St Patrick's Day nail art

On Tuesday it shall be St Patrick's Day. With a family name of 'Connolly' and my Mother's maiden name being 'O'Neill', there is definitely a bit of Irish blood running through my veins, so I though I'd go green and don some nail art for the patron Saint of Ireland.

The green I used for my thumb, index and middle fingers is Nail Inc's 'Bruton Mews'. Its a glorious bottle green colour, which I rather like. It gives good coverage and is opaque in just one coat, but I used two just to be on the safe side. I topped this off with a coat of Seche Vite to speed up the drying process. This green is a real Irish green and is perfect for my manicure.

What St Patrick's day isn't complete without a rainbow? I did want to recreate my rainbow manicure, however I have run out of white polish, so did it on nude nails instead. I used a coat of OPI's base coat to create a flat surface for my nail and used a dotting tool to create the dots.

I used the following polishes to create the rainbow
Red - Nails Inc 'Rosary Gardens'
Orange - Barry M 'Satsuma'
Yellow - Barry M 'lemon ice'
Green - Nails Inc ' Bruton Mews'
Blue - Nails Inc 'Belgrave Place'
Indigo - Nails Inc 'Baker Street'
Violet - Barry M 'Vivid pruple'

I topped off the rainbow as always with a coat of Seche Vite.

Every rainbow is not complete without a pop of gold. On this piece of nail art, it is in the form of my pinky finger. I used a base of Nails Inc 'Gold Foil' and to add that extra sparkle of gold I use two layers of China Glaze 'I'm not lion'. I placed dots using the same polish to bring the manicure altogether.

What do you have planned for St Patrick's Day? Will you have the luck of the Irish on your nails? If you want some other ideas, you can check out last years St Patrick's Day nail art here.

Don't forget you can join and like my Facebook page here.

Let me know what you think.

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

Chinese New Year nail art

I know I am a bit late, but Happy Chinese New Year! This year it is the year of the sheep/goat. I hope it brings all of my readers/followers a year full of love, fortune and happiness. Even though I am over a week late in posting this, I thought I would still do so, as I really like my design. I didn't opt for a sheep/goat look, but came up with this design using the colours I most associate with Chinese New Year.

I first prepped my nails with OPI's base coat, then used a Nails Inc shimmery red polish. Unfortunately I do not know the name of it, as it is a small bottle and part of a Christmas collection I got given a couple of years back. I used about three layers and topped with Seche Vite.

Using a make-up sponge and Nails Inc's 'Black Taxi' I created a gradient tip in black to each nail. Again I topped with Seche Vite and allowed to dry.

Using a dotting tool I was then able to get creative, I painted on delicate flowers and Chinese symbols using Barry M's foil effects in 'gold' and 'matte white' and Nails Inc in 'Heather grey'. I then topped it with Seche Vite and allowed to dry.

Let me know what you think in the comments box below.

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

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

 

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

Merry Christmas!

Today I have created a skittle manicure with lots of little Christmas friends, that you would normally see this time of year. I really love this manicure and I think it my favourite Christmas nail art I have done so far. Then again, I say that every time I write a blog post.

 

 

 

Let me introduce you all to them....

 

The Thumb: Christmas Tree

 

 

 

What is Christmas without a Christmas tree? I love putting up the tree, decorating it so it looks really pretty and it makes the home feel so festive. The house always looks so empty once we have to take it down. I created this look by painting my base colour with a no named green polish from Nails Supreme. I then used a dotting tool to create a zig-zag line using MUA's 'All Nude'. I created little baubles using different sized dotting tools, using the following polishes; 'Boudir' by Ciate, 'Vivid Lime' by Barry M and 'Sunshine' by Rimmel. All is topped off with a coat of Seche Vite.

 

The Index finger: Santa Claus

 

 

 

Father Christmas tends to be the main man of Christmas in the modern world, and a little visit from him will tell you if you have been naughty or nice this past year. This little dude, is so easy to recreate. I first used two coats of 'Boudoir' by Ciate as my base and allowed to dry. Using a large dotting tool I placed blobs of Barry M's 'Matte White' to create the fur trim on his jacket. I then sketched out a yellow square, using 'Sunshine' by Rimmel using a small dotting tool. To finish off the belt and buttons using the same small dotting tool and Nails Inc 'Black Taxi' I placed dots for buttons and added the belt detail. Of course it was finished off with a coat of SV.

 

The middle finger: Elf

 

 

 

Everyone needs a little help at Christmas, even Santa. To create this little helper I applied three coats of Barry M's 'Vivid Lime', its a neon polish so it either needs lots of coats or you can make life easier and apply a white base before the green. I then marked off some lines with stripping tape and applied the same green polish I used for the Christmas tree. Once dry I used a dotting tool to create the collar using 'Boudoir' by Ciate and 'Sunshine' by Rimmel for the bells. I used some black rhinestones for button details, and topped it all off with a coat of SV.

 

The ring finger: Rudolf

 

 

 

This is probably my favourite nail. I just love him, and I think you'll agree he is everyone's favourite reindeer. I used two coat of Barry M's 'Matte White' as my base. I then used a dotting tool to create the shape of him using 'Mushroom' by Barry M and outlined it with 'Black Taxi' by Nails Inc. For his nose I used a blob of 'Boudoir' by Ciate. Finished it all off with SV.

 

The pinky finger: Snowman

 

 

 

Everyone dreams of a white Christmas, right? Or is that just me? No Christmas manicure would be complete without a little bit of snow. I've gathered all that up and made myself a little snowman. I used two coats of 'Matte White' by Barry M and allowed to dry. I painted on a scarf using Ciate's 'Boudoir' and added the strip detail using the green polish by Nails Supreme. I added buttons using 'Black Taxi' by Nails Inc. Then added my final layer of Seche Vite.

 

There you have it, a lovely skittle manicure in time for Christmas. I think they look quite nice this way, but would also look quite nice having your nails all the same and more uniform, so you could technically create five different manicures from this look.

 

 

 

I'm not too sure I will get time to do another nail art post before Christmas as I want to wear these for a few days as I worked so hard on them. I really love them too, so I may keep them on for my Christmas day Manicure. I shall be applying my top coat like a mad woman.

 

 

 

If I don't post again before Christmas, can I take this opportunity to wish all my lovely followers a very Merry Christmas. I hope you all have a lovely time and enjoy the festivities.

 

 

 

What do you think of my Christmas Nail art? Which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments box below.

 

Until next time...

 

Laura-Jane

Pinwheel nail art

Today's manicure is probably my favourite nail art I have ever done. I am so in love with it. I often ask the boyfriend what colour I should paint my nails, and he always give me the same answer, pulling out all the coral type colours out of my nail polish stash. So I thought I would try to do some nail art to incorporate all of the colours, just for him. Here is the outcome:

 

 

 

I started by prepping my nails with OPI's base coat. Then painted my nails using Barry M's 'matte white' polish.  I topped this off with a coat of SV and allowed to dry. Once this was dry I used four pieces of stripping tape per nail to divide my nail into eight sections; to create the pinwheel effect. I did one hand at a time, so before I started painting my nails again, I made sure all pieces of tape were sectioned off on one hand and the lids of all the polish were unscrewed.

 

 

 

The polishes I used:

 

The corals from dark to light:

 

Instyle coral - Rimmel London

Iisie Street - Nails Inc

Summer Fizz - Leighton Denny

Peach Melba - Barry M

 

The pinks from dark to light:

 

Miami - 17

Pink Flamingo - Barry M

Petite Pink - Sally Hansen

Strawberry Ice cream - Barry M

 

 

 

I painted each individual section with one colour starting from the darkest coral to the lightest, and continued the circle with the lightest pink to the darkest. On each nail I started the darkest coral in a different section so all the nails were different, which I think gives quite a nice effect.  

 

 

 

As soon as I had completed each nail, and before the nail polish was completely dry, I removed the tape and gave it a coat of SV, before I moved onto the next nail. I waited until all the nails on my left hand were completely dry before I started the process again for my right hand.

 

 

 

Once all ten fingernail were complete and dry, I applied another coat of OPI's base coat. Whilst the polish was still wet I used an orange stick to place a little diamond stud in the middle of the pinwheel and sealed in with another coat of SV to complete the look.

 

 

 

I shall definitely be giving this manicure another go in possibly cooler colours using blue/green tones or reds/browns for autumn.

 

What do you think? Will you be giving it a go?

 

Until next time...

 

Laura-Jane

Vertical pinstripe nail art

This manicure is another one I created with the goodies I got for my birthday from my Mum and is the first time I used stripping tape. I also used my new Nail Inc polishes I got in a lucky dip selection from their website. I was very impressed by their colour selection and very glad I didn't get any dupes. The best thing about it too, was the price, it was a fraction of the cost if I were to purchase them all individually.

 

 

 

I prepped the nails with a base coat from OPI, and once dry I painted on my based colour; 'Berry ice cream' by Barry M.  I used a coat of SV to help with drying time, before I began the task of applying the stripping tape. A helpful hint I would suggest, is to cut LOADS of mini pieces of stripping tape before you begin this part of the nail art, just to make it a little bit easier. I placed the tape equal distance apart on each nail (doing one hand at a time.) Making sure there was some overhang on the nail to make it really easy to remove.

 

 

 

Once this was completed I was able to apply my contrasting colour. For this I used 'Market Place' by Nails Inc , which is a very light lilac colour with small iridescent flecks which give off a little bit of shimmer and adds a bit of texture and sparkle to the manicure. Both polishes have the same hues and in my opinion compliment each other well.

 

 

 

I used one coat of the 'Market Place' polish, until the entire fingernail was covered and then immediately removed the tape to create the vertical lines before I moved onto the next nail. It is very important to remove the tape as quickly as possible, whilst the polish is still relatively wet. If the top coat of polish starts to dry, when removing the tape it will become sticky, which in return shall not create neat vertical lines and shall ruin the manicure if not careful.

 

 

 

Once all the tape had been removed from one hand, I finished it off with a top coat of SV before starting all over again on the other hand.

 

 

 

The boyfriend actually likened this manicure to wallpaper. The more I looked at it, the more I thought it did. What do you think? Have you used stripping tape before? Let me know in the comment box below.

 

Until next time...

 

Laura-Jane

Stamping Nail Art

So, I have jumped on the nail art stamping band wagon. I know I am little late on this one. I received my very first nail art stamping set for my birthday last month from my Mum and I finally gave it a go in my latest nail art venture. The brand that was bought for me were by Bundle Monster (others are available.) I got the new 25 piece on their website and there are loads of images to choose from. I can see I shall be having a lot of fun with these in the future. I have actually bought one plate before, which I saw whilst looking for nail bits in the pound shop a few months back. I did give it a go, but the outcome was absolutely rubbish, so I would really suggest investing in good quality stamping plates, just so you do not get disheartened when you give it a try yourself.

For my base coat I used one coat of Barry M's Gelly Hi- Shine polish in 'Pomegranate.' Like I have said in my previous post I really do rate these polishes. They are super glossy, inexpensive and do the perfect job in one very quick coat.

Once I painted on my base colour and applied a coat of SV to speed up the drying process, I could then start my maiden attempt of stamping. I chose to do a diagonal French tip look using Barry M's 'Matte White.' and chose an intricate swirly design which I think looks quite nice. If you have this set already, you can Find the design I chose on plate BM-314.

I did one hand at a time, once all five digits were complete I topped it off with a second coat of SV to add that extra glossy finish before I worked on my other hand. I like the fact the design I chose shows the base colour through the French tip design, and I really like how the two colours compliment each other too. Not bad for a first attempt, eh?

I shall definitely be trying this look again, with different colours and different stamping designs. I will be the first to admit this is not the neatest manicure I have done, but after all it was my first attempt. I am hoping with time and practise I shall be able to perfect my nail stamping technique to leave my talons looking flawless.

Has anyone else tried stamping? What plates would you recommend? What designs do you want to see next? Let me know in the comment box below.

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

Nude glitter manicure

Firstly I would like to apoloigise for my absence recently - I have a good excuse. I have recently undergone surgery so have been in hospital and have been trying to recover. I am finally able to stay awake long enough to write a blog post, so I would like to introduce to you my latest creation, one I am rather fond of and I really like:

 

 

 

This manicure is super easy to recreate, and you need little material to get the look.

 

What I used:

 

Lychee Gelly high-shine polish by Barry M

Craft glitter

OPI's top coat

Seche Vite top coat

 

 

I used one coat of the lychee polish, which actually looks lovely on its own. The Gelly high-shine is really glossy and super opaque, so it is the perfect polish for the quick manicure. To make it a little bit more interesting, as I am not one just to wear a plain polish (as you all know) I decided to add a bit a glitter.

 

 

 

I used gold craft glitter instead of a glitter polish, as I wanted the particles to be slightly larger in size, and the glitter polishes I have in my collection all seem to be very fine in texture. I used a little bit of OPI's top coat, as it doesn't dry as quick as Seche Vite to give my glitter particles to hold on to, which also gave me a little more time to work with.

 

 

 

I sprinkled the glitter so it was quite thick towards the bed of my nail near the cuticle, and tapered out towards the tip. I used a toothpick to gently place those ones so they were neatly sporadic and where I wanted them to be. To seal and finish the manicure I applied one coat of SV.

 

 

 

I really like this look, I think it has a very elegant and sophisticated look to my nails. The gold glitter really sparkles in the sun, and has caused a lot of attraction to my hands and lots of compliments too, which is always a sign of a job well done and of course I really like.

 

I really do like this design, and may give it a go with different colours. What colours would you suggest I put together? What would you like to see?

 

What do you think?

 

Until next time...

 

Laura-Jane

4th July nail art

When I comes to nail art, nothing pleases me more than when I have a World wide holiday or event to display on my nails. Not only does it give me a purpose to paint my talons, but it also means I don't have to be that creative when coming up with a theme or design, it's already marked on my calendar.

 

For those of you who have been following my blog for a while, you will already know that I am from London, England. However with this post I shall be transporting across the Atlantic and shall be donning red, white and blue on my nails for the 4th July celebrations.

 

 

 

I have been lucky enough to be in the US on two occasions when they have been celebrating Independence Day, one of which was last year. Both visits were to Disneyland, Florida, and both were spent at Epcot, although about 10 years apart. I love Epcot for a couple of reasons, you get to travel the word (Disneyland style) in a single day, and the firework display at the end of the evening, especially on the 4th July are amazing, The best display I have ever seen live. However the 4th July holds another very significant memory for me. This Thursday shall mark the one year anniversary since my Grandad passed away, in which this nail post is dedicated to.

 

 

 

To create my 4th July nail art I first painted on a clear base coat using one from OPI's range. This was just to prep my nails, as I know from experience, blue polish is a nightmare to get off and I wanted to limit the stains on my nails. Once this was dry I used stripping tape to mark off around a 1/3 of my nail, to creates a blue French Manicure tip. I used Nails Inc 'Belgravia Place' which I thought was the perfect blue for my nail art. I topped this off with Seche Vite to speed up the drying process.

 

 

 

Once dry, using a red stripper polish from Fraulien I painted a single red line underneath the blue tip to create a second dimension to the French manicure and to also add a touch of red. Whilst this was drying, I blobbed some of Barry M's 'Matte White' nail polish onto some tin foil and grabbed a toothpick to add tiny white stars. The blue polish is rather porous, so the white stars need around 2-3 application to maintain the true white colour, otherwise when the manicure is completely dry they'll end up being light blue in colour.

 

 

 

I then added another coat of Seche Vite, before this was completely dry, I placed a white iridescent foil star the edge of each nail to complete my nail design and of course another coat of Seche Vite.

 

I hope you like the post, and it has given you some ideas for your own 4th July nail art?

 

How are you celebrating 4th July this year?

 

Until next time...

 

Laura-Jane