A-England Princess Sabra and Saint George Gradient

Hi everyone! I have another mani from the vault to share with you today. I'm not sure why this one didn't make it to the blog sooner but better late than never huh?

I created this simple gradient manicure using two fantastic A-England polishes, Princess Sabra (Tristam Eyes) and Saint George.

A-England Princess Sabra & Saint George Gradient

Princess Sabra is an olive toned gold scattered holographic. Those of you familiar with A-England will undoubtedly be familiar with Adina's gorgeous cat Tristam, who has eyes this colour.

Saint George, easily one of my favourite ever polishes, is a dark and saturated teal scattered holographic.

A-England Princess Sabra & Saint George Gradient

I started out with a coat of Princess Sabra before using a triangular make-up sponge to gradient using the two colours and finishing off with a coat of topcoat.

What do you think of this manicure? I really enjoyed it in the sunny weather we had when I wore it and posted this pic on IG. 

A-England polishes can be purchased from the A-England website for those of you in the UK and various other retailers (see the complete list here). 

13 Days of January - Day 13 - Something You've Never Tried Before - Spun Sugar

Hi everyone! It's the last day of the 13 Days of January Challenge! Today's prompt is Something You've Never Tried Before! 

I had a bit of trouble thinking of something to do for this one. Unfortunately all I could think of were things that I haven't tried because I didn't particularly want to! 

The spun sugar nail art was one of those nail arts too. I have seen some I thought were okay but they're just not really my style and I haven't fancied having a go at them because it's not something I'd wear as a full mani. But in the spirit of the challenge I decided to try them out! 

13 Days of January - Day 13 - Something You've Never Tried Before - Spun Sugar

I started out with 3 thin coats of OPI Alpine Snow as my base. I then used Flamingo Tini Pink, Feel The Mo-heat-oes Green and You’re Such A Budapest to create the spun sugar effect. I left some of the polishes on a palette for a while to start drying and become stringy before using an orange stick to apply it over my white base. If you'd like to try out this technique and want a step-by-step idea of how to do it, there are a lot around. This tutorial by The Nailasaurus is good! 

13 Days of January - Day 13 - Something You've Never Tried Before - Spun Sugar

I like the combination of colours and the look of this mani at arm's length but it isn't something I'd wear for very long! I can't say I'm really happy with how it turned out! I was a little impatient waiting for the polishes to get stringy enough! It was fun to do something new for the challenge though, especially for the last day! Have you tried out a spun sugar mani before? 

So that's it for the 13 Days of January Challenge! Which look was your favourite? I think mine was my Lowry inspired design from Day 8 closely followed by the Giraffe Blobbicure from Day 10! 

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13 Days of January - Day 12 - Recreate one of your own old manis

Hi everyone! It's the second to last day of the 13 Days of January Challenge already! Today's prompt is Recreate one of your own old manis. 

I hesitated a little bit about which mani to recreate and decided to go with one which had something I would like to improve slightly. I really liked the concept of this negative space/studded mani I did back in April. The one thing I didn't like about it is that my topcoat made some of the gold colour from the studs bleed a bit. I decided to recreate it with a change of colours and using something else instead of the gold studs. 

13 Days of January - Day 12 - Recreate one of your own old manis

I started out with two coats of Elevation Polish Just like Night Time from January's Journey Told Through Music collection. Lulu describes this one as a 'rich navy with blue, teal and aqua shimmer, medium density holographic'. The sparkle in this one is just phenomenal. I had no issues with the formula or application. 

For the two negative space nails, I simply painted leaving a triangular space at the cuticles. I then used topcoat and an orange stick to apply some small crystals and finished off with a coat of topcoat.

13 Days of January - Day 12 - Recreate one of your own old manis

This is a really simple manicure to do but it is not the type of mani I wear regularly so it makes a nice change. I don't often use crystals or studs and when I do, it's usually more sparingly but this is fun every once in a while. What do you think of it? 

Elevation polishes can be purchased from the Elevation Polish store and Llarowe and you can like the Elevation Facebook page here. 

 

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13 Days of January - Day 11 - Complement and Contrast - Yin and Yang

Hi everyone! I can't believe today is already Day 11 of the 13 Days of January Challenge! Only this week to go now and it's finished! Today's prompt is Complement and Contrast. 

I wasn't feeling too inspired by this prompt and talked about it to my husband who suggested I do a Yin and Yang mani. From what I understand, it seems to be a good example of complement and contrast. I'll not pretend to be an expert on it as what I do know comes from googling but I feel like it was a good fit for this theme anyway! Hope you agree! 

13 Days of January - Day 11 - Complement and Contrast - Yin and Yang

I chose to use Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Kiko 275. I freehanded a line to guide me on my accent nail using acrylic paint and a fine detail brush and freehanded the Yin and Yang with the polish brushes afterwards. I added the dots using a dotting tool and finished off with topcoat. The other nails are just two coats of polish and topcoat. 
 

13 Days of January - Day 11 - Complement and Contrast - Yin and Yang

I always like a good black and white mani, this one is no exception and it was really simple. What do you think of it? 

Kiko polishes are available in Kiko stores in Europe (and more recently some locations in the US) and from www.kikocosmetics.com
Sinful Colors polishes are available from various retailers.

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13 Days of January - Day 10 - Blobbicure - Giraffe

Hi everyone! Today is Day 10 of the 13 Days of January Challenge and the prompt is Blobbicure. 

I have to admit I'm not really a huge fan of blobbicures but I had fun creating this one when I thought of it! 

13 Days of January - Day 10 - Blobbicure - Giraffe

I decided to use brown and yellow to create a giraffe inspired blobbicure. I started out with OPI I Just Can't Cope-Acabana from the Brazil collection. This is an awesome yellow creme with great application and formula. I love it! I then used my trusty 6 Harts Bad Bad Lulu Brown to add the spots. I will never get tired of this polish. The formula is flawless and it is just so rich in colour. I need a back up or three... 

13 Days of January - Day 10 - Blobbicure - Giraffe

I then finished things off with a coat of topcoat! I still don't love blobbicures but I have to admit I sort of like this one! What do you think of it? 

6 Harts polishes can be purchased from the 6 Harts Etsy store. You can like the 6 Harts Facebook page here.

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13 Days of January - Day 9 - Rainbow - Rainbow Sprinkles

Hi everyone! Today is day 9 of the 13 Days of January Challenge and today's prompt is Rainbow. 

I had a couple of ideas in mind before this one but I'll be honest with you and say they didn't turn out how they were in my head. So I ended up going for something simple and fun. My Lime Crime 'Les Desserts d'Antoinette' collection has been sitting on my desk for a couple of weeks now for me to play with and the colours inspired me to create a rainbow sprinkles/ice cream inspired manicure. 

13 Days of January - Day 9 - Rainbow - Rainbow Sprinkles

I started out with 3 coats of Milky Ways, a light vanilla creme, and then used a fine dotting tool and the rest of the colours from the collection to paint the sprinkles. I finished things off with a coat of topcoat. 

I think this manicure turned out quite cute and the colours really work for it. I love how they're pastel but bright! What do you think of them? 

Lime Crime polishes can be purchased from the Lime Crime website.

 

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13 Days of January - Day 8 - Artwork - Elevation Polish Wagagai & Freehand Watercolour

Hi everyone! Today is Day 8 of the 13 Days of January Challenge and the prompt is Artwork. 

I struggled for while trying to decide what I should do for this prompt. Everything I seemed to think of has been done by other bloggers or was just something I didn't really fancy. 

It was actually my mam who thought of the artist L.S. Lowry and suggested I take inspiration from one of his pieces of artwork. Lowry was an English artist from Lancashire, famous for his urban industrial landscapes and 'matchstick men'. 

I decided to base my nail art on this Lowry drawing entitled 'A Northern Town' which I think is a good example of his work, featuring buildings, a chimney and of course his 'matchstick men'.  
 

13 Days of January - Day 8 - Artwork - Elevation Polish Wagagai & freehand watercolour

I started out my mani by applying three coats of Elevation Polish Wagagai, a lovely light vanilla polish with multicoloured shimmer. I then applied a matte topcoat to allow me to paint easily using watercolour paint (I used Butter London Matte Finish). 

13 Days of January - Day 8 - Artwork - Elevation Polish Wagagai & freehand watercolour

Then using a fine watercolour brush and a sepia paint, I recreated some of the drawing on my nails. 

I liked the result matte as it made me think of a drawing on paper but I also took some pictures with topcoat. Which do you prefer? 

13 Days of January - Day 8 - Artwork - Elevation Polish Wagagai & freehand watercolour

Elevation polishes can be purchased from the Elevation Polish store and Llarowe and you can like the Elevation Facebook page here.

 

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13 Days of January - Day 7 - Green Base - Green & Gold

Hi everyone! Today is Day 7 of the 13 days of January Challenge and today's prompt is Green base. 

The prompt is really open to interpretation so it wasn't hard to think of something to do for this one. I decided to just create a mani I fancied wearing. 

13 Days of January - Day 7 - Green Base

My choice of green was easy, having just received my Elevation Polish order containing The Kek, which Lulu describes as a 'Medium Olive Green with a slight shift to pink element. Medium density holographic'. This green is really stunning and the flash of pink in it is so original. 

I stamped on two nails using the Moyou Sailor 05 plate and Barry M Instant Nail Effects polish in Gold (320). 
 

13 Days of January - Day 7 - Green Base

On the other two nails I placed some small gold hex glitters along the cuticle to add some sparkle. 

I like the simplicity of this manicure and I think I'm obsessed with the patterns on this Moyou plate. They are so pretty! What do you think of this mani?

Elevation polishes can be purchased from the Elevation Polish store and Llarowe and you can like the Elevation Facebook page here.  

Barry M polishes can be purchased from the Barry M site, Llarowe, Color4Nails and various other retailers. 

 

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13 Days of January - Day 6 - Inspired by Pinterest - Matte/Shiny French

Hi everyone! Today is Day 6 of the 13 days of January Challenge and the prompt is Inspired by Pinterest.

I decided to do a manicure inspired by the manicure I think has to be the one I've seen repinned the most on Pinterest, this matte and shiny french manicure by Chloe's Nails. She used OPI Lincoln Park After Dark Matte and topcoat.

13 Days of January - Day 6 - Inspired by Pinterest - Matte/Shiny French

I decided to use a different colour but keep the idea of a matte polish then just topcoat for the tips, rather than using a shiny polish and then a matte topcoat. I chose Zoya Posh from the Matte Velvet collection, a gorgeous shimmery matte red. This is not your typical flat matte polish at all.

13 Days of January - Day 6 - Inspired by Pinterest - Matte/Shiny French

I used two coats of Posh and then freehanded the shiny french tips using my regular topcoat, Revlon Quick Dry.

I like how this turned out but I think the contrast between shiny and matte definitely shows better on really dark colours. If I redo this mani, I'll definitely go with a darker polish. But I think it's really classy with the red too. What do you think of it? Had you seen this mani on Pinterest? I know I definitely pinned it a loooong time ago!

Zoya polishes can be purchased from the Zoya site and various other retailers.

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13 Days of January - Day 5 - Reversed Polarities - Reverse Watermelon

Hi everyone! Today is Day 5 of the 13 Days of January Challenge and today's prompt is Reversed Polarities. 

At first, I was unsure what this prompt meant in terms of nail art but after some clarification and examples from the lovely Crumpet I understood that it meant reversed colours. I finally settled on some watermelon nails but obviously reversed colour watermelon nails! I've done watermelon nails before but never blogged any. For this version, I was inspired by The Nailasaurus (she also has a tutorial so check it out!). 

13 Days of January - Day 5 - Reversed Polarities - Reversed Watermelon

I started out with Lime Crime Parfait Day to make the pink rind and then Pastelchio for the green flesh. I then used acrylic paint and a fine detail brush for the details. This was a really simple manicure to do but I think it worked well with the reversed colours/polarities aspect in there too. 

What do you think of these? I'll probably wear watermelon nails again but with the colours the right way around. I think it would make a cute pedi! 

Lime Crime polishes can be purchased from the Lime Crime website.

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13 Days of January - Day 4 - Monochromatic - Gradient Dotticure

Hi everyone! Today is Day 4 of the 13 Days of January Challenge and today's prompt is Monochromatic! 

I immediately knew I wanted to do my monochromatic manicure with my favourite colour and it didn't take me long to settle on a dotticure in a variety of shades of purple. 

So here is what I came up with! 

13 Days of January - Day 4 - Monochromatic - Gradient Dotticure

I started out with a coat of Essie BBF Best Boyfriend which is a translucent nude colour. I then used dotting tools in a variety of sizes to add dots using A-England Elaine, OPI Funky Dunkey, Lime Crime Lavendairy and OPI Sheer Tints Don't Violet Me Down (applied in that order). I did bigger dots closer to the tips of my nails and smaller ones working up towards the cuticle. I finished off with a coat of topcoat. 

13 Days of January - Day 4 - Monochromatic - Gradient Dotticure

I love how simple yet dramatic the result is with the gradient of dots over a nude/naked nail base and I can't believe I've never actually blogged a mani like this yet! 

13 Days of January - Day 4 - Monochromatic - Gradient Dotticure

What do you think of it? Have you tried a dotted gradient? 

A-England polishes can be purchased from the A-England website for those of you in the UK and various other retailers (see the complete list here). 

OPI, Essie and Lime Crime polishes can be purchased from a variety of retailers. 

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13 Days of January - Day 3 - Half and Half - Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) from Arrow

Hi everyone! It's Day 3 of the 13 Days of January Challenge and today's prompt is Half and half.

It went back and forth a few times while trying to decide what I wanted to do for this prompt, whether to stick to a simple half and half coloured design or to do something a little more original. I immediately thought of various villains such as 'Two-Face' from Batman or Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmations with her half and half black and white hair. But ultimately I decided to do nail art based on a more recent villain from one of my favourite TV shows, Slade from Arrow! 

You may have already seen that I'm a huge fan of the show and have already created some 'Arrow' nail art and it was fun to create a design based on another aspect of the show. Slade Wilson, a.k.a Deathstroke, wears a mask which is half orange and half black. 

13 Days of January - Day 3 - Half and Half - Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) Arrow

I started out with 2 coats of Kiko 275, one of my favourite black cremes, on all my nails except the accent nail, which I painted with 2 coats of Kiko 280, a simple orange creme. I then painted half the accent nail black and used black and white acrylic paints and a fine detail brush to add the facial 'features' to the mask. 

13 Days of January - Day 3 - Half and Half - Slade Wilson (Deathstroke) Arrow

This design was really simple but I like how it turned out. The mask accent nail really stands out and I think it represents this villain quite well! What do you think of it? Do you watch 'Arrow'?

I'm looking forward to see what everyone else has created for this prompt! Be sure to check them out below! 

Kiko polishes are available in Kiko stores in Europe (and more recently some locations in the US) and from www.kikocosmetics.com 

 

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13 Days of January - Day 2 - Happiness - Coffee

Hi everyone! Today is Day 2 of the 13 Days of January nail art challenge! If you missed Day 1, you can check it out here! 

Today's prompt is Happiness. It took me a little while to figure out what I wanted to do for this theme but I eventually settled on basing my nail art on something which brings me a little bit of happiness every day. Coffee is one of my simple little pleasures and I enjoy at least a café au lait every morning, in a happy travel tumbler or mug. I'm obsessed with collecting Starbucks mugs and they really do make me happy! 

13 Days of January - Day 2 - Happiness - Coffee

I started out with 2 coats of Elevation Polish Cerro Torre 2, a perfect nude-beige creme which always reminds me of milky coffee. If you're a regular reader of the blog you'll know how much I love this polish! I keep saying I need a back up and I really really do! 

I used a sponge to apply a little bit of A-England And the Moonbeams... at the base of my nails to add some sparkle. 

I then used 6 Harts Bad Bad Lulu Brown and a dotting tool to add ovals for the coffee beans with some small dots. I then used a very fine dotting tool and Cerro Torre 2 to add a wavy line along the ovals to turn them into coffee beans and finished everything off with a coat of top coat. 

13 Days of January - Day 2 - Happiness - Coffee

I think this turned out quite cute and I'm really looking forward to seeing the other interpretations for this prompt! 

6 Harts polishes can be purchased from the 6 Harts Etsy store. You can like the 6 Harts Facebook page here.

Elevation polishes can be purchased from the Elevation Polish store and Llarowe and you can like the Elevation Facebook page here.

A-England polishes can be purchased from the A-England website for those of you in the UK and various other retailers (see the complete list here). 

 

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2014 Nail Art Favourites

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! Today I'll be looking back at my favourite nail art manis of 2014!

I'll be keeping it short and sweet on the descriptions and linking back to the original posts so that you can find purchase information and info on how I created each design.

So here goes, in no particular order! 

Superficially Colorful Lacquer My Favourite Things collection gradient (original post here)

Superficially Colorful Lacquer - My Favourite Things Gradient

Elevation Polish Brown Skittlette using Dom, Rohace and Cerro Torre 2 (original post here)

Elevation Polish Brown Skittlette - Dom, Rohace & Cerro Torre 2

OPI Sheer Tints Watercolour (original post here)

OPI Sheer Tints Watercolour

Elevation Polish Hinglajgarh Forest with Freehand Tropical Flowers (original post here) 

Elevation Polish Hinglajgarh Forest with Freehand Tropical Flowers

My Little Pony - Lickety Split & Rainbow (original post here)

My Little Pony - Lickety Split & Rainbow

Be My Valentine - Mickey and Minnie Mouse (original post here)

Be My Valentine - Mickey and Minnie Mouse Freehand

The Lacquer Legion - Garden - Gardens of Versailles (original post here)

Lacquer Legion - Garden - Gardens of Versailles

The Lacquer Legion - Glam (original post here)

Lacquer Legion - Glam - Black & Gold Skittlette

Arrow (original post here)

Arrow Freehand

Elevation Polish The Seas Stripes (Instagram post here)

Elevation Polish Stripes with Ceram Sea and Weddell Sea

So that's all for my favourite nail art manis of 2014! I hope you enjoyed them! Which is your favourite?  

13 Days of January - Day 1 - Follow a Tutorial - Black and White Smoky Marble

Hi everyone! Today is Day 1 of a fun little challenge myself and a few friends are doing this month! It's a modified/mini version of the Crumpet's Nail Tarts 31 Day Challenge for 2015. We will have a nail art prompt 3 times a week which is more doable for me than every day for a month. 

I'm hoping to keep up and try some designs I may not have done otherwise. I'm also looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with for the prompts!

So here is my Day 1 mani for the prompt Follow a tutorial. I chose to follow this smoky/marbled tutorial by Sloteazzy on Instagram. I loved her red and black version of this and I have been meaning to try it since she posted it. Though today I decided to change up the colours a little and use black and white, inspired by this mani by Nicole at Nail Polish Wars. I realised afterwards that Nicole used the same technique for this one too. 

13 Days of January - Day 1 - Follow a Tutorial - OPI Alpine Snow & Kiko 275

Sloteazzy's video tutorial explains the process really well so I won't repeat it all here. The polishes I used are OPI Alpine Snow, a great basic white creme, and Kiko 275 Black.

13 Days of January - Day 1 - Follow a Tutorial - OPI Alpine Snow & Kiko 275

I really like how this turned out and I'll be sad to take it off! What do you think of it?

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