GOT Polish? Red!

Hi!

What a bad blogger I am! I promised you this post yesterday but I'm a day late again - at least it's only a day this time and not a week! I'm doing a part-time job three mornings a week (only temporary at the moment) and it's knocked me out of whack a bit. I will try to be better I promise! Anyway, this week's Golden Oldie Thursday is bought to you by the colour red, and I decided to be brave and try out a Robin Moses design. If you haven't heard of Robin Moses, google her, youtube her, stalk her on Instagram because she is awesome! I also cracked out the acrylic paint which I bought years ago, tried once and then threw into the nail art drawers when I couldn't get them to work to fester ever since. Impatient, moi? Anyway, I think I will need more practice since my lines were a little thick (and a thinner brush, maybe) but not too bad for a first (ok, second) go. The polishes I used were Nails Inc King Edward Street and China Glaze Fairy Dust in the negative spaces, along with black acrylic paint.

You can see the Robin Moses original here. I don't think she has anything to worry about...

Hx

An InLinkz Link-up

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Tri-Polish Tuesday Pink, Grey and Brown #3 - Neon and on...

Hi!

I'm not sure what to say about this mani. The concept was good, but my nail art brushes let me down. I know, a bad workman always blames his tools, but I really need some new ones because my lines just aren't as crisp as I'd like. Oh well. The polishes I used were Sally Hansen Eel Skin and Models Own Bubblegum. I've heard that Bubblegum stamps well, which is unusual for a neon, so maybe I should have tried that.

It all looked so good in my head...

Hx

An InLinkz Link-up

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Valentines Week! My Patchwork Heart

Happy Valentines Day!

For my final Valentine mani this year, I challenged myself and went freehand, and I think it paid off. I really love this patchwork design! I started with a coat of China Glaze Dance Baby on all of my nails, and then added a second coat to my pinkie and index. Once that was completely dry I sketched out the heart and patches using Barry M's white nail art pen and filled the sections in. I used Dance Baby, a-England Briar Rose, Barry M Prickly Pear and Above The Curve Rain Kissed Strawberries. While this was drying I added stripes of white and Briar Rose to the other nails and then went back over the lines separating the patches to neaten them up and add the "stitches". Patchwork hearts. Done.

I hope you've enjoyed Valentines week! I actually haven't, but I've had a rough couple of days and all I want to wear is black. Maybe next week should be moody black week...

Whether you're celebrating or not tonight, have a great evening!

Hx

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Skittle me blue...

Hi!

I was in the mood for blue and chevrons the other day, so blue and chevrons is what I had! My base was China Glaze First Mate, and the glitter on my ring finger was Glistening Snow. I used a plate from the newest Bundle Monster set for the chevrons with Barry M Silver Foil and freehanded the stripey liney things on my middle finger with Barry M Silver Nail Art Pen, which matched perfectly. A couple of rhinestones and done.

Glistening Snow was so sparkly, I just couldn't quite capture it. I was happy with how this turned out, I don't think it was anything special but it was well executed for once! I've seen people struggle with the stamp I used so I was pleased I got it even and had no real gaps in the image. It's the little things that make me happy.

Hx

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33 Day Challenge day 31 - 3 favourite polishes!

Just three days to go on the challenge! Eek!

Today's theme was to use your three favourite polishes and I'm sure I've said this before but asking me to pick a favourite polish is like asking me to pick a favourite child, and I only have two of those not nearly 900! So I went with three of my favourites, China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Barry M Gold Foil and Color Blub Revvvolution, and skittled it up! I started with a base of Ruby Pumps on three nails, and once that was dry I added a rough line down the middle with Gold Foil and a fan brush. The ring finger was painted in Gold Foil and a heart was added in Revvvolution and on my index I went for a fail safe braid with all three.

Not perfect (is it ever?) but quite festive I think!

Hx

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33DC Day 14 - Abstract!

Morning!

We're well into the 33 day challenge now, and I feel like I'm having more wins than losses...hopefully that will continue! I was pretty pleased with today's offering. Let's face it, "Abstract" gives you a pretty broad spectrum to work with, so I googled around a bit and came up with this.

Kind of based on this abstract pattern...

 I wanted more of an ombre effect so I used shades of the same colour on each nail, starting with the darkest. It perhaps would have worked better if I'd started with the lightest, but I wanted the triangle at the bottom to be dark like in the picture.

I used 15 different polishes for this design - a sure sign I have way too much! Mr NN saw the box full I was using and joked that I'd never be able to hold them all for the photos. Smartass.

Listed from dark to light:
Purple (Pinkie) - No7 Violetta, Sinful Colors Amethyst, OPI Parlez Vous OPI
Red (Ring) - Nails Inc Victoria, Tate, King Edward Street
Blue (Middle) - 2True Shade 10, Nails Inc Baker Street, Models Own Feeling Blue
Green (Index) - China Glaze Holly Day, Nails Inc Eden Grove, OPI Stranger Tides
Monochrome (Thumb) - Sinful Colors Black on Black, Beauty UK Slate, Beauty UK Soft Grey

A fairly easy design, although it took me a long time it was satisfying and simple to do (I just freehanded in layers, no tape here!)

Abstract enough?

Hx

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33 Day Challenge day 9 - Indian!

Morning!

Todays theme was Indian, and it took me a while to narrow down my options. My initial idea was to do some Mehndi henna designs on a nude base (I love Mehndi, and often used to draw trails of ivy up and down my arms in henna when I was a teenager...maybe I was a bit odd...), then I thought I would do some vibrant sari inspired patterns in rich pinks and golds, and then I started thinking about Native American Indian instead and my mind was made up.

I love dream catchers and I have had one over my bed since I was a little girl (my Mum might have been a bit of a hippy), and they're traditionally used in Native American cultures, woven around a willow hoop and decorated with sacred items such as beads and feathers. I decided on a dream catcher accent, with some Ikat print and feathers in turquoise and pink. I LOVE this mani. I cannot stress how pleased I am with it (especially when you compare it to my first dream catcher attempt) and I will be sad when it is time to take it off. I used Sally Hansen Instadry Jade Jump and Speedy Sunburst, Barry M Matte White and Models Own black nail art pen, and added a little glitter to the dream catcher with a Sinful Colour glitter striper.

I hope you love it as much as I do! For once everything just came together :)

Hx

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33 Day Challenge day 4 - tribal!

Hi all!

Day 4's challenge was tribal, and I have sooooo many tribal mani's pinned, screencapped and saved to my 'nailspiration' folder you'd think it'd be easy to chose. Well no. However, I did decide to go for a gradient base (holy neon gradient Batman! This has to be one of my brightest.) My gradient consists of a white base with China Glaze Creative Fantasy (purple), Japanese Koi (orange) and Hanging In The Balance (blue) sponged over the top. I added a topcoat and once it was completely dry I went at it with my Barry M White Nail Art Pen. Tada! Proud of the result, which is a bloody good job as in total it took me two and a half hours!

I even managed a different (read: slightly more wobbly) pattern on the other hand!

I can't wait to see everyone else's tribal manis today :)

Hx

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Tri-Polish Challenge - day 1

Morning!

Today sees the start of a new challenge over at Crumpet's Nail Tarts- the tri-polish challenge (can't help but think of the Tri-wizard cup when I say that...) The basic premise is that we do 4 mani's a month (on the 3rd and 4th Tuesday and Thursday of the month) using the same 3 polishes. Each month we are given 3 colours, we each chose 3 polishes representing those colours and have to stick to those for the month. We're also allowed to use black, white, silver, gold and glitter toppers. There is no theme, you can do whatever you like as long as you stick to those colours. You have to use at least 2 of the colours in each manicure, and all 3 for at least one out of the four. Confused? Read on...

This month's colours are coral, green and purple. Sounds yukky, but I actually didn't have too much trouble coming up with my polishes: China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint On, Natural Collection Antique Coral and OPI Parlez Vous OPI. The green and coral polishes are fairly similar: pastel shades with fine shimmer, so I thought they'd work together. But of course, pastel purple is lilac, a completely different colour, so I chose the OPI as I thought the dustiness of the colour would compliment the other two.

So, I went for something simple for my first manicure, adding white (Barry M Matt White) and Gold (Avon Golden Vision) and freehanding some stripes. Simple, really pretty and spring-y! I love it :)

Check out the other lovely ladies taking part, and watch out for part 2 on Thursday!

Hx

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New 31 day challenge - day 13, a cheer-yourself-up mani

Blue. Glitter. Leopard print. That is all.

Hx

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New 31 day challenge day 10 - Geometric

I'm so excited to share this mani with you today! I adored it, and the polishes I used were pretty special too!

Now, if you're sitting comfortable, I've got a story to tell! If you're a regular reader you might know that financially things haven't been great for my little family over the last 6 months or so. It has been a long time since I've had a polish 'haul' as such, and I've only been able to buy one or two bottles every now and then as a treat. New clothes have been a thing of the past too. Anyway, I got some money over Christmas (only about £70, not a massive amount) but I was going to spend it on ME. If you're a mum you understand that doesn't happen very often! Alas it was not to be, as the day before we were due to hit the sales Mr NN drove the car through a big puddle and flooded the engine. Cost of the repairs...you guessed it, £70. Bye bye new boots...

Anyway, I was pretty annoyed, so I had a little rant in my birthday group, they patted me on the back and commiserated and then it was forgotten. Until a little while later a USPS box arrived at my door. I had no clue who it was from or what was in it, and when that happens it's usually down to one of my birthday girls. I opened it up and out fell a full collection of the Color Club Halo Hues! They had all clubbed together and got them for me, because I had had to spend my Christmas money on the car, the sweethearts. I was literally stunned, and I'm afraid to say I had a little cry (happy tears!). I couldn't wish for a lovelier group of nail-friends, so this post serves as a very special thank you to them all. I love you ladies!

Anyway, onto the nails. I used 5 of the Halo Hues in this, and an older Color Club Holo - Revvvolution. I  used a striper brush to do a line down the middle of the nail with Revvvolution once the bases were dry. Then I drew the coloured in side of the heart and filled it in, then made the other side of the heart a tiny bit bigger and filled in the outside space. Does that make sense? I'm not good at tutorials!

I hope you liked them as much as I did!

Hx

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