A Very British Mess

So...I'm not really sure what's going on with this manicure today. It's a sort of British themed splodge fest. A Splodge-icure?! I was trying to think outside the box with some Team GB nail art. Maybe I should just stick to something Union-y. I do like the way it looks like a pretentious modern art canvas though.

I used:

Revlon White
OPI Big Apple Red
OPI Ogre The Top Blue
Striping brush
Poshe top coat

I did one coat of white, then once that was dry a really thick coat, blobbed the blue and red polish on and used a striping brush to drag it.

ALSO. I used Poshe for the first time ever- not impressed. It gave me bubbles!! Which you can see if you look at my middle finger. I have NEVER had this with my usual lifesaver, Seche Vite. Anyone else ever get Poshe bubbles?

They kind of look like suns...or possibly an alien foetus. Broad spectrum there!

Alice

xXx

Ice Cream Sprinkles

I've been loving the sharp look of a tape mani lately- there's something soothing about having really neat lines on your nails! (which probably makes me sound like an OCD weirdo). 

I wanted my nails to look like ice cream, and they kind of do...the multicoloured glitters remind me of hundreds and thousands! This mani is Amy's Nail Boutique- Woodsie's Wish with NARS Kutki applied over striping tape.

This white polish I'm wearing is from Amy's Nail Boutique  - I love how she's always got polish stocked in her Etsy store! I got a few polishes from her and I was really impressed with how quickly they came all the way to the UK.


As a cheeky little bonus shot, here's Woodsie's Wish before the topcoat (sorry for crap phone pic). Application was a liiiittle bit goopy, but I LOVE the way the glitter buries itself in the polish.

 I've really gotten into my indie polish lately. Got quite a decent collection going on now- I'll think I'll do a stash post of them if you guys would be interested in seeing it?! 

Alice

xXx

Stripey Flowers

I love these nails- they look like some sort of vintage tablecloth! I finally got to use my new Models Own polish Jade Stone, which is a beautiful pastel green- very similar to Barry M Mint Green, but slightly lighter.   

I used:

Revlon White
Models Own Beth's Blue
Models Own Jade Stone
Striping tape
OPI Party in my Cabana (for the roses)
Barry M Spring Green (for the leaves)
Seche Vite

Models Own do some absolutely gorgeous pastel shades, I want them aaaaaall *must-own-all-pastels*

Alice

xXx

One Year Blogoversary Giveaway! **CLOSED**

UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed, and I am in the process of emailing the winners. They have 24 hours to get back to me, if I do not hear from them in this time I will move onto the next winner's choice!

Thank you all SO MUCH for taking the time to enter, and thank you for all the constructive criticisms and lovely comments. I've read every single one and really appreciate your feedback!

*************************************************************************

This time last year I was nervously setting up my blog and wondering if I'd even get ten followers. A year later, I've come SO far in terms of nail art, photography etc. that I look back on my first posts and can barely believe I ever posted such horrific pictures! Can you ever forgive me?
To celebrate  (and say sorry) I'm having an anniversary giveaway!

This is open INTERNATIONALLY, and closes on Monday 13th August.

There will be FOUR winners!

Rafflecopter will pick the winners at random. The first person will get their choice of the prizes, then the second winner will choose from the remaining, and so on.

All prizes are brand new, and bought by yours truly.

Now for the sugar...the GOODIES!

PRIZE 1:

PRIZE 2

PRIZE 3

PRIZE 4

Please enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am BAT THUMB!

I was so excited about seeing Batman over the weekend that I decided to full on GEEK OUT and having matching nails!
The film was amazeballs- I won't say anything about it because I loathe people who give out spoilers, but it's definitely worth a watch.

I used:
Color Club Almost Famous (FOUR coats because it was a total nightmare)
Konad Special Polish in Black
Bundle Monster plates 213, 13 and 305 (which I tweaked a bit)
Seche Vite
And you should check out the original Bat Thumb for shits and giggles, I absolutely cracked up when I saw this!

Alice

xXx

Flip Reverse it

Returning to the mushy girl nails today!
People who follow my posts will know that I am a stamping fiend, I absolutely love it- so when my new Bundle Monster plates arrived from the USA this week I was literally squealing at the postman (who, incidentally, I am fairly certain HATES me, as he is forced to lug around the hundreds of parcels I get daily...sorry postie).
BUT. Have to be honest here- I am slightly disappointed. There's only a few designs I really loved, these hearts being one of them. The last set were so much better!

These were stamped with BM plate, with Konad special polish in white and pink. I love the reversed effect! It was really easy to do- I just painted my base white coat (Revlon white), sponged on my pink (OPI Come to Poppy) and applied a coat of Seche to speed it all up. Then on my stamping image I painted half white, half pink, scraped to the side and then stamped over the opposing colour. Simples!

Alice

xXx

P.s. anyone who got the Blazin' Squad reference in the title...you rock

It was Acceptable in the 80s

Hello my sweetlets,
I am so excited about my post today. It was a long, messy road but j'adore the final result. I went to an 80s themed party on the weekend (I know, I know, lycra spandex of doom, WHY DO PEOPLE DO IT TO ME) and in between crimping my hair and cracking out the tacky fluorescent bling I whipped up these babies.



please excuse my oily cuticles...I look like I'm about to enter my nails into a bodybuilding competition!

splaticures are a messy, messy bizniss

These are super, super neon, but neons are a total bitch to photograph so they look quite muted.

I used: (deep breath)
Revlon White
China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini
Color Club Koo-Koo Ka Choo
Color Club Jackie Oh!
Color Club Twiggie
No. 7 Stand Back
Seche Vite
Thin straw
Newspaper (a must!)
Sellotape (also essential)

I painted two coats of white on my nails, taped off my fingers as close to the nails as I could, mixed a little nail polish in my palette, dipped the end of my straw in, and blew it all over my nails. I thought that I was going to pass out at one point!
N.B. I found that short, sharp, powerful puffs worked the best by far.
Also, it's probably worth repulsing you all by telling you that I managed to get spit all over my nails doing this. Classy.

What do you guys think about the splaticure look? I love it, but it is a LOT of effort, and clean up is a pain in the arse. Major dry cuticles from the excessive acetone! Also, mine peeled off in sheets two days later as it was so thick from all the polish.
As a bonus picture, here is my hand in all its 80s glory. All I can say is, thank god I was a teenager in he nineties. I love me some neon, but my lord, this is the decade that fashion forgot!

Alice

xXx

this hand was born in the 80s!

Hearty Birdies

Hello all,

You may have noticed that I've had a bit of a blog makeover! I was long overdue one, so last night I knuckled down and sorted a new header. What do you all think? I suspect it might be a bit too in your face...half of me loves how massive it is and the other half thinks "Woah. Really?!" I'll probably end up changing it at some point but it'll do for now.

Onto the nails! Do you ever wake up with the urge to have the girliest, pinkest, softest nails? Well, I have these bizarre urges sometimes, and they cannot be controlled. When such needs arise, I head for my ridiculous collection of pinks and let my inner five year old do the choosing. I recently acquired Revlon popular (or Starry Night as it's now known) from my lovely polish fairy Kim in a swap, and it is just so lovely. It's a light pink scattered with tiny silver glitters, and a few bigger silver hexes thrown in for good measure.

This is three coats (wasn't the easiest application- bit thick and draggy, and it kept trying to give me bald spots) stamped over with Konad plate Q1 and black Konad polish. The hearts were (painstakingly) dotted on with a dotting tool.

So frustrating trying to take photos of glitter polish in overcast weather. Damn you Wales!

Popular on its own. So pretty!
These nails got soooo many compliments, I felt like such a lady wearing them. To remedy this unusual feeling, I've got a neon splaticure to show you tomorrow!

Alice

xXx

Cherry Blossom

Slight fail today…! I’ve wanted to do cherry blossoms for absolutely aaaages, so of course I thought that an hour before I had to leave the house was the perfect time to give them a go. Hence they’re a bit too messy for my liking (and my clean-up is shocking). Also I had about thirty seconds to take pictures so they’re super rushed too!

I do like them, and will probably do them properly at some point….i.e. not a slightly rushed botch job....

pretentious instagram shot

I used:

Essie Mint Candy Apple
OPI Pink Friday
Revlon White
George @ Asda Cackle
Dotting tool
Striping brush

Something pink and pretty and girly tomorrow....stay tuned!

Love Alice

xXx

Cherries and Apples

Hey guys,

Got some fruity nail art for you today! I absolutely love cherries as a mani, they're so cute and easy to do. I thought I'd jazz it up a little and do some apple on my accents nails. Also, can I add how much I LOVE Essie Mint Candy Apple?! Regular readers will know I'm obsessed with pastel polish, specifically finding the perfect mint shade, and this is it. I want to have little minty fresh babies with it.

I loves me some super shiny nails

I used:

Essie Mint Candy Apple (I love it when the name is apt!)
OPI Big Apple Red (!)
OPI You Don't Know Jacques
Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream
Barry M Spring Green
Revlon White
Seche Vite
Dotting tool
Teeny brush

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Alice

xXx

Tequila Sunrise Gradients

Good morrow all,
I'm jumping on the gradient bandwagon today- they've been absolutely everywhere in the blogging world lately and I am loving them!

Nearly everyone who saw these thought that they looked like a Tequila Sunrise cocktail, which is what I was going for! Any excuse to bring booze into the equation.

Tequila Sunrise...mmm!

What I used:
Leighton Denny Do Me a Flavour
Barry M Yellow
Cosmetic sponge
OPI Nail Envy
Seche Vite

Love,

Alice

xXx