced stamping technique using my Uber Mat. You can see how here. Let me know what you think of them, should I try them again with black or something else as the stamping colour?
Colours used: Ursula - Femme Fatale, Rain On  Me - Barry M, Cocoa - Barry M, Charlotte Street - Nails Inc, Plum - Barry M, Cobalt - Barry M

Nails Inc Self Made Mermaid Duo

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a good weekend. I'm having a quiet evening in so far but will see what happens. Today I've been trying out Nails Inc's new nail polish duo, the 'Self Made Mermaid' duo. This is the fourth duo they have done, following the very successful unicorn duo they released last year. I've managed to resist their space themed and champagne themed duo's (which both look lovely), but this one was too me to ignore!

First up is Ocean Ever After, and I am so pleased I managed to get decent pictures with my left hand! This is a metallic blue with a tiny bit of gold running through for the extra metallic shimmer. There's also a hint of green in the bottle but that didn't really transfer to my nails. The formula is good and I love Nails Inc's brushes. It does look a slightly deeper/brighter blue in the Instagram pictures, so I might try it over some dark grey or something to see if I can get that effect. That said it is also lovely as it is. This one is perfect in 2-3 coats (I've used three here).
Next is Mermaid Parade, a pearlescent pastel blue. This has a hint of purple-ish shimmer running through it as well but it's only visible in certain lights. The formula is also good in this one, though is is not as opaque as Ocean Ever After. I used 3 coats in my swatches but I'd say you'd need 4-5 for full opacity, that or try it out over some other base colours. It is a stronger more opaque colour than the recent Barry M sea themed shades (review a few blog posts back).

So my favourite is Ocean Ever After, as I expected, as it's just more my sort of thing. I love a good blue, especially when it's shiny! They are both lovely polishes though and I love the packaging. I can't resist keeping them in it as it makes them look special and more expensive, even though these are cheaper than normal Nails Inc polishes (it's £15 for the two). Looking forward to seeing which duo they bring out next, and if I can resist it!

Barry M Under the Sea

Hello world! Happy Friday! Today I'm excited to bring to you my review of Barry M's new Under the Sea collection: four sheer pearlescent shades in adorable sea themed bottles.

From left to right we have Angelfish, Butterflyfish, Jellyfish and Pinktail. In my swatches I've applied three coats over naked nails, with no top coat. Tempted to do a follow up post with some over black or white as I think that could magical mermaid and unicorn-esque looks!

First up on my nails was Angelfish, a pale unicorny champagne shimmer. This looks a bit whiter than I expected it to, as it's more champagne coloured in the bottle.
Next up is Butterflyfish, a pearlescent pale blue. This one is slightly more sheer than Angelfish but otherwise has a similar finish. In certain lights and angles there's a bit of a bronzy-pink shade running through it as well.
Jellyfish is a pale purple with a hint of green polish in the bottle but does come it out a bit more pink on the nail. I think it would purple up a bit with more layers! This one is quite sheer as well.
And finally, Pinktail is very pink in the bottle, and comes out a coral-ish pink on the nails. All of the polishes are sheer but this one and Angelfish are a little less so. There's a hint of pale gold running through this one in certain lights/angles as well.
Overall  my verdict is these are lovely, and quite unusual! I think they will look particularly good over white or possibly black so may have to do a follow up post with those. I'm also thinking these would look great in a mermaid scale pattern. The bottle design makes these look very young I think, which isn't want I would always go for, but they also look very sea themed, which is definitely what I go for, so I guess they cancel each other out!

Let me know what you think!

Fish scale tail nails!

Bubble bubble (what noise does a fish make?) everyone! Tonights nail art is mermaid tail nails. I based this on a dragon scale design I saw on clairestelle80's Instagram. I don't think mine came out as well as hers but I still like it.

I started off with a white base (which was a nightmare as mine's gone rather gloopy!) and then 'smooshed' some colours over the top. I did this using a clear stamper, putting the a couple of blobs of each colour on the head, and pressing it down a few times on each nail. The colours I chose all have a bit of subtle shimmer.

Once this was dry I use the mermaid scales image from my Bundle Monster twi-star stamping plate and added the scales outline on each nail in purple. I then did the same in silver holo, lining up the scales so the holo was just underneath. Unfortunately the silver holo was not as obvious as I would have liked but it showed up quite well in bright light.

Overall was fairly happy with this design, hope you like it too!
Colours used: Alpine Snow - OPI, Succulent Garden - Cirque Colors, Ballet Slipper - ILNP, Dusk Dazzle - Femme Fatale, Wigmore Street - Nails Inc, Harp On It - Color Club