Thursday's Talons: Glitter Snowflakes

Good morning dear readers,

Today I have a totally out-of-character manicure for you. 

I do love my snowflake manicures but I realise I have shown quite a lot of them so this may be the last snowflake design this year.

For this look I sponged my tips with Easy Paris shade 48 then stamped various snowflake designs using Born Pretty Store plate QA58.

 I then applied lots of glitter using Essence Night in Vegas, Kiko Sparkle Touch and Barry M Diamond Glitter.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Mid-week Manicure: (Merry) Christmas Sweater

Good morning girls, Merry Christmas!

If you celebrate Christmas I hope you have a lovely day with your family and friends and receive plenty of presents from Santa Clause :-)

Here's what's on my nails this Christmas: yet another Christmas sweater.

 I used Barry M Matt White as my base and stamped with Nails Inc Victoria & Albert.

 Instead of fighting with my MoYou London festive plate, I decided to stamp with Born Pretty Store QA57.  As tends to be the case when stamping this type of design, the results are not very crisp but I have to say my manicure looks a lot better in person than it does in these pictures and I was really happy with it!

What do you think girls?  And what did Santa bring you?  I'd love to know!

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Holo Winter Scene

Hello ladies,

For this year's Christmas Eve manicure I decided to go with a holographic winter scene using Color Club Blue Heaven as my base.

Winter lighting is always an issue but I actually managed to capture Blue Heaven's holographic effect!

 On my thumb and ring finger I stamped a snowman using Bundle Monster plate BM 318 and Easy Paris shade 3.  I then added some detail using nail stripers.

 The snowflakes were stamped with Born Pretty Store QA57.

 Subtle in some lights, magical in other ;-)

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Holiday Holly

Good morning girls,

Today's festive manicure features Nails Inc Mayfair as the base.

This is not a colour I would ever wear on its own but it's a great base for nail art, especially when you want something softer than white, which can be a bit harsh.

 I then stamped holly in the corner of each nail using Born Pretty Store plate QA58, Barry M Teal and Nails Inc Tate.

 For the finishing touch I added some more holly on my thumb and ring finger.

 Simple but pretty!

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Stamping: Cherry Juice Snow

Currently listening to: Glasgow Love Theme by Craig Armstrong

Hello ladies,

Today I have another Instagram-inspired manicure, this time by @pumpui_topnails99.

I started with a base of Essence Cherry Juice, a beautiful cherry-red jelly.  My camera was misbehaving when I took my photos so what you see is not colour-accurate at all; in real life this shade is much less orange and neon-looking.

 I then sponged a white Color Club shade on my tips and stamped a snowflake on each nail using Born Pretty Store plate QA57.

Next, I added a layer of Kiko Sparkle Touch.

Finally, a coat of Barry M Diamond Glitter finished off the look.  I wish I had planned this manicure better and stamped multiple snowflakes on each nail but I'll know for next time.

What do you think girls?

Bye  for now,

Laura

Saturday's Stamping: Midnight Snowflakes

Currently listening to: La-bas by Natasha St Pier

Good morning ladies,

Today's manicure sees a return to my favourite image plate for this time of year and some surprising sparkle.

I started with a base of Boots 17 Midnight Sapphire.  I used only one coat as I knew I would be stamping over it and didn't need it to be fully opaque.

 I then added a coat of Kiko Sparkle Touch.  The last time I used this I had a pink base and the sparkle didn't show up at all so, following your advice, I tried it over a darker colour and am pleased to report it's much more effective.  Look at the difference!

 I then stamped using a white shade from Easy Paris, Bundle Monster plate BM 323 and Born Pretty Store plate QA58.

 I don't usually mix and match my image plates but I'm glad I did for this manicure.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Mayfair Christmas

Currently listening to: Streetcorner Symphony by Rob Thomas

Hello ladies,

Today's manicure was inspired by one I saw on Instagram by @pukupuku15.

I started with a base of Nails Inc Mayfair.

 Starting with my thumb nails, on each alternate nail I added a green and red glequin from Born Pretty Store.  That looked really good on its own so it may be a future manicure.

 The next step was to freehand Boots 17 Knockout Red on my index finger and Ciate for ASOS Lily on my ring finer.  I then added a strip of silver glitter with Essence More Than Glitter.

 The final step was to add two white pearls on the red and green sections.  If I did this manicure again I might skip this step but I was really happy with how this turned out, especially as it's so different to my usual style.

What do you think girls?  Who would you recommend following on Instagram?

Bye for now,

Laura

Saturday's Stamping: Holly and Glitter

Currently listening to: The Fall by Bo Bruce

Hello ladies,

Today's manicure features Beauty UK Topaz as the base, a beautiful brushed gold polish.  Some gold shades can be very harsh again pale skin tones but I think this one is slightly more gentle and flattering.

I created an accent nail by applying a layer of Saffron London chunky gold glitter.

 I then stamped holly and berries at the top of each nail using Born Pretty Store plate QA58, Kiko holographic green (401) and Nails Inc Tate.

 The green shade is a bit pale but apart from that I really liked the look of this.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Cinderella's Winter Scene

Currently listening to: Gypsy Girl by Wet, Wet, Wet

Good morning ladies,

Today I have a winter scene with a dash of girly glitter to show you.

I started by painting my nails with Sinful Colors Cinderella, a pretty blue shade that shines with orange, pink and purple shimmer.  I didn't take a picture of that stage as this is one polish which looks awful on me; I can only ever use it as a base.

 I then topped it off with some Tony Moly glitter and stamped a snowman and snowflakes using a white Easy Paris polish and image plates Bundle Monster BM 318 (snowman) and Born Pretty Store QA58.

 I liked the stamping here, especially as it was the first time I'd used the snowflake design, but overall I just felt this manicure was too pale for me.

What do you think girls?  Does your skin tone ever ruin your manicures?!

Bye for now,

Laura

Saturday's Stamping: Tea Rose Stamping

Currently listening to: Speed the Fire by Bo Bruce

Hello lovely ladies,

On Thursday I showed you a rather simple manicure featuring a glitter accent nail.  As much as I liked the manicure, I found myself adding to it...

Earlier that week I'd tried to paint my nails with Eyeko Tea Rose, only to find the polish was too old and thick to apply well.  Instead of throwing it out I decided to see if it could still be used for stamping.

 This felt like the perfect manicure to test it out on so I stamped a criss-cross image from Born Pretty Store plate QA57.

 I felt like I needed something else to tie all the colours together so I then stamped a silver bow on each nail using Barry M Silver Foil and Born Pretty Store plate m59.  I do love my bows but I always find image placement tricky!

What do you think girls?  Which designs do you find difficult to stamp well?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Born Pretty Store Fair Isle Tribute

Currently listening to: Titanium by Jasmine Thompson

Good morning girls,

Today I'd like to show you a winter themed manicure I created with an image plate sent to me by Born Pretty Store.

I don't know about you but last year I really fell for Fair Isle-type / Christmas sweater patterns, especially in red and white.  My love for these designs is still strong this year so when I found this image plate I jumped at the chance to review it as it features three full sized images akin to those found on products during the festive season.

 I think it's still too early for winter-themed nails but I was eager to try this image plate out so I decided to use Beauty UK Soft Grey as my base and save my red nails for December.

 As you can see, for such an intricate design, this stamped very well and I didn't have any problems with the size of the image.  I was really happy with the overall result and my nails were even complimented by a stranger when I wore this manicure.

I can't wait to try the rest of the designs on this plate, which is currently available for the extremely reasonable price of $1.99, and would definitely recommend it for the festive season.  If you are buying any nail art supplies from Born Pretty Store remember to use code APL91 at the check out for a 10% discount.

What do you think girls?  Are you a fan of this type of design?

Bye for now,

Laura