Neon Stars featuring The Nail Arcade!

Hi!

Today I have some cute neon star studs from The Nail Arcade to share with you! I love anything neon on my nails, but haven't ventured into the world of neon studs yet, so these star shaped ones really appealed to me! I used a mix of the stars to accent some neon star stamping using Pueen 44 and my new Mundo de Unas stamping polishes (which I will do a separate post on soon). They were easy to apply (just popped them onto some wet topcoat, and then added another layer of topcoat to seal them in) and they've so far lasted three days with none pinging off or losing their colour! I think these are a great way to take your neon into Autumn/Winter if you want to be seasonally appropriate, and don't break the bank at just 95p for a wee bag of 50 studs. What's more, they are a UK based store, so you don't have to wait weeks for them to arrive, and you're supporting local business. Win win!

The lovely Rachel at The Nail Arcade sent me a sweet little package of goodies to try out, so you can expect more posts from me singing their praises! And in the meantime check them out on Etsy, Twitter and Facebook!

Hx

Some products in this post were provided free of charge for review purposes. As always all opinions are 100% my own. All other products were purchased myself.

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Why does it have to be such a blue kiss?

Hi!

It's been a while since I've done a Sunday Stamping mani, and this weeks theme was to use a colour combination you've not used before. I had to think hard, but eventually decided to use pink and blue and a design inspired by Mod Nails. I left off the bow from her design, as I only have white ones, and replaced it with a stud, and moved the designs around a bit. The polishes used were OPI Pink Friday and Sally Hansen Insta Dry Blue By, and the glitter was China Glaze Snow Globe. The kisses were from two Bundle Monster plates and an Essence plate, and the stripes (first time I've got them straight!) from MoYou Pro 01. Oh, and I went back to almonds which I think suits my curvy bendy nails much better when they're long.

I like this as a colour combo, and I wouldn't have thought of it if it wasn't for the challenge. I love how challenges continue to push me, even if I'm not always happy with the result! This time, I was though. Happy Helly.

Hx

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Deja vu...but not in blue

Hi!

I loved my blinged up turquoise nails for last week's GOT polish challenge so much that when it came to chosing my nails for a night out last weekend I decided to recreate them - in a neon hue! The stamping-glitter-stud combo is cure to become a favourite this summer I think! This time I used Models Own beach bag from their polish for tans collection and while I love the colour the formula left a bit to be desired. This is three coats, which I don't mind in itself, but it was so thick I had to add thinner halfway through the second. I must admit I did my toes with it too, but I wouldn't expect a polish to go as gloopy as it did after only two uses, especially as I expect people buy these as their "summer" manicure colour (that is afterall what they're marketed as, no?) I often find this with Models Own, their colours totally knock my socks off, but the formula sometimes doesn't live up to that. I'll move on...! I used Models Own Bora Bora as the accent nail, and added studs from Born Pretty Store and stamping from the Pueen Buffet set with Barry M Gold Foil. Teamed with an LBD and my dancing shoes, and I was in cheesy disco heaven!

My camera freaked out a little bit at the colour, it really is that bright! I absolutely love it, no doubt about that, I just wish the formula was better. Have you picked up any MO polish for tans? I do think it's made my pasty sausage fingers look a bit more tanned!

Hx

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GOT Polish? Blingggg!

Hi!

This week's GOT polish theme is bling! Now, I can bling it up as much as the next glitter addict, but I went for a bit of subtlety. Just a bit mind. I used Rimmel Turquoise Sky as the base, with Maybelline Knitted Gold and Sinful Colors Paris on the accent nail. I stamped two nails with Cheeky XL C and Barry M Gold Foil, and then finished with some small square studs from Born Pretty Store.

I actually really love this, and might try something similar when my toes need changing in a few days...I've only ever stamped my toes once and it was a disaster, so maybe this time it'll make it to the blog! I've not posted my toesies in a while...

Hx

An InLinkz Link-up

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Studs and Roses

Hi!

I was in the mood for roses, and I won some of Mr Barry M's new matte polishes from the lovely Lane's Laquers, so I decided to combine the two and throw some studs at it for good measure! I used Vanilla and Espresso, stamped with Konad Black and plate BM 323 for the roses. The stripes were freehanded and came out somewhat thicker than I wanted, and none of it was topcoated to keep the matte effect. But this also meant that 6 out of the 8 studs pinged off while I was getting my eyebrows threaded...

I don't know, but it kinda reminded me of Robyn Thicke when Miley Cyrus ground her rubber clad but against his groin. Not pleasant. I liked it enough but it didn't last the day... Vanilla is going to be a favourite though. What do you think?

Hx

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33 Day Challenge day 28 - lines!

Hi all!

I must say, I'm rather proud of this manicure! I didn't want to just go for stripes for the 'lines' prompt, so I made a stamper decal using Konad S6, Konad Black and Barry M silver and gold foils. I paired it with black and gold studs, and gold and black studs on the thumb (Models Own Bora Bora and gold studs painted black!). I had a few bubbles and a wrinkle when I applied the decals, but I actually think in this case the foil polish was quite forgiving and it didn't look horrendous. Well, I hope it didn't!

Possibly my favourite mani of the challenge? It's high up there at least! Not long to go now...

Hx

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Un-girly Nails featuring Beauty UK Denim FX

Hi! Hope you've all had a good weekend!

I almost skipped Sunday Stamping this week, because the theme was un-girly nails (nothing pink, glittery, flowery, cutesy etc) and I didn't have a clue what to do! That is, until these lovely denim effect polishes dropped through my door on Saturday morning! I do love me an effect, and these really are something special. Matte black and dusty blue polishes, with teeny specks of silver that really do look like well-loved jeans and I couldn't resist some nail art!

I started with two coats of Black Denim on two fingers, and Blue Denim on the rest. The blue could have been a one coater, but the effect deepens with the second coat. Then I added studs in a pocket shape to the middle finger (popping them straight into the wet polish as topcoat would take away the matte effect) before stamping silver zips on the fingers either side. In all, it was a really quick, funky manicure! The polish dries quickly, and without topcoat adding another step, these are going to be a polishes I reach for when I'm a hurry!

Beauty UK are one of my favourite British brands, and these polishes don't disappoint. They're always on trend, affordable (£3.49 from Superdrug or the Beauty UK website) and good quality. I have some more to show you later in the week!

Hx

The product featured was a PR sample provided to me for free for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own and 100% honest. Please see my disclaimer in the tab above for further details.

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Studded Skittlette - Born Pretty Store Review

Hi!

It's been a while, again! We all know technology hates me, and my camera decided it wasn't going to transfer the pics I'd lovingly taken with it onto my computer. But I threatened it with a sledgehammer bought a new USB cable and it seems to be working again...

So, I'm back with a rather kick-ass mani, even if I do say so myself! The lovely Daisy from Born Pretty Store sent me an awesome nail art wheel full of studs to play with, so play I did! The wheel contains 12 little compartments, each containing a handful of studs of various shapes, sizes and colours. The lid turns so you can take out one group of studs at a time, which is useful if you're clumsy like me because if you dropped it you'd only be chasing around one compartments worth of tiny studs!

I like the variety I got in my wheel. There are: 3 different square studs (silver, gold, and a slightly smaller bronze colour), 4 different round studs (tiny gold one, medium black ones and larger ones in silver and gold),  rings in silver and gold, large silver stars, gold hearts and gold petal shapes. I think the stars might be a little big for my nails, but you can use these to decorate practically anything, not just nails.

I decided to create a skittle mani using some of the gold square studs and neutral colours. For this manicure the polishes I used were Color Club Nomadic In Nude, Seventeen Rock Hard Nail Effects Grey (textured polish), Beauty UK Slate Grey and a black striper. I used topcoat to attach the studs, although you could also use nail glue (I can never manage to not stick my fingers together though...)

As you can see, I can fit 4 of these studs down the length of my middle nail, which I was pleased with. I loved the finished look and got lots of compliments :) Look out for these in lots of future looks because I loved it and they were so easy to work with! They're a bit heavier than glequins or normal rhinestones, so I did have to be a bit more cautious when placing them, but so worth it. And as I was able to remove them carefully with an orange stick, I'll be able to use them again!

The studs are available from Born Pretty Store here for just $4.89, and they have a huge range of other studs and nail art goodies too. And of course you can use my discount code NBL91 for a further 10% off - and delivery is free to! Huzzah!

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