Spotted Sea Creatures

Hey space turtles! More simple stamping to share today as I chipped my strawberry nail art the day before going to London and wanted to neaten it up. I wanted to try out a new stamping plate from Kads Nail Art and thought this would be a good opportunity as it was something I could do quite quickly with no advanced stamping involved. I started with a base of pale blue and then added the block colour images in navy. The spotty images where added over the top in white stamping polish. I tried layering up two sets of images on my thumbnail but it didn't really work, I think I messed up the placement of the mermaid image. Finished the look with a glossy top coat and enjoyed!

Colours used: Pale blue - Brand I no longer support, The Serpentine - Nails Inc, White Stamping Polish - Uber Chic Beauty

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

Deep Sea Fishies

Hey everyone! More Glam Nails Challenge sea themed nails today, this time the theme is Fish. I decided to do something similar to a design I did last year but tweak it a bit by using a slightly different base and some of the images (same plate) are different. I used Aquatic from Picture Polish which is a deep green. All images are from Mo You London's Atlantis 02 stamping plate.

I started with two coats of Atlantis which is gorgeously rich. Following that I chose my fish images and added the base layer of stamping for all of them in white so they'd stand out against the dark background. I then added the other colours one by one. I wasn't sure what colour to do the blue and white fish which I think was supposed to be blue and yellow, but settled on blue and white since I'd already done blue and yellow for the one next to it. I added wording to one side above the crab which I think works well.

Pleased with how these came out. I love the Atlantis stamping plates so much!!

Colours used: Aquatic - Picture Polish, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M, Beach Hut - Models Own, Papaya - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Yellow - Barry M, Indigo - Barry M, Cobalt - Barry M, Acai Smoothie - Barry M, Shoreditch - Nails Inc

Seahorses in Seahouses

Hi again! Back with another Glam Nails Challenge theme of Seahorses. I wore these on a trip to the coast in a place called Seahouses hence the name of this blog post. I had a couple of stamping plate options for seahorses but decided to go with Mo You London's Atlantis 02 plate with it's lovely layered images. Usually I'd put the central feature on the middle two nails but decided to switch it up a bit this time and have the seahorses to one side.

I started with two coats of blue glitter (which was fortunately quite opaque as I didn't have any sponges with me for the sponging technique) over a peel off base coat. I then added the first layer of all the images I planned to use in white, adding the coloured layers second and black at the end where necessary. The seaweed images aren't layering ones but I used white underneath them anyway to help them stand out. I really like how that worked on my thumbnail.

I'm pleased with these. They are definitely my kind of colour and my kind of theme! I could have got the layering better for the seahorses but it's not that obvious. Enjoying wearing them :)

Colours used: Twinkled - Enchanted Polish, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Acai Smoothie - Barry M, Grey - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M, Bright Purple - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Snazzy Sea Creatures!

Today's nail art was inspired by some I saw by Hanninator on Instagram. She used the newest UberChic mermaid stamping plate to add some cute sea creatures to her nails over their new blue nail polish. The look made me feel nostalgic as it reminded me of some of those inflatable armbands we used to have as kids! I decided I had to have a go at creating something similar with my UberChic Just Beachy plate as it has some great layered sea creature images too (layered stamping I mean - not layered sea creatures! :D)

I started with a blue base of High Tide from ILNP as this was my most similar nail polish to the shade Hanninator used. It was lovely to try it out again, it's so rare these days that I put the same colour on all nails! Next I used some well pigmented nail polish colours (all listed below the pictures) to add the sea creature colours, and then black stamping polish to add the outlines. After doing the jellyfish I realised (should have know really!) that the colours wouldn't stand out well enough on their own over the blue so I stamped the image underneath in white first for the others.

Overall I'm really pleased with these! They're cute and fun and were great to wear for a trip to Brighton, felt very appropriate when I was swimming in the sea!

Colours used: High Tide - ILNP, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Pink Lemonade - Barry M, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Papaya - Barry M, Key Lime - Barry M, Watermelon - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Fisherman Nails Inspired by Staithes

Ahoy there! Sharing some nautical nail art today which was inspired by our trip to the North York Moors a couple of weeks ago. We did some lovely coastal walks and had dinner in a lovely little town called Staithes one evening. This nail art was inspired by that trip, it was lovely eating dinner by the sea and watching the world go by.

I stared with bases of yellow, blue and pale blue before stamping images from Mo You London's Sailor 01 and 18 stamping plates onto my nails. I used one of their Tropical plates for the stripes. I created lighthouse and fisherman (or hipster - however you want to look at it :D) decals on my Uber Mat to go over the waves and fish on the light blue nails. I really love the fish shoal image! I finished with a shiny top coat (Nails Inc's Kensington Caviar). 

I'm really pleased with these and am enjoying the nautical theme and bright colours. They feel very fitting as I'm off to the seaside tomorrow!

Colours used: Borrowed & Blue - Essie, Cobalt - Barry M, Yellow - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Charlotte - Nails Inc, Cappuccino - Barry M

Soon may the Wellerman come...

To bring us sugar and tea and rum! The popular Wellerman sea shanty is my theme for todays nail art! I don't know how popular it's been around the rest of the world but in the UK people have gone made for sea shanties, with the most popular being The Wellerman which went viral after a postman's cover of it took off on Tik Tok. Loads of people joined in and made versions, and a dancey version of it is currently number 3 in the UK charts! It's all great fun and I am very much on board with it!

For this look I started with a base of blue on three of my fingernails, and cream on my thumb and ring fingernails. For the whale, whales tail and sailor/fisherman nails I used images from Mo You London's Sailor 18 plate which is one of my all time faves! I created decals of the fisherman and humpback whale so I could colour them in. For my ring fingernail I used the Sailor 01 plate, and for my little finger I used Uber Chic's Bottoms Up stamping plate to represent the tea. I didn't have any images for sugar or rum but I think I captured enough elements of the song! I finished with a matte top coat to make the colours pop.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with these, I think they're good fun and I do love a nautical theme! I'm enjoying the colour scheme too. I think the multi-wave image with the whale tale on my thumb is a little messy but I love the look so much I'm not sure it matters!

Colours used: Can't Find My Czechbook - OPI, Cream Soda - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Cobalt - Barry M, Indigo - Barry M, Cappuccino - Barry M, Cocoa - Barry M, Charlotte Street - Nails Inc

Seahorses in a pastel sea

Hey everyone, I'm back with the final prompt for the Dimension Nails Challenge August, this time it's seahorses. I have a couple of stamping plates with seahorse images and decided to go for Mo You London's Doodles 07 plate which has a whole host of pretty sea themed patterns and creatures. You'll see a few other creatures managed to sneak into this look!

For this look I started with a fluid nail art background. I went for pale pastel shades in order to make the images stand out as much as possible. Three Barry M shades and Dance Legend's white Spot It polish were used for the fluid nail art which was created on my Uber Mat (colours listed below the pictures). One of the Barry M's was kind of pearlescent but that didn't really show up that well in the end. Once the base pattern was applied and dry I stamped the images over the top in gold. It didn't show up that well to be honest, even though the background was pale I think there was too much going on, so I stamped over it in black which was much better. I can still see some gold shining through which I like.

Overall I'm happy with these though they are less subtle than what I was originally going for. I do think the fluid nail art came out quite well and it's good to get some practise.
Colours used: Strawberry Ice Cream - Barry M, Berry Ice Cream - Barry M, Butterflyfish - Barry M, Spot It White - Dance Legend, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Crabby Nails Ahoy!

Hey everyone - or should I say ahoy... Some cute crab nail art to share with you today which kind of matched my mood when I painted them (crabby rather than cute unfortunately). These are for the next Dimension Nails challenge prompt for August which is, you guessed it, crab. I have a couple of stamping plates with crab images on but chose the newest, Uber Chic's Just Beachy plate. They have these helpful layered images so I didn't have to create decals, and could stamp directly onto the white nails. I was pleased with how vibrantly the colours came out, as sometimes I find stamping colours over white kind of washes them out a little. I did smudge the orange crab a little when stamping the black outline over the colour but I think it's still cute!

Not much else to say on these really but I am pleased with them, and am enjoying the summery shades! It's not something I'd really thought to do before so I'm glad this Dimension Nails challenge prompt made me do them!
Colours used: Flip Flop Fantasy - China Glaze, Greenberry - Barry M, Floral Street - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Live Every Week Like It's Shark Week!

Hi all, and happy almost shark week! I haven't actually done shark week nail art before, and these images are the main reason I bought the new UberChic Just Beachy stamping plate, so when this came up as part of the Dimension Nails challenge on Instagram it seemed like the perfect time! I am having a month off from the Glam Nails Challenge prompts to focus on my growing nail art ideas list, but this Dimension Nails one only has four prompts so I think it's do-able, and I love the prompts! I am tempted to do two or three of the Glam Nails Challenge ones too but we shall see, clearly I am hooked!

I started this look with a peel off base due to the glitter, and then added aqua glitter (colours listed below pictures) on my thumb and little finger nails, and silver glitter on the rest. There was no advanced stamping on this occasion due to the handy layered images on the Just Beachy plate, so I stamped the images directly onto my nails, and on my middle finger I layered up some sheer blue over the sharks, before adding the image again at a different angle, and adding one more layer of blue. This was to give the illusion that there are more sharks swimming deeper in the water, and was something I have been super keen to do since I ordered this plate.

I was a bit all over the place with image directions for this one as you can probably see! Normally I stamp nail art images so that they're the right way up when I hold my hands upright, but this time I thought I'd give the other way a go. I started with my thumb nail and was actually meaning to do this one my normal way but forgot, I then completely forgot about which way up to do them for all my other nails except my index finger! For the middle two this was fine as the image can go either way, but I guess old habits die hard! You'll see the shark on my little finger is the opposite way up to the text! Anyway, Overall, I'm pretty pleased with these, and look forward to doing more shark nail art in the future :)
Colours used: Cosmic Girl - Danglefoot Polish, Catwalk Queen - Barry M, Flipper - Urban Outfitters, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Grey - Barry M, Acai Smoothie - Barry M

Whaling Around

Hi everyone, happy Sunday! It's raining here in the south of England but I don't mind as it's cooled it down a bit. Today is another prompt for the Glam Nails Challenge July and I think it is my favourite so far, so happy with these! The prompt was whales (an excellent prompt in my opinion) and I took inspiration from a rather quirky swimsuit I have, I've included a picture right at the bottom of this blog post. It's from an online shop called Bakato who make really quirky swimwear using recycled materials, and I absolutely love it!

I started with a base of Barry M's Laguna, a perfect summery base colour, and then made decals from the Mo You London Sailor 18 plate, which is one of my all time favourites. There are two Orca images on there which I stamped onto my Uber Mat in black (over a thin layer of clear polish). I then used a dotting tool to fill in the white part of the whales with white nail polish, and once dry added another layer of clear polish. Once it was all dry I peeled the decals off the mat, trimmed them down and applied them to my nails, finishing off with a matte top coat.

As someone who does use stamping a lot, I found this was pretty simple to do for a result I loved! I would have definitely struggled to remove this look but sadly it did chip slightly after a few days (I blame the matte top coat and doing the dishes!). At least that made it easier for me to remove it for my next look!
Colours used: Laguna - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Floral Street - Nails Inc

Sailing Boat Sailor Nails

Hey everyone! Running late with this as we've had some internet issues but getting it in just in time as my nail art for today's Glam Nails Challenge July prompt, which is Sailing Boat. This nail art was very much a see how it goes sort of look, where I kept changing my mind and picking things to do as I went along. On this occasion that worked well for me as I love these!

On my index and ring fingernails I used bronze nail polish (colours listed below the pictures) and stamped sailor tattoo style images from Mo You London's Sailor 16 plate which has been sitting in my collection untried for probably about 2 years! So I am glad I've finally used it! On my other nails I used the fluid nail art technique, where the polishes are spotted onto a stamping mat, and squished down with a stamper to blend them and let the special effect Spot It polishes do their thing. I love how these came out and have included some bonus pictures at the bottom of this blog post showing them before stamping over the top.

The sailing boat image is from the Sailor 01 plate and the fish on my thumb nail are from the Sailor 18 plate (both Mo You London). I had been wondering whether to have the boat coloured in but I'm glad I didn't as I think it works better plain against the pattered background. I finished off the look with a shiny top coat (Nails Inc Kensington Caviar) as I think this adds nicely to the fluid nail art effect. I'm so pleased with the colour combination :) Hope you like them too!
Colours used: Bronze Bae - Barry M, Bruton Place - Nails Inc, Spot It White - Dance Legend, Spot It Blue - Dance Legend, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection