NOTD - Zoya Apple + Stampedy Stamping

Morning!

I aquired Zoya Apple (a long time lemming) in a lovely swap :) thank you El! I couldn't wait to wear it, it's so pretty. It's a little darker than I expected, and less lime-y, but I adore it. The pics before the stamping show it a little brighter than it is most of the time, as they were taken with flash.

I stamped a leafy pattern from the second Bundle Monster set (go follow them on Facebook for teasers of the third set which is being released really soon!) with Barry M Silver Foil. I think the pattern covers up too much of the base colour, and it didn't come out very crisp, but I love the foil-y finish!

I think Zoya Apple is my favourite green. I don't know if I could choose favourites of other colours...maybe China Glaze Ruby Pumps is my favourite red, but I can't think of any more favourites. Do you have favourites?

Hx

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NOTD - Revlon Tropical Temptation

My name is Helen and I have a problem.

I nubbed my nails and was in the mood for a peachy-coraly-orangey-pinky polish, so I trotted off to my stash and pulled out a few of my polishes that fit the bill....

Ahem. Do I need all of these  peachy-coraly-orangey-pinky polishes? No. Surprisingly though, there aren't any exact dupes, but still.

Anyway, I went for Rimmel Tropical Temptation, a pretty coral that I'm sure I picked up in Poundland. It was a little streaky, but polishes this colour often are for some reason. I added a couple of little butterfly stickers as accents.

I was going to go for a big butterfly and a small one on the ring finger as well as the thumb, but I couldn't quite fit them on my newly nubbed nails. Usually my little and ring fingers have the longest nails, and never peel, but I took them all short to give the peels on the index fingers a chance to grow out and the misfit nail on the other hand to redeem itself (uit's getting there!) I may keep them short until stubby catches up and until them I'm lavishing lots of TLC and Lemony Flutter on them!

Are there any colours in your stash that you have far too many of? Somehow I can't quite bring myself to have a cull...I'm a collector I guess!

Hx

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NOTD - Orly Glowstick Funky French

I told you soft and delicate wouldn't last long! My friend Zoe showcased this polish a week or so ago and I had to have it! I never thought I would be one for neon polish, but you can't get much more neon than this! Super bright highlighter yellow, with black tips. I really wanted to stamp this, but since my black stamping polish is less than reliable I decided on tips instead. I am going to treat myself to a Konad black and white stamping polish next payday, so I'll get it out again then. This was four coats, but I might have gotten away with three if my nails were less stained and yukky. Of course a coat or two of white underneath would have solved that too but I never learn!

I actually got compliments on this, from the most unexpected places! It's funny how the manis I think are going to get nice compliments rarely do, and then something eye-scorching and definitely not to everyone's tastes like this turns heads.

Loving or hating the neons? China Glaze have a summer neon collection this season, I think I'll be adding a few to my wishlist...

Hx

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NOTD – Sinful Colors Cinderella + Zoya Maisie

Howdy!

Continuing with the soft and pretty theme (I don't know what is wrong with me...I'll be back to elephant-clumsy soon I'm sure) I used super pretty Sinful Colors Cinderella for this manicure. I got this polish from one of my birthday club girls, but I think the new Models Own Indian Ocean is close for us UK-ites.I applied three coats, as it's pretty sheer, then two coats of Zoya maise (blue flakies, yum!) over the ring finger and thumb. Subtle and pretty. Two words I don't use very much in association with my nails!

Bit blurry to see the flakies better *drool*

If you were getting married, I think this would be a lovely polish to have as your something blue. What do you think? Would you have blue nails for your wedding day?

Hx

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NOTD – Shopping the stash for a new look...

Hello!

After taking off China Glaze Flying Dragon (Neon-that-isn't) I wanted something soft and pretty (I don't do soft and pretty very often...) on my nails for a while. I've seen some lovely things done with the new OPI New York Ballet polishes – milky jellies and a glitter topcoat, but I don't have any and my bank balance is less than healthy at the moment, so I decided to try and create something similar with what I already have. You Callin' Me a Lyre? is the pink jelly from the collection and I decided to try and recreate it by using a coat of Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream, topped with Bourgois Rose Lounge. Rose Lounge is a sheer milky pink, which apparently is one of the polishes worn by K-Mid on her wedding day to Prince Billy. Apparently. Anyway, a coat of that over the Barry M made a more or less opaque crelly-like soft pink, not exactly the same as You Callin' Me a Lyre, but as close as I was going to get. I then added a coat of Revlon Stunning, in place of Pirouette My Whistle from the OPI collection, added another layer of Rose Lounge and then mattefied it all with 17 Nail Xtras Matte topcoat.

 

Before I mattefied it...

Exactly what I wanted, and without having to buy anything new! Ok, so if I had bought the polishes especially for this manicure it probably would have come in at about the same cost as two ebay-sourced OPIs (Barry M £2.99, Revlon £6.49 and Bourgois around £6) but since I had them already it cost nothing. Chuffed. I hoping that the Rose Lounge will have the same effect over some other pale crème polishes so that I might be able to recreate the grey and lavender OPI soft shades from the NY Ballet collection.

Do you have any of the NY ballet polishes? Did I get close?

Hx

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Adventures in Stamping - The Sky's the Limit...

Hi again!

I hadn't intended to take part in yesterday's Adventures in Stamping challenge, I tried a sun-themed mani earlier in the week and failed, and since I knew I wouldn't be able to post it in time anyway I decided to give it a miss. Then inspiration struck and even though I hadn't intended it, I ended up stamping something that kinda fit the theme. Feathers – birds fly in the sky, so it works right? I don't care, I'm having it anyway! :P I used Fab Ur Nails Silver stamping polish and Barry M Gold Foil to stamp the feather from BM15 over China Glaze Flying Dragon (Neon-that-isn't).

A really simple mani that looks really pretty. I love feathers, I think they're so pretty, and very symbolic. I'd love a feather tattoo one day...if only I wasn't such a wimp...

Hx

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NOTD – China Glaze Flying Dragon (Neon-that-isn't)

Morning!

Now, this polish is a bit of an enigma. I got it in a lovely swap, but I can't decide how I feel about it. Firstly, despite the pains China Glaze have gone to to ensure we know it's neon (it's written on the label in brackets as if there's a non-neon version too – is there?) it isn't neon. The only time I could see this as a neon is when I took a picture with flash, which isn't at all colour accurate, and since I don't tend to walk around with a camera flash trained on my nails, not very helpful. The only other thing that sets this out as a neon is the matte finish and horrible application. 3 coats got it even enough but the fist two were streaky, draggy, uneven messes. And once it was dry it wasn't only matte, but completely flat, showing every bump and ridge in my nails. Weird. It also has these odd flecks of something in it – glitter? It isn't glittery when it's on the nail, but you can see blue and silver flecks peppered through it. Not unlikeable, just...strange. I can't say I don't like it. I just can't say I love it either. It is a lovely colour, just not what I wanted it to be. If it didn't have the strange formula and neon claims I would love it as a pretty purple. What do you think?

Flash

Artificial light

Daylight

Pretty? Strange? Pretty strange? Do you own this polish? Would a white base coat make it more of an eye-popping neon like I wanted it to be?

Hx

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NOTD - Fantasy Fire revisited

Hello!

Since untried month is over, and I'm not currently taking part in any challenges (there is a summer challenge about to start with the Purple Crumpet Fairy girls here if you want to take part, but until my computer problems are resolved I wont be joining in :( ) I decided to revisit a few polishes that I loved, but with a new twist. I saw this manicure by Cris at Let Them Have Polish a while ago and have had it in the back of my mind since, and here is my version. I used one coat of Revlon Royal, one coat of Fantasy Fire, and dabbed the tips with Accessorize Molten Copper. Not quite the same, but as close as I could get with what I have! Prepare for pic spam...

So hard to photograph but so purdy! Will have to take it off tonight and it will make me sad. Not least because it's a glitter and I'm out of tin foil...

Hx

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NOTD - Pastel Spotty Dotty!

Hello!

I showed you swatches of the Nails Inc freebies you can get with InStyle magazine this month here,  and I decided to do a manicure with them. All three of them! They go really nicely together, and I just did a simple spotty design. First, I painted all 9 of my nails alternately with the three shades, and then used the other two colours to make large dots with a dotting tool. Then with the base colour I put a smaller dot in the middle, so it (mostly) looks like circles.

The colours go really nicely together, so I'm glad I got all three...as if I needed an excuse... Now, what to do with three copies of the same magazine...

Hx

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NOTD - Riveting plus Stripes!

Hi!

Yesterday I showed you China Glaze Riveting and I loved it so much that I didn't want to take it off after a day, even though I had a little tip wear. I so used a black striper and gave it some stripes of varying thickness to eek it out for another day!

I used a Technic striper that I picked up in Bodycare (a budget version of Superdrug/ a pharmacy) in a set of three for £1.99. They're not fantastic, but for a simple design like this it was fine. I'll review them properly soon, for anyone wondering about them!

Sadly, I had to remove Riveting completely after another day, but I couldn't resist a pedicure with it first!

Hx

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Untried Month - China Glaze Riveting

Helloo!

Last day of Untried Month, and I've got a beauty to show you! Riveting was the only polish I was interested in from the China Glaze Hunger Games Collection (although now I want Electrify and Luxe and Lush too...) and I was lucky enough to win it in a giveaway from my friend Ashley :) It really is a stunner! Glass flecked orange that I was happy with at one coat (although I noticed a bald patch in the photos...so perhaps two would have been a better idea.) I can't wait to get this on my toes!

China Glaze awesomeness. It really is Riveting - I can't stop staring at my nails!

Did you pick up any polish from the Hunger Games Collection? I haven't seen the film yet, but having read the books several times over I really really want to! Who wants to take me?

If you want to check out all my untried month posts, slap "untried month" in the search bar to the left!

Hx

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Untried Month - Nails Inc Heather Grey

Hi loves

This polish was a freebie (Nails Inc love their freebies) with Diet Coke quite a while ago now. At least two years ago anyway, but you can still catch it on evilbay. On me it's a nothingy colour. Just average. A bit meh. Another untried crossed off the list though!

Nothing more to say. I do love a freebie though!

Hx

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Adventures in Stamping - Plate ending in 5

Morning lovlies.

This weeks Adventures in Stamping challenge was to use a plate ending in 5, so I chose Bundle Monster 205. I've been wanting to use this particular desig for a while – are they butterflies? Are they bows? I have no clue. The BF said butterflies so I'll go with that. I used two coats of Orly Au Champagne (from my untrieds, as it is Untried Month) as my base – a really lovely shimmery white that has a matte finish when it's dry. I can see myself reaching for this a lot. I'm not so keen on white cremes because they always look chalky and stark on me, but the shimmer on this counteracts that. I them stamped using Color Club Perfect Mol-ten, Hot Like Lava and Cold Metal, putting a dab of each on the plate before scraping them across.

Au Champagne alone

On my right hand I scraped a couple of times before picking up the image so the edges were a bit more blended together, and I prefered that. But I'll save you from any more pictures of my manky nail and leave it at that!

If you'd like to join Adventures in Stamping, find us on Facebook!

Hx

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Untried Month - China Glaze Designer Satin

Hi everyone!

Today I have from my untried stash Designer Satin by China Glaze, a gorgeous bright raspberry pink crème. I used two perfect coats and it applied like, well, satin. Yum. I couldn't leave it alone though and stamped this intricate twirly pattern from BM 201 and Fab Ur nails silver stamping polish. But, it was another one of those days where the stamping was more effort than it was worth and I didn't do a great job. The first nail stamped perfectly. The others didn't. What is up with that? I filed the stamper, cleaned the image, stamper and scraper between each stamp making sure all the acetone was dried from the plate, scraped lightly, scraped hard, scraped somewhere in between, but the image didn't want to pick up no matter what I tried. Meh.

Anyway, the concept was there, the execution just wasn't all that. Designer Satin is up there in my favourite polishes EVAH though. In fact, I haven't found a China Glaze that I didn't like yet.

Any China Glaze polishes you'd recommend? I'm currently wearing Riveting from their Hunger Games collection and I adore it – so keep an eye out for that next week!

Hx

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NOTD - Models Own Aqua Violet plus TURTLES!

Hello!

Quick update to Thursday's Aqua Violet post. I have a thing for turtles, and although I know of a few stamping plates they were all beyond my means - either too expensive or not available here. Then my lovely friend Tracy stepped in and got hold of a salon express kit that I'd seen lots of other people talking about and sent me one! Thank you Tracy! Of course the first stamp I tried was the cutest little turtle EVAH!

I stamped using Barry M Gold Foil and Color Club Perfect Mol-ten. The turtle is a bit big for my ickle nails so I made it look like they were swimming around.

LOVE this stamp! I know the new Bumdle monster set has a plate with owls on it – I hope we have turtles too! MOAR TURTLES!

Hx

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