NOTD : Thistle Gradient

Hey there everyone ! So it's Friday (finally) but no rest for me this weekend as I've still got plenty of work I need to finish up and hand in ! Still, I'll try and do my nails both tomorrow and Sunday, hopefully I'll have time to do them ! Today's nails are just relatively simple, didn't want to do anything too fancy as it was already quite late into the evening when I finished dinner and actually sat down to do my nails !

So as some of you may know (or if you happen to have passed through Google today), it's Saint Andrew's day, the official national day of Scotland ! I was originally going to stick with blue and white nails, after all, they are the traditional colours of Scotland and the Scottish flag, but in the end I ended up looking up photos of thistles, and instead went with a relatively simple thistle-inspired gradient !

For this gradient, the nail varnishes I used were Essie Splash of Grenadine for the purple, and the greeny colour is OPI Mermaid's Tears. For the gradient, I started with a base of the Essie colour, and then I painted on strips of both the colours I wanted in the gradient straight onto a makeup sponge, and just dabbed it over each nail until I got the desired gradient. Simples !

And that's all for today's post everyone ! I hope you like my slightly alternative take on Saint Andrew's day nails ! I really like how the colours work together, and I think the gradient is quite Summer-appropriate, as opposed to what you may expect in almost-December ! OMG Christmas is so soon, I can't wait !

See you tomorrow everyone ! Have a great day !

NOTD : Dotty Swirls

Well hello there everybody ! I'm back with a brand new NOTD for you all ! Happy times ! Plus today is an extremely good day as the two presentations I had to do this week are all done with (except now I've got an Italian presentation to do next Tuesday), so now all I've got left are 3 essays ! Yaaaaaay feel the enthusiasm ! Anyway, I figured today was a good day to do my nails, and I'm super happy with how they turned out !

So this design is based on an idea my mum had when giving me inspiration for my nails ! She always has the best ideas ! I decided to go with a black and white design as I haven't done anything that's plain black and white for ages (or not that I can remember in any case) ! I also wanted something quick and simple and black and white is pretty much the easiest colour combination to not have to think about !

The two polishes I used for this design were American Apparel T-Shirt, and American Apparel Hassid. For the actual design, I just used two different ends of a dotting tool, one large and one small and created a swirly pattern ! Easy !

And that's it for today everyone ! I'm really tired now, so I'm going to finish up some reading for one of my essays and then go to bed and maybe watch some TV, only two more weeks of uni and then I'll be off home for Christmas, very excited, not to mention not having to work for a good 3 weeks ! Happy happy happy times !

See you all soon everyone !

NOTD : Chevron Studs

Helloooooo eevrybody ! So I'm back after a hectic weekend of major working, and decided to have a relatively peaceful evening today seeing as I've been working non-stop since Friday night ! I've still got quite a bit to do but nothing that's due for this current week, so I've got a little bit of time to chillax and just watch TV, do my nails and blog !

So  today's design is pretty simple, but I really like it ! I think I'm actually really getting in to the whole stud trend that's going around, I just love the way they look on the nail ! For today's design, I didn't use the glue I normally use to stick the studs down, I just placed them on the relatively tacky base colour and then went over them all with some Seche Vite as I do with every manicure ! Hopefully they'll be far easier to get off than last time, and won't rip off the top layer of my nail !

The one single nail varnish I used in this design is OPI Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine! and I really do love it ! Some of you may recall that I used it in the last design I did with studs, but it seems that it's my go-to colour for these types of manis ! To be honest though, it's a really great colour : deep grey but still leaning towards a very dark green when you see it in certain lights, a great Autumn colour !

And that's all for today everyone ! I hope you all like this simple stud manicure, I'll have to think up some more different ways to wear studs in my designs, they're just such a great addition to any colour if I happen to do a swatch of a plain colour or whatever ! Also, what are your methods for sticking stuff onto your nails like studs, rhinestones, fimo, pearls etc ? Do you prefer to use glue or just top coat ?

I'll see you all again soon guys ! Have a great day tomorrow !

NOTD : Funky Skittles

Good evening everyone ! So I've got a quick post for you all tonight as I needed a break from working (even though theoretically it's not really that much of a break as I'm still sat staring at my laptop) ! I've been sat here all day and haven't got half as much done as I would have liked to, but isn't that always the way ? I'm planning on getting up early tomorrow so that I can actually get plenty done, there's no way everything's going to be ready on time otherwise !

So this design is pretty much an amalgamation of every idea I had for my nails today, and being the procrastinator that I am when it comes to taking a break and then struggling to start working again, I, of course, had to do all of them ! Oh well, I really like them, and then at least that way if I don't have time to do my nails tomorrow at some point then I'll be quite content to keep these on for another day !

The nails varnishes I used for this design were P2 Elegant, OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest, American Apparel T Shirt, OPI Don't Pretzel my Buttons, OPI You Don't Know Jacques, Essie Lapiz of Luxury, Essie Splash of Grenadine, Essence Circus Confetti, as well as my Models Own Wah Nails nail art pens in black and blue. I was originally going to do a paisley nail, but once I'd started drawing it I thought it looked awful so I switched design ! Never mind !

Right now I'm going to have to get back to work ! I've almost finished making the Powerpoint presentation for one of two presentations I'm doing next week, plus I'd better get a start on my Italian coursework.. and let's not even mention the 3 essays I've got to write up before the end of the semester ! Ugh.. so much work !

I'll see you all again soon guys, wish me luck with all this work I've got to finish !

NOTD : Black Doodles

Hey there everyone ! Hope you're all ready for the weekend, and for the readers over in the US I hope you had a great Thanksgiving ! I've only ever had a Thanksgiving meal once with an American friend of mine but that was years and years ago, still, I remember it was pretty yummy ! So much food ! Anyway, when I sat down to do my nails earlier on, I just picked out a couple of bits and just did whatever first came to mind !

So I wasn't feeling very inspired, but I had major tipwear from my last manicure so I really had to change it, and this is what happened ! I was originally going to do a black and white colour scheme, but decided to choose a colour I haven't used in a while instead ! I'm glad I did, because I absolutely love how it turned out !

For this design, the colours I used were OPI Strawberry Margarita, and I just did the doodles on top with my Models Own Wah Nails nail art pen in black ! I'll have to make a purchase of some more nail art pens soon, contemplating getting the silver and gold ones, is there anyone who can recommend them or not ? I don't want to just buy them because they look nice and then end up not using them !

And taht's all for today guys ! I'm off to bed now as I've got lots of work to do over the weekend, so many essays I need to get started on, plus two oral presentations next week.. ugh ! So much work all at once ! I'll probably do my nails again at some point tomorrow because I'll need a break from looking at my laptop screen, but I'm not guaranteeing anything, it's just a maybe !

I'll see you whenever everybody, have a great weekend !

NOTD : Silver Chevrons

Hey there everyone ! Quick post again this evening as I've got to get back to work, but I figured I may as well post my quick manicure I did earlier this evening whilst taking a break from staring at my laptop working ! You may have seen the swatch I posted of an Essie polish I bought at the weekend, and instead of doing something brand new on my nails, I just added to what I already had on !

I generally avoid tape manicures seeing as I'm always too impatient for the base colour to dry enough for me to tape on top of it, but seeing as the base had had a whole day to dry I figured it'd be a quick way to spruce up my nails ! I really love the sharp lines that taping gives to the chevrons in this manicure !

So the two polishes I used for this manicure were Essie Lapiz of Luxury seeing as I swatched it yesterday, and then the chevrons were done using Barry M Silver Foil. For the chevrons I used two different pieces of tape and positioned them into the right shaped triangles, I find that cutting a triangle into the tape doesn't work for me at all !

I hope you all like this design ! I think I'm going to start doing tape manicures more often now that I'm getting into swatching more of my nail varnishes ! I really do love how quick it is to do, and it's a great way to counteract tip wear !

See you all soon guys ! Have a great day tomorrow !

Swatch : Essie - Lapiz of Luxury

Hey there everybody ! So you may have noticed there was no post yesterday, and I have a totally legitimate reason for that, being the first time I've ever missed a day since I first started this blog back in July ! But anyway, as I've mentioned before, I'm in my first year of university and I've just been loaded with a tonne of assignments to do, and sadly I don't have time everyday anymore to do my nails, as my education has to take priority. This doesn't at all mean that I'm going to stop posting and go down to like one post per week, I'll still try to keep it regular but I can't just go out of my way to get something up every day ! I hope you all understand and that you're not too disappointed about it ! I really just need to concentrate on working at the moment and make sure I accomplish everything I came here for !

So this is Essie Lapiz of Luxury, a really pretty blue perwinkle almost polish that's just got a plain creme finish. I bought this the other day at Boots seeing as there was an offer for buy one get one half price, so I figured I'd treat myself to my first two Essie polishes !

The photos show two coats and Seche Vite topcoat. The application was very good, I'm overall really happy with my first experiences of Essie ! Happy times !

Okay so I'm sorry for the quick post today, but I'm off to bed as I've been up since 6:30 this morning, had a full day of lectures and really need to go to sleep ! Goodnight everyone !

See you all tomorrow (I should think !), let's just say until next time !

NOTD : Ode to Essie

Hey there guys ! So I'm afraid today's post isn't going to start off as cheery as they usually do here on Try My Hand, and that's because we are officially in mourning. Mourning ? "Why are we mourning ?" I hear you ask.. Well ! Yesterday I walked into town knowing that I would be heading straight to Boots to purchase my very first Essie polishes, so there I was in front of all the Essies when...

Ok, prepare yourselves, grab the tissues : I picked up a rather nice looking bottle of polish, and suddenly a suicidal bottle popped out from behind and plummeted to its death on the hard linoleum floor. Needless to say, I was left speechless, with polish dripping down my shoes, looking at the glass that had shattered on the floor, these were sad times. A fair amount of acetone and tissue paper was used to clean up this mess, and I felt so bad about it, I just had to buy the bottle I picked up first (plus it's a pretty colour) !

So the polish in question is Essie Splash of Grenadine, which is my base colour in today's manicure ! I also purchased another Essie polish (buy one get one half price !) but I'll keep that one for another day ! On top of the Essie base polish I painted on some flowers in OPI My Very First Knockwurst, and then did a couple more little dots in the Essie colour again. I did all the floral detailing using a small nail art brush, as opposed to my usual technique of using dotting tools !

So that's it for today's post, I hope it didn't upset you too much... it was a pretty horrific sight ! Reminiscent of a scene from Dexter but with nail varnish as opposed to blood ! When you think about it, that was £8 worth of polish that just fell to it's death, a nail varnish hoarder in need could have used it ! Sad times...

I'll see you all again tomorrow (this time not with a depressed polish story) ! Have a great Monday !

NOTD : Camouflage

Hey there everyone ! So there's no hope in hell of me getting any work done for my actual university degree this evening as a tonne of innebriated students are currently "living it up" in the kitchen of my flat (which I unfortunately have to share with party-lovers seeing as the choice was completely random for my first year in halls). Instead, I'm blogging, which I'd be doing anyway, but I'd hoped that I'd actually have got some work done by now ! Anyway, enough ranting, on to the nails !

So these nails are, as you've probably guessed, camouflage print ! The base is a light khaki colour and there's also some beige I painted on top, but the darker polishes on top have washed away the lighter ones so it makes it hard to differenciate ! Perhaps I should have chosen a darker green base colour so that everything could have shown up... oh well !

For the camouflage design, the colours I used were OPI Stranger Tides for the base, then for the pattern on top I used OPI Did You 'Ear About Van Gogh, OPI You Don't Know Jacques and American Apparel Hassid. I just randomly painted on the strips of colour, no real method to it at all !

Right and that's it for today ! The drunks are still here but nevertheless I'm going to have to work at some point, I'll try my best ! I already know what I'm going to do for tomorrow's nails, so there'll be no need for me to concentrate on that, phew !

Wish me luck everyone ! And have a nice day tomorrow !

Swatch : China Glaze - Fairy Dust

Hi guys ! I've just got a quick post for you all this evening because I've got people over for dinner ! The meal's all over and done with now and I managed to find some time to paint my nails before my friends came over, albeit quick ! I only had time to do a quick swatch for today's nails, but it's still really pretty !

So I bought this polish about a month ago, and I really can't believe I haven't tried it until now ! It completely changes the look of the base colour underneath !

Yeah so like I said this post is going to be really quick ! I'll just give you a quick description seeing as this is a swatch and all ! China Glaze is a glitter top coat, with teeny tiny micro holographic glitters ! So pretty !

Ok I've been writing this post for over an hour now, so I'm going to finish my card game now ! Sorry it's so short, I promise I'll make up for it tommorow with a whole new NOTD ! Base colour is OPI My Very First Knockwurst by the way, forgot to say !

Until then, have a great day !