Honey Flowers // Beige Autumnal Flower Design

Another look that came about whilst swatching the Nails Inc Nail Spice collection! This was a super quick one. Just 2 layers of Honey Lane, followed by designs stamped on with Smokey and Bright Lights, then a layer of smudge proof top coat and matte top coat.

Polishes/Tools Used:

Base:

- Nails Inc // Honey Lane (pink beige)

Stamping:

- Twinkled T // Smokey (dark grey)

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

- MoYou London // Botanical 16 Stamping Plate

Top:

- MoYou London // Smudge Proof Top Coat

- Barry M // Matte Top Coat

The Rainbow Nails Challenge September 2020: Leaves // Blue Hibiscus & Leaves Nail Art

I have no idea where this look came from. I just saw the stamp design of the floaty leaves and shimmery blue background in my head. The hibiscus came afterwards. These nails look like decals; I'm so impressed.

I also refuse to move into Autumn, summer just came and vanished...or rather I didn't make enough summer nail art because I'm lazy. Anway, Clairestelle8 is back as Alice.Claire.Nails after her account was hacked (honestly, what is wrong with the world??) and there are challenges again! I did a back to school look and today is the last day to get a leaf look done so here it is!

The base is Forest by Barry M and dries to a satin finish. I think the satin finish is ok but this polish is stunning with a glossy topcoat. I took photos without a top coat and it's a good thing I did because after I applied it, I spectacularly ruined my nails trying to open a chocolate bar...I never learn.

I also managed to get some MoYou polishes to behave and the hibiscus flowers turned out really well.

Polishes/Tools Used:-
- Barry M Silk // Forest (blue shimmer)
- MoYou London // Dream Holiday (blue), Deep Ocean (dark blue), Bora Bora (light teal), Mint Condition (light green mint), Snowflake (off-white)
- Nicole Diary Stamping Plate // ND-L14 (leaves)
- MoYou London Stamping Plate // Paradise 05 (hibiscus flowers)

Botanical Foils // Flowers with Primark gold foil and green watercolour design

This turned out so much better than how I saw it in my head. I think it's because for the first time I actually practiced the design first on some swatch sticks and ironed out the kinks. I need to do that more often instead of just ploughing on ahead.

When Primark recently re-opened I went in and spent a lot more than I should've but I just couldn't help myself. They also had a shiny load of new makeup that obviously I had to buy. Especially these cute jars of foil flakes. I think they're supposed to be used as eyeshadows and on your face but I immediately knew that these pressed flakes would be perfect for nail art looks.

They have them in bronze and gold and they're so much easier to use than foil sheets and £3. These pots are gonna last me years. I used an eyeshadow applicator to pick some up and then dabbed it on my nail. If you apply it on top of a dried glossy top coat it sticks but it also moves so you can re-position it how you like then seal it in with another layer of top coat.

For this look I also mixed some of Hope with acetone to create the watercolour effect. I did trial some of the blooming polishes I have from Nicole Diary but I didn't have a green so had to mix blue and yellow and it just looked muddy.

Polishes/Tools used:-
- Ciaté // White Heat
- Kure Bazaar // Hope
- Twinkled T // Vibin'
- Primark PS // Golden Foil Flakes
- MoYou London Stamping Plates // Botanical 07
- Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy // Diamond Top Coat

Flowers at Dawn // Duochrome Artist Paint Flower Design

So, this came about the day after my dissertation was handed in. I hadn't properly done any swatching or my nails in so long and I was super looking forward to denting my ever-growing swatch pile. The first shade I put on to swatch was Dawn Song from the new H&M collection (swatches here and here). I was like 'that would make a super cute background'. I then saw this wonderful design by @pinselpoesie using MoYou's scandi and artist plates:

Seeing as how I finally managed to get my hands on Artist 22 (I've been wanting it since July last year that's how long it's been out of stock) I was like, 'I should do that but with more pink and white cause I'm basic'. And that's what I did. 

It was annoying though because I loved the result and as such couldn't bring myself to peel it off to continue swatching so I only managed to swatch one polish that day 🙈 oh well.

How I did it:-

I started off with 2 layers of Dawn Song, followed by some random patterns from the Artist 22 plate in white. Then added another paint design in Razzle Dazzle (those chrome polishes by Barry M stamp so good). The flowers are from Botanical 1. I need to find a new black stamping polish though as the one from Born Pretty isn't that great.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- H&M // Dawn Song (gold to pink duochrome glitter)
- Barry M Liquid Chrome // Razzle Dazzle (ice pink chrome)

- Born Pretty Polish // #3 (black), #4 (white)

- Barry M // Plumpy Hi Shine Top Coat
- MoYou London Plates // Artist 22, Botanical 01

Let Love Grow // Birchbox February 2019 Beauty Box Nails

I've finally managed to get round to doing this months Birchbox nails! In collaboration with Not On The High Street seller; Miss Bespoke Papercuts, Birchbox have created a beautiful watercolour flower print. The contents aren't very exciting; the only item I'm really happy about is the brush as fluffy tapered brushes are the ones I use the most. Other than that, I'm not a big anatomicals fan and they've been featuring the same type of eyeshadow/highlighter shade for months now. I will say though, that the LOC liquid eyeshadow this month is the first I've come across that truly dries and then doesn't budge. 

Ever since I saw the box design at the start of the month I was wondering I how could recreate it and after receiving a new born pretty plate in the post I decided to use that to achieve the look.

How I did it:-

I started off with one layer of In The Navy then applied the stamp design with the white stamping polish. Using the same polish I then filled in the design, let it dry, then mixed different colours with a little acetone to achieve that watercolour look. I then topped it off with the design stamped in black and added a matte top coat.

Polishes/Tools Used:-
- Orly // In The Navy (navy)

- Cuccio Colour // Laying Around (deep plum)
- Morgan Taylor // Mint Chocolate Chip (mint)

- NYC Expert Last // Designer Dress (pink)
- Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine // Prickly Pear (lavender)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #12 (green)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #3 (black)
- Born Pretty Stamping Polish // #4 (white)
- OPI // Envy The Adventure (dark green)
- Harunouta Stamping Plate // L036
- Born Pretty Stamping Plate // BP-L067

Days Like These... // Birchbox October 2018 Beauty Box Nails

Time for another Beauty Box nail design! Birchbox is quite possibly one of my favourite beauty boxes on the market (I'm subbed to 4 currently...) due to it's beautiful design each month and interesting products. I've been subbed for a year now and never had a repeat product in my boxes and it's the subscription that I've bought the most full sizes from after trialling.

This months design embraced autumn with a beautiful light blue/grey lined box decorated with orange, red and blue leaves. Ever since I saw the design I couldn't wait to try and recreate it however, I came up short with the leaves. I have about a bazillion flower decals but only a few were the orange shade. I currently have a set of autumnal decals in my cart on eBay but I've spent my beauty budget for this month so they'll have to wait for next month. 

Instead I had to make do with some oranges and tropical/esque leaves.

Compared to the box, it doesn't look like too much of a change and the lines turned out perfectly. Rain Washed was such a good match and because it wasn't a stamping polish it's softer and more pastel; just like the box design.

Those decals were an absolute bugger though and so fiddly. This look took me way longer than I expected due to the decals sticking to each other or just refusing to stick to anything. Sometimes they would break up as I was trying to slide them off, however they did cost around 75p per sheet so it wasn't exactly breaking the bank.

This is definitely one of those looks though where I wish I could've been bothered to do it on the other hand.

Polishes/Tools Used:

- Essie // Blanc (white)
- Revlon // Quick Dry Top Coat
- Avon Mark. Gel Shine // Rain Washed (light blue pastel)

- Barry M Molten Metal // Bronze Bae (metallic gold)

- Revlon // Colorstay Diamond Top Coat