Saturday's Stamping: Holly and Glitter

Currently listening to: The Fall by Bo Bruce

Hello ladies,

Today's manicure features Beauty UK Topaz as the base, a beautiful brushed gold polish.  Some gold shades can be very harsh again pale skin tones but I think this one is slightly more gentle and flattering.

I created an accent nail by applying a layer of Saffron London chunky gold glitter.

 I then stamped holly and berries at the top of each nail using Born Pretty Store plate QA58, Kiko holographic green (401) and Nails Inc Tate.

 The green shade is a bit pale but apart from that I really liked the look of this.

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

Tuesday's Talons: Berry Christmas Sweater

Currently listening to: Les Voyages en Train by Grand Corps Malade

Hello ladies,

As the title suggests, today I have a Christmas sweater manicure to show you.

I decided to use Catrice Dirty Berry as my base, a grey-toned purple polish which I think I've had for a couple of years and used only a couple of times.  I absolutely love how it looks which made me question why I've worn it so rarely and I think it's because a) I struggle to find polishes which stamp well over it and b) my old camera could never capture it regularly.  Now that I'm using a different camera these photos are colour accurate so at least that's one issue solved.

 I then stamped a Christmas sweater pattern using MoYou London plate Festive 04.  On my thumb and index finger I stamped using Easy Paris shade 3 then, unhappy with the blurry transfer of the design, switched to Konad Special Polish in white. 

 I thought the Konad polish produced crisper results but these pictures don't really show a difference so now I'm not too sure. Are there any white polishes you would recommend that stamp well?

 This is the first time I've used MoYou London stamping plates and while I do love the designs, I nearly cried when I saw how big the images are because they are just far too big for my nails.  I find the images in the third Bundle Monster series are the perfect size for me and as you can see below, the MoYou London ones are considerably larger.

What do you think girls?  Have you tried MoYou London plates before?

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Sparkles: Iseult Confetti

Currently watching: Strictly Come Dancing

Good morning lovely ladies,

Today I have a simple manicure full of sparkles to show you which isn't a winter-themed look but features the glitter we've come to expect during the festive season.

I started with a-england Iseult as my base, a very pink pale which I regret buying since it does not suit my skin tone unfortunately.

I then added a layer of Kiko Sparkle Touch shade 228 for some extra depth and sparkle.

It was at that stage I threw any plans for stamping out the window and picked up Essence Circus Confetti instead.  When in doubt, add glitter.

It's great adding multicoloured glitter to a neutral base as you can really see all the different colours of glitter.  Circus Confetti has to be one of my favourite glitter toppers purely because of the plethora of colours it includes.  Look at them all in the bottle!

What do you think girls?  What are your favourite glitter toppers?

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

Tuesday's Talons: Holographic Snowflakes

Currently watching: Homeland

Good morning ladies,

Today I have a wintery-themed manicure for you, as the title of today's post suggests.

  

I started by painting my nails with Color Club Harp On It, a beautiful silver holographic polish.  I love the Color Club holos as you don't need to use a special base coat and the holo effect is always really strong.

 I then stamped a snowflake design using a white Easy Paris polish and Bundle Monster plate BM 323.  This is definitely not the last time we'll be seeing this design this year, I can tell you that now.

 And because I'm fed up of the injury on my index finger spoiling all my manicures, I decided to attempt a bottle pose using my right hand ;-)

What do you think girls?  Do you have any favourite image plates for this time of year?

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Sparkles: Blackberry Glitter

Currently watching: Strictly Come Dancing

Good morning dear ladies,

With the start of December comes the beginning of winter and the countdown to Christmas and New Year.  In terms of nails, that means full steam ahead for manicures featuring glitter, snowflakes, Christmas sweater designs, Christmas trees...you know the score.  I'm going to hold off on the more overtly Christmas-themed manicures for a couple of weeks and start with the glittery ones.

First up is this manicure featuring Barry M Blackberry, a dark inky shade of purple.

I really love the Barry M Gelly polishes as application is easy and the finish is super glossy. 

 Sticking with Barry M, I then added Diamond Glitter to the tips to add some festive sparkle.

What do you think girls?  Do you have some festive manicures planned for this month?

Bye for now,

Laura