Taras Talons Order

Hey! Im a day late with this post. Sorry!

A few weeks ago you may know that indie polish maker Tara of Taras Talons had a sale on. Now, this is a brand I have been following on social media for a long time, however I have this little rule with myself that I will never buy a brand for the first time at full price... just in case!! So, of course I had to take advantage of this and buy a few to try.

I ended up with 6 of her polishes and this week I have managed to try out 3: 'Ol' Blue Eyes', 'Candy' and 'Fairy'.

First up was 'Ol' Blue Eyes'. As soon as I opened the parcels I needed to try this out! I am a sucker for a good blue polish and I found instant love with this polish!! It applied smoothly, opaque in two thin coats, is the most amazing electric blue AND it has a beautiful holo shimmer. 

Next I tried out 'Candy'. I loved this in the bottle and it applied well, again opaque in two coats which is great for such a light shade. However something about this polish didn't really do it for me. I think I expected some bigger pieces of glitter in there. I have nothing bad to say about the polish, it's just not a winner for me.

Finally we have 'Fairy'. Again, great application, becoming opaque in two coats. I didn't have to do much fishing for glitter in this which was good, though I did give it a good shake beforehand! This is another polish I really loved and can see myself getting a lot of wear from.

I did do some art over two of these polishes, but this post is going on a bit now so they can wait for another day! Or they are both already on Instagram if you want to check them out @nailsmustbepainted :) 

Bedazzled

Hey!

Way back in November I bought a 2-pack of Rimmel glitter polishes. Up until now I still haven't got around to trying them out, so this week I decided that whatever I did with my nails I had to use one of them! So that's what I did!

I'm really pleased with how these turned out actually. :)

I used Barry M Black as a base on my index and middle fingers, followed by two coats of Rimmel 'Bedazzle'. I really like the colours in this glitter! I tried to match the other polish as closely as I could to the pink glitter, so I ended up using a really old unnamed pink polish by the sports brand 'Animal'.

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

It's Christmassss!!

Hello!
So I know I said I would only be posting one photo per post, but as I am just restarting I wanted to show you some of the Christmas mani's I have painted this year! So this post will have several different mani's and several pictures!

I hand-painted these Christmas trees today, and these are the nails I will have for Christmas day.

I used Barry M 'Matte White' as a base colour, Revlon 'Rainforest' and Sinful Colours 'Kissy' for the Christmas trees and Ciaté 'Chinchilla' to add a bit of shading in the snow around the trees. I also sponged on some unnamed grey holo from Wonderful and Strange Nails, to add a bit of sparkle.

Next I have these adorable little penguins! I love these little guys, they are so cute!

I used Barry M 'Black Multiglitter' for the background, Barry M 'Matte White' for the tummies and eyes and NCLA 'I Only Fly Private' for the feet and beak.

I also painted some Christmas lights on my nails. These were very popular with my colleagues and my mum loved them too, although I wasn't too happy with the black lines.

I used W7 Gel polishes for the white background and the black line. Once these were set I then used Illamasqua 'Aorta' (Red) and 'Rare' (Yellow), Sally Hansen 'Pacific Blue' and 'Kiwi Bikini' (Green), and a small nail art brush to paint on the light bulbs.

Earlier in the month I had another Christmas tree mani. This is much more abstract, a dotticure tree!

I used Revlon 'Rainforest' as the green, Color Club 'Barely There' for the nude and Barry M 'Starlight' for the stars and glitter.

This was my first mani of December, so not too Christmassy! I went with more of a wintery, sweater look. I have no idea what polishes I used for this, it's too long ago to remember, sorry! I do know that the stickers were from last years Ciaté advent calendar.

Finally, I have this Rudolf mani, which I painted for my mum (Hence the awkward hand pose and misshapen nails!!). I used all gel polishes to do this. We mostly have W7 gels, but I know the Red is by OPI.

Valentines Hearts

I painted these a few days ago, in the run up to Valentines day.
They are very cutesy and girly, not really my usual style of nails but I quite like them!

I used all Ciaté polishes for this skittlette design. 

The base colour is Strawberry Milkshake, which is one of my favourite pink polishes. I then used Serendipity to create a glitter accent nail and I stamped the heart pattern with Kiss Chase and MoYou London Mother Nature plate 01.

They are definitely girly-girl nails, which I am, but I very rarely show this side of me on my nails! 

31DC:Green/Yellow

Today's prompt was three shades of green/yellow.

I sort of made these up as I went. I don't love how they turned out, but they're ok!

I used two shades of green to create a saran wrap background: Ciaté headliner, and Essence That's What I Mint! I then added a green and blue glitter 'Mosaic Nail Varnish' by Pretty and stamped leaves over the top with Revlon Buttercup and Born Pretty Store stamping plate BP-19.

Remember, you can get 10% of this stamping plate and many more with the code: EHG10.

Check out the other girls designs':

Day 14: Holo

I don't own many holo polishes. I think this may even be the only one, and I kind of think of it as more of a topcoat than a polish. Hence, this prompt was tricky for me.
Plus with meetings at work this evening, I have been short on time so I apologize for this post being rather boring!

Although simple, I do quite like this. I used a few coats of Ciaté Unrestricted Glam, then painted over it in this grey holo indie topcoat by Wonderful and Strange Nails. On my ring finger I stamped at few simple stars using Ciaté Sand Dune and Plate MLS301 from Born Pretty Store.

Remember, you can get a 10% discount at Born Pretty Store using the code: EHG10.

I took this blurred picture in an attempt to show the real-life sparkly-ness and all the beautiful colours in there!

Everybody else's photos are much more interesting than mine today, so go check them out!

31DC: Inspired by Pinterest

Today I chose this image to recreate from Pinterest, by blogger Alina Pinuccia.

I love the happiness of it! It's summery and pretty without being too much!

I used Essence That's What I Mint!, Ciaté Celestial, George Natural White and Colour Couture Yellow, I'm not sure what the name is!

31DC: Glitter Base

Today I have done a glitter base with even more glitter on top!
I absolutely love how it turned out, shame the pictures don't really do it justice.

I used three polishes from my Ciaté Mini Mani Manor to do this: Silhouette, the dark burgundy base, Candy Cane, the pink glitter and Celestial, the silver glitter. 

I sponged the glitters on to create the gradient effect.

I literally can't stop looking at them and moving them around to see how they sparkle!

Check out everyone else's glittery goodness:

31DC: Half and Half

Half and half is the prompt today.

I kept it pretty simple, opting for two similar colours with contrasting finishes: porcelain and glitter!

These are both Ciaté; Sweet Pea from the Dolls House Collection and Gleam Dream, a green and silver loose glitter. 

This mani really reminds me of the sea. The colour is a very sea-green colour and the glitter creates a reflective water-like effect.

I can't stop looking at it shimmering!!

31DC: Tape Mani

The prompt for day 2 is 'tape mani'.
I do love tape nail art, but very rarely have success doing them myself. However, I think today's was one of my more successful attempts and I really like how it turned out. :)

I used two Colour Couture polishes, which I got as part of a Christmas present: Girls Just Want to Have Fun and Are You Afraid of the Dark?.

I love the black polish, it has the perfect hint of gold shimmer.

Happy New Year

Just a very quick post today to say Happy New Year to all my followers! :)
And thankyou all for your support and kind words in 2014! Best Wishes for 2015.

Oh, and here is a quick shot of my New Year nails. :)

I used Colour Couture Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Barry M Starlight and Ciaté Sand Dune.

Catch-Up: Christmas / New Year Nails

The second post in my catch-up series will show you a few extra Christmas nails I painted, plus some which were not originally intended for New Year, but would work well.

First up, the Christmas nails:

This nail art is based on the film Polar Express, My index finger shows the bell from the movie, my middle finger represents the present Santa leaves for the little boy. My ring finger is supposed to show the train ticket, which has the word 'Believe' punched into it by the conductor.

I used Sinful Colors Blue by You, Sinful Colors Cool Gray, Sinful Colours Nirvana, the gold is an unnamed PS by Primark polish, Rimmel Red, Steady, Go!, La Femme Ultra Green and Barry M Black.

This picture was posted on my Instagram, however I never took any camera pics to add it to my blog, hence why it never made it here. I didn't think it was particularly good, however it ended up being one of my most liked Instagram photos ever! 

I used Sally Hansen Cosmic blue as the background, George Natural White for the moon and painted the details in Black acrylic paint.

Another Instagram pic. These were my Christmas day nails. I didn't have much time for blogging over Christmas, however I did still paint my nails and Instagram is much quicker to use!

I used a red Models Own polish and a Red Models Own Glitter for this, which I don't know the names of as they belonged to my mum! I also used Ciaté Fit for a Queen for my ring finger and I created a stamping decal for the flower.

Now for the New Year Nail inspiration!

I wore this for Christmas eve. I really love it, however that glitter placement took such a long time, And it is pretty messy compared to others I have seen! The black is Ciaté Unrestricted glam and the glitter pieces are from Born Pretty Store.

I painted these ages ago and at the time loved them. I'm not really sure why they were never posted. I used Barry M Black and Rimmel Space Dust in Aurora,

These I painted on my sisters nails. She saw my nails in the above picture and wanted something similar using the Rimmel Space Dust. This is what we came up with! Sorry, I'm not sure what other polishes were used, these are from July so I don't remember! Again, excuse the poor quality phone picture. 

Catch-Up: Swatches

Over the past year there have been many times I have done my nails, photographed them, edited pictures then for whatever reason, not put them up here on this blog.
I want a fresh start in the new year, not to be uploading old pictures! So today I have a series of 3 posts where I am going to show you some of the nail art that never quite made it, for various reasons!

This first post is going to show you four swatches that never quite made it:

I love this picture and the polish (Make up Gallery, Scarlett Sparkle) is one of my favourites. It is a beautiful raspberry coloured gelly with tiny pieces of glitter. I would recommend anybody to go buy this! I love it so much!

This was never posted simply due to lack of time! Such a shame as it is so gorgeous!

This second swatch is H&M Blue Bliss, which is a glitter topcoat in a very pale blue gelly. I swatched this over lilac, blue, grey and black, though I don't remember what the polishes were! This picture was taken back in August, hence the pointed nails and I honestly don't think I have used the polish since, it didn't make a good first impression!

This third picture shows you Ciaté Baby Doll, which is actually a pastel pink, not orange as the poor photography appears, hence why this was never posted. Oh and no, I don't have green fingers either! Also, all my nails are different lengths and shapes. What was I thinking?!

The polish has a lovely matte 'porcelain' finish, however it chipped off within hours.

Finally, another that I love. This is an unnamed PS by Primark polish. It is a beautiful dark pink and gold textured holo polish. It is truly beautiful and the colours change completely in different lights.

This was also not posted due to poor photography, however I managed to find this one awkward looking, but salvageable picture.

12 Days of Christmas: Presents

For today's prompt, Presents, I decided to make my nails into presents, rather than just painting presents onto my nails!

I painted them using Make Up Gallery Scarlett Sparkle, which is one of my very favourite polishes!

Then I cut out little pieces of silver ribbon and stuck them onto my nail using clear polish, to create the look of a pretty wrapped present! 

Super simple, but I quite like how these turned out! 

See more entries for this prompt:

An InLinkz Link-up

12 Days of Christmas: Ugly Sweater

The prompt for today was 'Ugly Sweater Nails'.
I had what I thought were the perfect water decals for these nails, but unfortunately it didn't go quite to plan!

I have used water decals plenty of times before, I know what I am doing with them, but these just would not work. It seems that the plastic they are printed onto is way too thick for this purpose. Even after soaking in hot water the plastic remained rigid and wouldn't adhere to the nail the way decals usually do. I ended up covering the nail in topcoat and sticking the plastic to that. Even then I had problems getting the image to lay flat as the plastic was too rigid and I could feel them sitting on top of my nail, which isn't usually the case with decals. (The image below shows how bad this was!)

It's a shame as I have never has a 'bad' product from Born Pretty Store before, but these were so disappointing and I was so looking forward to using them!

Urgh, look at how bad those decals are! Not nice!

The base polish I used was Ciaté Cupcake queen, topped with Ciaté Candy Cane glitter. I love these two polishes together!

See the other, more successful entries for this challenge:

An InLinkz Link-up

12 Days of Christmas: Glitter

Today the prompt for the 12 Days of Christmas challenge was Glitter!

I may have gone a little overboard with this, but I love it!

I used two Ciaté loose glitters from my Mini Mani Manor: Let it Snow and Slumber Party.

I used a wet brush to put them onto my nails and create a gradient effect.

I love how these turned out, so christmassy! The glitter is lasting really well too, I have been wearing this mani for two days now and there is only a small amount of tip wear.

Doesn't it look even more beautiful when blurred!!

An InLinkz Link-up

12 Days of Christmas: Decorations

Yay, a prompt that is not colour based!! Today it is decorations.
On my tree I have lots of delicate, cut-out decorations, so I chose to base my mani on a particular one of these.

I'm really pleased with how these candles turned out, though the ribbon leaves a little to be desired!

I used a tiny detail brush and a whole load of Ciaté polishes: Strawberry Milkshake, Silhouette, Fit for a Queen, Velvet Tuxedo, Encore! and Big Yellow Taxi. I also used OPI AmazON... AmazOFF for the leaves.

You can see the other entries to this challenge here:

An InLinkz Link-up

12 Days of Christmas: The Song

Today the prompt for the 12 days of Christmas challenge was the '12 Days of Christmas' song.

I have kept it quite simple and chosen the line '2 Turtle Doves'.

I started with two coats of Ciaté Mineral Clarity, which is such a gorgeous deep blue glittery texture polish. I then stamped the doves using George Natural White and this cute stamping plate from Born Pretty Store.

The doves don't stand out quite as much as I might have liked. The George white polish is not the best for stamping, but my favourite Barry M Matte White has thickened too much to use. I desperately need some polish thinner!

An InLinkz Link-up

12 Days of Christmas: Blue and White

The promp for today was 'Icy Blue and White'.
I felt a bit lost for what to do with this prompt, I much prefer the more structured prompts!

I went for a simple sponged white to blue gradient using George Natural White, Revlon Blue Lagoon and Make Up Gallery Sky Blue.

On my index finger I used a blue Barry M crackle polish followed by MUA Luna, the pretty glitter.

Finally, I added a little bow stud from Born Pretty Store on my ring finger. I think it finishes off the look nicely.

Overall, I'm not too sure about this. I didn't really have a direction when I started, I just made it up as I went and I think you can tell that.

Check out the other entries:

An InLinkz Link-up