Leopard Print nails: Summer colours

Good evening lovelies

Just a quick post tonight as I am rushing in the door from a sales conference and then back out again for a team night out at a local comedy club.

I loved the idea of these nails as I planned the colours in my head but I didnt like them once I was finished...

Neon Coral and Leopard Print Nails

Good evening lovelies

Happy Friday! Just to add to my excitement its a bank holiday weekend so I have a whole three days off to enjoy the company of my loved ones, catch up on some serious swatching and of course write some blogs! Tonight I am having a mini Orly Gel FX nail party with little sis and her bestie Suzi. We are going to be naughty and have a takeaway Chinese first and then I will get into the serious business of nail painting!

Here are my nails of the day...

This is the most amazingly hard to capture on camera polish I have ever had in my collection. In real life it is a super pretty neon coral orange. On all my pictures it just looks like tangerine :-(. I still love this colour so very much.. it is called Pool Party and is from the China Glaze 2010 summer collection.

On my index and ring fingers I used two coats of I Herd That which is from the China Glaze Safari 2012 collection. I cannot tell you how much I love this gold, bronze, red and orange glitter. It applies perfectly and looked as good in the shade as it did in the sun. I am definitely treating myself to I'm Not Lion from the same collection now I know how good this one is :-).

Using small 'blobs' of Pool Party over the top of I Herd That I then used my brand new Barry M Black Nail Art Pen to create leopard print accent nails :-). The Nail Art pen was beyond easy to use and I am glad I also picked up the white and silver versions.

Finally using my Orly dotting tool I added a couple of small dots of I Herd That to each Pool Party nail.

I hope you all have something lovely planned for the weekend :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Yellow and Pink Leopard Print nails

Good evening lovelies

TGI Friday! I know I say it every week but I am so glad it is the weekend. Friday nights at home with Mr LiPP, the puppies and a nicely chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc make up my idea of the perfect start to any weekend.

We have a family gathering at my in laws to look forward to on Sunday and hopefully lots of other nice things between now and then.

A very bright start to the weekend...

I started with a base of Sally Hansen Yellow Kitty. Those of you who have followed my blog for a while will know I don't like yellow... plain and simple. I picked this polish up in Poundland a few weeks ago mainly because I am a sucker for a bargain but also so I could learn to love yellow.

What better way to learn than to add pink :-). Using my newly developed free hand leopard print skills I went a little crazy and added lots of leopard spots to each of the yellow nails.

I think the contrast of these two colours worked unexpectedly well together and this manicure is a fun way to start the weekend :-). What are you wearing on your nails tonight? Do you have lots of lovely things planned for the weekend?

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Freehand Animal Accent nails

Good evening lovelies

Happy Monday! I thought it was about time I put my limited freehand skills to the test and finally tried leopard print. In the past I have proudly worn the stamped version of leopard print on my nails but when on a recent nail art course one of the ladies asked if any of us could freehand leopard print we all said no. I then made it a mini mission to teach myself so I could in turn teach my fellow nail art classmates :-).

For this manicure I decided to go for the double accent nail look so I painted two fingers with NV Lagoon (turquoise) and two fingers with Barry M Lychee (nude). Lagoon is a stunning shade of turquoise and was perfection is just two thin coats.

Lychee has already turned into my go-to base colour for many styles of nail art so I am going to treat myself to a back up bottle next time I am in the city.

Using the large end of my Orly dotting tool I added some random blobs of Lagoon onto the two accent nails. I made sure they were not in a uniform pattern and that they were of varying shapes and sizes.

Once the 'blobs' were dry I used black polish and the small end of my Orly dotting tool to add broken up outlines to each spot making each one look more like leopard print. I was careful not to join these black lines up and create full circles around the spots, this look only works if the shapes remain incomplete and a little random looking.

Lastly I filled in any gaps with small dots of black polish, et voila...

How do you like my double accent freehand leopard print? I am so pleased with the outcome and I really enjoyed teaching the others on my class what I had learnt :-). Also I am loving this creamy turquoise shade!

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Two Navy Animals

Happy weekend lovelies

I hope you all have lots of lovely plans? This is just a quick post from me tonight with a mani I pulled from the archives. My nails are looking a little poorly at the moment as a result of removing extensions that were put on as part of my nail course. It will be worth it in the end for the qualification but at the moment they are suffering and its making me sad :-(

Quick and easy animal print nails...

I started with a base colour of the very gorgeous Barry M Navy. I cannot get enough of this colour. It has beautiful hidden shimmer that comes alive on your nails when (if) the sun comes out.

Then using Barry M Silver Foil  stamped this animal print from Konad plate M78. Its a cross of leopard and tiger stripes so looks quite effective. This would look lovely with a brightly coloured gradient as the base colour :-)

Unfortunately in my rush to top coat this manicure my Seche Vite streaked it a little but I hope you can forgive that and just enjoy the animal print stamp.

Enjoy your Friday night lovelies :-)

Louise xx