26 Great Nail Art Ideas - French with a Twist

I really don't like a conventional French mani - they just don't look right on me and I think possibly even worse when my nails are a bit pointy. Anyway, I was quite pleased with how these turned out.
I had done a St Patrick's Day mani for a collaboration, and it occurred to me it might be quite cool to add the French mani to that.
For the St Patrick's Day mani I used Messy Mansion MM04XL with A England Saint George over Smitten Claddagh.
Then, I sponged A England Saint George over my tips. (Sponged because I didn't trust myself to paint neatly and consistently over all nails!)
Then I used used the same plate to stamp clovers with Messy Mansion Misty Jade over the dark tips. I did think this could end up being a real disaster but actually I think it worked out OK.

Messy Mansion MM04XL

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

March Challenges - St Patrick's Day and the Luck of the Irish

A combination post:

St Patrick's inspired for #firedazedchallenge - I went Celtic again although I gather St Patrick banished Celts from Ireland - Messy Mansion Symetrika 03 and A England Saint George over Smitten Claddagh.

The Luck of the Irish for #wnac2016 - I used 4 leaf clovers from Pueen SE03A, stamped with a rainbow selection of Esmaltes da Kelly polishes (Wendy, Tuco, Bee, Chuoisco and Bruce) over the Messy Mansion stamping.

Smitten Claddagh

 

Messy Mansion Symetrika 03 and A England Saint George

Pueen SE03A and EDK polishes

 

September Challenges - Jewel Tone, Dry Marbling and Orchid

Another combination post here combining 3 prompts, 2 for #30daysofcolourchallenge and one for #wnac2015.
The first #30daysofcolourchallenge prompt I did was Jewel Tone and I chose the gorgeous emerald green Claddagh from Smitten Polish. I have a feeling this might have been limited edition. It is just stunning, I really like Smitten polishes and this is no exception, the colour is perfect, the holo is gorgeous, application and coverage were good.
The #wnac2015 prompt was Dry Marbling with Jewel Tones. I used Smitten Claddagh and Kleancolor Metallic Yellow. I still haven't got the hang of this although it did look quite pretty in real life, especially in the sun. I tried doing it just on a bare nail, and also over a coat of polish but neither was very successful. I have since heard that it is worth trying to marble with a small brush rather than a cocktail stick so I might try again...
I'd planned the dry marbling as a base for another mani so when that failed I had to rethink - I used Smitten Claddagh stamped with Emily De Molly EDM16 and Kleancolor Metallic Yellow and then the same image with A England Proserpine - it was gorgeous in the sunshine but you need to see the shady shots to see the stamping a bit better!
The final prompt was Orchid for #30daysofcolourchallenge. I didn't even know orchid was a colour- I had to google it and found it is a purple, or pinky purple, but just to be sure I stamped an orchid-like image from Vivid Lacquer VL014 and used Esmaltes da Kelly Tuco and Chuoisco over my green base.

Smitten Claddagh

Dry marbling with Smitten Claddagh and
Kleancolor Metallic Yellow

Emily de Molly EDM16  with Kleancolor Metallic Yellow
and A England Proserpine

 

 

  

Vivid Lacquer VL014 and
Esmaltes da Kelly Tuco and Chuosico

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

Smitten Polish Claddagh

It is Saint Patrick's Day, so obviously I had to do a green mani. Not that I ever need an excuse to wear green polish, despite a broadening of my polish tastes, blue and green are still firm favourites.
I was given my first Smitten a couple of months ago by a lovely friend and and once I had tried it I headed straight to their facebook page to find out what else was out there! That's where I spotted Claddagh, released in March 2014, the most stunning emerald holographic polish. I knew I had to have it, but postage on one polish from the US was a bit steep. Luckily for me, another lovely friend was about to place an order, and she very kindly added it to her order.
I was over the moon when it arrived, it's every bit as beautiful as I thought it would be but I waited patiently until today to put it on.
It is a stunner! It is quite a runny polish so I did 3 very thin coats, I also noticed it was dragging a little as I tried to even it out so I was very patient and allowed it to dry properly between coats, without going back and touching up in between. End result - perfect holographic emerald.
I really love this, the holo effect is amazing and I just adore that deep velvety finish that you get as you gaze into the depths of the holo!

Smitten Polish Claddagh

 

  

Smitten Polish Claddagh - flash photo