GOT Polish Challenge: Free Choice

So for today's free choice mani, I decided to go for a galaxy design. I missed this theme in the Fingerfood Buffet recently and was a bit gutted because it's something I haven't done in aaaages and really want to get better at! I also had some much unloved, well over a year old Color Club polishes in mind to do this look with, perfect for the GOT. I'm not 100% pleased with the result, I was a little heavy-handed, but good effort and I'll try better next time ;) lol!
 

To achieve this mani I started with two coats of a rich black for the base. Once dry, I dabbed on some white patches using a sponge, mainly towards the centres of the nails. I then used a mix of pink, blue, yellow, green and orange shimmer polishes to sponge over the white areas randomly. I repeated that process twice to get a good show of colours. Next, I used a small dotting tool to add the white stars, lots of little ones around the black edges and a couple or three larger ones in the coloured areas. I added some starburst lines to the larger ones by dragging the dotting tool gently from the centre. Once those were throughly dry I went over with a super fine sparkly number and again with a clear topcoat to finish.

Next time I will be sure to use a pin for dotting on the smaller stars, because although I used a very small dotting tool, it was still too big to achieve the look I really wanted, especially when you have the touch of a midwife like me haha! Happy with how the shimmer polish worked to conjure up a cosmos feel and the fine glitter was a nice touch too.

Avon - Licorice, Color Club - Wing Fling, Daisy Does It, Fly With Me, Sparkle & Soar, Sky High, Natural Collection - Nail Tip Whitener, Sally Hansen - Silver Slingblade, Color Club - Topcoat, Small Dotting Tool, Sponge

Rebecca xxx

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TPC: Nude, Turquoise, Coral

Hello lovelies!

Apologies for my long absence, with the stress of work and a billion other things I just couldn't bring myself to worry about doing my nails. I've also used the time to re-evaluate the content of my blog and the kind of posts I want to do more/less of etc. I'll soon be off on my summer hols to relax and recharge for a couple of weeks, so I have a few random posts planned before bringing everything back up to speed on my return!

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So the TPC, I did this mani weeks ago and then didn't like it so it was shelved and I didn't get time to revisit the theme... Now I'm at the stage where I kinda like it, and as I've been lacking a bit on the posts front, decided I would share after all lol!

For this simple mani I started with two coats of nude for the base. I then took a small nail art brush and used the coral and turquoise to first draw out the two triangular shapes, then fill in. Filling in took three or four coats using the teeny brush. Once dry, I topcoated. Ordinarily I would have used tape for a mani like this but I just couldn't be faffed and to be honest, I quite like when you can tell it's hand painted :)

Still not sure about the colour combo though?! I like the sound of it in my head, very retro, but when I see them altogether in front of me... different story! Weird or what?! I think it might be the wrong nude... haha.

Nails Inc - George Street, Lisle Street, Royal Botanical Gardens, Color Club Topcoat, Avon Dual Tool

Rebecca xxx

An InLinkz Link-up

Fingerfood Theme Buffet: Cocktail Nails

Hope you've had a good weekend all!

Cocktail nails... There are many interpretations of this design theme and generally I have stuck to the original idea of three accent nails, those being the ones you hold your cocktail with. This time I felt like breaking the rules, going with a more literal take on the idea and taking my inspiration from a picture I found via google when searching 'cocktail art'...

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I kicked this off with two coats of a baby blue for the base. I then used a bit of bubble wrap dipped into the pink to splodge all over leaving a slight blue gap at the top. With more bubble wrap I splodged on the purple towards the tips. I then repeated with the pink wrap before taking a thin, pulled out piece of wrap to whip on a couple of extra blue splashes before topcoating. I did consider a black border and perhaps a dash of bright yellow on the ring finger but figured less would be more in this case!

I just loved that cocktail image I found and I'm really pleased with how these nails turned out. As well as reflecting my inspiration, they also reflect the rainy-sunny weather and my rainy-sunny mood this weekend, we're all mixed up together lol!

China Glaze, Too Yacht To Handle, You Drive Me Coconuts, Are You Jelly? Color Club - Topcoat, Bubble Wrap

Rebecca xxx

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Born Pretty Nail Foil Review

Apologies for not posting this week, I can confirm it was not my planner that let me down as I have actually done the nails lol, I just didn't post because work/training has been hectic this week!!!...

...On to the review of my Born Pretty foil! I must confess I was sent three items around six weeks ago now and misplaced them (after only using one) when re-jigging my nail room recently; luckily after a good hunt I found them again, lucky because I just love this product!

I chose to use the foil to create a gradient across my nails and it was so simple. First I painted my nails grey for a base, then once dry painted over with the foil glue from my nail tech kit (it's basically PVA). It has a sort of translucent blue finish when wet and goes clear once dry; once it is completely clear/dry, carefully place the foil as you want it and rub over thouroughly with a soft cloth. If you miss any bits fear not, just paint on some more glue and repeat then topcoat and that is that! 

How pretty is that?! I am so impressed! A beautiful rainbow gradient mani in minutes. I like this more than the sort of 'oil on water' one I have from the same kit as my glue. Under the topcoat they held up well to bumps and scrapes, and came off super easy with regular nail polish remover.

Barry M - Grey, Nail Foil Glue, Color Club - Topcoat, Born Pretty Store - Rainbow Nail Foil

You can get this beautiful bargain item HERE from the BPS website!

Rebecca xxx  

*the featured item was sent to me f.o.c for honest review*

*NEW* Barry M Boots Limited Editions & Matte Topcoat

Evening lovely, lovely people!

Whilst in Boots on Friday, I spotted the new limited editions and matte topcoat which weren't even supposed to be out yet! (June 4th is official release if I remember right) Result!... I quickly checked Superdrug for their ones but no luck... Can't have it all I suppose?! Hahaha... How cute are those lids?!

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This is two coats of Carousel, a deep orange creme with delicate gold shimmer. A little sticky to apply but gives a great finish. This would look fab with a tan!

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This is two coats of Bikini, a lush lilac creme which applied like a dream! The finish was so smooth and shiny, I love it!

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I then popped one coat of the Matte Topcoat over the lilac and I was very impressed! Dried super fast and had such a smooth, soft-touch finish. Truly matte. If you've used the Rimmel one like me, this beats it hands down!

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Really happy with these finds! Not only did I get my hands on them early, I also love them! The matte topcoat will no doubt be my go-to from now on and I like the fact it differs from the finish on their matte colours. I can't tell you enough how lovely the purple is, both colour and formula!... And I even like the orange, a colour I hate! Go Bazza!

 Barry M - Carousel, Bikini, Matte Topcoat

As soon as I find the Superdrug one's, they will be here!

Rebecca xxx

Fingerfood Theme Buffet: Under The Sea

Well so much for my dedicated nail day yesterday, turned out to be more of a catching up on chores day as I have to go out to a friends dinner thing today... a stressful week of work and blogging into the nights is ahead of me I think! Blah! On the plus side I did get to do these under the sea nails and they really make me smile, took a little time to do but I totally disappeared into my own little world whilst painting away and I sooo needed that bit of escape...

I'll try to keep this 'how to' bit as simple as possible; started with two coats of the pale blue followed by one of the Sally Hansen sparkly number. Once dry I dipped a paintbrush into a tiny bit of white acrylic paint, then dipped that into water and dropped the liquid into several blobs on each nail (repeating the dipping process as necessary). I left for a few minutes and then dabbed off any remaining spots of water to create the bubble effect. Next I used the pink, green and orange polish to paint on my little sea creatures using a similar brush. Once they dried I used a dotting tool to add the whites of the eyes, again in polish, and finished up by adding the pupils with the nail art pen and topcoating.

I'm so pleased with how these turned out, super cute! Partly inspired by a mani I saw from Arcadia Nail Art. Although the process was quite bitty in theory and I used a heap of different products, it was simple enough in practice and totally enjoyable... Bring on the beach!

Barry M - Blue Moon, Sally Hansen - Mermaid's Tail, China Glaze - Bottoms Up, Grass is Lime Greener, Sun Of A Peach, Natural Collection - Nail Tip Whitener, Color Club - Topcoat, White Acrylic Paint, Black Nail Art Pen, Large Dotting Tool, Paint Brush

Rebecca xxx

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