Space Cat Adventures

Heyy space turtles! Some actual space themed nail art to share today, inspired by a weekend away in Nottingham to visit my Aunt and Uncle. We had a lovely time which included a trip to the National Space Centre and cuddles with their gorgeous cat, Lucy. I knew Mo You London's Sci-Fi 10 would be perfect as it has little cat silhouette's as well as space shapes.

I used silver metallic polish for all of the images which I stamped directly onto my nails. I felt it was missing something so added some colour to the rocket with a dotting tool. I thought it was a bit basic at first compared to the advanced stamping I often do but it's grown on me and I'm enjoying the colours, cats and 'take me away' vibe. I particularly like the cat and stars on my little finger nail.

Colours used: Aruba Blue - Essie, Rain On Me - Barry M

Tile Inspired Aztec Nails

Hey space turtles! Some colourful nail art to share as the weather gets colder. These were inspired by lovely tiled houses we saw on holiday in Porto. I wanted to do some nail art based on some of the more colourful tiles but didn't really have any stamping plates with such patterns and didn't fancy trying to freehand them so I chose these Aztec style patterns instead!

I started with a beige background and created decals on my Uber Mat with the patterns. I used Mo You London's Explorer 33 and Explorer 04 stamping plates and black stamping polish, filling them in with some bright block colours and white. You can see how here. Once dried and applied I added a shiny top coat, and then tried a matter one a day or two later. The matte brings out the colours well but I do like this look shiny too. I think they're got late summer nails but can't believe it's nearly October and I've done no snuggly autumn nails yet! Will have to do some after Halloween.

Colours used: Soft Focus - Polished For Days, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Red Hot Rio - OPI, Spring Green - Barry M, Baker Street - Nails Inc, Yellow - Barry M, Neon Activator - Nails Inc

A Floral Tribute

Hey space turtles! Having been struggling to find time for blogging lately but glad to finally have some time to be sharing these with you. Hoping for some time to do some more nail art today too. It was a strange week when I did these. The death of the Queen was announced while I was on holiday and once back there was a period of mourning leading up to the funeral. I used a newspaper article on the topic for the background print here and added flowers over the top using the advanced stamping technique.

I hadn't used the newspaper technique for a while but it was easier than I remembered. The print hasn't come out very clearly but I don't think it would take much practise to perfect it. I used my Uber Mat to make flower decals with Mo You London's Botanical 13 stamping plate and placed them over the top. The pictures below show the look shiny and matte but I think I like it matte best.

Colours used: Vintage Tee - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Cream Soda - Barry Mm, Acai Smoothie - Barry M, Wardour Street - Nails Inc

Holo Taco Topper's

Heyy space turtles! A couple of random swatchy type looks to share today. I was short on time for doing nail art so decided I'd try out a couple of untried Holo Taco polishes I have instead. Hoping to find some time to do nail art this evening or tomorrow. Some thoughts on each look below.

Skittle - The first two pictures are of a skittle look I did with some darker colours as we move towards autumn. I am so pleased to finally have Holo Taco's Everything Taco. It's such a gorgeous sparkly topper. Below I've added one coat over each colour, followed by a glossy top coat. I like my toppers but particularly like the depth you get when glitters are actually included within the polish. However this is the topper of all toppers to me - I love how sparkly it is and how much there is going on! Having the different colours and flake sizes adds some depth too.

Sparkly purple - I was undecided on Holo Taco's Got Cake for ages but decided to pick it up with my last order as it's so well reviewed. I then saw 'a bit f glitz on the tips' on Instagram use it over purple and it looked amazing, so I decided that's how I'd swatch it. I added one coat on each nail over purple (thickness of the coats varies as I think the first one was too thick!). It's a very snazzy sparkly look! I'm tempted to try it out over darker colours too even if I wouldn't technically consider this one a topper.

Colours used: Skittle: Plum - Barry M, Watermelon - Barry M, Indigo Ink - Nail Paint Palette, Kensington High Street - Nails Inc, Everything Taco - Holo Taco

Purple: Disco Dress - Color Club, Got Cake - Holo Taco

Rainbow Nails for Porto

Hi Space Turtles! I'm back after a week away in the beautiful city of Porto in Portugal. These where my holiday nails (along with the Aperol Spritz ones I shared before). I took inspiration from me.time.manis on Instagram who created a gorgeous rainbow look with the Bubbly Collection from Cirque Colors. I decided to attempt a recreation as a fun holiday look and I love it! It's a great collection and the colours are so fun together.

I started by unscrewing the gaps on the ones I wanted to use on the nail I was working on, then applied a line of colour of each polish gently, trying to blend or overlap them slightly without the brushes getting contaminated with other colours. I then held a magnet over the top for 30 seconds. Once all nails were dry I repeated the process with a second coat. I probably didn't need to magnetise the first coat in the end but thought it might help.

I wish I'd managed to blend the colours a little better and perhaps managed to get a better magnetic effect but I did know that would be tricky with the multiple colours as they dry so fast. Despite this I do love these. They are such a fun and bright colour combination and perfect for holiday nails!

Colours used: Aperol Spritz, Sparkling Yuzu, Soda Shoppe, La Dolce Vita, Helter Seltzer, Fizzing Lifting Drink - All Cirque Colors

Ode to Aperol Spritz

Hi everyone! Today I'm sharing some nail art which is not for an Instagram challenge for once! I've had the idea of doing some Aperol Spritz nails since I got Cirque Colors Bubbly Collection. It's my favourite drink - it's so yummy, a great colour and reminds me of holidays (we first tried it in Venice). I have also had a bit of a thing for orange nail polish for a year or so, so I'm really loving this polish!

I started with two coats of cream on my middle and thumb nails and Aperol Spritz on the other two. I used a bar magnet to get the magnetic effect and did this on both layers. I love the way the layers of holo shine through when I move them in the light. I stamped the multiple cocktail image directly onto my nails in black and created decals for the two glasses and the wording. The cocktail and glass images are from Uber Chic's Bottoms Up plate and the wording is letters put together from Mo You London's Typography 04 plate. I added oranges from the UC plate using Aperol Spritz which worked surprisingly well as a fun background image colour.

I'm pleased with how these came out, They are fairly simple to look at but the process was a little different for me in terms of adding images together to make decals etc and I like the simple colour scheme. Love the orange polish too - both the style and the name! I suppose this look isn't really an ode to Aperol Spritz as I think that would be a song or poem... but it's certainly a tribute!

Colours used: Aperol Spritz - Cirque Colors, Cream Soda - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend