Snazzy Sea Creatures!

Today's nail art was inspired by some I saw by Hanninator on Instagram. She used the newest UberChic mermaid stamping plate to add some cute sea creatures to her nails over their new blue nail polish. The look made me feel nostalgic as it reminded me of some of those inflatable armbands we used to have as kids! I decided I had to have a go at creating something similar with my UberChic Just Beachy plate as it has some great layered sea creature images too (layered stamping I mean - not layered sea creatures! :D)

I started with a blue base of High Tide from ILNP as this was my most similar nail polish to the shade Hanninator used. It was lovely to try it out again, it's so rare these days that I put the same colour on all nails! Next I used some well pigmented nail polish colours (all listed below the pictures) to add the sea creature colours, and then black stamping polish to add the outlines. After doing the jellyfish I realised (should have know really!) that the colours wouldn't stand out well enough on their own over the blue so I stamped the image underneath in white first for the others.

Overall I'm really pleased with these! They're cute and fun and were great to wear for a trip to Brighton, felt very appropriate when I was swimming in the sea!

Colours used: High Tide - ILNP, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Pink Lemonade - Barry M, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Papaya - Barry M, Key Lime - Barry M, Watermelon - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Stained Glass/ Sweetie Wrapper Nails

Hey everyone! Couldn't really decide what to call this one so I've gone for two things it kind of reminds me of. I'd had the idea of digging out my ILNP Spring 2018 metallic collection again to try a pattern, so when the latest Nail Addicts Collab theme was announced as patterns I had to give this one a go! I tried to create a pattern with the colours as I went across the nails with the colours too but it didn't entirely go to plan.

I started with a base of Soft Focus from Polished for Days. This is a good natural base and I wanted to have something there underneath the decals as I know I can't layer them up for opacity! For the decals I used Mo You London's Crystal 01 plate and the advanced stamping technique, you can see how here. I feel like planning the colours had an almost mathematical element to it which is probably why I struggled with it! Still, overall I'm happy with this look. You can't really see it in these pictures but it really sparkled in the sun!

Colours used: Hi-Fi, Blueprint, Fun House, Short Circuit, Checkmate, Sugar Coated - All ILNP, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Soft Focus - Polish for Days 

Fisherman Nails Inspired by Staithes

Ahoy there! Sharing some nautical nail art today which was inspired by our trip to the North York Moors a couple of weeks ago. We did some lovely coastal walks and had dinner in a lovely little town called Staithes one evening. This nail art was inspired by that trip, it was lovely eating dinner by the sea and watching the world go by.

I stared with bases of yellow, blue and pale blue before stamping images from Mo You London's Sailor 01 and 18 stamping plates onto my nails. I used one of their Tropical plates for the stripes. I created lighthouse and fisherman (or hipster - however you want to look at it :D) decals on my Uber Mat to go over the waves and fish on the light blue nails. I really love the fish shoal image! I finished with a shiny top coat (Nails Inc's Kensington Caviar). 

I'm really pleased with these and am enjoying the nautical theme and bright colours. They feel very fitting as I'm off to the seaside tomorrow!

Colours used: Borrowed & Blue - Essie, Cobalt - Barry M, Yellow - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Charlotte - Nails Inc, Cappuccino - Barry M

When Life Gives You Lemons Make Nail Art... Again!

I couldn't resist re-using the title for this - what else does one call a lemon themed nail art blog post?! Today's nail art is a fine example of just how much my freehand needs some work - it's always harder than I expect! I was inspired by Naileenj on Instagram and had to give this look a try! I started it on holiday in the North York Moors, sat outside on on a goat farm! I ran out of time to finish it here though so had to do the rest at home, which was probably more practical in the end.

I started with a base of neon pink on all nails except my little fingernail which I painted yellow (all colours listed below the pictures). I planned to use pens to draw onto my nail as I did when following the One Nail To Rule Them All tutorials a while ago, but I couldn't get it to work at all so used a small brush to paint on the lemons, leaves and the outline. They were definitely not as neat as I had envisaged! Still, it was an abstract look I was going for so I suppose it's not too far wrong...

Colours used: Bikini Bombshell - Wikkid Polish, Sunny Days - Rimmel, Key Lime - Barry M, Lady In Black - OPI

Abstract origami dinosaurs

Rawwr! Origami dinosaur nails to share with you today, which is something I've not done in quite some time! I got the awesome Origami 05 stamping plate from Mo You London years ago and it has the perfect combination of origami creatures: sea creatures, dinosaurs, a unicorn and a dragon! Recently I saw r4ch3lcakes on Instagram created an awesome design using the sea creature images, and I commented on how much I loved the design and the stamping plate. She suggested we do a twin mani with the dinosaur images so here we are :D. We agreed we'd use a white base, Hygge from Cirque Colors and another shade of purple of our choice for the colours splashes.

So I started with a base of white, then added splashes of light blue then purple with the brushes from the polish bottles. Once dry I used black stamping polish to add the dinosaurs. The one on my little finger is a bit wonky but I suppose that is true to how origami can look - certainly when I do it anyway! I then used a bit of clear nail polish to add some gold leaf from a craft shop, which I think really adds a little something extra. I made sure to add it where the flames would be for the dragon!

In conclusion I'm really pleased with it, I think it's a fun twist on the abstract look and can't wait to see what Rachel created too!! (We will be sharing them on Instagram shortly)

Colours used: Floral Street - Nails Inc, Hygge - Cirque Colors, Concord - Cirque Colors, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Gold Leaf - Craft Store

Constellations

Hey everyone! Going to keep this one short and sweet as I have a dreadful back ache and would like to get to bed! I fancied trying one more of the Glam Nails Challenge prompts for this month and settled on today's which is constellations. It was a bit of an experimental look for me!

I started with a base of metallic multi-chrome blue/purple, and then a layer of Fun Lacquer's magnetic polish Platinum Diamond (the regular version). I had a play around with different magnet shaped and got some pretty cool effects. Following this I used silver polish to add mountains (Mo You London Sailor 18 stamping plate) and stars (Kelli Marissa Bundle Monster plate). Finally I used white stamping polish to add the constellations over the top (also from the Kelli Marissa plate)

I have mixed feelings about this look. I think the thumbnail is pretty cool, but I wish I hadn't added stars on my little finger and index finger nails as they hide the magnetic effect and the constellations too. The colours are lovely though!

Colours used: Pixie Parade - Tonic Polish, Platinum Diamond - Fun Lacquer, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Planetary Nails

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a good week :) I'm feeling pleased with myself as we've done some gardening and I'm enjoying the difference it made. My partners parents came to help us which made a big difference and was fun too! So todays nail art is for the Glam Nails Challenge again, and it's late...again. I have a good excuse this time though in that my 1st dose of the Covid vaccine got in the way (felt absolutely fine - just a bit tired). I had so many different planet nail ideas in my head, and this is what I ended up with!

I started with a black base with one coat of sparkly silver (colours listed below pictures). I then used the Mo You London Sci Fi 10 plate for the planets. I started by using white stamping polish to add circles for the planets, so that the colours would stand out more against the black background. I then used a variety of colours to stamp over the circles. Finally I used gold and silver metallic polish to add the outlines/patterns to the planets. The only exception to this is the ringed planet on my thumb (which I'm considering to be Saturn) where I used the advanced stamping technique to create a decal (still added over a white circle). I think this one is my fave, especially when the sparkly orange shines through in bright lights! I have a real thing for orange polish at the moment.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with these and would definitely like to try planet nails again with some different colours and styles.

Colours used: Lady In Black - OPI, Diamond Glitter - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, If You've Got It Haunt It - Uber Chic Beauty, Indigo Ink - Nail Paint Palette London, King Tut's Gem - Jessica Polish, Pixie Parade - Tonic Polish, Prima Donna - Jessica Polish, Foil Effect in Gold - Barry M, Foil Effect in Silver - Barry M