Wordless Wednesday

Korean Nail Mail!

Monday's Manicure - Red Holo NOTD

Currently listening to: Foolish by Tyler James

Good evening ladies!

Today was my last day at work for a month :-)  Unfortunately the next month is going to be spent attending college and studying for exams but after my exams I'm going to Amsterdam for a few days so at least that gives me something to look forward to.  And for the time being I don't need to worry about work-appropriate manicures :-)  Too bad I'm going to cut my nails right down next weekend....

The manicure I'd like to show you today is a layering combination featuring Kleancolor Holo Pink and Essence Cherry Juice:

These pictures show two coats of Cherry Juice and one coat of Holo Pink.

 This was the first time I'd tried layering Holo Pink over a colour other than pink and I'm so happy with the results.  I loved having holo red nails :-)

 Of course when I took these photos the sun was hiding so I can't show you the true holographic effect of this manicure but what I like about this holo polish is the "gritty" look that appears in dull light.

 On the second day of this manicure I made an accent nail by adding three black flowers with a dotting tool but I think I preferred the manicure without the accent nail.  What do you think?

Bye for now,

Laura

Giveaway Time!

Hi girls!

As most of you know, it was recently my second year blogiversary and at the time I said I would soon be hosting a giveaway.  That time has now come so without further ado, let me present to you my first giveaway!

The prize:

 

No7 Twinkle, Natural Collection Twinkleberry

 

Miss Sporty 450, Max Factor Fantasy Fire, Accessorize Aztec

I tried to select polishes in a range of colours and finishes so hopefully there's something in there for everyone.

The rules:

This giveaway is open internationally (but please do not enter if you know there is a problem shipping nail polish to your country) to all GFC followers of my blog, new and old, and will close on 3rd June 2012 at 17.00 British Summer Time. 

To enter:

There is a maximum of 15 possible entries available to every reader.  Please read the following points carefully and then leave a comment in this post with the following information:

1.  Be a GFC follower of my blog and tell me your GFC name (2 entries)

2.  Leave me your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner

3.  Follow me (@LCH241) on Twitter and tell me your Twitter username (1 entry)

4. Tweet about this giveaway and leave me the link (1 entry)

5.  Add me to your blogroll and leave me the link (2 entries)

6.  Blog about this giveaway and leave me the link (2 entries)

7.  Leave me a comment telling me something about my blog eg what you like, what you would like to see more of (2 entries)
8.  For everyone who was a follower of my blog before 20th May 2012 and considers themselves someone who regularly comments on my posts, please add an extra 5 entries and add the words "active reader" to your comment :-)

That's all folks!  Please leave a comment below with all the information I need to work out the number of entries you are entitled to :-)

Bye for now,
Laura

Friday's Fingers

Currently listening to: Sunday Morning by Maroon 5
Good morning lovely ladies!

Today I'd like to show you a manicure featuring these two polishes:

Nails Inc Victoria and Barry M Gold Foil

 

I used two coats of Victoria to start with.  I really like this colour but trying to place the second coat of polish exactly over the first coat is too difficult for me.  One coat of this polish produces a blood red colour while two coats produces a much darker, almost brown shade.  My lack of polishing skills means I end up with red patches of polish towards my cuticles where I haven't been able to apply a second coat.

 I then stamped using Gold Foil and Born Pretty Store image plate m79, one of my favourites as I'm sure you know.

To finish, I then stamped a bow on my accent nails using BPS image plate m59.

What do you think girls?  Do you ever have trouble making the colour on your nails even?

Bye for now,

Laura

Layered NOTD

Currently listening to: The Sun by Maroon 5

Good morning girls!

Today I'd like to show you a simple layering manicure I did using these two polishes:

No5 by Saffron and Dusky Mauve by Barry M

 I started with two coats of Barry M one evening, applied my fast-drying China Glaze top coat and went to bed an hour later.  In the morning I woke up with duvet lines and smudges!  I can't believe my top coat let me down like that!

I didn't have time to repair the manicure so I had to rescue it with this glitter topcoat.  I had no other option, even though it was a work day and I would never normally consider wearing glitter to work.

 I also wasn't sure about the colour combination but in the end I really liked the way this turned out.

 What initially looks like a blue glitter topcoat is actually full of blue, pink, purple, gold and silver flecks of glitter.  I love it!  Can't wait to use this eBay find again :-)

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Nail Polish Tag

Currently watching: The Voice
 

 Hi girls!  Theodora from Red Hair and Black Nail Polish recently tagged me with the Nail Polish Tag so here I go!

 
Rules:

Answer the 10 Questions

Pass this tag to 5 other bloggers

Alert the bloggers you tagged about this

The Questions:

1.) How many polishes do you have?
About 150 I would say.

2.) What is your favorite brand of nail polish?
Essence! I discovered this brand on holiday and think it's such a shame it's not sold in Britain. The range, quality and price are fabulous.

3.) Do you like crackle polish, or do you hate it?
I like crackle polish.  I only have two but they're great for rescuing a ruined manicure.

4.) What was your first nail polish brand? 

Probably Boots 17, unless I had a Tinkerbell nail polish when I was a child.

5.) If you're gonna create a nail polish line, what are you gonna name it? 
I would love to create my own nail polish line but thinking of a good name is difficult.  Laura Loves could be a possibility, or Butterfly Dreams maybe.
6.) What nail polish color does not compliment you? 
Yellow, orange and white don't compliment me.  I don't think very pale colours suit me either but I still wear them ;-)
7.) And what color does compliment you? 
I'd like to think red, pink, purple and blue compliment me as I wear those colours a lot but honestly I don't know.  As long as I think my nails look good, I'm happy.
8.) Name 2 of your best Nail Art Friends!
I haven't met anyone from the blogosphere in real life (although if anyone in the Manchester area is interested, let me know!) but I am happy I've been given the chance to make friends through this blog and through following other girls' blogs.
9.) What was the best nail polish gift you have ever received? 
Any nail polish gift is a gift to be treasured!  But I think the best nail polish gift was from my boyfriend, who gave me a Dior and a Yves Saint Laurent polish one Christmas, because he chose them himself even though he's not interested in nails and thinks I have too many polishes.  Plus they were, and still are, my first designer polishes.
10.) Make a speech about thanking the blogger who gave you this tag!
Thank you, Theodora, for tagging me (and for being a huge supporter of my blog!).  You are truly a talented nail artist and an inspiration to us all.  You are definitely someone I consider a friend :-)

And that's all folks!  Thank you for reading and please consider yourselves tagged!  I'd love to read your responses to these questions so if you do end up doing this tag, please let me know!

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Candy Stripe NOTD

 Currently watching: The Big Bang Theory

Good morning girls!

In my previous post I hinted that I would soon be posting a giveaway in celebration of my two year blogiversary.  I hope to go shopping for the prize in the next week or so, meaning that my giveaway will probably be starting on May 21st.  I'm very excited about it :-)

Anyway, on to today's manicure.  I used the following polishes:

 

 

Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream and white and pink Technic stripers

 Barry M was my base and then I created candy stripes

 I then stamped using MUA black polish and Bundle Monster plate BM224

What do you think girls?  I really like stamping over stripes :-)

Bye for now,
Laura