Lace Stamped Nails

Hi guys!

Wow, two blog posts in one day! I'm on a roll :)

Today's manicure is one that I've been waiting to try out for a long time - lace nails! I finally ordered myself a lace design stamping plate from BornPrettyStore.com, and couldn't wait to use it in some nail art!

For this manicure I used a new Barry M Speedy Quick-Dry polish from their summer release - 'Lap Of Honour'. I painted my thumb, index and middle finger with this then stamped over it using Color Club 'French Tip' polish. On my ring finger I added a base of OPI 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls', then stamped with Claire's 'Liquid Metal Rose Gold'. Finally, I covered my pinkie with a gorgeous glitter polish from Maybelline called 'Gilded Rose'.

I couldn't resist sticking a few gems onto the nail as a finishing touch!

This manicure is way more delicate than I would normally wear, but I got a lot of compliments on it and love the detail in the stamp. I hadn't tried out any of the Born Pretty Store stamping plates before, but I must say I am impressed with the quality. The lines are well defined and create a clear image on the stamp and on the nail. For only £2.50 you really can't complain. Free shipping too! Enter my code CESH10 for 10% off your order at BornPrettyStore.com :)

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Gold and Turquoise Nails

Hi guys!

Today I have a pretty gold and turquoise manicure to show you. I created these as June week 3 prompt for the Weekly Nail Art Challenge I'm taking part in over on Instagram.

Weekly Nail Art Challenge - Turquoise and Gold

To achieve this look, I first painted my nails in a base colour of Barry M 'Green Berry', which is a vibrant turquoise polish from their Gelly Hi-Shine collection. It's probably my favourite green and is perfect for summer.

After my base colour had dried, I blobbed random dots of Barry M 'Green Berry', Collection 'After Dinner Mint' and Models Own 'Gold Chrome' onto my nails, then pressed down on them with a piece of plastic (I just used a plastic food bag for this). I love the 'saran wrap' technique as it creates such a gorgeous smoky/marbled effect on the nail. Finally, on my index and pinkie, I used my Bundle Monster stamping plate #607 to stamp two patterns using 'After Dinner Mint' and then 'Gold Chrome'. Finally, I outlined my nails using a thin striping brush and voila!

Saran wrap technique and stamping

Oooooohhhhh macro!

I also decided to try this manicure with one of my new matte topcoats - 'Satin Matt' from Essence. I picked this up from Wilko for £2 and I'm actually quite impressed with it. I'm not sure that it is that different to a regular matte topcoat, but at £2 I'm not complaining!

Essence Satin Matt 

Matte gold and turquoise nails

I definitely prefer these nails glossy as I think the marbled effect has more depth than when they are mattified. What is your preference? Glossy or matte?

Thanks for reading!

Helen

Rockstud Nails! Inspired by Valentino

Hello lovely people!

When I was 14 I received a Valentino perfume for Christmas. I remember being totally won over by the packaging, lots of bright colours and a crisp-looking cubed bottle. I cannot for the life of me find an image of the particular perfume online, which is a total disappointment, but I can assure you it was gorgeous! Recently I stumbled upon Valentino's new Rockstud Collection on Instagram, and again I'm totally won over - I love the contrast of bright colours with hints of gold accent coming from the studs which adorn each item. At approximately £1500, I'm not going to be able to afford/justify buying a Valentino bag, but the design is perfect to translate onto nails!

Valentino - Rockstud Collection

As always, I flicked through my swatch book to find the most suitable colours, and ended up using: Ciate 'Mojito', Rimmel 'Raw As Night', Rimmel 'Black Cherries', Sally Hansen 'Butter-fly Stroke', Seche 'Snapdragon',  and Nails Inc. 'Kensington Park Road'.

L-R: Mojito / Raw As Night / Black Cherries / Butter-fly Stroke / Snapdragon / Kensington Park Road

I completed the whole design freehand - no striping tape, no vinyls, no template at all - which I am very proud of, particularly my index and pinkie fingers! I added studs to every nail to keep in theme (any excuse to stick things to my nails!) 

Valentino Inspired Nails

I absolutely love wearing these, they are so bright and cheerful and totally me. I want to replicate this again in a few months to see if I can improve on my 'V' shapes, but I am absolutely happy with this as a first attempt.

Here are a few more photos:

And here is a final shot of both hands. I definitely think that I am getting better using my non-dominant hand for freehand designs, and I sometimes find that my left hand is actually better than my right. Maybe it's because I'm concentrating more? 

I hope you like these as much as I do. As always I'd LOVE to hear what you think, so please feel free to comment below or leave a message on my Facebook page!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

PS If anyone would like to buy me a Valentino bag, I will wholeheartedly accept! :)