Thursday's Talons: Sweet as Candy Glitter

Currently listening to: February Song by Josh Groban

Good morning ladies,

Today's manicure is a base for Friday's nail art.

I started with Essence Sweet as Candy and a layer of Barry M Diamond Glitter.

 I see so many beautiful manicures on Instagram that feature pale pinks like this and I absolutely love them, despite knowing they're not for me.  Every now and then I try them though, just to make sure ;-)

 I then applied a coat of A'Pieu Twinkle Nail Touch, a clear polish full of heart, diamond and circular-shaped muilticoloured glitter.

What do you think girls?  Are there any colours or styles that don't suit you?

Bye for now,

Laura

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

Thursday's Talons: Christmas Sweater

Currently listening to:  A Different Beat by Boyzone

Hello dear readers,

As promised, here is the follow-up to yesterday's Christmas sweater manicure.

As you already know, my base is Nails Inc Tate.

 The stamping was done with a white Color Club polish and MoYou London festive plate 04.

 Again, the quality of the stamping is disappointing although I do prefer the design to the one I showed yesterday.  My plan for next time is to have a white base and try stamping with a red polish to see if that produces better results.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Heart Shaped Bunting

Currently listening to: Pase lo que pase by Carlos Baute

Good morning girls,

I really enjoyed using Color Club Harp On It as the background to one of my earlier festive manicures so I thought I'd use it again here.

The lighting wasn't ideal for photographing a holographic polish so I didn't take any pictures of Harp On It by itself, instead we're jumping straight to the stamping stage.

The stamping was done with Nails Inc Tate and Bundle Monster plate BM 317.

This isn't an image I had used before and I have to say I doubt I'll be using it again.  Stamping on my left hand was just about okay but as for my right hand, oh what a mess; I could not get my head around the best way to stamp this diagonal image.

What do you think girls?  Any tips for stamping this image well?

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

Thursday's Talons: Essie Miss Fancy Pants Swatch

Currently listening to: The Hands I Hold by Bo Bruce

Hello lovely ladies,

On Tuesday I showed you my recent mini haul and today I have swatches of a polish I bought in that haul, Essie Miss Fancy Pants.

I would describe this shade as a grey-toned brown and unlike anything I have in my collection.

  I think it's a great colour for autumn and winter and perfect for wearing to work or at the weekends when you want something simple and chic.

What do you think girls?  How do you feel about wearing a manicure without nail art?!

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Bleu Asphalte Diamonds

Currently reading: House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Good morning girls,

Today I'd like to show you a manicure that was inspired by Shades of Beauty.

Using the nearest colours I had to the ones she used meant my main colour was Bourjois Bleu Asphalte.

 I actually really like this polish although I don't often wear it due of my dislike of removing dark colours.  This manicure makes me think I should make more use of it, especially at this time of year.

 My accent nail features Barry M Silver Foil and Barry M Diamond Glitter, which is probably my favourite topper.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: A Purplicious Blackberry Secret

Currently watching: Monsieur Lazhar

Good morning girls,

Today I'd like to show you a manicure featuring a design you may be familiar with.  It's also my second purple manicure in a row so I hope you'll forgive me on both counts.

My base is Essence A Lovely Secret topped with Essence It's Purplicious.

 I then stamped a series of stars using Barry M Blackberry and Bundle Monster plate BM04.

It's definitely old news now but I still love stamping over glitter :-)

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Silver Swirls

Currently listening to: Friendly Fire by Tyler James

Good morning girls,

I don't often wear dark colours on my nails but when choosing my polish for this manicure my eyes alighted on an inky blue shade which I just had to wear.

 

 

 This is 17 Midnight Sapphire by 17 and the accent nail is Barry M Silver Foil.

 I avoid dark colours to prevent staining but actually, I'm happy to risk some staining if it means I get to wear beautiful shades like this more frequently.

For the stamping, I used both polishes and Bundle Monster plate BM 314.  I am so in love with this look, it might possibly be my favourite manicure of the year!

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Autumnal Paisley

Currently watching: Educating Yorkshire

Hi girls,

Over the past week or so there's been a shift in the weather which lets us know that autumn is on its way.  It's too early for manicures featuring autumn leaves but I was inspired to do my first autumn-themed manicure this week.

 

 

My chosen colours, from left to right, are Nails Inc Portobello Market, Nail Stylure Orange, Barry M Coral, 17 Knockout Red and Nails Inc Tate.

 The shade on my index finger is one of the polishes I bought online from the Korea Department Store.  I hadn't worn it prior to this manicure but it's a rusty orange shade which I think I'll get a lot of use out of this autumn.

 I then stamped using Barry M Gold Foil and Bundle Monster plate BM 315.

 Although I think the shade my thumb is a bit of a miss, I love how the rest of the colours go together.  I can't wait to try more designs using this colour scheme.

What do you think girls?  Is it too early for autumn manicures?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons: Minty Glequins

Currently watching: The Apprentice

Good morning dear readers,

Let me start by apologising for my absence; I'm in exam season so unfortunately studying takes priority over blogging.  I'll try my best to blog with some regularity during the next month but if there are long gaps between posts or a lack of comments on your own posts you'll know why.

Now that's out of the way, let me show you today's manicure.

 My base coat is Nail Pop by It's Mint, a great spring/summer shade which I received lots of compliments on when I wore it last week.

 I then added a silver glequin from Born Pretty Store to the bottom of each nail and added a row of glequins on my accent nail.  This was a really simple manicure to create but very eye-catching.

What do you think girls?

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: Nude Nails

Currently watching: Britain's Got Talent

Good morning ladies,

Today I have another new Korean polish to show you, again by the brand Innisfree.  This is shade 134 and, as you may have guessed from the title, is a nude...

 I've never had a shade like this in my collection and at first I wasn't sure if I liked it but it really grew on me and I loved how delicate and feminine it made my hands look.

 I also love the fact it's a work-appropriate shade ;-)

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura