Breast Cancer Awareness Mani: 22nd - Ombre

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and every Wednesday, we wear pink to highlight the cause. Each week has a theme for the manicure, and today's was ombre:

I decided that the cause needed flowers, and my favourite pink gradients are usually done with white. I therefore chose a flower that exists in both colours: roses. I used probably my single most used plate stamp - the roses from Moyou Pro XL 07. With a strong, pink like Mundo de Unas 20 (Fuschia), I thought I'd go for a dark base that's a little less harsh than black - Essie's Luxedo, a midnight plum shade. All I had to do was paint the stamp with MdU 20, Konad white, and then mix where the two met with the wooden end of my nail art brush. I then scraped twice in different directions to ensure the mix of pink of white, then picked it up and voila! A stamped gradient of pink and white roses over plum :)

This isn't perfct - I think it shows that it was my first time doing a gradient stamp, but I rather like its imperfections. It has, more importantly, drawn a lot of comments including from my partner, for whom funky nails are a norm so often go unnoticed.

So, go on: why not give it a go yourself, and see how much fun you can have, and how many people you can discuss Breast Cancer Awareness month with? Just remember to use the following hashtags when posting to Instagram ( I'm boldandbeautyfool btw):

#maniroseenoctubre

#enoctubreusamosrosa

#OnWednesdaysWeWearPink

See you next week for flowers :)

The ingredients: Konad White, Essie Luxedo, Mundo de Unas 20 (Fuschia) and Moyou Pro XL 07

October is Autumn: Day 12 - Lucky Penny (Copper)

So it's Day 12 of She Loves Lacquer Amazing Autumn Mani Challenge, and the colour is Lucky Penny (copper). I have a few polishes in this shade, but one spoke to me much louder than all others - my copper magnetic polish which, with the wave pattern magnet, creates an effect that I refer to as my 'tabby cat manicure'. So, here we have Nails Inc Westminster - the most striking of all their magnetics in my experience!

Nails Inc Westminster (Magnetic) in natural light (no direct sunlight)

Nails Inc Westminster (Magnetic) in natural but dull light

While I do love this polish (and all my other NI magnetics), I get no joy from applying it. It is thick, slow to dry and difficult to apply accurately - even with clean up, this manicure still looks ropey! This is compounded by having to dollop on a thick layer quickly (so fairly inaccurately) in order to get the magnet over it within seconds. So, even after a long drying time this polish is liable to sheeting and scraping damage (SV or HK Girl don't completely save it from this). It's not got great longevity either - I usually get only 24-48hrs chip-free when I wear it, as the formula has been sacrificed to achieve the effect. So, while being a pain and not suitable for regular wear, I still adore these polishes and they are brought out a few times a year. This autumn challenge has been a great excuse to re-air it!

Why not check up on what my fellow participants are up to as well? :)

The ingredients: Nails Inc Westminster (Magnetic). The black is Konad stamping polish, but I'm not presenting the stamped mani in full as I hate it! I was looking for a cat print e.g. tiger or leopard in my collection, but had to settle for giraffe and it doesn't work. The plate was Moyou Pro XL 05.

On Wednesdays We Wear Pink: Glitter

So October 2014 is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and as I found out last Wednesday (thanks to the wonderful Bob Plays With Polish) there is a pink nail challenge on every Wednesday this month in its honour:

My mum beat breast cancer a few years ago, and I am so thankful to the NHS for finding it so quickly and curing her - she is in complete remission after surgery and radiotherapy. I also thank every researcher and medical professional who has made the survival rate so high, having put years of their lives in to finding out more about the disease and thereby how to cure it. I am doing the Race for Life next year, but right now I am part of Go Sober for October, as between my granny's terminal cancer and working in a hospital, I know what valuable work MacMillan nurses do on the front line, caring for cancer sufferers and supporting families who are trying to nurse their own loved ones.

So while I know that this is just a mani, it's worth doing something on your nails to get people talking - to explain the reason to every curious friend, colleague or stranger that comments on how pretty in pink your nails are. Please also use the following hashtags on Instagram, so that it's easier to find everyone's photos and see just how many are taking part:

#enoctubreusamosrosa

#manirosaenoctubre

Also there is the more generic tag of #OnWednesdaysWeWearPink

In artificial light: pink glitter manicure (Nails Inc Monmouth St, Models Own Magenta Divine, Zoya Snow White) for Breast Cancer Awareness month, October 2014

In natural light (no direct sun)

The ingredients (L-R): Zoya Snow White, Model's Own Magenta Divine, Ebay gem wheel and Nails Inc Monmouth Street

It's never too late to join in, so why not join us for polka dots, ombres and flowers for the remaining Wednesdays in October? :)

October is Autumn: Day 5 - Wine (Burgundy)

So the lovely She Loves Lacquer has set this month's challenge: to paint your nails a beautiful autumnal colour depending on the day of the month. Here's her colour scheme below: how sweet and varied is this? :)

So the 5th October called for a red wine colour, so I dug out my O.P.I. Skyfall, from the James Bond collection. It's a rich, deep red creme polish that is very brown-toned. While that may make it look a little boring in the bottle, it goes on like a dream and is a colour that looks good on my skin - I can't quite believe it's the first time I've used it in about 2 years! Like most OPIs, it does goes on easily (opaque in two coats) and lasts well on me. I did however put it on under a low energy light bulb last night, as my cuticle line now shows in the light of day. I really need a good lamp now that the evenings are pitch black again!

OPI Skyfall in natural (but dull) light

OPI Skyfall in daylight (no direct sun)

While this is lovely, I am however itching to stamp it, and am feeling that a gold design is in order... So, I'm sure this post will be updated soon. In the mean time, why not check out how my fellow participants are getting along :) Feel free to share your blog links so that I can see what you are up to as well! Thanks for reading :)

UPDATE: I have indeed added some gold stamping, with Barry M Gold Foil and Moyou Sailor 07. I'm so pleased with this - I had pictured this exact pattern in my mind, but wasn't sure if I owned it. I love it when a plan comes together!

OPI Skyfall, Barry M Gold Foil and Moyou Sailor 07, in natural light (no direct sun)

The ingredients. Does anyone else get this streaking with pure acetone? It doesn't wash off with hot water and liquid soap: I only find normal nail polish remover to work so far.

October Autumn Colour Challenge: (Belated) Day 1 - Moss Green

This month, I will be taking part in Lady Loves Lacquer autumn colour challenge as often as I can.  Sadly her blog is offline at the moment, or I'd share a link and describe the challenge in more detail. I hope she's okay and is back soon!

Day 1's challenge colour was moss green, and I was excited to dust off a colour I haven't worn in over a year, but I love it for its distinctiveness - it's Nails Inc Belgrave Mews, a moss green colour with very subtle copper shimmer when it catches the light.

Nails Inc Belgrave Mews in direct sunlight

As a polish, this lives up to the usual Nails Inc standard - easy to apply, opaque and glossy in two coats, and with a shimmer that just makes me smile. No wonder NI make up 3/4 of my collection really!
.

So, being me, I wanted to stamp this mani (although that's not part of the challenge itself). I chose Nails Inc Westminster (magnetic) to stamp with, as it's a lovely copper colour. In fact, when I wear it using the striped magnet, I refer to it as my 'tabby cat polish'! Despite me remembering all the magnetics as thick and opaque, I found that this was a temperamental and thin beast that required gentle scraping, but oddly enough that worked in my favour. Just as the copper shimmer in this polish is subtle and faint, so too was this stamping over the top, and it's made for a manicure that is even more pretty than it photographs, and is only really visible to other people when it catches the light.

Nails Inc Belgrave Mews stamped with Nails Inc Westminster magnetic and Pueen Encore SE02B. Taken in direct sunlight.

Nails Inc Belgrave Mews stamped with Nails Inc Westminster magnetic and Pueen Encore SE02B. Taken in indirect daylight.

All in all, I'm really pleased with this mani and these two polishes, but I wouldn't use a magnetic again without taking the time to test run it on an outgoing mani, paper, or a painted nail wheel. I'm also surprised at my last of autumnal, leafy patterns among my plates. I seem to have 90% flowers, 5% butterflies, and 5% other stuff! I really need to try and shit on my hands and not just browse Moyou and spend another fortune...

The ingredients: Nails Inc Belgrave Mews and Nails Inc Westminster (Magnetic)

Leaf pattern from Pueen Encore plate SE02B

Farewell Stamping September, Hello Autumn Colours!

So, yesterday was my last manicure for Tina's September Stamping Challenge. It was a choose your own day, and I wanted to do a technique-oriented manicure; I had a few ideas on my head, but settled on a multi-coloured stamping technique and a theme from a day I had missed - Day 5, birds.

So, peacocks were the name of the game. I first painted my nails gold with Zoya's Richelle, and got my Moyou plate ready - Pro XL 05. I decided blue and green were the most in-keeping with the peacock colour scheme, so took two Mundo de Unas polishes out for a spin - #3 Navy Blue and #38 - Neon Green. I dobbed both colours on the image, scraped twice to mix them, and then stamped them on my nails. I think the more mixed nails looks better (the unmixed green on my little finger irks me), but it's not bad for a first attempt I don't think!


Taken in direct sunlight:

With flash:

Ingredients:

So, I have a mani of my choice, with a theme of Tina's choice, and using a gold base that will no doubt return again in the Lady Loves Lacquer October Mani Challenge. I look forward to taking part, and seeing what everyone is wearing. This month has been a lot of fun though: thanks Tina for setting up and running the challenge. It's been a blast! :)

Stamping Challenge Day 29: My Choice

So, it's almost the end of the stamping challenge, and it's Tina's 'Your choice' days. Having missed so many of the set themes due to lacking plates for the days I was free, I decided I should do a catch up, so I am going for Day 17 - Candy.

I loved Tina's candy manicure - colourful, sweet and old school. I have no directly relevant plates, so went for the old wrapper of a sweet I have been craving these past few days - a strawberry cream from Cadbury's Roses. Sadly, Google isn't providing me with an image of the wrapper from my childhood - a closely wrapped cerise pink foil with roses stamped over it, so a modern wrapper with it plastic pink cover and print of the word 'Roses' will have to suffice as a poor second:

So, this one I created with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Pink Fast, Konad White and Moyou Pro XL 12. I was in a rush, so haven't photographed my tools - apologies!

In direct sunlight:

With flash:

Moyou Pro XL 12 (Moyou's own picture) - bottom row 3rd image:

This Insta-Dri pink is lovely (although the bottle is ugly and the brush is terrible to use). For £1, it is a great stamper, and actually seems to last a few days without chipping - something fast dryers rarely do. I'm definitely getting my money's worth out of this one!