Saturday's Savings: Peachy Nails

Currently listening to: Without you by Glee

Good morning ladies,

Sometimes I'm hit by a great idea for a manicure during the day but when I come home from work I find that I can't be bothered to remove my current manicure, especially if it's a heavy duty glitter one.  When the Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover was released, I was very interested to try it but the price (£4.99) put me off.  Then I heard about a cheaper equivalent available for 89p in Home Bargains...

Since I haven't tried the Bourjois version I have no idea how it compares to the Easy Nails offering but I think this product is great.  To remove your polish all you do is put your finger into the pot and twist it around for a few seconds, slightly longer if you're wearing a dark colour or a shimmer/glitter polish.  

While this works well at removing a light sprinkling of glitter, or glitter tips, I've found that it's difficult to remove a heavy duty glitter manicure and doing so will leave glitter particles that will annoy you the next time you use this.  What it is good for, in terms of glitter, is loosening the particles so it is very easy to swipe your nails with nail polish remover and cotton wool to remove the glitter after.

 

The light coloured sponge does become discoloured with use and the sponge starts to disintegrate quickly so a pot of this will not last as long as a bottle of nail polish remover but for the price and convenience I think this product is a must-have.  I like it so much that I recently bought three, one for manicures featuring light colours, one for dark colours and one for glitter.

What do you think girls?  Is this a product you've tried?  Does the thought of removing your current manicure deter you from painting your nails?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Sinful Colors Cinderella

Currently listening to: Falling Slowly by Josh Groban

Hello dear readers,

Last week I heard the amazing news that Sinful Colors polish is now being sold in the UK at Boots :-)  I think I've had Sinful Colors Cinderella on my wishlist for well over a year so I rushed to Boots as soon as I could.

Cinderella is what I would call a sky blue glass-flecked polish, full of pink or orange shimmering particles depending on the light.  I originally wanted it as a base for my Tony Moly blue glitter and also so I could do a Cinderella shoe manicure using the Bundle Monster shoe image plate.

Before Cinderella came to the ball, my original base for the Tony Moly glitter was Barry M Blue Moon, which you can see is a paler polish containing traces of blue shimmer.

I would never wear Blue Moon on its own as it's too pale for my skin tone and isn't very flattering but I would be happy wearing Cinderella on its own since it is a lot brighter.  If I were comparing the two, I would say Cinderella is easier to apply.  It's also cheaper, with 15ml selling for £1.99 compared to Barry M's 10ml for £2.99.

Finally, Tony Moly blue glitter with Cinderella, the combination I've been dreaming of.

What do you think girls?  Have you tried Sinful Colors polish?  Which colours would you recommend?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Spring Flowers

Currently watching: Game of Thrones

Good morning girls,

Despite the crazy weather we've been experiencing over the past few days, I am happy to report that I feel the worst of winter is now over for my nails and I seem to have rediscovered my inspiration for nail art.  Yay :-)

I'm celebrating with a manicure featuring spring flowers and the following polishes:

 Essence Silver Glitter Nail Art Striper, Easy Paris Shade 48, Barry M Coral and Barry M Pomegranate.

 I started by painting my nails white and then painting three vertical stripes of silver glitter down each nail.  I then stamped two trios of flowers in the corner of each nail using Bundle Monster plate BM 311 and Barry M Coral and Pomegranate.  As you can see, the Coral stamping came out really pale so I don't think this would show up at all on other colours but I seem to have got away with it here and I really loved the end result.

[By happy coincidence my nails matched my bedding]

What do you think girls?  Have you started incorporating spring into your nail art?

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Stamping

Currently watching: Kung Fu Panda

Good morning lovely ladies,

I can't believe it's been a week since my last post!  I need spring to arrive and save my nails from these awful conditions...

Today I have a manicure featuring two polishes to show you, Essence I'm Bluetiful and ELF Pearl:

 

I love the Essence shade, with its scattering of silver glitter particles, but the ELF polish is one I rarely wear as I find application a nightmare.  Aside from being the type of polish that shows up every brush stroke, it takes forever to dry and the brush is difficult to use.

 On my accent nail I stamped a bow using I'm Bluetiful and Born Pretty Store image plate m59.

 I was inspired by my new purse:

What do you think girls?  Have you tried ELF polishes and had more success with them than me?

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Stamping: Lucky Holo Clover

Currently watching: There Will Be Blood 

Good morning lovely ladies,

Just a quick post for you today as I didn't manage to take many pictures of this manicure!  Inspired by all the Irish-themed manicures I've seen on Instagram and on your blogs lately, I decided to do my own for St Patrick's Day:

 

Two coats of (my new favourite brand) Color Club Cherubic, a gold holo, stamped with Kiko 401 and Bundle Monster plate BM03.

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

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Cascade Cool Glequins

Currently watching: Game of Thrones 

Good morning girls,

After sharing my first Essie polish with you on Tuesday I thought it only right to show you my second, Cascade Cool:

I should start by saying that these photos are not colour accurate at all; in real life Cascade Cool is a beautiful dusky pink shade and warmer than it appears here.

 I've been wearing this shade at work (yep, this is day number five for this manicure ie a very long time) so couldn't add any loud nail art which was fine as I had a simple and subtle look in mind:

The addition of a pretty pink glequin to the base of each nail made this manicure unique while keeping it classy.

What do you think girls?  How do you keep your manicures work-appropriate?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Essie Bikini So Teeny

Currently listening to: All That Echoes by Josh Groban

Good morning lovely ladies,

Last Friday I had the day off work so I decided to do a spot of shopping in the morning.  One of the shops I went to was TK Maxx where I found some lovely nail polish delights, including my very first Essie polishes.

 

Bikini So Teeny is the one I tried first.  I would describe this as a periwinkle blue with a smattering of silver shimmer, which isn't very visible on the nail.

 Sticking with my new favourite trend, I added Essence Disco Disco to my tips for a simple but eye-catching look.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Oh My Glitter

Currently listening to: Misty Mountains by Jonas Kvarnstrom

Good morning ladies,

A few weeks ago I used Essence Oh My Glitter in a manicure and a few of you mentioned how much you liked the colour.  I do too but it's also a great polish for layering: 

 

Here we have Oh My Glitter as a base for Tony Moly purple glitter.

 The purple glitter has a milky base which ever so slightly transfers the look of Oh My Glitter.

 I think they make the perfect combination.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Mid-week Manicure: Glequin Half-Moon

Currently listening to: Without You by Glee

Hello dear readers,

As the title suggests, today I have a glequin half-moon manicure to show you:

 

 The base is a no-name, no-number shade from a Polish brand called Glamour.  I bought it in Poland three years ago for about 50p but judging from how much is still in the bottle, I haven't used it often.  The quality isn't great (not a surprise considering the price) and the colour isn't as bright as the bottle suggests so I think this will be the last time I use it.

 After creating my half-moon manicure, I painted my nails with my top coat and applied silver glequins (pieces of glitter) to the edge of each half-moon using a small wooden stick.

 I love how effective this design is, especially considering how simple it was to create.  I can't wait to try it again using different colours.

What do you think girls?  How do you incorporate glequins into your nail designs?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Disco on Elizabeth Street

Currently listening to: I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li

Good morning lovely ladies,

Recently I showed you my first manicure featuring glitter tips with Essence Disco Disco and Dior Graphic Berry.  I got a lot of positive feedback on it (both here and on Instagram) and I realised how much I loved the look too so I decided to reproduce it, this time featuring a softer colour:

 

I used two to three coats of Nails Inc Elizabeth Street as my base.  I haven't worn this polish much since I got it but it's such a wearable shade, and appropriate for work.  I love how milky it looks too.  Looking at it now makes me think I should try it as a base for my pink Tony Moly glitter polish...

 My next step was to dab Essence Disco Disco on the tips of my nails, allowing the pieces of glitter to stay pretty much where the brush naturally distributed them.

What do you think girls?  Is this a look you like?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Floral NOTD

Currently watching: Grey's Anatomy

Hello lovely ladies,

I joined Instagram a while ago (you can follow me @LH24Laura) and one of the things I love doing is looking at pictures of nail art.  I was inspired to try a design created by @jesilva2012 which I loved as soon as I saw it however, it turned out to be slightly too ambitious for me.  Here are the results:

 I painted my accent nail with Ciate for Asos in Blake and used my dotting tool and Easy Paris shade 48 to create white flowers.

 For the other nails I used a sponge to add the strips of pink and white before adding a row of flowers with a dotting tool.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura