31 Day Challenge - Day 4 - Green

Hi guys!

I have been trying to keep up with the 31 Day Challenge over on Instagram, and so here are my nails for prompt number four - green. I chose a cherry blossom design as it's something I've been meaning to do for a while and it seemed quite straightforward. I'm not 100% happy with them, but it's not bad for a first attempt!

My base here is Make Up Gallery (Poundland) 'Spearmint', topped with China Glaze 'Fairy Dust'. I then used a striping brush and Barry M 'Cocoa' to draw the branches, and finished with Barry M 'Kiss Me Quick' and Seche 'Audacious' for the blossoms. On my pinkie I reverse stamped an image from Bundle Monster CYO 2014 plate #617. I topped the whole design off with Posche Topcoat, which left loads of bubbles in the design :( I definitely need to get myself some more HK Girl, as I'm just not getting on well with any other topcoats!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

PS Check out all of the other submissions for the 31 Day Challenge on Instagram - just search the hashtag #31dc2015

31 Day Challenge - Day 3 - Yellow

Hello!

Today I have my third set of nails created for the 31 Day Challenge. The prompt for this one is 'yellow', which is a colour I don't often wear on my nails, but surprisingly I actually own quite a few yellow polishes (or not, when you consider the size of my stash!)

For this mani I used the gorgeous Butter London 'Jasper', which is such a beautiful pastel yellow creme polish. I teamed it with Hello Kitty 'Whatcha', a bargain that I picked up in Poundland! The little flower studs are also from Poundland - they don't look like a good match in these pictures, but I promise they are in real life!

I'm loving the 31 Day Challenge, it's giving me a great opportunity to try out some more of my unused polishes, such as 'Jasper' in this mani. Being ill this week has given me the time to plan out what I'm going to do each day on my nails, so I have no excuses not to finish the challenge!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

P.S. Check out all of the other submissions for the 31 Day Challenge over on Instagram - just search the hashtag #31DC2015 :)

31 Day Challenge - Day 2 - Orange

Hi guys!

This is a super quick post featuring my second mani in the 31 Day Challenge. Prompt number two is 'orange' so I decided to stamp a tiger design onto my nails :D

For this design I used Bundle Monster plate #613 from the CYO 2014 collection. For the base I dry brushed  NYC 'Summer In NYC', an unnamed Ted Baker peach shimmer polish, Barry M 'Cocoa' and Barry M 'Coconut' onto my nail, then stamped directly onto the nail using MoYou London 'Black Knight' stamping polish.

Sorry for the short post, I've been feeling under the weather this week and haven't been able to put as much time into nails and blogging as I usually would. Stick with me, guys!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x 

P.S. Check out all of the other submissions for the 31 Day Challenge over on Instagram - just search the hashtag #31DC2015 :)

Galaxy Nail Art

Hi guys!

Today I want to share a short post with you featuring some galaxy nails that created recently. This is my third attempt at this design, and so far is my favourite - they actually look like galaxies! Woohoo!

For this I started with a base of Barry M 'Black' and sponged/dotted a galaxy 'shape' with Color Club 'French Tip' white polish. I then used too many polishes to remember in pinks, blues, greens and purples and dabbed them around the white markings with my sponge. Finally, a few pieces of Ciate 'Celestial' glitter and a thin layer of China Glaze 'Fairy Dust' and my galaxy was complete! :D

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Green Leaves Nail Art

Hey!

Today's nails are inspired by nature. And sparkly charms!

I've been dying to use this adorable leaf charm for a while, so when I saw a manicure by @charsnails on Instagram using it, I just had to paint my nails! 

I started with a base of Nails Inc. 'Marylebone Road' on all fingers except my ring finger, which I painted using Barry M 'Cardamom' (as a background for my charm). I then used the saran-wrap technique to blend 'Cardamom', 'Marylebone Road', and Make Up Gallery 'Spearmint' on the nail. The final step was to create a leaf pattern using acrylic paint, stick on my charm and top with Poshe Topcoat. Et voila!

These turned out much better than I imagined they would, and I really love the effect of the leaves. As a result of this mani, I now have loads of ideas for nature-themed nails that I can't wait to try out!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Splash Floral Nail Art

Hi everyone!

This week's prompt for the Weekly Nail Art Challenge over on Instagram is 'mint and lilac' with a summer theme. I decided to create an abstract flower design for this one :)

I started off with a base of Essence 'Wild White Ways', then using a torn sponge, I dabbed on Ciate 'Sugar Plum' and Essie 'Mint Candy Apple'. Finally, I added the flower outlines using a striping brush and two polishes from Claire's Liquid Metal collection - 'Teal' and 'Purple' (very imaginatively named, Essence!) 

I kind of wish I hadn't put two flowers on my middle and ring fingers, as it makes the mani seem a bit cluttered, but overall I'm really pleased with this one. It's a refreshing change as it's much more delicate than the neon designs I've been wearing recently! 

As always, head over to Instagram to see all of the entries into the Weekly Nail Art Challenge - just search #wnac2015 :)

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Sponging and Stamping!

Hi guys!

Today I have some pretty stamped nails to show you that I created after being inspired by this manicure by Sveta Sanders on Instagram. I loved the colours together and thought it seemed simple enough to recreate without too much hassle! 

I started with a base of Fuse Gelnamel 'Intens-so-fly' which is a muted turquoise gel. You can't actually see much of the base on my nails as it was mostly covered by the sponging, which I am counting as a good thing as I really don't like the colour! I then used Models Own 'Pukka Purple', Models Own 'Sun Hat' and China Glaze 'Grass Is Lime Greener' to randomly sponge the colours onto the nail, making sure to overlap them. I love how this looks! It reminds me of graffiti :)

Not content with the base as it was, I decided to add a touch of white stamping using MoYou London Pro-08 plate and one of the cute flowered designs.

To finish the look, I used neon studs as the centre of the larger flowers and topped with topcoat to seal it all in. 

Hope you like these as much as I do!  <3

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Pretty In Pink Nails

Hi guys,

Today I have some super simple and girly nails to show you. This was inspired by UK indie maker PolishedbyLeanne who is giving away her sparkly 'gemstone' polish collection to one lucky winner over on Instagram. And all you have to do is paint your nails pink! Pink is my favourite colour, and I definitely don't use it enough in my nail art, so I really enjoyed this manicure :)

The polishes I used here are Barry M 'Kiss Me Quick', China Glaze 'Sexy Lady', and Seche 'Opulant'. I also used my new fave one-coat white - Essence 'Wild White Ways'. As soon as I placed brush to nail I knew that this was a winner, and such a bargain purchase at only £1.60! I think I need to stock up on this polish as I'll be using it a lot! Unfortunately, my topcoat picked up some of the darker polish and spread it onto the pastel shade, leaving me with a dry-brush effect streak. Lesson learned: don't be so hasty!

Barry M - Kiss Me Quick

China Glaze - Sexy Lady

Seche - Opulant

For those who are interested in the progress of my stubby little thumb nail after it snapped halfway down about two weeks ago, take a peek at the pic below. Ugh, it still looks so silly! I think I'm going to be leaving her out of photos for a little while yet :(

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Butter London - Bargain Haul **Swatches**

Hi guys!

TK Maxx are selling Butter London! Naturally as soon as I found out about this I went to my local store to browse the goods on offer, and I wasn't disappointed. I managed to bag myself five Butter London polishes for under £25, which I'm sure you'll agree is an absolute bargain!

L-R: Blowing Raspberries / Jasper / Wellies / Fiver / Knees Up

First up is 'Blowing Raspberries' which is a gorgeous deep pink-leaning red. This was by far the best out of the bunch in terms of application and went on perfectly in two easy coats. Shown here is two coats plus topcoat.

Next up is 'Jasper', a pretty pastel yellow creme. This is three coats plus topcoat.

'Wellies' is my favourite! This one doesn't look like much in the bottle, and I very nearly didn't buy it, but on the nail it comes alive! Wellies is an almost-neon green which is just absolutely gorgeous. I just know that I am going to be wearing this colour all of the time! This is three coats plus topcoat.

Next up is 'Fiver', which I think might be my least favourite of the lot. It's a lovely pale blue shade with slight grey undertones, however I feel I have a few polishes that are very similar in my collection already. Not a winner, but still lovely all the same. Again, three coats plus topcoat.

Finally, I pounced on 'Knees Up' as I've seen this quite a few times in Boots and have always been tempted to buy it. For me this is the perfect festive red - a stunning shade with the faintest shimmer of orange-gold throughout. It truly is something special and I can't wait to use this towards Christmas time! This is two coats plus topcoat.

TK Maxx are currently selling all Butter London polishes for £3.99! Last time I checked, they were retailing at around £12-15 in other high street stores, so this is definitely a bargain price! I'm super happy that I finally have some Butter London in my collection, and can't wait to add more :)

Thanks for reading!

Helen x