NYE Nails

Hi!

Over Christmas I received a few random nail polishes as gifts. Usually I get much more than this, but lots of people told me they didn't know what I already had to get me any! 

I got 2 Cien polishes in 'Raspberry Glitter' and 'Metallic Rose', from Lidl. I tried these out and was surprised how good they were, especially for stamping with.

I also got Barry M 'Silver Foil Effects', George Gel Pro in 'Nude Pink' and an unnamed pink polish by High Brow, which I think came from B&M.

So, for my New Year nails, of course I had to use some of the new polishes:

They are not very New Year themed, but I like how they turned out. They are pretty, girly and glittery whilst still being simple and subtle.

I used George 'Nude Pink' as the base colour and Cien 'Raspberry Glitter' on my ring finger and to stamp on my index and middle fingers.

Hope you like these! xx

31DC: Blobbicure

Before today I didn't know what a blobbicure was!
But I spent a few minutes on Google and soon realised I really didn't like them! Haha!

I needed to find a way to make a blobbicure I actually liked. At least vaguely!

So I made a Girafficure!! :P

I love how my ring and little fingers turned out, but not so much my middle and index fingers! The blobs on those are too far apart.

I used Revlon Buttercup and Revlon Tradewinds.

Check out the other blobbicures:

31DC: Tranquility

Initially I was a bit stuck for this prompt. I asked my boyfriend and he immediately thought of Buddha, so that's what I went with!

I painted a lotus flower on my middle finger and attempted a Buddha on my ring finger, though he  ended up looking rather like a monkey!!

I used Revlon Trade Winds as my base colour (This is rapidly becoming one of my most used polishes!) and created a Saran Wrap mani with Essence Thats What I Mint!. I thought these were very natural colours which created a calm, tranquil feel. I then painted the details with brown acrylic paint.

Apart from Buddha looking like a monkey, I quite like the overall look of these. 

Check out the other entries:

31DC: Reversed Polarities

As soon as I saw this prompt an idea popped to mind.
I have since found out that this was not what the prompt actually meant, but I did it anyway! :)

I'm not crazy on how it turned out. It's kinda messy, and the colours make me think of mud! (I suppose the polish is called Mudslide Tote for a reason!!). It's probably my least favourite mani of this challenge so far. 

I used Maybelline Mudslide Tote and Revlon Trade Winds to create this reverse gradient.

Have a look at the other, much better entries below!

Review: Wonderful and Strange Nail Lacquer

A few weeks ago now a page called Wonderful and Strange Nails liked a photo of mine on Instagram (@nailsmustbepainted). I visited their IG (@wonderfulandstrangenails) and realised they made Indie Polishes.

At the time I had been considering buying some indies for a while. However, there is not a huge number of indie polish brands in the UK and I was struggling to find one selling polishes I loved.

Not anymore! Straight away I knew I was going to love the brand, so I visited their website and soon bought two polishes to try out! Doll Parts and Neon Nude.

This is Doll Parts. A beautiful pale blue base with neon pink, dark blue and white glitter pieces.

I am so in love with this polish! Apparently the name is very relevant too... I showed this to my bf, who didn't know the name of the polish and he said it made him think of children's toys!

I applied four thin coats of polish for opacity, although one coat would look great layered over a white or pastel blue polish. The glitter pieces spread themselves out nicely, without too much persuasion!!

Next up is Neon Nude:

The colours of this polish are pretty amazing too! It is a slightly off white/cream base colour with neon green, yellow and orange glitter pieces. 

 I have to admit, after using Doll Parts first I had high expectations for this polish.

Although I still really like it, I was slightly disappointed in comparison. This polish was much thinner than Doll Parts. The pictures were taken after 4 coats and you can see it is still not fully opaque. This polish was also a little bit more difficult to apply, with a patchy finish.

However, I love the glitter and will definitely still wear this polish, I will just be sure to wear a white/nude base underneath next time!

Overall, I was very impressed with these polishes, especially considering they were only £3 each.

Delivery was speedy and they arrived in a super cute packaging which brightened my day! :)

I have to tell you, I have already bought another polish from this brand as I was so impressed, so keep an eye out for swatches of that soon. I'm waiting for a sunny day as it's a super glittery holo!

Now, everybody go check out my new favourite polish brand here! :D

Disney Nails: Minnie Mouse

This weeks Llama Nails theme is Disney.
Disney is my all time favourite film genre!! I know, I'm sad!

 I have chosen to paint Minnie Mouse on my nails today. Though I have to admit I have another  Disney mani coming tomorrow!
I know she doesn't feature in many Disney films nowadays, but in the past she has been in lots!

I used Essence Do You Speak Love? for the ring finger, thumb and the dots, Ciaté Amazing Gracie for the middle and pinky fingers and an unnamed nude Revlon for the index finger, with details painted using Barry M Black.

I really like these. Themed, without being too much for a change!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Harry Potter Nail Art

This week the theme for the Llama Nails Movie/Book Challenge is Mystery.
Again, this was a difficult one for me to think of a film for, so I turned to IMDB's top 50 Mystery films.

Harry Potter is not a film I would consider a mystery, but at least 4 of the films were in the top 50 mystery films, so I just went with it!! My mani is based around the Deathly Hallows films.

I'm really pleased with how these turned out! Particularly the round gradient!

I started with a base of a Nude Unnamed Revlon polish, over which I sponged a circular gradient of the same nude polish and Sally Hansen Kiwi Bikini. I was trying to recreate that eerie green Voldemort glow!!

 I then used Barry M Black and a thin paintbrush to paint the symbol of the Deathly Hallows and the Dark Mark on my ring and index fingers. On my middle finger I painted Harry's lightening bolt scar using Rimmel Sunny Days and outlined in Barry M Black. I then used a Jess Matte Topcoat on all but the lightning bolt, to make it stand out.

I enjoyed using the box as a photo prop way too much with this mani!! I don't know how I never thought of it before, as I have many of the films I have based my mani's on for this challenge on DVD!

An InLinkz Link-up

MNDA Ice Bucket Nail Art

I'm sure everybody has seen an Ice Bucket Challenge, if you have not participated yourself!
This is to raise awareness of ALS, or MND, as it is known here in the UK.

A few days ago I was nominated to take part!
So, alongside doing my ice bucket challenge and donating, I also painted my nails for the occasion with the MND Association logo!

I thought you might like a laugh, so here are a few pictures from my challenge too!

Simples: Splodging

I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front for the past few weeks, as I have been busy working a second job. But now I'm back. So, I've got a bit of catching up to do!

First is the SIMPLES challenge. Two weeks ago the theme for this was splodging mani's.
Splodging is something I have never tried before and didn't really expect to like, but I am actually quite pleased with how it turned out.

I used quite neutral colours for this mani. 1. Because I am quite big on colour co-ordination and hate using too contrasting colours together and 2. Because I plan on doing some nail art over this and don't want the background to be too distracting!

The polishes are all Ciaté: Amazing Gracie, Pillow Fight and Ivory Queen.

This was super easy to do and can create some quite nice effects.

Snakes on a Plane: Nail Fail

This week's prompt for the Llama Nails Challenge was B Movie.
The only B Movie I could think of was Snakes On A Plane! I know, I know, it's a horrendous film! But I couldn't think of any other B Movies!

This mani was as much of a fail as the film is!

My attempt at freehanding snakeskin didn't go too well! It looks more like fish scales!

For the base I used a combination of an unnamed Revlon Nude colour which I think is called Stormy, an unnamed Bronze No.17 polish and Barry M Dusky Mauve. I sponged the three colours on randomly creating a blotchy base. I used Barry M Black for the Accent Nail and Sinful Colors Cool Gray for the plane. I then used Black acrylic paint to paint the detail of the scales.

An InLinkz Link-up

Capuccino Roses

Yesterday I didn't have much time to do my nails, yet I wanted them to be pretty. I have used some Born Pretty water decals I've had sitting around for a while as a quick and easy solution!

The base colour is Rimmel Coralicious, with an unnamed Nude Revlon colour on my Index fingers, to match with the roses.

I wasn't sure about these decals. I think it's the colour that put me off. But I actually really like this mani!

They were super easy to put on, however as the roses were rounded on the edges I felt very limited as to where I could place them on my nails.

Here they are with slightly different lighting!

Fingerfood's Buffet: Oriental

This week's theme for the Fingerfood buffet challenge was oriental.

My boyfriend is a bit of a China enthusiast, so it had to be related as soon as I saw it! In fact, he helped me by painting the symbol on my right hand, which apparently means Cherry Blossom, hence why this is accompanied by some pink flowers on another finger.

On the other hand I had a slightly more adventurous idea... a dragon!

I'm not sure about this. My brush wasn't thin enough to get the lines as accurate or to get as much detail in as I would have liked. I still like the idea of it, and generally like how it turned out, I just wish I'd had a thinner brush. I feel this might be a mani I recreate sometime once I do have a thinner brush!

I used an unnamed Revlon polish as the base colour. In the bottle this looks like a nude colour, but on the nails it is a sort of soft gold. I used Rimmel Right Royal Red for the dragon and finished with a matte topcoat from Primark.

For the other hand I used the same base, the Chinese was done in acrylic paint and the flowers are stick on ones from Poundland.