Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Hi everyone! It'as getting frosty outside so I've reflected this on my nails! This was one of the many Christmassy designs I was running out of time for, so decided to do them afterwards, it's still Christmas time till the tree comes down! I started with a base of Nails Inc's 'The Serpentine' which is a gorgeous navy blue. I haven't worn it for ages and forgot how lovely it is! There's a bonus picture of it alone at the bottom of this post.

Next I applied two layers of ILNP's 'Mega', a shimmery holo over the polish on my thumb and ring finger, and some snow glitter on my index and pinky fingers. For the snowflakes I used my QA57 stamping plate (no idea what brand - it was my first ever stamping plate and was bought cheap on eBay!). On the silver nails I used The Serpentine for blue snowflakes, and on my middle finger I used Soho Silver from Nails Inc, as Mega doesn't stamp very well. Fortunately they seemed to match well enough!

Once I'd finished I had a bit of a dilemma! I had been intending to put snowmen over some of the snowflakes, but I rather liked the design without them (picture at the bottom of this post). I dithered for a bit and then decided to try the snowmen as that was my original plan, this turned out to be a bit of a mistake, as you will see below. The polish I used was very thick as it was nearly finished and so my snowmen came out very blobby! Still, I kept it on for a few days, new year nails next!!

Colours used: The Serpentine - Nails Inc, Mega - ILNP, Soho Silver - Nails Inc, Snow Glitter - No7 at Boots, Coconut - Barry M, Lady In Black - OPI, Papaya - Barry M

Guest Nails - Snowman Stamping

Hi everyone! I hope you had a lovely Christmas/break. I'm reeeally enjoying having some time off work and had a lovely Christmas with my family. Super happy with my presents and I'm pleased to say they included some stamping plates, so those will follow in the next few months (yes there are that many - I ordered some today too!).

So the day I finished work for the Christmas holidays I had a half day (ish) so had a couple of friends over to do Christmas nails. I did my Christmas day nails, and these snow themed nails for my friend Jess. We started with a white base on all nails and then put some silver holo over the top on the ring finger, it doesn't show up too well in the picture but it adds a good bit of shine to the design.

I used two Barry M blue shades to stamp overlapping snowflakes on three nails on each hand, using Mo You London's Festive Plate 02. I really love the way the snowflakes came out, it's a shame I'll probably be waiting till next year now before I try it on myself! For the ring finger and thumb I made decals on my Uber Mat using the Uber Chic Christmas-01 plate. I was happy with this design and I know Jess was too so I hope it lasted through Christmas!
Colours used: Alpine Snow - OPI, Black Knight - Mo You London, Blueberry - Barry M, Cobalt - Barry M, Dead Heat - Barry M, Mega - ILNP

So this is Christmas...

So this is Christmas...Eve! I have finally managed to fit in some freehand Christmas nail art! I was hoping to get some more in before Christmas but time is just flying by. I had a couple of friends over for a Christmas nails afternoon with Christmas movies, mince pies and mulled wine. so in a way I'm impressed I managed to do some neat-ish lines!

I used a small nail art brush to paint the outline of each festive item and then colour them in. For the parcels and the outline of the berries I used a nail art pen to get fine lines. Overall I like the design, with the exception of the presents, as they came out a little wobbly. I also think the red is not quite as Christmassy as I had hoped. I should have used one with flecks of gold in instead of flecks of pink!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!
Colours used: Party In Rio - Colors by Llarowe, Cocoa - Barry M, British Racing Green - Butter London. Alpine Snow - OPI, Dead Heat - Barry M, Nail Art Pen In Black - Barry M, Lady In Black - OPI, Uptown Glamour - Nails Inc, Soho Silver - Nails Inc

Cosy Christmas Nails

It's Christmas eve eve! Two sleeps till Christmas! I haven't done nearly as many Christmas nails as I would have liked this year as it's been so busy at work, I have a whole list of ideas I'll have to save till next time. I got one of Mo You London's new Christmas plates (Festive Collection 45) as a surprise pre-Christmas gift from my boyfriend, as he new I'd want to use it before Christmas  - he's a keeper! The designs on this plate are adorable, they have a similar look to the ones in the Enchanted collection, with animals, or Christmas creatures, in the middle framed by a pattern.

I used my Uber Mat to make decals for these so I could add colours, the images aren't too fiddly to colour in. I did leave them over night, and had to use my back up clear polish so they were a little brittle in the morning which wasn't ideal. It made them quite thick, but they looked good and that's what counts! A few people have told me they look like wrapping paper, which reminds me I really ought to finish wrapping presents...
Colours used: Emerald Green - Barry M, Party In Rio - Colors by Llarowe, Gold Foil Effect - Barry M, Silver Foil Effect - Barry M, Alpine Snow - OPI, Cappucino - Barry M, W18 - Color Cosmetic

Oh Christmas Lights

Six sleeps till Christmas! I really can't wait! Work is not good right now, I'm not even having much time for Christmas nails! The ones I'm showing you tonight lasted me a whole week, and still looked good, but I have an ideas back log so had to change them.

I've been trying to get my hands on Cirque Colors Halcyon for ages so when it appeared again on Rainbow Connection as part of a holiday collection shortly after my birthday I had to have it. There is a picture of it alone below the nail art pictures. It's a super shiny rose gold shade with a hint of copper to it in some lights. Very on trend!

I used my Uber Mat to make nail decals using my Uber Chic Christmas-01 stamping plate. I used dotting tools to fill in the colours using sparkly shades to give a twinkling lights effect. Colours used are listed below the pictures.
Colours used: Halcyon - Cirque Colors, Black Knight - Mo You London, Cosmic Girl - Danglefoot Polish, Dioptase - Cirque Colors, Tanzanite - Cirque Colors, Party In Rio - Colors by Llarowe

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

Stamping Sunday: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... baubles

It's finally here! My first Christmas nail art of the year. I've been delayed posting pictures by a week as work has been manic, so I already have more to share, will try and be a bit better next week! I'd been saving this Fun Lacquer multi-chrome for the big work Christmas party and fortunately the dress I bought went with it perfectly, so it made it's debut appearance at the beautiful Elvetham hotel, amidst many gorgeous gowns and Christmas lights. No multi-chrome polish can beat the shine of chrome powder, but this is definitely the best nail polish multi-chrome I have used, or even seen! It's super shiny and the colour shift is great. Shimmery purple to red is perfect for the party season. I wore the polish alone to the party as my dress was patterned (black and gold), but once it was over I decided to add some Christmas baubles using my new Uber Chic Christmas-01 stamping plate. I stamped the baubles individually in metallic gold onto my Uber Mat and coloured them in with some metallic and sparkly polishes (colours listed below the pictures). I covered them with clear polish and then once dry peeled them off and applied them to my nails, finishing with a top coat.

The ones on my thumb nails didn't turn out quite as I had hoped, as the silver overpowered the gold, meaning the detailing on some of the larger baubles wasn't very visible. Overall I think this was a nice subtle start to Christmas nails, and I absolutely adore this multi-chrome polish!
Colours used: Cheers To The Holidays - Fun Lacquer, Gold Foil Effect - Barry M, Emerald Green - Barry M, Gold Glitter - Barry M, Teal - Barry M, Silver Foil Effect - Barry M