Glitter Stars and Moons

Happy Tuesday! I fancied doing something a little different, which is how these nails came about. I also wanted to play around with the Essie Concrete Glitters collection*, so I used them as a gradient base and created this sparkly galaxy effect. 

Glitter Spots

Today I want to talk about the Essie Concrete Glitters collection*, because I've totally fallen in love with it. I sat down to do some nail art with them and ended up doing three different designs because I felt so inspired by all the colours! 

This was the first design I did, and it was completely inspired by Betina Goldstein (who by the way is totally killing it at the moment!). I used all the colours from the collection except Stay Up Slate. 

Christmas Gift Guide 2018

Sit tight folks, it's a long post today. For the first time ever I bring you my Christmas Gift Guide! 

There is a wide variety of products in here, for those who love a bit of elegance, or for those who want to do gel nails at home (or remove them), or those looking to bring a bit of extra sparkle to their Christmas. I hope you like the products I have chosen to show you, I hope there is something in here for all nail lovers. 

Essie Spring Brush Strokes

Hey everyone! The weather has been so lovely this week, it’s been such a shame to be stuck in an office! I hope it carries on this weekend so I can make the most of it. It might officially be summer now but I’m looking back to spring with these nails as they’re done using the Essie Spring 2018 Collection. 

Essie Winter 2017 Collection review + swatches

I feel like an idiot, this post has been sat fully written in my drafts for more than two months, and I was under the impression that I'd posted it! It's a bit delayed, but it's such a beautiful collection I wanted to post it anyway. So here's my review of the Essie Winter 2017 Collection*. 

Swirls and Foils

Do you ever see something and just get hit by a burst of inspiration? That's what happened to me with these nails. I saw a design by Kara Nailed It and I knew instantly that I wanted to create my own version of them. I slightly adapted the colours, the use of gold foil and put them on all my nails, but otherwise my inspiration was her. I used the same technique she did, which was to blob all the colours together on my nail and then mix them together with a dotting tool (is there a name for that?).

I really loved how these turned out. They were so quick to do (except my middle finger which I kept having to redo because it wasn't behaving.. does that ever happen to you when it's always the same nail messing up?), I've never tried this method before but it's definitely something I'll do again. 

Gold Lilac Roses

Happy Sunday everyone! Although there's only an hour of Sunday left. I've had a busy but chilled weekend, and I managed to find time to do a few nail designs today. One of them was this floral design inspired by Follow That Way.  I wasn't sure whether I'd ever be able to recreate one of her amazing florals, the detail she puts into them is astonishing, but I decided to give it a go, and I'm really really happy with how these came out. 

One thing I couldn't decide on was my accent nails, I originally did them with some of the nail negative space and with gold foil down the side but I wasn't 100% on them and the pictures didn't come out very well, so I did these, and then I did gold glitter accents. Of the three, these came out best in photos and I think the fact that they're quite muted means that the flowers stand out a bit more. 

Glitter French Triangles

And just like that, Christmas is over. I hope you all had a lovely one. I'm counting down the days to the next festive period already, it's definitely the best time of the year. I'm lucky in a way that my birthday is only 3 weeks after Christmas so the fun isn't quite over yet, although it does mean that once my birthday is over I have to wait a whole year for any more celebrations! 

One of my Christmas presents this year was a wonderful new lightbox handmade by my dad. He built my last one but unfortunately it only worked with my old camera, so it was time for an update, and he pulled all the stops out this time. Of course I couldn't resist taking some photos in it, and here are the results!  I've seen this design around a few times on Instagram, but these in particular were inspired by Hey Nice Nails and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. 

Marc Jacobs Geometry

Hey everyone! I'm so pleased to show you these nails as I was looking enough to have had a chance to try out the new Marc Jacobs* nail polishes. I've never used the brand before so I was really excited to see what they were like, and I must say I am soooo impressed. I often wonder whether brands with big price tags are so expensive just because of the name of the brand, but it turns out they really do have the quality to reflect the price. I was sent two shades to try from the latest Fashion collection: Trax* (Burgundy) and Ladies Night* (Beige). Both polishes glide on to the nail so well, and they're super shiny. Call me a price tag convert! 

Essie Abstract Neon

Hey everyone! Long time no see, I've been so busy with moving I just haven't had a chance to post, but I've really missed blogging. We moved in on Friday and have managed to get everything unpacked already, so I finally have the chance to sit down and write a blog post. 

I actually did these nails quite a few weeks ago, using the Essie 2017 Neon Collection*. (I can't seem to find these online anymore so I assume they were limited edition). I keep seeing abstract nails on Instagram, and I've wanted to have a go for a while. These were super easy, I just splodged some colours using the brushes from the bottles, and then dotted some white using the end of a striping brush. Super quick, but I really love the end effect, and I wore these for a week or so. 

Negative Space Ferns

Hey everyone! If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen that I was in Ibiza a couple of weeks ago. I went for a long weekend with my boyfriend and another couple, and of course I had to do some nails to mark the occasion. I had a flick through Pinterest the night before I went (leaving it to the last minute as always) and I came across these nails and knew instantly they'd be perfect for Ibiza. I decided to recreate them with a light pink background, and a simpler version of the ferns because I was a bit pushed for time! 

More details on how I created these below, and tomorrow I'll be doing a post about my 'nails on tour', if you haven't seen these posts before you can catch up here. 

Essie Block Colours

Hey everyone! I'm back this week with some nails that are a bit simpler than those I posted last week. I often really struggle to simplify designs, I always want to add more and more but when I'm in a rush I sometimes have to fight against myself and let the designs remain simple. I was playing around with the Essie Resort 2017 Collection*, and I thought the colours would work well in a block manicure. It's been so long since I used tape for a manicure, but I love block manis like this, I used to do loads of them 'back in the day' so it's nice to bring it back. 

Essie Mauve Roses

Hey everyone! Happy hump day. We've had a gorgeous summer day today in England, which is a bit of a rarity, so I decided today was a good day for some floral nails. Although you know me, I'll find any excuse to post florals, rain or shine. These were done using the gorgeous new Essie - Wild Nudes collection*, which is a permanent addition to their range. Good job too, because it's a completely stunning collection, and as you can see below they work really well together. 

Detailed Pink Roses

Hey everyone! Do you ever do a design and whilst you're painting it you just know you're gonna love it? That was how I felt about these nails. I pushed myself slightly out of my comfort zone painting the roses and I was so proud of how they turned out. They were inspired by these fabrics I found on Pinterest, and I decided to combine two of the designs to go hand in hand, but I kind of wish I'd just done the roses on all fingers.  I wore these for a week and I couldn't stop staring at my nails the whole time. I was especially pleased with them because I have so little time to paint my nails these days and I sometimes worry that I'm losing the skill, so it was nice to see that I haven't. It's definitely given me the bug to try out some more designs that are slightly out of my usual style once I'm back from travelling so watch this space. 

Tiny Essie Flowers

Hey everyone! Hope you've all had a good week. I'm definitely in "thank god it's Friday mode", not because it's been a bad week but because I'm really looking forward to this weekend. I know I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front again but life is so busy (in a good way) at the moment that I barely have time to open my laptop let alone write a blogpost! I did have time to paint a few designs however to try and catch up so here's one of them, these cute little flowers using the new Essie Gel Couture Ballet Nudes collection. I was inspired by these nails I saw on Pinterest and I knew I wanted to put my own spin on them ever so slightly. I love how these turned out, I hope you do too! 

Essie Periwinkle Stars

Honey I'm hooooommeeeee. I'm finally back! And I'm hoping this time I'm back for good. I decided to take a couple of weeks off to focus on moving house, Christmas, new year and just generally getting my life back in order. November and December were tough and eventful, but I feel like I've come out the other side now and I want to throw everything back into my blog. I've missed it a lot, this is my outlet, and I wish life hadn't got in the way recently, but I had so much to deal with that it was easier to let this aspect of my life slide a little bit. Now I'm feeling more normal and happy I'm ready to find my passion again. 

I've barely even painted my nails over the past 2 months, it's not just that I've barely been posting but I really haven't actually done any designs. I genuinely don't think I've stopped for 2 months though, I've kept myself busy every single day to cheer myself up and I've not had much time for anything else. However, I made some time to sit down the other day and just paint my nails. Nothing too extravagant, but something that says 'hey I'm back and I'm sorry for abandoning you all', and something that says 'this is still what I love doing', so I hope I've done that with this incredibly simplistic design. I actually even made the time to paint both hands (don't fall off your chair in shock) for the first time in months and months.  

Essie Glitter Leaves

Hi All! Hope you're having a good December so far. I'm trying to get into the Christmas spirit, I'm feeling a lot better than I have been so I've even been able to sing along to a few Christmas songs. It's good to know that I haven't turned into a complete Scrooge! But whilst I might be getting into the Christmas spirit, it's still Autumn on my nails, with the gorgeous Essie Winter 2016 collection*. These were just a quick design I did to try and get myself back into the swing of things but I ended up wearing them for nearly 2 weeks, which wasn't exactly the plan! But it's a testament to how long-lasting these polishes are. 

Essie 1000th Shade - Aim To Misbehave Nail Art + Review

Hey everyone! Hope you've all had a lovely weekend, we had a bank holiday weekend in the UK and it was so great to have 3 days off. Less than two weeks now until my holiday where I'll have a whole 9 days off and not have to think about anything. This weekend I spent time with my friends, shopping for my holiday and of course doing tonnes of nails. In fact I feel like I've wasted my day off today in a way because I've been inside catching up on reviews all day instead of enjoying the sunshine - the sacrifices I make eh? Haha.

Anyway, today's nail art is something fun and bright to match the weather we had here today, even if I didn't get to enjoy it. Essie recently released their 1000th shade: Aim To Misbehave*, which is this gorgeous fun and shimmer golden yellow shade. It's such an honour to be able to show their 1000th shade on my blog. Whilst I don't have a tonne of Essie polishes, I love all the ones that I do have, and they were some of the first polishes I ever owned (thanks eBay!) so the brand holds a special place in my heart. Especially as they organised for me to have my photo done by Rankin!

Essie Spring 2016 Collection Review + Swatches

Hey everyone! Hope you're having a lovely weekend so far. The European Championships are on, which means I'm being roped into watching a lot of football with my boyfriend. Or alternatively, it means I have a lot more time to do nails because I don't want to sit and watch TV! I never watch football, but there's something about international football that's slightly more exciting, and I do end up getting sucked in even when I hate to. 

Today I'm reviewing the Essie Spring 2016 collection*, I wanted to include this with my post about the Rankin event but I thought it would make the post too long. I've already shown the collection in this nail art, but I wanted to show the colours individually too. This is the first full Essie collection I've reviewed, and I hope it's not the last, but I was very impressed. I don't own many Essie shades, I don't have the need to buy many new polishes (as you can imagine) so apart from my trusty bottle of Essie - Beyond Cozy which I bought ages ago, I only have one or two others. This collection consists of some 'typical' spring shades, but also some darker shades that make the collections lightly unusual. 

Essie Gel Couture #essiexrankin

Hey everyone! This weekend in the UK was a bank holiday weekend, I know it was also Memorial Day weekend in the U.S. so I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Without sounding like I'm starting a pity party, I had the worst weekend. My car was smashed up with a hammer, I got food poisoning and my camera charger blew my electrics and set off my house alarm. They say bad things come in threes, that's a big enough three for me. Nevertheless, my nails have been a welcome distraction, and I've been writing up some blog posts to try and get ahead a bit.

Today's post is about my day at the #essiexrankin event a couple of weeks ago. I was kindly invited by Essie to join the event to promote their new Gel Couture range, and have my portrait done by the one and only Rankin. I'm still pinching myself that it actually happened, it was such an amazing opportunity, and one I definitely won't forget in a hurry. 

I was given the chance to pick out a shade from the Gel Couture range to highlight in my picture, this is the shade I chose, called Spiked With Style: