Sunday's Stamping: Soft Lilac Flowers

Currently watching: From Up On Poppy Hill

Hello girls,

Today's manicure features Beauty UK Soft Lilac as the base.

I am partial to purple polishes but this has got to be one of my favourite shades.  It's actually one of the few polishes I feel I would need to replace once it runs out, which is strange considering I wear it so rarely.

 Sticking with the purple theme, I stamped a floral pattern using Kiko 378 and Bundle Monster plate BM 321.

 The Kiko purple is also another favourite that hasn't been shown enough love.

 To finish up I added a layer of Essence Waking Up In Vegas for a bit of sparkle.

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Blue Gradient Butterflies

Currently reading: The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

Good morning ladies,

Today's manicure features Color Club Harp On It, a silver holographic polish as the base.

It also features lots of lovely butterflies :-)

 

 I used a variety of blue polishes, from left to right: Barry M Blueberry, Barry M Pure Turquoise, Ciate Lauren, Barry M Indigo and 16 Midnight Sapphire.

 The stamping was done with Bundle Monster plate BM 307.

 The darker shades showed up better than the light ones but overall I was really happy with this design and I even managed to capture the holographic effect of Harp On It.

Bye for now,

Laura

Mid-week Manicure: Mystic Rose Quartz Butterflies

Currently listening to: To Where You Are by Josh Groban

Hello dear readers,

Today's manicure features one of my favourite polishes, Mystic Mauve by Models Own.

It's not one I wear often, partly because I never know what colours to combine with it for stamping and partly because I really don't like the smell of Models Own polishes.

 I decided to use black for stamping and I went will a butterfly image from Bundle Monster plate BM 307.

 For my accent nail I added a layer of Barry M Rose Quartz Glitter.

 Afterwards I couldn't decided whether the accent nail was a good idea or not.  What do you think?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Pink Floral Double Stamping

Currently watching: Grey's Anatomy

Good morning girls,

I started today's manicure with two coats of Yes Love K021, a pastel pink shade.

I think the Yes Love polishes cost under €1 so I never expect much from them but this shade applied really well for a pastel so I was pleasantly surprised.  If I hadn't planned on covering it with stamping I would have added another coat to hide the ridges in my nails ;-)

 My second step was to stamp diagonal lines using a white Easy Paris polish and Bundle Monster plate BM 310.  I say this every time but this pattern is one of my favourites to use as a base for double stamping.

 I then stamped some flowers using Yes Love 477 and Bundle Monster BM16.

 Finally, I added a layer of Kiko Sparkle Touch but it didn't show up well on camera unfortunately so I don't have a photo of the final look but this is pretty close.

What do you think girls?  Are you ever pleasantly surprised by the quality of cheaper polish brands?

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Stamping: First Time Houndstooth

Currently listening to:  Friendly Fire by Tyler James

Good morning girls,

Today's manicure was inspired by a photo posted on Instagram by victory_nails.

 I started by painting my nails with a variety of polishes: a Color Club white, Essence Cherry Juice and Barry M Silver Foil (which I then covered with Essence Disco Disco and Barry M Diamond Glitter).

 I then stamped houndstooth on my ring finger and thumb using MUA Shade 2 and Bundle Monster BM 322.

 I'm not sure whether I even like houndstooth but I liked the overall look of this design and thought I could get away with wearing it to the office ;-)

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Mid-week Manicure: Stamped Hearts on Glitter

Currently listening to: Anymore Is by Enya

Good morning ladies,

On Monday I showed you Essence Oh My Glitter topped with Models Own Boogie Nights.

I thought it would be nice to add some nail art so first I stamped a heart image using Dior Graphic Berry and Bundle Monster plate BM 317.

 To bring more attention to the hearts I decided to stamp the same pattern again, this time using Barry M Silver Foil.

 I've done a similar thing in the past with pink shades and it's a design I really like, especially as it's so simple to create.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Mid-week Manicure: Kiko Stamped with Essence Flowers

Currently listening to: The Fall by Bo Bruce

Hello ladies,

Today's manicure is one I'm really proud of and absolutely loved wearing but of course it was really difficult to photograph.  Isn't that always the way?

I started with a base of Kiko 254, a very pretty magenta pink full of shimmer which I've only worn a couple of times since buying it several years ago.  I will definitely be wearing this more often in the future now that I've been reminded how special it is.

 I then stamped a full nail image using Barry M Silver Foil and Bundle Monster plate BM 310.  This is one of my favourite images to use for double stamping.  I love how crisp the image stamps.

 To finish, I used Essence Free Hugs to stamp the flower pattern on Bundle Monster plate BM 224, another of my favourite images.  I was surprised how clearly this stamped for a pastel shade.

 This made me think of cherry blossom, which I absolutely love, and I'm sure I'll be reproducing this manicure in the months to come.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Rimmel Heart Nail Art

Currently listening to: Sunday Morning by Maroon 5

Good morning ladies,

Time for a very girly manicure today featuring pink polish, glitter and hearts.

I used Rimmel Rose Libertine, a fairly new addition to my collection, as my base.  It's a peachy shade in my eyes, veering between coral and pink depending on the light.

 I then added a layer of Kiko Sparkle Touch and No7 Daisy Darling.

 As for the stamping, that was done with Barry M Pomegranate and Bundle Monster plate BM 317.

 What do you think girls?

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

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

Monday's Manicure: Sweet Snowflakes

Currently listening to: The Bells of New York City by Josh Groban

Good morning dear readers,

Today's manicure is for those of you who love all things pink and glittery.

I chose Barry M Dragon Fruit as my base which I managed to smudge badly after taking the above photo so I applied a layer of Kiko Sparkle Touch to hide the smudges.

 I then stamped using Easy Paris shade 3 and ye old faithful Bundle Monster plate BM 323.

 Kiko Sparkle Touch didn't add as much sparkle as I had hoped so I topped off the whole manicure with Barry M Pink Iridescent glitter and was happier.

 Kiko Sparkle Touch looks so pretty in the bottle but I've never had great results using it.  I wonder if it looks better over darker colours?

What do you think girls?  Do you have any recommendations for using Sparkle Touch?

Bye for now,

Laura