Christmas Nails

Merry Christmas!
I thought I'd show you some of the nail designs I've been doing in the run up to Christmas.

 This is the Gift Wrapped design I did for my mom.
I started out with two coats of China Glaze's Tip Your Hat from the Twinkle Collection.  Using gold sticker stripes and a gold bow, I created the gift design on the middle finger.  On the index and ring fingers I added glitter stars.

Recently I did this Christmas design, inspired by various designs I saw over the internet.

On the thumb, index and baby fingers, I painted two coats of Rimmel's Block Your Green.  Then on the middle and ring fingers I painted a two coat base of China Glaze's White On White.

 On the middle fingers I applied striping tape in a diagonal pattern, painted London Girl's 149 on top and carefully removed the tape to create this candy cane effect.

For the ring fingers, I applied tape in an inverted "V" and began dotting various sizes with the London Girl and the Rimmel to make a tree and placed a star sticker on the top before sealing it with a top coat of Seche Vite.

My own mani was inspired by a candle created by my friend Maryann over at One Stop Pamper. I'm not sure if she still makes it, but it smelt like peppermint.  It had these glitter particles in it, so it not only looked, but smelt like fresh snow.

Two coats of China Glaze's White On White and then a coat of Butter London's Frilly Knickers to create the snow effect.  On my thumb and baby fingers I did a glitter gradient with China Glaze's De-Light from the Twinkle Collection.  On the rest, I painted on Nails Inc's Diamond Arcade and sealed it with Seche Vite.

I may do another mani for Christmas Day, if I do, it will probably posted after the day itself.  It I don't, have an awesome December 25th, whatever you may be doing that day!

=:x

Polish Haul

Dear Nail Diary,

Sorry this post is a bit late, but I've been busy updating X99 and making jewellery and Christmas decorations.
Today I've decided to share my latest additions to my polish collection, as jewellery making isn't really conducive to a neat manicure!  I'm currently wearing my chipped polish from last Monday - terrible, I know. :(

Warning: Photo heavy post!

China Glaze Twinkle Collection Review - Part 2

Dear Nail Diary,

This is the second part of my review for China Glaze's Twinkle Collection.  Sorry it's a bit late, however there was a mix up with my order and I had to wait for it to be corrected before I could post this.  While I've been waiting, I've updated the look of the blog and I think it fits in better with the image I'm trying to create.
Anyway, on with the Twinkle Collection....

China Glaze Twinkle Collection Review - Part 1

Dear Nail Diary,

This is my first time reviewing a collection.  I'm a complete amateur, so I don't know all the technicalities and whatnot, so this will just be my honest opinion of how I thought they looked on me and how smooth the application was.  Also, I can't wait to get my new camera so my photos will come out clearer and the colours more accurate.  My current camera hates purples and greens. :(

Happy Halloween!

Dear Nail Diary,

Happy Halloween!

I love this time of year - and not just because of all the sweet treats!  The weather (which has been unseasonably warm round here), the food and the nails.
First up, Candy Corn nails.  Maybe because I'm not American, but I don't get the hate that these get.  I always make sure I have a bag for Halloween.

Mani Monday - Calling It Curtains

Dear Nail Diary,

Well "it's just another Mani Monday..." and today I have a design I did on my Mom's nails instead of mine - mine are rather busy with jewellery making at the moment.  I've been inspired by my doctors surgery again, or rather my mom was.  I was showing her the floor that inspired me a couple of weeks back, while we were getting our flu jabs (stupid asthma!) and she noticed the privacy curtain and thought the design would make a cool nail art pattern.

Tutorial Tuesday - Inspirations (Part 2)

Dear Nail Diary,

I'm sorry this is later than I intended to post, but last week was rather traumatic.  It's still Tuesday though - just about, so here's the next tutorial that I promised from the Inspirations Mani.


Inspiration 2 - Doctor's Floor

As I said, I tend to stare at the floor a lot whenever I'm at the doctor's.  I think it's part of my social anxiety and agoraphobia.  Anyway, the last few times I've been to see the nurse, I've noticed they have this really bright yellow marble-like vinyl floor.

Tutorial Tuesday - Inspirations (Part 1)

Dear Nail Diary,

Inspiration 1 - Cat Food Packet

My middle cat, Jake has been very unwell lately and has been put on a special diet with special brand of cat food.  The design of it inspired me to do this mani.

Things You'll Need:

• Base Coat
• White Nail Polish
• Teal Green Nail Polish
• Green Nail Polish
• Nail Tape
• Acetone/Nail Polish Remover
• Angled/Makeup Brush
• Top Coat

Inspirations Mani

Dear Nail Diary,

I was going to post this yesterday for Mani Monday, however I've been feeling especially tired lately and it took a lot longer than I was expecting. I've been inspired a lot by things in my environment recently, I even made up crude design swatches on Paint for me to follow.

So as I took step-by-step photos, it can be Tutorial Tuesday instead!  I told you I'd get around to making more tutorials eventually. ;)
Part 1 will be posted shortly, you'll have to wait until next week for the next tutorial!

Melting Silver Kisses

Dear Nail Diary,

Another new mani! I was getting bored of the Midnight Leopard - I know, already!  Anyway, Mom got two new polishes the other day as the money went to Macmillan Cancer charity.  One was a deep rich purpley (did I mention I love purple?) colour and the other was a glittery silver with a pink tinge to it.  I thought they'd look brilliant together so I followed the Molten Metal tutorial on Chalkboard Nails, which I've been wanting to do for ages.  Now I have my nail art brush kit from Bundle Monster, I can and I have.

Mani Monday: Midnight Leopard & Handpainted Tortoiseshell

Dear Nail Diary,

Double post!
I did both my mom's (as she's been bugging me) and my own over the weekend.  I've been practicing making prints with my new nail art tools.  I'll start with mine...
I'm not really a fan of animal print, but I really like the effect of this mani.

Neon Criss-Cross

Dear Nail Diary,

I haven't been feeling up to doing my nails for a while, but I'm finally getting back.  Not sure where the idea for this came from, it certainly wasn't what I was intending, but I like it nonetheless.

After applying my base coat I painted two coats of Barry M - White.  Once dry, I sponged on some neons (Manic Panic - Electric Banana, Nails Inc - Kensington Park Road & Sloane Street, China Glaze - I'm With The Lifeguard and Essie - Action) in random gradients.  I sealed them with SV and waited for it to dry.  I then applied nail tape in a criss-cross pattern across each nail and painted on a think coat of Barry M - Black over the top.  I immediately removed the tape and allowed it to set a little before I applied a final coat of SV.

It's quite pretty, however I think I'll take the plunge next time and use the neons as a base over the entire nail.

=:x

Nail Accessories Haul

Dear Nail Diary,

Just received my goodies from America!  I'm still awaiting my Butter London haul, but I thought I'd show you what I have to keep me occupied until then.

Bundle Monster is my favourite place to get cheap nail art stuffs.  They sell other stuff too like beauty products and jewellery.  You can get them from Amazon too, but I have found it cheaper to buy directly from their website - even with customs charges!  They have a sale on currently for a Mystery Surprise Nail Art Kit - $4.99 instead of $15.99!  All kits are picked at random and this is what I received in mine...

Sugar Sprinkle Gardens

Dear Nail Diary,

This is sort of inspired by my bathroom.  We have these new matching lilac accessories which contrast nicely with my favourite soap from Shoples.  I love their Beside The Sea soap and it gave me the idea for this mani.

After applying my base coat, I alternated two coats of Chelsea Physic Garden and Chelsea Manor Gardens. Not content with this on it's own, I added a coat of Grosvenor Gardens on my party nail.

 I finished off painting my tips with Park Lane and Fitzroy Square and then SV topcoat.  It's a Nails Inc extravaganza, before my haul for this month from Butter London comes.  I haven't tried any from them before, but these were on sale, so I'll see what I think.  I also have some nail accessory goodies from America coming, which I shall share when they get here.

=:x

Sunshine

Dear Nail Diary,

It may be a teensy bit grey outside my window, but at least my nails look sunshiney.  I told you I felt a yellow phase coming on.

Random Pick

Dear Nail Diary,

My nails are still in treatment, but I couldn't stand the bare look any longer.  I had no inspiration, so I just decided to do a random pick and whatever I picked up would be painted on my nails.

Two coats of Nails Inc - Kings Road.  I've been dying to try my new O.P.I - The Living Daylights, so I added a coat of that and sealed it with Seche Vite.  Hopefully I'll have some better inspiration soon.  I feel a yellow phase coming on.  At least my cuticles are looking better. :)

=:x

Cool Art Deco - TbT

Dear Nail Diary,

I'm not feeling so good, so I thought I'd take advantage of Throwback Thursday and post an old design.

It's using my favourite design medium - tape.
The design itself is one I adapted to my own tastes from this article.  There are some cool tutorials including the one I used for this, which is the 3rd one down about Chevrons.  I made the lines thinner and changed the colour palette so it had an Art Deco feel to it.
Hopefully I'll feel up to posting something new soon.  My nails are in treatment right now, so they might be in better condition for the next post.

P.S. I think my squovals will be back.

=:x

Watermelon Gradient Tutorial

Dear Nail Diary,

This mani was inspired by my dirty laundry, if you can believe it!  There's a pile of things waiting to be washed in the bathroom and a green t-shirt and coral PJs caught my attention.  It looked like a cool colour combo and kind of reminded me of watermelon candy.

I've made a picture walkthrough below, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Things You'll Need:

• Base Coat
• Green Nail Polish
• Makeup Sponge
• Coral or Red Nail Polish
• Small Dotting Tool
• Dark Brown Nail Polish
• Angled Brush
• Acetone or Nail Polish Remover
• Top Coat

Gold Shards

Dear Nail Diary,

I'm on a matte kick at the moment, everything just seems to look better.  I think it's because the rest of me is so shiny in this heat, I don't want my nails to be too.  Does that make sense?

I randomly picked up the Rimmel Pearly Queen.  I fell in love with it instantly when I bought it, but I had any inspiration to use it recently.  With the matte coat on it looks gold-like, however it's iridescent and changes colour from a pearly white, to a lilac, to a greeny-gold shimmer.  I applied two coats and one coat of the gorgeous China Glaze Luxe & Lush, from the Hunger Games - Capitol Colours Collection.  It looked good as it was, but as I said I've been on a matte kick, so out came the O.P.I. Matte Top Coat.  The finished look is not something I would have picked out for myself.  I was worried that the iridescent shards in the China Glaze would be overkill with the Rimmel, but it's really quite subtle.

=:x

Wedgwood Mani

Dear Nail Diary,

It's Mani Monday and today's is inspired by the Wedgwood pottery my Gran had.  Also as I now live in the Potteries (specifically Burslem where Josiah Wedgwood was born) what better way to officially start my nail blog?  I apologise for the sorry state of my cuticles, but I've been letting my care routine slide.  On to the mani...

Wedgwood Inspired Mani

I've been looking for a reason to use my recent haul of Nails Inc. polishes and while updating my swatch collection I came across Little George Street, which is a gorgeous powder blue colour.  After applying my base coat I painted two coats, then allowed it to dry.  I then painted Barry M - White onto Pueen plate 44 and sealed it with OPI Matte Top Coat to complete the pottery look.  Pueen Plates tend to be quite big, so there was a bit of clean up involved, however I'm pleased with the end result.

=:x

'Merca Day Mani

Dear Nail Diary,

I don't often do flag inspired nails, mainly because my Mom has been asking me to do them for World Cup games and every time I have they've lost!  I didn't see the harm in doing this homage to Independence Day.

I didn't want to do a traditional Stars 'n' Stripes - mainly because I'm lazy!  So decided stretch it out across my whole hand. On my thumb and index I painted two coats of Barry M - Indigo and then sealed it with a coat of Seche Vite.  Once dry, I stamped Barry M - White with Pueen Plate 44 and there are my stars.
For the rest of my nails I painted two coats of Barry M - White, sealed with SV and stamped the curiously named China Glaze - Aztec Orange with Pueen Plate 32 turned on its side to create the stripes.
I finished with a final coat of SV.

=:x