This is possibly a very geeky admission, but today's nails were inspired by Alex Hassell's costume in the RSC's current production of Henry V. I saw it in Stratford a couple of weeks ago, and will be seeing it in the cinema (there's a live screening link across the UK) again on the 21st. I can't find a decent photo of his costume, but he wore a lot of dark reds. He had a fancy brocade coat thing, and a leather jacket, with fleur de lys.
This stamp isn't actually a fleur de lys, but it's the closest I have to it. I started with a base of Barry M Crush, the matte dark red. I then stamped using Barry M Chilli, a glossy red almost identical to Crush, and Barry M Gold Foil. The stamping plate is MoYou London Steampunk 07.
The stamping here is quite subtle, but I love how it looks! It isn't at all obvious unless you're staring closely at my nails.
I feel quite elegant with these nails for once. I don't often do elegant.
If it helps, I'm currently sitting in my pyjamas and covered in cat hair, so it's only my nails that are elegant.
If you're at all interested in theatre, or Shakespeare, I can highly recommend this production of Henry V, which is on in cinemas all over the UK on Wednesday.
Today I have another of the Born Pretty stamping plates to show you. This is plate BP-46, which has a variety of floral and plant-based patterns.
As you can see, there are three full-nail designs, two floral and one with a leaf pattern, and then a variety of other things such as cherries, strawberries, dandelions and the cute cartoon mushroom/toadstool.
I chose to use one of the floral patterns, and stamped using Barry M Gold Foil over Barry M Orchid, from the Silks range. Orchid is a gorgeous purple with a matte finish. These photos show the stamping without topcoat, to keep the matte effect.
The design stamped beautifully - it transferred clearly, with no issues. I love how this looks! Isn't it a pretty design?
Just out of interest, I added topcoat as well. I love this! It really brings out the sparkle in Orchid, and makes the whole thing look so shiny!
What do you think?
You can get this plate at the Born Pretty Store here, for $2.99 which is considerably cheaper than many stamping plates from other shops. I've been impressed with the quality of the plates and the variety of the designs. You can also get 10% off using my discount code. There are new plate designs coming all the time (I've got my eye on some of the 'coming soon' ones!)
This plate was provided for my honest review. See my Disclaimer section for more details.
About two months ago, I saw this pack of temporary tattoo things in Accessorize, and snapped them up! Finally this week I got the chance to use them.
These were £4 for a pack of 14. As you can see, there are a variety of sizes of dripping blood designs. The instructions are simple - you peel off the covering plastic, place them on the fingers, press down with a wet piece of fabric or kitchen roll and then peel off the paper.
First I painted my nails - I started with a base of Barry M Vanilla, and then sponged over a whole variety of splodges, all with Barry M colours. I used Mustard, Black, Grey, Berry Ice Cream and Blackberry, in varying amounts for that bruised and battered effect. I then added a coat of Barry M Matte Topcoat.
The transfers came out looking really shiny and blood-like, which I think looked fab! I loved how gory these look!
I like how the slightly gluey bits where they touch my cuticles in places actually make them look more realistic.
I had hoped to keep them on all night and then wear them for work tomorrow, but sadly, the shiny finish was a bit sticky, and they got quite grubby rubbing against clothes and so on. I think if you were at a party or something, and only handling drinks, then you'd be fine, but these don't last overnight!
Still, I was pretty pleased with this look!
I bought Models Own Microdots ages ago and hadn't worn it yet because I just didn't know what to do with it. Tonight I thought it was about time to use it.
Microdots is a clear base with tiny matte glitter pieces in royal blue, turquoise, red, orange and yellow. I started with a base of two coats of Models Own Coconut Cream, which is my favourite off-white, and it smells fab to boot!
I then used tape stencils from She Sells Seashells to make bright stripes using 4 Barry M Gellys - Mango, Blood Orange, Greenberry and Blue Grape.
I really like how this turned out! It looked nice glossy, but I thought I'd try it matte, so I added a coat of Barry M Matte Topcoat.
These make me think of deck chairs and beach huts for some reason. Not particularly seasonally appropriate, but there we go. The topcoat made the red bleed slightly, but it's not too obvious, so I'm not too bothered.
So, I got a bit carried away with the new Barry M releases, and bought everything I could get my hands on. Today, I have swatches of the new Silk colours for you.
I loved the first Silk colours that came out earlier this year; the pretty pastel range with the gorgeous silky matte finish and the fantastic quality. So when I heard there were three new colours for autumn, with rich berrry shades, I was very excited! Left to right here we have Poppy (the red one), Forest (the green one) and Orchid (the purple one).
First up is Forest. This is two coats. Application on all of these polishes was excellent - smooth, even, quick-drying, and with a beautiful matte-but-silky finish. I found that two thin coats was better than one thicker one.
Forest is a gorgeous shimmery dark green. As this was so pretty, I wondered what it would look like with topcoat...
GORGEOUS is clearly the answer!
Next up is Poppy, a lovely red that's just on the autumnal side. I love this - it makes me think of autumn leaves and rusty autumn colours.
Again, it's stunning with topcoat!
I mean - just look at it!
Last of the bunch is Orchid, the purple one, and I think my favourite.
I love the way this looks with the silky sheen. It's just so eyecatching!
And glossy... well!
I don't think I have any colours quite like this, and I really love it. I can see this one getting a lot of wear this winter!
I'm very last minute again with my Colour Me Crazy nails, but I have got them done. This week's theme is Neon.
I decided to do a gradient and a skittle, as I have lots of neon colours that I like and couldn't choose between them. I started with a white base, and then sponged colours on like there was no tomorrow.
I used Models Own Coconut Cream as the base, and then used Models Own My Midori, Bikini, Bubblegum and Pukka Purple, as well as OPI Juice Bar Hopping and Chine Glaze Splish Splash.
I then mattified everything using Barry M Matte Topcoat.
I was quite pleased with how this turned out!
What do you think?
There are six new colours in the Barry M Gelly range! They were released this week, and are some really autumnal shades. I bought 5 of them today - I didn't buy the grey one, because I already have a couple of greys which I rarely use. But as Superdrug had a 3 for 2 offer on, I also bought Mango, which was one of the earlier colours and which seemed to go really well with this set.
I started with the yellow one, Mustard. It's a bit of an odd shade, but I REALLY like it!
One coat was almost enough, but I had a couple of slightly bare patches, so I did a second coat. It's lovely and smooth though, self levelling and dries quickly with a super glossy shine.
Because the mustardy shade and the other browny-orange colours in the range remind me so much of those grungy 70s tones, I decided to use a pattern on the MoYou London Mother Nature plate 09 which already reminded me of 70s wallpaper. I stamped using the reddy-brown shade, Chilli.
OK, so the stamping isn't entirely neat and tidy or even, but I suppose that is in keeping with the 70s idea anyway. As you can see, I smudged a few bits and missed a few other spots. Oh well.
I then added some Barry M Matte Topcoat to finish off the look.
It's not the prettiest look ever... but I do somehow really like it!
Today I have some really nice new polishes to show you. This is a new polish brand called Binky London. Apparently they're something to do with a celeb from a reality programme, but I'm old and don't watch that kind of thing, so I have no idea! But when I was offered some review samples I jumped at the chance. I have two different polishes to show you, Gold Rush and Blue Denim.
To start with, this is ONE coat (yes, really!) of Gold Rush. This is from the textured glitters range - there are currently five colours, and wow, the purple looks amazing!
Application was a little tricky to start with, as the brush is quite wide and flat, and some of my nails are very narrow, but once I got used to it, it was easy peasy. The polish is quite thick and very opaque, and one coat was perfect.
This glitter is really sparkly, and the texture is nice - rough, without being lumpy or snagging on things. I think without topcoat, this was a subtle enough glitter to wear for work (if you're one of those people who can't wear bright colours for work. Not me - I wear anything, anytime!)
I then wanted to see what it looked like with topcoat, and WOW! Just look at it! Isn't it beautiful?
I stamped over it too (see this post) and it looked even better. I really REALLY like this gold!
The second polish I have to show you is Blue Denim, a shimmery blue polish with a satin sheen finish that mimics denim.
Again, this is ONE coat. This is a highly pigmented polish that covers easily. It has the same flat, wide brush, which I found easy to use now I'm used to it!
I like this, but I'm not such a huge fan of blue so it's not as me as the gold one. It's quite similar to the Barry M Denim blue as well.
Look at it with topcoat though! Oooooh! So pretty!
Not content with just wearing these like this, I wanted to combine the two polishes together into one look. I used tape to make this simple design.
This shows how full the coverage is with the gold - this is painted over the blue, and is fully opaque.
I'm really very impressed with these polishes! The quality is excellent, the brush is nice, the bottle fits perfectly on my shelves with Nails Inc and Models Own bottles, and I like the Union Jack on the bottle.
You can buy these online from My Retail Beauty, where they cost £4.95 each. The site also has free shipping, and discounts if you spend over certain amounts. I probably wouldn't have considered buying these unless I'd seen them in a shop and was feeling the need to buy more nail varnish (although let's face it, I always want to buy more nail varnish!) but having tried them, I'm definitely a convert. There are some really nice colours in the range, especially in the textured glitters. The whole range is also 5-free, as it does not contain Dibutyl Phthalate, Toluene, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin and Camphor.
These polishes were provided for review. See my Disclaimer for more details.
