Summer gradient with stamping

Hello lovelies! 
 
Ugh I've been so bad at posting recently. I've been sooooo tired after being so busy I just haven't had the energy. Plus I hate taking photos when it's drizzly and grey outside. I like seeing my manis in the sunshine! 
 
Anyway! I did this pretty gradient using China Glaze - Sunshine Pop, China Glaze - Lighthouse, Cult Nails - Seduction and Essie - Bossa Nova. I loveeeeddd the way this gradient turned out. It all went balls up when I stamped on it though. This image was from the DRK B plate which unfortunately doesn't seem to work for me. I think the images are too deep or something. Which is a bummer. If you step back from the computer and view this from afar it looks okay, but once you see it close up you realise how rubbish and smudged the design went. Wahhh. So this is a partial fail. Boo.
 
I still liked it though! :)
 
 










I'm getting better at gradients. I may try another one soon!

Also - there are about 8 hours left to enter my Giveaway! I'm so excited about this! I can't wait to see who wins! EEP!

What do you think? Have you ever ruined a really good base mani with rubbish stamping?

Thanks for looking.

Aimee x

Little Owls!

Hello! How are you all? :) Wonderful I hope! 

So I ordered from the Cult Nails sale a while ago. I got Feel Me Up  and Hypnotize Me. I'm such a sucker for yellow that I had to try it out IMMEDIATELY! It's SUCH a pretty yellow. I love the way yellow looks on me and the formula is just great. This is three coats I think.

I also got some of the colours from the China Glaze Safari collection, one of which was I'm Not Lion (fun name) which is a beautiful, quite fine glitter with gold, red and I think some very sparse holo glitter particles. I am ALWAYS impressed by China Glaze glitters. Their formula is always amazing and they're pretty much always opaque in two-three coats with amazing formulas. I've never had a dud glitter from China Glaze. I wish other companies (I'm looking at YOU Butter London) would take note!

So I stamped the little Owl from my DRK B plate using China Glaze - Exotic Encounter and then coloured him in using Chick Nails - Gavie Green, China Glaze - White on White, A-england - Bridal Veil and Cult Nails - Feel Me Up. I also stamped on the yellow with an image from my Dashica SDP B plate using Barry M - Gold Foil. I loveeee the way the little owls turned out. Because the brown is translucent the glitter kind of comes through in the background so he ends up looking like a little mosaic or something. I just put random splashes of the green for the leaves because I wanted it to be a little bit impressionist looking. I also defined his ears with Bridal veil which is holo so it adds to that mosaic look. 

I have loads of other manis to post but I was so excited by this one that I just had to show you right away. I don't want to take it off... hence the little bit of tipwear. Also - sorry about my cuticles. I've been a little under the weather lately and it's really taken it's toll on my skin. Plus I've had a load of gigs recently so I've been playing a lot which leads to thicker callouses and chipping. Ah the things we do for art! Anyone know any good emergency treatment other than Lemony Flutter Cuticle butter that could help me out?

What do you think? I loveeeeee them. Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway! :)

Thanks for looking.

Aimee x

Polka dot scallops with Barry M Denim!

Hallo! How is everyone? I hope you're all okay. I'm super happy today because I finished my dissertation! HOORAY!!!!

For these nails I used Barry M - Denim as a base. It's a super duper beautiful shimmery navy and I loveeee it. The formula is excellent too. I freehanded some scallop shapes (which my friend said looked like boob! >.<) using Orly - Old School Orange, 17 - Woo Me, China Glaze - Gaga For Green, Models Own - Pink Blush and Hot Looks Collection 2000 - Lemon Soda. Then I did some polka dots with China Glaze - White on White. I kind of love it :) 

My pictures are a bit poop. I don't know why. I only realised after I'd taken these off so apologies. :)

What do you think? I loveeee them

Thanks for looking

Aimee x

purple crumpet fairy spring challenge day 19 - spring splatter

So today was my first attempt at a splatter mani. It went pretty awfully as you can see. I tried using pipettes - the type you use in chemistry at school, because I saw it on a blog somewhere, and it just didn't work at all. I ended up with big, gross blobs. Ill definitely try this with straws next time because my co-challengees have done some incredible splatter manicures.

I used:

A-england - Iseult

Models Own - Peach Sherbert

Models Own - Pink Blush

China Glaze - For Audrey

Please check out these other wonderful bloggers also participating in this challenge :)

Fancy Phalanges

Gnarly Gnails

Only Always Soccermom

Purple Fairy Dust

Nail Newbie

Angelina's Nails and More

MeMa's Manis

Pish Posh & Polish

The Crumpet

Geeky Owl

Of Knit and Nails

Bee Polished

Fanning the Fumes

Color Splash Nails

Okay Now Joy

Manicurity

Confessions of a Nail Polish Junkie

Obsessive Compulsive Nail Painting Disorder

Happy Nails

The Girl with the Rainbow Hands

No Junk Nail

Munia's Nails
Nail Polish is my Crack
Polish me Lovely

 

Purple Crumpet Fairy Spring Challenge Number 1 - Valentines!

Happy Valentines Day!

 Or in our case - Happy Steak Day!

This is my first entry for The Purple Crumpet Fairy Challenge - valentines/love. Unfortunately this didn't survive my procrastination cleaning - you know, where you're like 'I am definitely going to get this work done but first I'm going to beeswax the furniture and alphabetise my DVDs'? I didn't feel like being all pink and girly (although I have LOVED the pink and girly nails I've been seeing) so I did something a bit grungy instead. Pink and grey is pretty much the combo I love most - so here is my valentines mani!

Here's what I used:

Sally Hansen No Chip Base Coat

China Glaze - It's Alive!

Chick Nails - Gr8 Grey Owl

China Glaze - Purple Panic (I know it's CALLED purple panic but to my eyes it's definitely pink!)

a-england - Excalibur (for the stamping) 

Seche Vite

Me and my boyfriend are so similar to eachother. We're into pretty much the same things and as such, all presents we buy eachother are presents that we'd want for ourselves too! This is what I got him for Valentines (steak) day:

YEAHHH! Mick Foley's greatest hits and misses! And here's what he got me:

YAYYYY!!!! I still haven't seen this so I'm excited. That makes my Ghibli collection up to date! Hoorah!

I hope you guys have had a great day, whether you're in a relationship or not :)

Thanks for reading

Aimee x

A-england St. George with stamping and freehand. Phew!

This is a-england's super beautiful St. George. I put this on and thought 'I'm going to wear this on its own'. That lasted for about five minutes. I've spoiled myself with nail art and stamping. 

Sunshine!!!

I had to get my boyfriend to take this picture so sorry it's a bit wonky.

Check out that beautiful teal sparkle. This polish is an insanely deep blackened teal with scattered prismatic holo particles. It is stunning. 

So I stamped and dotted and brushed all over it...

I used:

a-england - St. George
Misa - Grey Matters
China Glaze - Dance Baby
HITS - Lindinha (I still hate this polish but I'm determined to find a use for it somehow)
Konad Special Stamping Polish - White


What do you think, should I have left it alone?

Thanks for reading
xx

Holo Ruffian with Stamping AND Zoya Fleck Effect! YAY!

Good evening lovely people! How has your day been? I've been working on my dissertation all day, then I had a phone interview (I'm NOT a phone person!) and then I had to go and deliver my weekly music workshop at school. All I want to do is play Skyrim and paint my nails but alas I am busy all the time. Le sigh.

But paint my nails I did! There are so many things I've been wanting to try. I've had lots of ideas in my head and I want to do them all which is why this manicure has a bit of everything in it! This is my first attempt at a ruffian and I kind of really love how it turned out!

Check out the holo! LOVE!

Flakies! Super subtle, but I love them!

Weird blurry picture to try and capture the holo rainbow.

For these I used:

Sally Hansen No Chip Base Coat
Glitter Gal Silver Holo
China Glaze  - Aquadelic
Zoya - Maisie 
Konad Special Stamping Polish White
Seche Vite

I LOVEEE the Zoya fleck effects. They're so pretty. They're quite subtle. I only used one coat over Aquadelic but you can layer them to make it more exciting. I am also a big fan of the ruffian. I thought I would muck up the line and it'd be a wonky nightmare but I think it turned out okay! The bow stamp is from some cute fauxnads I got from ebay and the little heart rhinestone is from ebay too.

How pretty is aquadelic?! This is pretty much one of my favourite colours ever. That greeny blue pastel thing gets me every time :)

What do you think?

Aimee x

We Stamp on Sundays Glittery Pink Leopard!

Happy Sunday! This is my first ever entry for the 'We Stamp on Sundays' Adventures in Stamping Challenge. The theme this week was a plate ending in 7. I only have two plates ending in 7; M57 and another which I don't really like because it's just tips and I can't really get the hang of tip stamping (just yet). So I used he leopard print from m57 which I LOOOOVEEEE!!!

 Blurry pic to show all the GLITTER!

For these I used:
HITS - Florzinha
a-england - Galahad
Nail Pop - Sequin effect
China Glase - Techno
Konad Special Stamping Polish - Black

I love the colour of Florzinha but I have to tell you, I am SO disappointed in the HITS powerpuff girls polishes. I don't own any other HITS polishes. I bought Flozinha and Lindinha to test out and whilst the colours are so beautiful - florzinha is a beautiful pink with really fine pink shimmer - but the brush .. total pants. It's all over the place and feels like it's made of fishing line or something and the application is so difficult because a. the brush is not precise and b. the formula is a bit rubbish as well - all goopy and draggy. Yuck. These polishes cost $8 - that's about £6.50 so they certainly aren't cheap. They cost more than a China Glaze or a Barry M. I don't really expect a brush to be so rubbish for the amount of money. I really like the other colours but I won't be buying them. Whine/whinge/moan. Has anyone else had this problem with them?

I don't want to finish on a grump so I'm going to tell you about how much I love a-england Galahad! IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL! And it applies like a dream. Similarly, Techno, the glitter from the electropop collection is AH-MAZING. I wasn't that into it when I first saw it. I was like.. meh, it's a glitter. But it's not just a glitter OH NO! It's got great bit and teeny tiny holographic particles and it applies awesomely. Love love love.

Anyway! Sorry for the moan! I hope you like my glitter leopards. I wish glitter leopards were real!

Aimee x

Spotty, purple and stripy!

Hello lovelies :)

So after my big fat nail fail I had to do something else otherwise my nails would have been NAKED! So I did this:

I used:

Sally Hansen No Chip Base Coat
China Glaze - White On White
a-england - Lady of the Lake
a-england - Camelot
China Glaze - Gothic Lolita
Seche Vite

I also used some green striping tape across the middle. They're a bit wonky but I kind of love them!

a-england Lady of the Lake has the most amazing shimmer. I love it so much. I'm going to use it as a full mani next I think. I ordered Dragon and Order of the Garter from the Legends collection and then saw some swatches of St. George and had to order that too! Whoops! :) I can't wait until they arrive!

What do you think?

Aimee x