Raindrops That Turned Into Spots!

Hi again! I'm back so soon as I have more nail art to enter into this weeks Holo Taco challenge. This was definitely the less successful of my two entries, but I like how it looks as nail art on it's own, just didn't really fit with the theme as much as I'd hoped! So the theme is Optical Illusions, and my intention with this one was to create the illusion of sparkly raindrops on my nails.

I started with a dark blue base, and then a matte top coat, to make the shiny raindrops stand out against it. I decided to go with round spots, more like rain on a window, rather than classic raindrop shapes, and I think this is the first part where I went wrong! The colour I used for the raindrops was way too dense, meaning they look just like silver spots rather than clear glittery droplets. I really should have tested it out on my Uber Mat first! I should have used a finer scattered glitter, this one is too linear I think. All the same I used a dotting tool to add dots of clear top coat over the spots, but unfortunately this didn't really make much difference, they're still just silver spots!

So in conclusion I do like the way these look, but they certainly didn't go as planned. Might try it again some time and approach it differently. I had a bit less time after spending so long on the turtle nail art on my other hand! I'm going to enter this into this weeks challenge anyway because why not!
Colours used: Indigo - Barry M. Harp On It - Color Club

Shimmery Work Friendly Nails

Hey everyone! Something work friendly and shimmery to show you on my nails today. Also trying out one of the polishes from ILNP's Monarchy collection. I spent so long deciding which of the Monarchy polishes to get (and resisting getting all of them) that I ended up getting only one of the ones I wanted, but it did not disappoint! I used Bloodline on my thumb, index and little finger nails and really enjoyed watching it catch the light, you can see that effect in the bottom two pictures. I like how it's classic while at the same being different to any other burgundy polishes I have. I do regret the quality of these pictures though, I really need to up my photo game!

On my middle and ring finger nails I used a cream base colour, and then metallic gold to stamp a leaf image from UberChic's Lovely Leaves 01 plate over the top. The look was more subtle than I had intended, especially next to Bloodline, so I added some gold sparkly spots with a dotting tool to give it something extra. I was a bit underwhelmed with this look at first, but I grew to love it, especially have Bloodline to gaze at! (I gaze at my nail polish a lot, anyone else do that?!)
Colours used: Bloodline - ILNP, Cream Soda - Barry M, Gold Foil Effect - Barry M, Gold Glitter - Barry M

Negative Space Spots

Hello world! Something simple and a bit different on my nail blog today. I've been seeing loads of negative space nails on Instagram lately, particularly ones with a pattern over bare nails, rather than just gaps in a design. There are a couple of accounts I follow which use this style a lot (and very well) so not 100% sure if this is a big trend at the moment or if it's just what I'm seeing in my Instagram feed!

As my nails are a tad yellow I used a base colour but a very sheer one to still give the natural look. I used two coats of Barry M's Mani Mask in Birthday suit. It's a very sheer pale pink which dries matte. I use it on my toenails sometimes, it's really good for hiding imperfections but looking natural too. Once dry (and it dries pretty fast) I used a medium sized dotting tool to apply spots in four of Barry M's Molten Metal shades. I have 8 but I think these four which were released at the same time work particularly well together (colours listed below the pictures).

It took some time to get used to seeing my nail line so clearly, but I do like these. It was a good way to test the negative space look without doing anything too complicated. I expect I will do it again. I think any longer and it would look a bit weird with too much white space, but my nails grow pretty fast so I'll just file them down a bit when I want to do this.
Colours used: Mani Mask Birthday Suit - Barry M, Celestial Silver - Barry M, Crystal Blue - Barry M, Antique Gold - Barry M, Pink Luxe - Barry M

Pantone Paint Nails 2018 - Ultra Violet

Hello everyone! Hope you're enjoying your weekend. Today I am showing you my Pantone 2018 themed nails for a Mo You London competition on Instagram. I'm not 100% happy with how they turned out but I may as well enter them anyway! The competition involves using MYL plates to create purple nail art based on the Pantone colour of the year 2018 - ultra violet. The prize is of course stamping plates.

I wanted to do a paint theme as I think it fits the Pantone theme quite well, and what with the painting of our living room (and seeing Pantone paint samples at the shops) it's very fitting for me at the moment! I started with a lilac base, and then used MYL's Artist 20 plate to place some paint themed images in white. For the little fingernails I branched out to a 'nail paint' theme and did a dotting tool over some dots. The dots are from the MYL Pro 01 plate.

Once dry I used a small nail art brush to add the 'paint' in varying bright shades of purple. I particularly like the paint tubes but frustratingly I put them too low on my left hand which doesn't look quite right. I did them better on my right hand somehow but that hand is harder to photograph! So overall I quite like these, but sadly I don't think they're a winner. Might just have to resort to buying the new cat themed stamping plates! TTFN!
Colours used: Berry Ice Cream - Barry M, White Knight - Mo You London, Concord - Cirque Colors, Wigmore Street - Nails Inc, So Jelly - Mark (Avon), P819 - Mark (Avon)

Baby Dino Nails - Cedric or Lime?

Happy Easter everyone! Or happy Sunday to those who don't celebrate Easter! My Easter manicure for this year is a little different to previous ones. I've gone for the classic  baby animals in eggs, but have chosen dinosaurs rather than chicks! This design was inspired by the adorable cuddly dino baby I got for Christmas (Cedric - photo below the nail pics!). You may have seen all over Facebook the various animal or food montages people have been creating (e.g. sloth or pan au chocolat, dog or croissant). My boyfriend and I has discussed creasting a  'Cedirc or Lime' version, which is kind of what these nails are! I'll be honest though I think the one peeking out on the index finger looks more like a pea than Cedric or a lime!

 To create this manicure I used dotting tools, freehand, and some nail stencils. For the egg shells I used some wide zig zag stencils I purchased on Ebay. I then used a dotting tool to decorate the egg shells. I used a small nail art brush to create the little dino faces. On the thumb I have done the back of Cedrics body with his little stubby tail stuck in the air! I used silver glitter on my ring finger to add some sparkle and try out this new glitter I got from Danglefoot Polish. It's called Cosmic Glows and it so pretty plus paints on like a dream! I've included a picture to show the sparklyness next to Cedrics head shot.
Colours used: Blue Moon - Barry M, Coconut - Barry M, Cosmic Glows - Danglefoot Polish, Key Lime - Barry M, Spring Green - Barry M, Seven Dials - Nails Inc


Below is the base layer of my design, to show Cosmic Glows in a slightly better light, and of course the inspiration for this mani... Cedric the dinosaur!

A Spot Of Polish

Today I'm showing off one of my favourite Nails Inc shades. It's nothing new, just think it deserves some appreciation! With the below nail art I'm using Nails Inc's Warwick Way, a lovely deep teal-y green.

On my middle finger I have used one of Topshops matte metallics (love love love them!), and on my ring finger I used these colours over a white base with a dotting tool. Altogether a very simple design, but nice and bright and perfect for this time of year.


Colours used: Warwick Way - Nails Inc, Scream - Topshop, Coconut - Barry M, 

Party Sprinkles

I've found this design floating around in my nail art folder and am delighted to share it! The design itself is not one of mine. I took inspiration from Pinterest, if anyone knows who did the original please let me know so I can credit them. So it's a replica, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

There's not an awful lot to say about how it was done. I used a beige base on the accent nails, and then used a dotting tool to apply the different colours. I particularly like the unusual range of colours, I would place this as a spring or summer design but think it can work for any time of year. Besides I couldn't wait till next spring to share! Over the top I've used Nails Inc's plumping gel effect top coat for some extra shine. It's a lovely shiny topcoat but I've since acquired their Kensington Caviar one which is even better as it's just as shiny and dried so fast!

Colours Used: Basil Street - Nails Inc, Tate - Nails Inc, Cyan - Barry M, Notting Hill Carnival - Nails Inc, Wardour Street - Nails Inc, Peach Melba - Barry M, Coconut - Barry M, Blue Moon - Barry M, Plum - Barry M

Throwback Thursday: It's Pumpkin Time

This time last year I sported a pumpkin face design for halloween. Was going through a bit of a shorter nails phase as you can see below. This was a very simply design to do, I used a dotting tool for the spots, and a nail art pen for the pumpkin faces. I know that there are some pretty good pumpkin face decals around at the moment but think they are one of the easier halloween designs to do. Would definitely consider trying this one again next year (I think I've just about run out of time this time round!).

Colours Used: W18 - Color Cosmetic, New York Noir - Kate Spade at Nails Inc, Matt White - Barry M, Nail Art Pen in Black - Barry M