Spooky French Manicure // Candy Corn and Skull Negative Space French Tips Design

It's the 1st of October! That means it's time for spooky!! I love Halloween; it's my favourite holiday however I just wish it wasn't so cold. I detest winter.

These nails though could pretty much be warn all year round if you don't look to close. They're inspired by this post I found on Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/363665738669621160/

Unfortunately I can't find the original nail artist and a reverse google image search didn't reveal anything either.

It took me quite a while but I'm glad I took my time as I love it! I'm not wearing a peel off basecoat for once so I think I'll wear it for a few days. I also used that new stamper technique to achieve the french tips. What a life hack.

How I did it:

Started off with the brightening primer basecoat and then topped that off with 2 layers of Thirsty Nails for that perfect pink/nude base. I applied some Pretty in Putty to an old large stamper and then pushed the tips of my nails into it an angle to achieve the french tip. I did that twice for each nail to build the colour up and then applied a layer of quick dry topcoat.

Next for each nail I pick up the bottom left-most design on the Halloween 03 plate with Nether Noir and removed the already filled hearts and skulls with the tip of a dotting tool. Using a tiny brush I filled in the candy corns with Cantaloupe, The Heat Is On and Pretty in Putty and then filled the skulls in with a large brush and Pretty in Putty. I then left the design to dry on the stamper for a minute or so, applied another layer of quick dry top coat and let it go tacky (about 5 seconds) then stamped on.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

Base:

- OPI Infinite Shine // Brightening Primer

- Nails Inc // Thirsty Nails (sheer pink)

- Ciaté Gelology // Pretty In Putty (off-white)

- Barry M // Wet Set Quick Dry Top Coat

Stamping:

- Whats Up Nails // Nether Noir (black)

- H&M // The Heat Is On (orange), Cantaloupe (yellow)

- Ciaté Gelology // Pretty In Putty (off-white)

- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Halloween 03

Ambers Nails /// ALL The Summer Nail Art Designs

So a while ago I did nails for my friend and this was the first time doing nail art on someone else's nails. It was a very strange experience; I'm so used to my own nails.

Well neither of us could decide on a nail art design so we went with everything 😂. The majority of the designs were done with some new Beetles gel polish but the stamping was normal polish with a gel base and top.

I can see the appeal of working with gel; it's just so much easier to manipulate than regular polish. But you can't take away my stamping tools from me. Amber told me that the look lasted a long time without chipping so I guess I'll continue to use OPI for the top coat. That was a weird one though; it smells like cooked chicken.

Unfortuantely I don't have a full polishes used list for this look because I lost count but I can say I used Cuccio prep + fuse for the base. Then did all the designs and applied the OPI gel top coat. I was happy that the stamping polishes didn't wrinkle when curing; it happens quite a lot and it annoys me to no end.

Quick Designs // Christmas In September Plaid

Christmas in September anyone? I didn't mean for these to turn out so Christmassy but here we are. In other news, I've started seeing advent calendars and other Christmas related things in the supermarket. Eurgh.

This look was supposed to be "autumnal" but whatever. Also, if you think I'm hiding my thumb because I didn't do it then you are correct 🙈. So this atually started out with a base of Red Sea and then I stamped on the white stripes. The white is too overpowering though; I should've chosen a non-stamping polish. From afar it looks ok though.

Polishes/Tools used:

- Barry M Green Origin // Red Sea (red), Night Sky (blue), Evergreen (green)

- Barry M Liquid Chrome // Bright Lights (gold)

- Twinkled T // Glow Up (white)

Quick Designs // Holo Monstera

A quick look today! I bought an amazing Lina stamping plate during What's Up Black Friday sale last year (where does the time go) and I was playing around with it and came up with this quick look! I only did the index finger as I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I think I'll have to do the entire hand now.

I love A-England polishes but they take so long to dry. For this effect I applied them to a silicone mat first, swirled them round together a bit then picked up the polish using a flat brush and applied it to the nail to achieve that drag marble effect. I'm no Sveta Sanders (she makes it look so easy) but I'm getting there. You need polishes that take a while to dry though for it to work well so A-England is the way to go but sitting there waiting for your nails to dry before you can stamp is painful.

When the sun hits this design though the leaves come alive. This is why I love negative stamping designs because stamping polishes that look like that would cost an absolute fortune. It's still a beautiful look even without the sun though:

Polishes/Tools Used:-

Base:

- A-England // Puck A Fairy (blue), Dragon (dark green), Fotheringhay Castle (olive green)

Stamping:

- What's Up Nails // Blanc My Mind (white)

- Lina // 4 Seasons - Summer 04 Stamping Plate

Nautical Tips // Nautical Style French Tips Design

I'm not sure what to make of this look. I originally wasn't going to post it but not every mani can be flawlessly executed. I've been buying up lots of gel polishes lately to practice freehand painting with and straight lines are hard. I also had difficulty figuring out the centre of my nail lol.

I also wanted to do something that was actually nautical from last months challenge as mermaid nails aren't strictly nautical.

For this quick look I started out with 2 layers of Thirsty Nails then painted the tips with SC01 (white gel). Using a fine liner brush I attempted some lines with 619. They're not completely awful if viewed from several feet away lol. I will say I love the shade; it's super vivid and wonderful to paint with. I felt like the look was lacking something so I added the gold (856) to hide where the blue and white meet.

This was super fast thanks to the gel because I can just cure it for 60 seconds and away you go. I used these on top of my usual peel off basecoat and it was amazing to not have to wait for drying or worry about the polish drying out whilst painting.

Polishes/Tools used:-

- Nails Inc // Thirsty Nails (sheer pink)

- Nicole Diary Soak Off Colour Gel // SC01 (white)

- Beetles Gel Polish // 619 (blue), 859 (gold glitter)

SWATCHES: OPI // Bubble Bath, Barre My Soul, Suzi Nails New Orleans & Meet A Boy Cute As Can Be

I'm trying to get proper swatch photos of all the polishes in my collection so I'm now going through some polishes I got a while ago but never swatched. 

Bubble Bath // soft baby pink creme

Collection: Infinite Shine Iconic Collection

Release: September 2016

Coats: 3

I finally got my hands on a Bubble Bath shade. I've been wanting this for a long time but it's such an "in-demand" shade it's either out of stock or eBay wants £15 for it. I managed to snag an infinite shine version for £6 thanks to the auction format. First of all I love the shade once it's been built up through 3 coats but it's not what I was expecting. This polish is used a lot in rose quartz nails but the Infinite Shine version is to opaque to be used with layering. it's also really streaky. You need to apply this in 3 strokes or less to prevent dragging.

Looking at other swatches though I have a feeling this bottle is from a bad batch or it's gone thick as this is definitely not sheer and it should be. I can't even see my tips after only 2 coats and that's why the streaks annoy me so much. Streaky cremes are awful. I stopped at 3 coats but I'm kinda disappointed. I guess I'm still on the lookout for the perfect rose quartz shade.

Barre My Soul // sheer nude creme

Collection: New York City Ballet

Release: April 2012

Coats: 3

Photos of this online make it look way more pink than it actually is. In person it's more of a soft sheer beige with a pink undertone. If this was more pink it would be great for quartz nails but alas, it's more nude and very streaky; far streakier than Bubble Bath. I wouldn't call this a jelly formula due to the streaking and brush strokes, it's more like a tinted base coat. Layering would work though but the streaks become more noticeable with each layer.

The entire collection is a weird one though. All very sheer polishes that practically look the same apart from the grey one which makes your nails look dead.

Suzi Nails New Orleans // barbie pink creme

Collection: New Orleans

Release: February 2016

Coats: 3

Another streaky shade. I stopped at three coats on this barbie/flamingo pink shade but it definitely needs a top coat to level things out. It's a shame because I like quite a few other polishes from this collection but a few sites note how patchy and difficult they are to work with.

Meet A Boy As Cute As Can Be // pastel yellow creme

Collection: Grease Infinite Shine

Release: July 2018

Coats: 3

Another streaky one but the formula is easier to work with but urgh. Look at those streaks on 3 coats! The shade saves it for me though as I love shades like this. It reminds me heavily of one of my all-time favourites; Lemon Sugar from Avon. I'd say the Avon one is a tad more yellow. Pastel yellow is just so fresh and fun; you can't go wrong with it.

SWATCHES: China Glaze // Sun Of A Peach, Pilates Please & Peachy Keen

Surprise surprise; I bought some peach nail polish! Bet ya didn't see that one coming.

One thing I did not see coming though was the revelation that China Glaze only went 5-Free in 2019. I found this article from 2019 (https://www.thezoereport.com/p/the-orly-vs-china-glaze-nail-polish-difference-is-this-experts-say-18196467) which states a spokesperson for CG says they were "always 5-Free but now they've gone 7-Free as well". This is a lie as all three of the below polishes clearly state Formaldehyde Resin on the ingredients label.

I wish I knew this before I started buying up older CG polishes. So a warning if you're allergic; only buy CG polishes from collections from 2019 onwards for at least 5-Free polishes. I personally only like to use polishes that are at least free of any formaldehyde and toluene so I'm disappointed. I'll still continue to use the polishes I've bought but I won't be buying anymore older CG polishes from now on.

But anyway onto swatches; make sure you're in a well ventilated area when using older CG shades as well!

Sun Of A Peach // satin neon orange (contains formaldehyde resin)

Collection: Sunsational

Release: Summer 2013

Coats: 4

This is a bugger to apply. It's extremely thin and dries insanely fast so streaks; streak everywhere. You need to build this up in thin coats. It's also nearly identical to FlipFlopFantasy V2. The re-release of FFF was after this though so I have a feeling that maybe they changed the colour of FFF to match this one as it's kind of hard to get hold of and is a sun of beach to apply. With FFF v2 I'm done in 2 coats.

You can see in the comparison photo that FFF is only slightly lighter than Son Of A Peach and you can only see the difference in very bright lighting. So if you're looking for a neon orange I'd say go with FFF v2 as it's much easier to apply and has a better formula.

Pilates Please // peach creme (contains formaldehyde resin)

Collection: Chic Physique

Release: Spring 2018

Coats: 3

A wonderful true peach creme. It is on the streaky side and I needed 3 coats in the end to get full opacity but I love this shade. I wish I had some stamping plates with peaches on them as this would be the perfect shade!

This is one those polishes though where the more layers you have, the lighter it gets. After 3 coats my nails were looking gloriously plump and shiny. The top photo was taken in more direct lighting than the bottom so you can see how much it changes based on lighting.

Peachy Keen // peach/orange creme (contains formaldehyde resin)

Collection: Up & Away

Release: Spring 2010!

Coats: 3

This is a super old one. We got some vintage China Glaze action going on here. It was actually in searching to find if CG did a re-release of this shade (because the text on my bottle is different than the original photos) that I discovered that this polish contains formeldahyde resin. So I guess it was good for that?

As for the shade though, this is another one of those polishes that becomes lighter with more layers. I think my bottle has started separating quite a bit as it was streaky and needed a good three coats. After that it was bordering on neon.

NailNerdChallenge July 2021 // Nautical Nails

Mermaids are considered to fall under the "nautical" category right?? Well they do now because I love this look I did. 

It came about whilst I swatching some China Glaze shades and I couldn't help but stick a load of glittery toppers on Too Yacht to Handle. Negative stamps are also the best because I can only imagine a stamping polish like that would cost a fortune.

For these nails I started out with 2 coats of Too Yacht To Handle followed by a layer of Diamond Glitter, then Will-'O-The-Wisp and dry brushed on alternate strokes of Crystal Blue and Pink Luxe. I then used born pretty stamping plate on my middle finger and Moyou on the rest. 

Polishes/Tools Used:

Nails:

- China Glaze // Too Yacht To Handle (teal)

- Barry M Nail Paint // Diamond Glitter (scattered holo)

- H&M // Will-'O-The-Wisp (green duochrome shimmer topper)

- Barry M Molten Metal // Crystal Blue, Pink Luxe

Stamping:

- What's Up Nails // Blanc My Mind (white)

- Born Pretty Stamping Plate // BP-109 (middle finger)

- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Sailor 04 (rest of fingers)

SWATCHES: Models Own & OPI // Suede & The Sun Never Sets

I saw these two in TK Maxx at the weekend. I had no intention of buying polish but I couldn't help myself (who can?) They are pink/peach and I'm a pink/peach fiend :D

Models Own HyperGel // Suede (dusty pink creme)

Collection: Dare To Bare

Release: Autumn 2016

Coats: 2

Oh I love this shade. It's such a beautiful dusty pink with a hint of lavender. It reminds me of H&M's Chalky Pink but this is lighter. Apparently this was part of a limited edition set and there are 4 other shades in the collection. 2 are nudes that would look amazing on much darker skintones but there is a peach shade which I have to have. There is a local Beauty Outlet store near me and they stock a lot of Models Own nail polish so I'm gonna go have a peruse to see if they have it.

The formula is strange though, I was expecting something along the lines of Barry M's Gelly Hi-Shine but it's way too streaky. I stopped at 2 coats because it takes a while to dry but there were still visible streaks. You also need to apply this in 3 swipes or less because dragging occurs. The finish is shiny but not plumpy or smooth like gel. Still, I love the shade...just dislike the formula.

OPI Infinite Shine // The Sun Never Sets (cantaloupe creme)

Collection: Infinite Shine Summer

Release: Summer 2015

Coats: 3

Oh my, what a shade! When I got home I immediately looked this shade up to see what collection it belonged to and there are some beautiful shades in this 2015 summer release. I'm in love with You're Blushing Again, Patience Pays off, Lavendurable, S-Ageless Beauty and especially Bee Mine Forever...another collection to try and purchase.

But this beautiful orange; it's like the non-neon version of China Glaze's Flip Flop Fantasy V2. The formula is a bit disappointing as this is always streaky. I stopped at 3 coats but there are still some streaks. I really love the shade though so I'm going to let it slide.

NailNerdChallenge July 2021 // Tropical Nails

So this was the first prompt but I forgot to post it, so here it is! Usually when I do tropical I go for a pink or peach background with green leaves so I decided to mix it up with some darker colours and bright pops! 

For this one I started out with a layer of Night Sky, then applied Deep Ocean, Dream Holiday and Turquoise Mint to a design on the Paradise 02 plate. Scraping the polish blends them all together and then I stamped that on top. Afterwards I used the flower designs from Paradise 05 first in white so the colours would pop more then used No Tan Lines, My Showcase Pink and Raspberry fro the flower details. The little yellow pollen stems had a white base stamp and then Maui Gold stamped on top.

Polishes/Tools Used:

Nails:

- Barry M Green Origin // Night Sky (dark blue)

Stamping:

- MoYou London // Dream Holiday (blue), Deep Ocean (deep blue), Turquoise Mint (mint)

- Maniology // Maui Gold (yellow)

- OPI Infinite Shine // No Tan Lines (orange)

- Barry M Nail Paint // 273 Raspberry

- Kure Bazaar // My Showcase Pink (fuschia)

- What's Up Nails // Blanc My Mind (white)

- MoYou London Stamping Plates // Paradise 02, Paradise 05

NailNerdChallenge July 2021 // Fruit Nails

It's time for another set of challenge nails! This weeks prompt is "Fruit" and I've had this design on a false nail for ages but I just never got round to actually creating it in full on my nails but this was the perfect prompt!

It's summery, fresh and definitely fruity! Plus not one stamping polish in sight; I'm starting to get good at reverse stamping now. For this look I did two coats of Sweet As Pinkie Pie, then picked up the pineapple stamps using My Showcase Pink and then filled them in on the stamper with Honolulu Blues and Yellow (great name Barry M lol). I topped it off with a glossy topcoat. 

This one took a while to do due to the reverse stamping. You need to make sure it's dry before you stamp or will smudge but then your base has also dried so you either need to apply a sticky basecoat or a layer of topcoat and stamp just before it loses it's stickiness but won't smudge the polish underneath. I need to get at least 5 stampers so I can just do one after the other and fill them all in at the same time.

Polishes/Tools Used:

Nails:
- China Glaze // Sweet As Pinkie Pie (pink)

- Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy // Diamond Top Coat

Stamping:

- Kure Bazaar // My Showcase Pink (fuschia)

- Barry M Nail Paint // 134 Yellow

- Beau Nail Polish // Honolulu Blues (blue)

- Maniology Stamping Plate // M051

Lilac Vibes // Pastel Lilac, Leaves and Gold Look

Today's nails were inspired by a moisturiser from Wander Beauty that I saw in the latest FabFitFun edit sale.

I'm a little shocked at how well these nails turned out; I can't stop staring at my hand. The lilac, white, gold and black combo is really stunning and I want to do more designs using these shades now.

This look was also extremely simple and took around 30 minutes to complete. I actually want to do my other hand; that's how much I love it. The base colour also helps; it's one of my favourite shades that I own. It complements my skin tone perfectly; plus it's a dream to apply.

Polish/Tools Used:-

Nails:

- Ciaté Gelology // Spinning Teacup (lilac)

Stamping:

- Twinkled T // Liquid Gold (gold), Vibin' (black), Glow Up (white)

- MoYou London Stamping Plates // Botanical 16