Barry M Raspberry with glitter

A quick mid week mani for you.....Barry M Raspberry topped with an unnamed glitter by Claire's Accessories. Sparkly:) 

I find this mani oddly patriotic, maybe it's the red and blue?:) 

Have a great Friday guys x x x

Clouds!

Some nail art for you today guys:) I totally nicked this idea from Jane at nailside, so no kudos for originality, but I do love this manicure, particularly the colour scheme.

Btw, you'll notice by the length of my nails that this is a few weeks old - I actually hated having them this long, they get in the way! I don't know how some of you other blogging lovelies do it:)

The blue is an un-named mini Accessorize polish that I got in a gift set a while ago, while the beige is the wonderful Lychee by Barry M. 

Meanwhile, the silver is one the many drug-store polishes I bought whilst in Argentina over the summer - it's surprisingly good considering it cost me less than 50p! Great coverage, this is one coat only. 

An easy manicure, I urge you to visit the nailside to follow the tutorial if you fancy giving it a go:)

Topshop Adrenaline swatch

Hey hey, hope you've all had a lovely weekend? I've been in the North, visiting my brother and his wife, and had a great time! Drinking Guinness, watching the rugby, long walks with their crazy buy lovable dog, chilling etc - brill!

So the beauty I have for you today is Topshop Adrenaline, a pink/holographic glitter. It's sublime! My lovely friend Katrina got this for me and I love it:) And her:)

Swoon!

This is 2 coats over a coat of Nails Inc Elizabeth Street. The glitter goes on smoothly, dries quickly and is by far the best Topshop polish I own:) Thanks Katrina x x x

Red glitter gradient

So, I seem to be a bit fixed on red at the moment; this has been my weekend manicure, and I've LOVED it! I've been trying to use an unused glitter from Claire's for ages but just couldn't think what to do with it......then inspirations struck!

I don't know the name of the Claire's glitter, but it's  red glitter hexes in a clear polish.

 I layered Barry M Red Glitter over Models Own In the Navy, then added the large red glitter.

Love this....I really must do more glitter gradients!

Red Chevrons - Barry M Blood Orange and Nails Inc Luminous Red

Searching through my nail pictures last night, while fiancee watched a truly dreadful movie, I came across this; some chevron nail art that I remember loving, yet somehow totally forgot to post. Doh!

So, here we are; red chevron nail art in red. 

I used the Nails Inc polish that I got as part of my free haul a while ago; as you can see from the pictures, it's called Luminous Red. I can't say it's my favourite colour; to be honest, it looks like tomato soup. It's far too orangey-red for my liking.

So, to improve it, I painted a layer of Barry M Blood Orange over, marking out the triangle using some striping tape. To finish it off, I added a triangle of the awesome Red Glitter by Barry M. 

Triangle-tastic!

I think next time I try something like this, I'll start with the Blood Orange - it's such a stunning colour.

Barry M Crystal Glaze

Oh Barry - you're a star!

This is the lovely Crystal Glaze; flakes of iridescent loveliness in a pale pink polish. Nommy:) 

I've swatched it here over a darker colour, to make the flakes show up clearly - the base is Models Own In The Navy. This is two coats of Crystal Glaze; it covers really evenly but the drying time is slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow.

Swit swoo!

 Oooooh, I foresee some Christmassy nail art with this......................:) 

Bourjois It's Raining Stars and Models Own Utopia

I loved Bourjois It's Raining Stars so much I had to use it again, this time as an accent nail with Models Own Utopia. I combined some silver studs to bring it all together. Cute:)

Happiness is a sparkly accent nail:)

     

Bourjois It's Raining Stars and Bleu Fabuleux swatch

Bah - Tuesday! 

Anyhoo, I've been keeping on eye on Bourjois for a while now as they've been trying  to keep up with some of the most recent nail trends. They've nailed some lovely colours and even tried bar glitter, but the polishes that have really stolen my heart are It's Raining Stars, a silver glitter polish, and Bleu Fabuleux, an amazing royal blue.

Sooooooo pretty. The blue applies like a dream, although the drying time isn't the quickest. This is three thin coats, and it lasted for days with no chipping:) 

The silver...............drool. This is three coats as well, perfectly opaque, dries quickly.....bliss. It's teeny pieces of glitter mixed in with some larger pieces which gives it a bit more depth. 

Ah Bourjois, you are spoiling us.

Flutter by butterfly!

Ahhhh, holidays - they're the best!

I've been on my holibobs this week and it's been great! I've caught up with friends, made cakes (photos below), snuggled my kitwits and generally rested. Bliss. 

My relaxed state has also led to me getting back in the mood for some nail art, which led to this creation. I've been wanting to try it for ages and finally had the time and inclination; they're not perfect, but I'm pretty chuffed with them. 

Sadly, my impatience got the better of me, and as you can see, I applied topcoat before they had properly dried! Fail!

The base colour is the gorgeous Pink Fever by Models Own, a pearlescent pink with a stunning blue shimmer. Lush. The art was done using my Models Own nail art pens. 

Randomly, whilst perusing Bloglovin this morning, I noticed that the lovely Laura at She Who Does Nails had also posted a stunning  Monarch butterfly manicure - check it out!

Oh, btw, the cakes I mentioned?

Mocha cupcakes, made using my Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. Nommy!

Barry M Special Edition (Boots) swatch - pic heavy!

Ahhhhh Barry M - you're too good to us; more special editions, whoop whoop! 

I've noticed a lot of companies are doing bar glitters now, so I've been keen to try these for a while. This is the Boots version, a lovely mix of gold and pale pink glitter bars in a clear base. I popped it over two different bases, one pale and one darker.

The first swatch is over Mod About You by O.P.I. It's a lovely pale pink, which I think works as a subtle base for the glitter.

 Yeah, I like this. 

But I LOVE this..................

Ohhhhhhhh this is so much better over dark colours - it makes the gold pop and lets that pink stand out as well:) This is Barry M Blackberry, a colour I've fallen back in love with; perfect for autumn days. This manicure is so lovely that fiancee commented on them without even being asked! Unprecedented! 

As for the glitter? Well, it's a total pain in the ahem, but it is bar glitter, so we already knew that. It needs some serious spreading as it has a tendency to clump together, but a bit of gentle spreading solves that. And it's worth it.