Thursday's Talons: Silver Swirls

Currently listening to: Friendly Fire by Tyler James

Good morning girls,

I don't often wear dark colours on my nails but when choosing my polish for this manicure my eyes alighted on an inky blue shade which I just had to wear.

 

 

 This is 17 Midnight Sapphire by 17 and the accent nail is Barry M Silver Foil.

 I avoid dark colours to prevent staining but actually, I'm happy to risk some staining if it means I get to wear beautiful shades like this more frequently.

For the stamping, I used both polishes and Bundle Monster plate BM 314.  I am so in love with this look, it might possibly be my favourite manicure of the year!

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Army Florals

Currently watching: Location, Location, Location

Hello ladies,

I was at a loss when deciding how to paint my nails at the weekend so I ended up looking in my "inspiration" file.  It did the trick as I was inspired to try a manicure I'd recently seen on The Polished Perfectionist's blog.

 The colours are not very "me" but I think it's good to try new things, especially when it comes to nail art.

 I started out by painting my nails with a military green shade, Kiko 346.  I used a no-name cream shade from Color Club for my accent nail.

 I then applied a floral nail decal to my accent nail which is from a pack I bought from Born Pretty Store during a flash sale several months ago.

 My final step was to place a silver glequin at the base of each nail to complete the look, a look which I was really happy with.

What do you think girls?  Which bloggers have inspired you lately?

Bye for now,

Laura

Saturday's Sparkle: Hot Diamond Hugs

Currently watching: Peaky Blinders 

Good morning ladies,

As you may be aware, at the start of the month I relocated and moved house.  As part of the moving process I had to pack up all my nail polish which allowed me to rediscover some hidden gems and also spot colour combinations I felt worked well together.

 

 

One of these combinations was grey and pink so for this manicure I used Essence Free Hugs and Beauty UK Soft Grey.

 

These shades are so soft and pretty that I decided against bringing in darker colours with stamped designs and instead went for simple glitters.  The accent nail features Barry M Diamond Glitter and the other nails are sporting Models Own Hot Stuff.  The grey background topped with silver glitter has now gone straight to the top of my favourite combinations list as I love how elegant and sparkly the combination is.

What do you think girls?  What are your favourite combinations right now?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Autumnal Paisley

Currently watching: Educating Yorkshire

Hi girls,

Over the past week or so there's been a shift in the weather which lets us know that autumn is on its way.  It's too early for manicures featuring autumn leaves but I was inspired to do my first autumn-themed manicure this week.

 

 

My chosen colours, from left to right, are Nails Inc Portobello Market, Nail Stylure Orange, Barry M Coral, 17 Knockout Red and Nails Inc Tate.

 The shade on my index finger is one of the polishes I bought online from the Korea Department Store.  I hadn't worn it prior to this manicure but it's a rusty orange shade which I think I'll get a lot of use out of this autumn.

 I then stamped using Barry M Gold Foil and Bundle Monster plate BM 315.

 Although I think the shade my thumb is a bit of a miss, I love how the rest of the colours go together.  I can't wait to try more designs using this colour scheme.

What do you think girls?  Is it too early for autumn manicures?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Mystic Purple Flowers

Currently watching: Location, Location, Location 

Good morning dear readers,

Today's manicure features three pretty purples and some bad stamping.

 

I started off by painting my nails with Barry M Prickly Pear and created an accent nail with Models Own Mystic Mauve.

 I then stamped a floral pattern using Barry M Bright Purple and Mash plate m64.

 I don't use my Mash plates often but when I do, I usually choose this image as it's one of my favourites.

 Unfortunately I messed up the stamping on my middle finger but hey, I don't think it's that noticeable in real life.

What do you think girls?  What brand of stamping plates is your favourite?

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Sparkles: Butterfly Fairytale

Currently listening to: Worry About You by Tyler James 

Hello ladies,

Today I'd like to show you a polish I bought a while ago online from Korea Department Store.  It's always risky buying online as it's hard to tell how accurate the sample pictures are and I have to say I was disappointed by how pale and sheer this polish turned out to be.

Not to worry though, I made it work by applying two coats over a coat of Essence Sweet as Candy.

 I then stamped butterflies with H&M Purple Flash, Konad m36 and Bundle Monster 307.

What do you think girls?  Do you ever buy your polish online?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Summer Confetti

Currently watching: The Hotel Inspector 

Good morning lovely ladies,

I recently showed you a new addition to my polish collection, L'Oreal Confetti.  The first time I wore it I layered it over a pastel purple shade and as much as I loved the look, I knew next time I would be layering Confetti over a whole host of pastels.

Next time happens to be now and the colours I chose for this look are, from left to right, Essence Absolutely Blue, Essence Free Hugs, Nail Pop It's Mint, Nails Inc Spitalfields and Barry M Prickly Pear.  Phew.

 After painting each nail a different shade and letting the polish dry a little, I added a coat of Confetti, which dried to a matte finish.

 I prefer a glossy look which is what I got after using my topcoat.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Saturday's Sparkles: Oh My Gold Glitter

Currently listening to: Worry About You by Tyler James 

Good morning ladies,

I moved house on Tuesday and spent the rest of the week making myself at home (and waiting for broadband to be installed).  All that remains for me to do is find a new place to photograph my manicures ;-)

 

 Today's manicure features Essence Oh My Glitter, which I have praised before.  It's a rich purple speckled with red, orange and purple shimmer.

 Tip wear is pretty bad unfortunately but I can look beyond that.

 I then topped it with a layer of gold glitter by Saffron (shade 8).

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: 24/7 Circus

Currently reading: 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult 

Morning girls!

Let's start with some good news: I found out on Friday that I passed the three exams I sat in July!  I think that calls for a bright and glittery manicure to celebrate ;-)

 

My base colour is 24/7 by Sinful Colors, a polish which I had been wanting to purchase for months but it always seemed to be sold out.  I finally got it and while I do love the colour, I was very disappointed by the application and finish.  Neons are troublesome polishes.

 This isn't a polish I would ever wear on its own, purely because the finish is so streaky and the ridges on my nails are really emphasised.

 I still wanted to keep the manicure bright and playful so I added a layer of Essence Circus Confetti, a multicoloured glitter topper.

What do you think girls?  What good news have you received lately?

Bye for now,

Laura