Purple Leopard Print

Leopard print with a funky twist

Base (black) - Sally Hansen - Blacky-O

Base (purple) - Rimmel - Purple Pulse

Glitter - Butter London - The Black Knight

Spots - Rimmel - Trend Spotting

Shrimply Devine

Nails that Barbie would be proud of

Base (pink) - Sally Hansen - Shrimply Devine

Base (white) - Barry M - Cotton

Glitter Topper - Barry M - Amethyst Glitter

Summer Flowers

Isn't it just so lovely when the sun shines?

Base (orange) - Rimmel - Oragasm

Base (white) - Barry M - Cotton

Glitter Topper - Collection - Sparkle Top Coat

Dots - Barry M - Yellow 134

Purple with Glitter Accent

You can't beat a pretty base with a glitter accent.

Base - OPI - Do You Have This Color In Stockholm

Glitter Accent - Sally Hansen - Grape Shifter

Tahlia from Elune by Emily

A duo chrome, holographic glitter dream

Base - Elune by Emily - Tahlia

Silver Stamping - MoYou London - Silver Dust

Stamping Plate - Uberchic Beauty - 3-02

Sparklea - Harry Potter Collection

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Those are the words that started us on our magical journey with Harry and co, and from there the fandom has grown and grown.  At the beginning of the year when Sparklea Nail Polish announced that she was releasing a Harry Potter collection, I was right there in line ready to get my hands on these magical polishes.

 

Loving Barry M

I know I said two months ago that I was back from a blogging break, but for some reason I just didn't seem to get back to it properly.  So here goes again...

I've really been loving Barry M recently.  I always have loved their polishes, and you can't go wrong with such a decent price and with the fact that they are cruelty free.  I've found myself heading to my Barry drawer, and even buying a few new ones to add to my collection.

Starting with the most glittery one first, this is Fashion Icon.

This beauty is a new addition to my collection.  I was out shopping, just having a look around and this was just glittering away on the shelf.  I just couldn't leave it behind.  I already had Socialite from the Glitterati collection and loved it so figured that I couldn't go far wrong with another glitter from the same collection.  Also I do love a bit of sparkle and you'll often find it on my nails!  

January - Blues and Sparkle

January tends to be grey and miserable, so it's always nice to have pretty nails to brighten the month up.

I'd asked for some MoYou goodies for Christmas, so I decided to use them for my first  design for the month.

Ciaté Regatta was the perfect base for my MoYou Silver Dust stamping with SciFi Plate number 08.  I was a little disappointed that I managed to smudge my stamping when I added my top coat, but I was still happy with my design overall.

I love darker colours in the colder months, and hadn't used OPI Black Cherry Chutney for a while so thought I'd do a simple manicure with a glitter accent nail.  This colour is such a gorgeous deep purple red, and is perfect for a gothic look.  You can't see how pretty In True Stefani Fashion is in this photo, but trust me when I tell you, all the different shapes and sizes of the glitter really catch the light.

Despite the previous manicure to this one, and loving darker colours for winter, I've got a rather important even coming up in a few weeks time so want to steer clear of the darker shades for a bit to avoid any staining.  Bearing this in mind I decided to go for Heather from the Barry M Silk collection.  It's such a pretty and delicate colour on its own with a beautiful shimmer, but I couldn't resit adding a coat of NYC Lights, Camera, Glitter.  It has to be one of my all time favourite glitters and I have used it over many different base colours and haven't found a combination that I didn't like.  My mum looked for a new bottle of this one, as she likes it too, but couldn't find it in Superdrug, so I headed to Amazon, and bought three bottles to be sure we didn't run out any time soon!

I still can't decide whether my final design for the month was a nail fail or not.  I wanted to do a bit of a different kind of ombré across the nails rather than on all nails, so I chose Models Own Beth's Blue and Grape Juice.  I think the colours complimented each other and gave the ombré look, but I'm just not sure it's what I had in mind.  I added some little love hearts with Jacava Lavender Court to finish off the look.

My favourite this month has to be my sparkly Lights, Camera, Glitter, nails.  I can't resit sparkle and shine, so it just ticked all the right boxes.

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

December - Christmas Fun and Sparkle

December of course meant that it was time for Christmas nails and what says Christmas more than cute characters and glitter?

It's always difficult to decide which Christmas style to start with, and normally for me it would be snowflakes, as I do snowflake nails each year, but I saw lots of them popping up all over Instgram, so thought I'd save them for later and go for a cute snowman design first.

Back in September I had thought of a snow scene design using China Glaze Chillin' With My Snowmies, so I incorporated this in with the snowman.  I started with a base of Barry M Blueberry Ice Cream for a chilly feel and added a coat of the China Glaze topper on all my nails, expect my middle finger.

I then used White Knight from MoYou London to paint a small circle for the snowman's head.  I then used Barry Mushroom, and Graffiti Nails Tuscany for the details.

A couple of years ago I did a dotticure Christmas tree design which I absolutely loved, so I thought I' recreated it, but in non traditional Christmas colours.  I used Models Own Snow White as a base and then used, Kiko 277, Barry M Sparkling Amethyst, China Glaze Frostbite, and OPI Turn on the Haute Light for all the fun dots.  Dotticures are one of my favourite nail designs to do, so it's always lots of fun to add them to a Christmas design.

As I mentioned before each Christmas I do a snowflake design, and inspired by my 'non traditional' colours in my previous design, I decided to use Sparkling Ruby from Barry M for some dramatic snowflakes.  For the base of the snowflake nails I used Happy Anniversary by OPI which came in my November Nail Box.

 

To finish off the year, I went for something simple, but gorgeous.  Thunder and Lightning from Models Own is just the perfect choice for new year's, the holographic glitter looks just like all the fireworks set off to celebrate.  It is a little thin on application, so you need at least three coats, but that's a small price to pay for the amazing glitter.

What was your favourite design this month?

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

September - Pinks, Purples, and Glitter

Looking back over the past month I seem to have used lots of pinks, purples, and glitter, but hey, I'm not complaining.

Purples and pinks are my favourite colours so I'm not surprised that a had a whole month with a similar colour theme.

I started with Morgan Taylor's Bright Side with a glitter gradient.

Bright Side is a beautiful neon pink which dries to a matte finnish.  I used two coats here and you do need at least two coats as it's very streaky with just one.  I then used Holographic top coat from Nina Ultra Pro.  This has to be amongst my favourite glitters.  It catches the light and is jam packed with loads of sparkles.

During the month I was lucky enough to be sent some new colours from the Jacava Woodlanders collection to review, which you can see here.  I wore the grey base for a little while before I couldn't resit covering it in a coat of this super sparkly glitter, Glass Slipper from Accessorize.

This is my favourite design I have done in a while.  I have been doing some more simple things lately so decided to have a bit more fun with this one.  Being in a Autumn kind of place with another colour from the Jacava Woodlanders collection, I stamped some cute leaves and added some glitter and nail studs to match the theme.  I used Models Own Utopia for the base of the stamped nail and the golf glitter is Bora Bora, also from Models Own.

Last month I signed up to Nailbox, but just missed the cut off for the August box, but the September box was worth the wait.  I got this amazing Sinful Pro Shine polish, Show Off.  I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame when I opened the box so had to try it straight away.  I had placed an order a She Sell Sea Shells for some Nail Vinyls so thought that I'd try them out for some fun chevron accent nails with Turn On The Haute Light from OPI.

Do you have a favourite colour you find yourself reaching for all the time?  What colours are you loving this Autumn?

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

Pastel Galaxy Nail Art

I have got back into the swing of more detailed nail art over the past few weeks.  I have been doing some more simple things recently, and whilst pretty, I haven't felt overly inspired.  This week I decided to break out lots of shimmery pastel colours and some brights to create a fun pastel galaxy.

I had always thought galaxy nails would be difficult to do, until I had a go myself using more typical purple shades.  You can see them here.  This time around I wanted to try them them in more spring friendly colours, so as I said, I raided my shimmers and brights to see what I could come up with.

Pretty in Peach - Sparkle and Studs Nail Art

I wasn't sure what I wanted to do on my nails this week, and when that happens I always find that going for something simple is the best plan.  I had seen a peach manicure whilst scrolling through social media and the colour just stuck with me.

I chose Models Own Peach Melba from the Fruit Pastel collection and can't stop smelling my nails.  Overall I'm not sure if it smells like peaches, because I can't remember the last time I had a peach, but it's a pretty scent anyway.  I would say, if I had to, that it smells a bit like a fruity sorbet.

I paired this with Crystal Glaze from Barry M.  This is such a pretty topper.  The flecks of iridescent glitter are so subtle but give a really lovely shimmer when they catch the light.  I then finished off my whole manicure with small gold studs at the base of each nail.

Just a quick post this week.  I hope to get back to some more detailed nail art soon.

Thanks for stopping by
Aimée x

Coloristiq Nail Polish Rental Service Review*

Do you ever see nail polishes that you'd love to try, but their price tag is just a little to steep for you to justify buying the whole bottle for perhaps only a few uses?  If so, it sounds like you could benefit from Coloristiq's nail polish rental service.

*Press sample - sent to me for review

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

W7 Nail Polish and Cosmic Nail Dust Review*

Hello all,

I hope you've had a great Christmas and got some lovely nail goodies under the tree.  We now of course have the countdown to the New Year, and it's another perfect excuse for super glittery nails.  I was asked to review some colours and glitters from W7 Cosmetics and thought that this would be the perfect reason to show them off.

*Press sample - sent to me for review

Simple Festive Glitter Nails

Hi all,

Christmas is one of my favourite times to do nail art, oh who am I kidding?  Any time of the year is my favourite time to do nail art, and there will be some more Christmas designs coming up on my blog soon, but sometimes it's nice to go with something a bit more subtle, but still with a festive feel.

I paired Essence Roller Coaster with Nina Ultra Pro Holographic Top Coat.  This is a great green for Christmas, it has a fine glitter running through it and a nice shine.

If you want to add some extra shimmer to your festive colour then I would recommend this Nina Ultra Pro top coat.  It's jam packed with different sized glitter fleck and it really catches the light. There is a video over on my Instagram from when I used this on a glitter gradient before.

What are your favourite shades to wear over the festive period?

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

Barry M: Glitterati Socialite

Hello all,

With the party season here glitter is always a good choice.  I tried out Socialite a few weeks ago, but haven't had chance to post about it yet.

This was one of those essential buys in Boots to make up my total cost for bonus points.  It just had to be done, you know how these things are!?

I love this colour and I think it would be brilliant for Christmas parties paired with a black dress.  It has a slight texture to it because of the dense glitter, but if you use a top coat over it, it smooths out.

I was lucky enough to be able to catch it glistening in the sunshine and look how pretty it is.

What other colours from the Glitterati collection would you suggest?

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

Models Own: Asscher Blue with Snowflakes

Hi all,

It has become something of a tradition for me to do a snowflake design each year, so with the weather turning very frosty and cold today I thought it was very fitting to add some festive flakes to my nails.

I picked Models Own Asscher Blue as my base.  This is perfect for a wintry look because of the diamond dust in it.  I then used a thin striping brush with Snow White to paint asterisk star shapes on all of my nails.  I wanted quite big snowflakes so I only had room for one per nail.  I wanted to add in details on each snowflake, so I used a dotting tool to add a dot at the end of each line, and then used a tiny paint brush to create little lines under each dot.

To finish off I added in a few extra dots where there were some spaces on my nails and a pale blue nail gem in the middle of each flake.  I think when it comes to wintry nails you can't go wrong with extra added sparkle.

These are the best snowflake nails that I have done and I am really pleased with how they turned out. You can see the progression of the different ones I've done here.

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

P.S. It's also Polish Party time and my nails happen to fit in nicely with this months theme.  We had a tie this month between autumn and weather.

Don't forget to check out which theme the other girls chose and click through to their blogs to see their designs 

An InLinkz Link-up

Models Own: Hyper Gel Pitch Purple with Reverse Glitter Gradient

Hello all,

I loved the Ebony Green HyperGel that I used last week so I just had to try one of the other new shades that I got.  I love darker shades in autumn and winter, and also it's the perfect excuse to add glitter to a manicure.  Ok, lets face it, I don't really need an excuse for that - If you read my blog regularly you'll know I'm partial to sparkly nails!

This is such a gorgeous colour purple and the gel effect is brilliant.  It's so glossy even without a top coat.  I decided add a reverse glitter gradient using Jack Frost from the Wonderland collection and Banger from the Fireworks collection.  Both these glitters go really well together and with the purple.

I started by adding Jack Frost very sparingly on all nails so I was left with only a few particles of glitter.  I then went over this again, but only at the base of my nails by the cuticles.  Because Jack Frost is an iridescent glitter it works really well for a gradient as it takes on the main colour from the base polish.  I then topped this further with Banger.  The blues and pinks in this really compliment the purple.

What are your favourite combinations for glitter gradients?

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x

Barry M: Indigo with Flowers

Hi all,

I hope you all had a good Halloween and enjoyed some spooky nail art.  With the festivities over it was nice to do something different this week.

I paired Barry M Indigo with Lady from the Royal Textured Glitter collection.  I stamped these pretty flowers over the glitter using Pro Plate 09 from MoYou London.

I'm really looking forward to wearing some darker colours now that it's starting to get colder and the nights are drawing in.  What are your favourite colours to wear in the winter months?

Thanks for stopping by

Aimée x