Give me your blog links plz!

I'm really happy to see that I have so many more readers and followers. I do hope I can continue to make posts that you find interesting...just let me know if there is something you would like to see.

If you've entered the giveaway, you would have (should have) left your blog address, but if you haven't entered and have subscribed recently, please put your blog link in the comments box so that I can visit you. 

Thanks!

xx

Royal Wedding Manicure and Giveaway reminder

Hi friends!

As I type, I'm watching the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.  In fact, they are taking their vows now!

I'm not a Royalist, but I will say that I do love a good wedding...and I did like Princess Diana *sigh*.

Here's my manicure. I worked hard on it last night and hand-painted everything other than the silver hearts and crowns (BM plates). As a result, I've watermarked these ones.

Hope you like!


If you haven't already entered my giveaway, do it here because it ends at 12am GMT!
xx

More sponging and stamping.

Hi Friends, I hope everyone is well.

The weather has been so nice here recently.  That's one reason why my photos look different. I'm trying to make the most of the natural sunshine and my light box is in tatters (still) because I haven't had time to mend it!

I have a nice one for you today. Okay, I think it's nice anyway.  I was having a look at this blog the other day and it got me thinking; why haven't I tried to layer my stamping? Something I'd done before, but not intentionally. It's so simple and it makes perfect sense, so I thought I'd step up my stamping game.

Here ya go.

 This is NYC's 'Times Square', two coats.

L-R: Wet n Wild 'Tipsy (one layer), Sally Hansen Nail Prisms 'Golden Cinnebar' (sponged on first up to mid-nail), Essence Metallics 'Copper Rulez!' (sponged on tips)

BM14 (stars) and BM19 (circles) stamped with Models Own Goldigger

I loved this until I tore my middle finger and had to patch it. I hate patches but I'm trying to grow my nails out.  I'm so fed up of short nails that I've even been toying with the idea of acrylics again :-0!! I don't think I will though.

xx

My current PEDICURE!

 ...you don't like feet! Okay, you can, but I thought I'd better warn you first.


Unfortunately, my feet no longer look like this:

 If they did, I would never wear shoes. 

L-R, Rimmel's 'Portobello Pink', Sinful Colors 'Frenzy', China Glazes 'Flying Dragon' and Beauty UK's Glam Nails in white.

Two layers of the pink, one layer of glitter, sponged on purple, glued on gems and painted white tip.

I hadn't done a clean up before I took the photos. I hope you like :-)

xx

Quick post: Robin Moses!

Hey friends, I hope you are having a lovely Easter.

I was wandering around my dashboard today and saw an upate from Robin.  I don't know if you've seen her blog yet but WOW, this woman is talented. Her nail art is fantastic and her YouTube tutorials are so clear (she's also quite funny).

If you like nail art as much as I do, you might want to have a look.

That's all for this post, I'll be back soon.

xx

My nail growth progress

Hi Friends!

Remember this post, where I lamented the deterioration of my nails over my holiday?  Well, I'm pleased to say that I've had some progress.  First, let me just say that these pictures are of  naked nails that were not filed or moisturised., so yes, they do look grotty. The most recent pictures are taken of my nails after having removed polish and washed dishes - without gloves!

 10th April

 18th April

10th April

19th April

I'm right handed and my nails grow a lot faster on this hand. I just can't wait to get rid of the staining on my left hand nails. When they are gone, I'll be able to do a french manicure, finally.

xx

Hey Friends!

I've experimented again with the 17 Crackle Top Coat.  Here it is with OPI's Bogie...after three days of wear.

It's weird, but I think I like it! Do you?

xx

17's Crackle top coat with Barry M, Models Own Smash-up and Nails Inc Crackle Collection

I'm a little behind with my posts but have changed polish regularly. I haven't been in the mood for posting over the last few days *slaps wrist*.

I was in Boots the other day (yes, I should have probably have shares in the company for the amount of time I spend in there) and I found a 3-for-2 offer. I got these two:

 17's Supreme Shine in Bared and Twighlight Teaser

...and this was the freeness:

17's Nail Xtras Crackle Top Coat

 Everyone has been jumping on the bad wagon of late with these crackle/shatter polishes.  I don't understand why it's taken so long for other colours to come out, but I guess patience is a virtue. Nails Inc have some nice ones coming out and I'm eagerly awaiting the Models Own colours being released soon!

 Barry M's Neon Pink which has an electric blue shimmer to it.

 Right hand!!!

 Shatter polish

Not bad. Funny though, if you put in on without a basecoat, it wears like a normal pearlised colour. Interesting.

I like it and the price wasn't bad either. I can't actually remember, but the bottles of 17 were about £3.50 each or thereabouts.

xx

GOSH Holographic. A rainbow trapped in a bottle.

Hi Friends, how are you? 

Having only worn Gosh Holographic once (and been totally bowled over by it) I wondered what it might look like with black.  I was bored when I did this and because I loved the effect so much, I thought I'd post a few pictures.  Here you go!

It looks like silver glitter, but seriously, this is like a rainbow trapped in a bottle, bursting to get out. I think this is now discontinued...although you may still find a bottle laying around gathering dust in Superdrug.  Guess who has another bottle in her Helmer?

Blurred to show the rainbow...drool.

Um. That's it!

xx

Dear readers...

I would just like to say thank you for all the lovely comments I have been receiving over the last few weeks (on my posts and also in the giveaway forms). I've also been reading your emails and I WILL be replying to them too. Things have been a bit hectic as you know, and sometimes life gets in the way of a lot of things :-(

Over the next few weeks I will be reading through the posts and commenting on the blogs that I follow, subscribing to new blogs too (I love seeing new blogs so please email me your links if you want to share them with me) and also entering giveaways. 

Every time I see a new comment, subscriber or page view, it means a lot to me.  So thank ya friends.

xx

a-england Tristam Swatch

Whilst I was away, I thought I'd keep my eye out for some new polishes that might not have been available in the UK.  I saw plenty of China Glaze, but nothing new. So I thought I'd make the most of the discount I told you about in this post and bought myself Tristan, by a-england.

Here it is in all it's regal glory:

This is the gorgeous dark blue holo that I've had my eyes on for a while now.

I'm not sure if I like the sticky label on the back. It would probably be better (aesthetically) if it was printed onto the bottle or was a see-through sticker, rather than white. Meh, it's neither here nor there really. After two coats, the colour was opaque but it did smudge after half an hour. Perhaps I should have used the top and bottom coats that the website suggested but they were a bit pricey for me. Maybe next time I wear it, I'll leave much longer between applications of each coat.

Indoors with no flash.

Indoors with a flash.

Pro's : Gorgeous colour, good coverage with just two coats, thin consistency, pretty bottle.
Con's: Took too long to dry without the special base and top coats.

Overall I love this colour and I will be buying from a-england again in future.

xx

I'm back...with nubbins :-(

Hi Friends!! 

I'm back from my holiday and very happy to see that I have so many new readers. I had a lovely time but unfortunately, I'm suffering from jet lag. Hopefully a lie-in tomorrow morning might sort me out before work next week.

Whilst I was away, my nails suffered a thrashing. Heaving luggage up and down, rushing with zippers, getting those tiny padlock keys of the metal rings; they tore my nails to shreds. On the last few days before I came home, I removed my polish and cut my nails. I picked off the fibre glass strips I had on some nails *shock horror* and this was what I was left with.

 

My right hand is worse due to the nails breaking unevenly and my nail beds experiencing trauma. Not to worry, this will give me the opportunity to pay attention to my nail growth for a while.

 Filed down with one layer of clear polish. I've been growing out that stain on my ring finger for ages :-(

After polish removal with no filing. The middle finger is so bad.

Every so often I'll make updates about my growth progress. For now though, I'm going to have to live with these nubs and try to make them look pretty. Ugh.

xx