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

Remembrance Day Poppy Nail Art

Hello all,

This year, as you know, marks the centenary of the First World War, so it seemed only right that I should show my support for the armed forces by having poppies on my nails.

At the weekend I got three of the new Models Own HyperGel colours and I couldn't wait to try one of them out.  I chose to use Ebony Green along with Red Lustre, one of the original HyperGel colours, and Snow White, to create my Remembrance Day nails.

I started off with a base of the green on just my middle nails, the red on my index finger and little finger, and white on my thumb and ring finger.  All nails have two coats and a top coat.  Once this had all dried a used a thin striper brush to create the poppy stalks on my white base.  I dropped some polish onto a scrap of paper, and so that I didn't overload the brush with polish I pulled it gently across the polish picking up a small amount of colour at a time.  I then carefully dragged the brush down my nail, from cuticle to tip to create the stalks.  I added a few thicker lines, and used a dotting tool to create buds.  I then used my dotting tool again to create tiny red flowers amongst the stalks.

I wanted to create the look of poppies in a field, rather than the traditional poppy you might buy and pin to your coat.  Overall I am not sure how I feel about the finished look.  It's not quite how I imagined it when I was planning, but I don't think it's because of the poppies, I think it might be because the colours look very Christmassy.  What do you think?

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?

Models Own: Summer Updates*

Hello all,

Models Own have done it again, they've gone and added more beautiful polishes to their collection.  The already popular Fruit Pastel collection sees two new additions, Coconut Cream and Peach Melba.  Polka dot lovers will enjoy the addition of Mirco Dots and fans of gel effect nails will adore the new HyperGel Top Coat.

* Press sample - sent to me for review

Models Own: Hyper Gel Sundress with Nail Tape Tutorial

Hello all,

I have wanted to try a more nail tape designs for a while now so I thought I'd give it a go along with a half moon manicure.  And what better way to test out my new Hyper Gel from Models Own.  Sundress is one of the new pinks from the summer Hyper Gel collection.

To create the half moons I used hole re-enforcers that you can get from stationery shops. Then to add to this and make it a bit more fancy I added some stripes using the nail art tape from my Models Own Nail Art kit. I haven't done a step by step in a while so I thought I'd give a new style picture tutorial a go.  I picked Models Own Bora Bora as my base colour for this design.

1. Paint your base colour and wait for it to dry completely
2. Add hole re-enforcers and nail tape to create your pattern
3. Paint your top colour over the tape
4. Before this coat of polish dries remove the tape
5. Clean up around the edges of your nails, add a top coat and you're done

Sundress is such a pretty deep raspberry pinky red polish.  It was opaque with just one coat making it perfect for my nail tape design.  Lots of people have had concerns about the summer Hyper Gels being similar to the other ones that came out originally, but I think it's difficult to tell from pictures what they are really like.  Here is a comparison between Sundress (on the left) and Cerise Shine (on the right).

I'd love to see more swatches of the other summer Hyper Gels, leave me a link if you have some of them and let me know what you think of my mini tutorial.

Thanks for stopping by
Aimée x

Models Own: HyperGel Review* - Vintage Roses

Hello all,

I was very excited to get three Models Own HyperGels in the post to try out.  I was even more excited that the three that I got were my favourites of the 10 colours available! I got Cerise Shine, Blue Glint and Red Lustre.  My original plan was to swatch them all, but I was having nail art withdrawals so decided for something in between.

* Press sample - sent to me for review

The HyperGel polish is amazing! Normally I use at least two coats of polish, but I have only used one here.  The coverage is so even and opaque you just don't need anything more.  And look how gorgeously shiny it is.  I was very pleased with the drying time, I was expecting it to take quite a while as it's gel effect, but it was dry surprisingly quickly ready for my nail art.

As you can see I have used Cerise Shine on three fingers and Blue Glint as a background for my accent nails on my finger finger and thumb.  Simply using the normal polish brush I dabbed on three Cerise Shine splodges and waited for those to dry.  To add petals to my roses I used Red Lustre for shade (you can just about see it in the picture).  I also needed a highlight so I chose to use Strawberry Tart from the Fruit Pastels collection.  To create the petals I used a really small nail art brush and painted on two 'c' shapes in slightly different sizes and ant different angles.  I started off with the shade and then went in again in the same way with the highlight.  Then to finish my roses off all they needed were some little leaves.  I used Apple Tart, again from the Fruit Pastel collection.  So not only do my nails shine like I have had gels, but they smell yummy too!

I am really pleased with this design.  I think it's simple enough that you can still see the beauty of the HyperGel polishes but it's also really pretty and girly.

I am loving seeing what everyone has bought in the Models Own sale recently over on Twitter! Glad to see I am not the only polish addict around - leave me your links so I can see what you got!