31ish Week Nail Art Challenge 18-Half Moons

Hello lovelies!
Being a bad blogger again recently and also had interference from work shifts so haven't got anything on my blog for a while even though I've had these done since Friday...forgive me?!

These aren't your typical half moons but there are half moons on my thumbs so they totally count, right? I've wanted to redo my owl nails for a while just because they're cute and this was the perfect opportunity!

I used lots of polishes for this one! I started with a couple of coats of Sinful Colors-Social Ladder to give my natural nails a bit of a shimmer. I used Smitten Polishes-Bifrost on my thumb and did the moon in Dark Metal Lacquer-Lonely Day which is a grey holo which I really need to use on its own because it's really pretty! For my owls I used Barry M-Chilli and Damson, Sinful Colors-Exotic Green and Collection-Twilight. I did the eyes with Collection-Look At Me!, the beaks with Barry M-Mango, and the tummy patches with Barry M-Lychee.

They didn't end up being the neatest things ever but I like em-they're fun and bright!

I don't really have much else to say for once!
Hope you all had a good weekend =)

~Nail Art Novice~

31(ish!) Week Nail Art Challenge 17-Glitter

Hello lovelies!

I'm back with another 31WNAC prompt today, although I hardly feel it's right for me to call it that any more, it's taken me SO much longer than 31 weeks, haha!

Today is glitter which surprisingly I'm not sick of yet, even with all my Glitter Me Monday posts! I've got another fun microglitter from Mentality today. This one is Antisocial-teeny tiny black and white glitters in a clear base. I used a layer of my trusty Barry M-Coconut for undies and then added about three coats of the glitter on top.

After a layer of Seche Vite I added some striping tape in horizontal lines and then added a rainbow of colours on top: Revlon-Fire, Sally Hansen-Man-go Team!, Sinful Colors-Pistache, Barry M-Damson and Sinful Colors-Amethyst.

I still really enjoy doing simple nail art over these busy bases-and it occurs to me looking at those photos that this glitter would look really quite cool underneath some jelly polishes, might just log that one away in my mind for future reference!


I'm going home for the weekend tomorrow to go to the fair (Yay!), and I hope you have as much fun with whatever you're doing as I'm going to!

~Nail Art Novice~

31 Week Nail Art Challenge 16-Tribal Print

Hello lovelies!

I'm kind of really proud of these nails, I have only ever done tribal nails once before and they didn't come out too well so I really like the way these ended up. I didn't really have a design in mind, just had a look at some designs on google and also asked some of the ladies in the Inspire Me Nails facebook group for a little inspiration (thank you!)

I used all Barry M polishes-Lychee, Mustard and Paprika as well as the black nail art pen, and then I added a layer of Rimmel's matte top coat to finish them off. Big thanks to my boyfriend as well, who did all the outlining on my right hand because straight lines are hard!

I really like these! The earthy colours are really autumnal, and as it's my favourite season I really like them! Also I love the matte look, normally I am a shiny girl but I think these were crying out to be matted. I also think they would look cool with bright colours instead, and I might have to try that soon!

What do you reckon?

Here's a list of the rest of the prompts for this challenge...reckon I'll get it done by Xmas?

~Nail Art Novice~

31 Week Nail Art Challenge 15-Delicate

Hey loves =)

Originally the only thing I could think of for this challenge was stamping as I have some fairly "delicate" looking flowery stamps on my MoYou London Pro plates but then I remebered the saran wrap (cling film!) technique and was really glad I did. Delicate to me implies girly, pale colours so that's what I used! My base was Barry M-Vanilla, which is one of their matte range from last autumn, and a pinky-nude sort of colour. On top of that I did a saran wrap mani using Barry M-Prickly Pear, Tara's Talons-Christmas Fairy and Revlon-Silver Screen. I then topped it all off with some China Glaze-Fairy Dust for a little added sparkle!

Now this is really really girly and subtle which means it's not like any of my normal manis at all but I really like it! There's something about the shiny shimmeryness of it that really catches the eye and I think all the layers of colour have added up to be a really nice colour. I reckon this would definitely be work appropriate but with that little bit of sparkle it's quite glam too!

What do you reckon? Do you like Saran wrap manis or loathe em?

~Nail Art Novice~

31 Week Nail Art Challenge 14-Flowers

Hello lovelies! Hope you are all enjoying your weeks so far!

This is another one of my 31 Week Nail Art Challenges (that are taking much longer than 31 weeks) and today it's flowers. I've been wanted to do this design for a while, inspired by a particularly wonderful pair of shoes of mine that I love:

They're so bright and colourful and I knew I'd have to stick them on my nails someday!

Polishes I used: Barry M-Coconut, Mango, Cobalt Blue, Spring Green, Revlon-Electric and Rimmel-Red Obsession (all of which I realised I took with me to Oz, coincidentally!)

They aren't the neatest flowers in the world because I did them in a bit of a rush but I still think they look  kinda cool! Especially side by side with their inspiration:

Hehe! So fun =D Whaddya reckon?

Short and sweet post for me today, that's all folks!

~Nail Art Novice~

31 Week Nail Art Challenge 13-Animal Print

Hello lovelies! I thought I'd get stuck straight back into the 31 week challenge in a bid to get it finished by the end of the year. This week's theme is animal print and I had originally planned to do zebra print but it went disastrously wrong so I started over and went with leopard print instead. I chose an awesome neon green for the base (Moyra-#66) and shiny black (Revlon-Black Star) and white (Barry M-Matt White) for the spots because I wanted something bright and in your face! These are my first Moyras and they're kinda awesome-I'm wearing three coats and there's only the tiniest hint of nail line left, and it applied so nicely!

You can't deny that they're bright! I think they're fab, and I reckon I've improved a little since the first time I tried leopard print too!

Anyway, gotta skidaddle, it's Bake Off time! (Who else is excited?!)

~Nail Art Novice~

31WNAC 12-Stripes

Hello loves!
This is my last 31(ish)WNAC before I jet off to Australia on THURSDAY, eek! So I will pick up the challenge with 'Animal Print' when I get back. But back to this week's 'Stripes'! I used another one of my Mentality microglitters-this one is Intense which is black, white and yellow. As a base coat/on my accents I used my all time favourite yellow-Revlon-Electric. The stripes were with W7-Black and some more of my Nail Stickrs nail vinyls-this time the thicker stripes. I drew the bees with my Barry M nail art pen and added their iridescent wings with Picture Polish-Mirage, which I really need to use properly at some point, it's gorgeous!

What do you reckon? I think they're kinda cute! Plus you know I love doing nail art with these micro glitter polishes...although not cleaning them up! It's a real pain!

As I said, I am heading to Australia on Thursday, but hoping to get another mani up before then if I possibly can! I've also got lots of lovely guest posts and manis from Rara to come whilst I'm away, and I will try to post when I can too! If not, have a brilliant summer!

~Nail Art Novice~

31WNAC-11-Polka Dots

Hey lovelies! Hope you are all having a good weekend thus far!

I've got some simple polka dots today-when I was choosing the colours of these I just wanted something bright but not too flashy. I found it in Barry M-Kiwi which is an absolutely gorgeous summery green from their new line-bright and summery without making you reach for the sunglasses. The dots and accents I added with Barry m-Coconut which is just the right shade of off white to not be too harsh! They're not the straightest dots in the world cos I was tired when I was doing them, but I still like em =)

Squse the dry cuticles!

I really like this colour! It's a bit greener in real life but my camera didn't want to play apparently. I love a dotticure-they're such a simple way to make a plain mani more fun.

Short and sweet today! Get out there and enjoy the sunshine =)

~Nail Art Novice~

31 Week Nail Art Challenge 10-Gradients (And HOLOS)

I realised that I did a gradient last week for my rainbow nails so I would have to do something a little different this week. Instead of creating one gradient with lots of colours I created lots of gradients with only two colours instead-and managed to use 7 of my untrieds (denoted with a *) to boot!

Polishes used (thumb to little finger on right hand): Freckles Polish-French Martini, Freckles Polish-Purple Planters Punch*, Freckles Polish-Blue Hawai*, Smitten Polish-Bifrost, Too Fancy Lacquer-Cooper Trooper*, Freckles Polish-Caipirinha* (no, I have no idea how to pronounce it either =p), GOSH-Holographic Hero, Layla-Flash Black*, A England-Rose Bower* and Layla-Retro Pink*. Phew! They aren't the best gradients in the world, I think some of them needed a third colour in the middle to get them to blend properly, and some of the Laylas had a pig of a formula to try and do gradients with, but overall I'm happy with them! They look really awesome when they catch the light!

Taken in the fab lighting in my kitchen to
try and show you those rainbows!

What do you reckon? Are you a holo lover or hater? (How can you hate them, they're so pretty!?)

Also how is it JUNE already?! I'm going away in 18 days, eeeep!

~Nail Art Novice~

31 Week Nail Art Challenge 9-Rainbows

Hello lovelies!

I love a good rainbow, so I've been excited about this post for weeks =) They're just so bright and colourful and awesome. I started with a base of Barry M-Coconut (from their new summer Gellies line) so that my gradient would be more opaque. Then I created a rainbow gradient with Revon-Fire, Sally Hansen-Man-go Team!, Sinful Colors-Pistache, Barry M-Damson and Maybelline-Mellow Mauve (although you can only see it on my thumb!).

On top of the gradient I used some more of my Make It Stick Designs nail vinyls, and on all but my accents another coat of Coconut. It was a bit of a messy job getting the stickers off again but I have to say I really love the effect!

What dya reckon? I love them-they're so bright and fun! I think if I had to choose nail art to sum me up perfectly then something like this would definitely be my choice! I'm really sad I have to take them off tonight for something more neutral and work appropriate, booo!

~Nail Art Novice~

31 Week Nail Art Challenge 8-Metallic

Hey lovelies!
I've got some cool metallic nails today. I was originally going to do these in the more usual metallic colours-gold, silver and bronze, but then I remembered a couple of polishes I inherited in a blog sale a while back and decided to throw them into the mix instead. Polishes used: Revlon-Silver Screen, Color Club-Millennium and Sally Hansen-Purple Bolt. I also used some zig zag stickers from my French Tip set but cut them in half as they were a little large for my nails (hence why my zig zags vary in width!)

Admittedly it's not the neatest nail art I've ever done but I actually like the result. It reminds me of knitted vests from the 70s but in a good way-haha!

I don't really have much more to say on these-for once you get a short and sweet blog from me haha!

Next week-rainbows =D

~Nail Art Novice~

31 Week Nail Art Challenge 7-Black and White

I really feel like I should change the title of these the the '31-ish Week Nail Art Challenge' cos I just do them as and when I feel like it, haha!

Today's prompt is Black and White and I wanted to do something simple and classy. Inspired by my latest Polish Party mani (which was inspired by someone else!) I chose to do stripes in a mixture of sizes-although this time I kept the stripes the same way around on each nail, cos I thought it would look better.

Polishes used (nice and easy today!): Barry M-Matt White and W7-Black.

So there we go! My lines aren't all perfectly crisp but I still kinda like it! It does feel quite a grown up mani, I think it's the lack of in your face colours. Still it's nice to have a palette cleanser every once in a while, ey!

What do you reckon, do you like black and white manis or are you a neon and glitter gal at heart?

~Nail Art Novice~

31 Week Nail Art Challenge 6-Purple

I called this a 31 Week nail art challenge but I have to confess that I'm not really sticking to posting one every week very well, this should really have gone up by Sunday but oh well!

For my purple challenge I used a new polish and a new technique-the cloud mani. I've always thought these looked quite fun and I don't know why I've never tried it before! The base colour is the beautiful Cirque-Baptisia which is another polish I won in Emma's giveaway at the start of the month. It's a really deep purple packed with bluey shimmers, and it smells of lavender too, mmm! On top of that I added the "cloud" shapes in Loki's Lacquer-Buddy and Revlon-Purple Addict, both favourite purples of mine.

I'm totally in love with this, the colours together are just stunning! I have to say though, I'd not really thought about doing this one with my off hand-and it's really hard! Keeping the lines at the right height while at the same time trying to keep the lovely blobby shapes at the top was really difficult, and you can see some of the ones on my right hand are less than perfect. I still like it though!

Here's what I've got coming up next week, or at least at some point in the indeterminate future haha!

~Nail Art Novice~

31WNAC 5-Blue

Hello lovelies! Hope you're all having an awesome Friday bank hol and have been enjoying the sun-I am a little pink around the cheeks from it, oops!
It's Blue week in the 31 Week Nail Art Challenge and this colour/glitter combo is something I've been wanting to do for a while. I've used Rimmel-Out Of The Blue and paired it with the very lovely Pocket Money Polishes-Alien Like You which is one of the very last ones I got before Charlie closed her doors in January (sob!). To go with the Alien theme I've done some accents in Maybelline-Ceramic Blue, Collection-Look At Me!, Revlon-Silver Screen and Rimmel-Double Decker Red.

The flash on my camera seems to sort of 'flatten' the glitter a little, so I took one in more natural light (complete with my kitchen worktop in the background!) to show it off to its full, lovely, potential:

These nails are so much fun, I've had a couple of comments on them and I just LOVE flashing that glitter around in the sun too =D

Here's a reminder of the 31WNAC prompts, come back next week for 'Purple'.

Enjoy the rest of your Easter Weekend!

~Nail Art Novice~

31WNAC 4-Green

Hello lovelies!
Sorry it's been so long since I last posted, I went away with my Gospel Choir last weekend and didn't manage to post beforehand! This is my green mani for my 31 Week Nail Art Challenge and I decided to do interlocking dots with a couple of holos. I got A England-Dragon in their anniversary sale at the start of the month (oops, had a little splurge!) and wanted another green to go with it. None of my green holos went that well (means I totally need more, right? =p) but in the end I went with Color Club-Angel Kiss so it would show up well. It looks really blue in these pictures but it's definitely green IRL!

I really like these, I love the way the colours play together and the two different holos work together. Dragon is just gorgeous too, that lovely red shimmer is a nice surprise! These looked amazing in the sun today in the park.

As a bonus, here's the nails I wore on tour-can you guess where we went? (These aren't the best nail art ever, they were done at about 1 am!)

I had a really brilliant time away and did lots of awesome singing! But I hope to post more regularly now I'm back lol.

Laters,

~Nail Art Novice~

Polish Party-Spring/31WNAC-Yellow

Hello lovelies! I'm feeling a bit like a zombie today, my head just won't wake up. And I had planned to be so productive and everything =(

Anyway, today I have a double challenge mani, woo! I've got the March Polish Party prompt of Spring along with my own 31Week Nail Art Challenge one of yellow so I went for some lovely springy daffodils.

Polishes used: Sinful Colors-Mint Apple, Barry M-Lemon Icecream, Matt White, Revlon-Electric, Sally Hansen-Man-go Team! and Rimmel-Tangy Tangerine. My boyfriend did my off hand for these again, he's really getting into playing with dotting tools and stuff, it's quite fun!

I don't really know what else to say about these (zombie brain, haha!) but they did cheer me up a lot because they are so bright and cheerful.

Hope you're having a good Sunday!

~Nail Art Novice~

31WNAC 2-Orange

Hello lovelies, happy Friday!

I've got a brightly coloured mani for you today for Orange week and although it's a little nerdy I kinda love it! The first thing I thought of when I considered 'orange things' was the warning stickers you get in labs and on chemicals and stuff  and I just really wanted to recreate them on my nails. I used Barry M-Mango and on my accents added a touch of sparkle with Tara's Talons-Naughty or Nice from my advent calendar. I added the details with my black Barry M nail art pen.

L-R Irritant, Radioactive, General Warning 

L-R Flammable, Biohazard, Electrical Hazard

Some of these are more traditonally seen on yellow signs but shush, I'm stretching the rules a little here =p. The nerdy scientist in me loves them, and the glitter is also really pretty!

Here's the prompts if you were wondering what to look forward to:

Hoping you all have wonderful weekends!

~Nail Art Novice~

31WNAC 1-Red

Meant to get these up few days ago-oops! This was an idea that came about because I was stuck for inspiration and was looking through the nails I have saved in my 'inspiration' folder and found these gorgeous hippo ones by The Little Canvas. I wanted to recreate them but didn't want to use the same colours and was sat deliberating in front of my Helmer when my boyfriend suggested Hungry Hungry Hippos! He's handy to keep around, that one =p

So here's my red mani, using: Barry M-Passionfruit, Lemon Icecream, Matt White, Rimmel-Rose Libertine, Pear Drop, Tangy Tangerine, W7-Black. This is one of the rarer occasions where I only show you one of my hands, cos I'm afraid to say my off hand hippos looked more like demented rabbits! Haha!

So there's the four hippos themselves and the spots on my thumb are to represent the balls which they just go mad for. This was a very silly mani but I rather enjoyed it!

Have a good weekend

~Nail Art Novice~