Rainbow Nail Art

I've been feeling a little fed-up recently, and the weather in the UK hasn't helped much either  considering it is nearing the end of May. Today I even had to wear my winter coat to work, and I was still cold. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we will have some sunshine, but I fear the couple of weeks of warmer weather we had in April may just about have been our summer. To cheer myself up I went for a very colourful manicure this week. I knew I wanted bright colours, but I just couldn't decide on which hue to go for, so this is what happened:

 

 

 

A multi-coloured dotty rainbow effect, which I am rather pleased with. They are really bright, have cheered me up and have attracted a lot of attention this week. Some compliments came from random strangers!

 

 

 

I used the following polishes;

 

 

 

From left to right;

 

Matte White by Barry M

The Heiress by Leighton Denny

Belgrave Place by Nails Inc

Green by Nails Supreme

Yellow by Fraulein

Orange by Fraulein

Viva la Diva by Leighton Denny

Seche Vite top coat

 

The tools used:

 

 

 

To create the look;

 

I use two coats of Matte White by Barry M for my base coat and applied a coat of SV to speed up drying tip. Once dry I grabbed my dotting tools, and small square of tin foil and the first colour I wanted to use in my rainbow. I started at the bottom of my nail near the cuticle. Splodge a small amount of polish on the tin foil, which is where you will gather from to create the rainbow.

 

 

 

 Using varied sized dotting tools create a wavy line made up of dots. I like to do all ten nails at once using the same colour as I find that once the nail polish has been exposed to air, it starts to dry, thicken and becomes tacky. Which makes it hard to use and application is harder.

 

 

 

Once you are happy with the first line, repeat using the same steps as above until you have the full rainbow effect. You can fill in any small gaps using a tooth pick if you do not have a smaller dotting tool. To finish off apply a coat of SV (or a top coat of your choice) and allow to dry.

 

What do you think?

 

Until next time...

 

Laura-Jane

Gold flower blossom

I decided to delve into my newly acquired QVC nail polish set to create the manicure I have been wearing this week. The polish I subjected to my nail art was 'Coconutty' by Leighton Denny, which I used for the base colour. It is a lovely nude-like brown with gold iridescent flecks that shimmer through. I used two thin coats to get the depth of the colour you can see in the photos.

 

 

To create the flowers I used gold acrylic paint and a dotting tool. I placed one dot where I wanted the flower to be positioned, which becomes the centre. I then used the same size dotting tool to place approx. 5 dots around the perimeter of the original dot to create petals.

 

 

To add an extra bit of sparkle I used a gold glitter from China Glace called 'Lions Mane'. The glitter particles are very fine, but the bottle is jammed packed with them, so it really adds glitz to the centre of the flower. I applied it the same way I did the petals and used the same sized dotting tool.

 

 

To finish the manicure and to add the finishing touch, I applied one or two leaves to each individual flower using a pearl green stripper polish from Fraulien, then capped it all off with a coat of SV.

 

 

 

What do you think?

 

Does anyone else like to use acrylic paint for their nail art?

 

Until next time...

 

Laura-Jane

A little bit of stripe

Oops, I've done it again! The boyfriend switched the TV on to QVC and before I know it I have the laptop in my hands and I'm logging in to purchase yet another set of nail polishes. This time it was a set by Leighton Denny. Even though it was an impulse purchase, I am definitely not disappointed. It has some lovely colours in it and I've been able to create some very nice manicures with them. I hadn't heard of Leighton Denny before, but the polishes are lovely; just the right consistency, a lovely finish, and perfect with just two coats.

The first polish I used was probably my favourite in the collection; Summer Fizz. It has a sand-like look to it when applied, but not by texture. I guess this is where the 'fizz' part of its moniker comes into play. It's really pretty, I don't think the photos capture its real fizziness. It reminds me of the Refresher tablet sweets I use to get in lucky bags when I was a child.

 

 

Even though it is a very pretty colour on its own, I decided to use a red polish by 'Fraulein' to add some stripes. The application brushes on the Fraulein polishes are super thin, which makes nail art and in particular lines really easy to do.

 

 

 

I decided on diagonal strips, using different directions for the two outer fingernails, so they mirrored either side of the hand. I created a crisscross design for the middle finger to complete the look. I decided to mattify this manicure using nails inc 'Westminster Bridge' rather than using SV.

 

I have had lots of compliments on this design. I think the colours really work well with each other, are ideal for summer, and even got the thumbs up from the boyfriend. I have also had comments at work likening the design to sweets and lollipops, but I think it looks very similar to a perfume bottle I have in the bathroom cabinet called 'Pink Sugar' by Aquolina. I even had my Mum ask me to recreate this design using the pale purple colour by Leighton Denny, which looked fabulous too.

 

 

Here are the other polishes in the Leighton Denny collection, complete with holding case. I shall definitely be featuring some other designs using his polishes in the very near future. So stay tuned.

 

 

 

What do you think?

Anyone else used Leighton Denny before?

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

Perfect plum nail art

Last Sunday I was watching QVC (a UK shopping channel, for those that have no idea what it is) and low and behold they were doing a nails inc. special. Those that know me will well and truly know I put nails inc. on a pedestal and is my Holy Grail - or should I say Holy Nail, of nail polishes. I pretty much wanted to buy everything they had to offer, but avoided every temptation and opted to buy just the one set. The boyfriend had to twist my arm slightly, but not much as you can imagine. I got it for a bargain at £31.50 inc. p&p, as its RRP is £77.00! Here is what I bought:

 

 

As soon as I saw this set on the TV, I knew I just had to have it. If I am being honest, I probably bought the whole thing for the beautiful little bottle on the right hand side, and I have to say it does not disappoint! As soon as I opened the little parcel, which was literally two nano seconds after the postman had put it in my hands, I knew my next manicure would involve 'Redcliffe Road', which is the moniker given to this little beaut.

 

 

The consistency of the polish is perfect; I only had to use one coat, which I love. Makes nail art very quick, which is always a good thing. It looks really pretty just as a plain nail. However, I can't remember the last time I didn't have some sort of design on my nails, so a few little dots were a must. Of course, I used a dotting tool to create those perfect round flecks with the help of some gold acrylic paint. I know Barry M do a foil gold colour, if you prefer to use a polish. I topped it off with the old faithful, Seche Vite.

 

 

The colour is quite dark for Spring/Summer, but as the global fashion weeks dictate it is either pale pastels or vampy dark colours that should adorn the tips of your fingers this season. So in my opinion, these are bang on trend! I always like to have short nails when wearing dark colours, and I am quite liking the short, really square look too.

 

The gold is a nice touch, to me it provides a sense of regalness, elegance and sparkle, as they really do shimmer and stand out in the sunshine.

 

 

 

What do you think?

 

Until next time...

 

Laura-Jane