Glitter Me Monday: Let It Glitter!-Candy Cane

Hello lovelies,

Happy 1st December! That means it's officially time for Christmas glitters and I've bought a fair few this year so I thought I'd better crack on using them! This is one coat of Candy Cane over Maybelline-Winner Takes It All. Let It Glitter! is a Dutch indie brand that I've never tried before, but I couldn't resist getting a couple of her Xmas ones this year.

Candy Cane is your typical Christmassy colours-red, green and white micro glitter and it's really pretty! I think it would look nice over a black base as well.

Look at the dinky bottle!

I had planned some nail art with this one but it went out the window so I just glittered them all-yay! I'm finally looking forward to Christmas now I have an income and can actually afford to get stuff for the people I love!
Hope you are too!

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Monday: Models Own-Valerian

Hello loves!

So I decided to go a little more daring with my nails today and see if anyone at work minds or even notices! This gorgeous polish is from the Models Own Velvet Goth collection, which I have adored from afar since they first came out and I started seeing swatches of them. I'd heard mixed reviews so I'd never managed to justify dropping £20 on the set but luckily as it turned out I didn't have to! I got all of these in a couple of swaps over the last few months-swapping polishes is my new favourite thing...after buying them of course!
The goths are all absolutely stunning matte glittery polishes in different coloured bases-although I personally think they come alive with a lick of topcoat.

I used Valerian and on my accents (we're working up to a whole hand of nail art at work lol) I did a layer of Maybelline-Winner Takes It All and did a fun wavy design using some of my french tip guides from Ebay.

In these photos Valerian looks really sheer but I cannot see this in real life at all-and I've spent a lot of time peering at my nails today to make sure. I guess it's just my camera.

I really like this glitter! It's super pretty and sparkly, and the good news is no-one has noticed at work at all. Baby steps, haha!

Right, I'm off to try and do the bazillion other things I need to do tonight, working full time is HARD WORK.

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Monday-Firey Chevrons

Hello loves, happy Monday!

It's nearly bonfire night in the UK (one of my favourite nights of the year!) and I decided it was the perfect time for me to use these polishes together-the names and colours are really appropriate!

On the left is Tara's Talons-Bonfire and on the right is Dollish Polish-I Volunteer As Tribute (although personally I think this one should be called Girl On Fire, because it's just exactly how I imagine Katniss' dress in the second book. I realise if you've never read The Hunger Games that will mean nothing to you...). Both of these are full of firey glitters and I thought they really needed to be paired up.

I've done a chevron mani over a base of Barry M-Coconut (I really need to get a back up bottle of that bad boy!) using some guides I got from ebay ages ago.

What do you think? I think they're perfect for bonfire night and I'm looking forward to seeing all the fireworks on Wednesday!

~Nail Art Novice~

You can get Dollish Pollish here and Tara's Talons polishes here and you can currently get 30% off Tara's with the code 'Halloween' at the checkout!

Glitter Me Monday: China Glaze-But Of Corpse

Hello lovelies!

I got this lovely polish through Coloristiq and when I added it to my wish list I had this exact mani in mind. All in all it was quite quick and simple to do-two coats of But Of Corpse and then the rest I did with my Barry M nail art pen (and a couple of dots of Coconut for the eyes). BoC has a fairly matte finish so I added a matte topcoat to finish everything off and Voila! Adorable Frankenstein's monsters! I thought they were quite fitting given the name =p

I don't think the real Frankenstein's monster would be quite as chipper as these ones are (he was a bit angsty in the book) but I think they're cute! And I really like that green (of course I do, haha!)-I'm sad I have to give it back in a couple of weeks.

Happy Monday!

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Monday: Chubby Owl Polishes-Blitzed Unicorn II

Hello lovelies!

It's been a couple of weeks since I've done a Glitter Me Monday post but I'm bringing them back today. This mani is not really my normal thing but I am surprised by how much I like it.

Blitzed Unicorn II is a polish I picked up in Chubby Owl's closing down sale (booo!) and it's lovely! It's a white crelly with lots of pastel coloured hex glitters and some gold holographic micro glitters in there too:

Three (I think) coats over Barry M-Coconut

The base is very sheer which means you can see all the glitters in all the layers, which I like, but it does mean it needs undies. It's so girly and pretty!

As extras I used my explosions nail vinyls from Nail Stickrs and used Sally Hansen-Sonic Bloom which is a super bright pink I picked up from poundland the other day (possibly the first ever pink I've actually chosen to get!!!). I'd originally planned to do something else over the top but that wasn't working out for me so I left them in all their pink glory!

As I said these really aren't very me but I do kinda like them! I think the glitter is really pretty and that pink is so POW in your face that even me (the least pink person in the world) can't fail to be charmed by it!

Hope your Mondays were good, and if not just keep telling yourself you're one day closer to the weekend ;)

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Monday: Autumn Glitters

Hello lovelies!

I've been a very lazy blogger and not posted anything all week, oops! I did do my nails but just couldn't find the motivation to sort the pictures out and get them uploaded =(

BUT I am back and will hopefully be getting them all sorted and up here over the next week to make up for it so YAY.

For today's GMM I used lots of autumnal polishes/glitters-I LOVE autumn and so this mani made me very happy! I did some gradients using the Barry M autumnal gellies in Mustard, Paprika, Chilli and Cocoa. On my accents I used a coat of China Glaze-White Cap and then added some autumnal leaf nail vinyls which were from Make It Stick Designs. On my other fingers I used a variety of Autum glitters-Tara's Talons-Chocolate Orange, Nelly Polishes-Prototype and Absolut Lacquer-Falling Leaves.

What do you reckon? I kinda love these if I'm honest, they remind me of scrunching through leaves and large mugs of warming drinks. I love these sorts of colours together and they went together really well in the gradients.

What's your favourite season?

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Mondays: Dark Metal Lacquer-U-Fig

Hello lovelies, happy (?) Monday to you!

For this week's GMM I just really fancied doing something silly again as I haven't done any daft nail art in a while. The glitter I'm using as my base is Dark Metal Lacquer-U-Fig which is from a new (to me!) British indie and I won it and a couple of  others in her end of summer giveaway. It's an almost khaki green full of tiny black microglitters that reminds me of kiwi fruits. I used three coats because the first looked a bit patchy but it filled in really nicely with a second (and the third was just to get a couple of bits I'd missed). Once it was on my nails I realised it was just crying out to be turned into silly monsters! For the eyes I used Sally Hansen-Man-go Team!, Collection-Look At Me! and Maybelline-Ceramic Blue plus Rimmel-Rose Libertine for the tongues. The black and white details were (of course) done using my Barry M nail art pens, and I added a layer of Rimmel's matte topcoat to finish.

Hehe! What do you think? I love fun nail art like this sometimes. I really like the glitter too, I think it's one that wouldn't be for everyone but it's definitely for me!

Here's a shot before I matted it so you can see the glitter in all its glory (this is with a coat of Seche Vite, it's actually a bit matte itself without topcoat)-it's really different to anything I've seen before but I like it!

See you soon!

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Monday: Freckles Polish-Easter Bonnet Competition

Hello loves, happy Monday!

Now it's finally Autumn (my favourite season!) I think it's about time for me to get around to wearing some of my spring polishes-I'm so contrary haha. The polish I've chosen today is one of the original Freckles Polishes from the spring collection and I loved it as soon as I saw it! It's so bright and colourful and I hadn't seen one similar before so I snapped it up.

Shown here is two coats over a yellow base (which was over a white base because it's not the greatest of pale yellows, haha!)

When I was doing these nails I had a whole day to myself because my boyfriend was out at work and I had just come from two days of naked nails whilst I was working, so I was in the mood to do something a little OTT. Simply because I haven't done one in a while, I decided on a double tape mani, because they look so awesome when they're done. I used Barry M-Teal and Rimmel-Purple Addict because they matched the glitters and would contrast nicely with the bright yellow. About a hundred pieces of striping tape later, here's what I ended up with:

It took a while but it was really relaxing to do so I didn't mind too much-anyone else find painting their nails really calming? I worked out this ended up being 8 layers of polish in the end (including base coat/top coat) but I reckon it's worth it!

What do you think?

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Mondays: Tara's Talons-The Mill Creek Killer

Hello loves,
Yet another week when I didn't manage to get this up on Monday but hey ho. I'm failing at blogging a bit at the moment because I keep getting distracted and doing things at the weekend and not getting posts scheduled-doh. I can't complain too much though, I had a great time this weekend cos my friend spontaneously decided to visit and take me to the seaside!

This week's GMM is another Tara's Talons because I love them and also because I have a lot of untried ones (I spoiled myself a little in her closing down sale!). This one's lovely-a black jelly base with blue and green glitters of various sizes in. It would layer well but I chose to wear it over a couple of coats of W7-Black to make life easier.

It's so sparkly! I love how it catches the light as I move.

Don't forget that Tara's Talons is RE-OPENING on the 21st September, and I should be able to give you a sneek peek at some of the polishes soon. Make sure you are following her on her Facebook page to get all the details, and tell your friends too as she's having a giveaway when she reaches a certain amount of followers!

As for me? I'm just going to try and get my blog posts back on track, so hopefully next week this will actually be posted on MONDAY, haha! We shall see...

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Monday: Tara's Talons-Merryweather

Hello lovelies!
I'm glossing swiftly over the fact that this is being posted on Tuesday and moving straight onto this week's GORGEOUS glitter. This one's from Tara's Villains and Heros collection (part two) from earlier this year and I knew I had to have it as soon as I saw it. It's a bluey/purpley base with twinkly yellow/greeny glitters in and OH it's pretty! I used three coats alone here, I was going to do some nail art on top but I liked it too much!

These photos really don't do it justice, there's a lot more sparkle going on that for some reason my camera just didn't want to pick up-they're kinda mesmerising in person actually. There's a better photo of this gorgeousness on my instagram over here if you're interested.

Ugh,I just love this one. I already know she's going to be a pain in the bum to remove but I like her so much I think I might even forgive her that.

Oh and have you heard the good news? Tara is reopening on the 21st of this month with a grand opening sale! Make sure you like her Facebook page here for all the details/up to date news =)

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Monday: Maybelline Color Show Street Art

Hey lovelies! I've got some more awesome treats from America on my nails today, in the way of the Maybelline Color Show Street Art glitters. We did get these over here in the UK but the colours were really wishy washy and nowhere near as bright as these, and I just kind of fell in love with that red!

L-R: Blue Beats, Wild at Heart, Nighttime Noise

As before, these were presents from my lovely friend at A Mani Maniac-these were what I had originally asked her to get because they're just so cool! I'm wearing them over similar bases-Barry M-Guava, Cobalt Blue and Passion Fruit plus Coconut on my accents, where I have layered all three on top of each other which I think looks really fun!

What do you think? I love them, they're so awesome! I really like the different sizes and shapes of glitters with the splash of colour, and still really love that red, it's definitely my favourite. How about you?

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Monday: Barielle-Falling Star

Hello lovelies!

Back today with my second Glitter Me Monday and this one is my boyfriend's choice-both of polish and design. This week's GMM is Barielle-Falling Star which I have had for ages and I don't know why I've never got around to using yet-it's gorgeous! It's a cornflower blue base with bronze glitters in and it's so sparkly and pretty! I've layered it over a London Girl polish, which is one of my frankly awful smelly-never-drying ones, but it does match the glitter exactly so I decided to grin and bear it this time. My boyfriend decided that 2 stripes per nail were the perfect number and I have to say I agree with him-he's got an eye for nail art haha!

What do you reckon? I really like it, especially with the bronze flashes underneath. He's got very good taste, my fella!

Don't forget I have a GIVEAWAY going on at the moment, and it's ending really soon! Make sure you get your Rafflecopter entries in here and you can also enter on instagram here by reposting the pic with the tag #nangiveaway -I've not had many entries this way so make sure you tag it!

Good luck and Happy Monday!

~Nail Art Novice~

Glitter Me Monday: Tara's Talons-Fun House

Hello my lovelies! Finally getting my nails back on my blog again after more than a month! I had a fantastic time in Australia but my nails have really suffered for it and are now back to being nubbins again-boo!
In a bid to use up some of my many many glitter toppers, I am introducing a new feature to my blog-Glitter Me Mondays-where each week I will use a different glitter topper or glitter polish. I reckon it could take me a fair while to get through them all!

For the first Monday I have gone with a really cheerful polish to brighten up my little nubs-Tara's Talons-Fun House. It's an explosion of different colours and shapes of glitters and it's just a little bit mad and I love it! I've gone for two coats over Barry M-Kiwi  (definitely becoming a summer favourite of mine!) so together they're a really bright splash of colour.

I don't even mind my poor, short nails with this combo, so bright and fun =)

Don't forget that I have a Tara's Talons giveaway going on at the moment and that you can do some nail art as an entry option. I currently haven't had any entries this way so there's a good chance of winning if you do ;)

~Nail Art Novice~