Mid-week Manicure: MUA with NYC Lights Camera Glitter

Currently watching: Mind the Gap

Good morning girls,

A while ago I cut my nails as they were just getting too long and I was experiencing a few peels.  This was my first manicure with short nails.

This is MUA shade 5, a green polish that I loved so much that I bought a back up.  That was the only time I have ever bought a back up.

If I bought this polish now I definitely wouldn't buy a back up.  I think nowadays I try to buy shades I can get more use out of ie work appropriate.

 I added NYC Lights Camera Glitter to the tips of my nails, a clear polish full of blue, purple and silver glitter.

 What do you think girls?  Do you regularly buy back ups?

Bye for now,

Laura

Mid-week Manicure: Prickly Glitter Stamped

Currently listening to: Fast Car by Kristian Leontiou

Hello dear readers,

Today's manicure was inspired by one I saw on a blog last week but for the life of me I cannot remember whose blog it was on.  If anybody knows, please let me know so I can credit that blogger.

 

 I started with two coats of Barry M Prickly Pear.  I think I've said in the past how much I love this shade.  It always makes me wish I had a lavender jade ring to match.

 My next step was to apply a coat of NYC Lights Camera Glitter.  Initially I had planned to wear a similar Miss Sporty glitter but I only managed to apply it to my thumb before realising it was too thick to wear so unfortunately that is now no longer in my collection.

 I then stamped my nails using Barry M Silver Foil and Bundle Monster plate BM 313.  I'd never used this image before but I really like the effect it creates and absolutely love this manicure.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

Tuesday's Talons: Glitter Feather NOTD

Currently reading: The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler 

Good morning lovely ladies,

Today I have a manicure to show you which I wore at the end of last week and all during the weekend since I absolutely loved it. 

 

My base colour was Essence A Lovely Secret, a beautiful purple shade with a subtle hint of shimmer running through it.

I then stamped a feather on my accent nail using Easy Paris shade 48 and Bundle Monster plate BM15.  Why have I not worn a feather manicure before now, especially considering this plate is from Bundle Monster's first image plate series?!

 On my other nails I applied a coat of NYC Lights Camera Glitter, a clear polish packed full of silver, blue and purple glitter particles.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

2012: New to my Nails

Currently watching: Mary's Bottom Line

 

Hello lovely ladies,

 

As the year draws to an end, I thought it would be fun to recap the new brands of polish I added to my collection in 2012.

 

First up: Color Combos

 

 

Ebay purchases: Saffron London

My one and only Revlon:

Max Factor with the polish that took the blogging world by storm, Fantasy Fire:

As much as I wanted Revlon Whimsical, it was never released in the UK.  Luckily for me I found a dupe courtesy of the Korean brand Tony Moly:

 



Courtesy of a friend, I tried Models Own and NYC.  I now have quite a collection of Models Own polishes :-)



 

Treating myself to purple holos from a-England and Catrice:







Marks & Spencer's nail polish range caught my eye:



 

And finally, courtesy of Santa, Butter London:

 

There you have it girls, those were all the brands that were new to my nails this year.  Did you try any of them for the first time too?  What brands did you add to your collection this year?

 

Bye for now,

Laura

Sunday's Stamping: Bluetiful Tribute NOTD

Currently watching: Game of Thrones

 Hi girls!

I've been away on business trips for the last three weeks so all the posts you've been reading were scheduled.  To tell you the truth, before today I hadn't had the chance to paint my nails for a week!  I'm sure you can imagine how much I missed my nail polish and how happy I am to be back home :-)

 

 

For today's manicure, I decided to copy a design I'd seen on Canadian Nail Fanatic's blog back in July.  I don't own the polishes that she used for her manicure but I was lucky to find similar shades in my collection.

 I started with two coats of Essence Absolutely Blue.  Models Own Beth's Blue has been on my wishlist for ages but I haven't been able to find it anywhere so I decided to buy this Essence polish last month as I thought it was a good substitute for Beth's Blue.  Whether it really is, I don't know, but I'm happy with it.

 I then sponged Essence I'm Bluetiful on my tips before sponging on NYC Lights Camera Action to add some extra sparkle.

 Finally, I stamped my tips using Konad plate m36 and Konad special polish in white.  This was actually the first image plate I got, and I never really knew how to use this image.  I love that Canadian Nail Fanatic has given me a new way to incorporate this image into my manicures :-)

What do you think girls?  Do you have any images you're not sure how to use?

Bye for now,

Laura

Friday's Fingers: Glitting Teal NOTD

Currently listening to: Incredible by Darius

Good morning girls!

Yesterday I received some mixed reviews about Barry M Teal so today I'm going to show you how I modified it and see what reaction that provokes :-)

For my birthday I was given NYC Lights-Camera-Glitter so I decided to layer it over Teal:

 

 Now, before I was given Lights-Camera-Glitter, I actually thought I had a Miss Sporty dupe of it.  How wrong I was.  Both polishes contain flecks of silver, turquoise and purple glitter but Lights-Camera-Glitter has much bigger chunks of turquoise and purple glitter than Miss Sporty.  The difference is really quite striking (if anyone would like me to do a comparison post, let me know).

 When I took these photos I didn't have access to my usual photo-taking spot so you're seeing my nails in a new light today ;-)

 I told you I wasn't too sure if I liked Teal on its own but I liked it a lot more with the added layer of glitter.  Glitter always makes things better.

To finish, I mattified this manicure using Rimmel Matte Finish topcoat.  I love mattified glitter, it's one of my favourite looks.

What do you think girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

PS Don 't forget to enter my giveaway, it ends on Sunday!

Nail Mail and Haul!

Currently watching: Have I Got News For You

Hi girls!

In my previous post I told you it was my birthday and someone left me a comment saying they hoped I'd get some nice nail mail.  Well, I did.  My friend gave me Models Own Purple Blue, NYC Lights-Camera-Glitter and Barry M Indigo.  I haven't tried Models Own or NYC before so I'm happy to add these two brands to my collection :-)

 

Then when I was in town yesterday I went into Superdrug, who currently have a 3 for 2 offer on across cosmetic brands so I picked up these four Barry M polishes, Denim, Bright Purple, Teal and Fuchsia:

I also bought NYC Grand Central Station Quick Dry topcoat and Posh Polish Beauty UK Topaz.  I've heard good things about this NYC quick dry polish and at under 1/3 of the price of my regular China Glaze quick dry top coat, I thought it was worth trying.

What do you think of my new polishes girls?

Bye for now,

Laura

PS Don't forget to enter my second year blogiversary giveaway!