Taped Chevron nail art

Good evening lovelies

Time for some nail art that does not involve stamping... I know unusual for me, right?

This didn't turn out quite as I had in mind... I think mostly that is because of the colours I chose. The finished look really reminded me of the colours and designs that you would see on a cheerleaders school uniform! Do you know what I mean... or am I a little crazy off the nail polish fumes tonight :-)

I started with two coats of Orly Glow on all nails except my ring finger. Glow is a very pale nude creme which if I was wearing it alone would need a third coat just to even it out but as I was covering more than half of each nail I stopped at two. At this point I added a layer of Seche Vite and went off to make a cuppa as you really need plenty of drying time before you start laying the tape strips down.

I taped off half off each Glow based nail with a pre cut chevron strip I purchased on eBay. I then painted the visible part of my nail with Orly Flicker. A stunning copper polish that I unexpectedly adored last time I wore it. At this point I added another slick of Seche Vite and sat with hubby to catch up on TV...

Finally I taped my nails off again using fresh chevron strips, this time covering a V shaped section of Flicker. Then using Illamasqua Boosh (black) I painted the tip on each nail as well as my full ring finger.

Here is a small tutorial I put together for Instagram... I cannot make it bigger as the picture quality is too low but I hope you can get the idea :-)

Finally I added three small square rhinestones to the accent nail and covered the whole lot in one more coat of Seche Vite.

This was a labour of love caused by the necessary drying time in between each colour layer but I like the end result and will definitely use these pre cut strips again. You could of course free hand the chevron shape if you have a steady enough hand (I do not).

Hope you enjoyed this post lovelies?

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

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

Party Nails!

Happy Thursday lovelies!

Tonight I thought I would resist my desperate urge to paint Christmas nails and try out some of the lovely new polishes I picked out at the Clothes Show last weekend. To be honest these nails do have a party theme so you could wear them to a party which just so happened to be a Christmas party... :-)

For this party themed skittle I picked out three new W7 shades. I started with Last Tango in Paris on my index and middle fingers. Its a gorgeous mix of cerise pink, plum and purple. It shimmers beautifully and I'm really pleased with the finish which was perfect after two thin coats.

I used W7 Blue-Tini for my little finger and thumb. It is so bright it could almost be a neon but has the added depth of gorgeous electric blue shimmers and also a few plum sparkles for added good measure. Again another easy to apply colour and I only needed two thin coats.

Lastly I painted W7 Monnlight onto my ring finger and along the top half of my thumb nail. Moonlight is a really densely packed glitter polish that has many shades of blue, purple, silver and pink hidden within.

Sticking with the party theme I stamped this cute little cocktail design onto just my index finger. Who doesn't love a cocktail?

As it is the festive season and I cannot resist sparkles and shinies (yes like a magpie) I added some co-ordinating pink and blue square rhinestones, and then a row of silver square studs for my thumb finally completed this manicure.

What do you think? Would you wear this sparkly skittle manicure for a party or do you prefer all your nails to match?

Have a lovely evening and TGI almost Friday!

Louise xx

Purple Mix Up

Good evening ladies. Did you all having fantastic weekends?

I got a very exciting delivery on Saturday morning - one that I had somehow managed to forget I was expecting... 24 bottles of polish from a collection called London Girl!

So tonight I am showing you my first choice polish from this collection which unusually for me is purple.

This is two coats of London Girl Purple with an accent nail of one coat of Barry M Lilac Foil on my ring finger. I used the butterfly stamp from BM 205 for my first two fingers and then some co-ordinating square rhinestones for the next two.

I cannot tell you how amazing this looked in real life - the purple was so camera shy that I just could not do it justice. It actually has a really pretty metallic shimmer that reminds me of the purple quality street chocolate :-).

Louise xx

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