Sparkleccino // Birthday Coffee Nails

I originally did this look on a false nail first and loved it so much I decided to make it my birthday look this year! I'm now 29 and slightly freaking out that I'm almost 30 and still struggling to adult. I'll just buy some more nail polish, that will fix all my problems.

Expect a lot of drip nail looks this month...I'm becoming ever so slightly obsessed with the dripping look. It just works so well for adding detail but not too much detail. I also love using the pixie dust polishes thanks to their unique matte texture. In the words of Elle Woods "it just adds a little something extra don't ya think?"

I wanted the ombre to look like when you've just poured foaming milk into an espresso and you get that beautiful moment where the two start to mix. Oh man, this is really making me want a caramel macchiato. All the ombre shades have coffee names as well; it just turned out perfectly.

Polishes/Tools used:

- Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine // Iced Latte (cream)

- Kure Bazaar // Cappuccino (coffee)

- Nails Inc Caffeine Hit // Espresso Martini (dark brown)

- Avon Mark. // Gel Shine Top Coat

- Zoya Pixiedust // Tomoko (champagne)

Seeing Stars // Pink & Gold Flakies with Stars Design

It's been so long! My last nail art post was a week ago! But, it was birthday and so I went home for 5 days and forgot to schedule anything (I'm now the grand old age of 28...) I also did my nails with a regular base coat *le gasp* and only just took off this look as I'm writing this. I'm quite impressed to be honest. I used the OPI Infinite Shine Brightening Primer with the Avon Mark Gel Shine Top Coat and not one chip. I was quite happy to get it off though because it was so boring wearing the same design for an entire week. I don't know how people do it.

Anyway, I wanted to try and use some shades I rarely use as well as do something vaguely birthday related and came up with this. The inspiration came from Nails Inc who recently released a new duo called Seeing Stars which contains a sheer off-white creme and a clear top coat with star pieces suspended in it. Apart from the stars being gold, it's identical to Ciatés Shooting Star that I received in their Mini Mani Month last year. I blasted it when I got it because the star pieces stick up and it's a nightmare trying to get stars out of it. I still stand by my initial thoughts 10 months later. Bits of fluff kept getting stuck to my nails and washing my hair was quite annoying. Chunky star pieces make for nice looking nail art but are not practical in the slightest. They were also a bugger to remove.

As for the rest of the design, I just really love that Chalky Pink H&M shade and Barely Peach added on top is just a stunning combo. It looks really similar to China Glaze Lawless & Flawless from their Gone West collection. When I first received Barely Peach I was pretty angry as it was nothing like advertised, however I've grown to really appreciate it as a top coat. It really adds another dimension to polishes.

I suppose now though I should really get on with doing some Halloween looks and stop procrastinating. I don't know what it is but when I have to do certain looks, I just get really bored. I love doing random looks that come into my head or copying the design off some mug/candle/blanket I've seen when out and about. Honestly, if I was a full-time blogger, I would be the worst.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- OPI Infinite Shine // Brightening Primer (base coat)
- H&M // Chalky Pink (dusty pink), Barely Peach (peach flakie)
- Ciaté // Shooting Star (star glitter)

- Avon Mark. // Gel Shine Top Coat