Monday's Manicure: Barry M Butterfly Nail Art

Currently listening to: Echoes by Bo Bruce 

Good morning ladies,

How good it is to be back!  First post of 2014!  I started a new job at the beginning of January and since then have spent most weeks away on business, staying in hotels with limited wi-fi, limited opportunities for nail art and no opportunities to photograph any manicures I might have created.  I've tried to make time for nail art whenever possible at weekends so I do have a small selection of manicures to show you, starting with this one featuring a whole host of purple shade and some butterfly stamping.

I used Eyeko Lilac Polish as my base and then added a layer of Essence It's Purplicious glitter.

I then stamped various butterfly images on my nails using Barry M Blackberry and MoYou London plate Pro Collection 09.

I hadn't used any of these images before so it was a good chance to try them out.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Mid-week Manicure: Butterfly Decals

Currently watching: Glee

Good morning ladies,

Today I'd like to show you a manicure I created featuring some butterfly decals sent to me by Born Pretty Store.

I started by painting my nails with a green holographic polish from Kiko, shade 401.  I love this shade, it makes me think of tropic rainforests. 

 I then decided to apply the butterfly decals to my thumb and ring finger.  I've used water decals before and haven't experienced any problems with them but for some reason these would not stick to my nails.  The first picture shows the original position of the butterflies and the second shows how the butterflies moved on my ring finger when I applied a top coat to make them stay on my nail.

 The effect is pretty but the fact the decals didn't stick to my nails was really annoying.  I still have plenty of other butterfly designs to try so I won't give up on these yet.  Fingers crossed that next time will be better.

If you like the look of these and want to try them, or any nail art supplies, for yourselves be sure to use my code APL91 to receive a 10% discount.

What do you think girls?  Has your experience of water decals always been good?

Bye for now,

Laura

Saturday's Stamping: Digital Butterflies

Currently listening to:  I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li

Good morning ladies,

The sun was hiding when I did this manicure and all I could see from my window was grey skies and raindrops yet I was inspired to bring out my holographic polishes.

 

 

I started by painting my accent nail with Nail Pop Dusky and my other nails with Milani Digital.

 Not knowing how well a holographic polish would stamp, I then stamped two butterflies on the accent nail with Nail Pop It's Mint and Konad m36.

 My final step was to fill in the butterfly wings using a dotting tool and Color Club Angel Kiss.

What do you think girls?

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: Pure Turquoise Butterflies NOTD

Currently watching: The Apprentice UK 

Good morning girls,

I'd like to continue this butterfly-themed week with another manicure featuring the gold butterfly decorations Born Pretty Store sent me to review.

 

This time I decided to incorporate stamping with the decorations so my first step was to paint my nails with Barry M Pure Turquoise, a very bright shade which I have not used for years.  I'm sure application was great when I bought it but after neglecting it for so long the polish was a bit tricky to apply.  Not to worry though, my top coat created a smooth finish.

 My next step was to stamp this full nail pattern using Barry M Gold Foil and Bundle Monster plate BM 310.  I love this image because it looks good on its own and also creates a great background for double stamping.

 I then finished by placing two butterflies on my accent nail.

 As I mentioned before, not only did Born Pretty Store send me these to review, the company is also offering you a 10% discount whenever you make a purchase so if you see anything you'd like to add to your collection of nail art supplies, be sure to use the code APL91 at the checkout.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Mid-week Manicure: Rose Quartz Fairy NOTD

Currently watching: The Voice UK

Hello dear readers,

When I was planning Monday's post I decided I may as well have a butterfly-themed week of manicures as I had more than one idea of how to wear the butterfly decorations I received plus it's been a while since I used my butterfly stamps.

 

 Today's manicure was inspired by an account on Instagram I follow called line_polish and features Essence Enchanted Fairy as the base.  I bought this polish in Amsterdam last June and don't think I've worn it since initially swatching it last summer.  I have no idea why I've neglected it for so long as it's such a pretty pink shimmer and is ideal for the office.

 I then added Barry M Rose Quartz Glitter to three of my nails.  I really like wearing this over pink bases and I love the big flecks of rose gold glitter.

 My next step was to stamp the butterfly image from Bundle Monster plate BM 307 using MUA shade 2.

 I always admire mixed manicures like this on other people but I rarely wear them myself however I really love this design so I'm going to do more mixed manicures in the future.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Fantasy Butterflies NOTD

Currently watching: L'Auberge Espagnole

Good morning lovely ladies,

Recently I was contacted by Born Pretty Store to see if I would be interested in reviewing a product for the company.  I've ordered nail art supplies from the online shop many times before and have always been happy with the quality of my purchases (stamping plates, glitter and acrylic paint) so of course I said yes.

 

 When given the opportunity to choose a product to review, I decided to pick something I hadn't tried before and which was a little bit different so I ended up choosing these gold butterflies.

Born Pretty Store is based in Hong Kong I believe so shipping (which is free) to the UK can take a few weeks but my butterflies flew here really quickly and actually arrived within a week.

For my first butterfly manicure, I applied two coats of Barry M Fuchsia followed by a layer of Max Factor Fantasy Fire to create a shimmer effect.  I then painted my nails with a top coat and while that was still wet, placed two butterflies on my accent nail.  I used a cocktail stick to pick up each butterfly by the gaps in the wings but you could also use tweezers.  I then gently pressed the butterfly down with my finger to ensure it would stick to my nail.

As you may already know, I absolutely love butterflies so these decorations were perfect for me and I would definitely recommend them for making manicures a little more special and unique.  The pack I ordered contains 1,000 butterflies and cost $8.80 however there are plenty of other shapes and designs to choose from on the website.  As an added bonus, whenever you buy something from Born Pretty Store you can enter the code APL91 at the checkout to get a 10% discount for being one of my readers :-)

 

What do you think girls?  Are these something you would add to your manicure?

Bye for now,

Laura

Rose Quartz Butterfly NOTD

Currently watching: Grey's Anatomy 

Good morning,

Today's manicure features a plethora of polishes, the first of which is Essence Sweet as Candy, a sheer pink ideal for French manicures.

After applying a coat of that, I then added Barry M Rose Quartz Glitter to the tips of my nails.

 My next step was to stamp silver butterflies using Barry M Silver Foil and Cheeky plate CH3.

 Finally, I stamped more butterflies using Barry M Pomegranate.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Fantasy Butterflies

Currently listening to: The Call by Backstreet Boys

Good morning girls!

Today I'd like to show you a manicure which was inspired by a beautiful design I saw on Mini Nail Blog:

 I didn't take pictures of the different stages but I plan to recreate this manicure on my own nails whenever I can and I'll take more photos then, if you're interested.

The polishes I used for the background were Kiko 255, H&M Fashionista, Saffron London 62 and 17 Midnight Sapphire.

My first step was to paint my nails using the magenta polish by Saffron London.  Once that was dry, I  sponged Midnight Sapphire on the bottom corner of each nail and Fashionista on the top corner.  I then realised Fashionista didn't really show up so I added a layer of Kiko 255 ;-)

I added the butterflies using Konad plate m36 and Barry M Silver Foil.

 

My final step was to add a coat of Essence Night in Vegas, my very first flakie!

What do you think girls?  Do you love this manicure as much as I do?!

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons

Currently watching: The Apprentice UK

Hi girls!

Just a quick post tonight to show you a subtle manicure I did for wearing at work earlier this week which started with a coat of Eyeko Tea Rose Polish:

I really like this shade as I think it's quite flattering. I only used one coat here but if I was wearing it alone I would use two.

I then added two layers of my new pale pink Yes Love 622 polish. The difference isn't obvious but the polish added a touch of shimmer.

My final touch was to stamp two Konad butterflies using Barry M Silver Foil.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,
Laura

Friday's Framed Fingers

Currently watching: The Apprentice UK

Good morning dear readers!

I'm quite excited about today's post as it features a new type of manicure for me. But before I show you my efforts, let's start with my base colour, Kiko 346:

I absolutely love this colour yet this is only the second time I've worn it after purchasing it last spring!

I'm not sure how to describe the shade although the pictures are quite accurate. Green agate maybe? Dark green jade?

Now we get to the framing :-) I'm sure there's plenty of potential here for colourful and creative designs but as this was my first time I wanted to keep things simple. I used my dotting tool to place dots of Barry M Silver Foil around the edges of my nails.

I then decided to stamp a butterfly in each frame using Konad plate m36.

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

Bye for now,
Laura