GOT polish? Neon!

Hi!

I've had a bit of an unintentional blogging break for a few days, but I'm back with this weeks golden oldie for you, and the prompt was neon. I've been loving a bit of neon lately but for these nails I went for pure trash and I love it! My neon was a mini Orly in Hottie - a bright pink that looks slightly coral toned. I think it would have been brighter if I'd used white undies but I knew I'd never get it even with the chevron French tips, and that the overlay of fierce animal print would hide any visible nail line - this was three coats and the VNL was a plenty! I accented it with zebra stripes and leopard print (with glitter - China Glaze Glistening Snow - because it just needed to be more in your face...) I think this is possibly one of the loudest manis I've ever done! And I'm helping out at my sons school today...perhaps I should have changed it! I had to shorten my nails a little because of a break and I thought it was the perfect time to try the chevron tips. They're not 100% but I really like the shape.

What do you think? Tacky or timeless? I think I know the answer...

Hx

An InLinkz Link-up

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Sunday Stamping - Plate ending in 1

Hi!

It's been a couple of weeks since I did any Sunday stamping, but I have a glut of new plates to try so I thought this week it would be rude not to! I also fancied a funky French since my nails are the longest and strongest they've ever been (thanks to Duri Rejuvacote - I'm evangelical about this stuff) so I combined the two. I started off with a black freehanded French just on top of my base coat and then stamped a scalloped design from MoYou Pro 01 in black with a silver accent. I thought it needed something more but I couldn't decide what so I left it at that. These pics are a mix of my left and right hands - can you spot the (not-so) deliberate mistake?

I'm going to file and shape my nails before I take this off, so that hopefully the French acts as a guide and I can get them a bit more even. You can see how much more my right middle finger grows! That was the nail I lost after an infection a while ago and it's been my best nail ever since. Maybe I should pull them all out and start again...ouch! Can you imagine!

Hx

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33 Day Challenge day 7 - feature your oldest untried - Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle

Morning!

Today's challenge called for some artwork featuring your oldest untried. I dug through the untried drawer and came up with Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle, which I got in a subscription box back in December 2011! It's sat unloved all this time, which is such a shame because it's so so pretty. It's a lovely blackened magenta jelly with small red glitter and it just glows. Hard to capture in pictures, though. It's taken me so long to get on my nails and in the end I didn't want to take it off, and didn't want to adulterate it with nail art. Adulterate I did though, but just with a zig zag funky French in black, which I freehanded with a striper pen (Models Own Wah Nail Art Pen).

Pretty polish, perfect for this season and the upcoming c-word...(I daren't say it yet). It's gone from untried to loved! Only teeny gripe is that it stained a little which was unexpected, but hey, at least it wasn't blue!

Hx

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New 31 day challenge day 7 - skittles

Morning!

Another not so successful mani today. The challenge was to create skittles, and I went for a neon and nude. I've done Neon and Nude in a few guises before, and my on original neon and nude tips post I had a request for a skittle version. Ok, it was nearly a year ago, but I'm happy to oblige! However, it was fated to be a fail from the start as my favourite nude polish had locked itself shut and Mr NN had to take the pliers to it to get it open. Then the formula had gone a bit lumpy and streaky. And then as you can see the chevron tips I tried were less that neat. AND then the topcoat streaked...oh well, we live and learn!

The nude is Nails Inc Basil Street, and the neons are from the Color Club Poptastic collection with the exception of the yellow which is Orly Glowstick.

Tomorrow's post is duochrome, and I didn't fail! Yay!

Hx

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NOTD - W7 Salt and Pepper

Hello!

Today I have to show you a polish from a range that's taking the UK blogosphere by storm, due to it's more than passing resemblance to the Nails Inc Sprinkles collection. You would expect a high end brand like Nails Inc (£11+ a bottle) to be bang on trend, but a £2 market-stall brand, perhaps not so much. But W7 have a fab range of polishes and always keep up with the trends. Neons, glitters, crackles, duochromes, magnetics...I could go on. This little range contains 3 polishes - Mosaic (a dead on dupe for Nails Inc Pudding Lane, which I showed you a while ago), Lava Flow and Salt and Pepper, which I'm showing you here.

Salt and pepper is a white cream base packed to the rafters with matte black glitter. On me, it was opaque in 2 coats (might take one more if your nails are longer) and the formula was great. It's not too gritty and one coat of Poshe on top was fine (but if you're more fussy add another!) Super pretty, it remind me of the inside of a dragon fruit!

I had some tipwear after a day but I wasn't ready to take it off yet (it's a glitter, need I say more?) so I added some black French tips.

I have Lava Flow too, which is similar to this but with the addition of red glitter - you didn't think it could get any more awesome, right?! But alas I'm trying to avoid glitters too much at the moment because I'm sure soaking my nails to get the glitter off isn't helping the peelies. As soon as they're improved I will be getting it out!

What do you think? Are you a fan of the matte glitter? You can find W7 at www.NailPolishDirect.co.uk which is where I got mine, or check your local market. They also have recently set up a Facebook page and Twitter too, so get liking!

Hx

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Monkey See Monkey Do Monday - Holo dotticure!

Hello!

Now I'm back into the swing of things, I'm loving being bale to join in with challenges again, and since I've been on a bit of a pinning spree (you can follow me on Pinterest here!) since I've been back online, I decided to have a go at Monkey See Monkey Do Monday, and recreate a Fingers Polish Mania manicure from last week.

I started with a-England Tristam and M&S Rainbow, added dots to opposite colours and adding OPI DS Original (I have a full post of the beauty coming up soon!) and then topped off with Fingers' signature funky french tip, again with Tristam and Rainbow. This is the result! Even on shorties I think it looks fun!

Here's Fingers' original design, she has more dots and they're smaller, and I thought it was such a fun manicure I had to try it. Plus, I couldn't wait to wear Tristam, which I got in A-England's recent £5 sale. Bargain for such a beautiful polish!

Join in MSMD by joining the Purple Crumpet Fairy Challenge on Facebook and check out the other ladies below!

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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Adventures in stamping - design using 2 different stamps

Hi! This week's stamping Sunday challenge vote was a tie, so we could choose between stamping over a gradient or using two different stamps. Since I voted for using 2 different stamps and already had an idea in my head I went for that! I have seen this lace design a few times and wanted to try it out, even though the only suitable flowers I have are the cabbage roses from a few weeks ago...the lace element takes out the cabbagey-ness of it a bit though...I hope.

Continuing with untried month, I used 17 Lasting Fix Toasted Almond as the base, a champagne shimmer that has just a touch of dark silveryness about it to make me like it. I then stamped the fishnet design from BM209 and the rosey-cabbages from BM14 with Miss Sporty New Black, which in fact is a dark grey shimmer, and added a thin french tip. I used grey instead of black because I wanted it softer. The fishnet stamped more opaque than the roses so you can see it through them, but other than that I liked it :)

I either need smaller flowers or longer nails...

Check out the other lovely ladies taking part in untried month, and jump on the bandwagon too!

Alyssa B at http://www.fancyphalanges.blogspot.co.uk/

Alyssa C at http://polishjunkieninja.blogspot.co.uk

Ashley at http://onenailtoanother.blogspot.co.uk/
Kira at http://www.prettykittyclaws.blogspot.co.uk/
Lexi at http://finger-painted.blogspot.co.uk/

Nicole at http://notskindeep.onsugar.com/

Zoe at http://www.ocnpd.blogspot.co.uk/

Hx

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Purple Crumpet Spring Challenge - Day 6 Pink polka Dots

Day 6 and another Pink Wednesday! For this mani I used a base of OPI Skull and Glossbones (gorgeous colour!) and the pink I used was Orly Butterflies (Thanks Alyssa!) I taped off a slanted funky French and painted the tip in the opposite colour to the nail bed, then added dots with a small dotting tool. I liked it...until my youngest was sick in bed and I had to rush up and deal with it before the top coat was dry. If he'd had done it 10 seconds earlier before I topcoated it would have been fine as the actual mani was dry! It was my ring finger which took the worst hit, as you can see. I managed to tidy it up a little, but it bugged me so it only lasted a day. Don't have kids, people...

I liked it before I added the dots too :)

I need to catch up on some sleep now! Sick toddlers are exhausting...

Hx

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NOTD - MeMeMe Pin-Up + Elf Dark Navy Funky French

Another two polishes ticked off the list! I wore this one a few days ago. The MeMeMe polish is one of their old ones that I picked up in Savers a while ago - it's in the old style bottle but the brush was still good - not like their new mega-huge perfect-nail-in-one-swipe brushes, but still good. I don't wear red often but I have no idea why as I like it on my nails. 2 coats and it was super shiny so silly me didn't use topcoat (I'm dangerously low and don't want to buy any) and there was major tipwear at the end of day one, so I covered it with thin french tips in ELF Dark Navy and eeked it out for another day. Both polishes are definitely keepers.

ooh...shiny...

I don't know how many reds I have in my collection, but it's not as many as the pinks or purples. Are there any you'd recommend? I have been swatching on nail wheels and reds are next on my list to do, so I'll show you that soon.

In other news, I've broken my no-buy. Well sort of. My other half got a fantastic new job yesterday, and today I reached a milestone with my weight loss (I've now lost 10% of my starting weight!) so he treated me to two new polishes. Collection 2000 Hot Looks polishes are two for £1.99 in Superdrug at the moment and he treated me to Milkshake and All That Jazz. I've been craving a nude but don't have any in my untrieds so I'll wear Milkshake soon!

Hx

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Pink Wednesday - I know, right? (O.P.I I Lily Love You funky french)

Bored of the Mean Girls quotes yet? Well, if you are, tough! :P

Teehee, sorry. Anywho, for Pink Wednesday this week I wanted to use I Lily Love You again, so I created a funky french manicure using MUA Shade 16 for the tips and accent nails. Shade 16 is a really pretty deep fuschia and has a great formula - I LOVE these products. I haven't found one yet that I don't love - they eyeshadows in the MUA range (regular and Pro) are exceptional, and I really want to try their new primer. Anyway, I digress. After my base coat I used tip guides to create a french tip using the pink polish on all but my ring finger and thumb on which I painted the whole nail, then once they were dry I added 2 coats of I Lily Love You.

I wore this all day feeling a bit "meh" about it. I think it's the pink tinge to the ILLY that was making me unsure. I think it was making my nails just look a bit stained. I did love it over the MUA polish though - such a great combination of high end and absolute bargain! In the end I decided to slap a layer of my trusty matte top coat by 17 over the top, and it was transformed from "meh" to "oooooh"...

 It softened the whole look down and gave the flakies in ILLY a kind of ethereal quality. Prettyful. If I were to do this again I think I'd do the tips over ILLY instead of under so that they were more prominent. And maybe wear a nude polish under the whole lot  - I'm not used to seeing "real" nail under my polish anymore!

Are you sitting with the plastics this week?

Hx

PS I am working through verifing all the entries for my giveaway and hopfully will announce the winner tomorrow, or certainly by the weekend. Thank you to everyone who entered, and hi to all my lovely new followers! There are now 181 of you, which is incredible!

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NOTD - Molten Copper funky french

Hello :)

My (sometimes) lovely OH (sometimes) likes buying me little presents on his way home from work Quite often these are food-based as he works in Central London surrounded by lovely little delis and cake shops, but since I'm currently embarking on a weight loss program (don't like the 'd' word, too depressing - check out my weight loss blog link in the sidebar) he's trying to be more creative. He's not very good at it, bless him. Once, he bought me a lighter with a silly cat picture on it (I don't smoke, have an electric cooker and rarely use candles, and don't like silly cat pictures unless they're LOLcatz. LOLcatz don't count). Another time he bought me a pair of slippers, which he thought were monkeys (we have a monkey thing) - they were dogs, I don't wear slippers and they were £18 (most of my shoes don't cost £18) at Kings Cross station. Occasionally, he hits gold, but on this occasion, he hit copper...

Accessorize Molten Copper to be precise, which is an orange-gold glitter in a clear base. It has a consistency comparable to the Barry M glitters - opaque enough in a few coats but quite gritty when dry. And a pig to remove! For this reason I decided on an accent nail and funky french on the rest. The base colour I chose for the funky french fingers is Rimmel 60 Seconds 850 Hard Edged, which you can win a bottle of in my giveaway! It's a pretty maroon colour. I was hoping for duochrome but it's barely there on the nail. Still pretty though.

See, it teased me with duochrome...

...but didn't live up to it's promise. A few glitters escaped into the seche too.

I should wear more glitter. What's a shit-ton of polish remover, tin foil and cotton pads between friends?

Any other Accessorize polishes I should have? I only have two.

Hx

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NOTD - Nails Inc Havana

Hello :)

I'm am so so glad I got both of the promotional Nails Inc polishes with Dove deodorant. Havana, the pinky nude shimmer is gorgeous. I'm not usually a huge fan of Nails Inc because I find their polishes a bit thick and gloopy, and the chunky bottle cap doesn't help, but this one is completely different. The first coat of Havana went on a little streaky but evened out, and with the second it was perfect. You'd need three or four coats for opacity but since I just wanted this for a palette cleanser I stopped at two, and I really think this is my "my nails but better" polish.

I couldn't capture the shimmer, but I assure you it is there! My skin and cuticles are horrendous, so please excuse them.

I did this last night and then took my boys swimming this morning, and chipped a few nails a teeny bit. It was bugging me so I tried something and added gold tips (freehand! a first for me) using Miss Sporty Gold Backstage. A really subtle funky French look.

(A little messy, first attempt at freehand tips, and I had to change a nappy or wipe a nose or something too soon after I added them)

Has anyone else ever had any trouble with Nails Inc polishes? I don't know if the problems I usually have are because all of the polishes I have of theirs are freebies, or all cremes, or just me being rubbish. But I was pleasantly surprised with this one.

Hx

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That's why her hair's so big, it's full of secrets!

Happy Pink Wednesday!

Sorry this post is a bit late, I hung on as long as I could to try and get a good sunlight picture of this mani, but everytime the sun poked it's head out for a nano second, despite me running into the garden like a nutter, I failed to capture it. Someone please remind he weather man that IT'S JUNE. Ahem...

So the reason I so badly wanted the sunlight for this mani is because it's a holo effort! I used Avon Nailwear Pro in Romance (2 coats) with Marks and Spencer Rainbow tips, and switched it around on the accent finger. I used Seche Vite before and after adding the tips. If you want a holo polish but can't afford ridiculous ebay prices for GOSH Holographic then Rainbow may be a good alternative. I don't know if its a dupe, I suspect the holo in the M&S polish is a little weaker, but it's easily available (I had no trouble finding it and you can order online) and although it's £7.50 that's a hell of a lot cheaper than the GOSH.

Sorry for the pictures :( I've worn it a day now and just have a little tipwear so if it's sunny in the morning I'll take some more.

Indoors, artificial light to try and get the holo...

You can see the rainbow peeking though...

Gah just give me the holo already!

Romance is a pink based lilac shade with silver shimmer. Very pretty and a unique shade in my collection. The formula was good and it could have been a one coater, but I found it a little tricky to apply as the brush was quite stiff. Other than that, no problems. It will probably be a good polish for stamping, so I'll try that soon. I'm going out Saturday night and this mani actually matches the colours of the top I'm wearing perfectly, so I may try something different using the same polishes.

So that's me all pinked out for another week. Check out the rest of the Pink Wednesday ladies :)

Hx

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NOTD - MUA Nail Quake Purple + Funky French Accent

Hi lovlies!

I finally got my paws on a purple crackle polish on Saturday and ever since I've been excited about it! I've been after a purple crackle since Models Own announced they'd be doing crackle polishes what seems like 11tybillion years ago. They have a great range of colours but the purple is the only one I wanted. Models Own FINALLY released the purple this week, for £6. Now, I'm not adverse to spending that much on a polish if it's something I really want, but crackles can be a temperamental beast and I didn't want to be disappointed. Thankfully MUA came to my rescue with the release of their Pro range! I've tried and loved some of the bargain £1 polishes and other products from their regular line, and at £2.99 for 10ml of their Nail Quake in gorgeous colours you cant go wrong!

Picture kindly reproduced from MUA's Facebook page, which you should go and like now because they have awesome giveaways!

The colours available are black, silver, baby pink, purple, royal blue and hot pink. I want them all! They should be available on superdrug.com later in the week, and selected stores now! I had a bit of a hunt to find them, so ask if you can't find them!

On to the manicure. I decided it would look great over gold (yes, I do know it's not Christmas, I promise I'll do something more summery next time!) so I first applied 2 coats of Miss Sporty Gold Backstage, a lovely gold foil and let it dry. If I were wearing this alone I would have added a third coat.

Then once it was dry I added a coat of Nail Quake to every nail except for my index. The polish applied like a dream, it's thin and easy to apply, with a thin brush so although it takes a few strokes to cover the nail you don't get overlap, which is essential for a crackle. It didn't get gloopy like some other crackles either.

Because I'm all about the accent nail at the moment, I only applied the Nail Quake to the tips of my index fingers for a Funky French effect (with the help of tip-guides). Anyway, enough jibber jabber: PICS!

I love the look! It looks so luxurious and chocolate box. I love how the cracks are quite linear and show the base colour just enough. I'd say this is a jelly finish, whereas all the other crackles I've tried are cremes. It doesn't dry completely matte but I added clear topcoat anyway. And I will definately be buying the rest of the colours on payday (it can't come quickly enough) as well as one (or two) of the new trio baked eyeshadows, maybe one of the palettes, perhaps a bronzer or two....better warn the bank manager...

Have you tried MUA yet? You wont be disappointed!

Hx

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