Swirly Thing Alert

Yeah, good name, right? (There is a prize for anyone who gets the reference*)

Anywho, I decided to do something simple, but that looked intrcate.

 Also a test of the Bourjois So Lacque nail varnishes.

I liked the Bourjois polish. I find pale colours usually streak without many thousands of coats, but this only took 2. It was also very shiny pre-topcoat.

Products used: Pale pink - Bourjois (Rose Lounge)

                       Black - Barry M

*The prize is an imaginary cupcake.

It's basically heaven

 So last year (yes, blogging fail) I entered and won a competition. And I thought I'd share what I won.

The competition was a collaboration of Avon & Marie Claire, and was a nail art contest (shock all round).

Needless to say I was pretty happy with this. The products I got were:
Gel strength base coat
French manicure set
Swift Sherbet Speed Dry polish
Sahara Sunrise nailwear pro+ polish*
Suddenly Sunny Speed Dry polish
ASAP Pink Speed Dry polish
Cherry Jubilee nailwear pro+ polish*
(Dark Purple) nailwear pro+ polish*
Fast Time Teal Speed Dry polish
All Khakied Out nailwear pro+ polish
Nail wraps in Inner Animal, Hot Pink Bling, Mosaic Flowers and True Zebra
Nail Art Tool

This calls for a new nail look!

This was my first go with nail wraps, so I'm not sure it's the smoothest application ever.

Products used: Teal - Avon (Fast Time Teal)

                       Nail wrap - Avon (Mosaic Flowers)
* I can't be sure about the colours here as there are no names on the bottles.

Semi Magnetic Nails

So here is another design using my Christmas presents. It's a little strange, I grant you, but I kinda like it.

It's super simple, I used Frogtape to mask the lines because we happen to have some, but anything like masking tape will do the trick.

 Products used: Purple - M.A.C. (Pureblood)
                        Gunmetal magnetic - Primark

Super Glitter Nails!

I got some new goodies for Christmas and this is the first of my experiments with presents.

It's basically what my cousin calls "close together sparkles" with some striping tape, so really easy to create.

 Products used: Barry M (Red Glitter)

Sparkly, Purple, Gradient Nails

This is very much the Ronseal of nail designs. It was also an excuse to bust out a few of my hoard of purples. The flash has made it look stripier than it did in real life, but you get the gist.

I used the sponge method to get the gradient effect for the purple colours and the just added glitter to the top half of my nails.

Products used: Shimmery, pinky purple - Avon (Decadence)

                       Dark purple - Avon

                       Purple with gold glitter - Avon

                       Gold glitter - Nails Inc.

Art Deco Nails

So I did a dance show just before Christmas and the colour theme for our tap routine was black and gold. What better excuse for a nail design?

I tried to keep it quite simple so that I could fix it if I chipped them at work. The result is a bit art deco-y and I quite like it. All fingers other than the ring finger are matte finish.

Products used: Gold - Avon (Golden Vision)

                       Black - 17

                       Gold Glitter - Nails Inc.

                       Matte Top Coat - 17

Simple, Girly Nails

So I started a new job and decided I should do a fairly toned-down nail look. This is my idea of subtle nails.

They're very simple to do, though if you have trouble creating the french tip you can use a guide.

Hope you like them.

Products used: Pink - Avon (Pastel Pink)

                       Gold - Avon (Golden Vision)

Summer Flower Nail Design

Just a quick and fairly simple design today. When summer decided it was over rather quicker than I'd hoped, I decided a bright coral was called for.

As you can see, flowers are not my speciality, but I like the colour combo.

Products used: Coral - 17

                       Gold - Andrea Fullerton Stripe & Sparkle (India)

                       White - Barry M (Matt White)

                       Black - Rio Professional Nail Art

Olympic Themed Nail Art

Yay, Olympics! I am completely addicted. So much so that I'm almost not bored of hearing Chariots of Fire.

 I was particularly proud of Pride (the lion), so here's a close up.

 And this is my other hand. There is a yellow ring there, the flash managed to wash it out entirely.

So those are my Olympic nails. Are you watching and supporting your team?

Products used: Blue - Barry M

                       White - Barry M (Matt White)

                       Red - Rio Professional Nail Art Pen

                       Purple - Rio Professional Nail Art Pen

                       Green - Rio Professional Nail Art Pen

                       Black - Rio Professional Nail Art Pen

                       Gold - Andrea Fullerton Stripe & Sparkle (India)

Space themed nails

So I wanted to do a 2 texture nail design, and I decided on a matte black with a shiny, glittery french tip. But being useless at being grown up, I added a googly eyed monster.

 One monster has better depth perception that then other...

 So that's the result, hope you like.

Products used: Black - Collection 2000 (Liquorice)
                       Silver Glitter  - Barry M
                       Lime Green - Collection 2000 (Spangles)
                       White - Barry M (Matt White)
                       Red - Rio Professional Nail Art Polish
                       Matte Top Coat - 17