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.
I live near Sheffield, and there is currently a fantastic art installation and charity fundraiser going on across the city, called the Herd of Sheffield. You can read more about it here. To cut a long story short, Sheffield is full of elephants - the big ones have been created by various artists, and the small ones have been made by local primary schools. There is SO MUCH nail art inspiration amongst them all!
Today's nails were inspired by this theatrical baby elephant, Nelly Noodle, who is inside the Crucible (my very favourite Sheffield place!). I LOVE her toenails.
I did a simple skittle using Barry M Guava and Key Lime, Illamasqua Prosperity, Essence Flashy Pumpkin and Barry M Blood Orange. I then used topcoat to stick on my smallest rhinestones in a random colour order.
I realised afterwards that I'd got the purple and the orange the wrong way round, but never mind!
I love rhinestones! I haven't worn any for ages, but now I see these, I can't think why! Look how they're reflecting in the sunshine!
So sparkly!
People always ask whether rhinestones are really messy and impractical, but if you stick them down with topcoat and then topcoat over them, they pretty much stay in place through a normal day.
I will not be leaving it so long til I use rhinestones again! And I will definitely be doing more nails based on the Herd of Sheffield elephants!
Sorry I've been missing for the last week! I've been properly poorly - had a very nasty bug which has wiped me out completely. I've done nothing but sleep, make hot water bottles and watch Say Yes to the Dress. But today I started feeling a bit better! I could tell, because the first sign was wanting to paint my nails!
I did a very simple look using two of the Barry M Gellys which I posted about a month ago. I wasn't a huge fan of the brushes or the staining last time, but these were a lot easier to use second time round.
I started with two coats of Black Cherry, the very dark red one. I then used tape to mark off long triangles, and painted a coat of the red glittery one, Sparkling Ruby over the top. Just for good measure, and because I have a glamorous evening ahead in my pyjamas, I added a sparkly red rhinestone.
I love how these look!
I think Sparkling Ruby looks so much better over the dark base - it's somehow a lot more sophisticated than in its pure bright red form.
I'm a bit shocked at how much my nails have grown recently too! They're looking really long! That makes me think they'll probably break very soon...
I'm sure you've seen the new Models Own collection on blogs by now - the Diamond Luxe collection contains "real diamond dust" and has fancy gold lids and bottle designs. There are ten colours in the range, and they're available online and at Bottleshops now (for the normal Models Own price). I popped over to Meadowhell yesterday and bought six of them from the lovely Bottleshop there.
Up first is Pear Purple, a pretty lilac shade. It took me a while to realise that the name doesn't relate to the fruit, but to the diamond cut!
This is two coats of Pear Purple, with topcoat and some added rhinestones, just to go with the jewel theme.
The formula for this is a bit different to a normal polish - it feels quite thick and almost gritty as it goes on, but it was really easy to apply and needed no clean up at all. It dried beautifully, although it wasn't the shiniest of finishes, hence the topcoat.
The shimmer in there is so pretty! I found it really hard to capture on camera, but it's really soft and shimmery and lovely. There's a sort of gold shade in there somehow, which makes the colour so rich and warm. I really like this one a lot! And this is the one I liked least (at first glance) of the 6 I bought, so I'm looking forward to trying the rest!
In other news, Elanor's Nails will be THREE years old in October, and I will be having a giveaway mid-month, with all sorts of prizes! Follow me now on Blogger, Bloglovin, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter for more chances to win!
It's my birthday today! I haven't actually done anything about it because I'm old and it's been a ridiculously busy week at work, but I have had a lovely lazy day with a long sleep and some wine, and I have been wearing SPARKLY nails!
As you may have noticed, I'm getting increasingly fond of 3D nail charms, especially the really sparkly ones! This is one I spotted on the Born Pretty Store website a while ago, and was lusting after for quite some time. And now I've been sent one to review! This is item #9798 and is officially called "3D Nail Art Sticker Bling Rhinestoned Drop-shape Design Nail Art Decoration". It costs $1.99 at the moment, which is a total bargain!
As you can see, it's a teardrop metal shape in a gold colour, with lots of sparkly multicoloured rhinestones and some tiny pearly beads. How PRETTY is this??
I wore it first over my earlier polish (see previous post) of Essie Naughty Nautical, a lovely shimmery green.
I really like the charm paired with this greeny turquoise, as it matches some of the rhinestones and ties it together.
Then today, as it was my birthday, I decided to really go for it, and put it with Jacava Knightsbridge Opulence (a goooorgeous shimmery pink which I previously received for review) and some more rhinestones.
Not content with just the sparkles, I wondered what it would look like with a gold louboutin reverse polish on the backs of my nails, and the mega ridiculous sparkly ring I bought online last year (but have never worn because... well!)
...and the answer appears to be BLINGTASTIC!
The gold on the back of the nails is Barry M Gold Foil (the limited edition Christmas one).
I'm in love with this 3D charm! It's comfortably chunky and has a nice feeling of weight on my finger, without being heavy or rough-edged. It doesn't catch on things and sticks down easily with topcoat, and is obviously easily reusable. It's slightly curved, so sits easily on the nail. I have very long nails at the moment and it fits easily on the nail. If you have short nails though it may overhang at the front, and that could look pretty cool too, for a special occasion!
This charm is also available in a silver and white design, which also looks REALLY pretty! I think I will have to buy a couple of those too.
If you do fancy getting something like this, they are currently on sale at BPS, and you can use my discount code to get an extra 10% off as well!
This charm was provided for review purposes. See my Disclaimer section for more details.
I'm almost late again! This time of year is ridiculously busy for me, and I haven't had time this last week to blog (although my nails weren't bare the whole time), so I'm catching up over the weekend! This week the British Nail Bloggers are doing Black and White.
I started with a base of Essie Blanc, and then used striping tape and OPI 4 in the Morning to make this geometric design.
I also added a couple of black rhinestones and topcoat for a bit more shine.
I was pretty pleased with these - apart from one or two tiny splodges, the lines are really neat and even.
Inspired by something The Naily Mail said on Twitter, I then added a contrasting coat of red underneath the nails using Orly Ma Cherie (because it's a mini and the brush is nice and easy to get underneath my nails neatly).
I do this contrasting flip colour underneath my nails from time to time, usually when my nails are really long like this. They're too long really - they're starting to make it awkward to do some things. I'll have to shorten them soon, but I really hate filing or cutting, it sets my teeth on edge a bit, so I'll avoid it for a few more days (probably until one breaks!)
What do you think? I'm pleased with these, and I wish I'd left them on for work tomorrow. I'm not quite sure why I didn't!
I'm sneaking in at the very last minute with my August Polish Party nails! This month, the theme was Glitter and Gems, and as I'd just had a sparkly delivery from the Born Pretty Store, I went for both!
I bought these 3D charms from the Born Pretty Store recently after I reviewed a similar set only without the colours. You can read that post here. This new set is item #12396 in the Born Pretty Store, and costs $3.79 for the pack. As you can see in my photo, the colours and shapes aren't exactly the same as those on the store website, but they're a similar mix.
I started with a bare nail, and taped off a triangle at the base of each. I then used a variety of glitters to pain my nails - from thumb to little finger they are China Glaze Emerald Sparkle, 2true Naomi, Zoya Sunshhine, China Glaze Material Girl and Zoya Solange.
I then removed the tape, and when the glitter was dry, added topcoat, stuck the gems down while it was wet, and that was that. The topcoat held these fast with no problems. Yes, I wore sparkly glitter 3D rhinestones to do a Sunday morning Sainsbury's shop, what of it?!
These are reusable - I just wiped the backs with a bit of nail varnish remover on cotton wool when I took them off. I did manage to take off the foil backing on the first one I cleaned (a green one) and realised that that also removed the colour, so that particular one is now clear and sparkly instead. But a gentle wipe was fine for all the others, and I'll be reusing them soon!
Aren't they pretty? I love these 3D sparklies!
This week the British Nail Bloggers are doing PURPLE!
I've been really busy all week, and have actually had bare nails for work on two or three days. Tonight I came home and added a quick French tip with this fab purple glitter. It's Models Own Purple Haze, a rich, sparkly purple glitter. I also added a rhinestone (I think these came from the Born Pretty Store) and a quick coat of Seche Vite, and that was that.
It's not particularly elaborate or complicated, but it is sparkly and I do like it.
What do you think?
My nails are getting really long at the moment. I'm thinking I'll have to shorten them a bit next week as we've got a really heavy week lined up at work where I'll be dashing around a lot and doing lots of stuff with lever arch files, so if I don't shorten them I'll end up breaking them.
While my post for Green week in the British Nail Bloggers Colour Me Crazy challenge was only just done on time, my post for Blue week is ready early!
For Blue week, I decided to make stripes. I used all Barry M polishes for this look.
I started with a base of Barry M Huckleberry, and then added two strips of striping tape across each nail.
I painted the middle section with Cyan Blue, and the tip of the nail with Blue Grape.
I then removed the tape, added topcoat and a rhinestone, and left it at that.
I love striped nails, but have never been able to make a stripy look that I was particularly happy with, somehow. But I'm pretty pleased with these! I even managed to get my other hand looking clean and crisp, which doesn't usually happen when I do tape designs on my right hand!
