China Plate Skittle

Hey space turtles! Keeping this one short and sweet today as I have a bit of a back log. I fancied trying out my china plate stamping plate again and after some thought as to what would work best I decided to go for bright and colourful as Spring approaches. I started with a base coat and two layers of white polish (best nail polish name ever - colours listed below the pictures) and then added the images in a variety of colours using my Porcelain 02 stamping plate from Mo You London. I finished the look with a glossy top coat. I'm thinking I should have tried them out in matte too but too late now as I moved onto my next nail art today! Pleased with how these came out :)

Colours used: A mantis shrimps favourite colour - Bees Knees Lacquer, Watermelon - Barry M, Plum - Barry M, Indigo - Barry M, Pomegranate - Barry M

Skittle Stars

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art is a fairly straightforward one but as I am learning those can often be the ones that work out best. I really love this particular star image on Mo You London's Scandi 10 stamping plate and wanted to appreciate it fully by having it across all nails and trying it with some different colours in a 'skittle' effect with a different colour on each nail. I ended up sticking to all Barry M shades and quite enjoyed the simplicity of that. I was tempted to use a matte top coat but really like the final look as it is so have left it. I really like the shape of my thumbnail and ring fingernail but of course still willing my index fingernail to grow! This look is also for the Stars theme for this months Glam Nails Challenge. I've actually just found this post in my drafts and thought I'd already shared it so there will be a couple of posts in quick succession!

Colours used: Indigo, Watermelon, Sprint Finish, Dragster, Slip Stream, Bright Lights - All Barry M

Holo Taco Topper's

Heyy space turtles! A couple of random swatchy type looks to share today. I was short on time for doing nail art so decided I'd try out a couple of untried Holo Taco polishes I have instead. Hoping to find some time to do nail art this evening or tomorrow. Some thoughts on each look below.

Skittle - The first two pictures are of a skittle look I did with some darker colours as we move towards autumn. I am so pleased to finally have Holo Taco's Everything Taco. It's such a gorgeous sparkly topper. Below I've added one coat over each colour, followed by a glossy top coat. I like my toppers but particularly like the depth you get when glitters are actually included within the polish. However this is the topper of all toppers to me - I love how sparkly it is and how much there is going on! Having the different colours and flake sizes adds some depth too.

Sparkly purple - I was undecided on Holo Taco's Got Cake for ages but decided to pick it up with my last order as it's so well reviewed. I then saw 'a bit f glitz on the tips' on Instagram use it over purple and it looked amazing, so I decided that's how I'd swatch it. I added one coat on each nail over purple (thickness of the coats varies as I think the first one was too thick!). It's a very snazzy sparkly look! I'm tempted to try it out over darker colours too even if I wouldn't technically consider this one a topper.

Colours used: Skittle: Plum - Barry M, Watermelon - Barry M, Indigo Ink - Nail Paint Palette, Kensington High Street - Nails Inc, Everything Taco - Holo Taco

Purple: Disco Dress - Color Club, Got Cake - Holo Taco

Pow! Fruit Nails!

Hello space turtles :) I wasn't going to but I've decided to do the Glam Nails Challenge again this month as there were so many themes I was thinking of doing anyway. I will be very behind for at least the first few though as there's so much on at the moment! The first prompt for July is fruit. I thought I'd use this opportunity to use my WhatsUp Nails Summer Seeds stamping plate for the first time and also to use some bright colours again as I've still been veering towards darker ones even though it's now July!

I started with two coats of a variety of neon polishes (colours listed below images) in a sort of skittle mani effect. While the base was drying I created decals on my Uber Mat for the fruit and planned which nails each fruit would go on. I really love the banana nail and am tempted to try it out across all nails with different coloured backgrounds Andy Warhol style. After applying my glossy top coat I decided to try it matte which I think I prefer for this look as it helps the colours pop, you can see pictures with matte and glossy top coats below. Let me know which you like best!

I like these, which I'm pleased about as I wasn't sure if they'd be a bit too garish with all the neon colours and bright fruit. The lemon and banana nails are my faves. The lemon image is the reason I bought this plate so perhaps it's not surprising!

Colours used: Peachy Beachy, Bikini Bombshell, Down At The Deepend, My Mate Illuminate - All Wikkid Polish, Yellow - Barry M, Spring Green - Barry M, Pomegranate - Barry M

All the jingle ladies, all the jingle ladies!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! This nail art is for yesterday's Glam Nails Challenge project which was jingle bells. I couldn't resist getting Beyonce in my head on a loop again with some 'all the jingle ladies' nails! I did these over the top of my Holo Taco Christmas swatches from my last post. The bell reverse stamping images are from Uber Chic's Happy Christmas plate. You may notice I have accidently placed one of the images the wrong way round! The jingle ladies writing is from Mo You London's Noel 10 stamping plate. This is a short blog post but there's not much more to add really! I have many Christmas nail art ideas to squeeze in before Christmas as always!

Colours used: Naughty List, Everything Is Pine, Plumb Luck, Gold Play Button, Choco Holo, Black Holo Wish - All Holo Taco, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Silver Foil Effect - Barry M

A Skittle of Lush Bath bombs

Hey everyone! Rather psychedelic skittle mani to share today! After enjoying a few Lush bath bombs I decided I might try and re-create them on my nails. The bath bombs always look too lovely to use (and the bath water looks even lovelier!) so I thought I could keep them alive  a bit longer on my nails! It was a good fun and quirky long which I enjoyed doing! I've explained each nail below.

The index finger is based on The Goddess Bath Bomb - I don't think it looks anything like it to be honest! The bath bomb was sooo gorgeous and made the bath water shimmery and purple. I used lilac polish with an iridescent topper and then used a small nail art brush to add the rings,

The middle finger is based on the Shoot For The Stars Bath Bomb which smells absolutely amazing! I haven't actually used it yet but I have saved it till last as it looks and smells so lovely! It will be tough to beat The Goddess though! I started with a blue base and then used gold metallic polish and the Kelli Marissa Bundle Monster plate for the star image. I removed some of the additional spots to make it look more like the bath bomb.

The ring fingernail was inspired by The Comforter Bubble Bar, one I've had a few times as they've done it for a while, it's smells sensational! I don't think I captured the spirals quite well enough but it's fairly true to what it looked like - shame I can't make my nails smell that good too!

My little finger nail was inspired by the Intergalactic Bath Bomb which I received as a gift as part of the Bath Art gift set. I was blown away by it's lovely colours and shimmer! I quite like the way this one came out on my nails too. For this and the above I used a small nail art brush and regular nail polish.

The thumbnail was inspired by the Dragons Egg Bath Bomb. This one reminds me of University as that's where I first tried it, and it's still going! It's got orange and gold inside like little baby dragon flames which is good fun! For the nail look I used a dotting tool to recreate the little coloured patched on the bath bomb.

Colours used: Wardour Street - Nails Inc, Jellyfish - Barry M, Oasis - Jessica Polish, Seymour Walk - Nails Inc, Hello Sailor - Wikkid Polish, Cream Soda - Barry M, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Bikini Bombshell - Wikkid Polish, My Mate Illuminate - Wikkid Polish, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M

Spring Skittle Nails... Had to be Mini Eggs!

Hello and happy Sunday! I hope you're having a good weekend, it's nearly coming to an end for me but I know I have leftover lasagne for tea and I'm pretty excited about it! Today's nail art was created for today's Glam Nails Challenge prompt on Instagram, which is pastel skittle. In case you don't know a skittle mani is where the nails are all different colours. Given the time of year I thought mini egg nails would be perfect for this, I've also done this look once before and love it so much! It's so easy to do and perfect for Easter - I know Easter weekend has passed but I am still eating mini eggs so it feels appropriate. I've also found that eating mini eggs leaves my hands smelling of mini eggs which totally fits the theme so I must keep eating them!

I started with a base of five different pastel colours which mini eggs come in, I've listed the shades I used below the pictures. Once dry I used a fan brush and lightly applied some dark brown nail polish (black works too but if you have brown it has a more 'natural' look!) from the brush. I then used the fan brush to lightly apply specs of brown polish. That's pretty much it! I added a matte top coat to complete the look and unfortunately did smudge the yellow one a little. There is a step you can do to add a light dusting of white, which I did last time I tried this, but to be honest I don't think it makes all that much difference and I was sleepy! 

As expected I really like these! It's such a fun look and so easy to do! I've done it before for myself and for a friend, and will most likely do it again! 

Colours used: Marylebone Road - Nails Inc, Berry Ice Cream - Barry M, Cream Soda - Barry M, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Strawberry Ice Cream - Barry M, Cocoa - Barry M

The lobsters are back in town!

Hello again! I'm back so soon because I have more (sort of) Valentines nail art to share. I admit this one isn't particularly romantic to look at, it has more of a seaside theme, but I do enjoy lobsters as a Valentines theme because of the whole 'He's her lobster' saga in the popular sitcom Friends. I couldn't keep these on long as they were really catching on things but they were fun for a day!

I started with a base of five different blues (colours listed below the pictures) to add some interest to the base (I thought a pattern would be too much with the lobsters), and then added a layer of Linear Holo Taco which gave a lovely sparkle. To stick the lobsters on I dabbed a bit of clear nail polish on each nail and pressed the lobsters down on top. I thought they'd be a bit more flexible but it was hard to flatten them down, even after a layer of 'glitter grabber' polish and top coat. Worth a go though!

In summary I love the way these look, they have a good seaside/summer vibe as well as being romantic (sort of!). I'd probably only wear them again for a novelty at a social event or something, and probably not in the winter as they're a nightmare with gloves! They aren't technically nail art lobsters so I can't complain, and will look forward to doing some crafts with them :) They were a gift from my sister who always gets me something lobster themed for Christmas (it's become a cute tradition).

Colours used: Laguna - Barry M, Blueberry - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M, Cobalt - Barry M, Indigo - Barry M, Linear Holo Taco - Holo Taco

Wrap Those Nails!

Hey everyone, hope you're holding up OK with all this madness that's going on! I have more Christmas nail art to share with you today from the Glam Nails Challenge, today's prompt is wrapping paper. It's a great theme, and one I did a couple of years ago too (see here). It works perfectly for a skittle nail art look using different images that look like they could be wrapping paper! Previously I did it to use some stamping plate images I hadn't used before, and this year I used mostly images from my new Mo You London plates (Noel 9 and Noel 10 for this look).

I started with a variety of base colours, different ones on each nail. It's a bit miss-matched but I like how the final look came together. ILNP's Christmas Cookie is featuring in a lot of my Christmas nail art at the moment! For the panda's and penguins I created decals, you can see how here. The other images were stamped directly onto my nails. For the middle finger I picked up the image in one colour, and used a dotting tool to remove the bits I didn't need, then did the same again for the other parts of the image. The plates used were the MYL ones mentioned above, and Uber Chic Christmas 01.

I am overall pleased with these, they're good fun and were a great opportunity to try out some more of my new stamping plate images. Definitely the sort of theme I would do again. I like these more than my last try too!

Colours used: Madder - Cirque Colors, Christmas Cookie - ILNP, Aria - ILNP, NP 292 - Barry M, Emerald Green - Barry M, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, White Horse Street - Nails Inc, Floral Street - Nails Inc, Cocoa - Barry M, Watermelon - Barry M, Misery - ILNP

Safari Skittle Nails!

 Some wild nails for you today! Recently (well not that recently actually - I can't remember exactly when!) I decided to give Uber Chic's Warm Blooded stamping plate a try, as I liked the Cold Blooded one so much. The Warm Blooded plate has a great variety of animal prints, not all of which I can determine at this point in time - if anyone can help with that do let me know!

So for this look I decided to try out a few different prints and do an animal themed skittle mani. In case you didn't know a skittle mani is where the nails are painted in all different colours or shades, so I've taken it a step further with these and got something rather colourful! They were pretty easy to do and I like the variety I got from using all different colours as well as prints. My favourites are the tiger and giraffe nails. Can you guess the rest?

Colours used: Basil Street - Nails Inc, Floral Street - Nails Inc, Seven Dials - Nails Inc, Little Bo Beep - Rimmel London, Not From Concentrate - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Cocoa - Barry M, Grey - Barry M

Kiwi Skittle Nails

Hello everyone, hope you are safe and well in these crazy times! Today on my nail blog I'm trying for the first time a monthly challenge, where there are a number of prompts throughout the month, usually following a particular theme. One challenge in particular that I keep seeing on my Instagram feed is the glam nails challenge. This months theme is all fruit based prompts, and I thought that seemed fun, so I will give it a go and see if I can actually manage to complete the whole month. It feels unlikely but you never know!

The first prompt, which is due today, is Kiwi fruit. I have done kiwi fruit nails before as part of  a set of fruit themed nails, but this time I used a stamping plate rather than freehand. I used the Tropical 10 stamping plate from Mo You London for the black kiwi pattern. Looking at it now I think I should have done a gradient going out from the middle as well. I decided to do a sort of skittle nails effect, with different shades of green and yellow kiwi's. I stamped the kiwi pattern on top in black, and then used a nail art brush to fill the middle in with cream nail polish. I did this instead of advanced stamping, and I think it works for most nails but not the darkest one where it just kind of looks like a messy blob as you can't really see the black pattern.

So overall I wasn't massively keen on these, which is a shame as they are my first glam nails entry, but onwards and upwards I guess! I think I need to perfect the technique of making them look more kiwi like with a gradient, maybe even added some glitter. The first couple of pictures below have a matte topcoat, and the second two a shiny one, I think the matte pictures look better but in person I prefer them shiny. Hopefully more fruit nail art to come!
Colours used: Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Key Lime - Barry M, Spring Green - Barry M, Watermelon - Barry M, Marylebone - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Nails Inc, Cream Soda - Barry M