Dozy Owl Manicure

Hello!

Today's manicure perfectly encapsulates how I've been feeling as of late... sleepy, sleepy, sleepy!

I have a nice little collection of decals from YRNails and one of them is a dozy purple owl. To complement its colour I painted a French manicure where the bodies of my nails are white and the tips are lilac. For this I used Barry M Matte White and Seventeen's Woo Me.

I most definitely empathise with those owls! Zzzzzzzzzzz...

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Golden Lace Manicure

Hello!

My MoYou giveaway ends in two days time, eek! Do get entering!

It's been really difficult to blog recently due to a combination of both me and my nail polish desperately struggling to survive my Christmas retail job! It's taking all my energy, and when I apply a manicure it's often chipped before I can even take a photo. But this time I succeeded in getting a quick pic ;-)

For this mani I started with Seventeen Spiced Plum. I then stamped on some Born Pretty 02 lace in gold, which I received for review, using page reinforcer stickers to get a half moon on my nails.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Autumn Gradient Manicure

Hello!

Here in England the weather is changing and Autumn seems to be setting in, so I decided to do a gradient to suit the season! I actually did the same manicure last year, but I couldn't think of a better polish combination so it's coming back out of the closet :-)

My colours are both by Seventeen at Boots and they're still on sale according to the website! Spiced Plum is a rich, glossy brown-purple and Wishing Star is a stunning shimmer. I applied Spiced Plum first then used a damp washing-up sponge to dab Wishing Star onto the tips of my nails.

You can see from the bottle that I've had Spiced Plum for a good while!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Ballerina Manicure

Hello!

This manicure features curved pink French tips overlaid with polka dots ^_^

First I started with one coat of a sheer French shade, Bubble Bath by OPI. I gave it plenty of time to dry then used page reinforcer stickers that you can buy in stationery shops as tip guides. For my pastel pink I chose Sweet Kisses by Seventeen. I then stamped on my white polka dots and finished with top coat!

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

Seventeen Juicy Neons Nail Effects ~ Pink

Hello!

Today I'm showing you another polish from Seventeen by Boots' new Nail Effects ranges (see Gold from the Crushed Foils here). This one's the pink member of the Juicy Neons range; I also spotted yellow, orange, purple and teal and they all have a shimmering iridescence to them in addition to that neon colour.

Pink Juicy Neon is a sheer polish; a few of the big brands seem to have released very sheer colours for this Summer so I imagine that this range is following in their steps, only with the iridescent twist. I applied two coats as suggesed on the bottle and this is the effect:

You can see that my nail tips aren't looking great at the moment so this probably isn't the best time for me to try out a sheer! That said, the colour plus the blue-tinted iridescence is really quite lovely.

I'd quite like to experiment with this polish a bit more, building up more coats or trying it over other polishes. I did do a quick try of it over white and also to colour in a stamped butterfly and here is the result:

So my first try of Juicy Neons: beautiful colour, but be warned that it is sheer!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Seventeen Crushed Foils Nail Effects ~ Gold

Hello!

A few days ago on Facebook I noticed that Seventeen had launched some new nail effects polishes, so I decided to get down to Boots and buy a few to try out! They're on 3 for 2 at the moment so I bought one polish from each new collection: Juicy Neons, Crushed Foils and Off The Wall Metals.

When I picked up the Crushed Foil polish in Gold I had no idea how it would look on the nail. It looks a bit strange in the bottle - gold shard glitter pieces in a milky polish - but once I started applying it, it started to make sense! I'll let the photo do the talking to start with. Here are two coats of Crushed Foil over black:

It's an ultra-cool rock polish!

So the milky base is a clear-drying matte which gives your mani a really cool edge (it does lighten your base colour a little). The shards of glitter go on great and are just the right amount. This mani brought me back to when I was a goth in my late teens, a very happy time ^_^

I reckon it would be helpful if Seventeen had photos showing how these Crushed Foils look on your nails, because they are a bit confusing in the bottle! I was happy to buy one and test it out but could easily have passed them by.

I'll be back soon with the other two polishes I bought from the Juicy Neon and Off The Wall Metal ranges.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Boots Seventeen ~ Charm Bracelet

Hello!

Charm Bracelet by Seventeen at Boots was another of my naughty purchases that I really shouldn't have made! That said, it was part of the current 3 for 2 offer, costing £3.99 on its own. It's part of their textured range and it is a shimmering metallic delight. Here are 2 coats:

(please excuse the little dint on my middle fingernail!)

The name "Charm Bracelet" completely suits this polish because, as I applied it, it really was like an old charm bracelet had jangled onto my nails! It has a lovely vintage hue and there are flecks of gold in there which make it really special. Well done Seventeen!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Boots Seventeen ~ In The Surf

Hello!

Today's polish is a really cool glitter purchase from Seventeen at Boots, called In The Surf. It's part of their Colour Clash Nail Effects range and is sporting a "Just in!" sticker, so it may be new for Spring/Summer 2014. I paid £3.99 for it but Boots have a 3 for 2 offer on right now so I took advantage of that!

In The Surf is a glitter mix comprising various sizes of white, bright blue and lime green glitters with larger "accent" glitters of orange and pink. It's a top coat glitter and one coat is enough for a great manicure, although I used two just to get the fullest effect. I did have to fish around a bit for the orange and pink glitters, but overall application was lovely.

Here it is over Barry M's Huckleberry, a light pastel blue, with top coat:

How perfect for Summer?! It makes me think of sand in shallow water, it's very beachy. I love Seventeen because they come out with great polishes on the cheap, and I think they've made a winner this time ~ what do you think?

Hugs,

Lisa xx

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

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

Autumn Gradient Manicure

Hello!

This morning I am over the moon because I finally did a colour gradient manicure that I'm proud of! Since the seasons have changed so suddenly I wanted something suitably autumnal, and I had two lovely polishes by Boots 17 in mind.

I've had Spiced Plum for about 2 years now and it's a quintessential rich Autumn shade. For my gradient I paired it with Wishing Star, a shifting shimmer with gold, champagne and copper tones.

To do the gradient I used a washing-up sponge of all things! I firstly applied a base of Spiced Plum to my nails, then I used the sponge to dab on a gradient of the two polishes (The Nailasaurus does an incredibly helpful tutorial here). Here it is:

Gradient successssss!

I'm really glad I didn't give up trying to do colour gradients and I'm definitely going to carry on practising. For now I am very happy with my seasonal mani ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Lilac Flower Manicure

Hello!

Again today I wanted something sweet on my nails, and I went way back in my collection to find something suitable! 17's Woo Me is one of the first polishes I fell in love with, and to that I added some lovely textured flower stickers as accents.

I love having sweet nails and am starting to get used to them being so short!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Boots 17 ~ Cameo Crush

Hello!

Yesterday I stopped by Boots to get some bits and bobs, and while I was there I decided to check to see if 17 had any new polishes. At either end of the display they were showing off some shimmering textures and I instantly fell in love with the turquoise! It's called Cameo Crush and I paid a sale price of £2.99 (a pound off). Here are two coats:

This polish gets a joyous 10/10 from me! Amidst the turquoise it has a silver-green mermaid shimmer which shows up beautifully in the flesh as you move your fingers, and the texture is like crushed gems. It's the ocean and mermaids captured in a nail polish with a touch of vintage style.

It makes me really happy to see a cheap UK drugstore brand take on the very hit-and-miss textured trend and get it so right. I'm proud of Boots!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

P.S. Here is a bonus photo of my cat who very kindly let me disturb her chillaxing while I found some light to photograph my nails ^_^

Pinspiration ~ Paisley Print

Hello!

Today's manicure is inspired by One Nail To Rule Them All. I repinned her paisley print tutorial because it was a stunning manicure - a bright, unexpected skittles combo - topped with a cool paisley print made using a gel pen!!! I was actually really lazy and used the Bundle Monster paisley stamping plate design I had to hand, and I tried to match the skittles colours as closely as possible. Here it is:

My colours:

Thumb ~ Blueberry by Barry M
Index ~ Mint Choc Chip by Seventeen
Middle ~ Sweet Kisses by Seventeen
Ring ~ The Sky's The Limit by Sally Hansen
Pinky ~ Spring Blossom by Ulta3

How cool for Summer, now it's finally arrived?! Thanks so much to One Nail To Rule Them All for the pinspiration ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

A Newcastle Nail Polish Post!

Hello!

Today I'm writing a post to showcase the nail polish deals I spotted in Newcastle city centre today! I am absolutely categorically not supposed to be buying more nail polish right now, but at least I can do a public service by leading you astray too ;-)

Here is a pic of my little haul, and below I'll write about where I got them:

TK Maxx ~ TK Maxx have just recently opened their new store at the bottom of Northumberland Street, and the couple of times I've been in there they've had a really good selection of polishes. Today they had Color Clubs in pairs, minis and big sets, Leighton Denny minis, Nails Inc sets and a few others that included the OPI duo above that I just could not resist getting ~ Bubble Bath, I'm Not Really A Waitress and a cute keychain. The set was marked down from £19 to £12.99.

Boots ~ Boots have started stocking Sinful Colors! There are currently displays in the big Eldon Square store. They're at an introductory price of £1.99 but that's supposed to be increasing in a few weeks' time. Amongst the selection are some cool glitters, but I walked away with the white as it had been recommended by fellow polishers as a great base colour. I also bought my third bottle of Sweet Kisses for £2.99 from Boots' own 17 range; it's a slightly dusty pastel pink which I adore. The Eldon Square Boots has really stepped up their polish selection with a ton of desirable brands being given their own displays.

Making Faces ~ This is the make-up barrow that used to be found near the Northumberland Street entrance to Eldon Square but now has moved further up inside, opposite Next and where the calendar stalls used to be. Today they had a great selection of Essie polishes (not just that orange one!) and Revlons for £1.99 each. I actually settled for an unknown brand called Freshcover because its icy blue looked so promising, and I'll be swatching it soon!

Xtras ~ Again found in Eldon Square, Xtras have a range of polishes by a brand called Cairuo that they are selling for £1 each! If you go in, the range of colours is impossible to miss - bright, fresh and very tempting! I bought 3 cheerful Spring shades and will be swatching them very soon to see if they are any good. They also have lots of W7 polishes for £1.99, and I decided to get the blue Suede-effect shade that people have been rating highly.

So these were my nail adventures today! I'll be updating with swatches; hopefully they were worth breaking my no-buy for because it was seriously bad of me!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

31 Day Challenge ~ Merge or Melt

Hello!

For today's challenge I decided to merge pastels purple and pink in a sponged gradient style... I ended up with a subtle but very pretty look ^_^

The pink is 17's Sweet Kisses (I need yet another bottle of this as I'm running out!), and sponged onto the tips is one of the new Models Own scented polishes I got, Blueberry Muffin. It's on that beautiful line between blue and purple and it does indeed smell gorgeous :-)

There are many different ways to approach today's challenge so I can't wait to look at my fellow polishers' manis below, go check them out too!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

31 Day Challenge ~ Your Oldest Untried

Hello!

Poorliness update: I am very worn out but am getting there! Illness knocks me out far more than it should do :-(

Today's challenge is to use your oldest untried polish. I worked out that this must be Glisten by Boots 17, as I excitedly bought it when it first came out in Spring last year without really thinking about whether I liked it or not! It's seriously scary to think that that was nearly a year ago ~ at the time I was engaged and still struggling to finish uni! Fortunately I'm now single (for the better) and have graduated, although there are still problems to fight through :-)

So, the polish! Glisten is a very warm shimmer, like a sunset. Here are 3 coats:

Yeah, really not my thing. It blends in with my skin tone to look like a boring, old-lady polish. It's pretty in its own way but definitely not my style. Luckily I think that, in the year since I bought it, I've learnt not to be quite so impulsive with my polish buying!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Barry M ~ Rose Quartz

Hello!

Today I have for you the second of my Barry M Jewel glitter purchases, Rose Quartz. This is a sprinkle/top coat glitter consisting of small silver glitter with a rainbow shimmer and larger rose hex glitter in a clear base.

For my photos I tried Rose Quartz over the following polishes:

Index ~ bare nail
Middle ~ Sally Hansen's Lavender Cloud (lavender-hinted white)
Ring ~ 17's Sweet Kisses (pastel pink)
Pinky ~ Nails Inc.'s Power Pink (bright pink)

Here is one coat of Rose Quartz:

And two coats of Rose Quartz:

Personally I think 2 coats is perfect and gives a ton of bling! Like Gold Mine, this cost me £2.99 and is brilliantly special and unique. I only wish they'd somehow made this into a full-cover glitter, now that would be something!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Rainbow Week ~ Pink

Hello!

This is the final day of Rainbow Week! It has been really helpful in getting me back to blogging, it's hard when your mood, energy and motivation are so low. I'll try to continue after today; I've been thinking of showcasing manis using my new BM stamping plates :-)

Today is Pink Day! Again I have lots of lovely pinks, but there was only one choice as a favourite: the one I have 3 bottles of! It's 17's Sweet Kisses, a gorgeous vintage pastel pink. Here it is:

Love, love, love!

Hugs,

Lisa xx