Sky Nails:

Hi!

Just a quick one today to share how pretty my nails are!

(If I do say so myself)

 I used a blue Barry M background then used two different whites for the clouds.

I first used a white that takes a few coats and then went over in a thick white nail art pen.

I like the effect of the two whites as it looks a bit 3D.

I then used a black nail art pen to create random V birdie shapes.

A matte topcoat worked well with this as it emphasised the 3D clouds.

What do you think of this pretty design?

Would you give it a go?

Love Nina.

Knuckle Tatt Nails!

Hi!

Hope everyone is Ok.

The snow has been horrible in the UK as of late.

I used to love snow until I started working, now its just a pain. 

Nothing worse than being in work and being told all buses home are cancelled!

Anywhoo!

I thought I'd show this little beaut of nail art. 

I went to London at the start of the month and I'm one of these people that if a special occasion happens, I paint nails!

So I found this design in the Wah nail book.

This took me a good 2 hours to do.

I used a pale blue as the base and then my bargain nail art pens I found in Primark.

 The LOVE took a while to do as I had to master writing curves with my left hand!

I then finished off the look with a heart and an anchor for my thumbs.

I think this would look amazing on some pointed false nails!

Does anyone else have the Wah book?

Its amazing!

Love 

Nina xx

Snowflake Nails:

Hello!

So I've had some issues with my laptop recently and it had to be sent away for repairs =[ But now it's back and all better! Yay!

The past month or so has been pretty standard for this time of year. Work has been hectic. I don't know why but people are mean at Christmas! I've never been complained at so much from customers but I guess it's just stress.

I feel like I've really embraced Christmas this year. I've been in a position where I've been able to get people decent present and I cant wait to give them away! All my shopping is pretty much done and I'm going to wrap it all tonight.

 Even my nails are all Christmassy!

I used a makeup sponge for the frosted look and a white nail art pen for the snowflake.

Anyone else sporting snazzy nails this winter?

I plan on posting a lot more this month to try and catch up. My little corner of the Internet has been quite neglected these past couple weeks!

Love Nina xx

Halloween Nails

Hello again!

These are my Halloween nails for this week at work.

 I used Barry M Gold Mine and an orange from the asda nail range.

 For the pumpkin I actually used the end of a match stick!

It was the closest thing to hand that would work! 

I think it worked quite well.

 The Gold Mine polish is a bit of a love hate thing.

I love the effect, black with gold glitter.

The problem is the texture, its very lumpy.

I think I need to invest in a decent top coat to avoid this.

It also chips like crazy!

I painted these last night and by 8am at work they'd chipped.

 But its soo beautiful!

Anyone recommend a good top coat?

Love Nina x

Halloween Happenings!

Hi there!

 Sorry for the absence yet again.

I work a lot of 7-4  shifts, 5 am get-ups make it hard to do anything in my evenings!

Anyways, my mates birthday is close to Halloween so we had a fancy dress night in town!

I decided to go as a skeleton and make my own outfit.

My makeup was the focal point of my costume as it looked badass!

I just used black gel eyeliner and black shadow to create this. 

the smudge detail is what makes it look real!

I looked at images of skulls but primarily used Lady Gaga/ Born This Way as a guide and just winged it.

My costume is a black corset with bone shaped felt sewed on.

For my skirt I cut lengths of black and white fabrics in different textures and tied them to a ribbon waistband.

I loved my look and got a few compliments.

I mostly got weird looks and pointing though!

 Oh!

I also threw in some skeleton nails for good measure.

And made some paper decorations for our front window!

Anyone else adore Halloween?

Love Nina.

Nailed It: Ombre Tiger

Hi!

Currently sat in Starbucks waiting for le fiance at the dentist so thought I'd write in my trusty blog book! 

I'm wondering if they will ever get my name right in this place. 

I have a wonderful collection of photos depicting my many name attempts. 

Today I am Amina, I'll give 'em credit for originality on this one, I normally get Tina!

So anyway, I thought Id share my nails with you.

 I have a friend who is currently working her way through the list of Cute Polish tutorials and I saw that she had ombre nails!

She uses makeup sponges to create the look but I only had cotton wool pads. 

This design is messy! 

Oh my, polish all over my fingers.

I panted my nails the main colour I wanted, then used cotton wool to dab on my second colour. 

I then drew tiger stripes using a liquid eyeliner. 

I don't remember where i read the tip to use eyeliner but it seriously changed my life!

I plan on using this technique many a time with different designs so watch out!

Anyone have any other good nail tips?

Love Nina.

Nailed It! Cath Kidston

I was playing around with some false nails, trying out ideas and designs and decided to give a Cath Kidston look a go. 

I like the brand because it reminds me of my flatmate from uni, she adored the stuff!

So, I basically made it up, I didn't bother looking for a tutorial so if anyone has already done this, I didnt mean to steal any technique!

Polishes I used:
Barry M -Blueberry I/C 044
-Mint Green 106
-Spring Green 118
George (Asda) -Natural White 14
-Cupcake 79

Anyone seeing a theme here?! 

I love Barry M and George nail polishes.

I used the blue base and waited for it to dry completely. 

I then randonly splodged (technical term!) the pink then white on top and swirled it together with a cocktail stick.

Again using a cocktail stick I drew lines of the spring and mint green to make up the leaves.

Finish off with a topcoat.

This look is super easy to create and my own boyfriend thought they were false. Have faith in me boy!

I also made a multicoloured version on false nails.

☼Love Nina

Nailed It! Orange Blossoms

Firstly a little rap on the knuckles to myself for not posting more frequently, I have many reasons but its all an excuse so I'll not even bother!

The weather has been shocking in the UK at the moment, a months rain in a day, flooding, so it's back to jeans and boots for this desperate-for-some-sun girl! This photo is at the front of my sisters house!

So I thought I'd add some colour to the dreary days with some loverly nails!

I absolutely adore anything orange at the moment, I did have my hair orange for a month or so but thats gone now. 

I get bored far too fast! 

So when I saw the shade "Sunset Orange" at Asda, I just had to. 

I applied two coats of this which is good going for Asda, some of the polishes can be quite thin.

I also used an Accessorize nail polish in Pink Spice on my ring finger.

The next product I used is also from Asda, I got it for Christmas a couple years ago but only recently started using it. 

It's a set of various stickers in shapes like flowers, birds and gems. 

They are so simple to use and can turn a simple coloured nail into something special. 

I always get asked about them when I use these.

Im not sure how much they were as they were a present but I spied them recently so they are still sold. 

I think they are aimed at younger kids but I love them!

Keep your eyes peeled when Asda shopping and grab some sparkle!

Does anyone else over-do colour to compensate for the miserable rain?!
☼Love Nina!

Nailed It! Garden Nails:

So, the sun came out in the UK! 

Tis a rare thing so I jumped on the chance to dress summery and go for walks. 

Aswell as this, the sun inspired me to be a bit artsy with my nails.

I decided I would try a yellow and white flower design on my ring finger and keep the rest of my nails a brown colour. 

When I had done this though I felt slightly disappointed. 

I don't know what I was expecting but I just wasn't happy with them! 

So on a bit of a whim I thought I'd jazz them up even more and go full on nature with them! 

I took a blue and green polish and made a grass against sky design. 

I didn't really plan it, I just went with it. 

I used an eyeliner pen I got free in a magazine to outline the design and voila! 

I had garden nails.

Sometimes its more fun to just give it a go instead of planning it carefully.

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the sun. 

I know I am but I'm paying for it now with the rather painful shade of beetroot I've got going on now!

☼ Love Nina.

Nailed It! Freebie Nails Inc:

When perusing the magazines at my local Asda, I spied that InStyle magazine were giving away full size Nails Inc polishes. 

Score! 

The magazine cost £3.80, much better than the usual £11 price tag. 

There were a choice of three summer shades and after a lot of umming and arring I chose Bluebell. 

The other colours looked a little watery in the bottle. 

Bluebell is the most beautiful blueish toned lilac I have ever seen. 

I used it as soon as I got home! 

The consistency was amazing, one coat was enough but I used two for good measure.

On a recent trip to Manchester I picked up the Topshop Nail Tattoos from the Sisters Of The New Moon collection. 

I used a large sparrow design over the top of Bluebell and it looked really pretty. 

I thought the tattoos would go horribly wrong but after a quick blast under the tap it had transferred instantly! 

I cant wait to try some of the other designs.

I'm not sure if by the time I put this up the offer with InStyle will still be on  but f it is, I highly recommend Bluebell.

Thanks for your time,

☼love Nina.

Nailed It: Leopard Nails:

Anyone who knows me 

is well aware of my love for nail art. 

I'm always updating as I paint my nails every couple of days. 

I like to think that I give it a good go and do it quite well.

 People, at work especially, always compliment me. 

Very flattering I must say! 

So it won't be a surprise to anyone that most of my posts on this blog will be about nails. 

It seemed right that my first real post will be about this. 

So, without further ado here's some snazzy nails!

Leopard Nails:

I have done hand painted leopard nails twice now, one was a while ago and the other was today.

The first is the more colour accurate version.

I used Barry M 320 (gold), MNY 461 (bronze), and the Topshop Nail Art Pen in black. 

This is a very easy look to achieve but I have to say I was disappointed with the Topshop pen.

It is hard to dispense the polish as you have to push down on the tip.

The line tends to be quite thick and clumsy.

I have used it three times and been let down each time. 

Instead of the Topshop pen, in the second look I used a cheap liquid eyeliner and had much more control over the design.

In this look I used two George (Asda) nail polishes in 14 Natural White and 31 Groove, the latter of which is a lovely bright pink but you need about 5 coats.

The second look is a lot braver and a bit tacky but the sun was out and I was all for crazy!

If anyone happens across this I hope you liked it, I'll have a lot more nail posts coming. 

☼Love, Nina.