Gemstone Polish

Heylo Everyone! I'm super happy with today's Halloween nail art-it's awesome even if I do say so myself!! :) I used a more painterly effect this time and it was SO much fun! Take a little looksee... You can definitely tell when I'm digging a bit of nail art- a whole load of photos!! Ha ha! I came across a picture online of a bunch of swirling ghosts and immediately thought of my nails. As you do. I started with a couple of coats of OPI 'I Have A Herring Problem' . Not only do I love the name of this polish (I mean, come on !) but it's also an absolute beauty! I then used a mahussive amount of nail polishes in blues and greys. I used a striping brush and started with the darkest polish ( Barry M 'Navy' ) to block in the main shapes. I then built up the picture in layers working from darkest to lightest, with a striping brush. Here's the polishes I used; Butter London 'Big Smoke' OPI 'I Have A Herring Problem' ...

Hello Everyone!! Here's another Halloween themed manicure for you but this time it's WAAAY better!! Yippy Doo Da!! A couple of years a go, I carved stylised bats into some pumpkins and it looked really cool. I just had to put it in my tips too! I started with a couple of coats of Barry M 'Bright Red' on all my nails. Then I used La Femme 'Jupiter' on my pinkie and pointer nails. I used a few coats of this in order to get a bold glitter effect. While this was still wet I added a black gemstone to the base of my pinkie nail and two to my pointer nail. The gemstones are part of a mixed wheel of coloured gemstones from Amazon . They have a pretty good selection and are pretty cheap too! On my ring nail, I used a Sparkly Nails striper in 'Black Glitter' to paint a gothic cross. Unfortunately due to the cold, the nail polish was all thick and claggy- yuck! In the end it did the job but I decided to use a different polish for the bats. On ...

Evening People!! Tonight I have the first of a few Halloween manicures to show you! Halloween isn't that big a thing here (especially in such a tiny village!) but I do enjoy looking through all the decorations, costumes, recipes and of course nail art on the internet. To be honest, this first attempt at Halloween themed nail art left a LOT to be desired! My other ideas should turn out much better..I hope! I started with a single coat of China Glaze 'Stone Cold' on all my nails. On my ring, thumb and pinkie nails, I used a large dotting tool and Essie 'Blanc' to paint random dots. Then, I used a smaller dotting tool and 'Stone Cold' to add teeny dots to the centre of the white dots so that they looked like eyes. Using nail art stripers in lime green , orange and yellow , I added details to the eyeballs so that they looked like they were from various monsters rather than humans! On my pointer and middle nails, I used Essie 'Blanc' and ...

A Good Evening To You! As the weather gets colder, I start to lean towards plush velvets, intricate brocade and vintage lace and those stunning Baroque, Victorian and Elizabethan prints. There's just something about their heaviness and rich jewel tones that goes perfectly with chilly days and nights. So of course I had to have a go at translating this onto my nails!! This pattern is actually inspired by the one on my dining room chairs-ha ha! I started by applying Barry M 'Lychee' to my thumb, middle and ring nails and Essie 'Leading Lady' to my pointer and pinkie nails. 'Leading Lady' is an absolute stunner!! It practically glows with cranberry glittery goodness. Yummy. Once these were dry, I used Essie 'Russian Roulette' and my striping brush to carefully paint on the Victorian floral pattern. It was actually much much easier than I thought it would be! to make things a bit easier, I first drew a simplified version on some paper so...

Ahoy There Mateys!! I'm not quite sure why I'm suddenly speaking like a pirate but lets just go with it ok? :) Anywho! I'm still liking neon colours on my tips even though they're usually associated with summer. I love wearing colours which match the seasons but sometimes I'm drawn to other colours which is pretty much the case today! I haven't done a tape manicure in a while so I got out all my paraphernalia and got stuck in!! I used a couple of coats of Essie 'Blanc' underneath Orly 'Glowstick' in order to avoid the dreaded patchiness you sometimes get with neons.  I knew that I wanted a couple of different colours to show through on some of the nails in order to add a bit of interest. I used China Glaze 'I'm With The Lifeguard' to block in some parts of my thumb, middle and ring finger nails.   Before Tape  I covered every little bit with OPI 'RapiDry' topcoat for a nice even surface. I then set to work p...

Hellooooooooooo!! Isn't amazing just how much you can do with a simple dotting tool??? They are such versatile tools and incredibly cheap too (especially on Amazon!!). You can create simple polka dots, flowers in various shapes, concentric circular designs, the possibilities really are endless! And they're really good used as starting points for other more complicated designs. Get. Some. NOW!! I started this bright manicure with two gorgeous colours, it may have something to do with the fact that they both have shimmer in them....... Anywho, I painted my thumb and ring nails with Zoya 'Midori' and the rest with China Glaze 'Gothic Lolita' . Ahh I adore these colours together, too pretty! Oh and 'Gothic Lolita' is much more purple than it appears in the photos, my camera is obviously weirding out on this one! On my two accent nails, I decided to do stylised flowers. Using a medium dotting tool, I painted 'petals' in 17 'Orange Sod...

A Good Evening To You!! After doing nail art for over a year now, I've realised that I have a rather large penchant for geometric designs. I. Just. Love. Them. Don't get me wrong, I like doing other designs but there's just something about geometric shapes. I think it may be that they look so clean and crisp, striking even. And they also make a manicure look much harder and detailed than they really are- Boo YA!! I started by painting all my nails with OPI 'My Vampire Is Buff' , such a great colour! I used a huuuuge amount of nail polishes for the next bit- sixteen in fact! On my middle finger, I used China Glaze 'Pink-ie Promise' , Barry M 'Dragonfruit' ,  Essie 'The Girls Are Out' and my super duper striping brush to paint randomly shaped triangles. Then I used Jessica 'Kensington Rose' and a fuchsia pink Marks and Spencer nail polish to paint on triangular outlines over the top. On my ring finger, I used Barry M poli...