Sugar Skulls & Autumn Feels

Hi everyone and Happy Halloween! Predictably I have some Halloween nail art to share with you today. I actually was planning on squeezing in one more design for the actual day of Halloween but am so fond of these that I decided to keep them on a bit longer. They are falling apart a bit now though as I used a peel off base.

On my index and little finger nails I created a gradient with some of the Barry M Molten Metal polishes, and used a reverse stamping image from the Lovely Leaves - 01 plate over the top. I used the same Molten Metal polishes on the sugar skulls on my other nails. The leaf pattern nails were really just a way to spend a bit less time painting freehand, as I'm not very experienced and it takes me a while, but I really like them and the way the images work together as a whole nail art look.

On my other nails I used a base of Sugary Sweet Death from Femme Fatale Cosmetics. This polish is what inspired the look as it reminded me of sugar skulls! I roughly followed a picture tutorial by Hannah Rox It for the skulls, and used some Topshop matte metallic polish as it's consistency for painting is quite good and I can't find my acrylic paint! I used a dotting tool to add the extra colour to the eyes. As I mentioned before I am really pleased with these! More slightly spooky post Halloween nail art to come next week :)
Colours used: Sugary Sweet Death - Femme Fatale Cosmetics, Gold Digger - Barry M, Bronze Bae - Barry M, Copper Mine - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Croupier - Topshop

Stamping Sunday: Whales & Penguins

Happy Sunday! Today I have another stamping design, nothing fancy but certainly very seasonal. I haven't used Topshops matte metallic polishes for ages, I got them a couple of years ago and very much fell in love with them, but of course I've fallen in love with many other polishes since then and they've got a little left behind! This blue is called Virtuous and I think it's a lovely elegant wintery shade. I decided of course to take away some of the elegance but adding little blubbery arctic creatures!

I used the penguin and killer whale images from Mo You London's Animal 04 stamping plate for the accent nail, and then used a small nail art brush to paint a small semi-circle using black matte metallic polish Scream. I liked the effect of this but it was actually only done because it was a necessity. My nails have got a little long for Mo You's smaller images at the moment so there was a gap underneath the images.

I'm off to Krakow in Poland with work till Thursday evening, so will probably be back with my design for Krakow on Friday. Have a good week!
Colours used: Virtuous - Topshop, Alpine Snow - OPI, Black Knight - Mo You London, Scream - Topshop

Christmas Poinsettia Nail Art

Hi nail people! Predictably I have more Christmas nail art to show off today! There is a lovely plant image on the Uber Chic Christmas-01 stamping plate, which I have since learnt is a Poinsettia. I love the rich red and green colours of the leaves, and the sort of matte velvety look they have. I used some matte metallic nail polish from Topshop to try and re-create the effect. Hadn't used them for some time so it was good to get them out again.

I stamped the images onto my Uber Mat in gold, and then used dotting tools to colour in the leaves. After adding a top coat and allowing to dry, I peeled off the images and placed them on my nails which I had also painted gold. To finish I used a matte top coat to seal it all in.

I'm happy with how these turned out, they look Christmassy without being over the top. Having said that, I really ought to get some over the top Christmas nail art on before it's too late for this year! Bring on the glitter!!
Colours used: Gold Digger - Barry M, Gold Foil Effect - Barry M, Cruel Intentions - Topshop, Shameless - Topshop

Farnborough Air Show: Aeroplane Nails!

Hi everyone! Hope you had a great weekend. I am very sun burnt after mine! After a trip to Portsmouth to see friends on Friday night/ Saturday, I spend Sunday with my boyfriend at the Farnborough Air Show. So of course it was the perfect excuse for some themed nail art! I haven't done freehand for a while as I've been stamping a lot lately, so I enjoyed having something different. I find it can be more rewarding sometimes as it takes more effort to create!

For this design I started with a Nails Inc 'latex' pale blue, I like the strength of the colour, the matte/latex effect really brings it out. I then used a small nail art brush and some grey matte nail polish to paint plane outlines on my thumbs and ring fingers. I looked on Pinterest for some aeroplane outlines and chose the ones I thought I could do best! I then used a cotton bud and some cream polish to dab on some clouds. I'd never tried the cotton bud technique before, it is absolutely perfect for clouds! My design was matte already but I finished off with a matter top coat to seal in the black outline (the pens can have a tendency to rub away otherwise).
Colours used: Bermondsey Street - Nails Inc, Easy Peasy - Topshop, Nail Art Pen in Black - Barry M, Coconut - Barry M

Below you can see my nail planes meeting their idols! I couldn't manage to get any while the planes where flying, I'd need an extra hand!
 

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, 

Happy New Year!

Happy new year everyone! I originally intended to post this on new years eve, and for it to include a specifically new year theme, but I was far too attached to my Christmas day nails, so didn't get started on these till last night. I'm yet to actually try a new year design, not sure why but they never appeal to me quite as much. I think all you need for new year is something super shiny or sparkly!

I thought of the below design as I wanted to use these two polishes together again. I got them both for Christmas 2014 and think they make a good combination. I started with a base of Topshops Fear and Loathing, which is from their matte metallic collection. I absolutely love their matte metallics and have quite a few of them, they were a real favourite from last year. I think how subtly they shine, and how they somehow look matte and shiny at the same time!

As you can see below the thumb on my left hand turned out best. I've found the fishnet metallic effect harder to use than other magnet polishes, even by the same brand, but I love the effect when it does work!

I hope you've all had a lovely break and wish you a happy and successful new year!


Colours Used: Fear and Loathing - Topshop, Piccadilly - Nails Inc

Grown Up Nails!

It's the 1st of December and I'm afraid I don't have a Christmas mani to show you just yet! I actually have one on now that I did today but it didn't quite go to plan, so I'm undecided whether it will feature. Heard my first two Christmas songs on the radio so I feel like I can finally start getting excited. So, onto a fairly Christmassless mani - I suppose it's still good for party season...

This one was done earlier in the year before I started blogging properly, and was copied from a design on Pinterest. Had a little look now and I can't find who to credit it to, if anyone knows please let me know! The grey and white design was done using nail tape, and the gold spots were creating with a dotting tool. The main colour used is Nails Inc's Kensington High Street, which it turns out is beautifully shiny, so it was a little heartbreaking putting a matte topcoat on it!

Below is the only other picture I have of this, in Instagram format. Though it's not quite as true to colour I do like the slightly glowing blurred effect the filter has had. Thanks for reading! (colours used below image)

Colours Used: Kensington High Street - Nails Inc, Coconut - Barry M, Easy Peasy - Topshop, Gold - M&S Limited Collection

Matte Metallic Criss Cross

Matte metallics, one of my favourite creations in nail polish! I first came across them when a friend got me three of Topshops for my birthday last year (in dark blue, dark green and black). This was my first try of the green one and it was love at first sight! I have since ended up with a further four, oops! I think Topshop were one of the earlier places to start doing these but they are now around a lot more, most prominently in Barry M's silk collection and Zoya's satins (still need to try Zoya, they look so beautiful!).

Below is Topshops Shameless with a patterned accent nail to jazz it up. The green is perfect for the season, dark and mysterious but with a bit of shimmer and subtle sparkle. I think the matte effect really brings out the intensity of the colour. For the accent nail I used a black striping brush and some loose glitter I got in  a Seventeen. The glitter had a vaguely green tint to it which was brought out by being next to the darker green. Can't wait to get the matte metallics out again this year!

Colours used: Shameless - Topshop, Matt White - Barry M, Nail Art Pen - Seventeen, Nail Glitter - Seventeen

Stamping Sundays: Seafood Special

New stamping plates to show today, yaayy! I got three delightful new Mo You plates from my sister for my birthday and this was my first use. I have just received a bunch more I've ordered online so there will be much more of this to come. I used a matte grey from Topshop as a base and then used my three new birthday polishes for the design (Barry M's two holiday specials and British racing green from Butter London). You can't quite see the glitteryness of the Barry M's here but they do stamp well with a bit of shimmer. I'm hoping to have my swatches/reviews up of those during the week.

The plate I'm using here is number 12 from the cookbook collection.which has a seafood theme. I'm not a fan of actual seafood but I love sea creatures so this plate is perfect as it's entirely sea themed, I will probably just skip the shrimp on a fork pattern! I've tested different patterns on each hand and I love how they look. The shell patterns are my favourite, especially the one on my little finger. I think it looks like wrapping paper!

There has been a theme over my birthday and Christmas last year of lobster themed presents (bottle opener, slippers etc) so I believe this plate was the perfect way to continue this tradition!


Colours used: Easy Peasy - Topshop, British Racing Green - Butter London, Sparkling Ruby - Barry M, Sparkling Amethyst - Barry M

Spooky Branches

It's about time I got some halloween nails up on the blog! These are only subtly halloween themed as they are from a week ago and I didn't want to look too keen. Starting to regret that approach now thought as I don't have long left to rock the halloween look! Will have to start earlier next year.

The look I went for below is based on a spooky/ mysterious forest. OooOOoooh! I started with Essie's Stylenomics which is a super dark green. I then lightly sponged on Tophsop's Hidden Treasure with some cling film/saran wrap (bottom left). Of all the shades of gold this one was perfect as it's quite dark and two tone with a hint of green. For the trees/ branches I used a thin brush and gently painted them on in black. I like the way it turned out. Subtle, but still a little spooky. They were super hard to photograph!

Colours Used: Stylenomics - Essie, Hidden Treasure - Topshop, Lady In Black - OPI

Cheer Up Glitter!

Being that time of year where colds are inevitable, and where work is chaos, I would like to cheer myself up by showing you one of my favourite glitters! This is Topshop's Dark Knight. and it was love at first sight! I'm really impressed with Topshop's polishes, though admittedly I don't have any plain colour ones. Wouldn't normally go to a clothes shop for nail varnish but they have some quite special ones that I just had to try.

It's a full cover polish with lots of different sizes and shades of glitter in a clear dark blue base, giving it a lovely multi-dimensional look. It needs a few coats to be opaque but would also look good in thinner coats over dark colours. I particularly like to wear it on an accent finger next to their black Matte Metallic polish. Nothing but good feedback on this one! Texture is slightly rough due to the glitter but can be smoothed out with a top coat.

Rainbow Fish!

Todays blog post is based on a colourful friendly kids character from a book I enjoyed as a child, the rainbow fish (Google him, he's a beauty!). I saw a fish scale manicure on Instagram and decided to simplify it a bit as I was short on time. I've used dotting tools to add on one colour at a time, in  the Instagram video the colours are layered going down the nail to look more like scales.

I really like this one. Although it took a while for all the colours to dry it wasn't difficult and had a detailed final effect.

Colours Used: Blueberry - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M, Indigo - Barry M, Spring Green - Barry M, Holland Park - Nails Inc, Never Been Kissed - Topshop, Soho Silver - Kate Spade at Nails Inc

I've included a picture of the base colour, Barry M's Blueberry, as I love the way it looks! I've used it a lot lately, it goes on smoothly and is lovely and shiny. Big fan!

HPB Presents: Owls In The Mist - Autumn/Fall Blog Link Up

Very excited to be taking part in my first ever blog link up with the Hobby Polish Bloggers Facebook group. This months theme is autumn/ fall, and I've decided to go for something not too challenging as it's my first time! I've really enjoyed looking through all the other posts so far, there are some fabulous designs, and a lot of different takes on the theme. My design was done using some owl stickers/decals bought for me by a friend. I think they're pretty adorable!

I started with my trusty Nail Kale basecoat fron Nails Inc, and then painted my nails with Topshop's Easy Peasy matte grey nail polish. Once dry I sponged on some of Barry M's Coconut with peices of srunched up cling film/saran wrap. Next up were the owls, I've included a picture of the stickers below, I believe they are available online. I had some trouble peeling these off at first. After about half an hour prizing three away from the backing to stick down, my boyfriend kindly provided a tooth pick which worked a treat!


Once I'd stuck down all the little owls I finished the look with my matte top coat from Rimmel. I tried a shiny top coat too but I think the matte suited the look better and really brought out the colours of the owls. Which one do you like best?!

I really enjoyed doing this link up and look forward to the next one. Please check out the other entries below, they are fab! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Simple Spots

Just a simple one today. With all the tempting nail stamps and tools around it can be easy to forget that a quick and easy desgin can look stylish too! I don't ussually wear pinky colours but liked the texture of this one from Barry M's silk collection. It dries matte but still shiny, I know that doesn't make a whole lot of sense! I need to do more designs with this not-quite-gold gold colour from Topshop, it's so quirky!

That's all for today really, this manicure reminds me of a beautiful sari/saree, and since I never have an excuse to wear one I should wear them on my hands more often!

Colours used: Poppy - Barry M, Hidden Treasure - Topshop