Simple Diagonal Tips

God, I have no idea what to call this mani so "Simple Diagonal Tips" is going to have to suffice, however stupid it sounds. I had a bad day yesterday so was feeling uninspired, but I enjoy the simple look.

The base is OPI - Skull & Glossbones, then I painted on a diagonal slick (I hate the word slick...say it...ugh!) of Barry M - Fuchsia, and then used a black striper polish to create the outline. 

Another morning of chasing the sun around the room like a crazy person!

My cuticles are driving me mad lately, they're dry and gross and creeping forward like zombies coming out of a swamp. I really need tips on cuticle care because my usual methods are failing me!

Oh my GOSH, more stamping.

I'm very excited today because my friend and I have booked a city break to ROME! I can't wait to see all the landmarks and gorge on delicious Italian food!

On to the nails, here we have GOSH - Gasoline, which is a lovely purple shimmer/glitter in a jelly base. Over that I've stamped a design from BM plate 221, using Barry M - Silver Foil Effects.

My stamping skills could still be better. More practice required! I swear it's so much harder when you have very big nails. That's what I'm telling myself anyway.

I got some nail mail today, which is always one of the best things to wake up to. Lena White have a sale on OPI, so I picked all these up for half price! I also got some sensitive & peeling nail envy because my nails peel terribly. I really hope it helps. (Excuse the badly lit iPhone pic)

Sparrow Me The Drama, Planks a Lot, I Lily Love You and Servin' Up Sparkle.

60's Floral

Hello! Late post today, it's 1:45am and I'm still not sleepy. Such horrible weather here, cold and windy and buckets of rain. So miserable, and the lack of sunlight makes it so hard to take pictures. Anyway, this mani is inspired by floral print from the 60's. I love how bright and happy it is!

I started with a base of Barry M - Coral, and I stamped a BM plate (cannot remember the plate number and my plates are downstairs in the cold!) over that with Konad special polish in white. I then used a dotting tool to fill in the centres of the flowers, using Barry M - Cyan Blue and Models Own - Lime Green. Finished with top coat.

I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out but I love the finished result. 

Gradient Nails

Well, this isn't the best. In fact I don't really like it, I didn't do it very well. I'm still posting it though because in the future I think it'll be fun to look back and see how I've (hopefully) improved. I'm sad it didn't turn out too well, because I love gradient nails and I've seen some that have been beautifully done. I think I maybe need to find a better way of doing them.

My base is OPI - Lincoln Park After Dark (I found this really annoying to apply) 

and I sponged some Barry M - Shocking Pink over that.

I like the colour the pink turned when I sponged it over the dark base. I also did a really cute Konad mani on my friend at the weekend, and I forgot to take pictures! :(

Galaxy Nails

Hello! Ugh, it's so cold here. My fingers and the end of my nose are freezing! All the cars have frozen over, too. Silly England. Anyway, Here we have my first attempt at a "Galaxy" mani. Or a Nebular mani, depending on your preferred word. I'm quite happy with it for a first try, but it could be better. I think I used a little too much black and I don't really like the yellow spots, but they're all things I can correct for next time.

Here's what I did:

Painted on a coat of OPI - Dating A Royal

Sponged on some Barry M - Matt White

Sponged on some Barry M - Cyan Blue over the white

Sponged on some OPI - Absolutely Alice on top of that

Sponged some Barry M - Black at the top and bottom.

Used a dotting tool to dot on some stars. 

It's really easy to do, I'm just hoping I like my next one more!

Marks & Spencer Rainbow Swatches

A holo...from M&S? I couldn't believe my eyes. Apparently this is similar to GOSH holographic, just perhaps not quite as intense. I bought this a while ago and I don't know why I waited so long to try it. My pictures aren't great because I was chasing the last bit of sunlight around the room! 

I don't know too much about holo nail polishes, but I think this is a linear holo? Correct me if I'm wrong. 

It applied beautifully, one of the easiest applications I've experienced. I used two coats, no top coat.

In the shade:

I'm really impressed with this, it may be no Nfu-Oh but its still really nice. It only cost £7.50/11ml too!

Also, I'm still trying to think of a new name for my blog. I'll probably just decide on something in the next day or so. Super fed up of the current one!

Tribal Nails

I finally decided to do some tribal designs on my actual nails, instead of on nail wheels. I thought I was going to make a mess of it since it was my first attempt on myself but it didn't turn out too bad. The only bit I don't really like is the white part on my middle finger, I should have done it in black.

I used OPI - Skull & Glossbones for the base, Barry M - Fuchsia, and the black and white detailing is a mixture of acrylic paint and nail art pens. 

I did make a pretty big mess of my right hand, though. How on earth are you supposed to paint on the detail  neatly with your left hand? (if you're right handed, of course). Almost impossible!

In other news, I'm desperately trying to think of a new name for my blog. Lush Lacquer was never meant to be permanent and I've had it for much longer than I planned. I don't like it at all. I just can't think of anything else though! :( 

China Glaze Rainbow and Barry M Lavender Hexograms

I bought Lavender Hexograms months ago (I cannot resist a chunky glitter) and this is the first time I've used it. I'm not sure why it's referred to as hexograms because really it's just squares, in a clear base with some tiny bits of glitter. It's really pretty though, the lavender squares are very shiny and iridescent. 

I applied it over Rainbow by China Glaze. Rainbow is a super sheer white iridescent polish, with hints of purple and pink. I'm not a big fan of sheer polishes but this has a lot of potential for layering. It goes really well with the colour of the squares and the glitter.

It's super shiny and sparkly in real life (difficult to capture in pictures)! and I'm interested to see what else I can layer Rainbow with.

Illamasqua Raindrops and Smash Swatches

Illamasqua is one of my favourite make-up brands. I absolutely love their range of nail polish. I don't own too many as it's one of the more expensive brands (Around £13 for a 15ml bottle) but the ones I have, I love.

This is Raindrops. My mum got this for me a couple of months ago (she has excellent taste!) 

This is from a set of 3 fan-designed nail polishes, released in October 2010. The person that designed it describes it as "A light, creamy grey with the sheerest silver glimmer, lightly reflective... like a raindrop.”

This is a really pretty polish. It has lots of little silver flakies in a sheer jelly base. My pictures are two coats, but it could possibly use three as you can see a bit of visible nail line, although I think two is just fine. 

Next up is Smash, which I recently picked up for £5 in the Illamasqua sale. I know not a lot of people are fans of green polish, but personally I love it! This is described as "Bright grass green, glossy finish".

It is pretty bright, but not overly so. It has a lovely smooth creme finish and is super easy to apply. 

Please excuse my cuticles. I got a bit over-zealous with a cuticle stick and now they're dry and sore. Oops.

Illamasqua is available at http://www.illamasqua.com and they ship worldwide. Sale is still on!

Barry M Blue Glitter Swatches

Today I got a nice haul from Sally's. I can't believe how cheap OPI and ChG is with a trade card! I'll post a picture in my next post. 

Today I'm showing you Barry M's Blue Glitter, which I wore on New Years Eve. The formula for this is fantastic, it's very dense (yet easy to apply) and two coats gives complete coverage.

Beautiful bright electric blue! It does dry quite rough as with most glitters, but a layer of top coat sorts that out. It's even more vivid in real life.

Ugh, mind the gaps between the polish and my cuticles. I'm still trying to perfect that. Barry M is available at http://www.barrym.com