Monday 31 October 2011

I got a stamping kit!

£2.50 off eBay! Bargain! So I thought it would be the perfect time to trial my new polish which I received in my October Glossybox. If you aren't aware of the Glossybox concept, check out their website at www.glossybox.co.uk! They're just so amazing and brilliant value! So the polish I got is by Leighton Denny and is called 'Sex Kitten'! Check it out - 



I think it's the most beautiful winter colour, fresh and frosty!

Here's the stamping addition - 


I found the stamping a bit difficult to start with, but after a couple of goes, it was so easy!

I used Boots No 7 Totally Teal for the stamping colour.

I think stamping gives such a great effect and is a lot quicker than hand painted nail art. I definitely recommend giving it a go, especially when you can try it for so cheap!

See you next time :)

WN x

Thursday 27 October 2011

Halloween Eyeballs

Last look for Halloween I thought I'd give eyeballs a go!
A bit tricky but I think they turned out ok for my first go - 



I think I should have stuck to blue for the eye colour but nevermind!

Few colours for this one Barry M 47 Black, 300 Acid Yellow, 303 Bright Purple and 295 Pure Turquoise. I also used Boots 17 Knockout Red and Nail Tip whitener.


- Definitely need basecoats for this one!
- Then two coats of the black
- Next I added the white - 



- To do the shapes of the eyeballs I just used the brush that comes in the polish, but for the veiny bits I used a small nail art brush
- Add the colour for the eyeballs next - 


- Finally the red in the centre of the eye and to fill in the veins
- Top coat to seal

Hope everyone has a fabulous Halloween weekend :)

See you next week.....

WN x

Wednesday 26 October 2011

Halloween Pumpkins

Obviously had to do pumpkins didn't I?!!
I will say, if you're short on patients or time, this ones probably not for you.... ;)
Here's my attempt at everyone's favourite Halloween fruit - 




Pretty cool :)

Three colours for this one Nails Inc, Ibiza Orange, Barry M 301 Block Orange and 47 Black.

- So, two basecoats to begin
- Two coats of the Nails Inc orange
- Next, using a thin nail art brush, I painted curved stripes down my nails in the Barry M orange - 


- I did this as I wanted to give a bit of dimension to the look as opposed to just a flat orange colour
- Then, I used a small nail art brush to create the lantern faces.
- Top coat to finish off.

I really like how these turned out. I think the stripes are really subtle but make the look extra special! 

Hope you enjoy and I'll see you all Friday......

WN x

Sunday 23 October 2011

Halloween Cobwebs

It's that time of year again! Halloween is probably my favourite day of the year, next to my birthday obviously.
So this week I'm gonna do you a few Halloween inspired looks, the first of which is cobwebs. They didn't turn out quite as I envisioned in my head, but hey, first time experiment an all that!!! Here they are anyway - 



Just two colours for this one. Both Barry M 47 Black and 288 Silver. 

- Two basecoats to start
- Then three coats of the silver - 


- I've not worn this for a while and I forgot that I actually love it!
- Next I drew on a star shape in the black with a thin nail art brush - 


- Then using a small dotting tool, I drew on the final detail to complete the web
- Top coat to seal

- I laso added a coat of 264 Pink Iridescent from Barry M which looks like so - 


- Really like the effect just that little bit of glitter has! I think it finishes off the look quite nicely.

Done and done. Quite fiddly, but a great effect I feel!
See you next time :)

WN x

Friday 21 October 2011

Day 4 : Pop Art America

I had no idea what I was going to do for the final day of America Week. Turns out it's my favourite look - 



Loving dots at the moment! As you can see, I went for the shape and colours of the American flag, but without any of the details in a pop art-y kind of way!

Anyway, same three colours obviously! Barry M 66 Matt White, 262 Bright Red and 291 Cobalt Blue.

- Basecots to begin
- Then two coats of the white - 


- This is the base for the design. I chose white as it's easier to add colour to a white base, rather than a blue or red.
- Next I added the blue dots, with a dotting tool - 


- Then finally the red dots to finish the pattern.
- Top coat to seal.

As you can see, I'm not the best at dots!

This look was pretty quick too. Only took about 10 minutes :)

I hope you all enjoyed America Week!

Have a fabulous weekend :)

WN x

Thursday 20 October 2011

Day 3 : Big Cat America

As yesterdays look turned out better than I thought, obviously it was time to do one that didn't turn out as well as I hoped! But, as we know, this blog is for experimenting!!! I tried leopard print in a different way but anyway, here's the look - 



Same colours again! (sorry, but they're just perfect!)
Barry M 66 Matt White, 262 Bright Red, 291 Cobalt Blue and I also used Barry M 320 Gold Foil and  e.l.f Matte Finisher.

- So basecoats to begin
- Then two coats of the red, white and blue. These will be the base for your pattern - 


- I then added the leopard spots. First with the white, then the red, then the blue - 





- I just did this using the brush that comes with the varnish.
- Next, to complete the pattern, I drew round the edge with the gold using a dotting tool
- Finally, the Matte top coat to finish.

I think this look would have come off better if I hadn't added the gold! But hey, I had fun doing it and that's the main thing :)

Last one tomorrow! See you then,

WN x

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Day 2 : Classic America

Today's look is more of a literal representation of the old stars and stripes. Here's the look - 



These actually turned out a lot better than I thought they would. You know when you have an idea in you head and just give it a go and hope!
Although, I will say if you're looking for a quick mani, you might want to give this one a miss ;)

Same colours as the last one, all Barry M 66 Matt White, 262 Bright Red and 291 Cobalt Blue.

- Basecoats to start with
- Then just the one layer of the white as this is only going to be a base for the other colours, mainly to make them stand out better - 

- The next step is to paint the red sections on the nail. I just did this using the brush that comes with the vanish - 


- Next, using a small nail art brush, I painted the white stripes down the middle of the red - 


- The blue sections come next, again just using the brush in the polish - 


- To complete the design, I used a dotting tool to paint on the stars. I did this by putting a dot in the centre and pulling out the five points from there.
- Top coat to seal.

I hope you like :)

'Till tomorrow.......

WN x

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Day 1 : Abstract America

No other inspiration for this one apart from the colours of the flag, obviously!
Here's what I came up with - 


I used Barry M colours, 66 Matt White, 262 Bright Red, 291 Cobalt Blue.
So lets get started- 

- Basecoats, obviously.
- Then two coats of the white - 


- You all know how much I love this one!
- Then, using a small nail art brush I painted on the red - 


- Then, using a similar brush, I added the blue. 
- Top coat to end.

A nice easy one to ease you in with! I'm kidding, they're all going to be easy :)
See you tomorrow for round two......

WN x

Monday 17 October 2011

America Week!

Basically, one of my fabulous followers on Twitter asked if I had any idea's for America themed nails, as she's going there soon and obviously, jazzy nails are a must!!!


So I thought I would make this week America Week. I'm going to post a blog a day for the rest of the week, using America as my theme.


That's kind of it really! 


Tune in the tomorrow for the first one :)


WN x

Friday 14 October 2011

Get Foiled : Instant Nail Effects

Obviously when Barry M brought out the Instant Nail Effects - Foil I was getting them. And finally I got my hands on them! The blurb on the website basically says that they give the effect of a salon foil manicure with only one coat and dry super quick. (I'm paraphrasing!) So without further ado - 



Pretty good!! I think they live up to the claims. This was using one coat (with a base and topcoat obviously). They did dry quickly aswell which I was impressed with, and as you can see just gorgeous and shiny! They are a bit streaky which you wouldn't get with foils, but I'm not gonna moan about that as they're just so much easier and quicker to apply than actual foil.

They are only two colours available at the moment 319 Silver Foil and 320 Gold Foil. I hope and pray they extend the range! 
They're £3.99 so a pound more expensive than the regular polishes but they are properly worth it! 

Have a fabulous weekend ;)

WN x

Tuesday 11 October 2011

The Leopards First Time!

I can't call myself a nail art fan, if I've never tried Leopard print! So I thought, now is as good a time as any! Here's first my first ever go at Leopard - 



Pretty good I reckon!

The colours are both Barry M 305 Pink Flamingo and 47 Black.

- So, basecoats to begin
- Then two coats of the bloody gorgeous pink - 


- Next, again using my small dotting tool like a pen, I used the black to make the Leopard pattern. 
- Top coat to end.

This look was a lot, lot, lot easier to do than I thought! And actually having an unsteady hand can help towards the overall effect of the look, which, if you're like me, is a big bonus :). Don't forget that you can use ANY colour combo's you like! 

Enjoy!

WN x

Sunday 9 October 2011

Cherry Pop

Last month I got three Color Trend Nail Varnishes from Avon. I've already used the other two so I thought, might as well use the last one in a post for you guys! So here's what I did - 



The colours I used are Avon Color Trend in Cherry Choc (hence the cherry design!!) Barry M 66 Matt White and 290 Spring Green

- So basecoats to begin
- Then two coats of the glorious white - 


- Then using a large-ish dotting tool I added red dots for the cherries - 


- Then using a finer dotting tool as a pen I drew on the green for the stalks.
- Top coat to end.

And don't forget, you can use and pointy object to do your dots and lines! Like, a hair grip or toothpick etc...

A fun look I think, and easy too!

Enjoy,

WN x

Friday 7 October 2011

Colour Wheel

Today we're going a bit artistic! Using the colours from the traditional artists colour wheel - 



Obviously quite a few polishes used for this one! I used - 
- e.l.f Matte Finisher as a top and base coat
- Avon Matte Nailwear Black as Night
- 17 Nail Tip Whitener
- Barry M 134 Yellow
- Nails Inc Ibiza Orange
- 17 Fast Finish Nail Polish Knockout Red
- Barry M 312 Indigo
- Barry M 291 Cobalt Blue
- Barry M 290 Spring Green

Now that's a list!

- Matte Basecoat to begin
- Then two coats of the Avon black
- Then I used the white to plot out the pattern using a dotting tool - 


- Then just go over the white dots with your colours
- Matte top coat to end.

Actually super easy but really effective!

Have a fabulous weekend :)

WN x

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Welcome to Autumn

So I thought I should finally give in accept the fact that it is actually Autumn! So here are some Autumn inspired nails - 



I think we can all see where the inspirations from the colours came from!!
They're all Barry M 1A Red Red Wine, 129 Chocolate Brown, 301 Block orange and 134 Yellow.

To get the effect I used a fanned nail art brush from my ebay set, and just used small strokes going sideways across the nail. 
This look is super easy once you get on a roll and actually takes no time at all!

- Basecoats to begin
- Then I added the red first - 


- As you can see, I made an almighty mess doing this look! But, as always, super easy to clean up at the end with a cotton bud and a spot of nail varnish remover.
- The brown next - 


- Then I added the yellow at the other end of the nail - 


- And finally the orange. 
- Top coat and then a quick clean up.

Hope you like!

Until Friday.........;)

WN x

Monday 3 October 2011

Ggggrrrr?

So I wanted to do something along the lines of zebra stripes or tiger stripes or whatever animal has stripes, stripes. Never tried it before!! But here are my efforts - 



Not too bad for my first go, I don't think!!!! 

As you can see, I didn't pick conventional colours, but then, I don't have to! 
The colours I used were both Barry M 317 Blue Moon and 303 Bright Purple.

- So, two basecoats to begin
- Then, two coats of the gorgeous blue - 


- I don't know if you can see but the blue is a tad streaky, but it's not that big an issue as we're painting on top.
- Next, using a small brush, I painted the stripes. I started at the edge of my nail and painted towards the middle.
- Finish with a top coat.

Done, and done. 
Have fun with this one kids, mix up your colours, go for glitter anything that takes your fancy!

See you after :)

WN x