When snow falls...

Hey space turtles! I am wrapped up very warm and snuggly as I write this which feels fitting for the snowy design. Will be a bit less snug during my morning lake swim tomorrow I expect so making the most of this now! This nail art is for Sundays Glam Nails Challenge prompt of Snowman. I think the sheer polishes from Emily de Molly with the white glitter pieces work so well for snowy looks so used three layers of one of them as a base (colours listed below images).

I started with a peel of base coat before the blue snowy polish. I made decals on my Uber Mat using Mo You London's Festive 01 and Noel 01 stamping plates for the snowman, puffin and trees. I also added snowflakes and wording from the Noel 01 plate to my thumb and index finger in silver. I love how still and quiet it can be in the snow so the wording feels very fitting. I like to think the positioning looks like the puffin is listening to the snowman through the trees. I really like these and their wintery vibe - pleased with how they came out.

Colours used: Already Done - Emily de Molly, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Uber Chic Beauty, Tiki Hut - Models Own, Red Hot Rio - OPI

Birds and Berries

Hey space turtles! I was inspired by iamdeliasnails on Instagram to create this look. She created a snowy matte mint green look with plants which I wanted to try with my Noel 07 stamping plate from Mo You London. I thought I'd do it for the Glam Nails Challenge winter berries prompt and when looking at the stamping plate spotted some birds too which I thought would compliment the look well.

I started with a peel off base coat and three layers of mint green polish, which has discoloured a bit and looks suspiciously blue in some lighting! I then added a snowy top coat. Meanwhile I had some pinecone and bird decals drying on my Uber Mat. I added the plants in various shades of green and once the decals were dry I trimmed them and added them carefully to the design. Finally I used a dotting tool to add some little red berries. I particularly like the one with the bird holding a berry in it's beak although unfortunately the decal had smudged a tiny bit. To finish I added a clear top coat and then a matte one over the top. You can see pictures of both below - which do you prefer?

So in conclusion I am so pleased with these and really love them! They came out even better than I expected and I wish I could have worn them for longer. Kudos to Delia for her original design!

Colours used: Mint Green - Barry M, Snow Wash - No7, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Cocoa - Barry M, Green Stamping Polish - Mo You London, Green Park - Nails Inc, Cappuccino - Barry  M, Little Bo Beep - Rimmel, Yellow - Barry M, Red Hot Rio - OPI

Let It Snowww

 ... but let it wait till I've stopped commuting to London! Today's snow nail art is for one of this months Glam Nails Challenge prompts. I decided to try out a new sparkly reflective polish I got for Christmas and thought it would be just right to go with snowflakes. I started with a peel of base and then two layers of glitter. I had many snowflake stamping plate images to choose from and settled on the Noel 20 plate from Mo You London for the multi snowflake image and for the individual ones I used their Festive 02 plate. I added the images using white stamping polish after a 'glitter grabber' layer of clear polish. I then used a dotting tool to add some more snow and finished the look with a quick dry top coat.

Below you can see the look with and without flash. I love the colour and the sparkly effect. These were simple to do and I really like them. In particular the index finger and little fingernail. Really loving doing some more wintery designs!

Colours used: See Through You - Emily de Molly, Essential White UberChic Beauty

Winter Wonderland

Trying SO hard not to end up with Christmas songs in my head again as I write this! Maybe it's not so bad... it is winter after all! Today's Glam Nails Challenge prompt is winter wonderland, which I think can be interpreted in many ways. I went for a snowy village with deer wandering around and a big friendly snowman!

I started with a base of pale blue and while this was drying I used my Uber Mat to make decals (see how here) for all but my little fingernail. I used Mo You London's Noel 01 plate for all images except the deer on my little finger and the white snowflakes, these were both from their Noel 06 stamping plate. For the snow on the decals I used a shimmery topper and white polish. Sadly you can't really see it very well in the pictures but it's lovely under bright lights! On my thumb and little fingernails I added a blue gradient followed by white snowflakes, before applying the deer and snowman images.

I like these as I adore the cosy house images and wintery scenes in general. I wonder if it needed a little more colour though. Alternatively it has made me think it would be good to try as a fully monochrome or greyscale look!

Colours used: Borrowed & Blue - Essie, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Good Vibes Only - Nails Inc, Cappuccino - Barry M, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Cyan - Barry M

Some well timed 1st frost nails!

Hi everyone! Got some wintery nail art to share today and I'm excited about moving closer to Christmas nail art! This look was for the Glam Nails Challenge prompt of First Frost, which was very fitting as it's just started getting frosty here in the UK and we even had some snow yesterday which is quite unusual for us in December, in the south anyway! I was totally crazy and went for a lake swim yesterday morning! I love wild swimming and I have done so in the autumn and been fine, but during frosty weather was perhaps a little too far for me!

For the first frost prompt I knew I wanted to try a beautiful look I'd seen on Pretty_Pawlished on Instagram. Mine isn't exactly the same as we had different snowflake images, but I'm really glad to finally get round to it! I started with a base of two layers of blue glitter (colours listed below pictures). I was impressed that I only needed two coats as the glitter was so densely packed. Once dry I added a glitter grabber layer, and then a layer of magnetic polish for that gorgeous colour shift! Finally, I used Mo You London's Festive 02 stamping plate to add some snowflakes towards the edges of my nails - followed by a glossy top coat.

In conclusion - I am very happy with these!! The nail polishes are simply gorgeous and combined (particularly under bright lights) they have the most stunning sparkle and colour shift! I actually bought the blue glitter because of seeing the original look on Instagram. I shall have to see with my work situation but I'd like to keep these on as long as I can!

Colours used: Lifestyle - Fun Lacquer, Fascinating - Fun Lacquer, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Snowy McSnowmanFace

Wasn't sure what to call this one so Snowy McSnowmanFace it is! This is for another Glam Nails Challenge prompt and is something I was planning to do anyway with this gorgeous base colour. Emily de Molly released a collection last year of semi-sheer polishes with white flecks, and I picked up a few of them in blue, green/teal and burgundy. I thought they'd be perfect to create a snowy background for snowmen and was not disappointed.

So, I started with a base two generous coats of Already Done from Emily de Molly. I was expecting good things as all my Emily de Molly polishes are gorgeous, and this really didn't disappoint! I love the depth this polish creates and I only needed two coats to get it (some sheers I find take a lot more). For the snowmen I used images from Mo You London's Festive 45 stamping plate, and created decals on my Uber Mat to colour them in. There wasn't much else to it really, I was going to add some snowflakes on my other nails but thought I'd keep it as it is to enjoy the base colour!

Overall I'm pretty happy with these, I reckon these colours will keep coming out at Christmas and in the winter for snow themed looks. I love polishes with a bit of depth!

Colours used: Already Done - Emily de Molly, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Cream Soda - Barry, Maldives - Picture Polish, Evergreen - Picture Polish, Misery - ILNP, Beach Hut - Models Own

Penguins In A Winter Wonderland

Hello again!! This nail art was done shortly after the last for our trip to Oslo. I was really pleased with how it turned out and with how our holiday turned out too! Three years ago we went on a 'one-off' trip to Norway pre-Christmas and thoroughly fell in love with it! We've now had pre-Christmas trips to Trondheim, Tromso and Oslo, all were wonderful in different ways!

For this look I wanted to create a cosy winter village look with penguins skating though, inspired by the little house images on my Noel 03 plate from Mo You London. I used the advanced stamping technique and a few of Barry M's Molten Metal polishes, and a few sneaky sparkly shades for the penguin scarfs and present. You can see how here. For the snow which I stamped on before the decals I used the Noel 06 plate, I used it for the snowflakes behind the penguins too.

To improve things next time I think I need to apply the top coat better and clean up and the bottom of my nails as there were some jagged edges but overall I was really happy with this look, and think it was quite fitting for Norway too (though unfortunately I didn't actually see any skating penguins while there, just people).
Colours used: Laguna - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Bronze Bae - Barry M, Gold Digger - Barry M, Say Love - ILNP, Emerald - Cirque Colors

Stamping Sunday: Snowflake Time!

Hey everyone and happy 1st of December! Today I bring to you my first Christmassy nails of the year (or wintery if you're not ready yet!). I went for something that was more wintery than Christmassy as I did do them a few days ago, but Christmas stamping plates were used!

The two main colours I used were from Barry M's new(ish) Crystal rock collection, and I was super impressed with them! The white is so perfect for snowmen and snowflakes, and the blue is gorgeously sparkly! I used a shiny top coat for this look but the polishes look amazing with their textured finish too. For the snowflake nails I painted them white and then added a top coat to make them a bit smoother for stamping. I used a black stamping polish to add a reverse snowflake image over the top. For the snowmen I used the reverse stamping technique and my Uber Mat, and finished off with another layer of top coat once done! Both images are from the UberChic Christmas 01 stamping plate.

So are you all set up with your tree  and Christmas nails now or do you prefer to wait a bit longer? We're doing our tree next weekend but the nail art is in full swing and I think I shall get the Christmas socks out too! I'm really pleased with how these turned out and thing it's a good start to this years Christmas nail art!
Colours used: Flourite - Barry M, White Moonstone - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

A Nail Art Ode To Snow!

Hello world! I'm in a super chirpy mood today as I have just ordered some more nail polish! My third order this month and it's only the 5th! Oops!! (I see a buying ban coming on) So I have a bit of a nail art back log, but want to show you my current nail art as it's themed around the recent weather. If you're reading this outside of the UK, you are probably aware that here in the UK we are not good at coming with extremes of whether, or even some snow! However we also get pretty excited about it :) So I just had to do one last winter mani, or 'ode to snow'!

I started with the lovely shimmery bluish grey London from Picture Polish (I adore the bottle for this!). It was my first time wearing this polish so I've included some pictures at the bottom of it in all it's glory. This nail art was a simple stamping design using Uber Chic's Lovely Leaves 01 plate. I chose the tree image and layered the falling leaves over the top. I love this image as it's so versatile, you can do designs for all seasons as it looks like snow if done in white!

I am off to Krakow with work for the rest of the week from tomorrow so I except this may be weather appropriate there too!
Colours used: London - Picture Polish, Cocoa - Barry M, White Knight - Mo You London