Laid-Back 31DC Day 12, Tape

This is a short and a late post, sorry, I did an 11hr shift at work yesterday and was too tired to anything but go to sleep and tonight I'm for aiming for a bath and and an early night so I haven't been as creative as I was planning to be with this mani.

I've used tape a few times and Love the effect it gives. I used Boots 17 Holographic as my base. I wanted to give this polish another try as the first time I used it I wasn't too sure. I have to say I like how it looks with the black and in some lights my nails look like they have Lazar beams on them! ha ha.

Laid-Back 31DC Day 11, Splatter

Today is Mothers days and I'm back home visiting my mum and I've managed to rope my sister Ellie into helping me do today's challenge!

First things first was deciding on the colours to use. There was no way I was able to bring my growing collection so I've used Ellies polish and we both agreed on the follow three polishes, Nails Inc Elizabeth's street, Barry M Nail Paint in Indigo and Barry Ms Nail Paint in Mint Green.

Second task was to find a good tutorial on Youtube because neither of us had done this technique before. We found Graffiti Splatter Nail Art Tutorial by Rainkeroro to very helpful and easy to follow.

This technique was very fun to do but frustrating when the polish wouldn't splatter or worst when it did but your aim was off and you missed the nail you wanted and just end up splattered the paper underneath! It took us about 20 mins to both hands because it was had to get the polish to splatter and to aim on target!

 

Laid-Back 31DC Day 10, Geometric

So the official meaning of Geometric is "A design characterised by or decorated with regular lines and shapes."

I've recreated a design I found nuthinbutanailthing This blog is amazing, her work is wonderful.

I don't have steady hands so this challenge had me worried for days :( In the end I gave it a go and I'm not that disappointed with the results until I looked at the photos and it just highlights how wobbly my hands are. I must practise straight lines and invest in a dedicated nail desk?!

Laid-Back 31DC Day 9, Saran wrap

I must admit I did have to google saran wrap to discover what it was and google said "cling film, Saran Wrap (a thin plastic film made of saran (trade name Saran Wrap) that sticks to itself; used for wrapping food)" Ok so being from the UK it's cling firm, but how was I to use it on my nails?  Another question when to google followed my an image search and wow lots of great nail designs and everyone says is quick and easy!

I have to say it was fast and easy and I like the results :) I think next time I'll think more about the colour combinations, I can see this being a fast design for work nails or when I can;t choose what what colour to use.

My favourite colour combo for today is the red and black, whats yours?

I've used Models Own Red Alert, NP019, Models Own Snow White, NP042 and Models Own Dream Stream NP124  and then Models Own Pro Jacks Black  014.

Laid-Back 31DC Day 8, Holo

Laid-Back 31DC Day 8, Chrome, Flakie or Holo

I had to check my collection to see if I owed any of these three and well I didn't so this ment a quick shopping trip. I have to say it wasn't very successful trip after visiting three stores I'd still not found what I was looking for until I went into a large Boots store and so this little beauty.

Its Boots own label, 17 and the bottle has a little blue stick 'just in'  and it was under £3 so overall it was a win win :)

It went on well and brush it nice and flat but it does have a rather strong smell to it. I have to confess that I don't have a very good sense of smell and even I could smell it, the boyfriend wasn't very subtle about the smell and even asked if he could light a candle to mask the smell!!

This polish is OK, it hasn't blown me away and it hasn't made me want to by any more Halo polish. I was hoping and expecting super shiny, multi-tonal colours, high gloss finish and nails so interesting that I wouldn't be able to stop looking at them - this just didn't happened.

Laid-Back 31DC Day 7, Ombre or Skittle

I can't blend, ombre or fade. No matter how much I've tried I just can't seam to get it right. So with today's challenge I went for the obvious and did Skittles, as in the sweets. the yummy bright coloured sweets that makes your tongue change colour after a while :)

I used the image on the front of the package, the rainbow mainly for the colours on my nails. It's was only once I'd painted and just about to take photo's I've realised that you don't get blue skittles in the Crazy Sours collection.

 

What I've used:
Modles Own Red Alert, NP019
MissGuided Splash
Rimmel Lasting Finish, 280 Sunshine
Chit Chat, Green
Modles Own Feeling Blue, NP031
and a White nail art pen

 

Laid-Back 31DC Day 6, Favourite colour family

Day 6 in the laid back nail challenge is upon us and so far I'm really enjoying it! This relax pace suits me down the ground! Its a manageable work load but still applies a small amount of pressure to ensue I do them all :)

For this challenge I selected pastels, sadly not 'fruit pastles' but maybe that's an idea for a future mani?!

I've used Models Own Beth's Blue, Lemon Meringue, Jade Stone,  Lilac Dream and an unlabelled / unnamed Models Own (which is peachy nude) then I've used my matte effect top coat from Rimmel. All five colours look great as they are but to be honest I much prefer them when matte. They remind me of chalk the kinda chunky chalk you'd get in a school or nursery.   my camera has given them a slight sheen, I'm guessing because the nail surface is smooth but in real life the top coat really does what it say on the tin (bottle)

 

 

Laid-Back 31DC Day 5, Purple

Day 5, Purple

Just a short post today.

I've used Models Own Purple Imperial, NP131 It reminds me so very much of the purple from Cadburys chocolate, don't you think?

I thought it needed a little something on it, so on went the glequins! At first I did one line, which looked OK but I needed more so I finished the entire nail :) I think I'm falling for these glequins.

 

 

Laid-Back 31DC Day 4, Pink

Pink is not favourite of mine but after look at my collection I do own a few bottles, mainly brights, and neon's. I'm not brave enough to have all my nails painted with hot pink neon so used my softest pink and tried to make it pearly and interesting.

I've used Models Own Utopia, NP064 as the main base colour. Then added Models Own Pearly Queen, NP071 to bring out more of the pink tones. Pearly Queen is so interesting and catches the light so much it makes my nails shine in sunlight.

I used used Utopia on my ring finger and added 4 pink hearts down the middle. These hearts are super cute and they have the same shimmer, pearly effect and I think they work really well together,

I didn't have enough sunlight to show you in a photo just how much my nails shimmered, you're just gonna have to take my word for it :)

 

 

Laid-Back 31DC Day 3, Gold

When today's theme of gold came up I knew just what I wanted to do!

I have Gold finger by Shirly Bassey in the opening scenes in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger playing over and over in my head. As it's close to valentines day this is my nod to love.

I've used No7 Stay Perfect, Hot to trot, 360. This is such a lovely gold polish, it shimmers and sparkles in the light, it's not brassy, it has not yellow undertones, it does look tacky it's just perfect. can you tell I'm a fan :)

I used a Sharpie Fine point marker to draw on the hearts. Sharpie markers are great for doing this kinda work on nails. They go on smoothly, they don't smudge and stay put with a layer of top coat.

Laid-Back 31DC Day 2, Silver

Silver is the name of the game.

I only own 1 silver polish, I have a few silver glitters but I'm in no hurry to use any glitter polish an time soon.

This is a quick design which I wore to work and I kept getting asked how it was done. I forget that not everyone subscribes to tones of nail blogs that fill up their inbox everyday with new designs, ideas, reviews or swatches for new polish :)

I've used Models Own Snow White, NP042 and Models Own Sterling Silver, NP046 and tape to create the deep V shape on the nails. My original plan was to be more creative with the tape and a Chevron effect but as was done in the evening I wasn't about to start stressing over tape.

Hopefully this simple one pointed design is still OK.

 

 

Opps sorry this is a few days late, I though I'd worked out how to schedule, but nope, I had it on pause :)

Laid-Back 31DC Day 1, Black and White

Day one in a new challenge is Black and White.

I didn't have any ideas where to start with this challenge. I was at a lost for inspiration so I had to ask the boyfriend. I told him the theme and asked for the first few 'things' that came into his mind. I got Penguin, Newspaper and Domino's. Domino was the clear winner.

I've used Models Own Pro, Jacks Black PRO014 as my base. The Pro range are all '3-Free' polish – which means it's friendly to both you and the environment. Then with a white nail art pen and it's striper brush swiped down the middle and used the pen section to create the dots. It's only once I'd done all the lines I thought the line created by the striper brush was to wide and bold and I should have used either a thinner brush or used the pen section. The same goes for the dots instead of using the pen I think a cleaner dot would have been made by a dotting tool (oh the irony! lol)

So what I've learnt on day one. If you have a tool that is designed for dotting - USE IT. and when you need to create a subtle line a standard striper brush is just not gonna do the job. Must remember to do a 'test run' of the design on paper first. I wasn't gonna re-do my nails I will just have to learn from this.

Coco a-go go

During a trip into town I popped into £1 shop for some essentials. I scanned the beauty section and look what caught my eye, this Sally Hansen Instra-Dri, Coco a-go go. for only £1 I was very happy to give it a try. I've never used any Sally Hansen products before so I didn't know what to expect.

This polish defiantly keeps to it's name and has a fast drying time. I did one coat waited 30 seconds or so and was happy to do another straight after! The whole painting time was only 5 mins.base layer of Rimmels 5-1 Nail treat, Two coats of Coco a-go go and then finished of with a top coat of Rimmels 5-1 Nail treat.

The wand and brush is thinner and flatter than other polishes I've used which took a little time to get used to so, I decided to test the polish on paper before starting on my nails, I'm glad I did this as it really helped to get accustomed to the weight and the angle of the brush.

The Colour is beautiful, copper bronze with a shimmer of subtle gold. I wish I has some gold or even black studs to ad to this mani as although I love the colour I do think it needs a little something extra.

  

Winter blues

So the UK has been hit hard with lots of snow. I hate driving in the snow but you have to admit it does look so nice and magical. We had so much snow my garden gnome makes an appearance, looking good Mr Gnome!

In honour of the snow I've done a snow/winter theme on my nails. I had started with the idea of stamping snowflakes but I just could not get the hang of stamping. This I feel will have to be project for the future to keep practising.

I used some new polish I was given at Christmas. La Femme Beauty, Aqua blue for the base. This is a clean sky blue colour. a little runny but covers well in three coats. I used two coats to create a thin light blue colour. Using an old sponge I added Barielle, Going to the chapel onto the tips for a frost effect. To finish it off I layered La Femme Beauty, Silver glitter over the top to act like snow.

My left hand pointer finger got smudged as I was reaching for my hot chocolate, which was soo very yummy! I was so annoyed with myself, freshly painted nails rule one: Don't move to touch anything for 10 minuets! I think though its not too noticeable so I haven't taken it off, but it does look a bit strange.

 

 

New start, naked nails

Ooops it's be been nearly 6 weeks since I last posted something. Wow Christmas and work really did get in the way!! I had hoped to post a few Christmas themed nails but since it's mid January it's not acceptable so I'll keep them safe and try again next year.

I now have no valid reason for not post regularly other than laziness or not being planned enough so here to being pro active, forward planning and just being on top of it all :)

As I enjoy painting my nails I do tend to change the polish nearly everyday and strong and stain free can be a bit of a challenge. In the spirit of new starts and clean slates here are my naked nails *gasps*  I don't very often have no art art or no colour on them so they really do feel naked!

It is only once I've taken the photo and the day light had faded I've realised I'd not done a very good job with the clean up, a few bits of blue polish on my cuticles and strange blue ring under my smile line, must have had polish underneath the nail with out knowing it ( tut tut ).

I don't like the feel of moisturiser on my hands so I don't moisturise as often as I should, I try to remember to use cuticle oil which I find with as all the polish remover I go though really does help. I also do however use a scrub on my hands and I find this combination of scrub and cuticle oil is all my hands and nails need.

Using a 4 way buffer is another tool I regularly use and this helps to smooth and even out the surface of the nail plate and then using the buffer to bring out the shine shine and gloss which I assume is from all the oil I use.

My pinkie and ring both have 'white bruises' from when ..... well to be honest I'm not entirely show when but I was just a bit trough ruff taking of a glitter polish that I just rubbed, scrubbed and hacked at when taking it off. Have I mentioned how must I hate taking glitter polish off. It's stopped me buying any more glitter polish until I've tried and tested the PVA Glue method.

So you've seen my naked and bare nails, next post I'll have polish on and the journey can begin (again)

x