Swatch: All That Jazz: Kristinas Lipstick Is Our Obsession

Good evening

I am so pleased with this polish and how beautiful this looks that I am not even going to spend time on an intro that tells you a little bit about what I've been up to... Lets just get straight to the polish.

Red Devil and Fishnets

Happy Friday

Yes the pictures of this finished look are as awful as the name suggests. I am not really sure what I was thinking... I struggle so much with reds. Its like I sit at my nail desk and every good idea I have ever had escapes from my mind. That I am afraid to say means I come up with things like this...

Christmas Nails: Christmas Wreath

Happy Christmas Eve!

I am so excited. Honestly cannot remember the last time I was looking forward to Christmas as much as I am this year. I have already had some fantastic meals out with friends, been to family parties and exchanged beautiful gifts but still have so much more planned. Today I have to work but only until 1pm and then Mr LiPP and the puppies are coming to pick me up and we are off on a Festive Dog Walk with my little sis and her dogs and my mum and her dogs. Chaotic but Fun!

What could be more festive than gold sparkle, red sparkle and Christmas wreaths?!

Christmas Nails: Christmas Jumper Fair Isle Print

Good evening lovelies

These are some of my most favourite Christmas nails ever! I have really gotten into the Christmas spirit this year and even purchased my first ever Christmas jumper! Its just a simple grey with a white snowflake print but its a good start and I am sure I will go all out next year :-)

Christmas Nails: Rudolph

Oh yes you read the caption correctly... I finally started my Christmas Nails!!

This beautiful red just lends itself so nicely to Christmas Nail Art and what could be cuter than a Rudolph accent nail?

Which do you like best... Shiny or Matte?

Swatch: Velvet Goth: Sardonyx

Happy Friday loves!

I've got an exciting weekend ahead. Little Sis and I are off to the Clothes Show Live first thing tomorrow morning and we cannot wait. We have talked of nothing else for months (literally) and we have been saving our hard earned pennies so we can have a real splurge when we get there :-).

Beautiful swatch for you today...

Two coats no top coat

Do you like this stunning polish as it comes (above) or with shiny top coat (below) ?

Two coats with Seche Vite top coat

Sally Hansen: Swatch Spam

Happy Sunday lovelies

Time for a little bit of Sunday swatch spam :-)

These are my new Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polishes that I just couldn't resist showcasing as a stand alone post.

Each colour has a great formula, required two coats and dried in super quick time. I would definitely buy more colours from this collection, especially if I found them in Poundland again!

Nautical Nails

Good evening lovelies

I am super glad that today is over with! I had a four hour training session this morning and then a follow up two hour meeting. Too much being talked at for my liking :-).

On the plus side I have been doing lots of lovely Orly Gel FX nails for friends and family this week, if you would like to see pictures you can follow me on Instagram by clicking the 'follow me' link down the right hand side of my blog :-).

Here are my nautical nails of the day...

I started with two easy coats of No 7 Sing the Blues. I love this colour and often overlook it in favour of my precious Barry M's but I really shouldn't. Sing the Blues sits somewhere between navy and royal blue but has a fantastic shimmer that really shows up on the nail.

On my ring finger I used two coats of NYC Times Square. This polish is a gorgeous shade of tomato red and dries in super quick time.

NYC polishes are such a bargain at only £2.79 a bottle and they are quite often on offer so you end up with two bottles for £2.99. How can you not love a polish that costs just 20p :-).

Using Barry M Gold Foil I stamped these two different nautical themed designs from my latest collection of Cheeky plates. The steering wheels from CH 49 and the anchors from CH 36.

Last but not least I added some horizontal stripes using Konad White. The stripes are actually vertical on the plate but as my nails are short I can flip it around and use them horizontally. I added a row of small gold studs to replicate a Captains uniform.

Nice and nautical!

How do you like these nails? My sister in law Vicky will just love them and now I have a shortcut to getting perfect stripes everytime I will definitely replicate this manicure on her :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Contrasting nails with a Cherry Accent

Good afternoon lovelies

How has your weekend been? Ours has been really lovely. Due to some really bad weather today didn't go quite to plan as my sister in law got snowed in so couldn't make the journey to Norwich to cook for us all today. However we made the most of having the day unexpectedly to ourselves and spent some quality time relaxing, catching up on tv and of course I found time to squeeze in a little nail art :-).

This super bright mani features two more polishes from the new Color Club Fiesta Spring collection. This time I chose Mamba (bright red) and Sunrise Canyon (yellow/green). Both polishes have a fantastic formula and good drying time. Mamba is so pigmented that it could be a one coater.

On my little finger I added just one coat of Leighton Denny Ruby Slippers (over one coat of Mamba). I have been dying to test this polish out since Christmas and am pleased I finally did. It is so perfect for this bright manicure as it contains red and green glitter particles.

As you can see I added contrasting dots to my index and middle fingers using the opposite colour to my base, on my ring finger I used a dotting tool to create these fun little cherries. The green stalks are drawn on using Wild Cactus which is the super bright green also from the Color Club Fiesta collection.

Sunrise Canyon is a strange but still beautiful colour... it changes from dark yellow to lime green depending on how you look at it. I don't think I have anything else like this in my collection so its a welcome addition :-).

How do you like the bright contrast of red and yellow/green? I am glad I was feeling bold enough to try it out as its a winner for me.

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Red and Yellow Flowers

Hey lovelies

After my success of using yellow as an accent nail I decided to use my least favourite colour in an even bolder way... I hope you like my nail of the day :-)

For this multi coloured summery look my base colours are Barry M Yellow for my index and ring fingers with NYC Times Square for my middle and little fingers. Both colours were perfect in three thin coats and I think they go really well together.

I added a quick coat of Northern Lights Gold Hologram top coat to quicken up the drying time but also to acheive that beautiful holo shimmer you can see particularly well on my little finger.

I stamped using Konad White and a flower pattern taken from Cheeky plate CH 12.

I dotted the flower centres using the alternative base colour...

Finally I added three different sized dots to my ring and little fingers using my dotting tools and the alternative base colours.

How do you like this look? Doesn't it put you in the mood for summer? I love this tomato shade of red and yellow combo :-). I never thought I would say that!

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Orly Perfect Pairs: 2: Red

Good evening lovelies!

Are you ready for part two of the Orly Perfect Pairs feature? A quick re-cap... I did a swatch-a-thon recently for six pairs of Orly polishes, and over the coming few weeks I will be showing you the pictures I put together for my friend to use in her Valentine's campaign.

This is Ignite and Rockets Red...

Below is a swatch picture of Orly Ignite. This is a gorgeous medium blood red jelly finish polish from the 2012 Fired Up collection. Below shows two coats with no top coat.

In the below picture you can see one coat of Orly Rockets Red from the Glam FX collection. This bright glitter polish contains large and small red hex glitters in a clear base and I imagine it would look stunning layered over a black creme.

A nice little side by side shot...

One last shot of Ignite but this time taken outside in the winter sunshine. It really does have a gorgeous jelly finish and I had to buy a bottle of this for myself as soon as I had swatched it :-)

Below is the finished look of both polishes paired together. Ideal for Valentine's :-)

With flash...

I had real fun with these Perfect Pairs photo shoots and really enjoyed the chance to use a few theme appropriate props.

How do you like this rich red combination? I don't personally wear red all that often but I appreciate it is one of the most popular nail colours and I am really pleased to have Orly Ignite in my current polish collection.

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Love for Lava Flow

Happy Friday to everyone!

I am so looking forward to the weekend... chilling out, eating good (naughty) food, drinking some nicely chilled wine and spending quality time with my loved ones. Perfect!

Here is my Friday Feeling manicure... a skittlette using my newly purchased W7 Lava Flow.

I started by painting three nails with two coats of W7 Lava Flow. As you will see this is basically Salt n Pepper but with added red sparkly bits! Easy to apply and dries quickly - two slicks of top coat made this glossy and smooth to the touch (no nitty gritty)

Using W7 Black and W7 Red I created two different but complimenting accent nails.

Finally I added some square rhinestones to the accent nails - the perfect finishing touch, dont you think?

Which one is you favourite - Salt n Pepper or Lava Flow?

Another sneaky peek of Salt n Pepper

Hope you have fantastic weekends - what are you up to?

Louise xx

Remembrance Day - Poppy Nails

Today, the 11th of November is Remembrance Sunday.

Remembrance Sunday, the second Sunday in November, is the day traditionally put aside to remember all those who have given their lives for the peace and freedom we enjoy today. On this day people across the nation pause to reflect on the sacrifices made by our brave Service men and women

Remembrance Day is also known as Poppy day. Poppy seeds which had lain dormant for many years in the battlefields in northern France bloomed with vigour after the earth was disturbed, becoming a symbol of new life and loss. A Canadian doctor called John McCrae wrote a poem entitled "In Flanders fields" which served as the inspiration for people to wear artificial poppies as a sign of remembrance. These are now sold on behalf of The British Legion, a charity dedicated to supporting those serving in the armed forces and former soldiers.

My brother in law, Ashley, is a Corporal in the RAF. He will be posted to Afghanistan again during 2013, as a family we are all very proud of not only him but everything he achieves whilst doing one of the toughest jobs in the world.

Louise xx

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.

Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch, be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Hearts and Lines

Hi lovelies. We are back from the most amazing city break in Prague. It really is one of the best places to visit and I cannot recommend it enough. We walked, talked, ate and of course indulged in the odd Czech beer. Just perfect :-).

I had no idea how these nails would turn out as these are two new colours from my ever growing untrieds collection, however I have to say I am very pleased with the results.

To create this manicure I started with a base colour of Models Own Raspberry Crush. This really is a gorgeous shade of red/pink and dries to a very high shine (swatch below). I then used a coat of Models Own Pearly Queen to create a subtle colour shifting effect. So pretty in real life but a little camera shy I am afraid.

Finally I stamped this simple little hearts and lines design from BM11 using Konad White. It wasnt my intention to create something that looks so much like a Valentines manicure but after our wonderful few days away the romantic in me is being reflected in my nail art.

Models Own Raspberry Crush swatch

Models Own Pearly Queen in direct sunlight

Models Own Pearly Queen in the shade

Such a shame that it is time to get back into the usual routine at work but I have decided my mantra to get me through the day will be... I work to live, not live to work.

I am saving for our next holiday already.

Louise xx