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

w7 Nail Art and Swatches

Press Sample

I'm finally back after being pretty much stuck in bed for over a week! I won't bore you too much but I've had ongoing problems with lower back pain which has confined me to bed and made doing nails and blogging impossible. It's been incredibly frustrating, not to mention scary to all of a sudden not be able to do a thing for yourself. It's not fully better and I'm in quite a lot of pain even as I write this, but at least I'm out of bed!

I created this triangle cut out look using w7 polishes. If you're in the UK you've probably heard of w7 before, it's a budget brand of great quality with a huge array of colours and finishes! 

More pictures and swatches after the jump:

The shimmery blue is w7 Seascape. I did the accent nail by painting on the triangle pattern with w7 black and a striper brush first, and then filling in some of the triangles using w7 Matt Green and Seascape.

So easy to do, I might do a tutorial in the future!

On to the swatches. Seascape is a shimmery cool blue. I used two coats. I encountered some air bubbles but that may have been to do with the intense heat we have going on here at the moment!

Matt Green is a kelly green matte with a bit of shimmer. I used 2 coats. As with most mattes I'd recommend thin coats as they tend to drag if you pile it on. Apologies for the strange hue of my hand here, I had to do a lot of colour adjustment to get it right, my camera insisted on turning the colour turquoise!

You can find w7 in random places like Bodyworks, Home Bargains and even Argos! They're not sold in places like Boots and Superdrug as far as I know. You can also find them on Fragrance Direct and Nail Polish Direct. 

Press Sample

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown blue, green, matte, Nail Art, review, swatch, w7

Spots and Stripes

I'm back on the Blues this week and it feels gooood! Polka dots are a rarity on my nails and since I do so many stripes I thought I'd give spots a go too.

 

The main colours here are Sally Hansen Himalayan Blue, Barry M White, Sally Hansen Dorian Grey and W7 Black.

I created the roses following this tutorial with SH Himalayan Blue, Essie Mezmerised and NYC Raindrop. The stripes on my middle finger are in W7 Cosmic Blue and there's a tutorial for striping here!

I topped it all off with two coats of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown Barry M, blue, Dotting, freehand, glitter, sally hansen, striping tape, w7

Born Pretty Store Review - 1.5mm Round Studs

Press Sample

I've used many studs from Born Pretty Store in the past, but these little round gold ones have to be my favourite. I find them to be the most versatile and you can add them to any kind of manicure. I prefer a minimalist approach to stud nail art; I usually do an accent nail or a very small amount of studs on each nail. Less is more!

I started with a base colour of W7 Black (you can't go wrong with glossy black polish and gold studs!) I applied a top coat to make my nails sticky, and placed my studs using a wax pen which I've previously reviewed here - it makes the job much easier! A good tip is to arrange the studs in the pattern you want on your desk before application, so you know exactly how you want to place them.

You can also add a top coat over the studs when you're finished, to help them last longer. I don't think I'll 

ever tire of studs! I have a huge array in my nail art stash now!

You can find these exact studs (1.5mm)  here at Born Pretty Store. I notice the site has had a bit of a makeover! As you probably know, they offer free worldwide shipping and you can get 10% off any order by entering my code: LGL91

Are you a fan of stud nail art?

Press Sample

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown black, Born Pretty Store, review, studs, w7

Shiny Tips

I'm not really sure where the idea of matte x glossy came from but it's been at the back of my mind, niggling away, all week. I've been playing with different combinations and I really wanted to try it with stamping although nothing seemed to work. I'm going to keep at it as I'm determined to perfect glossy undercoat with matte stamping but for now, I've settled for something simple (again)!

I used two coats of No7 Just Black as my base colour with one coat of W7 Cosmic Black on my ring finger, then used one coat of Rimmel's Mattifying top coat. Then I took a nail art brush and applied NYC In a New York Minute just to the tips of my nails.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown black, French, glitter, matte, No7, Rimmel, w7

Wham Bam!

Back to the very basics today with some simple half moon nails. It looks to me like the half moons are making my nails look impossibly square. I know they are square but do they look more... angular dressed up in half moons? Let me know if it's just me!

I used Barry M Lychee as a base then painted on the half moons with W7 Black Cherry using a nail art brush. Still using the nail art brush, I used a little bit of top coat to attach the studs which are from Born Pretty Store. It's all topped off with a coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown Barry M, black, Half Moon, nude, w7

The Great Gatsby Inspired Nail Art

Since I first saw a trailer for The Great Gatsby I've been completely besotted. I like Baz Luhrmann and I love Leonardo DiCaprio (who doesn't amirite?!) so I can't wait to see the movie. I'm a sucker for beautiful looking films and I'm sure this one won't disappoint in the aesthetics department. The posters alone are gorgeous enough and you know I can't resist a good gold and black combo so today's nail art is inspired by the amazing art deco pattern plastered all over the artwork for the movie.

For the base I used one coat of  Barry M Gold Foil and one coat of Sally Hansen Gilded Lily to get the luxurious, glistening gold look. I painted on a thin coat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly and waited about 15 minutes before applying striping tape where I wanted the gold to show through. Next I painted W7 Black over the top and swiftly removed the tape. There's a full striping tape tutorial here which explains in more detail. Finally I topped it off with another two coats of Dries Instantly to smooth everything over.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown Barry M, black, gold, Movies, sally hansen, striping tape, w7

Penspired

When I was out shopping on the weekend, I spotted a pen with a funky chevron pattern and of course, the first thing that ran through my brain was 'I can put that on my nails!'. I bought the pen solely for that reason! I actually only planned to paint a chevron and maybe a few stripes on each nail but I may gotten a little carried away.

The colours I used are Barry M White, W7 Black and Sally Hansen Fairy Teal. I varied the base colour on each finger and painted on the details with a nail art brush. True story.

It's all top coated with Sally Hansen Dries Instantly.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin' ♥ Tumblr

Read More »

Add Comment

Unknown Barry M, black, freehand, green, sally hansen, w7