Really Easy Valentine's Day Nail Art

Check me out with another nail art post! I usually do a nail post to mark Valentine's Day, even though I couldn't actually give two hoots about it really. I'm just a sucker for a themed post so every time it comes round I try and think up something romantic I can do with my nails. This year I've taken my inspiration from Nara once again with a variation on one of her favourite designs from 2013 (and using a polish that she actually gave me - thanks Nara). This cute heart-tipped design is really different, can be done with all kinds of colours and is SERIOUSLY easy to do. It works best, in my opinion, on almond pointed nail shapes. 

The shades I used were...

OPI 'So Many Clowns, So Little Time*' as a base

and

OPI 'La Paz-itively Hot' for the tips

I love this look done on a nude base. It makes the tip colour really pop out. You could also do this with a black or a white base colour but I like the softer contrast of a nude. 'So Many Clowns' is a really sheer polish so really just adds a touch of creamy gloss to your natural nail colour. Nara used a red in her original post but I decided to go for this bright, slightly pearlescent pink by OPI just to be a bit different and because it's really not a colour I'd usually wear. 

I barely needed any special equipment to do this mani. I just did a single coat of the base shade (on top of my usual OPI Nail Envy basecoat) then painted the heart shapes on using the nail polish brush itself, going from the outside into the middle of the tip, before perfecting the shape with a thin nail art brush. You could probably get away with not doing the last step if you're a bit less shaky than me though haha. I decided to go over the tips twice to make sure the pink was truly opaque and smooth before finishing off with my Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat. 

I think this is a brilliant design for beginners or if you're short on time. It's really simple, yet really cute and 'romantic' (bleurgh). 

What colours will you be using on your nails this Valentine's Day?? What themed nail art designs did you come up with this year??

Floral Nail Art Ft Nails Inc SS14 Colours

This is uncharted territory for this blog. You all know I have a serious fetish for nail polish (in particular Nails Inc) but I've never had the guts to experiment with nail art before. However, I decided that 2014 will be the year I knuckle down and really make an effort to teach myself. In fact this is my first ever attempt at floral nails so pleeeeease don't slate me. I know they're not exactly professional standard hahaha. I've also found myself egged on by my lovely Uni friend Nara, who has just started blogging about beauty and nails herself over at The Nail Polish Bible. Her nail art is AMAZING (seriously, check her out and show a newbie some support, it's a tough world out there in the Blogosphere).

I was quite pleased with this as a first attempt. At first I thought it was a disaster and was going to remove it straight away but they've grown on me. I'm still experimenting with which brush does what (I bought an extremely inexpensive set of nail art brushes from ebay - Link) and figuring out which shades go together. I guess they're a bit splodgy really but I'm sure practise makes perfect. I really wanted to do something with my new Nails Inc Spring shades. I used Nails Inc Hyde Park Place as a base, followed by George Street (both of these shades can be found in their 'In The Nude' Collection - See my post Here) and then used one of the NEW Gel Effect polishes in Downtown* as an accent on the flowers using a teeny tiny brush. I really think it adds a POP of colour to the design. All topped off with Kensington Caviar Topcoat. 

What do you reckon?? Not too bad for a first try?? Can you recommend any easy nail art designs for beginners like me?? 

Monday Manicure: Sweeter With Sprinkles

Haven't done a Monday Mani post in FOREVER! Since I finished my University course and stopped getting the train to Derbyshire every Sunday (which became a regular nail painting occasion), my Manicures have started happening on other days of the week instead. This week, it just so happens that I have acquired a few new nail polishes in the last week during an unscheduled dash to Superdrug to buy conditioner.... It just kinda happened, okay? Soooooo I thought I'd showcase two of them at once and kick-start the Monday nail fun once again....

The two polishes I've used today are both Barry M creations. The base colour being their Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Dragonfruit and the candy-sprinkle top layer being their newly released Confetti Nail Effects in Sour Apple. I'm a huge fan of the Gelly range and have picked up at least 4 of the polishes so far. I just love how glossy and opaque they are, even after a single coat. The Confetti Nail Effects intrigued me in the same way as their Textured polishes did: I basically wanted to see if they lived up to the Nails Inc Feather versions (my post on these can be found Here). Barry M were also offering a free LE Neon polish with a £6 spend so I had to pick up a couple just for that!

It just so happens that these two polishes work PERFECTLY together! Here I've done two coats of Dragonfruit followed by a single coating of Sour Apple. I really like the proportion of confetti to polish here. One coat gave a good amount of confetti without the need to fill in too many gaps, nor did it obscure the base shade. I find the Nails Inc Feather polish to be more dense. Sour Apple is pretty much a dupe of Nails Inc Brighton (also teal and yellow) but Barry M have included a beautiful gold shimmer version which is pretty unique to switch it up a bit. I'd definitely recommend these as a budget option for those who couldn't justify the Nails Inc versions. 

I love this effect! Very Summery and looks just like candy! You can pick up both of these polishes from your regular Barry M stockist for £3.99 each.

Do you love Candy colours for Summer?? What nail effects are you loving this season?? Did you pick up any of the new Confetti Nail Effects??

Monday Manicure #3

Good evening my lovelies!!

This was almost a Tuesday Manicure! A little late on in the day for me to be blogging but i really wanted to do something with a Valentines theme again this year (last year it was girly, pink lipgloss) and this year i wanted to incorperate it as a theme for this week's Monday Manicure!! I'll be honest and admit that i consider the whole concept of Valentines Day to be a load of marketing BULLHONKEY, but i'm never one to resist a themed post and i've been enjoying dreaming up themes for my Monday Manis and couldn't let this one pass me by!! Plus it's an excuse to get all pink, girly and romantic (even though, instead of the man of my dreams, i'll be curling up with two ferrets this Valentines.... Face look bothered though???)

So here are the polishes....

Look Beauty Nail Pops in Bling and Petticoat

(The OCD in me is SCREAMING out about the smear on the cap in this photo, but it wouldn't shift)

I picked these polishes up as part of my cheeky little Look Beauty haul in January (see the full extent of the booty i snagged in my haul post HERE) and this is the debut outing for both of them. I did buy them with the intention of using them together somehow and they seemed very appropriate to the theme this week so i decided to go for it! I got the idea into my head that i wanted to try a kind of glitter gradient effect but, please keep in mind, that i was on a moving train when i did these and didn't have all the tools one would usually associate with doing a gradient effect. However, being a Virgo, i improvised...

(In artificial light)

This manicure consists of.....

2 layers of OPI Nail Envy

2 coats of Petticoat

A single coat of Bling

Finished with lashings of Seche Vite

For the (supposed) gradient glitter effect, in the absence of any type of sponge, i started by making sure that i'd wiped almost ALL of the polish off the brush to the point that it was almost a dry brush and started brushing from the middle of each nail, out towards the tip, adding more wherever i thought it needed it. I did also dab some extra glitter onto the very tips of the nails to ensure that the ends were more opaque and emphasise the fade between polishes. It's definitely not as effective as ombre/gradient nails done the proper way, but for a fast fix option i don't think it looks too bad at all!! I'm by no means an expert at nail art and do NOT have a steady hand when it comes to fiddly stuff, but i'm learning to experiment and am getting more creative lately!

(In natural light)

Petticoat is such a pretty pale, dusky pink nude. Reminds me of ballerina slippers, especially when teamed with the glitter! It isn't wishy washy like similar shades from other brands that i've tried and was lovely and opaque after two coats. 

Bling is reminiscent of it's ruby red cousin, Dorothy (see Monday Mani #1 HERE), only the glitters are ever so slightly bigger and are the most beautiful yet subtle pink colour. It gives a lovely sparkle without being too garish or over the top (i'm still coming around to glitter in things but my interest in glitter nails is mounting). As with Dorothy, if you're using this polish on its own, two coats is sufficient but you may want to use three depending on how much Bling you fancy. 

So that's about as much warm, fuzzy and romantic as you'll get out of me. I'll be going to bed on the 14th with a pack of choccy biccies, my electric blanket and my two fur-babies. 

Have you tried anything different with your nails recently?? What colours get you in the mood for romance?? Have you fallen head over heels for Look Beauty??

Nicki Minaj for OPI Mini Collection: My thoughts...

Good evening beauty seekers!!

Tonight's slice of blog tart is dedicated to nail polish!! And not just ANY nail polish, but the Nicki Minaj collaboration with OPI!! I was lucky enough to stumble across these for a VERY good price in a discount beauty shop that i know in Chesterfield. (If you're local, it's called Dolled Up and is just up from the Vicar Lane area of town.) They were selling the full sized polishes as well but i love the mini collections as it gives you more variety for, more or less, the same price. I also own the Pirates of the Caribbean collection which i have blogged about in the past.

So here they are (L-R)

Did it on 'Em

A not too 'in ya face' acid yellow/green

 Fly

A deep blue/green shade, like a cross between a turquoise and a teal. 

 Pink Friday

Nicki's signature shade. A perfect medium pink (although not as unique as it would like to be)

 Metallic 4 Life

Silver glitter contained in a black jelly-like polish.

I have played around with all of these polishes over the last week or so and can honestly say that there isn't  a shade i dislike. They're all very wearable colours and don't feel (to me) to be season specific which i like. I'm one of those who doesn't like to wear corals, oranges or pastels in winter time as i associate colours like that with spring/summer. Similarly, i dislike wearing dark or brown shades in the summertime as i feel they belong with the colder weather. There are polishes from the collection which are NOT included in the mini set so i can only review the ones that i have.

Formula-wise, these are exactly what you would expect from OPI. A couple of coats does the trick and the are fairly long wearing with the right topcoat. As usual my only grumble with OPI mini polishes is that the brush is TINY and you have to take great care to make sure you don't get a 'streaky' finish. 

Usually with a collection like this i would put up a NOTD for each shade as and when i wore them, but for this one i'm making an exception as i have used the first two shades TOGETHER.

Here is the result.....

BRIGHT Leopard Nails!!

As a rule, i don't have a steady enough hand for nail art, BUT as this is a Nicki Minaj collaboration i kind of felt inspired to do something a bit funky. So i glued on some falsies and had a play with the polishes when i got home this afternoon. (I am aware you can still see the tips but 3 coats of any polish to me is a major pain in the backside - On normal nails i doubt it would be an issue).

Here's what i did...

Dead Easy!!

1) Apply 2 coats of 'Fly' to the nails and allow to dry completely (i didn't use a base cos they were false nails but you might want to on natural nails)

2) Using the brush it comes with (OPI mini brushes may be tiresome but they're PERFECT for this) dab little dots of 'Did it on Em' randomly on each nail. No prizes for uniformity here.... Allow to dry.

3) Using any random liquid eyeliner (i used UD 24/7, partly cos its waterproof and partly because it was the nearest) draw little semi circles around your dots. I also added little black flecks here and there to add to the effect.

4) Allow to dry and seal the whole lot with a good layer of topcoat (any will do).

And the end result is pretty damn FUNKY!! 

So i suppose thats the first two out of the way already!! Pink Friday and Metallic 4 Life (i always want to call it METALLICA 4 Life for some reason.... must be the heavy metaller in me) will get their own NOTD posts in due course.

Do you own this collection?? Which shades are your favourite??