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

Pin It

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

Pin It

Meet the Almonds!

Hello!

So, I did it! After um-ing and ah-ing for over a week, with one thumbnail almond shaped and lonely I bit the bullet and shaped all of my nails into almonds! I've wanted to try the shape for a while, but I never thought I'd be able to get my natural nails long and strong enough to handle it. But, thanks to Duri Rejuvacote, here they are! I think I was putting it off because I know it's a weaker shape, and more prone to breaks and tears, but I know that if I do have a bad break and I have to cut them all down, I'm confident that they wont take long to get back to their former glory, thanks to Duri. The shape isn't perfect, but I'm hoping it's something that I'll perfect over the next few weeks as I get used to them. So far, I'm in love! I think they look elegant and cute, and they make my podgy fingers look less sausage-esque. And that's got to be a good thing.

I kept my first manicure simple, so I could revel in the shape a little for a while! I used 2 coats of Rimmel Salon Pro in Beige Babe and the accent finger is 2 coats of a Pretty (from Poundand) leather polish - which is a lot more sparkly and a little bit greener than my pictures show. I know I say this a lot but I am in love! With this manicure, and my nails, at long last!

My final 33 day challenge post goes live tomorrow, with my old nail shape as I wanted to finish the challenge before I filed them, but after that it's almonds all the way! What do you think, I hope you like them! Any particular nail art you'd like to see on them? Of course, there are some Christmas manis coming your way soon too!

Hx

Pin It

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

Pin It

April Tri Polish Challenge day 4 - going out with a bang!

Morning!

We've come to the end of the Tri Polish challenge for this month, and I'm going out with a bang! This manicure is pretty much perfect for me - bright, gradient, stamping and glitter - who could want more! I made a sideways gradient (for the first time - why hadn't I done this before?) on my ring and middle fingers with Essie Off the Shoulder and Rimmel Sky High, and topped it with some animal print stamping (zebra from Gals GA32 and Cheetah from Cheeky CH2. On my pinkie and index fingers I just painted a single colour and added a bit of a reverse glitter gradient using Barry M Silver Glitter and Revlon Stunning.

And here are my four manicures for this month - isn't it interesting how different you can make the same three colours look?!

Next month's colours are red, blue and grey, and I've chosen my polishes already! Come over to Crumpet's Nail Tarts if you want to join in!

Hx

Pin It

April Tri Polish Challenge day 3 - You've been framed...

Morning!

Day 2 of April's Tri polish challenge, and I'm not sure how I feel about this one... The idea was good, but I'm not so sure about the execution. I started with a base of my turquoise (Rimmel Sky High) and used the cling film technique with Nails Inc Candy Orange (reversed on the accent nail). I was hoping for something a bit more jewel-like, but I kind of got mud. Then to fit in with the gem stone theme I painted a frame with a gold striper - thinking that as it was an antique-y sort of gold it would look like a cabuchon set in old gold...hmm not sure if I got there to be honest. It was ok in bright sunlight, but we don't get much of that in good old Blighty so I think it was a bit of a fail...

I think the accent nail looks better, maybe I should have done them all that way. Or maybe I shouldn't have used a muted gold for the frames. Or maybe I should have done something different altogether...

Hx

Pin It

April Tri-Polish challenge day 2 - Sex on the Beach...

Morning :)

For the second day of April's Tri Polish challenge I decided on an orange-pink gradient. (It works in a sex-on-the-beach, so why not on the nails?) Than in keeping with the beach theme I added a turquoise accent nail, some fine gold glitter (Nails Inc Glamour Glitter) and stamped on some tropical flowers from GA31 from the Gals Fairy set. We even had some sunshine when I took the pictures. Voila!

Now if only I was really on a beach with a cocktail in hand...all donations to the Helly-needs-a-holiday fund gratefully received...

Hx

Pin It

April Tri-Polish Challenge day 1 - a spotty and a stripy...

Morning!

So I didn't do any better at blogging last week did I? But I had a lot of fun with my boys while the big one was off school - swimming, shopping, baking, and general tomfoolery! And the baby starts pre-school this week! NOOO! This means I am getting old and just no.

Anyway, back to the nails. The colours for this month's tri-polish challenge hosted by the Crumpets Nail Tarts over on Facebook (join us, we don't bite...) are pink, turquoise (not blue) and orange. I'm usings Nails Inc Candy Orange, Rimmel London Sky High and Essie Off The Shoulder - a choice I may possibly regret as none of them are as opaque as I thought they would be... For the first manicure of the four I just sat down with my colours and went at it with a striping brush and a dotting tool. Enjoy!

Hx

Pin It

New 31 day challenge, day 6 - Favourite Colour Family

Hello!

Today's theme for the 31 day challenge I took part in in January was to create a mani using your favourite colour family. You have no idea how hard it was to pick a colour family. My favourite colour is purple, but is it my favourite colour family? Since favourite colour came up later in the challenge I decided to go for something different, and picked turquoisy-greeny-bluey for my favourite colour family, and came up with a braid mani using Models Own Jade Stone (pinkie), Accessorize Mermaid (index) and Accessorize Superstar (thumb).

I'm still not sold on these braid manis, they look ok, but they can be a bit of a pain...what do you think?

Hx

Pin It

We Stamp on Sundays - BM 203 over China Glaze Atlantis and a crapton of glitter...

Hello!

This week's theme for stamping Sunday was a plate ending in three - so I pretty much took that as an excuse to break out the glitter and go to town with a full nail design. I used three birthday club polishes from the lovely Jebba (Mode Party Girl), Janelle (CG Atlantis) and Kathryn (Pop Rocks Groupie), and added some pretty irredescent glitter by La Femme beauty (the name has rubbed off the bottle). One it was topcoated and dry I stamped with Barry M Silver Foil. I'm planning a big post with all of my birthday club gifts once they're all here!

Before I stamped...or cleaned up...

I was kind of hoping for a fish scales/mermaid tail effect, but it looks more like a chunky jumper! Still like it though :)

I may not be around much for a few days, because I have an infected finger and it's making things difficult :( It is sooooooo sore! You would never think that having a sore finger could make you feel so rotten. The next Purple Crumpet Spring challenge is due on Tuesday, and it's one I really want to do, so hopefully I'll manage it...

If you want to stamp on Sunday, click here!
Hx

Pin It

NOTD - I don't wanna see your Peacock...

Hi!

Today I have a fail of a polish to show you. I swear it wasn't my fault, I wanted to love this polish, I love the colour but it wasn't to be. 17 Fast Finish Peacock is a pretty turquoise metallic. But that is where the "good" points end. Firstly, it was super sheer. 4 coats and there was still VNL under some lights. Secondly, the colour just didn't suit me, not the polishes fault I'll admit, but I think I was expecting more teal and less green. Thirdly, 17 weren't joking when they called it fast finish - it was too bloody fast! After the first coat the polish started drying on the brush before I even got it anywhere near my nail so it was draggy and streaky and a pig to apply. There were even a few lumps in there. Ew. But, I somehow managed to get sheet marks and wrinkles, even though I didn't go to bed until at least 2 hours after I finished painting. Finally, I got a duff brush. I was pretty unhappy with this mani from the word go, but I wore it for a day and didn't have time to change it last night, so to be able to bear it another day I did what I do best and shattered all over it.

A coat of MUA Nail Quake in Broken Arrow and order was restored. I even think it looks kind peacock feathery, doesn't it? And I got lots of positive comments on it at playgroup today. I swear all the other Mums think I'm bonkers. They might have a point...

Hx

Pin It

NOTD - Natural Collection Topaz + Stamping

Well, this mani turned out as a semi fail, and I lay the blame completely on the Natural Collection polish. I'm so disappointed, I had high hopes for this polish (even though it's lain untried for months...) The bottle shows a gorgeous pearly blue but on the nail the blue disappears and you're left with a bubbly, brush-strokey mess. Boo. I have another Natural Collection polish, Raspberry (which I blogged about when I was starting out but the pics are too awful to link to, you can look back if you want a laugh) and I loved it. I would say you can't win them all and these polishes are less than £2, but so are Beauty UK and MUA polishes...

Anyway, once this hot mess was dry I stamped stars over it using Miss Sporty Hypnotic Turquoise and two of the first Bundle Monster plates, BM05 and BM20. It's a subtle look, over powered by the mega-pearly Natural Collection I think, but I'll try it again, with a different base colour.

So pretty in the bottle. On the nail, ew. Look at the mess that's the middle finger!

What do you think? Are you a pearl finish lover or hater? Any polishes, cheap or otherwise, that have let you down this badly? So sad it's not prettier :(

Hx

Pin It