Wednesday 31 July 2013

Challenge 21 - Inspired by the Supernatural!

Hey!


Again, another quick-ish mani. I really need to find somewhere with some decent light though. The photos do not do this any justice at all. Sad face.









ALIENSSSS!

Dun, dun, dunnnnnnnnnnn!

Bit messy & shiz, but I will catch up!

Tuesday 30 July 2013

Challenge 20 - Inspired by a book.

Evening!

This challenge was inspired by a book. I love reading, but didn't want to do anything so simple like Harry Potter. In fact, I was totally uninspired by this challenge.

I ended up looking at my bookcase, & seeing if anything caught my eye. I wish that something had been one of those books you own purely so house guests will see it & automatically think you are well cultured & bordering on genius. Instead, sorry, chic lit it was.

I do actually love this book quite a bit. Sometimes a girl just needs a good trashy book to escape from the world for a bit.

This is definitely not one of my better manicures. I really want to make sure I do every challenge, & catch up so I can be back on target of doing them weekly & being able to do whatever I fancy in between. This was a ten minute jobby type thing.

(As you can see, my boyfriend does not appreciate good literature & uses my girly books as a place to put his tea!)






Yes, not too great, but as I said, really quick mani! I'm getting there!

Challenge 19 - Rainbow Nails! (Guest post)

I'm on a roll! 

Rainbow nails! These were done by my beautiful friend, Quinlan, Who, as you will see, is awesome. I shall pass you over to her!

AHOY MATEYS.  I'm taking over this here blog for the week!  I was actually invited to do so by Kayleigh herself, so I suppose this makes me a pretty bad pirate.  My name is Quinlan, you can call me Quin, or Q, or whatever you like as long as it's nice.  I'm from South Carolina, which makes me an American *flags and guns and eagles HUZZAH!*

I was very honored to be asked to do a guest blog, as nail art is not exactly my forte (as you will soon see).  I just don't paint my nails often enough to master nail art.  I didn't use any kind of acrylic nails, which is why they are so uneven.  This week's theme is "rainbow" I used a stippling technique to layer the colors and make a "confetti" effect.  I randomly alternated colors on my left hand until all my nails were covered.  On my right hand, I followed more of the standard ROYGBIV rainbow order, just in monochromatic stippling on each fingernail.  I had a lot of pink polish so I kind of threw that in there on my thumb.

Nail polishes used:  WAY too many to name.  See the photo provided!













I hope you enjoyed my attempt at nail art.  Now go get you some BOOTY, ARGHHHHH!

x,

Q

Challenge 18 - Water Marble.

HI!

I promised I'd be back sooner, but bleurgh.

Still, I think I'm getting back to my old self.

This challenge is Water Marble. Not going to lie, I HATE WATER MARBLE!!! When I first got into nail art, it was this technique that made me fall in love. I spent so long trying to perfect it,  I was so proud the first time I managed it.

I then completely overdid it. Again, & again, & again. Doing anything too many times will turn love into hate. I last did Marble back on Valentines Day, so it has been a while, & it took me more time than I'm proud to admit to.







They're not as good as I would have wanted, but I did get fed up with them. The light was also TERRIBLE!

However, guys, those are my REAL nails! Oh, yes! I've had extensions & fakes for so long, as my nails have always been weak, & nothing worked to strengthen or harden them. Then in Sainburys they had a nail hardener on sale, so thought, why the hell not, it was only a couple of quid, & I had that in change.


I've only been using it for a couple of weeks, & it's AMAZING! I keep thinking I have false nails on as they're so hard & long! I haven't tried filing them into shape yet, hence why they're no so pretty. I've never been able to file my nails as they'd just split, so I'm going to wait a couple more weeks before attempting that!

The next challenge is Rainbow! I have a friend who has done a mani for the challenge. It's pretty!

Last, but not least:

JOHN HAS NEW KITTENS!

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Challenge 17 - Flower Nails (GUEST POST!)

Hi guys!

Today I have a special gift for you. A friend of mine is freaking amazing at Nail art, so I wanted you all to be able to experience the awesomeness that is Nicoya. She doesn't have a blog yet, but hopefully soon! I am also ridiculously jealous of her polish collection!

Love you, Kay! x

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Hi! First off, I'd like to thank Kayleigh for asking me to guest post on her blog, I'm truly honored!
I 'know' Kayleigh through a Livestream Kitten Cam.  I knew she was awesome when I discovered not only is she a cat fiend, but a nail art fiend as well!
A little about myself - My name is Nicoya.  I was born and raised in Santa Cruz California, a beach town that I feel is one of the best places on Earth ;)  I just turned 25 this past June, and have been living with my boyfriend of 5 years in the mountains of Santa Cruz.  I discovered nail art around Halloween 2012 and have been hooked ever since.  To be honest, I had no clue nail art was such a thing, but I have been religiously painting my nails for the last five years.
I decided to share one of my favorite designs that was inspired by a top of mine.  Vintage/floral/roses/wallpaper etc...  


 
Products used - 







OPI Nail Envy base coat and Seche Vite top coat 

OPI Light My Sapphire (shimmery dark grey, bluish, purple) I felt was the best color I had to portray the color of my top. Two Coats.
OPI Alpine Snow I used for the Polka dots with my largest Bundle Monster dotting tool.  Since then, I've discovered a better way to place the polka dots, and if I ever do this design again, I'd use a smaller dotting tool.

Essie Fiesta (dark pink) I used for the roses painted with the regular brown brush shown in picture.  Essie Off the Shoulder (medium pink) was used to add more depth to each rose using same brown brush and not completely covering Fiesta.  And lastly, Essie Fiji (light pink) I used to make the petals using the striping brush shown.
With floral designs I always save the leaves for last.  Revlon Posh was used for the base color of the leaves painted with the brown brush.  Then to add a little extra to the leaves, I smudged Sinful Colors Pistache on each leaf.  


Well, that wasn't so hard *phew*  I am such a procrastinator, and have yet to make a nail blog, but this was pleasant!  Thanks again Kayleigh, and Kayleigh's followers! <3