Painting with my eyes closed...

Tonight, I have a quick post showing you the results of boredom.

I was watching a few YouTube make up videos and saw that a few ladies decided to make videos with them putting on make up without mirrors. Some of them were pretty good! I thought I'd do the something similar - so I painted my nails with my eyes closed:

Absolutely abysmal.

Hmm. Not even the wonderous Rimmel Flat Brush could help me...

Dear, oh dear. I'm actually quite shocked at how badly I did!

Have you been bored enough to try this out? If you have, let me know :)

xx

Strawberries and cream

A few weeks ago I was in the mood for some Eton Mess. Yes, that lovely, simple dessert comprising of meringue, strawberries and whipped cream was on my brain for days. When I'd made up my mind to go and buy the ingredients, there was not a strawberry to be found at my local Sainsbury's!  It was when I was staring at my lonesome double cream in the fridge, that I had an idea...strawberries and cream!!

You'll see that I found my strawberries in the end! I went for pouring cream...made out of acrylic. The white acrylic powder was sent to me along with 17 of it's colourful friends, courtesy of Born Pretty Store. If you've never visited before, please do - and  use the 10% discount code in the sidebar for any purchases.

Out of the 18 tiny pots of acrylic contained in the package, I used the one pot of white powder with a monomer, or acrylic liquid. Because the powder is specifically for creating art structures, it was 'slow setting' and I was able to mold and shape the acrylic without it drying out too quickly. This acrylic is a different consistency (in my opinion) to that which you would use to create a french tip on a sculpted acrylic nail extension. Unfortunately I spilt the little pot of powder after doing these nails, hence why I left the two fingers 'creamless'. Honestly, I could've kicked myself.

The 'seeds' are plastic yellow bullion. No glue was used - they stuck quite well in a clear top coat which was covered in a further two coats of Seche Vite.

Another gratuitous shot of the highly sought-after strawberry.

I loved them so much that I decided to make some false nails...using some white molding acrylic powder (for extensions) which has a different consistency to the previous powder. It wasn't the same, but I had to improvise because having this idea bouncing around in my head would cause me to have sleepless nights. Really.

I'm not usually one for wearing fruit on my fingers (it's not quite office appropriate, is it?), but I thought these were cute.

Would YOU wear food on your fingers??

xx

A whole bunch of Rimmels

I'm really happy with today's manicure, save from the fact that my Seche Vite made a meal of it. All I know is that before I went to bed, all the cuticles were tidy and there was no shrinkage. This morning, the Seche shrank my polish away from my cuticles and my tips look they are carrying four days wear! What can I say? That'll teach me to be so heavy handed!

This is Rimmel's Grey Matter. I have no ill to speak of Rimmel polishes - they do what they do and they do it well, in my opinion.

Here's the rest of the crew...the only thing missing is the black acrylic paint used to outline the design.
Blue-eyed Girl, Man Overboard, Grey Matter, Caramel Cupcake and Pop Your Pink (my favourite ever pink!)

 I'm afraid my point and shoot camera is really temperamental at the moment, so I've taken these pictures with my phone. The picture quality has deteriorated badly because I emailed the pictures to myself rather than downloading them directly from my phone.

 I should really try using my husband's Nikon, but it's too heavy for me to hold in one hand. Yes, that's my excuse. We have a tripod too...tsk, tsk.

You can see the evil shrinkage around the cuticles there. Boo!

I had intended to put patterns on all of the nails, but I wasn't using my striping brush and the lines weren't coming out how I wanted them to, it was dark and it was after 1am on a school night. So, you only got two nails!


xx

Rhino.

There's not often a day where I don't have something nail related on my mind. Unfortunately, I seem to be painting my own nails less often and that's usually because I'm prioritising other things. Right now, I should be folding washed clothes. You'd laugh if you could see how precariously my laptop is currently balanced on a stack of baby vests.

Last night I created these nails. I've been saying that I have intentions of opening an Etsy shop to sell some of the nail sets that I've been making, but I have yet to actually get five minutes to do so. So far, I've been painting them and putting them in a drawer!

Here are my Rhino nails.

 I had some studs and the very gorgeous Black Out by Rimmel (60 Second range), so I just had to play around with them.

 This is only one half of the set. My sets consist of 24 nails - one fish bone for the left hand and one for the right. This way, you will find a nail that fits you, without having to file the sides too much.

These were also going to go into the drawer, but they've already found a home.

I suppose these should be sold with a disclaimer...I don't want to get sued for any soft tissue damage!

xx

Hello!

Well, hello!!

It's been about a month since I've blogged or even attempted to have a look at my dashboard. After having so many things going on, blogging became a second thought and I didn't want to just churn out manicures for the sake of it. Hence my sabbatical.

I thought that for the next few posts I would just show you what I've been doing.

 I absolutely love this pink. It's a jelly polish so you will need a few coats of it, but this is a colour that will definitely cheer you up. I wore this manicure to The Nails Show...but it didn't last more than one day because I used the wrong UV top coat and the whole thing started to crack!

 

I worked at The Cherished Hair Party the following weekend and wore the below designs:

Here's a set of nails I did at the party:

And here are a few pictures of some other manicures that I've done recently:

This particular design was one I found on Instagram and replicated.

I do have a backlog of pictures, so please bare with me.

Thanks for continuing to subscribe and follow during my absence.

xx

Pink, push-ups and polish?

Hi Friends.

Today I'm actually missing my long nails. I love the fact that my typing speed is now back to normal (lightening speed), but my fingers are looking a little stumpy. Never mind, they'll grow back!

I'm wearing this today.  I chose this colour simply because I am participating in a contest on Instagram and the theme is #freakinpink.

This is one of my favourite pinks:

I have so much love for Rimmel. I love their precision brushes, 60 seconds range, the Professional and Lasting Finishes and also the Fruities range, but I do wonder what they are doing in terms of updating their polish line.

With all the nail-art-in-a-bottle trends that have come out over the last year or so (crackle, magnetic and colour changing polishes), they only seem to have put out a couple of crackle colours. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen nothing much else. Now, I go polish shopping the way some women go shoe shopping. I investigate, I scour, I hunt, I rummage, I get my magnifying glass out and get my Miss Marple on. Alas, the Rimmel display always makes me feel like I want to throw myself onto the floor and scream...much like my nearly-two-year-old did when I told her we were leaving my big girl's school summer fair today. So got herself into such a stink that she ended up on her hands and toes, yelling, in the middle of the year two playground. Like she was going to do a set of press-ups. Yup.

If you're not in the UK, or if you are and have seen some newer or more exciting things on the Rimmel polish front, please let me know. Meanwhile, I'll tweet them a question and hope they come back with some good news and don't just blank me like Maybelline did a while back. Wish me luck!

xx

I made me a Franken.

Recently, I decided to try my hand at Frankening a glittery top-coat. This is actually one of three that I have tried in my time blogging.

I've had my eye on  Lynnderella polishes for such a long time, but due to their popularity and recent events regarding their sale (if you read the more recent posts in that blog link, you'll have a better understanding), I haven't actually bought any yet. Perhaps I may treat myself around my birthday time...if there are any are available. I know those polishes are like gold dust...

I had a few little pots of hexagonal glitters in my Helmer so I thought I'd try customising my own polish to satisfy my hankering for a bit of sparkle. Why not?

Here it is, layered over Rimmel's 'Blue My Mind'.

 Can we stop for a second and marvel at how striking this blue is? This is one polish that I will use until it is empty and then replace. This is my baby.

 Please don't worry about the 'tip wear' - it's actually shrinkage resulting from the fast dry top coat.

I literally poured glitter into some clear polish. It's not bad is it? Or is it?
What do you think about this blue? Do you have it or anything like it?

Thanks for reading.

P.S. Here are some coupons for Overstock if you're in need of nail polish or other beauty products!

xx

Flakes on a Friday...on Saturday

Oh wow. I cannot believe my GFC follower count. I am seriously overwhelmed right now. 701 Google Friends...and that doesn't include those of you who subscribe to my blog in other ways. Thank you all so much for your support. I've had a really hard week (emotionally) and this is just one of the things that's really put a smile on my face.

I have some news. I've enrolled on a manicure and pedicure introduction course and I start next Wednesday. The course is six weeks long and I'll be attending college on Wednesday nights. The same week this finishes, I will start my NVQ level 2 VCTC (vocational course) in Nail Technology. Yep, I'm going to train to be a qualified nail technician! I'm really excited and, if all goes well, I intend to share my knowledge with you along the way.

Here is what I did yesterday. Pure laziness, I'm afraid. Flakies and water decals.

China Glaze's 'Fifth Avenue'.

Slicked with a generous layer of Nubar's '2010', which reminds me, I need do a Nubar and Nfu-Oh haul at some point this year. Maybe as a treat after I graduate from 'nail school'.

Hmm. So I'm posing with the Nubar, but actually have a layer of Rimmel's Matte top-coat on.

Water decals from Viva La Nails (purchased by moi), again with the matte top-coat.

I hated the matte look for a good while, until very recently so I think I need to give mattificationism (it's not a real word but I don't care)  the credit it deserves.

Happy weekend lovelies.

xx

The irk-some Ruffian

Good evening all.

How's it going? Three days into January and so far so good? Hopefully you are doing great, but if you aren't, take heart because things can and will get better. 

Okay. I thought I'd try water marbling again because I had an 'good' experience during the 31 Day Manicure Challenge I did last year. Oh my goodness. I spent about two hours painting a flawless white base colour, dripping polish with anticipation, making rubbish patterns, cursing the water, the polish, my fingers and the cup. In the end, I was left angry...and still wearing a white base colour. I grabbed the first colour I could find and whilst painting over the white, it occurred to me that I had never created a Ruffian manicure. 

 I'm not sure why it's called 'Ruffian' but I love it. My husband doesn't. He thinks it's irk-some and it reminds him of 'pus at the top'. Erm, cheers :-\  I should be offended, but I'm not because he is one of my biggest fans.

I didn't use any tape or manicure guides. I painted one layer of pink over the white with a steady hand and then one layer of purple over the pink. A little dab of glitter and there you have it - pus nails!

So, do you like them? With the right colours you could continue layering perhaps. Oh, by the way, hubby just looked over and said 'I like the concept'. Yeah, you're too late mate, I saw your involuntary shudder when I showed you my masterpus, I mean masterpiece :-p!

Thanks for reading folks and thanks for your comments.

xx

Boots Bargains

Happy Friday friends! I've had a murderous week and now I'm taking five minutes (whilst the baby sleeps) to post  little something for the weekend.

If you read my blog regularly, you'll know that I only tend to shop for nail polish in three places; Boots, Superdrug or online.  As I am forever in Boots buying nappies and baby wipes, I've been using my Boots Advantage Card to collect, store and use points. You get 4 points for every £1 spent and one point is equivalent to one FREE penny. Now, a penny on its own is not very much at all, but if you buy nappies at the price of , say, £10 every week, that's 40p for the week and £1.60 for the month. I never come out of there without spending less than £15 in one visit on baby bits or items for the bathroom so for me, the points build quickly.  To top it off, as a member of the mother and baby club, I get extra points on baby products.  I usually wait until I'm a little cash strapped before redeeming my points on pretty things for myself.

Long story short, if you have a Boots near you, get yourself an advantage card. They really come in handy, especially at Christmas. Save your points and you can do haul posts like this spending little to no money!

The Rimmels were spend £6 and get a FREE eyeliner
Maybelline - Buy two, get one FREE
Revlon Facets of Fuschia...no deal, bit it was too gorgeous to leave behind

Honestly, I can't remember the full total, but after using my points, I paid about £4 extra. Not bad eh?

Pretty, pretty polish (minus the tip wear). Thin black jelly with fuschia hexagon and micro glitters.

I'll be back with some art next post. Have a wonderful weekend.

xx

Rimmel 'Electric' and BM plate 208

Hiya friends, how's it going?

I have another mani for you, courtesy of Bundle Monster and my favourite pink at the moment.

 I used BM plate208- both images on my nails are on that plate.

Don't worry about the cuticles - they are flooded with my top coat and I couldn't be bothered to clean up. Lazy girl.

xx

Pink 'n Gems

Hey everyone.  I'm sorry for the recent lack of posts, I've just been so busy and so tired after work; my blog has taken a back seat :-(

I was having a look at my nail art magazine recently and noticed that a lot of the manicures in it used pearls and jewels.  I thought I'd do my own jewel encrusted manicure.

I used Rimmel's Ethereal as a base, sponged OPI's And This Little Piggy

 I used nail glue to stick on some gems and pearls and also used a few from this sheet of stickers...which is looking pretty sparse at the moment.

This wasn't my best manicure and I felt a bit weirded out with the texture at times (okay so that might be odd, but aren't we all? I mean, my husband gets the heebie geebies at the sight of Oak tree bark!) I wouldn't say it was practical, but it was fun whilst it lasted.  I actually wore it for three days, hence the tip wear.


xx

Bored...

... so I thought I'd mess around with some scotch tape. This is what I came up with:

 I really like Rimmel. I don't think they get as much love as they should, but they have been my go-to brand for years.

 I didn't really like this after I did it, but now that I look again, I actually think it's not too bad.  My purple layers were a little too thick, so when I took the tape off, the edges of my lines started to come up too.

I hope you like!

x

Rimmel nail art, brushes and a light box!

Before I start with my usual blather, I would just like to say a big hello, welcome and thank you to my new subscribers and any new silent readers. To my other Google Friend Connect (GFC) friends and wonderful readers, thank you so much for continuing to visit and comment; it really puts a smile on my face. I will be running a giveaway soon to show my appreciation and to celebrate my 100th post...I'm nearly there!

Now that last years holiday festivities are out of the way, I've had some time to work on my own mini craft project. I'm eternally striving for 'the' photo with my budget point-and-shoot camera, my flat is very dark and because I tend to do my nails and take pictures at night, I decided to make a light box (to give me some decent lighting when I take my photos at night and capture 'real' colours). I have access to a DSLR camera that I could very well learn to use...but I SHOULD be able to take photos with my own camera.

Please click here if you want to see how I made my light box...

Otherwise, here was my manicure last night.  I don't know what possessed me to do this, but I thought I'd put the pictures up anyway, lol!

 This was taken without a flash, with the totally wrong camera setting and with my new light box.

 I intend to buy another cheap desk lamp for better lighting...and also re-work the settings on my camera because the colour does not translate well at all.

Daylight.

Ah Rimmel, how I heart thee. There are so many colours, the price is good and the formula is nice.  The only thing I don't like is the 'Xpress Brush'.

It's flat and rounded at the tip to help you apply neatly in one second. Good idea, but it doesn't work if the brush has stray hairs poking out. I actually prefer working with sharp corner of a brush.  This rounded business is not for me. I'm old skool.

How do you feel about these brushes? What kind do you prefer?
Thanks for reading!