My Blogging Resolutions!

~Happy New Year! I hope 2014 brings you happiness and awesome things, and of course, lots and lots of shiny polishes!~

I don't, as a rule, make resolutions, because I feel like they're just a way to make you feel bad about yourself if you break them-and life is too short for feeling guilty for breaking a pledge to yourself! However, this year I am dispensing with tradition and making a couple of blogging/nail related resolutions, which I am determined to stick to as best I can-and I will keep you updated on my progress throughout the year.

1. Buy some Lemony Flutter and start actually looking after my cuticles/hands properly.

I am a bit terrible at looking after my skin in general, if I'm honest, but as a nail blogger I feel like I should try and make an effort with my hands if I can. Also all this acetone is playing havoc with my cuticles, and the skin around them is a bit rough and raggedy. I want to try and improve the state of them if I can in 2014!

2.Drastically limit my polish spending, at least until I am employed and earning again.

This is the biggy for me. I have a terrible habit of spending money that I don't have on polishes I don't really need and I am amassing a collection that's growing in size too rapidly for me to deal with it. So this is a two part thing-I'm going to:

i) Limit myself to a maximum of 4 new polishes a month and try to use the ones I have more.

ii) Limit myself to a maximum spend of £20/month on polish and all polish related things including shipping, stamping plates, brushes, tools, etc etc. (I'm not including remover/cotton pads in this because I go through so much of them and also the amount I use changes depending on what manis I have been wearing.)

To help me to try and achieve this second resolution, I will post at the end of every month showing what I have acquired and detailing what I have spent-in a bid to shame myself if I've been bad/be proud if I've been good! I know, if nothing else, Rara will help keep me on the straight and narrow for this-she's always telling me off for buying new polishes!

The final thing for me to say is a great big THANKYOU to all of you who have started following me over the past year. The people I have met through this blog are really what makes it for me-I've made "friends" (virtually, at least!) with so many awesome people and I look forward to growing those friendships in 2014. There's also lots of exciting things on the way, so keep an eye out!

~Nail Art Novice~

Liebstered IN THE FACE

So I got nominated for a couple of Liebsters again. And I'm going to cheat and not do them properly again-because I always feel awkward about asking people to do something like this (because I am, deep down, a stereotypical Brit!) and I'd feel bad not doing them myself. Also I really enjoy this sort of thing every once in a while-it gives you a chance to find out a little about the person behind the nails and I've always loved reading them, so here's hoping you guys will too!
It's weird how these things always seem to come along like buses though isn't it-two nominations within five days of each other! This time it was the lovely Erika from The Polished Fangirl and Dil from I 'Art Nails (loving that name, by the way!) so I'm going to answer all their questions here.

Erika's Questions:
1. If you were told you could only keep 10 polishes for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Gulp, that's a hard one! I'd probably have to choose some of my Barry M gellies because they give great coverage in one-two coats and they're really bright shiny colours that you can use for stamping and lots of other nail art effects quite well. Plus a silver holo because holos.

2. What is your favourite style of nail art?
On me I love silly things like my Monsters Uni nail art or my Doc Martens ones. Actual art on my nails! I love gradients though, and tape manis too-I've seen some fabulous ones on other people.

3. What hobbies do you have besides nail art?
I'm learning to play bass guitar, I'm also learning to swing dance and I LOVE to go on stage whenever I can. Also theatre, I want to see ALL the theatre.

4. What was your favourite vacation ever?
Ooh, that's a tricky one! I'd have to say either Rome last year (because it was amazing) or Slovenia the year before that because I laughed constantly for 4 days. Awesome people and awesome memories from both =)

5. Are you in a relationship? If so, what is he/she like?
I am in a relationship, albeit one that's only 3 months old! He's Australian, tall and skinny with blueish hair and he (like me) loves science and theatre. He makes me laugh a lot and he's just as soppy as I am which is kinda awesome really. (Don't tell him I said that though, haha)

6. What's your ideal comfort food?
I don't know really, while I may be a big girl I don't think I comfort eat-I tend to go off my food when bad things happen. Probably chocolate though, if I had to name one.

7. Do you have any equally (or even more) obsessed polish loving friends or are you alone in your dedication?
My best mate Rara (who regularly posts on this blog) is just as bad as I am and she's a terrible influence on me! She's definitely better than I am though, sigh!

8. What was the first polish you ever bought?
Honestly, I can't remember. Probably by free choice a Stargazer in bright green or bright orange I would guess.

9. Are you into make-up as well as polish? What are your favourite make-up products?
I'm really not into make-up at all, most days I don't even wear any! My most used product is my mascara-a Collection 2000 one. I've got quite long eyelashes so I just buy the cheapest one around for a bit of colour.

10. What's your favourite colour family?
Long time readers of this blog will know the answer to this-blues and greens!

11. If someone paid you a million dollars not to paint your nails for a week would you do it?
Are you mad? Of course I would! I may be an addict but I can cope for a week for that much dough! Hell I'd do it for a lot less to be honest, it's not a hardship to me!


Dil's Questions
1. If you had three wishes what would they be?
Probably exactly the same as I said last time-a job and a home in Sheffield and the ability to drive without having to learn! I'm willing to work for the rest, haha.

2. What beauty item(s) do you carry around in your bag?
A pot of Vaseline (or a stick of Nivea in the summer months) and that's it.

3. What song would be the soundtrack to your life?
Erm...just one???  I don't think I could pick one that would have been the soundtrack to my entire life, because I connect with song lyrics on an emotional level so songs that mean something are constantly changing. I can't choose!

4. If you could be any character in any book or film, who would you be?
Ooh, so many possibilities! OK...soo...I'd probably pick Agnes Nitt in Terry Pratchett's Discworld books (please tell me someone out there reading this knows who I mean?!) because I played her on stage once and she was fabulous. She was a stompy goth witch with a fabulous voice who wasn't afraid to speak her mind and had incredible hair. She was AMAZING. This picture is all Agnes and I LOVE it:

5. What is your favourite perfume/fragrance?
I don't really have a "signature scent" really. I've recently got back into a Body Shop perfume called Indian Night Jasmine, which is really lovely and lasts all day.

6. What has been your biggest beauty/fashion faux pas?
Probably when I was starting to try out make-up when I was 13 or so, I slathered it all over my face in a way that must have looked completely awful!

7. Natural or Acrylic nails?
Personally I prefer natural ones every time. I couldn't be dealing with acrylics and some of the ones I've seen on people are so long they're like scary talons!

8. If you could have a lifetime supply of make-up, what brand would you choose?
If this is including nail varnish probably Barry M! I don't own any of their make-up though...so I'd go with Clinique for that because it works well with my skin and is really nice quality.

9. If you could have a date with any celebrity, who would it be?
It depends what mood I was in really! If I wanted someone pretty to ogle then it'd be Chris Hemsworth (who plays Thor-Phwoar!) but if I wanted a really good intellectual/funny conversation I'd pick someone like Neil Gaiman or Sarah Millican, because I imagine we'd have a good old time and laugh far too loudly in public, haha.

10. If you could invite 5 people to a dinner party (dead or alive), who would it be?
Ahh, I hate these questions, I always feel pressured to answer them in a witty and funny way or something. Although as this question doesn't specify they have to be famous then I am going to say my boyfriend and my best friends because I know it'd be an evening I would enjoy without question, and we'd have lots to talk about and much laughter. Totally evaded the real question there =p

11. Why did you start blogging?
Originally I started blogging because I wanted a little corner of the internet where I could express myself-state my opinions and write about my life. I started nail blogging because I wanted somewhere to share my nail art and where I could meet people who were also interested in it and have some (virtual) nail art friends. I'm really glad I have both of my blogs though, I've "met" some really fabulous people through blogging and really love it!

OK, that's all for now, thanks again to the two ladies who nominated me!

~Nail Art Novice~

Best Blog Award II

A little while ago Chantelle from A Polished Prance nominated me for a 'Best Blog Award' only it was really soon after the last post I'd done so I left it for a while. I really liked her take on it though-all polish related questions-so I decided to keep it in mind to come back to at a later date. Now is that date (mainly because I don't really like the next 31BPC post so thought this would be more fun!)
I'm not going to nominate anyone (as usual), but feel free to answer them yourself-they're simple questions but I think rather interesting!





1. Matte or Gloss? 
GLOSS. I appreciate that a lot of people can do a lot of awesome things with matte top coats, but I am not one of them. I like my nails to be as shiny as possible! I've only worn a matte mani once and didn't have the patience (or time) to sit still for long enough for it to dry properly, and just ended up with a hundred dints and rucks and smudges in my nails and it just drove me mad!

2. Blue or Pink?
BLUE! I've never really liked pink-not since I was about 8 years old and was allowed to choose what colours I dressed myself in. I'm not the girliest of girls and I much prefer blues and greens!

3. Glitter or Flakey?
Erm...this is a tough one. I think I'd have to say glitter, simply because there are so many beautiful ones out there in a million colour combinations, and flakeys often depend on what base you put them over and can look positively dull if you pick the wrong ones.

4. OPI or China Glaze?
I think I would have to say China Glaze overall. They're a bit cheaper and there's more CG colours I'm lusting after than OPIs I reckon.

5. Creme or Shimmer?
Another tough one-I love both! I'm gonna go with...shimmer, simply because they add a bit of magic to an otherwise plain polish, even if they're really subtle.

6. Rhinestones or Studs?
I've never worn either! If I was going to wear any (which is unlikely, because I know I'd get bored and pick them off!) it'd probably be those small square studs, I think they look really rather stylish if done well.

7. Free Hand Art or Stamping?
Free hand! I mean stamping can produce some amazing results if you're good at it (which I'm not) but I get a really big sense of satisfaction from creating something myself.

8. Red or Green?
Green! I have more greens than any other colour polish and it's my favourite colour! I am a sucker for a deep, blood red though.

9. Helmer or Other Storage?
For now, other storage. I don't have enough space to put a Helmer or enough polishes to fill one. Maybe when I get my own place I'll invest.

10. Indies or Commercial Brands?
Erm. Erm...oooh this one's mean! I love all my indies because they're very pretty and very unique, but I think overall commercial brands because they're cheaper and more readily available to me. I'd buy lots of indies if I had the funds, but I can already buy lots of commercial brands if I want. (Thank you Fragrance Direct!)

11. Favourite polish of all time?
Right now, it's Mother Earth by Above the Curve polishes. She's my first holo and I put her on and just stared and stared at my fingers because she's super pretty! I honestly never wanted to take her off. This love affair won't last forever, I'm sure, but right now it's going strong.

So there you go!
As I said, feel free to do these yourself if you fancy it, it doesn't take long and it's always nice to know about a blogger's preferences, I think. Thanks Chantelle for nominating me!

~Nail Art Novice~

Ask A British Nail Blogger II

Time for another British Bloggers question! This week it's:

How Do You Store Your Polish?

Easy answer-in these!

Yes that is a Christmas tree in the background.
Yes my room is full of stuff that really needs sorting.

When I was at uni I used to keep all my polishes in my makeup bag, although that was getting more and more impractical as I bought more. When I came home for good, I decided I needed somewhere to keep them more permanently and as luck would have it I found these Ikea drawers again. I've had them for years and they didn't really have much in when I first rediscovered them but now the smaller one on the left holds all my "extra bits" and the one on the right holds my ever expanding collection of polishes!

This is how my polishes are arranged-the swatch wheels live in the appropriate drawers and I group the polishes together by colour. Top left is purple, grey and white, top middle is red and brown, top right is glitter toppers, indies and crackle effect types, middle left is blue and black, middle right is green and yellow and the bottom drawer is currently pinks, silvers, oranges and nudes, plus extra bits such as base coat and top coat. The groupings do keep changing based on how many of each colour I have though! (I don't know what I'll do when I end up with altogether too many of one colour!)
I also tag the top of the bottle with a sticker swatched in that polish, so I can see exactly what I want when I'm looking from above. 

The second, smaller set of drawers has all the non-polish bits I need-decals, stampers, swatch sticks (which I use to practice designs on), sponges, extra remover/cotton pads, Seche Restore, tape, stickers and brushes. I also have a stool next to my work area that has become a home for the polishes I'm using at the moment, my remover and topcoat/basecoats. It's not the best set up in the world (as I routinely knock it over!) but it'll do for now, until I move out!

So there you have it. If you want to know how more sensible people store their polishes then check out the links at the bottom.

~Nail Art Novice~

Lovely Liebsters and Other Things...

I recently came across this picture, I think it's my
favourite Liebster pic of them all!

I got nominated for a Liebster award by Megan at Megan Box Nails and then on the same day also got nominated for a 'Best Blog' award by Kate at Pimped Out Nails and on reading them they seem very similar so I thought I'd skirt around the rules a little and combine them both together. I found a bit of background to the Liebsters on this blog, if you have no idea what they are-chances are though you've come across some on other people's blogs before.
So what I'm going to do is skip out the 11 facts part of the Liebster (if you're bitterly disappointed check out my first 31BPC post instead) and just answer the 11 questions from each of the lovely ladies who nominated me.



Megan's Questions:
1. What was your dream last night?
Heh, I always have really weird dreams. I can't remember all of it but I know at one point I ended up getting my ear pierced four times even though I had originally gone in for an entirely different piercing. There was a lot of running and hiding from things too, I seem to recall. ODD.

2. Do you believe in love at first sight?
I believe in lust at first sight, yes, not so sure about love. I think you can't love someone properly without knowing them well first, but you can certainly fancy them from the first meeting!

3. Did you have a fear when you were little that terrified you, but now you couldn't care less about?
Erm...no, not really. I was a pretty fearless child. I've actually got more afraid of stupid things since I got older, although I've never liked crowds, even as a child and definitely not as an adult.

4. What's one thing you like about yourself?
I like quite a lot about myself, really. I'm quite a confident person, and I like the fact that I will talk to anyone, even in awkward situations.

5. Favourite clothing brand?
Most of my stuff comes from Dorothy Perkins so I guess there, or Qwertee T-shirts!

6. What's one word you use the most?
This changes fairly frequently, but I know at the moment I am definitely over using the word 'marvellous'-sounds ridiculously British but I kinda like the hint of eccentricity =p

7. What's the last movie you watched?
Erm...I actually had to turn my TV on to see what was in my DVD player. Apparently it's Gnomeo and Juliet, which is a very excellent film =)

8. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Stratford-upon-Avon, Britain. I sort of fell in love with it last time I went, I want to live in a tiny Tudor cottage with a higgeldy-piggedly roof and lots of beautiful knick-knacks inside. When I get rich. Other than that I'd settle for wonderful Sheffield! (I'm a home bird, I have no desire to live anywhere except this wonderful rainy little country!)

9. If you could change one thing about the world regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Well that's a big question! I'd either make it so David Cameron never came to power in Britain to mess EVERYTHING up again, or I'd make sure that everyone in the world had access to free healthcare and education, regardless of location, gender, etc etc. Y'know, if I had a magic wand.

10. Type of music you dislike the most?
Can I say modern music in general? I don't like most of the stuff that's around today. If I had to pick one genre though it'd probably be drum and bass, it's just awful NOISE to me.

11. If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be?
Oooh, someone awesome like Neil Gaiman or Stephen Fry who I would be able to have an intellectual conversation with and would make me laugh.


Kate's Questions:
1.What is your favourite blog/website to look at?
You mean I have to only choose one?!?! Too hard!
OK so my favourite go-to website for procrastination is notalwaysright.com which is a site where people submit stories of stupid/rude customers to so other people can read and enjoy them. I think it's brilliant, personally!

2. What do you want to get out of blogging?
I really love the communities I have found through blogging, letting me interact with people who have similar interests to me. I want to improve my nail art technique as well as get to know more of these awesome ladies.

3. What made you decide to start your blog?
I'd got to the point where I was starting to enjoy doing different effects on my nails and wanted to share them with people-but none of my friends were ever interested or even noticed! I thought I'd start a blog to help me improve my technique, record all my efforts and hopefully find some people to talk about polish and nail art with =)

4. What is your one favourite nail polish?
Again this is a hard one...and there's so many I love that I don't even own! I've recently fallen for L'Oreal's Magic Croisette though-a lovely royal blue with greeny/aquay/goldy shimmers running through it.

5. If you had to choose one nail design to have for the rest of your life what would it be?
Fishtails/Braided manis, I really love how they look and how easy they are to do, and obviously there's endless colour combinations for them!

6. Do you have any tattoos?
Yes, I have one on my left foot that reads 'All The World's A Stage', which is a quote from my favourite Shakespeare play and also very applicable to my life!

7. What is your one go-to product that you can't live without?
Probably something boring like Vaseline or some other form of lip balm. I have never been able to tolerate having dry or cracked lips.

8. Who is No. 1 on your list of dream dates?
I honestly don't think I have a list of dream dates-is that weird? Oooh I do quite fancy Robert Sheehan though, with his lovely hazel eyes and big pouty lips...OK I may have just started a list of dream dates now!

9. Are you an Apple or PC user?
I am whole heartedly a PC user. I don't own any Apple products (no, not even an iPod!) and I will keep on refusing to buy them until they take over and monopolise everything. I don't really have a good reason for this, I just don't really like them, plus they're SUPER expensive!

10. What is your No. 1 beauty tip?
Erm, I don't think I have one really. I'm very much for loving yourself over changing the way you look so I guess my best tip would be something like you don't have to change yourself/cover yourself up to be beautiful, just change the way you look at yourself and find the beauty that everyone else can see.

11. Are you happy in life and what would you change if you could?
Generally I'm very happy in my life, and wouldn't change much, certainly not much about myself. If I could have 3 wishes though I'd have a job, a home in Sheffield and the ability to drive without having to learn, then I'd be perfectly contented.

So there we are. I'm also going to skip tagging other bloggers in this, because I've not exactly done it conventionally anyway, and I always feel a tiny bit awkward asking someone to do something like this, just in case they don't want to or something. Also I know a lot of people have already received a Liebster award so I don't want to re-nominate anyone by accident.

Thanks a lot to the two lovelies who nominated me-Megan and Kate- I've really enjoyed doing this! Your questions were brilliant and really interesting to answer.

~Nail Art Novice~

TAG, You're It!

Heh, I'm such a child sometimes...
Anyway, what the title of this post refers to is the fact that I've been tagged by Megan of Megan Box Nails to answer the Beauty Blogger questions (read her answers here) that are going around at the moment and I  thought this would be kinda fun-if nothing else because I love finding out new things from my favourite bloggers and love to share too.

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?
Straight as a poker-which I'm fairly glad about really! Much as it's sometimes annoying because it won't hold a curl because it's so heavy, I'm glad I don't have to anything to it except brush it and it looks OK-if I had to straighten it every day I'd basically have rubbish looking hair all the time because I wouldn't bother!

2. What is your natural hair colour?
What it is now. All my life I've been determined that it was blonde, but now I think I'm definitely more towards the brunette end of the scale, sadly. It used to be this beautiful golden colour, especially in summer, but now it's definitely 'dark blonde' at best.

3. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?
I used to dye it myself, I had a coloured streak in either side for about 5 years-and they've been every colour of the rainbow at one point or another. Now I've let it lapse because I decided that it probably wouldn't help me looking for work after I graduated.

4. Do you wear the same style every day or do you change it?
I have 3-4 styles that I go between-down, half up, pony tail, high ponytail (which is usually for days when I haven't been bothered to wash it and want it up and out of the way). Not very interesting but it does change slightly every day unless I'm being lazy, then it's just a ponytail.

5. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?
I've been to a salon for a mani once and that was for my year 11 prom (when I was 16). I don't see the point in paying out when I can do lots of fun designs myself, plus I've got alllll this lovely polish lol.

6. How often do you change your nail polish?
Depending on how much I love it and how well it lasts about 2-4 times a week.

7. Do you polish your toes in winter or just in the summer?
Winter too! I have a thing about toenails-I think if you're going to have them on show they need to be nicely polished, this includes just wandering around the house in bare feet. Plus mine are so manky after years of being coloured that it's much nicer to look down and see pretty colours! (I only change them about once every couple of months though)

8. How long does it take for you to put on your make-up?
Too long! I've never had much practice and I don't wear it every day so if I'm doing a full face for a special occasion probably 30-45 minutes! If I'm just doing my "every day" make-up it's just mascara so about a minute!

9. What do you do first, face or eyes?
Face. Although I should probably do eyes first because I haven't mastered the art of not spilling eyeshadow onto my cheeks and ruining the foundation!

10. Do you collect make-up or just buy what you need when you need it?
A bit of both? I don't buy it regularly at all, but I'm also terrible for throwing it away when it gets old so I just keep it forever. I don't think I've ever used something up (apart from mascara!)

11. How often do you wear false eyelashes?
I've only ever worn them once, for a show. They looked amazing but I have NO idea how to apply them myself.

12. Do you do a full face of make-up every day?
HA. No!! I mean half the time I don't even get dressed (being unemployed sucks) let alone get around to make-up. Then if I do go out I forget or can't be bothered or just don't want to. And if I do wear anything at all it's only some mascara because I've got really long eyelashes but they're quite pale so I like to show them up. (And even then I usually end up rubbing my eyes and smudging it down my face)

13. Do you wear make-up when you are home alone or with family?
Nooooooope!

14. Will you leave the house without make-up?
Yeah, it's not even a conscious choice.

15. How many high-end products do you have?
I have a Clinique foundation (purely because it's the one my mother uses and she bought it for me) and some Clarins perfume (duty free) and that's it! I resent paying more than a fiver for mascara, let alone forking out for expensive stuff I'm never going to wear!

16. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you're getting dressed?
FYI whenever I see the letters 'OOTD' together I imagine one of these (coz they're OODS):

[Source]

I don't really have much to plan though, it's usually jeans and a T-shirt or occasionally a miniskirt and a T-shirt. I still pick it out the night before, just because I am actually a zombie first thing in the morning and can't function as a normal human being, but I wouldn't say much effort goes into it!

17. How often do you change your handbag?

I only have one actual handbag and that's for going out. Otherwise I use canvas totes and I change them around when I get bored-every couple of months or so!

18. What time do you get up and go to sleep?

TOO LATE for both. I'm a terrible sleeper and also terrible at hearing my alarms.

19. How often or when do you work out?

Ha. Sometimes I run up the two flights of stairs to my bedroom?

20. Left-handed or right-handed?

Right. Although I do use my left for a lot of random things which apparently is weird.

21. How tall are you?

5 ft 6 and a half. I've been measured a lot at various hospital appointments. One time I went up to 5 ft 7, but I think that was an over calculation.

22. Do you speak a foreign language?

Nope, not a jot! I can do basic sign language and say 'My name is Jenni' in French and German, that's about it.

23. How many pets do you have?
One grumpy cat, and his fleas.

24. How often are you on Blogger?
Every day! I love checking my feed to see what fab nail art has been posted in my absence. Plus I have two blogs so between them I have something to do most days.

25. Do you read comments on blogs?
On mine? Yeah, all of them, I love getting them. I also usually sign up to get emails from blogs I've commented on too.

26. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?
Sort of, in my head at least-there's not all that many. If I'm going to buy something new I'll always look for recommendations (or swatches in the case of polishes) from bloggers first!

27. How did you come up with your blog name?
Quite simply because that's what I am! Honestly I thought that when I tried to get 'Nail Art Novice' as a name on Blogger that it would already be taken! I'm constantly amazed to find it's available on nearly every platform that I've tried, I really thought it wasn't that original!

28. What kind of camera do you use for photographs?
Nikon Coolpix S3300-just a simple digital camera. I bought it with my Xmas money, hence why I started my blog this January, my old camera would have produced appalling photos!

29. How often do you clean your house?
I live with my parents so I don't have to do it all! I'm constantly in the process of tidying/sorting/cleaning my room though, it's full of stuff that dates back about 10 years that I'm slooooowly getting rid of.

30. What is your favourite colour?
I love green! Especially vivid bright Emerald green and dusky tealy turquoisey blue ones.

31. Do you swear?
Not deliberately, but occasionally I find one slipping out. Also if I do something ridiculous then yes, you can't beat a good 'BOLLOCKS' sometimes. Apart from that, I almost certainly won't be swearing on this blog!

32. What are you doing with the rest of your day?
Well I'm scheduling this ahead of time so I'm not 100% sure! I'm aiming to get this up on Wednesday so I  will be working at my friend's Dad's factory, visiting the Job centre (hurrah...not) and then going to a Walk Off The Earth gig with my friend, which I'm really excited about!

Ooh and I have to tag people too don't I? (Aka randomly pick from my followers...)
1. Becca from Horcrux Nails
2. Jessie from Nailed it NZ
3. Sarah from Mint Nails
4. Jennifer from Jennibertt's Nails (who has an excellent name, don't you think? =p)
5. Rebecca from Polish Etc

I won't be offended if you don't have time/don't want to to do it though ladies!

~Nail Art Novice~

Ask A British Nail Blogger

Every two weeks the group of British Bloggers I'm in gets a question to answer about something to do with their nail blogging routine and I thought I'd join in this week because it seems quite fun-I love finding out new things about my favourite bloggers, don't you? I think it's nice seeing beyond the nails to the person who owns them sometimes. There will be a link up at the bottom if you wanted to read other people's answers.

Anyway, this week's question is

What is/are your most wanted polish(/es)?
There are so many. If I could afford it I'd basically just go on Etsy and have a spree of buying amazing Indie polishes because there are just SO many that make my heart beat a little faster. There's also some more main stream polishes that I need but just can't afford yet, and then there's a couple which are just pipedreams!

Photo from Chalkboard Nails

-China Glaze Running in Circles 
Oh man. I have to have this, every time I see a post using it I want it more. It's SO me. Green is my favourite colour, especially this lovely emerald green. And it's glittery. And beautiful. When I get a job I'm going to spend some of my first payday on this beauty. (I know it's not massively expensive but I just can't really warrant £7 on one polish at the mo, sadly!)

Photo from Ooh La La Polish

-Essie Butler Please/Sally Hansen Pacific Blue
 I don't really care which one of these I end up with, they're so similar-it'll probably end up being whichever one is cheapest! This is such a beautiful shade of blue. Basically I had an awesome idea for a mani a while ago, one I've never seen done before. But I can't do it until I have one of these blues because they're perfect and I don't really have anything similar enough in my collection to use in the meantime. Again, this will be a first payday purchase.

Photo from One Nail To Rule Them All

-Barry M Lychee
I was going to buy this the other day but they didn't have any in the shop, boo. I don't have any polishes that are similar to this and I really like the colour-something that surprised me. I've seen a lot of amazing nail art done with it and I think it's just a staple polish that should be in every stash. Hoping Boots will have some in next time I visit! (I love how cheap Barry M's are for such good quality polish!)










There's more, so many more, that I'd like, but these are the top 3 that I really feel are must haves for me. If money was no object I'd just buy every polish I wanted, no hesitation, but sadly I'm living in the real world so I have to limit myself to only buying polish when I can afford it, sigh.

Oh and here's my pipedream wish, that I understand I'll probably never get but still kinda want anyway:

Photo from Chalkboard Nails

-OPI Black Spotted
I know, I know. I just really like the effects it gives-like Crackle but infinitely cooler. I'm never going to be prepared to pay £20-£30 for ONE bottle of polish though, so I am glad people like CutePolish have come up with this Water Spotted technique (similar to water marbling) so that people who aren't millionaires can still get the look. I still love this though, if I win the lottery...





~Nail Art Novice~

None of the photos in this post were taken by me, all copyright belongs to the original owners, links are provided to their sites and the posts they were taken from. Please do not reproduce these photos without crediting fully to the original sites.

Check out the other bloggers' answers to this question here:

31 Day Challenge...but not the one you're thinking of...

I discovered a 31 Day Blogging challenge on AlyssiaRose's lovely lifestyle blog (she also has a nail one right here too!) and really wanted to take part. Originally from http://www.fabulousfindsbytiffany.com, it challenges you to post a blog a day for 31 days on yourself and your life. Except...I'm not going to do it properly. I don't want to post every day, so I intend to do one or two posts every weekend until I've done them all. This way I can fit them into my life and also my blogging schedule a little better than trying to do one each day for a month, so for me it's a 31 Posts blog challenge. If you want to join in and link up, then the original post from Tiffany is just here and there is a linkup at the bottom of each of her own 31 Day posts.

Here's the list of blog prompts:

Today is day number one-Self Portrait and 5 random facts about yourself

Photography by Michael Lau

It's weird, this is the first time you'll be seeing me on this blog! I've never put a picture of my face up, just my nails. Oh and I cannot draw, so you aren't getting a hand drawn masterpiece I'm afraid. I love this picture though, it was from a photo shoot me and Rara went on in December because we had a voucher for a cheap one. This photo was taken without me realising it when Rara had just made me laugh and I love it. It's so me-the random bright coloured ducks and the Doc Martens and the big grin on my face =)


5 Random Facts
1. I am having a love affair with Doc Martens-I currently have 5 pairs and I'm not ready to stop yet. I honestly think if I could have a pair of Docs and a pair of my comfiest heels in every colour, I'd never buy shoes again.
2. I've never seen Star Wars...or ET...or to be honest most films that you "have" to watch. When I come across those lists of '100 films to watch before you die' I've usually watched about 6 of them and they're cartoons or musicals. I'm just not massively into films, I'm much more of a book person.
3. I'm unemployed and it sucks. I hate it. I really wish someone, anyone would give me a job to give me back my freedom and life, and give me a reason to get out of my pyjamas every day.
4. I also can't drive. I've had 2 lots of lessons and never come close to passing my test. This is something I am determined to change in the next couple of months though.
5. My favourite band is Queen, and always will be. I'm as much as a fangirl as you can be when a band is no longer in existence (sadly, RIP Freddie!). I looooove them. I can't even pick a favourite song because I love that every album of theirs has a different sound to it and I reckon they're all awesome.


So there you have it. Who knew thinking of 5 random facts could be so hard to do? I'll be back tomorrow with day 2, probably.

~Nail Art Novice~

Who Am I?

(Apologies for those of you who are now singing a Les Mis song. I am also singing it, if that helps.)

I thought I should probably tell you a bit about myself. I had originally wanted this blog to be completely anonymous because I have so many friends who would pour scorn on me for doing this/would get fed up of me constantly updating Facebook with pictures of my nails, hence why I'm universally known as 'Nail Art Novice'. However, now I've thought about it a bit, it's always nice to get to know the people behind the nails when reading blogs so I figured I could probably do the same here. 

My name's Jenni, and I live in the UK in little place called Nottingham (yes the Robin Hood town). I'm 22, and have an entirely un-used degree in Biomedical Science from the University of Sheffield. I first really got into doing my nails about 6-8 months ago (early 2012ish) and have rapidly got more obsessed with amazing nail art blogs ever since. Blues and Greens are my favourite colours, and I have far too many of each nestled into my polish collection. You probably won't see much pink appearing on my nails as it's a colour I've always detested, although I do have a few rosy hues for when the time calls for them. If could own any polish I think it'd have to be OPI's Black Spotted because I think it produces a really amazing effect on your nails.

In my personal life, I'm currently learning to play the bass guitar, which is why my nails will always be very short-basically if they're long enough to make a noise if I tap them on things then they're too long to play properly, and much as I love awesome manis, I love my guitar more. I'm a actor/performer whenever I get the chance to be because I love being on stage perhaps a little bit too much a lot and love nothing better than belting my heart out in a spotlight. If I can't do that, I'd happily sit the other side of the curtain too-I just really love everything about theatre. I also love to read and have piles of books haphazardly sitting around my bedroom, waiting for me to delve into them and fall inside one of their stories. I like to write-I've got countless notebooks full of half written, never finished stories because somewhere along the way the inspiration dries up.

I wear excellent socks and awesome T-shirts and definitely have a problematic obsession with Doc Martens (5 pairs and counting) but that's OK really. I love Red Dwarf and Doctor Who and comedies full of obscure British talent that are crammed full of puns that only Brits would get.

Also featuring on this blog is my best mate Rara. We've grown up together and we're almost sisters and have a million and one personal jokes between us that no-one else would get. She wears her nails longer than me because she doesn't play any awkward musical instruments that require short nails, hurrah. She's a terribly bad influence on me when it comes to spending my money on new nail varnishes, but I don't mind really. Every so often she comes around to my house, we watch silly films, drink hot chocolates and paint our nails together, which is always wonderful. In some ways we're very alike, but in others we wildly differ from each other, so hopefully between us you'll be able to see a lot of different things. 

If you are interested in knowing me better then you really should check out my other, non nail varnish related blog, My Every Day Adventure because then you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the way my mind works and hopefully have a giggle too. Alternatively, ask me anything by email (nailartnovice@gmail.com) or by Twitter (@NailArtNovice) and I'll do my best to answer you. Feel free to give me any advice on how to improve too-I know that I'm not amazing but I hope to keep on getting better!

Now slightly less obscure and mysterious,

~Nail Art Novice~