Halloween Nail Art Stamping

Happy Halloween everyone!!! Today I have a completely Halloween dedicated post for you...

I started off with a gradient, with the hope that it would look like a firey sunset (unfortunately it looks a bit summery but hey...) I then did some Halloween stamping over the top.

The colours used in the gradient are Collection 2000 'Big Hair', a boots 17 polish (orange) which I can't find a name on and a Miss Sporty yellow shade which I also can't find the name of (I'm not being very helpful today I'm afraid!) I used MUA black for the stamping.

Overall I like the look but unfortunately it's smudged a bit as you can probably see. Anyway, definitely very festive! Have you done any Halloween manicures?

Orange Glittery Nails

I wanted to do a couple of Halloween nails (well, I actually wanted to do a lot more, but I've really not had chance!) so here is the first. I love anything festive and Halloween is one of my favourites. Unfortunately I don't think my flatmates quite share my enthusiasm for decorations! So, this isn't strictly a Halloween design, but I the the orange is quite fitting....

I used this colour previously in my swatch of Accessorize's speckle nail polish, although you can't really see it under the speckle varnish. It's one of my bargain buys from Xtras and cost around £2. I'd been scouring the shops for a more browny orange colour but I really struggled as everything seems to be brighter at the moment, so I was very impressed with the find!

The glitter is also from Xtras and is Technic 'Bedazzled', you can buy it online here. I think the colours are really seasonal, and remind me of all the fallen leaves at the moment (while the glitter blings it up a little!) What do you think?

As a bonus, here is a picture of my fireplace at the moment - pretty scary!

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).

Red Velvet: Flocking Powder Manicure

I've been meaning to try this for a while, DIY style (as you all probably know, there is a premium kit available, for the not insignificant price of £15.) So, I purchased some flocking powder from Goldleaf Craft Supplies on ebay and away I went...

Firstly, I have to say that I'm impressed with how easy this was to do! It really did take me about 10 minutes from start to finish, and I didn't allow/need much drying time at all.

I used  Revlon Matte Suede in 'Ruby Ribbon' for the base colour. (a Poundland bargain! as I've mentioned in previous posts - hard to apply without streaks, but the colour match was perfect and it didn't matter under the flock.) I applied one coat, let it dry and then applied another and applied the powder while it was still wet - I did one nail at a time to make sure that the polish didn't dry too quickly for the powder to stick.

The verdict: I applied this last night, and I've worn it all day today. After showering and washing my hands many times  it is much more subdued and there are a few bald patches, plus the brightness really faded after I showered, it's now more of a dark maroon shade (I think the flock has lost it's pigmentation). As I couldn't apply my trusty coat of Seche Vite, there is tiny bit of tip wear after just a day as well (but do bear in mind that I'm not careful in the slightest with how I use my hands!) However, most of it is still there and I'm impressed that so much remains! I would definitely wear this again - as long as I wasn't looking for it to last more than 24 hours. 

Accessorize Nail Speckle: Bumble Bee

Today I'm wearing a new polish of mine from Accessorize's new range of speckle polishes.

I always see a lot of speckle polishes on American blogs but there isn't really anything like this on the market in the UK so I was keen to pick one up! The colour is 'Bumble Bee' and it's a lovely autumnal orange colour with speckles of  black - great for Halloween as well!

In these pictures I'm actually wearing it over a base of a clay orange/browny colour from Xtras. (Another bargain shop I love but can only frequent when I visit my mum in North Yorkshire, as they don't have any stores in the south.) The base colour  is a little darker than the Accessorize orange shade, but very similar. I found that when I applied two coats of Bumble Bee it was speckle overload, but I wanted to do 2 coats to make sure it was opaque. To be honest, you could probably get away with one coat of the Accessorize shade.

I used a couple of coats of Seche Vite to finish it off. Overall - I'm impressed - it's quite an impressive effect but not too 'in your face'. I'm keen to try some of the others in the range!

Red and Silver Lace Stamping Nail Art

Sorry I've been away for a while! I've had a crazy week or so... Anyway, here is an update with the mani I wore this weekend... 

I loved this design and unfortunately the pictures really don't do it justice...

The base colour I used was Revlon Matte Suede in 'Ruby Ribbon'. I think this is a discontinued line as I picked it up at Poundland! They had a few nice Revlon colours last time I was in, but that was a couple of weeks ago. Although the colour is lovely and the matte effect is gorgeous the polish was very hard to apply and looked quite uneven, however after a couple of shiny top coats of Seche Vite it wasn't so apparent (although it wasn't matte any more). 

The stamping  plate I used was BM-315 and I used my striping tape from Amazon. Previously I've mentioned that I've found the tape doesn't last long and gets a bit worse for wear after a day, however I think I've cracked it! I used very thick layers of Seche Vite and made sure that it completely covered the tape. I wore these nails for 3 days and the tape was still as good as new.