Winter Sunrise // Peach & Lilac Ombre with Forests Nail Art

Ahhhhh how cute is this look! I actually did it with a standard base coat but it still peeled off the next day anyway :( The one and only time I wanted to wear a look longer than 6 hours. I'm super happy with how this turned out though as it was one of those where I had no idea where it was going; I just wanted to paint my nails whilst watching Markiplier.

This look was inspired by a recent morning drive to work. I live in the country side now and my drive is just back roads through rolling fields and trees in the distance all around. I glimpsed in my rear view mirror and saw this fantastic gradient sky that went from lilac to pink and then peach at the top. Then in front of me was the biggest, brightest full moon I have ever seen. I've honestly never seen the moon like that when the sun is rising as well. It was truly beautiful and I wish it was safe to pull over and take a photo but the roads are tiny and people get super pissed off if you stop on one because it's hard to overtake.

This was also my first time using one of the new Noel plates from MoYou London's Christmas collection. I told myself in December I couldn't buy them (of course I wanted them all) and by some Christmas miracle I didn't buy them....But then their Boxing day sale happened and they were 50% off so I bought the remaining ones that hadn't sold out. This is the 06 plate and it features overlapping mountains, fir trees and tree trunks as well as deer and wolves. It's one of the best plates they've ever done and there's a mountain design I really want to do with them.

To make it a bit more winter-y I toyed with adding some snow but didn't want to ruin it. I also wanted to add a matte top coat but holo...I ended up applying a layer of the trusty ol' Diamond Glitter from Barry M and it's perfect.

How I did it:-

I started off with a layer of Well, Well, Well which I won't do again because I forgot how long those Sally Hansen Argan oil polishes take to dry. I then sponged on a few layers of Peach Melba, Strawberry Icecream and Berry Icecream. I used Ghosted with the large fir trees which are the light grey ones and Smokey with the smaller fir trees in the front. I topped it off with a glossy top coat and then added Fairy Dust for some 'snow'.

Polishes/Tools Used:

- Sally Hansen Color Therapy // 110 Well, Well, Well (off white)
- Barry M Nail Paint // Berry Icecream (lilac), Strawberry Icecream (pink), Peach Melba (peach)
- Twinkled T // Smokey (dark grey), Ghosted (light grey)
- Revlon Gel Envy // Diamond Top Coat
- Barry M // Diamond Glitter (scattered holo)
- MoYou London // Noel Collection 06

Safari 'Teal Dawn // Clairestelle8 August Challenge 2019

My first entry for a Clairestelle8 challenge in months! Granted I've already missed a few for August and the Safari one was supposed to be out on the 13th but you know work'n'stuff so here it is:

I love this look. I wanted to do something a little different than all the orange sunset looks as they look great but I feel it's the obvious choice when you think of a safari mani. So I went for an 'almost' dark look with the moon rising in the sky. The gradient turned out perfectly and here is shot on it's on because it's beautiful and could be the base for so many other designs. Galaxy forest at night, canyon, desert road trip...endless.

I used one the new Nicole Diary plates as well as some Nicole diary stamping polishes and I'm pleasantly surprised. The white isn't completely opaque but I'm actually ok with that for this look because I didn't want the moon to be super bright. The plate has a load of interesting scenes on it from the safari to grass with bunnies, dense trees and mountains with dragons. There are also some great individual animal designs and solo trees to help flesh out your scene. For £2 off eBay I couldn't ask for more.

How I did it:-
I did the gradient on bare nails (2 coats) using Bohemian Rhapsody, Dance Party 'Teal Dawn, Take me to Heaven and Monoi; then applied a layer of top coat. Once that was dry I used a dotting tool and some of the white polish to create little stars and stamped on the image of the moon. Then, I placed the safari scene with the elephants, lion and tree on my thumb being extras I added to fill in the gaps. I then added another layer of top coat to seal it all in.

Polishes/Tools Used:

- Jessica // Bohemian Rhapsody (dark navy)

- OPI // Dance Party 'Teal Dawn (bright teal)
- Essence Shine Last & Go // Take me to Heaven (baby blue)
- H&M // Monoi (citrus green)
- Nicole Diary // Black Knight (black), Born Perfect (white)
- Avon Mark. // Gel Shine Top Coat

- Nicole Diary // L10 Plate

Serene Forest // Pink & Green Woodland Scene

I just received some new Born Pretty & Harunouta plates off eBay and one of the ones I chose was this woodland scene plate which has an assortment of forest trees and little creatures on it. Originally, I only started off with the pink to green gradient and was fully intent on using some rose gold geometric prints on top but something stirred in my imagination and persuaded me to go ahead and create a misty woodland scene.

I'm super happy with how this looks, the forest looks calm and peaceful with the light green (Lake) almost giving off this mist quality as the shade between the pink and bright green. 

How I did it:-

I started off with one coat of Cheeky and then sponged on a couple layers of Cheeky, Lake & Ness. After a layer of top coat, I then used Stone and the BP-L011 plate to create the trees and deer. Stone isn't the best stamping polish as it breaks up with intricate details, but I like how it wasn't completely opaque for this design. I then added a layer of top coat and then a layer of matte top coat (as the matte one always smears the design).

Polishes/Tools Used:-
- Jessica // Cheeky (pale pink)

- Zoya // Lake (pale mint)

- Zoya // Ness (pastel apple green)
- Nailberry // Stone (grey)

- Revlon // Quick Dry Top Coat
- Revlon // Colorstay Gel Envy Diamond Top Coat
- Barry M // Matte Top Coat

- Born Pretty Stamping Plate // BP-L011