Purple Purple: The Kelpies //NOWT

NOTW 11.
I didn't want to take my little roses off :( but 2 weeks had passed and I had to update my nails. As usual I didn't really know what I wanted, I didn't have any special plans but at the very last second I opted for the beautiful 'Purple Purple'. I hadn't had this on in so long but when I do everyone comments on it and all the clients tend to go for it as it looks so much better on than it does on the colour chart. In certain lights it looks more bluey than purple and during the shellac process it sets matt which slightly puts people off for a moment but when its top coated it looks fab! One of my nails (my hardest working nail) peeled as this one is in contact with all the chemical removers and scrubs repeatedly everyday at work but with this colour and it's amazing shine my nails look in great condition and hides all that is underneath. As with any set of nails I do on myself I always need a little something extra so glitter it was this week (wasn't feeling the nail art this week), I like to alternate between the glitter and designs.
The day after applying 'Purple Purple' I was signing for a return and had to take a 2nd look at my nails as I had forgotten I'd painted them with a brightER colour compared to my dark red and black nails from before.Gave myself a little fright. These photographs were taken 2weeks after applying this colour and they were still in fab condition, no chips, no dulling only the regrowth.

Last week we also went to see the 'Kelpies' which are two new giant metal landmark horses that were designed from two real horses that live in Helix park in Falkirk. They were amazing to look at and the sun was just going down so we managed to snap up some great photos (mark kindly let me borrow his Olloclip). If you live near by you should definitely pop over to see them...amazing!

I am a bit late on posting these nails as Tuesday there I done a new set, time is passing soo quickly, I'm not sure what to do for my Paris nails so I better get planning (AHHH EXCITED!! ) so if you have any ideas please leave them in the comments. Thanks and have a lovely week hopefully the sun will show again.

♥

Tango Passion and Chai Tea

NOTW 5

As I sip on my homemade 'cuppa' Chai Tea I thought I'd upload my Shellac nails no.5 and continue with my productive day.  Nothing too exciting was to happen the week of 'Tango Passion' so I wasn't really painting my nails for a special occasion but after treating myself to "Tango Passion" from the new "Paradise" collection I thought why not try something new and obviously I had to use my new colour.  I had some nail foils lying in my kit box I got in a free goody bag at one of the CND seminars and thought I would take a bash at using one.
"Tango Passion" is a beautiful, rich purple berry colour with a hint of sparkle. I absolutely love it, it has got to be up there in my top 10 maybe even 5. After applying 2 coat of the colour I then started to play around with the foil which had a petrol effect, silver with blue,green and pale pinks mixing together. Basically all I applied the foil by scrunching foil in my fingers and stippled it over my nails, some with with more foil to the others. It's such a great and easy way to get effective nails and with no mess. I wanted to use one of new glitters I got for crimbo so I brushed some "Fairy Dust" over one of my pinkies to see how it looks. All in all I am actually lovin' how the foil has come out and I will definitely be using again, I might even treat myself to some more funkier ones...OoOOo choices choices. 

Have you tried Chai Tea...mmm yum

sorry this was the only image I got as I am rubbish at remembering but I am getting much better at taking pics thanks to 'vscocam'

So until next time. Have fun :)

♥

Cake Pop

NOTW 3 

This is an extremely late post, I have been soo busy and very forgetful. I had no clue what I was going to do with my nails this time round,  I have used my new colours and now I am just waiting for the summer colours to launch on February12th... How exciting!!!

Sorry I have had these nails on for a week now and I totally forgot to take photo's as soon as they were done, the shops were calling my name. For the past week I have been suffering from really itchy burning ears due to a small infection thanks to some cheap earrings, great. After taking an allergic retain to penicillin and fighting my burning swollen ears AND red itchy rash on my neck and arms...ooo I looked so attractive, diseased more like, I am now on the mend. I don't cope well with pain.

Due to this I couldn't really be bothered doing anything too fancy with my nails but couldn't not do them so opted for a pastel pink...meet 'Cake Pop'. 

I painted 2 coats of 'Cake Pop' and on my ringer finger one coat of 'Cocoa' layered with a mixture of gold and baby pink glitter by 'gosh' and top coat. For my right ringer finger before top coating, I applied another thin layer of cake pop in the shape of a triangle from the free edge to middle of the nail, cleaning up the lines with an orange stick. Something a little different for me. I've never had triangles on my nails before or any kind of shape apart from dots for that matter... I'm such a rebel. 

After top coating I then rubbed in some of my trusting nsi cuticle oil as my nails and skin around my nails have been a little thirsty shall I say.  And that is it my notw3.

please excuse the dry nails I haven't been practising what I preach with the cuticle oil(slap on the wrists Claire)

♥

Mint Convertible

NOTW Shellac no.2
No rest for the wicked..after picking a few bits and bobs up from B&M I took a mini cleaning fit and cleared out my desk, jewellery and my bathroom. I had gathered far too many bottles of shampoo and testers from the salon, my bins are now full. Anyway onto the nails. It's amazing how fast my nails grow with 'Shellac', I always file my nails right down and by the time 2weeks have passed they are like talons. So as I wore one of my new 'Shellac' colours last week I thought it was only fair for me to try the other one. 'Mint Convertible' is another colour from the spring 2014 Shellac collection, 'Open Road'. I have been dying for a mint green Shellac and when I heard one was in the spring collection I was at the shop snapping it up...Thanks Mark.

Whenever I wear a new colour I like to keep my manicure pretty simple to allow me to promote it at work and to see how it looks without too much fuss and I LOVE this one, it's definitely a winner. When 1st applied it is very pale/sheer therefore I applied 3 thin coats of colour to make it more opaque. As you may know if you have read any of my other nail posts that I can't resist a bit of sparkle, doesn't every girl? Anyway, so I decided to cover my whole thumb nail and half of my ring finger (to spice it up a little) in one of my new iridescent 'star glaze' glitters that I picked up in 'Papyrus' on sale for only £1.99 which matches perfectly with 'Mint Convertible'.

   

A short and sweet post, I hope you like my NOTW posts so far. Sorry my images are on the smaller side I not sure whats going on seem to be pixelated, has anyone else experienced this?

♥

Desert Poppy

As I am really wanting to focus more on my blog I thought seen as I love doing nails I thought I would do a 'Shellac' post every 2 weeks(possibly a Sunday or Tuesday) of my chosen manicure, some weeks it may be just a plain colour others there may be some fun nail art to jazz things up a little and I will go through step by step how I achieve the manicure. This would be a great way for me to have a regular featured post that will be scheduled to go live the same day every 2weeks...if that is ok?

Exciting!!! CND Shellac released their new spring 2014 collection, Shellac Takes the Open Road, pretty early this time, around christmas time which was great for me as I was able to get a few colours as gifts. There are 6 colours within this collection and after a long debate I now have two, 'Desert Poppy' & 'Mint Convertible' yehhh.

For this weeks nails well my nails for 2 weeks unless something exciting catches my eye, I have chosen to use one of my new Shellacs, 'Desert Poppy' and one of my new glitters that I got for Christmas, 'Pumpkin'.
I kept this manicure pretty simple as I had went for the crazy Christmas nails (you can see here), decorating only my ring finger with glitter and stuck a couple of gems to my thumbs. Some may say it is a rather summery colour i have went for this time but I just wanted to brighten myself up, move away from all the dark reds and purples, willing the spring to come.

Desert Poppy is a beautiful bright orange with a slight golden shimmer running through it which can only be seen when the light hits it. I applied 'Desert Poppy' as normal to all 10 nails curing them each coat. Then before top coat I added 2 small gunmetal gems to my thumbs and brushed some golden orange glitter over my ring finger so some sparkle, add a thin layer of top coat to all 10 and cure then I applied a 2nd top coat over the gems to secure them and sot them from catching. I then rubbed in some cuticle oil and voila. I also painted my toes with the same colour, I have missed my 'Shellaced' tootsies (I was just lazy before) but I don't think you want to see a picture of my feet so we will stop and the hands.
 I hope you like my new spring 'Shellac' colour :). Ps sorry my cuticles are a bit dry in the photos, it's due to cold wet weather.

♥

Take Christmas Into Your Own Hands. Crimbo Nails

Hi Everyone!!! Long time no speak I am extremely sorry that I have been super lazy, I'm not going to lie I haven't been very committed lately to my blog but New year on its way I am going to be strict with myself to try and blog at least once a week. I mean there are thousands of great bloggers out there and if you can all do it then what is stopping me.
Anyways I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and spoiled yourselves at the sales. :)

I know I am a little late I was planning this to go up on Christmas Eve but it didn't all go to plan so here we are today in my new jimjams, my 'Murad blemish control cream on and my cosy santa jumper.

I know I have done a few posts on Shellac in the past (you can read them here 1, 2 &3) But I have never done nail art like this before...these were my festive nails. I have never took nail art this extreme before but I thought 'hey it's Christmas if you can't do it now when can you?' So on my day off the week before Christmas I decided to go all out and use my Shellac to create some really festive nails which went down a treat at the salon, some of the clients were brave enough to go for a wee bit of holly on one nail or little tree. Thank goodness I didn't sit for 3hours doing my nails for nothing as they were the talk of the salon...yehh!!

So here are 10 different festive designs for your nails you could maybe take a bash at for next year I just came up wight the ideas on the spot and my white ran out half way through so I appologise for my fat santa face. Due to me melting one of my thumbs with spilt hot chocolate on a hot hob and to running out of Cream puff in my pictures I always have one thumb missing sorry about that.
All of these designs were done by myself using 'CND Shellac' products and dotting tools.

From left to right as seen in photo.

Pinky - Snowman, 'Midnight Swim' background and 'Cream Puff' done with 2 different sized dotting tools to create the snowman and then detailing done with 'Black Pool' & 'Tropix'.So starting from the

Ring Finger - Rudolf, background done in 'Rubble' and detailing done with 'Cream Puff', 'Black Pool' and 'Ruby Ritz' for the red nose.

Middle - Dotted Tree, 'Scarlet Letter' as the background (which was probably a bit dark) and then with different sized dotting tools again I created a triangle from dots using 'Serene Green' and glitter with a gold glitter at the top acting as the star.

Index Finger - Little Penguin (aww), I wanted to make it a little different from a black and white penguin so I used 'Azure Wish' as the main colour and layered 'Cream Puff' over it creating a pale cool blue for its tummy. Then using 'Tropix' I added the feet and beak and used the same as before for the eyes.

Thumb, everyone's favourite - Christmas Pudding. I did this one a day later as my white was just too old to use any further. i used 'Rubble' as the cake colour then drew the dripping cream on with a new 'Cream Puff' then using a small dotting tool I then dotted on the raisins with 'Fedora' and

'RubyRitz' and 'Hotski Tchotchke' for the holly.

Left Thumb - Christmas Tree, 'Serene Green' as my base and then I made a triangle from tip to cuticle with 'Gold' Additive, giving the effect of a gold tree with a little red star gem on top. Simple but very effective. (sorry I don't have a close up of this one as I melted it while cleaning a hot hob).

Index Finger - Santa, 'Beau' for the base (santa's skin) then I drew a semi circle with 'Wildfire' for the hat. I then added 'Cream Puff' with a dotting tool for the fur around his hat and beard and dotted 2 small 'Black Pool' dots for the eyes. Then I sprinkled some iridescent glitter over the 'Cream Puff'.

Middle Finger - Holly, I layered 'Romantique' & 'Moonlight & Roses' for the background to which I then stuck 3 small circular gems at an ankle and then used 'irresistible' green jagged glitter which gave the holly more of a 3D effect. This design was the most popular with the clients...not too crazy for them.

Ring Finger - a Snowflake done in 'Blue Rapture' as background colour with 'Cream Puff' & 'Azure Wish' layered for the actual snowflake. I then dotted on some iridescent glitter.

Pinky - a little Fat Robin done in (first of all it was 'Dark Lava' but was too dark) so opted for 'Rubble' with 'Ruby Ritz' (limited addition colour for Christmas)for his red tummy,  'Cream Puff' and 'Black Pool' for the detailing of eyes and feet.

Here are some of the clients nail art which is also really nice just on  one nail. (All done by me at 'Belle and Blackley' ).

I hope you liked my nail art. Did you get adventurous with your nails this Christmas?

♥

Rockstar Nails

Hope you had a lovely September Weekend (if you were lucky enough to have it off) I began my day by being locked in my bedroom yes very dramatic and no there is no lock on my door. With the doors being pretty old now they have buckled a little and all of a sudden my door handle decided not to work this morning right as I need to leave for my train to work. This resulting in my dad (who thankfully had slept in) removing the door frame and handle to finally bust my door open and yes I missed my train and was unable to go for a peak around Primark this morning before work:(  sad times.

Anyways as a continuation of my post from last night I am going to show you more Shellac. Are you fed up with just a plain colour but not sure what else to do with your Shellac, why not make it more fun and a bit different by adding glitter aka 'Rockstar Nails', every girl needs a sprinkle of glitter in their lives and why not start with your nails.

So sometimes glitter polishes can look very cheap and lets face it a pain in the butt to get off but with 'Rockstar nails' it makes your nails look funky yet classy thanks to shellacs mirror shine and comes off in just 10minutes along with shellac.

You don't always get clients who will go a bit wild with colours and glitter so I've got to snap up any opportunity, here are some photos of my work that I have done either on myself or on family, friends and clients.

Rockstar Wheel

Tinted Love with Ring Finger Blue Rapture with blue glitter fading out from cuticle on myself

Purple Purple with Blue Rapture Rockstar  Ring Finger Sister

Azure Wish layered with Additive  Holographic Rockstar Ring Finger on myself

Holiday nails  Hot Pop Pink with Tropix index and holographic Rockstar ring finger on myself

Tutti Frutti Rockstar

Xmas nails 2012  Red on Red Rockstar Wildfire

Pink Rockstar with Silver Rockstar Ring Finger 

Purple Purple Rockstars with White iridescent 

Mermaid Rockstars  Green to Blue  

Blues & Purple Rockstars

Multicolour Rockstars

One of my favourites...Random yet vintage Rockstars

Azure Wish with Gold Rockstar Stripe Nail Art on Ring Finger 

Azure Wish with Silver Rockstar Tip Nail Art 

Half Moon Mani ...Cake Pop with Gold Rockstar Nail Art

You can never have too much glitter:)
 I hope you like my work and it has given you some ideas for your next manicure.

Which Glitter design is your favourite?

Have you messed around with glitter on your shellac polish?

♥