Tuesday's Talons

Currently listening to: She Makes Me Wanna by JLS

Hello ladies,

Remember I recently said that although I have a folder of manicures I've seen on your blogs which I love and would like to attempt to recreate, I very rarely actually try to do them? Well today I tried:

The inspiration for this manicure came from Cutesville and you can see her original manicure here. Thanks for inspiring me :-)

I chose a different accent finger and my dots are unintentionally bigger but overall I was pleased with how this turned out. I used Barry M Matte White and MUA Shade 2 for this manicure as well as my dotting tool and Born Pretty Store image plate m59.

What do you think? Do you try to recreate manicures that you love too?

Bye for now,
Laura

Monday's Manicure (Nail Fail)

Currently listening to: Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5

Hello dear readers,

Yesterday I showed you a swatch of Kiko 338 and today I'd like to show you the nail art I subsequently added to that base:

As you can probably see, it didn't quite work out the way I had envisaged.

My first step was to stamp using Konad Special White and my new Born Pretty Store image plate m65.

[My favourite nail]

The diagonal lines didn't stamp too well so I decided to try and cover up my mistakes by stamping a floral image from the same plate using Konad Special Pink. I always use floral images to save a manicure but unfortunately my stamping polish smudged a lot and I made it even worse by applying my topcoat too soon.

I had no time to redo this manicure before going out for the day and I hate having bare nails so I was forced to wear this for a day before I was finally able to remove it. Although this effort was a nail fail, I'm looking forward to re-doing it properly soon as I liked the overall effect.

Do you ever stick with a nail fail and hope that you like it more as the day goes on or do you remove bad manicures as soon as possible?

Bye for now,
Laura

Sunday's Swatch ft Kiko 338

Currently watching: One Tree Hill

Good morning girls!

Just a quick post from me today to showcase one of my Kiko polishes, number 338:

I bought this in May and have only worn it a couple of times although looking at my nails I think it deserves more love.

This shade is hard to define as although it looks like a powder blue here, in other lights it takes on a much darker tone. I sometimes wonder if it could be a dupe for Models Own Beth's Blue but I'm not so sure, I think Beth's Blue is lighter. What do you think?

Bye for now,
Laura

Saturday's Stamping

Currently reading: Game of Thrones

Good morning lovely readers,

I hope your weekend has started well and have you have something enjoyable planned for the next couple of days :-) Today I'd like to show you a floral manicure I did recently:

My base was Hibiscus by Natural Collection.

I then stamped using Konad Special White and Mash plate m25.

Sometimes the image came out in the centre of my nail and sometimes at the side but the original plan was to have the flowers at the side ;-)

A very simply stamping manicure but one which I quite liked.

Bye for now,
Laura

Tuesday's Talons

Currently reading: The Girl Who Played with Fire

Hi girls!

Today I'd like to show you a rather bright and spring-like manicure I did recently:

My base colours were Barry M Blue Moon and All About Nails Honey Pink.

I then stamped using Bundle Monster plate BM224 and Barry M Pure Turquoise and Konad Special polish in pink.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love this image!

Even if mistakes are made whilst stamping they're hardly noticeable with this stamp.

What do you think girls? Is it too early to be doing spring manicures?

Bye for now,
Laura

Thursday's Talons

Currently watching: One Tree Hill

Good morning lovely readers!

Here is my last (probably) Valentine's-themed manicure, featuring Dior Graphic Berry and Barry M Silver Foil.

I bought the Barry M polish at the weekend specifically for stamping. The Miss Sporty one I'm used to using is good but it can occasionally cause me a little trouble. Plus, it's almost empty.

For my stamping I used my ever faithful Red Angel RA110 plate and Mash m56.

As you can see, stamping my tips was difficult. The quality of my image plate isn't the best. I'm sure the original Konad version of this stamp is much better.

If I'd been inclined, I'm sure I could have improved the hearts along my tips using a small nail brush easily enough but the gaps don't bother me too much.

Do you like this one? Do you ever touch up your stamping?

Bye for now,
Laura

Tuesday's Talons

Currently listening to: Drop in the Ocean by Ron Pope

Good morning ladies!

As promised, today I'm showing you a manicure featuring Boots 17 Midnight Sapphire and yep, it's another Valentine's-themed one:

I stamped using Barry M Gold Foil and Red Angel plates RA110 and RA120.

They are definitely my most used Red Angel plates. The one with multiple hearts causes me problems whenever I use it due to placing issues but the single heart is pretty reliable.

What do you think girls? Are you a fan of Valentine's-themed manicures?

I hope so because I still have one more to show you!

Bye for now,
Laura

Monday's Manicure

Currently watching: One Tree Hill

Good morning dear readers!

As Valentine's Day is this week and I've been seeing a lot of Valentine's-themed manicures on your blogs recently, I decided to join in the fun!

I chose Honey Pink by All About Nails as my base. I love this colour, I really do. And it was only 99p.

I then stamped using a black polish by Wibo and Red Angel plates RA110 and RA120.

This polish isn't the best for stamping so once it runs out I think I'll be investing in a Barry M black.

I then added a glitter coat using Color Combos.

What do you think?

Bye for now,
Laura

Sunday's Swatch ft Boots 17

Currently watching: Goodfellas

Good morning girls!

Today I'd like to show you a swatch of a relatively new polish, Midnight Sapphire by Boots 17:

I bought this in December I think and I believe I've shown it to you once before, when I used it for stamping.

However, I thought it was about time I showed you a proper swatch of it as it's a really beautiful polish.

Application was easy, the photos show two coats without a topcoat. Look how glossy it is :-)

Although they don't show in these pictures, flashes of shimmer appear depending on the light.

What do you think of this shade girls? I hope you like it as I'll be featuring it again later during the week!

Bye for now,
Laura

All About Me

Currently listening to: Polish Girl by Neon Indian

Good evening girls!

Sorry I haven't blogged this past week. To get me back in to the swing of things I've decided to answer the questions posed to me by the wonderful bloggers at Sekhmet's Purple Castle, Nail Addict, Sara Loves Pretty Little Things, Red Hair and Black Nail Polish and Paint That Nail. Thank you all for tagging me for 11 Questions :-)

The first thing I'm supposed to do is share 11 facts about myself with you so here we go:
My favourite lunch is currently mackerel, apple and beetroot
I'm going to Amsterdam for the first time this summer
Today I bought my first Max Factor polish (can you guess what it is??)
I love animal prints
I like scented candles and wax melts
I love writing and receiving letters
I have thousands of photos I'd like to develop and put in albums
I'm going to my first rugby match soon
The last film I saw at the cinema was The Descendants, which I didn't at all enjoy
I have a folder of manicures I've seen on blogs that I love but I never try to recreate any of them
Tonight I'm going to watch American Beauty

Now I'm supposed to answer the 11 questions put to me by the person who tagged me but, well, I don't think anyone wants to read my answers to 55 questions so I'm going to select a sample:

What is your favourite nail polish colour?
Purple

What was the last thing you watched on tv?
Top Gear

Do you prefer brights or nudes or vampy for nails?
Brights

What nail polish trend do you love/hate?
I hate newspaper nails and I love almost all other trends!

Do you prefer long or short nails?
Definitely long but not ridiculously long

What do you do for a living?
I'm a trainee Chartered Accountant

Do you remember your dreams?
Occasionally but I'm not a big dreamer, most of my dreams relate to work or any repetitive activity I've been doing during the day eg Sudoku!

What is your favourite book?
Digging to America by Anne Tyler and The Distance Between Us by Maggie O'Farrell

Where would you like to live?
America, Canada, China, France, Japan, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain...I like to travel and experience different places and cultures

What was the first blog you started reading?
Dottie K

What is your favourite polish you currently own?
Hmm, tough one but let's say Julia by Essence, Pink Spice by Accessorize, Digital by Milani and Hi-Res by Milani

What is your favourite nail polish brand?
Essence

What brand of nail polish do you want to try but haven't had the chance to?
Nubar, Wet and Wild, Catrice etc

Stamping or freehand nail art, which is your favourite?
Stamping, because I find it much easier. I envy those bloggers who are so talented at freehand!

I think that's enough for now. If you would like to answer these questions and let your readers know more about you then please consider yourself tagged!

Bye for now,
Laura

Gold Glitter NOTD

Currently reading: Cross Country by James Patterson

Good afternoon girls!

Today I'd like to share with you a simply layering manicure I've been wearing for the past couple of days:

My base is a gold shade by Miss Sporty, excellent for stamping but also quite nice on its own.

I then used my Saffron London gold glitter topcoat for extra glitz. I like that is has both big and small particles of glitter in it.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,
Laura

Oh So Versatile

Hi girls!

I was recently given The Versatile Blogger award by three lovely ladies so I thought it was about time I posted about it.

I actually already received this award ages ago but it's nice to be given it again, this time by Divineblush, Red Hair and Black Nail Polish and Paint That Nail. Thank you! Please visit these blogs and say hello if you aren't familiar with them already!

The rules of this award are that I should share 7 facts about myself and then pass this award on to 15 other bloggers. I feel a lot of bloggers already have this award but there are certain bloggers out there who don't appear to have this award and who I think deserve it so I would like to give this award to:
MeMa's Mani's
Nails by Carol
Tales of Knit and Nails
Persistently Glittery
Colorsplash Nails

As for the facts, I've been tagged by a few bloggers for the 11 Questions tag that's going around so I think you'll learn more about me when I post about that tag ;-)

Bye for now,
Laura

NOTD ft Striping Tape

Currently listening to: Higher Window by Josh Groban

Hello girls!

Today I'd like to show you yet another bow manicure but this time with an added extra: striping tape.

I wore this manicure for two days and kept it simple for the first day: two coats of Pink Spice by Accessorize with my accent finger stamped using m59 and Barry M Gold Nail Effects:

Excuse the background in the photos; I had to take these in my car.

On the second day I decided to add gold striping tape along the tips of my nails:

I think the effect is quite striking and I'll definitely need to keep this design in mind for future Christmas-themed manicures!

Although the tape is sticky on the reverse, I found it best to place it on top of a topcoat as otherwise I found the sides of the tape came loose from my nail very quickly.

Have you used striping tape before? Do you like this manicure?

Bye for now,
Laura