My Christmas mani - a sparkly skittle!

Merry Christmas Eve peeps - are you all prepared for tomorrow? I'm wrapped, packed and full of chocolate roses, so as ready as I can be:)

I've ummed and ahhhhed over my Christmas manicure for a while now. I'm off visiting family for 5 days, so it had to be something that would last and that would fit in with most of my outfits. It had to include glitter (because duh, it's Christmas!). And it has to be nail art, because I need to practice.

Tadah!

These were heavily inspired by the amazing work of the The Nailasaurus, so I can't claim originality, but I'm pleased with how my skittle turned out. I also love the Skandi colours, so very fashionable right now (because, I'm like, all about fashion lol - as I type this, I'm in my pjs with walking socks on to keep my tootsies warm and a scarf wrapped around me). 

I think my favourite is the heart; I have to confess, after messing it up several times, eventually I painted the heart of to a plastic poly-pocket and then peeled it off and stuck it on my nail.

 Legen- OMG my nails look hot - dary! 

These are the polishes that contributed to this mani; from the top, clockwise- Claire's unnamed glitter, Gold Giles Green, Models Own Nail art Pen in White, Barry M Matt White, Barry M Blood Orange, Sinful Colours Rich in Heart, Barry M Red Glitter. 

Have an amazing Christmas peeps - I hope you have a wonderful time with your friends and family and that Santa brings you all the nail polish you could ever wish for. x x x x x

Cath Kidson nails

So today hasn't been the greatest; more cat related drama I'm afraid!

I woke up to see that poor Smokey had what looked like a large swelling on his neck. Lovely bf took him to the vet and it turned out he had a nasty abscess - rubbish! So he had to have a mini operation to drain it (eeeeeeew) and is now a very groggy kitty. He's home (yay!) but looks very odd - a big patch of fur was shaved off and he's got a big grumpy face on! But still, he's home and on the mend, phew:) 

On the plus side, I was rocking probably the best nails ever, which cheered me up a tad whenever I looked at them - Cath Kidson-esque rose nails!

Please excuse the dreadful clean up, I totally missed a huge patch!

 I used my newest polish, Shade 15 by 2True, a stunning baby blue, and a random mini Accessorize pink to compliment it. The roses were made using a blob of Barry M White and Models Own Pink Blush, mixed together with a cocktail stick. The stripes and dots were made with my Models Own nail art pen. 

I'm off to snuggle Smokey lol:)

 

Grey and purple stripy-ness!

Ahhhhh, I love it when a plan comes together! I decided to simply pick two of my favourite polishes and go where the mood took me; this is the result:) 

The above are my current favourite polishes; Rimmel Grey Matter and Accessorize Electric Purple. Both give a dense, full colour, ideal for this manicure. I painted the stripes over with my fantabulous Models Own nail pen.

Happiness is a stripy manicure:)

Pink and gold mash up:)

Hi peeps, hope you've had a relaxing Sunday? I've been watching the rugby and eating roast beef - lovely:)

I hit Superdrug yesterday in search of a few more 2True colours; they're ridiculously cheap, £1.99 each, or 3 for £4.99:) Can't complain at those prices!

So one of the colours in my haul was the elegantly named Shade 21, a very hot pink with a slightly bluish shine in the right light. The application wasn't fab, it definitely needs a fast drying top coat, but the colour is gorgeous. As I'm not the biggest pink fan, this is high praise indeed from me:)

I have to admit that this manicure was not my own idea; it was based on a mani I found on Pinterest, and is also on Beautylish.com. I didn't have the patience to do zig zags on the accent nail, so went for stripes instead:) 

Excuse the smudge stripes - I didn't wait long enough before applying topcoat:( Fail!

More 2True swatches to follow peeps, have a brilliant week whatever you get up to, toodle pip!

My 100th post - this calls for a glittery mash up!

Howdy peeps! I hope you're all having a nice, chilled Sunday? I'm a tiddly bit hungover after going out for a very fancy meal, complete with posh cocktails, with bf:) It was awesome - I had a cocktail called a Monkey Nut, banana liquer, rum and peanut butter - bliss!

Anyhoo - the big news is that this is my 100th post! I can't believe it, it seems like only yesterday I started obsessively following nail blogs, buying absurd amounts of polish and painting my nails like a crazy woman:) Thank you to all of you lovely followers who have looked, liked and inspired me with your own amazing work - it's made this so much fun.

As a celebration I decided that I need to use some of my favourite designs, in my favourite colours, with some of my favourite polishes. So here we are; a black and gold mash up, with extra glitter!

Barry M Black and Gold Glitter - both brilliant after two coats (The glitter is over a coat of gold polish)

Barry M Gold Mine. Where is this in the mani you ask? Well, it's on my thumb, but could not get a good enough photo of it, so it didn't make the cut:) 

                                       

Models Own Gold Rush and Barry M Yellow Topaz Glitter - two of my favourite polishes ever:) 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, it's so sparkly:) I managed to include a glitter gradient, tape mani, half moons, and even more glitter - so pleased:) Hope you all have a good week ahead peeps, toodle pip! 

Stripes and half moons - NYE mash up

Firstly, happy new year peeps! It's 2013, whoop whoop.

Secondly, arggggggggggggggggh - I'm hanging. Actually hanging. I've tried all my usual hangover cures (cold shower, Coca Cola, cheesy covered potato waffles, sleep) but still feel wretched. Ah well, it was a good night. An afternoon of quaffing champagne (yah, that's how I roll baby!) and then a meal with friends, followed by the pub and then a random appearance at a house party. A lot of partying rolled into one night:)

Anyway, I had my difficult to match dress on last night; a gorgeous cream with black lace number, somehow a total pain in the ahem to pair with a polish. In the end I went for a nude and black mish mash. I have to admit I wasn't happy with this manicure over all, although I do love the thumb. In my mind it was....different. Can't explain it, but this wasn't my intended outcome. However, there was partying to do and so no time to change it.

I used my beloved Nude Beige by Models Own and Black by Barry M. The middle finger is Black Multi Glitter, also by Barry M. 

I'm definitely going to do the half moons again, I loved them! 

P.s. I mentioned the other day I was cheering myself up by cooking; these are the outcome. Pork and prawn wontons - nommy nommy.

Right, I'm off to slob on the sofa. Enjoy your first day of 2013 people, I hope this year brings you joy and happiness.

Cake, polish, sushi - epic weekend!

Hi de hi peeps, I hope you've had a lovely weekend, I certainly have:) I think this Saturday was one of the best I've had for ages. And it went a little something like this....

I spent yesterday mooching, something I rarely get to do. After a bit of Saturday Morning Kitchen and coffee (the reasons I wake up on a Saturday!) I decided to try out a manicure I've had at the back of my mind for ages. I've been wanting to use my Barry M Red Glitter again for ages (it's such a gorgeous polish, one of the first I bought when my obsession with polish started). However, I fancied something quite subtle. I ummed and ahhhed for ages, and then came up with this design. I love it! 

It took a while, simply because it took so long to place the striping tape, and it ate topcoat like you can't believe (you can see how it's still pretty bumpy if you look closely) but I really luuurve this manicure. If I'm honest, this was a prototype Christmas manicure, I'll definitely be rocking this again in December (I love Christmas, I'm already looking forward to it!). I love it so much I'm still wearing it, and will be for the next couple of days.

Anyway, after that, bf and I wandered into Birmingham City Centre. Which is where I accidently fell off the polish wagon......in a big way!

Hello Kitty Respect, MO Northern Lights, Southern Lights, Boogie Nights, Barry M Ruby Glitter.

N.b Please excuse the rubbish photo, there is now no natural light, so I'm trying to find places in my house that are light enough. I failed here, but had to give up as I had to nip out. then I gave up. So, actually short version - sorry the pics are rubbish, I'm lazy!

The Hello Kitty polish was in Superdrug. I only nipped in for shampoo, but when this caught my eye.....tbh, I'm proud that I only bought one HK polish, I love HK and could happily have bought the whole collection! I then nipped into Boots (honestly, I was just looking for conditioner) and found the MO and Barry M lovelies. I couldn't help it, they're glitter - I have no will power when it comes to glitter:(  

So after totally breaking my vow to not buy polishes, bf and I then headed to my favourite restaurant, a sushi bar with a conveyor belt. I love how the food slowly passes by you so that you can decide what you want at your own pace. Although I hate it when I miss out on something I want and have to sit there, waiting for it to come back around lol! Thankfully, my cat like reflexes (lol) worked and I gorged myself on delicious bits and bobs.

And after I'd eaten a belly full of sushi and waddled away from the conveyor belt, my day continued to be brilliant; when I nipped into the shops on the way back for yummy Saturday night wine, what did I find......why, Glamour magazine were giving away Nails Inc polishes! Amazeballs!

Today has been a little bit lazier, but still pretty lovely. Bf made banana loaf (the photo above shows what is left now, let's just say it was dam good!) It inspired me to get baking as well. Every year I make Christmas cake for my family, this year I'm making some for friends and bf's family too, so I decided to start early! Below is the beginning of 5 epic cakes - fruit and glace cherries soaking in orange juice and whisky....it's gonna be flipping brill!

Have a good week peeps! I'll be posting some very glittery swatches as soon as I can take off my red stripes:)