Back to Black (and blogging)

Well hello there!

Where have you been, I hear you ask.  I've been trying to find my blogging mojo, trying to study, trying to deal with some work/office issues as well as practicing my acrylic and gel applications. My practical assessments at college have started and my time internet time has been spent over at SalonGeek, getting tips on how to apply the perfect set of acrylics. Those of you who are nail or beauty technicians or have an interest in becoming one may find this site invaluable. By the way, those of you who are nail techs, why didn't you tell me how hard it is?? I had three practice clients who each had a manicure, massage, luxury treatment and a polish on Saturday and by 4pm I could have gone to sleep on the salon floor. I was that tired!

Even though I've been away, I've been taking pictures; but mainly of the enhancement work I've done so far. I can't post them here because they are too embarrassing, so I'll wait until next week, when I have to do some decent work for my assessments.

I'll show you what I'm wearing today:

 MUA's black shade and gold and white chains from Bundle Monster plate BM 12.

 I sat for about 20 minutes staring at these black nails, not knowing what to put on them.

I'm posing with one of my favourite oversized accessories at the moment. A 'gold' and black 'jewelled' bracelet. I think it's from H&M but I can't really remember.

Thanks for sticking with me during my absence. When I thought I might have lost a few readers, I seem to have gained some, so I'm really appreciative.

Take care folks ;)

xx

Black and White Valentine's Manicure

I've got another Valentine's manicure for you friends. I didn't use the traditional pink and red colours because I'd actually been thinking of doing an 'anti-love' valentine-icure (for no reason other than to do something different!).  I'd intended to paint on some broken hearts but then my pot of stamping plates started to call my name. I couldn't find anything to fit the theme so I just went with this:

 Barry M's 'Matte White', MUA's black polish to stamp and Venique's 'Twinkling Snow', sent to me by the very lovely RMCandlelight.

 Bundle Monster plates 02, 03 and 09 from the old edition of plates.

Right hand!

Until next post...xx

MUA - shade 9 and Sinful Colors

Recently I've been re-evaluating my beauty routine. You may not be aware of this, but I really do like make-up.  I go into stores, stare at displays and generally feel overwhelmed when I go anywhere near a MAC counter. I'm just no good at it all. I try to pick lipsticks - but end up buying the same or similar shades all the time. I love eyeshadow and have a few palettes, but I don't wear shadow unless I go 'out'. I tend not to wear anything other than foundation (if my skin starts reverting to it's teenage days), mascara and a bit of blusher if the mood takes me. This year, I have decided to start playing with make up a little more.

Whilst a very pretty YouTube Vlogger was in the process of her 'how-to-define-your-eyebrows' tutorial the other day, rather than concentrating on which brow powder to put where, I was staring at her nails. She was wearing a shiny blue polish which looked quite familiar to me and I was sure I had the same one. I went to the Helmer and plucked out this beauty!

 This is MUA's 'Shade 9'. The label was hanging off so I just got rid of it. Hurrah, another flat brush to make application quick and easy. The consistency was smooth but it was more like a jelly than a cream. It was opaque in two coats.

 This beautiful blue was found at Superdrug and was part of MUA's low priced, high quality range. This cost £1 - right up my alley. If you read my blog regularly, you will also be aware that I use MUA's black shade when I'm stamping. This week MUA also released the Love Heart Collection - pastel polishes and lip glosses. When I pick some up, I'll review them.

After a day of wear, I wanted add a little something extra to my nails, but as I was going to college in a few days, I didn't want to do anything elaborate. So of course, I grabbed some glitter!

 Ah, Sinful Colors 'Hottie' - a blue jelly base with opal/holographic glitter particles.

This would have been perfect to stamp over, but I had no time...or no energy. I'll try to do something a little more exciting next time.

Before I go, is there anything else that you would like to see here on this blog?
Are you interested in more than just what the ends of my fingers look like?
Would you welcome some other 'beauty' posts or would you prefer that I stick to manicures and polish only? I know that it is up to me as to what I want to add to my blog, but your thoughts would still be appreciated :)

Take care all.

xx

xx

31 Day Manicure Challenge Day 24 - 'Nails inspired by a book'

Hey folks. 

I nearly wasn't going to post anything tonight because I was busy gossiping with my cousin until quite late.

Today/tonight is a manicure inspired by a book. I don't often get to read for pleasure, but when I do, I'm afraid I'm a sucker for a Stephen King novel. I have quite a few of his books, but this one seemed like the easiest to capture in a manicure that could be 'worn'.

 Here we have 'Firestarter' a story about a father and daughter who are on the run from a government agency due to them possessing terrifying psychic powers.  The father has the power of suggestion, which has dire consequences upon himself and others. The girl? She has pyrokinetic abilities and can start fires with her mind...great stuff.

Black nail polish, yellow, orange and red acrylic paint with a layer of Nubar's '2010' on too to give the flames a shimmer.

I thought I'd better bring some game, considering yesterday's manicure was pretty sedate.

Happy Friday and a happy belated Thanksgiving to my readers who celebrate it :)

xx

Peripera Pussy Cat

Don't you just LOVE that pussycat? I got her and a load of other goodies from the lovely Anastacia recently in a swap. If you don't already know her, you might want to visit her - she's a doll.

This polish thinks she's so posh, she doesn't even have a name or number. When it dries, it has an interesting smell. Sort of fruity methinks. Don't quote me though; I've had a cold for about a month and can barely taste or smell a thing. One of my friends told me that I should start charging this cold rent because it's been with me that long.

The plate used was BM024 - from the newer release of plates.

You know I'll try to help you save money where you can, right? Well, MUA are the best for a black stamping polish. No lift, no drag, quick drying...all for £1.

My work colleague said that this mani looked like an Easter egg. Is she right?

xx

MUA Nail Quake and The Evil Step-mother...

Hey everyone.

Over the last few months I have noticed more and more companies jumping on the crackle band wagon. To be honest with you, I don't know why it has taken them so long. Is there a secret method of creating 'le crackle' that is stuck in volt somewhere guarded by the hounds of hell? Why has it taken everyone so long to 'crack' on? <<<<Did you like what I did there?

Any hoo, here is MUA's Nail Quake and I actually really love this colour. Before I go on, I saw this polish out ages ago, so no, MUA were not tardy to the crackle party. I used this over a gold colour by Nails Inc.

I got the inspiration for this manicure from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella featuring Brandy Norwood, Whitney Houston and many other famous US celebs. Confused?

 If you would like to see my inspiration but don't want to watch the entire clip, scroll to 7.50 mins and checkout the Evil Step-mother's dress...otherwise, enjoy!

Sinful...Dream On

Hey friends.

Hope you've all been well. 

I've had a lot of things going on separate projects going on for me over the past few weeks (looking for nail technician courses, business ideas, trying to get the right hair colour...I'm now a red-head) so whilst I haven't been posting, I have been doing 'nail stuff'.

My nails are getting longer and are actually longer on my right than they are on my left hand. But because I've been neglecting them a little, they are dehydrated and have started to curve inwards at the corners.  To help alleviate that problem, I've rounded them slightly.  And now I don't like them.  Never satisfied, me.

Here's what I did last night and have intentions of wearing into next week.

Here is the polish in order of use:

L-R: Sinful Colors 'Dream On', Gabrini '365', MUA Shade 2 and GOSH 'Holographic'.


A close-up of Gabrini's beautiful holographic glitter:

 

The plate I used from the most recent Bundle Monster set:

I hope you like it.  I'm off to have a look at my dashboard because I know I've missed out on some good blog posts recently. 

xx

East Asian inspired mani!

Hey friends (big wave to my new subscribers x)

Sooo... this is what I'm wearing today. I thought I'd better make up for my lack of posts by doing something a little intricate.

The polish, in order of use:

 Color Club 'Resort to Red', Essence Nail Art Twins 'Carrie', MUA Shade 2, Models Own (yeah, I know it's a mess!) 'Gold Digger', Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat.

 I stamped on the fans first and then the above image (I don't know what it's called - if you do, please let me know)

I'm actually going to wear this until it starts to chip on me.

I hope you like it!

xx

Glorious Gasoline

Hi friends.

I'm officially out of my slump and have a manicure for you. I did this ages ago and although it was gorgeous in real life (to me anyway), it was an absolute monster to capture on film. The pictures don't do it any justice, unfortunately.

  I sharpened this image to show the detail.

 The main colour is GOSH's Gasoline with black sponged tips. I love this polish so much. As you know, I'm a sucker for glitter and this has it all. I may even have to pick up another of these bottles the next time I see one.

 I used BM image plate 04 (the older set of plates) . The colours used to stamp were Petites Color Fever 'Black Diamond', MUA's Black shade and Essence Metallics 'Copper Rulez!'

xx

Additions to the family

Hey friends

I had lots of comments about my blog when I ran my giveaway recently. I specifically asked for some feedback because I knew that there were lots of you that would read, but not comment.  The comments I got were interesting. Some were quite helpful; things that I'd never thought of, or hadn't got around to yet. Others? Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not going to be parading my Outfit of the Day anytime soon...although I do have some fabulous ones *pops collar* .

Someone did say I should show my hauls...but I don't like flaunting my frivolous spending (it offends my inner frugalist). Instead, I shall speak of my 'additions'.  Oh, and here they are!

 So, I've just poured these out of their box and realised that they don't have individual names.

 Barry M's Nail Effects 315, 314

 MUA's Black and BM Plates 2nd edition

 And my favourites, sent to me by Shadow (because she is just too lovely!)
L-R Mint Apple, Green Ocean, San Franciso

 L-R Hottie, Frenzy, Daddy's Girl

L-R Dream On, What's Your Name

Oh, and I bought some Seche Vite too! I have to re-arrange my Helmer at some point. Once I have, I'll post my stash.

xx

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!

I don't do red...

Do you ever feel that there are some colours that just don't suit you? I'm like that with bright reds. I have big hands and red just makes them look even bigger. 

I got smooth coverage with two thick coats of MUA colour and I added some Zoya Astra for a bit of glitter.  The colours are lovely, but on me? Meh.

 This is a more accurate representation of the colour

This one isn't - makes it look orange.

Cheap polish!!!

So, last Saturday I was going up and down the cosmetics isle in Superdrug for about 15 minutes poking around in the polish.  My sister was giving me side-eyes as I stood comparing three different shaped bottles with the 'same' colours in them. To my delight, I saw a little stand that had Makeup Academy (MUA) make-up and polish on them. The little bottles were £1 for 6.2ml. I had told myself I wasn't buying anymore polish this month, but it would have been rude not to at this price!
I also got a bottle of  Gosh polish for about £4 (I think)

L-R
Shade 2
Gasoline 541
Shade 8 - which is actually a reddish jelly finish.
I think perhaps I need to stop showing bottles of colour and get to painting me nails, eh?