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.

Manis for MJ

You may or may not be aware that this past Thursday would have been Michael Jackson's 55th Birthday, and to mark the occasion a member of the Instagram nail community (@tiffstastefultalons) thought up the hashtag #manisformj.

The idea was to create a nail design inspired by the King of Pop to be shared on Instagram on his birthday, and every mani had to have a silver glitter bomb on 1 nail.

My Hubs rarely has any input with my nails but we're both huge Michael Jackson fans so I told him about this idea and asked him what he though was MJ's most iconic look as I wanted to do a nail design based on it. He said for him it was the black and white outfit with the sparkly white glove. I thought it was a great idea and we came up with this design together.

For this mani I used Sinful Colors Black on Black, Barry M Matte White and Collection in Razzle Dazzle. I added a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust and top coat.

I enjoyed the collab with my hubby on this one and it was super fun to wear.

Sky Blues Inspired - Dark & Geometric

The new football season started again a few weeks ago here in the UK and I'm a season ticket holder and avid supporter of Coventry City Football Club, also known as the Sky Blues.

We'll be going to lots of games so I thought it would be fun to do a series of match day nails that somehow feature the colour Sky Blue. And here is the first...

I started off with a base of Maybelline Color Show in Shocking Seas on my pointer and ring fingers and then added a coat of Sinful Colors in Hottie. I then created a triangle on the pointer and a "V" on the ring finger using striping tape. I then added 2 coats of Barry M Navy to all fingers and removed the tape. I added some small black rhinestones (purchased from Born Pretty Store) to the accent nails and topped with a coat of Essie Good to Go.

Shocking Seas leans to the chalky side but is fairly easy to work with. Hottie is a gorgeous light blue jelly with small hex pink and blue glitters and fine sparkles. It's so lovely. Barry M Navy is my go-to deep blue. Super easy to work with and such a stunning shade.

I loved this mani, it was so fun to do and I got so many compliments on it.

I'm really looking forward to coming up with ideas for this series, although I won't be posting any for a few weeks as we're off on holiday soon (woohoo!!!!).

Two-tone Textured

Hi all,

Apologies for the lack of posts, we've had so much going on recently but I'll be doing a couple of posts today to catch up.

So, as you all know I loved the Barry M textured mint mani I did a few weeks ago so I bought the pink one from the range too. In all honesty, I didn't love the the pink as much as the mint and I knew as soon as I'd painted my first nail. So I decided to introduce the mint and made the mani two-tone.

For the accent nails I did a diagonal stripe of silver glitter, topped with Essie Good to Go to smooth it out, taped over it and then painted the pink and mint on either side, then removed the tape.

Here's a closer look at an accent nail.

I didn't love this mani but it was cute for a couple of days.