English Tea Manicure

Hello!

Here is another mani I posted quickly on Instagram but sadly didn't have the energy to blog about. I call it an English Tea manicure because it feels like something I would wear to an afternoon tea with Earl Grey and cakes ^_^

I painted my nails with Seventeen Mint Choc Chip, leaving the ring fingers as accents. I painted those white and added rose water decals from KKCenterhk.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

My Birthday Manicure

Hello!

Yesterday was my birthday ^_^ I got lots of lovely presents including a nail polish case, two new polishes and a fresh bottle of Nail Envy!

For my manicure I chose super-sparkly glitter paired with a birthday cupcake! I painted all my nails with the pale pink Barry M Rosehip as a base then added two coats of Models Own Northern Lights for its scattered holo sparkle. I left my ring fingernails glitter-free and applied pâtisserie water decals from Born Pretty Store.

Aaaaaand, here is my new Hipster Cat nail polish case, now housing my Models Own collection!

How cute?!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Switched-Up Polka Dot Manicure

Hello!

I haven't been fully keeping up with blogging about my manicures recently, and I'm sorry! Life is a bit transitional at the moment - I've had some medical assessments, am on the waiting list for more mental health help and I'm waiting to see if I can/must go back to work. It's all a bit intimidating and it's been easier to just post photos quickly on Instagram. But I'll catch up over the next few days with some manicures that are lounging in my Dropbox folder ^_^

Yesterday I wanted something simple yet bright and cheerful, so I got out the brightest and most cheerful blue in the world, Baker Street by Nails Inc! All my nails got painted blue except for my ring fingers which I painted white as accents. On my thumb I stamped polka dots in white, and on my accent nails I stamped the dots in Baker Street blue.

I thought this was a nice bright look for Summer!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Pink Floyd Manicure

Hello!

Today's manicure is a copycat of Just Add Polish's amazing Dark Side Of The Moon design. My dad's a big Pink Floyd fan and he stumbled upon the mani online, so of course I had to try it!

I did my nails a little differently (lazier!) to Just Add Polish. I painted my nails with Barry M Black Multi Glitter then drew on the prism design using my Barry M white nail art pen. I added the rainbow colours using a fine nail art brush.

It's a bit messy as freehand really is not my forte, but I think this is quite cool! My dad's reaction was "Hmm, I suppose" which for my dad is the equivalent of a rave review ;-)

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Lucky Spring Decals

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

Hello!

Today I have for you some very pretty water decals from Born Pretty Store. They're a generous sheet of cute and lucky images in Spring colours. They include birds, feathers, hearts, four-leaf clovers and text designs ^_^

I was really, really pleased with the application of these decals! They went on smoothly after 30 seconds or so in water, and even when I applied a couple in the wrong place I could move them and smooth out any wrinkles no problem. The colours are opaque and are just beautiful. I applied a variety of the designs over pink polish, Seventeen Sweet Kisses, and here they are:

http://www.bornprettystore.com/nail-water-decals-transfer-stickers-fancy-spring-swallow-pattern-sticker-p-14785.html

How sweet?! Water decals are one of my nail art staples and I know I'll be using these many times again. I did a quick count and there are over 70 decals on the sheet for $1.86 - not bad, right?

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

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Outfit-Inspired Manicure!

Hello!

Today's manicure is inspired by a new dress and pair of shoes I bought recently! I'm not fashion-savvy at all but I love pretty dresses, and I found a nice blue floral one in Dorothy Perkins and added some bargain pink flats from New Look for the Summer. I couldn't tell you whether they're a stylish combination or not but I do feel pretty in them and I guess that's what matters :-)

For the inspired manicure I did blue floral nails with matte pink pinkies. The colours I used are Revlon Dreamer, Barry M Blackberry for the stamping and Seventeen Sweet Kisses for the pink. The stamping plate is MoYou Mother Nature 05.

And here's the mani in full size:

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Hello Kitty Manicure

Hello!

This is a manicure I did a little while ago. I fancied something simple and cute so I got out my dotting tools and French tip guide stickers to paint this Hello Kitty look!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Birdcage & Lace Manicure

Hello!

Here is a manicure I did a few days ago using my new MoYou stamping plates, Tourist 07 and Kitty 11. I used Barry M Pearl as my base colour and stamped on a design across all my nails in black. Here it is!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Heart & Sparkle Manicure

Hello!

One of my favourite manicures to do is sparkly accent nails paired with a decal or stamp, and I realised I hadn't worn one in a while! This mani uses YRNails' Lace Heart water decals which I recommend thoroughly ^_^

For my sparkly accents I used Nails Inc Marylebone with plenty of top coat to gloss it up. On the rest of my nails I painted two coats of a French sheer, OPI Bubble Bath. I applied my lace heart decals onto my middle fingers.

I feel pretty and girly and cheered up by the sparkle!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Joffrey Baratheon Manicure

Hello!

Today's manicure is inspired by Game of Thrones! My little brother and best friend convinced me to try it, and now I only have the latest episode to watch until I'm all caught up. One of the evil Joffrey's outfits caught my eye earlier on in the series and I decided to try a quick manicure inspired by it.

And here is the inspiring outfit:

The stamping uses MoYou plate Tourist 07. The thumb is inspired by his eyes. He's a nasty little boy but I did like his style!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Leafy Floral Nail Foil

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

Hello!

Today I've taken yesterday's manicure and topped it with a gorgeous nail foil that I received for review from Born Pretty Store.

Nail foils tend to come in very shiny, holographic colours but you can also get them in beautiful patterns like the one I have here. It has flowers and leaves in pinky Autumn colours with silver outlines, and it's one of 10 different patterns to choose from on the store listing.

With Barry M Almond as my base colour I applied the nail foil glue that I already own and let it dry for about 3 minutes. I cut out some of the foil and pressed it onto my nails so I had a different pattern on each nail. The best thing is that applying top coat doesn't spoil this nail foil! I applied two coats just to make sure the nail art was well sealed. Here it is:

http://www.bornprettystore.com/charming-starry-nail-roll-foils-leopard-lacy-arabesque-leaf-glitter-transfer-stickers-paper-p-14556.html (pattern B114)

How nice is that?! I'm not talented at freehand nail art at all, so I really depend on things like this to get nice manicures.

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

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Barry M ~ Almond

Hello!

I bought Barry M's Almond a short while back, it's one of their new Gelly shades. It's a rich, mauve-y neutral colour. Application was great, I applied 2 coats and it looked like butter on my nails - so glossy! Here it is:

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Tartan Manicure

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

Hello!

Yesterday I reviewed this Love Heart Plaid stamping plate from Born Pretty Store (review here) and today I'm showing you a quick extra manicure I did using the full-nail tartan pattern on the plate!

I come from the Armstrong family, a big clan from the Scottish borders. I'm really proud of my heritage so thought I'd recreate our tartan via nail art using this stamping plate! The tartan is dark green with purple plaid and red lines. I used Revlon Emerald City, Models Own Pukka Purple, Barry M Pomegranate and matte top coat. Here it is!

http://www.bornprettystore.com/nail-stamp-template-love-heart-plaid-pattern-qa84-p-14903.html

Apologies for the lighting; it was a challenge to best show the purple stamping over the dark green, but I am so pleased with it!

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

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Love Heart Stamping

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

Hello!

On Thursday I was very happy to receive a new review parcel from Born Pretty Store, and this is the first manicure I tried using this Love Heart Plaid stamping plate. 

The plate has two full nail images - a love & hearts pattern and a plaid/tartan pattern - plus eight love designs, some in different sizes so you can choose them to fit your nails. I actually did two manicures to show you because I am a member of a Scottish clan and wanted to recreate our tartan via nail art! I will post that manicure tomorrow.

For this mani I started with a red holographic polish by Layla then stamped on a variety of the lovely designs in white. Here it is:

http://www.bornprettystore.com/nail-stamp-template-love-heart-plaid-pattern-qa84-p-14903.html

They really are adorable and I wasn't expecting to find the designs as cute as I do!

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

I'll be back tomorrow with my tartan mani!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Dotted French Manicure

Hello!

I have just now finished a manicure that I'm really quite happy with and wanted to blog about it straight away!

I had an idea for a French manicure where the tips are made up of dotted polish. I'm sure some bright spark has thought of this before, but it's new to me which is why I'm so happy with it!

I painted my nails with one coat of a sheer French then picked out my three Models Own Hypergel polishes as my tip colours - White Light, Cerise Shine and Cornflower Gleam. I used a dotting tool to apply them in different orders on each nail to get some variation, then finished with top coat. Here is my manicure:

The colours really pop on my fingertips like bright balloons. I was surprised at how quick and easy it was to do, since I'm normally quite clumsy with more freehand nail art. Is this a look you'd go for?

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Butter London ~ Henley Regatta

Hello!

Today I am showing off my first ever Butter London polish! It's a green glitter called Henley Regatta and I found it in TKMaxx for the bargain price of £4.99.

Henley Regatta is a fine, rich green glitter; I would describe the shade as minty forest. It went on in 3 coats and is a full-cover glitter but it could have done with a coat of green polish underneath for complete opacity. It's nothing you'd notice from a distance but I'm pedantic and it bothered me slightly.

Here is is (I tried it before cutting my nails, hence the difference!):

I love the colour, it is so rich and opulent!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Lace & Kitty Manicure

Hello!

I bought a few of Barry M's new Gelly polishes last week, and today I tried out Coconut. I paired it with stamping using MoYou plates Kitty 11 and Tourist 07, also new purchases which I have been using a lot since they came through my letterbox!

Coconut is a goooorgeous cream colour, just the kind of shade I love. It goes on in two coats and the formula is great. For the stamping I varied the lace design from Tourist 07 across my nails, adding a cat from the Kitty 07 plate to my right ring finger. Here it is on both hands:

I was actually thinking of a more colourful manicure before doing this but I'm so glad I tried Coconut out with the black stamping. I feel very romantic ^_^ Now all I have left to try out is Barry M Almond from the same range.

Hugs,

Lisa xx