Holo Glitter over Black

Woooo!

Happy Halloween!  I showed you my spooky manis yesterday, but ultimately went for a cop-out of holo glitter on black.  It's still so pretty though!  The holo is 2 coats of INM Northern Lights silver holo glitter top coat.

Hope you're having spooky fun today!

Lisa xx

Halloween Manis!

Hellooooooo!

This is my Halloween post, a bit behind everyone else!  I do celebrate and love the holiday but on nowhere near a scale as they do in the US.  And my favourite Facebook app of the moment, The Sims Social, has been celebrating for a month!!

My first mani idea is the one I'm wearing right now - I had an idea of a bright full moon on my ring finger, a mysterious sponged mist and holo stars:



And one I painted earlier, but discarded due to lack of talent, a spider web design:

After all this, I might actually just go for black with a couple of layers of holo glitter on top - is that a cop-out?!

Spooky hugs,

Lisa xx

Revlon Scented Polish and Peacock Nail Foil

Hello!

Today I tried out my Revlon Passion Fruit polish for the first time, then topped it with a transparent peacock patterned nail foil which I got from Nail Delights' online store.

Firstly, here is Passion Fruit on its own, 2 coats.  The colour itself is lovely and the scent is subtle and very pleasant - I'm coming round to the idea of my nails being smelly ;-D

The worn writing on the bottle is probably the reason this polish ended up on a market stall - but paying £1.99 for a perfectly good £6.49 polish with a tired bottle is not something to turn one's nose up at!

Then, I applied my nail foil - I've been having trouble with some of the foils I bought (when I put a top coat on one of the proper, shiny, wrapping-paper type foils it took the colour right off!  :-O ) but this peacock one is beautiful.  I really like transparent foils.  Here it is:

Yay! 

The peacock pattern didn't 'pop' over the purple as I thought it might, but it looks so pretty, interesting and regal all the same.  I will probably be trying the foil over a range of colour to see how it turns out ^_^

In the meantime, can anyone advise me on how best to top-coat your nail foils without ruining them?  These rolls are so cheap and attractive, I really want to make the most of them!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Vintage Rose Nails!

Today I am wearing a pretty, old-fashioned looking mani :-)

The base colour is Revlon's scented polish Peach Smoothie.  It does carry a light, pleasant, accurately peachy scent, but I am still trying to decide whether I like my nail polish to be smelly or not!  On top of the polish I placed my rose water decals from Nail Delights, and I love the look - what do you think?

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Half Moon Mani

Morning,

I'm writing an extra post because I am currently poorly in bed :-(  I couldn't sleep so decided to try a half-moon mani.  The moons of my nails painted with No7's So Simple, a nude colour, and Violetta, a deep rich purple.  In the second and third piccies I added a holo glitter top coat ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Bargain Haul and 2 True

Hello!

Firstly, I want to show off my amazing haul of goodies procured in the last couple of days!

I went market stall shopping, found a new cheap brand in Superdrug, bought OPI's Meep-Meep-Meep and received a parcel from Nail Delights in the post!!!

Those Revlon polishes in the top left I am ecstatic with.  I was gutted when I missed their scented range of polishes but spotted them in a basket at my local market stall and snapped up Peach Smoothie and Passion Fruit.  I also spotted 'Iced Spice', which looks like a pumpkin colour and I can't wait to try it out.  Along with that I picked up a purple nail art pen.  The reason I am so chuffed: the regular retail price of one Revlon polish?  £6.49.  The price I paid for 3 Revlon polishes plus a nail art pen?  £6.

:-D

Also, I popped into Superdrug and saw a stand of 2 True make-up.  This must be a new launch, in my store at least, because I have never seen the brand before.  Their products are £1.99 each or 3 for £4.99, which seems a good bargain.  I picked up an opalescent lilac, a dark turquoise and a denim-y colour, and have tried out the first two:

These are both two coats.  The lilac is sheer, which strangely enough I don't mind; it's a beautiful colour.  The turquoise is also fantastic, very rich, and as you can see shifts from deep blue to green in different lights.  I will certainly be wearing both!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Tonight's Dried Flower Mani ^_^

Good evening!

Normally I only have one post a day, but I could not resist posting the mani I am wearing now ^_^

I had already discovered the joy of using dried flowers in manicures, and tonight I used mini white flowers - cut from the sprays you can buy in online nail art stores - over 17's Spiced Plum, a lovely autumnal colour.

Right hand...

...left!

I am such a fan of dried flowers... what do you think?

Midnight hugs,

Lisa xx

OPI ~ Meep! Meep! MEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!

Meep!

Now, I have probably mentioned before that I find £10.50 a ridiculous price to pay for nail polish and thus would never, ever buy a full-price bottle of OPI.  However, after going shopping with my fiancé to buy Dead Space 2, we stopped off at Fenwick to look at the expensive polishes and I saw the OPI Muppets collection.  And what was one of them called...?

Meep-Meep-Meep!

I basically communicate in meeps with my fiancé.  I am always meeping.  So I had to buy this polish, for the name alone.

Meeeeeeeeeep!!!

I would call Meep-Meep-Meep a crushed berry colour.  Undeniably it is a lovely colour with great depth.  I still don't think it's worth £10.50 though.  What are your views on this?

Meep,

Lisa xx

Nail Foils!

Hello!

This is my first attempt at using nail foils, and I love them!  I ordered English Rose and African Jade to begin with, along with the adhesive you need.  For English Rose I painted a base coat of white and for African Jade a base of gold, then I applied the foil :-)

Again, I have to apologise for my appalling nails.  I shall be pampering them while they grow back!

English Rose:

African Jade:

A better look at the pattern:

I noticed that, with foils, you seem to get tip wear very quickly and easily - is that normal?  I'll have to remember to maintain my top coat next time.  Also having a base colour helps disguise the wear and tear.  But I love the instant beauty you get with these and want to buy more!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Ladybird Nail Stencil

Hello!

Here I tried out the ladybird nail stencil I got from Nail Delights - ladybirds remind me of my late grandad, so it was a must-buy.

The general depression of having baby-short nails made me want a baby mani, so I painted 3 coats of glitter - alternating between Barry M's Iridescent Pink and La Femme Beauty's Sapphire, both shown here - and topped it with Rimmel's Matte top coat for a frosting feel.  On my ring finger I used the stencil to paint the ladybird using 17's Ruby Gem and Rimmel's Black Cab.

Before I show you, I must apologise for the shocking quality of my nails and cuticles- having very short nails always seems to destroy my fingertips.  Curse my broken nail!!

That is one über-cute lil' ladybird though ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Boots No7 ~ Violetta

Hello!

First of all, I am very sad - one of my lovely long nails got in a fight with my fiancé's bedroom door and I had to cut the whole lot mega-short.  Sadness!! 

Here is yet another £2 buy with a No7 voucher received when you spend over £5 at Boots - I think they expire on the 7th November...?

This one is Violetta, a dark blue-toned purple that I thought would be nice for Winter and paired with OPI's I Lily Love You.  The first photo is 2 coats of Violetta on its own, the others topped with a coat of ILLY :-)

As far as application went, the polish was a bit watery but looked nice, opaque and very colour-rich after the 2 coats.  The flaky glitter looks delightful on top ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

MUA ~ Shade 1

Hiya,

Today I'm showing you a polish by a range called MUA (Make-Up Academy) that I found for £1 a polish in Superdrug ~ has anyone heard of this brand?

This polish is inventively called 'Shade 1'; it's a very deep blue with a nice shimmer to it that made it look different enough from my beloved 'Midnight Sapphire' by 17 to want to snap it up!

When the first coat went on my heart sank; the polish looked murky and really unappealing.  However, with the second coat it brightened right up and turned into the beautiful shade in the bottle!

The polish applies well and is definitely worth the £1 price tag!  It might even replace Midnight Sapphire in my dark and mysterious manis ;-)

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Pink Tease Nail Art Pens

Hello, yet another market stall find :-)

I kept meaning to get black and white nail art pens as basics for my collection, but never got round to it.  I think these cost £1.50 each and are another find from my local market stall (actually a barrow, in the
Northumberland Street entrance to Eldon Square if you're an interested local!).

And here are my doodles on a base of No7's Snowflake and Rimmel's Black Cab:

OK, ignore the pinky finger.  It was meant to be lace but I messed up >.<

The 'R' stands for Richie, my fiancé, and the spider web is a design I will definitely be repeating for Halloween.  You might be able to see that the polish is a teeny bit watery but it's good enough for my clumsy doodling ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

New York Color ~ Purple Pizzazz Frost

Hi, I'm back with another market stall find!

The reason I bought this purple is because I could see an amazing blue shimmer going though it.  Here are 3 coats:

You can really see the beautiful blue undertone.  So so pretty ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

W7 ~ Blue Diamonds

Hiya!

Today I have for you an awesome market stall find.  Something I'm fast learning is to check market stalls and shopping centre "barrows" often ~ mine seems to get new things in every couple of days and you can find some treasures. The polishes are priced 99p - £1.99 which is great for a poor girl like me!

W7's Blue Diamonds caught my eye immediately.  It's a bright blue hexagonal glitter in clear polish and made me happy just looking at it!  Here it is on my nails...

And over the MUA polish I showed you a couple of days ago...

Happy happy happiness ^_^

The one thing I'll say is that it's difficult to get the glitter to spread evenly on your nails, as evidenced by the one-coater nail above... but it is a great fun glitter and I will certainly be cheering up my Winter manis with it ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Boots No7 ~ Milan

Hello, and welcome to another Boots voucher post!

Ever since I was tempted with my first Boots No7 voucher I have been looking at 'Milan', then deciding on another shade at the last second.  This time it finally got selected, and thank goodness it did!

Milan is a pink metallic with flashes of silver...

And with a coat of holo glitter top coat... can you see the sparkle?

I LOVE THIS POLISH.

As soon as I painted the first coat on I was like "Wooooooow".  The colour is so rich, and the texture is so lovely.  Metallic and deep and beautiful.  Completely recommend.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

A Tale of Two Glitters!

Hello!

This is a post to show off two lovely glitters I found on my wanders ^_^

The first is La Femme Beauty's 'Sapphire', dreamy glitter with a lilac base, which I found on a market stall.  The second is Barry M's 'Iridescent Pink' which I spotted in Superdrug and absolutely could not resist buying.

Here are the sparkly pics!

The above pics are one coat of each polish on a base of Rimmel's Black Cab. 

Strangely enough, Iridescent Pink glitters more blue than Sapphire!  Sapphire leans towards a more greenish hue.  I have to say that Iridescent Pink is my favourite, but both are deliciously sparkly ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Just Another Mani Monday ;-)

Bonjour!

For this week's back-to-uni mani I revisited my dark rose sprays of dried flowers, this time using the individual tiny flowers.  The polish is No7's Snowflake topped with Rimmel's Star Studded.

^_^  ^_^  ^_^

I wanted to look Autumn-y without wearing a dark colour.  I don't know why I think these flowers are Autumn-y, but they make me happy anyway!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Dried Flower Mani

Hello!

Here I tried out some of the dried flowers I ordered from Nail Delights - a spray of mini flowers in a rose pink colour.  I placed them on my usual accent nails over 17's Spiced Plum:

The flowers are a really cool and original idea to add to a mani!  Next time though I might separate the teeny flowers and use them more thinly on my nails, as my top coat was refusing to dry over these!

Hugs,

Lisa xx