Monday 26 November 2012

Munchkin Mondays

Happy Monday everybody!!!

This week my munchkin wanted daisies. I added abit of sparkle by adding pink gems to the thumbs. She was over the moon with it and rocked her Mani to the Disney on Ice show!! I'll bet she had the best nails there....biased?!?

Hope you've all had a super Monday!!



Sunday 25 November 2012

Retro polkadots.

Hello lovelys!!
I just can't get enough of Barry M's Gelly nail paints at the minute!!! They're so easy to work with, have a flawless application and a super speedy drying time!! Another reason to love these Gellys is the mega shine they have, yes that's right Barry M's got even more shine than normal!! So shiny infact I don't seem to get very much done anymore because I'm far too busy looking at my nails!!!

This mani was created using Barry M's Gelly nail paint in Prickly Pear and nail paints in Cyan Blue and Spring Green. I used a dotting tool to layer dots of the blue and green onto the base of prickly pear. Topped with a few coats Sally Hansens advanced hard as nails and voila!!!

Hope you like!!!
A x


Saturday 24 November 2012

Chevrons and studs.

Hello my lovelys!!
Todays manicure is a mix of chevrons and studs.
The chevrons were created using Barry M's nude and denim. The accent finger using denim and flat studs.
Simple enough to do but really stylish. I got lots of compliments!
Hope you like!!
A x


Wednesday 21 November 2012

Vintage floral.

I heart this mani so much. It is probably the record holder for longest design to be left on my nails!!

To create this mani I used a mint green polish from Avon for the base of my rose finger, Barry m spring green for the leaves and a red and nude polish for the roses. For my polka nails I used Nails inc Elizabeth street and sally hansens white tip.
This mani was finished off with my rimmel pro matte topcoat.
Hope you like!!
A x



Monday 19 November 2012

Munchkin Monday!!

That time of the week again already?!
This munchkin mani was for Halloween. She had a dalmation costume and of course wanted nails to match!!
I used a white polish for the base colour then black and a dotting tool for the spots.
Hope you're all having a lovely Monday!!
A x

Sunday 18 November 2012

Paint your pinky PINK!!

To support breast cancer awareness people have been painting their pinkys pink, this is my mani in honour of this.
The paints and tools used for this manicure are in the bottom photograph.
Sorry this is such a short post, I've finally got chance to enrol on my nail technician course so I've been spending alot of time studying recently.
I will try my best to deliver a more detailed post tomorrow.
Best get back to it!
A x



Thursday 15 November 2012

Movember Mani

You really will have to excuse the crappy picture, I'm no photographer and it was dark!!
Anyway...first time doing a moustache mani and I must say they're harder than I thought they would be!!!
I think I need a tad more practice to get my tash down!! I can safely say I will most definatley be trying these again. I'm a lover of all things tashy, so much so I have one tattooed on my finger!
My base coat was Barry M's 'nude' and the moustaches were done using black nail polish and a dotting tool. I did a chevron and stud design on my middle nail to break it up a little.
I hope this post makes sense and isn't just a large jumble of letters and punctation!! I apologise if it is I'm posting this from my phone and half asleep....never a good combination!!
A x



Tuesday 13 November 2012

Mix & Match Mani!

Hi everyone!

This mani was actually done for halloween, I was really pleased with this but the more I look at it the more I tell myself off for going over the top with the gold beads!! Oh well we live and learn eh?
This mani was created by using 2 coats of black as a base (over a clear base coat) Then 2 fingers were topped with a chunky hex glitter polish from Primark. 2 nails were made matte using Rimmels Pro Matte Finish mattifying topcoat, i then used a dotting tool and the original black to make the polkadots. The middle finger was finished off using the gold beads. Everything was topped off with 2 coats of Sally Hansens advanced hard as nails.
It's not the neatest but I was in a rush to get out and I knew the gold beads wouldn't last the night (I'm a picker)


Unil next time.....
A x

Monday 12 November 2012

New Feature!! Munchkin Mondays!

Hi everyone!

Today I'm bringing you something I've been working on for a little while. It's just abit of light hearted fun on a Monday. I know how horrendous they can be sometimes!

Now, whats it all about???

My little munchkin is gradually developing her nail polish obsession and is constantly asking for her nails doing. At her age she has got such a good imagination and can tell me all sorts of things she wants on her nails. I just let her look at my polish haul and she chooses her colours and designs, either from the top of her head or from what I have or have previously had on my nails.
The manis featured in munchkin mondays wont always be perfect, her nails wont be beautifully shaped nor will the pictures be perfect but as I said before, its just abit of fun on a dreary Monday

This mani was for bonfire night, she wanted one nail like a bonfire and the others like fireworks. For the fire nail I sponged on black, orange, yellow and red then added topcoat to blend. The 'firework' fingers were done by using a dark blue as a base coat and a chunky glitter over the top.

I hope you enjoy this feature as much as me and my munchkin will enjoy making it. There's nothing like abit of girly bonding over some nail polish!!
Until next time.
A x

Sunday 11 November 2012

Lest We Forget....

Rememberance Sunday is upon us. A day to remember all the brave and wonderful people who fought for what we all take for granted today. Sons, fathers, partners, husbands and grandfathers. The poppy is the symbol of rememberance day, so in honour of that todays manis are poppy related.
The base coat for both manis was made by layering 2 coats of Barry M's 'Nude' over 1 coat of Hard Candy's 'complex'. The poppy's were created by using red and black polishes and a dotting tool.
The first mani is mine I decided to do smaller poppys and have more in each finger, the second is my mum's (done by me) who decided on a larger poppy on each finger.
Which is your favourite??
Ax




Konad has arrived at Nail*d it!

It's finally here!!! Since reading about nail stamping on various other blogs I've been dying to get my hands on some nail stamping goodies! So after quitting smoking I decided to treat myself. I chose Konad's special set and I must say, I'm in love!!!
Now I will admit I'm shocking at freehand with my lefty, my right hand hardly resembles the work on the left, I'm getting better with practice, but I doubt that what I do with my left will ever be as good as my right!!
So if your like me then nail stamps will be your new best friend!! Now I messed my first mani up but that was purely down to me not reading the instructions properly because I was too eager to get stamping!! The second mani I did with this showed just how easy it is to get perfection....on both hands!!!
Aside from it helping us girls who aren't quite as ambidexterous as others once you get the technique down it's a great way to get a super quick yet detailed mani!
I really can't say enough about konad. I am so pleased I took the plunge and bought this set. It has introduced me perfectly and I will most definatley be buying more to add to it, just as you are sure to see stamping again in plenty of my manis!
The first mani (leopard) is the one I messed up. I used gold as a base coat, then one dry stamped using Konad's black pearl and plate M57. I then decided it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted so i slathed it with a black and gold glitter top coat!
The second is a poor picture of a mani I loved, it is possibly in the top favourites of all the manis I've ever done. I started off with a gradient basecoat of mint green, purple and pastel pink. Then stamped using Konad's white and then black pearl, the plate used was M57 again. This was finished off with a coat of Konad topcat.
Enjoy.
A x



Thursday 8 November 2012

WANTED....Topcoat Reccomendations + Barry M croc effect

Good evening my lovelies!!!
Just a quick one as it's waaaay past my bedtime!!!
Firstly I was wondering if you would all be so kind as to let me know what your favourite topcoat is. I haven't really found one yet but saying that I've not really looked. Just used what I had handy.
When I firt started using a topcoat I used one that I got in an acrylic set. This has probably been the best one I have used so far, fast drying, super glossy and the most chip resistant, but alas it ran out and I could never find it again, nor could I tell you the name as I can't read Chinese.
Topcoat #2 was just a generic one from a french mani set, only good thing I could say about this one is that it was glossy. It dried no faster than a normal polish and had little to no chip resistance, infact I could go so far as to say my nails chipped more with it on!! strange!?!
Last but not least I'm using Sally Hansen hard as nails advanced. It's not the worst nor is it the best. Dries fast enough, nice and glossy but still isn't stopping the chips.
I need a really hard wearing topcoat. I'm a cleaner so my hands/nails get alot of stick, they don't get a rest at home either house proud + mummy = scrub, scrub, scrub!!
I always make sure I get full coverage and slice across the tip so I don't think it's a problem with the application. Am I asking for a miracle here?? or is there a topcoat out there for me?
Seche Vite is on my to try list it seems some of you swear by it where as others can do without so any suggestions/reccomendations will be greatly appreciated!!
What was that I said about a quick one?!?
Now onto the mani!!
I love this mock croc effect from Barry M its so simple to apply and really makes a statement. No doubt I will be experimenting further with this and trying out different colours and combinations. For now all I have is this messy mani!!
I used a thin base coat of Barry M silvery lilac then once that was touch dry applied a thin coat of the Barry M croc effect. It's amazing to see the croc effect appearing before your eyes (or so I think...small minds eh!!) I then added a coat of Rimmel glitterball to finish it off.
Laters lovelies!!!
A x

The Frenchies....

I love a good french manicure! They're so versatile, colour options are endless and they can be as simple or complex as you like.
The first mani was done using Sally Hansens white tip and Rimmel glitterball, I don't tend to use guides for normal tips just free hand.
The second dotty one was done by using a clear base coat and applying sellotape at a slant once the basecoat had dried, I then used a red polish to make the slanted tip and painted a line across using Barry M's red glitter. I then used a black polish and a dotting tool to finish.
Simples.....!
A x


Wednesday 7 November 2012

Half Moons...

Evening!!!
This was my first attempt at a half moon mani, simple enough, although next time I think I might try two contrasting colours rather than ones so similar. That said I'm pleased with the result.
For this mani I used a no name pink out of a french manicure set and a sparkly darker pink from virgin vie. I used french manicure guides to create the moon.
Until tomorrow...
A x

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Oh em geeeeeee!!

Hi Nailistas!!
I haven't posted for a while! Plenty of reasons, main reason is I stopped smoking!! Go me!! But I did this with champix which unfortunatley sent me off the deep end!! Now it dosen't do this to everyone.... seems I was one of the (un)lucky ones!!
Anyway enough of my ramblings and onto nails!!
I have a stack of manis lined up and photographed....inbetween tears I fortunatley still found the time to do manis!! I'm also bringing in a fun new feature for Mondays but I shall be keeping that under wraps until I have all the stuff together for it.
So here is a mix 'n' match mani I did using Barry M's 'Cyan blue' and 'Lemon ice'...........


I love Barry M's range of polishes. They're so versatile and oh so affordable and there's a shade for every occasion!!
I'm currently sporting a simple mani of nails inc sprinkles in 'Sweets way'.

I love this polish it has such an indulgent feel to it and I always drag this one out when I need a pick me up.

On a final un-nail related note, I have been smoke free for over 2 weeks now and just wanted to give a shout out to all of you that feel like you cant do it.....You can!!!
See you tomorrow my lovelies!!
A x