Bonus Houndstooth

Since I posted earlier this evening I have been thinking about recreating a more feminie version of the houndstooth stamp design and once an idea is in my head I just cant leave it...

For this pretty version I used Models Own Utopia as my base colour and stamped the houndstooth design from BM 322 using Konad Psyche Pink. Utopia is a really pretty pale pinky grey which when contrasted with this ultra bright pink ends up looking almost bright white.

I am much happier with this colour version of the houndstooth design - what do you think? As always your thoughts and comments are more than welcome.

Louise xx

Houndstooth

Today I really fancied using one of the bold and quite 'hard edged' stamps that I usually steer clear of. I finally settled on the houndstooth design found on stamping plate BM 322. I think traditionally the houndstooth pattern is black and white but I decided to switch it up a little and used black and silver.

I used W7 black as the base and Barry M Silver Foil for the stamping. I have to say the results are quite eye catching and I found it hard to tell which was the base colour and which was the stamp colour.

Do you think I could make this a bit more my usual girly style by using softer colours? Maybe a white base and a nice bright pink stamp? One for the 'to do' list I think :-).

Louise xx

Studded V-gap

I saw this clever tape mani here and just knew I had to recreate it for myself. This is my first attempt at a tape manicure and I am really pleased with the results. Nailside has a very detailed tutorial that made this super easy to recreate.

These gorgeous colours are Barry M Turquoise as the base colour with Barry M Denim as the accent V shape on each nail. I then used Barry M Silver Foil to add the dotted highlights.

This is definately a look I will wear again. I am really pleased with how my nails turned out and how easy it was made by following the brilliant step by step tutorial over on the Nailside blog.

Louise xx

Pretty Peacock

On Sunday my lovely hubby treated me to lunch at a new mexican place we had heard good things about as well as a few new polishes for my ever growing collection. Lunch was good but as this is a nail blog I am guessing you want to hear about the polishes rather than the tasty food.

These beautiful peacock inspired nails were created with two polishes from the H&M collection called Blue My Mind and Come Along With Me.

I will admit that I had a very hard time capturing the true gorgeousness of these colours as my camera just could not cope! I stamped the peacock design using Barry M Gold Foil with the design taken from BM 212.

I found these polishes a little hard to work with, the formula was not an issue but the shape of the lid meant the brush was hard to manoeuvre and almost blocked the view of my nail at times. These polishes retail for only £2.99 each and I would still consider them a worth while addition to my stash.

Here are a couple of pictures taken in direct sunlight to try and capture the differences between the two colours.

This bottle is Blue My Mind

This bottle is Come Along With Me

As you can see I painted alternate nails - Index and Ring have a base colour of Blue My Mind, whilst Middle and Little have a base colour of Come Along With Me. I then added contrasting dots in the opposite colour to create the 'eye' effect seen in peacock feathers.

I really love this look and got lots of compliments at work today.

Louise xx

I Love Coral

This pretty and girly manicure was designed to match my new coral dress, worn this weekend at my good friend Natashas Hen Do. This was the 'home' version of the Hen Do, as we have already been on the 'away' version in Marbella

Unfortunately the weather was typically British which meant it rained almost solidly all afternoon but we didnt let it dampen our spirits and we had a fantastic time. The bridesmaids did a wonderful job of organising the day which included a Pimms on arrival, a delicious BBQ and plenty of games to make us laugh.

As the wedding is very close now I decided to go with a love theme for my nails.

For this look I used BYS Pastel Pink as the base colour, Barry M Gold Foil to stamp the LOVE design on BM 311 and the fishnet style design on BM 310. I then added some pieces of gold hex glitter for a little bit of added interest.

Overall I was really pleased with this look and loved the BYS Pastel Pink colour. I have purchased a few polishes from this collection recently so will debut some more very soon.

Louise xx

Refresh

Time to teal it up!

I dont have time for a whole new mani tonight and as my gorgeous foxglove and white was still in perfect order I thought why not add a few little highlights in a contrasting colour for a slightly edgier look?

What do you think? I love it :-)

The dotting colour is Totally Teal, its one of my older nail polishes and the only time I wore it as a base it had chipped within a few hours so it has been left untouched until now. Its perfect as a highlighting colour as its heavily pigmented and will show up against most bases.

I am off to face time a very happy sister-in-law and be introduced to the newest member of our family. I wont spoil the surprise by telling you if she had a boy or girl as I am still planning a special mani to reveal that and the name in the near future.

Louise xx

Foxglove & White

Good evening lovelies. Tonight I decided to push the boundaries and try a shade I have had in my untrieds for quite a while. I purchased it from Boots No 7 using the £5 off promotion so this was the bargain price of £2. It is quite hard to describe the colour as depending on the light it could be from the purple family or then again it could be the pink family?

What do you think?

The application of this polish was much better than I expected and the above picture was taken after two thin coats were applied with one coat of quick drying top coat. This polish looked good enough for me to not cover with a stamp but you know me I just cant resist...

 

I stamped using Konad Special Polish in White using BM 224. This is such a pretty pattern that I have used on many occasions in the past and I love how it works so nicely with this lovely colour from Boots.

 

I am really pleased with all my experiments so far this week - I am craving a good Barry M nail polish but am going to stay strong and continue my experiments without them :-). This is extra hard for me as a package just arrived with another 5 hard to find Barry M polishes in.

Louise xx