Purple glitter and Zebra.

I am showing you a manicure that I found a tutorial on youtube.

Credit for idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v​=FQHB80vaWSU&feature=share

 

I was going to try her way of doing it but I messed up and went a bit more simpler

I used the purple Milani one coat glitter

China Glaze Liquid Leather for the black background

Konad white stamp color for the zebra stripes

Art Deco silver glitter for the single stripe

I used bundle monster rhinestone for the heart rhinestone

Lastly, Konad stamp m57

Please check out that youtube video she's amazing!!

 

Get Your Sparkle On....

JUNE 10, 2011

Today I thought I would show you "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry (boring I know). You can buy this on Amazon for $5.75. I have to admit the color and glitter effect is amazing. When I am outside, it literally looks like I sprinkled shavings of diamonds on my fingernails (the picture really doesn't do it justice). I used two coats, but could have gotten away with one coat. The texture of my nail was rough, not smooth like it normally would be with polish. 


I have to warn you this polish does not come off without a FIGHT. I seriously used about 10 cotton balls soaked in fingernail polish remover... AND when that didn't really do the job, I resorted to scrubbing with a Brillo pad (no joke).  The point is that it is very difficult to remove. I wanted to post a picture of her "Last Friday Night" color (which is a blue version of this), but it was not worth the effort to remove... If you plan on leaving it on for a couple of days or more, this might be the sparkle you need. 







I am also including a swatch of a brand called L.A. Colors. This color is "Blue Sparkle". I bought this at Family Dollar just because I liked the color, and I wanted to see how smoothly a $1 glitter nail polish went on. It went on just as well as the Katy Perry collection, but removed easier. This is two coats and sparkled in the sunlight like you would not believe. 



Well I think I am done with the plain jane nails for a while.... On to the more exciting nails... Stay tuned!!!! 

Gosh Rainbow

Sorry for the unplanned hiatus everyone, it's my last exam in a couple of days, so I'll be back on form after that! I realise this isn't Nail Art, but I went to a Superdrug in a small town the other week, and found a bottle of the very rare, discontinued GOSH Rainbow - just sat on the shelf! For a fiver! It would be rude not to! A bit annoyed seen as I had also just bought Nubar 2010, which is a perfect dupe, but oh well! Rainbow is an effect topcoat containing iridescent flakies in a clear base, and it works better over darker base colours, giving a more subtle effect over lighter ones. Here is one (thickish) coat over two coats of Claire's Black, in natural light:-

LOOK AT THE RAAAINBOOOW

You can see more of the green flash here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

double rainbow, all the way accross the...nails?

 

 

 

As you can see, the coverage really is brilliant in one coat, I can't think why they discontinued it, along with Holographic. Maybe they didn't sell well because they don't look very impressive in the bottle? Who knows. This actually looks really interesting with a Matte Topcoat, it doesn't translate brilliantly in the photographs, coming across a bit milky looking (ooer), but IRL it looks really cool.

Ring finger and Index mattified using Claire's mattifying topcoat.

Just for my amusement, I decided to compare it with Nubar 2010. Overall, you can get exactly the same effect, but you need two coats of Nubar 2010 to create the same coverage that Gosh Rainbow can achieve in just one. Considering GOSH Rainbow is now Hard To Find however, 2010 is a perfect alternative. Sorry the lighting isn't as good:

Thumb, middle and Pinky, one coat of GOSH. Index and Ring, 2 coats of Nubar 2010

So there you have it. Two iridescent Flakie Topcoats, and no nail art. The next post I have for you will make up for it, I promise...it's FIERCE.

aaaaaaaand back into the pit of revision despair I go!

GREAT #bblogger chat tonight as well! If you don't know what's going on, on Twitter, at 8pm on Sunday evenings (UK time, GMT +1), Beauty Bloggers get together for a chat (using the hashtag #bbloggers) and talk about a different topic every week. Today, it was the controversial subject of self promotion, and there are some interesting opinions out there. Would love to see even more people there next week, so get involved if you're on Twitter!

Also guys, I have an FOTD (make-up look) that I could post for you, but every time I have done this in the past, it hasn't gone down awfully well, as I know a lot of you tune in for the Nail Art. Is this something you would like to see? Not really arsed either way? Or should I stop trying to flog a dead horse? Hahaha!

Emily xxx

The girliest you will ever see me!

Don't worry, these are MY nails, not those of Katie Price or any of the cast of The Only Way is Essex. I would never call myself a girly-girl (she says with a blog centred entirely around nail polish art and makeup), preferring to do more colourful, eyecatching and badass designs. This manicure is, however, the most trashy-fabulous you will ever see my nails haha. All that's missing is a giant 3D acrylic bow.

I've got exams coming up (BOOOO), so wanted something on my nails that would tempt me away from removing it and doing something else, to maximise revision time. Anyone whose ever had a full glitter manicure on, will know what an utter ARSE they are to remove. I am hoping that the fear of removal will make me concentrate harder on revision, and resist using nail polish as a distraction!

I started with two coats of Catrice Be My Millionaire, a silver polish, then added 4 coats of Models Own Juicy Jules. Juicy Jules is AMAZING, it's a holographic glitter, and catches the light beautifully - perfect for sunny days. I could have got away with 3 coats, but I wanted maximum glitter coverage. I had a hard time photographing the sheer awesomeness of this glitter, and I'm sure that if I had got it perfect, your eyes would have exploded anyway. I resorted to using a lamp directly over the nails, and using the macro setting (as opposed to the SUPERmacro setting) on my camera to blur the image sliiiighttly so you can see more of the holographic-ness. *gets a bit pic heavy from this point onwards...*

Juicy Jules on its own:

blurred so you can see the holographic sparkle

a sharper picture that doesnt show the colours as much! also sorry for my STUPID index finger that broke, I know it looks ridiculous!

I added a coat of Seche Vite to smooth it out and create a base for Barry M's new pink crackle polish Pink Fizz. I find the best way to use the Barry M crackles is to apply them thickly, as they crack better, with larger spaces between the pink bits. I hate it when you use a crackle and it barely cracks, so you can only just make out the base colour (I'm looking at you Boots 17!).

I added another coat of Seche Vite to top off the whole thing, and because the Barry M Instant Nail Effects dry Matte.

under the lamp

under the lamp

natural light

I tried my best to capture it, but imagine all that holographic glitter shining through! BLINGTASTIC! Now, this was somewhat of an experiment, but I took a video on my camera to see if I can better show you the sparkle. The quality is pretty poor, but it does give you a good idea of the shine. (bloody nicked my cuticle right before though didn't I?!)

 

Hopefully you get an idea! I actually tweeted this manicure at Amy Childs from The Only Way is Essex (a trashy reality TV show over here in the UK - IT'S BRILLIANT), she is yet to reply though haha :P

Let me know what you think everyone, was it worth it to include a video? I really wasn't sure about it, but thought I would get some feedback from you :) I realise this isn't strictly Nail Art, but that's what I love about crackles, they add instant interest to a Manicure with minimal effort. I know they've been around a while now, but I've not seen this combo before :D

Em x

Zoya Roxy and China Glaze Crushed Candy

Finally blogger is back! I wanted to post this yesterday but blogger wouldn't let me :(

Today I am showing you Zoya "Roxy" with some China Glaze "Crushed Candy" crackle on top :)

I have been using my lightbox to take pictures and to me, they look a LOT more accurate.

The only thing I was frustrated about this manicure was using Poshe as a topcoat. It made my nails look like they had tipwear from wearing polish for many days. I am not a huge fan of Poshe anyways. I think I'm going back to my Seche Vite

Zoya Roxy and China Glaze Crushed Candy

Finally blogger is back! I wanted to post this yesterday but blogger wouldn't let me :(

Today I am showing you Zoya "Roxy" with some China Glaze "Crushed Candy" crackle on top :)

I have been using my lightbox to take pictures and to me, they look a LOT more accurate.

The only thing I was frustrated about this manicure was using Poshe as a topcoat. It made my nails look like they had tipwear from wearing polish for many days. I am not a huge fan of Poshe anyways. I think I'm going back to my Seche Vite

it's-a meee, Mario!

Yesterday, I asked you to share your Nail Art ideas for a Rainbow Base, and the response was incredible! You all have some fantastic imaginations, I tell you, and I struggled to pick one design - until I saw Ngelic's suggestion. Girl, you had me at "Rainbow Road". Clearly a geeky girl after my own nerdy heart, she suggested a design inspired by the "Rainbow Road" level in the MarioKart Nintendo Games.

New Years Eve, this year, was a really great one for me, a small group of close friends came over to my gaff, we played hilarious board games, set off some Sky Lanterns and played drunken MarioKart to see in 2011. Now, I love a party, but I wouldn't have had this any other way (seen as last year I had an asthma attack, and the year before that I rubbed cat on my face, drunkenly forgetting that I am horrifically allergic!) So, with my love for beating the virtual shit out of my friends, for lungs that work, and for Italian Plumbers, you won the vote, Ngelic!

I hope this is along the lines of what you had in mind :)

 Ring Finger, Middle and Thumb are the stars that give Mario invincibility - I freehanded in the star-shape with Claire's Black Nail Art Pen striper, then filled in the black, adding a coat of Technic Bonanza - a blue glitter in a black jelly base.
For the Pinky, I used thin strips of Scotch Tape to make the crazy race track pattern from the game, then painted over it in black, and then Technic Bonanza. I removed the Tape Strips before the polish was dry so the edges were neat.
I couldn't resist adding Mario to the Index Finger. I started with the peach face shade, freehanded in the moustache and hat, then outlined using Claire's Black Nail Art Pen. If you would like to know what particular shade is, just ask me in the comments - there's a lot to list here!
I topped the whole thing off with 2 coats of Seche Vite topcoat, to smooth it all out.

Ngelic, I hope you like it! Thanks for the inspiration! Ngelic has a beauty blog of her own and it's fantastic, letting us know about all the latest trends, new products and the offers going on at the moment. Get following!! :D I have added 10 entries to my Giveaway (WHICH ENDS TOMORROW) for you, as a wee prize :)

I hope you enjoyed the Royal Wedding if you managed to catch it. In my opinion, Pippa Middleton stole the show in her stunning Bridesmaid dress, the queen looked like a giant (bored) Easter Bonnet, and Prince Harry - what a loveable Twat.

Hello Kitty

Morning everyone! I received my Free Gift Hello Kitty Stamping Plate from BornPrettyStore yesterday, so decided to do a Hello Kitty themed Manicure for your viewing pleasure.
I started with a Skittle-patterned base of Models Own Blooboo, Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream and Elegant Touch White, here is the swatch, as promised! Remember, you can always click to enlarge these photos, if you really want my hand all up in yo' grill.

Pinky and index are Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream, Ring finger is Elegant Touch White, middle finger is Models Own Blooboo. A wee smudge on the pinky but sssshhhhhhh.

I then stamped white polka dots on to all but the ring finger from Konad M79. I stamped the Hello Kitty Image off the BornPretty plate, and filled in the bow and nose in Barbara Daley Neon Pink and Miss Sporty Taxi! respectively. I added a pink rhinestone to the middle of her bow using Nail Glue, and free-handed a silver tip with Claire's Nail Art Pen Striper, topping it with 2 coats of Claire's Holographic Glitter Topcoat. Here's how it came out, all without Flash, in natural light. Colours are accurate.

The glitter is really pretty IRL, it's a shame it was an overcast day today.

you can see a bit of that holo glitter in this one

There we are! Let me know what you think :) I have a habit of running my hands through my hair quite a lot, so the little rhinestones snag and annoy me a bit, but apart from that, I like it! I realise it's not very original and there are a ton of other Manicures like this one out there, but I really wanted to try the new plate, so I'm sure you can forgive me :D

In other news, the Blog Round-up that we took part in yesterday was a success, I hope you got to see some new designs and we helped to broaden your bloggy horizons! Tune in next week where there will be even more collaborators. If you're interested in including some of your artwork, please please get in touch! The more the merrier!

Bundlemonster, the creators and distributors of the image plates I own, are also holding a contest over at their Facebook page so if you own any of their products, get involved! There are 25 prizes to be won! 25! waheeey! I'm definitely going to enter (what have we got to lose....right? Gulp.) so may be asking your valued opinion on a few designs and ideas before submission day!

Anyone else in the UK watching Friday Night Dinner?! I've just watched this week's episode and it made me creeeeaaase! Bloody love it!

In with the Cat Theme of this post (and trust me, there won't be many as I am hideously allergic to the bloody things and have therefore developed a general dislike for any and all feline creatures - except Lions. Lions are sik), Katy Perry has a cat called Kitty Purry - Baaaaahahaahahaaaaaaaa, it's funny cus it's like her name but for a cat, innit.

Finally, Happy Blogiversary to Sam at Nailasaurus :D

Hologram Hexogram - chunky chunky glitter!

Hola everyone! As I mentioned yesterday, I used a different topcoat over the Barry M Boots Ltd Edition on my right hand. This is two (thickish) coats of Barry M hologram Hexograms, with a bit of shuffling around to get the glitter evenly spaced:-

This glitter is amaaazing, it shines beautifully in the light - I chose to show you photos with the flash on though because its a more accurate portrayal of the base colour - it's a really lovely purple. I really wanted to keep this on a bit longer, I loved the sparkle! Despite having to use quite thick layers of this topcoat, it still dried pretty quickly.
Here's a blurry pic so you can better see the holographic hexs!

These polishes from the last couple of days have been from a few new ones I got on Friday - they have some great offers on in Boots at the moment, I rarely buy any new polishes unless they're on a special. Here is what I picked up:-

You can see the Hexogram, 17 crackle and Barry M purple that I've already shown you, but I also picked up another Rimmel Fruity, this time in Apricot Punch, a Lime Green Collection 2000 polish (I'm going to experiment with a shimmery topcoat to see if I can create my very own Illamasqua Radium haha) which I got free with the lighter foundation that I needed to match my Pasty Jane face. I also got a 17 polish in Orange Soda - I'm really drawn to the corals at the moment, it looks like! I can't wait to do some swatches and Nail Art with them for you!

I hope you all had wonderful weekends xxxxxxxxx

Strawberry Picnic Nails

It was another lovely, bright sunny day yesterday, making me wish I was sat on the park having a picnic - this manicure would have to do instead!

ooooh I wish they had all come out as well as the index finger! The other two strawbs are looking a bit squished and deformed....Nails are SO tiny to draw on hahaha!

With Flash - Pesky Orange is very apt for this mani!

I made little picnic rug tips by taping them off and painting them white over a base of a shimmery Claire's polish. I then stamped with Barry M turquoise and MUA shade 16 from BundleMonster BM17. I stamped the shape of the strawberry (not the leaves) with Barry M Red off BM05. I tried stamping the Lemon image but was struggling to pick up a complete image (I think it was the Miss Sporty polish) so just freehanded them in the end, using Barry M Spring Green and Miss Sporty Taxi! I outlined using Claire's Black Nail Art Pen, and topped it off with Barry M 3-in-1 Topcoat.

I got some compliments on this, it was lovely to wear on a hot summery day! I cracked out the Raybans today and it felt sooooo good!

Let me know what you think, kids!

xxx

I'm Shamrocking this look

I lied to you, My St Patrick's Day Manicure is coming today!! Woooooooo. I'm sure you forgive me. I do not understand why there is not a pint of lager in my hand right now. Something is Topsy-Turvy about the world.

Another appearance from El Orange. I swear he's the only spherical object I own, being so abject to sports and all that. It will be a sad day when I get peckish.

The Green base is Barry M 290, two coats, probs should have done a third. I stamped the four-leaf clover from BM03 using Bloom Goldie. For the accent nail I did 2 coats of Barry M Black polish, used Rimmel Tip Whitener to do a Ruffian-style semi circle, and added some flicks with a cocktail stick in Nails Inc Caramel. I did the Guinness logo in Bloom Goldie and use the Claire's White Nail Art Pen to write "Guinness" - I swear my heart stopped for a minute while I did that bit! On the thumbnail I added one coat of Barry M Green Glitter. Topped it off with Barry M topcoat! All round a pretty Barry M themed Manicure!
My housemate was astounded by intricacy of this one, the letters on the accent nail really do look TINY in real life!

I've seen some fantastic Paddy's day manis out there today, well done everyone! now get drinking, that's a direct order.

Scotch Tape Fail

Well, we can't all get it right all of the time! I took a deep breath and decided to share my fails as well as my triumphs. I tried my hand at a scotch tape Mani, like some of the great patchworks that I've seen over at the utterly fabulous Chloe's Nails - but it didn't quite turn out the way I'd hoped!
Firstly, it took FOREVER and I still only did one hand! I'm really impatient when it comes to my nails drying, and when you have to tape off many sections at a time and wait for them to dry, then tape them off again and... BLEUGH! I want pretty nails NOW damn it!!!
I also can't get hold of a bottle of Seche Vite, except on Ebay, so the whole look isn't smooth at all, my poor little Barry M topcoat just isn't up to the challenge. I need to save some pennies for the topcoat to beat all topcoats, its on my wishlist fo sho!
I think the idea is there, just the execution is pretty terrible haha, for this reason I can only bear to post 2 pics, this came off straight away lol:

The sun also wasn't out out today (even though I asked it REALLY nicely), so you can't even see the lovely sparkliness of the purple glitter. Boo. I also realise there's a lot going on, scotch tape, glitter, konad, patchwork etc, but I'm not really one to do things by halves!
The polishes I used aaare:

• Painted all nails with three coats of Barry M Strawberry Ice-cream
• The purpley berry sections are MUA in shade 4, I also stamped using this polish
• Purple Glitter is Claire's.
• Stamped with Konad M79

Tomorrow is another day! I'll have something fun for you :D
Let me know what you think, has anything similar ever happened to you? things not turned out quite the way you'd hoped?
Peace out, my lovely followers, stay awesome.
Emily x