Wednesday 30 September 2015

Crazy Peace Nail Art for Avon

 Hey everyone! I'm not really sure how I feel about these nails, it's one of those designs that just didn't turn out as I pictured in my head. I had to wear these for a week so I had a lot of time to contemplate whether I liked them or not and I still couldn't decide. Weirdly, I did get quite a lot of compliments whilst I was wearing them, but that might just be because they're very bright and a lot more noticeable. I suppose they're not too bad, I'm happy with the design execution but I think they're just a bit garish.

Sunday 27 September 2015

Glitter Geometric Leopard Print for Divine Caroline

Hey everyone! Today I have some glitter geometric leopard print nails to show you, which I created for Divine Caroline. I know leopard print is a design that's been done a million times, but it's also simple and effective and as it's not something I usually incorporate into my designs I wanted to mix it up a little bit. You can read all about the nails here (and also see the tutorial on how to create them)


What do you think? Let me know in the comments!
Alice

Thursday 24 September 2015

Negative Space All The Nails!

Hey everyone! Today's post is another monthly link-up from a Facebook group I'm part of called Paint All The Nails. Each month we do a non-compulsory monthly link-up with a theme we've all voted on. This month's theme is 'negative space', and I'm sure you all know that this was definitely my vote. There's so many designs you can do with negative space and I always love how they look. Funnily enough, I must admit that I completely forgot about this month's link up being today, and on Saturday (which is the only day I paint nails at the moment) it didn't even cross my mind. But, it happened to be that my subconscious clearly remembered, because I had an urge to do negative space nails, and I did. So rather than panic when I remembered I'd forgotten, I had a design waiting for me, and it's actually one of my favourite designs I've done. These nails were based off this post by Sakura Nail&Beauty on Instagram. The design instantly stood out to me, but I must admit I thought it might look better on shorter nails, so I gave it a go and I ended up loving the finished result. If you want to see what the other girls created this month then check out the InLinks below!


Sunday 20 September 2015

Cupcakes for Avon

Hey everyone! I have some simple cupcake nails for you today. It's a design that's been done a thousand times but, like most designs done a thousand times, it always looks effective. It's a cute and quick mani that you can create with very few tools, what's not to like? I created these for Avon and I thought the negative space around the top of my nail would make them stand out a bit more, and I think I was right. It also makes it a lot easier to paint with a negative space background as any mistakes can just be cleaned up with a bit of acetone! 

Thursday 17 September 2015

Barry M Sunset Cotton Bud Stamping

Hey everyone! I have some more nail art using the Barry M Sunset collection for you today. You can see the first lot here, and my review here. I'm sure it's clear by now that I really like doing this cotton bud stamping design. It's just so easy to do and it looks really effective, I might even do some more this weekend. I apologise if you're bored of seeing them but they probably wont be going away anytime soon.

Tuesday 15 September 2015

Peacock Nail Art for Avon + Tutorial

Hey everyone! A while ago I created some peacock feather nails for Avon, but I'm just not happy with how they turned out (even if I thought I was at the time). I must admit I didn't really step out of my comfort zone with them and I made them incredibly simplistic. So when Avon asked me to create some more, I knew it was time to try something new and push my boundaries a bit. Turns out.. they're not that difficult! I just expected them to turn out a disaster but all I did was paint a few flicks, add a bit of glitter, and a stud, and they looked like peacock feathers ... easy peasy. The peacock itself was also relatively straightforward. In fact, if you want a tutorial to create these yourself, or info on colours used, just click after the jump! 


Saturday 12 September 2015

Lilac Stamping

Hey everyone! I have another try from when I decided maybe I could stamp after all to show you today, and then I tried again and realised I couldn't and knocked my confidence once again. These were from the middle point in between the two. I'm sure it will be another two years before I give it a go again (I hope not though), unless a magical stamping fairy comes along and helps me out. Today's nails are just a really simple design that I wanted to try whilst I still had the confidence. Whilst they didn't turn out perfect, I was still pretty happy with them and I wore these for a whole week - so they can't have been that bad!


Wednesday 9 September 2015

Navy Paisley for Avon

Hey everyone! It's been ages since I created any paisley nails, but I think this is the first time I've ever actually used nail polish for a full paisley design. Previously I used gel pens for precision. I also did this design using nail polish, but I did smaller and more straightforward print. And I also did these using nail art pens. However, when Avon asked me to create these I fancied a challenge. Paisley is definitely a lot more fiddly to create without a pen, but I really like how they turned out for a first try!


Saturday 5 September 2015

Dark Romance Roses

Hey everyone! Today I'm showing you the second roses design that I promised in this post when I mentioned that I hadn't created roses in a while but ended up creating a couple of designs at once.  It's also my first nail art post using the newest Barry M - Sunset Collection*, which I reviewed here. I don't want to claim these to be 'realistic' but they're probably as realistic as I'm going to get as I don't tend to try to make roses look real, ever. With these I really did just mix pinks together until I thought it looked okay and they ended up looking a lot like petals (or at least I think so), I just wish I'd added more detail to the leaves!


Wednesday 2 September 2015

Exclusive: Barry M Autumn/Winter 2015 Sunset Daylight Curing Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! I have my first ever exclusive to show you, which is pretty exciting. Today Barry M released 4 new polishes to add to their Sunset Daylight Curing collection* for Autumn/Winter, exclusively for Boots. I was sent these last month to create some exciting things with (which I'm sure you'll hear about soon) and I was given today as the first posting date for these, so here I am! The new collection consists of a dark purple, a dark red/wine shade, a dark mushroom shade, and a light pink. The light pink seems to be a bit of an anomaly in the collection, but I think it helps to brighten them up a bit. If you didn't see my review of the original collection you can see it here. The Sunset polishes cure in daylight, and they're supposed to last longer and be harder than regular nail polish. Yet, with the same removal as regular polish. Although, they also cure under artificial lighting, which will be helpful in the Autumn and Winter months. As we saw with the older collection they also have a wider brush than regular Barry M colours, just like the Quick Dry collection, which makes application a lot easier.