Happy New Years Eve!!

Good evening my lovelies! Happy New Year to you all!

Tonight I am going to show you the nails I created using the polishes that our doggies bought me for Christmas :-). In other words the very thoughtful and romantic Mr LiPP went online and picked out some polishes that he knew I was lemming after and purchased them without me knowing. My little sis was in on the act as she made the final transaction and had the polishes delivered to her house so I wouldn't find out before Christmas. I am seriously a very lucky crazy nail lady :-)

I cannot believe how stunning this green polish is and I am so glad to have it for my New Years mani...

For this sparkly little number I started with two coats of China Glaze Running in Circles. The most amazing green nail polish ever and the best present Mr LiPP could have got for me (from the pupplies of course!).

Quite simply the best green polish EVER! Running in Circles is part of the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil collection. It is perfect in two thin coats and I have a feeling you will see it many times in 2013 :-).

To glitz this up for New Years Eve I added glitter tips using China Glaze Glitters All the Way. This polish was another present from Mr LiPP and pups and I love it! I tested it on a nail wheel and its fully opaque in just two costs but until I get a peelable nail base I can't bring myself to paint a full nail in it!

Lastly to make this manicure New Year appropriate I added 2013 in Barry M Gold Foil by using the thin end of a dotting tool.

 

We have had a lovely day today with my sis and her hubby. Laura managed to get a lastminute.com off work so they joined us for lunch at Yo Sushi and then we went on a quick sales dash to purchase a dress for Laura and nail polish for me (what else!).

I hope you all have a happy and healthy 2013 - wishing you lots of love, luck and happiness!!

Louise xx

Black Glitter and Squares

Good evening lovelies!

Are you still enjoying your Christmas break? How many people have taken all the decorations down and are looking for a little normality :-). Not me, I love Christmas and I love all the chaos that goes with it.

The little sis and I have been sale shopping again today! Seriously we have had so much success that we just cannot stop. Laura thinks its her favourite part of Christmas now :-). Bargains galore!

For todays manicure I decided to 'bling it up' and also try out a new stamping design. I need to use more of the images that I am not instantly drawn to as I usually find the end result turns out better than expected.

I started with one coat of Barry M Black Multi Glitter. Easily one of the polishes with the best formula in my collection and you absolutely cannot go wrong with a sparkly one coater.

Next I stamped this geometric design from Cheeky plate CH 33. I always leave the angled designs until last but on this occasion I decided not to and I am really pleased.

To add even more sparkle I then added Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat in Silver to all nails.

While the top coat was wet I could not resist adding these brightly coloured square rhinestones to compliment the square stamped design.

In the end I was loving the design and will now be brave enough to try more of my geometric designs!

New Years Eve is almost upon us... I hope you all have lots of fantastic plans?

Louise xx

Metallic Mercury, Quilting and Caviar!

Good evening my lovelies

I am absolutely loving not being at work! I know that is how most people will also be feeling but honestly it is doing me the world of good. Spending this much time with Mr LiPP and my sister is just what I needed.

Tonight I am showing you a manicure that I just couldn't leave alone. It was one of those that I couldn't resist going a little too far with just so I could test out my new mini caviar beads :-)

The below picture is the finished look...

Now lets start at the beginning... I started with a base of two coats of W7 Metallic Mercury. This polish has a plum brown base and a stunning pink and gold glass fleck finish. It really was beautiful under the lamp I use to take pictures as the below picture shows.

Then I took my striping tape and laid out a quilted design which I gently sponged over with Barry M Pink Foil (limited edition for Christmas), these two steps are pictured below.

As soon as I had finished sponging I carefully peeled off the striping tape to reveal the criss cross design below. At this stage I also used a small cotton bud to tidy up the excess sponged Pink Foil.

At this stage I maybe should have applied a top coat and left well alone...

The trouble being that these mini caviar beads were just calling my name and looked like they would sort of match...

What do you think of the finished manicure? I liked the feel of these mini caviar beads but I am totally in love with the quilted ring finger accent. It takes a little patience but the results are worth it :-)

Louise xx

Layla Holograms

Good evening lovelies.

Tonight I am going to show you three stunning hologram polishes by Layla. These were another Christmas gift and I am so pleased with them - Thanks Faye H :-)

I am not sure I can do them justice with my pictures as the spectrum of colours I can see in real life is amazing but I will do my best...

In order to show you all these beauties at the same time I decided to try out a hologram skittle style manicure. On my little finger and thumb I used Flash Black. Absolutley my favourite out of the three :-)

For my ring and middle fingers I used Mercury Twilight. This is the one is that did not photograph so well but trust me when I say it is beautiful in real life. Every colour under the sun is hiding in this polish and it shimmers perfectly from whatever angle you catch it at.

Finally on my index finger I used Coral Glam which is a beautiful pale pink shade with a subtle silver hologram effect.

I could not bring myself to stsamp over these polishes so instead I added just one flower shaped rhinestone to each nail. These pretty little sparkles were one of many presents in a gift bag from my friend Carole - see I told you I had been spoilt rotten :-)



I hope you enjoyed this hologram goodness as much as I did - I am sure I will be purchasing more polishes from this collection in the very near future - Emerald Divine is calling my name.

Louise xx

My First A England: Saint George

Hi lovelies!

Hope you are all doing well? I mentioned in my last post that I had been very spoilt by family and friends this Christmas, in amongst all my wonderful presents and gift vouchers I got 28 bottle of nail polish :-) !!

I was not expecting anywhere near that many but as you can imagine I am beyond excited! Not only is every single colour gorgeous but I got lots of new makes to try such as: A-England, Layla Hologram, Nails Inc and Tecnic.

There was no chance this stunning glittery teal was going to stay untried for longer than a day or so...

This is just ONE coat of A England Saint George which was a present from the lovely Faye B. I had no idea she would pick such a perfect colour for me and it certainly made me feel like I have some of the best friends ever. Not to mention this was not the only colour she picked for me. Princess Tears will follow very soon :-).

I could not bring myself to stamp over this beautiful polish so I just added a few simple petals to my ring finger as a simple accent nail.

The formula of this polish was amazing. It was stunning in one coat, dried quickly to a glass finish and looked beautiful under any light. Lucky Me :-)

Louise xx

My Christmas Day Nails and a nod to my Grandad!

Happy Boxing Day my lovelies! Did you all have a fantastic Christmas?

We certainly did. Although I was so poorly for the whole festive period I put my game face on (fix up, look sharp) and carried on regardless. We had a fantastic lunch out on Christmas Day followed by a successful shopping trip to the Next winter sale at 7am this morning, followed by a buffet lunch at my sisters this afternoon. I have been thoroughly spoilt by both friends and family and loved every second!

On Christmas day 10 of our nearest and dearest went for lunch at a local hotel called St Giles. I was wearing a new navy dress and burgandy patterned tights so decided upon this little mani for the occasion...

Nothing too complicated but still quite effective. I started with two coats of Barry M Navy (quite possibly one of my fav's) and I stamped the pretty snowflakes with Barry M Silver Foil.
 

I thought I would also include a piccy or two of us on Christmas Day so you can see how my nails and outfit match...

My Mum asked me very nicely if I would mind doing her nails to match her new plum dress, how could I refuse and I thought it would be nice to make them sort of match mine...

This is two coats of the super pretty No 7 Damson Dream with the same snowflake design stamped but this time in Barry M Gold Foil.

Imagine my surprise when I saw my Nan and Grandad only to find her nails looking more amazing than ever, when I asked her where she got them done she said... Your Grandad did them! Seriously he is better at nail art than me and I practice every day :-)

Can you believe he applied those wraps himself on Christmas Eve! How cute...??

Speaking of which I just couldn't resist sharing this little picture of our doggies in their Christmas bows...

I hope you enjoyed this rather picture heavy post. I am beyond relieved to not be at work between Christmas and the New Year and really hoping to experiment with all my new nail polishes (seriously my friends and family were too kind)

Louise xx

Christmas Eve Nails: Santa

Happy Christmas Eve lovelies!

I cannot believe it is Christmas Eve already! Where has the time gone? I have to work until 1pm which has put a little dampner on the day but still at least it's not a full day and I have lots of presents to give out to friends at work so that will keep me nicely busy :-).

Of course I had to save actual Santa nails until today...

I used lots of polishes to create this look but as always for my Christmas manis I turned to Barry M Bright Red and Konad White.

To create the cute santa suit artwork I have on my ring finger I followed this brilliant tutorial from Kayla. If you haven't looked at her blog you should head over there right now.

This is the look I created for my right hand. Simple yet still very Christmassy...

I love the addition of both gold and silver hex glitters

I hope you all have truly wonderful Christmas Eve's. We will be with my sister and mum for somthing to eat after work and then will spend a nice relaxing evening at home with the dogs - no doubt sneaking a few presents open before the big day!

Louise xx

Christmas Nails: Jingle Bells

Good evening lovelies

After all my bright red, green and white Christmas manicures I decided to try something in my favourite classic combination of black and gold. It gave me a great opportunity to try out several unused stamps and also to make a welcome return to my hologram Gold top coat.

I give you... Jingle Bells...

I started with a base of W7 Black. Its such a godd quality polish for such a cheap brand and I am almost at the stage where I need to go and buy a back up bottle!

Once the Black was dry I then added a good layer of Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat in Gold. Last time I used it I just could not get good pictures but with my lovely new Lumix camera it was much easier. Just check out the shimmery beautifulness in these pictures!

For the various bell images I used Barry M Gold Foil as my stamping colour and the following plates: BM 302, BM 14 and my Christmas plate B 35.

Lastly I could not resist adding some festive holy to my thumb nail

Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh 

Do you like my black and gold Christmas nails or would you prefer to see more traditional colours like red and green?

Louise xx