Snowy Nails

Dear Nail Diary,

This was supposed to be a Mani Monday but I'm a bit behind.  To make up I'll give you a double feature!

I'll start with my Mom's as I did hers first.  It's based on the design of the Glossybox I received last December.  To recreate it I started off with two coats of Collection 2000 - Buried Treasure over a base coat, as it was the closest shade I owned to the box which is a sort of warm/rose gold colour.

I then sponged China Glaze - White on White onto the tips of her index, middle and little fingers.  On those same fingers I haphazardly dabbed China Glaze - Chillin' With My Snowmies in a kind of snowfall gradient.  I still had to place some of them to keep the biggest glitters away from the bottom of the nail.

On her thumb and ring fingers I simply sponged Nails Inc - Champagne Graffiti to the desired amount, as I still wanted a tiny bit of the rose gold to come through.


My nail design has been influenced by several nail art designs I've been looking at on Pinterest - where you can also find me.
I started with two coats of Ciatè - Morning Dew and added a coat of Seche Vite.  Once it was fully dry I added snowflake vinyls, which are part of Twinkled T's Holiday Vinyl Bundle.  I however got them as part of their Limited Edition Holiday Bundle.  Anyway, I painted over the vinyls with China Glaze - I'd Melt For You and a little of Ciatè - Looking Glass.  I then added a matte topcoat to let the iridescence of the Morning Dew "shine" through in a different way.

For my ring finger, I painted two coats of China Glaze - White on White and then a coat of Butter London - Frilly Knickers and finally a matte top coat.  Once that was fully dry I sponged on Barry M - Silver around the tip and up the side of my nail and then poured on some fine silver glitter and brushed off the excess. On top of this I also dabbed light glitter coats of Essie - A Cut Above and London Girl - 42 and added a thick coat of Seche Vite, careful not to get any on the matte part of my nail.

Unbelievably I've chipped this already, so hopefully later this week I'll be posting a new mani.

>:x

Mani Monday: Candy Cane Lane

Dear Nail Diary,

As promised here is the first of my Holoday Nails, before I do my Mom's and potentially ruin them.  Also if you want to get technical there isn't actually any holo in this design, only iridescence and sparklies.  I was desperate to try my new candy cane stripe vinyls - now they are holo! I started off with a base of Barry M - Lady.  It's a textured polish, but a couple coats of SV sorted that out.  I then applied the vinyls and painted on Nails Inc - St James.  I was just going to leave it there but there seemed to be something missing...

More sparkle!  So I glued on some square rhinestones and added another coat of SV.  However it still wasn't enough...

So lastly I stamped a filigree style design on the tips of my nails using China Glaze - I'd Melt For You and added a final couple of coats of SV.  It's been a couple of days and I'm impressed I haven't lost any rhinestones yet as I've usually lost at least one an hour after I've done my nails.

I'll be back when I've done my Mom's nails as I forgot to take a photo of the design I last did for her.

=:x

Happy Easter!

Dear Nail Diary,

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, but real-life issues have meant I haven't really been in the mood to do anything with my nails.  I thought I'd ease myself in slowly, as X99 is currently taking up all of my time.  I have a new camera (my first DSLR - a Nikon D3200) so I've been retaking photos of all my jewellery so it looks more professional.  I'm still learning all the features, so I thought I'd test it out on taking photos of my nails first.

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....

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 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!

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

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