New Year Nails - Nails Inc St James with Barry M Ruby Glitter

For New Year I decided to go all out and paint my nails red. It's not a colour I have ever worn until I fell in love with China Glaze Ruby pumps just before Christmas.
I thought I would the freebie that came in the November Glamour mag, Nails Inc St James.

This is a lovely red, a tiny bit on the pink side I think with a very subtle shimmer but basically its a creme. It did apply nicely but after 2 coats I could still see a visible nail line and if I had been wearing it on its own I would have used a third coat.

St James on its own is lovely but maybe not quite me, but I had a plan. Having scoured the local area and failed to find the Barry M Ruby Glitter I was delighted to pick one up in Superdrug, Cheltenham. Although it's called Ruby glitter, there seemed to be more black than Ruby in it but I think the effect on red is perfect. In the natural light I can see more of the pink ruby red glitter but mostly it looks like a mix of small and very fine black glitter and dare I say it on a red background, it's a reasonable substitute for Nubar black polka dots! It applied nicely although I did have one finger too densely glittered and another that needed a second coat. Re-did the over glittered one and on the whole I am really happy with the effect. I haven't tried this glitter over another colour yet, I think maybe more ruby would be apparent.

 

I am still wearing this so no idea how easy it will be to remove but after 24 hours it still looks good.

Christmas Nails - Purple Nail Jewellery

I thought I would start my blog with my Christmas nails. In search of inspiration, I asked my son what colour and he replied (rather predictably) "purple". Delighted with his response, I knew this was a perfect opportunity to try out A England Avalon and the purple Nails Inc nail jewellery, Royal Opera Arcade.

Avalon is a stunning purple, went on smoothly and one coat would probably have been sufficient. I used two coats. This picture is taken without a top coat since glitter was going straight on top. Normally I like to have the varnish on for a few days and then add some form of glitter or special effect but time was limited. It's a shame since this is such a beautiful colour and I will certainly be returning to this one very soon.

 The Amethyst nail jewellery, Royal Opera Arcade, was also easy to apply with a good spread of glitter that dried quickly. I fell in love with this the idea of glitter as soon as I knew it existed, before I had even seen it and it did not disappoint. The manicure lasted well, we were away from home for Christmas so I needed something that would look good for a few days and I had this on for 6 days, with only one small chip and minimal tip wear when I removed it. The texture was quite rough so I used two layers of top coat.

Removal was typically frustrating taking about an hour, but I did love the effect so it was worth it.