Winter Forest

Good evening! Todays post is a design from the run up to Christmas last year that I remember fondly. Though there were a few steps to get to the end result it wasn't too complicated and I'm pleased with the way it turned out. The design is copied from one I saw on Pinterest, which looks like it first came from didmmynails.com, you can see the original here.

After starting with Barry M's Cyan blue as a base I sponged on some cobalt blue at the top to represent the night sky. The snow at the bottom was super easy as it was like doing a really wonky French manicure! The trees were painted in a dark green (Essie's Stylenomics), and then a metallic green over the top to make them look a little more three dimensional, and the snowfall was created using dotting tools.

As you can see the trees on the two nails on the right look a little paler. This is because I tried adding snow to them like the original picture, but it didn't really work so I blanked it out! Shh!

Colours used: Cyan - Barry M, Baker Street - Nails Inc, Matt White - Barry M, Stylenomics - Essie, Emerald Green - Barry M

Stamping Sunday: Snowflake Flurry

For once I am posting a picture of the nail art that I am actually wearing! I often tend to be about a week behind. This design reminds me of the movie Frozen though it wasn't intentional. I've been wanting to do a gradient again for a while, and it's essential that I need to use my snowflake stamping plate at least once this year! The stamping plate used was Konad's QA57.

I have accidentally ended up with the right hand darker/brighter than the left hand, though the same three shades were used. I just didn't quite get the gradient right on the second hand. More practice needed I think. They do look a bit like separate designs. I like the left hand best as the gradient is better, but I think I prefer the brightness of the right hand.


Colours Used: Alpine Snow - OPI, Blue Moon - Barry M, Bruton Place - Nails Inc, Cyan - Barry M, White Knight - Mo You

Monthly Indie Review: Danglefoot Polish

I've moved this months indie review forward (usually around the 20th of the month) because I thought it might be helpful to those of you who are still Christmas shopping/ wish list creating. This months indie polish to try was Danglefoot polish (UK seller), which I discovered on Instagram. I was won over by a beautiful picture of gold polish being poured into the bottle and looking like liquid treasure! I ordered these on etsy for £6.50 each, and they arrived so fast and so sparkly I can only assume they were delivered by unicorn!

First up is the liquid treasure, Primadonna. This a lovely bright and shiny yellow gold. As you can see I got a little over excited with trying to apply the second coat too quickly and did smudge it a little. The polish is glitter heavy but the glitter is well combined with the base which gives it a nice smooth finish. It's absolutely spot on for the party season and will feature in one of my Christmas designs shortly! Below is two coats.


Next up is Grape Expectations (such a good name!), which is just SO SPARKLY!! I think this is in a clear base but you really get your moneys worth in glitter! Below is two coats but even one coat packs some serious sparkle. I won't lie, this is pinker than I expected, I thought it would be more purple. I'm keen to try it over a dark purple and see how that looks. If you're a really girly girl (or are looking for a Christmas present for a really girly girl) I would highly recommend this! I enjoyed the way this was always catching the light (even in the office) and got lots of compliments and 'wow's'.


So in conclusion I am definitely sold on these. Danglefoots speciality seems to be glitter which is awesome! Even down to the bottle design these are lovely, and really different, what Indie polish is about I think. I've also spotted an equally sparkly purple (Scream Queen) which I'm keen to try in January when my pre-Christmas embargo is up.

Throwback Thursday: Trees and Dots

Today's' throwback is obviously from a shorter nail moment for me! I've just given them a trim this evening as they were getting very talon like again. This month I think there will be a great variety of nails lengths in my posts!

I think this design is quite modern, I took inspiration from Pinterest, and wanted to use a new sparkly green I'd got. They make me think of wrapping paper. They are possibly not quite as christmassy as I'd intended but I like the final effect. My favourite nail is of course the accent nail with the little tree and star. This was stuck on with regular nail polish as I find it's surprisingly adhesive!

Colours Used: Coconut - Barry M, Emerald City - Models Own, Uptown Glamour by Kate Spade - Nails Inc, 500 - L'Oreal

Stamping Sunday on a Monday: Xmas Jumper

Good evening! Today's post as you can see is a delayed post, I ran out of time what with Chrsitmas shopping, and still recovering from the first of the work Christmas parties! This is the first bit of Christmas nail art I've done this year, and as you can see I've started subtle. What I wearing now is much more garish, but thats still to come!

For this design I used a little octagonal stamping plate I got on ebay a few years ago. I'm unclear which brand it is but it's called QA57. It contains five different snowflakes and five Christmas jumper style patterns. I think it is the perfect Christmas stamping plate :D

As my nails are getting pretty long at the moment I decided to add some half moons so the design doesn't have gaps at the bottom. These were my downfall with this design I think. To start with I did them too big, my nails obviously aren't as long as I thought! The second issue was the stencils I used. They're from a bunch I got on ebay which I'm not too pleased with as they're massive! This meant there wasn't enough of a curve to the half moons I think it also made it a bit trickier with the edges strangely. Should have freehanded!

All in all I do like this design because of the colours, and I really love the pattern, but I think it could do with some perfecting.


Colours used: Kensington High Street Gel Effect - Nails Inc, Kings Road - Nails Inc

Throwback Thursday: Subtle Christmas Tree

Hello! I have had a terrible day at work so it's so nice to be sat here peacefully blogging! The bad days are almost worth it for the wonderful feeling of going home! Tonight is my first properly Christmas post, though I admit it's pretty subtle. I think it's a good one for work as it's not too out there.

Not sure how easy it is to tell because it's an old picture but the base colour is actually a super dark green. The modern Christmas tree outline was done with a dotting tool. I also used some thin nail tape to make sure the edges were neatly triangular. On top is a little decorative star which I got in a pack from eBay. I stick these on to my nails with a bit of clear polish, as I find it's actually surprisingly adhesive. Also much easier to remove that way! TTFN!

Colours used: Stylenomics - Essie, Gold - Limited Collection at M&S, Gold Star - eBay

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