New years eve nails

Here's my design for New Year's Eve. The base is my favorite polish, it's Aztec by Accessorize. Then I used a gold striper from Andrea Fullerton to do flicks in circles for fireworks. Over that I used Barry M white nail art pen to write 2014 then went over the white with a blue striper from Andrea Fullerton. Then just to add a bit more sparkle I placed a few gems randomly over my nails to finish off!

Essie- a cut above

Merry Christmas! I've just opened my stocking and was very delighted to see the prettiest pink glitter polish I have ever seen! It's Essie A Cut Above and I just could not wait to try it. I decided to layer it over Accessorize Cinder Rose and add a little silver circle stud at the base of my nails. It was very easy to apply; the glitter went on very evenly, only took a bit of arranging to get it beautifully distributed over my nail and I didn't need to use that much of the polish to get a nice amount of glitter on my nails. And it's just SO pretty!

Reindeer nails

For this design I started off by painting my nails a pale blue with white spots on top. Then I used a brown polish to draw a semi circle at the base of my nail I then used a big dotting tool to draw on the noses in a pale pink and red on the ring finger for rudolph! For the eyes I just placed a white dot with a black dot on top of it just above the nose.
And finally to draw the antlers I used a black nail art pen.

Snowman nails

Another Christmas design! For this one I have a snowman on my over my thumb and ring finger. Head on my ring finger and body on my thumb! I used black on a big dotting tool for the eyes, mouth and buttons. I used an orange nail art pen to draw a triangle for the carrot nose and to draw the scarf. For the scarf I also used a green nail art pen to draw stripes on it.

On my middle and little finger I painted over the white with a gold glitter polish then attached all different sized pearls over them randomly.

Finally on my index finger I used a light blue striper to draw little star/snowflake shapes.

Purple Glitter and Rhinestones

These nails are just frosted plum by gosh with a bit of extra glitter and sparkle! All I did was paint my nails and whilst they were still wet placed some chunky glitter on the base. Then added a blob of clear nail varnish over the glitter to secure the rhinestones. I then sealed it all in with my topcoat! Very simple and easy to do, but very pretty and sparkly!

Gosh Frosted Plum Reveiw

Gosh's Frosted Nail Laquer in Frosted Plum is an absolutely beautiful colour. It's a dark glittery purple polish with hints of gold in it. This polish is textured so it dries rough, it also dries to a matte finish and even after applying a topcoat is still quite matte. The opacity of this polish is very good, I found I only needed to apply one coat. If I hold it up to the light the tips go a tiny bit see though, but it'd be easily fixed with a second coat if it really bothered you, but I don't think it's needed.

Overall I am in love with this polish, it's so easy to work with and looks amazing. The only thing that would put me off wearing it is that I think these types of colours look best plain with no design on them, however I have done a simple design using this polish with glitter and rhinestones, which I will upload soon.

Elf and Santa nails

I started these nails by painting them all a nude. Then for my elf nails I painted all the tips green and then used a striper to draw a gold line between the nude and the green. I then used a dotting tool for the eyes. I first dotted black and then blue over the top. I also used a dotting tool and a pastel pink for the cheeks and finally for the mouth I used a nail art pen to draw on a smile! For my Santa nails I used red for the tips and used white on a dotting tool to draw on the wooly bit of his hat. I used the same technique on the bottom of my nail for the beard. I drew the mouth over the top of his beard the same way I did the elves and I also did the eyes the same way I did the elves but I used green instead of blue.

Christmas jumper nails

Lilac and glitter flowers

For this design I painted my nails lilac and then used a silver glitter nail art pen for the flowers. To do the flowers I started off by doing a dot in the middle to work from then drew four petals around the dot. I did a couple of these flowers on my accent nails and only one big flower coming off the nail in different positions on different nails for the rest of my nails.

Movember Nails

This is the design that I came up with for Movember

For the design I used Barry M black nail art pen to do the design over Accessorize Cinder Rose. 

The black splodge on my little finger is nail varnish... I'm so messy! 

Studs and Polka Dots

I used Nails Inc Big Apple Red as my base colour for this design then used a big dotting tool and black polish to create polka dots on all my nails except my ring finger. On my ring finger after I painted my nails red and let that dry I painted over it with a thick coat of clear nail varnish then used a dotting tool with a little bit of clear polish on it to pick up and place the gold round studs only nails. I finished of with a fast drying topcoat on all my nails and made sure it was a thick coat on my ring finger to secure the studs!

Union Jack Nails

For this design I used my  Maybelline vintage leather polishes in Turquoise Temptation and Red Grained. I used Red Grained on my ring finger and Turquoise Temptation on the rest of my nails. I also used 2 Andrea Fullerton stripers, a silver one and a glitter one. I used the glitter one on my ring finger and the silver one on the rest of my fingers. I used these to draw out the Union Jack then finished off with a topcoat. 

My silver striper is very old and dried up (I should really get a new one), so it's not left a great finish to this mani, very bumpy and uneven not nice and smooth like it should be.

 :(

Pink and gold studs

This design is very simple and easy. I just painted my nails in Milan by No. 7 then used a topcoat to secure on the gold studs (from eBay).

Fireworks Night Nails!

Just a silver background with colourful fireworks for Fireworks Night! Little bit messy... 

Used nail art pens and toothpicks to create this design. Started off by doing the silhouette of the fireworks in white then adding the colour, outlining them in black and used a gold and red striper for the little explosions at the bottom.

Cupcakes Halloween Challenge: Free for All

This is not only my final design for the halloween challenge, it is also the design I wore on halloween. As it was halloween I thought I'd go as dramatic as I could, so I used false nails and glued some spikes from eBay onto my nails. On my thumb and little finger I just have glitter and spikes. Purple glitter on my little finger and silver on my thumb. On my ring finger I just have the spikes on a black background and my other two nails are gravestones. I filed all my nails to a stilletto shape and finished them off with a matte topcoat. 

Cupcakes Halloween Challenge: Classic Horror Character

I chose to do a ghost design for this mani-

 

For the base I used Illamasqua Raindrops, then went over it with 17 Bluechrome. To draw my ghost I just took a plain white and using the brush in the bottle painted the shape, pressing more heavily at the beginning then with less pressure towards the end to make the tail. I used Andrea Fullerton's Dot and Flick to draw the eyes and mouth. To write Boo I just very carefully used Barry M Nailart Pen in White.

The makeup look to go with these nails-

For this look I started off with a wash of a matte white eyeshadow all over my lids and upto my brow bone. I then intensified the white on my lid by adding more of the white, I also put some onto my waterline to brighten up my eyes a bit. Then I took a light blue and applied that on the outer half of my lid. Once that was done I used a dark/navy blue to go right into my crease and took it right to the inner corner of my eye and very carefully winged it out lightly, then once I was happy with it I went back in and built up the colour. For my mascara I used Bad Gal by Benefit because I wanted something quite pretty and subtle, nothing to dramatic. On my lips I have Money, Honey Dazzleglass by Mac and on my cheeks I have a pink blush by makeup essentials, which I can't find the name of. 

Cupcakes Halloween Challenge: Vampires

My vampire inspired design

I started off by painting all my nails Barry M Raspberry except for my ring finger which I painted Ciate Shooting Star. On my nails painted Raspberry I painted a black stripe across the middle, then using my white Barry M nails art pen I drew on the teeth making sure to give the mouths fangs. Then for my ring finger I painted a black tip with the brush in the bottle then used a nail art pen to create the little v. I also used the pen to draw the smile. For the fangs I used a white nail art pen and for the eyes just black polish and a dotting tool.

The makeup to go with the nails-

I used the purple from my topshop duo pallette thunder all over my lids then I used just a plain matte black on my crease and brought it along the outer edge of my lower lash line. I used the silver Barry M glitter dust on the center of my lid to add a little shimmer (not really visible in the pictures). I have L'Oreal Super Liner Perfect Slim on my top lash line and Benefit They're Real on my lashes. I used the red blush from my sleek pallette pumpkin and on my lips I have Valentine by Collection. I also used Benefit High Beam to highlight my cheek bones, nose, Cupid's bow and brow bones.

Cupcakes Halloween Challenge: Witches

The next theme for the halloween challenge is witches so this is the design I came up with-

The green on my nails is Barry M Key lime and on my index and little finger I put a coat of Seventeen Monochrome over it. On my middle finger I used a black Andrea Fullerton striper to draw the witch's hat, I also used it to draw the handle on the broom on my ring finger. To do the end of the broom I took a small thin brush and used a mix of ciate pocket money and shooting star. On my thumb I used Rimmel Sky High then layered it with a coat of L'Oreal Crystalissime and a coat of an unnamed silver glitter polish by Ruby.

And the makeup look to go with these nails

On my eyes I have a glitter khaki and glitter black from an old Ruby and Millie pallette. I placed the khaki all over my lid and took it under my eye slightly. Then I took some masking tape to use as a stencil and placed it from the outer corner of my eye to the end of my eyebrow and took my black and placed it over the crease taking it out to my eyebrow. I also used my L'Oreal Super Liner Perfect Slim eyeliner to line the top lash line and used my Avon Super Shock gel eyeliner to get my waterline. I then used quite a lot of False Lash Telescopic mascara by L'Oreal to get very dramatic spidery lashes. 

On my cheeks I have Melba by Mac and on my lips is Classic Rose by No. 7.

Cupcakes Halloween Challenge: Bloodbath

My second design for this halloween challenge-

I tried to use the straw technique to create a splatter effect, but it was a lot harder than it seemed. The only nail it worked on was my middle one, so I ended up putting drops of red nail varnish on my nails and blowing them out with a straw and then putting on a topcoat before they were properly dry so as to smear them a bit more. On my ring finger I decided to do it more like drips so I just took a fairly big dotting tool, dotted the red where I wanted the drip to start and then dragged it up my nail whilst reducing the pressure applied. I did this three times starting at different points on my nail then I added some drops below the main drips and connected them at the top. I also smeared these by applying topcoat before they were dry. For this design I chose to use a matte topcoat, but a plain one would work fine too. 

And the make-up to go with these nails-

On my eyes I have just a matte white eyeshadow from an old Ruby and Millie pallette all over my lid and then up to my brow as well, but not as intensely. Then I took the red blush from my Sleek pallette Pumpkin, I used a fluffy eyeshadow brush to apply it quite messily over the outer half of my lid and upto my brow and I also took it quite far under my eye. I took a smaller eyeshadow brush to apply it a bit more heavily on my crease.

I used a pencil gel liner by Avon to line my eyes, top and bottom, I made sure it was a bit messy and smudged and then went over the liner on the top with Super Liner Perfect Slim by L'Oreal to fill in gaps between the liner and lash line. For mascara I used They're Real by benefit to lengthen my lashes then I  used False Lash Telescopic by L'Oreal to make them more spidery. 

I used The Body Shop lip and cheek stain on my lips and cheeks. I then lined my lips with Ruby Rose Lip Lines by Natural Collection, then filled in my lips with Valentine by Collection.

I also contoured using the No. 7 bronzing pearls, but you can't really tell with the lighting.

Cupcakes Halloween Challenge: Pumpkin Patch

I found this challenge on Instagram by mscupcake05 so thought I'd give it a go

This is what I came up with

For this design I used 

Nails inc. Portobello Market

A green and orange nail art pen by Nail Art (they aren't named)

Barry M nail art pen black

Andrea Fullerton black and gold nail art stripers

I started off by creating a tip on all my nails except my ring finger with Portobello Market then added stripes of a darker orange with my orange nail art pen. To create these tips I used striping tape as a stencil because I was adding detail but ordinarily I would do tips freehand. Once I'd added the stripes to all my nails I peeled off my striping tape and used the gold striper to create a line under the tips. On my thumbs I also drew a little leaf with my green nail art pen and black striper.

On my ring finger I started off using portobello market again to create the shape of the pumpkin. To do this I just painted my nails like normal, but started off a bit higher up than my cuticle, about where my lunula ends (the bit you paint round when doing a half moon mani). I then used my orange nail art pen to draw slightly curved vertical stripes over that and added a stalk with my green nail art pen. Once all that had dried I used my black nail art pen to draw the face. For the face on this pumpkin I drew 2 ovals with flat bottoms for the eyes, a triangle for the nose and for the mouth I drew a thick curved line more towards one side of the face then added lines coming out of the top of the mouth to look a bit like teeth. 

I also decided to do a make up look to accompany the nail designs so here's what I came up with

For my eyes-

The orange is a blusher by Sleek (I didn't have any orange eyeshadow) it's the orange from the palette Pumpkin (very appropriate). I also took this under my eye, but it doesn't really show up in the picture.

I also have a gold from a very old No. 7 palette called dramatic eye palette and the colour is just called Gold. I placed this in the very centre of my eye over the orange and in the inner corner of my eye. From this palette I also used the green and placed a tiny bit on the out corner of my lid by my lash line.

The green is again from a very old palette, but this one was from Marks and Spencer. I just placed this colour in my crease. 

I also used the False Lash Telescopic Mascara by L'Oreal Paris. 

And my lipstick is Charmed by Topshop, I also used this on my cheeks and just blended it in with my foundation brush. 

 

Purple and pearls

For this design I painted my nails a lilac color then sprinkled some pink glitter in the bottom corner of my nail whilst the polish was still wet. Then I took some different sized pearls and using clear polish (you could also use glue if you want them to last longer) randomly attached them to my nails over the glitter. Finally I secured the whole design with a top coat!

You might also notice that my nails have gone short :( lots of them had broken or split so I decided it was time for them to go. Hopefully they won't take too long to grow back!

Lips!

These nails are a bit messy and they took a few goes to get right, but despite that I still like them. The background colour is Models Own apple pie and the red is 17 risky red and Andrea Fullerton's red striper. They are exactly the same shade of red (I think... I couldn't see any difference) so I used both of them on the same pair of lips just to make it a bit easier. The black is Barry M black and for the teeth I used the white Barry M nail art pen.

Kitty nails

For this design I painted my thumbs black and the rest of my nails white. Then I used a black nail art pen on my fingers (not thumbs) to draw the squares and filled them in with a small square brush and black polish. I then neatened up the checks with a white nail art pen. Once I'd done that I used a dotting tool and pink polish to create about 3 paw prints on each nail, the amount of paw prints you do will depened on the size of your nail.

On my thumbs I decided to do cats. To do this I just used the brush that came with the polish to create a semicircle on the tip of my thumb for the head and a white nailart pen to draw two points for the ears on top of the head. Then I took some black polish on a medium sized dotting tool for the eyes and on a small dotting tool I used a pastel pink to create a small triangle for the nose and used a black nailart pen to draw the mouth.

I used the same technique on my big toes as I did on my fingers, but only did one paw print and I painted the rest of my toes black and white. 

Neon zebra print!

Today's design is a zebra print on a neon green and white ombre background.

For this design I used

NYC pinstripe white,

Models own toxic apple 

 

And a Barry M nail art pen in black 

To begin with I painted all my nails 2 coats of Pinstripe White. I then took a small section of a sponge and used it to dab on Toxic Apple to the top of my nail creating an ombre effect. Once that was done I used my Barry M nail art pen to draw on the zebra print.

Doing the zebra print was a lot more tricky than I expected, so if you decide to try this I would advise having a zebra print to refer to close by!