Freehand: Happy Chinese New Year!

Today marks Chinese New Year which is the year of the horse. I wasn't entirely sure what the horse signified so I asked uncle Google for some advice, to which he responded:

"The Chinese zodiac calendar comprises 12 animal signs and horse is the seventh among all of them. In Chinese culture, the Horse is a symbol of nobility, class, speed and perseverance. People born in the Year of the Horse are smart, fabulous speakers who have a gift for getting through to other people. People bearing the horse sign strive towards seeking freedom and happiness."
This weeks NPQ challenge is to create nail art themed to this celebration. The first thing I thought was 'eeek what do I do?!' followed by.. 'A horse!.. Has to be a horse..'. I ordered a couple of pretty decals from eBay but its very unlikely they will be arriving anytime soon and I wanted to have something done by today. While having a flick through my Google+ stream last night I came across this image:

I thought this was really lovely and wondered straight away whether I would be able to splat this across my nails. So, I tried. As you can see above it's not the most professional of efforts but I tried my best. My brushes weren't the easiest to work with so I think they need replacing soon. 

I started off with two coats of Snow Me White by Sinful Colours, then used two types of thin brushes to try and draw out the pattern, using Superhero by George (ASDA). Some accents were put in with Shade 41 from 2true (Superdrug), though they don't show up well in the photo (shimmery!). Black on Black by Sinful Colours was used for the blossom branches and little finger base. The blossom thumb nail was created by using the thinnest of thin brushes and gently drawing the lines up from the side. Then with a tiny bit of foundation sponge and tweezers, dab on a tiny bit of red near the branches. Top coat as always was Seche Vite. 

Happy new year!

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Light as a Feather

Super quick one from last night but I'll be attempting a neater/more layers version with butterflies tonight as I really love the blue - Shade 57 by 2true. Especially with a matte finish, it almost made the feathers look 3d!

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NPQ Challenge: Taped Nails (Disaster!)

I haven't taken part in the NPQ challenge for two weeks now and I decided that this week I definitely had to do it. Striping tape is my nail-nemesis. Every time I use it I get in a horrible mess and bad things happen. Tonight I've done my nails twice as my first design (below) ended in a horrible mess so I thought I'd simplify it a little and go with that. The idea looked much better in my head than it did when I'd finished. I might have another go later this week and alter the design below to use masking tape instead.

My second design (above) came out a little better but still snows the horrible markings of why not to use beige over black then attempt to clean up with acetone. Smudgy smudgy!

Two layers of black followed by sticking short pieces of striping tape at a diagonal angle on the nail. Then two layers of a beige. Wait for this to dry then use a white stamping pattern over the top of the beige then follow with a matte top coat. While the matte is wet, peel off the nail tape. Finally I used some Seche Vite to glue on the rhinestones.

Tada! Some very sub standard nails :/

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Testing: Models Own Haul

What could be worse for someone that has a slight obsession with collecting nail varnish than a giant nail varnish bottle shaped Models Own store bang in the middle of the mall. Not only was it full of beautiful colours but there was also a sale on - 6 bottles for £15. I wouldn't usually spend more than £1.99 on each bottle, though Barry M can be an exception. Models Own usually cost £5+ so a bit out of my price range but this offer was far too tempting. Me and my sister split it and got three each, so I grabbed (left to right) an Aqua Splash NP16, 'velvet effect' Sardonyx NP176 and Cloud 9 NP189.

Cloud 9 NP189 Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Consistency: ★☆☆☆☆
Drying: ★★★★☆
Durability: ★★☆☆☆

The first varnish I tried was the creamy 'Cloud 9'. The colour consistency was surprisingly weak for such a well known brand along with an original price tag placing at the mid to high end of the market. The varnish dries quickly and has a lovely subtle golden glitter effect in the light. The layers I painted were on the thick side but still waited for them to dry before adding another. Sadly when I checked the next day they had tiny bubbles which was a little bit of a let down. I will try again with 4 thin layers and see how that goes but for a varnish like this needing 4 layers is quite disappointing. Add a base and a top coat.. 6 layers is asking for insta-peel!

Sardonyx NP176 Rating: ★★★★☆

Consistency: ★★★★★
Drying: ★★★☆☆
Durability: ★★★★☆

I was pleasantly surprised when opening this varnish up. The consistency of the glitter was very very thick, which made the brush very swollen, so care is needed then applying to the nails, especially because red is a very hard colour to clean from the skin and nail, even with acetone. The sales assistant told me that this was 'velvet' effect, hence the lid is made from flock. Turns out that this is just glitter mixed in with matte nail varnish which gives a lovely effect. Obviously, because it's thicker it needs longer to dry but only needing 2 coats is wonderful.

The previous colour had only lasted less than a day so already this one has performed better. I added in a little stamping along with some rhinestones in the middle. Unfortunately the rhinestones started pinging off so I added a top coat of Seche Vite (my favorite!) to seal everything on, knowing that I would lose the matte effect. The result was not dissapointing in the slightest. With the top coat added it creates a super sparkly layer and looks like I've attached part of the ruby slippers to my nails. Both the matte and gloss finishes have their own beauty and this colour has proved to be very versatile. This is also available in a navy, green and black finish (I think) so I'm quite tempted to go get some more colours! The image at the top of the post is the finished result before the gloss top coat was applied and this one below is after the Seche top coat.

I'm yet to test the last one until these ones have started to show signs of wear or peeling. Until then I will happily gaze at the ruby slippers as they catch the light!

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Those Hearts Again!

A little while ago I wrote up a tutorial for the Blue Heart Gradient set, using Konad plate M83. I love these little hearts so much that I decided to use them again today but this time on a base of beige and pink gradient. I was intending to just go with plain beige but as always I got a little carried away. Finished off with matte this time :).

Polishes:
Fortune Teller by George (ASDA)
Candy Floss by Collection 2000
Matte Finisher by George (ASDA)

I'm also testing to see if the nails will last longer if I put a 'No Chip' Sally Hansen top coat on under the Matte Finisher, as my green nails were very chipped the next day. We shall see!

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Green & Bronze

These last few days every possible thing that could break seems to have broken.. massive uploads, servers, phone, internet and the health is not the best right now so I've not had much time to spend with the nail varnish. I've kept things simple with this mani, but unfortunately that's the last of my Konad bronze gone :(..boo! 

Polishes

Green - Pixie by Jess (Poundland)

Top Coat - Matte Finisher #63 by George (ASDA)

Stamping - Konad Bronze

Stamping Plate - GA14 by Gals

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Tutorial: Creeper's Gonna Creep!

This week I've been sucked right back into the addictive world of Minecraft, and when I say addictive I mean you can wave away countless hours away as they go trotting off into the horizon.

Seeing as I'm basically seeing in pixel blocks it seems only fitting for my nails match!

To achieve this look you'll need:

Base (to brighten the neon green): Snow Me White by Sinful Colours
Neon Green: Unmarked Boxset of neons by Primark (4 pack £2)
Stamping Green: Exotic Green by Sinful Colours at Boots
Other green: Whatcha by Hello Kitty at Superdrug
White squares: Barry M Nail Art Pen
Plate: Cheeky CH3
Tools: Toothpick

How-to:

1. Paint on a clear base.
2. One layer of white.
3. Two layers of neon green.
4. Use the 'Exotic Green' with the stamping plate CH3. This will be pale and offer a different green than having painted it on flat.
5. Use the Barry M white nail art pen to carefully paint a few odd white squares.
6. Place a blob of an alternate green on a piece of cardboard.
7. Use the toothpick, dot it in the blob and carefully draw and fill in a few random sqares.
8. Repeat 6&8 again with one more colour.
9. Wait for everything to dry and use the top coat.
10. (Optional) Add a creeper face in by painting the squares shown in the creeper pic with a black varnish.

It's tricky to get it neat, especially on the opposite hand to your main hand. Mine is not as neat as I wish it had been but I've not done this before and it was more of a trial.

Hope you like it.. and no, the nails don't explode when they get too close to something! ;)

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Monochrome Mon...Saturday!

I've been wanting to do another monochrome set for a while but I tend to get a bit carried away and it just looks a bit too wild, I try ideas and then scrub them off because I'm not happy with the outcome. I really need to try and get used to having a more uniform design across the nails, yet, for this set I've just splurged just a little bit. I've not added too much, just a mix of stamping, abit of non-glitter glitter, one rhinestone and some leather effect varnish on the first finger to add some texture! The Revlon black is really lovely with tiny tiny flecks of silver in there and it dries really quickly which is an added bonus.

Base black: Black Star by Revlon
First finger black: Leather effect by Claire's
Stamping white: Snow Me White by Sinful Colours
Black/White glitter: Dotty #03 Ltd Edition by George (ASDA)
Plates: GA5 by Gals (middle) - CH21 Cheeky (first)

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A little bit of blueypurple!

Well, me being very slow, I missed out on this weeks NPQ challenge by a day so I'll just post these anyway. The idea was to use something that so far had not been used before so I went with new plates, glitter and the purple/blue sheen. I absolutely love the purple main as it's reflects the light so nicely and the colour change to blue is very subtle. Sadly I can't capture this with the camera!

Purple main: Atomic by Jess (Poundland!)
Glitter: Bedazzled 'Love Jewel' by Collection 2000
Stamping: Bronze by Konad
Stamping Plate: GA5 by Gals

On a side note the Jess range at Poundland is pretty amazing for.. yes £1! The varnish is thick enough (2-3 coats), dries relatively quickly and the colour range is quite extensive with some nice 'effect' polishes as well as a huge variety of glitters. I have a couple of Barry M polishes that take an absolute age (I'm not hating on Barry! I love the glitters to bits) to dry, yet these ones are 1/4 of the price and 'perform' much better so far! Yey.

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NPQ Challenge: Respect to the Bloggers!

Design Credit: http://onenailtorulethemall.blogspot.co.uk

Right! I've finally done my Weekly NPQ Challenge just at the last moment. I didn't think I'd be able to take part this week due to poorlyness so I was a little sad as it was such a great challenge. However, I did it.. yey!

The idea is, to find a great tutorial, recreate it and credit the original blog. So my initial thoughts we going straight to the blog of a well known nailart blogger and copying one of her tutorials, but for some reason I just didn't find much inspiration there. I really wanted to recreate something that I'd not done before so that I could learn as well. In my search I stumbled upon http://onenailtorulethemall.blogspot.co.uk and I'm so glad I did! Not only is the nail art awesome but there's a wide range of easy to follow tutorials on there.

As soon as I saw it I knew which one I wanted to do and now that it's done, I don't want to take it off! I followed the tutorial the first time round and got to the rose layer but had actually done it wrong, so after nearly 2 hours work I scrubbed it off and started again. The second time round I decided to space it out a little more and add an accent nail so it would be just a tiny bit different.

Polishes

Pale Blue: 2true - Shade 15 (Superdrug)
White base: Sinful Colours - #101 Snow Me White
Rose base: Collection 2000 - Candy Floss #48
Rose accents: George (ASDA) - Cupcake #79
Rose leaves: Sinful Colours - Exotic Green #1105
Top Coat: Seche Vite

Tools

Tooth pick
Large dotting tool
Fine nail art brush
Flat head nail art brush (for cleaning with the acetone)
Tutorial can be found here: http://onenailtorulethemall.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/then-and-now-cath-kidston.html

Thank you to NPQ for a great challenge and for inadvertently helping me find a new pretty nailart blog to follow!

Yey for Kath Kidston nails! I can't afford her handbags but I can at least have some nails that may slightly resemble the pattern :D.

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Sherlock Wallpaper Nails v.2

Got the black stamping to work this time :) Yey!

Plate: Konad M83

Varnishes:

Sinful Colours - Black On Black #103

Sinful Colours - Snow Me White #101

Seche Vite Top Coat

Two coats of white followed by 1 coat of Seche Vite. This protects the white a little bit more should you have an accident with the stamper (as I always do!) and need to quickly wipe the stamp layer off. I didn't use proper stamping polish which is probably why it's so tricksy, however, some 'normal' polishes work just as well as stamping ones, plus it's worth a shot with it being a fraction of the price. Finished off with a top coat of Seche. 

And here's where I got the inspiration. Close... enough!

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Sherlock Wallpaper Inspired

Well I'm aware the colour on the wall is inverted but the black stamping went badly! For now this will have to do :)

Style tutorial can be found here: http://www.nailingtons.com/2013/12/tutorial-blue-heart-gradient.html

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