Hi!
Not blue suede shoes, but purple suede nails! This mani was just intended as a quick stopgap, but I think they turned out too pretty not to share. I'm not usually a huge fan of mattes and suede polishes ( have a few, obviously) but I just think the application is tricky, they show every flaw in the nail and while they look like they dry quickly they stay dentable for hours. Quick dry topcoat is a no no because you lose the effect, and that also means they chip more easily than most. Too much work when you can just use matte topcoat and get the same effect, amirite? BUT I was lucky enough to win a full set of these Moyra suedes and boy do I eat my words. They are all autumnal, wintry shades with pretty silver sparkle, they apply really well, dry (properly dry) quickly and don't make my nails look as bumpy as the Pennines. The only issue I had was a little bit of dragging on the first coat, as they really do dry super quickly, but any bald spots vanished with a careful second coat. This lovely purple is Suede 505. I stamped a simple little paisley design from plate QA 59.
Super pretty, and I imagine it would look gorgeous topcoated too. I can wholly recommend these suedes, and they're really affordable at just £3 too, available here. Like Moyra UK's Facebook page for regular special offers too!
Hx
*Edit - I've just noticed the website is currently down, so I'll try to update once it's back!*
Showing posts with label silver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label silver. Show all posts
Friday, 26 September 2014
Sunday, 17 August 2014
Fight for Life and Live
Hi!
Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?! Almost 2 months since I blogged last, and I am so ashamed of that for a multitude of reasons. The thing is, life just sometimes gets in the way and recently a lot of "life" has happened. My beautiful Mummy was taken seriously ill, and as she doesn't live close to me a lot of two-ing and fro-ing has ensued. She's got a long journey of recovery ahead of her, but hopefully she's on the mend. My own health hasn't been fantastic, I'm having trouble with my eyes and earlier in the year I had two miscarriages within the space of 4 months, which was painful both physically and emotionally. We also lost our lovely cat George, who had been our furbaby for almost 10 years. Mr NN has had work trouble and was made unemployed (again), leaving us with no car and uncertainty over a lot of things. He's working now, but only agency work, which is never reliable and could end any day. The end of term was busy for me and my boys, and now they're on their summer holidays and running me ragged. We were planning a house move, which fell through at the last minute and was very stressful and upsetting. As a result of that, we decided to do some decorating and rearranging of the house we're in, which honestly was just as stressful! All of this sounds like excuses, right? I wont blog tonight, I'm too worried about Mum/ stressed about money/ tired from painting. But it all contributed to me feeling just too overwhelmed to take anything else on, or some days to even function enough to get dressed. Which is why today seemed like a fitting time to break the silence and make an effort to blog.
I've posted about depression and how it's affected me and my family before (you can read about it here), and recently I just can't keep the black dogs from creeping in closer. And I don't know what to do to make myself feel better. Nothing I do is going to lift this heavyness from my chest for now. It's there, it's real and it's bloody scary. Sometimes, when I feel like this I get obsessive about not feeling adequate. I've still been painting my nails, stamping, glittering and nail art-ing them, but feeling like the final result hasn't been good enough to post. And when they were good enough, the photos didn't come out well, when I even bothered to photograph them at all. But of course they're good enough (some of my photos have been cringeworthy and I still posted those!) It's just, in my mind, I'm not good enough. I'm the same with other things in my life. Food, make-up, my house. If it's not perfect I give up, binge eat, ignore the mess, hide away. But I enjoy blogging and the community surrounding it. I know my nails aren't perfect, that I don't photoshop my mistakes, I'm an honest blogger. It shouldn't be a stressful thing.
So, I'm going to make an attempt to get my blogging mojo back. I'm not putting too much pressure on myself, and I certainly wont be posting everyday or pushing myself to be perfect. I am what I am and it's about getting me to accept me. Any additional support is just a bonus.
The death and apparent suicide of Robin Williams on Monday hit me hard. I grew up watching Mork and Mindy, and I don't know anyone who could honestly say Mrs Doubtfire isn't one of their favourite films. It came as a shock to many that a comic genius could suffer so badly from depression that he would take his own life, but it just goes to show that these black dogs come in many shapes and sizes, and they don't discriminate. Whatever form it takes, if you even suspect that you're suffering, tell someone. No one is going to laugh, or tell you just t cheer up and get over it. Depression is real, and there are so many things you can do about it.
My green mani in support of depression awareness comes in the form of Picture Polish Tail Feather, which embodies so many of my favourite things - mint green, sparkles, peacocks and one of my favourite bloggers, Kayla Shevonne. Peacocks for me have huge connotations. Many people see them as bad omens, because of the eyes on their tail feathers, and because they have strong stomachs and can eat things that would poison other birds. But to me, this epitomizes strength, and only adds to their beauty. It reminds me to be proud of myself, that I am strong and beautiful despite, or even because of, my imperfections. I even have a peacock feather tattoo, a permanent reminder to just be me.
I hope I didn't ramble too much, and I hope to be able to post again sometime this week. Please have a look at everyone else's beautiful green manis - but if you only look at one please make it Debbie's over at The Crumpet. It's so beautifully written it made me cry.
Hx
Well, it's been a while, hasn't it?! Almost 2 months since I blogged last, and I am so ashamed of that for a multitude of reasons. The thing is, life just sometimes gets in the way and recently a lot of "life" has happened. My beautiful Mummy was taken seriously ill, and as she doesn't live close to me a lot of two-ing and fro-ing has ensued. She's got a long journey of recovery ahead of her, but hopefully she's on the mend. My own health hasn't been fantastic, I'm having trouble with my eyes and earlier in the year I had two miscarriages within the space of 4 months, which was painful both physically and emotionally. We also lost our lovely cat George, who had been our furbaby for almost 10 years. Mr NN has had work trouble and was made unemployed (again), leaving us with no car and uncertainty over a lot of things. He's working now, but only agency work, which is never reliable and could end any day. The end of term was busy for me and my boys, and now they're on their summer holidays and running me ragged. We were planning a house move, which fell through at the last minute and was very stressful and upsetting. As a result of that, we decided to do some decorating and rearranging of the house we're in, which honestly was just as stressful! All of this sounds like excuses, right? I wont blog tonight, I'm too worried about Mum/ stressed about money/ tired from painting. But it all contributed to me feeling just too overwhelmed to take anything else on, or some days to even function enough to get dressed. Which is why today seemed like a fitting time to break the silence and make an effort to blog.
I've posted about depression and how it's affected me and my family before (you can read about it here), and recently I just can't keep the black dogs from creeping in closer. And I don't know what to do to make myself feel better. Nothing I do is going to lift this heavyness from my chest for now. It's there, it's real and it's bloody scary. Sometimes, when I feel like this I get obsessive about not feeling adequate. I've still been painting my nails, stamping, glittering and nail art-ing them, but feeling like the final result hasn't been good enough to post. And when they were good enough, the photos didn't come out well, when I even bothered to photograph them at all. But of course they're good enough (some of my photos have been cringeworthy and I still posted those!) It's just, in my mind, I'm not good enough. I'm the same with other things in my life. Food, make-up, my house. If it's not perfect I give up, binge eat, ignore the mess, hide away. But I enjoy blogging and the community surrounding it. I know my nails aren't perfect, that I don't photoshop my mistakes, I'm an honest blogger. It shouldn't be a stressful thing.
So, I'm going to make an attempt to get my blogging mojo back. I'm not putting too much pressure on myself, and I certainly wont be posting everyday or pushing myself to be perfect. I am what I am and it's about getting me to accept me. Any additional support is just a bonus.
The death and apparent suicide of Robin Williams on Monday hit me hard. I grew up watching Mork and Mindy, and I don't know anyone who could honestly say Mrs Doubtfire isn't one of their favourite films. It came as a shock to many that a comic genius could suffer so badly from depression that he would take his own life, but it just goes to show that these black dogs come in many shapes and sizes, and they don't discriminate. Whatever form it takes, if you even suspect that you're suffering, tell someone. No one is going to laugh, or tell you just t cheer up and get over it. Depression is real, and there are so many things you can do about it.
My green mani in support of depression awareness comes in the form of Picture Polish Tail Feather, which embodies so many of my favourite things - mint green, sparkles, peacocks and one of my favourite bloggers, Kayla Shevonne. Peacocks for me have huge connotations. Many people see them as bad omens, because of the eyes on their tail feathers, and because they have strong stomachs and can eat things that would poison other birds. But to me, this epitomizes strength, and only adds to their beauty. It reminds me to be proud of myself, that I am strong and beautiful despite, or even because of, my imperfections. I even have a peacock feather tattoo, a permanent reminder to just be me.
I hope I didn't ramble too much, and I hope to be able to post again sometime this week. Please have a look at everyone else's beautiful green manis - but if you only look at one please make it Debbie's over at The Crumpet. It's so beautifully written it made me cry.
Hx
Labels:
#fightforlifeandlive,
#fightforlightandlive,
depression awareness,
green,
mint,
peacock,
picture polish,
silver,
stamping
Thursday, 12 June 2014
GOT Polish? Silver accent!
Hi!
This is actually last week's Golden Oldie offering, I'm a bad bad blogger! But hopefully I'll get this week's up a little later so you get two for your money! Last weeks theme was silver accent, and I went for a mini ombre with a dotty silver accent, inspired by Of Life and Lacquer (go follow her!). The pinks were OPI Pink Friday and Elephantastic Pink, and Models Own Raspberry Crush, and the dots were done over Barry M Silver Foil.
Now, fingers crossed I get this weeks Golden Oldie up in time...
Hx
This is actually last week's Golden Oldie offering, I'm a bad bad blogger! But hopefully I'll get this week's up a little later so you get two for your money! Last weeks theme was silver accent, and I went for a mini ombre with a dotty silver accent, inspired by Of Life and Lacquer (go follow her!). The pinks were OPI Pink Friday and Elephantastic Pink, and Models Own Raspberry Crush, and the dots were done over Barry M Silver Foil.
Now, fingers crossed I get this weeks Golden Oldie up in time...
Hx
Labels:
accent nail,
dots,
Golden Oldie Thursday,
Models Own,
OPI,
pink,
silver
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
Picture Polish Illusionist - galaxy in a bottle!
Hello!
I'm going to jump straight in today and say I can't do galaxy nails. The fact I've only actually tried them once, about three years ago is irrelevant. It was a fail and I shelved the idea and never tried again. Galaxy nails are so pretty, I "ah" every time I see one, traditional or pastel, and I think to myself I really should try that again someday. But in the back of my mind I still have the fail and a little niggle that says don't even go there. So I don't try. But now, along comes a polish that does it all for me, in one little bottle! Picture Polish Illusionist is a beautiful glittery multi-chrome polish with just the right amount of holo glittery flakies running through it to make it twinkle like the night sky. So. Beautiful. As multi-chrome polishes tend to be, this is sheer so I layered two coats over Sally Hansen Navy, Baby so you can see the full shift from pink to purple, blue and turquoise, and even a rusty red at the extreme end (which you can see in the underwater pic at the end). I combined it with a silver accent nail and some simple white stamping. But the Picture Polish is the real star of the show.
Stunning! I nabbed my bottle from the wonderful Sally Magpies when there was a sale, but even though it's back to full price now I suggest you grab it because it wont be in stock for long!
Maybe next time I wear it I will attempt some galaxy art over the top...or maybe I'll wimp out and just admire it instead!
Hx
I'm going to jump straight in today and say I can't do galaxy nails. The fact I've only actually tried them once, about three years ago is irrelevant. It was a fail and I shelved the idea and never tried again. Galaxy nails are so pretty, I "ah" every time I see one, traditional or pastel, and I think to myself I really should try that again someday. But in the back of my mind I still have the fail and a little niggle that says don't even go there. So I don't try. But now, along comes a polish that does it all for me, in one little bottle! Picture Polish Illusionist is a beautiful glittery multi-chrome polish with just the right amount of holo glittery flakies running through it to make it twinkle like the night sky. So. Beautiful. As multi-chrome polishes tend to be, this is sheer so I layered two coats over Sally Hansen Navy, Baby so you can see the full shift from pink to purple, blue and turquoise, and even a rusty red at the extreme end (which you can see in the underwater pic at the end). I combined it with a silver accent nail and some simple white stamping. But the Picture Polish is the real star of the show.
Stunning! I nabbed my bottle from the wonderful Sally Magpies when there was a sale, but even though it's back to full price now I suggest you grab it because it wont be in stock for long!
Maybe next time I wear it I will attempt some galaxy art over the top...or maybe I'll wimp out and just admire it instead!
Hx
Labels:
Blue,
flakies,
glitter,
holo,
indie,
indie polish,
multichrome,
orange,
picture polish,
pink,
purple,
red,
silver,
stamping,
turquoise
Sunday, 18 May 2014
Without the dark, we'd never see the stars...
Hi
Late post from me tonight, today has been a horrible ending to a pretty shitty week so I'll keep this short (like my stupid nails). Today;s Adventures in Stamping theme was to use a pink base but instead of a pink creme I chose some simple stars over this glittery raspberry pink texture polish, Luna by Rimmel from their Space Dust range. To be honest, while this is textured the sparkle is so much nicer with a topcoat, but just one thin layer and you don't lose the finish completely. I stamped some simple silver stars with Cheeky CH5 and Barry M Silver Foil.
Late post from me tonight, today has been a horrible ending to a pretty shitty week so I'll keep this short (like my stupid nails). Today;s Adventures in Stamping theme was to use a pink base but instead of a pink creme I chose some simple stars over this glittery raspberry pink texture polish, Luna by Rimmel from their Space Dust range. To be honest, while this is textured the sparkle is so much nicer with a topcoat, but just one thin layer and you don't lose the finish completely. I stamped some simple silver stars with Cheeky CH5 and Barry M Silver Foil.
Sunday, 13 April 2014
Green meadow flowers
Hi!
This week over at Adventures in Stamping the challenge was to stamp over green. It just so happens that I had Barry M Meadow from the Silk collection sitting in my untried drawer, and so that was the base I decided on! A super pale pearl green with a semi-matte finish, Meadow is a lovely spring colour that took 2 coats to be opaque. Not my favourite from this collection, but greens never are. I stamped over it with Pueen 39, isolating the butterfly from the larger image for the accent nail. I used Konad black pearl to stamp with and then filled the wings and hollow petals with Sinful Colors Out of this World to give them a bit of shimmery iridescence.
I am desperately low on my favourite topcoat (Poshe, in case you were wondering), and what I do have is thick and bubbly, so please excuse the messy edges. I got a little over zealous with the cleanup brush around the cuticles too... More topcoat has been ordered so normal service will be resumed shortly!
Hx
This week over at Adventures in Stamping the challenge was to stamp over green. It just so happens that I had Barry M Meadow from the Silk collection sitting in my untried drawer, and so that was the base I decided on! A super pale pearl green with a semi-matte finish, Meadow is a lovely spring colour that took 2 coats to be opaque. Not my favourite from this collection, but greens never are. I stamped over it with Pueen 39, isolating the butterfly from the larger image for the accent nail. I used Konad black pearl to stamp with and then filled the wings and hollow petals with Sinful Colors Out of this World to give them a bit of shimmery iridescence.
I am desperately low on my favourite topcoat (Poshe, in case you were wondering), and what I do have is thick and bubbly, so please excuse the messy edges. I got a little over zealous with the cleanup brush around the cuticles too... More topcoat has been ordered so normal service will be resumed shortly!
Hx
Labels:
adventures in stamping,
Barry M,
Barry M Silk,
black,
green,
konad,
pueen,
silver,
sinful colors,
stamping
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
A sparkling Minty Moment
Hi!
In the name of self satisfaction, I went for two of my favourites for this manicure - mint and glitter! Add a bit of holo-y shimmer and I'm a happy Helly. It was a simple mani, but so sparkly and happy making, and isn't that what it's all about? The base is Lilypad Lacquer Minty Moment, which has such pretty holo sparkles that just lean pink, and I accented and reverse glitter gradiented (totally a word) with China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara, perfect silver glitter with blue flecks. Mine has thickened up quite a lot, which means it's full coverage in one coat and perfect for a lazy gradient like this, just use a fairly dry brush and a light touch, brushing from cuticle upwards and building up gradually.
This will be my last post for the month of March - this year is zooming by! Check out my Instagram for my monthly mani favourites!
Hx
In the name of self satisfaction, I went for two of my favourites for this manicure - mint and glitter! Add a bit of holo-y shimmer and I'm a happy Helly. It was a simple mani, but so sparkly and happy making, and isn't that what it's all about? The base is Lilypad Lacquer Minty Moment, which has such pretty holo sparkles that just lean pink, and I accented and reverse glitter gradiented (totally a word) with China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara, perfect silver glitter with blue flecks. Mine has thickened up quite a lot, which means it's full coverage in one coat and perfect for a lazy gradient like this, just use a fairly dry brush and a light touch, brushing from cuticle upwards and building up gradually.
This will be my last post for the month of March - this year is zooming by! Check out my Instagram for my monthly mani favourites!
Hx
Labels:
Blue,
China Glaze,
glitter,
glitter gradient,
gradient,
holo,
Lilypad Lacquer,
mint,
silver
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Adventures in Stamping - Grey-diant and roses
Hi!
I love grey and pink together, and I've had this gradient swimming around in the "mani's I need to do" file in my brain for a while so as this week's Sunday Stamping theme was to combine stamping with another technique, I went for it. The grey to pink gradient consists of Sally Hansen Eel Skin and OPI Pink Friday and If You Moust You Moust. I topped my ring finger and thumb with OPI Pure (silver and white gold leaf topcoat) and stamped roses from MoYou Pro XL 10 in Barry M Silver Foil.
I feel like I've dine a lot of gradients lately, so many that I had to buy new make-up sponges! But it's such an effective technique, I can't stop!
Hx
I love grey and pink together, and I've had this gradient swimming around in the "mani's I need to do" file in my brain for a while so as this week's Sunday Stamping theme was to combine stamping with another technique, I went for it. The grey to pink gradient consists of Sally Hansen Eel Skin and OPI Pink Friday and If You Moust You Moust. I topped my ring finger and thumb with OPI Pure (silver and white gold leaf topcoat) and stamped roses from MoYou Pro XL 10 in Barry M Silver Foil.
I feel like I've dine a lot of gradients lately, so many that I had to buy new make-up sponges! But it's such an effective technique, I can't stop!
Hx
Labels:
adventures in stamping,
Barry M,
gradient,
grey,
moyou,
OPI,
OPI Pure,
pink,
sally hansen,
silver,
stamping
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Enchanted Polish February 2014
Hi!
I'm excited about today's post! I have never understood the whole Enchanted Polish hype to be honest (I'm the same with Lynderella or anything limited edition, slap a limited label on anything and it somehow makes it less desirable to me...maybe I'm odd), yes they're pretty but are they really that special? I have always been curious, and since EP release a "monthly" polish I decided I would treat myself to February's for my birthday. Now this was a risk for two reasons - the most obvious being that recently EP has been releasing the monthly polishes as 'surprises', meaning you don't actually get to see the polish you're buying until you have it in your hands (or the first person who gets theirs puts it on Instagram). So it's a big risk, but I knew that if I didn't like it I would be able to sell it on quite easily, as this time there was only a half an hour "window" in which to order so people were bound to miss out. The second risk is one I used to take all the time, but not so much recently. It was an expensive polish (probably the most I have ever spent on one polish) and it is obviously sent from the states, which to my mind brings up all sorts of images of customs fees, damaged packages and Royal Mail hiring a bomb squad to destroy the little bottle of pretty...
Anyway, it arrived, I love it and all is well! February 2014 is a pink toned dusty purple holo that is just about as me as you can get. A lot of the earlier swatches I saw showed it as more pink, but to my mind it is definitely a dusty purple leaning to pink. I'm on the fence about the formula - it is very thick, forming strings and blobs almost imediately, and application was tricky as it dragged a little bit. If you were careful you could get away with one coat, but I stuck to my usual two here. I stamped a little leafy pattern from the new Pueen buffet plate set as an accent, and left it topcoatless, worried about affecting the fiery holo.
The sun even came out for it's debut! I am happy with my purchase, for the most part and I'm sure the formula can be fixed with a bit of thinner (when I eventually get around to buying some...) and I'm sure it will stamp well. The pre-order for March and April 2014 is this evening I believe, but I wont be ordering. I don't think I like buying polish before I know what it looks like, it's scary! I got lucky this time, but usually Lady Luck is not my friend!
Did you go for February 2014? What do you think about the whole blind buying thing?
Hx
I'm excited about today's post! I have never understood the whole Enchanted Polish hype to be honest (I'm the same with Lynderella or anything limited edition, slap a limited label on anything and it somehow makes it less desirable to me...maybe I'm odd), yes they're pretty but are they really that special? I have always been curious, and since EP release a "monthly" polish I decided I would treat myself to February's for my birthday. Now this was a risk for two reasons - the most obvious being that recently EP has been releasing the monthly polishes as 'surprises', meaning you don't actually get to see the polish you're buying until you have it in your hands (or the first person who gets theirs puts it on Instagram). So it's a big risk, but I knew that if I didn't like it I would be able to sell it on quite easily, as this time there was only a half an hour "window" in which to order so people were bound to miss out. The second risk is one I used to take all the time, but not so much recently. It was an expensive polish (probably the most I have ever spent on one polish) and it is obviously sent from the states, which to my mind brings up all sorts of images of customs fees, damaged packages and Royal Mail hiring a bomb squad to destroy the little bottle of pretty...
Anyway, it arrived, I love it and all is well! February 2014 is a pink toned dusty purple holo that is just about as me as you can get. A lot of the earlier swatches I saw showed it as more pink, but to my mind it is definitely a dusty purple leaning to pink. I'm on the fence about the formula - it is very thick, forming strings and blobs almost imediately, and application was tricky as it dragged a little bit. If you were careful you could get away with one coat, but I stuck to my usual two here. I stamped a little leafy pattern from the new Pueen buffet plate set as an accent, and left it topcoatless, worried about affecting the fiery holo.
The sun even came out for it's debut! I am happy with my purchase, for the most part and I'm sure the formula can be fixed with a bit of thinner (when I eventually get around to buying some...) and I'm sure it will stamp well. The pre-order for March and April 2014 is this evening I believe, but I wont be ordering. I don't think I like buying polish before I know what it looks like, it's scary! I got lucky this time, but usually Lady Luck is not my friend!
Did you go for February 2014? What do you think about the whole blind buying thing?
Hx
Labels:
Enchanted Polish,
Enchanted Polish February 2014,
EP,
holo,
pueen,
purple,
review,
silver,
stamping,
swatch
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