Ciaté Mini Caviar Nails

Hi all,

You may have seen that with the July edition of Marie Claire there are free mini caviar nail kits from Ciaté.  Marie Claire is £2.50 and the kits are valued at around £10, so you can't really go wrong.  If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen that I have two sets.  The first kit was given to my mum and she gave it to me.

The blue is Starry Night and is made up of Ferris Wheel polish and Frost Yourself caviar pearls.  The purple is Fairy Dust and is made up of Sugar Plum polish and Ice Queen caviar pearls.  I haven't ever done caviar nails so I thought these would be the perfect way to try the technique out.  These are also my first Ciaté polishes.  I decided to use the Fairy Dust set first.

Sugar Plum is such a pretty lilac shade and I am really impressed with it.  It was extremely streaky on first coat so I was a little worried, but when I applied a second coat it evened out.  Looking at it now I think a third coat would have been even better but it's ok.  This has to be the glossiest pastel colour I have used.  I didn't really need to apply a top coat to add any shine.  It's very different to have a finish like this with a pastel shade.  The Ice Queen pearls are a mix of different colours in silver, purple, clear and iridescent blue. I think the idea to apply the pearls is to pour them over the wet polish.  I thought this would get fiddly and very messy so I poured them into a bowl and dipped my nail directly into the pearls.  All I had to to then was gently press them into the wet polish to secure them.  Over all I am very pleased with my first Ciaté caviar nails and I am looking forward to seeing how long the pearls last.  Day one, so far so good, a few have made a bid for freedom, but there aren't any glaring gaps.

Will you be trying out any of the mini caviar kits?

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

Models Own: Sun Hat Butterfly Nails

Hello all,

Today I have super pink manicure that Barbie would be jealous of.  What better colours to pick from other than neons for this sunny weather that we've had recently so I have chosen to use Models Own Sun Hat from the Polish for Tans collection.

I have used two coats of Sun Hat all on nails other than my ring finger which is Models Own Snow White.  I used my MoYou London Scholar 05 plate to stamp the butterfly on my ring finger.  I love this plate so much, the doodle like images are so cute and fun.  To add a little something extra to my nails I added two coats of Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter on my thumb, middle finger and little finger.  Then on my index finger I attempted a waterfall of white polka dots but it didn't quite work out as I'd hoped.  To finish off I added a matte top coat.

I'm really pleased over all with this and I'm very happy with my stamping.  I'm getting better at it with practice.  What are your go to shades and designs for the summer? I'd love to see.  Leave me a link in the comments.

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

MoYou Stamping with Pro 09 Plate

Hello all,

A while ago now I ordered four stamping plates from MoYou as I kept seeing lovely designs that other people had done using them, so I thought I would give them a go.  I went for the Kitty 07, The Pro 09, Tourist 02, and Scholar 05, along with the pink stamper and scraper set.  It's just the perfect colour for me!

I was really excited to try these and had my first design all planned with my Tourist plate.  I got all my polishes ready, tissue to wipe the scraper and clean the plate in between, and anything else I might have needed, but could I get it to stamp?