Bird & Blossom Manicure

Hello!

Today I am wearing some gorgeous pink blossom water decals with a bird on the index nail! The decals were sent to me as an extra gift in a review pack from Born Pretty Store.

To give the decals more depth I decided to apply them over a soft gradient of white to light pink. The polishes I used were Barry Ms Cotton and Rose Hip. You can just about see the gradient in the finished design ^_^

I adore patterns like these - clean, soft and feminine!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Cat & Blossom Manicure

Hello!

As promised in my last blog post I have my latest manicure to show you - blossoms and a Japanese money cat!

To get inspiration for this manicure I basically reached into my box of stamping plates and pulled out a random one, which turned out to be MoYou's Suki 17. This is a gorgeous plate featuring very intricate Japanese designs. I hadn't yet used the money cat image so I decided that the time was now! I used my MoYou stamping mat to make decals - one of the cat and the rest blossom flowers - and applied them over the light grey Ion by Sally Hansen.

I've been very tired but I am glad that I got this manicure done and photographed! Now to find inspiration for my next design... ^_^

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Flashback Friday Manicures

Hello!

Today I thought I'd do a round-up post of what I was wearing on this date during the years 2013 to 2016!

I actually have a new mani on my nails right now, but unfortunately I was so tired that I slept all day and didn't get to take a photo. It is a Japanese cat and blossom design over grey polish, and I hope to show it to you during the weekend.

So, 2016! On the 10th of March last year I was wearing cute flower stems over a glitter tips manicure. I used my MoYou Princess 11 plate and the glitter is Northern Lights by Models Own.

In 2015 I went outside my comfort zone with an attempt at a chic black and gold manicure. I used striping tape to apply the black, and the gold flakes are OPI's Man With The Golden Gun - easily the most expensive and silly polish purchase I have ever made!

In 2014 I was also wearing Models Own Northern Lights - I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or if the 2016 mani was a flashback! In any case I went for full coverage this time and applied a lovely singing bird water decal as an accent.

And in 2013 I had the striping tape out again, this time having it on my nails as part of the finished manicure. I was still taking flash photos in my bedroom at this stage.

Do you have a favourite? I hope you can see some kind of progression in quality from my 2013 manicure to now - I'm taking photos outside in daylight now, at least!

I hope to be writing again soon with that Japanese manicure.

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Lace & Butterfly Manicure

Hello!

Today I had the idea to do a design that I've already done in black - it's a bordered lace manicure!

For this white version I started off with a coat off the sheer French polish Essie Mademoiselle. I then stamped on some lace using my BP02 Chic Lace stamping plate from Born Pretty Store. To do the border I used my white Barry M nail art pen to carefully outline my nails. After adding top coat I decided a lovely finishing touch would be a white butterfly charm which I bought from Charlies Nail Art, adhered with nail glue. It's silly, I wasn't even intending to use a Charlies product today - but it worked its way in there!

And, for comparison, here is the black version I did a while ago:

I actually much prefer the white, but what do you think?

As my snazzy sidebar button says, you can get 15% off your entire Charlies Nail Art order with my coupon code, GNAF15 xx

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Charlies Nail Art ~ Colour Wave Nail Wraps

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

Hello!

Another day as a Charlies Nail Art Ambassador! Yesterday I showed you some rhinestones I purchased, and today I have something that was specifically sent to me to review: colour wave water decal wraps.

The wraps cost 89p and consist of a sheet of 10 decals that you cut to your own nail shape. The patterns are a mix of rainbow colour waves. To apply them you just dip them in water for about 30 seconds, slide them off the backing paper then adhere them to your nails, rubbing gently to stick them in place. I took the optional step of applying the wraps over one coat of white nail polish to give the colours added vibrance.

I had to start this manicure again because I made the mistake of trying to apply the wraps over completely dry nail polish and they wouldn't stick down! I think this is a top tip for water decals in general: apply them over touch-dry polish. Once I did this the wraps adhered just fine and I achieved a look that I was happy with. I finished off the mani with top coat for protection.

I hope you like these as much as I do! 89p is a bargain and, of course, you can get an extra 15% off your entire order with my Ambassador's coupon code: GNAF15. Check out my snazzy new sidebar button!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Charlies Nail Art ~ Rhinestones

Hello!

I thought it would be nice to inaugurate myself as a Charlies Nail Art brand ambassador by doing a manicure using some of my purchases! Check out the new button on my sidebar featuring a 15% off code especially for you - GNAF15.

I also want to try writing full blog posts again in addition to posting manis on Instagram. As I've written about before, I have health problems which include depression and feeling very tired. This makes it rather difficult to blog consistently! That said, my hobby does cheer me up so it's worth making an effort for.

Back to the nails! I did a French manicure using lovely little pink and blue gems bought from Charlies Nail Art at 75p per pack. I also used a clear gem that I already had in my collection.

To achieve my French manicure I applied Maybelline Winter Baby using tip guide stickers for a neat shape, followed by a coat of Essie Mademoiselle. I used nail glue to add a sprinkle of the gems as accents...

I was super-pleased with how this turned out. Not meaning to boast, but this is possibly my neatest French mani to date!  And I think the gems added the perfect finishing touch ^_^

Hoping to write again soon...

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Charlies Nail Art Ambassador!

Hello!

I am proud and excited to let you know that I am now an Ambassador for Charlies Nail Art! Charlies is a UK site with a wide range of nail art goodies including decals, glitters, foils, stickers and wraps. Their prices are definitely on the bargain side. They ship worldwide but of course are especially great if you're British like me and want a speedy nail mail fix!

What does my being an ambassador mean? Basically it means you all get a 15% off discount code - GNAF15 - to use when you order. I will also be sent product samples to try out. This is in exchange for me spreading the good news of Charlies Nail Art via honest reviews of their nail art goodies, be it here on the blog or on my Instagram.

Why did I want to be an ambassador? I started out as a regular Charlies Nail Art customer and was always happy with my orders and proud to post the resulting manicures on Instagram. I also liked that I was supporting a UK site - I'm happy to shop worldwide but sometimes it's nice to shop "local"! A big plus is that I feel like I can be an ambassador and remain honest to you - Charlie's already told me that an honest review is good for her credibility, so that gives me a lot of confidence.

To start off with I've done a little collage of some of my Charlies Nail Art manicures, shown above! You can buy the products here:

Barbie Graffiti Water Decal Sheet - 99p - http://www.charliesnailart.co.uk/barbie-graffiti-nail-art-wrap-sheet/
Gold Nail Foil - 39p - http://www.charliesnailart.co.uk/metallic-nail-foil-in-11-colours/
Nail Wraps - from 89p - http://www.charliesnailart.co.uk/nail-wraps/
Silver Nail Studs - 89p - http://www.charliesnailart.co.uk/round-metal-nail-art-studs/

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Barry M ~ Frosted Cupcakes

Hello!

Barry M have released a new mini collection of nail polishes called Frosted Cupcakes! What ties them together is delicate colouring with flecks of shimmering glitter. Boots currently have a "2 for £6" deal on Barry M so I bought two shades to show you: Strawberries and Cream, and Earl Grey. My photos show two coats of polish with top coat in natural daylight.

I hope you can see the effect clearly enough! I love these polishes, especially the pale pink Strawberries and Cream. There are two other shades in the collection and I am tempted to go back and buy them!

With their "Frosted Cupcake" effect they remind me very much of the more expensive and much coveted Illamasqua Raindrops - do you agree?

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Christmas Manicures

Hello!

Happy Christmas Eve! I'm here with a selection of manicures I've done this festive season. As well as the photos, I've posted links to where you can get many of the products I used. Hope you enjoy them!

1. Christmas Tree Manicure

This mani uses the gorgeous green glitter Henley Regatta by Butter London - a TXMaxx find - topped with a Christmas tree nail charm for Charlies Nail Art.


2. Snowy Scene Manicure

These are water decals from Born Pretty Store! I loved the snowy trees.


3. Tartan Manicure

Another Charlies Nail Art find! I was especially happy with how these water decals applied and thought the tartan was perfect for Winter.


4. Christmas Glitter Manicure

This manicure is a mix of two glitters - Beyond Gorgeous by Madam Glam, topped with Keeper of the Grove by Femme Fatale. I think this makes for the ultimate Christmas glitter!


5. Metallic Knit Manicure

To give some edge to a Winter Knit manicure, I chose black and silver as my colours. The stamping plate is Fashionista 03 by MoYou London.


I hope you liked my manis, and have a great Christmas!

Hugs,

Lisa xx

Born Pretty Water Decals ~ Florals and Fruits!

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

Hello!

Today I have two colourful sets of Born Pretty Store water decals to show you! One has florals matched with funky overlay patterns, and the other has both individual fruits and full fruit patterns.

As always with Born Pretty water decals, I was really pleased how these applied. You do cut them to shape yourself, but that means you can get a perfect fit and play around with the decals.

With sheet BPY32 I sampled both the plain and patterned florals to make my manicure:

http://www.bornprettystore.com/patternssheet-born-pretty-leaf-flower-nail-water-decals-transfer-sticker-bpy32-p-33972.html

With sheet BPY22 I took four of the individual fruits and placed them over pale matching colours for a Skittles manicure:

http://www.bornprettystore.com/sheetsset-born-pretty-fruit-pattern-nail-water-decals-transfer-sticker-bpy21-p-33964.html

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

Hugs,

Lisa xx