High Heels and Suspenders!

Hi everyone!

Last night I decided to make my own sheer tints in order to create a look I've been wanting to try for ages:

 'High Heels and Suspenders'

To create my own tints, I simply used a cheap clear polish (this one from Poundland), poured a little out to make room, and added drops of Barry M 'Black' testing after every few drops to check the opacity. For the tint shown in this manicure, there are around 8 drops in the bottle and I used two coats on the nail. I also repeated this with a red polish (using Collection 'Lady In Red'), however I required quite a large number of drops added to the clear base in order to make it red-tones and not pink.

I decided to name my new tints 'High Heels' and 'Suspender'! In keeping with the theme, I chose Essence 'The Black Cat' polish to add detail - this has a wonderful latex look about it, drying not-quite-shiny and not-quite-matte. You can pick it up in Wilko for £2! 

L-R: DIY black tint / The Black Cat / DIY red tint

I layered two coats of my black tint to my thumb, index and pinkie finger, then two layers of my red tint to my middle and ring fingers. I added Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Topcoat at this stage to dry the tints, and to give some longevity to the polish. I didn't use topcoat again in this manicure as I wanted the latex effect to be apparent.

Using a dotting tool and a striping brush, I created polka dots and stripes which remind me of saucy stockings! My ring finger is inspired by a corset, and I love how it all turned out! 

Using silver caviar beads, silver striping tape, and a couple of studs I added some much needed bling to this manicure. I found the caviar beads and studs in Poundland (seriously, get yourself over to your nearest Poundland!), and my striping tape is from Amazon.

I lost a caviar bead! Noooo!

What do you guys think of this? Have you tried making your own tints before? I have a feeling that I will be franking a lot of my own shades now - it's so easy, so fun and totally unique! There's a great overview on Girly Bits Cosmetics which outlines the do's and dont's of mixing your own polish.

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

Pretty In Pink

Hi guys!

I have a lovely simple manicure today using only two (yes, two!) colours and a sprinkle of gems. I recently ordered some Seche nail polish, hoping that they would live up to the reputation that Seche Vite topcoat has instilled into the brand. Although I haven't yet swatched these polishes properly, I thought that the below pink was perfect for the kind of mani I wanted to create tonight.

OPI 'My Boyfriend Scales Walls' and Seche 'Precious'

'My Boyfriend Scales Walls' by OPI is one of my favourite white polishes. It's not a true white and has an ever so slight grey undertone to it, making wearing it easy as it's not too stark. It matches beautifully with Seche 'Precious', which is a sheer pink with subtle lilac-silver shimmer. Gorgeous! Although the application isn't great (I found it quite thin in consistency) I managed to get a great colour using three coats.

Sorry for the blurry pic! Pinkie - Precious / Ring - My Boyfriend Scales Walls

The finished look

 I was super annoyed to have smudged my middle finger just before taking photos, but at three layers for coverage I didn't have time to re-do the nail!

Finally, can we all just take a moment to truly appreciate the fabulousness that is my new phonecase:

It is soooooo pretty! Video is on my Instagram page!

Sorry for such a short post today - I started a new job this week and I've not had time to blog, but that should change soon =) Hope you liked the nails!

Thanks for reading!

Helen x

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! :)