Upside-Down French Manicure!

Hello!

For today's manicure I decided to break out my French tip guides and use them a little differently. I started by painting a base of the lovely pastel pink Sweet Kisses by Boots 17, and let it dry thorougly. I then placed my French tip stickers near the base of my nail but upside-down to a moon manicure, and painted on my glitter of choice ~ Nails Inc's Holly Place!

I think this would look really cool with a flesh-coloured polish and silver glitter, do you?

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Lisa tries Stamping Decals

Hello!

Adventures in Stamping is one of my favourite nail art communities, and lately there have been so many photos posted of stunning manicures using stamping decals. The basic principle is that you paint a coat of clear polish onto a flat yet flexible surface, then once it's dried you stamp your chosen pattern over it and colour it in with a nail art brush and whatever colours you like. When everything is dry you have a homemade decal to apply to your nail!

I've made a couple of smaller, non-coloured decals in the past but this was my first attempt at a full-nail design. As a surface I used a silicone baking mat, bought on Amazon for £2.97 with free delivery. My design of choice was from MoYou plate Pro 07. I coloured it in and stuck it on my ring fingernail over OPI My Vampire is Buff...

OK, I can see the potential but this wasn't a great attempt. My application ended up very gloopy. The decal pushed the polish underneath around, it didn't clean up very well and overall there was a lot of polish on my nail. I'm going to go back to the nail art community and ask advice on this one - hopefully I'll be back with an improved look because I really do love the idea!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Barry M Silk Effects ~ Heather

Hello!

Barry M Silk Effects polishes have just come out in shops recently, and the swatches of them posted online have been absolutely stunning! I took advantage of Boots' 3 for 2 offer to buy Heather, Pearl and Meadow and try them out.

Heather is a gorgeous soft purple, so light in colour. The "silk effect" finish is a soft matted shimmer, which only enhances how delicate the colour is. The polish is slightly on the sheer side but 2 coats were still enough for good coverage.

The one big worry I had with these polishes was how well they would last without top coat. I applied Heather, let it dry completely (at least I thought I did) then went to wash my hair... and I came out of the shower with lots of marks on my thumbnail and a little scratch on my middle fingernail. Gutted! That said, I subsequently made it through 3 hours of office volunteering without much further damage, so perhaps you just need to make well and truly sure it's dry before fiddling around with your hair and stuff?

Here it is:

I love the effect, I just need to work on the wearability! I'll let you know what happens when I try out the other two colours.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Rose Decal Manicure

Hello!

Today's mani is from a whole month ago! I have a few nail art ideas I want to try out but right now my nails are bare, so here are pics that have been sat in my Dropbox folder :-)

I was sent these Parisian style, full-pattern water decals from Born Pretty Store a while ago to review and I've kept using them as I love them lots. This mani uses the decal with the vase of roses.

I adore the romantic vintage look ^_^

Be back soon with some new manis!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Purple Skittles Manicure

Hello!

I love skittles manicures ~ creative combinations of colours and nail art with each nail being different ~ and there are so many inspiring people on Instagram doing them! I've "hearted" lots of them as I try to come up with my own ideas. After my simple pastel polka dot skittles I decided to do a purple mix using mostly Models Own polishes :-)

On my index and pinky fingers is Models Own's Blueberry Muffin. The stamping is Models Own's Cornflower Gleam over Sally Hansen's Lavender Cloud, using MoYou plate Princess 11. And the glitter is Models Own's Southern Lights ~ on my thumb I sponged it on as a gradient!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Antique Letter Manicure

Hello!

This is a manicure inspired by talented people in the nail art community. I've seen a couple of manicures recently made to look like old paper or parchment with text stamping, really beautiful and romantic. For my take on the idea I decided to use the clingfilm technique and MoYou stamping plate Princess 11.

I started by painting my nails with My Vampire Is Buff by OPI. Once it was dry I added a coat of Barry M's Goil Foil and, while that was still wet, I dabbed at it with scrunched-up clingfilm (saran wrap). I top coated it and ended up with a nice old parchment effect. Over this I stamped my text in black!

I really like this idea of a letter mani; if you wanted to make it a love letter I think it would look really nice with the clingfilm effect done in white and pink or lilac!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Oriental Painting Decals

Hello!

Today I have some more lovely water decals from Born Pretty Store to show you, and these ones are ideal for my new shorter nails! The designs are oriental and intricate in style and include horses, birds, lotus flowers and beautiful writing.

I started with a pale base of Lavender Cloud by Sally Hansen then applied a different decal to each nail. Application was very easy: the decals slid off the paper after 30-50 seconds in water, adhered perfectly and I think they're just the right size for the average girl's nails. Here they are!

http://www.bornprettystore.com/10pcs-sturdy-steed-flower-bird-painting-patterned-nail-water-decals-transfers-sticker-p-12387.html

Close-up:

I love these as intricate nail art over a pale polish ^_^

I did give in and buy some more water decals for myself from Born Pretty (lots of feathers were ordered); I hope they arrive quickly! If you want to get anything yourself you can use code CMBQ10 for 10% off your order.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Pastel Polka Dots

Hello!

I just cut my nails yesterday so wanted to show them to their best with a cute short-nail mani. I went with pale pastel skittles and polka dots since Spring is nearly around the corner (maybe... hopefully... please??)

The polka dots are stamped with this plate from KKCenterHk and the colours are as follows:

Thumb - Woo Me by Boots 17
Index - Blueberry Muffin by Models Own
Middle - Shore Thing by Essie
Ring - Lavender Cloud by Sally Hansen
Pinky - Sweet Kisses by Boots 17

I wish the weather was a little more cheery to match my nails... they don't really go with dreary skies and chilly air!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

AiS Sunday Challenge ~ Your Guilty Pleasure

Hello!

I'm taking part in the Adventures in Stamping Sunday Challenge again this week, and the theme is "Your Guilty Pleasure". Fellow members were talking about things like handcuff designs, but I am very proud to present you with the lamest, tamest guilty pleasure ever: cups of tea.

I'm currently losing weight and have a daily calorie allowance to stick to. This means I usually have fruit or herbal teas to be healthy ~ but when I've been good, my one biggest comfort is a nice, hot, sugary, British cup of tea. So for this manicure I did a mix of stamping and nail art using French tip guides to produce a dedication to my favourite guilty pleasure!

Photo taken in my back yard because I'm a true working-class tea lover, plus it was hard to find some good light ;-)

Here's a list of what I used for what:

Accent nails ~ Base colour is Sweet Kisses by Boots 17. Tea party text is Cheeky Home Sweet Home stamped in W7 Black, and teapots are MoYou Tourist 05 in Barry M Gold Foil.

Teacups ~ Sinful Colors Snow Me White with Barry M Gold Foil for the tea. China pattern stamping done with MoYou Mother Nature 05 and Models Own Cornflower Gleam. Hearts are Nailz Craze NC01 in Gold Foil.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Floating Feather Manicure

This post contains products which were sent to me for review :-)

Hello!

This is one of those posts where I get to wear a manicure using beautiful nail art decals that I would have bought myself if I hadn't been sent them for review. Born Pretty Store have a listing featuring various designs of feather water decals to choose from; I was sent a sheet of 20 dreamy, fluffy feathers in blue, pink and black with a delicate stem of gold glitter.

For my base colour I used Sally Hansen's Crinoline which is the palest pink ever - the decals are slightly transparent so I think a lighter polish would suit them best. I chose a feather for each nail and positioned them after dipping them in water for about 30-60 seconds, then finished with top coat.

You can find all the feather decals here, currently at 99c per sheet:
http://www.bornprettystore.com/sheet-catching-flying-colored-feather-pattern-nail-water-decals-transfers-sticker-p-10985.html

And here they are!

Close-up:

I don't want to sound spammy (I do, I know), but I genuinely love these so much that I'm going to go back and buy some more for myself. I'm grateful that I got to try them and I hope you like them too! If you get tempted you can use my discount code CMBQ10 for 10% off:

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Cinderella Decals!

This post contains products which were sent to me for review :-)

Hello!

Today I have for you some adorable Cinderella water decals from KKCenterHk! They have a range of Disney decals in their Cartoon section that I'd been eyeing up for a while, and the elegance and flowing blue dress of Cinderella caught me.

First of all I have to apologise because these decals were very hard to photograph! In the flesh they are very detailed, down to Cinderella's tiny facial features. I used the decals over two different colours, here they are:

Sally Hansen - Lavender Cloud (purple-tinted white)

OPI - I Vant To Be A-Lone Star (frosted Cinderella blue)

Isn't she pretty?! I think the decals definitely look better over white.

I had to be very careful with the decals while I was applying them to my nail, just because Cinderella's head and torso are quite small ~ one got broken, but I learnt quickly how to apply them delicately. Cinderella is one of my favourite Disney films of all time and I'm so glad I got to wear the princess on my nails ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

AiS Sunday Challenge ~ Valentine's Day

Hello!

This week's Adventures in Stamping Sunday Challenge is Valentine's Day! I got a little idea in my head for polka dots and lace, so here it is :-)

The polishes I used are all Models Own. I started with a base of White Light then stamped on polka dots using Cerise Shine and plate QA02 from KKCenterHk. The lace pattern is from Bundle Monster plate BM323. I then took a dotting tool and topped the lace and random polka dots with Northern Lights glitter.

I may not celebrate Valentine's Day but I love sweet and romantic manis, so I can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Dragonfly & Glitter Manicure

Hello!

I think I've stumbled upon a look that I really quite like... a glitter gradient combined with little water decals as accents! This one uses my dragonflies from YRNails.

I just received a lovely parcel from Models Own in the post as I took advantage of their half price sale, and one of the polishes I chose was the lovely, holo-sprinkled purple glitter Southern Lights. Perfect for a gradient! I started off with a coat of OPI's Care To Danse as my sheer base, then sponged Southern Lights on top.

For the glitter gradient I did two layers of sponging and then painted a small amount of the glitter on top for extra sparkle. In retrospect I would have skipped the painting as I ended up with a very thick layer on my nails! But overall I am very happy to be able to look down at my nails and see sparkles and dragonflies ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Bouquet Manicure

Hello!

Today's mani is inspired by the bouquet of flowers currently in our living room! It's a Spring brights bouquet with deep green leaves and pops of yellow, pink and purple flowers.

As a base I painted Sally Hansen's Lavender Cloud and for the stamping I used various flowery bits from MoYou Mother Nature plate 05. I added in some yellow with a dotting tool. It's a bit messy, but here it is!

To be honest the leaves looked good on their own ~ I'll definitely be revisiting this mani without the flowers! It does look nice and pretty from a distance though, and the colours are cheering...

Hugs,

Lisa xx