Charlies Nail Art

Hello!

As you might know by some of my previous manis I try to browse Instagram as often as possible for inspiration - and during my recent scrolling I spotted Charlies Nail Art. They're a UK-based online nail art shop, and since I'm interested in local sellers I placed a little pocket money order to try them out ^_^

Of course the one big advantage of a UK shop is that I placed my order late on Wednesday evening and it arrived promptly today, Friday! I ordered four items: some water decals (£1), cuticle tattoos (£1.25), black rhinestones (75p) and French tip guides (25p). I'd call that fantastic value.

The artistic, picture frame themed water decals looked to be just right for my new short nails, so here they are...

And here is the rest of my order...

So my first experience with Charlies Nail Art has been really great! What's stood out most is the value for money, personal customer service and spotting some nail art items (like those water decals) that I hadn't seen before elsewhere.

They don't have the gargantuan range of items like some larger overseas sites have, and there is a shipping fee (I think I paid £1.75) - but of course in exchange for that you're getting your order posted 1st class from within the UK.

So what do you think?! Has anyone else shopped with them?

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Shimmering Short Nails!

Hello!

I told you I was going to go short, and I did! And by a stroke of luck my first mani idea turned out really well. I have colourful, shimmering goodness to look down at; what could be more cheering?

This is a single coat of Models Own Northern Lights underneath some feather water decals. At first I was disappointed that the decals weren't opaque, but then I saw how the glitter shimmers through them. It's a captivating effect in the flesh, especially with the blue feather. An unintended success!

I thought I would dislike having newly-short nails at first, but I'm actually super happy. Change is good - I can spend some time rocking designs suited to shorter nails, and then of course they'll grow back again ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Misty Tree Manicure

Hello!

I'm about to cut my nails short for a little while, but I had one manicure in my head that I just had to get onto my nails first! Last week I reviewed stamping plate BP-L015 from Born Pretty Store and had this extra idea using the tree branch design on the plate. So the plate was sent for review and now I'm carrying onto personal use ^_^

I started by painting my nails in my favourite pale blue, Blueberry Muffin by Models Own. I then sponged on a quick gradient using Chrome Indigo, also by Models Own, and added top coat to smooth it out. I stamped on the tree branches and ended up with a nice bold, slightly gothic look!

(check out the extra bird on my finger!)

It's great to be sent something for review which has so much potential for further use. Thanks Born Pretty!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Nails with Charm!

Hello!

Today's manicure is a simple pale grey with a very special accent nail! I own a pair of charms that are full-nail covers in a silver filigree design with diamantés, so I put one on my right middle fingernail for a bit of luxury. The polish is Ion by Sally Hansen and here it is:

It feels very special and indulgent (even though they were cheap from Born Pretty Store!) ^_^

I actually wanted to use the charm because I was thinking about cutting my nails shorter just for a change... but now I've remembered another manicure I wanted to do first so you'll be seeing at least one more blog post before I go short!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Born Pretty Stamping Plate BP-L020 ~ Lace

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

Hello!

Today I am showing you a lace-patterned stamping plate by Born Pretty Store, which is the final item of my latest review pack. Oh no! I've greatly enjoyed being inspired lately ^_^

Plate BP-L020 has 14 full-nail lace designs and 7 smaller lace strips. The lace comes in netted styles, floral, bold... lovely! As with all large Born Pretty plates, the designs are nice and big to get them onto your nail in one go.

I have done three different manicures to show you all the lacy goodness!

http://www.bornprettystore.com/lace-flower-pattern-nail-stamp-template-image-plate-born-pretty-l020-65cm-p-19375.html

This first manicure uses the bold art deco style lace in gold over navy for an opulent look! You can see the lace stamped very well. I love the shaped leaf edge:

This manicure also shows off the perfume bottle nail charm I reviewed on Saturday! The lace pattern has a central flower and I stamped it in black over cream. It didn't stamp as strongly as the one above but it's pretty and creates a nice centre for extra nail art:

And, finally, this mani shows off four different laces from the stamping plate. They mix and match really well, so you can choose to just use one or put them together for a variety in pattern across your nails:

I adore lace which is why I got excited and did three manis! This is a lovely plate and one I will be using again for sure ^_^

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

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Perfume Bottle Nail Charm

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

Hello!

Recently I have started experimenting with using nail charms, and in my Born Pretty Store review package I received a pair of adorable little perfume bottles to put on my nails! They come in pink, blue and white, and I chose to be sent the pink.

The bottle itself is gold and is decorated with a gradient of pink rhinestones. It's just the right size to sit on the centre of your nail and look really pretty. One big factor in whether I like a nail charm or not is if it's sharp or somehow gets in the way - but this perfume charm lies quite flat against my nail and feels smooth. Thumbs up!

Here it is, applied using nail glue over a lace manicure using this Born Pretty stamping plate (review to come!):

http://www.bornprettystore.com/2pcs-perfume-bottle-nail-decoration-metal-studs-shining-rhinestone-pattern-p-19843.html

This is so pretty and I really like it ^_^ One thing I would have liked is more charms in a pack, or a mixture of colours - but the price is $1.59 for 2 so it's not bad!

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

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Geordie Nails does the MoYou Pin-Up Contest!

Hello!

This week MoYou are holding a nail art contest! The name of the game is to come up with a manicure inspired by their pin-up girls and then post it on Instagram. This contest has really captured my imagination; I've finished four manicures so far and have yet another one planned. I'm not doing them with the expectation of winning - I lack that extra artistic talent that other entrants possess - it's for the sheer joy of painting my nails ^_^

So here is a collection of all the manicures I've done so far! All of them use MoYou stamping plates for the nail art elements.

Kitty Manicure:

Frenchy Manicure:

Bridal Manicure:

Scholar Manicure:

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Born Pretty Stamping Plate BP-L015 ~ Forest Patterns

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

Hello!

Over the past few days I have been stamping away with my review plates from Born Pretty Store ~ I feel so lucky! Today's plate is BP-L015, which has a nature and forest theme. This means 14 incredibly fine and detailed full-nail patterns which include flowers, leaves and trees, and 9 equally beautiful individual images.

I have done two manicures to show off this plate! On the right is a fine sketched flower design stamped in metallic blue over white; on the left is a collection of the plate's cute little patterns stamped in primary colours, along with a pair of lovebirds <3

http://www.bornprettystore.com/forest-pattern-trees-nail-stamp-template-image-plate-born-pretty-l015-65cm-p-19370.html

This flower design is just what I love, and it's one of many similarly detailed patterns on the plate...

These little patterns are lovely to mix and match! The one problem I had was getting the birds to stamp well, but you can see how cute they are...

I really love this plate ~ the detail and beauty of the designs are just my style. And I already have an idea for another manicure that I want to do, this time featuring the tree pattern on the plate if you click the link and have a look!

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

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Born Pretty Stamping Plate BP-L013 ~ Hearts and Diamonds

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

Hello!

This week I received a lovely new review parcel from Tina at Born Pretty Store, which was perfect timing as I'm in the mood to be inspired to do lots of new manicures! I was sent three stamping plates and a pair of nail charms ^_^

Today's review shows off stamping plate BP-L013. This is one of Born Pretty's own large stamping plates and it has 21 full-nail designs! These include heart patterns, diamonds and fabric styles, and all were very well sized to stamp onto my nails in one go.

I did two manicures to feature a range of the designs. On the left I have both diamond patterns in black over sparkling glitter. On the right I have a craft-inspired blue stamping skittle, showing you the polka dots and one of the heart patterns - I also stamped out a single heart from another pattern for a little accent!

http://www.bornprettystore.com/heart-diamond-grids-nail-stamp-template-image-plate-born-pretty-l013-65cm-p-19368.html

I am super-impressed with this plate! I've reviewed Born Pretty's own plates before so I know they're good already, but these patterns are just so cute and stamp so well. My one stamping bugbear is that I can never get polka dots to stamp right - but I found that, if I'm quick and careful with my stamping, these dots are the best I've got in my collection.

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

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Craft Inspired Manicure!

Hello!

During my recent Instagram adventures I've found two girls making beautiful heart crafts - missjenkyjenks and libbylou281 - and they have served as perfect inspiration for a pair of manicures!

The first manicure is a purple, green and white pastel skittles with dots and florals! I tried to represent all the craft hearts on my nails, including the different sized polka dots ^_^

The second manicure is a blue patterned skittles! This one uses a stamping plate only just sent to me for review by Born Pretty Store, plate BP-L013. There will be a full review to come but I already love the plate and its patterns - it was perfect to make this heart-inspired mani!

I hope you like them!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Subtle & Sparkle Manicure

Hello!

For today's manicure I took a neutral colour and set it off with a little added sparkle.

Utopia by Models Own is a very pretty, warm neutral which I hadn't yet used, so I was very happy to try it out today! I painted two coats and let them dry well. I then used page reinforcer stickers as a guide to paint silver glitter - Noel Street by Nails Inc - at the base of my nails. With some cleanup and top coat, my manicure looks like this!

I really quite like how this turned out! Apart from having to clean up the excess glitter polish with a cuticle stick and remover, it was simple to do and looks chic (in the opinion of someone who has no sense of style!).

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Neon & Geometrics Manicure

Hello!

To add a little extra something to my manicures, I bought a couple of inexpensive transfer tattoo sheets from eBay to use on my fingers and cuticles! This mani uses some silver triangles which were meant to make up a bracelet tattoo but that I cut and used individually.

For my nail polish I chose Pukka Purple from Models Own's Ice Neon range - nice and bold and bright! I stamped a geometric triangle symbol onto the base of my nails in silver, then I applied the tattoos onto my cuticles to match it.

I like this for the very reason that it's not my usual style at all. Normally I like delicate manicures and would avoid geometric patterns. So it's good to switch it up once in a while and be bold - especially with the addition of the tattoos!

Hugs,

Lisa xx