Holographic starburst nail art

I have a simple stamping mani today, I was feeling a bit uninspired. When in doubt go simple!

My base is Orly Hip and Outlandish from the Melrose Collection.

I'm not sure what it is about this teal green, but my camera refused to pick up the color accurately. I tried my phone, camera and iPad. No luck 😕 it's a lot darker and more of a sea green than its showing in the picture. It's a beautiful color and perfect for the transition to summer.
The formula was good, two coats with no issues. I topped it with HK Girl before stamping.

I used the star burst image from UberChic plate 4-02. What a great image! I can't believe I haven't used this before. You can purchase the plate here www.uberchicbeauty.com I wanted to use a holographic stamping polish, but after trying it on my pinky, I realized it was too sheer. I ended up first stamping a franken silver as the base, and then double stamping over the base image, with Esmaltes de Kelly Andromeda. It gives it the holo sparkle with the opacity I wanted. I used my C Thru stamper for easy placement. Top coat and that's it!

Exciting news! UberChic Beauty & Me! 😃

Most exciting news evvvvaaaa! UberChic Beauty, my favorite Indie nail art company, has recently contacted me, to offer me a reviewers position with their company! Little old me 🙋 How awesome is that! Of course I jumped at this wonderful opportunity, and today the most epic nail mail arrived at my house 😱 

Within, all the UberChic goodies I could ever dream of! I think I hear boom chicka wow wow music playing in the background 🙊 

I will of course post some reviews and manicures using my new toys, as I get to use them. 

I was even lucky enough to receive some secret new plates, but more on those in a couple of weeks 😉 Just let me tell you they are awesome!

You can purchase any of the above products from www.uberchicbeauty.com

So now I'm off to do my nails 💅

Prince tribute - Diamonds & Pearls

My Prince tribute mani, which I've only just gotten time to do, after the sad passing of a music legend. One of my favorite Prince songs from my teenage years was Diamonds & Pearls, I remember having this on repeat on my CD player for days if not weeks!

I started out with a base of China Glaze Let's Jam, from the Lite Brites Collection. Such a beautiful purple with blue shimmer, and what a great formula. Two coats, that self level and the consistency is perfection. Not too runny, not too thick.

I added my base stamping, which are these amazing paisley flowers from UberChic plate 1-02. Such an intricate pattern, which picked up beautifully using my C-Thru stamper. The stamping polish I used is Dancing in the Streets from M-Polish. I really like this stamping polish because it's metallic, which I feel like I don't have enough of.
For the accent nails I used the beads pattern from UC plate 8-02, and the diamonds from plate 2-02. You can purchase all of the UberChic plates here www.uberchicbeauty.com I filled in the diamonds with ColorClub Sugar Plum Fairy, a classic, and stamped the outline with MDU Dark Grey. For the beads I used MDU White. Top coat is HK Girl.

Femme Fatale Glass Coffin

On the blog today is the totally breathtaking Femme Fatale Glass Coffin, from the Cinderella release.

It's a thermal, that shifts from a pale blue with green shimmer in its warm state, to a cool toned pale purple with purple shimmer when cold. Due to the pale colors the transition is not strongly noticeable, however it really is stunning either way 😍

I was slightly concerned whilst applying this, due the fact it seemed a bit brush strokey whilst wet, but thankfully these disappeared once dry. It dries to a satin sheen, but since I always top coat, it's shinny and shimmery! It has the most beautiful green shimmer, which is more noticeable depending on the angle.

As per usual I had to apply nail art. The heart images are stamped from UberChic plate 4-02, which you can purchase here www.uberchicbeauty.com I experimented with striping tape I received as a gift from an order I recently placed, and sadly it did not stay on any better than the tape I already have in my nail art stash 😕 The bows are from EBay. The stamping polish used is MDU Fantasy, top coat is HK Girl.

You can purchase this polish from www.livelovepolish.com

UberChic neon roses using China Glaze Lite Brites

These were my date night nails from this past weekend, and I really love how fun and colorful they turned out 😊
I clearly don't get out much, because when I got the iron out, my kids simultaneously asked me "what's that?" Living in sweats is just so much easier 😀

I originally wanted to put the roses over sugar skulls, but after trying one nail I wasn't loving it. The skulls were lost under the roses, so I went with the abstract tree image instead. Nail art is all about plan B, for me at least!

I used UberChic's Love & Marriage-02 plate for the roses, which is such a great plate full of beautiful romantic images. Great for special occasions or even Valentine's Day. The tree image is from plate 8-01, part of the most recently released set. You can purchase the plates here www.uberchicbeauty.com 

I used the China Glaze Lite Brites to fill in the roses. I love how colorful and whimsical they look in neon! If you buy only one set of neons this year, let it be this set. The colors are beautiful and the formula and opacity on these are magic. I am totally in love, and continue to reach for them time and time again. As a matter of fact they seem to have a permanent home on my nail table! 

I used MDU Black to stamp, top coat is Seche Vite.

Hope you stay tuned for the next one!

Nails with IG Friends.....landscape

I have been lucky enough to be included in #nailswithIGfriends, a group of lovely ladies on Instagram that get together to share in our love of nail art. Every prompt has a host, who selects a topic or theme, and in turn each of us creates a mani in relation to that theme. This month the host is Debbie from @knitty_nails, who has selected landscapes.

I decided to go with a nautical theme ⚓️ I'm just feeling beachy with all this warm and sunny weather here in Cali 🌴🌺 I feel like I should be holding a cocktail with a little umbrella 🍹 with these nails 😂

I started off with a reverse sunset gradient, which I taped off one third of the way down, and painted the bottom section an ocean blue.

The images are from UberChic plate 2-03, one of my favorites. This plate has many nautical images and also a travel theme. You can purchase the plate here www.uberchicbeauty.com Due to the fact that I am keeping my nails a bit shorter, I used my stamper to slightly shrink the images. This is done by stretching the stamper, rolling it over the image and then letting go. The image will then be minimally smaller than on the plate. Except for my thumb, which has the full size image. 

Stamping polish is Mundo de Unas Black, top coat is HK Girl. 

Hope you like 😀 and please check the above hashtag on Instagram to see all the other beautiful mani's out there. 

ILNP BFF's - Spring 2016 Jellies

Today I have the amazing ILNP BFF's to share with you, it's one of the polishes from the Spring 2016 Jellies range.

ILNP describe this as a Concord grape jelly loaded with holographic goodness, and my word, this is exactly what it is 😀 Due to the fact that it is a jelly, it does require 3-4 coats to be fully opaque. But to me it did not feel thick on the nail, even after that number of coats.

The formula is a dream, and I found it dried surprisingly quickly, considering it took layers to build it up. It's sparkly, it's pretty 😍

Of course I had to add some nail art 🙄 Although I must say I wore this polish for almost a day before adding anything to it, which is extremely rare.

I used a full size image from UberChic plate 8-2 and after making a decal of it, cut out one thin strip and placed it near the tip. I decided to use some striping tape to neaten up the edges and add some detail. Bad idea, because the tape I have is completely useless and curls up at the edges instantly 😠 I don't know if it's the quality of this one or what. But needless to say this mani sadly didn't last long! If you would like to purchase this polish, you can find it here

Avert your eyes! My nakies!

A behind the scenes look at my nakies 😱

My naked nails are a sight rarely seen! Unlike a lot of the nail community, I'm a cheater and have fake nails 😜 Or as people like to refer to them, nail enhancements. Specifically I have silk wraps enhancements. This is a thin layer of silk, which is glued over my natural nail. I prefer this to other forms of enhancements, because they are thin yet strong, and allow the natural nail to breath slightly. Also I find that they require less chemicals than acrylic, but give basically the same result. I turned to silk wrap about 1 year ago, after having a allergic reaction to acrylics. The skin around my nails was blistering and swollen, and my natural nail started to lift from the nail bed 😷 It wasn't a pretty sight 😔 After reading up on the alternatives, I decided to give silk wrap a try, and haven't looked back since. I get them filled every two weeks at a local nail salon. My nail tech basically glues a new layer of silk over the top of my existing layer, after filing down the previous wrap. That stops it from getting too thick. Easy. The nail does however look ugly 😕 It's uneven looking in color from the glue, and definitely looks best covered with polish. I rarely have my nails unpolished, so lucky for me I have a polish obsession! 😂

Hope you stay tuned for the next one! 

Butterflies for nail art challenge #clairestelle8april

Hi there dolls!

My mani for today is for a nail art challenge, hosted by @clairestelle8 on Instagram. You really must check her out, if you haven't already, she has stunning mani's, and on top of that is absolutely hilarious 😂 Reading her posts really brings a smile to my face, with her cheeky British wit.

On a monthly basis Claire publishes a list of nail art challenges, with particular themes. Below is the list for April 2016.

There are no winners, it's just for fun, and I really enjoy taking part in this. It gets my brain thinking, of ways to interpret the theme, and it's a great way to see all the wonderful work the other talented nail ladies have created. We use the hashtag of the month to find each other's work. So if you are on Instagram please check it out. And if you would like to contribute, please do so. The dates are guides only, and you don't have to contribute a mani every prompt, fit them in as you can.

The theme for the 23rd is butterflies. I decided to go with some double stamping; a stamped image over a stamped image. Even though butterflies are normally colorful, I enjoy a solid butterfly too 😄

I started with a base of Orly White Tips. This is my holly grail white nail polish. Why, I hear you ask 😉 because it is very opaque, and only needs two coats to completely cover my nail. I have found there are many other white polishes out there that are runny and patchy, which I can't stand. Plus Orly White Tips dries quickly, even without a top coat, and I like the rubber grip bottle top, and the long thin professional brush. I normally buy Orly products from my local Sally's Beauty Supply, it's approx $7.00 US.

After letting my base coat dry for a minute or two, I top coat with HK Girl, from Glisten & Glow. I do this religiously. The reason behind this is, if my next layer of stamping does turn out on the first try, which sadly happens quiet a lot 😢 I can normally remove it with a lint roller, stiycky tape or some non acetone nail polish remover. If you rub very lightly, the chances of damaging the base is not so bad. I find most non metallic Mundo de Unas stamping polish, comes off fairly well.

For the flowers over the base, I used UberChic Beauty plate 8-01. You can purchase it here www.uberchicbeauty.com I created a tri color stamp by putting three colors on the plate at once in a stripe pattern, and used my scraper to lightly blend them together at the edges. I randomly stamped the images on the nail. The colors are MDU Ribbon, Velvet and Lilac. Top coat!
The butterflies are from BundleMonster plate BM-XL14, BornPretty Store plate JQ-13, and TIAN XIN-22. I stamped them with Mundo de Unas purple. As they are all separate small images, I used my C-Thru stamper for placement. One final top coat and all done. I clean up my cuticles with pure acetone and my Elf concealer brush.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend😀

Earth Day mani 04/22/2016

Hi there dolls!

I am going to share with you my recent Earth Day mani.

For those of you who don't know, Earth Day was on the 22nd of April, 2016. Re-use, recycle, be kind to the planet and love one another, that's my message ✌️
I decided to go with a rather unoriginal world map😆  But I do really like how it turned out! And I was super please because Winstonia Store reposted my picture on their Instagram 😊

The blue polish I used as a base is Sinful Shine Skinny Dipping, which from memory, I purchased from Walgreens. In order to add a bit of depth and make it appear more like a real map, I used the corner of a cosmetic sponge, and dabbed on Essie Pret-a-Surfer, and Essie Salt Water Happy.

The world map image is from UberChic Beauty, plate 2-03. You can purchase it here www.uberchicbeauty.com The dove and script on my middle finger are from Winstonia Store plate W104 & W205. You can purchase them from www.winstoniastore.com

The stamping polishes I used are all from Mundo de Unas, my preferred brand of stamping polish. They are very opaque and stamp well with any stamper. The colors are: green, high green and neon green, as well as white.

Top coat is HK Girl from Glisten & Glow www.glistenandglow.com

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

My all time favorite polish, Vapid Lacquer Sweaters and Denim

My first post... eeeek!

What better way to get this thing started than with my favorite all time polish, Vapid Lacquer Sweaters and Denim. Available from www.vapid.mybigcommerce.com

Released in October of last year, this beauty has alluded me until very recently. It was one of those deals were I had the stores page open on my safari on my phone, and would literally check to see if it was back in stock, every few days or so. I missed the original release, because let's face it, I must have been living under a rock! After seeing so many beautiful swatches of this on instagram, I knew I needed this in my life. My lucky stars aligned, and I managed to snag this lemming in a recent restock. Yippee!

Can we just take a minute 😍
This is a thermal polish, which means it changes color, as there are changes in temperature. In its cold state it is a denim blue, but just look at that coopery sparkle that shines through. Ahhhh, pretty 😍 In its warm state it is a beautiful cooper gold. My favorite is when it's between the two, the tips blue, the nail bed cooper. I found three thin coats work best for the strongest transition effect. I have two on my Cindy hand (my right hand) and the blue is not as deep. I love this polish so much I never want to take it off! No really 😬

And of course I couldn't leave it alone, so had to stamp over the base. Inspired by the company logo, I stamped the mask image on my middle finger. The image is from UberChic Beauty plate "Zombie Love" available from http://uberchicbeauty.com The stamping polish I used is Mundo de Unas Black.
Top coat is HK Girl from Glisten & Glow.

Last but not least, I sweaterized Sweaters and Denim, with these adorable images from CreativeShop plate 04. It was just so fitting as this plate arrived in the mail the day after I received the polish, and the main theme of this plate seems to be sweater patterns. I just adore these cute woolly sheep. The sweater pattern was stamped with Mundo de Unas Glass and Bones.

Hope you'll join me for the next one. Till then 😊

About me......

Wife, mother, not so secret lover of all things nails!

A little about myself, incase you are interested.

I'm a thirty something, just 😉 wife to my amazing husband, and mother to two young boys. I live in West Hollywood, CA, USA. I was born in Germany, grew up in Australia and moved to the US about 4 and a half years ago. My husband is a professional boxer, so fitness is a strong influence in our house, and I try to work out 4-5 times per week. My exercise of choice is Muay Thai Kickboxing, and I also do a bit of old school boxing, just for fitness.

My main area of interest however, are nails!

I started with a set of acrylic nails about 1 year ago, and just loved the look of the classy french tips. But after developing an allergic reaction, I turned to silk wrap. Due to the fact that silk wrap nails look better covered in polish, I started painting my nails. Painting my nails turned into nail art on and well, here we are! I may just have a slight obsession!

I generally change my mani every day, or every other day if life gets in the way, so expect to see a lot of nails 😄 I generally only change the manicure on my left hand daily, my Cinderella hand gets an update every so often! Why you ask, because a mani usually takes 1 hour + so I generally don't get time to do both hands. I remember watching YouTube videos when I first started doing my nails, were the bloggers had mismatched mani's, and I remember thinking, that looks so miss matched, and now here I am in the same boat! Hence you will only see pictures of my left hand 😂

My nail art is predominantly stamping. I won't subject you to my freehand too often, because quite frankly, it sucks! So if your still reading this and please share in my passion and check out my posts.

You can follow me on Instagram: @mrsluckyboy85