A Cactus Collection

Hey space turtles! I haven't had as much time for nail art recently but am glad to be back! I'm not doing the Glam Nails Challenge on Instagram this month but couldn't resist dropping in for just one theme as I haven't done cactus nails for ages! I liked the idea of a mottled background to look like a paving area covered in little cactus pots.

I started with two layers of pale blue and then used cling film to apply some grey nail polish over the top. For the cactus images I used Mo You London's Hipster 18 stamping plate to create decals which I placed over each nail. I chose large images and I'm pleased with my choices as they fit my nails well. I finished the look with a matte top coat. You can see them both matte and shiny below. I really love how these came out! Just what I wanted :)

Colours used: Pale Blue - Not listed, Grey - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Spring Green - Barry M, Terracotta - Not listed, Cream Soda - Barry M, Raspberry - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M

A Motorway Sunset

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art was inspired by the motorway... sort of. We were on route to one of our recent long weekends by the seaside and the sky looked so lovely over the fields next to us, with the trees silhouetted against yellow and blue. I made a note on my phone to try and recreate it on my nails! I was apprehensive about whether it would work or come out too bright but thought I'd give it a go.

I started with a base coat and then one layer of sheer white as a base. Next I used a gradient sponge and two shades of blue plus orange and yellow nail polish to create a gradient. I sponged on a couple of layers of polish before adding cloud and tree images from Mo You London's Noel 16 stamping plate. To finish the look I added a glossy top coat. I considered making it matte which I do think would look nice, but I love it so much the way it is! I am still wearing it so it's not too late to try I suppose! 

Colours used: Snow (soft focus) - Polished for Days, Beach Hit - Models Own, Yellow - Barry M, Bluebell - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M, Essential White - Uber Chic Beauty, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Seal Print!

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art is an unconventional animal print look. I absolutely adore seals and after another trip to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary was inspired by their lovely little flanks to try some seal print nails. I really wasn't sure how they would come out but am very pleased!

I started with a base of pale grey and then created a gradient with medium grey and pale grey over the top. I then chose the most seal like image from Uber Chic's Warm Blooded animal print stamping plate and applied it over the top in dark grey. Before pressing the stamper onto my nails I used a dotting tool to remove some of the spots so they were a bit less dense. I finished the look with a glossy top coat. I was tempted to try a matte top coat over the top but asked for advice and people thought shiny was better as seals are shiny when they're wet.

I really love this - I wasn't sure how well it would work but I don't think it could have gone that much better. Some people even guessed what animal they were right away! (I thought it might be hard to guess as seals don't have the most distinctive pattern). I would love to do this celebration of seals look again!

Colours used: White Horse Street - Nails Inc, Grey - Barry M, Dragster - Barry M

Coronation Swans

Hey space turtles! I'm a bit behind with this post as it's from the weekend but better late than never! I wasn't really planning to do anything for the Kings Coronation at the weekend but the lake where I swim did fancy dress for it and I just couldn't resist! I wore a swan hat and decided to create some nail art to match. 

I started with pale blue on my middle two nails and thumbnails and dark blue on the others. I created decals for the swan nails using Mo You London's Animal 01 stamping plate. While the decals dried I added some gold detailing from their Games 02 stamping plate on the dark blue nails. I added the decals to my nails and trimmed them before adding a layer of blue across the bottom. I was pleased with how well that came out since I was using the brush straight from the bottle and my left hand! I added a top coat carefully to avoid smudging the nail art. I think this would look good matte too but stuck with shiny as it felt right.

I really love how these came out. The colours are very me and I like how bold they look against the contrast of the swans. It does feel a little weird to have royal themed nails when I'm not particularly into the royal family but I think they're relatively subtle. I'd definitely enjoy doing some similar swan nails in the future.

Colours used: Pale Blue - Brand I no longer support, Indigo - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Beach Hut - Models Own, Essential White - Uber Chic, Bright Lights - Barry M

Springtime Bunnies

Hey space turtles! I've finally accepted Spring pastels and I'm loving it! I'm going to do the Glam Nails Challenge again this month though I'm already slightly behind. The first prompt is bunnies and I knew I had to use this adorable bunny image from my Mo You London Festive 58 stamping plate again. I stuck to a fairly simple look but enjoyed getting back to the advanced stamping too. My short index fingernail is starting to grow out a bit and I think these pastel Easter looks do suit short nails.

I started with a shimmery base coat and then added a couple of coats of a few pastel shades (colours listed below the pictures). For the blue and green I used some old textured polishes initially which needed a 'glitter grabber' layer to smooth them out as the texture has gone a bit funny. I had to re-do the blue one as it's gone quite gloopy so took ages to dry and ended up smudging. Ended up using a beautiful coconut infusion shade which was a pretty good colour match. I added wording directly onto the blue nail and created decals for the two pink nails, finishing the look with a matte top coat. I'm glad I chose to do two different shades of bunnies. Really pleased with these :)
Colours used: Pink Lemonade - Barry M, Laguna - Barry M, Ridley Road - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Seven Dials - Nails Inc, Cappuccino - Barry M, White Horse Street - Nails Inc, Essential White - Uber Chic Beauty, Matte Taco - Holo Taco

Skittle Stars

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art is a fairly straightforward one but as I am learning those can often be the ones that work out best. I really love this particular star image on Mo You London's Scandi 10 stamping plate and wanted to appreciate it fully by having it across all nails and trying it with some different colours in a 'skittle' effect with a different colour on each nail. I ended up sticking to all Barry M shades and quite enjoyed the simplicity of that. I was tempted to use a matte top coat but really like the final look as it is so have left it. I really like the shape of my thumbnail and ring fingernail but of course still willing my index fingernail to grow! This look is also for the Stars theme for this months Glam Nails Challenge. I've actually just found this post in my drafts and thought I'd already shared it so there will be a couple of posts in quick succession!

Colours used: Indigo, Watermelon, Sprint Finish, Dragster, Slip Stream, Bright Lights - All Barry M

Unicorn Skin Galaxy

Hey space turtles! Appropriately I have some space themed nail art to share today. This one is for the March 2023 Glam Nails Challenge on Instagram, You'll see here my index fingernail has got even shorter. There was a bit which was damaged from the previous break and didn't last, it's still above the nail line though so could have been worse! I do wish I could shape it as it looks very blunt next to the others. I think I will file them down some more.

I started with two coats of dark green and then one coat of 'unicorn skin' topper to add the sparkly flaky effect. I love it so much! Next I added images in white stamping polish from Mo You London's Sci-Fi 10 stamping plate. For the planets and moon/star image I added other colours over the top, either with the layering image or just the same image over the top. The white helps the colours stand out against the dark background. I finished the look with a glossy top coat.

I really like how these turned out - it's a shame about my index finger but I love the images and the base colours and the theme!

Colours used: Watermelon - Barry M, Solar Unicorn Skin - Holo Taco, Essential White - Uber Chic, Burnt Orange - Not Specified, Cobalt - Barry M, Seymour Walk - Nails Inc 

Arctic Portraits

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art was inspired by some notecards I saw in Paperchase. I can no longer find a picture of them and they don't look that similar but they sparked an idea. I started with a couple of layers of white nail polish with one of the best named nail polishes ever - A Mantis Shrimp's Favourite Colour. I then added images from Mo You London's Enchanted 05 stamping plate in black stamping polish. I used a large dotting tool to add spots around the edges in bold colours. I started with the blue and tweaked the technique a bit as I went along. I finished the look with a matte top coat.

I really love how this came out and am enjoying the matte look, it really makes the colours pop. Unfortunately I did have a nail disaster the morning after I did these! I'm so glad I took some pictures beforehand! When trying to wrestle a particularly tight bin bag off our bin I sadly broke a nail! It was above the nail line luckily but only just - so I lost part of the narwhal. It's been years since I broke a nail so a bit of a shock to the system! I've filed my nails down a bit but can see a crack in my thumb nail on the same hand so hoping I don't have a disaster there too!

Colours used: A Mantis Shrimps Favourite Colour - Bees Knees, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Indigo - Barry M, Dead Heat - Barry M, Watermelon - Barry M, Yellow - Barry M

Tickedy Ted

Hey nail people/ space turtles! The inspiration for today's nail art is a little different... I was watching Mock the Week and the comedian James Acaster made a joke where he called Big Big 'Tickedy Ted the time telling b***h'. It rather ticked me, especially as I was reminded of it when I could see Big Ben out of the window when I was at work the next day! So I decided some more London nail art was due. It's also very fitting as I'll be in London for work tomorrow for the first time in a few weeks.

I started with a base coat and a couple of layers of deep green/black nail polish (which looks quite slate grey when matte). I then added London themed images from Mo You London's Scandi 01, 03 and 10 stamping plates with Tickedy Ted in the middle of course! Once dry I carefully added a top coat to avoid smudging the design and then added a matte top coat over the top. I have found in the past matte top coats have been quite bad for smudging nail art which is why I add another one underneath.

I'm loving the final result! Sometimes these quite simple designs can come out so well - probably because there is less that could go wrong!

Ladies In Purple

Hey space turtles! Today I'm sharing more nail art I thought of around Valentines Day with a bit of a self love girl power vibe! I've been meaning to use these images from Mo You London's Le Musee 04 stamping plate for ages and now seems like the right time. It was fun to use this shade of purple again too as although pastels aren't my usual go to for nail polish I do think lilac really suits me.

I started with three coats of lilac nail polish and then added some shapes in blue using Uber Chic Beauty's Basic Shapes 01 stamping plate. I then used dark purple to add the ladies (colours listed below the pictures). I carefully applied a glossy topcoat although I didn't do it quite carefully enough as I smudged the purple a bit. Maybe I didn't let it dry long enough, but to be honest I think the smudging in some ways makes it better as the lines were looking quite thin before.

Even though they're a little smudged I do like these. I'm enjoying the Spring colours (even if I don't feel fully ready for Spring!) and wearing something a little different to my usual looks.

Colours used: Berry Ice Cream - Barry M, Blueberry - Barry M, Plum - Barry M

Hungry Like the Wolf

Hi space turtles! I have only called this blog post 'hungry like the wolf' as it is very much in my head as I look at this nail art! This look continues the Valentines Day theme of animals that mate for life - this time I chose grey wolves, I liked the idea of them howling to each other in the forest to find each other. I spend quite a while deciding what colour to do these and am really pleased with what I chose.

I started with a base of pale muted pink. Once dry I created a gradient using a sponge and the same pink, a slightly less muted pale pink (which created a lovely transition I think) and a medium pink. I then added a layer of magnetic silver nail polish for a sparkly effect which looked great in real life but you can't see that well in these pictures! Next I added images from Mo You London's Noel 06 stamping plate to depict a night sky, mountains, wolves and paw prints. To get the wolves facing each other I used the same image, but one was stamped directly onto my nail and for the other I made a decal. I think they do look slightly different even though they're the same image. Probably just to do with what's around them.

Really pleased with how these came out. My best gradient yet! Only bit I'm not so keen on is the thumb as I chose one shade of pink which is too bright, but at least the rest looks good!

Colours used: Pink Lemonade - Barry M, Acai Smoothie - Barry M, Essential White - Uber Chic Beauty, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Platinum Diamond - Fun Lacquer

Mountainous and Blue

Hey space turtles! Today's nail art is one I'd wanted to try for ages - some landscape nails using Mo You London's Noel 18 stamping plate. I saw a look on their website and deiced to try and re-create that as best as I could with the polishes I have available. I started with two coats of blue nail polish and created decals on my Uber Mat for the mountains - it was refreshingly easy to do these as it was all one colour and easy to colour in! Once the decals where dry I placed them around the middle of my nails and then added some trees in front in blue. I also added some clouds on the thumb nail and a blue bird of prey on my ring fingernail. I finished the look with a matte top coat.

The trees would have probably been better if they came out a bit darker and more opaque but I do like them. On my thumb nail I tried lighter trees in front but they didn't really come out that well so that's why it looks a bit blurry. I did also end up with a few bubbles from the decals. Overall though I like these - they're not perfect but they're blue and landscapey so that's fun!

Colours used: Laguna - Barry M, Essential White - Uber Chic, Cappuccino - Barry M, Indigo - Barry M, Cyan - Barry M