Candy Canes

These nails are from before Christmas (so only six months overdue....ahem) but I had to share them because I just loved them so much. My nails were super long back then - I'm currently growing out my nubbins, or trying to! I do love them longer, I'm much more inclined to experiment with nail art when I've got a bigger canvas.

 I used Revlon White as the base, and let them dry over night (I try to always do this when using tape in manicures) then cut Sellotape to various sizes - a feat in itself, you end up with tiny shreds of it all over the bloody place. Then I popped the tape on and applied China Glaze's Ruby Pumps, and used tweezers to instantly peel the tape off.  

I've got one other Christmas manicure lurking in the minnows to put up as well...it's not overtly Christmassy so hopefully I won't be judged too badly *hides*

Alice

xXx

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Anchors Away

Ahoy there mateys!

Bit of a nautical one here, I've wanted to do a sailor manicure for a while and I've been meaning to use my anchor stamp for ages. I didn't come out very well over the blue, so I touched it up with a bit of acrylic red paint (which has freaked my camera out a bit and made it look pink)

I used Revlon White, and China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway as the blue base. The stamp is QA5 - it didn't really pick up the anchor properly as it's a cheap stamp so I pretty much just used it as a rough guide and painted over it with a tiny paintbrush and acrylic paint.

I initially wanted to do an anchor on every nail, but it literally took me an hour to do two as they were so fiddly, so there was no way I was going to waste the rest of my 20s painting the rest!

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Alice

xXx

Invasion of the British

So, I might be a bit bit late with the whole invasion of the British thing- I know Union flags on nails have been done a billion times before- but I just thought I'd share my ones because they took fooking ages!

Did these over Jubilee weekend but never got round to blogging about them. I think I got a bit sick of being British to be honest- what with the wedding, the Jubilee, Wimbledon, I ODed a bit on the whole patriotism thing. But I am loving the Olympics so I thought I'd get back in the game!

These looked a lot better in person than in pictures, boo. This is my favoured technique- I always try and use tape where I can because a) I'm lazy and b) they make nice crisp lines.

I used:

OPI Nail Envy (blue is a bitch for staining)

OPI Ogre The Top Blue

Rimmel Double Decker Red

Revlon White

Seche Vite

Sellotape

Scissors

Tiny art brush

My red polish was a tiny bit gloopy and quickly became a NIGHTmare to work with. Next time I'll use an OPI or an Essie, as they're slightly more watery and easier to apply.

Also, I have been informed that a Union Jack is in fact only a Jack when it's on the side of a ship. Otherwise it's a plain old Union flag. Trivia of the day!

Alice

xXx

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

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

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

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

Say Hello to Mr. Urdd

Hello all!

Been a while since I blogged- mainly because I've been away SO much with work lately exhibiting all over the place, busy busy busy!

Most recently, I went to the depths of North Wales for the Urdd Eisteddfod. For the unintiated (I imagine about 97% of the people who read this post!) the Eisteddfod is a Welsh traditional festival, with lots of booths and stands showcasing Welsh goods such as food, handmade jewellery, scarves, art, as well as hosting loads of competions in music and dancing. Literally everything. You think americans are fiercely patriotic?! They ain't got nothing on the Welsh!  

The Urdd is specially aimed at childen- cue a shitload of screaming brats running across my stand, which is full of VERY expensive, perilously wobbling harps. I was *this* close to capturing some particular little squirts and selling them off for slave labour. Tempted to get myself sterilised after a week of that hell. Seriously.

Anyway- the icon of the Urdd Eisteddfod is the lovely 'Mr. Urdd', who I decided to paint on my nails!

What I used:

Revlon White on White

Barry M Spring Green

OPI Big Apple Red

Mac eyeliner (I forgot my bloody black polish so had to improvise)

Sellotape

Seche Vite

And this is the ACTUAL Mr. Urdd in all his egg shaped glory:

 I was going to do the black outlines, but as I mentioned I forgot my black nail polish so had to get a bit improvvy with my eyeline!

And just to make sure you ALL have nightmares, here's a picture of someone dressed as Mr. Urdd during the Eisteddfod!!

Til next time,

Alice

xXx

Aztec

Today I’ve got some guest nails- my friend Sarah, who’s made an appearance here once or twice! I’ve quite wanted to try my hand at Aztec nails for a while- they’re massive at the mo, with people like Jessie J wearing them. Sarah has short nails so I thought I could whizz them out quickly.

Well, I was totally wrong. They look FOREVER! The first hand took an hour, and the second was a bit quicker at 45 mins. My bum was killing me by the end of it!

I used:

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear: White On

OPI Ogre The Top Blue

Barry M Yellow

Revlon Red

Wet n Wild Black Creme

Dotting tool

Ridiculously tiny paintbrush

Can you tell which hand I did first?! I think one of them looks soooo much better than the other one....have a guess!

I actually love these, need to try them on myself. Bit scared of using my left hand though....I'm pretty good at doing art with my non-dominant hand but this is a whole new ballgame!

Til next time,

Alice

xXx

Glitter in the Air vs. Whimsical

Good afternoon lovelies,

Still having the back pain to end all back pain so falling a bit behind with the blogging. Luckily I had this post already saved as a draft, so I can just post it with minimal effort! Unusually efficient for me, I must say.

Today I will be comparing the greatest dupe EVER. Revlon's Whimsical, which is basically the exact same polish as Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air. GITA is a sheer milky blue jelly, with large and small pink/ blue glitter scattered throughout. It's best layered, so you build up the glitter and you get a fantastic sandwich effect as the pink and blue bits look buried in the polish. 

Revlon have released their version of this polish and it's been a massive hit- mainly as Deborah Lippman retails at around £16 ($18) and Revlon polishes are half that price! I contacted Revlon to ask if they would be releasing Whimsical in the UK but they said they weren't :( I was lucky enough to get mine from my lovely US swap buddy Kim. And I got GITA in a half price sale- pointlessly, with hindsight...but it's nice to have the original sometimes.

As they are better layered over another colour, the pictures here are two coats of OPI What's With The Catitude? and three coats of GITA/ Whimsical.

GITA is on my left hand, Whimsical is on my right.

Enough prattling- on with the picture spam! 

left - outdoors
right - indoors with flash

(HOW GORGEOUS are the outdoor pics?! Look at all that shimmery pink and blue goodness) *swoon*

GITA - indoors with flash

 

Whimsical - indoors with flash

As you can see from the pictures, they are absolutely identical. Application was exactly the same as well- the formula was great, very easy to apply. My only criticism is that I did have to 'fish' for bits of glitter as I ended up with some bald, glitter-free patches!

Sorry in advance, as the outdoor pics aren't as bright as I would like. It seems to be permanently overcast in Wales at the moment! And in the rare spots of sunshine, am I EVER at home with my camera?!





Add caption



Whimsical - outdoors

 

GITA - outdoors

And one last comparison shot:



I honestly can't tell the difference! It takes a finer polish connoisseur then myself to distinguish between these two beauties.

So there you have it. If you can get Whimsical, save yourself the monies and snatch it up quickly.

That's all from me, hopefully I'll be back to regular posting soon!

Alice

xXx