'insert name' holo bar glitter franken?!?!

Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a nice weekend. With my dissertation handed in this is my first weekend in ages where I have felt a little bit more relaxed! I went for dim sum today and then ventured into Oxford Street to look for a new outfit for some upcoming job interviews but I couldn't find anything I liked. I even came away from Topshop with no nail polishes so all in all it was a pretty rubbish day shopping wise but I guess I've saved myself a few pennies.

I'm sure UK folk will agree we've been having some pretty awful weather lately. We're almost in May and I still put my central heating on and I'm still wearing my down coat or as I call it my sleeping bag coat! With the sun playing hide and seek I've also not felt much urge to take pictures of my nails and so I'm pretty behind with swatching new polishes.

I still have to swatch the new Barry M's but in the meantime I want to show you a 'franken' I made using holographic bar glitter I picked up when I bought the microbeads a few weeks back for the fish egg mani.

I don't really want to call this a franken because all I did was put all the glitter I bought into an unused Boots 17 glittery top coat I had lying in my drawer and hoped for the best. Thankfully the colour didn't bleed from the glitter so the clear base remains and I can layer it over difference polishes.
Here it is two coats over CC's Bluetopia. What do you think? What shall I call it?

IRL it is very sparkly which I've failed to capture!

And if you were wondering what this looks like matte...

This has definitely inspired me to try more frankens but the hassle of finding good glitter makes me think I should leave it to the people who are good at it...

Barielle Myrza's Meadow

Taking a quick break from my dissertation and just found this in my drafts and thought I'd upload it as I've not done any swatches since my middle nail broke! I wore this a few weeks back and if I remember correctly the formula was a bit naff and the overall finish without a top coat reminded me of mushy peas and my lecturer of baby sick (nice!). There are little bits of holo glitter throughout and these really came to life in the sun. Still love it though because it's quite unique.
Have you got this? What do you think?

Vote for me! Please :-)

I've just entered my MMM nails

in to Avon UK's Perfectly Polished Nailwear competition! If you like them please please vote for me! You can vote here. I'm number 130. When you vote you'll have to enter a name and an email address, obviously for marketing, so if you don't want to give these details I understand! Thanks muchly!!! xxx

Blue Jeans White Shirt....Barry M Denim

No wordy post from me again, my dissertation is making me lose the will to live and to write! I promise once it is handed in next week things will change! Anyway just a quick swatch of Barry M Denim I did before I broke my nail. The important things to say about this polish is that it dries to a matte finish and the formula is uh-maz-ing. What you are seeing on my fingers is just one coat! And also I guess it does look a little like Denim. Enjoy.

Blue with silver flecks!

With a glossy top coat

NOTD

Last night I painted my nails using a Color Club polish I picked up as part of a set in TK Maxx. After applying a coat of Seche Vite I went to bed only to find the polish had receded quite badly by the morning. Receding is nothing new especially when using Seche Vite but I do find Color Clubs suffer the most. So not wanting to remove it all I decided the easiest way to remedy the problem was to paint some funky tips.

I used some nail guides I bought from eBay and painted the tips using Ch G For Audrey. It's quite Summery don't you think?

Enjoy your day!

Stamping Tips, Advice, Recommendation

Hi guys I'm thinking about trying my hand at stamping/konading during the summer but I have no idea where I should start. I've been tempted by some cheap bits from eBay and various overseas stores but should I get a starter set from Konad first? What essentials do I need? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Ax

Does anyone like TOOL?... nail art

Attempt number one

Original Artist: Alex Grey for Tool Lateralus

Fish Egg Friday

The Brand That Shall Not Be Named really pi**ed people off with their demands the other day so much so it has made bloggers around the world unite to give them and their overpriced beads in a bottle a two fingered salute. Some will agree and some will disagree with the brands conduct but whatever your thoughts today is about raising more awareness on how you can achieve 'that look' for next to nothing and to display our own DIY efforts.

So here's my third fish egg mani

Did you know that back in Feb 2011 celebrity manicurist Pattie Yankee with Dashing Diva created the Caviar manicure for the Cushnie et Ochs show at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.You can read about it at The Polish Exchange.

There is nothing difficult about creating this fish egg manicure, all you need is some polish, some microbeads and a little tray to catch excess beads. Firstly paint all your nails with one coat of polish. Then one nail at a time paint another layer of polish then sprinkle the microbeads on. Slow drying polish work best as it gives you a little more time to get the beads on. Once you're happy with coverage gently pat the beads and push them in around the edges. Do this for all your nails and you're done! Check out Lucy's tutorial if I've confused you!

Where can I buy microbeads from?
If you're living in the UK you may find some in a local craft shop. I found a small pot for £1.50 and I have seen little packets of them for £1.70. In the US I heard Michael's sell them. They're also available online for next to nothing. Check Viva la Nails, Born Pretty Store or eBay/Google. The search terms I use for Google and eBay are: Nail Art, Micro beads, Bead balls

Now you've seen my effort check out other DIY fish egg manicures by these lovely ladies:
Sammy from The Nailasaurus
Salla from OMG! Polish 'em!
Esther from Fab Fingertips
Jeanette from The Swatchaholic
Emily from The Lacquerologist
Danielle from Polish. Glitter. Rock & Polish
Susan from The Subtle Shimmer
Melissa from Adventures of a Nail Tech
Ivana from Ivana Think Pink
A Lacquered Affair
Cristina from  Let Them Have Polish
Stephanie from Sincerely Stephanie
Tiffany from 2 The Last Drop
Jen from The PolishAholic
Goose from Goose's Glitter
Sandra from The Black Pearl Blog
Have you created a fish egg manicure today? If so post your links!xx

New Barry M's

Just a quick post to show you some Barry M polishes I picked up from Superdrug today. I'm assuming they're new as I have never seen them before.

Silvery Lilac, Copper, Denim, Black Multi Glitter (not very exciting names!)

DL dupe?

Black with tiny holographic glitter!

Aren't they gorgeous?! There was another new polish called Teal which was an Aqua duochrome but gave that a miss today. Have you picked any of these up yet?

Models Own Hed Kandi Ibiza Mix

Hello everyone!
So I had planned to upload this post yesterday but after an ugly turn of events which I'm sure you're all aware of I'm only just getting round to doing it now. I've have already shown you two polishes from the Models Own Hed Kandi collection, Balearic Cool and Hedonist which are both pretty stunning not only in colour but application as well. Today I want to show you the third and final bottle I picked up from the collection.

Ibiza Mix is a gorgeous multi-coloured glitter with a clear base. Here I have layered it over Balearic Cool and Hedonist.

The colours are slightly different but really it's not too dissimilar to OPI's Rainbow Collection or DL's Happy Birthday, don't you think? Overall I'm pleased to add another glitter like this to my collection. It dries fast and the glitter stays flat.

Have you picked this up yet?

Annoyed Much!

I just received this email:

"It has come to our attention that you are using the mark caviar manicure and/or caviar nails in relation to a manicure product/method of manicure.

This relates to post on the 30th March ‘Caviar Nails Again’ as per link below:

http://prettydigits.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/caviar-nails-again.html

Brand Agency Limited (Ciate) own the trade marks caviar manicure and caviar nails and we are in the process of applying to register these mark around the world.

Therefore you should not use the trade marks caviar manicure and/or caviar nails unless they are used in relation to products or to a method of using products that are produced by Ciate.

Please confirm once you have removed references to our trade marks from your website."

Are they serious? Have you received an email like this?
It makes me wonder whether they're annoyed people can recreate the same look for less than £3 and won't be buying their sets. I certainly won't be!

I will be consulting my lawyer friend regarding this

**Update Another email:

"Please don’t feel offended by this email, the reason behind it was simply to protect the trademark and avoid any confusion from the point of view of our customers. Apologies if this has caused any upset. If I can help with anything further please let me know."

I think it's too late now the damage has been done.
Will be removing my 'Jewel' swatch in case I get sued for that.

***Update
I've been made aware by the blogging community that the 'Caviar' look was first created by Dashing Diva way back last year and was blogged about by ThePolishExchange and The Blay Report

Models Own Hed Kandi Hedonist

If you thought Balearic Cool was bright check this out! Hedonist is an eye-searing retina-burning pink neon which is so bright my camera got confused and thought it was an orange neon. And unlike Belearic Cool this is much more opaque and one coat is enough for perfect coverage. It dries to a matte/satin finish so a top coat is a must for those of you who prefer a glossy finish.

No top coat

My eyes!!

With top coat

I assure you that this is neon pink and not orange!

Neon glow.

I can't really see myself wearing this alone. I'd probably add a fun design or a black crackle polish to tone it down a bit. Do you like neon polishes?

Models Own Hed Kandi Balearic Cool

Today I want to show you one of the polishes I bought from the Models Own Bottle Shop in Westfield, it's Balearic Cool from their Hed Kandi Collection. This bright aqua polish is pretty in your face and definitely screams for attention.

Looking at it in the bottle I thought it would be a cream finish but it's actually a bit sorbet-esque. After about 3 coats you can still see my nail line peeping through underneath so I guess if that's not your thing then I would suggest using a white base. I would also recommend a white base if you have yellow nails because this might end up look a bit green. I highly recommend this if you don't have anything like this in your stash as it's fast drying and super glossy. Definitely a good purchase! What do you think of the new Hed Kandi Collection?

Naked Nails

No really here is a picture of my nails with only a base coat!

FYI My nails are usually a lot shorter for work!

It's not often you see what lies beneath but I thought I'd show you what I see most days. I don't wear polish when I'm working which makes me extra conscious of what my nails look like naked. I try to minimise yellowing by using the old toothpaste and bicarb technique as well as a bit of gentle buffing. Once in a while I might soak my nails in water which has a denture cleaning tablet dissolved in it. I also use Orly Cutique primarily as my cuticle remover but it's supposed to remove stains as well though I'm not entirely convinced it does.

To moisturise my cuticles I use mainly Burt's Bees Lemon Butter and a Superdrug cuticle oil containing vitamin E. I suffer from dry skin all over and my hands are no exception. They particularly suffer when I'm working as I wash them so much but my go to hand cream which offers much relief is the light texture Neutrogena fast absorbing hand cream. I have a pump bottle of the stuff which I carry everywhere!

Anyway a bit of a random post! 

How do you look after your nails?

TGIF - Westfield and Matte Nails

Today I took a little trip to Westfield (SB) with Mr PD for some lunch and a spot of shopping. First off I visited the new Models Own bottle shop and picked up a few of the new Hed Kandi polishes which were sold out in my local Boots.

I love the bottle shaped stand and the sales advisers were lovely and friendly. 

I then went into Topshop (this store makes me feel old with its uber young and trendy customers) and these rings caught my eye.

I thought they'd be great for when I swatch the ChG OMG collection. Mr PD said he'd buy them for me if I wanted them but at £8.50 I said no and also the small size was still way too big for my fingers!

In TK maxx (not in Westfield) I found a bottle of Essie Matte About You for £3.99. I have a bottle of ELF matte polish but it's a bit rubbish which has put me off mattifying my nails in the past but I thought I'd give this a go because it's Essie (my first one) and the quality and finish was bound to be better right? So glad I did because my Glitter on a Blue Moon mani looks amazing matte. What do ya think?

Glitter on a blue moon!

Easter break means 2 weeks off and wearing nail polish yay! and it's especially welcome after doing my first night shift (8pm-8am) yesterday. It went pretty well and thankfully I didn't see any ghosts while I went about my business around the hospital which was a relief LOL.

So when I woke up this afternoon(!!) the first thing I did was paint my nails and here's what I ended up with.

Lush!

Revlon Whimsical needs no introduction but just in case you're new to the nail world it's a pretty good dupe for Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air. Unfortunately it's only available across the pond in Canada and US. Like GITA Whimsical is very sheer, the blue base is hardly noticeable until about 4 coats and even then you can still see your nail line.

Seeing my nail line wasn't an option for me today so I used Barry M's Blue Moon as a base.

3 coats of Blue Moon and 1-2 coats of Whimsical. 

I Love this and think it's perfect for Spring even though I hear there's been snow in some parts of UK today (WTF?!)

Fail and a plea!

Last month I imposed a ban on buying polish and I declared it a 'no buy' month. Predictably I kind of failed and bought two polishes. They weren't just any old polishes, no they were two China Glaze polishes from the OMG collection. Since my little blog started I've been determined to collect all the polishes within a reasonable price. I've stalked eBay snapping up the polishes as they've come and last month two popped up which I needed, BFF and GR8.

So currently I have these

OMG, FYI, GR8, IDK, LOL, DV8, 2NITE, BFF

I'm still after QT, L8R G8R, TMI and TTYL to complete my collect. They're over priced on eBay so this is where my plea comes in. If anyone can get hold of the aforementioned polishes or willing to sell/swap their backups please please PLEASE get in touch! I'm no money bags so can only afford £10 or less. I can get hold or Max Factor Fantasy Fire or other UK brands if you're that way inclined but either way I would be so grateful!!

Am I asking too much? Probably!!

Thanks for reading!