Barry M and Zoya...oh, and are the comments working??

Hi again!  As Monday is fast approaching (like, in a few minutes), I thought I'd show you what I'm currently wearing.

Before I get to that though, if you stop by, like my pictures but are unable to leave a comment, please email me to let me know? I've been told by a few people that the option isn't always available.  I know that this is a glitch, but before do something drastic (like de-installing/re-stalling things and losing all of my comments completely) I'd just like to know if this is the general consensus.  

PLEASE HELP A GIRL OUT?

Anyway, back to the picture spam...muhahahahahhhhh!

 Barry M Raspberry - a very generous 3 coats, but it only needed two.

 I used BM plates and Zoya Astra for the glitter.

 My seldom seen right hand (yes, I have one!) My thumb nails are generally shorter than the rest because I prefer them that way.

I'm still practicing with the stamping so bear with me. Did you like this manicure? Is there anything else that you would like to see?

Until next time...

Giveaways I have entered

I'm entering a few giveaways today; there are so many different things I would like to get my hands on, but are not available over here in the UK. I never win anything (mainly because I don't enter competitions), but I'm hoping for my luck to change now.  If you are interested in winning some of the polishes and nail art tools that are up for grabs, please check out these sites:

Nails Beautiqued

Jeweled Tips

the Lacquerista

Crystal Visions

Konad-licious

Wish me luck folks!

First water marbling attempt - kinda

Who said that this water marbling malarkey was easy? I mean, really?!

I've always liked the look of water marbling especially because whenever I've tried marbling, it has been with a tool...and the result is 'manufactured', I guess. 

I'd like to consider myself to be pretty nail savvy, by my own admission. Like lots of people, I have learned by trial and error, rather than by being shown what to do. So I went against my stubborn nature and decided that if I was going to be 'taught', it would have to be by one of the best (none other than Colette @ My Simple Little Pleasures ) Cue a visit to her YouTube channel and an evening of drooling over my keyboard.  She makes it look so easy, so why couldn't I get it right?

Variables were the polish density, awful colour combinations, polish drying too quickly, me smudging the final result etc. At one point I was in the kitchen sticking sellotape to my fingers (I didn't have any scotch tape), the cat commenced her 'Midnight Madness', scared me half to death and I ended up pulling off half my base coat on one nail with a rogue piece of tape I didn't know was there.  It really was ridiculous. Here was a woman who can apply acrylic, fibre-glass, gel overlays AND extensions to her own nails but can't water marble without wailing and gnashing of teeth!

Barry M Sea Green - I'd put on two coats of this because I was NOT going to bed with naked nails. Then I thought I'd give the marbling one more attempt.

 

Lamp (I do my nails at night)

 I used a yellow by Nails Inc. I can't remember the name, please slap me.

Freezing cold daylight shot. Brrrrr!

So, the conclusion then.  Erm, I'm inpatient, stubborn and probably a bit too critical of myself.  It takes a bit of practice to get things right sometimes, but perseverance sure pays off.  I just need to try different colours next time because I felt a bit like a mermaid for a few days. 

Maybe she's born with it?

Hey everyone. A special big 'Hey' to my new subscribers; it makes me so happy to see someone new expressing an interest in my nail painting hobby.

Today my previous manicure chipped beyond repair so I decided to go with something bright.  As pink is one of my favourite colours I decided on the Maybelline Express Finish Lacquer in Fuchsia and a layer of the Express Finish Diamonds in Cosmic Flash (which I'm pretty taken by).  I took these pictures tonight with a lamp so some of the colours aren't accurate.  I was more interested in showing what I'm wearing than just swatching for a true likeness. I might come back tomorrow with a daylight shot though...

Hope you enjoy looking!

 Umm, yeah...this one isn't really a true representation, lol!

I really like these bottles.  It's not a good enough reason to want to go and buy polish though, is it?!

MUA and Barry M Instant Nail Effects

Hi everyone, hope you are well on this Sunday evening.

For the first time in absolute months, I went out last night! It was supposed to be a school reunion in a club, but it in the end, there wasn't such a huge turn-out and it ended up being quite informal, with some old friends and some good music.  

I'm in a style rut at the moment so instead of trying to find 'the' outfit, I thought I'd just wear a LBD (lil' black dress) and focus on the 'accessorising' thing instead. This included my nails ;-)

Yesterday I wore (and still am wearing) shade 9 by MUA and a layer of Barry M Instant Nail Effects. 

  Two layers of shade 9...which has a slightly jelly-ish look to it and looks rather nice just on its own. I love the fact that each bottle only costs £1!

With the Barry M and a ring from H&M and handbag from ASOS that I wore.

 I put a thick topcoat on it but as the black cracks were so big, the surface is still as rough as it looks. I will definitely use it again and probably with a much lighter base colour underneath.

Night all, enjoy your week!

BTW, I've just entered a giveaway with Nails Beautiqued. Wish me luck!

GOSH - Holographic

Hi everyone.  Tonight, I would just like to say how pleased I am.  Not only has my friend embarked on her own blog, I also made my own discovery.  'Holographic'.  I found it, yes, in Superdrug and come to think of it, there were a couple more of them sitting there gathering dust. I didn't pick them up because I didn't realise the sheer magnificence of it.

It looks like plain old silver glitter in the bottle, goes on a bit gloopy and streaky, but when it dries...

 Am I the only one who didn't know about this polish??!

Blurry to show the holo effect some more!

 It totally blew my mind and if I see another I will HAVE to buy it. The bottle doesn't give much away but it certainly holds a big secret. Kudos GOSH, kudos.

All pictures were taken under a lamp. I may try to re-edit another day with a daylight picture...oh, and I don't have a top coat on yet.

Rimmel - Apricot Punch Reeeemmmmixxxxx!

Sorry, got a bit carried away there in the title.  I had five minutes spare (literally all the time this took) so I thought I'd spice up the colour.

I sponged on a diagonal gradient of yellow and put a layer of Nubar 2010 on.

And now for the picture spam!

 You can see the green and orange on my index finger...

Okay, I'm done for now

Thanks for having a look.

My nails today - November

Okay, I know I've posted a lot of pictures tonight but I'm hoping you enjoy them as much as me *blush*.  The weather was a bit better today and I had to take advantage of the natural light and take some photos.

Before I toddle off to bed, here are some pictures of my nails after I soaked off the few patches I had on them.  I clipped a couple of millimetres off a few of them, filed them and then soaked them for five minutes in Extra Virgin Olive Oil (which I had warmed in the microwave for 20 seconds).  For some reason, I didn't cut my right hand...don't ask me why, because I don't know.

This is them with one layer of Sally Hansen's Hard As Wraps nail formula.  It's in a blue glass bottle and is of a very thick consistency.  Sorry, no photo of that one. You've probably had enough now anyway, lol!

If you compare these to my first posts on this blog, you'll see a huge difference. Only minimal damage left on the nail beds of both thumbs and the free edges. Yay!

Nitey, nite!

Rimmel - Apricot Punch...It smells like apricots!!

 The weather was quite bright today so I thought I'd wear this. I found it last week and there was a big 'NEW' sticker on the stand...which leads me to believe that it was recently released. Did you read the lid?  Yup, it does EXACTLY what it claims to do.  Cheap and cheerful, and only two coats applied.

  My fingers smelled like apricots for several hours after application! Off topic here - can you see the back of my flat in the reflection of my nails?

You may notice that my nails are a little shorter than they were in the Nubar post - I thought I'd soak off the patches I had and file them down a bit. They don't get in the way half as much now!

 I used two coats of Nubar 2010 on the ring fingernail.

These pics don't show the opal too well. I tried to capture the green and orange.  Fail!

I liked this.  I can't remember how many more colours there are in the 'Fruities' range, but I might pick up a few more at some point.

Do you like this colour?  How do you feel about wearing bright colours in the colder months? Do you follow what is on trend for the season or go with how you feel?

Be back in a bit with the last of the pics I'm posting tonight!

GOSH - Gasoline

Hey, hey, hey!

I really wanted to post yesterday, but I've been feeling pretty poorly for a while and I just didn't have the energy.  I've also been pretty busy with day chores and errands. Meh.

These pictures were hanging around in a folder - I've cut my nails a little today but wanted to post these anyway. I do love purple.  This is two coats of Gasoline. Goes on nicely, dries well, but if you want it to look sheer you'll have to put on a good few layers.  Thumbs up for this one.

If I was a better photograher with a better camera, you'd see the blue and silver micro glitter flecks in it.  But I'm not, sorry guys.

 No flash

 Flash

Bad weather, bad mood

Yesterday I was really feeling sorry for myself.  It didn't help that the weather was looking like this at nearly 3pm!

Ridiculous isn't it?! Roll on the winter!

I was also wearing this yesterday: Nubar Jewel.  It's a brown base with a wonderful holographic finish. Gorgeous in the bottle...but it certainly didn't cheer me up when I looked at my nails in the gloom.

There's nothing wrong with it.  Looks a bit like cocoa powder in the bottle.

 The holo is pretty and with every movement of your hand you get the full on rainbow sparkle...

 But I guess it just does nothing for me.  Perhaps on a sunny day it might look better, but on me yesterday? Nope.  I also has a rough finish , like you need to use a sanding block on it.  Even after two top coats it was still feeling gritty. Oh, please excuse the cuticle on the index finger. I had an unfortunate accident with a hairzing.

Perhaps my grumpy mood ruined my Nubar experience.  Maybe it needs to stay in the box until next summer. It might be more appreciated then.

Did you get yours??

Hi everyone.  This is a quick post tonight.  I should really be in bed by now but I just wanted to say a couple of things. 


This evening one of my sisters came round and during a conversation about nothing in particular, she started to shake her head at me.  When I asked her why she was doing that, she asked "how often do you paint your nails? Like, every day?" I wanted to say no, because I had been wearing that manicure for the past few days, but then I couldn't deny it, because I am ashamed to say that there have been occasions when I have changed my manicure twice in one night. But for a good reason; maybe I messed it up or it looked horrible.
I didn't take much notice of my sister because she is renowned for changing her hairstyle every few minutes herself!


Later on, my cousin came round and we were chatting away until she said "What's with the nail varnish? Are you obsessed?!" Now, bearing in mind the fact that this was now the second reference to my nails in the same night, I do have to wonder. AM I? And if I am, is it so wrong? I said no, but I don't think she believed me!


By the way. Did you UK ladies get your free Nails Inc polish in this months Glamour magazine? I found out about this on Polish and Powder's blog last night and I asked my hubby to have a look for it in the local Co-Op today. He came home with three magazines!

So now I have three polishes worth £33 for the price of only £6? BAAAAAARRRRGAIN!!!

L-R: Saville Row, Jermyn Street and Hampstead Heath, all bottles are full size at 10ml/0.33 Fl. Oz


Oh, and he also bought me a new pair of rubber gloves because I've been complaining about my others not fitting properly. Romance is NOT dead!


I'm going to try and come back with a few swatches or nail art soon because I don't think I've been very creative of late.

My FIRST followers :-)

I'm so happy! I want to say hello to my very first followers! Now I know I'm not just talking to myself...there are four of us!

So, because I'm so happy (and my friend something really nice to me today), I'm putting up pictures of some polishes that another friend brought back for me from the States.

They sure put ME in a good mood...geddit? MOOD? Funny right?! NO?! Oh, alright then...



The sky at night?

Today was the epitome of an autumnal day. Wind? Check. Rain? Check. Fallen leaves? Check, check, check! By the time I got to school for the school run (something that only took about 10 minutes) my fingers were frozen despite wearing leather gloves! So you'd think that my polish might have been a bright one, to cheer myself up? Wrong.  I've been wearing this for the past two days and as it's not chipped or worn yet, it's going to stay right where it is!

 Maybelline Midnight Blue (on its own on my pinkie finger).

 With a couple of layers of  Flash Cosmic (which has green and blue glitter particles in a clear base)

 This blue is a lovely rich colour but the sparkle just gave it that 'oomph'.

This reminds me of looking up into the sky on a beautiful, warm Summer night. You know, when you can see every last star with pure clarity? Hmm. Maybe this WAS a manicure to cheer me up after all? What do you think?