Beach Party Chevrons

Hi! So, I know I haven't posted here in a while, which I apologise for. At the beginning of my absence I kind of started to forget about running this blog, then when I began to remember it I started to become very busy with college starting back up and stuff. But, although I'm still quite busy, I'll try my best to keep it running as much as I used to.

Anyway, most of the designs I'm posting now, including this one, are ones I did a few months back before I stopped coming on this blog.

Models Own - Beach Party

Models Own - Juicy Jules

Barry M - Silver Foil

Seeing as I got both of the Models Own polishes on the same day, I decided to use them both in a design. A chevron design was the first thing that popped into my head, so that was what I ended up doing. I was quite pleased with the outcome, although I just wish that the silver glitter was more opaque so that I didn't have to use a silver polish underneath. 

Red Paisley

Wow, it's really been a while since I've posted anything and I'm sorry about that!

Barry M - Bright Red

Barry M -  Matt White

I'm really happy with how this turned out! Besides accidentally smudging the design on my index finger when applying the top coat. I actually waited near an entire day until applying the top coat, yet it still smudged. Maybe it was to do with how thick the white design turned out to be? I don't know. I think it's mainly the red dots that smudged anyway.

There will be a new post coming tomorrow or the day after! 

Sunshine And Polka Dots

Once again, sorry for a few days delay in posting! I've been really lazy lately.

Rimmel London - Sunshine

Barry M - Grey

Barry M - Matt White

Barry M - Black

Andrea Fulerton (not sure of the name)

I did this from a photo I saw on Tumblr a few days before. Unfortunately, I'm not sure of the blog and I've lost the original picture altogether, so I'm sorry about that!

This was actually pretty easy to do in the end and I think the only design I was hesitant about trying was the one on my little finger, but that surprisingly turned out fine too.

Also, ignore my nail that is a lot shorter than the others. It's taking a while to grow back :(

Before doing this design, I forgot to buy a new white polish, so when it came to doing the polka dots the polish was very thick and difficult to work with as there was hardly any left. The final result was okay, I guess, but just slightly uneven. 

Fifty-Fifty Leopard Print

Hi! I did this design a few days ago when I had actually thought of a decent idea for a design!

Barry M - Peach Melba

Barry M - Matt White

Barry M - Black

I'm pleased with how this design turned out! It would also work if the Peach Melba was replaced with any other colour, but I chose to use this one because I rarely use it and I love the colour. If I ever do this again, which I most likely will, then I'll definitely try a totally different colour :)

As usual though, I accidentally smudged the design slightly when applying the top coat. But luckily it didn't smudge too badly!

Grey and glitter polka dot

Sorry for the lack of posting again! I took a few pictures but for some reason I decided to not put them up until today.

Barry M - Grey

Barry M - Cobalt Blue

Barry M - Blue Glitter

I hadn't done a polka dot design in months, so I finally decided to again a few days ago. I'm used to only doing white polka dots over a different base colour, so I thought it would be cool to try different coloured dots this time. I'm pleased with the result, but I just think it would have been better if the dots were a lot neater. Although, the dots aren't as neat because I did the nails in the photo using my left hand.

I only photographed my right hand this time because one of the nails on my left hand have snapped, so it looks terrible and uneven compared to the others. It was really difficult to photograph my right hand, though.

Dark Ibiza Mix

I'm so sorry for not posting for about a week again. Last Friday I went up to Newcastle to visit my friend for the whole weekend. But I'm back now!

Barry M - Black

Model's Own - Ibiza Mix

I've been trying to find this Model's Own nail varnish in stock somewhere for weeks now, but everywhere I tried was sold out. But, during my visit to Newcastle, I finally found it and decided to buy it while I had the chance.

I did this design yesterday and decided to just go for something simple as I was still very tired from travelling such a long way back home the day before. Also, I wanted to properly test out the new nail varnish.

I know some of the nails are out of focus, but I think this is the best picture I could get of the glitter close-up. I really recommend this polish; it applies easily and the colours seem more vibrant depending on what colour base coat you use!

Aqua glitter gradient

Hi! I did these nails yesterday when I decided I wanted to test out a glitter gradient using the new one I got a few days before.

Barry M - Matt White

Barry M - Aqua Glitter

At first I wasn't sure whether the glitter gradient would work using a polish that had larger bits of glitter in it, but I'm really happy that it did. I'll definitely be trying this out again.

I like the contrast between the two colours too and I think almost any other coloured glitter would look just as great. To create the gradient, I just painted a small section on the corner of a make-up sponge and lightly dabbed it onto half of my nail.

Also, ignore how crappy my nails look. I had to file them down quite a lot before I did these.

Fishtails and glitter.

Hey :) I finally came up with a design that wasn't extremely simple.

Barry M - Matt White

Barry M - Black

Barry M - Grey

Barry M - Cobalt Blue

Barry M - Aqua Glitter

This was my first time trying out fishtail/chevron nails, so I'm pretty pleased with the outcome! Next time I will definitely use some different colours.

For the glitter, I used the Cobalt Blue underneath as a sort of base coat. For me, this helped make the glitter seem more opaque so it could stand out. I always do this when I use other glitters, too. I decided to do the accent nail at the last minute, as I only got the Aqua Glitter today and I really wanted to use it as soon as possible :)

For a fishtail/chevron tutorial, I used Chalkboard Nails'. You can find it here.

Fifty-Fifty tape mani.

Hi! I did these last night when I got bored. I sort of got the idea from Nailside, but instead used different colours and glitter.

Sephora by OPI - Iris I Was Thinner

Barry M - Black

Model's Own - Disco Mix

I think my choice of colours was okay, but next time I would probably try it without glitter. This was my first time trying this certain design and I'm happy with how it turned out. The tape was easy to use and I'm surprised it turned out so neat!

This picture shows the glitter better than in the previous photo.

Pink glitter nails.

Hi! I did these yesterday. I just decided to go for something simple again.

OPI - Pink Friday

OPI - Strawberry Margerita

Barry M - Pink Iridescent

I decided I just wanted to go for simple again, seeing as I'm still pretty busy and haven't got time to really think of designs that much. 

The glitter I put over the top was actually a really pale one, but I still think it looks really nice over Strawberry Margerita. 

Black tape mani!

Hi! These photos are from, like, a week ago, but I only just remembered they're on my laptop. So, yeah. Enjoy!

Barry M - Black

Barry M - Coral

I had no idea what to do on my nails last week, I just decided to go for something simple. I'm fairly happy with how the accent nail turned out, seeing as my tape mani's don't usually turn out perfectly neat. I know this isn't perfectly neat, but still.

Once I had finished, I noticed you could see the tip of my nail slightly on my ring finger. But oh well! It's not that terrible.

Mint splatter nails

Hi! I apologize for not updating for about a week, but I've been insanely busy with college and stuff.

Barry M - Mint Green

Barry M - Matt White

Barry M - Black

OPI - Pink Friday

Seeing as I enjoyed my splatter nails so much last time, I decided to do them again. I struggled to choose which colours to use again, but I think the colours I finally chose turned out fine!

Just like my first attempt, it was very difficult to clean up when I was finished as the polish flooded the cuticles a lot. I think it's quite noticeable on some in the pictures above, but I still tried my best.

Sugar Plums.

Hi! So last night I just decided to change my nail varnish as I was going on a college trip the next day, so what I did wasn't exactly anything exciting. But here it is anyway!

China Glaze - Sugar Plums

China Glaze - Luxe and Lush

I think these two polishes look wonderful together!

I'm sorry for such a short post today, but a better one will be coming sometime tomorrow or the day after :)

Rainbow Leopard Print

Hi! Today I decided to have an attempt at a design that somebody else had already done; mainly because I couldn't think of something to do and I just really liked this person's design anyway.

China Glaze - Ruby Deer (on the thumb)

OPI - Call Me Gwen-Ever

Barry M - Lemon

Barry M - Spring Green

Barry M - Cobalt Blue

Barry M - Black

Barry M - Matt White

The original design can be found here. All I changed was the colour arrangement, since I'm a bit weird and know the correct order of colours in the rainbow. It says how I did it in the link, but if you decided not to click that, then I'll just briefly explain here. All I used to do the leopard print was the slightly larger end of a dotting tool, but I did occasionally change which end I used. 

Also, sorry about picture quality! For some reason I found it difficult to get a decent photo of these.

Splatter nails!

Hi again! Once again, I got pretty bored of my previous nail design pretty quickly; mainly because of how I smudged the design slightly.

Barry M - Lemon

Nails Inc - Charlotte Street

Barry M - Black

OPI - Call Me Gwen-Ever

I'm actually pleased with how they turned out! It was my first attempt at a splatter design and I found it surprisingly easy! At first I struggled to decide which colours I should use, seeing as I've never been good at figuring out which colours look good together and which don't. But in the end I settled for the above :) 

Also, instead of using a normal top-coat on this, I went for a matte coat instead.

To do this design, I just used a normal drinking straw which I then cut in half. I found using this tutorial very useful. I managed to clean up around my nails as best as I could, even though there had been tape surrounding them to avoid any major clean up. I mainly had to clean up any polish that had flooded my cuticles or had just slipped over the edge of the tape. 

I'll definitely be trying this again soon with different colours!

Nautical nails

Hi! I quickly got bored with my previous nails, so I decided to do something else.

Barry M - Black

Barry M - Matt White

Honestly, I'm not too pleased with how it turned out. I think I managed to paint the nails fine and draw the anchor almost perfectly, but once again I just smudged the design slightly when applying the top coat. This could have easily been avoided, but unfortunately I get really impatient, especially when it comes to waiting for a design to dry. 

Peppermint mani

Hi! For today I decided to do my nails similar to peppermints or candy canes. Well, I actually just wanted to do striped nail art using these two colours, but it just ended up resembling peppermint and candy canes.

China Glaze - Ruby Deer

Barry M - Matt White

To do the white stripes I used a normal striper brush and did them as neatly as possible. I'm not too happy with how it turned out. I just think that some of the white stripes are really uneven and it really bothers me. Some of the nails bother me, while others don't.

Gradient Lightning Bolt Mani

Barry M - Matt White

Barry M - Mint Green

Barry M - Black

OPI - Rumple's Wiggin

Model's Own - Disco Mix

Hi! This is the design I did today. I was getting pretty bored of my previous ones, and seeing as I had plenty of spare time today, I decided to change it. I'm happy with how they turned out, apart from the lightning bolt itself - I smudged it slightly when applying the top coat. But, oh well, I still think it looks decent.

For the gradient, I used this tutorial. It's my second time doing a gradient and I'm already finding it easy.

New nail polish mani

OPI - Call Me Gwen-Ever

China Glaze - Luxe And Lush

As I said in my previous post, here is a photo of my new China Glaze polish in use. I'm very pleased with the outcome and I think these two polishes work well together. 

In the photo above, although it isn't that noticeable, I used a matte topcoat just to see what it would look like. I'm not sure whether I prefer it to a normal topcoat, but I still think it looks great. 

Here is what the mani looked like with a regular topcoat. 

"Call Me Gwen-Ever" and "Luxe and Lush" review.

The other day I ordered these two nail polishes, seeing as I had been wanting them since they had been released. 

"Luxe And Lush" from China Glaze:

I'm really glad I ordered this. It only cost about £5 from Amazon and it only took two days to deliver, too. 

What appealed to me most of all was the fact that it's from The Hunger Games collection by China Glaze, and seeing as I'm a huge fan I made a promise to myself that I was going to order at least one of them. I've also got a thing for glittery or similar looking top coats, and thought this one looked beautiful. 

It's fairly easy to apply to your nails. I'm sure one coat would do for most people, but I did two just in case. A picture will be included in my next post, but I tried this out properly on my coral nail polish, which I think was a very good idea. In my opinion, this polish would look best on almost any colour. 

The only downside is that it is very difficult to remove. I quickly tested it out on one nail yesterday and it proved frustrating to take off. Luckily, this is the only bad thing I have to say about this polish. 

"Call Me Gwen-Ever" from OPI:

I was happy with this one, too. I'm a huge fan of Marvel and excited for the new Spiderman movie, so I was pleased to hear that OPI were releasing a collection dedicated to it. To be honest, I  would have ordered any of the colours seeing as they're all so nice, but lately I've taken a liking to coral colours.

The formula for this was expected. It was almost opaque in one coat, but as usual I had to add a second just to finish it. In the past when I've tried paler coloured OPI's, the formula has been quite transparent or runny, and I was glad to find out that this one wasn't the same. It was also good for the price, as I got it from Amazon for around the same price as the previous China Glaze one, and it arrived just as quickly.

My current nail polish collection

Just thought it would be a good idea to show my collection so far. I'll be updating whenever I buy new ones and I'll most likely be buying a lot over the summer. 

Reds:

Left to right: Barry M - Red Glitter, OPI - An Affair In Red Square, China Glaze - Ruby Deer, OPI - Meet & Jingle, Nails Inc - In Style Beach.

Blues:

Top row, left to right: Barry M - Cobalt Blue, Miss Sporty - Coty Paris (I think), Sinful Colors - Nail Junkie, No.7 - Betty Blues, OPI - Cattitude, Nails Inc - Hanover Square, Barry M - Blue Moon.

Bottom row, left to right: Sephora by OPI - Mermaid To Order, Nails Inc - Tudor Way, OPI - Russian Navy, All About Nails - Mint Snow, Barry M - Blue Glitter.

Pinks:

Top row, left to right: OPI - Strawberry Margarita, OPI - Pink Friday, No.7 - Pink Grapefruit, Nails Inc - Paris, Sephora by OPI - Screen Test, Bourjois Paris (not sure of the name).

Bottom row, left to right:  Bourjois Paris - Fuchsia Provoc, Nails Inc - Piccadilly Circus, Bourjois Paris (no name), Barry M (no name). 

Purples:

Top row, left to right: OPI - Super Bass Shatter, OPI - Louvre Me Louvre Me Not, Bourjois Paris - Violine Chic, Nails Inc - Savile Row, No.7 - Violetta, Sephora by OPI - Iris I Was Thinner.

Bottom row, left to right: Nails Inc - Crown Court, Rimmel - Deliciously Dark, China Glaze - Sugar Plums, Nails Inc - Garrick Street, BYS - Voodoo Violet. 

Greens:

Left to right: Nails Inc - Emerald Street, OPI - Who The Shrek Are You?, No.7 - Totally Teal, Bourjois Paris (not sure of the name), Barry M - Spring Green, Barry M - Mint Green. 

Yellow and Oranges:

Left to right: Barry M - Lemon, OPI - Fiercely Fiona, Bourjois Paris (not sure of the name), Barry M - Coral, Barry M - Peach Melba, Barry M - Nude. 

Gold and Silvers:

Left to right: Collection 2000 - Shimmy Shake, Barry M - Gold Foil, Nails Inc - Charlotte Street, Nails Inc - Bond St Lights, Andrea Fulerton - Stripe & Sparkle, Barry M - Silver Foil.

Black, grey, white. (And some colours I forgot to photograph.)

Top row, left to right: Nails Inc - Victoria, MaxFactor - Boji, Technic - Jet Black, Barry M - Nails Effects Black Shatter, Andrea Fulterton (not sure of the name), MaxFactor - Onyx, Barry M - Grey, Models Own - Snow White, Barry M - Matt White, Barry M -  Pink Iridescent, Bourjois Paris (not sure of the name), OPI - Rumple's Wiggin.