Lori - Deviant Potions

Here's another mani using a Deviant Potions creation, this time it was Lori's turn.

Lori is a stunning holographic top coat.

I used 1 of Lori over a coat over Sinful Colors Let's Talk. Then I taped out a design originally done by the uber talented Cassondra Faye and added a coat of black polish. And this was the result once the tape was removed.

My camera almost exploded trying to capture the stunning holo glow of these polishes together. Just beautiful!

Macro Shot

Chevron-y Wonderment!

Hidy Hi Campers!

This mani was my first successful Bestie Twin Nail collaberation. I worked with the lovely Maja and we did our take on a design originally by A Thousand Nails.

This mani was a total brain bender involving numerous coats of polish, quick dry top coat and 2 kinds of tape, but I kind love it because it was such hard work.

I used Barry M Matte White, OPI by Sephora Frankly I Don't Give A-dam and Sinful Colors Back to Black, with a random glitter topper over the white.

It's not perfect, but it's mine haha

Blood Spatter - Deviant Potions: Another Halloween Mani

Hola Chicas,

I am fully in the Halloween mood now and I'm also a massive The Walking Dead fan, so I was eagerly awaiting the UK premier of the new series.

I'd ordered a couple of polishes Deviant Potions "Walking Dead" collection and was hoping they'd arrive in time for the premier, and they did!

Blood Spatter is an off white crelly with different sized matte and holo red glitters. Formula was a dream to work with and I used 3 coats as my base for this dripping blood mani.

 

Right Hand

Left Hand

I wanted a dark, congealed blood effect rather than a bright fresh blood, and to achieve this is used Nails Inc Victoria, which is a luscious, deep purpley-red jelly.

Thumb

I used my double-ended dotting tool dipped in the polish to create the drips of blood.

I topped it all with a coat of HK Girl top coat, and Bob's your uncle!!!!

I had such fun doing this mani and got lots of comments on it, even the Hubs said he thought it was pretty cool, and that's unheard of lol.

Flushed - Ethereal Lacquer: Another mani for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Hi Everyone,

After experiencing an absolutely epic nail fail whilst attempting a twin nails mani with my new Instagram chica Maja (@majsran) I decided I needed a nice, simple mani. So I swatched one of my new purchases from Ethereal Lacquer which I purchased from Rainbow Connection UK.

This is Flushed.

Flushed is a sheer, soft pink polish with the most beautiful rose gold shimmer. This is 3 normal coats topped with 1 coat of HK Girl top coat.

For the feature nail I did a base of Barry M Silver Pink and then 2 thick coats of Flushed over 3 pieces of tape. I removed the tape, topped with 2 coats of HK Girl and added a little diamante purchased from the Born Pretty Store.

This mani is so feminine and pretty. A little more girlie than my usual style but perfect for my support of Breast Cancer Awareness during October.

Swirling Mist - Halloween Mani

Me again!

I'm on a roll today aren't I.

I love Halloween and I've been playing round with some ideas and looking for inspiration for manis that aren't the usual ghost/vamp/pumpkin type nail art.

As I was scrolling through my Instagram feed a few weeks ago I came across a stunning mani that I knew I had to try and recreate. This doesn't happen very often as I prefer to try to come up with my own designs, rather than out-and-out copying someone else's, but I fell in love instantly with this one by Chalkboardnails.

On a base of Sinful Colors Back to Black I used the acetone water colour method on Barry M Matte White to create the smoke effect. I'd never tried this method before so I used this tutorial on YouTube to see how to do it.

This is how my first attempt turned out. It reminds me of swirling mists or smoke.

 I love this so much and I'm so glad with how it turned out considering it was my first attempt! I can't wait to try the effect with different colour combinations.

HK Girl Top Coat

Hola chicas,

Like everyone in the nail community, I am constantly searching for the elusive perfect topcoat. It needs to be fast drying, long lasting and super shiny, it needs to smooth my glitters without taking 5 coats and not smudge my nail art. I'm not asking for much am I lol.

Well, I think I may have finally found my superstar. My little lovelies, I am pleased to introduce to you...HK Girl!

LOOK AT THAT SHINE!!!!

I am in love with this topcoat. Pictured here over Sinful Colors Back to Black, this is 1 coat only. I wore this with Haunt for 4 days and had no chips and no tip wear which was fantastic considering I cooked, cleaned and typed daily. It also smooths even the chunkiest of glitters. 

It's an indie polish produced by a lovely lady called Jill and she really has a stellar product on her hands. It is also available in several different sizes,  go check out her site Glisten & Glow for more information. UK Ladies, you can get your hands on HK Girl from Rainbow Connection UK, along with tons of other amazing indie polishes.

Haunt - Ethereal Lacquer

Hi All,

Ethereal Lacquer are an indie nail polish maker producing 3-free, vegan friendly polishes. I've been following them on Instagram for quite a while and have always lusted after their colours, but until recently they didn't ship to the UK so I just had to admire from a far. Then, in September, a fabulous indie polish distributor Rainbow Connection UK moved to the UK and opened up the world of indie polishes for me.

I purchased a couple of Ethereal Lacquers and today's review is of Haunt, a perfectly named polish for Halloween.

3 Coats - Warm

Haunt is a purple jellie with light blue flakies, blue shimmer and crushed pearls. It is a thermal polish that transitions from mid purple when warm to dark purple when cold. The change is quite subtle and my camera just refused to show the change.

This is such a beautiful polish, even without the colour change. The picture shows 3 coats topped with HK Girl top coat. The formula is really easy to work with, very sheer but easily buildable for depth, and it really is haunting.

Head on over to Ethereal Lacquer to have a look at their full range, including the newly released Wychwood Collection.

OPI Ski Teal We Drop

Hi Everyone,

This is a swatch of OPI Ski Teal We Drop. I've got a real thing for teal at the minute and I'm in love with this mani!

In sunlight

This polish is a beautiful rich, deep teal colour. The formula was a little on the thin side but really easy to work with.

Indoor shot

I did 2 coats which gave a lovely even finish and topped with 1 coat of Seche Vite. The gold studs were purchased from the Born Pretty Store. I tend to prefer silver or black accessories but I think the warm of the gold really compliments this colour.

Autumn's Here

Hi Everyone,

I love the change of the seasons, especially when Autumn and Winter roll around. And after all of the neons and pastels of the Summer I was really looking forward to breaking out my darker colours.

I picked up a couple of nice polishes in the Sephora sale whilst on my holiday and couldn't wait to use them in my first autumnal mani.

The polishes are both Sephora by OPI. The purple is called Who's Spinning Tonight? It's a gorgeous deep plum creme with a subtle bright purple shimmer when the light catches it. Frankly I Don't Give A-dam is a very soft grey creme that I think is so feminine. This is 2 coats of both colours, plus top coat, and the formula was really easy to work with. 

I ran out of Essie Good to Go which is my "go to" top coat so I decided to give Seche Vite a try as so many people rave about it. In all honesty, I'm not in love. I haven't experienced the shrinking that some people get but I don't think it's as shiny as Essie, although it does dry just as quickly. I'll try it out on a few more manis and some glitters before I form a final opinion, but rest assured I'll post a review once I've made up my mind.

I'm also rocking a new nail shape! Due to my terrible neglect of my babies on holiday I got some pretty awful chips along the free edge. I couldn't bring myself to take them down to nubs again so I decided to keep as much length as I could and turn them into baby claws. I must admit I wasn't keen to start with but they're definitely growing on me, and it's always fun to try something new :)

My First Mani for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Hola!

Some of you may already know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and this is my first mani in support of the cause.

I did a sponged gradient using OPI Steady as She Rose and Kiss Me on My Tulips. Rose is a soft, blush coloured creme that leans towards the more purple side of pink (if that makes sense). The formula isn't great, it tends to streak and if you work slowly gets quite chalky. On it's own you need 2 or 3 coats to get it even. Tulips is a bright fuchsia pink and is super easy to work with. I added 1 coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust and topped with top coat. On the ring fingernail I topped with OPI I Lily Love You which is a sheer bright pink base with different coloured iridescent flakies.

This cause is one that is close to my heart because 2 and a half years ago I lost my wonderful mum, Trudy, to breast cancer. She was diagnosed in July 2010 and initially responded so well to the treatment that her doctors thought that she would be likely to make a full recovery. Unfortunately, the doctors didn't know that the cancer had already spread and she eventually lost her battle on 12th February 2011. I miss her every day.

This mani is in memory of my Mummy and all those who lost their battle too. And it is inspired by all of those brave women still fighting!!!!!

Trudy Purkiss

24.05.1959 to 12.02.2011

I'm Baaaacckkkkk!!!!!

Hey Everyone,

We had an amazing holiday in the States with our family and friends but my nail care routine went out of the window whilst we were away!

I did this mani just before we left and it was supposed to be a "Twin Nails" project. Twin Nails is a feature made popular on Instagram (IG) where you pair up with someone from the community and decide on a mani design and then each do your own version. You then post a pic of the 2 manis next to each other so everyone can see the results.

My twin came up with the design but was unable to make it work. My effort wasn't perfect but I worked hard at it so I wanted to share it anyway. I used striping tape and my dotting tool for the chevrons and dots. Colours used were Maybelline Color Show Coral Craze and Sinful Colors Back to Black.