Friday's Fingers: Mayfair Moon

Currently listening to: Let Me Go by Gary Barlow

Hello dear readers,

Today I have a manicure featuring some simple stamping to show you.

I started off with a base of YSL Pink Moon, a terracotta-toned pink packed with blue and violet shimmer.

In the past I've struggled to find suitable colours to stamp over Pink Moon with but not any more!

 I teamed it with Nails Inc Mayfair, a cream shimmer, and stamped using Bundle Monster plate BM 224.  Cream is a great alternative to white as it's not as harsh resulting in a softer looking design.

What do you think girls?  Are there any polishes you have trouble finding stamping solutions for?

Bye for now,

Laura

Mid-week Manicure: Magical Autumn Flowers

Currently watching: Location, Location, Location

Good morning girls,

Taking advantage of the last few days of autumn, today I'd like to show you an autumn-themed skittle manicure.

From left to right: Nails Inc Porchester Place, Stylure 102, Barry M Coral, 17 Knockout Red, Nails Inc Tate

 I used the majority of these colours for another autumn-themed manicure last month I think and really loved how they complimented each other.

 Unlike last time however, I decided to stamp using brown instead of gold and oh how glad I was with my decision.

I stamped using Accessorize Magical Mocha, which showed up better over the orange tones than gold would have and looked so beautiful over the red shades, and Bundle Monster plate BM 205.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Pink Spice Flowers

Currently listening to: Happy in my Heartache by Josh Groban

Good morning lovely ladies,

Today I have one of my absolute favourite polishes to show you, Accessorize Pink Spice.

I've had this for a few years and showed it here on numerous occasions but I can't help but reiterate what an amazing polish it is and how strong the duochrome effect is with ever-changing flashes of pink and orange.

 

I'm not a big fan of Accessorize polishes but I can't fault this one.  My bottle is nearing the half-way mark so I'll definitely be buying a back-up bottle soon.

 Inspired by the orange tones in Pink Spice I decided to stamp a floral pattern using Essie Orange it's Obvious and Bundle Monster plate BM 321.

 I liked the outcome of this as in some lights the stamping appeared to be very subtle whereas in other lights it was very strong. 

What do you think girls?  Do you have any back-up bottles of your favourite polishes?

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

Thursday's Talons: Island Coral Hibiscus NOTD

Currently watching: The Big Bang Theory 

Hello dear readers,

Today I have my second Sinful Colors polish to show you, Island Coral:

 

I went in to Boots at the weekend, intending to buy Sinful Colors 24/7 but for the second week in a row it was sold out.  Instead of leaving empty handed, I picked up Island Coral which caught my eye, probably because coral is such a popular shade this year but it has the added bonus of being work appropriate.

 I applied two coats of this and didn't have any problems with application.

I then added some nail art in the form of hibiscus flowers.  On my ring and thumb figures I stamped a full hibiscus image using Easy Paris shade 48 and Bundle Monster plate BM 318.  I've loved this image ever since I got the third Bundle Monster stamping plate set but my nails have never been long enough to use it, until now.

 On my three remaining nails I stamped a hibiscus flower in the top right corner using plate BM 313.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Holo Floral Stamping

Currently listening to: False Alarms by Josh Groban

Good morning ladies,

Trying out Color Club Angel Kiss at the weekend made me hungry for another holographic manicure so this time I chose Cloud Nine, a beautiful purple shade, as my base.

I then stamped a Bundle Monster floral pattern using BM 224 and Barry M Bright Purple.

 I think it's a great combination and I know I'll be teaming these polishes together again.

Of course I didn't manage to capture this polish at its best but that's okay, there will be plenty of opportunities to photograph it in direct sunlight in the next few months I'm sure.

 I have to finish by saying how impressed I am with the quality of these polishes.  Application is an absolute dream and there's no need for a special base coat.

What do you think girls?  Which is your favourite brand for holographic polishes?

Bye for now,

Laura

Saturday's Stamping: Neon Pink Floral NOTD

Currently listening to: False Alarms by Josh Groban

Good morning girls!

Today I have a very bright floral manicure to show you:

I started with a base of neon pink by Yes Love (shade 17) and then applied a layer of fairy dust, also known as Kiko Sparkle Touch, shade 228.

 I then stamped a full nail floral pattern using Easy Paris shade 48 and Bundle Monster plate BM 321.  I smeared one of my nails when I applied my top coat but it wasn't at all noticeable in real life.  I've been wearing this manicure for four days now and I still can't stop admiring it.  Because the pattern is so big and bold it kind of makes me think of nail wraps :-)

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Spring Flowers

Currently watching: Game of Thrones

Good morning girls,

Despite the crazy weather we've been experiencing over the past few days, I am happy to report that I feel the worst of winter is now over for my nails and I seem to have rediscovered my inspiration for nail art.  Yay :-)

I'm celebrating with a manicure featuring spring flowers and the following polishes:

 Essence Silver Glitter Nail Art Striper, Easy Paris Shade 48, Barry M Coral and Barry M Pomegranate.

 I started by painting my nails white and then painting three vertical stripes of silver glitter down each nail.  I then stamped two trios of flowers in the corner of each nail using Bundle Monster plate BM 311 and Barry M Coral and Pomegranate.  As you can see, the Coral stamping came out really pale so I don't think this would show up at all on other colours but I seem to have got away with it here and I really loved the end result.

[By happy coincidence my nails matched my bedding]

What do you think girls?  Have you started incorporating spring into your nail art?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Floral NOTD

Currently watching: Grey's Anatomy

Hello lovely ladies,

I joined Instagram a while ago (you can follow me @LH24Laura) and one of the things I love doing is looking at pictures of nail art.  I was inspired to try a design created by @jesilva2012 which I loved as soon as I saw it however, it turned out to be slightly too ambitious for me.  Here are the results:

 I painted my accent nail with Ciate for Asos in Blake and used my dotting tool and Easy Paris shade 48 to create white flowers.

 For the other nails I used a sponge to add the strips of pink and white before adding a row of flowers with a dotting tool.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Lady of the Lake's Flowers

Currently watching: The Big Reunion

Good morning ladies,

As you saw with my Chinese New Year manicure, I've been learning how to *paint* flowers on my nails recently.  I thought I'd show you my first attempt:

 My base is a-England Lady of the Lake, a beautiful purple holographic polish.

 The flowers were done with Barry M Prickly Pear, Easy Paris 48 and a dotting tool.

What do you think?

Bye for now,

Laura

Chinese New Year Nails

Currently watching: Glee

Good morning lovely ladies and happy Chinese New Year :-)

In celebration of the lunar new year, I decided to do a simple red and gold manicure:

I started with two coats of Knockout Red by 17 as my base.

 I then added gold flowers using a dotting tool and Barry M Gold Foil.

 To finish, I placed a black dot in the centre of each flower using MUA Shade 2.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Floral Double Stamping NOTD

Currently listening to: Army of Two by Olly Murs

  

Good morning lovely ladies,

Today I have a purple floral manicure to show you which started with Essence Oh My Glitter! as the base.

 I love this polish.  Purple with orange flecks of shimmer in it.  Very pretty.

 I then stamped a criss-cross pattern using Barry M Prickly Pear and Bundle Monster plate BM310.  It's subtle but I think it adds interest.

The flower pattern was stamped with Barry M Blackberry and BM224.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura