October - Autumn Fun and Glitz

Autumn is my favourite month, I love all the changing colours and being able to snuggle up in cosy hoodies and boots.  I also love darker nails.

At the start of the month I went to see The Martian, so I decided to do some space nails.

Now I know that The Martian is about Mars, and that Mars is the red planet, but I thought that it was pretty fitting to use Rimmel's Space Dust in Total Eclipse polish for this manicure.  I love the MoYou Sci-Fi stamping plates, and this little astronaut is just so cute.

Barry M got it spot on with their limited edition glitter Gelly polishes, and I just couldn't resit them.  This is Sparkling Amethyst, and it's just stunning - I think it's made it's way into my list of favourite polishes.  I love the subtle glitter and beautiful shine of the Gelly formula.  I also got Sparkling Ruby, which will be making it's way into Christmas designs.

As I said before, I love the changing colours of the autumn leaves, so really wanted to do a manicure to reflect them.  I remembered that I had come across this design on Pinterest a while a ago and it gave me the inspiration for my falling leaves design.  I used Graffiti Nails Tuscany, Barry M Mushroom, and Bright Red, and Jacava Cherry Brandy for my autumnal colours.  I added in quite a few more dots and falling hearts than in the original design, and was worried that I might make a mess when drawing the tree, but I was really pleased with my design and it was my favourite this month.

I think it's part of nail law that in October you must do at least one Halloween design.  This year I had order some brilliant nail vinyls from She Sells Sea Shells, so it made my pumpkin nails really easy to do.  Tuscany from Graffiti Nails was the perfect base.  I got Taxi Cab from True Brit London and Queen Victoria Street Nails Inc, in my Nailbox subscription and both were perfect additions.  I think my pumpkin leaves look a bit more like hair than leaves, but they are still cute overall anyway.

Do you agree with my favourite this month or did you prefer one of my other designs more?  Make sure you follow me on Instagram to keep up with me weekly.

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

Choose Happiness Coca Cola Inspired Nail Art

If you're anything like me you will spot nails from a mile off, whether that's because they are nicely painted, sporting a bit of nail art, or the more upsetting flipside of this, all chipped and sad looking.

Well, I was watching TV the other day and the adverts came on, so it was a perfect opportunity to scroll through my social media feeds, but I happened to spot nail art in one of the new Coca Cola adverts.  It's only on screen for a fleeting second or so, but never the less there it is, so I decided to recreate it.

To make this nail art even more fitting I used OPI Coca Cola Red - how could I not?  My thumb, middle, and little fingers are Coca Coal Red with black spots and my index and ring fingers are the opposite.  I used Graffiti Nails Jet which is one of the best black polishes I've used.  I tend to find that some blacks are a bit patchy, especially on the first coat, but Jet is so opaque, and glides on really smoothly.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Thanks for stopping by
Aimee x

PS I've embedded the video below so you can see the original.  It's part of Coca Cola's #choosehappiness campaign.

Sparkly New Year Dotticure

First off let me say Happy New Year everyone, I hope you've had a brilliant holiday season.  Even though Christmas is over (boo) I'm not ready to give up glitter and to be honest I always like to add a bit of sparkle to my nails.

I wanted something fairly simple to do, but looked really effective, so I decided on this sparkly dotticure gradient.

I started off two coats of Bora Bora from Models Own, it's a beautiful fine glitter that gives full coverage.  I then used different sized dotting tools and black and white polish to create the dotticure gradient.  I started with the largest dots at the tips of the nails and then filled in the gaps as I worked up towards my cuticles whilst ensuring that I left space at the cuticles to give the gradient effect.

Polka dots are my 'go to' nail art staple if I want something quick but effective.  What are yours?

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

I Heart New York Nails

Hello all,

I have been fairly quite on social media since the week before last because I was away, so it seems like ages since I last posted anything properly, but this week I wanted to share with you my nails to match my holiday.

I'm sure you've guessed from the title of the post where I went; the fabulous New York.  And it's true, I really do love it!

I used my MoYou Tourist 02 plate for a quick, but super effective design.  I have been to New York before and visited The Statue of Liberty, but this time I was lucky enough to get tickets to go inside and stand on the plinth (I just missed out on crown tickets - drat!).  I thought it was only fitting that I stamp Liberty herself on my thumb nail on one hand.  And what better background for my picture?

On my other hand I decided to stamp the American flag.  This is the first time I have tried stamping where I've coloured the design with different polishes.  I don't think I did too badly, but there is room for improvement.  Has anyone got any tips for how best to scrape the excess polish away when doing this so the colours don't all blend?

Times Square was the backdrop for this hand and it's a must do visit if you haven't been before.  There are so many lights, so if you're anything like me and love anything sparkly or shiny, it's the place to go.

I used a white base on all nails with Models Own Snow White, which has been my go to polish of the year I think.  It's been the only colour nail polish that I have ever used a whole bottle of before it's gone gloopy.  I stamped the I heart NY on my other nails using Graffiti Nails Jet and Barry M Red.

And just because I do love New York so much here's a quick picture from my trip

Thanks for stopping by
Aimée x

Halloween Ghost Nail Art

Hello all,

I've made so many lovely nail friends over on Twitter so it's always extra exciting when I get an invitation to join in with a nail art challenge with some of them.  Sara and Rachel came up with the Monstrously Mini Challenge for Halloween.  There are seven different challenges, and I'm not sure that I will be able to do all of them, but I still wanted to join in if I could.  I didn't stick to any particular order and jumped right in with number six 'Your favourite creature'.  You can't think Halloween and not think ghosts.

Essence: Thermo Effect Polish - It's Hot Stuff

Hello all,


I love to have fun with my nails, so if there's a polish that adds to the fun it's going to be likely that I want it!  I spotted Thermo Effect colours from Essence a while back on a European blog, but that was before Essence came over to the UK.  When they arrived here, I sent them a cheeky Tweet to ask if we would be getting them as well and I was told they would be here soon.  On my last trip to Westfield I popped into the shop, obviously, and spotted this gorgeous pink that I needed to try.

Multicoloured Dots Nail Art

Hi all,

I don't know about you, but I'm still not quite ready to say goodbye to bright colours, and this week I couldn't decide which one to use, so I used them all!

When I'm short of time my go to nail art of choice is polka dots.  I used my Models Own dotting tools to create various different sized dots for this design.  I started with a base of Models Own Snow White.  I have been using this so often recently, so much so that I just finished a bottle of it, and I don't think I've ever finished a bottle of polish, ever!  Usually they go gloopy before I can get to the end,  It's just fabulous and such a brilliant white to work with.  I then used lots of other polishes that to complete the look.

Orange - Graffiti Nails Tuscany

Green - Essence Roller Coaster

Blue - Miss Sporty Pop Fiction

Purple - Morgan Taylor Bright Side

Pink (pictured) - China Glaze Purple Panic

I have just had a bit of destash and said bye bye to 19 polishes.  I originally thought it was going to be really difficult to go through and get rid of some, but it was much easier than anticipated.  They were ones that had dried up a bit, or ones that I just wasn't going to wear again, but there were some in there that only just made the cut!  It was good to have a proper look through though and it meant I came across the Miss Sporty one and realised that I hadn't used it yet, so thought I'd début along with these other gorgeous colours.  Isn't it pretty?

Graffiti Nails and Essence have been a recent favourites of mine, so I had to include them, and I love the quality of China Glaze and Morgan Taylor.  Whilst they are on the pricier side for nail polishes I really do think you get what you pay for.  Every time I use these it's like using a brand new bottle of polish.

Overall I think this is a fun design and pretty eye catching; I've even had men at work admiring my nails today!

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

Graffiti Nails: Jet, Tuscany, and Pistachio with flower nail art

Hi all,

I've got a really quick post today, but I wanted to share a cute manicure that I did for a party over the weekend.  A while ago I got these three colours from Graffiti Nails, and have used Pistachio and Tuscany already and they have both been gorgeous on.  I thought it was about time that I used Jet as well.

Jet is such a stunning black, it goes on beautifully and in one coat.  I am so impressed because every other black I've tried has been streaky on the first coat.  I still can't quite believe that's all I needed.

After a coat of Jet I added on these simple daisy style flowers.  I added a dot of Tuscany on each nail and then some petals in Pistachio around each dot.  Sometimes something simple is all you need and I love how these colours all work together so nicely.

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

Graffiti Nails: Pistachio with Reverse Glitter Gradient

Hi all,

After using my first Graffiti Nail polish last week, I couldn't wait to use another one.  They are such pretty colours.  This week my manicure features Pistachio.

I did a bit of mix and match manicure using two coats of Graffiti Nails Pistachio on my thumb, index, and little finger.  On my middle finger and ring finger I have used two coats of Models Own Snow White.  To add a bit of sparkle all over on the white nails I added a coat of  Collection Top Coat Sparkle and a pale blue nail gem.

To create the reverse glitter gradient on my Pistachio nails I started by using Collection Top Coat Sparkle again, but rather than painting on a normal coat I wiped off as much polish as I could and dragged what remained about half way down my nail.  Then I have used Blizzard from Models Own for the chunky glitter. It's such a pretty glitter which is jam packed with large round hex particles, holographic squares and round glitter specks.  Again I wiped off as much polish as I could and painted that all the way down my nail.  This added a few particles of glitter all over the nail.  Then to add more to create the gradient effect I dabbed on a thick layer near the top of my nails placing the glitter where I wanted it.

I am really pleased with these nails and I just wish the photograph did the glitter justice.  The sparkle is amazing and really catches the light.  The Graffiti Nails polishes are beautiful and I have been very impressed with them.  Isn't this colour so pretty?  Have you tried any, I'd love to see what you have tried.  Leave me a link in the comments so I can take a peek.

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x     

Triplet Nails: Orange and White Saran Wrap Nails

Hello all,

I have a very exciting post today.  I've teamed up with Lauren from The Naily Mail and Madison from Fundamentally Flawless to do some triplet nails.  We had been discussing different techniques that we hadn't tried before and thought it would be really fun to do some triplet nails so we decided to give the saran wrap technique a go (or cling film for us UK people).

I started off with two coats of Models Own Snow White which needed to dry completely before anything else.  I left it for a couple of hours whilst I watched a film, and just to make doubly sure I finished it off with a coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri.  Next was the really fun part!  I worked nail by nail adding a thick coat of Graffiti Nails Tuscany and then before that dried I started dabbing the wet nail polish with a bunched up ball of cling film.  This gives the fabulous marbled effect.  I really like the subtle contrast having used orange and white, but I think overall for this technique to stand out more a more contrasting choice of shades may have been better.

The other girls designs are just stunning as well

Lauren has gone for a lovely purpley blue and Madison has gone for a lighter blue.  Don't these look lovely in all of the colours that we have chosen?  Such a different look with a simple change.

Be sure to check out the other girls posts by clicking on their photographs above.  We have all really enjoyed taking on the challenge, and have decided to do triplet nails every now and again, so now all we need to do is choose what to do next!  What do you think we should have a go at?  

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x