Bye For Now!

Hi space turtles! It's a few weeks since I've posted on here and although I've been (just about) finding the time to do my nails still I have got quite behind with the blog! At this point I think it makes sense to stop or take a break as when I struggle to find time it ends up being a task on my to do list! I will still be sharing my nail art on Instagram and Twitter (find me @clawsforthought) as it's quicker and more interactive. One thing I had always intended to do on my blog is a short list of my favourite nail polish names. Involves a fair bit of swatching so haven't got round of it but might pop back for that. For now, here is the nail art I haven't got round to sharing yet - the top two are my favourites. TTFN!

A Lemon Experiment

Hey space turtles! Truly into the summer nails now which I suppose makes sense since it's June already! I recently saw alekto.art on Instagram do some freehand lemons over lilac and it looked really cute so I thought I'd give it a go using the lemons image on my WhatsUp Nails Summer Seeds stamping plate. The idea of the yellow accent nail was inspired by some nail art by naileenj which I recreated a while ago (originally in pink) and it obviously stayed in my mind!

I created decals on my Uber Mat for the lemon images and once applied I finished the look with a matte top coat. I really like the look but do wonder if the shades I used where a little too bright as they didn't work as well as the art by alekto.art. I'd say they're still pretty good though :)

Colours used: Seven Dials - Nails Inc, Wardour Street - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Key Lime - Barry M

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

Sparkly Safari Sunset

Hey space turtles :) I'm a bit behind with blogging at the moment so playing catch up. This one is for a Glam Nails Challenge prompt of Sunset. I had liked the idea of trying sharpies over reflective glitter for a while and thought this would be a good opportunity to try it in gradient form.

I started with a peel off base followed by two coats of reflective glitter and a quick dry top coat. I then used yellow, orange and red sharpies to draw three stripes of colour directly onto my nails. I then took a wide nail art brush and some nail polish remover which I used to blend the colours together. Next I added some tree, giraffe, bird and rhino images in black using Mo You London's Mother Nature 08 stamping plate. I finished the look with another glossy top coat.

I'm super happy with these. The reflective glitter sparkles so nicely through the gradient. I've had a few good compliments on them too :)

Colours used: Platinum Diamond - Fun Lacquer, Various Sharpies, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Shy Mermaid

Hey space turtles :) More ocean vibes on my nails today with a shy mermaid. This was for yesterdays Glam Nails Challenge prompt of mermaids and I had quite a few stamping plates to choose from! I settled on this rather shy looking mermaid peeking out of the water. I decided to use some Femme Fatale thermals again although sadly the pinky/lilac one seems to have lost it's thermal effect.

For the mermaids face I created a decal on my Uber Mat and for her tail there were layered images on the stamping plate I used (Uber Chic's Mermaid Life 02) so I could stamp it directly onto my nails. I added the images roughly where my nail line is so that the thermal effect would make it look like they were coming out of the ocean which I think worked pretty well. I added this gorgeous shell design over the other nails in silver.

I think these are a little scruffy in places (e.g. some smudges on the mermaids face) but love the theme and enjoying the polishes too. I do wish they were both still thermal!

Colours used: Hook - Femme Fatale Cosmetics, Bluebeard - Femme Fatale Cosmetics, Foil Effects in Purple - Barry M, Charlotte Street - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Foil Effects in Silver - Barry M

Wish Upon A Starfish

Hey space turtles! More sea themed Glam Nails Challenge art today, this time it's Starfish. I went for a fairly simple look for this one and used Mo You London's Atlantis 02 stamping plate to repeat the same starfish image in a variety of pastel neon colours. 

I started with a base of A Mantis Shrimps Favourite Colour (best.name.ever) from Bees Knees Lacquer (two coats). Once dry I added the base layer of the starfish images across my nails in a variety of colours. It was a bit time consuming as I had to keep cleaning the stamping plate but pretty straightforward to do. I then added the starfish detailing to each star in black.

I love how these came out! They're so bright and I like my nails this length. I've included a picture below from before the black detail. I have now added a matte top coat which doesn't feature below, will have to remember to share a pic of that on Insta.

Colours used: A Mantis Shrimps Favourite Colour - Bees Knees Lacquer, Peachy Beachy - Wikkid Polish, Bikini Bombshell - Wikkid Polish, Joyful L'il Jellybean - Wikkid Polish, May Mate Illuminate - Wikkid Polish, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend

Nostalgic Shells

Hey space turtles :) Next up in the series of Glam Nails Challenge catch ups is for the prompt 'shells'. I have many cool stamping plate options for shell images and decided to try this one from Uber Chic's Mermaid Life 02 plate. Having gone through a bit of a dark colours phase (I love dark colours but don't usually wear so many in the summer) I'm going for a neon look to balance it out!

I started with a base of peach and pink on my thumb and outer fingernails while leaving the middle two blank. I created decals on my Uber Mat for the middle two, colouring the shells with a selection of neons from the same collection. I made sure to add a pearlescent topper before the colours so it would show up when I added the images to my nails. I then added pearlescent topper to my other nails and once dry stamped the shell image on in white, finally adding the decals to my middle two nails.

I wasn't sure about these at first but now they are making me really nostalgic! I had a little sea themed necklace and bracelet with these pearlescent pastel shells on when I was a kid. They are certainly summery too!

Colours used: Bikini So Teeny - Wikkid Polish, Peachy Beachy - Wikkid Polish, Hello Sailor - Wikkid Polish, Joyful L'il Jellybean - Wikkid Polish, Jellyfish - Barry M, Angelfish - Barry M, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection

Flamingoals

Hey space turtles! More catch up Glam Nails Challenge nail art today as per usual! This prompt as you can probably guess was flamingo's. I had a couple of different stamping plate options (although I forgot about one of them till afterwards) so went with a couple of images from Mo You London's Tropical 06 stamping plate which has various images of tropical birds.

I started with two layers of  white/cream on my middle two nails and coral on the others (colours listed below the pictures). I then used my Uber Mat to create a decal for the flamingo nail. I had to Google them to see what colour the beak should be and am pleased with my choice of a peachy metallic. While this finished drying I added the flamingo silhouette image on my ring fingernail in black, The image is a little small for my nails so I filled the gap with green to match the leaves on my other nail, and added a little basic gold detail. I finished the look with a glossy top coat though I am tempted to try these in matte.

I like these they're definitely growing on me. I'm enjoying the fun summer colours and I like my nails this length (they'd got a little too long so I filed them down a bit).

Colours used: Sloane Avenue - Nails Inc, Black Stamping Polish - Dance Legend, Yellow - Barry M, Spring Green - Barry M, Peachy Feels - Barry M, Gold Digger - Barry M

Beach Please

Hello space turtles! More Glam Nail Challenge catch up today. This time the theme is beach. I was looking for a fairly simple design for this and came up with the idea of a couple of my nails looking like beach towels and the others like the ocean. I also tried out a thermal polish I've had for a few years and was pleased to see it still works! Colours are listed below the pictures.

I started with two coats of blue/green on my ring finger, little finger and thumb nails and white polish on my index and middle fingernails. Once dry I used white stamping polish to add the ripple image from Bundle Monsters Twi Star stamping plate onto the blue/green nails, I then used a variety of neon polishes to create a gradient with images from Mo You London's Tropical 34 stamping plate. The patterns reminded me of the sort of thing you might see on a beach towel. I'd buy one!

I struggled to get good pictures of these so most of the below are outside in natural light. Good job it;s summer!I am enjoying the fun summery vibes though and still quite like my beach towel idea.

Colours used: A Mantis Shrimps Favourite Colour - Bees Knees Lacquer, Blue Beard - Femme Fatale Cosmetics, White Stamping Polish - Rainbow Connection, Beachy Beachy, My Mate Illuminate, Joyful L'il Jellybean & Bikini So Teeny - All Wikkid Polish

Pow! Fruit Nails!

Hello space turtles :) I wasn't going to but I've decided to do the Glam Nails Challenge again this month as there were so many themes I was thinking of doing anyway. I will be very behind for at least the first few though as there's so much on at the moment! The first prompt for July is fruit. I thought I'd use this opportunity to use my WhatsUp Nails Summer Seeds stamping plate for the first time and also to use some bright colours again as I've still been veering towards darker ones even though it's now July!

I started with two coats of a variety of neon polishes (colours listed below images) in a sort of skittle mani effect. While the base was drying I created decals on my Uber Mat for the fruit and planned which nails each fruit would go on. I really love the banana nail and am tempted to try it out across all nails with different coloured backgrounds Andy Warhol style. After applying my glossy top coat I decided to try it matte which I think I prefer for this look as it helps the colours pop, you can see pictures with matte and glossy top coats below. Let me know which you like best!

I like these, which I'm pleased about as I wasn't sure if they'd be a bit too garish with all the neon colours and bright fruit. The lemon and banana nails are my faves. The lemon image is the reason I bought this plate so perhaps it's not surprising!

Colours used: Peachy Beachy, Bikini Bombshell, Down At The Deepend, My Mate Illuminate - All Wikkid Polish, Yellow - Barry M, Spring Green - Barry M, Pomegranate - Barry M

Coconut Cocktail Party

Hey nail people! Got more fruit nails to share today for today's Glam Nails Challenge prompt which is coconuts (I suppose they're technically a nut? They seem like fruit though!). I struggled a little at first to think what to do for coconut nails but then remembered that there is a coconut cocktail image on my Uber Chic Bottoms Up plate and thought that would be perfect - I do enjoy a twist on a theme sometimes! 

I started with a base of off white on my middle two fingernails, and pink glitter on the other three. For the coconut images I used my Uber Mat to create decals, you can see how here. I used a shimmery brown shade which I am so glad I have for moments like this! For the umbrella's I added a bit of extra colour with some neons. The polishes I used are listed below the pictures.

I wasn't sure whether to try and add something to the cocktail nails but I still can't really think what. Spots were an option but I just couldn't think which colour would work next to the sparkly pink nails so I left them as they are! I do still like them though, they're good fun and make me want a pina colada!

Colours used: Love Potion - Fun Lacquer, Cream Soda - Barry M, Taupe Temptation - Painted Polish, Joyful L'il Jellybean - Wikkid Polish, Peachy Beachy - Wikkid Polish, My Mate Illuminate - Wikkid Polish, Bikini Bombshell - Wikkid Polish