Return of the Cactus!

Hey space turtles! Back with more cactus nail art today as I had more than one cactus nail art idea and thought this would be a good opportunity to try out this yellow reflective glitter I got for Christmas (last untried from my Christmas polishes!). 

For the cactus images I used Uber Chic's Succulent stamping plate to create some decals on my Uber Mat.They were nice and straightforward to do using only two colours. While these dried I applied two layers of off-white to my middle two nails and two layers of glitter to the others. After trimming the decals and applying them to my nails I finished the look with a glossy top coat. Ta-da!

Colours used: Radiant Forces - Emily de Molly, Cream Soda - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Spring Green - Barry M

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 Birthday Cactus

Hello there! Going to keep this one short and sweet much like the chubby little cactus on my middle fingernail. I was invited to join a collaboration on Instagram for StephyClaws Birthday so chose this design to recreate. It meant getting some classic polishes out to use and I like the fun summery colours and theme. I used two coats of each colour and three of the metallic polish and create a decal for the blue nail. The image is from Mo You London's Hipster 16 stamping plate and I'm really pleased with the colours I used for it. They give it quite a cartoony vibe I think.

Colours used: Bronze Bae - Barry M, Sloane Gardens - Nails Inc, Baker Street - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Greenberry - Barry M, Cappuccino - Barry M

A Cactus Glitter Explosion!

Finally getting round to sharing my holiday nails! A week ago yesterday we got back from our two week trip to Canada and the US. We travelled flew to Toronto and travelled from there to New York, stopping at many places on the way. We squeezed a lot in so though amazing, it was also quite tiring! I feel like I've fully recovered from the jet lag now, though I wouldn't say no to a three day weekend just to be sure!

So this is the nail art I had on for that full two weeks. I wanted something that would last well, and as chunky glitter is so hard to get off I thought that would do the trick - and indeed it is! I was intending to go for a bit of a negative space look, with sheer pale pink under the glitter, as any chips would then be less obvious, but I did go a tad overboard with the glitter so it was reasonably solid.

For the cacti I used the Uber Chic Succulents and Mo You London Hipster 18 plates and created decals using the advanced stamping technique (you can see how here). It took a while as I created a lot of decals (most of the cactus images have been separated as decals so I could place them side by side on my nails, showing in different positions than they were on the stamping plate). I was inspired by someone on Instagram for this nail art but I can't remember who! They definitely went more subtle with the glitter! I was fairly pleased with these and enjoyed being super sparkly, I was pleasantly surprised by how long they lasted too, only one chip in two weeks!

Colours used: Bashful - Barry M, Yellow Topaz - Barry M, Black Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Green Park - Nails Inc, Can't Find My Czechbook - OPI, Pomegranate - Barry M

Stamping Sunday: Terrarium Nails

Hey everyone, happy Sunday! I want today to last for days... it's been a busy week and I'm still a bit sleepy! Definitely enjoying a lazy weekend. These nails are a variation on some I did before which I loved, you can see them here. I wanted to make a more summery version and I think Hatch from Cirque Colors turned out to be the perfect base. It has a sort of gravelly or work surface effect and paired with these succulents it reminds me of a terrarium.

As with the last set I used Someday from ILNP to colour in the cacti as it's a good shade of cactus green with the added bonus of sparkles! I love the hexagon pattern that I've used on my middle finger too. Unfortunately it's a little too short for my nails so I have to add a block of colour at the bottom, but that said I do rather like that too! For the hexagons I used the Hipster 16 plate from Mo You London and for the individual cacti I used the Hipster 18 plate.

As usual I used the advanced stamping technique with my Uber Mat. You can see how here. Pleased with how these turned out and there will definitely be more cacti on the way, loving that trend!
Colours used: Hatch - Cirque Colors, Someday - ILNP, Bronze Bae - Barry M, Midnight Mischief - Painted Polish, 
Though this has been a pretty positive blog post (it's about nail art, how couldn't it be...) I do find my weird shaped thumb nails a little irritating! It's worse on one than the other as you can see above. It's the way they are naturally I just need to find a way to file them to make it less obvious!

Sparkling succulents

Hey everyone, happy Saturday! Today I'm excited to bring to you some of my favourite nail art for some time. I'm trying to get through a list of untried nail polishes (which is proving to be great fun!) and thought it would be a good opportunity to try sparkly cactus nails, especially as I had an untried succulents plate as well. You can see the full list of colours used below the pictures.

I used the Hipster 16 (untried) and 18 plates from Mo You London to make nail decals on my Uber Mat. You can see how here. As the images on plate 16 are a little short for my long nails I added a bit of colour at the bottom of the pattern on my ring finger. It's a backup solution but I really like the look. I particularly like that pattern as well, I think it's meant to be like the pattern of little glass panes in a terrarium.

I haven't quite managed to capture it in these pictures but in the right lighting the cacti are so lovely and sparkly  with little shimmering flakies, and the pots are super shiny too. This nail art is just so meee!!

Colours used:  Moscow - Picture Polish,  Floral Street - Nails Inc,  Midnight Mischief - Painted Polish by Lexi,  Someday - ILNP, Checkmate - ILNP

Mo You London Inspired Dotty Succulents

Happy Friday everyone! Today I have something summery to show you that reminds me of our mini break from Sunday to Tuesday. It was soo lovely and relaxing, and involved an awful lot of eating!

This nail art is very similar to some Mo You London were sharing when they added the succulent themed plates to their Hipster collection. They version used slightly different images and the dots were just pink. I used the Hipster 18 plate which is perfect for me as my nails are pretty long at the moment. There's so much you can do with this plate and it's very pretty to look at too.

I used a dotting tool for the pink and turquoise dots, and then stamped in black stamping polish, a good quick design to do (compared to most other things I try!)
Colours used: Alpine Snow - OPI, Greenberry - Barry M, Seymour Walk - Nails Inc,Midnight Mischief - Painted Polish

Stamping Sunday: Cacti with Kaleidoscope

Hi everyone! Tonight I'm showing you the sparkly cactus nail art I did for the bank holiday last weekend. I spent the weekend staying in a cottage on the grounds of Montacute House National Trust property with my boyfriend and his family, so these pictures bring back fond memories!

For the cactus images I used the Uber Chic succulent plate and the reverse stamping technique with my Uber Mat. You can see instructions in pictures here. The green glitter I used was Secret from Fun Lacquer which isn't full cover, so I used a Spring Green from Barry M behind it to give it a stronger colour. For the accent nail and thumb nail I used a peel off base coat and sponged on Kaleidoscope from Fun Lacquer which I think had a good contrast with the cacti.

I used different images on each hand but all my pictures of the right hand a pretty blurry so I've only included one today!
Colours used: Lakodom - Picture Polish, Kaleidoscope - ILNP, Black Knight - Mo You London, Blueberry - Barry M, Pomegranate - Barry M, Key Lime - Barry M, Spring Green - Barry M, Secret - Fun Lacquer