Metallic Bronze & Stamping

I have been meaning to try out some of my metalic bronze polishes for a while, but I've never got round to it.

With so many pastel nails at the moment, I thought I would go for a dark change. I'm pleased with the outcome, but I am dying to get my hands on some steampunk image plates just for these polishes.

On a side note, I'd just like to say how fantastic the HK Girl top coat is. The more I use it, the more I love it. It really made the black stamping polish pop out on these darker base colours. Thumbs up!

Here's the polishes I used.

W7 - Metallic Saturn

Barry M - Copper

GOSH - Galaxy

Revlon - Rich

Collection - Gothic Glam Deadly

Konad - Black Pearl for stamping.

 

 

 

The W7 - Metallic Saturn was a great find in the bargain bin, also a great choice to put on as a base, as the other metallics have glitters, and need multiple coats for full opacity.

I was surprised at how nice this one was, as W7 formula tends to be quite thick and streaks very easy when applying. But this one was smooth.

 

 

GOSH - Galaxy was used for the middle and ring finger, but after remembering about my Revlon polish, I removed the ring finger and repainted it. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph before stamping. The Revlon had more silvery hues, compared to the gold, bronze and blue in this one.

This is one coat over W7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deadly, from Collection, was the darkest of the polishes. This is probably the first time I have used it, and I'm impressed. Application was smooth, it's an attractive colour and it was very cheap. I might even get the others in the Gothic Glam collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Barry M - Copper. It is exactly what it says on the bottle. It was perfect for layering over my base coat, I just wish it was more opaque and suitable to stamp with. I'll just have to settle for stamping over it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It might have helped to get my thumb in focus, but it isn't bad. The finished set with Konad - Black Pearl, and MoYou Pro collections, 03,06 & 10.

I'm having a hard time trying to decide which one is my favourite......

 

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Cancer Research MANi

 

I have asked my husband so many times, if I could paint his nails for practice, and the answer was always a flat NO. So I gave up asking a while ago. It really changed my Sunday morning, when he asked me how difficult it would be to paint the cancer research UK logo. Um....... what? I thought maybe I was still asleep.

With the latest "bare face selfie" craze, my husband wanted to show his support in his own way after donating to this worthy cause. Bare faced selfie's don't really work for most men, and the current trend seems to be "the sock photo", or plastering make up on. Well, the sock photo isn't in the best taste,to be showing the world, and he's already done the make up thing a few years ago, with dress, hair and heels. So I guess this was a fun and easy choice for him.

I can't wait to hear the feedback from the office tomorrow.

 

 

It was funny, when I was painting his nails, he was watching YouTube videos, but I hadn't realised initially, that he was watching wood working demonstrations! Gotta hold onto that masculinity!

 

 

So the ingredients are:

Barry M - White for the base

Barry M - Shocking Pink, Cyan Blue & Indigo

Rimmel - Grey Matters

A dotting tool and a striper brush.

Top Coat : H K Girl - Glisten & Glow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd like to thank my husband for asking me to do this for him. And please do support Cancer Research.

 

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Challenge Accepted - Nail Polish Queens

Being part of the G+ community - +Nail Polish Queens is like having a world of nail gurus in one place. One of the highlights of the group is the weekly challenge set by +Sarah Short. Always fun and always a challenge.

This week the challenge was Viva Las Vegas. After all other ideas I had were posted, only one thing stuck in my mind. Elvis! I think I managed to pull it off as I tested my 11 year old daughters' recognition of my accent nail. 

All you need is red, white, black and gold. A detailing brush and a dotting tool. The studs and feather glitter was an extra bit of Vegas glam. I look forward to the challenge every week. Bring on the next one! 

Mmmmm Guava

After so many colour combos I started to think that doing my nails just one colour was boring. But then I found matte top coat. 

This is Barry M Gelly Gauva - one if my favourite colours! There's something magical about it that I just can't resist. Half coated with Rimmel Pro matte finish and finished with a matching teal glitter. The accent nail is the hi-shine guava with dots of matte top coat. I was super pleased with the result. But I think anything would look great with that colour! 

Polka Dot Party

One of the best tools I got my hands on was a dotting tool. Gone are the days of using a DIY pin in pencil tool. Hey, it worked fine, but I couldn't really see where I was placing my dots.

This was the first mani with my new tools. It's also the first using these colours. 

It's not often I use 3D elements on my nails, but I thought the use of half pearls changed it up a bit. (I also quite like the feel of the tiny bumps - call me weird if you will.) 

I used the very fabulous Barry M Gelly - Blackberry & Blueberry to create this fun dotty French tip style. 

Revisiting some old mani's

I thought I'd start posting some old mani's so I know where they are. Just in case the worst should happen and I lose my photos offline.

One of my all time favourite techniques is a sponged gradient. Not only is it reminiscent of my school days with potato stamping, but I usually find the huge clean up quite therapeutic as you unveil the end result. 

I must admit, I do prefer the high contrast gradients to the subtle ones. Nothing like an eye catcher! For this one I used 2 Rimmel London polishes, Pink Punch & Azure. I then reversed the colours for the little leopard print on the accent nails. I really enjoyed this one and was sad to see it go.