Strawberry Reflections

Hey space turtles! I'm launching straight into Spring with some nails which are actually quite summery! I have loved this winter so I'm sad to see it go but Spring brings new opportunities too (and lots of gardening unfortunately!). I was inspired by Kim Sorta Nailed It on Instagram to use this reflective red nail polish for strawberry nail art (colours listed below the pictures).

I started with a peel off base and then two coats of red reflective glitter. I almost only needed one coat as it's so rich and opaque - such a beautiful nail polish! Next I used a nail art brush to add leaves in green nail polish. Once done I added the little seeds in yellow. I would have probably done the seeds in black so I'm glad I had the inspiration pictures to try it in yellow for a brighter look. I really like the way these work with my shorter nails and I think it's a fun look. They're not perfectly neat but you can certainly tell what they are and I love the sparkle!

Colours used: Burning Bright - Emily de Molly, Spring Green - Barry M, Notting Hill - Nails Inc

Happy Valentines Day Beavers!

Hello space turtles and eager beavers! I was struggling for inspiration for Valentines Day nail art this year so I put out a request for ideas on Instagram and a friend suggested animals who mate for life. With that and another thought that later popped into my head I now have too many ideas! I think this one is my favourite though so I'm sharing it on actual Valentines Day. The first animal I've chosen which mates for life is beavers. This one is also close to my heart as I'm part of a winter swimming group called 'frosty beavers and shy turtles' so this is fitting for that too!

I started with a peel off base coat and two layers of red reflective glitter on three of my nails, and pale muted pink on the other two. I had no beaver images on my stamping plates so this was one of my rare moments of freehand! I added the brown polish with the brush from the bottle, and then used a small nail art brush and dotting tool for the details on the beavers face. I used a striping brush for the pattern on the tail. I also used a small nail art brush to add two red hearts in the same red glitter. I finished the look with a glossy top coat.

I love how these turned out! The beavers tail is a tiny bit smudged but it's only visible in pictures or very up close. I love this gorgeous red glitter too - another of my Christmas presents. Colours used are listed below the pictures and the pictures show the look in different lighting and angles.

Colours used: Burning Bright - Emily de Molly, Vintage Tee - Nails Inc, Cappuccino - Barry M, Cocoa - Barry M, Cream Soda - Barry M

Happy New Year 2023

Happy new year! I have some nail art to share and when I went to do it I realised that I hadn't shared either of my new years eve looks so have decided to share them together in one blog post since I've already got a couple more to catch up on!

Look one - New Years Day. I started with a peel off  base coat followed by a layer of nude polish. I then added two layers of tinsel themed sparkly nail polish and a 'glitter grabber' to smooth it out a bit. I made decals on my Uber Mat for the thumb nail and middle fingernail using Mo You London's Noel 10 stamping plate. I hadn't remembered that it would be a reverse image so it's not really clear that the bottles are meant to say gin! The other images were stamped directly onto my nails and 2023 was freehand. I was pretty pleased with my freehand numbers though I wish the 3 wasn't disappearing into the corner!

Look two - New Years Eve. This look was to capture the still very festive feelings around new year and parties/celebrations. I also had a new red polish I wanted to try so gave that a go. Images are from Mo You London's Noel 15 and Festive 05 stamping plates and stamped in gold (pictured). This was simple and easy to do but I'm pleased with it. Captures the right vibes I think!

Colours used: Tinsel Garland - Fancy Gloss, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Watermelon - Barry M, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Gold Digger - Barry M

Red - Undisclosed, Bright Lights - Barry M

A Candy Cane Deer?

Hey space turtles! More Christmas nail art after a bit of a gap due to a wonderful pre-Christmas trip to Norway. I've wanted to use this little cartoon deer for a while and thought it would go well with festive red and a candy cane image. The candy cane stripes didn't really come out how I wanted but as a whole I like the look.

I started with a peel of base coat and then a couple of layers of cream polish on one nail and red on the others. I added a layer of red glitter over the red nails. For the deer and bells I created decals on my Uber Mat using Mo You London's Noel 15 stamping plate. For the candy cane nail I used their Holy Shapes 19 stamping plate and added the lines one by one. This was a bit fiddly and I didn't manage to get it very neat and even. I finished the look with a shiny top coat. I like this look though  I wish the candy cane part had come out better and I'd added more glitter!

Colours used: Dead Heat - Barry M, Kiss Me - Fun Lacquer, Cream Soda - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Cocoa - Barry M

Spiced Wine In Spring

Hello World! I am currently recovering from Covid and as a result have been ordering quite a lot of nail polish! In fairness the first order was before I came down with it, but I've since ordered more! I've had my eye on a couple of lovely sheer polishes from Picture Polish for a while but was waiting for something else to come back in stock to order them. As a result they are a bit out of season now as they're quite wintery colours but I wanted to give them a Spring twist, which is what my next two nail art looks will be attempting.

I started with a base of sheer nude polish, followed by two coats of Spiced Wine on most nails and a coat of pale pink on the ring fingernail. While this dried I created a decal on my Uber Mat, you can see how here. The image is from Mo You London's Botanical 13 stamping plate which I hadn't used yet. I tried to choose colours in keeping with it's sort of vintage look though they're a little bright.

I like these, I like that shiny squishy effect of the sheer polish and look forward to creating some layered looks with it too.

Colours used: Soft Focus - Polished For Days Spiced Wine - Picture Polish, Strawberry Ice Cream - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Yellow - Barry M, Key Lime - Barry M, Papaya - Barry M, Angelfish - Barry M

Classic Valentines

Happy Valentines Day in advance! I have a couple of Valentines nail art looks lined up, the other of which I'll share tomorrow. I was lacking a bit of inspiration for Valentines nail art this year so thought I'd give the classic heart tips look a go with a bit of glitter.

I started with a couple of layers of sheer pink, and then added a couple of swipes of red quick dry polish in the shape of a heart. This was surprisingly easy and I'm pleased with how it turned out. I added another layer and then a layer of red glitter. Finally I used another layer of red glitter from one of Fun Lacquer's Valentines Day collections for the final pop of glitter. I finished the look with a 'glitter grabber' top coat followed by a quick dry top coat. I'm enjoying this look - the simplicity works and I'm enjoying being sparkly!!

Colours used: Get Discovered - Nails Inc, Dead Heat - Barry M, Red Glitter - Barry M, Kiss Me - Fun Lacquer

A festive mouse!

Hey everyone! Back with some more Christmas nails (what else?!) for another Glam Nails Challenge prompt of Christmas Cookies. I'm not fitting in all the prompts for the December as I've been short on time and I have a few ideas that don't quite fit. Really looking forward to share my next ones! So for my Christmas cookie theme is a cosy mouse in a jumper, enjoying a hot cocoa with some giant cookies around for nibbling! I technically for me these are biscuits not cookies as I am in the UK, but as the theme is Christmas Cookie I shall call them that!

I started with a deep red base which to be honest I'd forgotten I had! It was a lovely and rich one coater and perfect colour for Christmas. I added the Merry Christmas writing in gold from my Mo You London Noel 03 stamping plate, and created decals for the other images using the same stamping plate, you can see how here. I should have filed my thumbnail down a little more as it looks weirdly long compared to the others and the cup is a bit small for it, but overall pretty happy with these. I'm really enjoying the strong red colour!

Colours used: Marquise Maroon - Models Own, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Jolly My Roger - Painted Polish, Grey - Barry M, Staying In - ILNP, Bright Lights - Barry M

Cat and Mouse Christmas

Hey everyone! Back again and a bit behind with the glam nails challenge as these should have been posted yesterday. The prompt was Christmas presents, and I knew I wanted to use this cat image from my new Mo You London stamping plate, Noel 09. I used a similar theme for the wording, and also the gift tag image which I rather like. I also couldn't resist using this cute little mouse image, even though it isn't directly present related. I like the idea that it's looking curiously over at the cat, waiting for its present!

I started with a base of red and white (colours listed below the pictures) and got them a little mixed up as I think I should have done one less red nail, I was just enjoying using this gorgeous shade again! I then stamped the wording on my little finger, and created decals for all my other nails, you can see how here. All the images I used are from the Noel 09 plate. I do wish I'd managed to find space for the adorable little rabbit featured on the plate as well!

On the whole I'm happy with them though I did mess up a little in a couple of places and could have probably done the cat on a white background which would have let it stand out better. 

Colours used: Say Love - ILNP, Christmas Cookie - ILNP, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effects in Gold - Barry M, Evergreen - Picture Polish, Playing Koi - Essie, Grey - Barry M, Cream Soda - Barry M

All The Jingle Ladies - Merry Christmas!

Hello all and Merry Christmas! I'm sharing my Christmas day nail art with you today which I meant to share earlier but I have been enjoying some lazy time the last few days! I ended up with different nail art on each hand for Christmas day, this was the new one I did on Christmas Eve, and on the other hand I wore my 'Tree-Rex' nail art which I really like! Although Christmas had to be altered this year I was lucky enough to still be able to see my parents and one of my sisters, and we had a lovely day.

For the nail art I started with a base of red on most nails and gold on one. I then sponged some red glitter over the red nail polish, it came out quite bright as the polish underneath was a bright shade of red. On my middle finger I stamped some wording from the Mo You London Noel 10 plate which matches a Christmas top my sister got me a few years ago, which I wore on Christmas day. On the accent nail I sponged on some gold glitter, and then stamped the reverse bell image from the Uber Chic Happy Christmas/ Christmas 04 stamping plate. It was pretty simple to do but I like the final look.

My partner got me a ring light to use to help me with the lighting in my nail pictures, and it's being used in the first three of these pictures. The effect it gives on the glitter  in these pictures is a little strange but I think I'm making progress. It was a great gift!

Colours used: Dead Heat - Barry M, Kiss Me - Fun Lacquer, Gold Digger - Barry M, Gold Glitter - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend,  Foil Effects in Gold - Barry M

Halloween Nails: I Bleed Nail Polish!

Hello everyone, short but sweet blog post today as we edge closer to Halloween! Todays Glam Nails Challenge prompt was blood. This was my least favourite of all the prompts as I'm not really into gory Halloween stuff. I decided to keep it simple and use this deep blood red Barry M polish I haven't used for aaages, with a drip effect stamp on what was previously my only Halloween stamping plate, Festive 16 from Mo You London.

I started with a deep red base and then stamped the drip effect over the top in gold. Once I'd added this to all fingernails I used a small nail art brush to dab gold glitter nail polish over the gold drips. Once dry I added a shiny top coat and that was it! My boyfriend said they remind him of Christmas puddings... I like them as Halloween nails though, I'm loving wearing something really vampy again and the gold glitter completes it! I guess I did enjoy todays prompt after all!

Colours used: Red Black - Barry M, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M, Gold Glitter - Barry M

Happy Valentines Day Love Bugs!

Happy Friday everyone, and Happy Valentines Day if you're celebrating it. I dithered a bit about what to do with my nails for it this year, I was tempted by those heart tip nails I've seen all over Instagram, with a bit of glitter, but then the idea of doing 'love bugs' popped into my head and and stuck! If I remember correctly ladybirds where the first nail art I ever painted on my nails, when I was a student. I'm not sure if I have any pictures but I reckon these ones are neater!

I started with a base of shimmering pinky red. Party In Rio from Colors by Llarowe was a colour I bought around Christmas time a few years ago but was pinker than I expected. It wasn't quite right for Christmas but works perfectly for Valentines Day! I then applied black nail polish across the tops of my nails, a bit like a large french tip. They weren't quite as neat as I intended but not too bad! I used a striping brush for the lines down the middle, and then dotting tools for the eyes and the spots. I'm enjoying wearing red nail polish again and the cuteness of these, I don't think they need to be perfectly even. This is about as far as my freehand skills go!
Colours used: Party In Rio - Colors by Llarowe, Lady In Black - OPI, Floral Street - Nails Inc

Santa Gnome Nails

Three sleeps to go! Hopefully there is enough time for me to blog all my Christmas nail art too! These nails were done for our trip to Norway last weekend. I chose to do Santa gnomes as we saw lots of them in Norway last year. I would 100% recommend a pre-Christmas trip to Norway! This year we went to Tromsø which is very far north and is a fascinating and beautiful place. It felt so arctic!

I tried out Ruby from the Cirque Colors Facets collection in this nail art. It is of course beautiful! I used Santa gnome and tree images from the Uber Chic Happy Christmas plate, and the advanced stamping technique (as usual) for the  gnomes. I added trees first on my middle fingers as it seemed like to much white space otherwise. I think I should have possibly added more trees but overall I like it. I'd forgotten how lovely Cirque's Estate is too - it's sparkles in the light!
Colours used: Ruby - Cirque Colors, Floral Street - Nails Inc, Estate - Cirque Colors, Midnight Mischief - Painted Polish, Key Lime - Barry M, Spring Green - Barry M