I opened a box of posh teabags yesterday (Pukka mint and matcha if you want to know) and loved the pretty design inside the box. Straight away I wanted to replicate it on my nails.
I started with a base of Barry M Golden Sands, the pretty creamy nude Boots limited edition with a bit of sparkle.
I then stamped over this with Barry M Satsuma and MoYou London Flower Power 06. I added topcoat a couple of minutes too early, which slightly smudged a couple of the nails, boo! Still, it's not massively visible.
I really like the overall end result.
What do you think?
I know I do freehand roses quite often, but I really do love doing these!
This is a base of Barry M Sugar Plum. I then freehanded the flowers using Barry M Cotton, Blood Orange and Pink Lemonade, and the leaves using MoYou London Key Lime and Spring Green.
I was really annoyed with myself for topcoating these slightly too early, which made the design bleed a bit. But when I actually looked properly, it doesn't really show, so it's not as frustrating as I thought.
And just to prove that I do always do my right hand as well - here you go, with my awkward right hand pose and my less neat cuticles!
Today I wanted something vaguely spring-like. I ended up going with these blue and yellow floral stamped nails.
The base is two coats of Jacava Justice Walk, a pretty slatey grey-blue with a great formula.
I then stamped using MoYou London Bahamas Punch, and a Bundle Monster plate, the Lucy's Stash blogger plate BM-XL209.
I added topcoat for extra shine. I really like how these turned out!
Sorry for the lack of posts - I've been on holiday! I thought I'd set these blue nails to post while I was off, but apparently not, so here they are now.
This is another of my Bow Thermo Topcoats (I bought 5 of them). I started with two coats of this. It dries to a pretty matte finish, with a subtle sparkle.
This polish goes from a translucent blueish white when warm to a deep blue when cold.
I then stamped over this using Barry M Blue Grape, and a MoYou London plate, although I can't remember which one. I also added Seche Vite for extra shine and smoothness.
I do love stamping over a thermal polish, for the way you get a pattern appearing as if by magic!
My nails look so long here! I broke a couple before I went away on holiday, so cut them down quite a bit before I went.
Here's the next of my Bow Thermo Topcoats. This is the pink one.
I started with a base of two coats of Bow Thermo Topcoat Pink. This is another one which is almost invisible when it's really warm - it's just a translucent polish with a slight glittery shimmer, which then becomes bright pink when cold.
I stamped over it using Barry M Pink Punch and MoYou London Pro XL06. I also added Seche Vite topcoat for extra shine.
I love stamping over thermal polishes like this, so that the pattern disappears and reappears through the day! I know the visible nail line in the warm state isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'm fine with it.
The pink is a really nice shade too, and so pretty!
Today I've been wearing the second of my Bow Thermo Topcoats.
This is two coats of Bow Thermo Topcoat Violet. I then stamped on top of it using MoYou London Flower Power XL06 and Barry M Blackberry.
The Violet Thermo changes from a translucent polish with a hint of lilac when warm to a dark purple when cold. Like yesterday's Red Thermo Topcoat, there is a really pretty shimmery glitter running through it.
When my nails are cold, they are almost completely plain purple. For most of today though it's been really hot, so my nails have been the paler lilac base with the purple flowery pattern showing in full.
I really like these thermals! They're so pretty!
I recently bought 5 of the Bow Thermo Topcoats - the black, purple, blue, pink and red ones. I have used the red one for today's nails.
I started with a base of the red thermo topcoat (I know! It's all the wrong way round, but there we go...) and then stamped over it using Barry M Blood Orange and MoYou London Flower Power XL06.
The Bow Thermo Topcoats are slightly sparkly thermal polishes that go from an almost invisible translucent when warm to a bright colour when cold. This one is almost the same shade as Blood Orange, so when cold, the stamping hardly shows. When warm, the stamping is clearly visible.
I added Seche over the top for added shine.
I love combining stamping with thermal polishes! The thermal effect is really strong in these Bow polishes, and I really like the sparkly finish!
I've done freehand rose nails before more than once, but it's something I end up doing fairly regularly, because I like them so much.
The base for these nails is Barry M Rose Hip and Huckleberry. I then used Models Own Coconut Cream, Island Hop and Barrier Reef to paint the roses, and MoYou London Spring Green and Key Lime for the leaves. I then topcoated over everything for a smooth finish.
I'm pretty pleased with the right hand too - although don't look at my messy cleanup and dry cuticles! Somehow I can paint my nails on the right hand, but not do the cleanup!
I'd love to know your thoughts! Comments are lovely (even if you have criticism!)
Sorry for the lack of blog posts recently - I've been off and about jumping up and down at Springsteen concerts. It's been far too long since I got the chance!
This tour is based around the 35th anniversary River boxset that Bruce released last year, and the album sleeve of the original River album is what I used as (very loose) inspiration for my nails.
I decided to use the colour scheme, and my favourite MoYou London stamping plate (Rockstar 01). I started with a base of OPI 4 In the Morning, and then stamped using the guitar designs and Konad White. I then painted over the white with OPI Turquoise Aesthetic, from the Color Paints collection, to get the teal-blue colour. I then freehanded the plaid thumbnail using a base of Barry M Coconut and Chai, and OPI 4 In the Morning.
The plaid came out a bit rough round the edges, but somehow that seems appropriate for Bruce...
I wouldn't normally take blog photos in the evening sunlight like this, but again, it seemed appropriate for Bruce. There's something about that evening light around sunset that just goes perfectly with a Bruce show...
You can see my previous Springsteen nails here.
I've been feeling pretty disillusioned with blogging recently, but I have still been doing my nails (and apparently buying FAR too many Mo You London stamping plates!) So today, just a quick look at a couple of the designs I've been wearing.
These nails were more reverse stamping decals. I started with a base of Barry M Pearl, and used MoYou London Flower Power 04 to stamp using Konad Black, Barry M Dragon and Colors by Llarowe This Heart Bleeds.
I really like how these came out! There are a couple of smudgy bits in places, but I'm choosing to ignore them.
These blue nails are the ones I am wearing now - I've had these on for three days now.
I started by sponging on a splodgy, random base using lots of Barry M Gelly blues.
I then stamped using MoYou London Flower Power 08 and Konad White. I managed to get the design pointing in different directions on each nail, but oh well.
The MoYou London Flower Power plates are gorgeous! I had to buy six.
After my first reverse stamped decals the other day, I was itching to make more!
These ones use MoYou London Tropical 14 plate. I started with a base of Barry M Meadow, and stamped using MoYou London Spring Green. I filled in the flowers using several different China Glaze neons.
I was a bit disappointed with the blue flowers, because some of them overflowed a bit. I don't think it's massively obvious, but I wish they were neater.
I really like the design on the middle and ring fingers best - I think I wish I'd done that on all the nails now. Still, I do like the result!
I'm so excited about these nails! I recently bought a silicone nail art mat (I have the Bundle Monster Lotus mats in the small sizes) and was excited to have a go at making reverse stamped decals. My first attempt was really bad, and my second attempt was pretty bad, but I think that third time round, I've managed to crack it.
I used this tutorial by MoYou London, but there are loads of similar tutorials out there. By the way - it's so much nicer stamping using the mat instead of bits of kitchen roll!
I started with a base of one coat of Pantone 14-1220, a nude colour with a very thin consistency. One of my early mistakes was using Barry M Gellys, which are quite thick, and made me end up with a super thick and claggy decal. I then stamped using Konad White and MoYou London Pro XL 26, stamping onto the mat over dried topcoat.
I then used a variety of colours, including Barry M Sugar Apple, Sugar Plum, Blood Orange and MoYou London Bahamas Punch and Spring Green, and a tiny brush to fill in the details in the pattern. I used 5 different designs from the stamper so that each finger was different. Instead of sticking the design down with topcoat (another early mistake, adding another extra layer) I added the second layer of my base colour, and then applied the decal while that was still tacky.
I love the thumb design best! And I match my shower curtain! (Ikea, Cath Kidston design)
I really like the silicone mat - I didn't need it to keep my desk clean, as I already have a glass placemat - but it's great for stamping, nice for swatching and testing designs, works really really well for decals, and just cleans up with acetone and folds up to put away if you want to. I'm surprised at how few of my stamping plates are suitable for making decals though, as very few have a pattern that can be filled in. I'll have to buy some more! What a pity...
This is another of the new Barry M Gelly range for 2016, Cream Soda. This is another off-white creme, this time with a slightly greeny-yellow tinge.
This is two coats, with topcoat. I like this colour, but I'm not sure that it's as flattering with my skin tone as some of the other pale Gelly shades.
Formula is the usual good Barry M Gelly quality, and I'm starting to get more used to the big brushes now. I didn't like them when they first came out.
I stamped over this using Models Own Chrome Gold and MoYou London Pro XL14. I think this looks really pretty, and the gold tones down the greeny shade in the polish.
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