Tuesday's Talons: Hi-Res Hibiscus

Currently watching: The Back-Up Plan

Hello ladies!

Remember how I said that while I was away I wasn't able to paint my nails?  Well here's the manicure I sported for the whole of my holiday:

 

 Milani Hi-Res as the base, purple stripes painted with a Technic striper, hibiscus stamped with Konad Special white and Bundle Monster plate BM 313 then topped off with nail jewels.

 This smudged one hour into my holiday.  I was not happy.  I won't even show you the state of this manicure at the end of my 11 days!

What do you think of this manicure girls?  Do you paint your nails while you're on holiday? 

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Glittering Gems

Currently listening to: Devil May Care by Jamie Cullum

Good morning dear readers,

I suspect you will have noticed in recent weeks that I have a new favourite nail art design.  I hope you're not bored of it yet because once again this design is making an appearance on my blog ;-)

 I didn't take photos of every step of this but my starting point was to paint my nails with two coats of a-England Iseult.

 Then I sponged on a layer of Essence Enchanted Fairy as I had intended to do a pink gradient but it didn't work as I had planned.

So, to cover up my mistake, I used a coat of Barry M Pink Iridescent glitter.

 Then I stamped the ever faithful hibiscus flower on the corner of each nail using Barry M Fuchsia and Bundle Monster plate BM 313 and added a pink nail jewel to the centre of each flower.  I also added a stripe of silver glitter to each tip using an Essence striper but it didn't show up very well.

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

Bye for now,

Laura

Monday's Manicure: Holographic Floral Nail Art

Currently reading: The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Good morning lovely ladies!

Today I have a manicure to show you which is based on a design I showed you last week.

 I used Milani Digital as my base colour and tried to capture its holographic beauty for you.

 I then used a pink Technic striper to paint two stripes at the top of each nail.

 Next, I stamped a white hibiscus flower using Konad Special Polish in white and Bundle Monster plate 313.

 For the finishing touch I added a silver nail jewel to the centre of each flower. 

Definitely one of my favourite manicures of this year but what do you think?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons ft Jewelled Hibiscus

Currently reading: Comfort and Joy by India Knight

Good evening ladies,

Continuing in the same vein as yesterday's post, I would again like to show you a manicure heavily influenced by another blogger, this time by MyStefyNail

My first step was to apply two coats of Crystal Lilac, a very sheer duochrome by No7.  I felt this was the polish I had in my collection which most closely resembled that used by MyStefyNail.

 Next, I sponged some Saffron pink glitter polish on to my tips.  This was the messy stage, as evidenced by the patches of glitter on my skin.

 Then I used a Technic pink striper to draw to stripes along the tips of my nails.

 After that, I stamped a hibiscus flower on the top right of each nail, using Bundle Monster BM313 and Konad special polish in white.  The finishing touch was adding a silver jewel to the centre of each flower.

I was thrilled with this manicure because it's so different to my usual designs.  Plus, although I thought the jewels would fall off quickly, they actually stayed in place for five days before I decided to remove this manicure.  Talk about staying power!

What do you think of this girls?  Which bloggers inspire you to try different types of nail art?

Bye for now,

Laura

Thursday's Talons

Currently listening to: A Team by Ed Sheeran

Good morning ladies,

How's your week been so far? Looking forward to the weekend rolling around? Today I'd like to show you a manicure I did last weekend featuring GOSH Holographic:

There was no sun to bring out the holographic-ness of this polish when I took these photos but even indoors you can see it's a pretty special polish :-)

Application is awful but let's not talk about that today as I'm sure I've covered it before ;-)

I then decided to add some fun nail jewels, which is why this had to be a weekend manicure. As much as I love nail jewels, they are not practical for everyday wear at all and it upsets me to look down at my nails and discover yet another jewel has become loose and vanished.

They're great for a short while though :-)

Are you a fan of nail jewels?

Bye for now,
Laura

Friday's Fun NOTD

Currently listening to: War at Home by Josh Groban

Hello dear readers,

Aren't we all glad Friday has finally rolled around? :-)

Today I have a fun manicure inspired by Sara. Here's my manicure:

To start, I painted my nails with Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream (colour shown is not true to life)

Then I used Barry M Nail Effects to paint crackle polish diagonally across my nails

Getting the lines straight was difficult but with crackle polish I don't think being neat matters too much

Finally, I applied a clear top coat and applied pink star nail jewels (bought in an assorted pack from Poundland)

I then applied the top coat over my nails again to ensure the jewels would not catch on anything and fall off

What do you think of this manicure? Would you try it?

Bye for now,
Laura