Essie Marshmallow Re-Do // 4th Inspired Star Manicure

Powdery Blue & Gold // Essie Find Me An Oasis

This dreamy pale blue is Essie Find Me An Oasis. It's one of the latest polishes to arrive in my nail mail package from the US. I love the color but it was really difficult to capture in the photos, it's actually a bit paler than it appears, looking almost white at a distance or in certain lights. I included the last Instagram photo since that's probably the best representation of the color. 

Find Me An Oasis is reasonably alright to apply; after a super streaky first coat, the second coat almost evened everything out, but for me, a bit of perfectionist when it comes to my nails, it needed a third coat. You may think it's fine with two. Dry time was no problem but it did need a topcoat for more shine.

Orginally I planned to combine this one with glitter, but then I pulled out an old gem, a gold shimmer polish by Korean brand The Face Shop, and was reminded of this cute mani I'd seen on Instagram. I like the combination, the coolness of the blue and the warmth of the gold really compliment each other, don't you think? 

I'll probably be trying gold tips with other colors from here on out. 

What color do you have on your nails at the moment? Any colors/brands you recommend me to try? 

Manicure Monday // Sweet Daisy

For no particular reason, I haven't been doing as much nail art lately. I can't fathom why not because it's one of my favourite things to do. As you know by now, I'm a compulsive nail painter - I never have bare nails, and I particularly love how creative you can be with nail art. It's not the world's greatest skill and it's hardly the most useful, but still, it gives me that little sense of achievement when I complete a pretty design, and a rewarding feeling of pride when someone notices them and I get to say I did them myself  :) So all that being said, I've decided to get back to doing more nail art, I'll be aiming to post my humble efforts at least a couple of times a month. 

On Saturday, I was feeling all 'Springy' and decided a muted, feminine nail would make a nice change from the hot pinks and corals I've been overdoing these past few weeks. Daisies are one of the easiest nail arts to do, but the results are super sweet, don't you think?!

Polishes

Base color - OPI Privacy Please

Daisy petals - OPI Alpine Snow

Daisy centres - Etude House Mini French 07 Gold Glitter

Heart Ring - Topshop Link!

Also, can we take a second to talk about this Chanel perfume bottle phone case. You've probably seen it in a few other places too by now, but isnt it so fun?!!

The Softest, Prettiest Polish // Essie Romper Room

OPI's Mod About You has long been one of my favourite nail polishes. I love the pale pink with just a hint of lilac tone to it, and mostly I love how opaque it is. But, as pretty as it is, I've a lot of moments where I found myself wishing it was just a touch more neutral. I wanted a colour that was the palest of pinks, almost white but completely opaque. OPI's Privacy Please, Bubble Bath and Sweetheart were on the right track colour-wise but even with four coats didn't give me that opacity I was after. I kept my eyes on the nail counters, always looking for the right one but the story was always the same; the colour was right but it just went on too sheer.

Finally, in steps Romper Room, one of Essie's 2014 Spring offerings. It's The One! It's exactly what I wanted. A fully opaque polish with just a whisper of pink. SO pretty! I'll admit, the formula is not as good as I'd like, it can streak a little on your second coat if you use too many strokes but I'm willing to overlook that because I'm in love.

For those who are wondering, here's a little comparison between OPI Mod About You and Essie Romper Room. From the pictures you can clearly notice the stronger lilac tones to Mod About You. For the slightly less obsessive nail folk the difference may not look too great but trust me, it is. Romper Room is  an all important couple of shades softer and therefore just a tad more versatile.

I may have also bought a few of the other polishes from the Essie Spring collection. So stay tuned for a post about those soon :)

Do you have either of these two polishes, which is your favourite?

Are there any other pale polishes that you think I should try?

Leopard Print Nail Art Revisited

Considering that painting my nails is one of my favourite pastimes, done without fail a couple of times a week, I can't believe it's been over a month since my last nail post! If it weren't for the fact I snapped a few quick photos on my iPhone of these just after completion, this could have been another forgotten manicure.

This was a revisit/upgrade of the leopard print accent nail manicure I did when I first began this blog a couple of years ago. You can see the original post, 'Leopard Print Nail Art How To', for a basic explanation of the steps to create the leopard pattern. The old post is also a great illustration of how my manicure skills have improved (in my humble opinion!) which goes to show a little practice (and some  patience) is all you need for this manicure. It's much easier than it looks, and the key to a great leopard print effect is to make sure the splodges of color are various sizes and shapes. Also, don't completely encircle the colour with black, leave spaces and do a few dots of black on it's own in a couple of places.  Random is the name of the game!

Base color - Essie 'Marshmallow'  //  Leopard print - OPI 'Shorts Story' & The Face Shop 'Black Nail Art Pen' 

Even though I swore I hated it, I decided to give Essie 'Marshmallow' another shot, it took four coats to achieve this colour and getting it to look smooth was NOT easy. Needless to say, I still don't recommend it.

OPI on the other hand (pun just a happy accident), never seems to fail me. 'Short's Story' is a long time favourite of mine and for this manicure I used the OPI Top Coat too instead of Seche Vite. As much as I love the finish you get from Seche, the shrinkage can be pretty awful.


I'll try to do nail posts on a more regular basis, if that's something you lovelies are interested in seeing? 

Christmas Red & Gold Manicure

I've been busy doing last minute Christmas preparations this weekend; wrapping presents, baking some sweet treats and giving myself a new Christmas mani. As far as Christmas nails go, there is only one contender for the best Christmas polish in my book - China Glaze Ruby Pumps.

If you don't know this polish, you really should, it's a perfect crimson red with micro glitter that reflect a slightly brighter red, so festive! It's also good for Valentine's Day (see this post here). I love it, and although it looks perfectly fabulous on it's own I thought I'd jazz it up with some gold because is there really any better Christmas combination?!!

L to R // The Face Shop Gold Glitter & Micro Gold Glitter, OPI Big Apple red, China Glaze I'm Not Lion, China Glaze Ruby Pumps.

Sugar cookies - I cheated by using the Betty Crocker mix (shhh!) They're so good, it's unlikely they'll be any left by Christmas.

How cute is my little reindeer nail decal!!

I topped off my manicure with Seche Vite in the hopes of it lasting until Wednesday. Seche Vite usually gives me really good wear time, even if it does come at the price of a little shrinkage on the tips. Anyway, only two sleeps to go! :)

So, are you ready for Christmas or do you still have some last minute shopping to do like me?!

x x x

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Fall Graduated Glitter Nails

After my very none fall-esque manicure last week (baby pink with silver glitter) I thought it was time I get with the season. I dug around in my nail polish drawer, which I'm almost (but not really!) ashamed to say is now actually two, and pulled out OPI Casino Royale. It's a gorgeous plum color, with a wonderfully easy to apply cream formula. The color just screams fall to me! Whilst it's more than lovely enough to be worn on it's own, I've got the basic mani down to an art now and on this occasion I had far more time to kill, so....out came the glitters!

I used China Glaze's I'm Not Lion (a soft gold micro-glitter) then a rose-pink micro-glitter by The Face Shop and finished off with a bit more texture from the large gold and rose-gold hex glitter by InnisFree. The whole lot was sealed with a thick coat of Seche Vite to give it a super-smooth glossy finish.

For anyone wishing to find a similar color to Casino Royale, near dupes are OPI The Cable Car Pool Lane and Anti-Bleak. Essie's Recessionista is a fraction darker and Bahama Mama is a touch lighter, but along the same lines. China Glaze Urban Night is another nice purple but is a bit darker with less red to it. 

I think the final effect is just perfect for fall and of course, glitter makes everything better! What do you think?

Nails // Essie The Lace Is On

I am enamoured with this polish. 

Okay, now that we've got that out of the way I can tell you it's The Lace Is On, from the Essie Fall 2013 collection. I got the mini-cube last week and posted about the other three colours in the collection - HERE. This particular colour really stands out from the group so I decided I'd do a manicure with it alone. Then, as if the nail gods planned it, this new glitter polish that I'd bought just days before from Korean brand Innisfree, matched perfectly!

The Lace Is On is a jewel toned purple which gives you flashes of pink from the fuchsia shimmer. It has a pearlescent finish with a nice amount of depth, especially after a Seche Vite topcoat (minor shrinkage forgiven). To me, a lover of bright nails, this is the perfect alternative to the darker plum toned polishes that are always popular for Fall. 

The only minor negative about this polish, is that initially I had a bit of a problem with it dragging on the second coat and got a little bubbling. Duo-chromes and shimmer polishes have a tendency to do this if you're not careful. If you make sure the base coat is applied fairly thin, allow a little extra drying time and then do a generous second coat you shouldn't have any problems.

The mini-cube can be purchased online from Zappos. You can get the single full-size version of The Lace Is On and all the other Essie Fall 2013 polishes on Nordstrom, or Look Fantastic with free worldwide delivery.

Let me know in the comments below what you think of this colour. Also, what colour polish are you wearing now or what's your usual favourite fall nail colour?

x x x

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Nails // Deborah Lippmann Stairway To Heaven

I purchased this Deborah Lippmann polish on impulse because it was one of those, 'it's just so pretty, I've GOT to have it' kind of polishes. When I got it home I tried it out right away over a pale pink polish. Whilst it did create quite a dreamy, feminine look that embodies it's name 'Stairway To Heaven' I just wasn't that blown away. I thought it was a bit subtle andit  didn't really pack anymore punch than my other iridescent glitters, that all cost me less.  So, since then it just sat idly alongside my mountain of other glitter polishes.

This weekend I decided to give it another try, this time as just a single coat over a bright neon pink. The pink I chose to use is a little gem from Etude House. It cost just a few dollars but applies fairly smoothly and I haven't found quite the same 'neon without being too neon' kind of colour anywhere else. The DL polish has a thick, gel-like, sheer cream base with square and hexagonal medium sized iridescent glitters. I applied two coats of the Etude House pink, then one coat of the DL, followed by a topcoat of Seche Vite. Due to the yellow tones of the DL and the yellowing caused by Seche Vite (despite it's claims that it doesn't cause that - trust me, it really does!) this resulted in a neon peach finish. I like it! The pink and orange flashes of the glitter match beautifully with the polish. And, although it's difficult to tell from photos, the glitter is beautifully eye-catching without competing against the neon.

This manicure feels like the perfect match to the blazing hot and sunny days we're having here at the moment. The glitter looks so different paired with a bright colour, which is exactly what I love about glitter polishes; there are so many different options and possibilities, it's really just up to you to experiment and find the best.

x x x

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Cath Kidston Inspired Rose Nails // Take Two

With lots of things going on in my life at the moment and having my brother staying with us for the last couple of weeks, I haven't had the time to blog as much as I like to. But, I did make sure to at least snap some pictures of the important stuff. Important stuff being nails and food basically. Yep, outside of family and friends those are my real loves.

If you followed my blog when I first began (approaching two years ago in August, week!) you may remember I did some Cath Kidston inspired nail art. Well, I like to think my skills have improved a bit more since then, so when I saw Emily on Cupcakes and Cashmere with the same kind of flower nails on a white background, I though I'd give them a whirl again. I added in a little pink glitter because, frankly, glitter makes everything better in my opinion!

I won't pretend these were easy. The flowers themselves aren't that difficult, you just need patience and a very steady hand. But...using a pin to pick up individual pieces of glitter and place them in a neat pattern.... yeah, that was a labor of love!

x x x

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Easter Nails // Pastel and Patterns

Easter Nails

L to R  //  OPI - Lucky Lucky Lavender  //  China Glaze - For Audrey  //  The Face Shop - YL202 & PK102  //  InnisFree  - 56 

I'll take any excuse to do some fun nail art and it just so happens that Easter is actually a pretty good one. It's especially good because it's the time of year for soft, pretty pastel shades. This year I chose to be a little more subtle than last year. I picked my favourite pastel polishes and did white zigzag and polka dot designs. Still couldn't resist adding a cute little chick hatching out of a shell though!

If you're looking for easter nail art inspiration, check out the chicks and bunnies I did last year -  HERE. I also did a pastel water marbled manicure which is a great option for Easter too if you're up for a challenge and want something different and very pretty.

Have you already done an Easter mani? Leave a link if you've written a blog post about yours so we can all have a peek

xxx



PS: Last few days to enter the BEAUTY BOX GIVEAWAY!  <<< Go enter here  :)