Simple Sophistication

I know I mention this ALL. THE. TIME. but although I try to do my nails almost every night, there are a lot of nights that I'm pressed for time or it's quite late...so it's quick and easy to just pick a full size image to use for a mani, do the base prep and coat, topcoat, stamp, topcoat and voila...a mani change in no time flat!  I frequently use a holo base but this is one of these times when I was looking for something different; this is what I came up with.



Started with one base coat of FingerPaints Black Expressionism....yes, one coat!.....perfect for mani's when pressed for time......then topped with SV for more time savings so stamping can be done sooner with less dry time!



Stamped using Barry M Foil Effects 320 Gold using an image from FUN 5.



Topped with SV.




When I was doing this mani, I was going to do an accent nail with the opposite base and stamping polish.....I decided to do my right hand this way instead.



While I didn't mind this, I much prefer the black with gold stamping.  An accent may have been OK too...maybe another time.

Here's a look at FUN 5.















I was curious how this mani would look with a matte topcoat so the next day, topped with Essie Matte About You.



I didn't mind this look...but it didn't stay like this for long because I did this not too long after I took the above pix.



I didn't have a break or any real need to cut them other than there comes a point when longer nails slow down typing, plus a strong C curve on a couple of nails, particularly the middle finger, annoys me when they are long...so chopped them off!  This was just a few weeks ago...three, I believe.....and they are pretty much already at the length before I cut them.  Plus I like wearing short nails; I like doing mani's with funky frenches on them when my nails are shorter...plus gives me a chance to use stamps that don't fit when nails are longer.

I am so thankful that there are images like this one ..and polishes and fast top coat products.....that can create such a simple, sophisticated mani in no time flat!

Thanks for looking!

Read More »

1 Comment

Unknown Barry M, black, Essie, FingerPaints, FUN 5, matte

Cirque Helios with Pastels

Press Sample

I have another Cirque polish to show you today! Here we have Helios... a very fine gold glitter with holographic glitter sprinkled in. I decided to dress it up with some pastel colours. When pairing up gold with another colour, I normally go straight to black but I'm wayyy happier with the pastels this time.

For the glitter fingers, I used one coat of Barry M Gold Foil with 3 thin coats of Cirque Helios. You could wear Helios on its own with 3 coats but you'd have nail poking through the glitter so I chose to put a similar shade base colour underneath.

The pastels I used are Sally Hansen Green Tea and Barry M Prickly Pear.

It's all topped off with a coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly and one of Essence Top Sealer. I added some 1.5mm gold studs on top while the Essence polish was still wet.

Visit cirquecolors.com for stockists or to buy directly.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown Barry M, Cirque, glitter, gold, green, purple, sally hansen, studs

Swirly Stamping

Well today has been eventful. My Sundays always seem, through a series of unexpected events, to become the most news-worthy day of the week! First I got in a big panic over the state of my blog when I thought myself a clever-clogs and decided to mess with my domain settings whilst trying to figure out subdomains. I couldn't see my blog at all for close to an hour but luckily it didn't seem to affect any of you guys. Next thing, I find out that I was on the Tumblr Radar which was just incredible! Did you have a good weekend?

My base colour for this mani is Barry M Guava and I used Nailz Craze Plate NC02 to stamp on the swirly patterns. The polish I used to stamp is a dusty chrome blue from Color Club but there's no name on the bottle. This is actually one of my first ever Color Club polishes. They're not easy to get hold of in the UK. I picked up a (generally disappointing) set of 6 shades plus a topcoat from TK Maxx for £7.99 recently. Despite the disappointment, which was mostly due to my bad choices, I think I'll be back there to pick up a set of cremes very soon.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown Barry M, blue, color club, Nailz Craze, NC02, Stamping

L'Oreal Sequin Explosion

Don't you love it when you go to Boots and discover you have points on your advantage card to spend? I used mine to pick up this L'Oreal glitter and a Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm (which incidentally I really like!) L'Oreal have been making some nice polishes and glitters lately (you can see my post on the Confetti one here) and I have to say, I really love this one.

Sequin Explosion is a glitter topper which means it's in a clear base and designed to go over a colour. This is one coat over a gradient of Barry M Dragon Fruit and Barry M White. 

More after the jump

It contains lots of pink, gold, blue, green and silver hex glitter along with smaller pieces of glitter. It spreads really easily too!

Bottle macro - 

The combination of colours works really well! This is available in Boots and Superdrug for £4.99.

Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown Barry M, glitter, gradient, l'oreal

Digital Dozen; Fashion, Day 5

Day 5 of Fashion Week!  When I was thinking of fashion, it got me to thinking about designers....those who create the awesome fashions!  After searching through some pix on the internet and my plate stash to see what images I have that may relate to fashion labels, this is what I came up with.

I'll be honest; this seemed so much cooler in my head....and to top it off, there were a couple fingers that the stamping is so way off which was disappointing so what could have been "wow, really cool!" is just 'OK'.  

Anyhooo, base polishes used, starting at thumb and going clockwise are CQ Vintage, FingerPaints Black Expressionism, OPI Bride's Bouquet, Borghese Almondine and OPI Bride's Bouquet again; all two coats, topped with SV.

For the fabric look I was going for to mimic the Gucci purse, sponged index finger using Barry M Mushroom and Quo by Orly Naked.



Stamped using assortment of Konad special polishes using Handy 24 (thumb), Handy 26 (index) GA21 (lines), Handy 12 (Chanel logo), Handy 17 (index), and Handy 14 (pinky).



For a little added bling.....this is fashion week so I think it is appropriate....added a few colourful rhinestones to the index finger.



Topped with SV to finish.



(Still ticked at myself for really missing the mark on the Burberry and Chanel fingers!)

Here's a look at the Handy plates that have fashion images on them; there's a few more than the ones  used here.

Handy 23


Handy 14


Handy 13


Handy 12


Handy 26


Handy 17


Handy 15


Handy 18


A couple notes about these Handy plates; they stamp well and I was especially impressed with how well the very small, detailed images stamp. For example, the Gucci image used on the ring finger; to get images that small and in such detail is amazing for a stamping plate!  However, the full size images are on the smaller side and may not fit fully on the nail for those with long or wide nails.

These Handy plates and more can be seen on Mundo de Unas' FB page here.



Pix used for inspiration.

Here's the other ladies Day 5 mani's.




Hopefully you've enjoyed Fashion Week......thanks for looking!

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown Barry M, Borghese, CQ, Digit-al Dozen, Fauxnad, FingerPaints, GA21, Handy 12, Handy 13, Handy 14, Handy 15, Handy 17, Handy 18, Handy 24, Handy 26, Konad, OPI, Quo by Orly, skittles

Dainty Doilies

After more than a year of talking about it, pondering and hesitating, I finally took the leap and a bought a new camera. I've had my old Olympus E-510 for close to 5 years now and I felt it was time for a little upgrade. In the end I went for the Canon 60D. It arrived yesterday and I've spent every waking hour since trying to figure it out! This is my first post using pictures from that camera so let me know if they look any different.

Recently I was looking through all the piCture pOlish Blog Fest 2013 entries and two in particular caught my eye. I just loved Lucy's Stash and XOXO Alexis Leigh's Blog Fest manicures and this creation is a sort of mash-up of the two. I took the idea of painting from the corner from Alexis and a lot of the patterns were inspired by Lucie! I like the subtle colours but I also think it would look amazing in a combination of brights.

1. For the base I used one coat of Barry M Lychee (creme nude) followed by two coats of Nails Inc Elizabeth Street (shimmery nude).
2. I freehanded on the designs with a nail art brush using NYC Mint Macaroon, Sally Hansen Himalayan Blue and Barry M Prickly Pear.
3. When everything was dry I finished it off with two coats of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown Barry M, blue, freehand, green, Nails Inc, nude, NYC, purple

Rosey Posey Pinstripe

Today is the first time in a very long while that I've decorated every nail with the same design and I have to be honest - I don't like the feeling! As much as I love this nail art, I'm just itching to remove the polish from a couple of nails and add in a plain glitter accent or some simple studding!

1. I used a base of W7 White followed by a coat of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat.

2. I used striping tape to mark off pinstripes and painted over it with W7 Black. While the black polish was still wet, I removed the striping tape.

3.  I waited for it to dry and added another coat of No7 Stay Perfect.

4. I freehanded the roses using a nail art brush with Barry M Blue Grape, Nails Inc. All Saints Road and NYC Raindrop. I used Saly Hansen Grass Slipper for the leaves. There's a tutorial for the roses here.

5. Finally, it's all topped off with another coat of No7 Stay Perfect!

And a few shots before the flowers because I was proud of my pinstripe!

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown Barry M, black, blue, freehand, striping tape, w7, white