Nail Art - Sunshine Yellow Gradient

I've recently bought a few yellow polishes. Before purchasing them I thought that yellow wasn't for me but after giving them a go I have changed my mind. Such a happy, warm colour.

Today I've created a yellow gradient by using Essence - Wanna Be Your Sunshine as a base. Then I sponged Rimmel - Lemon Drop about halfway up the nail and then China Glaze - Snow on the tips. Top coat with Cult Nails - Wicked Fast.

I really like the way this turned out.

What do you think?

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Nail Art - Green and Copper Striping tape

I'm trying to branch out a little with my nail art. I figure that if I don't practice and try new things I'll never get any better. So today I've tried a manicure with striping tape. I bought a bunch of different colours on EBay recently and this seemed like a great opportunity to try them out.

This is what I did:

Apply base coat and colour. Base - Nail Tek II. Colour - Essence Viva La Green.
Allow to thoroughly dry.
Apply tape ( I use low tack decorators tape ) then apply contrasting colour. Tip colour - Ulta3 Antique Copper.  Carefully peel off tape before contrast colour dries.
Allow to thoroughly dry.
Apply striping tape in desired pattern, pressing down firmly. Use scissors to trim tape to size.
Top coat - Out the Door.

I like how this turned out. I'll definitely use striping tape again.

What do you think?

Please feel free to comment or follow me. I'd love to hear from other lacquered lunatics.

Essie - Shine of the Times, Essence - Sweet As Candy

Shine Of The Times is quite a versatile polish. It looks fabulous over black (google it if you haven't seen it already) but looks equally gorgeous over lighter colours or nudes. It's effect is very striking over black, but is much more subtle over sheer pink. I think this subtleness makes it more wearable as a day to day shade. I've only worn Shine Of The Times a few times over black but I've worn it many times over Essence - Sweet As Candy, a sheer, pale pink.

Sweet As Candy is a great shade for giving a naked look while covering the unattractive yellowing that comes with being a nail polish addict. VNL is obvious. Layering Essie - Shine Of The Times over the top makes a natural (read boring) polish into something more special.

A green/gold/orange shifting flakie in a clear lacquer, SOTT adds interest to this manicure without being overpowering.

I love it. What do you think?

Nail Art - Newsprint Nails

Newsprint nails. So simple. Even nail art noobs like me can do it!

First, assemble your supplies:
Base colour (I used Essence - Got A Secret)
Top coat
Shot glass
Alcohol (I used medical grade methylated spirits, but rubbing alcohol or vodka also apparently work well)
Newspaper, cut into bits big enough to cover your nail.


Apply base colour and allow to dry thoroughly.

Dip nail in shot glass half filled with alcohol for 10 seconds or so.

While nail is still wet press newspaper, print side down onto nail. Press firmly, so that the ink transfers well to nail.

Peel newspaper off carefully.

When dry gently apply topcoat.

Clean up.

Admire nails.

Additional step:
Post about it on your blog/Facebook/twitter etc. Or comment here. I'd love to know if anyone gives it a go (or actually reads my posts).

Nail Art - Dotty Gradient

I was inspired to do this manicure by the blog Pretty Purple Polish. The dotty manicure there was so pretty, I had to try something similar.

I used a base coat of China Glaze - Snow and topped it with dots in a sort of gradient. I used (in order of light to dark) OPI - Red Light District, Essence - Fateful Desire and China Glaze - Smoke and Ashes. I used 3 sizes of dotting tool from my new MASH set.

When I put the topcoat on I unfortunately got a little bit of streaking.

I love it!

Essie - Nice is Nice and Essence - Edward

I bought the Essence Nail Twins set - Bella and Edward from eBay some time ago, mainly because I wanted Bella, a teal cream. Edward however, has been the star of the show. A clear base holding teal green square and round glitter, plus some silver holo glitter. I'm not a huge fan of him matched with Bella, but with more contrasting colours he's a winner.

Nice is Nice is a pale, cool lavender creme.

Here I'm wearing 3 coats of Essie - Nice is Nice with one coat of Essence - Edward and one coat of Seche Vite.

I love how the topcoat makes the glitter particles look suspended, trapped within its smooth finish.

Essie - Nice is Nice, Essence - Edward