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

Yummy Strawberries

Good evening lovelies

Yo Sushi was of course amazing last night :-). If you have not been you must go at your next opportunity. Tonight I am eating out again... elasticated waistband anyone? I am meeting some girlfriends at my sisters, Jamie is cooking for us and I am supplying the dessert. We do this mini version of come dine with me every three weeks on a Tuesday night as it gives us a good chance to catch up on any gossip and to relax whilst eating good food :-)

My quick little nail of the day look is...

I started with a base of Barry M Gelly Pomegranate. There is no need for me to tell you how much I LOVE this colour as I have used it lots and raved about it every time :-). Its rich and gorgeous and applied carefully could be a one coater (I used two thin coats for these pictures).

Then using Konad White I stamped this cute little strawberry design from Cheeky plate CH 42

For my thumb and accent nail I used the same plate to add 'Yummy' to my nails :-)

I love how this turned out. It was quick and easy to do but still eye catching enough for me to spend a great deal of time staring at my nails :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Illamasqua: Im Obsess(ed)

Good evening lovelies

I hope you Monday went quickly? Mine could not go quickly enough as it's the last Monday of the month... which only means one thing... Sister night at Yo Sushi! For regular visitors to my blog you will know that I love Yo Sushi and go as regularly as my budget will allow. For any new visitors then you will no doubt read about my love of the hot food menu at Yo Sushi right here, very often :-).

When Yo Sushi was first recommended to me I almost laughed... me and Sushi? No chance! However I am so glad I did give it a try and whilst I only order one cold sushi dish as my starter I cannot get enough of the hot food such as Katsu Chicken, Firecracker Noodles, Hairy Prawns, Chicken Gyoza, Spicy Pepper Squid... you get the idea!

Tonight I have my first polish from a recent (large) Illamasqua haul... you can blame the quantity I purchased on the amazing sale they were offering :-)

As you can see I started with a base of Illamasqua Obsess on all fingers except my ring finger. Obsess is the brightest fuschia pink I have ever seen. It applies a little thin and probably needs three coats for perfection.

I then added an accent nail using W7 Black and topped the whole lot off with Northern Lights Hologram Silver Top Coat. Love the sparkle, not to mention the quick drying properties it has :-)

Using what I can only think to describe as a random scribble pattern from CH 16, I stamped using Konad Black on all nails that had a base of Obsess.

Finally to tie the whole thing together I added three square rhinestones in matching fuschia pink

How do you like my first blog post using Illamasqua? This is the most eye catching shade of the bunch but there are plenty more beautiful polishes still to come :-)

Louise
@L_i_P_P

What a Stunning Pair: a-England

Good evening lovelies!

How has your weekend been? Over too quickly I bet :-)

I had a nice family day on Saturday and got to spend time with my little niece Millie. On Sunday I had a marathon nail day and did three full sets of gel nail extensions as part of my quest to become a qualified nail technician. To be fair being a beginner and doing all three sets in a row at someone elses house was a bit of a mission and I am exhausted! However I am very grateful that those ladies were willing to let me practice on them, not to mention Jamie, Becky and Faye who also kindly let me put extensions on them last week.

Onto my nail of the day...

I could stare at these gorgeous polishes for hours and never get bored! Aren't they stunning?

I started with a very easy two coats of a-England Saint George. Quite simply the most stunning teal green holo polish ever and I would put it firmly at the top of my current list of favourites.

Then using a-England She Walks in Beauty I added glitters tips. This is described on the a-England website as an intricate and complex mix of large and small rose-coloured hexagonal glitters in a shimmering pale golden base that colour shifts with light and movement. I could not have said it better myself :-)

Look at the amazing holo's in both of these polishes - LOVE!

If you dont own Saint George then you must go and purchase it now. Its amazing!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Orly Perfect Pairs: 6: Steel Grey

Good evening lovelies!

TGI Friday - As if I have to tell you how much I LOVE the weekends :-)

I saved my favourite Orly perfect pair until last... I have a soft spot for all things grey. I don't care if it is a pale dove grey or the very darkest of charcoal greys I will love it anyway. Add in some dark silver glitter and I am sold...

This is my finished look... made up of Orly Steele Your Heart and Orly Atomic Splash

Orly Steele Your Heart has been a staple polish in my collection for a while and everytime I use it I am impressed by the colour and the coverage.

Orly Atomic Splash is part of the Glam FX collection and is a must have for me. The gunmetal glitters will look amazing layered over just about any polish in my whole collection. Below is just one coat swatched over my naked nails.

Side by side shot...

I couldn't resist adding this winter sunshine shot. I took this picture in January after a particularly heavy snow shower, as the sun was broke through it added the perfect 'glare' to these pictures.

This is one of the promo shots I did for Hayley's campaign... she used these pictures on Valentine's but is also going to recycle them for Mother's Day :-)

One final shot of these beautiful polishes combined...

So this post concludes my series of Orly Perfect Pairs - I hope you enjoyed them all :-)

Although it was hard work completing all six looks in one day I really enjoyed it and I hope the campaigns are a success for Hayley.

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Flowers with a Yellow Accent Nail

Good evening lovelies

We are now more than half way through the working week - thank goodness! I feel like all I ever do is wish my life away when I am at work - isn't that awful? I can't be the only one though :-)

I decided to push my self a little tonight and have an accent nail in one of my least favourite colours. I loved how it looked and this manicure made me feel seriously ready for some spring weather...

I started with a base of Outdoor Girl Blue on all nails except my ring finger. OG Blue is a pretty ice blue/silver foil effect polish which dries really quickly and is perfect in two thin coats. Even better was that I purchased this polish for just £1. On my ring finger is three coats of Barry M Yellow.

In all honesty this yellow was not as bad as I had imagined and I ended up really liking how bright and happy it looked :-)

I stamped this simple flower design from Cheeky plate CH 44 using Konad White.

Finally I added yellow to the centre of each flower using my smallest dotting tool. That final touch really tied this whole manicure together and made me think that my mum might like this for her Mothers Day nails in March :-)

Have a good rest of your working weeks lovelies :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

New Collection: Models Own Ice Neon

Hey lovelies

Just a quick post today with an exciting update from Models Own.

Introducing the Ice Neon collection...

The press release that dropped into my inbox from Models Own said:

The only way to keep flouro really bright is to KEEP IT COLD! We've packed this collection in specially-designed frosted bottles that you should keep refrigerated to protect the intense flouro colour from fading. These on-trend neon shades bring summer alive with flouro flavour, bold and bright.

Available exclusively in the Models own Bottleshop on March 9th, online at modelsownit.com from March 20th (pre-order from March 1st for guaranteed March 20th UK delivery) and in Boots stores nationwide from March 22nd.

Is anyone else intrigued to see how these will be stored in the shops if we are supposed to keep them in the refrigerator at home?!

Ideal for summer pedicures... I cannot wait to get my hands on these :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Foils and Flowers: Green and Pink

Good evening lovelies

I hope your Monday went quickly. It's just so sad to be back at work already - the weekends just go too quickly for my liking :-). Tonight I am going out for tea with my Mum and Sister so at least I had something nice to look forward to all day.

My choice of nails for today are one of my favourite colour combos... Pink and Green.

For this manicure I started with alternating nails painted in Outdoor Girl Green and Barry M Pink Foil. Both colours dry super quick to a high shine foil finish.

I stamped using Konad White with a pattern taken from  Cheeky plate CH 44.

To add a little interest I dotted the flower centres with the alternate base colour. In all honesty I think this is a strange stamping pattern but as I love the colours so much I was pleased with the end result.

How do you like my pink and green nails? What are your favourite colour combinations?

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Purple Chequers

Good afternoon lovelies!

How has your weekend been? Mine was lovely, I got to spend lots of time with my hubby which is always amazing and I had a wonderful lunch and spa afternoon with my little sister on Saturday :-).

The only negative over our weekend is that our dog Tuscan has been poorly with a stomach infection so we have spent time at the Vets and he is now on several different treatments to hopefully make him much better. Our youngest dog Lily has been very protective over him and done her best to make big bro forget his pain and carry on play fighting with her :-)

Onto my nail of the weekend...

I started this manicure with three coats of Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Prickly Pear. This is the only polish from the Gelly collection so far that has needed a third coat for full opacity which is a little disappointing however the colour is really pretty and I was pleased with the final look.

I added a quick coat of Northern Lights Silver Hologram to add a little sparkle but also to aid the drying time of the three coats so I could get on with the stamping.

Then using the very eye catching Barry M Vivid Purple I stamped this very effective chequered flag pattern from Cheeky plate CH 3. I had been saving this for a black and white manicure but as I was looking through my stamping plates tonight I just couldn't resist :-)

How do you like this look? I think lilac and purple look really good together and I love this chequered flag style design.

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P