Dripping Paint

Here is a technique I have wanted to try for a long time - the dripping paint technique! I got a bit sidetracked doing an essay, and started looking at my nail polishes... Hence, a little bit of nail art!! So, after a couple minutes break, I was typing away again with newly polished nails, extremely satisfied with my result.

This is Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? over Mermaid's Tears, both OPI. You can see Mermaid's Tears on it's own on the post before this one! Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? is a lovely colour - a cross between a grey and a cream? The description 'dusty/dirty cream' springs to mind? Sorry, my mind has gone blank with ways to describe this!!

Originally I was only going to do the dripping effect on my ring fingers as accent nails, therefore doing two coats of the grey/cream.

But, when I saw the result of my two ring fingers and realised it was so quick and easy to do, I couldn't help myself and painted the rest of my fingers! I only used one coat for the rest of my fingers.

To create the effect I simply wiped off the nail varnish inside the bottle and then turned the OPI brush on it's side - picking up some of the polish running down inside and created 3 or 4 lines on my nail - just going over halfway on some lines. I tried to do a variety of line lengths to create the paint dripping effect. I then filled in the gaps and sealed with a topcoat - Ta dahh!

I will definitely do this technique again - I love it - I had quite a few compliments today too!! I will also like to experiment this with different base colours and also alternate the colours; dripping from the top of the nail and dripping from the base.

Hope you like this quick and easy design!

Mermaid's Tears - OPI

Hello!!

This is Mermaid's Tears, one of my new OPIs that I bought at TKMaxx last weekend. Mermaid's Tear's is a beautiful green from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection.

This is such a gorgeous colour, however I found the formula of the polish on the runny side - as my nails are very curved, I found it running down the sides and onto my fingers and the crevasses of my nails. This was 4 coats but was only really a 2 coater, my nails were quite rough to start with so used more coats to get them completely smooth! All in all, another great OPI polish!

I have also returned to using the Barry M Base coat, Topcoat & Nail Hardener All In One! I used this so much but it completely ran out!! Luckily my friend bought me a new one so I use this as a base coat, and continue to use my Sally Hansen topcoat as I love how much faster it makes the polish dry!!!

In the majority of lights, Mermaid's Tears it is a slightly dusky green with a hint of mint! Love it!! I have also cut my nails, you may notice quite a bit shorter than I normally have - I carefully shaped them  in a square with slightly soft corners. I love my nails when they are long but find they can become a nuisance when they get a bit too long!!

How long do you like your nails to be?

New OPI Polishes

Hello!

A trip to TKMaxx is never complete without a good look and study at the nail polishes! So.. Here is 2 new polishes that were a ridiculous £9.99 for the set - what a bargain!!! Now, before I reveal the names of the two, can you guess what they are called?

Any guesses?!

The pretty pearly pink is 'Come To Poppy' and the gorgeous green is 'Mermaid Tears' (check out that alliteration!!) I have wanted Mermaid Tears for quite a while so I couldn't resist buying this set after spotting it! Also, after seeing a picture on Instagram of a Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh? and Mermaid Tears combo I had my heart set on this brilliant colour! And who doesn't love a bit of Pirates of the Caribbean?!

I will be trying both of these very soon, I am SOO excited!!

Kim-pletely In Love - Nicole By OPI

Following Khloe Had A Little LamLam, here is another Kardashian Kolor. This light pink polish is called Kim-pletely In Love, and has a blue teal shimmer to it. I borrowed this polish from my friend, excited to try another Kardashian Kolor!

I was unsure what it would look like on my nails, as I prefer dark colours, but this is just so pretty, it is hard not to like it!!

Despite the gorgeous colour, you need A LOT of coats. I mean, a lot. I was planning on putting a quick coat of white down before applying Kim-pletely In Love but my white is rather thick and I wanted to do my nails quickly. So, this is a base coat, and an unnecessary amount of polish, finished with one top coat.

Not only was the colour very translucent, it was also very thin; also contributing to the amount of coats I had to apply. Personally, I do not like to see my nail line after applying polish, so applied coats to eliminate this.

I painted my nails late at night so I didn't see the full effects of the gorgeous shimmer - I hope in the close-up pictures you can see the blue shimmer, it is amazing!

I wasn't that impressed with the formula, as I found it very different from my other OPIs (which apply like a dream!) but I feel that the colour makes up for it. Ho-hum, the shimmer is beautiful in the sunlight!!!

I would recommend this polish, along with the advice "use a white first!" as I honestly love the colour and the cool shimmer. (After using one polish of hers, I think me and my friend are even with all the years of using my nail polish!! Whoops!) I also think that the polish looks amazing with my new ring, in the sale at Topshop!!

Khloe Had A Little Lam-Lam - Nicole by OPI

This is Khloe Had A Little Lam-Lam, a Kardashian Kolor from Nicole by OPI. As you can see it is a beautiful, rich dark green, and is a polish I ADORE! I bought this from ASOS a couple of months ago along with Kendall On The Katwalk, a blue and green glitter. Before they arrived, I had only seen front on pictures of the bottle, so it took me by surprise when they arrived! I think the bottle is absolutely brilliant, along with the polish!

I am a fan of the Kardashian's, but it was only in the last few months when I started reading nail blogs that I discovered that they had a range of polishes out with Nicole by OPI, Kardashian Kolor.

I think this was 3 coats (with a base coat) - I couldn't stop painting as I love the brush too much! - but I have previously worn it with only 2 coats, and applied carefully it could be a one-coater!!

I found Khloe Had A Little Lam-Lam quite tricky to capture the intensity of the gorgeous colour in a photograph, as it looks different in the sunlight and the shade!

Like OPI, I found the brush gave a perfect application and was a dream to paint with! I love wearing dark colours so I will be wearing this A LOT!

I added 2-3 coats of topcoat to really bring out the colour and shine. I often only find it with glitters, but with this colour I just can't stop looking at it! :-)

Bloomsbury Square - Nails Inc (better photos!)

As I said in my earlier post today, I was going to apply another layer of topcoat over Bloomsbury Square by Nails Inc. 

I ended up adding two coats, making a total of 3 layers of topcoats, and as I'm sure you can see, it made the glitter come alive!!

Now looking at the previous pictures, I love them even more after applying the topcoats (I didn't realise it was possible till after!)

I honestly can't stop looking at my nails, and it looks even more amazing in the sunshine now! :-)

Bloomsbury Square - Nails Inc

This is Bloomsbury Square by Nails Inc - a superb 3D glitter that I LOVE!

This is two coats of Bloomsbury Square (without a base coat) and a topcoat. I think I will put another topcoat on to make it even more shinier.

I had no faults applying this - the glitter application was even and would look brilliant after one coat on top of another colour. This is the first time I have used this polish as a full manicure, the only other time I used it was for an accent nail with Barry M's Berry Ice Cream. I have found that this is quite thick compared to regular polish, but I think this is common with glitter polishes, which I don't often wear!!

It was very difficult to capture the brilliant intensity of the glitter, but I'm sure you can gather, it looks AMAZING in the sun!

Big Apple Red - OPI

Hello :-)

Sorry I haven't had a chance to post recently, I've been a bit busy and haven't had a chance to upload any nail posts! So here comes two!

This is OPI Big Apple Red, a brilliant red that I absolutely adore! There is no questioning this as an orangey or pinky red - IT'S RED!

This is a base coat, and about 3 coats - I annoyingly dented my thumb and I didn't want that nail to look any different to the rest, so regrettably painted all of them again! It was perfect in two coats but silly me didn't leave it long enough to dry - I don't think the surprise of hot weather and sunshine in England had sunk in!

I did have a little bit of tip wear, but polish aside, I wasn't very happy with myself doing this manicure; I didn't leave it to dry properly hence the many unnecessary coats!

So please excuse the mistakes, but I hope you can see how fab the red polish is!