Oops! I've managed to go ages without blogging again, somehow. I have been doing my nails though, honest! So here's a quick catch up of some of the nails I've had over the last couple of weeks.
I wore these for 4 days or so before Christmas. This is two coats of China Glaze Ruby Pumps (one of my favourite polishes ever) with an accent nail using China Glaze Mingle With Kringle and a stencil from What's Up Nails, and a stud for extra accent.
These nails were made with some polishes I got as a Christmas gift set - this is a base of Maybelline Watery Waste, a silver metallic polish. I then used tape and Maybelline Downtown Red on top, and Maybelline Black Magic on top of that. Black Magic is an interesting matte finish glitter, which I really liked. I added topcoat for shine.
These nails were something I wore for a couple of days around new year. I started with a base of Barry M Persian, a pretty purple-gold duochrome. I added rhinestones, and an accent nail using sparkly white glitter dust.
I love wearing rhinestones!
Finally, these are the nails I'm wearing now - I've had these on for a couple of days now. I started with a base of Barry M Butterscotch Sundae, and then used What's Up Nails vinyls and a variety of polishes for the pattern.
I sponged on a mix of Barry M Guava and Blood Orange, Illamasqua Prosperity, and Models Own Island Hop, Sarong Wrap and Beach Fire. I'm not totally happy with how these came out, as the colours got a bit murky in places - I really wanted a brighter, zingier blend. I'm still pretty happy with them though.
When this Barry M glitter polish came out, I wasn't crazy about it as it wasn't great for whole-nail application. But on a whim this week, I wondered what it would look like sponged over just the tips of my nails, and the answer was fab!
I started with a base of Essie Mademoiselle, and then sponged Barry M Jingle Bells over the tips with a small makeup sponge. I added two coats of topcoat to smooth it down, and wore these for two days.
I love how sparkly and pretty they look!
I even got compliments from two different cashiers in shops!
Today's nails are an autumnal waterfall design. I started with two coats of Barry M's new black gelly, Black Forest. I was SO excited to hear that Barry M are finally doing a black in the gelly range - they've got so many colours and a really good formula, but so far no pure black. Anyway, it's finally here, and it's really nice.
Over the black, I then used a thin striping brush and added stripes of China Glaze Riveting and Colours by Llarowe The Heart Bleeds and Golden Rule.
I love how this came out! It's sparkly without being too over the top, and the colours blend together really nicely into an autumnal look.
What do you think?
I have no idea what to call these nails, or how to describe them!
Recently I've been consciously trying to NOT use Barry M polishes, because I'm aware that I use Barry M far more often than any other brands. So a couple of days ago I painted my nails using Tami Gleneagles Glamour, which is a really pretty rose gold with holo glitter. I then thought it was a bit boring, so I freehanded a black line and a bit of a curve round the cuticle... using a Barry M nail art pen! Oops.
I really liked how these looked, but I don't think my colleagues were very impressed. Several people said things along the lines of "oh... they're... different. I loved the ones you had on yesterday though!"
Oh well, I don't care. I liked them.
These are the nails I've been wearing for the last few days. They've got so long recently that it seems a real waste not to paint the backs of my nails as well as the fronts, and I love the combination of pink and green!
The front of my nails is two coats of Barry M Sugar Plum. I then sponged a gradient of Barry M Socialite over the base of the nails.
On the back, I have Barry M Greenberry.
It's really hard to take a clear photo of a louboutin mani!
Oops! I haven't posted since before Christmas, sorry! I wasn't in the mood for nails particularly for a couple of weeks, and then last week I had a really nasty nail break so my left hand looked quite unpleasant. I'm still missing a big chunk of nail on my middle finger, but at least it's not too awful now.
Anyway, I was contacted recently to ask if I'd like to review a new polish brand, and I was particularly excited to see that they're Scottish! I'm not Scottish my self, and I don't live there now, but I was at uni in Dundee and spent 4 very happy years living there.
Tami Beauty is a new brand, and they sent me all three of their colours to try out.
Don't they look pretty? Left to right, here are Gleneagles Glamour, Lady of Lomond and Skibo Sunset.
Check out their website here. Tami polishes are 3-free, and are not tested on animals in any way.
I tried Lady of Lomond over new year, before I had my broken nail.
This is a pale green polish with lots of holo particles and tiny glitter.
This is two coats, with topcoat. The formula is nice - a little runny, and dragged a couple of bare patches on the first coat, but the second coat was perfect. This dries slightly matte, so I added topcoat to smooth it and add shine. The brush is nice - fairly short and slim, and easy to control.
Isn't this pretty? I wore this for three days, and the wear was excellent. There was no chipping, peeling, shrinkage or anything else. Removal was a little tricky as the glitter was pretty solidly fixed, but it was nothing that the foil method couldn't solve.
Next up was Gleneagles Glamour, which is a pale nude-pink with the same holo and glitter as Lady of Lomond. The formula seemed slightly better, as I didn't get the dragged patches.
This again is two coats, with topcoat.
I really like how this one looks. It's sparkly and pretty, without being OTT, and I think would be work-appropriate as well as very pretty.
It's such a pretty, delicate polish, don't you think? You can see the rose-gold glitter particles there, which make it a really flattering shade.
The last of the three is Skibo Sunset. This one is a bright cerise pink holo. It doesn't have the glitter particles of the other two, and dries with a shinier finish.
This is two coats, with topcoat. Again, the application was really good, and the polish dried quickly. This is the least unique of the three shades, but it's really pretty, especially in bright light, where the holo is more visible.
Isn't it lovely?
I really liked all three of these polishes. The formula is good, application is nice, the brush is the sort I like best. They are available on the Tami website for £9 each, or £21 for the set. I think the £9 price is perhaps a little steep for a new brand, when you compare it to brands like Nails Inc or China Glaze, but then again it's a small company and I can understand why production costs more. And the polishes are really really nice, so it's a big thumbs up from me! I'm looking forward to seeing what their next colours are going to be.
These polishes were provided for my honest review. See my Disclaimer section for more information.
I got a sudden urge to wear one of my first Deborah Lippmann polishes, Across the Universe. I haven't worn this is AGES - maybe two years!
This is two coats of Across the Universe, with added topcoat for shine.
I love this polish. It's a deep blue jelly, filled with blue and silver glitter, which ends up giving a lovely jelly sandwich effect. I always think it looks mermaidy and sea-like.
I decided to up this one by painting the backs of my nails too. I haven't done this in a while, but my nails are getting really long, so it seemed a good idea. I used the Barry M limited edition blue foil from Christmas 2012.
It's really hard to take a photo of the back of my nails!
I've been wearing these nails for three days now, and I still don't want to take them off!
Today's nails are a bit of an all-in kitchen sink mani! I started with no overall plan in mind, I just added bits and made it up as I went along!
I started with two coats of Barry M Full Throttle. This is a really pretty peachy orange colour, but it's a streaky, awkward formula, which I always forget. Still, it's a good colour.
I then taped off a couple of nails with a grid of striping tape, and sponged a gradient of Full Throttle and Barry M Satsuma. I decided to add some glitter for good measure, and used China Glaze Electrify, which is packed full of gold and red glitter. I sponged this over the tips, with the odd dab further down the nail.
I loved how the quilted nails looked, but it took a while to do, and was quite fiddly, so I did something different with the other two, and used striping tape, Satsuma and Electrify to add some blocks of colour. The Satsuma looked quite overpowering on its own, so I then added the tiny studs.
I'm so pleased with how these look! And they were a total happy accident, which makes them even better.
This morning, Emma from Em's Little Corner spotted this gorgeous mani by PiggieLuv and shared it with me because she knew I'd got the OPI Color Paints recently.... and wow! What a fantastic design! I knew I had to have a go at doing my own version.
I did mine a bit differently, as I didn't want to paint white over the top of glitter and end up with it lumpy, and certainly didn't trust myself to do neat lines freehand. Instead, I started with a base of white (Barry M Cotton) and use curved tip guides to tape off the central section of the nails.
Then I painted a silver glitter over the curved central section. This is 2true Sequins Christy, which is a lovely dense one-coater but with small particles which won't overlap the tape too much.
I topcoated over the silver to make it smoother (Christy has a rough finish to it), and then used the Color Paints to paint my rainbow. I removed the tape, added more topcoat, and there you go.
It's not as fantastic as PiggieLuv's, but I'm pretty damn chuffed with this! The Color Paints look fab over glitter, and I love the contrast of white and the colours. I included this blurry photo because it shows how glossy and juicy these colours are!
What do you think?
I've showed you this Dance Legend thermal polish before (see post here), but last time I wore it, my nails were very short. While the polish looked good, I was looking forward to seeing what it looked like now my nails are longer again.
The answer is - pretty damn good! There's some tip shrinkage here from the Seche Vite topcoat, as I'd been wearing this for a couple of days when I took these pics.
This is two coats of Dance Legend Termo 181, with topcoat for shine.
This is a red to black jelly polish, full of red and gold glitter. When it's cold it's a glossy black, with some of the glitter hinting through. When it's warm, it's a gorgeous orangey-firey red.
This is immediately after holding my hand under the hot tap...
And this is the polish gradually cooling down on the tips...
And this French mani look is the appearance it's had for most of the last two days - warm fingers, cool nail tips.
This morning, I wasn't ready to take this off yet. So I stamped over the polish with Konad Black and MoYou London Pro XL 14.
When cold, the stamping isn't at all visible. It's just black polish with a few bits of glitter.
But when I come inside from the cold, the design starts to appear!
And a bit more...
And a bit more...
And a bit more! I touched up the tips slightly with the Konad Black to cover the shrinkage.
I'm thrilled with how this turned out! I think it looks really cool and quite elegant. It sort of reminds me of posh damask wallpaper or something.
