Guess who's back, back again?

Guys, it's been a while, I'm not quite sure how it's been so long since my last post - it turns out that time goes pretty fast when you're not even paying attention to the whole 'time-thing' (raise your hand if any of that made even a modicum of sense to you?  Uh huh, I feel you, it barely made any sense to me so let's all take some small comfort in that.).

Anyway, time for a casual update on the exciting developments that have occurred in my life since my last post (when I say 'exciting', I mean my version of 'exciting' - so essentially you may want to lower your expectations a little!). 

So, let's see.....let's see......right, ok, it was my birthday in December (woo!  And no, it was not on the 25th December because I am not Jesus.  There.  I said it.  Now let's all move on.).  Seeing as it was my birthday, I decided to get my nails done all quirky and stuff, my hands done all henna and stuff and my hair dyed all green and stuff (isn't 'stuff' a great word?  It's definitely not vague at all!), check it out:

 

Since my last post, I have also seen Georgia King (fans of 'The New Normal' will know who she is) on the tube holding the world's cutest dog*, bought a light-up print of 'The Snowman and the Snowdog' from my local garden centre, stocked up on Lush essentials for the winter, hit up the Ciaté sale and got some treats which I will be sure to blog about, I have become incredibly addicted to 'Jerseylicious' (thank you ITVBe, I now have no space on my hard drive because it is full of episodes of this deliciously trashy reality show - I hope you're happy?!), ordered some divine Jeffrey Campbell boots which I got for under half price (yay to life!) and have recently taken up ballet classes because I had to let my inner Darcey Bussell free somehow (now all I have to do is meet some guy from the wrong side of the tracks who happens to be a great street dancer who will teach me his rebellious dancing ways and together we will combine our insane dance skills and I will win a place at Juilliard**).

I think that all sums up what's happened since I last wrote on here so I hope it was of some interest to you and if it wasn't then that's cool but you probably should have stopped reading about three paragraphs ago.

Make sure to keep an eye out for my next blog post next week - same time, same place?  Cooool.

*Disclaimer: This may or may not have been the world's cutest dog.  Cuteness is subjective.
**Disclaimer: This may or may not be the plot to 'Save the Last Dance'.

P.S If you rap/sang the title of this blog post in the style of Eminem then please come back again.

WAH Nails: Marble Nail Art

For those of you out there who aren't already aware, I'm somewhat of a WAH Nails enthusiast and when I'm not constantly scrolling through their Instagram pics then I'm eagerly checking out their Twitter feed awaiting some new nail art revelation. 

I recently stumbled upon WAH Nails' YouTube page and their nail art tutorials and the only way I could have been more excited was if I was actually at WAH Nails getting my nails done!  I couldn't help but want to try out one of the designs so I went with the most recent video upload which was their 'Candy Marble Nails' tutorial.  I decided after watching the video that I would adapt the design somewhat and so I went for a different selection of nail polish colours as I wanted a really vibrant finish.  I also did more of a mismatched swirl in my marble design compared to the one done in the tutorial but the technique was completely the same.  I love this design as the effect comes out different on each nail and you can swirl the nail polish anyway you choose which injects a bit of personality into the overall look.

 

The beauty of this nail art design is that you don't even need any nail art tools - just a couple of nail polishes (I used 4 different colours), a base coat, top coat and some cocktail sticks.  It's a super simple concept that creates such a strikingly stunning nail art look. 

Products used from L to R: Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat, OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener, Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in the shade Blue Grape, bright pink Kelly Brook Nail Polish (available from New Look), Barry M Nail Paint in the shade Foil Effect (gold), Barry M Nail Paint in the shade Matt White and cocktail sticks.  

All I did to create this look was start off with my OPI Nail Strengthener base coat and I then applied one coat of Barry M's Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in the shade Blue Grape.  Afterwards, doing each nail one at a time starting with my thumb nail, I applied some blobs of my Barry M nail polish (the same one I mentioned in the previous sentence) onto my nail followed by blobs of Kelly Brook's nail polish in a bright pink shade and then some blobs of Barry M's Nail Paint in the shade Foil Effect (Gold) and finally some blobs of Barry M's Nail Paint in the shade Matt White.  Once I was all blobbed out, I grabbed a cocktail stick and swirled it through the wet nail polish which created a marvellously dreamy marble effect.  After I had done this blobby/cocktail stick routine on each nail, I finished off the design with a slick of Seche Vite's Dry Fast Top Coat and I was good to go!

This nail art look essentially gives you a very similar finish to water marble nail art but without the clean up or sellotape prep that you would have with the water marbling process for your nails.  Don't get me wrong, I love doing water marbling on my nails but it can be quite fiddly and sometimes a little messy around the nail.

It took me about 25 minutes to achieve this WAH Nails marble design which just makes it even more amazing if you ask me - it's quick, it's simple, it's easy, you don't need any fancy tools and it looks so incredibly striking that you'll be getting compliments all day!

Here's the WAH Nails YouTube tutorial which I was referring to in this post, check it out:

Let me know what you think about this nail art design, I'd love to hear from you!

Eye-Catching Nail Art

It's pretty obvious by now that I'm partial to a bit of nail art, it's kind of my obsession.  If I had it my way I would get my nails done every week at WAH Nails and be some kind of nail-art-wielding legend.  However, a weekly trip to WAH Nails is just not possible - mostly due to the fact that it would be INSANELY expensive (if worth it) but there is no way that I could justify spending that much money on my nails on a weekly/fortnightly or even monthly basis.   

(If you want to know how much I really love WAH Nails then check out the piece I wrote about them for LiveLikeAVIP.com by clicking here).

Anyway, since a regular visit to WAH Nails is not an option for me, it leaves me with no choice but to wipe away those self-pitying tears and do my own nail art - which I do actually enjoy so it's not really that big of a deal (sorry, I'll admit it, I was just trying to get sympathy before!).

In my last post 'Guardians of the Galaxy European Premiere' I forgot to mention how I styled out my nails for the film premiere (I think I was a bit overexcited about the whole situation so my nail art didn't even get a look-in and for which I can only apologise as I have not only let myself down but also all the other nail art enthusiasts around the world - forgive me? Cool. Thanks. I knew you would.). 

The nail art that I opted for didn't really have much to do with Guardians of the Galaxy or any relevance to the Marvel franchise BUT it was bright and in your face which I felt was appropriate for cruising down a red (or blue) carpet.  I went for an eye-inspired nail design which took me about 4 hours to do - I know that some people may think that that's a crazy amount of time to spend on your nails but let's bear in mind that I was watching TV at the same time plus I find doing nail art quite therapeutic so 4 hours of it doesn't really bother me.  Wow, that was a long sentence.  Now that we've covered the fact that 4 hours is a long (but therapeutic) amount of time to spend on your nails, let's check out the finished result:

Eye can see yoooooou!

 

 

 

What do you think - eye-catching enough? (I'm really sorry, I'll quit with the eye puns!).  Drop me a comment and let me know.................or don't and just send me some good vibes - I'll take what I can get!

2014: The Year of the Nail Art

New year, new nails - or at least that's the idea!  Now that it's insanely cold (I am just nowhere near ready for the snow to make it's chilly appearance) the only thing that's getting me through this frosty weather is having some fun nail art to display to the world (and by the world, I mostly just mean me and a handful of work colleagues who have to put up with me unsubtly waving my nails in front of their eyes so that they can acknowledge my handiwork). 

My New Year's eve nails (below) are not that exciting but that's due to the fact that I left it until the last minute to do my nails so I really only have myself and lack of time keeping skills to blame, such a rookie error - I feel so ashamed!

 



Freakin' loved the blue holographic nail polish though which was a sneaky purchase from Wah Nails in Topshop's flagship Oxford Circus store!

My next nail treat for 2014 was based on my five-year-old self's role mode - Jasmine, as in Jasmine of 'Aladdin and Jasmine' fame!  All I ever wanted was a flying carpet to sing 'A Whole New World' on but I was deprived of that joy because apparently flying carpets don't actually exist or whatever!  Here's my Jasmine nails for you to have a peep at:

 



My next nail art session involved smiley faced clouds with rainbows, cherries, camouflage, polka dots and a double French design. People have been loving this at work, even though I feel that my clouds look more like clowns (which is not ideal seeing as clowns terrify me!).

 



I was actually lucky enough to get my nails done at Wah Nails at the beginning of December which was sort of a dream come true as I'm not going to lie  to you, it's so nice to get your nails done by someone who actually knows what they're doing!  I even went all out and got acrylics - I don't like to brag but I kind of live life on the edge!



 

I just now need to figure out my next nail art designs to make sure that 2014 becomes 'The Year of the Nail Art' - because every year needs some kind of dramatic title, right?!





Halloween Nails

Here are my Halloween-themed nails from last week:

Right Hand

Left Hand

I used nail decals for the pumpkin faces and sugar skulls which I'd bought from Etsy. The nail decals are so easy to use and look really effective, they're also cheap which is just an added bonus! I did the Frankenstein's monster faces, blood drip, and 'BOO' all freehand, using a mixture of my Wah Nail Art pen, red and white nail polishes and a dotting tool. These Halloween nails are definitely one of my favourite nail designs so far as they were so easy and quick, they also look pretty decent which makes me love them all the more! 

*HAPPY (BELATED) HALLOWEEN*

.........GRRR. ARGH.

More Nails

So this is how my nails have been looking over the last couple of weeks:

LAST WEEK

THIS WEEK

Yep, in case you were wondering I am definitely addicted to nail art. But I'm ok with that as long as it means my nails look pretty.

Fancy Nails!

I've recently started making my own nail transfers which I think I've already mentioned in a previous post. I genuinely can't get over what a good idea it is, especially for people like me who aren't blessed with a steady hand when it comes to painting nails, it turns out that I'm the least ambidextrous person in the entire universe!

Anyway here's my nails from last week:

I personally love the googly eyed design! Oh, and the tuxedos! Hence why all my nails are teeny tiny tuxedos this week:

Let's be honest now, EVERYBODY loves Raymond a teeny tiny tuxedo, AM I RIGHT?!

This will definitely do until I can afford to get my nails done at WAH Nails!