Blue Floral Matte Nails - Feminine Nails - The Lazy 15

So, second post today in the name of catching up on the Lazy 15! Here are my feminine nails...

This is the 3rd or 4th time I've done this mani and every time I've not posted it as I've not been impressed with how the pictures have turned out but I LOVE the effect of these overall - I always get great complements on them...

The base coat is W7 (no name), and the flowers are from these nail foils. They are really easy to use - you just put on the adhesive and wait for around 6-8 minutes then rub the foils over the top. The adhesive can be bought from the same company, but I already have this one from Amazon which works great. 

Word to the wise - Seche Vite doesn't work here. The shrinkage problems mess up the foil underneath. I used a matte top coat from Rimmel for these.

Here are the other lovely people taking part in the challenge:

Blue and Gold Dotty Nails - The Lazy Challenge #3

I love a good chunky ring and for challenge number 3 (dots) I couldn't resist taking some inspiration from this beauty I picked up at the weekend...

The base colour is No7 'Golden Pearl' and I actually used a pearl stone which I polished blue to match the other dots to give it a 3d effect. The blue dots are Collection 'Midnight' and the darker gold dots are Models Own 'Copper Pot'.  

The look is finished off with a top coat of Seche Vite. You can find the ring at New Look here... Overall, I think I'd do a better job of this if I tried again. I should have used black rather than blue, and I'd have done the base differently... 

Purple and Blue Matte Gradient - The Lazy 15 Challenge #2

Here is my post for day 2 of the Lazy 15 challenge, which is a gradient manicure.

I love the colour combination I've used and I think it goes together really well, but I'm not well enough practised at gradients as yet so you can see where there are a few bits of sponge stuck to the nail. I didn't get the best coverage either unfortunately. I finished it off with my Rimmel matte top coat...

I used Sally Hanson 'Model Behaviour' for the blue and Revlon 'Violet' for the purple gradient. So, just a short post today as I need to get my nails done for Wednesdays challenge as I'm out tomorrow night. I'm getting more organised but I'd definitely struggle with a 31 day challenge right now! :)

Blue and Silver Matte Nails

I've left it a few days before posting these nails, my reason being that it' freakishly similar to this post on Chalkboard nails - I was planning on posting it on 25th (as did Chalkboard nails) but I thought I'd hold back a few days.

I achieved the look by painting on 2 coats of Barry M 'Blueberry', followed by using the 'cling film method' to apply some silver over the top. I then finished it off with a coat of Rimmel Pro 'Matte Finish' - I'm loving the effect, it's quite discreet and makes the colour look more of a powder blue.

I finished off with some rhinestones from Ebay which are a very appropriate colour, although I think I might have been better to apply some in a contrasting colour so they stand out more 

Shimmery Blue Swirls

Afternoon all! Today I've done some shimmery blue nails with black swirls....

The base colour I used was Models Own 'Indian Ocean' and I used MUA 'Black' for the stamping... I've got to say that the varnish looked a lot less blue with the stamps, and even less so on camera (look at the colour in the bottle compared the the nails), but it still shows off the shimmery-ness!


The stamping plate is BM-201 and it's topped off with some Sally Hanson 'Hard as Wraps', rather than my Seche Vite as, in all honesty, it's the weekend, I'm supposed to be doing some work for my Masters, therefore, I'll probably take it off and do something else soon (the queen of procrastination as I am).

Butterfly and Flower Nail Art Using Foils…

Today I’ve done some blue foil print nails. They aren’t the nail sticker type foils, they are actual strips of plastic covered with a patter that you can get if you’ve not seem them. Using adhesive you can transfer the design from the pattern onto the nail.

The base coat I used is a recently picked up bottle of Sally Hansen ‘Rose Wine’. I presume this is being discontinued or re-packaged as I managed to get a couple of bottles last week from Pound Land! I really like it – it’s lovely and smooth to apply and dries fast…

The foils used are purchased from ebay. Here is the link to the collection – I used ‘Midnight Blue Foil’. I’ve purchased these from this seller twice now and I’ll happily recommend them (I have no affiliation here at all, and even if I did, I would never recommend anything I wouldn’t purchase again). When you buy the foils it doesn’t look like you get a lot, but I’d imagine you would get 3 manicures (at least) from each design supplied. I also get a good few days wear out of them.

You need to use special nail foil glue to stick them on and it needs leaving for around 6-8 minutes to allow it to get tacky enough. I’ve never tried it but apparently you can’t use Seche Vite over the nail foils as it makes them shrivel up. I did use a Sally Hansen ‘Hard as Wraps’ top coat instead, and then after it had dried I used a coat of Seche Vite to give it the ultra-shiny coat.

I do love the effect from the foils, although sometimes you do get gaps. It’s not completely apparent in the picture, but the sides of some of my nails are a bit too high.

Challenge:Jean Paul Gaultier Nails

Exciting times! I’ve had my first challenge request from Sian who asks:

“I have a new obsession in my life – the new diet coke can from Jean Paul Gaultier with the Breton stripes. Has been an object of fascination to me since I saw it on the shelves last week and have taken to leaving it in situ on my desk at work so myself and others can admire its wonderfulness.

How about a set of nails to give this iconic can double the attention it is getting already when you hold it?”

And here’s the result, Breton stripes and all!

I’m pretty impressed with the result – although I think I could have done a better job at making the space between the stripes more even…

The nail polish I used was Barry M ‘Matt White‘ and I used this striping tape again.

What do you think? If you have any other challenge ideas for me then submit your challenge here…

Blue Peacock Print Nails

This weekend I tried out some blue peacock style nails. They are pretty cute and were actually pretty easy to do:

The nail polishes used were Collection 2000 Hot Looks ‘Blue Hawaii’ for the base and Mua ‘Shade 11′ for the silver stamping. As an aside, I love Mua nail polishes for stamping – they are only £1 from Superdrug and while they are cheap, it’s great not to worry about wastage! For the dots I used No7 ‘Dollar 340′. The pattern is achieved with the Bundle Monster 2011 stamping plates. The plate used was BM-212. I used a dotting tool to create the spots within the print.

Blue Striping Nail Art

I've been absolutely drooling over some of the striping mani’s I've seen on Pintrest recently, so I was dying to try my own!

It’s my first attempt at using striping test and I'm quite happy with the overall result. I could have been a bit neater around the edges, and I didn't do the best clean up job for the photos but I love the effect!

The colours I used were Collection 2000 ‘Button Moon’ and ‘Blue Hawaii’ for the end colours, and Barry M's ‘Blueberry Ice Cream’ (as pictured).

I used striping tape I bought from Amazon which came in at a few quid so a bit of a bargain for 10 colours! Some of the reviews aren’t great, and I do agree that it lifts at the sides a little after wear, however, I think that snipping it a little short and using a generous amount of a good top coat might help in the future… I’m sure I’ll have plenty more striping tape mani’s coming up so keep an eye out!