I'm Back!!! :D - Cherry Blossom Tree Spring Nail Art

Howdy folks!

I came over a little Spring-esque today and wanted to create some nail art featuring one of my favourite things about Spring... Cherry Blossom trees! I knew I wanted it to be a flowing-across-the-nails sorta thing, and absolutely love this gorgeously detailed Autumn styled design which fit what I wanted perfectly!

They've come out real pretty, though perhaps not as detailed as I'd originally planned for :)

I'm also working on my nail shape... again :D I had stiletto style when I last posted., while I was away I trimmed em all right down back to my natural shape. A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted 'em stiletto again so now I am now training 'em back up, haha!


S x

Punky nails

Howdy!

Today I'm rocking some punk style nails.

There's not really an awful lot to them to be honest. I started by painting my thumbs and pinky fingers black (Barry M Nail Paint - Black), ring and middle fingers white (Barry M Nail Paint - White), and index fingers red (L'Oreal Colour Riche - Rouge Pin Up).

Once they were dry I took a little of the black and created a triangle shape at the base of the my index fingers and some (badly done, thanks striping tape...) black stripes on middle fingers.

I topped each nail with a liberal coat of Nails Inc Matte Topcoat and using the tip of an orangewood stick and some embellie gellie I attached some gold square studs in various ways as little accents.

The square studs were bought from a seller on Etsy, I got a set of 200 (gold & silver) for only a couple of quid.

Bit messy and not my neatest work but I still like em :)

That's all from me for now, catch ya all again soon!

S x

Leopard print naily art (meeeeeeeow!)

Howdy!

How are all you folks doing? Mid-week already, I'm sure I've lost a few days somewhere?!

Today I'm sporting some leopard print nails!! Animal print isn't something I usually go for myself, but I'm quite feeling it today. Here's what I did (all photos at the bottom):

Using a matte brown effect polish and a metallic gold polish I did half/half style straight down the middle of each nail, I used the same brown matte effect polish to create a plain accent nail on my ring fingers. Swapping the colours (gold on brown and brown on gold) I painted random blobs on top of each base colour using a medium sized dotting tool, then painted on random black detail lines with a small paint brush. I finished off by adding a line of tiny little gold caviar beads down the centre for a little extra detail and sparkle.

I recommend getting some Embellie Gellie for adding little beady/gemmy/small bits, makes things so much easier! It's a mildly tacky soft type glue that lasts for absolutely ages as you only need a little at a time. You can buy it via amazon and it's not too expensive :)

Also, how cute is my lil snakey ring I picked up for a couple of quid last week! Loving it!

'Til next time!

Stef x

Wonder Woman nails

Howdy!

I always wanna shove a 'partner' on the end whenever I say howdy :/

But I digress, today I have done myself some Wonder Woman nail art!




I used 3 nail paints; 'Femme Fatale' from the L'Oreal Colour Riche collection, 'Baker Street' by Nails Inc, and 'Gold Metallic Foil Effects' by Barry M. I also used a small amount of black acrylic paint.

I started by applying a full nail of red on my pinkies, a full nail of blue on rings, a half red/half blue on middles, a half red/half blue diagonally on indexes, and a full nail of gold on thumbs. Using the same gold, I applied a small shape in the style of WW's little tiara thing on pinky, the WW logo on middle, and a straight diagonal down the middle on index. I created the little detail lines with black acrylic using an extremely fine paint brush.

I added stars to the full blue nails, and to the half diagonal ones too. These stars are a little bit too bulky, but for some reason they are the only stars I seem to have at the moment. So... I am now on the look out for some cute little glitter type stars!
I gave all a good glug of top coat (Sally Hansen Insta-Dry, as is my usual).

I didn't really know what to put on top of the plain gold nails so I just left em that way.


However, I don't like that the Barry M Metallic Foil Gold polish dries to reveal such obvious brush marks. Generally BM products dry quite nicely, but for some reason this one just doesn't =/

Other than that little issue with the gold, I'm rather pleased with how this mani turned out :)

That's all from me for now, I'll likely be back on Friday some time as between now and then I have to come up with a nice mani to go with an outfit I'm wearing on Saturday night ;)

Byes for now!
Stef x

A little bit of everything...

Howdy!

Today my nails have a bit of a mixed range on 'em.

I've got a single coat of Essie Aruba Blue on thumbs, and 2 coats of Essie Aruba Blue on pinky, middle and index fingers. Over the Aruba Blue on thumbs I have a single coat of Glinting Lodestone by Femme Fatale, which is a gorgeous polish with various blue, green and purple glittery bits in it.

On my ring finger I have 2 coats of Lilypad Lacquer In the Milkyway which has a marshmallow white base with a holographic chewy centre. It's not as obviously holo as some other Lilypads (such as the Peacock shade I have previously posted about) but it's still got a lovely gently sparkle to it.

I've not bothered with a top coat as they are all pretty shiny. All applied as beautifully as usual too, though this was the first time I've ever used a Femme Fatale polish. 

I'm pretty pleased with the overall result. I think the colours all compliment each other, and as I didn't do anything special over the top of them, they all dried pretty fast too.

That's it from me today, 'til next time!

Stef x

Swatchy Switch - To Dance With a Peacock

Howdy and happy hump day!

Me again :D With another Lilypad Lacquer swatch, this time 'To Dance With a Peacock'

'To Dance With a Peacock' is another holo-colour-shift polish that has a very deep teal base. When light hits it the colours scatter like a rainbow, it's so gorgeous. You can also see why it's called what it is, the colours are just like a peacock!

This is another of those polishes where the colour changes every time you move and you can't help but stare at it. I've shown 2 coats plus top coat, but to be honest you don't really need the top coat because it dries to a wonderful shine all on its own, I merely add it because I have a tendency to chip my polish through day to day chores ;) It goes on easily and smoothly, pretty much perfect yet again!

You can buy Lilypad Lacquer products direct from creator on their Etsy store, or via what I call collab-stores (online stores that sell a whole bunch of brands together) such as Norway Nails.

Now then, back to work with me (if I can stop staring at my nails for long enough...). And a poorly child to take care of :(

Until next time!

Stef x

Switchy Swatch - Caribbean Crush

Howdy!

Today my Lilypad Lacquer order arrived! I got totally over excited when I saw the package in the mailbox (and my daughter was fascinated with the little froggy stickers on the envelope!). I am sooooo in love with them! The colours I ordered are all absolutely gorgeous, and I'm hoping to get some more in the future!

So, here is the first: Caribbean Crush

This is a very sparkly holographic colour shift polish. It seems to be primarily a teal colour, but when you move around in any source of light it shifts from teal to blue to purple (to a point where I can't stop staring at it...)

This is the teal colour that shows most of the time. It is super sparkly and such a gorgeous shade.

This pic shows the purple colour shift that occurs

And this one shows the blue shade that also appears

And finally, this one shows the full colour change (albeit a bit blurrily :P)
This was 3 coats colour plus top coat

I can't wait to try out the other colours I ordered , they are all so pretty! It was really easy to apply, very smooth, over all the perfect consistency. I definitely recommend Lilypad Lacquer! Hopefully we will get some sunshine here soon so I can take some pics in lovely outdoor lighting (in northern England we are pretty lucky to get more than 3 sunny days a year hehe :p)

(Looking at these pics, I defo need to stop being such hand sanitiser addict, my hands have gone so dry and my cuticles look so crap!)

Right then, I'm off to watch How To Train Your Dragon with my little monkey :D

Until next time!

Stef x