This week’s 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge is either brush stroke or favourite brand. Having not done a brush stroke manicure before, that was my immediate choice. I wasn’t sure how – or if – it differed from a distressed manicure, so I had a quick search to find out more. In searching, I […] Read more
For the Polish Party theme for November, the vote was tied equally between autumn and weather. I’ve gone with autumn as I’ve had the idea for these nails ever since I did my autumnal stripes with the same polishes. Because of that manicure, I knew that the polishes would gradient well. They are all Barry […] Read more
E is for elegant in this week’s A2Z series challenge. The problem with this theme is that it’s very subjective and all in the interpretation. One nail polish addict’s ‘elegant’ is another’s ‘crude’ or ‘plain’. The most elegant nails I think I’ve ever done are some gold stamping over a burgundy Chanel polish. I thought […] Read more
I usually do stripes using nail vinyls, but these nails were done using smART nails stencils. They work in exactly the same way, but perhaps are a little better for those who aren’t so confident with evenly spacing vinyls as these are spaced out for you. The base is 3 coats of Revlon Bare Bones, […] Read more
It’s week 8 in the 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge and the choices are brown and books. I chose brown, and my attempts were fraught with initial annoyance. I painted a gradient a few days ago. But I didn’t like it. It looked OK on my nails from a distance, but the photos showed […] Read more
For D this week in the A2Z series challenge the prompt is dark. I was pushed for time, so I created a fairly plain manicure using George Deceit and some hexagonal silver studs. I bought Deceit along with three other polishes at the weekend. I was in an unfamiliar town, killing time while my son […] Read more
I have another smART nails stencils manicure today. This one is P017, and I don’t really know how to describe it. It’s a sort of zigzag, but looks like some scary pointed fang teeth as well! Actually, I’ve just checked on the smART nails website, and they’re called “big teeth”, so I was right! I […] Read more
It’s either wild animals or yellow (or both) for this week’s 52 Week Pick n Mix Challenge. I stuck with just the yellow theme and started with a pale yellow to mustard gradient. I used my palest yellow, Max Factor Mellow Yellow; then Collection 2000 Lemon Soda for the central yellow; and finally Barry M […] Read more
In the A2Z series challenge we’re on to C and the theme is Copy Cat. I’ve copied a manicure from one of my very favourite nail arstists, NAILBamboo. She’s Russian and so I rarely read what she writes (Google Translate is not much help), but her photography is exquisite and her manicures are flawless. I’ve […] Read more
I’ve bought and used smART nails stencils for my manicures quite a few times before, and the company that makes them noticed and asked if I would review some for them. I decided to try out one of the more complicated stencils. This is P053, which has some swirly lines on it that go off […] Read more