Sunday 30 September 2012

British Bloggers Weekly Round Up

British Nail Bloggers
 
So, it seems to be officially autumn in the UK now with the weather getting chllier by the day. Time to get some jumpers out and break open those darker colors. See what the UK girls have been up to this week.
 
Emma has had a week of using Barry M Gelly polishes and created her most favourite mani ever multi coloured spots and stripes over at Emma's Little Corner.

Nada'sl penguin obsession is getting out of hand! the little minions are on her nails this week!!

This week on Pie's Eyes Lyndsay has used her new Cheeky stamping plates to create a Double Stamped Manicure plus there's a handy hint for stamping clean up too.

Claire at nuthin' but a nail thing is continuing with the 30 Day Challenge (the end is in sight!) and did a Panda Bear Manicure inspired by the book Eats, Shoots & Leaves.

It's been HoloWeek at the Nail Newbie, featuring lots of holo goodness such as a GOSH Holographic Hero wear test, a some tribal nail art and this holo cloudicure with a-England Tristam.

This week has been Carlyn's very first week of blogging featuring some of her favourite stamping designs Pretty Stamping on Sapphire Such a stand out design.

Well today is the last day of the 30 Day Challenge! at Northern Nails but on the Bright side it is Jo's birthday tommorrow !.

Wendy from Wendy's Delights is having a cracking time with her Croc Effect nails by Barry M

As a collector of vodka bottles, a Smirnoff Vodka Manicure was in order on Enigmatic Rambles blog this week!

PishPosh and Polish's Kerrie is wearing shock horror! PINK this week!

This is Carlyn's first blog week Flower stamping on Sapphire polish one of my favourites

Sally of Nail Pron has brightened up a sad week with the brightest green daisy doticure you have ever seen in your life.

PrettyKittyClaws is joined by a hare and a dog this week with the gorgeous Hare Dog Day Dream

Dimpal of Crazy Polishes has almost come to the end of the 30 days challenge and wearing this  Inspired by Supernatural

Ruth has a new favourite polish that is purple and splarkly, yay!

Sarah Louise, creates a Ghostbuster Manicure Using Models Own and W7 Polishes

Charlotte has decided her stash needs some cleansing, so she's set up a blog sale with some great British brands

Kerry takes an adventure with GALAXY inspired nails.

Vic continues 30 days of untrieds with A Scream manicure inspired by art work

Lou has another KBShimmer polish to share with you all

So, until this time next week, have a great one!

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Hare Dog Day Dream

Let me just tell you, I have one absolutely stunning polish for you today. I wore this over the weekend and had so many compliments and just couldn't stop staring at my nails!

This is Hare Polish 'Dog Day Dream'. I bought this kind of on a whim, it's the first Hare I've chosen (I got one in a grab bag) and I was curious about it. I'm SO glad I picked this one up. Hare Dog Day Dream is a cranberry red jelly base loaded with lots of different red and purple glitters. For some unknown reason I was expecting it to be more matte but it is super sparkly without being a glitterbomb overload!

I wanted to wear it on it's own to get a feeling of the true polish, this was 3 coats but I could have got away with 2. Despite there being so much glitter the polish dried really smooth and I only used one layer of topcoat.  I wore this for 3 days and there was not a hint of wear.

I've already ordered 'The Sky Was Pink', 'Monster' and 'Bisbee' and I can't wait to get them. I think I may have found a new favourite polish brand........





These were taken on a sunny day in the shade - it almost looks even more pretty doesn't it?!



In the shade:


Look at the bunny, how did I miss this brand for so long??!!

Sunday 23 September 2012

Models Own Ibiza Mix Candy Mani

Well, it's a little under 2 weeks to my wedding and I've had to pull out something old to show you today because I've spent the whole weekend food tasting, pretzel dipping and table planning and now it's Sunday night, time to go to bed and I don't have the will to edit the photos of my awesome weekend mani.... I will show you this week I promise.

These photos were taken a few months ago and my nails just don't really look like this anymore but this is so pretty I thought you might like to see. I did a candy mani with the OPI Ballet collection 'You Callin' Me A Lyre?' and Models Own Ibiza Miz HedKandi glitter. And I mattified it which really made the glitter pop.

I absolutely love the OPI Ballet collection, the shades are all so versitile and absolutely perfect for candy mani's. Here I used to coats of 'You Callin' Me A Lyre?' as a base, 2 coats of Ibiza Mix, which initially I wasn't going to buy but I'm so glad I did, and then another coat of 'You Callin' Me A Lyre?'. The glitters in Ibiza mix are really sparkly and lay really flat so you get a nice smooth mani.

I think this would have been pretty with any of the shades from the Ballet collection. What do you think?






British Bloggers Weekly Round Up

British Nail Bloggers

As fall drawers ever nearer find out what the British Bloggers have been up to this week!!
 
Wendy from Wendy's Delights is feeling purrrfect with her Blue Furry Mani with easy to apply nail stickers!

Emma tries her hand at dry drag and becomes The Girl Who Plays with Fire at Emma's Little Corner.

Helly at the Nail Newbie is showing British brand W7 some love by showcasing their gorgeous Lava Flow.

A little recreation of some Bee style nails, with actual stingers from New York Fashion Week, a Fred Butler Creation from Enigmatic Rambles.

Has twenty three days gone by already? Northern Nails' 30 Day Challenge is still going strong, the themes now are all full of inspiration!

Lyndsay from Pie's Eyes is back from her holiday and showing off her colourful Rainbow Manicure she created with her latest Kiko haul!

Sally of Nail Pron is talking about a nailmas Christmas challenge, adding to her stash and doing nails to match her mood.

Sam from Polished Art re-created an old nautical-themed manicure for day 12 of the 31 day challenge (19 to go!).

PishPosh and Polish is featuring Red and Black polishes on her blog this week. See them here! Which is your favourite?

Claire at nuthin' but a nail thing is still continuing on with the 30 Day challenge and her favourite so far has been TRIBAL NAILS. What's been everyone else's favourite challenge?

Ruth goes overboard with the half moon effect to create an easy curved stripe look!

Want some inspiration for elegant nails? Lucy from Lucy's Stash did Lace & Roses nail art featuring OPI, Konad and A England.

Feeling the need for something pretty and super sparkly? PrettyKittyClaws has Smitten Polish You're Turning Violet, Violet blinging out her nails!

Vic's feeling a little behind with the times as she's only just done her first set of galaxy nails. She found a fabulously blinging star to go with them though.

Lou had a quiet week this week trying out her new Indie polishes from KBShimmer which is quickly becoming her favourite polish brand

Alexis at Glitter Tips tried some Autumn butterfly nail art

Sarah Louise plays with her Image plates from MoYou / OMG Nails and creates a Crosses & Dot's Manicure

Despite being poorly, The Crumpet has kept up with the 31 Day Challenge and has even had time to launch a Zoya Giveaway - so make sure you enter!

Until next week, enjoy!

Friday 21 September 2012

Smitten Polish You're Turning Violet, Violet

I had never heard of Smitten Polish until Llarowe announced that she was going to carry it and people started posting pictures - I saw You're Turning Violet, Violet and knew I needed it!

You're Turning Violet, Violet is multiple sizes of various shades of purple and blue holographic glitter suspending in a purple jelly base. It is super sparkly and very pretty.

For this mani I used a base colour of A-England Avalon which I got in Adina's recent £5 sale and 1 coat of You're Turning Violet, Violet. I do think you could probably use this polish on it's own because it covered quite well but I wanted to save mine.

These pictures just didn't capture how sparkly this polish was,




If like me you live somewhere where you are sunlight challenged I wanted to show you that it is still pretty indoors too:


You can buy Smitten Polish from Noelie's Etsy store here or from Llarowe here

Monday 17 September 2012

Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie

I have been lemming RBL Scrangie for ages and I kept putting off buying it and putting off buying it and guess what happened??? You can't buy it anymore! Boo.

I was extremely lucky to be able to swap for it with one of my birthday group girls, really I just wanted it for the name and because I'm such a collector, but when I got it I realised it is one pretty polish. Also, how could you not love a polish created and named after the most famous nail blogger!!

Scrangie herself describes this polish as a medium blue-based purple with green iridescence and green microshimmer. It looks a bit more purple to me but hey who am I to say?!

I believe I used 3 coats of Scrangie for these photo's. The formula was great and I really enjoyed this polish. RBL's are a bit price I think and not easy to get in the UK so this is my only one so far, but boy am I happy to have it!


 
 
Can you see that green shimmer shining through??
 
 

Sunday 16 September 2012

Dollish Polish Greased Lightning

I finally got a few Dollish Polishes when Dolly opened her shop last time. I am still waiting for one of my biggest lemmings - Expecto Patronium which my amazing polish sister got me but more on that when I get it. I am just on pins and needles for that package!

What I did get was the Mystery Shade, on this stock it was Greased Lightening. As in Grease, the film. How could I resist?? When it arrived it was even in it's own little organza bag - how cute is that!

Greased Lightening is a white, almost jelly based polish with small round blue and red glitters and larger blue and red hex glitters. These photo's are a little over-exposed and I couldn't capture the sparkle of the glitters but they do peek out of the polish rather well.

I really had 'old lady hands' when I took these photo's so I need to grab the hand cream and I wish I had taken more photo's when the sun wasn't so bright (who'd have ever thought I'd be able to say that!) but there doesn't seem to be that many swatches of this polish when I searched so here's my attempt. I don't quite think I did it justice, I like this polish but there's just something that's normal about it. I don't know, it didn't wow me. I like it but I don't love it if you know what I mean?

Anyway, for those interested I did my usual coat of OPI Nail Envy Maintenence, 3 coats of Greased Lightning which it did need for opacity and 1 layer of Cult Nails Wicked Fast which left it super smooth.

I wore this mani for 3 days with minimal wear so the formula was pretty good and it was easy to apply.

Do you ever feel a polish is just meh on you? Maybe I need a tan......






Here's what the bottle looks like:

British Bloggers Weekly Round Up

British Nail Bloggers
 
 
 
 
You want to know what's been going on in the UK this week? Here you go:
 
Helly at the Nail Newbie shows her nubs some love with Dollish Polish Expecto Patronum

Wendy over at Wendy's Delights has won a Giveaway from The Hungry Asian and her prize Twenty Ten has been swatched here, also go check out The Hungry Asian's blog and polishes available at Etsy.

Going from one extreme to the other see Wendy's Summery Manicure using tape to create a simple & easy square design!

Claire at nuthin' but a nail thing has been continuing on with the 30 Day Challenge with Rainbow Gradient Striped Manicure

Emma at Emma's Little Corner has a little success after a frustrating week of failures PVA experiment Blue and Black gradient mani

Ruth has some more fun with gradients this week, refusing to accept summer is over!

Lou once again is on a bit of a Chanel kick with one of the Fashion's Night Out Limited Editions

Charlotte at Charlottes-nails has been busy with apples and glitter this week for the Fall into Autumn Challenge.

Its the end of the favourite things challenge for Steph, here's Steph's Day 10 Favourite Mani. Steph can't wait for the next challenge, will you be joining in the fun?

Lyndsay from Pie's Eyes drops in from her holiday in Spain to show off some NEW Holographic Polish from Kiko!

Putting her nubbins to good use this week, imPRESS - Press on Manicure false nails were put through there paces over on Enigmatic Rambles' blog.

PrettyKittyClaws put her Nails Inc Sprinkles to good use with a pretty Cupcake Mani.

Sam at Polished Art unleashed her inner geek with this physics-based rainbow manicure as part of the 31 Day Challenge.

Jo at Northern Nails has reached the half way point in the 30 day challenge this week was all about the nail art!

Nada has got her hands on her first set of Models Own nail polish and has swatched them! check it out!

Laura at She Who Does Nails has been continuing the 30 Day Challenge and did a cool rainbow nails design using a dotting tool!

Polished Criminails sticks to the British theme this week by showing us 4 of the new BarryM Gelly Nail Paints in the shades Prickly Pear, Grapefruit, Satsuma & Pomegranate

Kerry at JustTalkNails shows off the new Barry M Burgundy Croc effect teamed up with A Englands Iseult

Vic has been on a major polishing spree this week (13 manis and counting) but she just can't decide whether she wants to show you delicate print or holo bling.

See you next week for some more British Blog action!

Thursday 13 September 2012

Cupcake Mani

So, I've had my Nails Inc Sprinkles for a while and haven't worn them yet.  I love them in the bottles but I wasn't sure about doing a full mani with them so when I got my new Bundle Monster plates and saw a cupcake plate I knew what I was going to do....

A Cupcake mani!!!!! Mmmmmm. Who doesn't like cupcakes?!

I started this mani with 2 coats of OPI Pedal Faster Suzi from the Holland collection. This is a really pretty pink with a nice shimmer running through it, I think it's interesting enough to wear on it's own.

I stamped the cupcakes on my nails using the BM 307 plate and Konad white polish and then used a dotting tool to place some dots with OPI The Color of Minnie and If You Moust You Moust.

Finally I used the Nails Inc Sprinkles as toppings for the cupcakes. I think they are perfect for this - I think I'll actually keep them for nail art, they are quite unique.

I'm having cupcakes for my wedding in 3 weeks, I'm so excited!




Everything looks a bit better coated with a layer of Northern Lights Gold Holographic topcoat:

Here's what I used:
 OPI Pedal Faster Susie, If You Moust You Moust, The Color of Minnie and
Northern Lights Topcoat


Nails Inc Sweets Way, Topping Way, Pudding Lane and Sugar House Lane 


And the plate:

Monday 10 September 2012

Enchanted Polish Hey Jude

I've had this little beauty in my stash for a while now and got it out several times to use it but I needed sunshine to do it full justice so yesterday was the day. Unfortunately yesterday was also the day that I snapped the corner off my index finger nail so they all had a bit of a file down too.

Enchanted Polish Hey Jude is a gorgeous green multi-chrome holographic polish. As you may have guessed I love holo's but my problem with them is that they can look so normal without sunlight, and in the UK that's 99% of the time! I love these Enchanted Polishes from the Beetles collection, they have both a multi-chrome and holographic finish which means they look great in any light.

The formula on these is great, I used my normal OPI Nail Envy Maintenence as a base and then 2 coats of Hey Jude. There was no dragging and the coverage was good. The holographic finish was not dulled by topcoat either, I used a coat of my current favourite Cult Nails Wicked Fast.

Just look at this polish:






Even in the shade it's pretty, there's a pink flash:



 
By moving my hand I could also get this beautiful deep green too:






 
 
If you are looking for this one you can currently buy it from Llarowe, it looks like this:

Can you believe all these pictures are from the same polish??

I believe some new additions have been added to the Enchanted Polish Beetles line, I think they are called 'I Am The Walrus' and 'Mean Mr Mustard', I certainly need them both!



Sunday 9 September 2012

British Bloggers Weekly Round Up

British Nail Bloggers



We've been enjoying some sunshine in the UK this week and perfect weather for taking some pictures so check out what the British Bloggers have been up to.....

Lou is back from her holiday and is showing off her new Chanel Nail Polish in a rare glimpse of the British Sunshine

Emma accidentally signed up to two nail challenges this month, so there will be lots of posts up on Imagination In Colour, including her Antique Nail Art post, amongst others!

Sam at Polished Art produced a special Teal Tuesdays manicure for Ovarian Cancer Awareness.

Lyndsay from Pie's Eyes went under cover this week with her Camouflage Manicure and liked it so much it stayed on most of the week with the addition of a matte topcoat.

Claire from nuthin' but a nail thing is all over the 30 Day Challenge and kicked off Day One with a Ladybird Manicure to cover off "RED".

Ruth relives school and tries to 'do the math' with her Blackboard-inspired nails this week!

It's been a busy week over at Polished Criminails, so let's take a look back at the last 7 days of the 30 Day Challenge!

Jo decided to take on the 30 Day Challenge this Month and is having tons of fun painting her nails a different colour every day!

September is Polycystic Overy Syndrome (PCOS) awareness month what better way to raise awareness than a manicure! And that is just one of the manicures on Enigmatic Rambles' blog this week!

Wendy from Wendy's Delights has made her own Water Decals for the September Polish Day themed Geometry

Charlotte from Charlottes-nails tried out some crayon nail art for the start of the Fall Into autumn Challenge.

Lucie from Lucy's Stash is experimenting with the 'ikat' pattern featuring Zoya Designer polishes! Check it out here!

Steph from Never Mind Suzie may be far away on her holidays so here's her holiday nails hope you're having a great holiday Steph

PrettyKittyClaws has had a blog makeover and did a Tape mani with the new KiKo holographics!

This week Nada turned 19 and to celebrate she did birthday nails!!! Enjoy this wonderfully simple manicure!

Laura at She Who Does Nails has been working on the 30 Day Challenge and particularly liked her piano nails!

The 31 Day Challenge started on The Crumpet this week, as did another awesome Giveaway featuring indie polishes

Kerrie's 300 follower giveaway over at PishPosh and Polish is still running and while you are there you should check out her Geometric Nail Art

Kerry does fimo for back to school with China Glaze Ruby Pumps!!

Sarah Louise creates some cheeky Bactiera Monsters , don't forget to enter her 2000 follower giveaway =D - Good Luck xox

Vic has done her first leopard print mani but it's orange, blue and gold. Leopard print nails are her new favourite but she's on a mission to never use the 'normal' colours.

Here's hoping for some more good weather for us this coming week - I still want to hold off on those fall shades.....

Friday 7 September 2012

Kiko Holographic Tape Mani

Now, I wasn't going to buy these, I was trying to be good but when I went to Stratford Westfield for the paralympic opening ceremony I had to go into Kiko to get some polishes for a friend and wow - they are beautiful. I had to have all 4 of them.

These holo's are from Kiko's Lavish Oriental Limited Edition line. The formulas on these are fine for holo's, I used a base of Nail Envy Maintenence and there was a bit of dragging so I probably should have used an aqua base but they are quite opaque. For this tape mani I used one coat of each colour and they covered fine.

So pretty.........




401 Peacock Green, 400 Steel Grey, 402 Jewel Pink, 399 Silk Taupe