January Nail Art Challenge: Snow and Ice

Hello and Happy New Year!

I took a blogging break during the Christmas season and now I'm back! Sorry for the absence - I wasn't feeling up to writing full blog posts, but I still put some manicures on my Instagram which you can see ^_^

I'm trying to ease myself back into blogging with clairestelle8's January Nail Art Challenge! It's a low-pressure challenge with some lovely nail art themes as inspiration. I also have some lovely Born Pretty goodies to review for you.

The first challenge theme is Snow and Ice, which is perfect as I wanted to try something clean and fresh for the beginning of the year. My idea was snowy nail tips, which I realised by starting with a French base of Essie Mademoiselle and sponging on the indie glitter Snowfall by Sonnetarium, using page reinforcer stickers as a tip guide.

I get the feeling that my manicures will be simpler than others in the challenge, but I actually don't mind that! The next theme is Winter Berries and I have a simple yet hopefully unexpected idea for it ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

A Sprinkle of Manicures!

Hello!

I feel like I haven't blogged properly in ages! A lot of this is down to illness but I do want to get back to writing. I've just hit 2000 followers on Instagram which I'm indescribably proud of - posting my manicures on there is quick and easy, but it's lovely to do a proper blog post to accompany the quick pics.

So, for this comeback post I've decided to show you a few of my recent manicures! Here we go...

This is my current manicure! It's Snowfall by Sonnetarium, a gorgeous indie glitter. I dry-sponged it onto my nails over a sheer base for a glittery alternative to French tips. I also used a peel-off base coat so it won't be a nightmare to remove!

This is a textured stamping manicure! I have a couple of Nails Inc's Leather Effect polishes which I bought on sale from TKMaxx, and for this mani I stamped a floral pattern from MoYou's Pro 07 plate straight onto the texture for a vintage pastel look.

This mani means a lot to me because it uses a polish sent to me as a gift by the lovely, talented Translucent Mermaid! Check out her nails on Instagram (this sky nail art is my favourite). The polish is Rose Givré by Eye Care Cosmetics and I wore it over Barry M Indigo for an ethereal ocean look.

This is something a little different to my normal style that I tried. I used striping tape to paint a neat black line down my nails and then I topped it with my most ostentatious polish purchase ever, Man With The Golden Gun by OPI. I really need to get more use out of it!

I hope you like my manis and I'll be sure to be back soon!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Lisa's Little Nail Art Round-Up

Hello!

I am here with a mini collection of the nail art I've been doing lately! I haven't been well at all which is why I haven't been posting them individually ~ I'm in the middle of switching medications for my depression and it's a miserable, physically and mentally unpleasant experience. Hopefully things will get better soon. In the meantime, here are four manicures! Underneath the collage I'll tell you the details of how I did them xx

Kawaii Breakfast Manicure

This mani uses decals I just bought from YRNails and received in the post on Monday! How adorable? I paired them with complementary pastel shades from Barry M, also used in my fourth mani below ^_^


Pink Butterfly Wings Manicure

These were done using my beloved Nailz Craze stamping plate. My pastel pink is Barry M Rosehip (a favourite to use this week, I gave it a lacklustre review when I first bought it but feel I should retract that!). I stamped on the wings in black and for the white markings I used an indie glitter, Snowfall by Sonnetarium.


Reverse Glitter Manicure

This is an idea I'd tried once before, using French tip guide stickers at the base of your nails to create a reverse French glitter! My polishes were Models Own Pukka Purple and Nails Inc Noel Street.


Italian Ice Cream Skittles Manicure

This shows off the newer Barry M Gelly pastels! I'm wearing Rosehip, Coconut, Huckleberry and Almond.


Hopefully I'll be back soon :-)

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Black Feathers & Glitter Sandwich!

Hello!

After being sent some feather water decals for review from Born Pretty Store I went back and bought a ton more for myself. They've just arrived and I now possess a zillion manicures' worth of various pretty feathers ^_^

The first decals I decided to use were the black feathers from this listing (I bought all 11 designs as the bulk price was really a steal). I also had an idea for a delicate base manicure to apply them over: I painted a coat of Sonnetarium's beautiful Snowfall glitter then topped it with 3 coats of OPI's sheer white Don't Touch My Tutu! Here it is:

God my cuticles are a state! I'm so sorry! But I'm really pleased with the feathers over that sandwich base. I can't wait to use more of the decals, but maybe I'll apply some cuticle butter first ;-)

Hugs,

Lisa xx

P.S. A little personal update ~ I was feeling terribly depressed yesterday but have since seen my mental health worker and have a slightly renewed sense of hope with plans for taking little steps to get better :-)