Rainbow Sparkle Ladybird's

Hey space turtles! This is my final catch up blog post for now, and it's for last Wednesday's Glam Nails Challenge theme of Ladybug. I've done ladybird nails before and thought of a few ways I might do them a little differently, settling on some sparkly purple ladybirds which don't cover my whole nail. I wasn't sure whether to add eyes as they looked quite good without but glad I did as I definitely like them best that way. Pictures of both in reflective and non-reflective forms are below.

I started with a muted pink base coat which ended up looking a bit more purple after I added a tinted top coat at the end! I then painted a line on each nail where the purple point would end and then added a thick layer of sparkle underneath it. I used a small nail art brush to outline their little heads and fill them in before painting some antennae. Once dry I added lined down the middle and then used a dotting tool to add the spots and eyes, finishing with a super glossy top coat. Love how these turned out :)

Colours used: Briar Rose - Polished for Days, Rainbow Stardust - Fancy Gloss, Essential White - Uber Chic Beauty, Lady In Black - OPI

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

The Space Cats Have Landed

Hey space turtles! Today instead of space turtles we have space cats! I wasn't sure what to do for the Glam Nails Challenge prompt of 'space ship' but then I rediscovered this space ship in the desert image on Mo You London's Sci-Fi 10 stamping plate. I decided to pair it with cat images for a 'the space cats have landed' theme.

I started with base coat and two layers of purple nail polish, followed by a layer of magnetic silver polish. I made decals for the planets on my thumbnail and the desert scene on my ring fingernail. I added dangling moon/star/planet images in silver on two of my nails and then added some black cat images, finishing off with a glossy top coat. I got the placement of the cat face logo on my index fingernail all wrong which was annoying! I also think with hindsight I should have made a decal for that one too and added a bit of colour. Despite that I do really like this look and think it's good fun!

Colours used: Purple (name not known) - Mark, Platinum Diamond - Fun Lacquer, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M, Counting Candles - Painted Polish, TBC - Painted Polish, TBC - ILNP

Ladies In Purple

Hey space turtles! Today I'm sharing more nail art I thought of around Valentines Day with a bit of a self love girl power vibe! I've been meaning to use these images from Mo You London's Le Musee 04 stamping plate for ages and now seems like the right time. It was fun to use this shade of purple again too as although pastels aren't my usual go to for nail polish I do think lilac really suits me.

I started with three coats of lilac nail polish and then added some shapes in blue using Uber Chic Beauty's Basic Shapes 01 stamping plate. I then used dark purple to add the ladies (colours listed below the pictures). I carefully applied a glossy topcoat although I didn't do it quite carefully enough as I smudged the purple a bit. Maybe I didn't let it dry long enough, but to be honest I think the smudging in some ways makes it better as the lines were looking quite thin before.

Even though they're a little smudged I do like these. I'm enjoying the Spring colours (even if I don't feel fully ready for Spring!) and wearing something a little different to my usual looks.

Colours used: Berry Ice Cream - Barry M, Blueberry - Barry M, Plum - Barry M

A dream within the forest

Good evening space turtles! The title of this blog post is a play on the name of the purple magnetic polish I've used for this look - Dream Within a Dream by Cirque Colors. I was inspired by mullemaus1281 on Instagram to create this look. It was pretty simple to do. I started with a layer of base coat and of purple magnetic polish, then added a further layer which I magnetised. The magnetic effect has spread out a bit as you can see below so I don't have as much of a crisp magnetic effect, but I like this effect in it's own right. I added images from Mo You London's Noel 06 stamping plate in white and then finished the look with a glossy top coat.

I like how these turned out. They may not be quite like the original but I like them in their own way. It was fun using a magnetic polish again too.

Colours used: Dream within a dream - Cirque Colors, Essential White - Uber Chic

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

Bewitching my nails

Heyy spooky space turtles! Yep - it's getting weirder! Today's nail art is witch themed for a witchy Glam Nails Challenge prompt. I used my new Halloween 17 stamping plate from Mo You London to create a look which I think of as a witch catwalk.

I started with a peel off base coat followed by one layer of beige as a base layer and then three coats of purple glitter. The glitter wasn't quite sparkly enough so I added one layer of reflective holographic polish onto the top which certainly brought the sparkle level right up! While all this was drying I created decals on my Uber Mat for the witches, castle and cauldron, you can see how here. I finished the look with a glossy top coat.

I'm pleased with how these came out. It's good fun and the images are great. Only down side is that my pictures didn't come out that well. I think the reflective ones are a bit dark and the non-reflective one a bit dull. Also missed some clean up. Still, in person they are fab!

Colours used: Soft Focus - Polished for Days, Fashion Icon - Barry M, Flash Diamond Flake - Fun Lacquer, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Charlotte Street - Nails Inc, Bronze Bae - Barry M, Cappuccino - Barry M, Pomegranate - Barry M, Chester Street - Nails Inc, Love Me Not - ILNP, Neon Green - Accessorise, Good Vibes - Nails Inc

Dino Mountain Nights

Hey space turtles! I've had Mo You London's Jurassic Park 04 stamping plate sitting around for a while now and somehow haven't used it yet. Now is finally the time and I'm pleased to finally be creating dinosaur landscape nail art!

I started with a base of blue and then added the silver stars from Mo You London's Sci Fi 10 stamping plate. I then chose the base layer mountain image for each nail and added them in white to create a background for the purple polishes and stop them blending into the blue. I then added a later of light purple over the top, and a final mountain image on each nail in dark purple. I finally added a dinosaur in black to each nail and finished with a glossy topcoat. I'm enjoying the colour scheme of these, the landscape effect and the fact that there's a dino on each nail - so a winner all round!

Colours used: Aruba Blue - Essie, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Purple - Mark, Dark Purple - Mark, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

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

Shellfish in Purple

Hi there! Finding it hard to find time for blogging at the moment but finding some time now for a bit of as sea themed look I had on for our long weekend by the coast recently. I quite liked the idea of doing a simple style with two shades of the same colour and thought the Uber Chic Seashells Aplenty plate would be perfect. I started with two layers of lilac, and then stamped the images over the top in a metallic dark purple which didn't look as metallic when stamped. I'm pleased with how these came out. They were easy to do but look good and lilac is a flattering shade. Only improvement would be a better non-smudge top coat!

Colours used: Wardour Street - Nails Inc, Unnamed - Barry M

One More Easter Egg, One More Nail Polish!

Hi nail people! As Easter is on the horizon I'm sharing my first Easter related nail art for the year which is also my second Glam Nails Challenge prompt for this month, Easter eggs. I used a new reflective polish from KB Shimmer called Love You Brunches and it's gorgeous! I've included pictures with and without flash below, I love it in all lighting!

I started with a base of Love You Brunches on two of my nails and A Mantis Shrimps Favourite Color on the others. While they were drying I used my Uber Mat to create decals for my thumb and ring fingernails. For the Easter egg I used Mo You London's Festive 58 stamping plate, and for the hand Uber Chic's Nail Polish Is Life plate. I added some wording from the nail themed plate on my middle fingernail too. I thought it was very fitting for both nail polish and Easter eggs! I was really keen to use a reflective nail polish on the nail image as I knew the fiddly details would really stand out and match my own sparkly nails.

Love how these came out! It's a random combination with the nails and the Easter eggs but I think they tie in well with the 'just one more' wording. I really adore that image and am pleased with the colours I chose throughout the look (bit of  Cadburys vibe with the purple polish!). Only issue is the slight smudging of the wording but I'll probably try and keep these for a little while.

Colours used: Love You Brunches - KB Shimmer, A Mantis Shrimps Favourite Colour - Bees Knees Lacquer, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Little Bo Peep - Rimmel, Charlotte Street - Nails Inc

A dream within a dream for new year

Hi everyone and happy new years for tomorrow! I'm getting my new year nail art blog post out today as it will be my 100th blog post in 2021! The most I've done in a year before is 99 so I feel the need to beat that this year! There has definitely been a lot more nail art from me since the pandemic started! So this year my new years nail art was left a little to the last minute and I couldn't decide which of my lovely new nail polishes to use! Last year I did two looks I loved so had a lot to live up to this year. I decided to keep it simple and just to some stamping directly onto my nails.

I started with my favourite base coat (Nails Inc Nail Kale) and then a layer of magnetic polish I was excited to receive for Christmas (colours listed below pictures). Once dry I added another layer and had fun with my magnet trying out different patterns on each nail. The patterns have spread out a bit now as I left it a while before top coating but I actually quite like that, gives it a bit of a crushed velvet look. Next I used Mo You London's Festive 05 stamping plate (a real go to!) to add festive images, the clock face is my favourite. Once dry I added a quick dry topcoat, and marvelled at the magnetic flare! I'm really glad I chose silver to stamp with, I think these were easy to do and came out just as planned :)

Now to get ready for this evening! Wishing you a fabulous new year!

Colours used: Dream Within A Dream - Cirque Colors, Foil Effects in Silver - Barry M