Manicures and Tattoos!

Hello!

I've done three manicures recently featuring some of my MoYou hand tattoos. The first one was a feathers manicure which you can find here, and the other two are in this post!

First we have what I dubbed a "Magical Manicure" ~ a glitter gradient of my Princess glitter mix from Charlies Nail Art, with some unicorn and dinosaur tattoos from my Origami tattoo pack:

Secondly we have a sparkling flower manicure - a floral pattern from Born Pretty stamping plate BP-L015, coloured in with Echarpe de Seda by Jade. The flower tattoo is from my Tropical tattoo pack:

What do you think?! I've asked for more MoYou tattoos for my birthday so, if I'm lucky, I will have more to play around with soon.

I also have two discount codes for you to buy the glitter and stamping plate I used in these manicures! Get 15% off at Charlies Nail Art using code GNAF15, and get 10% off at Born Pretty Store using code CMBQ10.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Smouldering Embers Manicure

Hello!

Both Halloween and Bonfire Night are coming up, and I had an idea for a glitter manicure to encompass the two. I call it smouldering embers!

My base polish was Black Tie by Jade, a sparkling opaque black jelly. I then sponged on a gradient of Love Letter by Ciaté, an orange-tinted pink glitter, using a normal washing up sponge. I used two coats of Sèche Vite to make the mani nice and glossy.

I hope the idea comes across!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

January Nail Art Challenge: Winter Berries

Hello!

This is my second post taking part in clairestelle8's January Nail Art Challenge! Here was my first post...

Snow and Ice

Today's theme is Winter Berries. My first thought was of holly, but then I came up with something a little different and more personal. Here in the UK we have a blackcurrant cordial drink called Ribena which is the staple of many a happy childhood. In the Winter months, when it's cold, I love to drink it hot! Delicious and comforting blackcurranty goodness.

I checked and blackcurrants are indeed berries, so for the challenge I recreated my favourite Winter drink using Vestido de Gala by Jade which is a rich, sparkling berry jelly glitter. To portray the swirling blackcurrant cordial I used a pattern from MoYou's Cookbook 04 stamping plate and Chrome Mauve by Models Own.

I quite like this mix of purples!

The next challenge theme is Favourite Animal, so hopefully I will be back with some purrfect nails...

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Glitter Jelly Nail Tips ^_^

Hello!

Today's manicure was inspired by @beautifynailsbydebbie on Instagram! She does lots of ethereal glitter-tip manis and I knew I wanted something similar on my nails.

For my sparkly tips I chose two polishes: Esplendor by Jade which is a glittering blue jelly, and Royal Arcade by Nails Inc which is a rich mix of larger blue glitters. To start my manicure I painted one coat of a French sheer, Ballet Slippers by Essie. I only just bought this recently but it's being used up quickly! Then I took a washing-up sponge, dampened it slightly and used it to sponge on layers of blue glitter. Two coats of top coat made my mani super glossy ^_^

I'm really happy with how this one turned out! A jelly-like glittering look is something I can't get enough of.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

My Christmas Manicure

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

So I decided on my Christmas manicure and it is currently complete on one of my hands (hey, there's still time till midnight, right?). It's inspired by one of my manis from last year but with added glitz and colour!

My red Santa tips were done using Jade Echarpe de Seda, page reinforcer stickers as guides and my white Barry M nail art pen for detail. The accent nail is OPI My Vampire is Buff with a letter to Santa stamped on using MoYou Princess plate 11. I topped it all with a shimmering glitter I found in Claire's Accessories a couple of years ago.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas - thanks so much for reading!

Festive Hugs,

Lisa xx

Lace & Sparkle Manicure

Hello!

Today I'm wearing a manicure that's been inspired by one of the Christmas shopping bags we sell where I work. It'd be funny if a hardcore customer could tell what shop it is from the mani!

I've been wearing the mani for a few days now because I ended up in the A&E department of hospital shortly after my last post. I'm OK but a bit precarious.

On four nails I have black lace over white, stamped using Born Pretty plate 02 which I received for review. Then on my pinky fingers I have an accent of sparkling red, which is Jade Echarpe de Seda.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Lisa's MoYou Halloween Round-up!

Hello!

I hope you all had a great Halloween! I'm not well so have been bored at home, but I have managed a few spooky manis in the run-up to the 31st. All have used my newest stamping plate, MoYou Gothic 05, so it was well worth the investment! My Jade Special Glitz collection of polishes have also featured heavily - I can't thank Sally Magpies enough for awarding them to me as a contest prize last year.

Here's a collage of my designs and I'll post full-size versions underneath along with a couple of extra manis!

 

Spooky hugs,

Lisa xx

Purple Rose Design Manicure

Hello!

Today's manicure is another design featuring my new MoYou Gothic 05 stamping plate! I wanted that gothic style without going full-on Halloween too early, so I decided on a purple gradient beneath the plate's rose and netting image.

For my gradient I started with 2 coats of OPI's Care to Danse and sponged Jade's Vestido de Gala onto my tips with a damp washing-up sponge. I top-coated to smooth the gradient out then stamped my design on!

I'm not normally 100% happy with my manicures but this one looked really professional in the flesh - some credit has to go to the polishes and MoYou for that! - and I really, really loved it.

Lastly, a Lisa Update (feel free to skip this bit!): I've been writing on the blog about my struggles of trying to get back into work whilst suffering with mental illness. Fortunately - well, fingers crossed it's fortunate! - I was hired for a new part-time Christmas job! This week is the induction week and I'm being physically ill because of the fear, but I'm still trying because I know the only way to get better is if I push myself. I won't say where I'm working in case it backfires on me, but safe to say that it seems like a great place to work with lovely people.

Hugs,

Lisa

Jade ~ VIP

Hello!

VIP is the orange polish from the Jade Special Glitz collection, a set of opaque jelly polishes with holographic sparkle. I won the set from Sally Magpies last year and I'm still super grateful!

Here it is, complete with raindrops because this is England ;-)

Now how stunning is that, really. The depth of the sparkle was just lovely. Thanks again Sally!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Jade ~ Vestido de Gala (Again!)

Hello!

This weekend I wanted a quick-but-striking manicure in case I feel up to going out at some stage, and Jade's Vestido de Gala was my choice. Rich squishy berry purple with holographic sparkles, jelly finish but opaque in 2 coats, perfect!

This polish makes me think of spiced berry tea, a lovely connotation since it's so very cold. Brrrrrrrrr!

Thanks go to Sally Magpies who I won the polish from a few months ago ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Another Sweater Manicure & Sneak Peek

Hello!

I am getting the urge to just do mani after mani with my Nailz Craze Fairisle sweater stamp because it feels so perfect for the weather! This time I stamped over Jade's Vestido de Gala, a sparkly and rich purple jelly.

SO SO COSY. The only gutting thing is that I've run out of Konad's white stamping polish and I'm using Sinful Colours' white instead.

I also have a "sneak peek" of some water decals I just received from KKCenterHK to review... I'm sharing a quick photo of them beforehand because I'm so pleased with them!

Birds! Romantic birds! And given the white roses are on black paper I'm hoping they'll stay opaque over a dark Autumn colour ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Jade ~ Black Tie

Hello!

Today I am wearing the fifth of the Jade Special Glitz collection that I won from Sally Magpies! Black Tie is a black jelly packed with holo sparkle glitter, building up to an opaque finish in 2 coats.

Now, Black Tie has been so hard to photograph! The way I would describe this polish is like Barry M's Black Multiglitter, but living up to its full potential. The sparkle in the Barry M gets a bit lost, but because Black Tie is a jelly it comes through strong. Here it is:

Yes, my camera definitely had a hard time with this! But it really lives up to its name, both in terms of being glitzy and black-tie worthy!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Jade ~ Esplendor

Hello!

Today I have to show you the fourth polish from the Jade Special Glitz collection that I won from the lovely Sally Magpies! Esplendor is a rich blue jelly packed with holo sparkle glitter. For this mani I painted 2 coats, here it is!

I am so, so pleased with this! I've also been dying to recreate this jelly stampwich mani of fish in the sea, and I just realised that I now have a suitable blue jelly to do it! ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Jade ~ Realeza

Hello!

Today I have for you the third polish from my Sally Magpie's win, Jade's Realeza (see Vestido de Gala and Echarpe de Seda here). Realeza means Royalty and is a fittingly regal purple jelly packed with holographic sparkle glitter. The colour is lighter than the other two polishes and so the holo glitter really stands out! Here are 3 coats:

Soooooo sparkly!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

P.S. Health update: I went to the hospital and had a biopsy which was very traumatic, but it seemed to go very well. Cancer isn't 100% ruled out but the nurses didn't appear concerned at all following the procedure, so I feel a lot better :)

Jade ~ Echarpe de Seda

Hello!

Today I am showing you the second of the Jade Special Glitz collection I won from Sally Magpies, Echarpe de Seda (meaning Silk Scarf!). All 6 polishes in the collection consist of a colour-rich jelly packed with holographic sparkle glitter.

The best way I can think of to describe Echarpe de Seda is as entrancing pools of sparkling, blood-red jelly on your nails. It really is that beautiful. Poets could write about this polish!

It's difficult to capture the depth in a photograph but I've taken some pictures in varying lights and with flash to try and show you. I applied 3 coats for maximum richness of colour. Here it is!

Natural light:

With flash:

In low light:

I know the last pics aren't the best but I hope they give you an idea of just how deep and rich this polish is! This is looking to me like the standout polish of the Special Glitz collection but I have four more to try so I could be proven wrong!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

P.S. On a personal note I've had a cancer scare and am waiting to have some tests. I'm afraid and very upset but am trying to keep going. Life is too hard sometimes!

Jade ~ Vestido de Gala

Hello!

Today I am showing you the first of my Sally Magpies prizes, Vestido de Gala from the Jade Special Glitz collection. Vestido de Gala (I believe this means Gala Dress in English) is a juicy berry colour packed full with holographic sparkle glitter. It has a jelly finish but is still opaque in 2 coats. I took some pics in different lights, here they are!

...and a bad flash photo just to show you the rainbow sparkle that is so prominent in the flesh:

Basically, this polish is a ready-to-apply jelly sammich. It is so rich, so juicy and the glitter gives it such depth. I am in love and I'm so grateful to have won it!

I have 5 other Special Glitz shades to try so will be showing you them all in posts to come ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Look what arrived in the post...

...my prize from Sally Magpies! Eeeeee!

I'm already wearing Vestido de Gala and I'm waiting to take some photos in daylight before showing it off on the blog. I can, however, tell you now that is a rich, juicy, sparkly wonder that makes me crave Ribena!

Thank you so much to Sally for the prize - I've never won anything and I don't own any other Jade polishes so I am mega-happy!

Hugs,

Lisa xx