Fun With Feathers!

Today I will be showing you how I got on with BHS' Colour Couture feather set, which was a gift from last Christmas' Secret Santa! I waited a while to try it out as it's such a spring/summery style. The set includes all the things you need, including nail scissors, three polish colours and a top coat for sticking the feathers down. I'm hoping that the feathers can be bought in a craft shop somewhere too, as I'd be keen to try it again with less pink!

First I painted my nails using the colours provided in the set and let them dry. I then added a top coat, and carefully applied the trimmed feather peices while it was still wet.

Once the feathers are on your nails they need to be trimmed down as closely as possible to the nail, and then filed for extra precision. The final step is to add a top coat again to seal the feathers in place. I'm in two minds about whether they actually looked better before the top coat, as I think the colours where a bit more vibrant when dry. I've included final pictures below, and above that what they looked like pre trim and top coat.

Brilliant Blue

Is what this shade should be called! This nail art didn't really turn out as it was supposed to, but I'm posting it anyway as I think the colours are so lovely it almost doesn't matter what you do with them. The blue is from Nails Inc and is so very shiny! (shinyness topped up by their gel plumping top coat).

Inspiration was taken from Hannah Rox It (http://hannahroxit.com/) who is insipirationa! (and somewhat more experienced than me!) My mistake was getting the sizing a bit wrong and then having to work around that. Still they were so shiny that I kept them anyway!

Colours used: Bruton Place - Nails Inc, Coconut - Barry M, Sloane Avenue - Nails Inc, Indigo - Barry M, Kensington Caviar Gel Effect Plumping Top Coat - Nails Inc

Throwback Thursday: Cheats French Manicure!

So it's not often at all that I do a french manicure type design. I'm more of  a nail art or block colour girl, but I'm quite fond of this throwback from a couple of years ago, and want to share the easiest french manicure!

As you can see I haven't gone for the classic french mani colours, and started with a Barry M lilac. Instead of painting a stronger colour along the tips in a curve (and having to faff about getting the widths right!) I simply applied the blue polish in two thick diagonal lines accross the top, and finished with a nail art pen. Easier than pie!

Colours used: Berry - Barry M, Cyan Blue - Barry M, Nail Art Pen in Silver - Barry M

Tropical Tuesday!

Today's tropical Tuesday picture is a little more subdued! It was one I did for my trip to Ibiza which must have been two years ago now, hence the odd lengths of my nails! (they used to break a little more then because of my job). There is a light gradient going on here though it can't really be seen in the picture. I used white a base and lightly sponged some mint green over the top.

The birds were done with black nail varnish and a small brush, and the leaves were in metallic green with the same little brush. I painted the leaves on lightly with the brush, allowing them to get messy round the edges, and then went over them again through the middle of the leaves to give them more texture.

I've noticed some more views coming to my blog over the last couple of days so whoever you are, thank you for reading! :)

Colours Used: Matt White - Barry M, Mint Green - Barry M, Emerald Green - Barry M, New York Noir by Kate Spade -Nails Inc

Basic Peacock Nails

So this one is a bit of a work in progress, I was tempted not to post it, but decided it's worth putting up the ones that aren't as good as well, so I can compare as I get better! (Besides I do love the Jessica blue!)

The design was done with dotting tools and a Barry M nail art pen. Mine is going a little gloopy at the edges which probably didn't help. Will be trying this design again with striping brushes to see if I can get a better effect. All in all I think it's a good design to try if you want something fairly simple, but would suggest practising the design on paper first to get an idea of what it will look like.

Colours used: Indigo Glow - Jessica, Chelsea Embankment - Nails Inc, Indigo - Barry M, Nail Art Pen in Black - Barry M

Mo You Stamping Plates - Review and 1st attempt!

Today I will be showing you my first attempt at using Mo You London's stamping plates, and letting you know how I got on. I've used stamping plates a while back and had  a reasonable level of success, but had stopped for some time due to the deterioration of my stamper! (it was a cheap one from ebay and I believe the deterioation is due to cleaning it with nail varnish remover, and possibly leaving it in the sun!). It took me a while to get into it again, I think this is partly due to the type of stamper I was using, and partly because I am a novice! 

So, a friend intoruduced me to Mo You after she got some gorgeous tropical stamping plates, and I thought it was about time I gave them a go. Their website, branding and packaging is absolutely beatiful I couldn't fault it! It feels like you're getting a really beatiful and special product (and in my opinion you are!). I started by ordering two stamping plates (£4.99 each), one stamping polish (Black Knight - £6.99) and a classic stamper (£2.99). See below! 

Unfortunately I couldn't get a good picture of the stamping plates as they are quite reflective, but the ones I chose are Doodles Plate Collection 07 (click here) and Rockstar Plate Collection 10 (click here).

So I started with the doodles plate design, and pretty much just stamped at random! I tried using the black stamping polish and a foil effect polish and had more luck with the metallic at first. I think this is because it is a little bit more fluid. The stamping polishes are good for the opaque-ness though, especially if you want to use a pale colour. See below my first attempt, I will certainly be posting more as they improve! I've also included a list of top tips - all things I've learnt through tiral, error and Youtube! Mo You's insturctions can be found here.

Colours used: Bruton Place - Nails Inc, Foil Effect Gold - Barry M

Top Tips:

• Prime your stamper! This is the first step you need to take when your lovely new products arrive, and something I initially missed! Using a nail file gently buff the top of your stamper till it looks matte. If it's shiny it won't pick up the image from the stamping plate.
• Use lots of polish! Be generous with the amount you use so that it fills the design, and you can be sure that the stamp will pick up the image.
• Use metallics! For black and white you'll probably need proper stamping polishes, but I find that metallics work just as well, particularly the foil effect ones.
• Cleaning your stamper: Don't use nail varnish remover to clean your stamper as this can be damaging. Instead use tape, or simply stamp the leftover polish onto some paper.
• Work quickly! When you have scarped the extra nail varnish from the plate, pick it up quickly with the stamper, so it doesn't have a chance to dry.

Thanks for reading :)

Summer Pastel Gradient

A simple summer design that's very easy to do! I used some plain sponges for the gradient (from shoe boxes at my old job!) but would recomend using proper ones as the shoe sponges can be a bit gappy. The dots over the top were done with white polish and dotting tools (can be found on ebay for a very reasonable price).

Finished with the best evverr top coat, Nails Inc's Kensington Caviar! Quick dring and super shiny. Not much else to say on this one, I'm tempted to try it in lots of other colours.

Colours used: Blue Moon - Barry M, Wardour Street - Nails Inc, White - Barry M, Kensington Caviar - Nails Inc