Wednesday 26 November 2014

UK Indies - Freckles Polish Prank Call And Christmas Collection

*These products were provided for review*

Greetings All!

Today I have a rather picture heavy post, with four polishes from Freckles Polish that will be released this Friday (the 28th).



There are two new collections being released. The Christmas polishes are coming, but first two polishes from the Prank Call collection. They all have amusing names (think Bart Simpson prank calling Moe), and so I assumed they would be full of glitter and bright colours, fun polishes to match the names.

Friday 21 November 2014

A2Z Series - D For Dark

Greetings All!

Once again, I haven't been around much this week. However I am still keeping up with this challenge, which is certainly something. I even have next week's nails done and ready.

I'm posting late again, not because I didn't get these done in time,but because I didn't get in yesterday until late and I really couldn't find the effort to get them posted. I should plan better and my posts prepped on a Wednesday, but organisation isn't my strong point!

There has been a tremendous amount of effort from the other ladies in this challenge - I just went with something fairly simple, and dark and moody.






I started with a base of OPI Rendezvous In My Boudoir, definitely my favourite red at the moment. I went for one of my favourite moody, gothic looks, a black and red vertical gradient. I did intend to add some black stamping, but by the time I got round to it it was already time to take them off.


You can take a look at all the manicures from all the prompts here.





Saturday 15 November 2014

A2Z Series - C For Copycat

Greetings All!

I'm two days late with these nails. I haven't really been feeling up to it lately, in fact I haven't blogged all week. However these nails are done so I may as well post them. Hopefully I'll continue to take part  next week.


For my copycat nails I was inspired by this lovely pop art print.






You can keep up to date with all the series here.





Sunday 9 November 2014

Lynnderella - Mercury's Rainbow

Greetings All!

I have another Lynn swatch today - nothing better than a bit of glitter to cheer up a Sunday!

Two coats of Mercury's Rainbow over Barry M Grey. It has quite a dark grey base, but I definitely still needed undies.







This polish is like holographic chain mail! The colours look a little light and pastel here for some reason, but in real life they're very bright and colourful. Perfect for staring at my nails while I wiggle my fingers!


I'm also seriously in love with this bottle shot. I just keep staring at it.




I want to swim in it!

Saturday 8 November 2014

UK Indies - Flash Nails Tropical Storm

*This product was provided for review*

Greetings All!

Today I've got a lovely little polish from Flash Nails. This indie brand reopened last month, and has a really cute and tempting mix of glitter crellies and glitter toppers.

Tropical Storm is perfect for the grey weather we've been having here lately. It has a soft grey base to match all the clouds, with a sprinkling of glitter to cheer it all up!

This is two coats over Butter London Billy No Mates.






The crelly base is a little sheer - you could maybe get full coverage with three coats. However my nails are pretty stained at the moment, and I didn't want to alter this pretty grey - how shameful would that have been?! I also enjoyed a chance to use BNM - I've had a huge crush on Butter London this year, and this was one of the polishes that started it off. 

The formula on Tropical Storm is very good, it went on the nail very easily and the glitter dispersal was effort-free. I really like the colour combination, it reminds me a little of flowers and I love how they pop in this warm soft grey. If only we could get a little glitter in the clouds!


You can buy Flash Nails polish here, and keep up to date on Facebook

Friday 7 November 2014

Koi Carp Nails

Greetings All!

I recently treated myself to some new Konad stamping polishes. I needed a new black and...things just...happened. I ended up with a dozen! So now I need to use them to justify them!

The first I've used is apparently Gold Brown, but it's an orange with a gold sparkle. Whatever it is, I immediately knew what I wanted to do with it.







I started with a base of Look Nail Pop in Milk. Then I got totally distracted cataloging my stamping polishes, an evening well spent I'm sure you'll agree!

The next day I stamped with the konad 'gold brown'  and MoYou Sailor 05. Unfortunately I got very little gold sparkle on my scales, and it wasn't as opaque as I was hoping for. I was tempted to just remove it, but as it had taken me so long to get to this stage I decided to try and rescue it with a bit of glitter, in the form of Feenix Candy Corn.

I'm quite pleased with the result! And I was happy to use a Halloween polish outside of October!

Thursday 6 November 2014

A2Z Series - B For Bold

Greetings All!


We're onto week 2 of this challenge. Last week brought some beautiful manicures, and I'm excited to see what everyone comes up with this week!

The prompt is Bold. I had several different ideas for this prompt (all involving stamping). As per usual, despite my massive collection of stamps, I still didn't have the images I was picturing! I wish I could make my own...

So here are my Bold nails.






I was very lucky to get my new bottle of Konad Black in time for this manicure - weak black lines just wouldn't have been bold enough! I've stamped over OPI Arctic Snow using MoYou Princess 12. The neon studs are from ebay, and were a last minute decision. I just felt it needed a little something else!


You can check out all the nails for all the prompts here.


Wednesday 5 November 2014

UK Indies - TarasTalons Bonfire And Fireworks

Greetings All!

Tonight is Bonfire Night here in the UK, and I happen to have two perfectly themed polishes to coincide.


This is two coats of Bonfire.







Yellow can be a difficult polish, but this bright crelly is perfect in two coats. The effect with the glitter is lovely and fiery!


Next is Fireworks, two coats over black.






I'll admit that with a name like Fireworks, you might expect something more colourful. However this gold glitter in a black base has a lot of depth and sparkle, and I'll probably be wearing this some time over the Christmas season (which I can't believe I'm mentioning already). It's definitely my kind of polish.


You can buy TarasTalons polish here, and remember you can use the code SpecialGirlNails for a 15% discount!

Monday 3 November 2014

Autumnal Gradient And Glitter

Greetings All!

I'd better slip some Autumnal nail art while I can, before it slips into Winter! Don't get me wrong, Winter is good - dark colours are my favourite after all. I just want a chance to use a few browns and oranges while they're season-appropriate!

For this gradient I've used some of the newest Barry M Gellys. They look so good together, it really takes the work out of picking polishes for a manicure.








The Gellys in question are Mustard, Paprika, Chilli and Cocoa. I then added a dabbed on coat of Indy's Indies Autumn Leaves.

Could my nails look any more Autumn?!

Sunday 2 November 2014

Lynnderella Love, Lace And Lilacs

Greetings All!

I have a quick swatch for you today. Most of the bargain Lynns I bought on eBay a few months ago have been sitting untried - isn't that terrible?! I feel like I should be itching to get them on my nails, but I'm taking my time, and wearing them when they feel right.

Obviously, I had to layer this over a lilac. It's right there in the name! I tried to be a little more imaginative, but in the end I really like the combination. This is 2 coats of LLAL over Boots No7 Lucky Lilac.






It's so pretty and feminine, it and does look lacy! I love it.

Saturday 1 November 2014

Boudoir Roses

Greetings All!

For my birthday last month I got the OPI Gone Noble set. I hadn't heard of any of the polishes in the set - there is an excellent post here by Pocket Money Polishes explaining where they come from, with swatches and comparisons. I was very taken with the colours, especially the red, Rendezvous In My Boudoir. My red collection is fairly...robust, but OPI do reds really well, so I've always got room for another one!

With a name like that, I had to include some slightly boudoir-esque nail art.







This is two coats of RIMB, with MoYou Gothic 03 and 05. I have the same image in two different sizes, so I thought I'd use both. It looks a little off, but I do like the smaller roses on my little finger - sometimes the MoYou XL images are actually a little too big! I had to stamp with W7 Black again - thankfully I'm now back on the Konad!