Eiffel Tower Passport Manicure

Hello!

This is another manicure using my new MoYou stamping plate, Tourist 07. This time I used the Eiffel Tower stamp image which has a passport style to it!

I used the clingfilm technique first to create a mottled passport paper effect. My polishes were Barry M Pearl and Heather, glowing white and purple colours from their Silk Effects range. I applied a layer of top coat to smooth out the clingfilm effect then stamped on my Eiffel Towers in dark grey.

I feel romantic and nostalgic! I lived just south of Paris for 9 months so it's lovely to have a little reminder of my travels on my nails.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Funky French & Polka Dots

Hello!

After I swatched Barry M Elderberry a few days ago I tried a couple of simple nail art looks over it using the metallic Essie Blue Rhapsody. On my right hand I used page reinforcer stickers to do a funky French manicure, and on my left hand I used a dotting tool to make polka dots. Here are the manis!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Barry M ~ Elderberry

Hello!

Today I've been wearing one of Barry M's new Gelly polishes, Elderberry. They've released some gorgeous new shades that are just my colour pallette, so I took advantage of Superdrug's 3 for 2 offer and splashed out!

Elderberry is a lovely grey-tinted blue. The formula is great and I got an opaque mani in 2 coats. Here it is:

I tried out a couple of simple nail art looks over Elderberry which I'll be showing you next. Very happy with Barry M!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Matte Black with Glossy Tips

Hello!

Today I'm doing a copycat of a matte black manicure with glossy French tips that I've seen shared all over Pinterest and other social media. Very sadly I can't find the original source of the mani ~ does anyone have any idea?

My best friend Kellie asked me to do this manicure because it's her favourite, and I did it because she is awesome. I painted on W7 Black, matted it out with Rimmel's Matte Finish top coat then used French tip guides to add the glossy Sèche Vite. I have to warn you that neither the manicure nor the photo are my best... I'm ill with a liver infection at the moment. I managed to take one photo outside where the light is decent before my mam started scolding about me catching a cold! So it's a bit blurry:

Priorites, man. Priorities.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with a new post and feeling better! I bought three of the new Barry M Gellies the other day so I cannot wait to try those out.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Colour-Changing Rose Manicure

Hello!

Today's manicure is inspired by Wacky Laki's Blushing Roses manicure which I saw on Instagram. Please check her out if you like the mani because it's her idea and it's beautiful!

The idea is to pair rose stamping with a thermal polish to give the effect of the flowers blushing and changing colour. For my version I painted Dance Legend's colour-changing polish #178 as a base. I then stamped the rose pattern from my new MoYou Tourist 07 plate over it in black and top-coated.

To get a good photo of the effect I stuck my hand in the fridge-freezer first! One of the crazy things you do as a nail blogger! The Dance Legend polish changes from light pink to hot pink, here are two pics showing it off across my nails:

What a cool idea, right? Thanks to Wacky Laki for the inspiration!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Pink Floral Nail Stamps

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

Hello!

Today I'm showing you the second of two new Nail Stamps water decals from Born Pretty Store (see the vintage floral review here). These decals come as a little patterned sheet that you can cut and use as you like. This sheet is a lovely hot pink floral design.

These decals apply like temporary tattoos which is really cool and different from most water decals. You stick the design face down onto your nail and wet the backing paper before sliding it off. This makes for accurate application and the decal adheres extremely well and smoothly to the nail.

The size of the decals themselves is quite small so they're definitely more for accent nails and use in nail art than for a full manicure. I liked the way my last Nail Stamps mani looked so I used the same idea this time: one full nail plus a circle of the pattern on my ring finger, with Models Own White Light as my base colour.

http://www.bornprettystore.com/nail-stamp-water-decals-transfers-sticker-charming-leaf-floral-pattern-6198-0766198-p-14400.html

...and here is what the decal sheet looks like (posing with my previous manicure) to give you an idea of the size:

The pattern is absolutely gorgeous but I was surprised at how small the decal sheet is. It would definitely be great if it were bigger but, even so, I am considering buying some more of the designs for myself since they are so nice.

As always, you can get 10% off your Born Pretty Store order with my coupon code: CMBQ10

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Victorian Manicure

Hello!

Today's manicure uses my two new stamping plates from MoYou, Tourist 07 and Kitty 11. I am so in love with them!

My base colour is Barry M Pearl, a soft shimmering white from their Silk Effects line. For the first layer of stamping I used the lace and stripes pattern from Tourist 07, stamped with Models Own Cornflower Gleam. The top stamping is a selection of cute little images from Kitty 11 plus the cameo image from Tourist 07 on my thumb. I stamped these with MeMeMe Enigmatic, a dark grey, then top coated.

I adjusted the colour vibrance on the photo just so the blue pattern is visible; I was having trouble getting it to show up on camera. Here is my Victorian-style manicure!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Vintage Floral & Birds Manicure

Hello!

Yesterday I reviewed a nail decal sheet from Born Pretty Store, which you can read here:

http://geordienails.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/vintage-floral-nail-stamps.html

For this post I've added to the original manicure with some stamping! I ordered two new plates from Moyou as a get-well present to myself, and one of them was Kitty 11 with its array of beautiful birdcages. I stamped a cage onto my middle nail plus a couple more little birdies across the mani :-)

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Vintage Floral Nail Stamps

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

Hello!

Today I'm showing you a new kind of water decal from Born Pretty Store. It's called a Nail Stamp and comes as a little patterned sheet that you can cut and use as you like, and I received a very pretty vintage floral design.

This decal applies like a temporary tattoo which is really cool! You stick the design face down onto your nail and wet the backing paper before sliding it off. This makes for accurate application and the decal adheres extremely well and smoothly to the nail.

The size of the decal itself is really quite small so it's definitely more for accent nails and nail art than for a full manicure. I decided to do one full nail plus a circle of the pattern on my ring finger, an idea which I ended up loving. I applied them over a pale pink, Sally Hansen Crinoline.

http://www.bornprettystore.com/nail-stamp-water-decals-transfers-sticker-gorgeous-penoy-vine-pattern-6198-0816198-p-14398.html

And here I'm showing you the second Nail Stamp I received for review, to show you the size:

The size is definitely a downside and I was a little surprised when I received it! That said, I honestly like the pattern and quality of the decal and I might just shell out the $2.45 for another design or a refill of this one. I would cut it into circles again to get the most out of the sheet.

As always you can get 10% off your Born Pretty Store order with my coupon code, CMBQ10 :

I'm also going to add to this mani with some birdcage stamping, be back with it soon!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Flower Stamping Manicure

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

Hello!

Yesterday I received a review package from Born Pretty Store in the post, which was a lovely surprise while I recover after my operation! In it was this stamping plate, which boasts four full-nail floral and leafy patterns plus five smaller complementary images.

I loved this stamping plate from the beginning because of its matching designs - you can stamp a different image on each nail and have interesting but still matching nail art. On top of that the images stamp perfectly with all of the floral detail transferring, which is good for a $1.99 plate!

Two of the full images have a larger flower pattern and two have finer, more intricate detail. I stamped on both hands to show you, with the smaller images as accents on my ring fingers :-)

http://www.bornprettystore.com/nail-stamp-template-charming-arabesque-cluster-flower-vine-pattern-qa83-p-14210.html

The base colour is Models Own Cornflower Gleam and my stamping polish is Konad White.

I really love this plate! I know I'm going to use this again and get lovely manicures from it. As always you can get 10% off your Born Pretty Store order with my coupon code CMBQ10.

I'm so happy to be getting back into blogging as I feel better. I'm getting a couple more things in the post so there's lots to look forward to!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Patisserie Manicure

Hello!

I'm back with my first manicure following my operation! I'm recovering very well, I feel a little sore sometimes but otherwise very comfortable.

This manicure is cheerful and sweet! I started by painting my nails pink with Barry M Rosehip, then stamped on little polka dots in white. They're not too visible in the photo but in the flesh they're just enough for a nice background pattern.

Then I added some of these water decals from Born Pretty Store. They are pâtisserie designs of a chocolate-covered strawberry, a strawberry cupcake, an opera cake and raspberries. When I lived in France I used to love buying beautiful slices of opéra cake from my local baker so it's lovely to have one on my nails! I wasn't sent these decals for review but they really are very good - colourful, detailed, opaque, adhere very well.

Can you just about see the polka dots?

I've ordered two new Moyou stamping plates as a get-well present to myself, and today I received some nail art samples to review, so hopefully I'll be back soon with more manis!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Lisa's Operation Update

Hello!

This is just an update for anyone that knew I was going in for gallbladder surgery on Wednesday, plus a manicure to keep it relevant!

The operation was successful and I am now parted from my very troublesome gallbladder! I stayed in hospital overnight and came home on Thursday morning. I'm feeling very well, just a little bit sore, but can move around and do things for myself.

Things didn't go perfectly smoothly - I had a bit of a mental health crisis before being anaesthetised, and the operation itself took longer than normal because my gallbladder was really beaten up - but all is well now.

On the same positive note, here is the beautiful Fantasy Fire by Max Factor which I wore before the day of the operation:

Thanks so much for the support and kind words and I hope to be back posting new manicures soon!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Pre-Op Manicure

Hello!

Tomorrow I have an operation to remove my gallbladder, which has been causing me much trouble and strife! I have to keep my nails bare for the operation, so I decided to do one last manicure before the day itself.

I'm feeling really overdramatic and scared about this perfectly safe, routine operation, so this is a "Thank you!" mani to my readers and followers in case, you know, I never come back. Geordie Nails is a small blog written by little me in my bedroom and I truly appreciate your visits and comments - especially when I'm not feeling well.

The mani uses my MoYou Scholar stamping plate to create the notebook lines and text, plus Nailz Craze plate NC01 for the heart. The white is Models Own White Light, the lines are Models Own Cornflower Gleam, the red is Barry M Pomegranate and the black is Konad Black:

So, I'll see you on the other side! (Maybe. Overdramatic chipmunk.)

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Seventeen Off The Wall Metals Nail Effects ~ Bronze

Hello!

Today I tried out the third of Seventeen's new ranges - see Crushed Foils and Juicy Neons - and this one is called Off The Wall Metals. It comes in gold, silver and bronze and I bought the bronze. I paid £3.99 but Boots had a 3 for 2 offer on as well :-)

This polish is a glitter topper comprising different sizes of black and white hex glitter mixed in with bronze metallic shards. As with other glitter top coats I've bought from Seventeen, the glitter density is just right; I didn't have to do any fishing or adjust the glitter on my nails at all. Here are two coats over a latte base, Without A Stitch by Sally Hansen:

It's a very rock look and it's not entirely me, but I would have loved it when I was... well, seventeen! My style is more girly now but I was a goth back in the day. It's a good quality polish.

This will be my last long-nail post for a little while: I'll be chopping them short and painting them with one last manicure before I have my gallbladder operation on Wednesday. Eek!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Dance Legend Colour Changing Polish 178

Hello!

I said yesterday that I'd try to be back to let people know I'm alive, so here I am! My illness was a bad reaction to the codeine I've been taking for my gallbladder pain and I'm recovering now. As for that, my surgery is set for next Wednesday. Eek!

Today's post is a manicure I wore on Easter Monday when I went garden shopping with my nanna. I thought a thermal colour-changing polish would nicely reflect the changing weather, so I painted two coats of the pink Dance Legend polish I got for Christmas. Here it is in all its two-tone glory:

And here is the colour when it's cold:

I love this polish so much <3

Hugs,

Lisa xx