St Patrick's Day Nail Art

Tomorrow marks the day of all things green, little leprechauns, and tacky shamrock laden memorabilia. Yes, it's St Patrick's Day, the patron Saint of Ireland. A day which is notorious for Paddies across the globe to break Lent and allow themselves a little tipple of the black stuff - Guinness. I'm joining in by marking the day with my special St Patrick's Day nail art. A white wine spritzer is more my poison of choice.

My nail polish collection doesn't consist of many green polishes. I am not an avid fan of the colour, and just tend to use them for minimal detail for leaves in some flower designs. I did however buy into the hype of mint green nails a few seasons ago and made a purchase at the Revlon counter called 'Minted', which is a very Tiffany & Co-esque in colour, which I actually don't mind. I used this said polish for my base coat.

I tipped the nails with MUA's 'All Nude' polish, which is an off white colour, just so the green wasn't too overbearing. I allowed this to dry completely before beginning to start my shamrock detail.

To create the shamrocks, I used a large dotting tool to create the main body of the detail, placing three large dots together in a triangular shape; I then used a smaller dotting tool to flick the green out to create the stem.

 

To finish off the manicure, I separated the green and white main colours with a silver glittery stripe to add a touch of sparkle and to complete the look I had in mind. For this I used a silver nail art paint by a company called 'Kiss' which I bought from Superdrug. I really recommend their nail art paints, as they come with a very thin application brush, which makes nail art a doddle. I would have liked to have used a gold glitter to resemble the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, but a gold glitter is absent from my collection :(.

Allow all to dry and apply a top coat. I used MUA's top coat, as that's all I have at the moment; I am still waiting to purchase the fast drying top coat from Seche Vite. I am not overly impressed with this top coat, so wouldn't really recommend, but for £1 it does the job. I have to say I have used better top coats by OPI and Nails Inc, which are more expensive, obviously. I guess like the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

Are you doing anything special for St Patrick's Day?

To those who are celebrating (I'm sure my family on the west coast of Ireland in County Mayo shall be) and those who will be plastic paddy's for the day, I hope you have a great day and have a pint of Guinness for me.

Until next time...

Laura-Jane

Ladybug Nail art

Like most Londoner's, I was fooled last week into thinking Spring was here. How wrong was I? This week has seen the coldest March for 27 years with flurries of snow to top off the icy wind (I work outside, so I really am not liking this change in climate. For me it has been a VERY loooooooong Winter.) I'm an optimistic type of girl, and I am sure that Spring really is just around the corner, so decided to create a Springtime piece of nail art to share with you all. Other than flowers, butterflies, and the sun, which to me resembles Spring, another creature which I find synonymous to this time of year are ladybugs.

 

 

This is a very time consuming manicure (at least 1.5 hours) using a numerous amount of polishes and tools and it is definitely not for the faint hearted. There is also a lot of drying time involved, hence the lengthy time frame. It took me three attempts at this manicure to get it right. I managed to smudge it the first time using the top coat, where all the colours ran into each other - very disheartening. I ended up with dents and a squashed design on some of my nails as I decided to cook dinner too soon after painting my nails on the second - which caused my heart to sink even further. On the third attempt, I learnt that patience really is a virtue and literally did not move for hours afterwards - success, yay!

Nail polishes used:

 

 

Base colour – ‘London’ by Nails Inc.

Base Colour for ring finger and ladybug bodies – ‘Cherries in the snow’ by Revlon.

Black dots and heads of ladybugs – ‘Black Taxi’ by Nail Inc.

The eyes – ‘Pearl White’ by MUA.

Top Coat – ‘Top Coat' by MUA.

 

I first painted all nails with my base coats, including the two accent nails and waited for them to become touch dry before I moved onto painting the ladybugs. To create the ladybugs I used three different size dotting tools; a large one for the body, a medium sized one for the head and a small one to create the spots and eyes. You can pick up dotting tools at a reasonable price from eBay and Amazon; they always seem to be in stock. I'm not too sure where my ones are from, as I got them as a little stocking filler gift from Santa. I like to have the ladybugs facing all different directions, to me it makes them appear they are scattering all over the place. You can have them in a more uniformed fashion if you prefer. Wait for all to dry completely before applying your top coat. You could probably speed up the process by applying a fast drying top coat such as Seche Vite, which I am yet to purchase and try out. However I have heard lots of very good things about it, and is currently on my wish list and top priority when I next go on a nail shopping haul.

 

 

I used the ring finger for the accent nail, creating a large ladybug. I didn’t want the manicure to be too overbearing, so opted for an accent nail and to have small lady bugs on the remaining nails, which are the ones I actually prefer. I think they look cute.

So there you have it, ladybug nails in time for Spring, whenever it decides to come…

 

 

What do you think?

 

Until next time…

 

Laura-Jane x

Nail Polish: Battle of the brands...

Rather than a nail art or nail design post, this post is more of a behind the scenes editorial (and a bit of a long one, sorry.) Every beauty buyer and blogger has their own opinion when it comes to their favourite piece of make-up stash. My question I put to you all is; How do you identify a good nail polish brand?

 

For me, a good nail polish brand has to have a nice consistency – smooth, creamy, pigmented etc. Is opaque after applying one coat (two maximum) and also lasts the length of time, by this I mean does not turn gloppy or starts to thicken after a few months and also lasts on the nails after a time consuming manicure. I expect a manicure to last without chipping and peeling for at least five days. After all a nail polish should be for life (or until you have an empty bottle) not just for Christmas.

 

I have experimented with a few different brands of nail polish. I have by no means tried and tested them all, but I have drawn up a list of the ones I have put to the test and some that I shall firmly place on my wish list.

 

Nails Inc.

I would have to say hands down that this brand is my favourite brand of nail polish. I like their consistency, and I only ever have to apply one coat, which in my opinion is a bonus. It means less waiting around time for polish to dry and you get to do more of the fun stuff like nail art designs and making them look pretty. The smoothness and texture are a 10/10 for me too. I don’t however like their price tag. At £10.50 minimum for a bottle it is a little on the steep side, but the bottle design has a nice look to it, and I guess you are buying into the brand name. However you can forgo the RRP, as I have recently found out that the shopping channel QVC often do deals on Nails Inc. products, and you can pick up sets for a bargain! There are also eBay and amazon where you can pick up a bargain too, although I am sure you all knew that anyway!? I am finding it really hard to get my manicured paws on their matte black polish called 'Oxford Street'. Every time I try to make the purchase, they're sold out. GRRRRRRRR!

 

OPI:

Okay, so I may get a little stick for this, as I know this brand of nail polish is favoured by many beauty bloggers across the globe. However I have bought a numerous amount of polishes from them, and I have found some (not every) polish to be rather watery. They are definitely not my go-to brand for polish. They are great for water marbling, so are great for that nail art effect. For an every day nail job, and intricate designs theses are a no-no, for me anyway. On a positive note I have to say I do like the application handle on the packaging, which is rather long in comparison to other brands out there, which allows you to maintain a good grip thus a steady hand when applying. I do have one confession regarding OPI nail polishes; my favourite thing about OPI are the names they give individual products. They never fail when it comes to giving them a catchy moniker, some often make me giggle, and I do love a good nail polish name. Sometimes this can be the deciding factor upon purchase. My favourite at the moment, has to be "Kiss me on the Tulips." It has a nice romantic ring to it. Another named favourite has to be "No more waity Kaity" a cobalt blue polish, which was named after Kate Middleton's marriage to Prince William. Not only am I fan of the Royal Family, and the Duke and Duchess. I really like the purply-blue colour, which for me is rather regal and an apt named polish.

 

Barry M:

Now I do like Barry M. They are easily available at Superdrug and some department stores here in the UK, and at £3 a pop, they are not too hard to resist. They do offer a vast range of colours, and are great for releasing on trend colours and mimicking and duping (in some cases rather closely) the likes of Chanel at a more affordable price. However some polishes can be a bit hit-and miss, some are lacking in smoothness and pigmentation which doesn’t always make application that easy even for the most experiences nail polish addicts. So over all, if you get a good polish and not one that is lacklustre and not a dud, you’re laughing!

 

17

Although the nail polish colours are rather limited, and those that are more adventurous are not really my style, these are okay polishes. Some colours you need to apply two coats, but the polishes that I have purchased seem to work well for me. One great thing about the 17 nail polishes are the application brushes. The seem to be flatter and have a curved tip which makes application near to the cuticle area so much easier than the standard brush. However whilst looking through my nail polish collection, I did notice not all polishes have this application brush. I have also noticed taking photo’s of nail art, that in normal light they appear opaque, but under the flash of the camera, they tend to be a little transparent, which has been a nightmare when writing new blog posts. Nowadays I make sure I definitely have two coats before taking pictures.  You can find these little pots of colours in most Boots stores

 

Revlon:

I don’t own too many of these polishes, just a handful. The ones I do have seem to okay, not brilliant by any means, but okay. They have quite a watery consistency and can be a little transparent, but if you don’t mind applying two-three coats, then they are nice polishes. I do like the shape of their bottles, they are easy to hold on application, although they only tend to stock the mainstream colours and have played it safe with a few naturals, reds, and pinks that make up the bulk of their collection.

 

The wish list:

 

Chanel – This is on there for obvious reason. The have been put on a pedestal by many; bloggers, fashionistas and celebrities to name a few. They tend to lead the nail polish battle which many nail companies try to dupe seasonal colours. They always have rave reviews, however they do tend to sell out very quickly, so you have to be fast, but if you don’t mind shelling out a high price-tag, I’m sure you wont be disappointed. I have never tried a Chanel polish, but hopefully I will do

 

Ciate - The packaging is super cute and girly, and from the website the colours look rich and creamy, and just has an ora about it that speaks out to me. A little birdie told me that they have recently changed the company that actually manufactures the nail polish. So those little people stuck in the lab of nail polish heaven are none other than the ones that create the polish for Chanel! So before I head to the Chanel counter at Harrods or Selfridges,. I shall be making my first pit-stop there

 

China Glaze - Now this brand is another sort after nail polish brand that I know is rather popular amongst bloggers. However I have not tried these so therefore can not really make an informed judgement. From what I have read on other blogs, YouTube videos and from their own website they seem to sell a variety of colours, that tend to be rather popular, so may have to add these to my wish list and make a purchase soon.

 

L.A. Girl - I recently discovered a hot pink matte shade that I really REALLY want.. However from the little bit of research I have done I can only seem to get it from across the pond in the US and they don’t ship internationallyL if any of you out there know how I can get my talons on a bottle, please let me know…

 

Essie - I have heard rave reviews on these polishes, and would like to give them a go. They seem to stock a good range of colours, and are not too steep in price either. Could be a close contender in my nail polish battle.

So, for me Nails Inc. win my battle, but they may not win the War. I wont know that answer until I have tried and tested every single brand. So my War may last years, but then again what War doesn’t?

 

Who wins your battle and why?

Until next time…

 

Laura-Jane