Navy Lace Nails

Good evening lovelies

What a wonderful four days I have had... nearly all of which have been celebrating my birthday in some way so I feel very lucky to have such amazing family and friends who have done so much to make it special for me.

Tonight I am going to show you the nails I wore for the evening of my birthday. Mr LiPP took me out for a lovely meal at our new favourite restaurant and I decided to paint my nails to match my new dress...

I started with a base of Navy Baby by Sally Hansen. The formula was lovely and the colour very rich but I didn't get on with the brush very well so found it a little hard to get the correct shape around my cuticles.

Below is a picture taken against the material of my new dress so you can see where I took my inspiration from :-).

Next using Au Champagne from Orly I stamped using two different plates. Firstly the fine fishnet style pattern was taken from Konad plate M57 and secondly the filigree swirls were taken from plate B 21. In order to replicate the dress I decided to leave the navy showing on some nails so I laid the stamping designs down at various angles.

I was really pleased with how Au Champagne stamped as I am yet to use this polish as a full base nail colour and it looked a little thin and shimmery in the bottle. It really surprised me and worked so much better than a bright white or shiny silver would have done for this particular design.

How do you like the finished design? For me I love any excuse to wear lace effect nails :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Perfect nails for Shopping!

Today is my almost birthday!

It has long since been a tradition in my family that we stretch our birthdays out as much as possible... one day for celebrating with family... one day with friends... at least one big meal out (or sometimes two)... you get the picture, the more chances we get to celebrate the better :-).

Today was spent with my little sister, just the two of us eating, drinking and shopping! We had an amazing day and I was totally spoiled rotten. I got lots of lovely presents from Laura this morning, including a bag I fell in love with in London back in January and had no idea I was getting, not to mention money to spend on myself in the city - and spend I did.

Here are the perfect nails to accompany my shopping spree...

I started with a base of Warhol by Color Club. This colour is from my new Poptastic collection and is the  most amazing neon raspberry pink. I LOVE it!! My camera just could not pick up how neon but still gorgeous this colour actually is.

Using Konad White I stamped the small bows from plate BM 317 on my index and ring finger, the simple heart outline on my middle finger from the same plate and then finally the shopping text on my ring finger and thumbs from plate CH 54.

A close up of my thumb... how perfect is the shopping text for my almost birthday?!

Finally I added a layer of Northern Lights top coat in Silver and while that was wet I stuck some pretty rhinestones in the centres of the bows.

I have had such a lovely day with my little sister and we really did shop until we dropped! :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Gingerbread Men nail art

Good evening lovelies

Happy Saturday everyone :-). Hope you have all had a good day? I have no idea where time disappeared to... I haven't achieved a great deal today but have still had a really nice day. My first package from Fragrance Direct arrived with four Sally Hansen polishes included. As the sun was still dancing around in the sky I decided I had to use this gorgeous shimmery copper...

This is Shiny Penny by Sally Hansen. It is a copper orange polish with a really pretty bronze glass shimmer running through. I used two coats and loved the finished look. It dried quickly to an almost streak free finish and looked beautiful in the late afternoon sunshine.

Here is a swatch of Shiny Penny...

Using Konad Black I decided to stamp these fun little gingerbread men all over my nails... Gingerbread men for ginger nails :-).

The design is taken from Gals plate GA 41.

Simple yet effective and cute!

What plans do you have for the rest of the weekend? It's a special one for me as my birthday is fast approaching and I have a few days off work :-). Cant wait!

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Nails you need Sunglasses for

Good evening lovelies

Have you been lucky enough to be enjoying sunshine today? It was the hottest day of the year so far in our region and whilst I was stuck in the office and unable to take advantage it was still lovely to look out of the window at blue skies :-).

Knowing that sunshine was on the way for a very short time (rain is forecast for the weekend) I was inspired to come up with this manicure...

These beautiful polishes were newly purchased by me at the weekend and are part of the Color Club Poptastic collection. The sunny yellow is called Almost Famous and has the great formula I have come to expect from Color Club. As far as yellows go (certainly not a favourite colour of mine) this one really is pretty good.

This in your face bright orange is called Wham! Pow! and certainly is the brightest orange I have in my collection. It looked this neon bright without the need for a white base colour and had a great formula that needed only two thin coats.

I topped all nails off with Northern Lights top coat in Gold to add a little sparkle and shine to these intensely bright nail polishes.

This picture below was taken in direct sunlight (you definitely need sunglasses for this picture!)

Finally I stamped over these pretties with the sunglasses image found on Cheeky plate CH 37 using Konad Black.

How do you like this sunshine inspired manicure? I love this new Color Club Poptastic collection :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Happy St. Georges Day

Good evening lovelies

Can you believe what happened to me and little sis yesterday... We set off on our much anticipated sister trip to Birmingham to see the one and only Pink live in concert and then... she cancelled!! When we heard the news we had already checked into our hotel for the night and already treated ourselves to a glass or two of Pinot so neither of us could drive. Of course we made the most of the night by eating and drinking ouselves merry but still we were (and still are) gutted... :(.

Anyway my NOTD is to celebrate St George's Day... The legend goes that St George slayed the dragon to save the locals from sacrificing their children. With that in mind of course I reached for appropriately named polishes...

What better way to put this manicure together than using two of the gorgeous greens from the Legends collection by a-England. I started with the aptly named Saint George on my index finger. Regular readers will know this is one of my all time fav's - the most perfect teal green holo polish ever!

On my middle finger I painted two thin coats of Matt White by Barry M. Then using red striping tape I made a neat cross to represent the flag of England which of course is St George's cross.

 

Finally on my ring and index fingers I painted two perfect coats of Dragon by a-England. Dragon has the same stunning formula as Saint George and could easily be a one coater.

To represent dragon scales I used Barry M Gold Foil and a pattern from Gals plate GA 14.

I hope you like my patriotic nails? I had originally planned to post the manicure I designed for the Pink concert and also include a few pics of me and the little sis having an amazing time :-(. Oh well at least we have the re-scheduled gig to look forward to and maybe I will still post the Pink nails later this week.

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Baby Shower Nails

Good evening lovelies

Have you all had fantastic weekends? We have been spoiled with glorious sunshine so Mr LiPP, the pups  and I have been out for some lovely long dog walks. We love making the most of being outdoors :-). On Saturday night I had little sis round for nails and wine and those of you who follow me on Instagram will have seen the pictures of her pretty pink gel nails. Today we have been at our friend Elly's Baby Shower which of course was my inspiration for these nails...

This was the perfect opportunity to use two new polishes from my latest TK Maxx haul. I couldn't believe my luck when I spotted the brand new only just released Kaleidoscope Summer 2013 collection for the bargain price of £7.99. The baby blue is called Evolution and the soft pink is Endless. Both have a lovely smooth formula and only needed two coats.

I then used Revlon Whimsical on just my index and little finger nails. Whimsical is not available in the UK as far as I know so I was lucky enough to have a colleague pick up a bottle for me from the States last year. It has a very pale blue milky base with lots of lovely pink and blue glitters.

On my middle finger I stamped the baby bottle and hearts image found on plate BM 317.

Finally on my ring finger using my Orly dotting tool I created two little baby feet using Barry M Matt White.

Oh how sweet are little feet? :-)

I am just home from the shower and we had a lovely time. It was held at a tea and cake place in the city were we had finger sandwiches, cup cakes, macaroons and eclairs as well as pots of tea and a glass of fizz :-).

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Gorgeous Saint George

Good evening lovelies

Happy Friday! It's the weekend at last... it has been a tough week at work but all that can be forgotten now that its time to eat, drink and be merry :-). Tonight we are having a girly takeaway food and wine evening at my sister's, tomorrow hubs and I are popping into the city and on Sunday I am going to a baby shower. Busy but good fun... How about you?

For this gorgeous manicure I started with two perfect coats of a-England Saint George. Quite simply the most stunning green polish in my collection and one that I will turn to time and time again.

For this beautiful butterfly print I used the design found on bundle monster plate BM 307 and my much used Barry M Silver Foil.

Here is a picture with the flash on so you can see some of the gorgeous holo glitters dancing around in the bottle :-)

I loved this manicure so much that I kept it on for three days... unheard of in my world!

I hope you all have wonderful weekends, let me know what plans you have :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

A Fan of Pink and White

Good evening lovelies

Half way through the week already! Where does time disappear to? Tonight I am showing you a mani that I wasn't sure I would include on this blog as I really didnt like it all that much. This detailed fan design looked really pretty on the stamping plate but once on my nails it just looked a bit angular and odd.

I started with two thin coats of Barry M Gelly in Grapefruit. In all honesty you could make do with one thick coat of this pretty hi-shine pink polish but I'm a stickler for two coats! I love this whole range of Gelly polishes and will definitely buy any new colours Barry M releases later this year.

Using Konad White I then stamped this fan design from cheeky plate CH 37. I dont know exactly why I dont like this look as I love pink and white together but this look just did nothing for me :-(.

It makes my nails look rounded when they are actually quite square at the moment...

Not exactly a nail fail but I cannot imagine I will use this fan pattern again. What do you guys think? Are you a fan of fans? :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Pinky Pink

Good evening lovelies

Happy Monday. We were so busy over the weekend doing fun stuff that we didn't have time to food shop so we have to go tonight... boo! Just a quick post to show you this pretty pink on pink design :-)

I started with two coats of Essie Lovie Dovie which is a pretty pale pink with subtle golden shimmers. It turns out that the shimmer is quite camera shy but I still quite liked this polish and it made a nice base for this simple stamp.

Using Joy by China Glaze I stamped this simple flower print found on plate CH 12. The combination of Joy and Lovie Dovie together really worked for me and reminded me how much I love these quick manicures.

How do you like this look? Do you like using shades of the same colour to achieve a nice subtle manicure?

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Blue Paisley Nails

Good evening lovelies

Happy Sunday! I hope you have had a fantastic weekend? Ours has been busy but fun. We went out for good food (as always!), spent time with friends, enjoyed several long dog walks and still managed to relax in front of the tv :-). Unfortunately it is almost Monday again but this is my last full five day week for the next month so I cant complain really...

Onto one of my favourite manicures in a while...

For this beautiful blue manicure I started with two coats of Sky's the Limit by Barielle. It is a sapphire blue with lots of pretty blue metallic shimmers. I loved how this looked as it was drying and I was almost tempted to leave it alone, but...

Using Barry M Silver Foil I stamped this paisley design from plate BM 315. This is one of my all time favourite prints and I love this colour combo to bits!

I topped the whole thing off one coat of Northern Lights Hologram top coat in Silver. Quick drying and super sparkly... whats not to love? :-)

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday's my lovelies

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P

Hearts and Love for Pomegranate Pink Nails

Good evening lovelies

Whoop Whoop! FRIDAY!!

You know me... I LOVE the weekends! Fridays at home with Mr LiPP and the pups is my favourite night of the week :-). On Saturday we are going into the city for some shopping and hubby is taking me to lunch at our new favourite restaurant. In the afternoon I am doing gel nails for one of my besties and then it will be time to relax! On Sunday we are going to a local craft fair. My Mum has a stall of handmade bags and will also be featuring a small amount of my very own nail polish jewellery... I hope something sells :-).

I started with a base colour of Barry M Gelly in Pomegranate. You will have seem this gorgeous raspberry pink on my blog several times before, each time I wear it I love it and this time is no different.

Using Barry M Silver Foil I stamped this heart outline from Cheeky plate CH 15 and this newspaper style print of romantic words from plate BM 311.

I LOVE how this turned out :-)

I hope you all have fantastic weekends... let me know of any plans in the usual comment facility :-)

Louise xx
@L_i_P_P