Birthday Cake Nail Art

Today my little old blog reaches a milestone: its first birthday!

 

I have to say that this last year has flown by and I have really enjoyed my little blog and would like to say thank you to all of you that have had a little visit, followed, shared and especially to those who have left me such wonderful comments. I do read and reply to them all.

 

To mark the occasion I designed some birthday cake nails, as no birthday is complete without a little bit of cake! Right?

 

 

I prepped my nail using OPI's base coat and got to work with the base coat using 'Delicate' by Seche Vite. I allowed to dry (as it is Seche Vite, its super fast without a top coat) and then added on some sprinkle effect glitter polish by Nails Inc called 'Fulham Palace Gardens.'

 

 

To create the cake I used a selection of colours from Frauline which as all thin brushed nail polishes. Unfortunately they are unnamed. I first picked a fushia colour for the cake and applied a rounded shape to the tip.

 

 

Once dry I took the white polish and outlined the whole cake including the tip of the nail. To finish it off I added a single blue candle and added a touch of yellow for the flame. Now its time for the singing to commence and the wishes to be made.

 

 

Once again, thank you to everyone who has contributed to my blog. Without you guys, I don't think I would have reached this milestone.

 

What do you think?

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

 

Super Bowl XLVIII Nail Art

The BF and I are avid American Football fans, which means for the last five or so months we have been staying up until 4.30-5am on game days watching the action take place. Tonight this all comes to an end with the Super Bowl and to mark the occasion I shall be sporting my latest manicure;

I prepped my nails by giving them a little file and applied OPI's base coat. I picked out the teams colours (green and blue for the Seattle Seahawks and orange and blue for the Denver Bronco's.) I used stripping tape to mark off the tips and first applied the green (Barry M's neon green) and then the orange (Barry M's 'Satsuma'.) I then topped it off with a coat of SV and allowed to dry.

Once all my nails were dry I tapped off the opposite corner of the tips on all nails and applied a dark unnamed navy blue polish by Nails Supreme and topped it off with another coat of SV.  Once dry I used a white stripping polish to add a white detail under the tips.

Important tip: take off the tape whilst the polish is still wet, to create a perfect straight line and avoid taking off the polish once applied.

To divide the teams I created an American football on my middle finger. I used one coat of Barry M's 'Mushroom', topped with a coat of SV. I then used the same white stripper polish as above to create the laces of the ball and again topped it all off with Seche Vite.

I am actually looking forward to the Super Bowl this evening, even thought I am not able to view the most anticipated commercials ever. I am also pretty jealous of those getting to go to the game as I adore New York (it is probably the only other city in the World apart from London I would actually live in.)

Now onto my picks for this evening; Whilst I have loved the atmosphere at the Seahawks home games and I think the twelfth man are amazing, I don't see anyone stopping Peyton Manning (and the rest of the team), so I am opting for a Bronco's win!

What do you think of my manicure? Are you Super Bowl ready? Will you be watching the Super Bowl? Who do you think will win?

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

City Skyline nail art

Today on the blog, I have a done something a little different: a manicure that runs across all nails to create a little picture. My scene of choice is a City skyline at night. I love the way London looks at night, especially on a clear, crisp evening, where you can see all the sparkling lights from buildings. Canary Wharf is a particular favourite of mine.

I prepped my nails using OPI's base coat and allowed to dry. I created a blue gradient effect using two unnamed blue polishes. I topped it off with a good helping of SV to help speed up drying time.

Once dry, I was able to get creative and start my skyline. I used 'Black Taxi' by Nails Inc for the buildings which I applied using a small nail art brush. Once dry I grabbed a toothpick and a pale yellow polish by Sally Hansen for the warm glowing windows.

 

To add the finishing touch I finished off the sky with some stars and moon using a toothpick and Barry M's 'Matte White'. All is topped off with an other coat of Seche Vite.

What do you think? Do you like manicures that spread across the whole hand? Let me know in the comments box below, I love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

New Year, New Nails

Firstly I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and apologise for my absence of late. I had a busy Christmas and New year and sort of lost my blogging mojo. Not to mention I had a massive nail break which has made my enthusiasm to paint my nails dwindle.

 

 

 

I received lots of nail polish for Christmas, so I was spoilt for choice when painting my nails for the first time this year. I opted for a beautiful burgundy polish called 'Savile Row' by Nails inc. I absolutely adore it. I prepped my nails the usual way using OPI's base coat, only needed one coat of coloured polish and topped it off with a generous helping of Seche vIte.

 

 

 

As I am not one to just have a plain polish on my nails I decided to add a little flower power to spruce it up a little. I bought these nail stickers from Viva La Nails for around £1. They are super easy to apply, and I secured them with some Seche Vite to help them last longer on the nail and not peel off. This actually worked really effectively and did not cause the stickers to shrink and they were kept in perfect condition for around a week. (Can you tell I have a dishwasher? And do not have to do the washing up!)

 

 

 

What do you think? What is your experience with nail stickers? What nail products did you get for Christmas?

 

 

 

Until next time...

 

Laura-Jane