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

SWATCHES: China Glaze // Grass Is Lime Greener, Too Yacht Too Handle, Thistle Do Nicely

More China Glaze! I recently bought another 8 CG polishes off NailPolishDirect because I wanted to. Summer is here and I'm really into neons and I'm missing bright shades in my collection so I went for these 3!  (The other 5 are pink/peach surprise surprise...)

Grass Is Lime Greener // neon satin lime

Collection: City Flourish

Release: Spring 2014

Coats: 3

I love this shade. I read quite a few reviews on this particular shade and most complain about the streaks. I've found that applying on top of a white base reduces the need for 3 coats but without the base it's definitely streaky to start out with. This doesn't bother me as neon green is super hard to do so I think CG did a pretty good job. It dries really fast with a satin finish (like most neons). It kind of reminds me of tennis balls.

Too Yacht To Handle // light teal crelly

Collection: Sunsational

Release: Summer 2013

Coats: 2

This is a great summer shade that's ready in 2 coats with a beautiful  shiny finish thanks to it's creme/jelly finish. It's not quite neon but it's nice and bright and will do well in a gradient and mermaid nails.

Thistle Do Nicely // satin neon coral

Collection: City Flourish

Release: Spring 2014

Coats: 2

Another one from the City Flourish collection. I wish I knew of China Glaze back in the early 2010's as I love the entire collection. I think I've almost got all the shades now. At first I wasn't sure of I'd like this shade as it's too red/orange for my tastes but now it's on my hand I love it. I imagine this is what radioactive tomatoes would look like. It's so bright. No one will miss your hands with this bad boy applied. It was a bit tricky to use as the formula is thick and gloopy but it doesn't dry with streaks or lumps so it's all good.

NailNerdChallenge July 2021 // Beach/Ocean Nails

So I didn't miss the first weeks challenge; I just never posted it. Lol, I'll do that now. So anyway, here is the next prompt; beach nails!

I wanted to do something different than my usual sunset gradient with silhouette palm trees and opted for this negative space wave look and I have to say wow. Not to toot my own horn but I think I knocked it out of the park lol.  This has to be one of my favourite looks that I've done and it took me less than 20 minutes. It's so simple that I could do it on my other hand (not that I'm going to but it's nice to have the option).

Overlapping plates are simply the best kind of stamping plates. Not all of us have the artistic talent of Lieve91 (and I probably never will) so I love that these plates come to my rescue. This little plate I got off eBay a while ago and the wave designs are perfect.

I started out with my favourite OPI base, then added a layer of thirsty nails. It's honestly the best polish for giving the perfect flush pink natural nails that look great in negative space looks. For the waves I applied little blobs of Lillian, Super-trop-i-cal-i-fiji-istic and I'm on a sushi roll to the plate then blended it all together when scraping. When picked up it creates a nice blend of shades which give more depth. I used normal polishes because I wanted some sheerness as water is see through after all. I then added on some white detail and applied a glossy top coat.

These are perfect no maintenance nails as you don't have to worry about growth too much and I love the splash of colour at the tips of my nails (sea what I did there?? and there??)

Polishes/Tools used:-

Nails:

- OPI Infinite Shine // Conditioning Primer

- NailsInc // Thirsty Nails (sheer pink)

- Revlon Colorstay // Diamond Top Coat

Stamping:

- Pict You Stamping Plate // PY-F001 (overlapping waves)

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

- OPI Infinite Shine // Super Trop-i-cal-i-fiji-istic (deep blue), I'm On A Sushi Roll (teal)

- Zoya // Lillian (pale blue)