Jewellery Inspired

I'm not sure what to call this design/pattern. I sat for ages thinking of something. Any ideas? Abstract maybe? I don't know. So for the title of this post I went with the ever-so-imaginitive 'Jewellery Inspired'.

The pattern is from an owl locket I got from eBay ages ago. 

(Quick question, when it comes to nail art, do you prefer pictures where the person is holding the bottle or not?)

The base colour is H&M Golden Temptress, and the pattern is black acrylic paint, painted on with a teeny tiny nail art brush, finished with a NYC top coat.

It took ages to get all those fiddly little patterns on! This has some serious staying power too, I've had it on for days and it hasn't chipped or even worn away at the tips.

Here's the owl locket - 

I really like this and might try it with some different colours.

Pink Leopard

I've never really got on well with leopard print. When done well it can look really good, and there seems to be many ways of doing it, but I can never seem to get it right! And it always looks so easy. I don't even want to think about my earlier attempts at leopard print. 

Today I used a tutorial from Chalkboard Nails to see if it helped, but it still didn't turn out how I wanted! Leopard, you are my nemesis.

My base colour is Color Club I Believe In Amour, the shiny dots are Models Own Mystic Mauve and the outline is Barry M Shocking Pink.

Click to enlarge

Eh, could be worse! I'll keep trying!

Colourful Hearts

I am procrastinating terribly today. I have a mountain of washing as tall as me, I can't see my bed for the masses of clothes and ugh I am basically a slob. So, obviously, instead of cleaning it up I am posting on here.

I love working on white bases, it's like a nice clean canvas on your nails. I've been looking for a good white polish for a while because my Barry M white keeps going gloopy (might still be good for stamping?) and I decided on Essie Blanc, and it was a good choice.

I also have fancy new watermarks that follow the curve of my nail, which drove me insane trying to do properly!

So I started with my base of Essie Blanc, then I used a medium sized nail art brush to paint on the hearts. The colours, top to bottom, are - Models Own Bubblegum, China Glaze Custom Kicks, Models Own Tangerine Queen and Barry M Cyan Blue.

I then outlined in black acrylic paint using a smaller nail art brush, and finished with top coat.

I already want to do more nail art with a white base, I'll end up with no white polish left.

Don't forget to like my facebook page, if you would be so kind!

Barry M Lemon Ice Cream - Swatches

I've finally made a Facebook page for my blog, and I'd be really grateful if you could take a second and 'like' it for me - 

https://www.facebook.com/britnails 

It's not finished yet, I'm still adding stuff and it'll probably take me ages because I don't understand Facebook :P I don't even know how to get a widget for it on here so people can like it. Gah!

Anyway, I'm in an ice cream kind of mood today. Has anyone tried those Ben & Jerry's core things? Ugh, they should be made illegal for being so fatteningly amazing. I digress.

This is Lemon Ice Cream from Barry M, it's part of a set of four 'ice cream' shades.

It's a bright lemon, pastel creme (can something be bright AND pastel at the same time? Well, this is!) and I am not sure how well it goes with my olive skin. 

It's very, very...yellow. I enjoy it though. Formula is typical of a pastel creme (a little thin and streaky) but also has the typical smoothness of a Barry M, so it balances out. I used three thin coats, but there's still a tiny bit of visible nail line.

It looks much yellower in some lights (above)

It's made me want to eat some lemon sorbet actually.

Ciate Purple Sherbet - Swatches

What's with all the amazing freebies magazines are giving away lately? Glamour, In Style, Marie Claire...I must have spent a small fortune on magazines. I can't get enough of that Benefit Porefessional stuff, I fear I may have to buy a full-size one.

Marie Clare is giving away Ciate polishes with it's June issue (not bad considering they're usually £9 a bottle) and this is the one I got.

Click to enlarge

Purple Sherbet is a pale, dusky lilac creme. It's super subtle but really pretty. I used three coats to build up the opacity a bit.

This is my first Ciate polish (I've been a bit put off ever since the whole caviar manicure fiasco) the formula is great and easy to work with, but no better than a Barry M or a Models Own and they're much cheaper! The bottle is SO cute though, and I am a sucker for a pretty bottle, and I do like the wide, flat brush, so I would consider buying more of these.

I imagine it's only a matter of time before I get polish on the bow...