40 Great Nail Art Ideas - 3 Shades of Red / Orange and Tie Dye

I really wasn't sure how I was going to tackle this one but then wonderful @dreamymm did a stunning rainbow tie dye mani about a month ago, so basically I just did what she did! Thanks Mary!!
I used Moyou London Kaleidoscope 06 and Barry M Cotton with Above the Curve You Call me …Sexy, Donna and Akiko - 1 red and 2 oranges.
Mary has a great tutorial video for this on her You Tube and her IG, but basically it involves sponging the colours, stamping, sponging again, stamping again and a final sponging. Sounds simple if you say it quickly! I got through a lot of top coat as I top coated between each step being so nervous of smudging!
It looked really messy as I went along but I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

Moyou London Kaleidoscope 06

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

April Challenges - Nautical

I tried another of the new Barry M Coconut Infusion range, this time Aloha, a lovely corally pink. Beautiful polish and a lot more wearable than I was expecting, so pretty.
Nautical for #clairestelle8april - I'd been thinking about not doing red or blue for this and then I saw Iva @secretjewelgarden do purple, so I used the corally pink - I used UberChic UC 2-03 and Barry M Cotton and ... for the very first time... my Clear Jumbo Stamper from Nail Artisan  - for a first go I am really pleased with it. I need some practice but I am encouraged by my first use.
I couldn't quite resist the urge to test the Clear Jumbo Stamper a little bit more with some shadow stamping using 2 true Pro Metallica Aglaia and the same  UberChic image. I probably should have chosen a better contrast but I thought subtle was good in case it was a disaster! One to revisit, I think.

Barry M Coconut Infusion Aloha

 

UberChic UC 2-03 and Barry M Cotton

UberChic UC 2-03 and 2 true Pro Metallica Aglaia

April Challenges - A Smoosh and Dreamcatchers

Catching up with #smooshynailsunday from 2 weeks ago using Nails Inc Atomic, Leighton Denny Brick Road and HJ Manicure Lavender.
I then used this as a base for Dream Catchers for #firedazedchallenge - I used Bundle Monster Festival BM-S301 and Moyou London Black Knight.

#smooshattack

 

Bundle Monster Festival BM-S301 and
 Moyou London Black

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Animals (and a few other manis along the way)

I hadn't actually planned to do the #40greatnailartideas over the green manis but I think it worked out OK.
Well, it is year end - hence the blogging is sparse and the manis are trying to be efficient so here goes.
I started with Barry M Coconut Infusion Bikini - A beautiful wearable green - I am loving these shades and when I have worn them all I will do a summary post.
Then I sponged on Nails Inc Moonlight Shadow, a lovely khaki green, one of the freebies from Marie Claire magazine earlier this year.
Then I used Barry M Black Pistachio and DRK Magic Garden for the Earth Day prompt for #firedazedchallenge.
Then Esmaltes da Kelly Bruce and DRK Magic Garden for the Green prompt for #clairestelle8april. The DRK Magic Garden plate is so beautiful, the images are just lovely and a bit larger than some of the other similar DRK plates which I think makes them so much more usable.
And finally, Barry M Cotton and Bundlemonster BM-S167 for Animals - these are so cute - really loving these Fuzzy and Ferocious little plates!

Barry M Coconut Infusion Bikini

Nails Inc Moonlight Shadow and Barry M Bikini

Barry M Black Pistachio and DRK Magic Garden

Esmaltes da Kelly Bruce and DRK Magic Garden

Barry M Cotton and Bundlemonster BM-S167

An InLinkz Link-up

St George's Day Mani

St George's Day - this seemed like a good idea in my mind!!
I started with a base of A England Cathy, sponged a cross with A England Let Me In and then stamped using A England Saint George and  Camelot with Vivid Lacquer  VL020.
I did glossy and then matte - I think the matte was my favourite and it was easiest to photograph.

St George's Day

 

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Pink and Lilac Tape Mani

OK, so pink and lilac is cool - when I saw tape mani my heart fell :( I really struggle with striping tape but there was no way I could twist this one and stamp instead. So I just worried about it for about a  month or so and then I saw something by lovely @kynsitic that inspired me so much I decided I'd give it a go. (pic included)
I was concerned I wouldn't get sufficient contrast if I used lilac glitter and pale pink polish so I used one of my darkest most vibrant pinks, Jacava Blackberry Fool, a scrummy blue pink.
I used Glam Polish Which Witch? as I thought this one was dense enough to give decent coverage with one coat.
I am in utter shock! it worked, better than I could ever have hoped although I still hate striping tape and will certainly stick to stamping where possible!
I have included pictures of both hands so you can see I really did do all 10 nails!

Jacava Blackberry Fool

 

Pink and Lilac tape mani

 

 

original by @kynsitic

An InLinkz Link-up

April Challenges - Cities

Cities for #clairestelle8april - I decided to do the stained glass window from Coventry Catherdral as Coventry is where I was born and the Cathedrals (old and new) are the things I remember most about the city.
I used Pet'la Stained Glass and Petla Basics, with Colour Alike Kind of Black over a selection of Kandy Colors Jellies.
I think the idea was OK but it ended up a little on the dark side.

Pet'la Stained Glass

Pet'la Stained Glass and Petl'a Basics

 

April Challenges - Barry M Sunkissed and Mehndi / Henna Inspired

On a bit of an impluse I bough the new Barry M Coconut Infusion polishes last week and today I am showing you Sunkissed, a warm toffee nude.
I wasn't too sure about this in the bottle but it is lovely on, really wearable for those days when you shouldn't really be wearing polish. As with a lot of nudes maybe not for everyone's skin tone but I liked it on me. Coverage was great and I wore it for a day before stamping on it. As usual the pictures do struggle with colour accuracy, the sunny shot is probably the best.

Mehndi/Henna Inspired for #firedazedchallenge - I was so far behind with my challenges but I knew exactly what I was going to do -  I used Moyou London Explorer 22 and Above the Curve Friday the 13th over Sunkissed and I was really happy with the outcome - nice simple mani.

Barry M Sunkissed

  

Moyou London Explorer 22 and ATC Friday the 13th

 

April Challenges - A Smoosh and some neon

Well you might notice the posts have slowed down and actually some manis may not even get a blog post. I am trying to keep up but it's just not happening.
You can always follow my blog facebook page, my personal facebook page and my instagram to see what I am up to, just with less words!!! that might be a good thing!
Anyway, this week's smoosh was black, white and hot pink - I used Nails Inc Nottinghill Gate, Barry M White and A England Camelot. Nottinghill Gate didn't turn out that hot, maybe I should have added a second layer but I don't like to mess with smooshes! The end smoosh was quite pretty I think but more subtle than I planned.
Then I stamped with with Bundle Monster BM-S301 and A England Camelot. It was quite tricky to choose what to stamp over black and white - I didn't want to add more colour and I think maybe there are a couple of black patches that don't look so great but overall it was OK.
Then I made it Neon for #clairestelle8april with my Kandy Colors neon jellies - Grape Much?, Hey Girl and Retro. I did it all detailed like lead lighting on my left hand and just blobbed it on messily on the right. I actually preferred the messy version so I added a second more random layer of colour to both.

smoosh!

Bundle Monster BM-S301 and A England Camelot

Kandy Colors neon jellies

More Kandy Colors neon jellies

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - Kids TV

Kids TV for #40greatnailartideas - well this was a toughie - in the end I went with my favourite TV programme when I was little, and even then you have to use your imagination a bit! I always loved this pink stripey cat and it is no coincidence that my daughter is called Emily!
I used Bundle Monster BM-S161 from the Fuzzy and Ferocious set 2 and Moyou London White Knight over Nails Inc Sugarloaf Sunset.
I showed my husband and asked him which children's TV show this was and he got it staright away so hopefully not too abstract!

Nails Inc Sugarloaf Sunset

 

Bundle Monster BM-S161

 

An InLinkz Link-up

April Challenges - Water

Water for #clairestelle8april - I used all the watery polishes and stamps I could find -
Leighton Denny Blue Lagoon, Quirk An Ocean Potion, Kleancolor Metallic Aqua and Bundlemonster + Sloteazzy BM-XL210, HJ Manicure Blue Lagoon and Bundlemonster + Lucy's Stash BM-XL209.

Leighton Denny Blue Lagoon

 

Quirk An Ocean Potion

Kleancolor Metallic Aqua and
Bundlemonster + Sloteazzy BM-XL210

HJ Manicure Blue Lagoon and
Bundlemonster + Lucy's Stash BM-XL209

April Challenges - Royal Blue / Autism Awareness

Jacava Midnight's Secret was my first Jacava polish - I won it in a giveaway hosted by Lucy's Stash and Jacava supporting Autism Awareness in April 2013. I still love it! such a vibrant colour and what better polish to contnue raising awareness of autism. If you follow the link you'll see that 3 years later I am still matching it with the same gloves :)

Royal Blue / Autism Awareness for #firedazedchallenge - I used the puzzle image on Moyou London Princess 14 with 2 True Pro Metallica Athena.

Jacava Midnight's Secret

 

Moyou London Princess 14 and 2 True Pro Metallica Athena