Nails Inc Victoria and Bundle Monster Nail Art!

Hi Everyone!

Today I'm showing you one of my favourite Nails Inc London polishes, called Victoria. It is a gorgeous dark, dark, plum red, that deepens with the more layers you paint on. The first coat is almost a bright cerise colour, but by coat three, you've got a really deep sexy red/black - it's how I imagine Vampire Blood would look like, only much more sophisticated and beautiful, OBVIOUSLY.

It looks almost black indoors, but when the sun shines on it you can really see that deep, claret colour coming through. This is sans topcoat as well, it is the glossiest polish ever!:

You know me, I just couldn't leave it alone, could I?! I added some nail art, using Miss Sporty Electric Beige to stamp the swirly image from BundleMonster image plate BM04.

 

I know it's not quite as interesting today, but sometimes I do like to look sophisticated, as opposed to ridiculous, ya knooooow?! Haha, it's a far cry from banana nails, that's for sure. I'll make up for it tomorrow, you can count on that! 

What do you think to this shade? It was the quickest Mani ever, so great if you're in a hurry to do something smart, but you've not left enough time to get ready - story of my life!

Hope you're all having a lovely Tuesday, stop by tomorrow because I will be having a GIVEAWAY. NOOICE!

In other news, if you all "like" Cadbury Caramel Bunny on Facebook, you might get a nice surprise on Friday! (Hint: IT'S MY FACE. And Manicures!)

And We'll Lie Beside A Turquoise Sea.

Sorry for not being around much this week, I promise I still read all of your comments and emails, I just haven't got around to posting - anyone who blogs will know it can be rather time consuming! Here is a Bundlemonster Konadicure for you, though, using Rimmel's Sky High as a base. Sky High is a gorgeous blue turquoise, goes on beautifully and opaque after 2 coats - I wore it on my toes for 2 weeks sans topcoat, and it didn't chip once.



I stamped the swirly image from the new bundlemonster set of image plates, BM201, using Konad's special polish in White. I think it kind of looks like art-deco style ocean waves, like a sea-themed mosaic!

 

I used Rimmel 60 Seconds as a topcoat - DO NOT WANT. I did not get on with it at all. Firstly, it smeared my stamping, which wasn't noticeable to the naked eye, but macro shows EVERYTHING! Secondly, it turned the white, stamped image yellow. You can't tell too much from the photos, as they are taken in bright sunshine, but trust me, the topcoat stained my manicure. I have NO IDEA how this can be, it's a topcoat for goodness sake! It is supposed to provide a clear coat over whatever I choose to use as a base! I'm baffled! Won't be using it again - money well spent...not. It's crazy how much I love Sky High, but hate this topcoat.

In other news, I loaned my nail art skillz to a little girl's birthday party, which was an exhausting 2 hours - kids are sticky and demanding! They loved my Del Sol Colour Changers though! (A post to come on those soon , once I've acquired Ruby Slipper!) I'd definitely hire myself out again, I've already been asked to do a wedding party - exciting stuff!

I also went to Parklife festival in Manchester this weekend (the reason Ive been so lax on the posts!) which was amaaazing, all the DJs we saw were fierce, and the crowds went mental! Skrillex was a definite highlight for us all, and despite the rain (and camping out for a couple of hours in a tea and cake tent!) we had a hilarious (if not muddy) time!

Leanne on my shoulders (yes, I'm a beast) and Sara during Chase and Status! Note the rained on makeup hahaha

The only one in wellies - soooo sensible

yes, the sun actually came out for day 1! Snapped in the Wagamamas noodle station with the dancing tigers. RIP reflective aviators, you shall be sorely missed (replaced)

Hey, look at that! Some of my real life made it on here! :D

I hope you are all well!

Snakeskin...

...'cus I'm classy like that. This is deliciously White Trash, I feel like I should be wearing a matching pair of trousers and Crocodile handbag. Mmmmm.

I reckon I'm probably building up to some sort of crazy safari manicure, with the theme of animal prints emerging! I had wanted to try this image from the new BundleMonster set for a while, I was just trying to figure out the colour combos, which I'm not sure I've got spot on! I started with a coat of Barry M Mushroom (I'm not sure if this is because it's quite old now, but this is now a perfect one-coater, though I'm sure it's not always been!). I then sponged on Claire's Jade Green, down either side of each nail. I used Miss Sporty Electric Beige to stamp with:

I remembered after the pictures, that I had used Electric Beige instead of Catrice Be My Millionaire!

I added Claire's Matte Topcoat over the design, and I really prefer it! What do you think? I love the feel of mattified nails as well, they're all smooth and velvety, I keep rubbing them on my face - weird? Yes.

 

Wooo hoo, snakey fingers, I'm off to explore the Jungle (and by Jungle, I mean Pub).

In keeping with the wildlife theme, I entered the Tiger Nail Art into Swaafie Blog's Inspired competition, and voting is now open! If you love me, you can head over and give me a vote! My design is number 3, and you've got until the 8th! There are so many amazing designs, and you can vote for your favourite three, so GO MENTAL! I would really appreciate you taking a look :D:D

"Check out Swaafie's contest, it's GGRRRRRRREAT!"  (I'm a loser) click here to see the original post

I hope you're all having a wonderful Monday!

Stars, Skulls, Swirls, Sponging and Stamping. (Giveaway Winner, too)

God, I love it when an alliterative post title comes together.

The whole shabang for you today, I went a little stamp crazy...

All photos in natural light

Please ignore the smudge-tasic index finger! After all that work, there was no way I was re-doing it haha!

I'd been wanting to use the Skull image from the new Bundle Monster Image Plate set for a while, but was in danger of utilizing it to create some kind of gross emo-dream/Pirates of the Caribbean tribute! I decided, in the end, to keep the colours light, and add some swirly pattern and some stars :D

I started with a base of Barry M Turquoise, and sponged on Models Own Blooboo in differing places on the nail. I then repeated this with Silver, from Claire's Silver Nail Art Pen. Now, I've mentioned this before, but however wonderful this silver is (and it is), it gives you the WORST glitter herpes ever. You can scrub and scrub at your silver-stained cuticles but it Just. Won't. Go. Away. So, I apologise for the sparkly cuticles haha! I also added a little bit of Rimmel Sky High to the sponged base too :)

After adding a coat of Seche Vite to smooth it out, I stamped the swirly, planty image from BM225 using Konad White Special Polish onto different parts of each nail. Then, using THIS method, I mixed my own pastel Special Stamping Polishes and stamped some pink, green and purple Skulls from plate BM211. I then did the same with the Star image from BM206, adding them sporadically to make a pattern. I added some coloured rhinestones to the Skull eyes (a later addition - I liked it without, too) that you can get from Nail Art online store Born Pretty.

If people like this look, I may do a sponging/stamping tutorial, because it looks rather busy and difficult, but it's really very simple, when you know how!

Also, I'm going to quickly announce the Giveaway winner (I know it's been a long time coming, soorrryryyyy).
I have contacted her and she's accepted, the winner is...

Lily over at Beauty's Bad Habit!

Congratulations! I'll be posting your goodies after my exams (next week :D)

I used Random.org to select a random number, then simply found that numbered entry in my spreadsheet!

(Didn't want to include your email, Lily!)

So, there we are! My first Giveaway, over and done with! As you can see I had a colossal amount of entries, so they took a while to verify - thank you for your patience, and for entering in the first place!

I hope you enjoy your prize Lily, check out her blog Beauty's Bad Habit!

I also got some great feedback from the giveaway question "What would you like to see from me in the future", so I'll be sharing some of the suggestions with you soon! 

Thanks Everyone!

TAXI!

The name of my favourite yellow polish is Taxi! and it's by Miss Sporty. In keeping with the name, I thought I would add some inspired nail art!

I started with two coats of Miss Sporty Taxi! (which is brilliantly opaque for a yellow polish, if a bit thick and gloopy. This can be fixed with a drop of polish thinner, however), which only cost me £1.99 from Superdrug - nice. I then taped off the tips, painted them white, and removed the tape while they were still wet. Once dry, I re-taped the tips and added the checkered image from BM17 using Konad Black Special Polish. I added a coat of Seche Vite, and was ready to go! I had a bit of shrinkage on the nail, which is hard to tell from the photos, does anyone know why this could be?!

So what to do you think to the cab inspired manicure?! Is it something you would wear?

For those of you inquiring about the Giveaway winner, I am in the process of verifying entries, so please bear with me - when I know, you will know.

I hope everyone is well, and not got the Monday Blues too badly!

Barry M Dusky Mauve

Hello everyone! I'm back after the unplanned hiatus - Uni work had to take priority unfortunately! I am back with a vengence, though, and have a manicure using Barry M Dusky Mauve.
Dusky Mauve is a relatively new one from Barry M, and is a supposed dupe for Chanel's Paradoxal. It is a grey-ish taupe with a violet microshimmer - very pretty in the light:

I added the tip image from Bundle Monster Plate BM18, stamped with Catrice "Be my Millionnaire". Added Seche Vite topcoat, nd BOOM! Ready to go!

In other news (I feel like I need to issue some kind of formal news letter!)

1. Giveaway Winner will be announced shortly, now I've got time to verify the entries and pick a winner! Good Luck everyone, and thank you all so much for entering! there is A LOT of you!
2. The response to my Mario manicure was phenomenal!! 48 comments later, and without my submission, it was featured on celebrity nail artist Sophy Robson's Tumblr So So Fly Nails, as well on video-game humour website Dorkly, a sister site of College Humour :D
3. I am nearly at 600 followers, which is completely overwhelming! Wonderful!

Glad to be back! Watch out! (I will also do the weekly blog round-up tomorrow - so, so sorry for the delay!)

GOOODDZZIILLLLLAAAAAAAAAA!

This was fun...

 

Watch out Godzilla, the chopper is out for you. I freehanded all the detail using brushes and polish, aside from the clouds (stamped from M79) and the skyscraper type buildings (stamped from BM plate). The blue background is Models Own Blooboo, if you want to know any of the other polishes/shades, just ask me in the comments - I used a shit-ton. I started with the cloudy background, painted in Godzilla, then the grey buildings - first in the darker shade, then over the top in a lighter shade, to add depth. I couldn't get Godzillas teeth right, so just decided, in the end, to give him the gift of fire. I freehanded in the helicopter, game him some ammo/a fighting chance, and added two coats of Seche Vite.

I also did this in bed, you should've seen me, I was surrounded by polishes like a crazy person. I woke up with a Barry M wedged under my armpit, it was a very surreal experience. 

This was an idea I had had for a while, and it came off surprisingly well, I'm always disappointed/frustrated when I can't get things to look as they do in my imagination - Hopefully I'm getting better with the brushes.

Right, get ready for some shameless self-promotion, I hate doing it because I didn't start this blog for any personal gain, but if you've been reading lately, you'll know that I have entered the Bundle Monster Facebook Contest, blogged about HERE. It would be SUPERAWESOMELOVELY if you could spare a couple of minutes, head over to the contest page, and see if I deserve your vote! It's a simple "like" system, and you can vote once per day, so if you want to vote for more than one of your favourites throughout the week, you can do - or, if you crave my eternal love and affection, you can vote for me erry'day. The contest is open until the 20th, so check it owwwt - there are some crazy-good entries. 

THANKS GUYZ. :D

BundleMonster Contest Entry

If you haven't heard, BundleMonster (the creator and distributor of the Image Plates I use to create some of my designs) are having a Nail Art competition over at their Facebook Page. There are 25 sets of their NEW image plates up for grabs for those with the most "likes"! Voting opens on the 13th, and I would REALLY appeciate it if you could wander over, take a look at my entry (and the others of course) and see if I deserve a thumbs up! I implore you to enter yourself, too, what have you got to lose eh?

Here is my entry, you had to use Bundle Monster products and I wanted to submit something that showcased some skill, as opposed to just a simple painted base and stamped image, so I whipped the pan scrubbers out and did a pink to purple, sponged gradient base. I hope to do a sponging tutorial in the near future, as it definitely requires a "knack" and I think some people might benefit! I then stamped the flower image from BM16 in pastel blue.

I started with two coats of Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream, then painted a blob of MUA's Medium Pink Shade onto a small piece of sponge that I cut from a standard, kitchen pan scrubber. I then repeated this on the tips with Barry M Ltd ed. for Boots.

Now, I needed the stamped image to be very opaque, and I don't own Konad Special Stamping Polish in Pastel Blue, but I DO own the White - I'm going to quickly show you how I mixed my own Blue stamping polish:

I started with The Konad Special Polish and Barry M Cobalt Blue. I then popped a blob of each onto the image on BM16, next to each other (as opposed to on top of each other) so as not to gammy up the brushes:

I then used a paintbrush to swirl them together, you can create a cool gradient image if you only mix them up a  little bit.

Make sure you still do this mixing quickly, as if the polish begins to dry on the plate, it will be difficult to scape and stamp a complete image. Once you've scraped off the excess polish, and rolled your silicone stamp over it, you're ready to stamp the image in Pastel Blue:

BOOM! The stamping polish world is now your oyster -you can literally do this with any coloured polish to mix your own pastel Special Polish - this will save you splurging on all the different coloured Pastels that Konad offer, because you can still get a good quality, opaque image when using this technique. Cool!

I added clear Rhinestones to the accent nails with Nail Glue, silver dots to the centre of the flowers with Claire's Silver Nail Art Pen and then added 2 coats of Seche Vite - what do you think, was this good enough to be entered into the Bundle Monster comp? Some of the designs over there are really good, but my nails just aren't long enough to do something fancy-pants with lots of different stamps. I really like how a gradient Mani looks - I get asked if they're Minx all the time!

Don't forget I have Giveaway going on! Win yourself some sexy stuff!

PEACE OUT

NailsInc Hans Road

First things first, you can now find my Cadbury Chocolate Manicure from THIS post on the Cadbury Website and Blog, as well as their Facebook page where it has 1500 likes and 350 comments! Mental!! Some kind person tweeted my picture at them and they decided to feature me! Unfortunately, Cadbury's got my name wrong (they got 'Keely Gallagher' from somewhere?!) so I'm not getting any credit :( :( They can't change it on the fb post so I don't really know what to do about that :(

The next new Nails Inc that I swatched for you is Hans Road - The reddypinkyorangeshimmery jelly one. It reeeaaalllyy isn't 'me' and not one I would normally buy! I prefer bright creams and felt this was a bit old fashioned - maybe good for Christmas?

with flash - click to zoom and see the pinky shimmer

This is 3 coats, and you can still see the nail line - I refuse to do four, I feel so wasteful! It has a good shine on it, and it IS an interesting polish - but just not for me. I added some White Stars from Bundlemonster plate BM05 (really just to test out my Konad White Special Polish!) and it came out looking a wee bit Captain America...I didn't keep this on for long haha!

I topped it off with the Nails Inc UV basecoat and Topcoat, and it turned the white stars a purpley colour ha! It definitely brightened the whole manicure, and if you want a cooler purple tone to a polish, add a slick of this! It did what it set out to do - lighten and brighten - so this polish gets my stamp of approval :D The purple tone will also counter any yellowness in the nails, so if you're having a break from colour, and looking a bit stained, this is for you.

watch out for the next Nails Inc tomorrow!


xxx

Nails Inc Lucky Dip Haul

Evening All! Sorry for the lack of post yesterday, I moved back to Nottingham from my my Uni house in Birmingham. Our postman in Birmingham must be some kind of crazy person, shoving all kinds of mail into our letterbox, just for funsies, as we very rarely receive the mail we are after in Brum. Because of this, I always get internet shopping sent to my Nottingham home - this means that I had a pretty good stash built up for me to open today! Yay! It was like my freaking birthday! Plus, you always get loads of bubble-wrap, which is half the reason I was excited - pop, pop, popppopopppp
My Nails Inc Lucky Dip Package was one of them, here are the polishes I received:-

From left to right we have:

• UV Topcoat and Basecoat - This was the only 'guaranteed' polish you received in the offer, and claims to lighten and brighten the nails, and protect from staining - can't wait to try out and review this one, as it's a bold claim!
• "Shoreditch High Street" - This is a deep raspberry colour, and I'm actually curious to see how it compares, colour-wise, with Barry M Raspberry, as they look very similar in the bottle.
• "Augustus Street" - This is a medium grey with a lovely, pearly silver shimmer and really shocked me when I tried it and it was Suede!  I don't mind the matte finish, but I wasn't expecting it. It was the first one I tried, and although a fan of matte polishes, I added a topcoat to restore the shimmer.
• "Upper Street" - a muted Turquoise cream, excited to try this one, especially as a base for some nail art - under the sea, anyone?!
• "Hans Road" - I really can't decide if its Red, Orange or Pink. It's got a fierce shimmer to it - not really my favourite type of polish, but it's definitely the most interesting one I received.
• I also had an eBay-purchased bottle of Seche Vite waiting for me - there really isn't enough good things to be said about the Holy Grail of all topcoats, it's haaamazing. SV dries so incredibly fast, protects against chipping like an absolute trooper, and has the most perfect glass-like, high-shine finish. GET YOURSELF ONE (if you don't already!)
• Sally Hansen "No More Breaks" - in an attempt to strengthen my weak, peely nails :( Anyone tried this? Is it any good?
• Came across a cheap Konad Special Polish on eBay and, as it's a staple polish for anyone into stamping, snapped it up - I've been struggling to find a regular high street white polish that is opaque enough to stamp with, for my liking.

So there we go! I have only tried Augustus Street and Seche Vite so far, but I'll be swatching them for you over the course of the week. All in all, I was pleased with the polishes I got in the lucky dip, would've been nice to see some paler colours, nudes or pastels, but I suppose that's why they call it a Lucky Dip! You can't choose! For the bargain that they were (£10 for the lot), I am not turning my nose up at them.
I also got a pack of 15 Nail Art brushes from eBay, they look great, ranging from fan brushes right down to the tiniest paintbrush and dotting tool you've ever seen! So long, toothpick, I'm a profesh now!

 As I previously mentioned, I tried Augustus street - sorry I didn't swatch it while it was still suede, I was too eager to get stamping and try out Seche Vite!

Sorry for the rubbish photography, I've not worked out the best place, with the light, is in my Notts house!

I stamped from BM21 using Claire's Black Nail Art Pen (Striper) and free-handed in the black tips with the same. Topped off with Seche Vite, the effect is smooth, hard and SO shiny! Love!

I got some Fimo Canes too, I'm a bit skeptical, but will definitely give them a try: -

Just a selection of the 100 I ordered - like the look of the fruities!

Which of the Nails Inc would you like to see next? Will you be partaking in the Lucky Dip offer next time it rolls around?