Monday's Manicure: Bobbing for Argyle Print

Currently watching: The Big Bang Theory

Good morning ladies,

Today I'd like to show you one of my new Essie polishes that was in my recent haul, Bobbing for Baubles, and some experimental nail art I tried over it.

  

Bobbing for Baubles is a grey-toned navy blue which, in real life, is not as bright as it appears here.  I think it's a great shade for autumn and winter so I'm going to try to get a lot of wear out of it over the next few months.

 Orange it's Obvious came in the same set as Bobbing for Baubles and while I'm not a huge fan of orange I decided that since the two shades were in the same pack, somebody must have decided they would look good together.

 Not being sure if the orange would be opaque enough to stamp over the navy, I freehanded my first Argyle print design instead and used a Technic nail striper for the white lines.  I should point out that you're seeing my right hand for a change because I had a huge smudge on my left hand hence my lines are a little shakier than normal ;-)

I absolutely love Argyle print but for a nail art design it's a bit too challenging for me.  What do you think girls?  What designs do you struggle with?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Pink Stripes

Currently listening to: LoveStoned by Justin Timberlake

Good morning lovely ladies,

Today's manicure features a polish by a brand called Lm as the base:

 

 This is a very cheap polish (purchased in Spain for less than £1) and not one I'd recommend as despite the pretty colour and pink shimmer, the smell is very strong.  It definitely isn't 3-free!  I do love the way it looks though so I'll continue to use it until it runs out.

 To create the pattern I painted stripes down the length of each nail using my Technic nail stripers in pink, white and purple.

 The pattern was inspired by the tshirt I was wearing at the time of painting my nails ;-)

What do you think girls?  What have you been inspired by lately?

Bye for now,

Laura

Saturday's Stamping: Stripes and Bows

Currently watching: Star Trek 

Hello ladies,

As much as I loved my elegant nude nails, I just had to add some nail art after wearing them plain for a couple of days.

 

 My first step was to paint vertical stripes down the length of each nail using a Technic white striper.

I then stamped a bow on my accent nail using MUA Shade 2 and Born Pretty Store plate m59.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Moody Stripes

Currently listening to: Without You by Glee

Good morning lovely ladies,

Today I have a manicure to show you which ended up looking nothing at all like the original idea I had in mind.  Here's why...

I started with two coats of Lilac by Marks and Spencer (bottle image below) which is a lilac polish packed full of golden shimmer.  I've had it for ages but only worn it once before when I did a half-moon manicure featuring it and a purple creme.  I have fond memories of that manicure so I was excited to use this polish again.

 The issue I had with this polish this time around was that when worn alone, the golden shimmer really takes over from the lilac colour and appears quite dark.

 I struggled to think of a way to lift the colour so I ended up hiding almost all of it by painting vertical stripes down the length of each nail using Technic purple and silver stripers.

 I still wasn't happy with it, especially as I did this last Sunday evening and didn't feel it was particularly work-appropriate but in the end I threw all caution to the wind and add Essence silver glitter to the silver stripes. 

I ended up wearing this for four days despite never really liking it that much.  Next time I will layer Lilac over a purple creme to see if that lifts the colour.  Fingers crossed.

Bye for now,

Laura

Nautical Love NOTD

Currently listening to: Titanium by David Guetta

Hello lovely ladies,

I've loved seeing all your Valentine's-themed manicures over the past couple of days, despite not producing many myself.  Here's one I had planned for ages which went, mostly, according to plan:

 I used 17 Knockout Red as my base and drew horizontal lines across each nail with my white Technic nail striper.  My accent nail was painted with Barry M Denim.

 I then stamped a heart on my accent nail using Red Angel plate RA 110.  I initially tried to stamp in red but for some reason the polish wouldn't stick to my stamper so I ended up stamping in white and then stamping over it with red polish.  It was probably for the best as I doubt the red would have shown up very well on Denim.

 

So what do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Red and White NOTD

Currently watching: Boardwalk Empire

Hello dear readers,

Today I have yet another simply manicure which I thought would work well on my short nails:

 

 I used Eyeko Coral Polish as my base, painted the white lines using a Technic striper and used my dotting tool and Barry M Matt White for the polka dots.

What do you think girls?  Does this count as a festive manicure? ;-)

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Bad Boys in Winter NOTD

Currently reading: At Risk by Stella Rimington

Good morning girls,

I'd like to start the week by showing you I Love Bad Boys by Essence, a vintage teal green polish packed full of blue and green shimmer.

 

 

This isn't the type of colour I usually wear so I don't know why I bought it but I'm so glad I did, it's such a beautiful colour.

My next step was to paint silver lines down my nails using a Technic striper.

 

Then I stamped a full nail image using Konad Special White and Bundle Monster plate BM 323.

The design could be viewed as either flowers or snowflakes but I think it looks more like snowflakes, hence the title of this post.  This is a manicure I'll definitely be recreating later in the year.

What do you think girls?  Are you already starting to think about your winter manicures too?!

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Sweet Heart Wrapping Paper NOTD

Currently reading: After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell

Good morning ladies,

TGIF, right?  My first week back at work has been horrendous and unfortunately I can't see things improving until 2013.

 

Anyway, I'm not here to talk about work but rather to show you my latest manicure which features one of my new Essence polishes, Free Hugs, as the base.

 I then painted white and pink stripes down the length of each nail using Technic stripers.

 For the finishing touch, I stamped a full nail heart design using, you guessed it, Barry M Silver Foil and Bundle Monster plate BM 317.

 The heart image is truly one of my favourites in the new collection and I absolutely love this manicure.  It reminds me of wrapping paper for some reason.

 And yes, I realise I've gone overboard with the photos today but that's because I wanted you to see my new favourite manicure from all angles ;-)

Do you like it as much as I do?  How has your week been?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Art Nouveau NOTD?

Currently watching: Beauty and the Beast

Hello girls,

I'm going on holiday today, to France and Switzerland, until the beginning of September so although I do have some posts scheduled for your viewing pleasure in my absence, I won't be able to reply to any comments or visit your blogs for a while.

Today's manicure started with two coats of Barry M Matt White and a layer of Essence Night in Vegas to add some sparkle ;-)

 I then added two black stripes to my tips, using a Technic striper.

 My final step was to stamp a red rose on each nail using Bundle Monster plate BM14 and Yesensy 32.

What do you think girls?  I really liked this manicure but next time I will stamp the roses before painting the black lines so there is no overlap ;-)

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Holographic Floral Nail Art

Currently reading: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Good morning lovely ladies!

Today I have a manicure to show you which is based on a design I showed you last week.

 I used Milani Digital as my base colour and tried to capture its holographic beauty for you.

 I then used a pink Technic striper to paint two stripes at the top of each nail.

 Next, I stamped a white hibiscus flower using Konad Special Polish in white and Bundle Monster plate 313.

 For the finishing touch I added a silver nail jewel to the centre of each flower. 

Definitely one of my favourite manicures of this year but what do you think?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons ft Jewelled Hibiscus

Currently reading: Comfort and Joy by India Knight

Good evening ladies,

Continuing in the same vein as yesterday's post, I would again like to show you a manicure heavily influenced by another blogger, this time by MyStefyNail

My first step was to apply two coats of Crystal Lilac, a very sheer duochrome by No7.  I felt this was the polish I had in my collection which most closely resembled that used by MyStefyNail.

 Next, I sponged some Saffron pink glitter polish on to my tips.  This was the messy stage, as evidenced by the patches of glitter on my skin.

 Then I used a Technic pink striper to draw to stripes along the tips of my nails.

 After that, I stamped a hibiscus flower on the top right of each nail, using Bundle Monster BM313 and Konad special polish in white.  The finishing touch was adding a silver jewel to the centre of each flower.

I was thrilled with this manicure because it's so different to my usual designs.  Plus, although I thought the jewels would fall off quickly, they actually stayed in place for five days before I decided to remove this manicure.  Talk about staying power!

What do you think of this girls?  Which bloggers inspire you to try different types of nail art?

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Candy Stripe NOTD

 Currently watching: The Big Bang Theory

Good morning girls!

In my previous post I hinted that I would soon be posting a giveaway in celebration of my two year blogiversary.  I hope to go shopping for the prize in the next week or so, meaning that my giveaway will probably be starting on May 21st.  I'm very excited about it :-)

Anyway, on to today's manicure.  I used the following polishes:

 

 

Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream and white and pink Technic stripers

 Barry M was my base and then I created candy stripes

 I then stamped using MUA black polish and Bundle Monster plate BM224

What do you think girls?  I really like stamping over stripes :-)

Bye for now,
Laura