Mint Green lace

Hi friends.   

Here's a little manicure that did recently. I'm going back to my roots with some Barry M. This is one of the very first brands that I've worn, even before starting my blog nearly two years ago.

 

Instagram picture

As pleased as I am with this manicure, I'm not so thrilled with my current nail shape. At this length, I think they'd look better squared, but my middle fingernail is just so short.

This shade is perfect for the summer...it did take a while to get to us over here in the UK and I'm dubious as to how long it will actually stay with us!

 

The lines were created with acrylic paint.  They could have been steadier, but I used the wrong brush - I should have used a long thin striping brush, but I used a short fine detailer instead.

 

Do you spy the dent on my index finger? It magically appeared in the morning!

I don't know what you'll be doing this coming week, but whatever it is, I hope it's great. By the way, if there is anything you'd like to see me do (any nail art, tutorials or topics), then please leave a comment below and if it's something I think sounds good, I may try it.

Thanks for reading.

xx

Invisible wings

On Sunday it was my daughter's second birthday and because she loves animals so much, we all went to London Zoo on the Saturday, as a warm-up celebration. She loved it, but she didn't like the Gorilla's. She spent most of the time wrapped around my neck when she eyed those bad boys.

One thing she did like was the butterfly house. It's literally a tent-like structure hosting an artificial tropical climate and hundreds of butterflies. They have big ones the size of your hands and tiny little ones which land on you if you aren't screaming your head off. 

I found this little beauty:

 Look, the wings are practically invisible! I don't know her name, but she inspired me to create this:

I hate this nail length, but this glitter IS pretty!

 I was trying to capture the wings.

 

I like the design better on a longer 'nail'.

Right, I'm off to go and find something to plaster onto these nubbins of mine. I hope you are having a lovely week.

Thanks for all of your nice comments and support. I don't always get a chance to reply or visit other blogs nowadays but I'm going to change that!

xx

Lace stickers

Hi friends.

Unfortunately (or quite possibly fortunately), my Gellux chipped and I had to remove it. It only chipped because the tutor applied it very thinly over a torn nail. Said nail then broke and that was enough for me to get the acetone out.  The Gellux took ages to remove :-/

I realise that I haven't been very creative of late so I decided to break out the nail stickers. I've seen similar tip manicures on Ying's site, so I thought I'd do my own.

 I need to stop being so lazy and actually use my camera, as opposed to the camera on my iPhone.

I don't have a huge amount to say about this manicure other than that I'm bored of it after only one day of wear! Oh, by the way, you see that middle fingernail? It's wonky but I can't file it anymore. If I do, I'll be filing my skin!

Take care!

xx

Hand-painted lace effect manicure.

Today I have a tutorial for you. 

I was thinking of creating a black lace manicure, but couldn't find any lace that I really liked. That's when I decided to try free handing a lace pattern onto my nails. 

 

Things you will need:
You will need a base polish. For the life of me, I have no idea what this Barry M polish is called. It's an old one and it is less than half full now. The glitter is number 70 by Catherine Arley. The acrylic paint is non-specific and I actually changed the brush for a thinner one because the lines were just too thick.

 Two coats of base colour and one coat of glitter.

 Create some waves with the black paint.

 Make diagonal lines but don't panic if your lines aren't straight. You can use the wonky lines to prove to people that yes, you did the design YOURSELF!

Add some dots for detail. I actually used a tooth pick because the dotting tools I have are far too big.

Add more detail with the paint brush and when the acrylic is dry, use a top coat.

L-R: '276' with no name and '308-Berry Ice Cream'
I told you that this bottle of polish was old. Look at the worn print - the font size has even changed on the newer bottle.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Have you ever worn a 'lace' manicure? What have you used to recreate the 'lace' effect? Would you like to see more of these types of designs in future?

xx

Well, Hello Kitteh!

Hi friends, I hope this blog post reaches you in good health...

My last post featuring the water decals was quite some time ago - but this is mainly because they lasted so long. Well over a week, in fact. I enjoyed wearing them so much, I didn't have the heart to remove them.

Unfortunately, my nails have reached the length where they usually start to break on me. 8/10 of my nails is sporting a patch at the moment. Only my ring fingers are damage free :(

Here is something I did last night with a polish I picked up from H&M (or Hennes, as I frequently call it...yeah, I'm old skool).

I painted the tips pink first and then made the stripes with this polish. When I was done, I added the rhinestones and then the lace sticker tape for a final touch.

I like 3D nail art, especially Japanese nail art trends. Anything sculpted, embedded or contrary to the normal manicure is the thing for me. I can't say that I'd wear all of it because I've seen some really abstract designs, but I'm interested in the creation of nail art.  So much so that I've decided to further my knowledge about the nail industry and take a course.

So, what areYOUR favourite nail trends? What manicures are easy on your eye? Which ones make your skin crawl? Which nail shape do you prefer? I'm so NOT a fan of mid-to longer length nails that are rounded to a point and look like lions claws...are you?

Beauty UK Peach Melba and white lace nails

Happy Hump-day friends.  I hope your week is going well so far.

Is Christmas a distant memory now? For me it is

Today I thought I'd share a very short-lived manicure with you.  I'm sure that many of you would have already seen or heard of manicures using either real lace or hand-painted lace patterns.  I've heard about it for some months now and last year saw this YouTube video by LOVE4NAILS. I thought it looked nice, but back then I wasn't really doing my own nails - I was going to those cattle market nail shops (they usher you in, don't talk to you and then boot you out after hacking at your nails with an e-file). I'm not one for wearing 'this season's trend' in nail polish or nail art so I didn't bother trying it. Until now.

For this I used some white lace border bought from Hobbycraft for £1 a metre (I think), Nubar 2010 - a gorgeous opal flaky glitter in a clear base polish and the very yummy Peach Melba by Beauty UK. I didn't use a topcoat per see.

 First I painted on two coats of Peach Melba after my basecoat had dried.

 I cut some random strips of lace to fit my nail, painted on one coat of Nubar 2010 and quickly placed the lace on a fingernail and pressed down. The lace is very, very fine so I put pressure on the thicker, patterned parts of the lace. Had I put pressure on the thinner sections, they would have disappeared into the polish. This is also why I didn't use a top coat.

 I painted a little white polish here and there and added a few dots. I put a few dabs of old, thick topcoat on the edges in an attempt to stop the lace from lifting. It actually lasted through showers, hand washing, dish washing, children washing and when I did try to take it off, it was pretty stubborn!

If this was something I had intended to wear for more than a day I would have used a thicker white lace with more patterns OR black lace. Had I put a topcoat on this lace, it would have penetrated the fabric immediately and become transparent. With black lace, it probably wouldn't have happened and I would have used several layers of topcoat to anchor the lace. I might even have been able to put a layer of UV gel or acrylic over it for extra longevity...but I'm not using any of those things at the moment.

Do you like 'lace nails'? Have you worn such a manicure and if so...what did you do to make it last?

Check ya later.
x